Aldred looked at her. "Sophia, why do you have that look of 'I know the answer to this riddle, but I have to be silent first for the cliffhanger'?"
Sophia raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"Never mind."
Sophia looked at the riddle. She wasn't sure if her answer would be correct.
Since Sophia did not answer the riddle, Aldred decided to solve it by himself.
"It turns the smartest man into a fool, ambition into indolence, pride into humility, aggression into meekness."
Aldred widened his eyes. "It has to be that."
"Aldred, you know the answer?" Mary asked.
The boy nodded and put the dice right by his lips like he wanted to whisper to it. "The answer is—gay."
Nothing happened.
"Seems like I was wrong."
Mareona hit his head. "What kind of answer is that. Let me try."
"Guys, wait," Sophia called. "The answer to this riddle is… love."
CLICK!
The dice glowed and washed them with golden light. For a moment they were blinded, but Aldred saw a panel in his mind.
[All attributes doubled]
[Aldred]
Health Points: 696/696
Level: 68
Titles: Tough Boy
Power:
-Fire Manipulation (Click to show the list of skills)
-Water Manipulation (Click to show the list of skills)
-Shape Shift Lv. 1 (Click to show the list of morphs)
-Racial Ability (Click to show the list of racial abilities)
-Sword Art (Click to show the list of Sword Art)
Attributes:
-Strength: 90
-Vitality: 122
-Intelligence: 326
-Dexterity: 84
Stat points: 0
Skill points: 0
Aldred was shocked. His attributes were truly doubled. 'My intelligence is now at 326 points. My magic damage must be very high.'
The boy also noticed something. An increase in intelligence did not make him wiser. It simply made him understand complex concepts.
This meant that his intelligence didn't really change his personality, but he wasn't sure about that either. For some reason, the increase in intelligence made him more ambitious.
So, maybe it did change him a little, though he didn't know yet to what extent that change would become.
Thud! Thud! Thud!
Aldred glanced to the side to find what made that noise. That was when he saw an ice giant charging toward them.
The soldiers prepared themselves for another battle, but Aldred stepped ahead of them.
"Let me handle this." He gripped the sword in his right hand and leaped.
The ice giant attacked, but Aldred already landed behind him.
Suddenly, lines of bright light ran all over the ice giant's body. The light exploded and it shattered the ice giant like glass. Its remains crumbled all over the floor and revealed a chest.
Aldred narrowed his eyes in suspicion as he looked at the chest. He ordered his undead to open it, and sure enough, it was eaten by the chest.
The soldiers were shocked.
Aldred walked to the chest, a large tongue tried to grab him, but he cut it easily. He then stabbed the chest. Blood poured out.
He did this because he saw something within it.
"A stick?" Aldred analyzed the stick in his hand.
———
[All Devouring Stick]
-Can manipulate its length and thickness at will.
-Can consume other treasures or weapons to become stronger.
-Able to morph into consumed treasures.
-Can consume creatures to become stronger
"Interesting." He smiled and fed it with his 'Blazing Serpent' and 'Upper rare sword'.
The two items melted into the stick and disappeared.
The stick glowed and Aldred could feel the power radiating out from it.
It changed to a magic staff and a sword as long as he will it. It also elongated and shortened whenever he wanted it to.
Aldred smiled, satisfied with his new weapon. The stick could also consume creatures to increase its strength. That meant this stick could grow alongside him.
And if he found an epic treasure in the future, he could let the stick consume it, which meant the stick would be useful to him forever.
The dice on their hand glowed. The green shining arrow pointed deep towards the tunnel.
"That's our way. Let's go." Aldred walked forward.
The others followed him from behind.
Mareona approached Mary. "Do you notice something change about Aldred?"
Mary looked at the boy who had his sight forward and his posture up straight. "Maybe he is more confident and sure of what path he should take."
"Yeah… Maybe he is."
Mira on the other hand was slightly worried. She hoped Aldred did not take the wrong turn.
Sophia did not care about any of this. Aldred was the one who accepted her and treated her properly even if she was his slave. She would go with him no matter if he became a saint or a demon. In hell or paradise, she would always be with him.
The group arrived at a flight of stairs that led upward. Aldred counted with his godly eyes that it would take at least 3564 steps to reach the top.
That would be too long, so he transformed into a gargant eagle, and transported everyone to the top quickly.
What appeared in front of them was a gate. It looked tall and thick. Aldred slashed it to create an opening.
Bartrem raised an eyebrow at how easily the boy cut the gate.
When they exited the cave, they arrived at another cliff. He then felt the air around to be much thinner than before. It was becoming harder to breathe.
"This is the middle part of the mountain," Maverick said. "Starting from here, breathing will become a chore. But I have a solution for that."
Maverick pulled out a bottle of pills from his storage pouch.
"Take this. It will help your breathing."
They all consumed the pills, and their breathing became normal again.
"Thank you," Aldred said. "These pills are similar in the auction right?"
"It's nothing. And yes, it is similar, but this one is more potent."
The man proved to be quite useful on this journey. Aldred wasn't a person that would forget what others did for him.
If someone gave him milk, And if he could afford it, he would return an entire cow.
One good deed should be paid back by a thousand times.
But the man was the son of a count. Aldred had nothing on him that the man would want. For now, he would help him in obtaining the astrolabe.
They walked into the cliff. The familiar cold wind whirled around them. Unlike before, it was much colder and louder.
"How do we continue?" Bartrem asked.
Aldred looked at the dice. The green arrow pointed to the sky.
When he looked up, he noticed a large red dragon was flying in the sky.
The dragon stared at him and roared.
Maverick narrowed his eyes. "A Bajaragon."
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