After the feeding session, Aldred put his rod inside each of them until night came and they went to sleep.
They woke up the next morning. The dice hanging on their waist glowed, and it showed the green shining arrow pointing towards a new direction.
Aldred kissed Mary, Mira, Mareona, and Sophia good morning before they exited the tent. He morphed back to his child form.
Bartrem and the soldiers looked at their dice. The arrows pointing up.
"We got a new direction," Bartrem said.
Aldred nodded. Suddenly, a large shadow cast shade upon them.
"Another Bajaragon?" Bartrem raised his sword.
"Wait," Aldred said, squinting his eyes at the dragon. "It's not here for us."
The dragon landed and belched flame at the adventurer. They screamed as their bodies were burned to crisp. But there was one group with a viking helmet and a wooden shield that blocked and survived the flame.
They throw their large axe at the dragon, pushing it back. And then they threw ropes tied into stones to wrap the dragon's legs.
"Neck!" Two vikings threw ropes around the dragon's neck. They pulled to tighten and the other vikings came helping them.
The dragon was held in place, and a larger viking, with a larger axe, leaped into the sky and slammed the dragon's head.
The Bajaragon fell with an axe on its head. And suddenly, the dice on their waist glowed, pointing upward.
"They're the viking men," someone said.
"Viking men? The ones that people called the dragon hunters?"
The man nodded. "Look at their equipment. Those armors are made from dragon scales, and their axe as well. All of their equipment is handcrafted using dragon materials. No wonder they can block the flame breath of a Bajaragon."
Aldred and the larger viking stared at each other for a moment. They did this from a distance, both parties knew that they matched in strength.
The viking defeated the dragon much faster than him, but that was because Aldred did not use his full power from the start. He was sure he could defeat the dragon faster if he tried.
Aldred put all the supplies in his divine dimension and morphed into a Bajaragon.
"Hop on, guys," Aldred said.
"This ability is so convenient," Bartrem said.
"You're just jealous I can make more than 70 girls ride on me, Bartrem. Hahaha."
"…"
Aldred coughed. "Is everyone ready for take-off?"
"Yes!"
"Here we go!" Aldred flapped his wings and soared into the sky.
He flew beside the wall of the cliff which he was supposed to climb to get up. But he didn't need to since he can fly.
He saw a lot of crawling monsters on the wall. Also, some flying monsters were hovering around. If Aldred did not turn into a dragon, he had to climb the wall and fought all these creatures.
The viking stared at Aldred who morphed into a dragon. Their gaze cannot be read. Nobody knew what they were thinking.
The adventurers on the other hand could only shake their heads in envy.
After a few hours of flying, Aldred finally arrived at another cliff. He softly landed and let the others to jump down.
Ahead of them, there was a large thick gate. Aldred guessed they had to go there to continue the next level.
The arrow on the dice confirmed his suspicion. It pointed directly at the gate.
Aldred was about to walk to the gate, but Bartrem held his shoulder and pointed.
There was an old man with thin clothing sitting on a rock in front of the gate. The wind blew his long white hair like he was some sort of master. The cold wind did not bother him?
Aldred sent out his undead to pass the old man. It walked slowly, and when it reached five meters from the old man, a flash of sharp light came slashing at the undead.
It was so quick. Faster than a blink of an eye. The undead was cut apart and it turned into snow and then blown by the wind.
The old man was still sitting there with his eyes closed.
Only now did Aldred notice a thin blade on the old man's waist.
"Another moving statue?" Bartrem asked.
"No. This old man is a human. Or at least, I think he is a human. But I am sure he is a living being."
Aldred looked at the old man and felt challenged. He wanted to try his swordsmanship against him. If he did not use his magic to defeat the old man and rely on his sword, his mastery might increase.
"I have decided. I will fight the old man only with sword art."
Mary frowned. "Why?"
"I want to improve my swordsmanship. I have this feeling that if I defeat him using sword art alone, my comprehension in the art of swords will improve." Aldred summoned his rare-grade sword.
"Sorry, guys. But I will have to take this old man alone."
Bartrem nodded. "All of you prepare to reinforce him."
"No. All of you stay here."
Aldred smiled. He had the divine dimension, and the Ring of Doarus, given by the empress to save him. Because of the empress' warning, he had never used that ring even once, now he wondered what magic it had to have such dire consequences.
No, he shouldn't use it right now. Only when he truly needed its power should he use it. Aldred was scared of its unknown consequence.
He walked to the old man. Aldred smiled at him as the old man opened his eyes. They were frozen blue in color. And they stared at Aldred with indifference.
"This young one would like to learn," Aldred said.
Surprisingly, the old man spoke: "I am one of the guardians in this place. The only thing you can learn from me is more ways to die."
Aldred smiled. "Then I shall learn."
The old man said nothing as Aldred charged at him and slashed. Suddenly, the old man disappeared and appeared right beside the rock.
His right hand was already swinging the sword at Aldred. He could feel the cold wind on his neck, indicating that the sword will cut off his head.
The boy spun and parried the sword by attacking it from below and pushing it upward using his sword.
He could simply dodge that sword strike, but that would be a mistake because the old man could change the trajectory of his sword mid-swing.
Aldred wanted that level of mastery in sword art. It was to the point where dodging meant death, and blocking meant his arms would turn numb.
And yes, Aldred felt numb in both of his arms. But the pain quickly subsided.
A powerful aura burst out of his body. Aldred drew his sword over his shoulder. "Execution Strike!"
A long thin arc of light slashed at the old man horizontally, but the old man simply tapped the light with his blade, and the light shattered.
And then something shocking happened. A powerful aura burst from the old man's body. When he slashed, an arc of light came hurtling towards Aldred.
"He's copying my skill." Aldred widened his eyes.
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