As Aldred climbed the mountain, some adventurer group decided to follow him. Aldred did not care about them. He believed that to climb this mountain, one should solve the riddle first.
After a few hours of walking, Aldred entered some sort of hedge made from snow. He was boxed in between white walls. At first, he thought it was normal, but then he was presented with two directions. One to the left, one to the right.
"It's a hedge maze," Aldred said. "But made out of snow instead."
Bartrem frowned and he looked at the dice. "The arrow pointed to the left."
"Then we should go left," Aldred said.
They all nodded and followed the direction of the arrow. As Aldred and his comrades made the left turn, the maze suddenly moved and changed its pattern.
This shocked the adventurers that followed the boy. With Aldred out of their sight, and the maze changing its pattern, they didn't know where to go.
One man tried to climb the snow hedge and just as everyone expected, the man turned into dust.
"This mountain has rules to follow. We have to strictly follow it."
They all looked at each other and tried to find a way out. But they didn't realize that the only way to leave is through solving the riddle.
Meanwhile, Aldred calmly breezed through the maze, and he arrived at what seemed to be a wonderful hot bath. The bath seemed to be almost golden in color, unlike his transparent water.
Aldred looked at the arrow, pointing directly to the bath. "Is this arrow telling us to take a bath?"
The boy summoned one of his undead and told him to enter the water. The undead did as ordered, and as he submerged himself, the undead's body glowed. Powerful energy enveloped him, then his strength increased.
Aldred widened his eyes. "Quick, enter the bath. This can increase our strength."
They didn't bother to take off their clothes and immediately jumped into the bath. Water splashed, and Aldred's head popped out of the water. A list of notifications came to the corner of his eyes.
[+15,000 EXP]
[+15,000 EXP]
[+15,000 EXP]
[+15,000 EXP]
[+15,000 EXP]
…
[You have level up]
[You have level up]
[You have level up]
[You have level up]
…
[You have reached level 68]
[Aldred]
Health Points: 391/391
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)
Attributes:
-Strength: 45
-Vitality: 61
-Intelligence: 77
-Dexterity: 42
Stat points: 86
Skill points: 72
Aldred was deep in thought. 'It's time to use the stat points. Since I am a magician and too lazy to study to increase intelligence, I should put all the stat points there.'
As for strength and other stats, he should train to increase them. Aldred also considered learning martial arts. Close-range weapons such as sword art were also in his consideration.
He was foolish not using his talent and capability to the fullest potential. If he learned martial arts and magic at the same time, he would be undefeatable in long range and close range.
The enemy would not expect a magician to have a powerful body and use a sword.
Aldred decided. 'System, put all my stat points to intelligence.'
Attributes:
-Strength: 45
-Vitality: 61
-Intelligence: 163
-Dexterity: 42
Stat points: 0
Skill points: 72
Aldred tapped his chin a couple of times as he considered where he should put his skill points. Should he learn martial arts first and then increase its level?
Aldred checked his inventory. He had received a lot of martial arts books from the people who bought his hot bath spots.
And sure enough, he found a suitable martial art book.
Aldred materialized the book in his hand. The book was called 'Sky Splitting Strike.' Aldred opened the book.
[You have learned 'Sky Splitting Strike']
Aldred blinked. All he did was open the book. He hadn't even read it yet.
[Sky Splitting Strike]
-Using all the energies within one's body, one can create a powerful attack that split the sky and destroyed the earth.
"Nice," Aldred said. Even though Aldred had learned the skill, he decided to read a couple pages of the book to understand it more. And unexpectedly, his comprehension increased.
[Sky Splitting Strike Lv. 1 -> Lv. 2]
Aldred scratched his cheek. 'Isn't this too OP?'
As Aldred read further, he realized there was a limitation to this ability. It did not only consume mana, but also stamina which was a limited resource for him. Mana wasn't a problem, stamina was.
'Hmmm, this means that I cannot use this all the time.'
Aldred rummaged through his inventory and looked for another sword art. After a few minutes, he found another upper rare sword art.
'Execution Strike,' Aldred read in his mind.
[You have learned 'Execution Strike']
[Execution Strike]
-Imbuing the sword with a powerful aura, one can send it out to cut or execute a target.
Just like before, Aldred read the book for a few pages.
[Execution Strike Lv. 1 -> Lv. 2]
Unlike the first sword art, Aldred could use this ability infinitely. That was important. Should he enter a prolonged fight, he wouldn't need to worry if he had this skill along with his magic spells.
Now that he had two sword art, Aldred looked for a powerful sword in his inventory. In less than a second, he found an upper rare sword.
It was exquisite in appearance, making one think that only legendary warriors would be able to wield them.
"What are you doing, Aldred?" Mary asked.
"I have decided to learn sword art."
Mary raised an eyebrow. "But you're a magician."
"Actually, I can learn martial arts as well."
"I know you can, but it won't be as effective. Everyone can only be talented in one area. We're not heroes that have the blessing to learn martial arts and magic at the same time."
Aldred raised his sword and swung it to the side. "Execution Strike!"
A powerful aura covered his blade, and as he swung, the shining aura created a wide arc that slashed towards the snow. The snow burst and a bunch of large boulders behind it were perfectly cut into two.
Everyone seeing this had their jaw dropped. Mary was especially shocked. She only saw Aldred read the two books for a couple of minutes, and he already comprehended its power to this level?
If she was correct, this sword skill should at least be a middle rare skill. This skill was very hard to learn. It might take years just to comprehend the basics.
Mira wasn't surprised by this. She had seen great potential and power within the boy.
"Now I can protect myself at close range as well. If something like a Phantom Claw jumped at me, I know I can cut them."
