There was a clue on the note that read: Can't be touched, and it only exist in the mind.
Aldred smiled before he burned the note.
"Aldred, is that the clue?" Maverick asked from the distance.
"I think so yeah!"
"Did you figure it out?"
Aldred's smile widened. "I do."
His feet pushed off the wall before he swung back from where he came from.
"Let's go back." Aldred, Maverick, and Naly made their way to the statue.
But what they saw shocked them.
"I told you the answer will be wrong! How can you be so stupid for a Diamond Rank?!"
"Stupid? You didn't even dare to try answering the riddle. All you do here is complain when my answer is wrong."
"That's because the statue will try to kill us every time we answer it wrong."
"Well, too bad, princess. Deal with it!"
Aldred could not watch them argue anymore and approached them. "Hey, what is going on here?"
"Aldred!?" Zafrina, Sophia, Stella, and Kiara exclaimed in shock. Their eyes lit up, and they were about to rush towards him for a hug.
"Wait! It might be an illusion!" Stella stopped them.
After that statement, Zafrina, Sophia, and Kiara looked at him warily.
"He's not an illusion, guys," Maverick said.
"Brother?" Zafrina raised an eyebrow. "Who's that beside you?"
"I am his wife!" Naly hugged Maverick's arm and kissed him on the cheek.
Zafrina's eyes turned bloody red. "Everyone backed off. This is a trick."
"Why are you so convinced?" Sophia asked.
"There's no way my stupid, virgin, awkward, dumb, senseless brother got a beautiful wife like that. Whoever made this illusion doesn't study us very well."
Her words were like an arrow that stabbed through Maverick's heart. "Sister, you really have to so be cruel."
"Everyone, prepare for an attack!" Zafrina shouted.
"Wait! I can convince you that I am not an illusion."
"How?" Sophia glared at him with wary.
Aldred smirked. "None of you wear any underwear."
The women blushed instantly except for Stella. She had never wore any underwear for thousands of years.
"Cheap tricks!" Zafrina shouted.
"Okay, then what about this. Zafrina, your favorite position is standing bent from the back. Stella, your favorite position is hanging from the ceiling, Sophia you like it rough no matter and not picky about the position, and lastly, Kiara, you love it when I bite your tail."
"He's the real deal," Sophia said.
Zafrina and Kiara were blushing.
"He's the real deal, but how can he say that when my brother is here." Zafrina looked at him with red cheeks.
"Standing bent from the back? Sister, you got taste." Maverick laughed.
"Shut up, Maverick!" Zafrina glared at him. She couldn't wait to beat him up later.
Naly caressed Maverick's chest. "Maverick, maybe we can try your sister's favorite position later?"
"Get away from me, demon!"
The four women laughed when they see that. Suddenly, they ran at Aldred and hugged him.
"We missed you so much, Aldred."
Aldred hugged them back. "I missed you guys too."
They spend a few minutes like this until Sophia kissed him and asked: "So what do we do now? We still have to find the others?"
"We can do that." Aldred looked at the gargoyle statue. "I am ready to answer your riddle."
"The answer is… time!"
The stones cracked and revealed the pristine skin of the gargoyle. It wasn't a normal gargoyle, instead, it was majestic creature with pristine scales completed by intricate carvings.
"You have one wish," the gargoyle said with a divine voice.
Aldred smiled. "I wish—"
Before Aldred could even finish his sentence, white light filled his vision, and he was teleported on top of a platform.
The wind blew his hair as he looked at the night sky. The three moons were still there, blue, yellow, and red.
"Aldred!" Mary, Mira, Mareona, Ivette, Rachel, and Mally all rushed at him for a hug.
"I have been looking around for you!" Mira said before Krista pounced on Aldred and hugged him tight.
Just like before, Aldred spend a few minutes hugging them. He missed them all so dearly even though they were only separated less than a day.
"Welp, I always knew you will solve the problem," Bartrem said.
Ivette kissed him. "I missed you so much."
Aldred smiled. "Me too."
"Too bad, I can't say goodbye to him."
"Oh, did you found someone else in the cave?"
"Well, he was a centipede."
"A centipede? I killed one earlier."
"Ehh! Why did you killed him? He's a nice centipede."
"I don't know, Ivette. The centipede got more than a thousand face on its scales, and it wanted to eat me."
"Oh, maybe not all centipede is nice."
"You know… centipede are not supposed to be nice. I think I killed a lot of centipedes back in Mount Fargon."
"You did," Mary confirmed.
Aldred looked around, and saw that he was still on the mountain. He summoned his golems and undead to scout the area, making sure it was safe.
"I want to hear your story. Why don't we make a camp here, and rest?"
"Sure!" They all excited to hear that.
One of the best parts about this adventure were camping, because they could eat, chat, and laugh. The soldiers also loved this because they could cuddle with their partners.
Of course there were sometimes conflict among them, but it never got too big.
"Hey," Zafrina called to Stella. "Sorry for everything. I shouldn't have insulted you like that."
Stella smiled. "It's fine. I also apologize for my wrongdoing."
They both smiled at each other and hugged.
That night, they all told their story to Aldred.
They chatted, laughed, and ate as they did so. It was a long night filled with tales and mystery.
"So, apparently, the soldiers that kill those eels were Bartrem and everyone else all along," Rachel said. "I was really scared."
"Yeah, we detect a small light from behind. I thought it was some sort of creature, but apparently it was Rachel," Bartrem replied.
Aldred laughed. Then he recalled something. "Damn, I forgot to meet that giant first."
"Giant? Did you meant the giant that mined the cave?" Mally asked.
"Yeah. Did you met him?"
"I did, and I gave him Sea Fruits to trade the crystals."
"What a coincidence. I did the same thing."
"Ohh, so it was you that gave the giant the Sea Fruit. I saw him ate one, and I immediately thought about trading."
"Well, maybe we can find another opportunity to enter the cave," Aldred said.
"No!" His wives shouted. They did not want to be separated from Aldred ever again. Although they were powerful, and got enough powerful treasure to defend themselves, they still depended on Aldred emotionally.
Aldred giggled. "Alright, we won't. Let's get to bed."
"Un!" His wives excitedly nodded after hearing that.
Mira lifted Krista as he had long been asleep.
Entering the tent, they did it all night long. Aldred also could not control himself, and satisfy himself and his wives to the fullest. They missed each other so badly, that they went for multiple rounds.
Aldred couldn't count how many times he ejaculate, and only when the sun began to rise did they stop and hug each other to sleep.
Waking up, they laughed and giggled before hugging each other again.
After a few hours, they left the tent with a satisfied expression.
"So where are we going now, Aldred?"
Aldred looked at the distance. At the tip of the mountain. "We're going there. It should take a few days."
"At least it's easier than Mount Fargon," Mary said.
Aldred laughed. "Mary, this isn't even the challenge. The third phase has not yet begin."
"You're right. That makes me worry. What kind of challenge will we have to face later?"
"We will be fine," Aldred said.
His wives believed that word. They have full trust in him. How could they not after everything they had been through.
"Let's go," Aldred said.
As they packed up their things, and set off towards the tip of the mountain, they saw someone familiar.
"Baendjbi?" Aldred frowned when he saw the man and his friends got wounds all over their body.
"Mira, please heal them for me."
Mira nodded and quickly casted her spell to heal them.
"Thank you," Baendjbi said, breathing heavily. "We're lucky to meet you here. If we didn't we would have died."
"Did you get teleported to the cave as well?"
Baendjbi nodded. "Yeah, some of us were separated, but thankfully, none of us died."
Aldred scanned their body and noticed a weird, sharp aura coming from them. Before, they looked like weak swordsmen who got proper technique, but now… now they looked like a true warrior.
Was it because of the sword guild? What was the name again? Oh right, The Buzzing Blade.
Aldred smiled. Interesting. If he had a chance, he would pay this guild a visit to see how they got that aura.
