The morning birds chirped from outside the window. The sunlight shone inside the room, and Aldred woke up. As he opened his eyes, a beautiful woman with blue hair and a cute nose smiled at him.
"Good morning, Mareona."
Mareona kissed him. "Morning."
"Good morning, maste—Aldred."
Sophia kissed his lips.
"Good morning, Sophia."
"Today is the day we climb the mountain." Mareona got off from bed. "Do you guys feel nervous?"
"I am. We're about to climb the tallest mountain after all." Aldred caressed his chest. "I heard so many things about this mountain. All its dangers and myths. It kinda scares me."
Sophia hugged him from behind. "Don't be. I will protect you."
"Thank you, Sophia." Aidan felt like he was stronger than Sophia, and it should be him who protect her, not the other way around.
"Mary and the others must be waiting. Let's go out." Mareona put on her armor, fixed her hair, and walked out of the room. Aldred and Sophia followed. They strode downstairs where Mary waved at them to sit at the table.
"I have ordered food for you guys," Mary said. "Sit down. The breakfast will come."
Not long after, a feast unlike many others came to their tables. The soldiers looked at the bunch of foods with sparkling eyes.
Mary and Bartrem smiled when they saw everyone ate.
Aldred grabbed a piece of meat and ate it. It was rich in flavor, but then something happened.
[+4 Strength]
"Eh… What food is this?"
"I know you'd notice." Mary smiled. "This is a special food that can increase our strength. It is soaked in a magical liquid for a few days or months, after that, it is cooked and served to us."
"Wow. So I can increase strength this way."
When everyone heard this, they were excited and ate even faster.
"No need to be in a hurry. I have ordered more."
Aldred put food after food in his mouth.
[+4 Vitality]
[+6 Dexterity]
Mary smiled at him and lifted a plate of food with red glowing lobster. "I have something just for you."
"What is it?"
"Just eat it. Eat all of it and see for yourself."
Aldred did what was asked, and ate the whole lobster under a minute.
[+50% Fire Damage]
[+50% Fire Control]
[+50% Fire Mastery]
[You have obtained a new skill: Fire Combustion]
[Fire Combustion]
-The ability to cause matter to burst into flames.
-Range: 10 Meter
[You have obtained a new skill: Fire Absorption]
[Fire Absorption]
-The ability to absorb fire and utilize it accordingly
'I earn all these skills just by eating a lobster? This magical world is something else.'
"How is it?" Mary asked.
"It's good. I am much stronger now." Aldred raised his hands and weaved in the air. Suddenly, the air in the center of the table sparked, and a small fire eastern dragon materialized. It then opened its maw giving out a roar as it circled around. Its snake-like body moved up and down in the air and then disappeared.
"Wow." Mareona looked in amazement.
Aldred wiped his sweat. "It's harder than it looks." If not for his increase in fire control and mastery, he wouldn't be able to summon such a detailed fire dragon.
Everyone was impressed by Aldred's skill.
After Aldred showed them more awesome tricks, they continued eating until their belly filled up to the brim. After sitting for a few minutes, they stood up and went to the bottom of Mount Fargon.
The towering gargantuan scale of the mountain dwarfed them. All of them craned their neck upward, trying to steal a glance of the legendary peak.
A lot of people were already here. They were lifting all kinds of equipment and gear to help them climb the mountain. One man put a large basket onto the wall of which a spider leg came out from its sides and stabbed into the rock. They then sat on the basket as it crawled upward.
"Wow." Aldred looked at the group as they enjoyed their drinks while the basket went up.
"Pongo," Aldred called. "Where are the shoes that you stole?"
"Pongo pongo."
"Don't play games with me. I know you are the one who stole the shoes."
"What shoes?" Bartrem asked.
"The shoes that let you walk vertically."
"You stole them?"
"Pongo." He vomited out a pair of shoes.
"If we only have a pair then it's not that useful," Bartrem said.
"It's useful. Bartrem will you use these shoes?" Aldred asked.
"Alright. I will use these shoes. This way I can fight better."
Mary was currently tying up the chains on everyone. At first, the transparent glowing chain was short, but as long as she continued to pull, its length increased. After she tied it to everyone, he went to Aldred last and tied the chain around his waist. It did not have any weight, in fact, he almost couldn't feel it was there.
The soldiers grabbed their iron nails and walked to the wall.
A group of adventurers walked by with a large backpack. They turned around and pressed their backpack to the wall. Suddenly, a pair of wheels came out, and it rolled, lifting the group upward.
"They use all these magical equipment, while we only use iron nails?" Aldred sighed.
A lone man approached the wall.
Aldred looked at him curious about what he would do.
The man looked down and his whole body trembled. Something bulged out of his back, and it ripped open as eight sticky tentacles waved in the air. They then slammed onto the wall, sticking hard, and the man use them to climb.
"Dr. Squid?"
Another man walked forward, lifted his middle finger, and pointed it at the wall. A sticky string stuck to the wall, and the man pulled himself onto the wall, quickly going up.
"Tarantulaman?"
"Damn, we have the whole Jarvel Universe here."
"Come on, Aldred. This is what we have, so this is what we're going to use. There's no point in comparing our gears to others," Bartrem said.
"You are right."
All of them stabbed the wall with the iron nail. They then looked up and started climbing.
