After storing all the treasures in his divine dimension, Aldred looked at his dice and read the writing.
"It protects from the harsh world; from rain and thunder, from claws and nails."
The boy shook his head. "My head hurts just by reading it. Can you guys figure it out?"
They all tried to solve the riddle, but nothing worked.
"It's too vague. We need more clues."
"Pongo." The penguin handed a small bottle to Aldred.
"What is this?" Aldred opened the bottle and took out a small letter inside it.
"A place where you can rest and be at ease," Aldred read. "This is a clue."
They all thought hard about the clue. At first, they thought it was an item, but the clue had 'place' which meant the answer was not an object.
"What place can you rest and be at ease?"
"The toilet," Mareona said to her dice.
Nothing happened.
"The bedroom?" Bartrem tried, but he failed as well.
"The church?"
Everyone looked at Mira's dice expectantly, but she was wrong.
"Remember that we have to be quick, guys. If someone solves it, the question will change." Aldred saw the people unlocking their dice one by one with his method. He hit himself in the head. "I shouldn't have told them about the method."
"If you don't do that, Byron won't give you the treasure," Mareona said.
"Just some small treasures are not important."
Mira smiled at him. "What you did is the right thing. You prevent pointless bloodshed and suffering. If you didn't tell them, a lot of people would die."
Sophia looked at the adventurer who locked their dice one by one. She disagrees with Mira. These adventurers were better off dead rather than becoming their competitors.
'Their success means our failure, and for that, they must die.'
But she did not attack. It would be foolish to be hated by everyone here.
After hours of failure, Aldred decided to camp for the night and rest. No one succeeded in solving the puzzle.
Just like before, he created a bunch of hot baths. This time, he could fill up the holes with water by himself.
Mira caressed his face in the hot bath. "You grow so fast. In the future, you'd be far stronger than this."
"If this world doesn't curse Gold Rank being, you would be Platinum Rank by now, Aldred," Mary said.
"It's fine. Even though I am a Gold Rank, I can defeat more than a hundred by myself."
Mary nodded. "There was a huge difference in power between Gold Rank. Usually, those who could defeat multiple Gold Ranks at once had the highest chance to breakthrough and reach Platinum Rank. If they could defeat tens of Gold Rank alone, then they'd surely reach Diamond."
Mira smiled at Mary. "I didn't expect you to know that much."
"I read books in my free time."
Mira was surprised. "As a soldier, you make some time to read books?"
"It needs more than brawl to change an empire."
"I admire your effort, Mary."
Mary bitterly smiled. "Don't be. Anyone can do what I do. Knowledge isn't that important compared to power. We better think of a way to increase your strength, Aldred. The stronger you are, the more likely we are to succeed."
Aldred tugged both of her hands. "I can become stronger through evolution."
"Evolution?"
Aldred nodded. "If I drink more blood, my vampire gene will evolve and make me stronger."
Sophia approached him and showed her neck. "In that case, drink mine."
She blushed. The thought of her blood being sucked by Aldred made her excited. If she had an unlimited amount of blood, she'd let him drink them all day long. In fact, even without unlimited blood, she would still let him drink them. Though she still wished to live so she could stay with Aldred.
Aldred's eyes turned red and he lusted at her neck. Her smooth and beautiful skin made her neck seem so enticing. He was like a hungry child in front of his favorite food. Aldred pounced, wrapping his hand around her neck and bit.
Sophia trembled and blushed as she caressed the back of his head with a smile. 'Aldred is sucking my blood. Hehe. I love this feeling.'
She moaned slightly, and after thirty minutes a notification appeared.
[Evolution: 7/100]
That was much faster than before. Was it because Sophia became stronger?
Sophia breathed profusely. Her cheeks turned rosy red and she closed her eyes before slowly opening them. Those pair of shining hazel eyes looked at him with affection and desire.
"Are you okay?"
Sophia nodded and hugged him. "Drink my blood again."
"That's enough, Sophia. You have lost too much. Let's take turns."
Mary grabbed Aldred, and then presented her slender neck to him. "Go on. Drink my blood."
Aldred caressed her neck and licked it, making Mary's body shake. He kept on licking, making her moan in pleasure.
"What are you doing? Aagghhh." Mary moaned as she wondered why Aldred didn't drink her blood yet.
Suddenly, Aldred bared his fangs and sunk them deep into her neck. A wave of pleasure rushed through her body. She moaned uncontrollably and held the back of Aldred's head.
She kept on moaning for the whole duration, and eventually his evolution points increased.
[Evolution: 11/100]
Weakly, Mary moaned and leaned on the wall of the hot bath for support.
"Sorry, Mary. I might have drunk your blood a bit too much."
She smiled at him and kissed his lips. "It's okay."
Mareona had been blushing as she watched this, and she couldn't take it anymore. She approached Aldred with her curvy hips and full breast. Blushing, she looked at Aldred before looking to the side.
"Drink it if you want."
Aldred smiled. "I am sorry about your underwear. I shouldn't have done it."
Mareona blushed even more. "It—it's fine. You can have my panties. Now, stop talking and drink my blood."
Aldred answered her call by immediately biting her neck. After less than an hour of moaning and squirming, Aldred stopped sucking her blood.
[Evolution: 14/100]
And finally, it was Mira's turn. She did not mind Aldred sucking her blood. If it helped him become stronger then why not.
Aldred sank her fangs onto her neck. Mira trembled. The pleasure washed her whole body. She was reminded again why people were so easy to fall into temptation. This kind of pleasure pushed away all rationalities. People kill and plunder just to have a taste of it.
Such was the power of emotion.
Mira moaned. Her cheeks turned red. Moments later, Aldred looked at the notification.
[Evolution: 25/100]
Aldred raised an eyebrow. Mira's blood seemed to give more points. Was it because her blood was special?
Aldred continued to drink her blood, but then someone ripped the left part of his tent, creating a hole, and revealing Arthur with bloodshed eyes.
"I will kill you, bastard!"
