After returning from the Labyrinth, the first thing Almond and Lily did was to take a relaxing bath in the big bathtub before tucking inside a blanket.
They soon fell asleep after reading the notifications about the 10th floor’s clearing and phase 1.
Almond had already slept for a bit over four hours, so he woke up after another four hours of good sleep.
Waking up, he let Lily continue sleeping before going downstairs.
It was evening when he looked outside the window, the clock had just hit 5 p.m.
“Master, do you want to eat something?” Alfred asked as he walked towards Almond.
“Mhmm, yeah, but you don’t need to make it. Order something.”
“As you wish.”
Almond went outside and saw all of his Spirit Wraiths were doing their things. Some were at the beach fighting while Sylvia and Nyssara were in the garden, making it bigger and more mysterious.
“Calm down girls. You’ve made it bigger than the house already,” Almond said with a wry smile.
“Nuh-uh, Master. We are not done yet,” Nyssara said as she and Sylvia flew out of the big garden.
“Yep, we are planning to make a majestic castle for you,” Sylvia grinned.
“Oh? Then I’m looking forward to it.”
“Yep, you do that.”
“We’ll give you a surprise, hehe.”
Almond then went to check up on the others who were either playing around or training.
Thinking of something, Almond took out a skill scroll of an SS-rank skill—Infernal Maw.
“Galvaren, take this skill, scroll, and see if you can learn it.”
Galvaren took the skill scroll and blinked with interest. “This looks good, my lord. I shall learn and master it.”
“Good,” Almond smiled.
“Boss, do you have anything for us?” Benedict asked with a grin.
Ashkar also looked at him with an eager expression.
“Not yet, but I’ll be sure to give you once I find some.”
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“Roar!”
Starlight Beast nudged his head at Almond, conveying its thoughts.
“You want to play? Haha, alright.”
Of course, by play, Starlight meant an all-out battle to get some smacking from Almond.
Almond hung around them and played tag, albeit it was brutal enough that normal people or average gold-rank adventurers might die if they participated.
Almond stopped when the food arrived twenty minutes later and went to eat at the open dining crystal pavilion outside that Nyssara created over a week ago.
The television was also set up outside long so that others could watch. After all, Galvaren was pretty big, while Starlight Beast and Chimera Frank also watched it while resting, even if they didn’t understand much of it.
So Almond had ordered a big screen and made a setup outside over a week ago.
After eating, he went back inside and turned on his wristwatch.
He already had messages from Admiral Rudra, so he called him directly.
A few seconds later, a hologram rose up, revealing Admiral Rudra in his iconic suit and beard.
“You brat, you really had one hell of a journey in the Labyrinth this time.”
Almond chuckled, “It seems that you received news from various guilds and families of the Legendary and Epic items.”
“I’ve gotten information, yeah. Those brats returning with such items and the things they said about Heroic Challenges are not public, and only the forces behind the kids that entered with you know about it, but it won’t be long before it spreads to others.”
Admiral Rudra blinked and added, “But one thing still remains unclear. What’s the condition for triggering it?”
Almond faintly smiled, “The condition is me.”
Admiral Rudra raised his eyebrows, “So you must be present to get the invitation for the Heroic Challenge?”
“Yep.”
“That’s good,” Admiral Rudra nodded. “Do you want to sell those? Now is the time if you want to.”
“Naturally, I want, and I want an auction specifically for the items Epic and Legendary items I have,” Almond grinned. “I have a lot of them. And the items that those kids went to take with them are also mine. With the Battlefield of the Mightiest opening after twelve days, I want to sell these items as soon as possible to get gold coins from everyone’s coffers.”
Rudra’s eyes glinted as he understood everything since he knew about Almond’s spirit forge factory and grinned, “Pocketing those kids under you was a great decision indeed. But are you sure they won’t spill some of your secrets?”
Almond narrowed his eyes, “They don’t know anything in detail, and the fatal flaw of my items is also apparent as they are reliant on me replenishing their durabilities and durations. But my items are superior, and the rewards from Heroic Challenges are great. These pieces of equipment are least valuable, actually.”
“No wonder….” Admiral Rudra wryly smiled. “That old bastard Silvester was mad that his grandson wasn’t telling him about everything and saying that it was his promise to Almond.”
Almond laughed and nodded, “That’s right. If they want to continue to participate in Heroic Challenges and earn the juicy rewards, they need me.”
“Good, very good. None of them will cross you, it seems.”
“Even if they do, I don’t care,” Almond ferociously smiled. “I have gotten very valuable and fruitful rewards that I will absorb in the following days. No one will have any idea about my overall combat power and tricks up my sleeve.”
Admiral Rudra smiled and nodded, “No need to tell me either. Keep them to yourself and only inform me when it’s necessary. Now, onto the main topic, there will be a meeting after seven days. The topic of Heroic Challenges will also be brought up there since it’d have been spread by then.”
“And I want you to participate in that meeting. The meeting is about the 10th Floor’s new sanctuary area, the monthly event, and Battlefield of the Mightiest.”
“Monthly event…” Almond muttered. “I suppose it is starting after seven days.”
Admiral Rudra’s eyes flickered, appearing surprised, “How do you know? This information is only given once you enter the 10th Floor’s sanctuary area. Don’t tell me you went to stroll there already?”
“Nope,” Almond shook his head and smiled. “I told you I have a secret. It’s related to that. I will tell you when the time comes.”
“Fine, I’ll wait,” Admiral Rudra nodded. “Since you’ve just returned, I’m sure you want to rest and take it easy for a day. I’ve increased security around that courtyard already because of the new information about the Heroic Challenge with you being in its center. You also be careful because the rats are still out there, and they have annoying means to invade and escape now. Truly like rats.”
“Gotcha,” Almond nodded before a grin spread on his face, thinking about his next spirit wraith project, “It seems that I’ll have to make a powerful Spirit Wraith from one of the Heroic Boss’ spirits. Anyway, Admiral, thanks for the heads up. I’ll contact you later when the items are gathered, so please prepare for a grand auction.”
“Yeah, leave that to me,” Admiral laughed. “We have to make sure to reduce the gold coffers of some of those guilds and families.”
“Indeed.”
After cutting off the call, Almond wrote a mail.
[Dear adventurer, this is a party invitation from your one and only leader. The time and date are tomorrow at noon in the courtyard of Almond Crowshade. Make sure that you all come with every Epic and Legendary item you’ve got during our little adventure if you want a tailor-made high-tier Legendary gear set.]
Almond sent the mail to everyone who has participated in the Heroic Challenges. He deliberately put emphasis on ‘leader’ and ‘tailor-made’ to make the points of position and promise of power clear.
If they wanted to truly get strong and reach greater heights, they must follow him with an ardent desire!