By the time he woke up, Ryker felt refreshed. Releasing his desire had left him in a good spot. Which is good as he will not bring any of his lovers into the treasure trove. He looked at his side, Miriam still sleeping from the physical exertion yesterday.
He carried her bridal style once again, carrying her to the bathroom. After all, he doubted she could walk for the night. He did go full force on the young woman. He began to take a bath, washing himself before turning to his still-sleeping lover.
He moved Miriam, making her sit on his lap before he poured water on her, washing her body as he cleaned every nook and cranny. Even when he washed the young woman, she still didn't wake up, a testament to how tired she was.
When he was done, he clothed them both before heading to the living room, preparing himself for the question that would be asked by his other lovers.
-x-
Surprisingly, the questioning didn't last too long as the children already descended to the dining room. However, he knew they would be asking questions by the time the children were out of the vicinity.
He had two options, answering their questions or remaining close to his siblings to avoid the questioning. He already knew what someone as courageous as him would take.
-x-
"The children are close to him, so I can't ask anything," Era reported, Ina scrunching her brows and hearing the result.
"And I can't ask Miriam either. Whatever they did was enough to knock her out. I don't know how long she would remain unconscious, but it might be until tomorrow when she woke up," Ina replied, before looking at the strongest person in the entire room.
'Let's ask Miriam when she woke up. After all, I don't think he would get far away from the children and he would have to go to the treasure drive tomorrow, so we can't ask for him to take us all tonight," Mashia decided. While the others wanted to continue pushing, they knew she was right. Better ask someone who would readily divulge the information rather than trying to corner the one who didn't want to.
-x-
By the time the day of the exploration began, Ryker quickly said his farewell, giving his sibling and lovers hugs that would last them for the week. After giving them his love, he left for the west gate, the contingent belongings to the Great Families and Noble Families already prepared over there.
When he arrived, he was greeted with a lot of enthusiasm, "To think someone so strong would be a part of our group,"
"Yeah, with him around, the other Genesis Foundation experts would dare to cause trouble,"
"True, unless they gathered a lot of Genesis Core experts, they would have to give us some face,"
Ryker ignored the chattering of the others, instead opting to scan over the one that would be a part of his group. He spotted the elders of the Great Families, along with some captains of the noble guards.
He also spotted some rogue cultivators, likely hired by the Great Families and Noble Family for extra protection. He even spotted a familiar face. "So, we would be on the same team this time?" Ryker asked the merc.
"It seems that way. But having someone like you would be very helpful, after all, they still didn't know your true strength," the man replied.
"That was just a tournament battle. I will only get truly serious in a battle that decides our life and death," he answered the man. The man nodded, understanding his action and why he was still holding back.
"See you then," the man said, before heading towards the direction some other mercs had already gathered. Ryker shook his head, after all, the first time they met, it was when he was fighting the man so he wouldn't cause havoc in the Hal Family Estate.
Still, even if he still had some grievance with the man, which he didn't, he would still accept him, the man cultivation at the 9th Stage Genesis Core would be a boon to any forces that tried to recruit him.
As for now, he decided to check his preparation, not knowing his presence was already noted by the other forces.
-x-
"So he decided to go with the Great Families and Noble Family,"
"From the look of it, it was something they had already agreed on,"
"Yeah, I think you're right,"
"Huh, and I want to invite him to our family,"
-x-
"So, he decided to team up with the local force, huh?" Miyon exclaimed, her eyes falling on the young man that decimated an entire population of the Genesis Foundation experts standing on the top of the kingdom.
"It seems so young lady," another handmaiden exclaimed, looking at the general's daughter with some apprehension, worried she would do something stupid.
"See if we can contact him inside the area. I will try to talk with him,"
-x-
"The monster already had a team, huh? And when I was about to ask him to join forces. Oh well, you can't get anything," Guro said, looking at his subordinates before yelling, "You know why we yell?! So that we can make our enemies tremble from the force of our words alone,"
He continued, "I want you to at least hunt down one beast, if not, I'm going to punish you for incompetence.
-x-
"He's going with those from the local great forces. It would be hard to hurt them. After all, he would be surrounded by Genesis Core experts," Horo thought to himself out loud.
He looked at one of his subordinates before telling him, "I want you to tail the young man. When he split from them, I want you to tell me so immediately,"
The man nodded before heading towards the group discretely.
-x-
"So he already teaming up with the local powerhouse. Oh well, there would be time to make contact with him,"
-x-
As the group prepared themselves, one Genesis Source expert flew towards the gathered forces. "Follow me," he merely said before flying away, the Genesis Core experts quickly gathered the others and flew after the expert.
By the time he stopped, the Genesis Core experts had already panted. While they could easily fly, carrying others with them is a tiring job. Only when they reached the Genesis Source realm would doing such a thing would be easier.
The Genesis Source expert descended towards their location, saying, "Rest for now. In one hour, the entrance would be opened,"
Hearing the announcement, the forces quickly focus on recovering their Qi, not wanting to be caught off guard when the entrance finally opened.