Attack after attack was released relentlessly, targeting a practice object that had been prepared earlier, an iron dummy that had great durability.
"HYAAA!"
Jackson landed a fire sword strike in a crescent blaze forward, hitting the iron dummy and bringing up a pop-up panel before the young man, who stated the amount of damage the training dummy had received.
[Damage +92]
"It's now 92, before it was 140. It looks like it'll be hard to get attack damage over 200 for now," Jackson replied, holding the magic sword in his hand.
He glanced forward and saw flames appearing and burning steadily on the iron dummy, but it only dealt a small amount of damage that wouldn't affect it much.
He opened his system panel and saw he was still at level 27, needing a few thousand EXP to level up. However, the dungeon monsters were no longer interesting to him. It was because Jackson often raided that place.
Jackson sighed softly, looked forward again, and prepared to resume training. Even though it was only practice, every damage Jackson dealt could give him 1 point of EXP.
That was why training alone would not be suitable for leveling up; the only quickest option was to raid monsters, either at the dungeon or the tower pillar.
Just when Jackson was focused on practicing striking the iron dummy, his ears faintly sensed the mysterious sound of footsteps from behind and his detection skills sensed the presence of mana energy from others.
The young man quickly spun around and turned his head to stare at the mysterious person. Jackson pointed his sword and noticed that the mysterious people who had come to his backyard were Aaron and Natasha.
"It was you, I thought it was someone else."
"Even though you've done the talent inauguration, it seems you don't want to stop practicing, Jackson," Aaron greeted, stepping closer to the wooden fence of Jackson's backyard.
"No weakling can survive in a cruel world like this. You know what I mean, right?"
"Yeah. I completely understand."
Jackson turned to the side and smiled in greeting at Natasha. He knew the girl was Natasha, the Light Talent User.
He had only heard about her and never met her in person like now, but she was indeed beautiful, in Jackson's opinion.
"So, what brings you here, Aaron?" asked Jackson, removing the magic sword with both hands crossed.
"I wanted to raid the tower pillar, but since our mage levels aren't enough, I asked for your help," Aaron replied.
"To be able to enter the tower pillar, you must at least be at the Student Mage level. However, there is a convenience where a party can be formed as long as the leader is someone at that level."
"I already know about that."
Jackson was relieved that Aaron knew the rules for entering the tower pillar. It was a coincidence that Aaron came here. Jackson actually wanted to go on a monster raid to improve his skills.
"Alright. If you guys really want to go, I'm ready to lead you," Jackson explained, deciding to go.
Jackson pressed his system watch, pressed the friend's menu, and clicked the party feature. There, the young man entered the party name as he wanted.
"Activate your system watch's signal transmitter," Jackson ordered.
[Initiate searching for the nearest system watch user signal!]
[System Watch User Signal discovered]
[Number of users: 2]
[1. Aaron Lewis]
[2. Natasha Kimberly]
[Invite users to a party?]
Jackson pressed the yes button, as a notification message was sent to Aaron and Natasha's system watch. A pop-up panel appeared above their watches, inviting them to join the party.
[Jackson invites you to join the Dragon Slayer Party. Confirm?]
"Dragon Slayer?" asked Aaron, confused.
Natasha chuckled while looking away; the party name Jackson wrote was absurd.
"Hehe, I think it scares many people when they hear the name."
"Whatever you say, Jackson."
Aaron and Natasha pressed the confirmation button on the pop-up panel to confirm Jackson's party invitation. Now, another panel appeared before Aaron with the overall party details.
[Party Details]
[Party Name: Dragon Slayer]
[Party Title: -]
[Leader: Jackson Rick (Lv.27)]
[Member:]
[1. Aaron Lewis (Lv.20)]
[2. Natasha Kimberly (Lv.24)]
[3.]
[Party Message] [Party Mission] [Leave Party]
Aaron smiled. Now, he could start training to become strong enough to defeat Jack The Ripper's soul. Even so, he must be careful when using his new talent, not letting it be known by many people.
"Alright. We'll meet tomorrow morning at the entrance of the Earth Core Tower. Let me know in the party message menu if anyone gets there first."
"I understand."
***
The next day.
The Portal Gate of the Earth Core Tower.
Aaron was the first to arrive, where it was almost eight in the morning. Every portal gate to the Earth Core tower would open at nine o'clock.
Since his house had burned down, Aaron was forced to stay at an inn for the night. Fortunately, he had some savings that were enough to let him sleep in a small and cheap inn.
While waiting, Aaron casually opened his system panel, especially in the Talent Status menu. There, he saw a new talent along with other sub-talents.
All these talents belonged to talents with the darkness attribute, something that was rare or almost never seen before.
[Talent Status]
[Main Talent: Dark Dimension Reality]
[Sub-Talent:]
[1. Reality Domain] [Cost: 50.000 MP]
[2. Claws of Darkness] [Cost: 37.000 MP]
[3. Energy Devouring Sword] [Cost: 40.000 MP]
[4. Dimensional Explosion Orb] [Cost: 72.000 MP]
[5. Dimensional Dark Portal] [Cost: 100.000 MP]
[Rank: SSS-R]
[Stage Rank: 2]
[Talent Point: 308,540/499,999tp]
[Efficiency: 301-400tp/h]
'With the amount of MP I have being less than 5000, it seems like I'm still unable to use the sub-talent's ability,' Aaron sighed.
Aaron turned off the status panel again and looked ahead, a crowd of adventurers gathered before the portal gate just as the watch was about to show nine in the morning.
Natasha came by herself from the side, wearing a long-sleeved outfit and some armor protecting her shoulders, elbows, and knees. Her appearance was similar to a knight, even though her ability was a mage.
"Am I late?" asked Natasha, Aaron shook his head.
Now, the two were just waiting for Jackson to arrive. Natasha said she looked forward to having her first monster raid in the tower pillar.
The girl wanted to know how challenging the monsters in that place were; Aaron was as curious as Natasha.
A blue pop-up panel of notifications appeared before Aaron and Natasha. The two looked at each other briefly, then cleared their throat in response.
They pressed the panel and read the text written on it, a notification of news about their party.
[Elisa has joined the Dragon Slayer Party]
"Elisa? Do you know her?" asked Aaron, Natasha shook her head.
Natasha took the initiative to open the party status panel and look at the names registered in the party. They saw Elisa's name written in third place as a member, with a level of 26. That way, it was confirmed that Elisa was at the Student Mage level.
"Maybe she's Jackson's close friend."
Aaron cleared his throat. He didn't mind at all. In fact, the more strong people, the easier it would be for the party to handle the monster raid on the tower pillar.
Not long after, Jackson arrived with Elisa. Jackson came with light armor, while Elisa wore a typical mage's simple dress that fit her well.
"I invited her because she's my friend and wants to try the monster raid at the tower pillar. Do you mind?" asked Jackson.
Aaron glanced to the side, catching a glimpse of Natasha. The two exchanged looks and began shaking their heads, not minding at all.
The circular portal between the two stone pillars began to glow blue, and a notification panel appeared at the front of the portal to tell the people who had gathered.
[The Portal Gate of the Earth Core Tower opened]
[Portal closed countdown]
[00:11:59:59]
"Usually, the tower pillars will be opened an hour after the Earth Core Tower portal gate opens," explained Elisa, who knew a lot about the Earth Core Tower.
"While we wait, we should go to one of my friends. He can help us with the equipment."