Aaron couldn't hide his shock when he heard the title Dark Ruler come out of Aerith's mouth because the young man only knew about the Great Ruler.
Could it be the title for someone who was the ruler of darkness? Were the Great Ruler and the Dark Ruler enemies? Are their powers evenly matched?
'It seems like all the questions in the back of my mind will be answered after arriving at the 100th floor of this place.'
With the power of Additional MP currently owned by Aaron, he was confident enough to step out from inside the cave to meet the high-level monsters.
One of the monsters that walked up to him was a thousand-eyed spider monster, larger than usual in size with a pungent-smelling green fluid. Aaron guessed it was a high-level poison.
The monster roared loudly, accompanied by a gust of wind from its mouth. Aaron was frozen, his eyes staring forward watching the spider monster.
[Monster Details:]
[Monster: Thousand-Eyed Spider]
[Level: 31]
[HP: 32000/32000]
[MP: 34000/34000]
[Element: Darkness]
A pop-up appeared before Aaron, bearing the details of the monster. Aaron had expected it; the difference between him and the monster was significant.
Still, he was lucky enough to get the Additional MP that Aerith gave him. The amount was large, and he could launch several attacks from his sub-talents.
[Talent Activated]
[Sub Talent Activated]
[Energy Devouring Sword]
[MP -40,000]
Purple-colored energy gathered in Aaron's hand. The energy grew bigger and wider until it formed a perfect sword. Despite its large size, Aaron had no difficulty holding it, like a regular sword.
The thousand-eyed spider walked over, launching its attack to paralyze Aaron. Yet, Aaron moved quickly by swinging the purple sword forward and slashing at the spider monster's body.
[Critical +143200]
[EXP +35850]
[TP +7425]
[DING! Congratulations on leveling up]
[Level 23]
[DING! Congratulations on getting a new title]
[3. One-strike killer]
[Kills any monster in one attack]
[4. The Born Hero]
[Kills monsters 30 levels and above]
With the amount of damage dealt, it was no wonder the thousand-eyed spider monster died at once. The purple light sword Aaron wielded seemed to attract the dark energy that had accumulated above the monster's carcass.
The material fell, looking shiny, which obviously attracted Aaron's attention to get a better look. He reached out and captured the material, grasping it with his right hand.
[Item details:]
[3 EXP Crystals Lv. 7]
[2 Crystal MP Lv.6]
[4 Potion HP]
[3 Amethyst Gem]
[8 Red Ruby Gold]
[3 Roll of white spider web]
[1400 RL]
"This is completely different from the common pillar towers that adventurers usually come to. The items obtained here are very rare," Aaron replied as he held two rare stones, Amethyst and Ruby gold.
He put them all into his storage ring. He couldn't wait to show them to Natasha, especially to see the expression she would show.
After taking it all, Aaron stepped away into the depths of the area. The dirty and muddy ground was an issue for Aaron. He often fell into small holes that made his clothes dirty.
Not only that but there was also the possibility of small but large-level monsters roaming this place. If Aaron didn't keep his guard up, he might have become a snack for the monsters here.
He tried to open his system panel and looked at the profile. There was a significant reduction in the amount of mana points in Additional MP, from 300,000 to 260,000.
[Additional MP: 260,000]
'One attack spent 40,000 MP. I can't do that anymore. This sub-talent should be my ultimate ability.'
'If I run out of Additional MP before I become strong, I'll be doomed here,' he lamented.
Aaron continued to walk up the hill and passed a stream that was black in color and smelled strongly of rat carcasses.
From afar, Aaron saw a wooden hut that stood firmly in the middle of the vast black field, which was quite strange to him.
He hid behind a large rock with his hand raising a flame. He quickly threw the flame towards the hut and watched as thousands of sharp-toothed worms began to lunge at the flames.
"It's a trap!"
Aaron's hands were folded over his chest. His head circled the surrounding field, trying to figure out a safe place for him to take shelter for a moment.
Yet, he found nothing as far as the eye could see. All he found were withered trees, black barren land, and the wind blowing the dust away.
Aaron tried to walk through the thick dust. His steps halted when he saw a glimmer of light similar to a lamp from the end of this place, located in a forest with large soaring trees.
"What is that? Is it a trap again?"
The man didn't care. He brought up the fire again and shaped it like an arrow. With a powerful bow pull, the arrow shot fast ahead and hit a tree. Aaron used it as a form of self-defense for him.
Unexpectedly, a horde of people on motorized vehicles came in a hurry. Aaron grew wary; he knew their arrival must have had bad intentions.
Three motorcycles with three people on each one, they were driving at a fairly high speed. Aaron held both hands and raised the flames to protect himself.
"You have balls, buddy!" said someone, getting off his motorcycle and stepping closer to Aaron.
"I won't hesitate to beat you. You won't be able to steal any of my stuff!" said Aaron.
He did not hesitate to bring out purple energy similar to flames from both hands. The nine people surrounding Aaron began to step back while bringing up their basic elemental magic, ranging from fire, wind, water, earth, and light.
"The element of darkness!"
"How did you get it? What's your talent?" asked one of the bikers, covering his face with a cloth so Aaron couldn't see what his face looked like.
A man walked up to Aaron cautiously, the purple energy emitted in Aaron's two hands was not an arbitrary element.
"Easy, buddy. We're not coming to rob you," he explained.
Aaron narrowed his eyes, feeling confused by what he was saying. Slowly, he began to turn off the purple energy in his hands, followed by the same thing by the other eight people. One by one, they removed their face masks and revealed they were human.
"You're humans? How did you get here?" Aaron asked.
"Just like you. You touched the orb of purple light, right?"
"That's the entrance to this place. We all go through similar things," he replied again.
"I'm David. I'm the leader of this group," David explained, introducing himself and his group.
Aaron also introduced himself. He was told that David led the Night Liberators, one of the three most influential groups in the Dark Pillar.
"This is just a branch of the center of this group. If you want to know, there's a Night Liberators group on every floor."
"Are you interested in joining?" asked David, extending his hand in a welcoming manner.
'The best option for me is to follow them while trying to improve my abilities.
"Alright. I'm in!"