"A mouth can say it, but not a system. You think I'll believe it?" asked one of David's aides, denying that Aaron's rank talent was SSS-R.
Aaron turned to David and Isabella. David nodded; the words of his aide were completely true. Aaron had to prove that he had such a high-ranking talent to convince David and the others.
The young man had no other choice. He asked them to keep this a secret as he didn't want anything bad to happen to him regarding the high-rank talent. David and Isabella vowed to keep their mouths shut.
A pop-up system panel appeared above Aaron's system watch. David, Isabella, and the others looked forward. They watched the detailed writing about Aaron's talent; it was true that it said SS-R rank.
"I didn't expect anyone to get such a high talent. As far as my experience goes, the only S-R I've ever encountered was ten years ago," revealed David.
Every now and then, Isabella glanced at Aaron's face. He was still young compared to her, let alone David. A wild thought popped into Isabella's head.
"CP is an indicator of how strong you are. If he manages to surpass 30,000 CP, he can be said to be a strong person and able to survive in the Dark Pillar," Isabella replied.
"Ms. Isabella is right. Even if I dare to fight him, I'm afraid it will be me who will suffer an unpleasant end," said one of David's aides.
David continued to stare at the blue panel of Aaron's system, then was heard sighing while sitting back on his single-seat couch. He was reluctant to send Aaron to the Dark Pillar, let alone if he had to go with Isabella.
The middle-aged man preferred to send several female members to go with Isabella, although not all of them met the qualifications.
'If I refused, Isabella would probably go alone. That's much more dangerous,' David explained.
'That's fine. Isabella seems to love me anyway. I don't need to worry if Aaron tries to take her away from me.'
David glanced to the side. His right hand could be seen grasping Isabella's lithe, white hand. This made Isabella smile falsely as she looked at David with kindness.
"Are you sure you'll be alright if you go with him?" David asked.
Isabella sensed the doubts in David's heart and mind about this decision. The 26-year-old woman had to do something to convince him, even though she hated doing it.
"I'll be fine, darling. Thank you for worrying about me." Isabella stepped back with both hands wrapped around David's body. The two exchanged affection with each other, ignoring Aaron and the aides.
While kissing, Isabella opened her eyes and looked at Aaron thoughtfully. According to her, Aaron was the only one who could free her from David's control.
"You're more aggressive than yesterday, honey," said David.
"I want to spend this night with you before I leave."
'Of course, I spent the last night suffering from you!'
David laughed out loud; hearing Isabella's affectionate seduction made his heart happy and confident. David told his aide to prepare the supplies for Aaron. He even told Aaron to upgrade his level to at least 25.
"You better get ready, Aaron. You are the first member to go on a Monster Raid on your first day. My aide will prepare everything for you," David explained.
The man rose and put his arm around Isabella's waist, Aaron also stood up. After being decided, David stepped together with Isabella to the second floor of his house.
Occasionally, Isabella turned her head back as she threw Aaron a cute smile. Aaron looked away, realizing that she was trying to tease him.
'It will be dangerous if I get too close to her.'
One of the aides took Aaron away to a room in the new members' dormitory. There, he met the five people living there, all male.
"He's a new member of the group. Treat him well, as tomorrow he has to do the Monster Raid," David's aide explained, shocking the five people in the place.
"What? Raid Monster? What on earth was he thinking?"
"Didn't you make a mistake by choosing him as the Raid Monster team this time? He's our new member. How could his CP or level possibly qualify?" asked one of the people.
"Just so you know, he has a CP of over 30,000. So, if you doubt him, you can challenge him and die," said the aide, leaving the five people speechless.
No one dared to do so, even though their doubts were so big. The five welcomed Aaron and invited him to take one of the remaining beds.
"Can you show us your status?" asked one of the room's occupants.
'They will realize that my status is weak if I show them. The best option is to refuse them,' Arron replied.
"I'm sorry, but Captain David told me to keep it a secret. However, I might be able to show you this."
From Aaron's hand, he brought forth a purple energy identical to the element of darkness. Witnessing the unusual strength startled the five people, they began to feel confident that Aaron's strength was indeed stronger than theirs.
"Because of the nature and aggressiveness of the dark element, it is obvious that you are special, according to Captain David. I won't force you to show your status anymore."
"Thank you."
***
[Status Abilities]
[Name: Aaron Lewis]
[CP: 33793]
[STR: 16]
[AGI: 19]
[INT: 26]
[LUK: 13]
[DEX: 18]
[Ability Point: 0]
'Hmm... Leveling up by two levels only increases the CP by 100. Looks like I'll have to use other ways to increase it so that it doesn't rely too much on my level,' Aaron explained.
Aaron looked out the room window, watching the festivities happening in the center courtyard of the base. Some were drinking wine, roasting meat, sitting in a circle around the bonfire and talking to each other.
He picked up three of the 10th-level EXP Crystals David's aide gave him. They said those were high-level EXP Crystals with significant EXP points, capable of leveling up someone at a lower level.
The young man decided to take the high-level EXP Crystal he had gotten from killing monsters. There were a total of six EXP Crystals in his grasp.
[Item details:]
[3 EXP crystals Lv. 7]
[3 EXP crystals Lv. 10]
To be able to use it, Aaron crushed the six crystals to make the EXP points accumulated inside be directly absorbed into Aaron's body.
[EXP +127,500]
[DING! Congratulations on leveling up]
[Level 27]
[DING! Congratulations on getting a new title]
[5. Crystal EXP Adventurer]
[Using more than five EXP crystals to level up]
[DING! Congratulations on being promoted to the second tier as a Student Mage]
[DING! Shop System feature has been unlocked]
[The currency used for transactions in the Shop is RL]
[Every item that has been purchased can only be collected at the Merchant Shop System in the floor city]
'I didn't expect advancing to the second tier would unlock so many features in my system,' Aaron said.
While looking at the system panel before him, Aaron was startled by the appearance of purple cracks around him. He could feel a powerful dark energy emerging behind his back.
Aaron turned around and saw Aerith arrive with a smile on her face. She stepped out of the dimensional rift with two arms crossed.
"Aerith?" asked Aaron, startled.
"Hello, Aaron. Your time is up."
"Eh? Does time run differently in this place?" asked Aaron.
"Yes, it runs faster than the real world."
The dimensional rift opened up even larger, revealing a red cage where the evil soul was confined and waiting to be conquered by Aaron.
"I've come to pick you up to fight Jack The Ripper."