Aaron was the one who walked in front, which, of course, the team leader had to do. Isabella and Clara followed behind while watching in case any monsters suddenly attacked.
"Do you know the route in this maze, Clara?"
"Sorry. I've never done a monster raid before. So, I don't know for sure."
"I guess so, huh?"
The three stopped at the first intersection, with two paths leading in different directions. Aaron squinted, uncertain which was the right path to the floor boss.
"Right or left?" Aaron asked Isabella.
"Should we split up?" asked Clara.
"Splitting up will make us easily killed. It would be better if we stick together."
Isabella walked forward right beside Aaron, her eyes focused on the left path. Aaron noticed Isabella's line of sight and wondered why she kept her eyes on the left path.
"Is there something?"
"I have a strong feeling the floor boss should take the left path," Isabella explained.
"What do you think, Clara?"
"I'll follow where you guys are heading," Clara replied.
Not wanting to delay, Aaron continued the walk by taking the left path. Isabella nodded, stepping off, with Clara following close behind.
The walls and width of the labyrinth path made the three walk freely. The high roofs of the maze caused air circulation so abundant that it wasn't stuffy or choked.
The more Aaron stepped ahead, the more a woman's scream was heard from the front, in the dark of the maze.
The three paused in their steps. Aaron prepared the purple energy power from his palm while Isabella brought up her talent magic.
"Be careful."
In the distance, two people came out of the dark with injuries. The man held his severed hand while the woman helped carry the man beside her with shuffling steps.
"H-Help us," pleaded the woman.
"Isabella, you go protect them."
"You go heal the man, Clara."
"Okay." The two women behind Aaron said yes, they hurriedly ran to get them while Aaron stepped quickly towards a black claw crab monster.
[Monster Details:]
[Monster: Black-Capped Crab]
[Level: 35]
[HP: 32000/38000]
[MP: 34000/40000]
[Element: Water]
'So, is it the one who injured those two?" Aaron asked.
The woman was saved by Isabella. She looked beside her and watched as Clara healed her friend. Clara couldn't perform body reconstruction, but she could help stop the bleeding.
"What is he doing? He won't be able to kill the monster by himself!" said the woman. Isabella smiled and patted her shoulder gently.
"Don't worry. The monster is no match for him."
Confident words from Isabella, but the woman had also heard similar words and always ended in death. For her, confidence was good, but it must be balanced with strong abilities.
The crab began to release a black fluid from its mouth, an acidic liquid that could melt flesh and break bones. Aaron jumped back, preventing the crab's attack from hitting one of his bodies.
'That's pretty dangerous, a slight hit could be fatal,' Aaron said.
Just as the young man was floating in the air, it surprised him to see the crab pointing two black claws straight ahead. Aaron widened his eyes, immediately directing purple magic to the front.
BOM!
An explosion happened on the maze's rooftops, causing rocks to fall and potentially injuring Isabella and the others. The woman pointed her hand up, preventing the rubble from falling on her head.
"Is he alright?" asked Clara, still stopping the bleeding on the man's hand.
"I have no idea. I'm sure he can handle the attack."
[Magic Activated]
[Magic Talent: Purple Wall Shield]
[MP -750]
Aaron smiled. Although it wasn't high-level shield magic, the strength of the dark talent managed to deflect the two black claws of the crab monster.
[HP -450]
'Even though I tried to withstand the attack, I still took damage from it,' Aaron explained.
The black liquid was still pooling on the labyrinth floor, yet to evaporate as the monster's magic remained active. Aaron landed firmly before Isabella, the woman smiled in relief to see Aaron was fine.
"I told you it's hard to kill. We'd better get away from this place," said the woman, insisting.
"Is this the right path to the floor boss? Do you know how to get there?" asked Aaron, turning his head.
"I do. Still, I don't know what kind of floor boss."
"That's more than enough."
[Talent Activated]
[Sub Talent Activated]
[Claws of Darkness]
[MP -37000]
Again, Aaron brought out the purple magic in his hands. A great power with a strong gust of wind was created around Aaron, surprising the woman and Clara. Neither of them had expected that Aaron could use such a powerful talent.
'How strong is he really?' Clara asked curiously.
Isabella smiled. She asked the others to step a bit away from Aaron. Clara and the woman obeyed what Isabella said.
The purple magic of the dark element wrapped Aaron's two hands in the form of sharp eagle claws. The crab monster screamed loudly as both claws began to clamp down. It drove powerfully through its own black acidic liquid.
Aaron moved his hands diagonally, forming a six-sickle attack that crossed forwards. The pace of the scythe attack was so fast and powerful, it even left a trail of scratches on the ground.
They watched the cross scythe attack; Clara and the woman were curious about the damage caused by this power. But, it was different with Aaron and Isabella who knew what the result of this battle would be.
[Damage +15689]
[Critical +27560]
[Critical +29800]
[Three Combos! Great!]
BOM!
A powerful explosion with purple energy filled the location of the crab monsters, a blast of strong wind was created that made Isabella have to form a magic shield to protect them.
'The damage he dealt was equivalent to 70000 HP. Is it possible he has another sub-talent with a large amount of damage?' Isabella asked.
Due to the attack, two black claws were cut off and spurted black blood. Slowly, the crab monster's body vaporized and disappeared into tiny scattered particles. An EXP notification panel appeared before Aaron.
[EXP +26584]
[TP +13292]
[3500 RL]
[DING! Congratulations on leveling up]
[Level 31]
[DING! Congratulations on getting the last hit reward]
[3 Blue Mana Crystals Lv.1]
[2 Labyrinth Map Floors 2-3]
[4 Water Element Beast Fragment Lv. 1]
'Blue Mana Crystal? I never knew about this,' Aaron said.
"Did you manage to level up?"
Isabella walked over, Aaron responded with a smile. He also brought up a Blue Mana Crystal Lv. 1 that was small in size, similar to a pill with a wave-carved pattern on its surface.
"Oh, it's a blue mana crystal to increase your mana capacity. For the 1st level, it usually gives an additional mana capacity of 100," Isabella replied.
"Really?"
'Then this thing will be very valuable to me. It can help me solve the problem of my MP amount being unbalanced with my talents,' Aaron explained.
Haunted by curiosity about the truth of blue mana crystals, Aaron brought up the three crystals and shattered them.
A stream of blue energy entered Aaron's body through his forehead, a notification popping up before his face.
[MP capacity increased!]
[MP Capacity +300]
[Total MP: 6900/6900]
'Woah, it really increased from before, plus the level increase and three Blue Mana Crystals.'
'I should get more of these.'
"What kind of monsters do I have to kill to get the Blue Mana Crystals?" asked Aaron.
"Monsters level 35 and above with water elements," Isabella replied.
"You don't have to worry. Many equipment shops on the tenth floor sell this thing. We just need to climb there quickly."
Aaron nodded. If what Isabella said was true, then he could buy many blue mana crystals there while slowly leveling up and killing many water elemental monsters.
The rescued woman withdrew her words about confidence and carelessness. She admitted that Aaron's abilities were different from others.
"My name is Sila, and he's Thomas. Since you've helped us, I'll help you safely get to the floor boss room," Sila said.
"Follow me."