Right after Rasputin's soul orb was grasped in his hand, Rasputin's soul body disappeared into tiny particles that evaporated into the sky.
Now, a red circle appeared on the ground, and an ancient script was clearly printed in a circle and rotated clockwise.
"Since you've unlocked the servant menu, you can set it up more easily there," Aerith said, Aaron clearing his throat in response.
He pressed his system watch, bringing up the servant menu system panel that had just been opened for him. There, he saw several features available on the menu panel.
[Servant]
[Search Servant:]
[Add Servant]
[Enhance Servant]
[Terminate Servant]
[List Servant]
Through the menu panel, Aaron found the feature to add servants. Aerith nodded. It was easier for Aaron to add servants if he had already unlocked the feature.
Aaron pressed the Add Servant feature and brought up another panel according to the previous command. The young man was already quite familiar with this kind of system; it was not difficult for him to understand.
[Select servant type:]
[1. Beast Servant]
[2. Mythological Race Servant]
[3. Soul Servant]
He pressed exactly on the soul servant menu, another panel of information popped up, one of which was about the main requirements of performing a servant contract.
[Soul Servant selected]
[Servant Contract]
[Required items:]
[Soul Core Orb]
[Mana Crystal]
[ATTENTION!]
[The amount of Mana Crystals is determined according to the Servant's Talent Rank]
[SSS-R: 1000 Mana Crystals]
[SS-R: 500 Mana Crystals]
[S-R: 100 Mana Crystals]
[A Rank: 50 Mana Crystals]
[B Rank: 10 Mana Crystals]
[C Rank: 1 Mana Crystal]
'Oh, I just found out about this. The higher the rank of the talent servant, the more Mana Crystals are needed to perform the contract."
As usual, Aerith helped Aaron with some of her help. She handed over 100 Dark Mana Crystals to the young man to help him succeed in the soul servant contract process.
"Where exactly can I get this thing?" asked Aaron while holding up a black bag full of Dark Mana Crystals.
"You can get it after the 50th floor in this place. For now, let me provide your needs for the servant contract," explained Aerith. Aaron nodded with no objection at all.
[Confirmation of item availability for the Soul Servant Contract Ritual?]
[Yes] [No]
He brought up two items in both palms. The right hand held the Soul Core Orb and the left held 100 Dark Mana Crystals.
Aaron pressed the yes button to confirm the requirement of the Soul Servant Contract item. Now, the system on his watch began to scan the items in Aaron's hands.
[Scanning items for soul servant contract ritual:]
[1 Soul Core Orb detected]
[100 Dark Mana Crystals detected]
[Soul Servant Contract Ritual requirements met!]
[Initiating Contract Ritual]
[MP -30000]
The process for the soul servant contract ritual began. The maroon magic circle in front of Aaron lit up brightly, a sign that he had to immediately hand over the two items to be placed in the center of the magic circle.
There were actually two processes to follow. But, since Rasputin's energy had already been absorbed into the Soul Core Orb, Aaron only needed to undergo one last stage, which was the manifestation of Rasputin's soul servant form.
The Soul Core flew out accompanied by a stream of purple energy from 100 Dark Mana Crystals. Slowly, the purple energy radiated out and connected itself to Rasputin's Soul Core.
At this moment, Aaron only needed to wait until the stage ended. Aerith walked over and stood beside the young man, watching the procession of the servant soul contract well.
"If you succeed, put him to good use. I will invite you to challenge a servant again when your level reaches 56," Aerith said.
"Who's the servant I'll fight next?"
"I don't know. It could be Tamerlane, Genghis Khan, Queen Mary I, or maybe Adolf Hitler."
'Those are names from history. Are they really going to be my servants?" Aaron asked.
Aerith looked forward, watching the procession of Rasputin's soul servant body formation. Aaron looked forward again, watching as Rasputin's servant body began to take shape.
Slowly, the servant was finally fully formed into a servant with Rasputin's face and appearance. Aaron was happy, Rasputin's presence made him more confident to conquer every floor in Dark Pillar.
[Servant]
[DING! Congratulations on establishing a servant contract]
[Number of Servant: 1]
[Name: Gregory Rasputin]
[Talent: Reality Persona]
[Talent Rank: S-R]
[Servant Level: 1]
[CP +15000]
Servant Rasputin was present before Aaron. His face looked flat with his eyes focused on Aaron, waiting for further orders from him. Aaron smiled. With Rasputin present, he could feel at ease when Servant Jack the Ripper was still deactivated.
"Now, you have two servants who can help you. Use them wisely and conquer more floors, Aaron."
Aaron cleared his throat, understanding every word Aerith said to him. It was true that he had two servants, but the limitation in the number of MPs made it difficult for him to balance the usefulness of the servant features.
"What about your Additional MP? Do you still have enough of it?" asked Aerith.
"Yes. I still have about 300000 Additional MP."
"Your talent forces you to use a considerable amount of MP, Aaron. So, be patient for that," said Aerith.
The woman stepped back like climbing a ladder up to her black rose throne. There were some things that Aaron wanted to ask; maybe Aerith knew something about it.
"Aerith," Aaron called.
"What is it, Aaron?"
Just when Aaron was about to ask, he was reminded of the situation in the living world. Aerith was indeed a strong woman, but there was no guarantee whether she knew the item he was about to ask about.
"It's nothing."
"Are you sure? I might be able to help you, Aaron," Aerith said.
"I'll work on this on my own. If I get into trouble or danger, just help me when it happens."
Aerith squinted, eventually agreeing to Aaron's request. Aaron said goodbye to Aerith as his matters were done. Aerith happily opened the dimensional rift for Aaron, letting him leave the place.
A dimensional rift was created, Aaron stepped through it. Aerith smiled and waved, letting Aaron return to the living world.
Aaron arrived at a house surrounded by a stone fence. According to the directions on the map, it was the safe house Aerith had shown him.
Just when Aaron was about to step inside, a barrier blocked his steps. Aaron narrowed his eyes. There seemed to be a certain magic that made it difficult for him to enter.
"Who's the fool who dares to come into my house?!" said a woman, violently slamming the door, startling Aaron.
"Who are you, fool?!" he snapped.
"I'm Aaron. What are you doing in Dimension Justice's safe house?" she asked.
"Safe house? This is my house, dammit!"
"Who the hell are you?" asked Aaron, curious.
"I'm Lorelei! I'm Alisha's sister."