Ruler's Awakening: Inheritor of the SSS-Rank Dimensional Talent

"Exploring the Dark Pillar? I just finished it earlier."

Elvan stepped ahead, patting Aaron gently on the shoulder with sharp eyes filled with an expression of seriousness, "We're not looking to kill the Floor Boss, but to find hidden artifacts."

"That might take days to do. Usually, traces of the artifact will be seen when the raid time is over," Elvan said.

"What do you mean you invited Aaron to get trapped there together? Are you out of your mind, goddammit?!"

Liel never agreed that Elvan invited Aaron to be trapped there, with many dangerous monsters that could threaten his life. Still, Elvan didn't seem desperate to get Aaron on board.

"Whatever happens here makes people crazy, crazy about power or despair! Which one are you gonna choose?"

Aaron raised a hand forward, suggesting that the man before him stop talking for a while. Searching for hidden artifacts was new to Aaron.

No one could imagine how dangerous it would be to get trapped inside the Dark Pillar after the Raid was over.

The young man needed a specific reason why Elvan wanted him when he could have brought Alisha or the powerful person on the fourth floor. That was why Aaron was suspicious yet wary.

"Before you ask me, I need to know something. What is the hidden artifact? Why did you invite me instead of the others? How dangerous is it to explore the Dark Pillar after the raid is over?" Aaron asked.

Elvan smiled, clapping his hands while occasionally nodding his head. The response shown by Aaron was enough to make Elvan pleased; it was a sign that Aaron seemed quite interested in this discussion.

"That's good. To talk about that, we'd better do it in a safe place."

The man glanced to the side and over the area around him. The people who came out of the Dark Pillar looked at him fiercely. It had become normal for him but not for Aaron and the others.

Aaron turned his head, Alisha cleared her throat in approval. She trusted Elvan. The woman was confident that Elvan would not do anything bad to her or the others.

Isabella, Clara, and Liel decided to follow wherever Aaron went. Aaron nodded, he allowed Elvan to step in first as a guide.

"Where are we going?" asked Alisha.

"To the city, of course."

"The city?" surprised Aaron.

"Huh? Don't you guys know? There's a city on the fourth floor, although it's not as big as the city on the tenth floor."

'If that's true, is there any chance I can get the MP Crystal there?" Aaron asked.

Elvan continued walking through the paved road made of neatly arranged rocks, preventing tripping and so on.

Although they were walking on a path in the middle of the forest, Elvan said their current place was a green zone.

This meant that there would be no monsters wandering around and threatening their lives. He also described the role of the three main groups of the Dark Pillar Tower who initiated the idea, which they called the purging of wild monsters.

"Only low-level monsters live here, so it's easy for them to defeat them."

"I see."

'This should be done by the other three groups on each floor to ensure the safety of other adventurers.'

Arriving at the intersection, Elvan took the route to the right. On the route, Elvan and the others saw some adventurers walking together in the same way.

The man explained that the town they were heading to was in the Dimension Justice base area. However, the sales distribution would be given to other groups at different percentages.

The forest area passed, they arrived at a hilly green plain. Elvan pointed ahead, saying the city he meant was in the valley between two hills.

Aaron and the others agreed. They also faintly heard the sound of noise from ahead.

The first hill was passed over. From atop the hill, Aaron and the others could only gape in disbelief at what they were witnessing now.

A vast headquarters with strong walls made of concrete and barbed wire, dozens of people stood guard above the walls with their weapons —modified magic weapons.

People lined up with each other at the base's door gates. Elvan explained there were two types of checks they needed to do: identity and soul checks.

"Soul check?"

"There are monsters who have the Shapeshifting ability. They kill humans and take this thing," Elvan said, pointing at the system watch.

"They might be able to get past the identity check, but for the soul, it's impossible."

Elvan and the others began to line up behind each other. Just as they were lining up, the gatekeeper shouted loudly as he drew a magic sword ahead, stabbing a woman.

"Shapeshifter!" the guard shouted, stabbing the woman in the stomach without hesitation.

"Look. You have nothing to worry about if you're not a Shapeshifter."

Aaron observed it. The monster died and turned into particles of light that evaporated into the sky. A powerful and ingenious defense mechanism.

"Next."

Elvan entered with some money in a black bag. The guard opened it and counted the RL pieces inside, enough to allow Aaron and the others to enter.

The identity check required one to display their system profile, while the soul check required placing their hand on a blue orb of light.

If the orb turned red, it was confirmed that he was a Shapeshifter and must be killed. Aaron wasn't worried about that.

Elvan passed, as did Alisha, Isabella, Clara, and Liel. Now, it was Aaron's turn. The young man immediately displayed his system profile and touched the blue ball of light.

[System Profile]

[Name: Aaron Lewis]

[Age: 18]

[Level: 41]

[EXP: 34307/52000]

[HP: 12800/12800]

[MP: 19300/19300]

[Additional MP: 337000 MP]

[Mage Level: Intermediate Mage]

[Race: High Human]

[Title: -]

[Money: 52230 RL]

"Additional MP? What is it?" asked the guard.

"Just a gift of an additional MP from my friend. Can I come inside?"

The guard narrowed his eyes, then focused his gaze to the side. There, he saw the system panel appear after Aaron's hand touched the blue orb of light long enough.

[Soul detected]

[Human!]

"Go."

Aaron waltzed away after Elvan and the others. The gate passage was left behind, Aaron gasped into speechlessness, as did the similar response from Alisha and the others. Elvan smiled faintly at their reaction.

"This? Where did they get the items to sell?" asked Alisha.

"There are a few delivered from the tenth floor. Most of them are items obtained by adventurers after slaying wild monsters or taking part in a raid."

'This place is amazing. I'm sure the leadership of the heads of the three groups is really wise,' Aaron explained.

Elvan again invited them to leave. He had a recommended place to talk about this: a two-story tavern. He was already becoming a regular customer there.

Arriving at the tavern, they served a variety of food and drinks. Elvan ordered a common meal and a bottle of ale.

The man invited Aaron and the others to talk on the second floor, in a reservation room exclusively for regulars —Elvan had to pay more.

"I feel like I'm in the Earth Core Tower city," Alisha said.

"Think of it that way to keep our sanity."

"So, how do I start, huh?"

Aaron sat in the chair across from Elvan, Isabella and Liel sat in the other one. Elvan pressed the system watch and took out several items that had been obtained and classified as hidden artifacts.

There was a sword, a bow without arrows, several glowing blue bottles, a red bottle, a red orb with a dragon carved on it, and an orb familiar to Aaron's eyes, the Soul Core Orb.

Aaron picked up a soul core and pressed his finger long enough on the object to bring up the system panel about soul identity.

[Soul Identity:]

[Name: Tommy McArthur]

[Form: Soul]

[Soul Lv: 1]

[Talent: Fast Enhance]

[Talent Rank: B]

'Who is Tommy McArthur?' Aaron asked.

"Can you see him? His talent is trash and is only at rank B; it would be a waste of my servant quota," replied Elvan.

"Those are the souls of the adventurers trapped in the Dark Pillar. Do you think they really died? No. Those monsters are smarter than us."

"They aren't endowed with servant features, so they take the souls of adventurers and store them in chests. Some monsters use adventurer souls to improve their weapons."

"Is it possible?" asked Aaron, Elvan nodded.

"Maybe. I encountered a monster that used soul weapons once. It was enough to trouble me."

"You can get rare and valuable items from those artifacts. Just say what item do you want?"

"MP crystals."

"MP crystals? I have some of them."

Elvan didn't hesitate to show Aaron the number of MP crystals he had, ten MP crystals Lv. 1, seven MP crystals Lv. 2, and five MP crystals Lv. 3.

That surprised Aaron, in which it could help him increase his MP capacity enough to use his talents without relying on Additional MP.

"Where did you get this many MP crystals?"

"Hidden artifacts."