Chapter 22: Conquer

'Shop?' Aria questioned.

Her mind instantly went to that of the System Points, which had been left alone to no use.

More notifications came in before she was able to process the Shop.

[Dungeon Clear: Great Earth Spirit (100% damage dealt)

Clear Conditions: Dungeon Boss Great Earth Spirit (1/1).

-Since the <Player> dealt more than 50% damage, the rune and items will go to them. The <Player> may choose to share the items if needed.

Completion Rewards: Dungeon Rune, Spirit Feather (Light), 20.000 SP, 15000 EXP, +2 Status Points.]

[You are able to conquer this dungeon.]

[You are able to absorb its core.]

'Why is it Light if Rallaka's of the Earthen element?' Aria raised a brow.

The Spirit Feathers.

These were common to be dropped or procured through the subjugation of spirits. The drop's chosen element will correspond with the spirit's own.

Shrugging it off as a coincidence, Aria stored the items inside her inventory.

"Savior-nim?" Jin-kyung tilted her head, wondering why Aria was making swipes at the air. She saw nothing floating, so Aria looked like she was delusional.

She chose not to question the woman's action, but it still bothered her.

"...Right," Aria realized her mistake and made a light cough. "We are done here,"

"Done... The dungeon is cleared?"

"Yes,"

"But the boss... That is the boss, right? A spirit.. Contract? I didn't know that you could do it this way!" Jin-kyung rambled on.

Her ability seemed to have activated by itself, judging from how her reactions occurred. Revelations were made to the girl.

'Really convenient.' Aria couldn't imagine how powerful and maniacal this power can grow up to be in the future.

"The dungeon rune," Aria gripped the ochre stone tightly. It had a reflective surface that glimmered in certain angles, just like a beautiful gem.

She was offered two options.

To absorb the power contained within the stone, or to 'conquer' it.

She didn't know what was being conquered, but it certainly enticed her.

'It's better to find out early.' Aria didn't really care about gaining new Mains. The [Scarlet Vines] she obtained previously hadn't been used.

It wasn't like she didn't know how to use it, it was just that her level of proficiency had to be trained in order for the skill to be on par with the rest.

Gaining the new Main, she noticed that it was hard to use it. Sluggish movements. Disconnected actions.

This special quality made it a displeasing feature for her.

In contrast, there was the other option. Conquer.

She ought to try it.

'Conquer.' Aria commanded.

She was getting used to the System. The commands also started to become natural for her.

Like the System was continuously merging with her.

The notifications started.

[The 'Conquer' process has been started. 1 C-ranked Dungeon Rune will be consumed.]

[Absorbing life force from current dungeon. Please confirm the objects you want to leave untouched.]

'Is there even any material left? Rallaka absorbed it all.' Aria grumbled.

As if taking that as her answer, the System continued.

[Seclusion complete. Mobilizing the rune to contain the dungeon's energy.]

[Absorption complete.]

[Result: Retrieved 120 Life Force.]

[Automatic process: Constructing 'Rebirth' Skill Foundation with obtained life force. 100 units consumed.]

['Rebirth' skill formed.]

[Next phase: Form. Insufficient Life Force. 20/10000.]

'Rebirth?'

"Savior-nim, what happened?" Jin-kyung sensed the change in Aria's expression.

Everything has been confusing for the girl, and she found Aria's presence to be mystical- out of the world.

Aria lowered her gaze to ponder on the matter.

The concept of rebirth was nonsensical to someone like Aria, who lived off proven testimonials and data.

Although many people sought this unnatural term, no one succeeded. Perhaps you couldn't let off the possibility of them losing their memories after experiencing the rebirth, thus rendering them unable to leave records for people to discover the truth, but Aria begged to digress.

Even something as absurd as Unity had a written prophecy with proper instructions and cryptic journals along with evidences that proved the phenomenon. The items mentioned in the script: the bullet; the flame; the binding rope; the Unitium; and the last unmentioned ingredient could be discovered.

Whereas, rebirth was only researched by a group of fanatics that strongly believed their story, having not made any improvements in their testings.

'Could the occurrence I went through be considered rebirth?' Aria pondered.

Indeed, through the entire journey spanning across thousands of years, Aria had kept her consciousness awake.

However, it was a fact that her body shouldn't have been able to patch itself up after undergoing the flame's torture.

Her condition was without a scratch- albeit overcome with hunger.

Her status, if she was truly the Aria Schreiner from the past, wouldn't be as low as it is now.

The System.

<Players>.

Levels.

The sudden appearance of isolated dungeons that inhabited monsters from her time.

If anything, didn't she accidentally undergo 'rebirth'?

Or was it transportation to a realm similar to hers, a vision of the future?

Shaking her head, she decided that this matter required more attention in the future. Alas, the current priority was getting stronger. She had to investigate on whether the Unity mentioned in the prophecies still existed, or not.

"Nothing much. The rewards just confused me," Aria replied.

Jin-kyung nodded in acceptance.

"Indeed, it is such a shame that the hundreds of goblin corpses were all eaten by... that thing, right?"

Jin-kyung was still taken aback by how Aria solved the problem. She managed to contract the dungeon's spirit.

It was a wonder. Someone proficient in all skills.

"How rude! This King's name is Rallaka! Rel. La. Ka!!" Rallaka was still bizarrely shaped. He tried to channel his anger into his actions, but it only ended up looking like an angry, floating yellow vegetable.

Rallaka's current form was worse than Dianthe's. Although he did possess the skills to outperform Dianthe, he needed a large amount of energy- life force to maintain the spells.

In total, there were about 350 goblins inside the dungeon. Even this distressing amount was only able to suffice for the dungeon's upkeep cost, not including Rallaka's own power source.

That was why Rallaka didn't attack them as a spirit. He lacked the power. All of the life force was wasted on providing the dungeon's needs.

Everything was perfectly calculated.

The one behind the dungeons, who according to Rallaka is called 'The Creator' must be a crafty one. They must've known that Rallaka had to be restrained if they wanted to place him on a lower dungeon.

Spirit Kings at their prime were miles away from a Red Ogre, the boss of a lower C-ranked dungeon she finished not long ago.

For Rallaka to be placed at the same level: C-ranked, he had to be restricted, making him unable to utilize his full power.

'I wonder if my arrival is within The Creator's expectations.'

Now that she had formed a dominant contract against Rallaka, there was a chance that she might be able to revive Rallaka's former power.

Did The Creator account for this scenario?

Or perhaps, even the <Players> were all a feud controlled by The Creator from behind the scenes?

Even her supposed 'rebirth'?

Then, finding the Creator must be one of her objectives.

She wanted to ask so many things, and the answers must loom around the being- or at least, be somewhat connected to it.

"Rallaka, how much life force do you think you have to absorb if you want to

"Hmmm... 10 dragons would be enough to let me recover. I can make do with the rest. Wait, are you planning to help me? Wow! Kind!" Rallaka twirled around like a tornado, expressing his happiness.

Using dragons as a measurement was unique. Dragons varied in everything. The element, skill set, genus, power ranking.

Similar to spirits and other creatures, they were divided into segments that differentiated between the various dragons.

The most general division would be Venerable - Legend - Great - Large - Medium - Small, from the highest to the lowest.

The six categories were known by everyone. Each levels also had a specific characteristic that helped others separate them.

"...Which dragons?" Aria gulped. Ten would be a chore to take care by herself.

Of course, she wasn't going to help Rallaka right now.

However, he was bound to her in a submissive contract. It was very profitable.

Exploitation of the spirit was possible.

Especially since Rallaka was a high-class spirit, she wanted to try and grow him up into a strong ally.

In the future, she would touch upon the matter.

For now, it was just research and planning.

"Medium ones would suffice. Small ones... would have to be double the amount," Rallaka clarified. By now, he has already realized that the woman seemed to possess knowledge similar to his.

The old, forgotten knowledge.

"What about the life force for you to start gathering energy from the wild?"

"..So you know about that too? I don't like that method. The energy is impure!! Unbefitting for a Great Spirit King like me!"

Rallaka got to know Aria more and more with every sentence she said. The woman was knowledgeable. Too much, perhaps.

As a Great Spirit, he noticed that as the times changed, magic became obscure.

There was one phenomenon that made a huge change in magic: up until the point of total annihilation.

However, his memory was fuzzy.

"Just answer the question," Aria pressed on her tone, indicating her seriousness.

Rallaka lowered his head as a small, protruding part of him that acted as a head drooped.