The last words spoken by Radagak were emblematic, and Damian stood there, trying to make some sense of what he was saying. It did not work.
Damian glanced at the youth who had helped him, and the man instantly froze, afraid Damian would make him his new target. "Thanks for the help. I will let you go this time, but if you try something..."
"No, absolutely no! I will stay put like an obedient rat!"
"Good. I will go to the next level first; you can wait here. Then you go after around 20 minutes to ensure my ranking is intact."
"Understood, boss."
All the humans who betrayed him were now dead except for that youth who claimed to have been forced to betray him. Damian only had forgiven him because of his help when facing the octopus, and now the help with Radagak.
Also, it was good to have a survivor, someone to share the details of how merciless Damian was. That would be a good thing for the future to ensure people had second thoughts before betraying him again.
After the fight ended, Kaia and Marilla went there to check and were glad to see Damian was alright, although they were almost sure he would be the one who survived.
"So you are leaving now?" Marilla asked, sweeping her tiny fingers through one of the many strands of her hair.
"Yes, I am. But you said you can leave this level, right? So you can come to see me any time!" Damian said.
"Really?"
Marilla moved toward him, giving him a tight hug and kissing him. The youth was beside Damian and felt jealous for a second but said or displayed nothing which could anger his boss.
"Take care," Kaia said, waving at Damian as he passed through the sacred lake, going into a tunnel behind it.
The end of that tunnel had something Damian was familiar with, a massive staircase! He knew that would lead to the next floor, probably resting, so he kept moving forward, eager to be the first again.
Sure thing; once Damian arrived at the end of the staircase, going up those massive stone blocks, catching his breath a few times to not pass out, he reached the next resting floor!
No one was there. It was impossible, obviously. No one had completed the previous floor like Damian had.
His eyes unconsciously moved toward the ranking ladder, and his name got updated, showing now that he had completed yet another level! Also, his contribution points, the ones he could use to buy anything inside the Skyfall Tower, and it was also a way to see who was doing things correctly, were just massive.
'Maybe it is because of this egg I got? Usually, killing the boss at the end of the level grants many points, but I got even more and did not kill the boss!'
The only explanation Damian found was the egg. He took it out from his spatial ring, looking at it. It still looked lifeless, but Damian knew it had something inside, but only time would tell.
He stored the egg again and enjoyed the empty resting floor, browsing through the library and seeing if he could buy something decent in the exchange shop.
A few things inside the exchange shop caught his attention, and Damian could not help but compare it to his system shop, and hell, the exchange shop lacked when compared to it.
'It does not look worth buying items, but I think contribution points inside the tower will be easier to get than Erotic Coins, so maybe I can fetch something nice after climbing more of the tower,' Damian thought.
The place was quiet and lifeless, and after standing in the main hall for some time, Damian could not endure it anymore. It was just too dull.
'The first batch of people inside this place is limited, but when it opens again, I know my rank one will be lost... Should I stop climbing, seeing I have a good lead, and start training?
There was nothing to do there and no one to talk to, so Damian went on doing the only thing possible for him: train. He went toward the area of the room and got himself the best one available for the first-ranked player like he did on the last resting floor.
He aimed to learn more of his spells from the Necromancy Book and train his body using the equipment available, which unfortunately wasn't the best.
'Life Drain. This spell looks interesting. I will focus on this for now.'
Damian browsed through the many spells inside his Necromancy Book and decided to go with Life Drain. The name itself was self-explanatory, but to put things into perspective, Damian would aim his palm at a living creature and absorb its life essence.
It sounded dope and valuable. Those were the two criteria Damian had for a spell, and Life Drain checked the two boxes, so he sat in his private garden with the Necromancy Book in his hands and got to work!
What he had in mind was a peaceful time, focusing on learning the spell, and it happened that way.
Some people completed the tower's second level and were inside the same resting floor Damian was. No one looked surprised once they saw 'Dawn' written at the top of the ranking, and soon the stories of how Damian killed those who betrayed him spread, making it so that everyone feared him!
"Only one survivor out of that many people? Gosh, I hope I never encounter this man in my life!"
The new sensation inside Skyfall Tower was Damian and how ruthless he was. Since he completed the first floor as the fastest person, he was a sensation, but people acknowledged his skill and nothing more.
But after the killing part at the end of the second floor? Everyone feared him, and no one wanted to mess with him again. Damian became a man people did not speak his name.
"You are all so scared about this bullshit? Who here actually saw the man or how he looks? No one! I believe he is just a fairy tale!" A man wearing fine clothing said.
Anyone could tell the man was not from Earth but somewhere else, and different from the many people who had more tribal and savage looks, that man looked like an aristocrat.
He was there in the main hall, drinking with others around the tables, and that's when he said those words, making the hall quiet. No one dared to speak those words about Damian; in fact, no one wanted to be the dumb person to do so.
"What? Are yall really scared of that man? Bullshit."
The aristocrat believed everyone went silent because of his words, making him proud, puffing out his chest, and acting like a superior being. But that was not the reason everyone was quiet.
A man was standing right behind the aristocrat, wearing a black mask that showed only his red eyes and a long black cloak covering his body.
Everyone knew who that man was. Dawn, the legendary man inside Skyfall Tower. The aristocrat noticed the strange gazes aimed at his back and momentarily felt a shiver run down his spine.
'Could it be?'
The thought crossed his mind. He turned around, praying inside his mind that whoever was behind him was not Damian and sure thing, his dreams got crushed when he saw the creepy man behind him.
"What did you say?" Damian said with a hoarse voice.
"I-I, I said you are the best around here, right guys?" the aristocrat said, looking at the others sitting at the tables.
They all agreed with him, nodding or giving him a thumbs up. Damian had heard what the man said, yet there was nothing he could do inside the resting floor, or else that spirit would come and end his life, so he did not push the subject further.
Also, Damian had other things to worry about, but he noticed how different that man was from all the others who looked more tribal.
"I want to speak with you. Come," Damian said, leaving the main hall afterward.
The aristocrat stood there without knowing what to do but soon realized what was happening, so he followed Damian to the library.
"Why do you look so formal, different from the tribal people?"
"Huh?"
"I will not ask it again," Damian said.
"Well, I think you are new to the dungeon or something, but the tenth floor is home to humans, and many from a place called Earth live there, almost full-time too! Humans are scattered on all dungeon floors, but the tenth floor is the most prosperous place."
"What? Something like that exists?"
The government and the big organizations hid many things from the population. Damian knew that, and the tenth floor of the dungeon seemed to be one of those things.
Damian never heard about a place where humans were living.
"The tenth floor is so massive its size is more extensive than Earth. The population is similar too."
Damian did not know, but humankind worked on making the tenth floor their next world because something was about to happen...