Aaron listened into the darkness, still feeling bruised from his short encounter with the group from upstairs. So far he had been lucky, opportunistic, but he suspected even with the advantages he had already amassed over that group, he needed more. A way to deal with the scroll mage was his top priority and he did have some ideas about it, but nothing he would call a concrete plan yet. But for now he needed to get away cleanly. He moved slowly through the darkness relying on the sound of his footsteps and a hand on the walls to navigate. His sense of smell sadly was not as useful right now because of the woman he was carrying. Her perfume was too intense up close and it made his nose less sensitive towards other smells. It was funny, the stinking, acrid smells of the cave they had lived in were much easier to work around, but the nice smell of the perfume the woman used was much more difficult to ignore.

So without his nose at full capacity he got lost again during his way back, taking a wrong turn here and there. It took him far too long until he could finally smell the scent of his group. But at least nobody could really follow his track easily like this. Stab was on guard duty and the man nodded to Aaron quietly. Aaron returned the gesture before he walked into the camp.

"Got another one." he called out and the group that was eating dinner around their fire looked pleased. Robin and Mortimer toasted him while Shia shoveled the rest of what smelled like stew into her mouth before she got up.

"A girl this time, eh? No peeking guys. I will be quick."

"Thanks." Aaron said as he set the unconscious woman down behind one of the tents. Shia nodded to him and then started to rifle through the woman's pockets. Aaron sat down next to the fire and got himself a portion of stew while he waited.

"How did it go?" Roger asked while he ladled a double portion into a bowl and gave it to Aaron.

"Not too well honestly. Had a bit of a hiccup. They blew up a group of moths with some sort of chemical reaction which turned the whole cave as bright as daylight. One of them, that woman over there actually, saw me and I had to fight. They were strong, very versatile and one of them is a fake mage."

"A fake mage?"

"A Vessel that can sort of cast spells. Guy uses magic scrolls, like the one you destroyed Roger."

"Ah, that is not surprising. Groups from upstairs have knowledge of classes and routes through the tower from centuries of sending people down here. But a Vessel that can cast spells is rare." Roger said with a nod.

Aaron told them all about their little fight, let the group know of the strengths of each of the members of that group while he ate. Just in case they had to fight them at some point. Better be prepared than have them face the enemy without the knowledge he had gathered. Aaron chewed the meat of the stew with relish without wondering or caring what kind of meat it was. The stew was basic, but tasty. Robin's handiwork for sure. Halfway through his meal Shia came back around the corner of the tent and Mortimer got up to carry the woman to their prison.

"Here, that is all she had on her." Shia said and put the contents next to the fire. Roger fished another locator slip out of the pile and chucked it into the fire.

"Oh yeah, the coins they carry are some sort of identification marks, but they can locate them. So its better if you give them to me and I throw them away." Aaron said and Roger handed him both coins.

"Stab told us that the coin told him the boy's name over there when he identified it." Roger said with a nod.

"Did the boy say anything?" Aaron asked while he continued to eat.

"Nothing really, he is far too weak to do anything. Losing your class does not look like fun." Robin said with a grimace.

"Right. I should take her class too. I was fairly busy getting away clean." Aaron said and put his bowl down.

"She also needs a potion. You really did a number on her." Shia said with a small smirk and raised eyebrows, that made Aaron shrug in response.

"She stabbed me and then tried to claw my eyes out. I was not really amused."

"I bet there are a fair few girls who would pay for that treatment." Shia said, now grinning.

"If you say so." Aaron responded slightly uncomfortable.

"Oh you bet, the districts finest do not kink shame. Maybe its the other way around though and you enjoyed getting your hands around her throat?" Shia said and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Shia, please." Roger said with a groan.

"I am not doing this for fun, believe it or not, I was hired for this. And I do not like traumatizing children." Aaron said, making it clear he did not feel that way at all. Shia smirked to herself, but continued teasing Aaron.

"Then stop strangling them all if you don't want to get a reputation, you could knock them out next time instead." she quipped.

"I worry I might crack their skull by accident if I do that." Aaron explained seriously. "Head injuries are much worse in any way than an injured throat." Aaron said and then sighed.

"But fine. You are right, I was not very gentle with her. But that is what happens if you fight."

"Sorry, I am not really complaining Aaron." Shia said, conceding the point, her teasing tone turning seriously.

"Rather the opposite. I have never seen someone knock out two people the exact same way with the exact same result. Its kinda scary."

"Better efficient than dead." Aaron said and let that statement stand. He did not like fighting kids, nor did he like having to knock them out that way, but he would do it if he had to. He walked over to the makeshift Prison. He heard Roger bump Shia's hips behind him and she clicked her tongue and sighed. She probably had done worse things for the district than kidnapping. So in a lot of ways this was just Shia trying to get under his kin. The surprising thing was that it kind of worked. Aaron was not sure why he even wanted their approval. This was not like him at all, he reflected, but he could think about it later, for now it was better if he focused on more pressing matters.

He reached the prison and studied both the boy and the girl bound to the iron ring in the wall. It looked like nothing had changed at all. The boy was awake, but pale, trying to nudge his unconscious companion awake. But he stopped when Aaron stepped closer to them.

"What have you done to her?" he asked fiercely, but his voice was weak and so it ended up sounding more like a rasping gasp than an actual question.

"Nothing you have not experienced yourself" Aaron said and knelt down next to the girl. Then he focused, ignored the voice of the boy protesting and called upon Soul Catcher. When the technique had formed he reached out and grabbed the girls spirit and dragged it off her unconscious form. It was simple, easy. The spirit came lose like he had taken a blanket of her prone form. Her spirit was around the same size as the boy's, which was to be expected. They leveled up together after all. He could see the woman's body shudder as the spirit left her and her shallow breathing turned ragged. With a sigh he unstopped one of his health potions and spread the red liquid on her throat and on the purple bruises that were already forming on her skin. Next he forced some of the potion into her mouth and made her swallow. She groaned in pain, but her breathing became more even and strong. The boy next to him stopped complaining and was quiet as Aaron patched his comrade up.

The familiar weight of the spirit settled on Aaron's chest and with a sigh he stood up. The boy stared up at him, his eyes the only thing that did not look weak.

"Why?" the boy asked and in his eyes burned a fire. Rage, malice, a thirst for revenge and an aggrieved spirit all of those and more was in his gaze. The gaze of someone swearing your death in their mind. Aaron took the gaze. It was not the first time he had seen that. He remembered it on quite a few men, before he shot them.

"Because I want your spirits." Aaron said simply and the boy looked genuinely shocked for a moment before he frowned.

Aaron sighed and knelt down next to him, staring into the boy's eyes.

"Don't worry, I won't kill your friends or you. That is not what I was hired to do."

"Then what do you want?"

"Like I said, I just want your spirits. But their boss." Aaron pointed to the group. "Well that's their business."

He stood up and turned towards the fire when the boy said something again.

"We can't tell you anything. They would kill our families if we did."

Aaron shrugged and gave him a look.

"Then instead of one or two years you will spend the rest of your life down here on the lower floors."

Aaron straightened and walked back to the fire, leaving the prisoners behind without looking back this time. He bowed down and gathered the two coins up from the belongings of the two prisoners and showed them to Roger.

"I better go and take these coins somewhere else, before they can pinpoint this location." Aaron explained and held up the two coins. Roger nodded to him.

"Go ahead, you are making good progress. But if I might give you some advice. Drawing this out will only make the remaining people in that group desperate." Roger said with a meaningful look.

"Desperate people with a lot of knowledge like these kids are dangerous, even to monsters like you. Its better if you take them out in one fight if you can. We can hold some Vessels if we need to, that won't be a problem. Although you are absorbing spirits at a much faster rate than I expected."

Aaron gave the man a smile.

"Tricks of the trade. But yeah I will try."

Aaron walked out of the camp, not really in a hurry right now, but as he thought about it, it became more and more clear that Roger was right. He needed to find a way to end this quickly. Too many things could go wrong. Starting with the group deciding to leave to places he could not easily follow them, like leaving the floor or fleeing to some random spot on the fourth floor. It would take him months to find them if they just left. Another problem would be if they set up a trap for him somehow and he fell for it. Too many bad outcomes could come from giving them too much time and not trying to wipe out their group, non lethally of course, in one fell swoop. It was not an easy prospect, it was risky and Aaron's nature was to go for sure things. So his best plan for now was that he needed to get rid of the coins and then absorb the Archer's spirit to break through to the fifth realm. With that he would be halfway through to the foundation realm. His big goal. He could barely imagine how much a major breakthrough would strengthen him. More power meant less risk in facing that group. Aaron did not believe he was unbeatable or impervious to error. He would make mistakes, he knew. But if he was strong enough then he would not die from his own mistakes. That was the only thing that could lower the risks. Getting stronger.

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Aaron scented the air a few caves away from the camp and decided to deposit the coins further away from the camp than he initially had planned. He followed the scents of monsters, especially strong scents. It took him half an hour before he found one he was looking for. A guardian. Aaron peered into the illuminated cave that was basically a giant spider nest and chucked the coin into the pool illuminating the entire cave. As the coin flew by, a massive spider crashed down just after it. Meter long legs with sharp spear like tips stabbed into the rocky earth leaving deep gashes. Mandibles chattered and Aaron quickly retreated through the tunnel he had come from. Luckily the spiders did not follow him, nor had they spotted him in the first place. The next coin he carried with him as he listened for the sound of flowing water.

Aaron had to cross a few caves with monsters to get to the source of the sound, but the darkness was like a shield. Rats scurried around him, ants passed him by without taking any notice of him. It was like he was invisible to their senses. Or rather it felt like they did not see him as a threat, more like an obstacle when he got in the way. After walking quite a distance he finally found what he was looking for. A cave with flowing water. Beyond the small waterfall he had heard from a distance, he found a pool of water. Aaron threw the remaining coin downstream of the small river and heard it fall into the water with an audible plop.

That done he scanned the cave and listened for anything suspicious. But besides monsters that ignored him in the darkness he was safe. It really seemed like darkstalkers were a rare occurrence on this floor. He stripped out of his clothing and then stepped into the pool of cold water. This pool was much larger than the one he had used before and when he sat down he had to stay at the edges of the pool to keep his head above the water.

For a few minutes he carefully considered the day he had, the fights, the decisions he had made. He did not feel like he had made any obvious mistakes, but he should have considered that luring monsters to test the group from upstairs could have unexpected consequences. At the same time waiting and watching would have given him far less information and opportunities. So there was no clear answer to the question if he had made mistakes. Probably? But nothing he could remedy today. The hatred in the eyes of the boy also bothered him a bit. He did not like leaving enemies behind, but at the same time he was glad not to have to kill them. His moral code not to harm children unless they were obviously killers was one the pillars that made him who he was. He had never broken that code and although technically the teenagers were Vessels and as such had the power to kill, it did not make it feel right.

Aaron listened to the water flow past him, falling down behind him at the waterfall. His tumultuous mind settled and the started to meditate. He did not use any mana stones or beast cores to cultivate, but instead just drew on the Qi in his blood, in his entire body that accumulated by the fiend god art slowly over time. He drew it into his cycling pattern and the meditative, familiar actions made his mind clear and calm. Next he collapsed his senses into themselves, ensured his body was relaxed, his mind absolutely calm. His mind entered the zone of absolute silence, of sensory deprivation and then, only after he was sure he was ready, he began.

Forming the Soul Catcher Qi construct inside of his dantian was simple, much easier now than ever before. It felt like a muscle he had to only flex now to create the technique. He reached out with the technique and grasped the spirit clinging to him. Slowly, but inevitably he drew the spirit into his dantian, took its thrashing and struggling before submerging it in the thick viscous soup like fog of his power inside of his dantian. He pushed the spirit down towards his center and felt the outside of the spirit get seared away by the sheer force and pressure of his power. The new Qi created was easily channeled by the surrounding Qi into his cycling technique. At first it was a trickle of his own Qi, then a flood that came out of the cycle. Even before a fifth of the spirit had been absorbed Aaron felt his Qi reach the ceiling of his dantian and he started to concentrate his Qi in the core of his dantian.

He drew upon his Qi, made it follow his will, made it flow and thicken around a center of will. Aaron started compressing it, his mind concentrating now only on this task while the new Qi was siphoned into his cycling technique almost automatically. Aaron pulled his Qi, made it flow towards his core the freely and then the newly created Qi from the spirit flowed naturally away into his cycling pattern. He pulled on all of his Qi, felt the spirit as it was dragged along and his focus was absolute. He compressed his core as much as he could as the weight of his Qi pressed down upon it and then he tried to add another layer on top of the core. Compress the Qi as much as he could.

It took him a long time until he felt like he had reached the full extent of his concentration. His mind felt tired, the concentration needed was just too much to keep this up for long. It felt like he was holding on with all of his might against a bomb, against Qi trying to escape his grasp and stop being compressed this much. His control over Qi had improved over time and that helped immensely. But it was not enough to truly control it. After who knew how long Aaron could not hold on anymore and tensed. He let the starburst go and a shockwave of power shot out that his inner eye rode like the wave of a tsunami. His dantian's outer walls were seared, passed by with little resistance as he enlarged his dantian.

Then when Aaron felt the power of the shock wave slow down as the resistance grew, Aaron drew the power back in. It was terrifying trying to wrangle the rampant energies back into a singular point. But he managed. The entire time the spirit was dissolved and the fresh Qi from it soon joined in on the effort, fueling his breakthrough. Aaron managed two more starbursts before the spirit was entirely dissolved and after one last exertion of effort his power settled down.

What once had been a small cave in the darkness of his minds eye was now a giant cavern, an extensive heaven stretching expanse of empty space. The walls of his dantian were solidified, felt tougher than stone now and the thick soup of his power only filled around 20% of his dantian, looking like a lake of power on the bottom of an underground world. Satisfied with his work, Aaron opened his eyes and let his senses flow out once more.

Aaron felt hot even as he felt the cold water around him wash away some of the thick impurities his body had expelled. Trying to hold back his sense of smell he dove into the pool, found himself surrounded by freezing cold water and not caring at all. He held his breath and started scrubbing his hair, rubbing his skin clean until he finally was satisfied with the feeling of his body. The slick thick substance clinging to it was mostly gone replaced by unblemished skin.

Everywhere he had been injured before the impurities were especially dense. He felt his back where the archer had stabbed him just earlier in the day especially and had to rub himself against a rock to remove that layer of dirt. Panting Aaron came to a rest once he was done. His nose satisfied with his cleanliness as he went over himself once more with soap and then stepped out of the water.

His steps felt light, his body thrummed with an internal power that was undeniable now. His physique was better than before, his muscles more defined and yet Aaron knew this was only the fifth of 9 levels in this realm. Not even close to the foundation realm. And yet his power had increased once more, he was more resilient, tougher and stronger in the same slim frame.

Still naked, but not caring about it he fell into the familiar stretches Mei had taught him. He went through them slowly once then faster and faster until he leapt and turned in mid air, far more graceful and more explosive than before. His muscles had not significantly bulked in mass this time so he felt more flexible than before. When he felt his body relax and become limber he switched to the katas. The Rejuvenating Fist came as easy as breathing to him. His punches strong, direct and his body felt like it was made for this. When he finished the first set he reveled in the intense feeling of relaxation as his body reacted, got used to the upgrades as opaque and difficult to discern as they were. Every new step in the Qi Refining Realm was a massive upgrade to everything.

As Aaron trained, switching to the Unceasing Palm kata he felt his senses open up as well. His hearing was sharper, his sense of smell if not stronger then more precise. It was far easier to point out the direction smells came from and pinpoint it. But like always this was a double edged sword. He could still remember the pain of being crushed from all sides by that spell. If the scroll mage had not let up, Aaron did not know if he could have escaped or if the pain would have overwhelmed him. In the moment he had been able to ignore it, had been able to draw on his discipline, on his experience fighting. But if his senses increased further there would be a point were a non debilitating wound would become debilitating to him simply because it would hurt that much. He had not reached it yet, but he dreaded the next for minor realms because of exactly that. The pain of getting injured and he would get injured would be impossible to bear. Not that it mattered right now, those were future problems.

Aaron dressed himself, ensured he had not forgotten anything and then started to move back the way he had come from. His steps were light, his mind clear and calm as he considered his next steps. Roger's suggestion of taking them all on at once was very tempting, it also made a lot of sense. But so far the only people he would feel comfortable fighting in the remaining group was the crossbowman, the iron smith and the group leader. The first one because the crossbow bolts had looked like he could take them if he could even hit him,. The second one because in melee having iron skin would not make a difference to his fists. Blunt force was the best way to deal with that guy and since he did not want to kill them, pummeling them into submission was his plan from the get go. The swordswoman he had confidence in because as good as her swordsmanship was, she was still held back by the style itself. Her blade was predictable and that meant he could dodge, parry and eliminate her easily in a one on one.

But they would not fight him one on one. They would come at him as a group. The remaining three targets were all problematic for their own reasons. The scroll mage because he obviously possessed a potent crowd control spell and the man himself was cool under pressure. He was formidable and taking him out of the equation would almost certainly ensure his overall success. The man with the staff also had used some sort of magic, but more subtle, more like a strengthening sort of magic. He was also the healer of the group. The danger from him was that Aaron did not understand his capabilities. They did not seem to be offensive at all, but he loathed to underestimate the man and so the unknowns about their healer made him a dangerous opponent. Last but not least the alchemist. He was a problem because Aaron did not know what kind of concoctions the man had, what he could throw at him. It could be anything from explosives to poison. But in the end even simple irritants that made his sense of smell useless or his eyes tear up would be a significant detriment to his fighting strength.

Aaron found the path back to the lava cave far easier than he had expected thanks to his enhanced senses and eventually decided for a little detour. He needed to get used to his current strength and the best way to do that was to fight with low stakes involved. While his mind worked on the problem of how to beat the group, his sent his body to warm up in a nest of rats. The problem was he had nothing to attract their ire, like a glowstone with him. So he simply stomped one of the rats at the entrance of the nest. There was a squealing and a few rats come to investigate. Their attacks came gradually, eventually the whole nest turned against him, but it was a slow process and the smart rodents only used their typical tactics after Aaron had already rampaged through a quarter of their nest.

Aaron found it quite difficult to get used to his new strength. While he had not bulked up in muscle, his muscles were more explosive now, his body more flexible as Aaron jumped and smashed the rats apart. He flipped over the next one, underestimating his own strength and almost flipping to the ceiling even without Wind Steps activated. He overshot, over-committed and used too much power in most of the fight. Slowly he got used to his power, lowered the strength of his punches and made them faster, more compact as he danced through the mass of rats. With his slightly improved senses the Unceasing Palm Kata was also more effective, his reaction speed had increased by a lot and that meant evasion, blocking, shifting attacks away from himself was much, much easier now. It still took time to acclimate, to learn about his changed physique.

When Aaron was done with the rat nest, he was satisfied with his progress, but he was dirty again. So he went to wash his hands and face in a nearby stream when the earth suddenly began to quake. Aaron was far more sensitive than most people about vibrations and he could immediately tell that the origin of the earthquake was the lava cave. He stood up and then hurried towards the vibrations, moved quickly through the darkness to find out what these kids had done now.

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