VRMMO: Am I The Strongest Yet?

The moment they reached the deepest part of the cave, from the high dark ceiling of the cave, they were looking down at the dark scene before them.

The cloaked figure surrounded by the dark, murky aura was standing in the middle of a sinister looking magic circle, there was a dull purple pulsating energy oozing out of this magic circle, and just by looking at it, one could tell it was not something natural.

[{ "It's a summoning circle." }]

Alex had seen these kind of magic circles so it was not difficult for her to identify them.

She knew instantly as she saw it that the star that was enclosed in a circle in fact belonged to the Unique series of magic, one that did not run on elements but purely on the power of the evil that was used by the Dark mage.

[{ "But… how did he make it in this dungeon?" }]

Alex had fought these bastards in the great war a few years ago so she knew that they needed a lot of resources in order to create these magic circles.

These creations were essentially what gave them power and what summoned the minions that followed their orders.

The summoning circle was also the core of many of their powers so if someone somehow deals with the core magic circle that is mostly hidden somewhere, they can deal a significant blow to the mages themselves.

But…

Since one needed a great amount of Mana crystals or many sacrifices to create this kind of magic circle, a lot of mages shared the power from one magic circle and accepted the power from the evil they served through the connection of the summoning circle with the (Sealed world of beyond).

[{ "I think I might know the answer to that." }]

The guard captain was stunned by this discovery.

Contrary to his suspicions, there was actually only one dark mage here. But, unlike what he had thought, the mage had succeeded in creating a magic circle that was now directly connected with the veil world.

He was constantly accepting power from the other world and was summoning minions of darkness– short humanoid spirits that did not have a physical body, a creature that was a pain in the ass.

Dealing with them was a very difficult task, so even the presence of a bunch of them was considered to be something dangerous.

But from what they could see here, there were around a hundred of those minions alone in this cave, he wasn't even counting the creatures that the mage might have dominated with the dark energy.

It was common knowledge that the mages of evil were capable of various kinds of evil magic, and most of them were destructive.

Even the weakest of them were as strong as a (tier-4) mage with decades of experience.

The magic they used was different from the natural magic and was so dark that it corrupted nature wherever they used it.

Normal people could not stand this magic, and if they anyhow get in contact with the area affected by these dark spells, the chances of them going Mad and succumbing to the dark power increases exponentially.

Players were pretty resistant to the basic effects of the dark energy and the trained high level natives were as well so they needed to keep these agents of evil, as well as the dark beings connected to them away from the common people.

[{ "The mage needs high concentrations of Mana to activate these magic circles. Or many sacrifices and soul energy." }]

Elio was glaring at the magic circle.

It wasn't visible at the start since the whole damn thing was covered in dark murky evil energy but, if one looked close enough, they could see shards or fragments of shiny crystals that seemed to be disappearing as time passed.

These crystals must be Mana crystals, and the creatures- the minions that were being produced by the magic circle- resembled reptilians for some reason as well.

[{ "Oh… damn…" }]

It did not take Alex long to guess what guard captain might be hinting at or why Elio had such a grim expression.

[{ "We know there used to be a Crystal Gecko habitat in this dungeon." }]

Being Mana beasts, the unique Crystal geckos produced Mana crystals upon their deaths.

The older they are, the more precious Mana crystal they produce will be.

They did not have many combat capabilities and did not eat anything, living off on the natural Mana in the atmosphere their entire lives.

Now… why would a dark mage that might have chosen any place in this entire area, would choose a certain dungeon with mere goblins as his hideout?

[{ "That bastard…" }]

People avoided the crystal geckos but they also killed them many times. She had done so many times as well… but massacring the creatures just so you could use their souls and materials left behind by their deaths to summon minions of evil and get stronger was something too wild even from her perspective.

It was an act of evil, something that only someone like these crazy bastards would ever do…

"Miu…"

But that was not the concern right now.

[{ "I'm sorry…" }]

He brought the little gecko here so that he could be back with his family, but now, from the looks of it, nothing remained of its family.

This passage that the crystal geckoes might have used was now completely empty.

They could not see anyone other than that dark mage in this cave, there was no light in this place either other than the dull light from the torches covering this area and the light from the magic circle.

[{ "Elio…" }]

He was upset right now.

But, his eyes were still fixed on the mage ever since earlier.

They were watching him. Observing him, his actions, his movements, how he was moving his hands, how he was controlling the dark power, and what it was that he might have used to kill his little friend's family.

His eyes were fixed on him. They were not blinking. They were observing him closely– the dark mage was his observation target, and the two with him figured out what he might be up to right now after how he did not say anything for a while.

They waited till he finished observing or at least gave up… and the remaining time they had passed just like that.

[{ "All teams will move out and disperse through the same routes. We will regroup in area 12A." }]

Both the guard captain and Alex had to order the others to get out of the dungeon while they both gave him a few more minutes.

Appraisal would not work on a target like that dark mage, and even if it did, the mage would detect their presence if they tried using magic scrolls instead of a skill.

Thus, observation was the most useful way to get a basic idea of the strength of the opponent that they might be facing.

Alex wasn't very confident in her observation use, and the guard captain was the same.

So, if he was trying it and she was believing in him, the guard captain waited as well.

[{ "Got it…" }]

And their faith in him was not betrayed as Elio, even with a drop of blood cascading down the corners of his eyes, succeeded in what he was doing.

============

[Dark mage: Summoner] (Level-99).

============

But the results that he obtained from his successful attempt were not something anyone, not even his partner was going to like.