As Aron and his group walked further away from the settlement, the woodland around them grew denser, making it near impossible to see more than a few meters ahead.
It was because of such terrain and conditions that Aron rarely used his vision normally and instead chose to see the world through mana signatures.
Still, he and his group moved incredibly cautiously, despite the seemingly casual nature of their strides. With Jagu and Jin still not fully healed, Aron preferred to avoid combat if possible.
They had walked in complete silence until the settlement they had just left was no longer in sight. It was then Rose inquired, "And what is our next destination?"
Looking forward, Aron pointed to their east and spoke, "For now, the east. My father mentioned that's the area where the only other race present on this continent can be found, the Aethelians."
Jin looked back upon hearing this and felt some slight relief. "Does that mean we won't have to worry about them attacking us?" he questioned.
But to his disappointment, Aron shook his head. "Unlikely. I was told that although they don't venture out of their territory, they don't act kindly to unwelcomed visitors. And if we're speaking in terms of techniques and arts, they are unmatched, although their physical bodies are incredibly weak in comparison."
Everyone registered this information, with the exception of Evanora, who just listened per usual but rarely spoke. However, instead of just walking like she usually did, Evanora was constantly looking around with curiosity.
Normally this wouldn't be seen as odd for her but there was nothing particularly eye catching, which made this strange even for her.
"Something's wrong…" Jagu suddenly ruffled his nose and shared this worry whilst also looking around.
Aron the others soon came to an abrupt stop and began examining the area around them.
The ground had short thick grass with muddles patches whilst the gigantic trees possessed foliage that allowed very little light to penetrate into the dark and gloomy woodland.
Despite what most would describe as an eerie atmosphere, Aron couldn't see anything wrong. So, he turned to Jagu and asked, "Where?"
Jagu though also seemed unsure, like he couldn't quite tell either. It was only when Jin paused in thought for a moment that he realized something, "I think I got it," he muttered before taking a deep breath and initiating one of his techniques, [ Mist Illusions]
In its own it was just a more in-depth control over the elements that most skilled mages had. However what Jin's techniques special was the level of control they required.
To convert many droplets of water present in a given area into gaseous state and even then, to control the flow of that very product.
Aron wasn't sure why Jin chose to use this specific technique and just watched with caution as the mist rose up. Upon reaching a certain height, something immediately caught everyone's eye.
On top of one of the ruined branches, the mist left a gap, as if there was something in its way. Jin quickly pointed out, "There!", and in the next moment Jagu, who had already crouched down and gathered strength in his legs, pounced.
A vicious wind spread from beneath him and caused the mist around him to completely blow away. His gaze was set on the spot the mist moved around, which he grabbed onto with his outstretched hand. "Got you!"
In what was a swift movement, Jagu landed back on the ground with immense force before lifting his hand, which for moment looked like it had nothing until suddenly smoke began to emanate from it as Jagu felt a strong burning sensation.
"Dammit!" Jagu instinctively opened his hand but the moment he did so, Aron moved his own at even more startling speed and held the unknown thing.
The same thing occurred and a burning sensation could be felt by him, however, it didn't faze him in the least and he just shifted his hand a little before a cracking noise was head.
It was only then that a pitch-black bird of sorts appeared in his hand, its eyes lifeless and neck snapped.
"What is that?" Rose inquired and Aron turned to look at Jin. Back in Pesia, he had seen Jin use a similar technique that allowed him to control a bird and see the world through its eyes.
Jin walked over and examined the bird and nodded, "I'm not sure, the technique I know of isn't this complex, to the point where it can't even be seen, smelt or even heard. I've never seen anything like it," he revealed with some concern etched on his face.
Not one to just let things go easily, Aron began to pluck out a few feathers and immediately found the answer to the bird's peculiarity, "Runes, either by a very skilled sage level user or a grandmaster."
Hearing this, Rose who had also become very familiar with runes asked, "What makes you so sure?" She was curious as to how Aron was able to tell just by glancing at the patterns on the bird's skin once.
To which he answered flatly, "You cannot completely hide the mana signature of an object or creature without at least some understanding of the relationship between mana and reality. These runes for example make the bearer take on the properties of the environment around them, practically making them invisible unless one is very sensitive to mana and can differentiate any little changes around them."
This explanation caused Rose to fall into thought, whereas Jagu just looked confused. "What does that mean?"
Aron crushed the bird into his hand and allowed its remnants to fall to the ground before answering, "It means you have other skills you need to hone, and that we might encounter formidable enemies if we continue in this direction."
Jin's entire faith in the group was based off of Aron's many capabalities, so anytime he showed extra caution toward something, he knew it was dangerous, so he warned, "Whoever was using this has likely already seen us, isn't it just a matter of time before they come toward us either way?"
Although Jin presented a good point, Aron had already reached his own conclusion on things, "No, in Limbo the strong don't blindly start fights they aren't sure they can win. As long as we display we are strong, they won't make the first move unless we draw too close to their settlement or wherever it is they are."
ραndαsnοvεl.cοm The plan made sense, the only thing that Jin wondered though, was "how?"
Without answering, Aron's eyes took on a strange subtle glow and in the next moment…
Boom!~
A terrifying and dense fluctuation erupted from him, even more dreadful than that of his father's. These were the fluctuations of a beast monger with nothing but pure Sol mana and thousands of wills.
Normally, because of how erratic the balance of Sol and Luna mana was in Aron's body, he couldn't control his own fluctuations with precision. But now, he could accurately control in which areas of his domain had the most concentration, with his center having the weakest so his companions didn't collapse, and the outer areas just being a vicious storm of mana.
Any and all wildlife that made contact with these concentrated fluctuations died instantly. It wasn't something a being below the eighth tier could avoid, which meant Aron could give off the illusion that his strength extended even further, despite not truly being in eighth tier skillwise.
He did this for only a moment, even he knew that if anyone looked closely enough, they could see that his true strength wasn't mirrored by his fluctuations like most beings and creatures.
Following this action, numerous pitch-black birds began to fall to the ground, creating an even more eerie atmosphere in the woodland. As for the creatures just outside the disaster area, they fled as far away as they could, their instincts detecting a Limbo disaster was on the way.
Aron looked at his hands and nodded approvingly, finding the lifted burden felt even better when he chose to use his power in great quantity. He looked at the others and saw that they viewed him with oddities, especially Rose and Jin.
In Jagu's case, his admiration and desire to become more like Aron grew, whereas Evanora saw nothing odd, Aron was Aron.
Aron could notice the changes in his companion's eyes but didn't bother explaining the truth, after all, it was important they remember he wasn't someone to trifle with.
"Let's go, at most this display will only buy us a few sleep cycles to form a plan of approach and to allow you two to heal. After that, chances are high that they will grow anxious about our presence here.
Meanwhile, many kilometers away in a settlement similar to the one Aron and his group just left, a lone and elderly Aethelian male sat cross legged on the highest branch of one of the tallest trees in the area.
His shut eyelids soon opened and revealed sightless eyes that looked toward the distance.
"When did our region birth such a being… this is troubling, yes, very troubling. I must, I must, yes, I must warn my children, they mustn't, no absolutely not, he shouldn't be fought." The male spoke in an erractic tone while his head twitched at odd angles.
However, he too erupted fluctuations carrying incredible viciousness, as if to answer Aron's display.
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