After leaving the settlement under the escort of some Aethelians, Aron and the group found themselves once again in Limbo's wilderness.
Although the Aethelian's territory was the safest and most habitable place they had come across in Limbo, the wilderness just brought a different feeling with it, one of caution and emptiness.
The lack of galavanting wildlife and singing birds was a bit strange for a so called aethelian sanctuary but no one brought it up, with everyone's mind lingering on what Aron had discovered.
"So, what did you discover from elderly aethelian?" A curious Rose broke the silence as the group began their trek to back to edges of the aethelian territories, causing Jin and Jagu and listen in with focus.
Aron, unsure of how to put it, simply revealed what he felt was necessary for the moment, "The Aethelians of this land also once possessed a gate like the one we found before in Pesia, although Rorthik claims they had given it away to generate peace between them and the Kolieans of the north."
This news was big on it's own as the others understood what it represented.
"Can we use it to travel to other worlds like the one before?" Jagu who had no idea how any of the complex interactions surrounding manic or structures left him curious as to what this meant.
Did they need the gate? Was it's value so great? And If so what was their plan?
Although not very outspoken, Jagu who had grown up in the primal lands of the Komi islands often thought a lot. By nature, he was cautious and preferred to know rather than not, putting his on edge personality at ease.
This especially became true in Limbo where he further found out the gap of power between himself and the natives, many of them far more battle hardened than him with even greater strength.
It is only through Aron that Jagu was beginning to understand the delicate balance required between power and knowledge for one to truly excel and survive.
Thus, he began to be slowly more vocal about his thoughts, a change so subtle that the others simply thought of it as him opening up, Aron included.
As knowledgeable as Aron was, he also judged most beings based on the information he gained from recorded scripts and literature. This lead to often stereotyping others, which thankfully didn't become a fatal weakness due to his own clever nature.
To answer Jagu's question, Aron shook his head, "I don't know, but if I were to guess, then no. Rorthik expressed strong desire to travel to other regions of Limbo, but hadn't done so despite possessing the gate. Either he doesn't know how it worked or… it simply doesn't work."
Not one to cling to hope, Aron was quite honest with the options the gate provided. He more than anyone else wanted the ability to move freely across the regions of Limbo, to explore, to discover the world through his own eyes, but doing so wasn't easy and he was coming to learn that first hand.
At this time, even Jin who was listening silently decided to add some input, "So if that fails we have no choice but to accept living in this world?"
Jin spoke in a tone of reluctance, despite his carefree attitude half the time, he had his own thoughts regarding Limbo and having been here for sometime, he couldn't imagine himself finishing his life here.
Unknown to Jin, his question had rattled the mind of the usually composed Aron. Because of his success thus far, he knew others saw him as if he were all knowing and powerful, but Aron was grounded enough to know his knowledge and power was a mere drop in an ever expanding ocean.
With no strong leads or grounded information, Aron truly had no idea how to cross through to other regions. As things stood he only knew of two ways, the first being the gate and the other being through natural evolution as a Koliean, both skeptical routes.
The first was founded upon principles Aron didn't even fully understand, and worse of all the gate was in the hands of an opponent he couldn't face at the moment, his own race, at a peak of power in their history.
As for the second, it posed a similar problem, having no solid evidence to support it aside from words alone, which Aron always chose to be skeptical of.
Seeing Aron go silent in thought at Jin's question, she also chose to comment, slowing her pace to stand near Jin and Jagu before speaking. "We are venturing into territories of knowledge unknown to the current era of Pesian natives and even this regions, it's only natural we face obstacles. Answers simply do not appear, even to those you consider to possess intellect beyond comprehension."
Her words were basically to tell Jin and Jagu, that Aron wasn't omnipotent, and that he too was capable of finding himself stuck.
As for why Rose herself wasn't worried about being at such a juncture, it's simply because she saw it as an opportunity.
Thus far, in her own view, Aron had worked in ways she had never before seen, and presented new knowledge like it was nothing to her.
At that time, it felt like there was nothing he wasn't knowledgeable about. Yet as time went on, she realized this wasn't the case but still, his brilliance remained.
Now, seeing him encounter something that clearly troubled him, Rose was more than curious as to how he would solve it. 'I need to see whether I was wrong about your brilliance, mistaking it for a great deal of luck and circumstance.'
Aron also understood the meaning behind Rose's words, but all he felt was that he had finally revealed a weakness in the form they had so long thought to be unbeatable.
'It was always a matter of time.' Aron thought, not surprised but unhappy with the present situation.
He understood well what often kept groups, both small and large together. And for his, the holding component was the image of invincibility he had unknowingly established back in Pesia, rising from unknown to emperor in less than a year, changing the lives of billions single-handedly.
But so what? He who knew of the greatness beyond would never settle to stay in the small pond that was Pesia.
Such was the way of most species. When new pastures are discovered, one explores, even overcoming fear, drawn in by the unknown.
Still, although unsure of how to proceed, Aron didn't let his form weaken. Once he allowed it to do so, his group would fall apart.
Rose would lose that faith she holds in his ability. Jin would come to understand that he was wrong about Aron. And Jagu who only sought to grow stronger under Aron because he saw him as greater, would seek strength elsewhere.
Aron was only ever sure Evanora would stay were he to fail, and even that was due to her simplemindedness, something that could be exploited as well and lost were he unprepared.
To prevent this influx of doubt in him from growing, Aron came to a stop and looked at the others.
"Too much is going on in this continent to do as please freely, especially with the combat abilities of our potential adversaries being largely unknown. Force cannot be the driving force here, not directly at least, but one or another, we will get results."
Aron spoke with a cold glint in his eyes, lacking no confidence.
Jagu accepted these words with a nod, his spirit reinvigorated by Aron's strong stance even in the face of obstacles.
Jin was less moved but also knew never to doubt Aron, and so, his doubts reduced.
As for Rose, she wouldn't be moved by words alone and so her doubts remained… but so did her faith in him.
Of course none's faith surpassed Evanora, who firmly believed the world or rather her world was stable as long as Aron and the group were together, she saw something in this fragile group no one else did, a family.
So even as they exchanged words, she showed the tiniest of smiles and nodded, raising a thumb of approval towards Aron's words, without even understanding a 10th of their meaning, such was the life of the simple minded. Blissful, yet incredibly fragile and often dictated by others.
Saying nothing more, Aron and his group continued their walk away.
…
At the same time, back in the aethelian settlement, Solair was in her private gardens, pacing back and forth slowly, her expression a mix of calm and concern.
Soon, Sharla's figure appeared and she gave a subtle show of respect to Solair in the form of a bow.
Solair then put on her usual expression, not wanting to reveal her mood. However her words themselves could show that she was troubled.
"Sharla, welcome. You were right before, they truly are extraordinary individuals, especially that Aron. He simply appears and the elder learns of the value of the gate our people had given away, it truly makes me wonder what other secrets left behind by the ancestors he and my grandfather will find in the Neglardia." Solair spoke politely but Sharla was unsure if she was speaking in praise of Aron, or contempt.
Unsure of which, Sharla simply chose to speak honestly, "I think you should warn ancestor Rorthik, Aron isn't simple. He knows how to move the minds of others with his words… it c-"
"No need to concern yourself with that. But since you have a bit of history with him, I'd like you to deliver a message for me next time you see him. I think I've realized how to go about this." Solair revealed, showing great confidence too.
Sharla could only express openness to the idea, nodding her head and replying, "I'll help anyway I can if it means keeping our people safe."
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦