King Of Limbo

That very night after Aron had visited Scarlett to give her the coordinates he had taken from Anastasia, he finally went to his quarters but not to sleep as he still felt no exhaustion, he simply sat on the edge of the bed and leaned slightly forward before letting out a sigh.

'This may become more arduous than I thought, how long before I find a way back to Limbo? Even if I find it earlier, there's the issue with my body...'

'Just what did the evolution do to me? Over the past days I've observed I don't tire, I don't feel hunger and sleep is unnecessary. Is this even normal? Considering the sheer amount of mana I have within me my body alone should be equivalent to a beast somewhere between tier 4 to tier 7. My abilities as a mage are currently around tier three as I'm yet to thoroughly study the knowledge Argos left behind...' Aron sighed as he made this self assessment of himself.

Aron had no one he could consult concerning the changes his body underwent during evolution so he couldn't tell wether this was normal or not. As far as he was concerned his father did sleep although he never really tired to begin with.

He sighed not because he was dissatisfied with his abilities thus far but because of the two different mana's within his body that affected his mentality, specifically the emotions of anger and lust, two of the most common for beasts. Anger simply because most predators were easily triggered especially if the cause was weaker, as for lust this was simply due to the unavoidable cycle that was mating season. During this time beasts had their testosterone levels rise exponentially making them far more violent and less rational.

Aron was already easily irritable because of the first emotion but for the most part he hadn't let it go out of hand. As for the latter, Aron didn't know when the mating cycle of the Limbo Strider was so he currently paid it no mind. Even if it did arrive it was far more easy to deal with as compared to anger as even in the worst case scenario he could suppress the urge at the cost of having an increased level of irritability.

'To meet the arch mage faster I'll need a good rank but I need to go about this smartly as well. The less they know about what tricks I may hold the less likely they are to act rashly against me.'

After coming to a conclusion of how he'll go about things, Aron let out a sigh and laid down on the bed before closing his eyes.

....

Meanwhile to the Far East in a small valley, a camp fire could seen. Around this camp fire sat three figures who all slightly kept themselves warm around the fire. These where Lucas, Sharla and Mirai.

"I never expected nights in this region to be so cold." Mirai showed a faint smile and muttered causing Sharla and Lucas to look at her with concern.

"If you're cold you can have my cloak, we always had harsh winters back in my village so this is nothing." Lucas offered before standing up and taking the cloak over to her.

However as he tried to place it over her, Sharla intervened and took from him before placing it on Mirai herself. After doing this she simply gave him a narrowed look before sitting back down.

"Thank you Lucas, you're kinder than most humans I've met. My kind aren't too fond of cold wether, our bodies aren't very strong." Mirai showed Lucas a friendly smile and explained in a soft and gentle tone. Lucas nodded at this before turning to Sharla who had much of her skin exposed but seemed to be alright.

"Don't bother asking human, I'd prefer if you didn't pry into our matters." Sharla glared at Lucas and told him off bluntly before he could ask anything.

"Oh, Uh sorry I didn't mean to offend you. I'll stop here." Lucas lowered his head and apologized before going silent.

"Sharla, there's no need for hostility between us as we'll be traveling together. I apologize Lucas, if you you're curious about anything concerning us and I'll answer what I can." Mirai dismissed Sharla's behavior but she still showed a look of displeasure towards Lucas.

"Alright, then feel free to ask me anything you're curious about as well." Lucas replied with a small smile on his face.

"I have a question." Surprisingly the first person to ask was none other than Sharla who looked at Lucas with a plain expression.

"Um, sure." Lucas replied a bit taken aback that Sharla was curious enough to ask her something.

"Back at the airship before we left, you had vomited at the battle between contestant number ten, Aron and the others against those aristocrats. It makes me wonder if that was your first time witnessing a life being taken." Sharla inquired but surprisingly Lucas shook his head.

"I've not only witnessed life being lost but I've also taken lives before. I used to help fight off bandits whenever they'd invade my village, but what I saw at that battle by the airship was just gruesome murder. I agree they tried to kill us first but only the one in charge was responsible, was it really necessary to slaughter everyone?" Lucas's expression turned sour and his eye brows became furrowed as he expressed his views over the matter.

"Hmm, I may have misjudged you Lucas. I agree the slaughter was indeed unnecessary, it was just cold hearted murder and plain stupid to do as the consequences will likely be severe, don't you agree Lady Mirai" Sharla agreed with Lucas before turning to Mirai to ask for her input.

"No, I do not." Mirai replied in a low and cold tone that took both Sharla and Lucas by surprise.

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked in a of confused manner as if not understanding what she meant. Anyone would think the same given Mirai's usual kind and gentle demeanor.

"What I mean is they all deserved a painful and gruesome death and nothing less. Did you forget how they destroyed the other airship without remorse? They were even willing to do the same to us, as far as I'm concerned it was poetic justice." Mirai explained in an emotionless tone despite still having a gentle smile on her face.

Sharla and Lucas could only glance at Mirai in silence as the cold night wind breezes through their camp and made the fire flutter slightly. Mirai said nothing more and simply stretched out her hands to warm them near the fire, It's bright burning embers reflecting off her beautiful yet sightless eyes.

...

At around the same time back on the airship in the lower floors, Anastasia was casually leaning against the floor with a sinister smile on her face.

"Do you think he bought it Igna?" Anastasia asked out loud before turning to the older lady In maids clothing with a brow raised in curiosity.

"Your performance even had me fooled my Lady. You played the victim perfectly but if I may ask, how did you know he would ask about the coordinates?" The woman addressed as Igna replied in respective manner before towards Anastasia who simply continued to smile.

"I already knew that piece of parchment was missing from my pockets so the chances were high that he would become curious. Either he would have asked me about it or gone there directly but considering he was the cautious type it was more likely for him to perform the former."

"Once he arrives at those coordinates with my airship, he's bound to run into Henry and the others. Dare to humiliate me like this? Tsk, he'll regret it very soon." Anastasia declared while showing a confident smirk on her face.

....

[ RULE#60: Never Reveal All Your Tricks ]