King Of Limbo

Pa!

Aron abruptly gave one of the creatures a strong slap across the face. The creature's torso jolted up in reaction, appearing to be trying to stand, but...

Bam!

Aron quickly pushed one hand down on its chest and crushed it back to the ground.

"Stop tensing up and look at me." Aron spoke quietly to the frightened creature, whose mind appeared to be in shock and unable to comprehend what was happening.

But after catching a glimpse of Aron, a rough picture could be painted that caused its eyes to widen, and at that point, terror started to flow from it.

"You..." As it turned to face Aron, the creature appeared to be at a loss for words and just stumbled over its words.

"Just respond to my inquiries... what are you?"

Aron used Dim, the language he had first learned under his father's instruction, to converse with the creature.

It wasn't until he came across Argos that he realized it was one of the most widely spoken languages in the region.

Everyone just sat and watched in silence. To Jin and Jagu, these were just strange mumblings, but Rose could make out a few words, and Evanora knew exactly what each word meant.

"We are Drakar! Release us Koliean child!"

The beast growled violently, its sharp, rather projecting teeth showing.

"Koliean? Why do you think I'm a Koliean?And why do you think I'm a child?" Aron asked, brows pinched in genuine curiosity.

If it weren't for their height and anatomical systems, a Koliean and a human could appear to be identical at first glance.

"Wanderer Tozi said so! They can only be Koliean, therefore beware of the huge, hairless species! If no wings then they children but you strong too and no wing... Tozi lied!"

The beast screamed in fury, its eyes bloodshot. Aron was compelled to become even more curious, so he encouraged...

"Explain to me your knowledge about Kolieans." The creature quickly shook its head when he asked.

"Xipili has no idea! He is a brand-new wanderer! Koliean has never even been seen. Tozi! Only Tozi is aware."

The creature tensed up as Aron applied more pressure to it; it could hear its own rib cage creaking.

"Tozi dead! Killed in food pit before eyes!"

Aron could only infer from the Drakar's statements that they tried the scouter on this Tozi, leaving nothing but leg stubs and strewn meat.

"Are you all brand-new wanderers now?" Aron sighed and questioned.

He would only be able to learn more about these rudimentary Drakar, in which he had little interest, if they killed the member of the group who was the most knowledgeable.

"Yes! We are not even in the Kolien lands, so free us!"

"I will, when you inform me of all you are aware of."

Time passed slowly, and the others found Aron's lengthy questioning to the creatures on a range of subjects to be rather uninteresting.

"I believe this is it for us,"

After an unknown amount of time Aron was finally finished and he announced so to the others.

"What about them?"

Jin groaned and gestured at the terrified Dakar, telling them that there was just one fate left for them now that they had lost their purpose.

"Do you even need to ask?" Jin laughed and shrugged his shoulders in response to Aron's statement that what needed to be done was obvious.

The Drakar died in silence as their necks were swiftly snapped one after the other.

"Would you mind sharing what you learned? I missed a lot of what was said." Aron stepped back from the bodies a little bit when Rose approached him.

He was already going to share the knowledge even if she didn't ask.

Aron continued by outlining what little he had learnt from the four Drakar, with maybe knowing their location and the type of sentient species to expect being the most helpful.

"Their race hails from a region known as Itzili, east of where we are located, which just so happens to be next to the territory we are in known as Metzili. Where lesser races with populations below a million call this place home."

"One of them also described The Dei, a race that lives to the south-east of here in millions. There have been no battles, but the two are not amicable; as for Kolieans, they were only known by their appearance."

Everyone realized they hadn't learnt all that much when Aron gave a summary of what he had learned.

"How do we move, then? To the east, toward the Drakar territory, or" As a Komi, Jagu felt obligated to demonstrate his superiority to these so-called Drakar in strength by asking out loud and impatiently.

Unluckily for him Aron shook his head. "No, for the time being we'll stay in this area with mixed inferior races to more easily blend in. It would be ideal if we could apprehend a native who originates from a known settlement."

Aron's strategy made reasonable sense from a precautionary standpoint, but Rose believed there was a deeper cause for Aron's restraint. Did he fear powerful adversaries? Or was there a secret knowledge he was keeping from them?

In any event, she didn't give it much thought because she had her own motives for traveling with them.

"Can you keep an eye out for the lesser races? The bodies in the pit have sustained too much damage to be useful as hints. This is what Aron turned to Rose and requested.

She obviously had no reason to say no, so she nodded lightly in agreement. "Naturally, but what if they're not separate? It will make getting one much more difficult, no?"

"We have Jin's illusion skills if such situation comes."

Rose received an immediate response from Aron, demonstrating that he was not merely making things up as they went. She had not been able to figure out why he wanted to go back to Limbo so much previously.

She initially believed it had to do with knowledge, which was akin to her own goal, but Aron didn't fit that criteria.

You'd think he would have a destination in mind since they were in a part of Limbo that was unfamiliar to him, but that was far from the case.

Whatever area he was in, his plan seemed to work. What was he planning here, then, was left to be wondered.

"What do the rest of us do?" With a tinge of frustration in his voice, Jagu questioned.

"We wait, but I'm confident she will find something soon."

Jagu remained silent and simply slouched down next to Jin, who groaned and rattled the miniature leather flask he always carried.

"I really hope they have booze here." He grumbled.

Jin was concerned when Aron added to this statement after chuckling at it. "Most races don't voluntarily intoxicate their bodies you know?"

"...my disappointment is immeasurable."

....

Evanora simply picked up a stick and started drawing on the ground as Jin and Aron continued their conversational banter.

Jagu chose to stand next to Rose as she operated the scouter as a form of protection, what from? Aron could only guess.

"I located them."

Fortunately, this strange sight didn't linger long because Rose discovered them earlier than anticipated.

After she finished speaking, Aron opened the cave using the horned basilisk aspect so they could examine the images on the scouter.

Rose quickly summoned the scouter with a flick of her wrist, and it arrived in front of the group.

...

Similar to earlier, what was seen appeared to be a variation of Komi, which didn't surprise Aron in the least.

A significant majority of intelligent living forms might be linked to a mana beast that had evolved to a specific point and mated with another mana beast in a similar circumstance.

The outcome would be a superior offspring that developed into the forms of its parents.

Aron's roots could be related to a kind of predatory bird in his case, whilst Jagu's origins could be linked to a strider, also referred to as a wolf.

He couldn't immediately make out what was shown in the present images. According to what he could see, species does differ the most from most other organisms. "Although it has some traits from Rangifa, like those antlers, it is a member of the Panthera genus."

"So, to summarize, it is a hybrid race?" He nodded in agreement as Lady Rose finished her statement.

"Seems so, they are wearing simple enough clothing much like these Drakar so it's unlikely they are civilized. However their strength is what bothers me."

Both Jagu and Jin were surprised to hear him mention that he was worried, while Evanora listened intently without saying anything.

"You? Worried? I mean they do look intimidating but they shouldn't be much stronger than these things right?" Jin questioned while pointing a thumb back at the Drakar bodies.

​ "Think about it, if the lesser races all have less than one million in population then how come the Drakar or the Dei who apparently possess millions haven't subdued them? Instead, they are forced to send in these skulkers."

The others realized they were overlooking the obvious after Aron's statements clarified the situation. If Aron's statements weren't partially true, this circumstance would not exist.