Three days soon passed and Aron was now approaching the boarder of Aethel, still traveling underground with Lucas and the others.
Not much had occurred since then as he had been actively avoiding tunnels that lead to other Veldra settlements. A part of him was tempted to split from the group and head to the ruins to explore but he chose to abandon this train of thought and wait till he joined up with Rose and the others.
The reason for this was simply because the ruins were all unexplored according to the map markings which he found strange. Either the Veldrea were being cautious or the ruins were simply that dangerous.
For a situation like this were the answer was unknown it was best if he entered with as many capable individuals as possible, after all what they sought most were treasures while he simply wanted a way to Limbo and whatever new knowledge he could get so he wouldn't lose out.
At the very least it meant he had enough spare lives if things were to go wrong as compared to exploring alone.
'We're almost there.' Aron however wasn't the only one using this time spent traveling to scheme.
Sharla hadn't forgotten what Aron and Evanora had done at the first Veldrea settlement and was still planning to separate from them as she saw them as dangerous.
Leaving them earlier would have been utterly foolish as she wasn't confident in navigating out of the tunnels, but once they stepped into Aethelian territory her, Mirai and Lucas could go their separate ways or so she planned.
'She must be preparing to act soon, her heart rate is rising and the scent of fear she's giving off is more potent.' Aron thought without bothering to turn back.
He didn't know what exactly Sharla was planning but he had noticed her suspicious behavior towards him even before they joined up. In his eyes she was a greater nuisance than Lucas because the latter was generally naive and harmless in his eyes while the former was clever and pesky.
Without knowing what it was she was planning he could only pretend to remain aloof while being ready to strike at any moment.
…
After the group walked a bit more Aron followed a tunnel that was leading upward at an angle of around thirty degrees, at the end of said tunnel was a dead end.
"Are we lost?" Sharla asked feeling greater anxiety rise within her, what if it was a ploy by Aron to corner them? The lack of sleep she had been getting wasn't doing favors for her paranoia and she was fairly close to striking Aron before he could struck her, however his next words eased her heart. "No, they just didn't dig beyond this but judging from the distance we've covered we should be under Aethel now."
After Aron explained as he placed his palm against the tunnel's end before his eyes changed to those of a horned basilisk.
[ Aspect: Earth Manipulation ]
In the next moment the tunnel trembled slightly as a pathway began to made with each step Aron took forward. The others needed to simply follow behind and soon the bright sun light hit their eyes after days of moving in the dimly lit tunnels.
They had emerged out of what now looked like a cave on the base of a cliff with plenty of vegetation and lush trees around them, the complete opposite of the barren Veldrea lands. This was most definitely Aethel.
"We've made it, even the surrounding mana feels different." Aron pointed out after noticing the difference in densities. Aethel's mana density was fairly above average but not to a point where it became problematic, on the other hand Veldrea had very dilute mana.
? In nature this was normally the case, lands that were barren and devoid of life would obviously be lacking in the quality or rather density of mana whereas lush lively lands with plenty of life were the opposite. This was common knowledge to most intelligent life forms but what Aron found interesting was the difference in said regions.
Normally areas close to one another would share similar levels of mana density or even equal as the mana will always try to shift from regions of high concentration to those of lower concentration. If it simply remained stagnant in one area then life could never truly flourish the way it had.
"You're right, it's been so long that I had forgotten the feeling. Still to think the Veldra have such poor land." Mirai felt a sort of refreshing feeling being in Aethel, like how one would being in their natural habitat with the perfect conditions.
"Incredible…" Lucas who was seeing this for the first time couldn't help but make this comment as he too felt rather comfortable just being in the region.
"Fascinating." Evanora muttered while looking around curiously, for someone as sensitive to mana as her every little change could be noticed. This being a new feeling for her as she had never left the continent of Drotzi made her wonder why being elsewhere made her feel more relaxed.
Sharla had been the only one without any visible interest in mana. Her eyes remained sharp and focused, looking for any opportunity to escape should Aron try to turn on them like she thought.
However for a good while Aron didn't speak and just silently observed the land, the vegetation and even the wildlife. Old habits died hard and for beasts they would always hold a certain bit of curiosity whenever they entered unfamiliar territory.
For Aron this meant taking note of density of mana, the vegetation, the climate, the life and the air composition which whilst in Pesia didn't matter. Here he didn't need to worry for every little thing being capable of killing him which was still an odd to get used even up to now.
"We should keep moving and stay close to the boarder, hopefully we'll encounter the others soon." Aron finally chose to speak and explained how he was planning to move in summary.
Thanks to map he discovered in the Veldrea settlement, his initial plan of just going to Aethel had changed and now he first needed to explore the so called ruins marked on the map.
"Kind of strange though…" Lucas suddenly muttered after realizing something odd causing Aron to look behind at him with a brow raised. "What?"
Lucas looked around one more time with caution on his face before explaining his thoughts. "Well since this is close to the boarder shouldn't it be heavily protected? There's not even a single airship in sight despite there being a war." He explained and caused Aron to look up into the sky with furrowed eyebrows.
"Something's amiss." He muttered.
….
Meanwhile many kilometers away on the other half of Aethel, a large fleet of airships could be seen flying towards the Aethela continent's eastern boarder where the forces of Ettenheim had been trying to breach through.
Leading said majestic airship was a dark and eerie one that looked completely out of place despite acting as the vanguard.
Standing atop the deck of this airship was Sayiva who looked forward with a stern gaze and unmatched determination. 'Rosenberg, Lovitz, Hoffenheim, Vonstein, Ettenheim and Lamarck, it's time you finally pay the blood debt you owe me.'
…
Back in the Aethelian palace of the central settlement, Queen Celes watched as the many airships left for war, with only less than five staying behind which left their entire nations near defenseless boarder wise.
However the sweet smile on her face didn't seem to look at all troubled by this unlike the other members of her court who watched the scene alongside her.
"My dearest wife and Queen… although I understand the need to assist your sister, don't you think this is a bit excessive? If some enemy airships where to make into our continent then…" As the King looked towards Celes to express his worries, she cut him off and explained her intentions.
"My dearest husband… it isn't your place to question my decisions now is it? Even if a few airships make it into the continent, their destination shall be here. Are you saying I won't be capable of dealing with a few foolish and ambitious humans?" The king's turned sour and he lowered his head while shaking his head. "I wouldn't dare underestimate you my beloved." He muttered and received an indifferent nod from her as she turned to walk back into the palace.
"Good. Besides greedy emperor of theirs wants nothing more than to see us submit, worst case scenario a few of our people living outside this settlement may fall prey to them and may either be enslaved or abused, humans are simple savages after all. It's a small sacrifice our people should make to guarantee our future, don't you all agree?" She asked without looking back at the other members of her court he found the words she had said to be completely out of character for her.
Even her own husband was left speechless from her harsh and cruel words…
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