"So how do you want to proceed, they've started off." Rose revealed to Aron who had just returned from washing off the blood that had stained his arms.
Aron didn't respond right away, instead moving to stand at her side and keeping his eyes fixed on the direction the Drakar had fled.
"We're better off following at a vast distance, perhaps ten or more kilometers, since their senses are keener than those of the normal Komi."
After cleaning the blood and flesh scrapes from their new bone weapons, Jagu and Jin joined the discussion.
"What's the plan after we find their settlement? We can only assume that stronger beings exist there too right?"
With obvious concern on his face, Jin spoke. Jin preferred to have at least some assurance, unlike Jagu who was a battle fanatic.
He had virtually complete confidence in Aron's skills in Pesia, but here? Even he could tell that Aron was attempting to become the apex predator rather than being it.
This meant that there would be plenty of danger on the way there. He knew that in this situation, Aron would not go out of his way to save him, so he needed to at the very least ensure his own survival.
As he cast a sidelong glance at Jin, Aron noticed the skepticism in his eyes. Depending on Aron's word choice, this skepticism would either increase or decrease.
"Observation, if what that Drakar said is accurate, their society's equilibrium is precarious. We can foster anarchy and weaken the structure as a whole if the right tasks are completed. Their downfall will be our foundation in Limbo."
When Aron talked with such unrivaled assurance, it was difficult not to believe him. Aron had not yet exposed his failure to them whereas, in reality, he had already done so but had covered it up with success.
It was just common sense that followed his father's rule of never displaying weakness; after all, people were obliged to follow and trust a leader who had yet to fail rather than one who had done so repeatedly.
"Will it be that simple though?" Jagu asked cautiously since, in all honesty, he thought a combat strategy would be more effective.
Aron felt compelled to reassure Jagu that he wasn't someone to mistrust after seeing how much this was taking away from him.
"It worked on your people did it not?"
After hearing these words, Jagu suddenly realized who he was talking to and that Aron had acquired the respect and trust of his people while essentially altering their entire society.
The realization that Aron had planned everything from the beginning and that possibly even he and the calamities were taken into account was revealed to him by Aron's comments.
If everything here is accurate, Aron is not a being that can be readily equaled.
Aron stated what he said to give Jagu a false sense of inferiority just as it appeared that he was beginning to get overconfident once more.
Komi respected authority and power; Aron was only exercising his own to remind Jagu of his place and to keep inside his limits.
One statement encompassed all of these consequences.
"I understand." Aron said nothing more as Jagu replied with a bowed head.
With a deep sense of inferiority, Mrah and Kalel listened to the conversation from a distance. If Aron and the others could struggle, didn't that mean they were destined to fail?
Aron glanced at them and saw that their spirits were dwindling; at that very moment, that was all he could think of.
'Good.'
…
Time started to move again, and the gang traveled according to Aron's itinerary.
They were following the route traveled by the Drakar to get to their settlements by using the directions Rose would transmit.
They landed in a rocky plane after exiting the swamp once more and even passing the once-open, now-bloody valley.
The majority of them could tell by looking at the nearby plants that it had formerly been a desert.
Thankfully, the clouds covered the sky, and it continued to look like rain was ready to fall.
At the border heading into the broad plain of the Rocky Mountains, they had stopped.
"There's no need to track anymore, this valley of mountains is fairly vast and it seems to house many Drakar, we should move in cover from now on." As soon as Lady Rose recalled the scouter she had been using for tracking, she had a revelation.
"Blue in the western part of the range, red in the east, grey in the south and black in the north correct?" Rose gave Aron a nod as he approached to confirm.
"Yes, that's exactly right. It appears that the environment they are in determines the color of their scales, though I did spot quite a few distinctive-looking Drakar soaring the sky." She added.
"We were only attacked by those that had blue and grey scales, which means that the red and black had likely attacked the opposite direction in a similar manner, they must hunt for prey this way periodically."
Aron wiped his chin and started comparing their behavior to that of creatures he was already familiar with.
Such a hunting strategy wasn't uncommon to him because he had observed many other, crazier patterns with his father.
"We've already delt quite the blow to the blue scaled Drakar so we shall use them as a catalyst."
Many people were perplexed as to what Aron was wondering because his plan appeared to be coming together.
"That's all well and good but how do we navigate the land without being detected?"
Rose didn't inquire about his future plans; instead, she focused on how they could solve their current issue.
Aron placed his palm on the blue Rocky Mountain they were approaching before turning on his aspect without bothering to respond to her.
[Aspect; Geokinesis/Earth Manipulation]
When he touched the mountain, a passageway opened up for them to travel through. It had a diameter of around five meters, giving them more than enough room to pass through if they formed a single, symmetrical line.
"We should move quickly, I've created some pores within the tunnel but breathing will still be a challenge if we stay too long. Jagu carry those two, they won't last more than a few steps otherwise."
After receiving instructions, the expedition into the Drakar mountain range started.
Aron took the lead position while the others followed behind in a single file line. Aron was widening the tunnel and spotting earth movements.
The one who struggled the most with this was Jin, who could be seen sweating profusely as he walked and demonstrate trouble breathing. As he had warned, they found it quite difficult to breathe inside the tunnel; Jin was the one who struggled with this the most.
While moving, Aron and Jagu also had erratic respiration, although they didn't appear to be particularly worried; in contrast, Rose and Evanora appeared to be operating as usual.
The absence of air made the Mrah and Kalel appear paler, but they weren't in too bad of shape. Aron believed they would succeed.
The group reached what seemed to be a dead end after travelling for what felt like many kilometers.
"What's wrong?" Rose asked urgently, worried that a situation had developed.
"There seems to be a natural cave past this point, this mountain seems to have many such caves all over this side of it. I'm assuming these are the dens of the Drakar." He explained as he started to assess the circumstance with a tiny scowl.
'I can still work with this…' Soon, Aron's focus shifted to Rose.
"Give me the gray scales you had collected for study, they'll be necessary."
,m When Rose heard this, she scowled and focused her eyes on him, but she still flicked her hand to signal her scouter to come over.
"Don't look so dishearted, if everything goes as planned you'll be able to do much more than study scales." Before grabbing a pouch that hung on the scouter's side, Aron comforted the woman.
He turned to the dead end and hung it on his waist belt.
"I'll increase the amount of ventilation because you need to stay here longer, I won't be long."
Aron only opened a route out of the cave on the other side, giving little away as to what he was about to undertake. He closed it once more after crossing through, leaving the others inside the mountain still and himself inside the Drakar den.
His eyes immediately adapted to the change in brightness after crossing over.
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