A bloody pile of bones and rotting meat not far from him only confirmed his suspicions that this was their dwelling.
'Good, there's no need to change plans then.' He grinned with satisfaction before his eyes started to shift hue.
[ Aspect: Scholopedera; Camouflage]
His entire body started to gradually meld with the environment after the shift in eye color, eventually becoming almost invisible.
After finishing, he even took off his metallic boots and fastened them to his belt to lessen the noise he created when moving.
Only after that did he begin moving toward the cave's exterior; fortunately, no Drakar were present in that specific den.
This didn't surprise him given how many he had killed.
When he finally reached the exit, he was met by an incredible sight: every one of the numerous, sizable blue mountains that surrounded the little region had been extensively caved in.
Aron could see thousands of them altogether, but he was unconcerned despite this because he was so sure of his strategy.
'I might as well begin here then.' Aron gazed upward to the other caverns on the mountain he was currently on while he pondered this.
He clung to the mountain's hard surface and started climbing after that without pausing in the hope of finding another cave.
The distance between them was just about fifty to one hundred meters, making it easy to go between them.
When he reached into a different one, he sharpened his senses to look for a presence, but once more he discovered it to be empty.
…
Back within the mountain range, the group became curious as to what his plan was and so they began discussing it.
"What do you suppose he'll do?" Rose oddly enough was the one to begin the dialogue.
He hadn't told her much this time around plus she had exhausted all her reading material, leaving her nothing to do but wonder as she waited.
"Evanora thinks he's going to give away drawings." She spoke while seeming serious.
Rose usually dismissed her opinions as stupid babbling, but most of the time, they included some truth.
"Hmm, I suppose the runes he drew while we were traveling here should have a meaning. But what exactly is what I want to know, understand?"
"Evanora doesn't want to stand under anything."
"I genuinely wonder sometimes what goes on in that mind of yours." Rose groaned and shook her head helplessly.
Jin joined the conversation because he was similarly interested in the strategy, but he didn't offer any ideas.
"He's got so many options to go about this so there's no point trying to figure it out. It won't be long anyway so let's just wait, in the meantime let me tell you the story about the time I encountered a lusty Komi maid."
…
Aron kept climbing while being oblivious to what the others were doing.
He didn't stop until he heard noises coming from a cave 200 meters to his right.
He looked in the direction for a moment before choosing to ignore said cave and targeting the empty one.
Each time he would enter one of the unoccupied ones, he would take out small sheets of paper with runes and attach them to the walls within.
They would quickly begin to absorb small streams of mana, which could be seen as they began to glow a dim bright blue.
"Damned fools! All of them!"
The next thing that attracted Aron's attention was a loud voice coming from outside.
He didn't think twice about going to the entrance to look as he was still concealed.
There he discovered Manuvv, a recognizable figure, circling over the western mountain range.
The few Drakar present, out of the many thousands, who were completely unaware of the intruder lurking in their midst, gazed down at the many caves as the giant strong Drakar cried out in rage and drew their attention.
'Seems their fragile balance is already beginning to crumble even without my immediate influence.'
With a casual twinkle in his eyes, Aron glanced up before quickly turning to begin sowing the runed paper strips.
The Drakar that Manuvv had notified started to wonder and inquire as to what had caused him to become so furious.
"Manuvv, what happened?"
"What is happening?"
"What did the olden ones say?"
The Drakar began to interrogate him one by one, asking what had happened to cause him to appear so enraged.
Manuvv sighed as he turned to look at his fellow blue-scaled Drakar.
"I requested an audience to explain the tragedy that befell our people and the impending danger but was denied! They say since the threat comes from the west then it must be delt by us western Drakar! They mock us for being weak and dying to Tulsa! They are blind, even though that is not the case!
As he spoke, Manuvv's veins on his broad, thick neck even protruded in an angry manner.
Aron could hear the explanation, but he continued to go about his business as usual and was merely a passive listener.
He already knew the Tulsa was what they described humans as which meant contact was already made with quite a few of them.
However the only ones that seemed to recognize him as Koliean instead were those Panthera he had encountered much prior, this lead him to believe that the Kolieans were present.
The last remaining query was whether they were indigenous Kolieans or Kolieans he already knew.
Manuvv kept talking to his people, but he decided to ignore it for the time being and move forward with his plan.
….
"What shall we do?"
"Can we face the threat Manuvv? The opponent can't be greater than you right?"
"Yes! Who cares if they don't help, we have lived this long thanks to Manuvv!"
In an instant, the once-concerned voices had changed to ones that were confidence in Manuvv and his skills.
Manuvv gazed at them with a confident glitter in his eyes as they cheered his name, seemingly unconcerned by the impending peril.
He lifted his hand and motioned to silence the cheers after they had been going on for a little while.
"Enough! You are correct. Too long have they underestimated us westerners, this threat? I shall handle it and protect our kind once more!"
Even Rose and the others could hear Manuvv's mighty roar as it reverberated throughout the mountain range.
"Now then, I will need four males confident in their ability to escort me. We need to scout the area where the Tulsa vanished just in case, if lucky they won't be anywhere in sight and if not… I shall alert you all to retreat. May we all Ascend!"
Manuvv said bravely while sporting a steely grin. His audience was moved by his comments, and they erupted into thunderous roars.
"May we all ascend!"
"May we all ascend!" They cried.
Their loud chants could be heard throughout the western mountain range and even farther.
Manuvv was quick to welcome the four volunteers because so many of them were eager. After flying to meet him, all four plus Manuvv took off.
