Chapter 17 - 17: Foolishness

A day had now passed since Aron and Ariel has dodged the assassination attempt and since then nothing out of the ordinary had occurred.

They had acquired a pair of common mounts called Runners, these mounts were large reptilian creatures that greatly resembled an everyday lizard. What made them such a popular choice for a mount was their endurance, speed, dexterity and ability to move up very steep surfaces.

The two runners Aron and Ariel were using were currently near a small stream drinking water whilst Aron and Ariel themselves were seated under a tree just a few meters away.

"The joke is on whoever attempted to kill you Aron, with the runners we will reach our destination by tomorrow night. What's more these mounts allow us more maneuverability." Ariel suddenly pointed out with a victorious smile on her face. Aron however kept his eyes closed and didn't give her much of a reaction.

"Seems you really took the assassination attempt personally." Aron's remark came out in a provocative manner which caused Ariel to direct her anger at him.

"Tsk. You wouldn't understand. Because of those bastards, my luggage, my devices, my documents, all lost. All of it worth a fortune." Aron ignored Ariel's rant and instead only focused on making sure that they were the only two individuals within a 500 meter radius using hearing alone.

"Are you even listening?" Ariel inquired in a more calm and collected way but rather than answer, Aron stood up all of a sudden and removed one of his arcane guns from their holsters.

"Someone just stepped into my kill zone, please make sure the mounts don't run away from the noise." Aron quickly instructed before turning north east of their location and smiling. Ariel only nodded at his words uncaringly before standing as well and walking over to the mounts.

This time around, Aron didn't rush in as the individual he came into his zone didn't seem to be a threat.

'The person's steps are loud and messy, In other words not the steps of someone trying to perform an assassination.' As Aron made this assessment, he slightly loosened the grip he had on his weapon but never returned it to the holster as he was still cautious.

After walking a few more meters straight, Aron came face to face with the individual who came into the 500 meter radius.

"You look familiar." Were the first words that escaped Aron's mouth as he looked at the familiar face in front of him. Dirty blonde short hair, light leather armor in poor condition and two old sheathed swords.

"You..." the individual Aron directed his statement to froze when he came face to face with Aron and his hands began to tremble on their own which he quickly tried to hide. Aron noticed this and it brought a small smile to Aron's face.

"It's alright to be fearful of those capable of killing you, it may just be the thing that saves your life. This rule however only applies if you accept to remain weak." Aron's words made Lucas feel a great sense of inferiority upon hearing them. Aron himself was just stating what he considered the simple truth. Without saying anything more, Aron turned to walk away but Lucas's words made him stop dead in his tracks.

"I am not weak! You may have scored an S in strength but I averaged a B in all the attributes I tested for. It's only a matter of time before I become stronger, once I get into the academy I-" Before Lucas could finish his declaration, Aron broke out into a sinister laughter.

His charming yet intimidating voice echoed through the region before it came to a halt and he simply smiled at Lucas.

"Humans really are amusing. I find it amazing how passionate and hopeful your people can be. No matter how impossible something is, you just refuse to lose hope. It's a shame, the you now is the closest you'll ever be to me. The gap between you and I is only going to get bigger and bigger by the day and so your name isn't worth remembering to me." Aron walked over slowly to Lucas and looked down on him with his piercing cold gaze.

Lucas clenched his fists but kept his head lowered. He wanted to argue, he wanted to shout "No you're wrong" but couldn't. His body just wouldn't move under the pressure of Aron.

"Who's this?" Curious as to what was happening, Ariel appeared on the scene and inquired of Aron who simply smirked before turning away from Lucas.

"It's nothing, just another human showcasing their foolishness to me. Let's leave." He replied to Ariel before walking passed her and going towards where they had initially been resting.

Ariel only glanced at the young man who now had his head but made no comment as it didn't interest her, thus she quickly turned as well before following Aron.

Lucas kept his head lowered seemingly in shame but the facial expression he hid was that of pure anger.

'I'm tired of aristocrats thinking all commoners are useless and I'm even more tired of commoners accepting it. I'll be the one to change it all, I'll make everyone know...' Lucas thought to himself while keeping fists clenched and head lowered still.

Back at the spot Ariel and Aron had initially been resting, Aron walked over to his Runner and prepared to mount it. Ariel did as wise with hers but soon narrowed her eyes at Aron.

"You don't look like the merciful type." Ariel suddenly commented causing Aron to raise a brow in her direction.

"You're wasting your time trying to make sense of my actions. I have my own plans. You should understand this concept very well, after all you're no different. We're just using each other to get what we want." Ariel didn't reply to Aron's words but instead just looked into those eyes of his.

"I suppose we are." She finally spoke after looking at him for a brief moment. Without saying anything more to each other, the two carried on with their journey.

...

It wasn't until the evening the very next day that Ariel and Aron arrived at their destination, a huge bustling city almost four times the size of Sachire, the name of this mega city was Basttenhoven.

From its towering white walls and bustling streets to the many airships that filled its sky, Basttenhoven was a sight to behold from all angles.

Like most cities in the Ettenhiem Empire it was divided into different districts suiting what was to be expected of that region. For example with the common residential district as the name states was where non-aristocratic individuals resided.

Not too far from the common residential district was the market district which was further sub-divided into the upper class and lower class region. The upper class housed more stores than the lower class region and it was where the more expensive services were offered and products sold while the lower class market district was the opposite.

It was in the very same lower class market district that two figures could be seen making their way through the streets. One wore a blood red hooded jacket while another wore a white/brown one.

"How much longer until you attain everything you need?" Aron, who wore his usual red hooded jacket asked while leaning against the pillar of a stall he was currently standing in front of.

"A little while longer considering all my things were destroyed. Why not look around, these stalls tend to have a few hidden good items here and there." Ariel was up ahead looking at the items that particular stall had to offer when she replied to Aron dismissively.

Aron only shrugged his shoulders at her statement and continued to lean against the pillar with his arms crossed. His gaze however began to shift from one place to another throughout the market.

'Hm, seems she was right about there being a few good items here and there.' Aron thought to himself as he smiled under his hood. The item he was referring to however wasn't an object but a person that stood around 300 meters away from him.

The person wore an oversized black hooded robe and seemed to be overly cautious. Next to this person was yet another figure who wore the same robe. The two of them hurriedly went behind a stall and soon disappeared from Aron's field of vision entirely.

"I don't think we're being pursued Sharla, nothing happened during the selection so I think they've given up on me..." a soft feminine escaped from the robe of the shorter figure. Her tone carried a sort of helplessness and sadness, yet her face showed a gentle and kind smile.

"Please don't say that M'lady. One day I swear I'll-" the taller hooded figure who was addressed as Sharla seemed very provoked by the words she just heard and had attempted to reply quickly but got interrupted almost immediately.

"I know you would Sharla but please... I cannot lose you as well. I know you dislike my idea but what other options are we left with... and call me by my name lest we want to attract attention." The shorter figure never once showed a frown under her hood despite her words making Sharla clench and grit her teeth in anger.

"I understand Mirai... I understand." She muttered in a defeated manner before her and Mirai began walking away from the market district.

Back at the stall where Aron stood by, Ariel had finished purchasing what she had needed and returned to his side.

"And what may you be smiling about? Did something catch your eye?" Ariel crossed her arms and asked cautiously. Despite knowing Aron for only a short while, Ariel knew his personality well as it wasn't all that much different from her own. So whenever he showed a genuine smile, she couldn't help but grow concerned.

"You could say that I've started to find the pieces I'll need to execute my plans."