Chapter 273 271: It’s Not Over Part 2

After discovering the females, Jin spent a considerable amount of time getting them out with the help of Scarlett and Aela. Claudia could only give assistance by helping calm down the more mentally distressed captives who had been there for much longer.

Although a Pesian month wasn't that long, to common folk who had never lived under such conditions, it was hell and more than enough to break them after a short amount of time.

Surprisingly enough, the young ones were in a much more stable state of mind in comparison to the adults, although in such a case that wasn't saying much.

Once finally done, Jin lead the way for them slowly. They couldn't rush since a good number of them needed to let their eyes adjust to light after so long, even though the region as a whole wasn't bright to begin with.

Upon reaching the exit, many squinted their eyes or shut them completely for a moment before slowly opening them fully and taking in the view before them.

It was nothing spectacular in the least but to them who had been in a dark eerie hole for that much time, it was a refreshing sight and feeling.

This lasted only a moment though until their attention turned to Aron, who was just about finished drawing runes.

He stood up from his crouched position and passed his brush to Rose. "Perform the same to the other two, if you can."

It seemed more of a challenge than an order, something Rose was happy to take on as she swiftly took the brush from his hands and turned away, walking towards the other two Drakar. "Don't underestimate me." She said with a very small confident grin.

Aron's expressions couldn't be seen through his helm but on the surface, he said nothing more in reply. Instead, he turned his attention to the den Jin had just exited.

Scarlett, Claudia and Aela who were beside Jin immediately recognized him and were stunned by what they saw.

Their captors, whom they failed to escape from were sprawn on the ground and looked to be in a worse state than even them.

One by one as more people began to exit and see the sight, the train of shock continued and their reverence towards Aron's group grew.

Soon, Jin began helping them descend from the den to the depression below with the help of Jagu, Aela and Scarlett. Rose didn't pay mind to the increasing number of individuals emerging and just tried to focus on her work while Evanora kept watch, ready to stop the Drakar if they tried to escape.

Claudia was among the first to be brought down. Immediately she set foot on the ground, her attention turned to Aron who she found was already coming her way.

Anxiousness immediately began to brew within her but she didn't show it on the surface, trying her best to keep a firm expression. No matter his actions, deep down Claudia knew just what type of person Aron was and where his focus laid, himself.

The most jarring thing was that she couldn't even blame him for being that way, because she too was like that. It was her entire purpose behind following him back in Pesia after all.

So, she had to ask herself. 'When, just when did you become so stupid Claudia, it'll never happen.'

She filled her minds with thoughts of a harsh reality. The same way she never had an eye for intimacy was likely the same way Aron felt, she thought at least. It was far too hard to read or understand him, she could only speculate.

Her thoughts were soon brought to an abrupt end when she felt a rough yet gentle touch on her cheek.

It took a moment to register but she looked up and saw Aron had the hand with no gauntlet extended towards her face, giving it a slight caress.

This was the first time she experienced such a touch, what made it more of a surprise though was who it came from. She tried to peer into his helm to see what sort of expression he had but she could only see those chilling gray eyes she had missed.

He soon broke that short moment of silence by pulling his hand away and speaking. "You've done well to survive this long; it must not have been easy."

Claudia deflated a little when Aron's words were just blunt and lacked sentiment, leaving her confused as to why he even touched her. Was he just checking the condition of her body? She wondered.

However, she still stuck to her role and didn't show any of her emotions on the surface. What she did show was a small smile as she replied weakly. "Yes, it really wasn't. But that looks to be true for you too."

Her gaze wandered over Aron who looked worn and torn on the surface due to the finished condition of his blood-stained armor and torn ragged cloak.

It made her wonder if being captured was actually a blessing in disguise, after all many stronger than her died in the wilderness. And from what she saw, even Aron and his group had a hard time.

The only true exception to that was Rose, who looked nearly as neat and clean as she did in Pesia. Was she really that strong? Or maybe she just very careful of her appearance. Claudia who didn't travel with her in Limbo wouldn't know.

"I suppose it is. Well, go ahead and help coordinate the people with Jin and the others, we'll need to leave as soon as possible."

Aron had wanted to ask her many questions regarding what she experienced and let so as to know more about the region. Unfortunately, she was in a weak state, likely from an improper diet alien to her.

Right now, it was best to move all the humans out of the mountains and into the forest before he could start investigating into their experiences.

She did as he said and provided slight verbal assistance to Jin and the others as they continued to conduct rescues in the other dens.

As time passed, despair for some turned into enjoy as they reunited with people they thought they had lost. Sadly, for some the despair continued because they already knew of their loved one's fates whilst others were unsure. In cases such as this, that feeling of not knowing was perhaps even worse.

Like clinging to a false hope.

Regardless of their moods and state, Aron had them begin trekking out of the reason as soon as some briefing about their situation was given by Jin, who to Aron's surprise could lead people well.

It was thanks to his words that a lot of people felt hopeful to continue, whether or not they knew their loved ones were alive.

They were of course a few too broken to listen or just unwilling to continue living in such a cruel place.

For these poor lost souls, Jin took it upon himself to end their lives and burn their bodies. It showed Aron yet again that Jin was steeled enough to lead.

So then why was he just a lazy drunk on the common day with no real ambition except vengeance on nobles? What exactly happened in his past? And why did he still follow Aron when his vengeance was pretty much impossible now?

No, more important than that. Aron wondered why he didn't kill Victoria, the pillar that held the largest military force and likely played a huge part in the extermination and colonizing of his people by the Ettenheim empire.

Aron kept those questions to himself and decided that observation would be better for the time being. After all it seemed that Jin was slowly but surely showing his true self.

…

With the broken and unwilling killed, the trek began. It took a few Pesian days because of some injured and weak.

Aron knew their pace would be slow so he had chosen to remain at the central dwelling longer to see if any Drakar would return. Since no such thing occurred, he found it possible that Osar and Greile had no intention of returning.

He never explicitly based their oath on this after all, instead it made it so they wouldn't garner any direct malicious thoughts or actions towards him.

But even after four Pesian days of no sign of them, he decided to leave. He already concluded the mountain range, although a good territory, wasn't safe for the moment.

He first needed to question some of the captives, then afterward Amarr, Mikaa and Rorguvv. The amount he could learn from them was not small, so his focus laid there.

Only after could he decide on a plan of action to take towards the remaining Drakar, if any at all, before setting his sights elsewhere.

…

Unlike the slow moving people, it barely took him time to travel out of the mountain and range and catchup to Jin and the others.

He had found them settled rather well in the forest, having already set up a large camp. They had used magic on the surrounding vegetation to create leafy domes to shield them from the rain.

It was a far cry from being suitable and safe but it was enough.

As he walked through the camp, he received mixed emotions. Some lowered their heads and gave thanks to him, while others showed hateful scorns, inwardly blaming him for their current predicament and loss of loved ones.

True they lived under some poor circumstances back in Pesia, but at least they weren't outright suffering. Aron took that away from them and brought them to this forsaken land where nearly everything tried to kill them.

Aron ignored all this. Whether hate him or curse him, it didn't matter if they didn't have the strength to oppose him. In the same way their thanks and kind words were useless if they couldn't provide support in anyway.

He was numb to it all, after all, he new their thanks wouldn't last.

Because once his questions were answered… the weak would be left behind. It didn't matter if they were child, woman or elder.

'No matter the society, burdens only exist to weaken the strong. Surely they know this, but are still willing to drag others down for a chance to survive. In the end, we're all selfish.'