Chapter 293 292: Journey To The West Part 3



Weeks soon followed after the group's journey had begun. In that time, Aron had not answered Evanora's question concerning her purpose. It wasn't something he could tell her recklessly as could shape her behavior in future.

He could only dodge the question, which she seemed to forget about by the next day. Whether or not that was case, Aron couldn't be sure. His understanding of her hadn't improved much despite spending several months together.

Even many of the weeks that passed, Evanora could always be found in his room, blankly absorbed in her sketches or just watching Aron work. She would alternate between him and Lady Rose, with the only time when she was alone being when she slept.

Meanwhile Jagu and Jin who couldn't find a suitable place to train on the airship as it wasn't built for that had no choice but indulge their boredom in other ways. Often making up odd situations in which they could compete.

The rest of the overall atmosphere on the airship was good. Unlike in the ruined city, even those brought along as help didn't have difficult tasks and had plenty of time to their selves.

In fact, most of them rarely ever saw Aron or Rose during that period. It was only during the past few sleep cycles that Aron and her had begun surface, always making trips to the deck.

This was because as they drew closer to the western continent, the more cautious they had to be, especially given that Aron's race could possess individuals with wings.

One thing confused Rose though, and as they stood on the deck this time around, she asked.

"Although I understand overall caution when approaching such an unknown, I thought your people would be welcoming to you, given the value you hold and all towards them." She voiced casually while her hand made complicated gestures to steer her scouter in the skies, scouting many kilometers ahead.

Aron let out a mocking snicker as if he found the prospect a joke. "I doubt my value still holds now that they are back in Limbo. Although it could be quite beneficial if they did still value me at that level." 

"And if they don't?" Rose asked with a narrowed guess, not in the mood for another heated fight.

Thankfully, Aron already had other thoughts concerning them. "Then we avoid them, they aren't our main purpose for coming… although, the knowledge possessed by the native Kolieans could have come in handy."

"Oh, is that so? You still haven't clearly disclosed what we're after here," Rose expressed with a minor frown. She never did like the idea of not being in the know, especially if Aron was planning something.

"Answers Rose, I'm here to find answers." He expressed in the same vague manner he had the last time she inquired, causing her to cast him a displeased stare before retorting. "Funny, and here I was seeking the same thing from you." 

Her sarcasm echoed clearly to Aron but he only revealed a small smirk before replying with his own dose of sarcasm. "Here's hoping we both get want then."

Rose simply clicked her tongue and returned her attention to the task at hand. Aron no longer pushed her mood either and just leaned against the rail and observed the surroundings.

He heightened his sense of sight to look much further away so as to spot any ariel threats in advance and act accordingly.

After sometime, Rose retracted her hand, a gesture she often did when recalling her scouter. She then turned to the concentrated Aron with her arm resting on her hip and spoke. 

"I doubt the scouter will return with anything of note aside from scenery. By now I had expected for us to come across your people, perhaps even some unique ariel creatures but so far nothing." 

It wasn't the first time she and Aron scouted ahead like this as they drew closer so she was beginning to find the task tedious and unnecessary as it brought about no new information and took away quality time better spent reading for her.

Following her words, he also stopped what he was doing and turned to meet her gaze before replying, "The chances of us seeing one of my kind is very slim. It's not easy for Kolieans to evolve to the level that they possess wings. At the very least, someone capable of that definitely wouldn't be used a guard or patrolman. If they were, then we'd be in trouble."

"Because of their ariel advantage or they are just that powerful?" She asked with a brow raised, somewhat interested in knowing more about Aron's physiology.

"In most cases both. To have evolved wings can mean two things, either one is incredibly powerful and evolved them quicker than the average Koliean or they have lived long enough for them to develop, in which case their strength and experience can prove to be more deadly than the latter."

Rose nodded understandably at his words and didn't enquire more. A moment later, her scouter returned and they both looked over what it had recorded but saw nothing of note yet again.

Aron looked pleased at the fact but Rose could only show a look of annoyance and comment with sarcasm. "Those birds look quite vicious, perhaps we should alternate our course."

Her sour mood was ignored by Aron who just shrugged it off. "Birds just mean we are getting close to land, if we hadn't changed our path to avoid the various islands across this ocean, you would likely seen some truly vicious birds."

"Well, anything beats the boredom of staring at clouds." She retorted while turning her gaze away from her scouter, ready to return inside and use her time on more adequate things.

As she was walking away, Aron had a smug look on his face and said one more final comment in mockery towards her. 

"And here I thought you were a woman who enjoyed the simpler things about life."

Rose gave him one final displeased gaze, before her figure disappeared behind the door leading to the interior. Once she was gone, his smug look faded and was released by a neutral expression before muttering.

"So much for using Argos's guide to charming women of all races." He mocked. 

Rose being who she is, Aron wanted to have some degree of hold over her that surpassed knowledge. After all, the more time she spent with him, the more she learned and perfected concepts that even he couldn't fully understand.

But with Rose, he found that she considered him tolerable on a good day. She wasn't as emotion driven as many of the lifeforms he had encountered thus far and she certainly wouldn't be the last.

Still, he was sure something would come up eventually. He just needed to be both patient and smart with how much knowledge he provided.

'No wonder all civilizations eventually fall. One can never truly prepare or account for individuality. However, …' Aron's brows furrowed and he sank deeper into thought.

Meanwhile, back on the eastern continent they had left, the Drakarians begun to expand, wanting to ensure they had dominion over the entire continent before the other races could recover.

The cunning Amarr even used Aron's name to foster surrender from numerous Komi who had witnessed first hand just how terrifying of a being he was.

In their minds and hearts, the Drakarians were under his control, thus their words could be seen as his own.

Amarr knew that if she and her kind allowed too much time to pass and the knowledge of Aron leaving was known, their advantage would disappear and another war for territory would likely break out as they too were greatly weakened.

To ensure no problems would arise, Rorguvv personally executed any strong Komi that would have proved to be difficult. Doing so was easy as many of them submitted to their fate in order to ensure their kind didn't have to suffer.

The three leaders of the south were widely regarded as the strongest by many Komi tribes. For them to be defeated by a single individual with while having an army to back them up… it was just too terrifying.

The sight of the Drakar expanding was equally terrifying for the humans now scattered all over the continent. But Amarr still remembered that they were some among them that could rival an olden one.

To avoid another disaster, like in the Drakarian mountains, the Drakar avoided humans altogether. There focus after all was recovering and expanding.

Amarr didn't dare to forget the possibility of Aron returning, so everything she did, she did in his name, not out of admiration but raw fear.

But while she and the Drakar expanded, those capable among the humans began to understand the world of Limbo better and its dangers. Quickly adapting to the hellish world, they now had to live in.

Among these groups, was the one housing Henry, Lucas, Anastasia and other capable individuals.

They had made little progress in terms of distance traveled as they avoided moving into areas, they weren't sure of. Instead, they found areas they deemed to be relatively safe and built camps.

This being Anastasia's idea, Henry agreed and supported it fully. Lucas on the other hand was more concerned with finding his family… or at least traces of them to prove they were dead. 

Unfortunately, even he could see that it was more sensible to create an area where humans could be safe, otherwise he wouldn't even know where to take his family even if he found them. The only thing he could do was head out on his own with others who were in search for family or friends in occasional patrols.

Normally, they found nothing except decayed corpses but sometimes they would encounter other humans, usually in a terrible state but alive. This time as they were patrolling with Lucas in the lead, they came to a sudden stop as Lucas spotted a familiar figure in the distance, near the carcass of a large predatory beast.

"Juliet?"