Aion used the relics, and much to his surprise, they pointed to the West… he was about to finish the walls in the border, so that sure was a suspicious time for an enemy to appear. Still, he was trying to change the fate of the world, so maybe not so much.
In any case, Aion began to fly without changing his classes since he needed to keep leveling up the Tamer class. In the meantime, he wondered why those two didn't even try to tag along. That was convenient for him, but he didn't take them as people who would easily just nod after hearing that.
"I guess they are thinking that the best thing that they can do is to focus on that," Aion thought. "The completion of that project, a flying fortress."
Speaking of which, Aion had to find a way to build the same kind of barrier that Clanire said. That kind of knowledge sure will come in handy… Arlana said that Aion, in the future, will be able to draw mana from the environment, and the barriers that Clanire created could do that… so maybe that was the key to that problem.
In any case, while Aion was crossing the Rosberg Kingdom, he didn't notice anything suspicious. That country had been way too calm as of late… since Aion killed their three strongest warriors. After using the relic again, Aion confirmed that the target was supposed to be even beyond that country… but he wondered why the target was taking so much time to move. Were they preparing a trap for him?
"What will I find beyond this country?" Aion asked. "Do you know, grandpa?"
"As far as I can tell, it was a fallen kingdom ravaged by war," Arc replied. "The barbarians of the Rosberg Kingdom attacked those lands a lot as well, and further North, those people had to deal with a nation of mercenaries as well that didn't find much work in the recent years so they always attacked that nation for all kinds of resources, be it food, money, or people."
"Heh… it seems like they have some annoying neighbors," Aion furrowed his eyebrows. "Maybe I can give them a hand and wipe out those who are up to no good."
Although he said that in the heat of the moment, Aion knew that he couldn't judge the situation of a nation based on their presence alone… sometimes, some people really deserve what they have to endure… but if they have been dealing with that for decades, that probably wasn't the case. The descendants can't be blamed for the crimes of their ancestors…
At the end of that day, Aion managed to cross the Rosberg Kingdom and then found some lands that were relatively fine for agriculture and pasture. It made sense that such a country would be targeted. Even more so when Aion only noticed that they had small towns and villages that didn't have any protection. No walls, no watchtowers, no nothing…
Aion saw some people in the first town he found and then frowned when he noticed that they weren't moving at all… when he used his relic, Aion frowned even more when he saw it pointing to numerous points, including that town.
"I don't like this…" Aion thought.
"Keep your guard up… I sense something weird in the mana in that village," Arc said. "You should use that thing with your mana to notice it as well."
In the end, Aion changed his class again and then used his mana to spread in a large area. Usually, that technique could find things that resonated with his mana in a wide range, but by controlling the scope, Aion could feel other sources of mana, and he found that… every person there had two sources of mana, and that wasn't supposed to be possible.
"... I see now. This guy is the type that I hate the most," Aion thought, and then he began to fly toward the town.
Aion landed at the entrance of the place, and then he immediately found what was going on… everyone nearby looked at him and then began to dash at him. Few people that actually have weapons, children with sticks in their hands, and women with kitchen knives or buckets. Their eyes looked dead, and their mouths were wide open while they were drooling…
"Some sort of mind control?" Arc asked, and Aion could imagine his grandfather furrowing his eyebrows. "No, this is different… for them to have two sources of mana like this, something must have invaded their bodies."
Aion suspected as much, and thanks to that, when the first enemies appeared, they tried to grab his neck, but he just kicked their legs and made them fall. When they exposed their backs, Aion couldn't help but show a disgusted expression… their spines looked swollen, like they had been damaged or something had been attached to them.
"Son of a bitch… I will get you for this," Aion glared at the other people approaching.
"... Aion, they are goners," Arc said.
Aion lets out a sigh… he was aware of that. Their spines probably suffered too much damage during the invasion… probably some kind of worm had attached to their backs. Aion couldn't kill the parasite without wounding the spine, and even if they survived by some miracle, they wouldn't be able to move. Aion's magic could restore them, but how many of those people lived in that nation? To heal his sisters, Aion had to use a shit ton of mana… and their wounds weren't like damaged spines.
"Your enemy isn't doing things in a half-assed way, so you'd better not do anything less than that," Annalee said.
Aion sighed again… maybe if he could level up the Healer class… he would get a spell that would help him with that. Still, while he tries to save everyone, the enemy kept attacking everyone and turning them into minions. Aion's best option was to find the asshole as soon as possible…