King Of Limbo



Aron and Rorthik soon made it into the palace hall, where numerous Aethelians were gathered in celebrations already.

As far as Aron was concerned, they didn't even know what they celebrating, but their culture wasn't one for questioning their hierarchy it seemed.

His gaze swept the scene and it was then that he spotted two familiar faces in the surrounding area, Sharla and Mirai.

He didn't let his gaze linger and was about to turn away when he saw Mirai move her lips as if to say something.

Although no sound was heard, Aron read her lips, interpreting the words "be careful", despite this, his expression didn't change and he kept walking forward with a clueless Rorthik by his side.

As for Mirai and Sharla, the latter didn't look pleased at all seeing Aron. "He's grown even larger than before, let's hope that doesn't mean a rise in strength, he cannot be trusted, right Mirai?" She asked in a hateful tone while watching Aron walk away.

Mirai only gave a light nod but didn't comment any further on the topic.

Now, she and everyone else in the palace hall looked forward as Aron and Rorthik were approaching Lufair and Solair who were seated atop their respective thrones.

Seeing Aron's imposing figure, Lufair sported a frown for a moment but didn't let it show, instead he stood from his throne and chose to greet Aron first.

"Welcome to our settlement Koliean, it is rare for us to see outsiders, we can both consider it our luck to meet like this," he said in a very formal tone, causing Solair who was beside him to frown as she too quickly stood up.

"Indeed, please dear guest, indulge yourself in our people's delicious food, I guarantee there's none like it anywhere else." Solair took the initiative to stand from her throne and approach Aron with a basket full of exotic assorted fruit, chopped and prepared in a manner Aron hadn't seen before.

Now all eyes were on Aron to see his reaction to the matter. But, going against what was expected, Aron responded in a tone that was unbefitting of his outward appearance.

"Thank you, I cannot speak for other races but I'm sure this will be better than anything I've had among my own people," Aron revealed casually as he slouched slightly to retrieve the basket from Solair.

Seeing this action from Aron, Solair looked a bit confused and cast a glance toward Sharla, her brows slightly furrowed. Why? Because what Sharla had told her didn't match with what she was seeing.

Because of Sharla's dislike for Aron, she painted a picture of an arrogant but powerful individual. With such an image in mind, Solair had steeled herself to play a role that would best allow her to get closer to Aron without raising his suspicion, but to her surprise, he was guarded.

Rorthik grew tired of these exchanges and shook his hands wildly, "Enough, enough! Let us eat, we have much knowledge to share, come on."

Although he didn't outright agree, Aron was on the same page. He had no interest in the pointless festivities and instead just wanted to return to the Neglardia.

…

After some time passed, the atmosphere had become less lively and instead more relaxed. The singing in the background had lowered but persisted and the dancing had completely stopped.

Now, many Aethelians were gathered near the thrones, where Rorthik eagerly listened to what Aron had to say about Limbo and it's regions, along with Origin worlds.

"Incredible! So many worlds outside limbo exist?" Rorthik asked in excitement, a sense of hope rising in his old heart.

Aron gave a subtle nod as he took another bite of the fruit he held and explained further, "They do. Although I am yet to see them myself, enough evidence exists to prove their existence. Think of it this way."

Aron placed the cherry like fruit he had just been eating down and crouched down, using his now sticky finger to draw a rough sketch on the ground.

It was an illustration of two identical images, a flat piece of land with a tree.

"When a new world is created, it is said that a parallel world to that world forms in Limbo and the two are identical in structure and mana quantity. However, as time passes…"

Aron trailed off and brought his finger to one of the two identical images, erasing its flat surface and making rocky then completely removing the tree as he continued to explain.

"…one world changes faster than the other, until the two are near unrecognizable. This is because one world is stable, whilst the other lacks order. Once enough time passes, the only real semblance the two worlds would have are their life forms, and given enough time, even they would evolve to suit their respective worlds."

Rorthik listened eagerly and nodded along with a focused mind, Aron's words making great sense to him. But he wasn't alone, be it Lufair, Solair or the other Kolieans, all listened attentively to Aron.

Of course, Aron's words weren't entirely true and factual. That is because they were based off the theory he had come to believe himself after having spent enough time in Limbo, making comparisons with Pesia.

Be it the world surface area, vegetation and races, they were some similarities to be found among some particular species.

He had no concise proof to support his theory but given the evidence he had so far, he was fairly confident in its validity.

The reason he chose to use a theory that wasn't even fully proven was that he had hoped Rorthik would argue with his words and perhaps present evidence of another theory.

Sadly no such thing happened and Rorthik instead listened carefully, before nodding madly in support of it. "Yes! Yes! That makes much more sense! I now see the connection, come I must show you!"

As if Aron's words had provided Rorthik an epiphany, he stood up with great urgency and beckoned Aron to follow.

Aron didn't counter these words and was gladly about to follow when.

"Ehh, is the party over? At least tell me there's still some booze." Jin's nonchalant voice echoed through the hall and caused attention to turn towards him and the newly arrived group.

Rorthik was confused for a moment then remembered, "Oh your companions? Yes, yes I remember, they are welcome. Come in, join the feast, eat as much as you'd like, we will be back soon."

Despite the arrival of Rose and the others, Rorthik's mind was still on whatever he had come to realize.

Even Aron wanted to see what this was so he walked over to his group and spoke quickly, "I'll explain in detail later, for now, just mingle with the natives, especially the two that look to be of high position and be careful, there's something amiss here."

After whispering this warning, Aron walked past the group with Rorthik by his side.

Hearing the warning, Rose didn't seem perturbed and instead just walked forward to join in the feast.

By her side, Evanora's aloof mind wasn't even the least bit worried about potential danger, instead asking, "Evanora doesn't smell any meat…"

Right behind the two, Jagu sniffed the air and gave a nod, "she's right, I don't smell any meat either."

Hearing this, Jin hurried forward to Rose and asked, "Can you ask if they have booze at least?"

With her being their only form of translation outside Aron, Jin could only turn to her. Thankfully, despite her reluctant expression, she did proceed to ask one of Aethelians who had escorted them, receiving a speedy reply.

Seeing this, Jin asked eagerly, "Well? Where can I get a drink? My thoughts are killing me here."

Unfortunately the answer he was looking for never came.

"They say they do not know what that means, if I were to guess correctly, I'd assume that means drinks of that regard don't exist in their culture." Rose quickly revealed before approaching Solair and Lufair, leaving Jin to fully digest those words.

Seeing Rose approach, both Solair and Lufair put up fronts, but these could be easily seen through by even Jagu and Jin, let alone her.

"Greetings to you two, how may we address our two gracious guests?" Rose asked with a small smile on her face, such a strange sight wasn't something anyone within her group would associate with her.

But Jin and Jagu understood that this was an act and so they didn't react to it, Evanora on the other hand felt like this meant something was amiss, so she asked.

"What's wrong with your face?"

…

At the same time, Aron and Rorthik had returned into the Neglardia and were ascending the stairs, passing numerous platforms in the process.

Soon Rorthik came to a stop and beckoned Aron over, "Ah yes, it's here, come, come."

Once again, Aron set foot on a grassy wooden platform that resembled an archipelago and once again Rorthik repeated the same chant he had said before, triggering the glyph at the platform's center to light up, which in turn made the surrounding trees and flowers show animated images on their surfaces.

This time though, Rorthik beckoned Aron over toward a specific tree and urged. "Look, look, you see?"

Aron approached and directed his gaze at the animated carvings, before his eyes widened at the sight. "I was right…"