King Of Limbo

A day had passed since Aron set his plan into motion, giving fifty six rune patterned papers to fifty six individuals of varying age and locations to carry out his plan.

It was currently already night time and he was seated in Hilda's tavern alone on a table drinking while listening to one of Hilda's many stories as she stood behind the counter.

"...and that is how I earned my name. True story." Hilda said with a grin on her face before laughing. Aron who sat at the table closest to the counter simply raised a glass to her while wearing a small smile. "I have no doubt." he commented casually before going silent again.

Aron was someone who preferred to listen rather than talk and for to someone like Hilda who just loved to talk endlessly she didn't mind he's seemingly reserved nature. But what it actually came down to was his lack of trust of people and poor communication skills as a whole.

It was no secret that almost all residents, Hilda included had been students before. Hilda herself had mentioned something along the lines of "good ole days" to Aron which only confirmed his suspicion.

Another feature about her that struck him as odd was the sheer amount of mana that enveloped her, an indicator of her being far stronger than just a simple warrior. But since the tavern has been around long before he had arrived he could just be overly thinking it but to be safe Aron didn't reveal anything haphazardly.

"You're quite the good listener, I've got more tales of old for you to stomach later tonight once business slows down." Hilda revealed in a happy tone that didn't last long as Aron shook his head. "I won't be able to make it tonight. I have other plans." Aron explained without really revealing details as he stood up from his seat.

"Oh! Say no more, a handsome lad like you must women worship the very road you walk on. Had I been a little damsel I would've kidnapped ye for me self." Hilda teased as Aron turned to leave, upon looking around the tavern he did notice that the majority of people present were girls. "I have a more mature taste..." Aron replied which came across as teasing back before raising his hood and leaving the tavern.

"Cheeky one that boy. Well? Are you all gonna keep pretending even when his gone? Ye have barely touched your drinks!" Hilda muttered before turning to the many girls who sat looking at the door with glasses full and tables packed with food untouched. Hilda's statement quickly had them look at their tables with looks of embarrassment while some quickly rushed out of the tavern. Once outside they looked in all directions but saw no figure.

Meanwhile Aron was leaping from rooftop to rooftop at an incredibly fast speed. In mere moments he arrived at the residential district although this time it was still early night so people had still been roaming the streets.

However once he went to a room of one of the many buildings he had visited, the individual present was sound asleep. Aron wasted no time and immediately recovered the runed patterned paper and left, he then repeated this fifty five more times before finally leaving the last building and the residential district as a whole.

Once he got back home, he went to his study and placed all fifty six patterned papers on the table before removing forty six and just throwing them into the fire place. 'To think not a single one would go missing.' He thought as he laid the remaining sixteen neatly next to each other.

In truth Aron had only needed sixteen to work but his overly cautious personality plus the risk had him make forty six more as a contingency. After all anything could've happened to the people he had hypnotized in those two days and his plan would've failed if even one went missing and thus making him restart from scratch. To Aron this was simply the most ideal tactic and it worked.

"Now for the results." Aron muttered as he brought his hand to his mouth and bit a finger before dousing a drop of blood on each paper. Once this was done each paper had it's pattern light up.

When the light finally faded, the paper was blank for a moment before a line appeared on each. Sixteen single lines total. As Aron looked at this, he was anything but pleased.

"The highest possibility of mana fluctuating here is an abysmal one?!" Aron blurted out before picking up each of the papers and throwing them into the fire.

What Aron had done was test the possibility of mana fluctuating in the region which was measured from a scale of one to ten. The runed papers he had placed around recorded the possibility based on the present mana's nature.

For a mere Limbo crack to naturally appear, a region needed a fluctuation level of seven and for an artificial one it needed at least a fluctuation level of five. The score which Aron recorded meant the possibility was near zero for the region hence his look of displeasure.

But the more he thought about it the more it made sense. 'I was too focused on coming here so the arch-mage can help fix my Luna mana issue that I didn't take into account certain factors. If you're in an original world, Limbo isn't a place you'd want to end up so building a city as far away from mana fluctuations as possible would be the most ideal choice.' Aron thought before letting out a sigh in disappointment.

Not at the results but at himself for planning so carefully but forgetting such a simple yet important fact. It only showed that in the end he is no genius and is bound to make mistakes as well. 'I should put that to the back of my mind for now and focus on this Luna mana issue.'

When Ariel had first told him to do well during the Journey he had thought it was because those who do well automatically get the best treatment and resources but the Journey and his days thus far in Galos City showed him otherwise.

The main deduction being for whatever reason it may be, the arch mage seems to want more talented individuals enter the academy. There was no free meal in this world, that was something Aron's father had told him. A person going out of their way to do some grand good isn't something you'll often see, especially among the strong who had to suffer and experience many trials to get to where they are.

Aron sat on his chair and covered his face with his two hands while sighing, he could almost hear Argos lecturing him over how he should always analyze a situation carefully before acting. 'Brute strength can only take you so far he said. Knowledge is the true power.' Aron thought before taking a deep breath and rethinking everything.

After doing so he became relaxed and decided the see the positives from the situation. Now after he solves his Luna mana issue he can at least count out one region for possible Limbo cracks.

And so after that day, Aron chose to put all his ideas to a halt till he was finally within Galos Academy. He spent the coming days acting like a normal person his age would, visiting the tavern and even mingling with people which was especially easy with commoners who held him in high regard ever since the Brutas incident.

Finally the day of the entrance ceremony arrived.

[ Rule #78: In this world, there is no free meal ]