King Of Limbo

A little time passed after Aron had boldly declared who he supposedly was to the guarding Veldra and now the group was currently being lead by one of them to their settlement within the mountain.

The passage way leading there was clearly an artificially made tunnel but given how crude it looked one could tell that they used runed artifacts rather than spells to make it.

Although curious about it Aron didn't voice any questions and only quietly followed the sweating Veldra leading them so us not to draw suspicion to themselves. In reality thanks to the Basilisk vision he had used Aron already knew the rough layout of the settlement and all the tunnels it had which continued to go underground.

Oddly enough the one they were using only lead to one of the smallest open areas he had noticed. 'Something is off here.' He thought but still said nothing and eventually the group was lead to another larger earthen doorway that they had to pass before arriving at the settlement.

Said settlement was quite basic and crude in nature with all the visible structures being made from stone and earth while many homes seemed to be just caves carved into the surfaces of the inner mountain, connected only by rugged steps, pathways and lifts that could be seen nearly everywhere.

The settlement at first glance looked like it could very well house a few hundred but something still felt off to Aron and so he asked. "How many are you in this settlement?" When Aron asked this his senses rose and her narrowed his eyes at the Veldra that lead them there who gulped before answering. "We are one hundred and thirty here your excellency, well below the two hundred and fifty quota allowed."

When Aron heard this answer it now made sense why the Veldrea had all looked nervous. 'To think Aethel controls their population number.'

Upon considering it Aron found it made sense in a way to limit their growth so they don't become a problem for the Aethelians. However according to the vision of the landscape he had seen, they had already done so.

"He's lying." Evanora revealed blankly to Aron who could already tell. Mirai also realized this but chose not to voice it and leave the talking to Aron.

Upon being called out for the lie the Veldra began to sweat profusely, he clearly wasn't someone who could handle pressure well especially given it was coming from Aron.

"What's going on here?" Luckily for the nervous male Veldra his leader had arrived. As he arrived the residents began to peak out of their homes or stand on the pathways and stairs to observe what was happening at the entrance.

Their leader held the same features that all Veldra seemed to hold. Short muscular statures, rough tanned skin, scruffy hair and very strong facial features.

Upon seeing Aron and the group he also looked nervous but continued to approach and even got on his knees before them. "Welcome your excellencies, my name is Jun the leader here, may I ask why you're here? the next inspection should still be two years away." He asked in a heavy and seemingly respectful deep tone.

However he couldn't hide the fact his heart rate had spiked tremendously in their presence. "Are you telling me what to do?" Aron went silent for moment before replying with this which only caused them to feel greater pressure.

"I wouldn't dare! I was sim-" Jun felt he had overstepped himself and quickly tried to correct his choice of words but wasn't allowed to do so as Aron interrupted him. "Quiet, it was a yes or no question, don't waste my time with your empty explanations." He replied causing even the surrounding Veldrea to look worried.

Aron was only able to act this way after observing how Ariel had done it at the fortresses prior.

Jun no longer dared to speak unless spoken to, however the next words to come out of Aron's mouth made his heart squeeze. "Where does the hidden tunnel there lead to?" Aron asked while pointing towards an ordinary looking point at the base of the settlement. 'H-He knows!' Jun fell into inner panic.

When Aron had used his vision he had initially thought this area was a branch of the settlement as there was a more complex system underneath the entire mountain range, since he had only checked within a one point five kilometer radius he was sure it extended further.

Jun began to sweat profusely out of panic before gritting his teeth and lunging at Aron with a sudden burst of speed and weapon in hand, he was truly an augmenter.

Since most techniques and arts couldn't be cast very quickly, Jun hoped to handle the situation using the advantage of close distance. Unfortunately for him it was Aron before him instead of a common elf so what he received in response was a frighteningly powerful kick that connected to his chest.

"Arck!" In that instant the sound of his ribs cracking could be heard while blood was coughed up from having his organs pierced by said broken bones.

The force from the kick sent him flying all the way to the other side of the settlement where he viciously collided with the wall, dying in an instant.

A brief moment of silence followed before screams and panic spread in the settlement. Those that could fight began charging towards Aron and the group hoping to overwhelm them with numbers alone.

Aron didn't take a battle stance and instead turned to Evanora to test how good her casting was against a large group. "Kill them all."

Evanora nodded blankly as if the order she had received was a simple one. She turned her head forward and raised one hand as if pointing at the approaching Veldrea and spoke. "Evanora wants you all to die." She muttered without any vigor or malice in her tone.

However the mana listened to her words and above the settlement large sharp arrows made of molded mana taking form could be seen. The sheer number looked to have surpassed thousands and covered every area except the small radius Aron and others stood in.

Some Veldrea continued to charge whilst others began running towards cover but it would all prove to be hopless. In the next moment the arrows began to rain down indiscriminately and pierced the bodies of all Veldrea that were in the open, be it child or woman.

Those who hid thought themselves to be safe but some arrows curved and switched directions mid air until they pierced the body of a Veldrea. This deadly rain continued without stop until not a single one of them was left alive in the settlement.

"…"

Lucas and Sharla were left speechless as to what they had just seen whereas Mirai was confused. One moment she could sense numerous people and the next the room had a sharp increase of dense mana before all the figures she sensed vanished.

By doing this Aron had just exposed a card of his but as far as he was concerned it no longer mattered. With all the Veldrea dead Aron proceeded to begin searching the area while Evanora was sent to deal with the guards left outside.

After spending a short time searching Aron discovered a map of Aethela in a cave that looked to belong to the leader. However when comparing it to the one he had something stood out, none of the routes matched.

​ 'This means the routes here can only be the underground system, to think they have tunnels throughout the continent… seems you're more ambitious than the Aethelians give you credit for.' Aron chuckled as he rolled up the map and took it. He could only imagine what the real number of their population was given all the settlements marked on said map he had gotten.

Still he found it rather odd that Jun held something this important and that it wasn't even hidden. He could only assume it had to do with the fact that inspectors only ever visited after a certain amount of time. 'It's unlikely they even bothered to search, what a false sense of superiority can do.'

With the map in hand Aron left Jun's cave seemingly satisfied. The map he had received from Ariel detailed all ruins discovered on the surface while the one he found today showed those discovered underground, with just this alone much of his work was done.