King Of Limbo

Later that evening the same day, Aron and the rest of the expedition group had managed to return to the surface and regrouped with the scouting and supporting teams.

Their pace in travel had increased due to the news they learned from the Veldra concerning the impending attack. Without knowing when exactly it would occur they're best bet was to at least leave the boarder regions before it turned into a battlefield.

Currently they gathered at the riverbank they had stayed at prior to starting to expedition into the tunnels. Aron was yet to show Lady Rose the map of Aethel's surface so she called a meeting with the intention of choosing which direction they should travel in.

"Aethel is quite vast so to cover more ground and avoid detection, we will have to split up into groups once again. Each group should have one person in possession of a messaging scroll so as to communicate should any discoveries be made." She explained and received no complaints from the others.

Most of them had their thoughts concerned about the war after learning of the situation when they used the messaging scrolls to contact their respective families. Only Esmeralda, Henry, Sebastian and Lady Rose possessed messaging scrolls.

Their demand had increased ever since the prequel to the war so very few people had them, often those who carried great importance.

With only four present the number of people traveling between each group would still be fairly large for a covert operation but still manageable.

"We can't have too many so each group should have ten to fifteen members. One group will travel back to the boarder and meet with a Galos airship to retrieve the items from the bunker." Aron suddenly added but also received no complaints. Many thought it was indeed better to travel with that number of people per group to reduce unnecessary problems.

With a emergence of a new variable, Aron needed to add some changes to his original plan. He still needed some people to act as shields should said ruin prove to be a challenge while he needed another to act as a distraction for both the Veldrea and Aethelians.

The group that would be traveling back to the boarder would purposely be given a route which he felt would most likely lead to an encounter with the Veldrea, while splitting up would increase the chances of other groups drawing the Aethelians attention should they be discovered. In addition to the impending clash between the two powers, he estimated he would encounter no obstructions during the search of the ruins.

"That does sound more ideal, the best should stay and explore further while those less suited will return and secure the bunker items for us. I nominate Claudia Yesbern for this role." Anastasia proposed while glancing at the others in the corner of her eye, her reason for this suggestion was pretty clear to most people.

She was a none a combatant with no affiliation to any other major family and was quite capable at management, making her the most ideal choice. The fact no one wanted someone belonging to another pillar handling the items was also a contributing factor to this decision which was ultimately accepted by everyone.

After that the four teams that'd be remaining in Aethel had been decided.

Lady Rose's team composed of Aron, Evanora, Mirai, Sharla, Lucas, Juliet and three ordinary individuals for scouting and baggage purposes should it be needed.

Anastasia grouped up with Esmeralda and Emila among others while Jin joined Henry and Brutas. Lastly Jagu joined Sebastian's group whilst Scarlett chose to return with Claudia.

With this setup Aron more or less had an individual to provide him information from any of the groups should he require it with the exception of the returning group. His current standing with Claudia was unclear but he had no interest in the remaining items of the bunker anyways so it didn't bother him in the least.

"Isn't the grouping a bit… unbalanced?" A nervous Sebastian asked just as everyone was preparing to set off, however no one agreed with him.

The others were quite content with their groups and purposefully chose them to be so. Lady Rose and Aron may have been strong but having them in one's group didn't sit well with the other aristocrats, Juliet being the exception who volunteered.

"Not really, the strongest group is obviously Lady Rose's which is why they'll be taking the route closer to Aethel's central settlement, they will be baring more risks so they need to be be strong." Henry explained to the worried Sebastian although he didn't seem convinced in the least and still held worry.

Why did he have to get the Komi with anger issues in his group?

….

With assortments established the groups soon set off for their respective routes just as the sun was setting.

Initially the groups had wanted to use the underground tunnels to travel because even though Aron hadn't revealed the map they felt it was still more secure than traveling on the surface.

This thought was quickly abandoned since it was also very likely that the Veldrea would use said tunnels to try and mount an attack. This wasn't guaranteed as that too had it's its risks but they settled on not taking the chance.

Aron and Lady Rose's group had indeed chosen a route that would lead them closer to Aethel's central settlement. Although the others were moving while depending on theories, Aron was targeting the ruin a few kilometers north west of the central settlement.

Why he chose to target this first? He theorized that it likely held the most importance to the Aethelians given the proximity between the capital and that place. The map also clearly showed numerous minor settlements or camps not far from it which could either suggest it was still in the midst of being explored or was being protected. Whichever the case it was certainly worth going for first as compared to the others.

"Do you think we'll encounter any of your people?" Lucas suddenly asked Sharla after sometime passed with no sign of any Aethelians. She could only only shrug her shoulders slightly in response as she herself wasn't sure what was going on. "I'm also surprised they aren't any scouts in the area… the closer you get to the capital the more frequently you'd run into them." She explained while glancing around at the large tall trees for any figures.

She was increasingly getting more paranoid the longer they went without encountering any resistance. They were times when they reached the outskirts of a minor settlement but even those had no guards or barriers to speak off, it was all open and rather defenseless if an attack were to occur.

"They've likely deployed all their forces towards the war, maybe securing the boarders… this makes no sense though." Mirai muttered as she too found the situation strange and perplexing.

As the trio continued to comment on the situation, Aron and Juliet who traveled at the far back acting as a sort of rear defense both simultaneously felt something trigger their sense of alertness.

They quickly came to a halt almost at the same time and glanced at their feet. "Did you feel that?" Juliet asked just to be sure it wasn't a false impression but Aron nodded and confirmed what she felt.

The others soon also came to a halt and looked behind with curiosity and concern.

"What is it?" Lady Rose raised a brow and asked while recalling her scouter and preparing for a fight.

Aron crouched down to the green grassy ground and placed his palm on it only for moment. "I felt something akin to a tremor right now… the Veldrea have began advancing, judging from the route it's most likely their target is the capital." Aron muttered and brought worrisome expressions to the faces of Sharla and Mirai.

"If that's the case then we best hurry, if they begin attacking before we discover a ruin then we'll have no choice but to engage in battle ourselves." Lady Rose declared rather indifferently causing the two elves to feel even greater worry as to what sort of devastation would befall her people.

"There's a ruin near the central settlement, in the north western surrounding area… before we left it was still yet to be explored though I'm unsure about now." Mirai suddenly revealed and caused Sharla to look at her with widened eyes. "Mirai…" she muttered as if trying to dissuade her but it was already too late.

Mirai however didn't look like she had the least bit of regret regarding what she had just said. "You said your only interest is knowledge correct? So long as you know where to go you won't need to have a confrontation with our people." Mirai asked while facing Aron's direction, she worried of what might become of her people if Aron, Evanora, Lady Rose and Juliet collectively attacked.

"Yes, we'd prefer to avoid unnecessary combat. Do you know any routes that could help us get there quicker?" Lady Rose was quick to capitalize on this newly attained information and opted to get more.

"Sharla will guide you, she knows her way through the forests of Aethel quite well." Mirai agreed and faced Sharla who still looked reluctant to accept the direction of things, to avoid conflict however she quickly nodded on the surface.