King Of Limbo

After passing through the Tor, Aron, Rose, Evanora, Jin, and Jagu arrived in an unknown environment.

They appeared to be floating in a void while being surrounded by stars on all sides. They were all drawn to this scene and couldn't help but turn to gaze around.

After checking that the gate was operated in a similar way to the one he had first used in Argos' library, Aron briefly peered about.

"!!"

They all felt a harsh pull on their entire bodies, as if an invisible force were pulling them in an arbitrary direction, abruptly ending the peaceful feeling they were all experiencing.

"Quickly hold on to each other's apparel!"

Aron gave a swift order, grabbing Rose by the waist who was nearest to him.

She then took hold of Evanora's leg. Evanora also turned to check who was nearest to her, and when she spotted Jagu, she quickly grabbed hold of his neck's fur.

Jin was the only one who had moved beyond his line of sight, so he had to quickly unsheathe his sword and extend it in Jagu's direction. Jagu quickly grabbed it and drew Jin in.

"Is Limbo here?"

Jin, who was utterly oblivious to what was happening, could only sigh with relief and ask this.

The sound of shredding fabric interrupted Jin's conversation before he could receive a response, leading everyone to immediately assess their own attire.

The sound immediately became apparent to them as coming from the area around them rather than from any of them at that point.

They cautiously turned their heads forward and saw what they initially believed to be a starry sky shredding in front of them.

Similar space-based tears could be observed to their sides; the total number of these tears matched the number of people present.

This was different from what he had experienced with Argos' instrument, and Aron scowled at it. Was it as a result of the other's greater sophistication? Or was it related to power? He could only guess.

Aron steeled himself in spite of the situation and turned to face the tear that had been dragging him.

The likelihood that each tear would lead to a different area of Limbo or maybe an entirely other origin world became apparent at this time.

He believed that moving in the direction of the attempt to draw him was the wisest course of action.

"There."

The others didn't question him because, despite his inability to see through the tear, he was confident in his decision.

When he turned to look at Rose to see if she had anything to say about the situation, he was met by the complex expression on her face as she was staring at the tear that had been dragging her.

Aron focused their weight immediately on the tear that had been dragging him after hearing no further comments.

As they drew nearer, the force grew stronger until it was impossible for them to withdraw, even if they had wanted to.

While this experience may have been unfamiliar and unusual to the others, Aron could recall it with clarity.

'Gravity, not too strong either.' Aron paused to reflect as he untensed and let the force to draw him in.

Each of them eventually managed to squeeze through the tear before it eventually closed inside itself.

…

Woosh!

A bright tear no larger than a doorway emerged out of thin air a few meters above the ground in a seemingly calm yet ominous forest.

Five people were violently pushed out toward the ground by this rupture.

Despite how suddenly everything happened, everyone reacted quickly.

Aron and Jagu directly landed on their feet without the least bit of trouble, leaving light tremors in their wake.

Jin appeared to be about to pull off a similar trick, but instead he rotated his body forward just before impact, causing him to fall with less force and in a rolling motion.

While the other scouter brought down Evanora, who was the only one to behave slowly and do nothing, Rose merely needed to gracefully wave her hand before her second scouter appeared below her and carried her down.

"Argh! Well that was a unique way of traveling." Jin carefully raised himself from the grassy ground and patted various parts of his attire.

Without immediately responding, Aron took off his helm and then looked around the group.

They were currently in a sizeable, dispersed forest with trees that were all at least ten meters tall.

Despite their size, the majority of the leaves were small, allowing light to penetrate and making the surroundings easily visible.

Without a single ray of sunshine to be seen, the sky was dark and overcast and gave the impression that it was raining heavily.

Aron caught a glimpse of some precipitation in the form of water droplets on the short grass where he was standing.

"Quite lovely yet bleak isn't it?" Rose finally uttered a remark as she started surveying the area.

The surroundings were nevertheless rather beautiful, with some colorful flowers scattered about and peaceful sounds of nature, despite the lack of sunshine or a starry sky.

"It's difficult for me to determine whether or not we are in Limbo because this area appears foreign to me. In the absence of further information, let's presume that we are, in which case I urge everyone to maintain a thin layer of mana fluctuations around themselves to avoid contracting a fatal disease."

Aron said in passing that Jin should prompt this action right away. While Evanora and Rose appeared to have passive ones, Jagu, a Komi, usually had some degree of mana fluctuations around him as a sign of power.

To test a number of variables, Aron and the group continued to remain in the exact location where they had first appeared.

The first was time; they needed to see if the brightness they were currently experiencing would change at all, but after being there for a full Pesian day, nothing of the kind happened.

Aron discovered that the mana density was much heavier than in any other area of Pesia while waiting. Richer mana typically makes one feel comfortable, but in this case it made them uneasy because it was higher than what their bodies could currently tolerate.

Rose and Evanora were the only exception to this rule. Aron could only assume that the latter's situation involved her mana demon, but what about Rose?

This observation strengthened his belief that she, too, was from Limbo, but he still kept these ideas to himself.

He kept changing the variables with the crude means he had at his disposal. He could determine the gravitational value by comparing the height of his jumps, the quality of the air could be determined by how well he breathed, and the climate could be determined by looking at insects and other small organisms.

Before taking any action, Aron and the others tested these and numerous other variables.

Ironically, the last test required them to remain there for a while in order to see whether anyone else would show up in the same location as they did or close by, but nothing like that happened.

They had remained in the same place for four Pesian days without encountering any intelligent life.

Aron no longer saw the use in wasting time in their position after numerous factors had been tested. In order to prevent any issues, they needed to start exploring because they hadn't brought enough rations.

To have lost allies to something like hunger would have been a waste.

"It's been looking like it will rain for a good while but nothing, the day doesn't feel like it's moving either."

This idea came to Jin when he was studying the cloud cover from atop one of the big trees.

​ Aron, who was leaning against a tree, rose up as Jin spoke, causing the ornaments he had strung from the belt of his armor to clack and click. The threads holding the feather of Yugar, the horn of Goovin, and the ears of Aella and Jagu all dangled from the belt that adorned his waist.

Although time in Limbo is repetitive, we may determine if it is random or not by comparing it to Pesian days. It's time for us to leave for the time being; I doubt anyone else will show up here. We don't even know if they arrived in the same region as us.

Everyone got up from their varied seated positions after hearing Aron's statements.

"It appears to be the case; moving forward, we still have a lot to learn. I've been particularly interested in learning about the astrology of Limbo and the ideas of moving between realms. Lady Rose spoke as she put the small notebook on the bracelet around her wrist after closing it.

"And the creatures that probably reside here,"

The main source of Jagu's concerns was what they would run into.

He realized that the dangers they would likely encounter would be greater than anything he encountered from what Aron had been telling them about the fundamentals of Limbo.

The idea both thrilled and alarmed him.

"We've been here long enough for our mana fluctuations to mimic the nearby mana, so don't worry. We won't be as noticeable as strange things anymore, at least in terms of mana. Who knows how delicious we may look to the things here, heh!"

Jin grinned and rapidly climbed down the tree he was on to make fun of Jagu's concerns.

"Let's go, we'll find out soon." After some prodding from Aron, the gathering started to move.