King Of Limbo

The rest of the observing parties including some Komi from other clan's were all equally surprised and taken aback by Aron's victory.

The manner in which he achieved this was rather simple and some even thought they could do the same but the fact remained that it was he who did this and they had no choice but to acknowledge that their lives were most likely saved by an outsider.

A great many of them felt like smacking their foreheads and cursing their minds for not realizing a tactic so simple. It's outer defense was strong so he simply attacked it where it was most vulnerable after failing to penetrate its scales once.

This feeling of overlooking such a simple thing really felt unpleasant to nearly everyone who saw what Aron did. Some thought they would be regarded heroes while others felt they might have saved some of the lives they lost.

...

As for the crew of the La Belle, their thoughts weren't that much different.

Why couldn't I think of that?

It was that easy in the end?

Anyone skilled enough could do it...

Their thoughts were mainly focused along these lines of envy, jealousy, regret and dissatisfaction. Perhaps the most upset over this was Lucas who knew if he launched one of the mana based attacks of his into its mouth he would have achieved the same result.

'Incredible...' While everyone was focusing on the end result, Juliet was impressed by how it got to that point.

First the amount of strength he needed to possess to directly punch it and even send it back must have been astounding, then there was his incredible speed which rivaled her own and finally what she could only assume was his pro efficiency with the earth element as a mage.

No words used, no runes drawn and the tier of the attack itself was also high so it could only be said he was a tier five or even six mage at the very least. In addition to how young he looked Juliet couldn't help but be amazed.

She wasn't the only one who made this astute piece of judgement as older more experienced Komi including Yugar and Goovin reached similar conclusions.

No matter how easy he made it look, the process by which he got to that point showcased just how strong he truly was.

...

Soon the Sovereign descended on the clearing near Aron that was a result of the massive shockwaves the creature caused. At this point the corrosive drizzle had long since stopped falling and was replaced with actual rain that befell the entirety of the Komi Islands.

Seeing this Aron held out his hand for a moment and sighed before turning around so he could walk over to the airship.

"Wait!" Suddenly a voice called out to him from above, it was Yugar along with his men who hovered not to far above him. 'Right I almost forgot the second problem.' Aron thought as he turned to face Yugar.

After choosing to directly enter Komi Island territory Aron knew there was a fifty-fifty chance the Komi might become hostile for trespassing on their land.

So even as he was turning to face Yugar, he was ready to attack and kill at any moment. "Yes?" Aron replied half-heartedly with his eyes fixated on Yugar.

Yugar felt great unease from this and could tell Aron would attack if they came across as hostile. "I don't come to cause conflict young warrior, I merely wish to know the name of the person who saved and got revenge for my people." Yugar asked rather humbly which surprised his comrades.

"Aron, that is my name. How do I address you?" Aron replied in a more relaxed yet still intimidating tone. He had no reason to deny their thanks or praises if they sought to do so, friendly relationships would only work to benefit him.

"I am known as Yugar, I cannot thank you enough for what you have done. To think humans had such a capable young warrior in their mists, truly eye opening." Yugar moved to land near Aron and gave him a nod of acknowledgement which Aron returned as well.

"They are capable although I myself am not human, that much should be clear by now." Aron replied and gave light to Yugar's suspicions.

Yugar thought of Aron as perhaps a hybrid between Komi and man, such a case has surprisingly not been recorded by them for obvious reasons.

Aron noticed the curious look on Yugar's face and decided to shed some more light on the matter. "My race is neither human, Komi nor some conjoining of the two. That is all you need to know." Aron replied honestly as that wasn't needed to be kept a secret and if anything it only worked to strengthen their interest in him.

"I see, well whatever your race I am thankful regardless. I can not speak for the other clan's but know you are welcome to stay as long as you wish in my territory for which you are already in." Yugar pointed out and brought a smirk on Aron's face, his straight forwardness was something Aron found refreshing compared to humans who almost always had ulterior motives behind their actions.

In truth Yugar was curious about Aron's origins but held back from asking more. At the end of the day strength is what was respected regardless of race.

"We only wish to study this creature and we'll be on our way. That much is fine is it not?" Aron inquired and Yugar nodded. "You killed it, in our clan you choose what to do with your prize. I'll leave some of my men here so feel free to ask them of what you need, I must tend to my people." Yugar said his final words before spreading the wings on his back and taking off into the sky.

With the threat gone he needed to organize his people and inform those who had evacuated to begin returning. As for the those belonging to other clans who got to witness this scene from afar, they could only return to their clan leaders and report what happened.

"The other clan's are far too busy dealing with the after math of the explosions still so I doubt will be interrupted during our research." Lady Rose came from behind Aron and commented while looking towards the creature's corpse.

In that very moment however the La Belle descended from the clouds and made its presence known making Lady Rose show a look of annoyance. "Perhaps I spoke too soon. No matter, do get yourself cleaned up and join me. I may be needing your expertise." Lady Rose instructed before walking towards the giant corpse with her scouter in toll.

Aron said no words to her and instead turned his attention to the La Belle. Upon narrowing his eyes he could make out a few familiar faces such as Sharla, Juliet and Lucas who all stood at the fore front of the deck.

As if by reflex Juliet noticed Aron's gaze and looked in his direction before showing the faintest of smiles and waving her hand. Aron could roughly guess they followed the Sovereign here but weren't an immediate threat so he simply waved back before walking towards his airship.

Upon getting there almost everyone seemed frozen like a statue and avoided looking at him directly.

"Will you be ok?" This question broke the silence and it was asked by none other than Riya who felt like she had lost years of her life just by asking that. Aron glanced in her direction and she felt weak in the knees, seeing his bloody figure up close was far more intimidating.

"I'll be alright I just need to wash up and prepare letters for the families of the members we lost today... it was a rather empty victory. Claudia, you and Jin see what our guests want and don't disturb me." Aron spoke uninterrupted before climbing up the platform casually.

The remaining members could only look at his swaying cloak proudly as their garments bore the same symbol. However now the happiness they felt was overshadowed by the sadness of losing part of their team.

Aron meant what he said when he called the victory empty. It was yet another rule of his father's. Only when the gains outweigh the losses can it be considered victory.

And so Aron's figure soon vanished from their sight and everyone kept themselves busy. Similarly to how Aron passed on his duties to Claudia, Juliet did the same and let Sharla and Lucas make contact telling them only to call her when Aron made an appearance.

Her reason for doing this was simply because she had little interest in socializing with people who couldn't help her grow in any way and she was very blunt about it. Although her reason was purely because of this it still left a very sour taste to some people as it looked rather peculiar on the surface for her to only be interested in speaking to Aron.

Why did she say Aron instead of Lady Rose? Because that woman was even more blunt and unfriendly than her, unlike Juliet, Lady Rose rarely conversed even with those said to be more powerful than her and on the off chance she did, her attitude and bluntness remained the same.

…

[ Rule#278: Any victory in which you lost something useful is an empty one ]