King Of Limbo

After reaching the conclusion that the ruin he was currently in may be more helpful to him than he initially thought, Aron was more keen to explore.

With Sebastian now ranting on pointless topics he turned his attention away from the ruined statues and looked towards the entrance.

It had no door and was like open entry way with damaged pillars decorating it's sides. Without saying anything aloud he began walking there, his intention clear to everyone.

One after another they began to floor while taking brief glances at the ruined statues. Once past the entry way they were met with a rather eerie atmosphere.

Unlike the exterior which was well lit most of the illuminating crystals inside that building had deteriorated, thus lighting only a few certain places while leaving others barely visible.

For the sake of caution they moved closer to one another… with the exception of Aron who just kept walking forward without a care in the world, his gaze occasionally wondering to random directions around him.

'I don't feel any mana fluctuations nearby…' he thought while wearing a small frown. The presence of mana fluctuations in this case would've meant perhaps a limbo crack was present in the palace like building.

"We should split up to cover more ground quickly, we'll meet back here in roughly an hour." For the first time in a while Aron spoke in authoritative tone towards everyone present, no longer leaving the role to Lady Rose.

His orders came a bit abrupt but no one spoke up against him, aside from Lady Rose who could? Thus they all turned in her direction to see if she was fine with this but she only added on his point. "Groups of three or pairs should suffice. I have my scouters so I'll move alone." She added before walking off towards a damaged looking brick staircase.

Aron only gave her a nod before gesturing Evanora to follow him as he continued walking down the hall of the same floor.

Juliet looked at him leave for a moment but didn't follow, instead she turned to Anastasia. "Let's see where this other hallways lead." She said while looking towards one of the many branching hallway paths.

…..

The hallway Aron had chosen to go down wasn't all that special from first sight, he had already passed through several rooms which had nothing of value leaving him wondering if he should track back and try another path.

"Evanora sees another door." Evanora quickly pointed out like she had with the previous rooms, thinking she was being quite helpful in their quest for something of interest.

Aron now lacked enthusiasm after seeing nothing in the first few rooms, thus he just walked over to it casually and try to open it… but it was sealed shut.

"Hoh?" He looked at it with a brow raised before kicking it with force, however even then it remained sealed shut. For a regular person applying strength didn't mean all that much but for him the difference was vast, his regular physical strength without augmentation could hurt tier four creatures, like he demonstrated with the serpent in the Komi Islands.

"Evanora commands you to open." Evanora stepped forward after seeing he was having trouble but rather than open at her instructions, the seemingly normal door had a wave of energy violently burst from it.

The wave sent both of them to the ground due to its rapidnesses, leaving them no time to react. However this was far from enough to cause injury to them,

Aron only stood up looking irritated before clicking his tongue in irritation. "Looks like it's made to resist mana more than physical attacks, in that case…." Aron's eyes now looked ferocious with an amber glow to them as he held out his fist towards the door before slamming it hard.

Bam!

It flew open so loudly and roughly that the walls quaked to some extent. Evanora could only give him a thumbs up for his valiant service in taking down the door that she couldn't.

Behind said door wasn't a room full of treasure but a staircase that lead downwards.

Aron and Evanora exchanged glances before he took the lead and she followed while showing more alertness and being on the lookout for doors. Many wouldn't understand this but this was the first time Evanora's commands had ever failed to work, leaving her very confused. As far as she was concerned, doors were now her natural enemy.

The staircase ran for a good while before they reached it's end which was a basement of sorts.

Dark, gloomy and full of strange looking dusty and rusty devices all round. Some looked like models of structures while others were items who couldn't quite recognize at first glance. "Looks like an abandoned workshop." He muttered as he began walking forward looking at the various things present all around him.

Some small some large, he inspected them all keenly in case they were just what he was look for… a way to limbo.

However the only device he had ever seen that could open limbo cracks was the one that brought him to Pesia, the other items thus far looked nothing like it. One could argue they were just of a different design but without knowing what exactly they were he was at a loss.

"What is Aron looking for?" A curious Evanora asked so that she could provide some help if possible. Aron however doubted she could be of any use here so he didn't pay her any mind. "Nothing in particular just look around."

With those words Evanora walked off to also start looking at various items the same way Aron had been doing.

Soon he found a large desk of sorts with a lone chair and plenty of documents on it's surface. This very well could've been what he was looking for so he wasted no time and began digging through the various pieces of parchment, books and anything else that he could.

'No… useless… irrelevant… hmm.' As he was rummaging through them, one particular design drawn on piece of parchment caught his eye.

It detailed a semi circle like door with numerous runes along it's surface. Much of the penmanship had faded and wasn't at all clear but it certainly was close enough to what he was looking for, however he didn't immediately put all hope on it.

Instead he put it away from the rest and continued to rummage through the pile of knowledge before him for anything more.

After many more useless things he stumbled upon another journal of similar design to the one he had found in the bunker. He quickly checked if it too had the author's initials, on the far left corner of the cover were the initials J.J.

Seeing his raised Aron's curiosity and he immediately began to skim through it.

[ I've proven to be too much of a headache to them, whatever parasite is controlling them it's either conceived them I don't need to be captured alive or It's taken absolute control of them. Even after all these years I do not understand what's happened to my friends… ]

[ It won't be long till they realize I've chosen to hide the city we built together years ago, although it's sad to see it in such a sorry abandoned state now. Where did it all go wrong? No, I can't be sentimental now. I need to find a power source for the device and retreat to limbo… once I activate the tide Pesia will no longer be safe for anyone. ]

[ If anyone in the distant future is reading this, know that I am the man who took it upon himself to save Pesia. On the other hand if this isn't the distant future then those parasites are likely ruling over you and I am dead, in which case I implore you to go to this location's top most floor and finish the runic pattern there with this… after that you will be free. End ]

'This runic pattern is beyond basic, perhaps he made it so that even if an uneducated individual found it they could put it to use?' Aron thought while looking unsure.

Aron quickly took note of the runic pattern drawn in the journal and location before tossing it aside as well. This knowledge still didn't change what he was looking for, it did however reveal something big… the device did exist and it was likely in that very room. All that was left now was finding more knowledge if possible concerning the power source.

….

Meanwhile Sebastian and Jagu paired up to explore the top most floor. It had very little on it when compared to the rest, just a plethora of empty rooms with nothing of note except the wall carvings.

Both Jagu and Sebastian didn't pay any particular mind to them and continued to just search for anything of relevance. It would only be until they reached the last room at the very end of the hall that they would find something peculiar.

Sebastian hesitated to open the door whereas Jagu just humphed then swung it open without making a fuss. What was revealed to be behind the door was another empty room with nothing but wall carvings, however this room stood out in that it had carvings on it's floor as well.

They were created in such a manner that it looked like all the carvings originated from the center of the floor, however the very center of the carvings on the floor were plain.

"This place is also empty, what a waste of time." Jagu was quick to dismiss the discovery and opted to turn and leave but Sebastian paused and narrowed his eyes at the floor and then the walls before walking into the room as if in a daze. "H-hold on….."

He trailed off as he walked in and began looking at everything more keenly as if he had actually discovered something. Jagu only glanced at him oddly before crossing him arms impatiently. "Do you plan on studying walls as well? Tsk."

Sebastian ignored the mocking remark he received for showing interest and proceeded to crouch onto the floor before rubbing his hand on the center, removing the dust that had collected over the unknown number of years.

"Like I thought… it's like a puzzle. As expected of a sanctuary belonging to the greatest minds to ever live, maybe this was a way to hide their work!" Sebastian was quick to catch onto the pattern hidden behind the carvings, sparking his passion as a scholar and practitioner of runic arts.

Jagu remained unamused and just watched him crawl from one spot of the floor to another like a deranged fool. Soon Sebastian came to stop and took out his runic pen with visible excitement, even going as far as to take deep breaths before daring to bring the pen in contact with the floor.

After sometime passed and it felt like an hour was drawing near so Jagu had lost his patience and spoke up. "Let's just leave, if this really leads to answers then Aron will know what to do."

"Hold on I'm almost thereeee… and done! Hah!" Sebastian grinned victoriously and jumped up energetically while wiping his forehead.

Jagu looked at the carving he spent so long working on unimpressed and just turned ready to leave. "Hmph! It didn't work, let's just go."

Sebastian frowned at Jagu's criticism and looked at the floor hopefully but like Jagu had pointed out… nothing happened. "This…." He followed up with a sigh before turning to leave alongside Jagu dejectedly.

"I still think it's a puzzle of sorts so let's tell Lady Rose, I may have just made a small error." Sebastian explained as the two walked away, still hoping the carvings had a deeper meaning to them like he thought.