A lot of ti passed since Aron t Argos and began living in the library. Ti was never sothing Aron paid mind to, it was almost as if it didn't exist to the boy. Although a considerable amount of ti had passed and Argos showed signs of aging, Aron remained the sa.
Inside the gigantic hall of Argos's library, Aron was seated on the marble floor while leaning against one of the shelves with a book in hand. This had now beco his routine as it was the only thing he could do within this vast hall, prior to coming Aron wasn't even literate but now he beca an active reader largely due to Argo's instructions.
"You've finished another row of books I see...." Argos's voice resounded in the hall as he slowly walked towards Aron.
"Yes, I'm on the row that deals with the concept of politics and nobility..." Aron answered in an uncaring tone without lifting his head from the books. He had even shifted to another language of speaking called Dim that Argos taught him because it was much more common in Limbo.
'I thought as ti went on the anger he held would dwindle but it's very much apparent...good. Even now he doesn't willingly cooperate. From his perspective I'm simply a captor forcing him to earn his freedom I suppose. It's so sad to see and even encourage this but... in the end we shall both benefit from this.' Argos thought to himself while maintaining a smile.
"For soone who could barely read not too long ago I'm impressed. Anyway, I ca to inform you I've prepared a training area for you to practice spells, mana manipulation or to spar against so summonings of mine." As Argos declared this, Aron put the book he was reading down and raised his head before standing up.
For the longest ti now all Aron ever did was read book after book in Argos's seemingly never ending library. It was at this ti that his view of the world began to contort along with his already fragile sanity.
The longer Aron expanded his knowledge the more his beliefs beca twisted. A young mind will soak knowledge up like a sponge and that knowledge would often determine how they grow to view the world around them.
So one could imagine what books that questioned the very aning of life, laws, ti, space and existence would do to such a young mind. One question always leading to another and just when you think you understand another book introduces a completely different and broader perspective on that very topic.
"I knew you'd be interested. Co along" Argos added without waiting for Aron to give a response. He too had noticed the child had been reading far too much and the questions he began to ask him were growing in complexity. This was good but at the sa ti bad as too much knowledge would drive a young mind like his insane.
Part of the reason Argos had such an eccentric personality was due to all the knowledge he knew and things he had experienced.
As they walked away from the spot Aron was seated, large tallic golems walked over and picked up the books before returning them to their original spots.
A short walk later, Argos and Aron stopped at a junction between shelves and stood on a strangely carved circle on the floor.
"Rovas... Invoke!" Argos muttered and the floor imdiately lit up before a bright light engulfed them.
When the light faded, both of them were standing on a differently colored floor with an even more different surrounding area. Everything around them was flat ground except from a large white do at the center.
"This way..." Argos instructed as he began leading the way towards the do.
Upon reaching close to it, a door appeared on its surface that allowed the two entry. Once inside, Aron found they were in a large valley with mountains, rivers and even a sky.
"An illusion?" Aron asked as he looked around amazed by what he saw.
"Yes but to be precise it's a very complex rune formation but let's ignore the minor details, you'll learn about them soon enough. The main goal of this place is to have you face beasts I summon in their natural habitat for maximum difficulty, it's good practice to apply what you learn. There's no sense in you inheriting my legacy if you die quickly, anyways for now...why not face a golem at the peak of Tier 1?" Argos explained before looking to see Aron's reaction. In truth he first thought of having this place created to give Aron a pass ti aside from reading as he feared the boy was slowly but surely losing his take on reality as a whole.
"...." Aron gave no answer but instead began walking over to the only golem present in the field and prepared to face the golem barehanded which caused Argos to smile. Aron's interest in combat wasn't small and his beast like nature was always drawn to the thought of growing stronger and evolving to reach his peak state. This was how he grew, the sa way humans needed food for growth, beast mongers needed battles for evolution. It was an unavoidable circumstance.
"You're certainly eager. Alright begin" Argos instructed with a small smile.
The tallic golem's eyes flashed brightly as its limbs began to move. It's movents were slow which was enough to tell Aron that it's strength was what to worry about.
'If you cannot gauge an opponent's strength, go all out....' Aron thought before calming his breathing. As he did so, the mana within him began to strengthen his muscles, while his usually grey eyes beca a fierce shade of blue. He now bared an appearance similar to a starved beast who had just been presented helpless prey.
[ Limbo Strider Aspect: Stride ]
Aron stood completely still and waited for the golem to take a step forward before he burst from his position and reached it in the blink of an eye.
The golem was completely unresponsive to this action and continued in taking a step forward. Aron ignored this and forcefully placed his hand on its head before smashing it to the ground.
The ground below it broke apart and trembled furiously from that single strike. Having landed the hit, Aron jumped back and waited for the dust to clear so he could observe how much damage he inflicted.
However when the dust cleared, the golem didn't have a single scratch on it and stood right back up. Aron furrowed his brows at this but attacked once again.
This ti he launched a kick right at the golem's chest and sent it flying back many ters, destroying whatever tree or boulder it collided against. But even with that, the golem stood once again.
'...is this thing really only tier 1' Aron thought before getting ready to attack once more.
Ti flew by without a victor being decided. The battle had been completely one sided with Aron being the only one landing hits. However the golem never once stayed down for long.
'I could easily defeat a Tier 1 rank C creature before.... why is thing still standing?' Aron thought to himself but never once voiced any complaints or dissatisfaction out loud. His expression remained strong and unwavering despite obviously being tired.
"That's enough."
Argos suddenly comnted and caused the golem to stop moving. Aron lowered his battle stance but didn't look happy with the battle being ended.
"I must say I'm incredibly surprised by how well you handled that battle" Argos complinted with a bright smile on his face.
"..." Aron made no comnt but instead used his attire to wipe off his sweat.
"You don't need to be dissatisfied with your performance. The golem's strength may fall under tier one but the material its body is made from is sothing only a tier six or above can handle. I was curious to see how long you would last but I didn't think your strength was above peak tier one. Your appearance really is misleading." Argos comnted before leading the way out of the do.
From that battle Aron learned sothing that hadn't even crossed his mind. Even if an opponent was weaker, if they had a weapon or item that was of a higher tier then they'd prove to be dangerous.
"Although physical strength is very important, it's not the only kind of strength. To truly stand at the peak you must excel in the many forms of strength Aron, that is the lesson I was trying to teach you this ti around.' Argos expressed with his usual smile while Aron simply nodded.
"Then teach every kind of strength you excel in." Aron boldly stated and caused the walking Argos to co to a stop.
"Your spirit never ceases to amaze .... Well then, I'll be sure to guide you on your path to becoming a frightening existence...."
...........
That mont marked the true start to Aron's growth inside Argos's library.
Since then Aron split his ti between activities such as reading, lectures with Argos, physical training, sparring in the do and ntal training.
The reading aspect was the least taxing as it only required Aron to read and study many of the nurous books present in Argos's library. He didn't need to master it but it did give him expansive knowledge far from what he knew when he first arrived.
Herbs, dicine, Flora, Beasts, Animals, Races, Origin Worlds and other indexes were among the first things Aron read. His ability to retain knowledge naturally was sothing even Argos praised, it was far from perfect but still ideal.
After finishing nurous indexes, Aron shifted to guide and skill books. Smithing, Charming, Strategy, Politics, Trading,....and the list went on, the idea wasn't to master any of these skills but to have a general idea of each field. The only ones he did focus on trying to master were those focused on Runes, mana control and any other that would assist him in increasing personal strength.
"Argos's guide to pleasing won of all races volu 1, humans, demi-humans, demons and beasts...beasts??" Aron read aloud before giving Argos a strange look.
Aside from being strange, questionable and sotis disgusting, the reading aspect gave Aron no trouble.
The physical training however was a completely different story.
...
"That's...." Aron trailed off as he saw a very familiar object being held by Argos.
"That's right, this crystal is almost identical to the one you found when in the mountain range with your father. It's called a mana crystal. They also have their own tiers as I'm sure you could guess...."
"Most places even consider these things a great currency but I'm sure you've already read about that so I won't bore you with those details. Their main use however is for absorption. Mana crystals also contain pure mana but it's impossible to tell which alignnt the mana they hold belongs to. Making absorbing one a gamble very few take heh" Argos stated with a smirk before tossing the crystal to Aron.
"Mana crystals..." Aron muttered before shattering the crystal in his hand.
*Badump* Imdiately Aron crushed it and absorbed just a little, his heart started throb violently.
"Grr...!!" What followed was a purplish mist flowing into his body. This caused Aron to fall to his knees and release a growl like noise. His eyes beca bloodshot as his veins beca more and more visible on the surface of his skin.
"Well I suppose that was the Luna mana crystal..." Argos stated before walking over to Aron and placing a hand on his back.
Once Argos did this, the changes Aron was undergoing began to revert back until he finally returned to normal.
"I felt like I was dying...." Aron stated as he struggled to breath properly while laying on the ground.
"The Sol mana crystal doesn't feel much different. Sotis they are more painful but that's only if the crystal originated from a beast and not naturally. This training is filled with trial and error but the results for your physical body will be imnse. Shall we continue?" Argos asked with a smile as nurous golems walked over carrying many mana crystals.
No matter the world mana crystals were among the few things that always had value. Their grades differed in that so held denser mana than others and so those of high quality were even more rare. These strange bluish crystals could normally be obtained from two sources…
The first being so mana beasts above the fifth tier and the second being in nature usually in an area where dense mana has existed for quite so ti.
'He's surely a sadist but the greater the pain the greater the gain...' Aron thought as he wiped the blood running down his mouth.
"Let's continue..."
....
[Rule #34: If you cannot gauge an opponent's strength, go all out]
[Rule #244: The greater the pain, the greater the gain]
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