A lot of time passed since Aron met Argos and began living in the library. Time was never something Aron paid mind to, it was almost as if it didn't exist to the boy. Although a considerable amount of time had passed and Argos showed signs of aging, Aron remained the same.
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 become 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 became 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 time 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 someone who could barely read not too long ago I'm impressed. Anyway, I came to inform you I've prepared a training area for you to practice spells, mana manipulation or to spar against some 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 time now all Aron ever did was read book after book in Argos's seemingly never ending library. It was at this time 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 became 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 meaning of life, laws, time, 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. Come 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 same time 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 metallic 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.
"Invoke!" Argos muttered and the floor immediately 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 dome at the center.
"This way..." Argos instructed as he began leading the way towards the dome.
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 time 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 same 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 metallic golem's eyes flashed brightly as its limbs began to move. It's movements 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 became 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 time he launched a kick right at the golem's chest and sent it flying back many meters, 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.
Time 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 commented 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 complimented with a bright smile on his face.
"..." Aron made no comment 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 something 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 commented before leading the way out of the dome.
From that battle Aron learned something 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 time around.' Argos expressed with his usual smile while Aron simply nodded.
"Then teach me every kind of strength you excel in." Aron boldly stated and caused the walking Argos to come to a stop.
"Your spirit never ceases to amaze me.... Well then, I'll be sure to guide you on your path to becoming a frightening existence...."
...........
That moment marked the true start to Aron's growth inside Argos's library.
Since then Aron split his time between activities such as reading, lectures with Argos, physical training, sparring in the dome and mental training.
The reading aspect was the least taxing as it only required Aron to read and study many of the numerous 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, Medicine, Flora, Beasts, Animals, Races, Origin Worlds and other indexes were among the first things Aron read. His ability to retain knowledge naturally was something even Argos praised, it was far from perfect but still ideal.
After finishing numerous 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 women of all races volume 1, humans, demi-humans, demons and beasts...beasts??" Aron read aloud before giving Argos a strange look.
Aside from being strange, questionable and sometimes 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 alignment 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* Immediately 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 became bloodshot as his veins became 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. Sometimes 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 immense. Shall we continue?" Argos asked with a smile as numerous 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 some 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 some mana beasts above the fifth tier and the second being in nature usually in an area where dense mana has existed for quite some time.
'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..."
....
And so the days flew as and the learning continued.
As Aron absorbed numerous mana from piles upon piles of crystals, Argos would sit nearby in case of anything while providing lectures.
"How well do you understand how strength and power is measured between beings of separate regions or even origin worlds?" Argos suddenly asked while tapping his chin.
"Very little. Ngh! I couldn't find a clear answer that applies to everything." Aron found it hard to speak as he was experiencing quite a lot of pain as he absorbed the mana.
"Naturally, that is because no true answer exists. Limbo is an enigma Aron where laws and the like vary from place to place however they are some somewhat accurate ways of knowing."
"Tiering is the simplest way to do this. Before tiering even beings, you must understand that the origin worlds and regions of Limbo have different tiers themselves…"
Argos had proceeded to fully explain the mechanism behind the system he himself followed.
It was already known that the tiers ran from one all the way to fifteen and were further subdivided into ranks.
However no clear system determined the limitations or weaknesses for each, hence Argos decided to shed light upon it.
"From the first tier to the sixth tier, you are at the elementary stage, at this stage you're limited to elementary arts and techniques and cannot survive in regions or worlds above the sixth tier."
"From the seventh to the twelfth you are at the intermediate stage where the most beings begin to form a solidified mana within them, they are exceptions as some races form them even in the elementary stages but we will ignore that for now."
"The biggest weakness for both elementary and intermediate mages is their mana capacity. Despite being of a higher tier they cannot bring forth powerful techniques or arts in lower tier worlds as the mana there would be insufficient."
"As a beast monger you are spared from this limitation and can unleash frightening power so long as you have enough mana stored within you, however you will never truly master any art or technique made by others due to your physiology… that is your greatest weakness Aron."
…..
[Rule #34: If you cannot gauge an opponent's strength, go all out]
[Rule #244: The greater the pain, the greater the gain]