"You won't be able to leave the desolate area."
That one sentence from Thunder king had scared Aaron. Was he going to kill him? But why? Did his personality go crazy again?
"If you are thinking I am going to kill you, you are wrong. "
"Its not me who is going to do any thing, its this place itself. " He spread his hand as a way to indicate the desolate area.
"You think the coordinates you had recorded will be able to take you out of this place? It it was so, I would have found a willing space mage from the borders a long time ago. "
"The problem with this place is that the space coordinates keeps on changing here. The coordinates you have saved, if you use them, you wont be reaching the place you expect you would. You might give it a try to verify after I leave. "
"I haven't lied to you completely though. This distance is infact the most furthest travelled by a group of mages that have returned. But you could say that they were just lucky to find their way back. They had a wind mage who could float high in the air. He got a lucky glimpse of the border wall after they had been travelling for months. "
" The only thing constant here is that brown silhouette of the mountain. You see in the distant. And thats the direction I am going to travel. You might try going in the opposite direction and think you would get out. But no one was successful in that way. This is a place which defies all logic. I could have brought you further, but the danger associated with resting further ahead is a lot. I will take my chance from here. "
"I have left enough supplies for you in that space ring for 8-10 months. If you are lucky enough, you may leave by then. If not, chances of you surviving here is low."
"I would leave you a piece of advice though, you may think of me as cruel to leave you stranded here, but this is also an opportunity. An opportunity for you to do something that no one has done before."
"You being a space mage still have the capability to move forward. The coordinates wont work, but your sight would. Use it to go forwards, not back."
"I may or may not succeed, but you have now an opportunity to traverse my foot steps and increase the chances of our overhaul success."
"Or you may follow me for revenge. "
With that Thunder king had a grin on his face. He pulled out the head size mage stone from his dimensional ring.
He looked at Aaron and soon started to shine brightly as if his whole body was made of electicity itself. He turned to face the Brown mountain silhouette and dissappeared with a loud thunder noise. Aaron could see a bright flash move in the diatance before it dissappeared completely.
What the hell happened? Thunder king didn't even give Aaron time to react. He said his piece and left with a bang leaving Aaron stranded literally in middle of nowhere. He cursed thunder king with all his heart. He was naive. Thunder king flattered him a little saying how good he was and he fell for it. He should have remembered how Thunder king was responsible for the death of his friend. He was blinded by the lure of gaining strength and was betrayed by the Thunder king. He had already betrayed everything to achieve his goal, no matter how noble it was. Aaron was made a fool by the Thunder king. He felt dejected and stupid to fall for the whole scheme.
As he stood their lamenting, he thought what if the whole thing was another lie spoken by the thunder king. Thunder king didnt need any reason to play a game. This could all be just entertainment for him.
Was what Thunder king said true? He refused to believe it.
Aaron made a decision and used the last coordinate he had and made a gate. He was about to step into it, but he hesitated. What if what Thunder king said was true? He decided to check before he committed to it completely. He slowly put one of his hands in it. He could feel no Resistance coming. Feeling a little comforted, he decided to stuck his head out and survey the situation on the other side.
The other side was pretty normal. Except for the fact that it was several feet high in the air.
If he had stepped through directly he might have died or would have broken a few bones and would have been unable to move. Which as same as dying in this place.
He tried a few more times. He found each time the exit would be different. He even found that once the exit was below the ground as well. He had confirmed that what Thunder king had said was true.
But the whole situation gave him an idea as well. He was told a mage group was able to successfully return from here because one wind mage could float up in the air. He could his gates to open an exit up in the air and could use it survey his surroundings. He at once tried his. He opened a gate with an exit right above his head to the furthest distance he could. As he took a peep out of the exit, what he saw dissapointed him. All he could see was the rocky plain all around him. There was the brown mountain silhoutte on one side, the other sides were the same.
But he wasnt dissapointed. He was a space mage. He could cover a lot of ground in a day, he could easily move around and sooner or later would find the direction towards the wall.
He cursed Thunder king once again and started in a direction opposite to where he came from.
He moved through a gate, created a gate in the sky, peeped and found nothing.
He had already repeated the procedure a lot of time with no apparent success. But he knew he had travelled a lot from the wall. So having found it so soon was nothing to worry about. He had enough rations and a tent to keep him safe from the elements. Only thing which worried him was the presence of a magical beast.
Thunder king and him had found a few other magical beasts on their journey as well. Most of the times, Thunder king had asked him to open a gate and escape if they were just resting during the day. If it was after they had set up a camp, Thunder king took it upon himself to kill it.
The magical beasts were always alone. This was something which Aaron found interesting. Animals usually formed groups. But he paid it no heed as it was better for them.
Aaron didnt have Thunder king with him now. He knew he had no experience fighting the beasts even though he now had good enough attacking techniques.
A day went by and he found no clue towards the direction he needed to move.
He was tired and hungry. He decided to rest for the night as it was getting dark.
He kept his detection spell activated as he slept. He had learnt it from Thunder king. He thought it was for the best in such areas atleast.
The first night he spent alone went by quietly. Aaron did had the feeling of lonliness. It was an area devoid life. The surroundings too quiet. He had Thunder king accompany him before so he hadnt noticed him much, but now he felt totally cut off from the world. That feeling did have him goosebumps. How would a person feel if they are left alone in such a place?
Altleast Aaron wasnt alone the next night. He had the company of a magical beast this time. It was the same lizard type creature he had met the first time around.