A few more minutes passed after the group made their way through the Grey Fog of Vanagir, successfully escaping the Deeps territory.
As they walked, it became evident that they were traversing the site of a fierce and gruesome battle. Aren noticed many strange items, including various pieces of clothing, weapons, and armor, all abandoned on the ground as if their owners had vanished without a trace.
What surprised Aren even more was a very large sword embedded deeply into the earth. The blade bore inscriptions that he was unable to read.
"Could that be the blade of a Titan, Sir?" Elias asked, unsure of its significance.
Soryn paused for a moment before responding, "A Titan? Well, the Titan race isn't known for engaging in wars, so I doubt it."
'Titans… I remember running from one before. It could be different in the Verge, however,' Aren thought as he listened to Soryn's words.
There were practically no corpses at the scene, only a significant amount of gear and an unsettling, gloomy atmosphere that seemed to radiate from the site.
Regardless, the group was determined not to stop now. They continued moving forward, each of them as wary as possible.
Aren found himself torn about whether this alliance would lead to good or bad outcomes, as his past 'alliances' had not gone exactly as he had hoped.
So far, he'd already learned many things about the Verge from Soryn and Elias, changing the way he fundamentally saw it.
However, nothing seemed to lead him closer to his main goal of finding Faye again. He couldn't tell Soryn that his top priority was to seek out one of the few people he had ever truly trusted, mainly because he sensed that something about Soryn was off—like he was hiding something.
In fact, his entire personality was weird the way Aren saw it. He made Elias trap Aren in his Illusory Palace, making him go through unforeseen things, only then to ask for an alliance?
'How laughable that is.'
Aren couldn't believe that a Branch of the Household could be so vulnerable.
As far as he knew from The Polymath, the Branches were leaders and nobles who had hundreds, maybe even thousands of people under their full control, yet Soryn had just two of them.
'Even though he has the appearance for it, I doubt it he can actually do anything in a true battle. That's probably why we ran away, and he'd even left his comrade.'
Aren shook his head, expecting this type of behavior from a noble.
'I don't see this as a true alliance. I'll just use him to get knowledge, then leave.'
As he'd thought that, he reminded himself that his chains weren't going to always help him come out as the victor.
In other words, he needed more power. Whether it be from his Aberration or Infracta, he had to find a way to unlock the path to one of them, or even both.
His Shade must have progressed unimaginably, but unfortunately for him, he still had no way of using it.
Every time he tried to use it, nothing would appear or change.
'Right after I gained control of it, too…'
Inside his body, his Shade was constantly colliding with his Characteristic, which is born from Infracta.
If Infracta could collide with an external method unseen in its world, then it could also be overridden entirely. Aren just needed to find a way of overriding the Infracta, then he could easily gain his strength back.
Therefore, he could still use this alliance not just to gain information, but also to regain his Shade, or even understand the Characteristic of his own.
Aren suddenly spoke, breaking the silence, "What even is a Characteristic? I've only heard of the three other branches of Infracta."
Elias answered, "The full title is Defining Characteristics. It's pretty much
self-explanatory, though I'll still spare you for your lack of knowledge."
Aren balled his fists, 'This bastard…'
He continued, "There's a vast and complex network of races and factions in here, so, normally, that makes everyone have different beliefs and perspectives. In Vanagir, you probably heard of Frequency, Rupture, and Fracture, though that's just a local theory only expected to be true in Vanagir."
Aren nodded. Of course, he was already suspecting this, so he wasn't exactly shocked.
"A hundred years ago, the Household proposed a theory that Infracta isn't branched, but it's passed down or given per somebody's characteristics. That includes everything about them, the things they hate or love, their daily activities, and even the smallest detail counts. Hence, it was called Defining Characteristics, and there's quite a big number of them."
Aren raised a brow, "I'm assuming that it's also believed by people of the Household only?"
Elias shook his head, "No. In fact, it's the only one you can trust. The Household had proof of their claims, unlike every other faction."
After moments of silence, Soryn suddenly pointed his finger to the sky, "Here's an example."
As Aren looked up, he saw nothing but the grey clouds above. After concentrating for a moment, he noticed the beak of a massive creature in the sky, hurtling towards them at great speed.
In an instant, the creature burst through the air, creating waves that rippled across the land and reached them, aiming to strike them all at once with its enormous, dark wings.
"I won't be able to make it!" Aren realized. He knew he wouldn't be able to pull his chains in the right way to fight properly.
The creature flapped its wings, but, shockingly, its attack was deflected by a small yet useful light blue circle with unique runes, matching Elias's eye color. Despite the difference in size, it held up well against the creature's wings.
After the creature struck for the first time, the circle suddenly swirled as it began to absorb its wings.
Using its speed, the creature pulled back and screeched loudly, seeing the purple blood dripping from what was left of its wings. That way, it had lost its ability to fly.
As the cold wind blew around them, Elias and Aren braced for battle, while Soryn stood still.
Elias chuckled, "You should've seen the look on your face."
Aren furrowed his brows, "I'll kill you after I kill this filthy creature."
Having said that, he pulled his chains from under his robe with gold dust and spun them as he always does.
He inspected the creature, just to see that it was a large bird, perhaps a raven with a long grey beak that seemed sharp enough to drive through metal easily.
'Defeating this thing with just my chains is gonna be hard, but it won't be impossible. Believe it or not, I've fought a raven before… Just not your size.'