The problem was that they weren't facing humans. I was a dragon in human form. They were doomed the moment I took their mana away. Never mind the fact that I wasn't even taking them seriously. Every single one of them was slow, and weak compared to that monstrous vampire.
I'd wondered if training with him the way I had was a waste of time more than once. Now that I wasn't fighting a losing battle I realized how much my skill as a fighter had grown. Looking back on the way I'd fought before would have made me cringe if I wasn't in the middle of a battle. I cleared the entire entry hall in less than a minute, and rushed up the stairs to take care of the archers. I couldn't maintain control over all the mana in the area, heal my wounded, and fight at the same time.
I could release my control of the area until every intelligent living thing within it was properly subdued. That meant choosing to heal or choosing to fight. That was an easy choice for me. I was already doing more than I should by taking out all the elves by myself. The humans would have to learn how to fight enemies that were much stronger than this on their own eventually so it was important for them to believe I wasn't some all powerful band aid that would save them from all harm.
They needed to be able to survive on their own to a certain degree. I didn't mind being relied on by those weaker then myself. What I didn't like was blind useless reliance. I'm not their savior. My existence might end up saving them, but that didn't make me their savior.
I wasn't a god or anything like that. I was the dragon king. My first responsibility was to the dragons that would come to exist because of me. My muscles all work together in tandem as I blazed through all the archers on the second floor. Some of the smarter ones had enough sense to run away when they saw me cross onto the second floor. Not that it mattered.
They weren't going to escape my barrier. They were all trapped within my area of spatial awareness. None of them were going to escape. I wouldn't let them. I slaughtered every single archer that dared to stand his ground.
We were already going to have enough prisoners with the elves that had given up. There were two that had given up on the second floor. It didn't take much effort for me to break their weapons.
"Stay on the floor just like that if you want to live," I spoke in elvish as I walked past them without a concern in the world, "If you disobey me I will know, and I will kill you."
The calm way that they obeyed me told me that they did understand how serious I was. I walked up the steps to the third floor once I cleared the second floor. I held my blade out on an impulse, and let it scrape on the wall. Cross one stupid impulse off my bucket list. One of the captive elves on the second floor moved.
He froze to death in an instant halfway to standing position. The elf next to him panicked a bit before going still. My control over mana had improved with my control over my body. It was a nice convenient side affect of all the training I did with Letty. My blade left the wall when I reached the top of the steps. No one was moving much up here.
Most of the people on the third floor were cleaning staff, and things like that. They gave up quickly because they weren't trained for combat like the elves on the lower floors. I scanned the rooms quickly with my spatial awareness, and found that there were a few people that I didn't see.
"Come out where I can see you or I will end you right here right now," They seemed surprised when I spoke in fluent elven.
"Where did you learn our language?" A well dressed woman with a well dressed little girl in her arms looked at me with hostility.
She was clearly the lady of the house.
"You must be the madam of the house," I scoffed, "I'm afraid that you are at my mercy from here on out. Take solace in the fact that I didn't kill you the moment I laid eyes on you."
"You have no right to speak to me that way," she shifted around where she was sitting.
A flick of my wrist sent the blade from my hand to the wall next to her head. She flinched away from the blade. Taking a single glance at it as she did. I was already in front of her when she turned her eyes back to me. Blinking across a room was a simple task.
Every single elf in the room had seen me do it.
"I don't have enough time to deal with uncooperative prisoners," I smirked, "Where do you keep the slave collars?"
The look of horror in her eyes told me all I needed to know of what happened to those who disobeyed.
{Make sure you collect all their spatial storage items,} I spoke to Ethan mentally.
I marked the people with spatial storage items for Ethan to find. It was something only he'd be able to see as one of my dragon kin.
"Give me all of your spatial storage items," I ordered, "If you refuse or attempt to hide them from me then I will kill you."
There was no emotion in my words at all. I meant every single word. The chill that came off of me was enough for ice crystals to form on the floor around me. Many of the better paid staff handed me their various spatial items right away without the slightest bit of hesitation.
"How much freedom do you think you'll keep after this mess slave?" The madam continued speaking to me in a condescending manner.