It was amazing how much he could do without needing to eat. When he did eat he would eat a massive amount in one go. He could make something the size of a cow disappear in one go. I wished I could just eat all I needed for a month in one go. Stupid thing to be jealous of really, but it would be a time saver.
I had to stop at least once every other day to eat or I would collapse. Eventually even that little of food wouldn't be enough if I kept it up for to long. I had to eat at least once a day to keep the pace we were running. Twice a day was better. Wyatt didn't seem to be paying any attention to me at all.
I knew he was probably watching me in one way or another, but he didn't have his eyes directly on me. He seemed to have noticed how uncomfortable it made me when he looked at me. I didn't expect him to be considerate toward me at all so it was kind of nice. I wasn't being treated like a prisoner or a slave anymore. My opinion was listened to, and sometimes they even used my ideas.
I wasn't automatically too stupid to be listened to. It was my idea to take the Vorks instead of going on foot. A merchant that could afford to make artificial mana cores could definitely afford a few cheap birds to ride. I kind of wondered if anyone would find it odd if I purchased a bird for my slave as well. I might be able to explain my reason for him having a bird as a way of moving a little faster, but not many people would see that as reasonable since he was a slave, and should just be abandoned if he couldn't keep up.
Many slaves had been eaten by the wild beasts due to being abandoned. If it wasn't for my strong connection to mana then I would have been one of those abandoned, and dead slaves. We kept up the fast pace until we started seeing other people on their Vorks. It wasn't uncommon for a low elf to choose to ride a Vork instead of ride in one of the Scarg carriages. Scargs were the origin species of the elven home world.
The were similar to yaks in nature, and appearance. The only obvious difference was the fact that they had a long giraffe neck instead of a short stout neck like a yak. Their necks were surprisingly flexible, and tough. The armor plating that went down it prevented most creatures from exploiting what should have been an obvious weak point on the beast. Add on the fact that the thick heavy fur on their bodies was highly mana conductive, and could be as soft as earthen silk if it was worked properly.
The heavy powerful beasts pulled massive loads with ease, but the energy they gave to their owner by being near somehow managed to make them the second most expensive beasts you could purchase legally. Wyverns were the only beast that would cost you more then a Scarg. There were plenty of beasts that cost more than a Scarg, but the only way to get them was through a black market. I doubted we would spend much if any time in the black market in the near future. We were here for the slaves.
Not this worlds treasures. I felt Wyatt's eyes on my briefly. I was slouching. I was supposed to be an elven merchant. My eyes needed to be held high.
I wasn't beneath these people. Many were my equal or beneath me. I had to appear as confident that all my product would sell. I had a good product after all. Wyatt had been spending every night making more, and more pure artificial cores.
We only had about a hundred boxes meant for storing mana cores, but two cores of the same type could easily be placed together in the same box, and a more powerful core would be created. The longer it took us to sell cores the more valuable our cores would become. I was only supposed to sell at most half of our cores in a single town. By the time word got around that we were selling high quality cores we'd be able to leave this world safely before anyone started really questioning where we got these cores. That was the important part.
If no one caught on to what we were doing then we might get away with it a little longer. We came up to the town at a moderate pace. Slowing as we neared the gates so the guards could inspect us right quick. Wyatt kept his eyes down like an obedient slave. The swords on his hip did draw some attention though.
"What is your business here?" One guard focused on me while the other tilted Wyatt's head roughly to get a look at his collar.
"I'm just here to sell my wares," I gestured back to the second Vork that Wyatt was leading.
The first guard that was focused on me took his attention off of me, and went to check my wares.
"Why do you have blades on your hip slave?" The guard hissed low in Wyatt's ear.
"Nix is trained as my bodyguard," I answered the guard's question since Wyatt was smart enough to remain silent, "My family trained him since youth. He's quite talented with a blade, and much cheaper then hiring a mercenary. He won't draw those blades unless you threaten me."
The guard looked at me while I was speaking, but there was a good amount of suspicion in his eyes. He struck Wyatt hard with very little warning. The guard might as well have been striking a mountain. I heard his wrist pop painfully as rage, and pain flared across his face. He drew his blade with his good hand, and slashed at Wyatt.