They probably charged quite a bit to allow people in so it wasn't surprising that these hotels were so luxurious. There were also smaller hotels crafted from lumber as well. Some of them were quite close together with a little under a mile between them. Considering the fact that there was nothing but open farmland between us, and the capitol the number of high quality hotels was surprising. There were large stone walls formed in a circle every five miles.
Within these stone walls was a large cover building for carts, and a small gatehouse. Two guards lived near the gate collecting small tolls to sleep within the stone walls. The air vibrated alerting me to something quite large flying over my head. I looked up to see a wyvern swooping down on the road. The few other people on the road rushed to get themselves, and their carts into one of the nearby hotels or rest areas.
Even Sekka tensed to get the birds going at a run. He stopped when I touched his leg. Bloodlust, and murderous intent leapt from my body in an invisible flood. The wyvern recognized the aura of another predator, and angled away from us. Snatching up someone who'd been a little too slow to react, and flying off to enjoy his meal.
The way that the rest of the elves on the road seemed to shrug it off, and keep going was deeply disturbing. Some even moved to steal what was left of his belongings, but before they got too far they realized that two of the people on the road had stayed perfectly still when the wyvern swooped down, and they had not been eaten. Sekka spurred his bird on, and I followed alongside him as I drew my intent in. Lone wyverns wouldn't attack prey that wasn't worth the trouble. Especially one that clearly had a rider, and by definition did not have a territory of his own to defend.
I imagined that the occasional snack was common. Not a daily occurrence, but common enough that they needed so many hideaways, and hotels. The hotels could charge as much as they wanted to escape the danger the wyvern presented. The one that dove at us wasn't the largest or the strongest that I had sensed since coming here. There were nearly a hundred in the skies above us.
All of them probably had riders, but you couldn't stop animal instinct completely no matter how strong you were so the occasional death made sense to a degree. It was probably rare for an actual elf to get eaten considering the large number of slaves that were being dragged along with their caravans. My jaw clenched as I ran my eyes over the elves that surrounded us on the road. I couldn't completely snuff out my aggression at the moment so they probably felt my bloodlust to an extent. Many of them flinched away from my gaze without knowing exactly why since the level of my bloodlust was quite low.
My core pulsated. Sending pain rolling throughout my body once again. As my core became more, and more purified instances like this became more, and more common. The pain had been slowly increasing as well. It was near impossible for me to ignore as my arm shook slightly. I gripped my blade to hide the fact that the pain was jutting through my arm so violently.
I was a bit confused as to why it was only my arm, but I didn't have time to complain or think about it right now. We were rapidly approaching the most deadly place I'd ever been, and I had no choice, but to survive it. Preferably with Sekka, and his mother by my side. I was still struggling to grasp what had changed within me so much that I could feel it in my bones in such a way. I wished to get away from this odd feeling, but I knew it was ingrained into my bones, and once I understood it I would be far better off.
The pain finally subsided, and I was left alone to wonder what would happen next. The dull ache that had accompanied me the entire time I'd been on the elven world was growing into a quiet roar. There was nothing I could do about the pain I was in, but I guess I should be used to such things. Pain had been a constant companion for a very long time so it was difficult to remember a time when I wasn't in pain. That sense of foreboding had yet to leave me.
In all honesty I could feel the mountain of power somewhere ahead. There were several powerful people in the city that I would love to play with, but it was getting more, and more obvious that it would be the epitome of stupid to draw attention to myself now. No more night rescues from here on out. If my spatial senses could stretch all the way to the capital's outer reaches then there was a chance that they could sense me as well. I wasn't arrogant enough to think I knew all of the branches of the magical family tree.
Ethan's newly developed core came with it's own unique affinity specifically tuned to him. It was basically a magical equivalent of telekinesis, and it was fascinating, but I had a hard time grasping the concept of magic that lacked any kind of affinity. That brought another interesting topic to mind. What if abilities could be converted into their own personal magic? Ethan developed a core on his own using my blood as a catalyst, and by flooding his body with my mana, but that might have been accelerating evolution to a critical point that would have ended in his body imploding if I didn't bring the process back under control.
If it was possible for people to be born with abilities naturally in the first place then there was a possibility that bringing the earth back to it's magical peak would create a similar process to what happened to Ethan on a global scale. I stared at the sky as I walked. Musing it all over in my head over, and over again as I walked. Letting myself flow through time as usual without being concerned about it as it passed me. Then it hit me.