Chapter 3468: Elephant Rides
The wave of rest that Rui got was exactly what he needed. When he woke up, he felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He felt his muscles relaxing, while his mind felt fresh and vigorous.
"Had a good sleep?" Amare smiled at him. "It’s been a while since we pushed ourselves like that."
"This is Kiriket, after all," Rui stretched, getting up as he gazed at the bright afternoon Sun shining brightly in the sky. "I never thought that we would have an easy shot at getting through it, but I do admit that it did pose challenges. Thankfully, we are in safe territory here."
"What now?" Amare raised an eyebrow.
"Eat, bathe, and after that..." his pitch-black eyes sharpened. "After that, we get to work immediately. I don’t know what the Dragon Emperor has figured out, but we caused a huge ruckus on the continent when we got here. It is possible that he figured out that we have come. And if he has, then he knows to search for us in the Gajanan Clan’s territory. I would imagine right about now, they are making attempts at finding exactly where we are. The moment he locates us, he will likely launch an invasion to destroy me."
Time was of the essence; Rui couldn’t afford to take it any more leisurely than he had. Resting to fix the after-effects of his Realms of power was one thing, but taking any more time beyond the essentials was not a good thing either.
The two of them quickly freshened up and filled their stomachs with the food that people designated to cater to them provided. What Rui found interesting was that their food was comprised largely of fruit and some vegetables with no meat in the menu at all, just like the diet of elephants. They ate a vegetarian diet, and didn’t appear eager to cater to their guests, if they were even aware that humans from the Panama Continent ate meat.
Regardless, Rui and Amare quickly consumed it voraciously, starving with hunger before preparing themselves for a meeting with Lord Vakratunda.
"Lord Vakratunda awaits you, Your Highness." The official assigned to them bowed lightly with respect. "If you are ready to meet him, then we can arrange it as soon as possible. We have already prepared transport to the Capital City of Cragha, where his abode is. Please come this way and keep your stealth active. It is still preferable if your presence in this nation is not disclosed to the rest of the continent. The consequences would be... dire."
Rui nodded seriously.
He liked the nation of Minala, home to the Gajanan Clan, a lot. He would hate to see this territory scorched by the Dragon Emperor and his enormous army of warmongering braiwashed therianthropes under his control, especially if it happened due to him.
He understood that Lord Vakratunda was taking a great risk by allowing him into the nation and even potentially allying with him. It would be to his benefit if he simply went with the flow and submitted to the Dragon Emperor; it would keep him and his people safe.
The fact that he didn’t do that meant that he had principles he strongly believed in. It was something that Rui didn’t want to take for granted or give any reason to reconsider.
He activated his stealth as he took Amare’s hands as the two of them walked out together, following their assigned official to the transportation to the elephant that had been prepared for them.
It was an older male, from what they could tell, and he had with him an entire chariot, with two seats available just for them. They boarded the elephant with curiosity, finding themselves within a rather spacious and even comfortable arrangement within it.
The Gajanan people on the streets gazed at the elephant with a hint of curiosity, wondering why it was stationary and why it was simply standing there with nobody boarding it. With Rui’s stealth still active, not a single one of them could detect his existence.
"I’ve never ridden an elephant before," Amare muttered with a hint of enthusiasm. "I wonder if it will be very bumpy."
CLACK
The door to the little carriage resting on top of the living creature shut closed before the creature began moving. Much to both Rui and Amare’s surprise, the ride was remarkably smooth despite the gait of the elephant.
"It must have some automatic method of ensuring that the carriage remains at a constant height when walking straight forward," Rui murmured with a curious tone. "Still, for this speed, this is remarkably fast."
The elephant zoomed across the city through the channel dedicated exclusively to it, carrying Rui and Amare deeper into the city and the nation of Minala. The sheer speed at which they zoomed through land was quite remarkable when he considered just how massive this mode of transport was. Rui shifted his attention to the elephant with a curious expression, studying its mind.
He didn’t sense any negative emotion at all. The giant creature appeared rather at peace with its job and didn’t suffer to any extent, making Rui warm up to the idea of ensuring creatures of this kind did not suffer when being used in this manner by engaging in some genetic engineering.
The benefits they got from going out of their way to use elephants as extensively as possible were that it allowed them to exercise their Beast Path more extensively, although they could theoretically form bonds with any creature.
Though millennia of different groups bonding with different animal species put their own evolutionary pressure, causing different races of therianthropes to emerge within the species that were still very much reproductively compatible with each other, but possessed different physical features that further exacerbated the differences between the pluralistic and diverse groups.
With that in mind, Rui found it fascinating that they had even managed to unite to the extent that they had. Perhaps the Authority of Alpha had more to do with the cohesion of the War Coalition.