There were three main modes of land transportation in Eldris. One was the train. It connected all of the major and many minor cities and extended onwards to many villages en route or made routes through villages with stunning visuals.
The next was the path weaver, a carriage but with spectral horses instead of the normal ones. The advantages where huge, they did not feel fatigued nor do they run away in fear after seeing monsters. Unsurprisingly, those were the transport options of rich people.
Taxi drivers worked under any taxi organization since the cost of a single path weaver could go well over 500 sten, and that was just the minimum-priced ones without offering too much.
The third and most used one is the public metro, which is seen in three of the most prominent cities— the capital, Frosmire, the largest port city, Wistmere, and the biggest border city, Silvermeire.
On a densely crowded metro station, a station that was connected to the railway station, people were pouring inside and outside, some looked at the city with full of hope inside their eyes and drew a deep breath, while some were returning with a defeated look.
A black-haired man was returning from a ticket station with a smooth iron suitcase. Unlike most other people his age taking a return ticket, his face was full of joy, as if he had accomplished something immense.
With a joyous face, he slowly returned to a bench nearby in order to wait for the next train that would leave for Losterrado. He opened the newspaper he had bought earlier and started to read. He scanned through all the article columns to find if there was any piece of news about his job the previous night.
But there was not a single piece of news about the death of the young lady from the house of Drakonis. It was expected, since any person who could think reasonably would not reveal the news of the death of their child in the newspaper the next day. Not only was it unnecessary, but it also affects the family's reputation.
Soon, he heard a long whistle, it was the ether locomotive. He smiled and put away his newspaper on the bench where he was sitting on, after adjusting his flat hat and taking his smooth iron suitcase, we started to walk towards the platform, this would mark another end for his grand mission.
Forgive me Amber Drakonis, He said inside his mind just before he entered the train. His beige double-breasted frock coat with high collars and the flat hat gave him a mysterious gentleman look.
Alex sat near his daughter, it was almost six in the morning, yet she was asleep. There was blood all over her chest, but he did not seem to mind that. At all.
"Amber, it is time to wake up." He said so casually that one would not believe there was a person covered in blood in front of him, and what's worse? That person was his daughter.
"Hmm... a lil more time, just five minutes," Amber said with the calmness of someone who definitely was alive and kicking, and someone who definitely was not covered in blood from chest to... well, abdomen?
"You are wet, Amber, and you better clean yourself... fast." Alex was still calm.
Amber just wanted to sleep, but she opened her eyes and looked at what made her dad say that she had to wash up.
"What?!" She just had one look at her dress. Her white nightgown had been dyed red, and she knew it was not some food coloring, it smelled like blood, real blood.
"What's this?" She turned to look at he father, "Dad?"
"I will explain, but it's better if you wash yourself first, MAIDS!" He clapped, and three maids in a red skirt and golden bodice came in.
Amber, without another word, got up from her bed and followed the maid to the bathroom to get herself cleaned.
Alex also got up and returned to the deck, they still had almost a week to go before they reached Wistmere. It would have been faster to teleport, but teleporting such great distances had its flaws.
One was that it required a huge amount of ether, enough to fuel a wide range destructive ethercraft principle. And that was only for just one person, there were still the matter of three personal maids, two personal guards, a personal butler, and a personal father... well he is still shared between two other people but still.
So taking the teleportation route was not the best option, and there were no fixed teleport gates because of reasons like "Hidden Dragon Land". A fixed transport gate inside the city was bound to get some unwanted attention, and the law forbids anyone from setting up fixed gates inside their gates, except inside the palace of course, because hey... they rule.
Alex was greeted by the cold white fog as soon as he opened the door to the deck. Their ship was smaller than average, but not the smallest by any means, the Drakonis family were extravagant spenders, but not stupid enough to spend a few people on a large cloud weaver.
He stepped out to enjoy the view, it was breathtaking. The fog-covered green mountains with a touch of white snow, the large river in the distance. He could even see the animals who came to drink water near the river, his eyesight was impressive.
But no matter how impressive the scenery was, it was nothing new to Alex. Though he was only forty years old, he had seen sceneries more beautiful. One of his most unforgettable memory was of a field that seemed to expand as far as his eyes could see, filled with vibrant flowers of all colors, neatly arranged by nature, there was the sun looming over the horizon casting, its last golden rays for the day.
Along with that, he had also seen war-ravaged grounds with bloodied bodies strewn across the ground, he could still hear the muffled cries and desperate screams in his ears, but they did not affect him, he had grown cold toward emotions like sympathy.
Soon, a neatly dressed amber came into view, she wore a green full skirt with a white, velvet Fichu.
"What was all that blood Dad?" She asked impatiently.
Alex put his hand inside his frock coat and pulled out paper figure, and it was covered in blood. There was a small cut on its chest, the blood there was thicker even though it has been dried, indicating that the chest wound was where all the blood came from.