The gates begin to open up, slowly revealing everything to us. The first layer of this place being filled with guard barracks, stables, and it appears to slowly lean into the housing side.

I need to calm down a bit with all the hearts beating around me.

"Let’s get going Dante," Lia says while dragging me along.

She pulls me along as we walk through the streets of Ariel, looking at everything and anything around us. People of a few various races appear to be living here but obviously no vampires would.

Elves, Dwarves, beast people, and a few that I don’t think I recognize seem to be wandering around us.

"Have you been to Ariel before?" I ask quietly.

"Not in a long time. It isn’t too bad of a place here," Lia answers while continuing to pull me along.

One glance up towards the sky and I can see some strange contraption up there flying above the city. It doesn’t appear to have any wings or anything of significance to give me an idea of how it does that.

The world really has been changing all these years with more and more advancements in technology. I can only imagine what it’ll be like even further down the line.

I’d like to have my own capital by then with my people thriving and making the best of it all.

It is a mystery if something like that is even possible right now, but I’ll make sure that it happens no matter what. I just will have to be cautious with all the new things I’m seeing here.

"You noticed the airship?" Lia questions with a curious tone.

"That’s what it is called? Yeah, I never saw anything like it before," I respond while shifting my focus ahead of us.

"Airships are still somewhat newer but they definitely are a good form of travel for people," Lia says with a calm tone.

"I feel like it is a good way to keep an eye on things," I reply calmly.

You can’t specifically see who is who from up there I imagine, but you definitely can see more obvious things. Fights in alleyways, people approaching in the distance, and even potential enemies.

I feel as if that should make it even harder for someone to attack here. War is something humans can’t seem to stay away from though... They are greedy for more power.

To think we were once humans, a long time ago.

As we are walking I can just barely notice two people talking to my right about something interesting.

"The king won’t confirm it but I think we are going to war," A man says quietly.

"War?! There’s no way. We’ve had peace for a years without a single issue," The other man replies.

"Rumor has it that it has to do with the daughter of the king," He says while trying to keep his voice down.

"What about her?" The other man questions.

"She wasn’t fond of the prince in the other capital and even slapped him. There’s also the other issue of an artifact race," He answers while looking around. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

The two men move a bit closer to the alley as I listen for a moment longer.

"The artifact will be the way to conquer the other capitals. Ariel might fall if they already got it," The man says with confidence.

"Aren’t you worried about dying during an attack?" The other man questions.

"I think King Remi will handle it," He says confidently.

Looming war is never a good sign, especially with us being here. It is making me reconsider my visit to the rest of this capital if that is true.

I’ve already got a target on my back the way it is with the damn hunters looking for us. Even with the time that’s passed since the manor... They won’t just give up on the idea of wiping us out.

I won’t have any choice but to fight if a war does break out while we are here though.

"Listening in on someone’s conversation Dante?" Lia asks quietly.

"Just seeing what this place is all about," I respond with a slight chuckle.

"Ohh? You are capable of other emotions," She says with a teasing tone.

"Don’t get used to it," I reply softly.

"Yeah, yeah," She says as we continue.

Moving forward we eventually reach a nice part of Ariel where the shops all seem to be located. Weapons, armor, potions, and a bunch of different food choices.

It is interesting to see it like this when we just came from some abandoned town that didn’t have anything like it.

I can also notice how lively it is around here with the way the people enjoy themselves. You’d never think anything is wrong outside of the gates if you lived here all your life without a single worry.

Tap. Tap.

"Over there," Lia says after getting my attention.

Turning to my left I can see the guild building that she used as our excuse before.

Guild buildings aren’t entirely a good place for me to go, even if this place is against hunters. That doesn’t mean they aren’t lurking around in the shadows waiting for me or something.

Can I really be blamed for being so cautious about everything? I’d rather not end up extinct.

"What exactly do you want to do?" I ask nicely.

"I say we should check it out but I’m not entirely sure it is a good idea to begin with," Lia responds while looking towards it.

The big sign above it with the custom emblem they designed to look like a fancy dragon says a lot to me.

They believe in dragons and probably used it as inspiration to make the guild emblem. I don’t really know what it could actually be called with the dragon already being obvious.

Then again, my family is also represented by a dragon.

I look down at my necklace for a moment as I remember the family insignia that I bare at all times.

Risks are something I have to get used to taking more anyway.