Thirty minutes later, he had a small pile of the dark plates of keratin lying on the ground next to him. That would be enough for now. He quickly shoveled them into his storage device, and was back on his way. No more monsters bothered him overly on the way to the next village, as he was covered in the blood of the armadillo-like creature, which acted as a testament to his power.
By the time he eventually spotted a village, from the top of a small hill, he was getting tired of trekking. This village was a bit larger than the others that he had seen, almost looking like a small town. There was a rocky palisade around the village, not cohesive enough to be called a proper wall.
Jonathan watched the village from a distance, trying to gauge how many inhabitants it had. It was certainly more populated than the last village was, and there were over a hundred houses in it, if they could really be called that. In addition, at the center of the village, there was a larger building that almost looked like it was imitating a city hall. It was still crudely built, made out of the local rock, in a fashion that Jonathan now recognized as elemental manipulation. The walls were likely made from the same process as well.
Because he had no way of proving that he meant the village no harm, he would need to sneak past the weaker members of the village and get to the leader. His ploy had worked the last time, but that had been a matter of pure luck. Hushar had barely believed him, and it had taken a duel to prove his might. If the size of this village was anything to go by, its leader was likely even more powerful.
Jonathan quickly realized that he was trying to make up excuses so as to not enter, and he forced himself from his hiding spot. The village had few guards, likely the result of hubris on their part. After all, few monsters would attack such a high leveled settlement. Jonathan could only imagine what the cities that he had seen in the distance would be like. Perhaps there would be fighters near the level of Granath there. However, those cities were thousands of miles away, and not entirely important as of now.
Jonathan snuck down towards the city, watching out for any sentries. Keeping his profile low, he used his dark armor to blend in somewhat with the rock. He knew that it would do little to fool such high leveled guards if they looked directly at him, but he was counting on the fact that they were not especially well trained.
Using this method, he was able to reach the palisade wall within a few minutes, using the nearest stone spike as a hiding place. He remained there for a few moments, and then slunk around, entering the city. The palisade was likely there to inhibit the progress of larger monsters, the main inhabitants of these lands, but to Jonathan, it was like he was simply walking through a door.
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Once he was inside the town, he found himself on a smooth road, compacted from the rock around him. It led to the center of the city, and a few Uthraki patrolled its length. Jonathan darted into a space between two huts, getting out of sight before he was noticed. However, the guards seemed to be in a preset patrol pattern, and would therefore be difficult to sneak by. There were other roads around the city, but they likely had the same issue. This would take some time.
Over the next thirty minutes, Jonathan managed to flit his way between the next six or seven houses, using brief moments of blindness for the guards to make his way unseen. There was a moment in their patrols when they were facing the other way at the same time, and he was able to use that to evade their notice.
Eventually, he reached the area that they were patrolling, and realized that he would have to fight them to get past. He did not want to kill them, as that would probably render his quest here impossible. Instead, as one of the guards turned, Jonathan leaped out of the shadows and brought his elbow down on the man’s head, using his momentum to slam it down. With a groan, the Uthraki collapsed, unconscious.
The other two guards whirled around, leveling their spears at Jonathan. Snarling, they charged. Jonathan weaved through the sudden onslaught of spear tips, using his fist to slap aside the blows. The Uthraki were fighting to kill, but he merely wanted to incapacitate them, which made his job a lot harder. A few moments later, he saw his opportunity, and grabbed the spear out of the air, yanking on the end.
The wielder stumbled into the path of the other Uthraki, and for a few seconds, the two Uthraki were disorientated. Jonathan raced towards them like a wraith and slammed both fists into their heads, sending them to the ground. Making sure that he hadn’t been spotted, he kept going, heading for the leader’s hut.
By the time he had reached the building, he was starting to get nervous. What if this Uthraki was powerful enough to kill him? It was certainly a possibility. However, Jonathan had come too far to let fear rule him. Instead, he knocked on the door.
“What is it?” A gruff, but oddly feminine voice called out. Jonathan had not seen a female Uthraki before, either because they were rare, or because there was little difference between the genders in that species.
The door opened a moment later, revealing an Uthraki that looked quite different from what he had been expecting. Where the Uthraki leaders from the previous villages had stood head and shoulders over their kin, this one was about the same height as the other villagers, if not shorter. With that difference, Jonathan came to the conclusion that this one was a female Uthraki. The woman stared him up and down for a fraction of a second, and then without warning, attacked.