Ava found a large palette of food in front of her that provided a great variety that would never be apart of her diet back in the tribe.
Contrary to the popular folklore of her old world, Elves here did not primarily consume a plant-base diet instead they would consume whatever they can sustainably gather in the forest such as magical beasts.
Elves also did not only contain a more potent talent in magic to humans but also boasted a stronger physique, being naturally more agile, bigger than humans on average. Their only detriment is their fertility that was far weaker than humans.
They were also plainly less creative than a human would be, Elves are mostly content to live simply and are renowned for their outlook on life to be different than a human since their longevity granted them far more time.
Despite having more talent on average compared to human experts, humans usually broke through to the next realm even faster than elves do as becoming a Monarch required more than just talent.
Though even still there were similar amount of Elven Monarchs compared to humans despite the large population disparity between them as many human experts fail to reach the Monarch realm before their lifespan expired in comparison to an Elf who had far more time.
Additionally Elven Monarchs were usually stronger than their human counterparts, the Human Emperor was an exception to this rule according to Arwen who remarked he was extraordinary for a human standards in these parts.
Thinking about the cultural differences between the two races made her realise what an irregularity the so called Royal Clan are like compared to the general understanding of Elves.
They acted nothing like what Cense told her about the Elven community growing up looked like and made her realise exactly why Arwen was tasked by the Druids to investigate them.
However it did not make sense to her how they have been able to remain unhindered until now though this was not relevant to the current her since she was still too weak to make any difference.
Eyeing up the food she couldn’t help but lick her lips revealing her large canines that gleamed slightly in the brightly lit Inn.
Having much sharper teeth compared to her life as a human seemed strange at first but she quickly got used to them and grew to enjoy them as they made tearing through tough meat effortless.
It also reminded her of a problem. Moving her tongue gingerly she touched the bottom of her mouth, directly opposite her large fangs where the canines of a human would be.
Strangely she felt that the sharp teeth opposite the fangs on the top of her mouth were growing to resemble the ones above them.
This was unusual considering every elf she had seen so far in this world only shared the fangs at the top of the mouth, none resembled her having two sets of them at the top and the bottom.
The only thing that reassured her was Cense who mysteriously informed her it was nothing to be concerned about and was healthy development for an Elf and if others knew they would only be envious of her.
Ava was only incensed by the cryptic words of the spirit as those words didn’t mean anything to her and only made her more curious, however Cense stated that it would ruin the surprise and decided to revert back to his annoying self from the day she had met him.
Cense would not spit out the answer no matter how much she pleaded and begged.
She also ruled out on asking Arwen any questions about it because she did not want to appear any more of a freak whilst she travelled with them, leading her to decide to do her own research when they finally arrived at the Academy.
However these plans did not matter to her at the moment as it was times to enjoy some good food. Ravenously she started chomping down on her plate to the shock of the others present.
The Inn keeper had warned that the steak they placed on her plate was too tough for a child of her age, yet she tore into the meat like soft tofu as she devoured the assortment of meat and vegetables.
Guests and the staff of the Inn stared at her in complete bewilderment at the ravenous child only to realise what she was upon staring at her sharp teeth that tore into the food.
If you encounter this story on Amazon, note that it's taken without permission from the author. Report it.
Some had looks of fear as they stared at the group since due to the great suppression the Royal Clan placed on the nearby communities of humans for years it led to the elves having a poor reputation around here.
Nonetheless to the other humans who shown no fear they shown downright resentment to them and hatred feeling the need to openly show their hostility to the group of elves.
Of course there were plenty that shown neutral looks, not caring about them at all, their group also shown a similar response with none of the other denizens at the Inn bothering them throughout their meal.
In the end they choose the Inn for a reason, it commonly had travellers as guests and some of these included Elves, so it was not uncommon.
Elves were not banned in the City and being here meant they were deemed to be non threatening, therefore although some may not like it they would shoot them a few dirty looks at most and ignore them for the most part.
Soon enough they each finished their food, with them all sharing content expressions on their face.
Deciding it was growing late with all of them satisfied with the food, Arwen proposed for them to each head to their rooms since they would be leaving early tomorrow.
Xandas wanted to share a room with her, however the crazy woman Althaea was so insistent that both Ava and her should share since they were both girls he had to come to a compromise.
Xandas would sleep in the same room for the night for safety reasons though would leave the girls to their privacy when sorting through the new clothes Althaea had bought today.
Althaea agreed with heavy reluctance though understood just from the look in Xandas’s eyes that wouldn’t budge when it came to his daughters safety.
Arwen on the other hand was satisfied to have a room to his self. The old man felt himself too old to bother with the arguments of youngsters and decided it was good for his health to leave others to deal with Althaea’s antics for once.
Heading to the back of the Inn they left the dining area, revealing a staircase that lead upwards to the top floor.
Soon enough they found themselves at the second floor of the Inn, revealing a large hall way with a number of wooden doors with room numbers etched on a metal plate that was placed at the front.
Looking at the key to their rooms. They quickly found a number inscribed on it, quickly locating the two rooms as they found the number ‘14’ and ‘19’ fairly near to each other.
Arwen quickly bid the others farewell as he quietly sped off leaving the rest of them behind to argue over the room arrangements.
Ava knew she would not have much of a say in the matter so just stood there with a blank look on her face as Althaea glared at Xandas with her eyes seeming to scream death upon looking at his face.
Xandas interrupted the silence as he said, “You can’t be unreasonable, she is not your…”
However her father seemed to underestimate the pettiness of Althaea as she crossed her arms as she said, “How dare you question me, because we’re not related by blood! You know your daughter is like a Little Sis to me, in fact why don’t you call me Big Sis now!”
Althaea seemed to stare at her with an un compromising look that refused to back down no matter how Ava tried to find a way to escape the situation, eventually she gave in knowing there was no way out forcing Ava to quietly mutter, “Big sis…”
Having a satisfied smirk upon hearing her mutter those words, Althaea said, “See! We’re basically all family now! You can trust me for sure.”
Xandas just looked back with an open mouth not believing what he was seeing. In fact he looked at Althaea like she had a screw loose.
Cense roaring laughter filled her mind as she realised her magic instructor was absolutely insane.
‘How come she wasn’t like this before? What the hell happened to her.’ Ava thought wondering if Althaea bashed her head during the trip in the forest or if she was always this crazy.
Xandas on the other hand felt his head throbbing in pain as no matter how he tried to word it politely, the shameless Althaea would somehow turn it around that it was he the Father who should be the one embarrassed to deprive his daughter of the company of her ‘doting Big Sis.’
He quickly realised why the old man Arwen hurriedly left the scene so swiftly with him obviously use to Althaea’s tactics.
Eventually he found himself admitting defeat as he agreed to give them some time alone to try on the outfits they had bought today in the room though he would be nearby checking on them regularly.
Althaea seemed satisfied with the agreement with his daughter having an unreadable expression however he somehow felt she was staring at him with complete betrayal with her big blue eyes as she was dragged off into the room.
‘I’m sure I imagined things, don’t girls enjoy trying new clothes?’ He thought innocently thinking back to how the women always enjoyed being gifted exotic, luxurious clothes that had been imported from outside the tribe.
Ava on the other hand was cursing her useless Father as she felt Althaea eyeing her with a grin as she said, “Hmm which one first…”
That was when a loud knock sounded from the door causing Ava to look at the door in surprise.
‘I thought Father was going to be longer…’ she couldn’t help but think, though was delighted by the interruption.
Althaea on the other hand was cross as she angrily mumbled, “I thought he said he would at least give me one incense stick worth of time… what was that…”
She was about to walk to the door in frustration however before she could make a move, seeming as if the person outside found it was taking too long for a response, a sweet voice sounded, “Room service.”