9 New toys

Well that was something.

I received 2 new spells from Death and I must admit they were interesting. The first one is called 'pulse' and is basically a scan that scales depending on how much mana you use to perform it. In theory the range might be the whole planet, provided that I have the mental aptitude to receive that much information and the mana for it.

"Ok, let's go for a very small range first, 'pulse'." I said that and immediately felt a wave of mana leaving my body in all directions, the next moment I felt everything in the scan range, from plants to small insects.

"Too much information, let's try to tune it down a bit." I said that and tried to focus only on a couple things. I launched another scan but this time focused only on insects. The results were satisfying, I received information about every insect in the scan range.

"It seems depending on my wishes I can calibrate the scan to search only for my intended targets, that's a versatile scanning tool and a very useful one."

I proceeded to test the second spell.

"'Veil of death'." As I finished the chant something really interesting happened.

The spell made me a shadow and allowed for movement in this form. As long as I was inside an actual shadow casted by something material I spent much less mana on supporting the spell. Overall the mana usage is quite big but because of the cost reduction I think I can use it for infiltration and maybe even spying.

With the 2 new spells I also received an interesting piece of information. Mistress notified me that apparently, my summon was 2 weeks later than the heroes one. They had their bodies basically moved from their world into this one, while I died in my world, so only my soul moved here. Even though Death managed to sneak it into this world alongside heroes souls, it took some time to actually create my body from scratch, so I ended up appearing 2 weeks later.

"The trip proved quite fruitful, information and new spells. " I said that with a smile, laying in bed and contemplating my next moves.

"I shouldn't be too far behind in terms of power than those heroes, even though they had more time. With their current power and the situation the country's in right now, I think they should be sent to the frontlines soon. The question is when and how much time I have..." I said that while biting my lower lip in frustration.

The lack of a precise timing bothers me but I doubt humanity would risk their heroes, even if deployed I doubt they would face immediate danger, at least for the time being. That leaves me with a little bit of free time to solve one grave problem of this country.

"The duke of hold, huh. " Yes I decided to take care of him first. I need a united humanity in the face of the demonic hordes, so I should fix this issue first. That makes my next destination the capital.

As I understood, while in sanctuary, time in the real world flows much slower, to the point where 24 hours there is 1 second in reality.

"Even though I spend some time testing the new magic it's still dark outside so let's call it a day here."

After a good sleep I woke up after midday and heard a commotion outside. When I looked through the window I could see people being busy and preparing furniture and food for the upcoming celebration.

"Oh right, the house is owned by the village head so I guess all festivities are celebrated here. They really know how to celebrate by the looks of it." Big tables full of food and big casks full of alcohol, everything was buzzling with activity.

When I walked outside the house I could see Harold talking with some people. When he noticed me he smiled and greeted me.

"Good afternoon mister Max, I hope you had a good sleep."

"Good afternoon sir Harold, I had indeed. I see you're pretty busy, I'd like to talk with you when you'll be free."

"Sure thing, It's gonna take a while but I'll come back as soon as I'm done." He said that and proceeded to continue talking with the villagers.

I took a sit at a table and proceeded to watch people work. It was quite the peaceful sight, probably the last one I'd see for a while considering the circumstances I'm in. While lost in thoughts, I didn't even notice that a good amount of time passed. Harold finished his business and took a sit near me.

"Oh, damn my back, I'm too old for moving this much, are you enjoying the sight mister Max?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah, I was just lost in thoughts a little bit, my apologies, indeed I was a little bit surprised by the scale of the event." I said that, coming back to reality.

"But of course, we've faced a lot of shit recently so it's a good opportunity to freshen up a little bit and distract ourselves. So, what did you want to talk with me about?"

"I plan on visiting the capital and would like for your assistance. I need a horse and a map of the region or even of the kingdom, if you have one of course. I'll pay you for those, just name the price."

"It's ok, no need for money. A map of the whole kingdom isn't something I have, stuff like that is a rarity outside the capital but I do have one of the local regions. The horse isn't a problem aswell. When do you plan on departing?"

"Thank you, I'm in a slight rush, so I think of moving out tomorrow morning."

"Hmm, if I was you, I wouldn't try to wake up early after one of our parties. It's good that the closest village isn't that far so even if you depart in the afternoon you'll still reach it by the night. Wait a little bit here, I keep the maps in my home so I'll bring you one right now."

After a while he came back with a map and gave it to me. Surprisingly the map was pretty detailed, showing the vicinities of Arkala. I could see a couple villages here and there and what surprised me the most, the capital. Apparently the village was subjected directly to the crown and it was north of it. Basically I had a rough map of the northern portion of crown's lands which made me quite happy.

While I was carefully reading the map the preparations were done and people started arriving in mass. Soon I could hear light music and could see a couple young guys dancing. The party didn't officially start yet but the people were already getting in the mood.

The official start was given by Harold, who addressed his people and encouraged them to forget everything bad and have fun until the morning. I was immediately approached by many people that heard about my involvement in the operation and wanted to share a drink and hear some details. Soon, even the hunters joined them and proceeded to talk about the operation. People were very interested and we had a large group of villagers around us in no time.

After the sunset everyone started dancing. Many girls invited me and after a while I decided to have fun and also joined the fray, drinking and dancing till morning.

I don't remember when I got back to my room and fell asleep, but I woke up in the morning with a terrible headache.

"Freaking hell, that's a terrible hangover, this village's wine is no joke at all."

With great effort I walked to the first floor and found Harold drinking the special hangover soup.

"Haha, join me sir Max. I prepared one for you aswell."

"Thank you very much, I could definitely use one."

The soup worked miracles indeed. After 15-20 minutes I already felt much better.

"I prepared your horse outside and Alicia cooked you some food for the road, you can store in the spatial ring so it doesn't spoil. From here it should take around 3-4 days to arrive at the capital. If you hurry you should arrive at the next village before the sunset."

"Yeah, well then I'll hurry on. Thank you for your hospitality and thank Alicia for me please, for all the delicious food , she'll make a good wife in the future." I said that laughing and got up from my chair, prepared to leave.

"Hah, she'll be happy to hear that haha, I wish you a good trip and remember to visit us from time to time, you're always welcomed here, especially after yesterday's party haha." He said that laughing.

I don't quite remember what I did at the party but I have a feeling I really shouldn't pry further.

"I'll make sure to stop by from time to time, for now though, I wish you a good day." As I said that I offered a handshake and after it was reciprocated, departed.

Outside the house I found a white horse and mounted it. I knew how to ride a horse from my past life and the horse itself wasn't bad so I quickly took off in the direction of the village gates.

The guards allowed me to pass without many questions and I officially began my journey to the capital.

The trip was pretty boring though. Traveling during the medieval times was truly a pain. It's good that at least I could afford an inn for the night, there were many of those around, and didn't have to sleep outside.

Like this, after 4 days, I finally reached Raaford, the capital of humanity.