A strange village like in a new world

In front of the inn, Mortis wondered whether he should enter or not. From the sound of it, the party was in full swing. But just as Mortis was about to enter to show himself so that Magna and his guild would not have to worry, he was approached by a couple of soldiers who wondered how he had gotten here, for he had not come out of the portal. Mortis was questioned, and when he answered them truthfully, the soldiers didn't really know what to do. So they asked him to go with them to the captain, who would decide what to do next. Mortis was annoyed at that moment that he didn't try the mask right away, but he followed the soldiers, as it was getting dark and Mortis wanted to continue his journey.

Next to the raid portal were some huts where the soldiers were accommodated. In a larger hut was stationed the captain, to whom Mortis was taken. One of the soldiers went ahead and reported that Mortis just showed up in town. He claimed to be one of the adventurers who cleared the raid today, the soldier told the captain. The latter, however, got huge beads of sweat on his forehead, jumped up and ran out to where Mortis was boredly waiting to get this over with. "Count Mortis of Bamberg, it's good to have you here, sir, I'm insanely sorry that my soldiers have inconvenienced you. As it seems, you lack a hero to distinguish from the ordinary adventurer," the captain said nervously. But Mortis just smiled and said, "It's all right. As it seems, just from me has not spread so much yet. Besides, the gentlemen were only doing their duty. So, do you want me to file a report on what happened to me in the raid or not?"

That would help us a lot, even though we have already learned that no one but a hero can enter this area. This would help not only us, but also you, since the report will go to the king, the captain said. Mortis agreed and asked for ink and paper to write down his report. He wanted to be on the other side of the wall that day and suggested that a soldier be sent to the inn to report to the others that he was well but unable to attend.

The captain sent a soldier to the inn, who accompanied Mortis, and they both then went to his study to write down everything Mortis had seen and experienced. After about an hour, they finished and Mortis was taken to another portal that took him to the other side of the wall and to a small village with soldiers who were also securing the borders. The captain gave Mortis a letter to make sure the others from Bayaroma would not stop him or think he was a fugitive. Mortis said a friendly goodbye and stepped into the portal. What he saw amazed him, for he was in a completely different world with lots of mana and richer colors of trees and plants. Here there were even blue trees with purple leaves, and the houses had a completely different appearance, which gave Mortis a true feeling of a foreign world.

But no sooner had Mortis looked around than there were soldiers with various weapons around him, asking sternly why he was here and how he had made it to them. Mortis took out the captain's letter and handed it to a soldier, who accepted it and immediately looked to see where it came from. When he had read the letter, he told the others to lower their weapons. The captain also came from that location and asked what the commotion was about. After taking the letter in his hand, he excused himself and had a soldier take Mortis to the village. Mortis followed full of anticipation and took a good look at everything. Even if the houses had the same construction, the special wood and other material was already something very special.

Even though Mortis liked the village, he didn't want to linger in this place any longer. If a village already had so much to offer, he couldn't wait to rush into the forest and see what enemies and creatures were waiting for him. As Mortis was about to head towards the dark forest, a guard tried to stop him. But Mortis did not listen and headed west to reach the nearest graveyard.

The forest, although getting darker, was still slightly light, as many bushes and trees were covered with bright flowers or leaves, which created a nice feeling in one, but also a queasy one when Mortis spotted a wildcat. The animal had fur that perfectly integrated it into such a bush, waiting for its prey. The wildcat could not surprise Mortis, but it still seemed significantly more dangerous than anything he had experienced before. Its speed and the way it used its abilities also seemed more fluid and quick. The system gave Mortis the clue that the cat was a wildcat, which looked like a tiger to him. After a few swipes, the cat tried to leave, using an ability that allowed it to hide in the shadows. Mortis let it draw and watched the cat disappear before it could even pose a threat to him. But he noticed in that brief exchange that the animal had realized its inferiority and took flight. Mortis found this intelligence impressive and cautiously continued on his way. He did not want to run to his doom out of recklessness.

Some plants and herbs Mortis recognized through his apprenticeship with Marlene, but seeing them in nature solidified his resolve to learn more and make gold from them as well. He wasn't sure if the spirits he had knowledge of were enough to farm here, but he called his usual farm team together anyway and had them gather. Just as Mortis was about to ask Fidelia if there was anything nearby where he could get some exercise, his system pointed out to him that there was a natural cave about 2 kilometers away where he might find something special. "Thank you, my pretty. Let's see what the caves have to offer. I hope there's more here than just goblins and ugly spiders."

Full of joy, Mortis made his way to the cave, watching everything closely so as not to miss anything, whether it was possible enemies or plants he didn't yet know the value of. Then, just outside the cave, Mortis discovered huge carcasses and remains of animals, and he pocketed the remains to have them examined later. The remains of the large beast led Mortis to conclude that there should be something huge in the cave, or a small army that just didn't think anything of storing their food inside the cave. But when Mortis reached the cave entrance, he saw something unexpected: erections and huts, which made him feel strange. Suddenly, Mortis felt two figures moving towards him. Immediately he took an attack stance, but the two people just ran past him as if the devil was after them. As they did so, they shouted, "Run away, this is truly a demon's nest!"

Mortis quickly ran to the small camp where the fighting could already be heard and the shouting was great. Out of the cave came a multitude of large devils, Mino-like, but with fangs and as if they had fallen into a barrel of acid. The demons had only one goal and that was to eat everything that came in front of them. Some adventurers and miners had their flesh bitten from their bones.

But Mortis did not care what his opponents looked like. The only thing he cared about was sending this spawn of devils where they belonged. So he called his farm team back to him and replaced them with Sarah, Mino and Marshal to help the people who were having problems while he took care of the multitude of monsters running out of the cave.

Mortis jumped right in front of them, using almost all of his abilities that dealt AoE damage. With "Scythe Whirl" he gave them the rest, doing more and more damage to the newly arriving demons. By the time the demons realized what was going on and rushed at Mortis to stop him, it was already too late for them and Mortis finished off the remaining demons without any problems. After that he helped his companions, who had problems to cope with these new monsters. But Mortis didn't want to replace them and decided that if there were more of these creatures in the cave, he would have his spirits wiped out so they could catch up with him again. The camp was mostly destroyed and there were some dead, but Mortis' intervention still saved countless, whom he now tried to help with potions and bandages. When the situation calmed down and most of them would have liked to leave the injured behind to leave this place, they stayed strong and pulled themselves together until they realized again that Mortis was not part of their troop at all. So they got nervous even if he helped them.