During this bit of information gathering my porridge is ready, a few scraps of jerky and mead add a bit of an addition to an otherwise bland meal of bread and porridge. I can fuel myself with necromantic energy but unrefined death mana will take time to convert to energy and the plant/wildlife there will probably be rather nasty affairs. Speaking of wildlife my scouts have returned, a few crafted mouse bone skeletons and spectres were taking a look around the general area and my guard spectres have a few wildlife located for me.

I truly have to thank the goddess for retrieving all my gear as I rearrange my various talismans, bracelets, and my necklace. I smile at the thought of anything less than than a wizard or master maji attempting to fight me, it would take a weapons saint warrior to attempt to kill me and well the fodder troops would need a battalions worth. Perhaps a company’s worth of elites but either way that would only be aiding me with so many bodies to use. The goddess knew what she was doing when she chose me, enough firepower to sweep most aside but not enough direct personal power to get attention from the strongest. I kept myself quiet for so long and now the chance to let loose a bit is glorious, still being stealthy has aided me all these years.

As my thoughts turn to the goddess I realize something I did not notice on me before, how could I miss a ring on my own hand is a mystery to me though I suppose there is a rather obvious explanation for it. On it is an upraised hand with swirls drawn in the palm, the symbol of the goddess. Examining it more closely with my mind I feel that this is the trinket she mentioned would aid me, on it is a powerful concealment and binding that would be impossible for anyone other than the maker to remove. A bit of an experiment taking it off and storing it in a pouch shows that it returns to my hand after about 5-10 minutes. I feel as if I can cast magic better and more varied with this on, a powerful catalyst artifact for any mage.

The effects are mostly focused on elemental magic from my tries but all magic in general gains some more ease in casting. A good utility object for helping me start my work, and hidden deep appears to be an archive of knowledge on the Agros de Mortis along with a grimoire like function to record knowledge. A nice side utility function appears to be the allowance of storing a small amount of items if they are enchanted with sufficient magic, something that my battle clothes are of course. A deeper look into the ring will be appropriate at another time but first a bit of sustenance.

After a bit of a pick me up from some assorted monsters and small prey animals gathered for me I have a small store of necromantic energy(required for high quality necromancy) and some raw death mana(referred to as miasma as well) to refine along with a bit of food I smoked overnight. Having packed everything up and changed to inconspicuous clothes I started moving in the general direction of the next town, this path I am on is not the most defined, barely more than a game trail. I have not met any actual dangerous monsters yet, only larger game and weak monsters so far.

Most were scared off after getting close enough to feel a bit of my aura, animals are much more receptive to small doses of my fear aura unlike humans. A bit of an inevitability for those who have been around or causing much death, partially responsible for those older veteran soldiers atmosphere. Other than the sight of wildlife that quickly left there were no other travelers according to all my senses. By my estimates depending on exactly which part of the forest I was dropped at it should be half a day to a full day of travel to the next town, once there I can get a gauge of local affairs before continuing.

However my musings were interrupted by one of my scouts finding something of interest, looks like we have some fellow travelers ahead. Having my scout look closer I see that I was only partly right, looks like a few bandits are ahead with only the most rudimentary of weapons which were mostly hunter’s bows and hunting knifes. I don’t even need my actual servants to handle this even if my guard spectres are chafing for action, time for a bit of exercise if they wish for it. Moving along on foot with my staff I eventually meet said bandits, one is upfront while the other 3 surround me in what they believe to be stealth.

“Excuse me fellow traveler but I need a bit of aid, perhaps a little food and other alms for a poor fellow. I lost many of my supplies to bad luck and need some more to get to Trosafen”

“I would if I could but I myself am low on supplies and can spare only a bit, the rest of my wares are things that cannot be eaten unless you are in the need for a tincture against bad stomach pain”

“Ahh a doctor, no I only need a bit of food enough to get me to one of the villages before Trosafen, I can appeal to them for anything else I need”

“Of course a small bag of food can be spared, here let me get it off my horse”

Hmm looks like they won’t try for more, hearing that I am a doctor made them wary since offing a doctor gets the wrong attention not to mention that trying to sell my wares unless they want to go to the large market town is pointless. If they tried looking like your common peasant then someone is going to notice on the off chance that they are a bandit for a bounty, if not then the local guard will take in this obvious vagabond anyway to get credit when no one will miss them.

They still do not make a move as I rummage in my pack while keeping my senses on them, looks like this lot is not a group of hardened criminals. Probably a few down on their luck hunters trying to survive, still this should inform me of the current situation. Not bad enough for true bandit gangs to arise but still not enough for people to survive easily. A single bag of peas, some hardtack and a bunch of berries later and I start asking about things ahead. The fool does not realize that I know he was not actually a just arrived traveler and starts telling me of local affairs. His buddies meanwhile have backed off and are being more productive on lookout for anything else. It appears that the town ahead is on rougher times, trade is not as prevalent as before and the harvest has felt a few hard times.

Not enough for people to get desperate but belts are being buckled a bit tighter than before, some questions on local rates for goods along with the entry restrictions and that is enough information for now. I smile compassionately and inform the of a few wild game back down the path for him and his friends to go hunt and he has the remorse to look a bit shamed before bidding me farewell as I continue my trek. No need to expressly kill this lot since I won’t get much food from them and if they had any valuables then why would they be doing this. The energy they would have is simply not worth it, if I truly wanted to store up necromantic energy or mass large amounts of death mana from them then 4 peasants is simply not worth the waste of time it would be to do so in the field.

A proper lab where I can carefully drain them then perhaps but now, no it would be worthless and I need to get to the fields quickly before others come. As the goddess said she is not the only one who will take notice of what is occurring there and being first gives a powerful advantage. I can make my reveal to the world after actually having at least a small army, should find a better source as well since wasting time with only 4 low quality meatbags is not enough.