Edward spent the next two days training, it was the time needed for the alchemists to produce the healing syringes. He focused on priority on his clone ability and on his aura manipulation. Two days were too short a time to improve his endurance or his aura reserve but it was perfect to improve his technique. As a patriarch, he only needed one hour of sleep per night to feel rested, which meant that two days represented a larger amount of time than one could expect. Within those two days, he manages to cram forty hours of work which was the equivalent of a civilian working for a whole week. This was more than what he needed to gain control of his clone ability.

The healing syringes should be ready by now. This is good, I’m about ready as well, I won’t be able to improve further than that in a short amount of time.

Edward stopped his training and went to pick up the healing syringes. Thanks to all the material that he had gathered the alchemists had been able to make a new batch of the healing concoction. Five healing syringes were ready with enough material left over to make another batch in a few days. Edward still had a single healing syringe left with him so he took four of them to make a set of five, leaving one syringe for Gobéliard for the time being before they made new ones. The seller behaved very humbly, Edward’s show of power, hunting Wyrms as if they were chicken, was still vivid in his mind.

Within Gobéliard, Edward was akin to a living legend, he had flipped Gobéliard’s situation more than once. The city had experienced more changes since he arrived than since its founding two centuries ago.

Edward convened another meeting with Cornelius and Marcellius to organize his trip to the Empire capital, Pescara. It was a long journey, the Vega family had taken fifteen days of sailing to reach Gobéliard. Naturally, at the speed that Edward was traveling, it would take him a lot less time, but it was easy to get lost while at sea, and Edward wasn’t a sailor. He didn’t know how to calculate and find his position on a map using only a compass and the stars. In the end, it was decided that he would travel in a straight line only. He was provided a compass, with the order to keep a course at three hundred degrees northwest. It was ridiculous to expect an expedition to move in a straight line, but with Edward’s teleportation, he didn’t fear any obstacles. He was provided a map as well, but it would be useless if he wasn’t able to know his position, and if everything went well, he shouldn’t have to use it.

Cornelius also had an outdated but detailed map of the capital that Edward studied attentively. He didn’t know what was waiting for him but knowing his surrounding was always nice.

Now ready for departure, Edward only had to wish his goodbye. Gobéliard’s population was only roughly aware of what was going on. They knew that the capital had fallen and they had witnessed Gobéliard’s battle. In their eyes, the capital’s situation must have been the same. They didn’t know that the monsters at the capital were in another category, coming from a different world.

Edward’s friends knew about it since he had told them, so they were understandably worried. Though even for them, it was hard to imagine what Edward would have to face. Hearing stories and seeing things for oneself left a different impression. Edward himself didn’t know exactly what to expect since he had so little information. But he was pretty sure that just like for the spiders, the capital would look like a different world by now. The invading monsters would turn the city into their own image. He had studied the capital’s map but he wasn’t expecting it to give him more than a point of reference.

Edward teleported in front of Leyla’s room and knock on the door, waiting for her to open it. When she opened and saw him their eyes met and they reached a silent understanding. “So, it is already time heh?” Leyla whispered.

“I’m afraid so,” Edward answered. “I have everything I need and the monsters won’t wait for me.”

“I know!’ Leyla replied angrily. “But still, be careful,” she continued in a softened tone. “I hate that I’m not able to do more. Every time you have to go and risk your life while I’m stuck here unable to help you.”

“I can’t let you say that.” Edward rebutted her. “You have helped me so many times. I wouldn’t have this amazing armor without you, I would either be wearing a stiff armor limiting my movement or wearing some light protection which would be almost useless. Besides you have surpassed me by far in runes studies. You singlehandedly revolutionized Gobéliard’s rune system. Without you, the city would have fallen to the swarms of monsters sieging it before I even came back.”

She smiled hearing Edward’s praise. “Thank you, I needed to hear that. I only wished I could do more.”

They hugged tightly.

“I will study the volumes you brought about spatial and dimensional problems. Altering something on this scale will be hard, but it may be possible if we manage to build runes large enough. When you told me how those spiders were amassing the mana of an entire region it made me realize that my mindset was too narrow. Runes are good to enhance objects but they can be used on a large scale as well. It’s just that the largest the scale the more time it will take not only to implement it but also to design it.” Leyla mused.

Edward laughed. “Fixing this world membrane will probably not be easy. You are set on the road to world engineering. Even in my home world that is something that has been only considered and never applied. But the time it will take doesn’t matter. If we manage to repel this invasion, we will have all the time that we want. The last invasion happened during the Damkinan era and who knows how far it is in the past. We will have more than centuries to fix the dimensional membrane. We only have to do it in a way that last.”

Leyla smiled. “Yes, once we deal with this invasion we will be done for good. Not only for us but for the whole world as well. Let this abnormal surge be the last one.”

Edward left Gobéliard his heart at peace. He began his journey toward the fallen capital. Being able to teleport to five hundred meters every two seconds he was moving at incredible speed all the while having the sensation of being immobile. It was more akin to the world moving around him than the sensation of him moving.

Within a minute he was surrounded by water only and he had lost sight of Gobéliard. He was standing alone in the air, an immensity of water around him. I may have become incredibly powerful but I still feel small. There is nothing around me, just water and the sky. I could as well be the only man alive. Edward continued to teleport, the landscape around him staying the same. I’m glad I have got that compass. There is no way I wouldn’t get lost otherwise. I feel as if I’m staying in place even though I’m pretty sure nobody is able to move as fast as me in this world. As the sea was currently calm, Edward could see the sky’s reflection within it, random clouds flashing by as he teleported further ahead.

At one point he sensed a massive formed swimming under him and he increased his altitude out of caution. I don’t know what the heck it is, but it sure is huge. Edward continued to teleport, not slowing down to investigate further. It is the biggest monster that I have encountered until now. At least it doesn’t seem to be interested in me, or maybe I just move too fast for it. I’m fine with roaming the world but I don’t especially want to explore the ocean depths. My mobility would be severely impaired within water not even taking into account the issue of how to breathe underwater. Add to that that aquatic monsters are usually bigger than lands one because the water is supporting part of their weight and you can see the picture.

Edward continued to move forward at breakneck speed. Maybe I will do it one day if I still want to progress and am lacking blood essence.

In the end, the trip took him only nine hours compared to the fifteen days it had taken the Vega family. Edward chuckled drily. This is insane. This is what moving at nine hundred kilometers means compared to the meager speed of a traveling vessel.

In front of him lay the previous capital of the empire. All that Edward could distinguish was an ominous cloud of darkness. Even his improved eyesight was only able to peer twenty meters inside, while his aura was barely better, limited to thirty meters.

Why do they all have skills to restrict others’ aura? The black mist covering the city wasn’t standing still, the outer layer was always in movement as if it was blown by the wind. Except that its movements weren’t matching the wind at all. No surprise here, if a simple wind could have dispelled the mist, the monsters responsible for it would have been long dealt with.

He sighed. I don’t have much of a choice. Let’s head in. It’s not like staying on the outside will help me in any way.

Edward delved into the mist, his figure disappearing inside without provoking any disturbance.

The visibility wasn’t any better inside, Edward had never visited the capital before but as he forecast, this version of the city looked otherworldly. It was as if he was standing in a nightmarish copy. The dark mist was everywhere, the restricted visibility giving the impression that the world was reduced to his immediate surroundings. The streets were empty, not a silent inhabitant in sight, and there wasn’t a sound either. However, there were clear signs of fights, broken carts discarded in the middle of the streets, collapsed merchants’ stands, and even broken walls in some places.

Edward looked at his surroundings as the mist shifted all around him, growing more agitated and thickening in places. It was too deep inside the mist to be visible but still close enough for Edward to monitor what was happening with his aura. A monster appeared out of thin air at every place where the mist had thickened. Within a few seconds Edward was surrounded, rather than wait for the creatures to tighten their formation he charged forward confronting the monsters.