After Daniel had finished his instructions, the Butler left to get the necessary artifacts. After getting the required artifacts, he handed them over to Axel and told him to prepare for the trip in 2 days. Axel inspected the artifacts that were given to him.
One was an immunity artifact to protect from diseases, and the other was something that would protect him from attacks for a few moments upon activation. Both were in the shape of accessories that could be worn on his body. There was another cloak that would hide his identity and face with a long hood.
He was sure that all of them must have cost a fortune. Despite the bad state of their merchant organization, his father spent a fortune to ensure his safety. He could have easily forced Axel to remain at home at all times. But he did not do that. Axel could not help but feel grateful towards him. But a sense of shame also flowed in him. Since he was taking advantage of 'Daniel Nomrad'.
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it. He then thought about the next stage of his training that the Butler talked about, which Vargas himself would personally take over.
When William fought him, he obviously suppressed himself to the level of a normal human. At first, he would only last a few seconds against him when the fight started, but now, after 4 months, he could last more than 20 minutes, and the intensity of the training only increased every single day.
One had to realize that a 1st phase, beginning with their most potent attacks, could affect and destroy everything within a 10-50 meter radius, including a 5-story building. A second phase, on the other hand, could affect an area of 100-200 meters. Of course, that is only if we're talking about unprotected places. All noble or merchant houses had necessary protections everywhere.
The materials used to build those places were that resilient. So, if William were to try to throw his most powerful attack in any of the Nomrad mansions, his powers would be suppressed. As far as Axel knew, their mansion had protection up to the level of the quasi-5th phase Seekers.
But the matter of attention here is that his instructor, William, could squash him a thousand times like a bug. That's the amount of power and experience he holds. So, despite him suppressing all his power, for Axel to be able to fight toe-to-toe against him for 20 minutes is an astonishing feat. It was Vargas's idea not to give Axel any feedback; overpraising him would only make him lazy, that's what the Butler believed.
Axel didn't know what the Butler thought, but he felt somewhat confident in his battle prowess. As far as he knew, he only needed to find the demonic plant. There could be some beasts lurking nearby, which was why he wanted to be as ready as possible. If he were too late, that guy might take the plant before he could.
After two days, he set out for the Santak Village. It was almost in the opposite corner of the Dusker Dukedom compared to where the mansion of the Nomrad family was, and the place where 'Obsidian Trade' operated. So, midway, he would have to use a teleportation gate to shorten the distance.
The Teleportation gates were prized possessions of the Suncrest kingdom. No one could make more of them. It is said that the first Valkyrie whom the Royal family summoned had the power of space and had built the teleportation gates in many places of the continent. Still, the most remained in the Suncrest kingdom, while a few were at critical checkpoints in other great kingdoms.
Axel brought Neil and the guards with him. His father wanted to send William with him for his safety, but he instantly rejected it. He knew very well how much of a pinch their family business is in; if an essential asset as William were to be gone now, it would make the situation even worse. William was already wasting too much time training him daily.
The two 1st phase guards were more than enough. But for his security, they had changed their carriages at mid-way. There was no need for them to advertise the fact that a carriage from the Nomrad merchant family was going somewhere.
The new carriage looked poor and dull on the outside, but its interior was cozy and comfortable. Some robbers stopped them at a certain point, but one of the guards killed them all without mercy. The robbers thought they could rob it, given the carriage's unassuming appearance, but that was a grave mistake. Axel couldn't look at that scene.
Though people without power could be killed like dogs in this world, it was still hard for him to suddenly shift toward that mindset so soon. After one more day of travel, they reached the teleportation point. Since the royal family strictly controlled the teleportation gates. They needed to prove their identity since only the various authorities of the great kingdom could use them.
One of the two guards accompanying Axel showed their Nomrad family identity plaque. He handed over a small pouch of Gold coins, and the soldier nodded. Axel and his group went inside after setting the nearest destination for the Santak village.
The moment Axel placed his foot on the teleportation gate, an unimaginable force dragged him; he could feel his entire existence twisting into something else. Reality itself seemed to bend at that place, and only the empty void filled his surroundings. A few moments later, he suddenly found himself on the other side of the teleportation gate. He immediately vomited after coming out.
The guards on the other side wore disgusted expressions, seeing that someone had vomited right in front of the gate. Neil did the same thing after arriving. They had to pay some more coins to the teleportation gate guards to appease their anger. The guards accompanying Axel showed no reaction; they seemed used to it.
The group continued their journey after buying another carriage and two more horses in that town. 2 more days passed inside the carriage, and Axel was bored to death. He had nothing to do, and weird thoughts started to grow in his mind.
His mind often began to wander to the beautiful maids of his mansion; some of them were his age or slightly younger. Then there was Clara; her mature and sexy body was just too alluring to ignore when his male hormones were at their peak.
Thankfully, he did not bring a woman with him on the journey; otherwise, he really might have failed to control himself. Time passed, and they eventually reached the village. The immunity artifact worked automatically, so the two guards did not need to worry about the diseases common among normal people.
Axel eventually learned the names of the two guards along the way. They were Thorne and Garrik. He asked one of them to help him set up a tent on the outskirts of the village. It was a rural village that did not have an inn, nor had they ever had any outsiders visiting them.
Garrik had a space ring in his hand, which held all the necessities: raw food and a large magic tent. Only seekers can use certain items since they are connected to the Prime nexus. That is why Garrik had it in his hand; in the hands of a normal person, the ring would be useless and unassuming.
While Garrik was helping them set up the tent, Thorne went into the village to see the state of it with his own eyes and make his own conclusions about it. Axel also ordered him to see the sick people's conditions.
Axel left Neil in the very last town they crossed since he would be useless here anyway, and it was better for him to gather information about this from the nearby town. If something noteworthy came to his attention, he could send that information with messenger birds.
After setting up the tent, Garrik started a fire since it was almost night. He started cooking porridge with some vegetables and meat. He smiled at Axel and said,
"Sorry, young master, I'm not too good at cooking; you'll have to make do for now."
Axel smiled in return and said, "How many times do I have to tell you to drop such formalities?"
Garrik laughed sheepishly but did not comment on that as he focused on cooking the food.
Axel sighed, seeing that they had become somewhat close during the long journey, as he always asked the two guards this and that about anything and everything he was curious about.
Thorne came back after a while, but he had a tense expression on his face. He sat down beside the fire and began explaining what he had seen.