Chapter 560 Preparations for the mission

Having received his mission for the winter, Marcus was now looking over the few reports from the kingdom’s army and the locals about monster and beast sightings.

Unfortunately, most of them were not very descriptive and they were few and far between.

Still, Marcus was able to recognize some of the beasts and monsters sighted since he had encountered them before.

‘Looks like the worst thing has to be this seven headed hydra that was spotted near a place called Norr Village. Hm, that name sounds a bit familiar.’

Racking his memories, Marcus, or more precisely Irene definitely knew this name.

‘Ah yes, it is a village a few miles to the east of the first village I came across, and the two are pretty similar. I can only remember going there twice within Irene’s memories, but at least I know a bit about it.’.

Once Marcus had finished looking over the intelligence that Kalt had given him, the deputy king asked, “Do you require anything else before you head out?”

Thinking about it, Marcus was pretty well stocked up on most items. But there was something he was certain would be useful that he was a bit low on right now, since he had not been traveling around and had no need to keep a large store on him.

“Food. I need a lot of food. Preferable those that are high in nutrients like lean meats and hardy vegetables. Though a variety of fish might be useful as well. I could also use a large supply of dried meats and fruits. At least a few tons of each if possible.”

Perplexed, Kalt could not fathom what Marcus needed that much food for, when he did not even need to eat.

“I know it may seem like an odd request, but I assume you have never spent a winter that far north. Food is pretty scarce, and it is not uncommon for a couple people to starve during winter. Unlike the cities which have magical formations to keep the place warm enough to prevent snow buildup. In those small villages, the snow can get several feet deep, and most people stay inside their homes the entire time. Only if it is absolutely necessary does anyone venture out, as even just moving from one building to another is a life-threatening struggle. Their lives up there are generally pretty peaceful so even the strongest among them are only in the mid-teens level wise and none of them know magic. They are just not equipped to take on even the snow, let alone an incursion of powerful monsters and beasts.”

Stroking his chin, Kalt intently listened to Marcus’ description of life up in the farthest reaches of the kingdom which for the most part he was ignorant of.

“I see. Well in that case just food is probably not enough. I know that these people normally like to solve their problems on their own, but it would be preferable that they are not wiped out by this influx of monsters and beasts. Along with the food I will make sure that a number of thermal enchanted clothing and tier two fire magic wands are sent with you. Please distribute the clothing as you deem fit. and deliver the wands to the captain of the emergency troops we have stationed in the area. He will know what to do with them.”

Kalt then stood up and walked over to Marcus with a serious expression and took something out of his item box.

Looking at the item, Marcus could see that it was a black and red glove, and in the center of it on the back was an incredibly pure and powerful fire elemental crystal.

In fact, it was even stronger than the one that he had obtained from under the glacier where magma was spilling up from out of the ground.

“This here is known as the blaze glove. A treasure that has been passed down through the royal family since the first king. It is apparently an item that one of the Boreas’ companions wore in the past. It is imbued with a number of enchantments and greatly increased the power of fire magic. Along with that, it can cast every system given fire magic spell up to tier seven, though it has a limited number of charges and uses a certain amount for each spell.”

Kalt then handed it to Marcus, and said, “We will be lending this to you in order to aid you in your mission, but please take care with it as it is imperative that you return it when you are done.”

Nodding his head, Marcus said, “Understood. I will make sure that it gets back to you, and thank you for letting me use it. I am sure it will come in handy.”

Taking the glove, Marcus slid it on to his left hand and it immediately changed shape to fit him.

As soon as he put it on, he could feel the power behind this item that was in no way inferior to the very best he had.

‘Yeah, this will do nicely.’ Marcus thought as he examined the glove.

“Now I have given you all of the information I have, so if there is anything else you need to do at your residence or within the city, I recommend you do so quickly. I will have the food and other items prepared over the next few hours, and when they are ready, I will contact you.”

However, while Marcus appreciated the offer, he had already said his goodbyes to everyone.

“No, it is fine I will just wait here until everything is ready.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Kalt was fine with whatever Marcus wanted to do, and quickly left to relay orders to have his supplies acquired.

A few hours later and Kalt brought Marcus to one of the castle’s store houses, where everything had been prepared.

“That container holds one hundred fifty tier two fire magic wands, the ten over there are filled with cured meats, the seven next to it have dried fruits, and your fresh meats and produce are stored over here.” Kalt said, directing Marcus to his supplies.

After thanking the deputy king for his assistance, he first moved over to the wands and dried items and placed them all inside his item box.

Next, he pulled out his large walk-in fridge that was nearly empty and refilled it with the supply that had been provided.

‘Well, none of it is fancy, but it will definitely do the job.’ Marcus thought as he put away the large supply of fresh vegetables and meats.

With this he could now provide a bit of food relief to the people that lived up north who probably were not able to as effectively prepare due to the outbreak of beasts and monsters.

“Here, in each of these six magic bags are fifty sets of thermal enchanted clothing. Feel free to hand them out to the leaders and strongest of the villages and towns up on the northern edge of the kingdom.”

Grabbing the six bags, Marcus threw them into his large backpack that was filled with other magic bags, since even his large item box was nearing capacity.

Having everything he needed, he turned to leave the castle and make his way to the destination of his mission, when Kalt stopped him and said, “Oh and make sure to stop by the base in River Landing and check in with General Erastalven. He will be able to give you more information about the troops you will likely be working alongside and provide you a letter of introduction to prove yourself to the captain in charge up there.”