Travelling through this world felt vastly different from what I could experience back on earth. No matter how big the park or agricultural area that I would choose in my homeworld, there was no way to replace the insane taste that the air had here, entirely free from the pollution.
Yet those silly sensory feelings were only the top of the mountain of the differences that set the worlds that my basement could connect to apart from the earth. Most importantly, nothing was stopping me from enjoying the freedom that not only my athletic ability but also my current cultivation real allowed me to do!
As long as my guess was more or less accurate, then I only had about thirty kilometres left to walk before I would reach the capital of the kingdom. Quite a long distance, only twelve kilometres short from the fully-fledged olympian marathon. Yet with the energy coursing through my veins like if my muscles turned into some kind of engine choking on the idle gear, instead of taking it easy, I decided to run all this distance!
Bit by bit, my legs continued to carry me forward all the while I had one of the last chances to adore the beautiful landscape of this world. While there was no denying that Earth had a fair share of great sights on its own, when speaking about the natural monuments of this magnitude, my home planet simply had none.
The mountains that seemingly reached beyond any reason, easily breaking through the confines of atmosphere and enjoying the tingling touch of the space. Strange geological structures that for some reason allowed me to look down along the surface of the plain all the way to its coast, only to raise my eyes a bit so that I could see water, way above the height that it should theoretically be at as if something managed to pull the surface of the ocean several meters above the level of the ground.
Thankfully, before my mind could give up after countless failed attempts to make any sense of what I was seeing, the sight of the clearly man-made walls suddenly starting to grow in the distance forced me to focus on my current task. With a pack of letters still comfortably hidden in my breast pocket, I continued to enjoy my little stroll through this world.
Soon, I had to put a stop to my ongoing run. Entering the area of farmlands that spread out in every direction around the city, the road that I was travelling was no longer as comfortably empty as it was so far. With more and more people trying to get to the city the closer I got to the gates, I almost started to have some doubts about how long it would take me to actually enter the place, not to speak about reaching the palace itself so that I could deliver the message to the King's own hands just like the mission specified!
Thankfully, the situation at the gates wasn't as bad as I thought. Instead of the guards checking every single damned carriage or group of people, it seemed that only some of the occasional checks were in place.
"You, there! Come here."
In the end, there was nothing to be surprised about when I was picked by the guards to go through the check. Even though I made my absolute best to style my clothes to suit the local fashion as closely as I could hope to, once I actually saw how people were dressed in this place, I realised how far I was away from nailing this point. Adding my perturbed face to the picture and there was absolutely nothing strange in the guards willing to inspect me a bit closer.
At this point, I could only be thankful that the basic language pack that covered all the worlds classified as 'easy' by my basement system was one of the rewards that I received for conquering the very first world that this system opened the gate to for me!
"Sir, with all due respect, but I'm on an urgent mission. I'm carrying the orders from mister… how was he…"
Taking a moment while I rubbed my still bloodied chin, I did my absolute best to make my act as genuine as my talent of natural-born comedian allowed.
"... ah, I believe he was called Buren? Given how everyone was acting all respectful around him, I think I can safely assume that he was some kind of officer if not the general of the army that I saw when I received the letters."
Quickly recounting the most important parts of what I saw when I first stepped into this world, I could see how the faces of the guards changed when I brought up some of the keywords.
"A messenger… A summoned one from the looks of it at that… Understood. Gabe, go and fetch Mark…"
"There is no need to send anyone to fetch me. I heard the story already."
Before the guard that attempted to initially sound my intentions off could even finish his sentence, a new voice entered a fray with another guard appearing in the proximity. Yet, outside of how strangely different his manner of speaking was, just his clothes of incomparably better quality to what the other guards were wearing proved that instead of talking to a simple soldier, I had the luck of meeting a proper officer.
"Come with me."
No more words were necessary. Given how those low-ranking guards managed to guess that I wasn't the local inhabitant of the world, I had no doubts that the officer was perfectly aware of it just as well. At this moment, I could only hope that my foreign heritage wouldn't turn the matter of being rewarded for all my efforts any bit problematic.
After all, it would be a pity if everything that I did to look as worst as I could would turn into a pointless effort and pain!
Thankfully, I didn't have to wait long for the situation to clarify itself. Leading me through the very first medieval city that I could touch, feel and experience with my own senses in my entire life. The guard's officer didn't seem to mind the fact the everpresent commotion of the city made any attempts at talking simply impossible, allowing me to simply enjoy my trip through a place than no other human from earth would ever walk with their own legs.
Soon, the dense yet thin streets of the lower city gave way to the properly made, wide roads that split the entirety of the higher city into orderly quarters. With the entire capital being built generally on the plane of a circle, once we entered the upper city, I didn't need to bother with any of the risks associated with the lower classes that surrounded me in the first part of my journey through this foreign place.
"You might be a summon, but you still need to show the proper respect to the king."
Only once the two of us passed through an extensive check at yet another set of walls and gates did my lead bothered to speak up.
"What do you mean?"
Surprised by this development, I looked at the soldier with a surprise in my eyes. Never in my life would I expect that meeting the king himself could turn out to be so easy!