After a few minutes, the giant knight entered from whom he had received the potion. Mortis greeted him kindly, which the man returned. The knight conjured up clothing and threw it to him. Mortis slowly got dressed as everything itched and hurt. The man looked at him closely, which was a bit strange for Mortis, but he realized that he was doing so to examine the effects of the potion. When he was finished, he asked the man where he was and when he could move on. He wanted to complete quests, see this world with his own eyes, and become much stronger.
The knight said, "It's early in the morning anyway, you can leave right away. We're packing up and heading home. My home is Grashügel in the south. If you like, I can take you with me since you survived and also seem to be a fighter. You can serve under me or become an adventurer."
"Become an adventurer," Mortis had never heard more beautiful words. That was his dream. But he declined. His goals were the cemeteries that he had obtained through the quests. Then he wanted to reach level 15 first to accept the other quest. The knight looked at him sadly and said, "Boy, you don't have to go back to your village. Everyone knows how cripples are treated. You have a new life now. Seize the opportunity and start over."
Mortis shook his head and said it wasn't about that, but he would visit him once he had finished his business. "But don't mess around, boy. Most people seek revenge when they can. Better go to a shrine in a city and increase the strength you earned in battle. Maybe you're lucky and a god grants you a blessing that you can become something other than just a farmer."
Mortis considered what he meant. Then he remembered that the path one takes depends on their parents and that one can only become something other than a warrior or adventurer if the gods allow it. The values cannot be distributed just like that, but if one learns and prays, their intelligence will increase. Depending on how one fights and against whom, the other values increase when they pray. So there are levels here too, only they cannot see them, but only the values they have. Praying will solidify the experience points (EP), but there seem to be classes.
The system told him that he had already made the switch to his class. He is no longer a farmer, but now the Grim Reaper. Mortis looked at the knight and nodded in understanding. He promised that he would not return out of revenge, which was true for him. He wanted to fulfill the quest, but he was still considering whether he would fulfill the task of killing his brother. For him, it was strange that he was supposed to protect life, but his brother was supposed to die.
The knight did not sense any falsehood, but only saw sincerity in Mortis' eyes. "Good, when you have finished everything, come to Grashügel and ask for Baron Jochen von Grashügel," he said.
Mortis jumped up and bowed. He did not know that the man in front of him was a baron. The man just waved it off and laughed, realizing that the peasant boy had no idea who he was.
There was a knock on the tent and soldiers entered to begin dismantling it. Mortis took his scythe and left the tent with the baron. Outside, Mortis said goodbye to the baron and headed north.
He didn't get far when a few knights stopped him. He wondered what they wanted, but they simply said that they would be leaving together towards the north later and he could join them if he wanted.
Mortis said he had no horse and it wouldn't be worth waiting for them since they would soon catch up to him. The knights laughed and one of them looked at him and said, "You can also ride on the carriage. We can take one person."
Mortis thanked them and waited aside. After 2 hours, everyone was ready to depart for their respective cities. Mortis took a seat on a carriage that was loaded with crates, then everyone rode off.
The journey was really long and Mortis looked at the map and noticed how far apart the 3 cemeteries were. But this only fueled his enthusiasm and the itching and pain subsided, giving him a feeling of euphoria.
They arrived in a large city with a big castle after 3 hours. Mortis also got off here, as this city was right in the middle of the 3 cemeteries.
He thanked the knights and went to the market, as he now needed equipment and something to eat. First, he bought something to eat for the moment, as he was almost starving, then he looked around further.
He first visited an armorer, but found that he only had heavy armor and was therefore sent to a tanner. There were many equipment items, but hardly any with special properties. Mortis thought that there should be more enchanted items, but it seemed to be a rarity here.He bought a green outfit for 1 gold that made him look like a hunter. Additionally, he bought a water skin for 10 silver and went to a tailor. There he bought a large bag, a hammock, and a thin blanket for 30 silver. At the general store, he bought a knife, a small pot, and utensils for 20 silver. When buying food, he sought advice as he did not know what to take with him so it would not spoil. He bought cheese, jerky, smoked ham, and lard for 50 silver to be enough for the journey. It was already late in the evening, and although he actually wanted to set off immediately, he decided to look for an inn to rest for the night.
He quickly found an inn at the West Gate and paid 1 silver for a room. After ordering something to eat, he went to his room and checked all his abilities again. He realized that he had never tried to see what the spirit world looked like. He used "Walk in the Spirit Realm" and felt a cold energy surround him. The world changed into a gray and distorted version that was similar to the original but still different. Strangely, there were no windows or doors, and Mortis wondered if he could just go out even though the door was locked. According to the description, he would be thrown out of the spirit realm if he touched a living person, so he went downstairs to see what people looked like coming out of the realm.
He was shocked. People did not look like people. They were a mixture of their appearance and essence that looked both heavenly and demonic. Mortis concluded that people can deceive themselves and others but not the soul. In the corner, one person was also indicated as red, their soul image being that of a demon with many faces. Mortis was curious about the man, but he withdrew for now. With his level, he did not necessarily want to make enemies with the wrong person. In his room, he deactivated his ability and went to sleep.
Early in the morning, Mortis set out on his journey. He walked several kilometers until he came across a small path that should lead to the cemetery. The main road was wide and looked simple, with sparse forest. But as he walked along the path, the forest became much denser and darker.
In the dark forest, it was quiet except for small sounds of birds. Nothing could be seen. The closer he came to the cemetery, the more dead the land seemed.
It was noon when he stood in front of the gates. The sun had been shining the whole time, but here it was foggy and eerie. Mortis was little bothered by that, but what annoyed him was this oppressive feeling that undead were in the area. He immediately noticed that all his hairs stood on end and a part of his brain was under pressure, as if he was being forced to get rid of it.
Talking about the witching hour. He took three steps onto the cemetery and saw two ghosts hiding behind their tombstones. They looked very human. One ghost was an older woman, the other a young girl.
As Mortis approached them, they whispered to him to leave. Living beings usually don't stay long here. He will find you too. Go. Morti bent down and whispered, "Who will find me? Why are you still here?"
The girl replied, "The demon. He's trying to catch our souls. Go before he finds you."
The woman said, "Be careful. The other ghosts are under his control or have gone mad."
Mortis asked how to tell the difference between a good or evil spirit. The woman replied that it could be recognized by the eyes, whether they glow red or rather blue. But there were also those who could conceal their nature.
"Thank you. Keep hiding. I'm here to send this demon back into the hole he crawled out of."
Mortis stood up, stretched, took the scythe firmly in both hands around the handle, and prepared to kick some ghost ass. He was now normal, taller, and wanted to test his new body.