With the day for his departure having finally arrived, Marcus was busy putting together the last of his preparation for the journey he was about to undertake.
He knew that even in the best-case scenario it would probably be a week round trip but depending on Forlorieous' mood it could take a lot longer.
Still Marcus was quite exited to be getting back out there as he had been cooped up in the capital city for a while now and the call of adventure was beckoning him.
Also, there was someone else that was getting a bit stir-crazy, and that was Roxene.
She was starting to get board of playing around with Blitz and Lilia's beast companions, and was itching to get back out there and hunt.
Even as an intelligent and immortal being, she still had some of her bestial impulses and she wanted to get back out there.
So, Marcus had promised to bring her along and stop to let her stretch her legs periodically on their trip, since it was not like he was in any rush and figured he would enjoy the journey.
He had already spent some time planning their route and using the maps within the very expensive atlas he had purchased, made sure they would not pass by any major settlements.
'I think I have everything in order.'
Finishing up his last check, Marcus was certain he had all of the supplies and items he needed within his item box or within the three magic bags he had on him.
'Roxene it is time to go. Meet me at the front entrance.' Marcus said telepathically to his beast companion.
'Finally, I have started to get bored senseless. I can only dig up freshly planted foliage to get a rile out of your maids so many times.'
Sighing, Marcus now knew who the mysterious culprit digging up his garden was, but he really did have to put some of the blame on himself for leaving Roxene alone for so long.
Going downstairs, Marcus found Lilia along with the majority of his maids there to see him off.
"Good luck at school and keep safe. Also, if you need anything from me do not be afraid to use that sending stone to message me and I will come as fast as possible." Marcus said to Lilia as they shared a goodbye hug.
Marcus then turned to all of his maids and thanked them for their hard work and looking after the estate.
With his goodbyes said, Marcus walked up to his carriage finding Roxene already inside and waiting.
'Hurry up and get in. I am ready to get out of here.' Roxene told Marcus.
Smiling Marcus patted the top of Roxene's head, and said, "Clara, it is time to go. Take us to the southern gate."
Following Marcus' command Clara directed Blitz, and soon they were barreling down the city streets towards the southern gate where Marcus would be leaving from.
"Take care Clara. I trust you to keep everything running smoothly in my absence."
"Yes, Lady Geist, I will do my upmost to keep the estate pristine and make sure that Lady Lilia is well cared for."
After saying one last farewell to his head maid, Marcus and Roxene walked towards the southern gate and exited the kingdom's capital.
"Okay Roxene are you ready to stretch your legs." Marcus asked once they had walked a few hundred meters from the city's gate.
Nodding her head, Roxene began making a low growling noise, before her body enlarged as she activated her supreme skill.
Many of the people that were currently waiting to get into the city saw this and went wide eyed, but before any sort of inquires could be made, Marcus had jumped on the Roxene's back, and the two began rocketing down the road.
Quickly Roxene began running at full speed, leaving gashes in the ground where her feet landed as she exceeded two hundred miles per hour.
She had been cooped up in Marcus' estate for quite some time, and while for any normal animal it would have enough space to run around, for Roxene it was small and cramped.
However, as fast as she was, Roxene could not keep this up for long and after around twenty minutes of running at full speed while utilizing her supreme skill, she had worn herself out.
"Do you feel better now." Marcus asked Roxene as she shrunk back down and was panting rapidly.
'Yeah, it felt good to run with abandon. But now I am tried, carry me.'
Smiling at Roxene Marcus picked her up and began walking off of the road and into a nearby stretch of woods.
With Roxene's full sprint they had already traveled more than a hundred miles from the royal capital, and now Marcus was going to take to the sky for the next leg of their journey.
"Hold on tight, I am about to transform."
After giving Roxene a quick warning, Marcus took the form of a caladrius, and began flapping his wings.
Soon, with Roxene on his back, Marcus began flying high up into the sky, stopping when he had reached around four thousand meters.
Once at this height Marcus began flying south towards the boarder of the kingdom.
However, when they were around a hundred miles from the border, Marcus stopped and landed in a large rolling hills area which many different types of magical beast called home.
"Okay Roxene feel free to go have some fun, just try not to pick on something you cannot handle."
'Oh, it will be fine. I doubt there are any beasts around here that can harm me.'
Roxene then began running of into the hills, while Marcus felt like she had just raised a flag.
Luckily though, as much as Marcus expected for Roxene to lead a stampede of beasts back towards him, when she came back other than her fur being a little ruffled, she was perfectly fine.
Though Marcus did notice one new thing about her and that was that she had leveled up.
"You must have fought pretty hard to level up. So, what happened." Marcus asked.
Yet as Roxene began to explain what she had done, Marcus began to twitch a little, since she actually had started a stampede.
There was apparently a large group of a type of bison that had steel like plates all over its body, and she had angered the herd by killing a few of them.
She then proceeded to slaughter them with vicious attacks that tore through them, and finished off the leaders with one of her unique skills.
"Roxene you should be more carful. If those bison were at a high level or had some special traits you could have been in trouble."
'Oh, there is no need to worry. I do not think any of them were even above level twenty-five. They were all just fodder to me.' Roxene said as she scratched her ears.
Sighing Marcus decided to let things be. Roxene was pretty smart and could take care of herself, and her judgment was normally sound unless she was trying to make trouble.
"Now that you have had a bit of fun, it is time we get going."
Transforming back into the form of a caladrius Marcus flew the rest of the way towards the border, until he had left Borealia and entered the domain of Tralenstein.