We are woken up before sunrise by servants coming in with breakfast. Before they leave the servants inform me I will be leaving in an hour. Vacker and I dig in while it is hot and enjoy our last meal together.

Vacker says "Just remember what I taught you and you will be fine."

"Don't worry, I am as ready as I can be."

Vacker says "True, and you are physically as strong as a demon lord. I can't think of any beasts that would be able to kill you."

"I can think of a few, but I doubt the demon lord has captured any of them."

Vacker says "Yeah, I can think of a few beasts in myths and legends that would be a problem. Let's hope Lord Shendaw isn't keeping any of those in cages."

"Well, if he is, that would actually make things easier."

Vacker says "Huh? How so?"

"All I would need to do is get into the pens and let everything loose. With those running around inside his castle and the other demon lords attacking from outside, my job would be done."

Vacker says "Haha! I guess that's true!"

"You always have to be open to the possibilities. I mean when I suggested this crazy plan I never thought I would actually be going through with it! Yet here I am about to be shipped off even further from my home to challenge the second most powerful demon lord on the planet."

Vacker says "When you put it that way it does sound rather insane."

"Yeah, I wish it was someone else who had come up with this crazy idea."

Vacker says "Why is that?"

"So I could punch them in the face!"

Vacker says "Haha! What, you don't want to hit yourself?"

"No, I will take out my frustration on whatever I face in the arena."

Vacker says "That sounds like a plan. You just make sure to stay alive and come back."

"Oh, I will be back. You are not getting out of your promise to teach me that easily!"

Vacker says "Alright, I'll be here waiting then."

With nothing else left to say I part with Vacker and head down to the front of the castle. There I find a carriage waiting and twenty soldiers getting ready. As everyone gets ready to move out I am surprised to see no demons in the escort, only humans.

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Maybe the demon lords have something against sending their demons into another lord's territory. Whatever the reason this works out for me, none of the humans should know about soulscapes. I just need to get far enough away from Lady Xinun to escape the suppression.

Once I arrive and board the carriage we set off within minutes, the soldiers are well trained and organized. After we leave the immediate vicinity of the castle I lean out of the carriage and take a closer look at the soldiers. Once I pick out the leader of the escort I am pleasantly surprised to recognize him as the captain I spoke with at the training yard.

"Captain, what was your name?"

Jerrick says "Jerrick, my name is Jerrick. Why?"

"How long till we reach Lord Shendaw's territory?"

Jerrick says "A little over two days."

"And what are your orders regarding me?"

Jerrick says "Since we don't know how good Lord Shendaw's spies are I am to act like you are a prisoner the entire trip."

"Okay, I will be a good boy and stay in the carriage."

Jerrick says "I appreciate that, Lord Ash."

As I sit back and let the captain return to his position I realize that I am not going to be able to train on the trip. Well, I might be able to do some exercises in the carriage but there isn't much room. Trying it I find I can do sit ups between the benches, and if I angle myself just right I can do push ups across the benches.

Just a few exercises isn't enough to increase my strength, I have to push myself a lot harder if I want that. However I can practice my mental skills as much as I want, the carriage has curtains that can be closed. Meaning no spy will be able to see what I am doing, even the soldiers won't be able to see what I am up to once they are closed.

So I close the curtains and then sit back and start practicing my mind blade. I summon and unsummon it over and over until I have a raging headache. The skill doesn't go up but I am able to summon it easier and faster by the end of my practice.

After I rest a bit I summon my mind blade again after activating my lightning aura. The lightning doesn't cover the blade that way but when I summon the blade first then activate the aura it does cover the blade. That means I can use the aura for both defense and offense, that makes it much more useful.

If I combine that with demonic assault I should be able to do a massive amount of damage in a short time. Maybe even enough to hurt a higher level demon like Trezon. Maybe after all this I will get a chance for a rematch with him, I'd like that.

First though I need to survive the arena and the fall of Lord Shendaw, then I will worry about after. I'm not too worried about the arena, but I have to remember not to be overconfident again. Sometimes I am my own worst enemy, but that is true for all men in my opinion.

The soldiers bring me lunch when we stop to rest the horses, it is plain but filling. Other than feeding me the soldiers leave me alone, which suits me just fine. After over a week of insane training it will be nice to catch up on my sleep before the next insanity starts.

Not that I mind the harsh training now that it is over, I got a lot of benefits from it. The mind blade alone is going to be a huge help in the arena, true Vacker didn't teach me it but his training helped. Soon we are back on the road, I rest my eyes until we stop for dinner.

Dinner ends up being a decent stew, after eating I wait for the soldiers to settle down for the night. I can feel that the suppression is gone, but I want to wait until I won't be disturbed to try it. It will be so nice to see the goddesses again, I have a lot to tell them.

'Create Soulscape!'

"Krenocia! Seronia! I invite you to my soulscape!"