Make your presence known

"... So stand up Arn, and become my first knight." I feel a bit embarrassed afterwards, but come on. Everyone wants to geek out and roleplay a little bit, only difference is this isn't roleplaying anymore.

"Erm, Damien? You do know that only nobles can have knights right?" Alice just had to ruin my fun, but i was prepared for this.

"Alice isn't it normally only nobles that can have armies as well?"

"It varies from kingdom to kingdom but yes normally you have to be a noble to have an army."

"Then if i already have an army, an immortal one at that, wouldn't i already be equal to nobles. I'm only missing land and a title, but those things are irrelevant to me." She contemplated for a bit before she started massaging the bridge of her nose.

"Sigh, yes technically you're right but you're still not a noble. Just don't go around saying you're something you're not, it won't end well." Seems that she thinks i'm an idiot, why would i tell people that i have my own army hidden in my shadow.

"Heresy!" Suddenly Arn stood up and was about to draw his blade, clearly aiming for the one that talked down to his king.

"Stand down Arn! She said nothing wrong, she was just worried about me." I have to shut down this kind of behaviour early, or else it might create problems in the future if they attack everyone that says something even remotely rude to me.

"I apologize my liege, i just couldn't stand someone badmouthing your greatness." Great, good to know that they are all fanatics. Wouldn't surprise me if they began calling me a god at some point.

"It's fine, if i can't handle a little bit of criticism i wouldn't be a good lord or king anyway." This wasen't something i came up with to seem great or anything, I honestly feel that a good leader takes all forms of criticism and improves accordingly.

"That's some ambition you have there young one." The village chief came over to us, and obviously heard our conversation. "I apologize for eavesdropping but i was going to inform you of our decision. We decided to migrate to the Lion kingdom, we have some connections there and wanted to invite you to come along."

"Sorry chief but as i just told Liam and Alice i want to continue onwards to Polus, but i decided to send along a few of my soldiers that will listen to them for protection."

"I can't say i'm not disappointed, but i can't ask more of you after what you've done for us. If you ever find yourself in the Lion kingdom come visit us in Mustaff, some of the locals might know me so just say that you're there to visit old man Noll." He patted me on my shoulder before turning back to the other villagers. I was left alone with Liam and Alice. 'Guess it's time to say goodbye'

"Well i guess this is goodbye for now, don't you two die on me. The shadow soldiers are only on loan after all, and i'm gonna need them back at some point." I try to lighten the mood a bit with a joke, but judging by the look on their face i guess that either it was a bad joke or it didn't help.

"It's ok big bro, we know you're trying to make us feel better. It's just that humans like you are rare to find, and we quite enjoyed being around you even though it only was for a short while." I held back the urge to say that they would most likely never meet someone like me, but i held it back. It's better to not jinx myself or else i'll suddenly run into another transmigrator.

"I might be separating from you guys now, but as long as my shadow soldiers are keeping you safe i'll always know where you are. Oh and can you guys do me a favor of not taking the soldiers with you when you're bathing? I just don't want to accidentally see you guys nude when i'm only checking up on you." Liam nodded in understanding at my words but Alice strangely enough ha a faint blush in her cheeks, she's probably thinking about what could have happened if i hadn't told them.

After handing over their escort and necessary gear that they might need the beastkin villagers began their journey. I waited until they were out of sight before i climbed onto Fenris and our journey started.

Travelling with Fenris is effective, but incredibly boring. I am literally travelling with my own war party so i don't even notice it when hostile creatures approach before they're already dead. This would have been a happy occasion a few hours ago but now i'm too high level compared to them so i don't get any experience. I can't even add them to my army, whenever i try i only get a system message.

[Target shadow too weak, unable to aquire]

Not really much i can do about that, but while travelling i did get the chance to change my notification settings a bit. I also made it so i only get 50% of the EXP and the rest goes towards skill points, and i found that i could still get skill points even for the weaker ones but it took an increasing amount of enemies the weaker they were.

'If i remember correctly we were 2 days away from Polus when we saved the villagers, so i should probably just relax and practice the few skills i have.' As we were travelling i was using my shadow storage until i only had 100MP left, and then i rested until it was full again. Doing this constantly did get me some results as i got the skill to lvl 3 the first day, now amounting to a 3x3 storage space. If i had taken my time to practice this skill before leaving the village i could probably ste- ahem i mean bring with me everything i left behind.

I could probably just sleep on the back of Fenris while we travelled, but i'd rather treat my soldiers a people rather than machines. Speaking of soldiers, Arn has been telling me about Polus along the way.

What he told me is that Polus is the largest city in this kingdom, which i could've guessed since it's the capital. It also has a branch office of all the guilds. Apparently this world has 4 different guilds, these except for the mercenaries act as neutral parties and deal with all the races. That incredibly enough also includes the demons, but Arn didn't know much about their dealings. There is an adventurer's guild, merchant guild, magic guild and mercenary guild which is the one Arn previously belonged to.

In my mind i thought maybe the mercenary guild and adventurer's guild was the same thing, but i found they have some big differences. The mercenaries are first and foremost not a neutral party but are involved with each of the kingdoms they are located in, this is how nobles find capable soldiers to hire as knights. The worst thing is that where the adventurer's guild has certain rules for what kind of requests they receive, the mercenaries don't have that. They accept all requests and allow their members to freely pick the requests no matter how shady they might be.

Arn didn't know much else about them as he was just a newbie, and having had no experience with anything other than the mercenary guild made it difficult for him to tell me more. He did however request that he could leave and investigate them all from the shadows when we arrive, which i allowed as i plan to stay a little while so i could train my combat skills and my body.

The second day however i didn't feel like doing anything, i spent the majority of the day just napping and taking out some food from my shadow whenever i got hungry. Even people like me have to be allowed a lazy day once in a while, who wouldn't when you have an immortal army at your command.

The last day of camping outside i had a hard time sleeping. The reason for that was the thousands of scenarios going through my head, like how i was supposed to get to the city without causing a panic. Riding a massive direwolf doesn't exactly sound like something a normal person does, i'd probably have to walk next to Fenris when we get near. Arn told me that the city is surrounded by a 5m tall wall and i don't even know how tall that is compared to either me or Fenris at this point.

'Am i an idiot?' I facepalmed as i realized i could just ask Arn how tall he is and then compare both myself and Fenris.

"Arn!" I call out, and not a second later he materializes in front of me.

"You called my lord?"

"Yes i was wondering how tall are you? I don't know my own height or that of Fenris." I just hope he doesn't comment on why i asked so late, i could've asked Liam or Alice earlier but it didn't even cross my mind at that time.

"I stand at around 1,80 meters my lord." I look at him and try to measure my own height, if i had to guess i would say i'm a little bit smaller than him so something between 1,7 and 1,8. For some reason it feels strange to know my height, feels like it's foreign to me so i assume i used to be either taller og smaller before i died. I can't understand how my height was a memory that had to be erased.

'Well no it actually makes a little sense, if i had memories of a life where i was taller than my body is currently it would most likely affect my movements. Guess it was kinda nice that it was removed after all, would be time consuming to adjust to a different body size.' Now that i know i'm between 1,7 and 1,8 i'd guess Fenris is around 2,5 meters tall, thank god this world uses something similar to my old world's metric system.

"Thanks Arn, you can go do what you want now until we depart tomorrow." I received a nod and then he disappeared back into my shadow and i was once again left alone with my thoughts, well not really alone as Fenris still acted as my pillow. 'Is there anything else that i might have forgotten to check, i know my height now and i know i speak the language and know the measuring unit. I feel like there is something i should know, but what.' I contemplated for a little while before realizing what i was missing. 'I don't even know what i look like. My body i can see is still skinny but i could see that the strength stats have changed my body a bit since i now have muscles. Not crazy body builder muscles but my body is now lean rather than just skin and bone, I would rather have a bit more but all in due time.'

I didn't even notice when i fell asleep but i did know when i woke up as the sun was shining brightly. 'My time living in the forest ends today, here i come civilization.'

It didn't take long for us to reach the end of the forest, and when we reached it i must admit i was awestruck. We ended up on a hill overlooking everything, i felt like i was in the Lion King. What i saw down the hill was a vast field of farms growing what i assume is wheat and corn, they covered a massive area. The road went straight through the field leading to a tall wall with a gate, i could see some dots in the distance creating a dotted line. 'Should probably dismount Fenris here so the farmers don't get scared and create trouble for me.'

As i walked down the road the attention was naturally drawn towards me and Fenris, and i don't blame them. It isn't every day you get to see a tame direwolf out for a walk, especially one completely covered in shadows with purple eyes. Thankfully it seems me walking next to him did calm them down a bit since no one panicked yet. That is until a small boy ran from the field right up to me.

"Hey mister! Is that big wolf yours?" I'm not entirely sure if he was shaking out of fright or excitement, i hoped it was excitement. So i crouched down so we were the same height.

"Yes he is, this guy here is called Fenris and he is my dog." I could now confirm that it was excitement as he widened his eyes and i could swear i saw stars in them.

"So cool! Can i pet him?" I don't really mind but i glanced towards Fenris to get his opinion but he was already wagging his tail so i guess it's alright.

"Sure thing, he really likes it when you scratch behind his ears." 'Lower your head a bit Fenris, he just wants to pet you.'

Fenris came closer before he laid down and let the little boy pet him. Behind the kid i could see a man and a woman frantically running towards us. 'Guess it's time for the worried parents to show up'

"Billy get away from that direwolf right now!" The mother started shouting while casting wary glances in my direction, not that i don't understand her but why me and not Fenris?

"But mom, the nice mister said it was alright." Clearly not understanding the potential danger the boy replied.

"Billy me and your mother have told you multiple times to not carelessly approach strangers, what if he was a bad man?" Guess this isn't the first time this happened, better support the parents in this situation.

"Hey kid, you should listen to you parents. Not all strangers are good people."

"But aren't you a good guy mister?"

"Well yes but not everyone is like me." To be honest i don't think anyone is like me but he doesn't need to know that, and it seems i got the approval of the parents as they seemed to calm down and let me explain to him. At certain ages kids just don't want to listen to their parents so i'm basically helping them with educating their child.

The kid seemed to understand although he could be faking it to not get another lecture, i know i probably would at his age. The parents managed to bring Billy with them after i promised to drop by sometime so he could play with Fenris, since it was on the way to the forest i just agreed since i might pass by here later. Afterwards we continued our stroll, and it seems that after having observed my interaction with Billy and his parents they were no longer nervous.

The rest of the walk was uneventful and after 30 minutes we reached the queue for entrance to the city. The queue seemed to mainly consist of merchant wagons and what i assumed to be immigrants or travellers judging by the amount of baggage. My prescence seemed to be making them nervous, or rather i think it might just be Fenris since he makes even their wagons look small. I decided to ignore them for now and just lay down on top of Fenris for a quick nap, i told him to move along with the queue and not to cut in line. After that i let Arn take command since he could observe from my shadow and he had more experience entering and exiting the city. Closing my eyes i just enjoyed my soft bed with the warm sunshine and cool breeze, before long i was off to dreamland.

"...ke up! Sir, wake up!" Ruining my wonderful sleep is an aggressive shout.

"Ughhh i'm up, i'm up." Who in their right mind disturbs a guy's sleep like that, all i've done is have a nap. I don't understand why they're so angry. I sit up and look around for the source of the voice, my vision is slightly blurred from just waking up. 'But where is the sun? I could swear it was mid-day when we arrived, it can't be night now.' Then i looked up and saw where the sun had gone, or rather what blocked the sun. Slowly i also realized the reason for the aggression.

'We're in the front of the line, and i was sleeping.' Looking behind us i could see a bunch of angry faces, guess we blocked the line since i slept. "Sorry about that folks." I climb down from Fenris and just now notice that all the guards had their weapons drawn, except for one of them that bravely stood next to us.

"Sir you are blocking the line, pay the toll or move out of the queue." He didn't seem very pleased with me napping in the queue.

"Yeah sorry about that, how much is it?" I start searching my backpack, pretending to look for my money while i take it out of the shadows.

"It's 10 copper and then another 15 copper for blocking the queue for so long." The gatekeeper seemed legit enough, but i started doubting when i saw some of the men behind him smirking.

'Arn, care to enlighten me if this is normal or are they scamming me? And why did the people behind me seem angry?' I asked while i gathered up the required amount.

'My lord those heretics are scamming you! Fenris barely managed to reach the gate before they started shouting at you. I hate to admit but the best would be to ignore it for now as corrupt guards is nothing new to Polus. The ones behind you are mot likely jealous that you have Fenris, being able to tame beasts like the direwolf is quite rare. They hate to see someone of lower standing have something they don't.' He seemed very angry but it's expected from how he treats me like royalty.

I decide to just get into the city and not bother with the situation, or atleast that was the plan. After i paid the guard the 25 copper coins, he put them in his own pocket.

"Now can i enter?

"We need to see some identification before we let you into the city." Now even the previously "polite" guard started smirking, no doubt they judged me to not have it as i didn't exactly wear the best of clothes.

"I'm sorry but i currently don't have my id, i was robbed by bandits not long ago and they took it along with my other things." I've already paid them, they can't be that unreasonable as to not allow me entry now.

"No id, no entry. Move out of the queue." Shamelessly he ordered me to move, and he didn't even try to give me my money back.

"Fine, give me my 25 coppers back then." Seems i'm quite the funny guy as several people around me started laughing while the smirk of the guard turned to a wide grin, and he started acting slighted.

"What?! You dare demand money from the city guard? Move out of the queue you beggar before we arrest you for disturbing the peace and harassing a guard."

'This f*cking corrupt piece of sh*t.' I felt angry, didn't think they were this bad when Liam told me about this place. I wasen't the only one angry as my shadow started expanding and shaking, i saw a purple glow start glowing around the edge of my vision. The guards tensed up and stopped laughing, from my shadow 3 more wolves materialized while growling. They were however overshadowed by the loud growling of Fenris who no longer acted like a cute dog, but rather the feral beast he originally was. I kept the goblins in the shadow as i wanted them to be an ace up my sleeve, i was about to threaten them when another party appeared.

"Guards stand down! He's with me!" I turned towards the source and found it to be a mountain of a man, he was atleast 2m tall with bulging muscles and heavy armor.

"H-h-he's with you Alfred?" Stuttering and shaking the corrupt guard asked, and it seemed like he was more scared of the mountain man than he was of me and my wolves.

The guy i now know as Alfred nodded before he approached me and put his arm around my neck dragging me in through the gate. I just made Fenris and the wolves hide in my shadow while i thought to find out what this guy wanted.

After dragging me through the gate and walking a few meters away he stopped and released me.

"Quite an entrance you made young man, i admire your guts but you were out of your league in that situation. Anyway, what's your name young man?"

"My name is Damien, and thanks for that. Who are you anyway?"

"You're welcome, and who am i? Well you might've heard it at the gate but my name is Alfred, and judging by your skills i assume you will call me by another name."

"And what's that if i may ask?" He started smiling and patting my shoulder before he turned around and walked away.

"You will probably call me guild master."

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A/N I was going to write this earlier but i got swarmed with school work and my internship, so the release rate might decline a bit moving forward. Hard to find out what to write while studying and working.

Anyway hope you enjoyed the chapther.