Egil packed up his supplies and mounted them on the phase walker. These, he grabbed by some, thankfully, open shops on his way out. Then he rode out of the city, as the sun showed the first signs of warning the land, that it was about to blast everyone with its unforgiving rays.
He rode to the walls, and then past the massive cannons, that told the outside world: 'go away.' He didn't even notice when he past over the official threshold, where the city watch was no longer obligated to protect him. Atop by a beast more than capable of wiping out a squad of soldiers, and an imp.
Neither of which were actually imprinted / bound to him. They could kill him right at that moment... it would be a temporary death, but still, they were a definite change from the clockworks. He communicated over his link to the phase walker, not to indulge its apparent quirks until far enough away, and then it could go to town on shapeshifting as long as the riding and storage remained reasonably achievable. The phase walker communicated contentment with that.
About an hour later, maybe? He found an animal processing factory. This might be sufficient for another summoning idea he had. He toured the area, while scanning the place with his third eye. No hauntings. No demonic energy.
Must be abandoned for economic reasons. The cities expanded by building new walls; an expensive process. To help fund the projects, they're sell land rights early, at a discount. Buyers purchased the land under the assumption it would get military protection. It didnt always work out that way. If the builders got the math wrong, they'd run out of funds before completing the new wall.
Land buyers would be forced to at least temporarily abandon the land, when the military pulled back. Looks like their loss is my gain. This was a particularly gruesome element of summoning: symbolism. Egil would need to get a summoner demon soon. However, right now, he needed more support against the potential threats further out.
He wasn't a 'bad' fighter, but ultimately there's only so much he could do, especially with his dueling revolvers empty and non-functional. All he had at his disposal were the butterfly swords. Even a bear would most likely be able to shrug those off, unless Egil got lucky; which having faith in that, was completely out of the question.
First came the poultry area. As he opened the door, the smell of concentrated bird shit and feather dust wafted from the doorway, leading to another bout of dry heaving.
Ugh! I need that summoner demon! Ok, last summon before then. And sleep. Magnificent sleep. He hadn't slept in 24 hours now, and he was getting slow. Oh sweet jesus this was turning into torture. Fucking hell! Just get through this phase... Just get through this phase...
Egil leaned against the side of the building. How did farmers do this day in and day out?
He swallowed his pride. Imp, I need you. Please find, some wings... before I die. The imp floated from his shoulder, and in through the doorway.
The smell seemed to take up residence in the back of his throat. Ugh! I need to do something about this. Egil shuffled to the phase walker, opening a container of coffee beans. He hadnt really done this trick to maintain his resolve before: inhaling the scent of coffee beans.
The local candle makers would sometimes scent their candles. They'd use coffee beans to 'reset' the senses.
One of the things Egil realized during his past 'endurance runs' was pride was something you just needed to let go of, and creature comforts where reasonable, were actually very practical. The more you push past your limits, the more your mind fights you. The whole 'push past the pain' was viable in short bursts, but over the long run, when the involuntary portions of the brain realize you're torturing yourself, they start rebelling.
