I reincarnated as the Duke from the North.

Clouds blocked the noon sun, the road bumped me to and fro in my seat as we travelled the streets of Osberg by carriage. Charles steered through muck filled with sludge and snow mixed together. Out my window, people walk with glass eyes. My citizens. Living in a cold, snowy nightmare. Gaunt cheeks with clothes once white, now look as dark as the earth below. We passed shanty towns made of old, rotten wood, totally unsuited for this weather and stone houses from a wealthier age were eroded by the climate. I watched as people huddled together by the fire. I hear the laughter of cheerful drunkards. Parents teach their little ones. So much of life I missed stuck in my room.

Just wait. Things will get better. Be patient. I will not fail you any longer.

Any longer? Not less than a month and I feel more sentimental for this place than I had been in my original world. Memories of Tarion had settled to the point where I struggled to differentiate between me and the once sickly duke. But the plan helps. It helps me realise what has to do with both personalities. Become better.

"Your Grace, we are here!” Charles shouted as the carriage jerked to a sudden stop far out of the city. Where loggers and hunters make their daily wage. I looked into the dense alpine forest. I sense it from here. The foreboding feeling. A sticky feeling of death lingers.

“Finally.” My voice betrayed me by cracking. My fingers trembled as I opened the carriage door. I'm fucking scared, alright? Imagine eating McDonald's one day, as safe as you could be in London, and weeks later rations are a regular meal and you are about to face a flipping demon. Well, not exactly a demon. A beast possessed and transformed by dark energies. The Greystone family’s main job was to deal with these beasts in the north, governing the duchy of Osberg as its protectors. However, with the Duchess misusing the budget that could be used to fund the Osberg Guard and my idiot of a brother and his mother taking a sabbatical, this city in the mountains only has me. Unfortunately. But I will do what I must. This is partly my fault for trusting the bitch and bastard in the first place.

I jumped off the carriage into two-inch-deep snow. I triple-check the sword on my left, the dagger on my right thigh and my massive Great Sword above my black cloak. I took a step.

Charles vaulted off his driver's seat, landing deep in the snow. “Tarion! We...we can go back and get some of the guards. You are a duke! Just order them.”

I turn to Charles. His worried eyes shook me and my heart wavered. For a moment.

“But I am Greystone. Too many years. Poisoned. Lied to. ROBBED! No longer. I will prove to them. To the remnants of Osberg's guard. To the citizens of my city. I am back.”

I looked at an unconvinced Charles and sighed.

“I will ask for help, Charles. But not yet.” I turned back to the forest. I unsheathed my double-edged sword from my side. Using my enhanced sense, I pinpoint the location of the dark energy.

“I will prove it to myself first.” I crouched down, my leg muscles tensing and compacting. “Wait for me. Believe in me.” Snow exploded under my feet as I ran through the tree towards the beast.

I move within the trees, spotting more claw marks the closer I get. The feeling of evil gets stronger with every step. I slow my approach at the sight of broken trees. The beast is in the midst of madness, breaking everything in its path. Only a short while until the energies take full control and point the madness to humans.

There it is.

A bear, blacker than midnight, chomped on a stag. Its horns snapped with ease in the behemoth’s giant mouth. Blood around its snarling mouth, it stood on its hind legs several metres high. I stepped on a twig.

Shit.

Its left ear twitched and turned sharply. Red eyes see mine.

Shiiiiit.

It ran at full force at me, mouth full of foam and blood. Traversing hundreds of metres in seconds, it closed in on me with feral anger. I jump to the right, evading black claws. The possessed bear clawed with its right. A step back let me off with a scratch on my jacket. The bear’s arm within my reach, I slash. My steel blade sparked on its tough hair. The bear flicked its obsidian arm at me. I blocked with my sword and was lifted off my feet. I landed on the back, my great sword digging into my spine as I rolled backwards into kneeling. Fractured sword outward, I slowed my haggard breathing. The bear rushed towards me as I meditated with open eyes. My golden grade circle turned around my mana heart. Spinning faster, mana flowed into my veins. I focused the torrent of energy through my right arm.

My blade flickered with a blue aura.

The possessed bear slammed down. Claws broke steel into shards of flying metal. I roll to the left and a claw dug into the snow, breaking stone. I throw my broken sword at the eye of the feral beast. Its roar shook the air and it charged with more rage.

I tried again.

With heightened agility and sense, a claw slowed.

Status!

Tapping and swiping, I reallocate points from mana capacity to agility.

Moving through the air like a sloth, I leapt into the air, flipping over the black claw with finesse I never knew I had. I grab my family's great sword. I rev my circle as I unsheath the beast of a sword. Spinning over the black mass, my sword shone bright with a blue aura. I finished my spinning with a slice deep into the beast's flesh, landing in the snow with fog forming from heavy breathing.

I smile. A whip of my great sword and the beast's blood dirtied the snow with more red.

I can do this.

3 days until Vanessa’s arrival.