After looking around, he couldn't find anything he really wanted to buy, so he went to the west gate to confirm where he needed to go tomorrow. He didn't forget to buy his dinner outside. He wanted to go back to the same inn, but it was too far from his current position.
He decided to go to another inn near the west gate and found one that was a three-minute walk. Alex entered it and went straight to the receptionist. "Can I book a room for tonight?"
"Yes. There are many vacant rooms at the moment. It's three coppers for a night."
Alex didn't mind it since the price was the same as the previous inn he stayed at and then he took out three copper coins. He suddenly remembered that he hadn't taken a bath for days since he arrived here, so he asked. "Do you have any water to wash my body?"
"If you want cold water, you can get it from the well at the back of our inn. If you need hot water, I can heat them up for you, but you need an additional copper for the firewood and such."
"I will take the cold water then." Alex nodded. He didn't mind having cold water to wash his body since he often took a bath with cold water on the Earth when his water heater broke. He couldn't bring it to the store because his money was limited, so he usually fixed it by himself. The repair took many days because he wasn't an expert, so he didn't mind having another cold water like this.
"How about your meal?"
"It's fine. I already ate on my way here." Alex nodded.
The receptionist nodded and handed the key to him. "Your room is on the third floor, the furthest one on your left."
"Thank you." Alex nodded, he went straight to the well and washed his body before going to his room. Once he arrived in his room, he saw the same furniture and even the arrangement, just like what he expected.
Sitting on the bed, he recalled the books he read not long ago. "Hmm… I never had the chance to try this manual, so I will just try it here.
"There are three stages of basic cultivation. They are Body Tempering Stage, Qi Gathering Stage, and Qi Manipulation Stage. Each of these consisted of three phases: Low, Middle, and Peak Phases… I am wondering why it's not called High Phase instead, but who am I to ask such a thing…
"Alright, from what I learned, the body tempering stage is a preparation stage before cultivating any Qi. Then with this Body Tempering Technique, I can get the optimal result for this Body Tempering Stage. Thank you very much, System."
[It's because of my name, Host.]
"Yes, I get it." Alex shrugged. He started training his body according to the manual and forced himself to do it for four hours straight before he was too tired and fell asleep.
The next morning, Alex woke up and looked out the window. It seemed that the sun was about to rise. He had never seen a sunrise in another world, so he wanted to experience it at least once, but he recalled something.
"I forgot to check my status last night after training my body for 4 hours since I was too tired." Alex sighed and looked at his status card.
Name: Alexander Sirius
Job: Adventurer
Rank : 0
Level: 1
STR: 20
AGI: 15
VIT: 16
DEX: 13
INT: 5
"Hmm… System, isn't my cultivation too OP?" Alex gasped as his hands started shaking.
[Yes. You need to thank the system for that.]
"Yes, yes. Thank you, System. I love you." Alex glared at the ceiling but he was too excited so he thanked the system half-heartedly. Hence, the system also did a counter-attack.
[You're welcome, Host. However, I feel the need to inform you about this. You can have this effect because it's only the beginning. It will be much harder to increase your status later on.]
"…" Alex was speechless as his mood pummeled down. He just found hope in life to pursue his goal with great ambition, but his system just shot him right in his heart. Thinking that he would be just as hopeless as before, he couldn't help but curse. "&*$^&&$!"
[Love you too, Host.]
Of course, he forgot to watch the sunrise and quarreled again with the system.
A few minutes later, after eating his breakfast, he went to the west gate to search for a group he could join to leave this place.
He looked around and found a carriage he was looking for. The carriage itself was the same as others, it was made of wood with some half-oval shape roof, covered by silk cloth. However, what he needed was a wooden placate with 'Alisia Forest' written on it.
He didn't know why and how exactly he had this ability, but somehow he could read the language of this world. It seemed like they automatically got the basic literature and language skills in this world when they were transported to this world. He was thankful for it since he could speak and read without the need to learn it from zero.
"Excuse me. Are you going to Alisia Forest?" Alex approached a neat looking middle-aged guy, hoping he was the leader of this group.
"Hmm…" The middle-aged man was stunned after seeing Alex's face, reminding him of a certain someone.
"Hello?" Alex waved his hand, wondering why this guy didn't respond to him.
"Ah! Yes. Our ultimate destination is White Town, so we will pass Alisia Forest. You can come with us if you want to go to Alisia Forest." The middle-aged man snapped back to reality and replied hurriedly while pointing at the highest placate with 'White Town' written on it.
Alex felt relieved, knowing they would go to Alisia Forest. "How much do I need to pay?"
"No, no. You don't need to pay us." He declined his offer to pay.
"Huh, really?" Alex looked at him weirdly. "I can't follow you, then?"
"I mean, you can join our group but you don't need to pay us." He shook his head, clearing the misunderstanding.
"Are you sure?" Alex somehow felt bad to leech off like this.
"It's fine. To be honest, you remind me of my son."
"For real? It's such a coincidence then." Alex smiled.
"He already passed away, though," said the leader with bitter tears on the corner of his eyes. The mood pummeled, and the atmosphere became awkward.
"I'm sorry to hear that." Alex lowered his head, feeling sympathetic over the news.
"Haha… It's alright." The middle-aged man shook his head and changed the topic. "We will set off in five minutes. You can get in first."
"Alright. Thank you very much." Alex hastily escaped from this awkward situation.