Gaya seemed to know the layout of the forest like the back of her hand. After a few hours of following her, Michael stepped out of the forest and finally saw some man-made structures for the first time in this world.
'Human, I can only accompany you this far," Gaya said abruptly.
Michael was puzzled. "Why?"
"These lowly humans are in a war with Nagas. If they see me, they'll report me to those f**king guards and throw me in jail," she explained, her tone laced with frustration.
"I know you have a plan for this situation, Gaya, spit it out," Michael urged.
She grinned slyly. "Hmm, you have some brains for a human, after all."
"I can merge with you using a special spell I know."
Michael turned to the system for guidance. "System, what is she talking about?"
"The host can buy the firewall protection from the shop to protect himself from any items that might hijack the host's body or mind," the system explained.
Michael wasn't surprised that the system was trying to get him to spend badass points at this point. "How much?"
[200 badass points, and the system will protect your mind for a year]
"Like a virus guard, huh? Alright, buy and use it," Michael decided.
A golden layer appeared around his body on the interface as he felt a warm sensation throughout his body.
[Protective shield activated]
With a relieved sigh, he exited the system and turned his attention back to Gaya.
"Oh, a special spell, huh? Are there any side effects?" Michael inquired.
"Of course, there are no side effects, human. Just give me your hand."
Her acting skills were impressive, as she spoke with a sincere look on her face.
Michael extended his right hand, and Gaya closed her eyes, murmuring something under her breath. Within seconds, she transformed into a small white snake and coiled around his wrist.
He pulled up his sleeve to get a better look at the tattoo of a snake on his wrist. "Cool tat."
He began to feel the tattoo by touching it. "Take your hands away from me, human."
"Huh? You can talk?" Michael was surprised.
The tattoo didn't move, but he heard Gaya's voice crystal clear in his mind. "Yes, I can talk and see what you see and hear what you hear."
"Well, I hope you close your eyes when I change in front of the mirror, hehe."
"Perv," she growled, and he chuckled as they continued toward the city gate to enter the town.
"What's this town's name?"
"The humans call this place Rivertown, but I call it a shithole."
"Don't get me into trouble talking like this, or you'll pay for it."
"No one will hear me except you, human," she replied irritably as they reached the city gates.
There were only two guards inside a small hut, engrossed in some kind of dice game. When they noticed him approaching, they quickly emerged from their hut.
"Halt there! What's your purpose for coming to Rivertown?" one of the guards asked.
"To end your pathetic lives, shitheads," Gaya muttered, thankfully out of their hearing range.
"To stay the night and look for a job, sir," Michael replied politely.
The guard seemed unimpressed. "Another adventurer, why am I not surprised?" He sighed and signaled to open the gates. "Go on, kid, stay out of trouble."
Michael nodded politely and entered the town.
Rivertown had a majestic appearance with its elmwood rooftops, limestone walls, and fragrant flowers. It resembled the medieval fantasy towns he had seen in movies but looked even more beautiful in person.
The central attraction was a tall building in the heart of the town, constructed from marble stones with intricate architecture that bore some resemblance to the White House.
"Why are you looking at the adventurer guild like it's a big deal? Compared to my palace, it's just a shithole."
"What do you do in the palace? Clean it?" He chuckled.
"Clean it? I am a princess, you asshole, well, I was until that bitch. Wait, why am I telling you this?"
"Let's just go sell these poison cores and earn some money."
As they walked toward the guild, Michael noticed a tavern that seemed to be the most crowded place in the town. The sweet aroma of freshly baked bread and something else made his stomach growl.
Upon reaching the guild, he saw a few groups of humans gathered outside, engaged in discussions. They stared at him briefly, snickered, and then turned away.
"Look at their arrogant faces. These shitholes are only at the body refining stage but act like immortals."
"Amateurs, just ignore them."
In his previous life, he had encountered his fair share of amateurs who would act proud and arrogant after completing one hit. Due to their arrogance, they often ended up behind bars. Ghost's success was attributed to never letting pride and ego cloud his judgment.
When they entered the guild, a wave of warmth instantly dried his clothes and body, creating a pleasant sensation. The interior resembled a five-star hotel, a stark contrast to the small town's exterior. His attention was drawn to the receptionist, who was busy attending to other adventurers.
While waiting, he roamed around the hall, admiring the paintings of elderly people hanging on the walls and taking in the sight of a marvelous fountain in the center of the room. The marble-tiled floor was immaculate, allowing him to see his reflection.
"Young master."
The receptionist waved him over after attending to the other adventurers. He approached her and placed the snake men's poison cores on the counter.
"How may I assist you, young master?"
He couldn't help but notice a slight blush on her cheeks. Michael was perplexed by her reaction since he hadn't used any pick-up lines or flirted with her.
"I need to sell these. Can you help me with that?"
He retrieved the poison cores from his pocket and set them on the table.
The receptionist's eyes widened in surprise. The cores clearly belonged to body refining stage snake men, yet the young man before her was only a foundation level cultivator.
"Young master, where did you obtain these?"
"I killed them and took them."
"But..."
"Is there a problem, miss?" He maintained his polite smile, but his gaze was serious. The girl quickly shook her head.
"Of course not, young master. Five body refining stage cores will fetch you a hundred silver coins. If you can wait for a few moments, I'll retrieve the coins for you."
"Thank you, miss. I'll wait here."
As the girl went into the room behind her with the poison cores, Michael's attention was drawn to a notice board with various postings.
"What's this? A quest board?"
He began to read the notices in search of something suitable for him.
[Pardon me, adventurer. I'm in need of your service.
Our crops have failed, and to make matters worse, we're constantly harassed, robbed, and sometimes even killed by those pesky brutes. Hero, would you be so kind as to get rid of those horrible miscreants? I'd love to join you, but it'll be up to you. I don't want to get in the way.
You are fully capable of handling those miscreants. Try to kill all those who stand in your way, we don't need their filth in our lands.
Should you succeed, I will be able to repay you handsomely. It'll be worth your trouble. Now hurry, champion, there's no time to waste.]
['Scuse me, traveler. I need your help.
My brother is such an idiot, he keeps pulling pranks on me, and I'm sick and tired of it. It's time for payback and I know the perfect way to do it. My brother is scared of forest spirits, they're not real, but I'm going to make him believe they are. I've made this wooden mask, but I need some more items to make it really scary. Could you collect some for me? I need rainbow fowl feathers, some glimmer weed to make the eyes glow and a whole lot of seaweed.
I wish I could pay you far more than I can, but what I can pay isn't less than what's fair either.]
[Excuse me, Adventurer. Please, lend me your hand.
I've been betrayed, betrayed by my own foolishness. I knew I shouldn't have hired mercenaries; instead of fighting the bandits, they joined them. Hero, teach them a lesson in honor and make sure they remember it. Curse those nasty lowlives. I'm in no state to fight, but I know you'll manage without me.
Be careful, hero, don't underestimate those lowlives. Try to take down as many of them as possible; the less of a threat they pose, the better.
Reward: 60 silver coins per head.]
"This last one seems interesting."
"And dangerous too. Don't get cocky, human; you're only at the foundation stage of cultivation. Pick something more suited to your level, like fetching ingredients for the mask."
[The system recommends the host to take this quest. The more the legend of the host grows, the better items you'll receive from the system.]
"Cool."
He had already decided to accept this quest because killing more people would allow him to earn more experience points and level up.