Gaya seemed like she knew the layout of the forest like the back of her hand. After a few hours of following her, Micheal 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?"

  Suddenly Gaya stopped walking when they saw the huge city walls and a few guards in front of the gates. Since the rain was still pouring, there was no one around them.

  "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 said this but looked like she has some alternative way to this situation

  "I know you have a plan for this situation, Gaya, spit it out"

  She grinned

  "Hmm, you have some brains for a human, after all"

  "I can merge with you using a special spell I know"

  "System, what is she talking about?"

  "The host can buy the firewall protection from the shop to protect himself from any items to hijack the host's body or mind"

  At this point, he wasn't surprised to hear the system trying to get himself to spend badass points.

  "How much?"

  "200 badass points and the system will protect the system for a year"

  "Like a virus guard huh? Alright, buy and use it"

  A golden layer appeared around his body on the interface as he felt a warm feeling in his body.

  [Protective shield activated]

  With a relieved sigh, he exited the system and looked to see what she's planning.

  "Oh, special spell huh? Are there any side effects?"

  "Of course there are no side effects, human, just give me your hand"

  Her acting skills were so good as she said with a sincere look on her face.

  He held out his right hand while Gaya closed her eyes and chanted something under her breath. And in a few seconds, she transformed herself into a little white snake and coiled around his wrist.

  Then he pulled up his sleeve and saw a tattoo of a snake on his wrist.

  "Cool, tat"

  He started to feel the tattoo by touching it

  "Take your hands away from me, human"

  "Huh? You can talk"

  The tattoo didnt 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 before the mirror, hehe"

  "Perv"

  She growled as he chuckled and walked towards the city gate to enter the town.

  "What's this town's name?"

  "The humans call this place the river town but I call this a shit hole"

  "Don't get me into trouble talking like this, or you'll pay for it "

  "No one will hear me except you human"

  It was obvious that she didn't like to be threatened by hearing the irritation in her voice as he reached the city gates.

  There were only two guards playing some kind of dice game inside their little hut and when they noticed him approaching, the guards came out

  "Hold there, what's your purpose for coming to the river town?"

  "To end your pathetic lives, shitheads"

  Gaya said and it was fortunate that they couldn't hear her.

  "To stay the night and look for a job, sir"

  He was furious that even these guards were at the foundation level 7 and stronger than him.

  "Another adventurer, why am I not surprised?"

  The guard sighed and signaled the guard to open the gates.

  "Go on kid, stay out of trouble"

  The guard returned to his game while Micheal nodded politely and entered the town.

  Rivertown looked majestic with its elmwood rooftops, limestone walls, and aromatic flowers. This town resembled the medieval fantasy towns that he had seen in the movies but it looked more beautiful in real life than in the movies.

  The main attraction was the tall building at the center of the town, which seemed to be built using marble stones with beautiful architecture that slightly matched the architecture of the white house.

  "Why are you looking at the adventurer guild like it's a big deal? Compare 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 core and earn some money "

  While walking towards the guild, he noticed a tavern that seemed to be the most crowded place in the town. And the sweet aroma of hot baked loaves of bread and something else made his stomach growl.

  As he reached the guild, he saw a few groups of humans gathered before the guild and discussing.they stared at him for a few seconds and then snickered and turned away.

  "Look at their arrogant faces, these shitholes are only body refining stage but acts like immortals"

  "Amateurs, just ignore them"

  In his previous life, he met his fair share of amateurs who would act proud and arrogant after completing one hit. Because of their arrogance, they often ended up behind the bars but the reason for the ghost's success, he never let the pride and ego reach his head.

  When he walked through the front door, his clothes and body were dried up by a hot wave as he felt warm and pleasant.

  The inside pretty much resembled a five-star hotel and he couldn't believe such a fancy place exists in a small town like this. Just like the hotel, the first thing he saw was the receptionist who was busy dealing with the other adventurers.

  While waiting, he roamed around the hall and looked at the painting of old people handing on the wall, and checked the marvelous fountain in the middle of it. The ground was spotless and he could even see his reflection on the marble tiles.

  "Young master"

  The receptionist waved at him after dealing with the others as he walked towards her and retrieved the poison cores of the snakes.

  "How may I help you, young master?"

  There was a tint of redness on her cheeks and Micheal had no idea why she's blushing since he didn't even use a single pick-up line or flirt with her.

  "I need to sell these, can you help me with this?"

  He retrieved the poison cores from his pocket and placed it on the table.

  The girl's eyes went wide in surprise because the cores definitely belonged to the body refining stage snake men but the youth before her was only a foundation level cultivator.

  "Young master, where did you get these?"

  "I killed them and took it from them"

  "But?"

  "Is there any problem, miss?"

  He kept his smile but his stare was serious as the girl quickly shook her head

  "Of course not young master, five body refining stage cores will fetch you hundred silver coins, if the young master can wait a few moments, I'll go and bring you the coins"

  "Thank you, miss, I'll wait here"

  When the girl went into the room behind her with the poison cores, he noticed a board with notices pinned to it.

  "What's this? Quest board?"

  As he said, he started to read the notices to find something that was 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 troubles. 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. Would you mind collecting 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 coin per head

  ]

  "This last one seems interesting"

  "And dangerous too, don't get cocky human, you're just only a foundation stage cultivator, pick something to your level, like fetching ingredients for the mask"

  "The system recommends the host to take this quest, more the legend of the host grows, you'll receive better items from the system "

  "Cool"

  He had already decided to take on this quest because only by killing more people, he could earn more experience points and level up.