"Ahhhhhh!" Just as Michael was dashing towards a small cave, a bunch of Netherels was feasting on a group of youngsters in the distance. Their shrikes sent a chill running through many spines who saw this scene. Michael ignored this and dashed straight into the cave wasting no time.
However before he completely dashes into the cave, he saw a familiar ice spike penetrating through the Netherels saving some of the youngsters from being the appetizer for the Netherels.
The cave was small and had just enough room for him. Yet, this small cave was a sanctuary and a calm place to stay safe. Michael sat on the ground and because of his full black clothes, he merged with the cave's darkness and one could not see him in the cave.
"This is mine!" When he was just about to open the system storage and count the herbs he collected, he saw a rogue cultivator rushing towards the cave.
"Leave" Michael calmly said as the cultivator halted his steps suddenly and looked closely into the cave.
Yet, instead of turning his back and leaving the cave, the cultivator decided to step in and chase the previous occupant, Michael.
"Wind blast"
Whoosh!
The moment he took another step towards Michael, a gust of wind sent the cultivator flung back like a kite without an anchor.
"Who the fuck dared to attack me?!" the cultivator who was attacked forgot about the approaching nightfall in anger and rushed towards the cave after picking himself up.
"Ghost" however this time when the cultivator heard the voice from the cave, he felt a cold chill running through his spine. He then immediately lowered his sword and stood there shivering in fear.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 100 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 200 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 300 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 400 badass points]
"Forgive me Master Ghost, I didn't...know it was you...don't...don't kill me" Michael was surprised to see the cultivator dropping to his knees and starting to beg. He didn't expect a rogue cultivator like him to know his name. He just told his name so someone from the River town or someone who knows him would recognize the name and stay out of the cave as well as want the others. However, this rogue cultivator recognized his name and even went to the lengths to beg made Michael pleased because finally, his legend has started to spread across the land.
"Leave" he hid his joy and said with a serious voice.
"Thank you Master Ghost!" the rogue cultivator groveled and ran as fast as he could from Michael's sight.
"It feels so great to be feared at," he thought to himself, and deep down, he craved for this feeling. Ever since he was little, he didn't root for heroes but rooted for the villains. This did not change even after he grew up. For example, his favorite characters were Sauron and Voldemort. His love for villains influenced him more than he realizes.
[Does the host fear Aragoth?] Suddenly the system asked and surprised him.
"Why do you ask?" he switched off the earpiece and asked the system.
[Because you could have taken all the herbs for yourself and showed that you're the boss but instead, you gave all the precious herbs to Nathen and lost the chance of earning badass points]
"And also few powerful enemies. I'm not that guy Noah, system. I know what you're trying to do, you want me to make more enemies and buy things from you to survive them. I don't know what you are and what your end game is, but you should have known this by now, I'm not suicidal and you cannot make me do anything unless I want to" he calmly explained. The system stayed silent because it knew Michael isn't easy to manipulate as it first thought.
Now that the system stayed silent, he was able to count the herbs and plan his next movements. Deep down, he was glad that Noah and his group did not come to the garden and even though he wasn't afraid of Noah, he wanted to avoid the fight until he could gather enough information about Noah and the power behind him.
Joosh!
"What the?" in a flash, the light outside disappeared like someone switched off the lights of the Nether Realm. There was no dusk as it turned dark without a sign.
"When I was young my friend had an accord.
I waz kicked out without a record.
I never thought I'd see that award.
Ain't a soul alive that could take my friend's board.
A cruel power is quite the shower.
Thinking of death. Yaz, thinking of death" when he switched on the earpiece, he was welcomed by Gaya's rap.
"I don't know who wrote this song but I guess it's you" Michael laughed and the moment she heard his voice, she stopped rapping.
"Where the fuck did you go?" she was annoyed when he went radio silent and he listened to her singing made her feel even more annoyed.
************************
"You did the right thing, a contract with Aragoth is more valuable than those herbs" after he explained what he did in the garden, Gaya agreed with him and supported his decision.
Just when he was about to reply, the environmental scanning detected a hostile activity nearby.
"Hello, is this thing broken again? Krk krkkkkk"
"Stop biting the earpiece, I'm sensing a Netherel horde nearby, is that normal in Nether Realm?"
"Netherel horde? Weird" by hearing her tone, he could tell that it is not normal. He wanted to check what's going on outside but at the same time, he didn't want to get killed because of his curiosity.
"They are marching towards somewhere, like soldiers" if the Netherels were moving chaotically, Michael would have felt this curious. They were marching towards somewhere like trained soldiers.
"Are you sure because the Netherel horde is not capable of marching like soldiers" said Gaya.
[For 1000 Badass points, the system can mask your scent and project you from getting detected by the Netherels] while he was stuck between curiosity and safety, he heard the system's voice.
"That's more like it" when it comes to situations like this, the system had perfect solutions. Considering he had no solution of his own, he decided to get whatever the system is selling, so he could check out where the Netherels are heading.
Just after 1000 badass points disappeared from the stat menu, he felt a strange sensation in his body.
[The host is now ready to explore the Nether realm without fearing the Netherels]
"I have a way to find out what's going on here," he said and stood up to leave the cave taking advantage of the darkness.
"Of course you do, you freak"
"I'm masking my scent using a special potion" Gaya believed him because she knew that the mysterious light and Abras's soul blessed him with ancient knowledge which enables Michael to perform miracles like this one.
He slowly stepped forward while checking whether anyone near him and after confirming that no one would see him leave the cave, he left the cave.
He didn't use the lightning dash as it might draw some unwanted attention and because of his black clothes, he perfectly merged with the darkness and disappeared.
While heading towards the Netherel horde, he couldn't see the garden in the sky. It made him realize that after nightfall, the places which had treasures may not appear for him to loot. However, the purpose of this night visit was not looting but to unveil the mystery behind the marching Netherel horde.
"There they are" after walking in the direction of the Netherel horde, Michael saw hundreds of Netherels marching towards somewhere. Fortunately, what the system did, worked and none of the Netherels in the horde could detect him following them.
"What's happening there?" Gaya asked in a husky voice.
"I will keep you posted, now stay silent," he said and continued to follow the Netherels. Eventually, the Netherels entered into a thick forest but the uneven ground and obstacles were unable to slow down their marching speed.
After entering the forest, Michael climbed up the trees and followed them by jumping from branch to branch using the Mark 3 grapple hook. And because of this height advantage, he noticed a bonfire at the distance,
"I bet these Netherels are heading towards there" Slightly increasing his speed, Michael moved towards the bonfire but he was cautious not to make any sounds that could bring him unwanted attention.
"Eekasn wasnenes kewannks neekkssdw llsees nifen" As he got closer to the bonfire, he began to hear someone chanting something in an unknown language.
"Is that...an orc?" When he got close enough, he saw a figure standing in front of a bonfire and sculptures made of bones. The figure looked just like one of the orcs from the movie Lord of the rings, ugly and evil.
"This is getting more and more interesting"