The next day Michael woke up before everyone at the tavern. When he reached the downstairs where the bar was located, he saw the adventurers were still snoring. Some were lying on the ground while some were using the long oak tables as their bed.
"Young Master Ghost" the tavern owner stopped sweeping the place and greeted Michael with a wide grin. The joy of yesterday's business lightened the tavern owner's face.
"We'll server breakfast in an hour, Young Master"
"Nah, I have to be somewhere else. We'll meet again" Micahel saluted with two fingers with a smile before leaving the tavern. He had to get all the things to build a drone and let it survey the city. If it wasn't for Aria's brothers' situation, he could have spent some time in Flamefair before leaving to Iceflair to attend the auction except now he had to do everything in a rush.
Recalling the directions given to him by the adventures yesterday, Michael made his way to the burning star, a well-known store in Flamefair run by Duke's concubine. Michael was informed that if he wants to buy whether a common item or a rare item, he should look in the burning star. The parts required to build a drone weren't rare but could be found in any auction houses or stores like the burning star. A drone was not the only thing in his mind, he wanted to make small projectors that would be used by him to telecast what he's going to do. That was going to be his quickie way to earn thousands of badass points as well as spread Lucifer's reputation.
The streets were not very different from yesterday. The patrolling guards stared at him wearily but they didn't stop him to investigate. He knew they might have been informed by Nesta to leave him alone or they were sure that Michael can't be the Nightcrawler.
The more he walked towards the center of the city, the richer and fancier the surroundings became. Lavish water fountains with frozen water, elegant buildings made of marble stones, and painted glass occupied his eyes.
Besides the rich scenery, he saw few people who weren't soldiers in full plate armor on the streets. However, they all wore colorful masquerade masks to cover their faces. On top of the masks, the ladies wore feather hats while men wore long capes.
"What are they wearing?" Nightmare questioned Michael. His little dragon eyes watched them curiously.
Soon, the nobles caught the dragon checking them out and quickly began to murmur, pointing their fingers at Michael and the dragon standing on his shoulder.
"Ohh, Calpernia, look at him. Is that a dragon on his shoulder?"
"It can't be"
"Who is he?"
The nobles were curious yet they didn't choose to talk to Michael.
The getups amused Michael, reminding him of the masquerade balls secretly hosted by the rich people on earth. After walking on the main street and turning a few corners according to the adventurers, a majestic tall tower appeared in his sight.
The tower was over 60 meters tall. Bright lights could be seen from every single level, and there was a large pavilion on the rooftop. It was an incredibly stylish building that resembled the shape of the Chrysler building in New york.
This single tower showed Michael the wealth of the Duke as even in this world, maintaining such a majestic building like this would require hundreds of thousand gold coins.
"One day, I'll own a building like this" Michael said to himself as he walked towards the building, passing the guard patrols on the street.
The burning star tower looked different from close proximity. When standing near the front entrance and looking at the golden entrance, one could feel the aura of wealth and prosperity.
The burning star was the biggest trade power in Flamefair. They ran many different kinds of trading businesses, including an alchemy store that was exclusive to certain customers. It was run by the people of Gabriel, the alchemy king of Elon. On top of this store, many were run and owned by the Duke and his concubine.
The Flamefair was huge and cannot be compared with Bradford or any other three major cities in Bredia. If one stood on a mountain a few miles away, they would discover that Flamefair was a few hundred square miles of land with beautifully built buildings. The whole city was filled with a magnificent atmosphere, and even during a time of war like this, the city would still be illuminated with lights.
They entered the brightly lit burning star tower. When he opened the glass doors, he was welcomed by a warm wave of air. Nightmare could see the hidden arrays around the large spacious hall that were warming the air inside, so the customers would feel comfortable.
The first floor was a trading space with small shops built within. These shops were not run by the Duke and his concubine. They were spots rented out, and the Duke would only collect rental payment from them.
The floor might have looked grand but nonetheless, it was rather empty except for a young woman standing behind a marble counter at the end of the hall.
"My lord...you...can't bring pets inside" the girl had beautiful curly golden hair with hazel eyes. At the moment, her hazel eyes were filled with a cocktail of emotions such as fear and shock.
"Pet?! Grrrr," Nightmare growled showing his razor-sharp teeth at the girl.
"First, he's not a pet, and second, you should put a board outside" Despite the girl's reaction to Nightmare, Michael answered her calmly.
His warm smile slightly calmed the girl. He knew she was just doing her job and there was no need to make this a big deal.
"As you can see, he's a dragon and I think a noble creature like him would behave himself which cannot be said to most of the humans"
"My Lord...but..."
"It's not a good move to make the Ghost of River town, the 5-star Alchemist wait because of some petty rule, Mia" a familiar voice resounded as Michael turned to see a gorgeous girl in a violet thick thigh cut dress.
"Sadie Kaplan" It was none other than Core Disciple of SilverMoon and Michael's one-night stand, Sadie Kaplan. The last time he saw her was when the River town was attacked by Netherels. It was one of the best nights he ever had since he came to this world.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 3000 badass points]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully being a badass. The reward is 500 badass points]
"You never fail to amaze me Ghost" her voice contained a hint of shock. She tried to hide the shock behind her seductive smile.
"I have two questions, Ghost. How the hell are you cultivating? And where the fuck did you get a dragon?" she asked while slowly walking towards him like she was walking on a tramp at a fashion show.
When she got closer, she leaned forward to lip-lock but Michael avoided the kiss on the lips by giving a friendly hug.
"Huh?" Sadie creased her beautiful sharp brows.
"I didn't expect to see you here," Michael said, pretending not to see her reaction.
"Me neither and you haven't answered my questions Ghost"
"The answers are I'm awesome and got him from Nether Realm" he looked so arrogant when he answered her but in Saide's eyes, he looked so hot too.
"I need everything in this list, can you get me these?" He retrieved a paper note, sliding it towards Mia, the girl behind the counter.
After realizing the youngster in front of her was actually the famous Ghost of River town, Mia didn't open her mouth about the burning star's rules about bringing pets inside. They would often make exceptions to many rules for people such as him so it was not new to her.
"Of course, my lord"
Taking the list, the girl ran to the room behind her to get the items while Sadie gestured at him to follow her to the sofa. Her eyes were curiously staring at Nightmare.
"Can I?" Saide reached out to pet Nightmare after seating herself comfortably on the sofa.
"No" Yet, Nightmare outrightly rejected her, moving from Michael's right shoulder to left.
"He's a dragon Sadie, you cannot pet him" Michael calmly said as she pouted.
"It's still hard to believe you have a dragon and at the Core Formation stage, Ghost. You've reached Core Formation from Body Refining in what, six months?"
"Give or take"
"What's your secret?" Michael knew she was trying to get his cultivation method, but even if he did tell her, she wouldn't believe it.
"If you want to cultivate like me, you should try to venture into the Treacherous ocean"
"I heard about your little trip and who you brought back," said Sadie.
It wasn't a big surprise for Michael as he made sure the news of Christopher's return spread across Bredia and other kingdoms because having a Soul Refiner would make sure his base of operation stays safe from the rogue cultivators. His herbal garden was basically a small treasure trove that had the herbs that could be sold to a shit load of gold coins in trade centers.
"I guess, you're here to get new spells or weapons for the upcoming tournament. I really wish you went to Iceflair instead of coming here"
Those drunken bastards never mentioned anything about a tournament which now really piqued his curiosity. A tournament was the best place for him to be badass and earn thousands of badass points.
"A tournament huh?"
"You do know about the upcoming Bredian championship tournament right?" His silence told Sadie that he really doesn't know about one of the biggest tournaments in Elon.
"It's gonna start in just three months. How could you not know about one of the biggest tournaments in Elon?"
"Please enlighten me"