"You can let go of me now" Michael patted her on the back and said.

"Right" Finally after embracing him for a long couple of minutes, she stepped back with a wide grin on her face.

Considering she was healed and reached her peak cultivation level, there were no worries in her heart and that joy brightened her face. Moreover, she finally found a true friend who risked his life to save her twice.

"Can we go and slaughter that Maria bitch's family now? Because of that bitch, we had to leave the Phoenix island without attending the auction" she seemed so fearless and dominant. It made her hotter than before.

"Jeez, cool down. Yes, you're healed but it doesn't mean you can go running around the kingdom killing people" Instead of using the flying sword, Michael felt like taking a walk through the forest as Gaya walked beside him.

"You're right, that Xanali bitch has wider reach now since she joined the Guardians" she gritted her teeth and said

"What happened back on the island after I left you anyways?"

"Sigh" with a long heave of sigh, Gaya began to narrate the events that happened with Maria and her group. He silently listened to her without asking a question. While hearing her story, he was mad at Julius, and his incompetence in enforcing the rules than Maria and her friends. Julius prevented not only Maria and her friends from attacking Gaya but he also tried to stop him from killing Maria who was the main reason for what happened to Gaya.

Just a few moments before Michael started to kill Maria's group, Julius was working on a new deal with a group of people from the Ozer continent and failed to seal the deal. Julius was already frustrated by this and how Michael acted in front of him made him even more furious. He tried to take that frustration on Michael but he ultimately failed to do so.

"The fact we left Phoenix with empty hands is making me furious"

Thop!

She vented her anger on the old log on the ground by kicking it. The log of wood instantly broke into pieces and surprised Michael with her strength.

Soon, a grin appeared on his face as he stopped walking.

"What's so funny?" seeing the grin on his face, she asked and saw an old book appear in his hand.

"Who said we left Phoenix with empty hands?" she curiously grabbed the book and opened it to see worn-out yellow pages. The words made little sense as they were written in an ancient language.

She continued to rummage through the book but she couldn't find anything interesting about the book.

"Please tell me you didn't spend a fortune on this" She shut the book frustrated and stared at Michael.

"No, I did not, just five thousand coins"

"What?! Why?!" Although five thousand coins weren't much, there was no way this old book in her hand worth that price.

"System, show me its secrets" Michael had zero worries about the book because he knew the book is worth more than mere 5000 gold coins.

[1000 Badass points to reveal the book's secret]

"Again? I already paid you four thousand Badass points'' The system didn't even sound like asking but instead it sounded more like demanding. When it comes to the system's tricks like this, he felt so helpless.

[The host can of course try to scour this world for clues while avoiding the deadly traps, decode the book, and find its secret or you can pay 1000 badass points to know the secret now]

"This is better be worth it"

[is that a yes?]

"Yes," he gritted his teeth and said yes to the haughty system.

[Loading...] the system entered into the loading screen as he patiently waited for the system to finish decoding the book. Surprisingly it only took fifteen seconds for the system to work its magic on the book

[Bleed on the book to reveal its secrets!]

He sighed and exited the system.

"Why did you pay five freakin thousand gold coins for this book?! Didn't I tell you that place is filled with swindlers" she yelled at him like his mother as he grabbed the book from her hand with a smirk. Then a small crack of lightning appeared from the tip of his finger and cut his palm.

"What are you doing?" He didn't answer her but let his blood flow onto the book.

Zzzzz Hhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

Suddenly the book let out an unearthly humming and began to vibrate while making their surroundings darker and darker.

"huh?!" Michael's eyes opened wide when he saw a familiar symbol appear on the book's cover, L.

Soon, a puff of smoke emerged from the book and transformed into a key and an old piece of paper.

"What is it?" Gaya grabbed the piece of paper while Michael grabbed the key and put the book back into the system's storage.

She then opened the piece of paper and stared at it, "Human, it's a map of the dark forest" her face became clouded when she mentioned the dark forest.

He could see the gloominess in her eyes and the words dark forest alone irked him differently as he couldn't describe the feeling.

"Is it pointing towards somewhere?"

"Yes, to the middle of the dark forest" he took the paper from her hand and saw the symbol of L marked on the middle of the dark forest.

The mark of L piqued his curiosity because it seemed like the exact L he left after killing the wanted criminals as Lucifer. He couldn't believe this is a coincidence and wanted to go to the place on the map.

"Let's go there now"

"Human no!" Gaya quickly grabbed his hand and stopped him. Her tone was filled with unwillingness and terror.

"Why? Are you afraid of the dark forest?"

"Who doesn't? Even the most powerful cultivators avoid that evil place"

As usual, Abras was taught nothing about the dark forest and Michael had to depend on Gaya to know more about the dark forest.

"And why is that?" Normally she would make fun of him for having a lack of knowledge and self praise her before answering him but now, she looked like she is not in the mood for jokes.

"Because that forest is evil and haunted as hell. Only a few entered the dark forest and they never came out of the forest alive except one"

"What happened to him?"

"He lost his mind and killed himself a few days after, that's what happened"

"Interesting, let's talk more on the way," Michael said and took out the flying sword.

"The fuck? Didn't you hear what I just said?" She tried to stop him but he already jumped on the flying sword ready to fly towards the dark forest.

"If you are so afraid then you can go to the sect and wait for me," He said but he knew she would come with him despite her fear of the dark forest.

Normally he would have also felt reluctant to enter this place after hearing Gaya's warning but the symbol L piqued his curiosity and the abundance of Badass points gave him the courage to do so.

She breathed heavily and looked hesitant to jump on the flying sword. Yet, after a few moments, she gritted her teeth and decided to venture into the dark forest with him.

"I'll definitely haunt your ass forever if I die there"

"You can't haunt the Ghost, hahaha" He chuckled and took off with Gaya. Luckily the system marked the location of the L in his environmental scanning map and therefore, he didn't need Gaya to show the way.

"Hey, where did you learn to fly like this?!" She had to hug him from behind not to fall down because of his flying speed. They flew like a bolt of lightning.

"From Sadie" Gaya pinched him when she heard his answer making him laugh out aloud.

"If I see you banging that slut again, I will burn her alive"

"Why? Are you jealous?"

"Because I don't like her, you jerk"

"Do you know a way to hide your cultivation level? At least until you reach the Core Strengthening stage"

Obviously, it would raise questions if a mortal girl turns into a Core Formation stage cultivator in a single day and Michael didn't want to attract the attention of the Guardians or Xanali.

"I know a spell that would mask my current cultivation level and make me look like a Body Refining stage cultivator"

"How reliable is this spell? Can Xanali or anyone find out your real cultivation level?"

"Don't worry, it's an epic class spell. Only cultivators above the Soul Refining stage can see through the spell"

"Great, I will tell the people that I gave you a ten thousand years old black lotus to revitalize your meridians and increased your cultivation level"

"Make sense" As an Alchemist he knew the medicinal qualities of all the herbs in this world and Black Lotus was a rare flower that's used to revitalize the meridians. It would transform a mediocre cultivator into a genius.

"By the way human, how did you heal me?"

"I transferred some of my soul energy into your meridians and nearly died"

"Oh?" She embraced him more tightly thinking about what he did for her.

"Thank you, human"