"Holy fuck.That was why I couldn't see any Arch energy radiation" Gaya's jaw slightly dropped hearing Nightmare explain that the cultivators lost the ability to sense someone else's cultivation level as they were used to.
Nightmare noticed Gaya and Michael keep looking at each other with their brows arched up.
"Don't tell me that you two were somehow involved" Nightmare sighed. It didn't really surprise him. Gaya was staring at Michael like a thief caught in the act.
"You could say that" Michael grinned,
"You're smiling" Nightmare tilted his head in confusion. As far as he knew, there was nothing good that could come out of the current world situation.
Ever since Hydra's scream messed up Arch energy waves in the world, crimes of the rogue cultivators had been increased. The hydra's scream worked like an EMP that short-circuited the energy radiation of the world, producing many known and unknown issues.
Most defense arrays relied on sensing the Arch energy radiations coming from a cultivator, since the Hydra's scream changed the way the radiation coming from someone's body, the arrays were rendered useless. Hence, the rogue cultivators capitalized on this opportunity to thieve, murder, and commit heinous crimes around the continent.
The ability to hide the arch energy radiation was what made Aria such a valuable asset to Michael. But now, practically everyone had her ability.
"Before we tell you what happened in the Southern Continent, I have a few things to take care of. Let's return to the sect. And thanks to you, we're homeless now" Michael flicked her on the forehead,
"That's what I said, hehehe" Nightmare laughed as she rolled her eyes,
"You two are not gonna let this one go, are you?"
"Nope" Nightmare shook his head before taking off to the sky along with Michael and Gaya.
*******************************************
Flying for a couple of minutes from the hilltop was enough to reach the ruins of their home. Michael slowly descended from the sky to see several disciples cleaning up the ruins. The disciples were shifting through the rubbles to salvage something, yet all they could manage to salvage were big pieces of the sofa, Michael's bed, and the board of Majestic.
"Brother Ghost"
The disciples welcomed Michael with fear-mixed smiles. They avoided eye contact with Gaya. After seeing what she did, they were freaked out.
"Why are you guys doing this? Get the adventurers or the constructions workers for this job"
To make the sect the strongest, almost all the disciples needed to be better than the disciples of the other sects. By better, Michael meant, powerful, disciplined, smart, hardworking, and humble unlike those pricks like Alex or Celina.
"But brother Ghost, it would cost us," a female disciple who was in the sect from its downfall said, scratching her head.
"The dwarf is gonna ask for a good chunk of coins anyways, so leave all the hard work to him and his people. He won't give a discount because you cleaned this mess"
"That makes sense knowing Master Fovar" The disciples agreed with Ghost.
"Now go cultivate" Michael waved off the disciples before making his way towards Claire's manor. Adjacent to Claire's manor was Raylene's home. It was not as big or fancy as CLaire's manor because it was just a temporary residence for Raylene. Michael planned to build her a manor suitable for a 5-star chef.
Several disciples were standing in the mini garden before Claire's manor. When they saw the three of them approaching them, they made way for them.
"Brother Ghost"
"Sister Aelia"
"Nightmare"
The disciples greeted them respectfully. Michael nodded with a smile, giving some of them a pat on the shoulder on his way inside. The disciples who received the pat from Michael became electrified. Because they were new to the sect, they only heard about Ghost through the senior disciples' stories. He was a local legend. They kinda expected him to be like the celebrity disciples like Alex, Celina or Victoria who wouldn't even look at the ordinary disciples like them yet not only Michael smiled at them, he even patted some of them on the shoulder. It was a simple gesture from Michael's side but for the disciples, it was a big thing.
"Wow he looks so different in close"
"Did you see that? He smiled at me!"
"He patted me on the shoulder!"
"The seniors were right about him, he's so friendly"
"He has a dragon"
"What do you think his current cultivation level would be?"
"And how strong is the dragon and Sister Aelia?"
The disciples began to chatter among themselves looking at Michael walking into the manor. The smell of this world's paint was sweet, kinda like roses. Even after completing the construction work a month ago, the smell still lingered in the air. The corridors were rather empty with no vases, paintings on the walls, or chandeliers to light the house. Only when he reached the hall, he could see a few crude sofa sets as well as a chandelier decorating the hall.
The sofa sets were made of bamboo as a large tea table made of redwood occupied the space before the sofas at the center. Claire and Elder Reiner were discussing something with serious faces. He saw Cindy sitting on the sofa beside Claire. Cindy wrapped her hands around Claire's hand. When Cindy noticed Michael, her face brightened up like someone lit a candle in her head but when she saw Gaya, the little girl hid her face behind Claire's hand in fear.
Realizing that she made Cindy afraid of her, Gaya really regretted her actions. Cindy kept gawking at Gaya hiding behind CLaire's hand.
"Ghost"
"Elder Reiner, you look good" Every time he saw Elder Reiner, he reminded Michael of Gandalf the white with his long white beard and white robes. If he had a staff in his hand, he would be exactly like Gandalf.
"You look different. What happened to your hair?" Elder Reiner laughed. The situation somehow turned less solemn.
"Come here" To Michael's surprise, Elder Reiner stood up to give him a hug.
"Welcome back, young man"
Meanwhile, Gaya went to sit beside Clair, right next to Cindy. She grabbed Cindy's head, slowly turning it towards her.
"What? Are you afraid of me now?" Even the grown ups were terrified when Gaya lost control of her anger. Therefore, it was understandable when Cindy felt the same way as the others.
Michael and Elder Reiner sat on the sofa silently looking at them. Nightmare quickly shrunk himself so he could rest on Michael's lap comfortably.
"A little" Cindy said meekly.
"I'm sorry that I made you afraid Cindy. But didn't I say I don't like scared little girls?"
"I'm not scared" her voice sounded like a scared cat.
"But you're scared of me" She asked, lifting Cindy from the sofa by arms. Claire couldn't help smiling seeing how Cindy was in Gaya's arms like a puppy.
"Look at you, avoiding eye contact. I won't speak to you again if you're afraid of me"
"No" she quickly shook her head after getting threatened by Gaya.
"Are you scared of me?" she asked again,
"Please promise you won't stop talking to me" Cindy pleaded with teary eyes. Cindy loved Gaya and Michael too much as she couldn't even imagine either of them staying mad at her.
"Promise me you won't be scared anymore and will be a strong girl"
"I promise"
"I can't hear you"
"I promise!" Cindy raised her voice. Gaya smiled, embracing the little girl. Cindy hugged her back before giving a loving kiss on Gaya's cheek. Claire ruffled Cindy's head as Elder Reiner laughed in joy.
"Teacher, you're here" Suddenly he heard Olivia's voice as he turned back to see her rushing towards them with a letter in her hand.
"So have you done trying to kill us? Thanks to you, teacher is now homeless" Olivia didn't seem afraid of Gaya but mad at her. Instead of handing over the letter to Michael, she yelled at Gaya with her hand on her waist.
Nightmare immediately burst into laughter.
"For god's sake, this is the third time I heard he's homeless thanks to me" Gaya smacked her forehead,
"You can stay in the guestroom," Claire said but Michael shook his head,
"Thank you Sect Leader but I'm planning to go to River town, so I'll stay in the restaurant. I'll also send Daniel or Ricky to bring Fovar here to build a new home and Majestic"
In addition to his trip to the river town, Michael didn't want to stay with Claire because it might create some unwanted rumors that might affect her future when it comes to marriage.
"Take a seat Olivia" Claire didn't force Michael as she just nodded at him. She then turned her gaze towards Olivia. In Michael's eyes, Claire seemed different than the girl he first met. The way she was sitting, her posture, the way she talked, everything changed. Like a proper leader, she sat leaning back while keeping one leg on top of the other. They were the signs of a person with a strong heart and mind. He was glad to see that the Sect Leader isn't a scared little girl anymore, she had grown into a proper leader as he expected.
Olivia sat beside Michael, keeping some distance between them
"What's in your hand?" Michael asked.
"It's from the Alchemist Guild" her eyes sparkled in excitement,
"The letter came for you last week, I think it's THE invitation"
Her hands shivered while handing over the letter to Michael. The seal was still in place. On top of the letter, Michael saw the green veins coiled around the letter A written in beautiful calligraphy. The crest was etched on the letter in gold showing the grandiose of the guild.
Under their gazes, Michael broke the seal to open the letter. After a few seconds, they saw Michael snicker,
"Humph, the galls" Michael threw the letter on the table as Olivia's eyes went wide in shock. In her eyes, the Alchemy Guild was the highest existence among the Alchemists. Many would die to receive a letter from the Alchemy Guild yet he threw the letter like it was garbage.
"They want me to compete in the upcoming Grand Alchemists competition"
After hearing Michael's words, they understood the reason behind his reaction.
"Compete? They should invite you to judge. Asking a 5-star Alchemist to compete with amateurs is an insult" Elder Reiner raised his brows.
"So you're not gonna go?" Olivia asked,
"I'm going to attend.. Not to compete, but to show those idiots the difference between me and them. It's time they learned who's the real number one"