It was the system's new feature that made Michael travel to River town accompanying Jack. This new feature's purpose was to help Michael choose the right person to be his subordinate and manage his existing subordinates.
Subordinate: Gaya
Cultivation Level: None
Race: Demi human-Naga Race
Current Skills: None
Status: Meridians repaired - 10%
Loyalty towards the host: 50%
Trait: Warrior
The Trait feature would inform him about the person Michael is considering to recruit as his subordinate by letting him know his/her special trait. For instance, Gaya's trait was Warrior. He wouldn't be able to make her an Alchemist even if he gave her the Book of Alchemy unless he changes her trait from Warrior to Alchemist for 500,000 Badass points or adds the Alchemist trait on top of her current trait for 1.5 million Badass points.
Michael had no plans to change Gaya's trait and the reason for his departure from the sect was not Gaya but Jack. After an eventful night, Michael woke up in the morning to continue making pills and potions. While he was picking up the herbs from his new herbal garden, he met Jack and heard he was going to River town to buy scrap metal to repair his fellow disciples' weapons.
After a small chat with Jack and the sudden notification from the System, Michael realized Jack was a Blacksmith. Apparently, Jack learned the trait from his uncle and even though Jack was not an expert in forging, Michael decided to give Jack a chance before he makes any decision. He could however, wait and depend on his luck to find a better Blacksmith who is willing to be his subordinate. Nevertheless, Michael was not the person who would depend on his luck rather than seizing the opportunity in front of him.
Besides, Jack was poor and weak, so earning his loyalty would be simple. All Michael had to do is pay him handsomely for his work and Jack would be as loyal as a puppy. With the help of the system, he could also improve Jack's forging skills and have his own personal Blacksmith. Still, before officially making Jack his subordinate, he wanted to see Jack's skill with his own eyes.
But Michael never expected to see Sadie, a remarkably hot girl on his way to River town.
"Nice to meet you, Jack" If it wasn't for Jack seemed like Ghost's friend, Nyla would have given him a cold shoulder. But because of Ghost, Nyla showed a polite smile and shook Jack's hand.
"Awww, she...she... shook my hand" Jack's eyes sparkled and he couldn't hold his joy. He felt like he was flying.
"I'm not going to wash this hand," Jack told himself.
"So will you concoct a pill or two for me?" She came so close to Michael as both of their shoulders made contact. He didn't blush or move away like a beta mc but enjoyed the company of a hot girl like Sadie.
"Of course I will, you have to pay for my services of course" Gaya would have strangled him from behind if he had agreed to concoct pills for free. But hearing he would still charge her despite her seduction, Gaya calmed down.
Sadie on the other hand pouted," I thought you won't charge me a coin, Ghost"
Michael laughed and winked at her," come on Sadie, you know I like money and you don't lack gold coins"
"Can this sister pay you with other means? I guarantee you, It will be much better than gold coins" Her seduction skill was on the next level and any youth with a weak heart wouldn't be able to resist her charm. Even Michael was tempted to take upon her offer but he didn't want to mix business with pleasure.
"I believe you but let's keep the business and pleasure apart, shall we?"
"Ah, a man of principals, I like it" she moaned for a second and continued with a seductive smile on her face.
With the company of three hot girls, Michael had a pleasant journey towards the River town until he saw the soldiers of Baron Totonk and disciples of MorningStar swarming into the city gates.
"huh? What's going on there?" Sadie threw a look of uncertainty and they rushed towards the town to see what's happening. When Michael passed through the unguarded city gates, he witnessed people screaming and running around chaotically. Sights of a couple of wrecked buildings entered his eyes.
"What the hell is going on here?" Nyla dismounted her horse and the others did the same because the streets were full of panicking people to ride through. The people seemed to have been running from the other end of the town where Michael first met Ricky and Daniel.
"Hey you!" Gaya had enough of this as she grabbed one of the men who was running for his life.
"What's going on here and what are you running from?"
"Nether...Netherels!" he broke Gaya's hold and ran like hell without turning back.
"Netherels? In river town" Nyla, Sadie, Jack, and Gaya wondered why are the Netherels here at River town while Michael wondered what the hell is a Netherel.
"Hey" Michael leaned back and scratched Gaya's shoulder
"What's a Netherel?"
"Seriously?! come I'll introduce them to you" Gaya led Michael towards the danger as Nyla and Saide followed them.
While he was walking against the crowd, he noticed the Tavern he spent his first night became a ruin. The more he walked towards the forest on the other side of the town, he saw more disciples of the MorningStar and Golden Valley.
The city gates were shut close and being barricaded by some disciples of the Golden Valley. Since there was no way to see what's happening on the other side through the gate, Michael and the group started to take the steps to stand on top of the city walls.
When he was climbing the stairs, he could smell a putrid smell in the air. The air stank rotten corpses as Gaya covered her nose with her hand.
"What the?!"
When he reached the top of the wall, his body went rigid, and felt a cold chill running through his spine.
"Zombies"
In the distance, there were hundreds of Humanoid figures and animals.
However, their skin was arctic-white and glistened in the light. Their bones were visible through the peeling skin and their maniacal eyes that burned with madness. And then, there was a yelp, a whine, and two cracks. The blood-slurping began. One of the Netherels munched his way through a deer in no time. It was spine-chilling to watch him at work, his eyes fixed on the deer as he slobbered Rottweiler drool down his chin. Soon, the nearby zombies joined him to feast on the deer.
"Zombies? Is that what you called them where you came from?" Sadie asked Michael. He had never expected to see Zombies in this world and suddenly felt like he was transmigrated into a world of walking dead.
It took him a couple of seconds to take his gaze away from the army of zombies in the distance ready to swarm River Town.
"Where in the hell THEY came from?" Michael didn't fear many things in the world but in front of an army of zombies, he began to fear.
[The host does not need to worry much. You won't turn into a zombie if they bite you. Netherels are just corpses reanimated by a dark power]
What system just said calmed his nerves as he took a closer look at the zombies. Gaya noticed his serious expression changing as he began to grin.
"Fro"
"Nether Realm" Gaya was interrupted by Sadie. Sadie's interruption infuriated Gaya because it was her place to explain things to Michael. She didn't like being replaced, especially by Sadie.
"Every three years, the layer between our world and the Nether Realm gets weakened. All the great cultivators in our world use this time to open a rift to Nether Realm so the younger generation could enter and gain experience as well as get some treasures from the Nether Realm if they are lucky. During this time, some Netherels would be able to pass through the layer and come to our world, but not this many"
"It's because someone is using dark magic to summon them" A voice filled with arrogance sounded as they turned back in the direction of the voice to see Victoria walking towards them with her followers.
When he met her at the competition, she was a Body Refining stage level 8 Cultivator but now she was at the Body refining stage Level 10. Despite her defeat at the competition, she now looked more arrogant and cold. However, her cold expressions changed suddenly when she saw the face of the youth near Sadie.
"YOU!" the words he spoke to humiliate her and the sight of her sent flying from the stage flashed across her eyes. In her eyes full of anger, there was also a hint of shock because compared to the jump in his cultivation level, her accomplishment was nothing. He was able to defeat her without breaking a sweat when he was just at the Body Refining stage Level 1 but now, he reached level 7, only three levels below her.
Standing behind Michael, Gaya pretended to control her urge to laugh at Victoria to fan her anger and mess with her mind. Michael on the other hand didn't even take more than a second to acknowledge her presence as he started to count the zombies happily. The reason for his joy was he sensed the zombies have a cultivation level and that meant, he would get experience points by killing them.
A moment ago, the Netherels freaked him out however now, they were not walking dead but walking experience points waiting to get slaughtered.