Hitman with a Badass System

(Current day)

Michael was on his way to harvest everything he needed to fix the gold coins problem. Tazkin and Thilve accompanied Michael as Vedora chose to stay with the tribe because they liked how the wood elves treated them. Almost all the trees had sparkling blue leaves instead of the usual green leaves. Not only the cyan color of the forest but something fresh in the air that put everyone at ease. Michael felt the forest around him was alive.

"Any predators around here?" Michael asked Tazkin and Thilve. Except for the wolves Michael killed at Tar's campsite, Michael met no predatory animals. The rabbits, foxes, and birds Michael saw had sparkling bodies. They glistened under the canopy's shade.

"They used to be around," Tazkin started to answer Michael.

"But ever since the demons occupied the mother tree, they ran deeper into the forest. This place crawled with all kinds of creatures before they invaded us. You cannot walk a minute in the forest without catching a glimpse of something. Now it feels so void of life," said Tazkin.

"You might meet a few where we are going, my lord," said Thilve. She addressed him as my lord instead of the Dark Lord. Michael grew quite tired of being called the Dark Lord by the elves sooner than he expected. Therefore, he ordered them to call him like his subordinates and men, my lord. At first, the wood elves seemed reluctant, but after Michael ordered them, they changed how they addressed him.

The three of them enjoyed their walk in peace. Instead of bringing a group of elves with him, Michael only brought Thilve and Tazkin. This couple seemed competent and knew the forest like the back of their hands. Plus, Michael wanted to know more about the two wood elves.

"So the humans here worship me or any other god?" asked Michael.

"We don't know much about them, my lord. They live far, far away from the mother tree. We call them the water tribe," said Thilve.

"Because they live nearby water?" asked Michael as Thilve nodded.

"I want to meet them someday before I leave this world,"

Thilve and Tazkin stopped walking when they heard Michael. They turned around, worried.

"Are you going to leave us, my lord?" Thilve's eyes watered. Tazkin was actually stunned to see Thilve behave this way in front of the Dark Lord. She was a warrior with an iron heart. She was an alpha of their tribe before he married her. Seeing her show her vulnerable side surprised Tazkin.

"I told you, there is entirely a new world out there where I must be. But fear not, I will visit you often. When the time comes, I will build a gateway connecting the world so people can travel between," said Michael. Speaking of the other world, Michael wondered how to leave this place without using badass points. Somehow Michael believed there was another way to get out of this world. The past Dark Lord may have left something for him since he seemed to leave a lot of things to guide Michael in his path.

"The god's world?" Thilve asked with a completely stunned face.

"More like a messed up world where I have lots of enemies," Michael chuckled.

"Jokes aside, I do plan to bring you there. But not before I fix everything here. Clothing, for example," said Michael.

"My lord, what is wrong with our clothes?"

Thilve's naive question almost made Michael laugh, but he smiled and gestured at them to lead the way. Almost after seven hours, the sun slowly descended toward the horizon. One would expect the forest to get dark, but on the contrary, the trees and vegetation around them glowed brighter. The luminescent leaves, mushrooms, and barks lit the forest like neon lights. Michael let Tazkin and Thilve take some rest before continuing their journey. He lost track of time as he followed them behind deeper into the forest. Eventually, Michael noticed the veil of mist slowly appearing in his sight.

"We are getting closer to the spot, my lord," said Tazkin. He looked a bit uncomfortable and borderline afraid. They were stranded far away from the mother tree and her protection. Usually, the wood elves would avoid traveling deep into the forest at any cost. All tribe elders prohibited venturing deeper into the forest as they believed it made the wood elves mad.

"Before we go further, put this on your face," Michael threw them black face masks with filters built within. They looked confused a bit until they saw Michael putting on the mask himself. After they put the masks on, they slowly walked through the fallen logs and knee-high vegetation. The deeper they went, the more they saw reddish leaves and trees instead of the bluish tree. Something turned the trees red, and Michael assumed the same thing that put the creatures to sleep. He looked around the trees and saw various creatures, such as rabbits, foxes, and even a green-furred tiger sleeping on the ground with its bellies up.

The tiger purred, sleeping a few meters away from the trio.

"Don't make any sudden noise," Tazkin warned Thilve as he crouched down to blend in with his surroundings. Michael followed the wood elves, and after a while, he felt like he was back in demons grave where everything had a red hue like everything was drenched in blood. Not a single sound could be heard in that second. The eerie silence slowly turned into fear and anxiety. If Michael weren't here with them, Tazkin and Thilve would have turned around and rushed out of this place instantly. But having their all-mighty god with them gave them enough courage to continue forward.

They slowly walked past the sleeping tiger and arrived at a small pond. The crystal clear water reflected the crimson-red surroundings as well as the silver mushrooms with black stars on them. Michael's eyes lit up as these mushrooms were what he looked for the most.

"Pick these mushrooms as many as you can," said Michael, bent down to pick one from the ground. The silver mushroom let out a cry as though it had a mouth when Michael rooted it out from the ground. These mushrooms grew under the shady roof of the forest while berries lay ripening under the leafy dome of the forest like jewels. The grass was crispy under their feet. Every tree Michael saw was skyscraper tall. Good thing Vedora wasn't here, or they would have tried to pick and eat the fruits that  shone like silver snowflakes. The forest smelled fresh and organic. Even Michael''s mask couldn't stop the natural musty smell of forest from penetrating the filters and entering their nostrils. Anyone who didn't know about the forest and the plants would be tempted to pick some wild pears and eat them. However, Michael knew better than to eat anything in the forest around him. Because every single tree, fruit, and plant was radiating a poisonous miasma that would put the brain in some kind of coma until they died. The creatures sleeping had developed a partial immune system to avoid death, but they couldn't avoid getting high.

Thilve and Tazkin followed Michael's hand movement and rooted out the mushrooms exactly how he did it. They put the mushrooms in a pile, wondering how they were going to bring them to the tribe. While Thilve and Tazkin were harvesting the mushrooms, Michael went to the trees with red barks and scraped down the black moth growing on them.

Michael hummed a tune of the song he heard back on earth while collecting the moth in a glass jar. The little alchemist living inside him was utterly delighted to collect new ingredients to brew an entirely new potion that would put a full stop to poverty once and for all. This potion would serve as a new drug that makes people high while not affecting their physical bodies. In other words, by taking this potion, nothing would change physically. The user would only feel mind-numbing pleasure and high for a short amount of time and crave more.

Since Michael was not a drug dealer, he planned to brew an antidote to remove the craving and urge. Moreover, Michael planned to make this potion ridiculously expensive so that only the rich and noble would be able to afford it. This way, the commoners would be spared by the new sensation drug he was about to make. It was only a temporary measure to enable the coin flow. His end goal was to invest in legit businesses and hotel chains, not dealing drugs. Even the Dark Lord had standards and limits. The last thing he wanted was to have a bunch of druggies roaming the streets of his beautiful world. He blamed Noah for closing down Majestic and Hades, which pushed him to go into the drug industry.

As they were peacefully harvesting herbs and various ingredients in the forest, Thilve's ears twitched. She immediately stopped harvesting the mushrooms, turned around, and saw Tazkin slowly reaching for his bow. It seemed like he heard the same rustling that she had heard just a moment ago. Tazkin and Thilve looked over their shoulder to see Michael calmly walking around picking blueberries.

"My lord," Tazkin whispered, trying to get Michael's attention.

"There is something approaching us. Yes, I know that," Michael calmly answered Tazkin. The brown sack into which Michael put the blueberries disappeared along with the pile of mushrooms on the ground. He then strolled toward Thilve and Tazkin.

"Stand back. I'll deal with it," said Michael. Unlike the wood elves, Michael was able to see the beast approaching them through his X-ray vision. Thilve and Tazkin heard a strange gnawing sound. Soon, their noses twitched as the air began to reek of blood. They tried to see what was happening, but the foliage and the trees blocked their sight. But Michael could see everything. The beast was feasting on the sleeping tiger, which didn't even move an inch. The tiger was too high on the elements mixed in the air.

Michael waited for the beast to finish feasting and approach them. He slowly drew his black sword from the sheath on his back. Somehow, the beast was immune to the air, unlike the tiger and the other creatures.