章 4: Talia Graham.

Raymond was currently on high alert. He had been walking around for close to an hour, but leaving the forest seemed unrealistic at this point. Was he really going to have to camp out here without equipment or strength? As he was contemplating what to do, he noticed a few figures not far in front of him. He stopped in his tracks immediately. His heart was beating fiercely, it felt like it was going to jump out of his chest at this rate.

He didn't know what kind of people he would run into. Maybe they would be civilised. Perhaps they would be savages. No matter what, Raymond was just hoping that he could communicate with them. He was scared, yet strangely calm. When he looked at the group of 5 people in front of him, his gaze met that of a young lady. For a few seconds, they stared into the eyes of each other without breaking away, until the young lady finally felt a little awkward and averted her gaze.

To Raymond's delight, he didn't sense any ill intent from her, and he was hoping that it would stay that way. After she averted her gaze, Raymond's gaze wandered to the other members of the group. After it stopped at the old man standing in the back with a gentle smile, Raymond was astonished. He quickly noticed that something was wrong with that old man. From the others, he had sensed an inexplicable amount of danger, but from this old man, he felt nothing. As if he wasn't even there. His instincts were screaming at him; this old man was far from normal.

At this point, Raymond hesitated about his course of action. He wanted to ask them for directions to the nearest city, but he was also wary of them. These were the first humans he had met in this world, and if there was one thing Raymond knew about humans, it was that they could be unpredictable. One day, they would be happy and treat you like a friend. Another day, in the face of benefits, they wouldn't hesitate to turn their back on you.

"Hello there, would someone mind pointing me in the direction of the nearest city? I'm a bit lost."

He couldn't hesitate anymore, and he tried his best to sound polite, but it sounded a little forced. Raymond was a man from the 21st century, excessive politeness was not something he was used to, especially not the customs of another world altogether.

"Hahaha, the closest city to here is a few hours in that direction, it's called Greencrest city."

One of the guards found his way of speaking funny, but after chuckling, he still gave him a direction to walk in. Before Raymond could get the chance to feel grateful, the old man said something that sent a chill down his spine.

"We're also heading to Greencrest city. You don't seem to be a warrior, if you'd like, you can come with us."

Raymond looked at the old man with vigilance. After observing his facial expressions for a bit, Raymond concluded that he didn't have a choice. The old man was obviously hinting at him to come with them. Raymond didn't want to follow around some strangers that had just met, especially not if they all had the strength to kill him in just a second. However, he had no interest in enraging this old man either. Something he had learned from experience in his previous life was that the scariest people were often the ones that looked the nicest.

"Then, thank you!"

He tried to sound polite again, but the wary glint in his eyes was obvious for all to see. His body language and tone of speaking was stiff, but his eyes were bright. Raymond wasn't the only one who was shocked by the old man's decision. In fact, Talia was probably the one who was the most shocked. She knew this uncle of hers looked nice on the outside, but he was actually pretty aloof. He was polite, but he seldom acknowledged others, at least not easily.

Talia started to seriously inspect the young man in front of her. He was dressed shabbily, basically the same as a beggar, and he also looked pretty dirty. Contrary to his clothes and dirty body, his hair looked soft and taken care of, almost nicer than some young ladies from famous families. Although his hazel-brown hair looked nice, the thing that stood out the most about him was his eyes. A rich and deep gold colour. Their splendour was greater than that of the most polished of gold coins, and they contained an unfathomable depth.

The look in his eyes, as well as his body language, didn't seem like that of a beggar at all, which made it pretty easy to guess that this young man might not be as ordinary as his clothes made him seem.

"Is it really okay for us to bring some beggar along with us?"

The person who suddenly broke the short, yet awkward silence, was Talia's personal maid. Their group of 5 might seem ordinary to some people, but she knew what kind of big shots she was currently serving. To bring a random beggar into the group was incomprehensible to her.

"Hmm?"

After receiving a cold look from the old man, the maid quickly shut her mouth. She quickly scolded herself in her mind. Why did she have to question the decision of her master? Who gave her the courage? With a nervous look on her face, she quietly took half a step backwards, as if to show that she had realised her mistake.

Raymond became even more uncomfortable after hearing this, and his already stiff body language became a little stiffer. Maybe it was because he was still a little unfamiliar with this body, but he had a hard time controlling his expression and body language. Even his feelings felt more agitable than normal.

"Before we get going, we should at least introduce ourselves right?"

With a glint in her eyes, Talia was the one who spoke up this time to ease the tension.

"I'll start, my name's Talia Graham and I'll be 18 this year. That girl over there is my maid Lillie."

After introducing herself and her maid, Talia looked to the guards on her right.

"The name's Leon, I'm just an ordinary guard."

"My name's David, but you can just call me Dave if you'd like."

"You can just call me uncle Graham, my name isn't too important."

It was finally Raymond's turn to introduce himself, and after contemplating for a bit, he decided to tell them his real name. He wasn't sure about the powers of cultivators for now, so he wasn't going to risk lying to one.

"I'm pleased to make your acquaintance, my name's Raymond Dawson."

After introducing himself, he stretched out his right hand out of habit. The only response he got to this weird behaviour were a few peculiar gazes. Raymond quickly noticed that he had made a mistake, and he awkwardly scratched the back of his head after taking back his outstretched hand. Old habits die hard.

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