Riley stands up, dusting off his pants and doing some stretches, looking at the rather unfortunate state of the place he's been brought to.

"So, why'd you drag me into a huge den of crime for my so-called "training", huh?" Riley says, clearly upset about being hoisted around like a bag of rice.

"Ah, it's where I live after all. Clean air, self-sufficiency, and plenty of paperwork makes it no less than the perfect place for me. I am the mayor of this little district, after all." Drew replies, straightening his coat.

"Honestly, If it were me, I'd be too embarrassed to say I lead any of these people."

Riley points towards a pack of homeless demons donning capes of black fur fighting over a scrap of meat.

"Ah, The Blood Hounds. I do not believe that I have seen them get along with anyone, even themselves. Don't bother trying to qualify them as a citizen. They're far too uncivilized." Drew remarks, dragging Riley over further into the district. "As mayor, I have plenty of work to do, so I do not have much time to teach you anything."

Drew opens the briefcase that Riley had, looking at the charm inside.

"You're lucky. Not many people get to have their hands on a Demonic Artifact with this level of strength. It's not groundbreaking, but I believe that it is more than enough for any situation you'd manage to find yourself in." Drew says, while inspecting the sword-shaped charm closely, before coating it with a faint black and red aura.

The charm forms into a shortsword that resembles the original charm, albeit with a dark black steel instead of the normal grey steel on the original. Drew quickly passes it over to Riley, who almost cuts his hand while fumbling with it midair.

"That's a rather dumb thing to do for a smartass like yourself." Riley says while scoffing.

Drew replies back. "If you cannot deal with a sword lightly tossed at you, I dread to see what happens when somebody actually makes an attempt on your life." He quickly continues on his way back to his home, leaving Riley behind as he leaps onto a nearby rooftop. "I will be back before supper. Don't get yourself in any trouble while I am gone.

And with those words, he leaps away further into the district, leaving Riley behind.

"Did he just straight up ditch me? You know what? Fine." Riley states to himself aggressively.

Despite his best attempts at attempting to figure out where Drew went, or where to go himself, Riley manages to get lost against all odds. Eventually he manages to stumble upon a horrifying building.

A pet shop.

A diner.

A combination pet shop and diner.

Whoever thought that was a good idea must have either been insane or just outright stupid.

Riley steps inside, assaulted by a horrifying array of spices and sauces that definitely weren't meant to be put next to eachother at all.

"Augh, this place stinks!" Riley says, before seeing a spatula just barely graze by his face, embedding in the wall next to him.

"Watch your tongue, or I'll cut it off!" shouts the person behind the counter. The countertop is right next to the stove, which is right next to the spice cabinet, showing a clear hatred of any proper home or store design at all. The excessively well maintained equipment is all lined up like the world's most impressive fire hazard.

The so-called chef and pet enthusiast stands there behind the counter, obviously insulted by Riley's remarks. Her freshly cut blood red hair reaches her shoulder, and her clothing consists of a long sleeved light green tee with a darker green apron, giving off the appearance of a kind young lady. It's not untrue to say she's lost plenty of potential customers due to her rude and uncouth attitude.

"May I at least get your name before you hurl another utensil at me?" Riley says while in a crouched position, prepared to block any incoming kitchen equipment.

"The name's Mary." The lady replies aggresively.

"Ah, so you're selling lam-"

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Riley manages to barely deflect a knife hurled directly at his forehead with his blade.

"Make that joke again and I'll actually try to kill you next time." Mary coldly states.

Riley stares at her with a confused and bewildered expression. "You're telling me that throwing a knife at my forehead wasn't trying to kill me?"

"Not in my book. If you don't know how to deflect a single knife, then you're not really suitable to live anymore. It's really just as simple as that."

Riley waves off Mary's incredibly sadistic remark in order to take a look at the store's selection.

"Hold on, these "pets" are all low or mid-ranking demons. Isn't this basically slavery?" Riley says to Mary.

"Doesn't count. They don't pass the minimum bar for rights. They're basically dogs, and they look like animals, so what gives? Only higher ranking demons really pass as humans anyways." Mary replies coldly.

Riley shudders. If he was born anything less than a high-ranking demon, he'd probably be on the other end of these cages.

"Ah, I'm legally obligated to hire whichever mid-ranking demons pass the intelligence test though. I usually just send 'em to go catch and bring back other demons anyways, so it ends up being a net profit anyways." Mary says. "You don't work, you don't eat. They'd all probably be better off failing the test, honestly."

"Oh, that reminds me. What's the food made of here, if you'd be inclined to tell me that?" Riley says.

"All vegetables. I'd cook some of the merchandise to save cash, but that's not legal even in a lawless land like this one. Kind of dumb, right?"

"No, I think that's pretty reasonable all things considered."

"Suit yourself. I'd be rolling in dough myself."

Riley takes a few steps out, thinking about quickly leaving the building, before stopping himself to ask Mary a question.

"Why's the mayor keep things like ovens and lights around, but still kicks around and breaks random electronics like computers?"

"Ah, deep seated grudge. He used to work at a facility under one of the most powerful companies ever, but lost all his personal documents after the entire block's power shut down. It was kinda the straw that broke the camels back, to be honest. He'd always rant and rave about how paper's so much cooler and how much he loved his filing cabinets. He even named them. He named his stupid filing cabinets." Mary says, continuing to rant on and on about Drew's antics. "Did you know one time he blew up an entire building because they stopped accepting cash? I barely even sae him shop there, he just blew it up on principle alone. One time I saw him bring out a typewriter on his birthday to do paperwork as a treat. I don't even know how he managed to keep it so pristine for so long."

"I... I can understand your pain, even if it's just a little bit."

"Tell you what, I'll make you a deal. You can take any one of these precious creatures as long as you try your best to keep that smartass paper-loving freak away from me as much as you can. Got it?"

"Fair deal."

Riley shakes Mary's hand, and takes a look at all the so-called "pets" of the establishment. Some are horrifying creatures of the night. Some are just barely qualified to be called monsters. But one manages catch his eye.

It's an extra large cage for a rather small creature. Padded with excessive amounts of bright pink blankets and pillows, showing off a small creature no larger than the pillows surrounding it inside its container. Black fur that's textured like a marshmellow, and a relatively exaggerated head, as if it leaped right out from those magical warrior series that Riley used to watch as a kid. Its ears are shaped like a cat, and its tail leads out like a thick string, with a heart shape at the end.

"If you're thinking about taking that one, think twice. It's the only thing keeping me from slaughtering any one of the rude idiots that waltz. It can magically relieve pain, both emotional and physical. I can't possibly count the amount I've saved on headache medicine with just that one creature alone." Mary says, scrolling on her phone that she most likely smuggled into the town, despite Drew's complete hatred for any recordkeeping electronics.

Riley points at it regardless, ignoring her rather clear and obvious warning.

"Fine, fine. I'll let you have it for now. But if anything happens to either that thing, or any of my customers, it's all your fault. Got it?" Mary says.

Riley nods in agreement. "Got it."

Mary opens the cage, and Riley picks up the creature, heading onwards out of the store.

"Thanks for the gift." Riley says.

"Go fuck yourself." Mary replies.

Riley steps out of the store, adorable gift in tow. As he walks down the dark city streets, enjoying the sights of the dimly lit roads ahead of him, he hears a voice coming from very close by.

"Whew, am I glad to not be there anymore."

Riley looks down. The dumb and thoughtless expression that the creature originally had was replaced with one of calmness and a hint of contempt.

Hopping down from Riley's arms, the creature introduces itself.

"My name is... nothing. I've been living my whole life without one. Pretty shoddy introduction, right?" The creature continues speaking while Riley continues questioning whether or not something strange is in the air. "I was mooching off of the free food and drink without having to do any job at all, but it was horrible for me to keep faking my personality like I was some sort of dumb idiot pet or something." The creature proudly puffs its chest. "As a sort of thank-you gesture, I'll show you my true form!"

"Please don't ruin my childhood. After seeing the odd and vaguely horrifying bare metal face of an animatronic that performed at my local diner, I've become rather sick of ugly things wearing the mask of adorable things. Just let me have this one enjoyable experience for once." Riley replies.

"O-oh! I see..."

The creature seems rather upset about the ordeal, turning its head away and kicking some stones around.

"Well, I'd rather not keep calling you creature... So how about I give you a name that I can call you?"

The creature's eyes light up with glee as it stops meandering about and focuses on Riley.

"A name? For me?" the creature queries.

"Yeah. I think I've got one. I'll name you..."