First impressions were everything, I knew this well. Especially in a world where violence was part of the populace’s love language. In all my time here, despite the friends and enemies I had made (and the countless crushed beneath the weight of my self-deluded destiny) I still never really forgot the first people I had met. A quaint and amusing interaction viewed through the rose-tinted glasses on the other side of the mountain of trauma I now sat. At the time, however…

I paused, as I stood out in the open, opposite the two approaching figures - both of them now a mirror of my awkward surprise.

Both of them male, mid to late twenties if I were to guess - which I currently was. The first looked like he had spent most of his youth in brazen affront to the sun and had a deep tan that aged him beyond the life in his eyes. He wore a simple tunic of gray with a green waist jacket over the top - the color matching a headscarf covering light brown hair and baggy slacks covering his modesty.

The second had leather armor in a rich brown color, well-worn but sturdy, over a deep crimson undershirt. His black beard and shaved head drew contrast to his bright green eyes. They appeared to be armed with melee weapons, and held them in a casual manner which didn’t seem any less threatening to me - the idiot standing there holding a pack of playing cards.

“Oh, who are you?” The man in green tilted his head, unsure of what to make of me.

“I am Max, the magician.” I bowed - perhaps a foolish act, unless I wanted to invite a blunt object to open my cranium. The hope was that I could disarm them with my charm or the minute chance they had heard of me from the world I had once come from.

As I rose, the pair exchanged glances. I hadn't yet been informed by the System on whether Player-on-Player violence was even possible, let alone encouraged, but the looks in their eyes were a better tutorial than any floating bit of text. To them, I was perhaps no different than the Slimes.

“You’re just Level One, yeah?” Red asked me, almost on the verge of licking his lips, his intent being clear in his expression.

I nodded, considering what would make me look like less of an appetizing dish. “Still in the midst of learning what is on the inside of Slimes.”

Once again, they exchanged a glance, and any tension held deflated as apprehension turned into annoyance.

“Not worth the trouble for a handful of gold,” Green hissed at Red.

Curiosity got the better of me. I yearned for more knowledge to fill in the blanks, and it was only the dim view of my own abilities that stopped me from cracking their heads open to absorb everything they knew from their juicy brains. Metaphorically, of course. Monsters were one thing, but I hadn't yet signed up to being a murderer in this strange world.

“What level are you both, gentlemen?” I shot a pleasant smile and tried to look vacant, in the hopes of appearing simple and less of a threat.

“Three.” Red said plainly.

I worked my jaw, the wrong diaglue option worming its way from my mind. “So, are you purposefully searching out low levels to kill for easy loot, or is our meeting just an unfortunate circumstance?”

A two-level deficit might not mean much, or they might shrug off my attacks as if they were made of thrown cardboard. I narrowed my eyes as they chewed on their response... to see if they had easily accessible necks.

“Talking a lot of shit for a freshie.” Red spat onto the grass.

“We don’t need to kill easy marks, but we’re opportunists.” Green grinned, clearly proud about their pragmatism, and more of a talker than the rougher Red. “Not everyone finds it easy to level, so we take what power we can.”

I understood this, to a degree. Depending on how the world functioned, that might even be a very smart viewpoint. If you had to eke out any advantage to stay alive and functioning, then a little punching down at the expense of your morals made sense. Not that I agreed at this juncture.

Judging by the cute faces upon the Slimes and the vibrancy of my surroundings, it didn’t appear to be that kind of world. Which meant these two gentlemen were nothing if not merciless killers. No doubt I wasn’t their first mark. Whatever death led to in the System, I was not so keen to find out. Not enough answers to fully flesh out how I should feel about the pair. So far, they didn’t look too keen on receiving my autograph.

There was a coldness in their eyes, the more they waited and stared at me. The realization that they might just be patrolling the area and I may run into them again in the near future - perhaps after the system had fattened me up a little - sank uncomfortably into my stomach. They would become my problem for certain if I didn’t grow stronger, and quickly.

My thoughts echoed around my skull. I wasn’t about to offer myself up to the wolves, but I would be selling myself short to continue to be unprepared. If they did crop up again in my adventures and wanted to try their luck - well, I hoped the System looked more favorably on self-defense.

“Understandable,” I eventually nodded with a smile. “Well, don’t let me keep you from your business - there're Slimes calling out for me to silence them.”

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“Right,” Red nodded, his face twisting into some confused acceptance of my dismissal. “C’mon Pozza, let’s go find some business to attend to.”

“Business,” Green grinned, an overtly obvious wink to his companion, the addition to his slobbering comment thick with their true intention.

Utilizing a strength brought from my previous life, I managed to hold a polite grin as they wandered off. After their footfalls and murmured chuckles eventually faded into the distance, I exhaled and deflated.

The decision came rattling through my tiring body - I did not like the pair. Somehow, I could sense my magic deck didn’t either. It wouldn’t do well to make enemies so soon, and perhaps there was another way I could win them over… but the prospect of having to go against them in combat chilled the part of me that just wanted their acceptance.

I shook my nerves off. Their unsaid threats had left a sour taste to the day, and I found myself annoyed at the supposed System I was now a prisoner of. “Seems underwhelming not to have some concise conclusion to an encounter,” I murmured, perhaps still trying to fill an invisible audience in on my inner thoughts. I assured myself that becoming a corpse so soon would be an even more underwhelming outcome for both myself and the world yet to bask upon a single show of mine.

My eyes rolled at my indignant need to perform, but I had long accepted it. I wanted a sizeable slice of this new pie, but biting off more than I could chew would leave me crushed by a weight I could no longer carry. Pick each battle as it came. Right now my equals seemed to be balls of contented gel - although they did die in only one hit.

I began my journey to the designated point once more - thankfully a different direction than my potential murderers - and happened by enough of the level one Monsters to fulfill my quota. In fact, ever the overachiever, I slew another four along my travels. Mostly in the hopes that they would drop me something more useful than money and goo - but it seemed I had used up all my luck in avoiding having my level one brain cracked from my skull like an egg.

The surrounding trees thinned as I stepped out into a small clearing. A handful of wooden tables, ripe for a prepared picnic, sat sporadically in the space. Empty, save for the sparse dusting of loose green leaves from the rescinded canopy. A noticeboard stood proud across the other side of the space, a name spelled out in bold beige text against the dark wood.

Greenrest, it announced.

Nothing immediately happened as I stood at the edge of the treeline. Perhaps my nerves were still a little on edge, and I had expected some manner of trap. That would be rather rude of the System to lure me into danger so soon into our relationship. It should at least butter me up with some undue powers first.

Clearly, I just needed to step closer. Maybe vocalizing this knowledge would settle my confusion. “I fully intend to go read the noticeboard, and accept my ready reward for diligently murdering innocent creatures as demanded…” I rubbed at my forehead, still pretty sore from my rough arrival. There was just some apprehension, part of my gut hesitant to stride into the open so naively. Still, a fading hope that another doorway would spring up to take me home, or I'd wake from a coma into my more grounded life of illusion and showlights.

This had been my first step into the new world, and it was already lined with blood and corpses. Not quite what I had imagined, actually - but enough of a sobering thought that it prompted me to step forward. The grass didn’t immediately immolate me, and assassins from the shadows didn’t step forth to fill me with arrows and regret. Small victories. There wasn’t even the sense of being watched, which was almost underwhelming, as if the System was going off-script.

[Quest Complete]

[10/10 Slimes Killed. Location Reached.]

[Receive Reward?]

I clicked the Yes that was marked in green, as if I needed visual confirmation to do the right thing. Good brain, time for dopamine.

[Experience Gained]

[30 Gold]

[Adventurer's Kit (3)]

[Health Potion (1)]

The items filtered into my intangible Inventory. More things to investigate and allow the knowledge to sink into me. In fact, I would have started immediately - if not for the System message on my wrist pulsing a golden glow. It would be rude to ignore it, so gingerly I reached out to press down.

[Level Up - 2]

[Stats Increased]

[New Passive: ]

[New Passive: ]

[New Ability: ]

“Demons…” My thought process halted as I felt atop my head to where I was now apparently wearing a purple top hat. I lifted it down, a frown across my brow. I was sure I had left this behind with the rock. No, I had picked it back up - my brain seemed to be playing catch-up still.

It seemed natural enough to just dig my hand straight in - and I was rewarded by feeling… well, nothing at this stage. Clearly I would have to do some magic the old-fashioned way if I were to woo and wow my way across the land. Where I would find the necessary equipment in what appeared to be a fantasy universe, I wasn’t so sure.

Destiny. That’s how I viewed it. Knowing that this was a completely different world didn’t make my desires waver. The greatest showman across worlds - as soon as I had my bearings and some slice of civilisation before me, I could perform once more. The show would go on and I would be fulfilling my due purpose. The fact that my current skills might help me along that path was a boon rather than a distraction.

Exhaling through my nose, I brought up some of the information in the Skills window.

Demonic Magic seemed pretty straightforward, in that it allowed me proficiency or access to said school of magic. Similar to my already held Illusion Magic. Being a magician in my former life, one made more sense for me to have than the other, but apparently the System knew what it was doing. Perhaps something about the book had been dragged along for the ride after all?

Mana Manipulation allowed me… some manner of leeway with how I used my magic and the mana used to power it. That was about as vague a description as I could imagine. At this stage there was no explanation of what mana or magic really was, so being able to manipulate it seemed as useful as being a Slime-whisperer. Being a passive skill, I was sure it would perhaps crop up during normal proceedings.

For Summon Demon, the flickering box of blue was a lot more information-heavy. I brought up the skill description and glazed over the duration and mana requirements to note that I had two options - a melee focused Hellhound and a ranged support Imp. I could only have one out at a time.

No rabbit to pull from my hat, yet. But the ability to bring forth hellish animals out of supposedly nowhere tickled me in a way that warmed my distant memories. I almost wished that I had an audience ready to test it out - but at least the System had made good on the earlier class designation.

With a smile, I span the menus around, feeling better about myself. “I guess I am a summoner now, then.”

“Oh, you’re a summoner, are you?” A familiar voice crooned from the treeline behind me.