I edited the first chapter~ There weren't any super big changes, I just fixed some spelling and grammar stuff, plus did some other bits and pieces to make it flow better. I changed the skills up a bit, so that most became passive skills, and I added in a "Bow Mastery" skill so that everything kind of added up.

I've also realized that my cute main character has a lot of problems, and not very many strengths, at least personality wise. Tee hee.

Anyways, please enjoy the second chapter ^-^ I'll be open to any friendly suggestions or critiques, or if you guys want to see this story go in a certain direction... like idk, if you want more romance, more action, more mystery, or what not. Then again it's still pretty early in the story so who knows what might happen o3o~ currently I feel like it's going in a mystery sort of direction, with a bit of romance (cuz our MC likes them hotties) and maybe action later on... this is about half the size of the first chapter, but since I was working diligently in this time (mostly diligently *cough*) I would say this also took me roughly two days. Or more around one day and a half. BTW there is a bit of gore in this chapter as a heads up.

Sorry for the long note >.>

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

*Tting*

«For completing the "Beginner's Village", you have received one "Dimensional Sotrage Ring"»

«Dimensional Storage Ring: Can store up to one rooms worth of space. Can be pulled up mentally, or with the verbal command "Storage"»

«You have arrived at Lindel»

«Lindel: the capital city of the Fire Empire, Astarne; it is most well known for the "Cermeony of Fire"»

«The Ceremony of Fire starts in 7 months, one week, and three days»

«You have received a new quest!»

Battle of Flames

The Ceremony of Fire takes place once a year with music, food, and other festivities. The most significant event is the "Battle of Flames", where warriors compete with each other for glory, fame, and riches.

Objective: Participate in the Battle of Flames

Additional Objectives: Win all fights and come out as the Champion of Flames

Rewards:

5000 EXP

1 silver

Additional Rewards:

Unknown

I opened my eyes only to be assaulted by a multitude of messages. Blue, blue everywhere. I read each one before dismissing them with a swipe of my hand.

The Ceremony of Fire, huh? Well, it was still over half a year away, so I shouldn't worry too much about it. Although frankly, I wouldn't want to take part just to have my butt handed to me by some high-level warriors.

Which meant that I should probably train a bit so that I would be the one kicking ass. Even then, though it sounded pretty interesting, I didn't plan on staying.

I might be here for a month at best, but there's a whole 'nother world out here for me to explore, so I sure won't be cooped up in here forever.

I then looked around to confirm my location. It appeared that I was in an abandoned building of sorts, something like a church, with dusty pews and pale sunlight filtering in through the broken stained glass windows. I left the place, although the outside wasn't that much better. There was a cemetery overgrown with weeds - something I wouldn't want to come to in the middle of the night unless I wanted a good scare - as well as shoddy houses and dirty stone buildings.

I was probably somewhere in the slums. My guess was further enforced by the large amount of starved and filthy people sitting on the streets, all dressed in gray and brown rags. Their deep sunken eyes were dead, and the few that still had some semblance of life in them were staring at me hungrily.

I felt pity, but it's not like I could do anything for them, so I went ahead and left quickly. Within moments, I was out onto what seemed like a main street bustling with people, the scent of sweat and spices floating in the air.

The majority of the people here were dressed in gypsy-like desert clothing, with scarves wrapped around their heads, and jewelry jingling each time they moved.

I was stopped by merchants more than once, all claiming to have something that would definitely suit my beauty. I ignored them. Please, I will not be giving you swindlers one bit of my money!

Despite saying that, I did end up buying a skewer of meat (it was tasty), and a cheap enough dagger to pair with the one I already had. With just those two items, I was already broke. Stuff in the big cities was pricey. I felt like sobbing as I watched my hard earned coins fly away.

I then went on my way to search for instructor centers. Since I could master all the skills, I planned on learning everything I could, from crafting to magic to physical combat.

First was the warriors guild. The teacher there was a burly middle aged man with a bald head and a dragon tattoo. I never knew the human body had so many muscles until today, nor did I ever want to know.

Despite getting beat up by him, for some reason he was oddly satisfied with my performance, and taught me the skills "Sword Mastery", "Dual Wielding", and "One Shot One Kill". Apparently the last two were a little extra since he felt bad about bullying a little girl. Eh, I don't know how I feel about that.

I then entered the dancers guild next. Even though I already had the skill "Dance", I was curious if I would be able to obtain any extra skills like I had been able to with the warriors guild.

"Fufu, you look like a beautiful young lady with good potential." The busty older sister type woman said, her beautiful face and well-toned body oozing charm. Then again everyone in the guild seemed really beautiful, totally different from the warriors guild that had been packed full of sweaty macho men.

After dancing awkwardly in front of the golden haired woman, she applauded me, and like I had desired, rewarded my performance with an extra skill, "Dance of the Sparrows". She also gave me a midnight blue gypsy outfit with pluses to the charm and agility stats.

One more guild, and then I decided to let it rest for the day. I surveyed the numerous buildings that lay before me. They were all of the instructor centers, gathered together in an area of the city known as the "Guild District".

Blacksmiths, Chefs, Alchemists, Tailors, Summoners, Elementalists, Clerics, Assassins, Painters, Bards... and what seemed like a million more were all there. No, wait, by summoner... would it mean that I could possibly summon cute fairy like creatures? I knew that it was different depending on the game, but the pets called out to me. The pets~~~ There was also beast tamers, but magic sounded more fun.

I made my decision and proceeded to head over to the summoners guild. Inside there were various magic runes and circles drawn all over the walls, with books on spells and spirits lying around, as well as different colored mists floating through the building. Although this mist was the "mana" that I could see everywhere (faintly, though it varies depending on the location), it was heavier inside this building than elsewhere, probably due to the fact that this was a magic guild. On a side note, the mist in the dancers guild was also relatively high, although not as dense as the stuff here.

There was no one inside, or at least that I could see. I thought it was weird as I looked around for someone - anyone. The first floor was completely empty of living organisms, so I headed to the second floor. I opened up the thick wooden doors to rooms that had summoning circles and densely colored mists inside them, but still no people.

Soon there was only one room left - the one at the very end of the hallway. I paused before it, staring at the intricate patterns carved onto the mahogny double doors. It was clearly more important when compared to the other rooms.

Plus, it was currently lighting up like a lightbulb, courtesy of my handy dandy Sherlock title. I reached my hand out to the golden door handle, my heart wanting to jump out of my throat. What is this suspense, it's killing me.

I opened it up with a single yank, revealing what was beyond.

And proceeded to slam the door shut, before vomiting whatever had been in my stomach onto the floor (which wasn't much since all I had eaten in these past two days was some bread). After finally getting that all out, I... proceeded to grab any precious items lying around.

If this was a manga, the main character would have gone back inside to find clues and then search for the answer to the puzzle, but something like that just wasn't me. I preferred to avoid walking straight to my death thank you very much.

Even though I said that, I still ended going back, my curiosity winning out. The room was relatively large, lit by a multitude of candles on the floor and desks. The walls were smeared with blood, which had been used to paint the same magic circles that I had seen throughout the entire building.

How did I know it was blood? Well, what dark red liquid comes out of dead bodies other than blood? You aren't gonna tell me it's ketchup or something are you?

Anyways, lying scattered throughout the place were the corpses of several people, who had been mauled beyond recognition. As if a beast had come and slaughtered them, before feasting on their remains. And the stench. Don't even get me started on the foul odor that lingered in the air. I would guess that these bodies were, at the very least, several weeks old, but the odd thing was why they had yet to be discovered. The reason might be some magic related type of thing, but I didn't know enough about the matter to make a decently accurate guess.

The room appeared as if it had gone through a whirlwind, with things such as magic books and research papers scattered throughout. I would have borrowed those too (literally), if not for the fact that the majority of them were soaked in blood. I am extremely reluctant to be touching that disgusting gooey stuff. Who knows if there was some flesh mixed in.

The things I did pick up though, were the items that had lit up. Which were - two books, a small note, and a silver key. The two books had appeared rather ordinary at first glance, if not for the especially thick blood red mist surrounding them. Then again, considering how much red (and black) mist there was condensed into this small room, it would be a wonder if anyone could notice the difference between the books and its surroundings.

Second was the note. It had been crumpled up and thrown into a corner of the room. The writing was barely legible, with the paper itself partially burned and slightly blood stained. I would probably have to get it repaired, but even what I could make out was only gibberish to my eyes.

Then there was the key. Now this one had been a bit tricky. It was lighting up from within a drawer that had a broken lock and its contents emptied out. It would have tricked me ordinarily - like it probably did whoever went through this place - but if one looked close enough, one would realize that it actually had a false bottom.

I remained cautious, studying the drawer from different angles. It was faint, but I found a magic circle on the inside. Magic, how troublesome. Something that didn't exist in my old world...

But isn't that what the books I had borrowed are for? Yes, I only borrowed them! To be exact, I only needed to borrow them. I would say almost all of them had been skill books, and the moment I had picked one up, a window would appear asking if I wanted to learn so and so skill. It was easy as that. I didn't have any use for them afterward, so stealing was unnecessary (plus who knows, I could get tracked down by authorities if I messed up while selling them). One of those skills was "Magic Language", so puzzling out the magic circle wasn't as bad as it would have been.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

It was actually a pretty simple spell, one that would cause the drawer to burst into flames if someone didn't open the hidden bottom correctly. To undo it I just gotta do a little this, tweak it here... manipulate the mana a bit, mess with the runes some, and I'm done! (Don't ask me the details of what I actually did, because to be totally honest, the theory mostly escaped me.)

I opened up the bottom to reveal a silver key studded with rubies, still looking shiny and new. I pocketed the four items before taking one last look around the room. Nothing else was glowing, and spending any more time here would be inviting trouble, so I made my escape. Of course, through the back door. Who knows what would happen if someone sees me walking out and afterward a room of bloody corpses gets discovered. That's like asking, nay, begging!, to be arrested. I would prefer not to spend my last days in a dark and disgusting dungeon cell for a crime I didn't even do (although I do admit I stole some precious looking magic tools).

I glanced around as I entered the dark alleyway. There was no one in sight, but I didn't let my guard down yet. Equipping the sapphire blue scarf that had come with the gypsy outfit I had gotten from the dancers guild, I wrapped it around my face so that even if I did get seen, at least my face would be hidden. Sneaking around like a suspicious looking thief made me decide that I would absolutely be visiting the rogue or assassins guild next. I would love to think that I would never need a stealth skill for the rest of my life like I did right now, but that would be a lie.

Once I had gotten out of the guild district (I think I got out at least; these alleyways can be pretty darn confusing), I was finally able to relax slightly. After I took off the scarf, I went out onto the main roads as if nothing had happened, sticking to places that had large amounts of people while I mingled with the crowd. Near the center plaza of the city, an entertainment troupe was performing, their acts quite interesting and flashy. It was good enough to catch my eye, so I stuck around to watch, although I thought that magic would be much more fun to see (but I hear that magic users are pretty rare so it was too bad).

A bard sang as sexy ladies with beautiful bodies danced, all of them clothed in bright and colorful silks... that also happened to show off quite a bit of skin.

There was one phrase that caught my ear. "City of a Thousand Lanterns". It sounded interesting. I mentally marked it down as a place I should visit sometime. I continued listening, but the bard didn't say anything else about it. So I waited until the performance was over in order to pounce on him.

Moments later, I was in front of the man, a smile on my face. His body was hidden by layers of his gray robe, a hood covering his (potentially good-looking) face (or maybe ugly, but these types of characters are usually gorgeous, so I could hope). A mysterious type of guy... except for the fact that his titles revealed so much about him.

Seir Ludan

??? Lv.??? | ??? Lv.???

| Voice of Silver | Weaver of A Thousand Tales | Nightingale | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? | ??? |

... What's the use if they're all hidden! I tsukkomi'd, slightly frustrated. Then again, it could be said that the question marks also revealed plenty about a person. Or rather, it seemed there were several more question marks than there should be where it showed the classes. Huh, what did the system say about classes again? That's right, there were class advancements. But from what I could see, it looked more like he has a secondary class, even though it never mentioned anything like that. Could... class advancement mean secondary class? That wording is so confusing!

*Tting*

«System update: Class advancement has been changed to Secondary Class. Upon reaching level 20, people may choose a subclass to pair with their primary class»

... I don't even have any retorts for that right now.

I instead turned my attention back to the matter at hand. "Excuse me, Ludan-san?" I said, and the man looked up to me, revealing a pair of sharp golden eyes with pitch black scleras. Wow, so there were people with those sorts of eyes too, I admired.

Seeing that I was staring at him, he quickly pulled down the rim of his hood, his already pale skin going a little paler. "Ludan? Have you mistaken our Mihai for someone else?" A sweating dancer said as she wiped off her face with a handkerchief, her eyes wide as she walked up to us.

I didn't expect him to have been using an alias; I was too careless. I nervously glanced at the silent man before laughing nervously. "I guess I must have," I said, forcing myself to smile.

"Hmm, well daemons are quite rare, but they all look pretty similar, so I guess it isn't actually that odd for someone to mistake them!" She exclaimed, laughing along with me. A daemon, huh? Is that why his eyes were like that? Or rather, this girl was able to come up with so much even though I haven't even said anything... suspiciously convenient right there.

"You aren't going to discriminate against him because of his race are you?" She asked, her eyes suddenly turning sharp as she glared at me.

"No, no, of course not!" I replied. So daemons tend to be discriminated against? Hm, I can't actually say I find it all that surprising. Although I myself find those slit pupils and black sclera totally great, like a beautiful cosplayer, kind of.

I kept shooting glances at the bard, wanting to talk to him about the "City of a Thousand Lanterns". I actually wouldn't mind that much if I didn't find anything out about it, but how could I give up when he's right in front of me??

"So are you looking for this 'Ludan' person?"

"Oh, y-yeah..."

He's right here though.

"Hmm, our troupe goes all over the continent. You seem like a pretty enough girl, want to join us?" The woman asked with a grin. Good looks do wonders I say.

I froze, processing it. Well, this actually wasn't a bad deal at all. Traveling all around the continent was a good enough incentive, but additionally, I would have several chances to ask Ludan my question (though I doubt I'd remember about it the next day anyways). Plus! If I join them, wasn't there the possibility of getting paid?!

"Sure!"

"Well then, it's settled! I'm the troupe master, Lennor."

Lennor Alessandra

Dancer Lv. 12

| Kind | Beloved | Unobtainable | ??? | ??? |

"I am Luna Silverwing, it's a pleasure to meet you." I replied, narrowing my eyes at the question marks. Well, it was only two titles so I didn't think too much about it.

*Tting*

«Passive has leveled up!»

«Passive Lv.4 - Effects of passive skills are increased by +8%. Events Beyond your control are +8% more likely to yield beneficial rewards»

I kept my mouth shut, already having given up on this world's system.

"Get off your asses and let's pack up!" Lennon said, clapping her hands and the other troupe members immediately began to gather their stuff while complaining mildly.

"Lennor-san, weren't you resting too?!"

"Yeah, yeah, that's right, you can't say anything about us!"

"I demand a salary raise!"

Hey, wait, there was something totally unrelated in there, though??

Lennor stood there, her legs spread out and her arms over her chest, narrowing her emerald green eyes at them. With her long, wavy raven blue hair, and curvy body, it made a pretty good sight. "It's okay for me because I'm the leader!"

"Tyranny!"

"If you've got any complaints then just try and beat me!" She cracked her knuckles and everyone began to cower, immediately rushing to finish up.

Meanwhile, I was still standing beside the ever still and silent Ludan, who had yet to move a single inch. "How did you know?" He asked, his low voice pleasant to the ear and seeming to flow like water.

"Know what?" I feigned ignorance.

"My real name."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." My eyes wandered away, looking in the other direction.

Silence. He didn't say anything, and the silence pressed down on me. You're making me nervous! Say something! Anything!

"Okay, okay, I admit I know your real name!" I said, giving in to the silent treatment. "But it's because of a special skill I've had since I came into this world!" I manipulated my words just so that it wasn't a lie... but it wasn't exactly the entire truth either.

"So? What did you want with me? Since you aren't even searching for the nonexistent Ludan, why are you joining our troupe?" He said, his tone reminding me of a police interrogation, although it didn't work too well considering how beautiful his voice sounded.

"Well, her offer was pretty good, and I planned on traveling anyways. As for why I called out to you... uhm... I was actually just wondering..."

"What?? You don't know what the City of a Thousand Lanterns is??" He exclaimed, drawing attention to us. I was slightly embarrassed, even though I shouldn't be. In the first place, I'm not even from this world, okay!

"The City of a Thousand Lanterns is where Lindel currently stands. They say that the founding emperor of Astarne had personally burned the city to the ground before building his palace on it's ashes. There have been rumors to this day about how that city, the previous capital of the Kingdom of Sages, still exists in the Spirit World, and that the Spirit Kings possessed the silver key that opens the gate leading to its location.

"There's also been hearsay that Raitahy, the guild master of the Summoners Guild, has the ability to summon one of the Spirit Kings, and possibly possesses that rumored key." He explained to me. Isn't he actually a pretty nice guy?

But wait. Excuse me. What did you say there? A... silver key... and the summoners guild...? I began to sweat buckets, going a little blue in the face. It's not what I think it is, is it?

"Huh? Is something the matter?" He asked, glancing at me.

"Ahahahahaha, nothing is wrong! Absolutely nothing at all!!" I said, my eyes beginning to swim around suspiciously as I refused to look straight at him.

"Are you joking with me?" Lennor's loud voice reached our ears, and we turned to see the beautiful dancer arguing with a kid that looked like a young errand or messenger boy.

Spotting us, she waved him away and came over, her face weary. "They've just found the bodies of fifteen summoners, including the guild master, in their guild building. It seems that the master's room was ransacked. They're currently searching for the culprit, with the city is on lockdown for now."

Oh, shit.