The sun shining down on the colorful city I habitually move to block it with my hand even though my eyes have no issue with excess light anymore.

Stepping out of the clan hall I find my guard waiting for me. A blonde haired girl who is somehow shorter than me despite no doubt being far older. Usually people reach Class 3 in their late 20s or early 30s, and I can tell that despite the slowed aging that this woman was around her mid 20s when she advanced, slowing her aging. The swirling patterns along her skin announcing her wind magic and her eyes taking the form of small storms. I actually recognize this person.

It turns out the person who will be keeping me safe is Jen. I remember I mentioned to the clan leader that Jen was not a problem like the other two in her party were.

I guess he chose her to chaperone me as she is someone I already knew and is a woman.

“Yo.”

“Hey.”

Giving our rather short hellos we skip the small talk and I have her guide me to the first stop on my list.

Helimos was able to detect Alice’s presence despite her being invisible, I realized that that was because he could detect her mana and aura which was not concealed by the light spell. Something neither of us know how to hide properly. So with that in mind I am looking for a temporary fix until we can do such things ourselves.

Following Jen from behind as her hair flows with and against the wind as if it has a mind of its own, I start creating a map of the city with my light magic. Taking an overhead view of the city and marking down shops I might want to visit later I collect all the information and store it within my eyes. A little trick I discovered after my advancement, I can now use the glowing orbs that are my eyes for all kinds of shenanigans involving my light magic.

The spheres of light let me manipulate them as much as I want, which I practiced the entire first day in order to turn my eyes back to normal. Or at least look normal. Expanding on that I realized I could compress all kinds of information into them which led to my little Heads Up Display project. It is still unfinished but already incredibly useful.

I can’t tell anyone but I put everyone's names above their heads as I really suck at remembering names of people I just met.

[ And yet your memory for magic and runes is incredible. ]

I have been chatting with Alice the whole time to keep her from feeling left out. It is easy when Jen does not say too much and has no interest in smothering me.

[ The reason I find it easy to remember magic and things like that is because I find the subjects enjoyable. I just don’t see anything interesting about other people though. They are just so flawed. ]

[ And you aren’t? ]

I can’t argue that I am not flawed. I know I have a million issues after everything I have been through in both my lives. The difference is I acknowledge it. I know my problems and don’t let them affect others. I know I am selfish, greedy, and generally lacking in empathy. I just keep a lid on all that. Never letting it show.

Alice doesn’t respond to that. I think we have different opinions about the kind of person I am, I just have not had the opportunity to let my mask slip.

Shaking my head of the quickly derailing conversation I come to a stop behind Jen as she opens the door to the enchanted items shop.

Looking up at the wooden sign hanging from the building I find a logo of constellation like runes covering a box with the words “Shining Thorn, Enchantery” above.

I hear a jingle go off from the bell as we enter the store. The space before me is about the size of an average grocery store back on earth, but with all kinds of tools and baubles lining the shelves instead of produce. There is even a refrigerated section for items that need to be kept cold.

I walk straight to the aisle labeled for presence concealment tools and spend at least 15 minutes just staring at the different designs and descriptions. Eventually I pick out a small ring that looks like it is made of jade and take it to the counter to purchase. I have to show my guild badge to be allowed to purchase it due to some regulations but I manage to get it in the end despite my non-existent reputation.

Dropping by the restroom real quick I have Alice hop out of my bag and place the ring on her wrist. Now she can sit on my shoulder while invisible without worrying about being noticed!

[ Thanks. ]

The little fairy sheepishly replies with a blush on her face before fading from view again.

Now that that is taken care of we browse the store together, looking for anything that might be useful in the future. I don’t need to worry about heat with my thermal shell and darkness is a non-issue so a lot of camping supplies are out. However I do buy a really soft and fluffy sleeping bag as I have slept on the cold hard ground far too many times. Though, now that I think about it I never did try making a golem bed…

[ Idiot. ]

Ignoring the fairy who I can feel swaying her legs on my shoulder I pick up the necklace on the shelf in front of me. A silvery green chain leading to a golden crystal that shines with a pale purple light in the center.

“Damn, that is expensive.”

Looking over my shoulder at the price Jen mutters. “And that is one of the cheapest models.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

The necklace is a spatial storage device that you can put equipment and loot in. However the number of zeros in the price tag means even my rather large advance on pay won’t even cover the first payment on a 5 year plan.

Putting the necklace down I buy the rest of the things I did find useful, and could afford, then leave the store.

After that, I spent quite a while browsing stores and buying things I had forgotten I needed until lunch came around. Jen and I dined at this fantasy world's equivalent of a fast food joint and the taste, while slightly strange, sent me to the moons after the trash I had been eating in The Sea of Trees.

I nearly cried from that. As we finished up I turned to Jen and decided to get her opinion as I had run out of places to go.

“Hey, do you happen to know any interesting places I could visit?”

Jen places a finger to her chin and thinks for a second, looking around out the window to check our location. Then she smiles.

“I do have one idea.”

Her smile turns very serious for a moment.

“But you have to promise not to tell my wife.”

“That won’t be an issue.”

Nodding our heads at each other we head out, me trailing behind Jen once again.

It takes about an hour of walking before I notice that the town's quality seems to be degrading the further we get.

“Um… You still have not said where we are going.”

Stopping in place before a random non-descript warehouse Jen turns around and smiles.

“We're here!”

Turning back she knocks on the door in a strange pattern and pushes some mana into some of the knocks. After a few seconds of doing that the door opens and she leads me inside. The door leading directly to another with a big burly man with razor sharp teeth and a serious look on his face.

“Welcome back Jen, Who’s the kid?”

“Just a newbie at the clan. Managed to survive in the second ring for a year after falling in at the start of Class 1.”

The sharp toothed man raises an eyebrow and grins a bit.

“She here to fight?”

“Nah, just observe for today.”

“Aight.”

And after that whole cryptic exchange finishes he opens the door and Jen leads me down a long staircase that bottoms out into a room bigger than the guild halls main lobby. The smell of sweat and blood fills the air as I can see a giant fighting ring in the middle surrounded by a crowd of screaming bloodthirsty fans.

In the ring stands a man covered in scales and looking a bit more like a fish than a human after his evolution. Opposing him is a red skinned man whose veins seem to pulse and move constantly.

The fish man fires off a jet of high pressure water aiming for the tall dark haired man who suddenly dodges out of the way without moving his leg. I can see his red skin pull as though his blood moved under his skin and dragged his body along with it.

Whips of crimson blood lash out to attack the fish man's shiny deep blue scales and cut pretty deep. The whips begin seeping into the wounds and begin causing even more damage. Just as it looks like the blood mage is about to win, his opponent grins, and all the water that had been filling the stage floor from their fight wraps around the blood mage's face and forces itself down into his lungs.

Both fighters struggle to kill the other before succumbing to their enemies' attacks. Shockingly to the audience, the blood mage is the first to die and the ring boots everyone out and heals them up. I can hear shouting and cheering as people discuss their bets on the fight.

“Wow, that was a crazy fight.”

Both of them were Class 3, and while I do think I wouldn’t lose immediately if I fought myself. I can’t say for sure if I could eek out a win.

Jen leads me to a spot in the seats around the stage after the fight so we can get a better view of the next one.

“Heyyy, Jen! Finally ditch ya girl and get yourself a younger model?”

“Shut up frank. I am just showing the girl around. She just joined our clan.”

Jen just brushes off the guy as she focuses on the stage.

“Damn! Class 2 at your age. How did our crappy clan manage to scout you?”

I turn towards the man who is only a bit taller than me or Jen with a face that looks so boringly normal that you would almost forget you are in an underground fighting ring. I am about to answer when the announcer for the fights gets up on stage.

“Helloooo Everyoneeee! Now it is time for the special event of the evening. Are you ready?!”

Getting the crowd hyped up, the man turns towards one side of the venue to which the doors open and a small grey figure steps out. A body that looks like it is made of stone with red veins of magma flowing across it is pushed forwards into the ring and the door shut behind it.

“In this corner we have a Class 4 dwarf using Magmamancy, a magic focused around magma!” The announcer now pointing towards the other end of the ring I see a young woman pushed out as well, her skin looking almost similar to Alice’s with silver hair draped around the collar on her neck. One that matches the dwarfs. “And in this corner we have a Class 4 elf using a rare type of wind magic called Whirlwind!”

The crowd is going nuts at this reveal. I can already tell what is about to happen. I turn to look at Jen, the person who seemed so cool moments ago. Her face tells it all, she is loving it alongside the rest of the crowd.

The audience is lapping the whole thing up. But the scared look on the contestants faces, Especially the elf girl who I can’t help but see a bit of Alice in, It just makes me feel sick.

“Get your bets in now! The stakes are high on this one. The winner of this fight, like always, gets to keep on living! and the loser dies!”

I had forgotten, or at least I tried to forget. One of the things I was taught as a kid by my parents was how to hate other races. It is common across all the human nations, the discrimination against anything non human. These people had all seemed so nice, caring even. But It’s all a matter of perspective. Of course they are nice to a human, but what if I had been an elf or something when they found me in those woods. The outcome is clear.

Now, after dying and getting these memories of a life from earth, I know that hatred I grew up leaving from is wrong. I had always questioned why I should hate the other races. Maybe that is why my mother hated me, because I questioned her hatred. Being hated for who you are is something I had to deal with myself. I refuse to participate in such discrimination.

I ball my fist to keep myself from saying something that might give my thoughts away.

Maybe, I can put this Demon Lord Title to good use. I can give the world something better to hate, something to fear.