Turns out. Setting up a shop wasn't that difficult. The street was far less limited in space than it looked. It would be empty though, completely undecorated. She went with it anyway. She may not have any services to sell now, but then again, she was level 1. The Warlock found herself in this empty space now, thinking about her next moves. She had realised something yesterday; she was always going to get passed over at her company. She was twice as capable as some of those fucks, but she kept being looked over. She was just handed a new opportunity to grow. A new avenue of advancement. It might be different, and the start would have complications, but it was better than doing the same thing all over again.

The shop space she bought was pretty good. It even had a second floor living space. That felt like a strange inclusion to her. She hadn't thought of it, but it might be useful to live her part-time once everything was up and running. Well, he was 'The Diviner'. That brought up another thought. What kind of people had shops here? Could she but magic equipment? She made some photos of the space and some rough measurements. She would need to furnish this place with some basic stuff before she opened anything up.

Making her way outside she remembered her list of shops to check on and tried to get her bearings. The space wasn't as overwhelming the second time, but the various light and advertisements still made it difficult to locate the shops she was looking for. Another thing to put on the list for her future shop.

Walking down the street she made her way to one of the few shops on her list. Beholder Culinary Depository. It sounded a bit strange and a quick google search of the word beholder made her worry even more. On the other hand, there was a strong argument however, magical food. How could she not be interested in that? I mean, it just made sense.

The shop itself was rather tame for what she had imagined. It looked similar to a butcher shop. There were three glass cases with all manner of food prepared in view of her. The strangest thing was probably the seller though. They wore a butcher’s outfit that looked very clean and well maintained and had leather gloves on. They also looked human which she should have thought of really, but she had expected an orc or elf or something. It was a bit of a let-down to be honest, but she was here for the food anyway, so it didn't stop her for long.

The food came in many varieties that also looked rather... normal really. She had expected multiple eyes or moving flesh, maybe even some live animals. In front of her were cuts of meat that looked normal enough though. Her opinion quickly changed once she read the signs though.

- Level 2 Dire Cow steak

- Level 1 Wolf ribs seasoned

- Level 3 Pork fillet

She was bit perturbed by their levels. The Dire Cow was stronger than her? An image of a buff cow with foot long horns came to her mind and she was instantly happy that she was still level 1. The attendant was happy enough to help her and soon she was walking out with a cut from a cow that could have probably killed her. She wondered how it would taste.

Her next stop was Spells and how not to die. The shop was small but busy. She had originally intended to speak to the staff and get some more information, but they seemed too busy for her. She made her way to the book section instead and found what she was looking for anyway. She was quickly in the queue with two new books under her arm.

- Devils and Demons, a study in contrasts

- Magic for idiots

The last one felt like a small insult, but she had made not one but two deals with a devil. Maybe she was being an idiot the second time. If what she had learned from the second deal overlapped too much with the book, she would know that she had been scammed. That would be bad news. At least she would then know that she could get this knowledge elsewhere. She also worried about her second delve. She was planning to head out tomorrow when her ordered 'gear' would arrive. However, she remembered the contract and that her devil would be in contact. She really had to read these books and fast.

Coming back home she ordered some Chinese food and opened her books. She had read through plenty of annoying text at her corporate job, hopefully this would be different but even if it wasn't, she was prepared for it. This was a whole new layer of reality, and she was done being unprepared. It was time to get caught up.