It has been a few days since the incident where the house got attacked. I have mostly calmed down, the anger from before is still there but I can manage to hide it. I have been training at frightening pace ever since the attack. Gramps told us to head out the forest and do whatever we desire as long as we do not endanger ourselves because gramps won't be able to watch over me for some time. I've already decided on my goal, be strong enough to defeat a [God]. I made another dimensional pouch that can take 1 meter of space and took all the items I could from the house that were important. Gramps' library was apparently mobile and could be stored in a cube anytime. I can't really figure out how that works but since magic can make anything possible I'll let it pass.

I took every important item from the house, I left the furniture and only brought stuff that I need for travelling. Gramps told us to leave the house and someone will come to hide it soon, as stated in Aine-san's letter. I am a little hesitant in leaving the house but since it's for the best I will do my utmost to forget about this house. The best way to head right now is to a village, as long as I don't introduce myself as Chikara Kai, I'll be fine. Gramps actually registered me as Chikara Kai so that people will think I'm his grandson. I have to go into an alias using my real name which is kind of weird to be an alias. I should head to a place that seems likely to be a Dark Guild base. Aine-san told me the nearest village is a small one which has financial troubles on top of that also has a food shortage. There are an abundance of animals in the surroundings but they don't have enough manpower to hunt for the whole village. She told me it'd be a good start so I can start solving problems like this on my own and get the support of a lot of people.

On top of resources, what's needed in this world is influence. If you have a record of achievements it'll be easier to achieve anything you want. There are training grounds for high-ranking people. They all have several mana pillars surrounding them, when someone trains there, their training speed will increase by at least twofold. Of course those are for [Mages]. Training grounds for [Knights] and the other classes are different, all suited to their respective classes. I should hurry up and get higher in this world, once I do I'd be able to reach the level of a [God] faster. The weakest [God] has a power of 10,000 for each statistic, the strongest [God] right now apparently has 100,000. I learned all of this in gramps' library books. But the age of those books were at least a thousand years old, [Gods] might be stronger now, maybe even twice as strong as before. I am curious about one thing in my status: [God of Time], this is making me really uneasy. My status says I'm a [Human] but with that title I am really confused.

There is a (?) beside my status as [Human]. Does it mean I was reincarnated into a [God] in the body of a [Human]? Or was I born a [Human] who was granted the power of [God]? The only thing I know is that I will eventually have the power of a [God] and I will use it to fight against the [God] that injured gramps. I head to my room and take one last look at the surroundings. I felt a sense of loneliness when I remembered the memories popping up one after another. Although this is my second life, I have lived in this house for nine years. My eyes start to tear up but I shake my head and wipe the tears off my eyes.

"Kai, are you ready?"

"Yeah.."

"Then we'll head off for Zygel."

"Nn."

I take one last look and turn around to go though the door. I stepped out of the house and didn't look back a second time. Aine-san has only been here for a few days but we made many memories here. I could see her looking back sadly. She turned around, wiped the tears from her eyes and walked straight forward.

"Let's go."

"Nn."

[Track], my new magic. I used it since it is useful for travel, everywhere I go it will record data of the surroundings. If anything changed with the landscape, the map will only update once I open it. It is rather inefficient with that I have to go back to the previous area if I want to update the map but I guess it is acceptable seeing asI don't have to hold a map then risk losing it after buying it. Ah, now that I think about it, I don't know how much money I have.

"Aine-san? How will we get money?"

"Hm? We won't unless we get to the village and take requests."

"But aren't they financially troubled?"

"They will have the money for quests since they won't even put up requests if they can't pay for it."

"I see."

I guess food is more important than money for a village that is in decline. I send out my mana to sense for surrounding threats.

"Oh, you've learned how to track lifeforms?"

"Gramps taught it to me before we encountered the Dark Guild."

"That was only a few weeks ago, how were you able to achieve mastery over it?"

"It was pretty easy so I didn't think it was that big of a deal."

"Most people in the world do not know how to use it and those who do don't have this much mastery over it."

"What about the other races?"

"Only [Gods], [Demons], and [Celestials] have mastered it."

"The others?"

"They all have the same status as [Humans], most don't know about it."

"I see."

So this is a very valuable skill. Since most beings don't know about it then that means it is a lot easier to hide and stay in low profile with this.

"How long will it take for us to reach Zygel?"

"Roughly two days."

I really need to figure out more about this world, I may study some books about this world when I get the time.

"Ah, I also have a question, what type of currency do we use?"

"What?"

"What do we use to pay for items?"

"..Kai, could it be that you don't know what money is?!"

"Hahahaha...no."

"..."

She has a look of amazement on her face but she also looks like she's looking at me with pity.

"Well we use bronze, copper, silver, gold. Although there are other sets for other continents."

"What do you mean?"

"For the Demon Continent they use Demonic Coins. They are split into: Purple, violet, black."

"How about for the other continents?"

"Gods use all types of currency and they have no continent but [Angels] use Angelic Coins. Yellow, pure gold, and wing coins."

"Wing coins?"

"They are extremely rare and only a few [Angels] have them but they have a wing mark in the middle of the coin."

"What is it made of?"

"I don't know, there are very few [Humans] who know what it looks like."

"I see."

Hm? I should ask for the exchange from bronze to the other coins.

"What's the exchange rate?"

"10 bronze is 1 copper, 100 copper is 1 silver, 1000 silver is 1 gold."

"If you mix in Demonic Coins?"

"1000 Gold is 1 purple coin, 10 purple coin is 1 violet coin, 100 violet coin is 1 black coin."

"Angelic Coins?"

"1000 Gold is 1 yellow coin, 10 yellow coin is 1 pure gold coin, 100 pure gold coin is 1 wing coin."

"You can't exchange Demonic Coins for Angelic Coins?"

"No, you have to convert it back to [Human] currency before converting it to Angelic or Demonic Coins."

I can understand the basics of currency here now. Although I still have a few more questions.

"What is the average income of a small village?"

"100 Silver for a small village, 300 silver for a medium-sized village, and 500 silver for a big village."

"Yearly?"

"Yearly."

Money is so scarce..

"Although small cities get 1000 silver or 1 gold. Medium-sized cities get 5 gold and huge cities have 10 gold."

"Money is so scarce.."

"The average amount of money that a person needs for food and an inn is 5 bronze."

"Eh? So that means with 5 copper you'd already have 10 days worth of living expenses?!"

"Exactly."

"Zygel is a small village right?"

"Yes, I believe that they have a lot of merchants in the vicinity so they are a village that is slightly higher than other small villages."

"Why are there a lot of merchants?"

"Because of the surroundings, there are few monsters and there are also valuable resources."

"Why are we gonna start there?"

"Two reasons, one: it is the nearest. Two: to get some capital."

"Oh, I see. Since it is not that economically disabled we can get some money?"

"You catch on fast, though you do have a lot of questions."

"I can't help it."

I look at my dimensional storage and see that I have 20 copper.20 copper, I think gramps forgot to give me money before he left.

"Aine-san I have a total of 20 copper on me."

"Hm.. That will last us roughly a month and a quarter."

"You don't have money?"

"No, I didn't think I was gonna take care of someone when I came here."

"Oh.."

It makes sense, when you're gonna fight a bunch of enemies. We continue walking in the distance as I was asking questions about villages and quests. Quests are apparently only allowed to be taken who have an [Adventurer's Card]. This is almost like a game! We even have to register for adventuring and quests. The fee for adventuring is 10 bronze. Quests are also split up like monsters: E, D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS. Any level of adventurer is allowed to take any quest except S, SS, and SSS. Only adventurers who are of S-rank can take S quests and so on. E-ranks can take E quests to A quests. You get a higher rank when you do achievements like completing 100 quests for your rank or completing a higher level quest 10 times and so on. Of course it is not limited to quests, achievements like defeating a great enemy without a quest is also viable for a rank up.

A FEW HOURS LATER

"Kai, do you want to take a rest? We've been walking non-stop for quite a while."

"I can keep going but we should rest before any monsters attack us."

"Nn."

I bring out a tent from my dimensional storage and set it up. We set up a fire using sticks and fire magic.

"[Ignite]."

A small, thin flame sprouted from the tip of my pointing finger. I just touched the tip of the sticks with the flame and it all ignited.

".."

"Aine-san?"

"What do we use for food..?"

"..."

Ah, I forgot about that.

"Let's do this, you'll hunt for training."

"Aren't you just throwing work at me while you relax?"

"No, think of this as hunting training so you can hunt alone."

It's not really that convincing when she's avoiding eye contact as she's saying that. Her face is like an open book when telling lies. She either looks away from the people she's lying to or she covers her eyes using her hand.

"Aine-san, actuall-"

"Save it for after you hunt."

I was gonna tell her that her face is an open book when telling lies but I guess I'll hold that for another day.

"I guess boar should do."

I walk away from our camp as I put one of my hands on my shortsword.

"I thought you were a magician, why are you using a shortsword and not a staff or wand?"

"Do staffs or wands do anything special?"

"They increase your magic power."

"Well I use shortswords since magic needs to be aimed and charged."

"Can't you cast magic instantly?"

"If I'm unprepared while casting, it may backfire on me."

"But magic doesn't backfire for magicians?"

"My type of magic is different from others as gramps said."

"Hm.."

"Well off I go."

"Take care."

I walk towards the forest as I let my magic slip out to find some animals. Walking in the forest at night is really creepy when you can't see anything much.

"[Flare]."

The area around me illuminates as I search for lifeforms. The trees in the forest are all shaped weird. As I continue to walk, I see a lot of strange markings on the trees.

"Weird? The trees were all fine when I set off from the camp."

Wait, now that I look closely, these markings were not carved, rather they were..burnt? I go near one of the trees and inspect the burn markings.. They look familiar? My hand is being drawn to the markings and I stick my pointing finger out and touch the markings as I trace the patterns.

"AGH!"

My head! It hurts! I place both my hands on my head as I scream. Symbols flow inside my mind, these.. symbols, I've never seen them before but I feel a sense of nostalgia from them. They all flash in front of my eyes at an unbelievable speed. My memory memorizes them all as they flash even at this speed. The pain is even more excruciating than before as it seems to be ending. As I keep screaming I keep my eyes open for the words. Then it stopped. All of a sudden, they stopped. It didn't even show signs of slowing down before stopping. My vision is getting blurry and my body feels heavy. My vision is narrowing and one last word popped out: [GOD OF TIME]. My blurry vision and weak body restored itself slowly, as my vision started to return I stumble because of the shock I received.

As I look around my surroundings I suddenly had a vision. Eh? A pig-like monster attacked me from the left while I was stumbling? Could this be a premonition?! Is it involved with my [God of Time] status?! I look to my left and I see nothing, could it be that vision was false? No, it may just be a little bit further in the future.

"PUKYAAA!"

"!"

I immediately look towards the left again and see a red colored pig with black marks that look like veins. I place my right hand on my scabbard and unsheathe my blade. I use my left hand to cast magic.

"[Fire Rockets]."

I aim my hand facing the pig and a cluster of fire in the form of balls shot off at high speeds towards the pig.

"PUKYAAAAAAA!"

The pig got hit on the stomach area, I can't tell if it groaned in pain or got angry. Its roar seems to be the same. Dust covered the area the pig got shot in because of the explosion. I squint my eyes to get a closer look at the pig, to see if it was still alive. Huh? The corpse.. it disappeared?! I get closer to the area and inspect the surroundings, it did disappear. It didn't evaporate or anything of the sort, it was taken away by someone.. As I was lost in thought I looked at the surroundings once more and see a figure. It looked human? As I was thinking about it wings sprouted from the side and knocked away the trees that got hit.

"Wh-?!"

Before I could ask who that person was I saw it jump towards me. She had pitch black wings, black eyes with yellow outlines, and gray skin. I only know of one race which has these qualities: [Demon]!

"Kid, looks like you took care of my pet."

"Your pet..?"

I was sweating as I looked at the [Demon] in the eyes. This is the power of a [Demon], I could sense the overflowing aura about to crush me with pressure alone.

"Hmm..You don't act as scared as other people, no in fact you are analyzing me."

"!"

She figured it out! I can't believe [Demons] are like this, no wonder they're ranked third! She looked at me as if she was staring at prey who had no choice but to submit to her, yet I feel that she won't kill me, yet.

"I think it would be a waste to kill you seeing as you have so much potential."

"..."

"How about this, I'll give you 10 seconds to run and if you get away from me, I'll leave you alone unless you provoke me. As an added bonus I'll even pardon your companions if you have any."

"Really?"

"[Demons] lie a lot but I'm not one of those. In the honor of my name Mio, I will uphold this agreement."

"How can I be assured you won't kill me?"

"I like a good challenge."

I look at her in the eyes and not a hint of doubt could be seen. [Demons] are very proud of their names, one name being disgraced is the same as disgracing the ancestors of that name. I have no choice but to trust her, I swallow as I begin to talk with a slight hesitation.

"I accept."

"Alright then, 10!"

"[Time Stop]!"

Everything turned pale as I ran as fast as I can towards the camp. I could feel that time was moving too fast, most of the time I'd use 10 seconds and rest for 10 seconds but I need every last second I can get. A [Demons] sight is good, no, great even. I have to at least run 50 meters to get out of her sight using the darkness.

"[Mana Surge]."

My whole body's mana flow suddenly became overcharged and improved all my abilities. I jumped using the mana to launch myself. The moment I landed, not even dust moved. Time had really stopped, I was once then reminded I needed to hurry. I then sprinted will all my might without looking back. If one were to look closely you'd see the wind being tossed aside at the speed I'm going. I saw the smoke from the camp and sped up. 4, 3, 2, 1. Time's up. The color from my surroundings came back and the smoke that was stagnant moved. My face turned pale but I did not hesitate to use the last of my power to sprint farther.

"Eh? Where did that kid go?"

The [Demon] looked around and finally faced my direction and couldn't find me. The [Demon] had a look of surprise written all over her face, that look of surprise then turned into a smirk.

"That kid, he ran that far in a second.. I can't help but feel something threatening from him.. It was something familiar, yet I couldn't put my hands on it."

I should eliminate him. I am a woman that keeps my promises but this kid is really making me uneasy. The [Demon] pondered for a moment before closing her eyes and thinking, after a few seconds she opened her eyes and talked in a low voice.

"..I'll let him live for now."

The [Demon] turns around, looked back for an instant then faced the other way. She took a pose that made her look like she was gonna jump, sure enough there was a crater left behind after she jumped. There was an enormous amount of mana in that jump. It would make most [Humans] shudder at the thought of being hit by that vast amount of mana.

"Another exciting person has come up, it has been a few years since I've seen a kid not to mention a [Human] who's that strong.

I turn around to see that the [Demon] did not chase me. She kept her promise, my eyes were filled with gratitude. I slowly walk back to the camp breathing heavily. As I approach, I see a vague shadow inside the tent. It was Aine-san, looks like she's sitting inside the tent. I approach and see her stand up.

"Hm? Kai you're back?"

"Yeah.."

"Why do you look so tired?"

"Aine-san, we need to get out of here."

Aine-san's expression turned serious as she asked.

"Did something happen?"

"A..[Demon]."

"!"

Her eyes displayed an expression of shock only for a brief second before she bit her lip and gathered everything inside the camp and stored it. It only took a minute or two before she was finished then took my hand and walked at a fast pace.

"Kai, listen closely, [Demons] are not to be provoked. When you see one, immediately flee."

"I know."

"Will you tell me what happened with the [Demon]?"

"I fled after.. talking to it briefly."

"!"

She looked with an expression of fear then it quickly got replaced with concern when she looked at me and scanned my body for any wounds.

"[Scan]."

[Scan] is a type of [Support] magic that senses any 'impurities' from bodies to the surrounding areas. By 'impurities' I meant wounds, illnesses, and even poison although it could still be improved to scan for mana flow. It is one of the most useful types of [Support] magic seeing as you can find the root of the problem and find a cure for it immediately. Most [Healers] do not have the ability to use this skill but there is no [Healer] in the world who does not know of it. [Healers] have a very high demand in the world, though there is an abundance of other classes compared to it, the amount of [Healers] in the world are still not in decline.

A faint blue light could be seen from her eyes, she looked all over my body, focused. She looked all over me for a few seconds before breathing a sigh of relief. The blue light from her eyes disappeared and she stood up, she then looked at me with a stern expression and asked in a concerned voice.

"Are you sure nothing has been done to you?"

She was asking as if she was interrogating me. I didn't hesitate and decide to tell her most of the story, I answered in a serious expression.

"Yes, the [Demon] didn't hurt me in the slightest. For your concern I will tell you all of the events that have happened."

Naturally I will leave the part of the [God of Time] business out. I took one huge breath and answered.

"I encountered a pig that was colored red and had black veins on it, I deemed it as a threat and killed it. As I approached it, the body disappeared until I saw the figure of a person in the horizon."

".."

She continued to listen attentively to my story.

"Before I knew it, the person that was there disappeared and appeared in front of me in the blink of an eye, I was shocked and looked at her features. She had gray skin, pitch-black wings, and last of all black eyes with yellow outlines."

"Sounds like a [Demon], but how were you able to survive?"

This part gets tricky, I'll bend the story slightly.

"She told me her pet was the pig and I killed it, she originally planned to kill me but she told me that I had potential and gave me a test to complete. This was to run for 10 seconds to get away from her vision."

"That would take at least 100 meters, 50 if you use the darkness and surroundings."

"Nn."

She slowly digested the information and thought about it then asked me another question.

"[Demons] tend to lie."

"She told me that in honor of her name she would not kill me and even pardon my companions unless I provoke her."

"Most [Demons] still wouldn't be trustworthy."

"Her second reason was that she wanted a challenge in the future."

She pondered for a moment and shook her head.

Could that [Demon] be? No, it isn't possible. She had disappeared from the face of this world for years.

She looked at me again and asked one final question.

"Was her name by any chance, Mio?"

A shocked expression was shown on my face as I nodded and said.

"Yes."

"!"

She showed an expression of terror and she looks like she would question any further.

"Listen to me Kai, this [Demon] is in the top 10 of the [Demons] in this world."

"!"

Then that means she could've flattened me and Aine-san in a second?! I was terrified as I thought of that possibility and continued to listen to her story.

"A long time ago in the [Human] continent a certain city was being used as lodging by a single [God]. This [God] was the [God of Control]. Just as the name implies, he can control anyone below him, though only by half. The [God of Control] had very few attack skills from his [God Form] but had a frightening power nonetheless, he would control other people or beings to serve him and use them as shields in battle. He was a very wicked [God], very rare for his kind. Although he was a [God], he used subordinates to fight against strong [Demons] and [Gods]. Nevertheless, anything below can not scratch him."

"Can't [Angels] fight against them?"

"[Angels] are at the same level as high-rank [Demons] but are not a match for major [Demon] leaders."

"But aren't [Demons] ranked below [Angels]?!"

"They are of the same placement when aligned with other races."

That means, [Demons] have the power to defeat [Angels] but not gods? Wouldn't the [Gods] have already wiped them out?

"There are more [Demons] than [Angels] when united but most [Demons], like gods do not wish to be in the presence of other races."

Is that the reason why [Demons] are the same rank as [Angels]?

"There was once a very strong [Demon] named Mio, who was actually righteous, or so the stories said. Nevertheless she is still a [Demon] so most people still do not believe her."

".."

"Mio once encountered the [God of Control] and saw that he was holding a whole city as his personal lodging. She was annoyed and started a battle with the [God of Control] knowing full well he was one of the [Gods] with the weakest attack power. Their battles continued for several days and ended with Mio winning. The [God of Control] went missing and legends say that he has died or was recovering his strength. Mio also disappeared shortly afterwards."

"Then why are you so wary of her?"

"Because of the real reason she fought with the [God of Control]."

"The real reason?"

She only told me the legend and not the real story, legends are far from the real story as they are always exaggerated but I don't think this is too far from the truth.

"She killed every civillian in the whole city after the [God of Control] left."

"!"

Doesn't that mean that she just took care of the [God of Control] just for taking the lives of civillians!? [Demons] really are fiendish.

"Kai, under any circumstances fight a [Demon]."

"I understand."

She turned around and looked back at me smiling as she talked.

"Let's go."

"Nn."

Zygel, we're headed for you!