After spending a night just sitting on the roof of a house enjoying the cool breeze and ambient sounds of life, it had been chiefly Eden and me for so long that the constant sounds of life, no matter how quiet at night time, was quite the difference.

I wonder how Eden is doing.

Taking out some of the many monster parts I had unintentionally gathered, I think back to what I learned at the Library thanks to Mary. As they said, there wasn't much, but it was enough for a start, especially since I actually know where I am now.

First off, instead of the Creation Realm, the name people call the realm is called Osux.

The central continent, or continents we are on is shaped very oddly; the right side is effectively a Cape large enough to be its own damn continent being unimaginatively called the Eastern Continent, and as I found it is shaped like a large sideways anvil head with one large archipelago at the bottom so instead is more like an anvil where half of the anvil exploded.

The Eastern Continent is separated from the Western Continents by marshland, the dividing forest and an expansive mountain range full of monsters. Finally, the western continents are the largest, being a big circle twice the size of the east with plenty of off-shoot countries.

This world is massive. I learned there were also continents across the sea to the right, but we adopted the if I can't see you, you can't see me policy, so we don't actually know much about what's over there.

I also don't have too much info on the West, apparently other than it's a gigantic deformed circle with several branches or off-shooting islands, an example being the Eastern Continent, an off-shoot continent.

Again, truly massive.

I gathered that I was actually near the separating mountain range between the East and the West when I first arrived in this Realm. This town is also quite close to the border, near the lower section near the rounded waist just before the continent splits into islands. Surprisingly, I don't see the bay yet, but I was told it was definitely there.

Dominating the East (or head part of the anvil) are two relatively large countries on the top and bottom, along with several much smaller countries that could almost be called city-states. These city-states are on the neck part of the anvil where Wildfold is.

The first large country occupies the whole of the upper peninsula. In contrast, the second country occupies most of the lower peninsula, where a nearby archipelago sits.

The City-states, including Wildfold, is known as The Outlands. They Act as a buffer between larger nations and the monster-infested part of the marsh and forests. This is also part of the reason why the kingdoms leave us alone to act as a city-state, because y'know, instead of them dying to monsters, we would instead.

The Kingdom of Rivets occupies half the south "Half-Moon Bay" as it was named and half the nearby archipelago, while the Krarith Dynasty lies to the north, being one whole landmass instead of Rivets half Islands and half mainland. Our town has many refugees from the two major kingdoms and a few from the city-states, including one fellow relatively large city-state called Athon that could nearly be called its own country, but I digress.

Due to the refugees, the constant threat of monsters and the general social distancing from the rest of the world, this town is a massive cultural centre with not only a high sense of community but also a surprisingly friendly competition between other city-states with a good mix of many different species from a war that apparently is still on-going, but more subdued in recent years.

Wildfold is actually in a nice sweet spot where they don't see many powerful monsters but are left enough alone from the other countries; everything just goes right for this place it seems.

However, while this stuff was undoubtedly interesting and valuable, what was the most interesting was the magic and demon books. At the same time, I completely skipped the history books that I will eventually learn.

While the demon books mostly talked about fascinating rumours and legends, a weird ranking system and an equally weird prophecy about a future war. What I learned from the magic books was more relatable yet similarly frustrating in that they use really simple and boring runes; the worst part was that they don't even come up with their own runes.

Instead, most species use preset runes and put those preset runes into even more preset formations that I still don't know where they actually get from, which was highly disappointing.

To dumb it down, so I don't ramble. When I create magic, it is similar to a mix of programming and various other technical skills, relying on making mana do what you want, in the way you want it, with the power you want, all while not exploding. Typically when I create a magic formation, it involves making my own runes and fusing them together in a sequence or system, thus creating either a magic formation or a rune formation, or whatever name suits you.

In most circumstances, these magic formations end up looking weird and complex. For example, portraying overlapping shapes and symbols like some 3-year-old tried to paint the alphabet drunk in a space way too small to fit the alphabet. It is no exaggeration to say that it takes a fair amount of intelligence, creativity and even imagination to get magic formations actually to perform magic.

Sadly, I found something infuriating when I looked at the information in the magic and spellbooks I read. Not only humans, but a vast amount of other races use preset magic formations found in spellbooks that, in itself, are already very simple magic formations.

They don't actually create their own magic. Instead, preferring to copying runes from a book and fumbling to fit it inside a magic formation, it isn't magic damn it!

The only reason not all species can use magic because of these preset formations is that most of the time, they somehow don't even have mana in the first place. Combined with the fact that they need an affinity for elements, even though I don't have an affinity.

It is also possible that I just simply have an affinity for everything. Either way, I have been scammed. In this criminal misuse of the word magic, it will be harder to find someone who is even decent at magic.

However, there is one thing that these so-called mages did right. Instead of leaving the magic formation bare (like me), they surround the formation with what they call a 'Magic Circle', which fortifies the magic runes and amplifies the mana, thus creating more stable, powerful and simply better magic.

It even looks better too.

The only downside I found is that the magic circle has to perfectly 'fit' the formation, or it will utterly backfire, similar to if you tried to fit a triangle into a square block; it just doesn't work. Meaning you have to change the circle, sometimes either very slightly or so significantly that it may not even be a 'circle' anymore.

In the case of literally everyone else, since they all use premade and very simplified magic formations that aren't very impressive, it is typically effortless to get a magic circle to fit the formation due to its simplicity. In the end, this still produces very amateurish magic but at a higher capacity and level than it deserves. The more complex the formations, the more complex the circle is required, and it scales appropriately.

I will have to test trying other shapes for my formations, maybe squares, pentagons or octagons. That is the only way I will get half my magic to actually work since some of my magic is so complicated that no matter what deformed circle I use, it won't work; I tried, trust me.

Another thing I learned about magic is that they stupidly separated it into categories. For example, there is ‘rare’ magic that involves using just your sheer will, affinity and mana capacity that is simply called Affinity magics due to the requirement of having an actual affinity for the magic or element used and a mana capacity. In contrast, the other type of magic that I just discussed, where you use magic formations and circles to create magic, is called Runic magic. Interestingly, there was another called Spirit magic, but I don't know about it so that I won't comment, but the function is in the name, using Spirits for Spirit magic.

I called separating the magics stupid because, in the end, they still all use mana in some sort of way, which is inherently tied to your will and mind anyway. Half the time, they think it is some mystic force, and the other times some ridged system that only runes and gods can use.

They are trapping themselves in preconceived notions that there is a difference between the two. There are probably many people who think that they can only use one type of magic when there is little difference between the two (or three, counting Spirit magic); you need a natural affinity for magic with imagination and creativity. Still, you also have to put that into systems and rules and vice versa; it is all connected.

The only way I can simplify this is like using your imagination for a puzzle set; you use your creativity to think of the shapes of the pieces and your intellect to connect them all so that it makes something you want it to do. In this case, it is probably better to say you are effectively creating a gun or computer instead of a puzzle set, but you get the idea.

Sheesh, magic is much more poetic and confusing than I thought. Oh well, human stupidity won’t stop me from enjoying my magic. Maybe there is an actual mage that is half decent somewhere; the books did mention that whatever elves are were pretty good at magic.

I sigh from the top of the roof I was lying on, quickly and effortlessly ignoring that I was even worse at magic when I was first created. Taking my mind off magic issues while I focus on the rising sun since I spent all night literally on the roof of the library waiting for it to open again while ruminating on magic, the country, and other poetry I might write someday.

I didn’t feel like sleeping; maybe I will do it in a few weeks or something.

The groans of innumerous amounts of people waking up with what I suppose are mixes of hangovers and various other activities start heralding the long-awaited opening of the library below me. The sun's rays brighten up my mood and surroundings as I enjoy the dual yet contrasting orange-yellow and blue-purple suns that shimmer with a bewitching sunrise that I can fully enjoy now I am not in a forest.

"Arthur!" Someone says, sounding both familiar and slightly incredulous.

Sitting up, I look at who it is at the bottom of the relatively unassuming one-story tall library that could look like any ordinary house, just slightly wider and longer.

"Oh Mary, you finally back from sleeping?" Teasing with a smirk, I manage to meet the gaze of Mary, who just looks like they are struggling with a whole slew of emotions.

"Arthur... W-why are you... Why are you just sitting on top of my library?"

"I was waiting."

"Wait, what? Were you waiting for me to open the library to read more books, so you sat on my library?" She asks with sheer indignance.

"What’s wrong with that?"

"..." Taken aback, Mary is having a rough morning.

"Oh never mind. So, library yes?" Tactfully changing the subject.

To the rescue of Mary is yet another voice.

"Arthur! Stop flirting with Mary could you? And get off the roof you git, get down here!" The voice of one of the few guards that the town has shouts with an undertone of amusement and total lack of the seriousness you would expect from a guard.

Said guard looks very underwhelming, leather armour with a dull but sturdy polearm who also seems relatively young with the standard-issue brown, almost black hair.

I learned that this town was very laid back and casual about many things; it could barely be called a town instead of being more like a big family. Most everyone here was a refugee that Lance helped in some way or another and is a giant community where they all work together and care for each other, probably more than most nobles do.

Side note: even though it looks like leather armour, beast and monster hide are around the same strength as regular steel or metals, so it is best not to underestimate 'leather' armour.

What they weren't casual about was someone treating their family bad. Luckily those people have long been wholly shunned, outcasted or thrown in a ditch somewhere, so you could almost feel the cheer that radiates from this town where instead of the usual gloom of a refugee, you have a sprawling, lively village.

Wordlessly, I do a quick teleport down to ground level, which doesn’t seem to surprise Mary much but still spooks the nameless guard into a wide-eyed stare.

The guard admirably quickly recovers with a cough.

"So you're a mage huh, why's such a powerful magic user doin' at Wildfold?" The guard asks, with a lot more hesitation and wariness than before but quickly shakes his head of any doubts. "Whatever, if ya seduce anymore of the women or teleport either into or onto any more buildings, I'll pummel you, fine you, then send you to that blasted dwarf at the blacksmith so he can give you a much firmer pummeling."

"...Okay, what's your name by the way, so I know who to look out for?" I ask, hand to my chin.

"The names Neal, so you better- Wait... The fuck? What do you mean 'who to look out for'!? Mage or no, I'll still win and send you to the dwarf if you do any shenanigans." Neal finishes with a sinister gleam in their eye; even though he didn't seem that serious, you don't mess with dwarfs.

This guy must be seriously bored. It must be because of how small and peaceful this town is. Not only that, but I find it very hard to be seriously threatened by these guys; now I have a much better understanding of magic. Plus the fact that his polearm looks incredibly dull and I seriously doubt anyone here could seriously stand a chance if I wanted to fight them.

Wait, I said the same thing before I got beaten by Claire. Ok, damn, got to remember not to get too cocky.

Poor Mary, who even though they seemed not too surprised about me being a mage at what I said at the library yesterday, still seems slightly bewildered. The reason being that even weaker mages or magic users are highly respected to the point a strong enough mage is supposed to be put on the level of practically being a noble. This is off-put by a certain powerful space mage who slept on their library roof in a town in the middle of nowhere that probably made it hard to take in.

Yet, she still takes her chance to cut in.

"Hey Neal! Arthur was just going to help me with the library, so we can't send him to Kastrom. I heard he was also busy with a new tool, so I will see you later" Abruptly dragging me by the arm towards the building I was just on, Neal only has a few moments to sputter and shout to deaf ears. "Oi! Mary, just because you finally found someone you- Hey! Get... Oh bloody hell."

With a mutter and a sigh of resignation, Neal just turns away in mute disappointment in not sacrificing me to Kastrom, the so-called dwarf. I can barely see him turn away before I am pulled into the library.

Mary shuts the door behind me and rubs their temples.

"So, is the library open now?" I said, completely ignoring what happened.

"Yes. But since you are here and already caused me trouble, I would like you to help carry these to the Guild."

She points to a few heavy looking but surprisingly light crates before continuing, "Also, try not to teleport in town. The last thing we need is a damned cult here that worships you or your weird magic, especially since the elves here already believe they are the peak of magic and already get enough reverence of their own, you'll just cause issues."

It turns out that Mary did indeed just want me to help out with the library, though she did take quite the pleasure in seeing my resigned face when handing me a few small crates full of various things, of which only a quarter is even books.

Where did she get all this from when it isn't even all books?

Although she asked me not to teleport, I am not too upset as I decided to comply with the request of my own choice. Not using my spacial magic allows me a chance to enjoy the town, take in the sights and plan some magic on the way.

Taking my leave, I turn with a sigh and start taking the very light but still cumbersome crates to the guild, but what I see when I go outside shocks me a little. The bustling crowd of people old and young, but primarily young, fill the street with an infectious festive and free cheer that I have trouble explaining.

So, with a subtle yet genuine grin on my face, I begin making way through the crowd that I quickly notice is not just human, plenty of beast-kin and a very small amount of elves that people make way for, though I don't know why people seem to respect them.

My presence is very quickly noticed as on my way as more people promptly start gossiping about me, mostly in regards to my clothing and spontaneous yet otherworldly appearance.

"Look there, is that a new guy?" A young man asks an equally young man, both with an unremarkable appearance.

"Maybe. Hey don't stare; you see that clothing and air around him, everything about 'em screams noble." The man replies.

"Even nobles get caught up in the war it seems; you think he's got anything good on him?"

"Nah man, it's not worth it. If that noble doesn't kill you Lance will; if that happens you know exactly who will make a move on your sister."

"...Fuck. Alright I get the point. Maybe we can be guards for him then, get that sweet coin that way."

The conversation gets out of earshot as meanwhile, on the other side of the street, a different discussion takes place.

"Mama look! More new people! He looks funny; why’s their hair and eyes so weird?" Nearby, a child makes his observation known to his mother.

Sadly I can't focus on that conversation as one of the elves who was about to pass me, notices me.

"Hey! are you new here?" Again, I hear from behind me. This time addressed to me specifically.

Turning around, I see that one of them, a petite and well-rounded beauty, while a head shorter, has glossy blond hair and sky blue eyes left the group of elves to stand behind me. Though what strikes me is the distinct feeling of this person being bad news, so the initial sense of awe at their appearance is replaced very quickly with a slight grimace.

Being able to judge people apparently comes naturally to me, but whether it is because of something poetic like you can't lie to a god, because of me being a demon or something else is a question for later.

"Yes I am, helping Mary with some boxes too. My name is Arthur." I say with my signature radiant smile that almost immediately replaced my slight grimace, got to make good impressions people.

"I am Ava. That’s not how you greet elves for your information, and what’s with that look?" She says, obviously noticing my grimace.

Called it. I tried to make a good impression, but I somehow failed even by just simply saying my name. Still not going to listen to them next time though, screw that; my greeting was flawless.

"Don't care, but good to know. Well I have stuff to do and I assume you do to, so bye." I said as dryly as I could, trying just to get away as fast as possible.

She ponders with a hand on her chin; the annoying grin on her face is not missed.

"Sure! Not much to do anyway so let me tell the others, and I will catch up. It is only fair I welcome new people, especially nobles." She says with a little too much cheer.

Suspicious. Damn it, even with a good first impression, I can't get out of trouble.

"Mhm," I mumble before turning and continuing on my way, ignoring the slight crowd that came and gathered around me and the elf.

I don't understand why people revere these elves so much. I mean sure, they have magic capabilities when I gave a light peak into their core, unlike pretty much everyone else here. But, still, it wasn't even close to being what I would call even an amateurish level of magic. Let alone being able to match me.

"Whatever," I mumble again, lost in my thoughts. "Humans could be impressed by anything."

Continuing on my journey, I manage most of the way there. My only company was people gossiping about me though a few times people came and approached me to have a light chat though they were primarily women.

That guard won’t be pleased If he catches me, he will be very disappointed.

Unfortunately, when I was just two streets away from the guild, and the crowds were dwindling due to people having shit to do, Ava unluckily "met me later" and joined me at my side. Though all they did was argue about showing proper respect to elves and general ranting about nobles or something instead of helping in any shape or form.

"I know you look like a noble. But without any magic or skills, it won't help you much, especially out here. When the war finally caught up to you, and you couldn't do anything without your money and influence, you had to move out here in the middle of nowhere, right?” Ava narrates, before continuing.

“Whatever, it doesn't matter, just admit us elves are superior and I will make sure you don't die, though it won’t be free." She rants, this isn't even the beginning, just the end of it.

Finally, it's over. This chick has some serious issues with nobles it seems, doesn’t help with the superiority complex she has either. I almost feel bad. It feels like a child trying to talk their parents down while still being half their size and I just can't get too mad at this person. I haven't even had a chance to reply yet.

With a chance to finally speak, I say what is probably the exact opposite to what she wanted. Instead just clarifying the only thing I noticed and cared about in the whole sentence.

"Having magic doesn't mean obnoxiously releasing your aura everywhere like you so that they can get an ego boost. I can have plenty of magic while still not letting my aura out."

Just because I am not that angry doesn't mean I can't be annoyed nor that I can't correct them. In case you were wondering, Ava was actually releasing their pitiful aura everywhere, trying to intimidate me. While it may work to everyone around me, it felt like someone trying to pull down a mountain by throwing a pebble at it.

In the end. Just very sad and pitiful.

Frustratingly, they completely ignore the insult or the fact that I may have magic and just giggle before they continue to try to get me to stroke their ego. Ava purposefully continues hindering my one job and acting like a spoiled child before I finally sigh and just decide to teleport to the guild.

"Screw this, hey Ava maybe pay attention when I say things." I say, preparing to do said teleport.

If they ignore when I say I might have magic, maybe doing it in front of them will be enough.

"Hmm? What do you-" Ava starts before Ava, and the slight gathering of people, is no longer there.

Standing in front of the guild, I manage a breathe a sigh of relief before pushing open the door with my shoulder, where I am quickly greeted with the smell and sounds of alcohol and adventurers discussing their recent escapades or planning future jobs.

On the right of the building, where the entrance is and where I am, is a sparsely populated bar that seems to be losing to the competition at Alderman's inn. A relatively young man, probably more a teenager, is working at the bar with a surprising mix of dirty blond that reminds me a lot of Lance along with a ting of dark blue, which gives rise to a few questions I will have to ask at some point.

The left far side of the guild is where three receptionists are tending to a couple groups of four and one group of five, with only one person here actually being a mage when I check. However, they somehow have even less magic than the elves which I already thought was an impressively small amount, but the bar keeps getting lower and lower.

Another group in the building was harassing one of the barmaids, but after a casual threat of involving Lance, they all quickly shut up.

Most are lined up at a counter with a young girl with blond hair behind the desk, even though they are a receptionist there are plenty of obvious attempts at flirting failing miserably.

Opposite them is a single group of four chatting with a middle-aged man with a permanent stubble that, even with their relatively large muscles, seems too friendly with the group for the image you get from him. Finally, there is a free queue at a different desk, so that is the one I decide to head towards.

Before I move however, I place my crates near the entrance before also pulling out my pocket watch, deftly checking the ominous and unknown hands for their seemingly random movements along with the hour and minute hands for the time.

Even though I have been regularly checking the pocket watch for not only the time but also the runes and mysterious unknown hands, I still can't get much of a read on them, but I know I am gradually getting some info from it. It won’t be long before I can even name what some of the hands do.

I casually put my priceless artifact back in my pocket like some random stone, giving a light sigh. Then, walking up to the reception desk where an old but refined-looking man with a white beard and equally white hair eyes me warily.

"Hello. I am here to drop some stuff off from Mary at the library; where do you want me to put it?" Gesturing to the crates at the door, he responds by giving a curt nod before replying.

"Yes, this is the place. I will send Lance's boy over there to pick it up later, so don't worry about it." Then, looking over to the young person working at the bar, he suddenly calls out.

"Boy! We got the stuff from Mary here; go put it in the back when you're done servin'!" He says without a shred of sympathy.

The young man simply sighs and nods his head before giving me a quick look and turning back to his sparse but silently chuckling customers while the older man turns to face me again. "Anything else, sir? Registration can be done at this counter or the one next to me at Processing."

"What do I get if I sign up?" I say with a brow raised.

Showing no emotion, the old man responds with a bland, straightforward tone.

"If you sign up to the Adventurers guild, you will get many benefits, including free travel to the towns that require tax. But, of course, you actually have to have skills or talents to join so you don't get yourself killed, noble or not." He says while watching my reaction, especially to the last line.

This noble thing is slowly but surely getting old.

When I nod and wave him off with a simple "Continue," the old man, still with an indifferent mask, raises a subtle eyebrow before quickly continuing.

"When you join, you will be allowed to take quests ranging from subjugation to escorts to resource gathering. Each quest will grant a certain number of coin with the higher paying request requiring higher ranks; the ranks, or levels as called by other towns, range from S and A rank all the way down to G, with S paying the highest but also being the most dangerous."

"You will get your rank once you complete your registration and aptitude test to make sure you won't die on a mission. The rank can be increased depending on how many missions you complete, the difficulty of the mission, special mention or other things that you shouldn't worry about. Most adventurers are at C to D rank in the bigger cities, with most at this town probably being E or F, so don't worry about your ranking too much."

Ah yes. The reason why this town is called a town of 'low levellers'.

Once he finished his monologue, the old man pulls out a piece of paper, or at least I think it's paper, from under the desk. Once he has a pen and paper, he asks a final question.

"Do you wish to sign up? If you do, you will be liable for your own life; losing it in battle because of an ego problem won't be our fault," he says with one last scrutinising glance.

"Hmmm. I don't mind. It sounds useful, and I don't see much of a downside."

I don't think I need the money, but the quests could be interesting. A good way to kill boredom is always nice.

"Alright. I will need your name, age, skills and species. Just for the record."

"...That doesn't seem like much info."

"Yes, that is for a few reasons. First, we are adventurers, not aristocrats. Second, most people here have a past we don't need to pry into and finally, we are in Wildfold station, in the middle of nowhere."

"I suppose. My name is Arthur. I have no clue how old I actually am. However, I am proficient in using my Glaive and my magic while my species is Demon. Does that work?"

The sound of a pen cracking echos while the old man quickly reaches my gaze, trying to read my expression to find out whether I am lying or not.

A long awkward silence ensues as he seems to want to say something. Still, after reading my face a few more times, the emotionless mask he was wearing starts to rapidly crumble as he goes from anger at trying to lie to confusion after deciding I wasn't lying and quickly into almost fear as he starts to shake a little. Still, it is so brief I could be imagining things.

I screwed up something, I think.

A scarce few seconds pass as he regains his emotionless mask before giving me a stern stare.

"Wait here. You'd better not be lying to me." Then, firmly warning me, he stands up before heading to a staircase just behind the reception desk.

What's the point of being honest if I always end up in these situations. But, eh, at least it might be entertaining.

Checking the time on my pocket watch, I can only sigh and wait.