After I was done examining my own appearances in the mirror within the Shadow World, I exited back into the regular world, before taking my first steps onto the regular path which ran through the forest, right as a group of other people passed by. At first, I shivered – a bit scared that they'd question me – however the human look I had now was more convincing than I had imagined, as the group just walked past and didn't even bat an eye.

"Even if I am now with my previous life's appearance, I can't help but feel stressed when other people walk by."

I exhaled lightly, before looking around a bit. The pathway to my right, seemed to lead deeper into the forest — which I most definitely did not want to do. To the left, was where the group that passed by me had gone - and I assume led out of the forest.

"I wish I had a way to confirm my assumptions, but hey, I guess I will just head down the path and hope I am right."

I sighed lightly, before beginning to march on after the group of people that had passed by me – subtly using 'Enlightened' to keep track of them from afar. More specifically, using 'Enlighteneds' brand new subskill 'Overworld Detection'. It appeared to allow me to keep track of magical energy activity in the area around me – more specifically, disturbances in the magical energy.

So basically, it had basically given me visibility that didn't require me to actually be able to see, as I could simply follow Magical Energy activity around me and be aware of things even with my eyes closed.

Following the group, I made sure to keep some distance between me and then, all the while my gaze was shot up at the trees above. The forest around was a lot less dense now and the tree branches above let through a lot more rays of light, which made it all look really magical. It felt like I had entered a completely different place.

The number of people around also increased – with me passing by random groups, duos, trios and even solos of people who all were doing their own things in the forest territory. Some were relaxing, others were training with weapons and then there were some even training with what looked like magic — summoning those glowing circles and firing off fire, water, ice and so on.

If I was still in my snake appearance, I would have most definitely been killed by now – this many people around most definitely meant that no monster could realistically live in this part of the forest.

Lucky me, that I didn't encounter all these people while journeying in the forest as a snake...

I kept moving and eventually, the path led out of the forest and out into a large, large clearing. The forest had finally ended and instead was replaced by a clearing of grass and flowers. The gentle breeze that blew accompanied by the bright sun in the sky made the scene absolutely breathtaking.

It felt like I was back in High School days on the first day of me starting my life at the school. It felt... Nostalgic. I looked around, eventually spotting a large walled off town in the distance — the dirt path I was standing on seemingly leading to it.

"That must be a human town. Just what I wanted to visit."

I shed a slight sweat, before smiling.

The thought of once again entering a place with people felt... surreal. It was tantalising to think about – that I could return to society I was used to. Without much more hesitation, I began my march towards the walled off town in the distance – keeping a smile across my face as the rays of sunshine fell down onto me and the light, gentle breeze blew from behind me.

.

.

.

I walked for a while, but eventually reached the town. It was absolutely massive up close. The walls towered over me, casting a large shadow with what appeared to be guards moving about on top of them. The towers on the sides stood even taller than the wall, with deep red roofs that stretched on into the sky – looking kind of mystical with the way they blocked the sunlight.

In front of me were giant gates which were open, with two guards standing by them – seemingly regulating who entered and exited the town. When I saw them, I felt a bit nervous.

"I hope there isn't an entrance fee or something... I don't have any cash on me."

I shed a sweat at my own thought. If there was an entrance fee or something, I was screwed. I had been living for a couple of weeks – no, for at least a month now as a snake and all the dungeons I had raided, didn't get me any money or treasures and instead just equipment that I left behind, since as a snake, I couldn't exactly use any of it.

At first, I felt slightly hesitant, however after a moment or two of light breathing, I moved towards the gates – praying in my mind that I would be let inside. Passing by the guards, I felt their gazes land onto me – my anxiety hit an all time high. I felt stress and worry run over my entire body while shivers ran down my spine – were they going to stop me?

However not a single one of them spoke up. Instead, the guards after eyeing me for a bit, looked away and I was able to enter the town without any trouble. Exhaling in relief, I quickly made my way a bit farther away from the gates and the guards, in case they suddenly turned around to question me.

Afterwards, I took a look around – my jaw practically hitting the ground. The atmosphere and feel inside the town - was nothing like the forest I had been wandering for the past month or so. The buildings were tall and beautiful, appearing to be more fancy versions of middle age european buildings. The town's streets were lively as hell – with town residents walking around the entire place.

And the variety of different humanoid races I saw was incredible as well – There were humans, people with animal features, then just straight up humanoid reptiles, even some other fantasy races that I recognised, such as elves and even some dwarves.

Everything around me just screamed 'fantasy world' — this was nothing like the world I had come from.

"This place is incredible..!"

I thought.

I couldn't wipe off a sort of childish smile from my face as I kept moving further into the town, just looking around me. There was this urge inside me to just explore and see everything there was to see in the town – to just run around like a reckless child to see everything.

I managed to resist the urge – understanding that it wouldn't look very good if some adult man started acting like a child in the middle of the town, however, it wasn't an easy thing to resist.

"I should probably first figure out a way to earn money. I don't want to sleep out in the forest, but an inn in this town most definitely would cost some cash, so if I can find a way to earn myself some, I'd be able to sort of settle in."

I immediately started brainstorming.

If there was one thing that would be similar between this world and my previous one, it would most definitely be the power that money held on the humanoid races of the world. The only thing was, I wasn't sure how I could get some money as fast as possible.

I recalled that in some fantasy stories that I read when I was younger, that sometimes you could earn money by selling stuff to merchants or something, however I quickly forgot that thought. I didn't have anything to sell – every monster I have killed I either ate or just left behind, only taking their remaining magical energy with 'Devourer' – and, of course, I also had left behind any gear I had gotten by beating dungeons since - as mentioned before - as a snake, I didn't exactly have any use for any of it.

I wandered deeper into the town, still thinking about a way to possibly earn some money, before eventually exhaling.

"Maybe I can ask someone?"

I looked around.

No one around me seemed very appealing to speak to... Some even looked a bit intimidating. However, I kept looking around and eventually, my eyes landed onto an older merchant lady, who seemed to be running a vegetable stall with what I assumed was her daughter.

Maybe I could ask her...?

Well – I don't have much to lose I guess.

Exhaling, I walked over to the lady, clearing my throat and approaching her with a friendly smile.

"Excuse me, may I ask a question?"

I asked as I approached. The lady looked at me, before smiling and crossing her arms.

"Of course traveller, what can I help ya with?"

She actually understood me – I was slightly nervous that I'd be unable to speak to her or that she wouldn't be able to understand me, since I had been living like a snake for so long, however I suppose the combination of 'Speech' and 'Translator' skills was more useful than I had initially assumed.

"I was wondering if you could tell me about any places where I could earn some money? I just arrived in the town you see."

I felt a bit awkward asking a complete stranger in this world for ways to earn cash, however, it wasn't as if I had any other real choice. The lady looked at me, before exhaling and busting out into a light hearted laughter. The laughter did make me shed a slight sweat, as I wondered if I had said something ridiculous, however then the lady walked closer to me and patted me lightly on my back.

"I see! So you're new around here huh? You must come from a village if you're asking questions like that. Nonetheless, I can point you to some place which offers reasonable pay."

She stated, before looking at the younger girl who I assumed was her girl.

"Deliah dear, could you fetch the map for me?"

"Okay mommy!"

The child hopped off of the box she was sitting on, before rushing inside the building behind the stall. After a small bit, she ran back out and brought a rather large map to her mother. The lady patted her daughter's head, telling her that she could go now, with the child enthusiastically nodding and running back to sit onto the box.

"Okay, you look like you're pretty capable in battle, so the best places I can offer you to earn some money at would be the Adventuring Guild,"

The lady began, showing me the map, before pointing to a large building with the same label as she had said,

"Or the Mercenary Guild - however, that one is a bit more tricky to get into and usually takes a lot of paperwork."

She continued, pointing to a different building on the map, one that was seemingly on the opposite side of the town. I scratched my chin lightly, thinking about the two options for a bit. Both of them were classic examples of a fantasy world setting, however with her added comment about the Mercenary Guild's tricky nature, I leaned more towards heading to the Adventuring Guild.

The Lady folded up her map and then looked at me with a smile.

"In my personal opinion, you're better off heading to the Adventuring Guild. It's easier to get into and while at early stages the pay isn't amazing, it is enough to get you at least on a sustainable lifestyle."

"I see... Thank you very much ma'am. Can I repay you in any way?"

It felt wrong to just leave after asking for help from her, without at least doing something for her. The lady laughed, before walking away from me and placing her map onto a box.

"Don't stress about repaying me. I helped out because you needed it."

She stated, before turning to face me.

"However, if you insist on repaying me, then how about when you earn some money, you stop by again and purchase some of our fresh vegetables? They're high quality, you know!"

The lady looked at me with a cheerful gaze, which left me a bit speechless for a moment, before I exhaled and nodded in response to her.

"Thank you — I will make sure to do so when I can! Farewell now!"

"Farewell Traveller!"

"Bye-bye!"

The mother and the daughter waved me goodbye as I kept moving. I now had a destination in mind — The Adventuring Guild. If I remember correctly from the stories I had read when I was younger, at this guild people could become 'Adventurers' and take on quests or commissions to earn money.

I wandered around for a bit, asking around for directions and eventually reached the building I was searching for. It was large, like a mansion, made of stone and its architecture was very much more exquisite and higher 'quality' than the other buildings I've seen in the town so far. Above the two large entrance doors, there was a sign which read 'Ordinal Adventuring Guild'. I shed a sweat, before walking up the small set of stairs and stepping up to the main doors, placing my right hand lightly onto one of the doors, before pushing it open and entering the building.

The scene inside was just as incredible as the outside. It felt like I was inside a noble home – there were so many people around, either sitting together and laughing or discussing what I assume were quests, or simply chatting. The scene was so unbelievably lively.

I looked around, eventually spotting what appeared to be the reception desk, with a couple receptionists free. Walking towards the desk, I walked up to one of the free receptionists, who was leaning under the desk, rummaging through something.

"Um, excuse me?"

I said lightly.

The receptionist lifted up his right hand into the air.

"Give me a moment..."

After a bit, he leaned up and stood up before shaking his head. Upon seeing the receptionist, I shed a slight sweat. It wasn't a human – it appeared to be one of the humanoid reptilians I had seen wandering the town outside. As I slightly stared at him, a small information window appeared in front of me.

Lizardman

Rank: ?

"That is the least amount of information I've had up until now..."

The receptionist brushed off his clothes, before looking down at me with a smile.

"Welcome to the Ordial Adventuring Guild – My name is Jarvis. What can I help you with today sir?"

Shaking my head lightly, I snapped back to reality giving the receptionist a slight awkward smile, while rubbing the back of my neck.

"I was wondering if I could become an adventurer?"

God, I was hoping that I was right about what this establishment was and the people it hired. The receptionist nodded lightly.

"Of course – Allow me to go get you registration papers."

The receptionist stated, before turning around.

"Please, wait here."

Jarvis then left into a backroom, disappearing for a bit. I shed a light sweat, before exhaling in relief. Luckily, my assumption about what this place was and how it worked was right this time around. After a bit, Jarvis returned with a paper, before placing it on the desk in front of me, followed by an ink vial and an old style pen on the desk next to the vial — If I remember these were called 'Reed pens'.

"Please fill out this form first. Afterwards, we'll examine your magical energy reserves as well as put you through a test."

That much to do before I can become an adventurer huh...

Guess I shouldn't be surprised – if all I had to do is fill out a form, then they'd have a problem of people who aren't fit out to be adventurers signing up and getting themselves killed.

Picking up the pen, I dipped it lightly in the ink vial, before beginning to fill out the paper. While writing, I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that my handwriting skills had not degraded even a bit in the last month. I expected to not be able to write even my own name, but I guess my worries were unfounded.

I put down my name as Riyo Komeno – wishing to keep my current identity given to me by Arabor as a secret, in case of anything that may happen in the future. I kept filling out the form at a rather rapid pace without much trouble, before eventually reaching a hurdle — class.

I froze for a second.
I wasn't sure what it meant by 'class' — I assumed it was something that most likely was part of RPG games, but again, I haven't ever played any of those games, so I had no clue what they were. Maybe it meant stuff like whether I was a swordsman? I wasn't sure...

"Excuse me, what does it mean by 'class'?"

I lifted my gaze up. Better to just ask. The receptionist looked at me with a slightly surprised expression, before exhaling and smiling again.

"Class refers to your specialty. If you fought with a sword, you'd be a Swordsman, if you used magic, you'd be a Mage, if you used tamed monsters to fight, you'd be a Tamer - and so on, and so on."

I see – so basically it was how I fought.

Drat — That didn't make things easier. I wasn't sure how I was going to fight as a human... Maybe I could input myself as a Mage? But if I do that, it will be very suspicious when I don't use any magic..

I thought about it for a bit, before eventually exhaling.

"Having trouble?"

"I just don't know what class to put..."

I chuckled lightly. The receptionist also laughed lightly, before shaking his head.

"That's fine. We can examine your abilities during the practical test and see what class best fits you."

I nodded in response. The receptionist picked up the so far filled out form - before inviting me to follow him to the practical test area. Following him, he led me out into a courtyard of the guild, where a couple of dummies were set up. Jarvis walked to the side, talking to another employee of the guild for a bit, before walking back over to me.

"Please, enter the test area and stand onto the red cross. From there, we'll need you to attack the dummies in the way you usually fight."

Sounds easy enough.

"Alright."

I walked into the area, before taking a stance onto the red cross at the center of the test area – as instructed. Afterwards, I threw a glance over to the receptionist, who nodded towards me to begin the test. I exhaled lightly, before looking at the dummies and thinking about the method to approach this with.

I could use 'Shadowlord' to attack, but I'm scared that it might make them question whether it was actually magic or not. Another option was perhaps calling out Arvalor to have him attack... But he was kind of big and most definitely would drag unnecessary attention to me. Maybe not then.

After brainstorming for a bit – I decided to use a combination of 'Venom Mastery' with 'Shadowlord'. I raised my right hand in front of me and extended it towards the dummies. While I was most definitely not someone who knew how to use magic, I could at least create the illusion of it.

I forced some of the shadow below me to quickly run up my body, before forming a sort of copy of the mystical circles I've seen people who can use magic create. Afterwards, I eyed the shadows underneath the dummies, before forcing large spikes to shoot out from them and tear apart the dummies.

Afterwards, I followed that up with creating smaller copies of the circles with 'Venom Mastery' around me, before launching the venom bullets at the remaining pieces of the dummies. Once the dummies were gone, I made the purple circles disappear, turning around to look over at the receptionist, who nodded lightly, taking some notes.

"Incredible showcase Mister Riyo."

Jarvis stated as I ran back over to him.

"Well? What class can I be assigned with?"

"Well, judging based off of your attacks right now – You seem to me like a Mage. Or rather, more specifically, a Curse Mage. Not many are able to use the shadows like you. And those purple bullets were clearly poison! So there is no doubt that this class fits you best."

Well, that sounds good enough.

"May I write down 'Curse Mage' as your