Walking up to the commission board, I took a look through the posted commissions. There were a lot of them – ranging from the bottom of D-Rank up until around C-Rank. It was a bit strange not seeing any higher ranked commissions posted, however I figured that the guild must have separate boards for B to S ranks, since they most definitely were jobs that only those people could handle.

At my current level, I was allowed to accept D-Rank commissions and F-Rank ones. However, looking through them, I couldn't help but find the commissions at my rank... pretty underwhelming sounding. While I wasn't expecting anything extravagant, most of the commissions at my ranking or F-Rank involved either herb and plant gathering or killing what I assumed weren't particularly dangerous monsters. It did make sense I suppose – since you wouldn't want anyone at this rank to take on something they could not handle.

With all that being said — while I was a bit disappointed in a way about the commissions posted. I also couldn't help but feel like I didn't want to take a commission that involved me fighting anything right now.

I have personally had enough fighting for a while now - Especially after the fight with the Chimera. I think I deserve something easy and simple.

Looking through the D-Rank commissions for a bit longer, I eventually picked out a job that looked easy enough to serve as my first commission. A D-Rank commission, posted by the medical center, requesting a plant called 'Crimson Moon Lillies'. The pay they offered was listed as twelve silver coins... While I am unsure whether that was a lot or a small amount, I figured I would find that out with time.

Taking the commission paper to a nearby receptionist, I approached a female one – who appeared to be an ordinary human, looking through some papers herself.

"Excuse me, I would like to take on this job."

The female receptionist lifted her gaze up at me, looking at me a bit taken back as soon as she did. I raised an eyebrow at her reaction, however seemingly after seeing my confusion, she quickly composed herself.

"My a-apologies sir. Please, let me take a look."

I handed her the commission paper, the receptionist looking through it. Watching her as she looked through the details, I wondered what was up with her reaction upon seeing me, crossing my arms lightly, before noticing my stripes across my body. Could she have been weirded out by them?

I wouldn't be surprised about that. These stripes did make me stand out like a sore thumb... I might need to find a way to cover them up. After a bit, the receptionist looked back up at me with a friendly and warm smile.

"I've looked through the commission and confirmed its details. You need to bring back around thirty Crimson Moon Lillies, which grow in the southern part of the Abyssal Woods. It shouldn't be hard to spot them, as they stand out particularly with their beautiful, deep red tone and grow in large quantities. When you've gathered a;; thirty, just bring them back to the guild and after we confirm their count, we'll pay you the commission reward. Understood all that sir?"

I gave a light nod back.

"Oh right, do you have anything to carry them in? We can give you a basket-"

"No need, I have a bag with me."

I replied, gesturing to the receptionist. The receptionist looked at me a bit confused, however after a quick exhale, she smiled and nodded.

"Then we will await your return – I have written down the commission as accepted by you."

I nodded back before turning around and beginning to walk away towards the main entrance to leave the guild. The female receptionist's smile disappeared as she watched Faofa leave with a slight sweat forming on her face.

"He definitely isn't normal... those marks and those eyes – Perhaps he is of dragon ancestry?"

The receptionist thought while eyeing Faofa, who left the guild halls. Spending a bit of time lost in her thoughts, the receptionist was eventually dragged out of it by a loud call from behind her.

"Arianne! Stop day dreaming about the new adventurer and come help me move these boxes to the back!"

The receptionist, flustered, looked back at Jarvis who was holding several boxes filled with papers.

"I-I wasn't daydreaming..!"

She responded, before rushing over and taking a box from the Lizardman, before walking beside him into the back of the guild.

...

Outside the Ordial borders, again, I moved into the southern part of the forest, beginning my search for the plants I needed to harvest and bring back. The receptionist had stated that they were easy to spot and kind of hard to miss, so I kept my eyes wide open, while treading deeper and deeper in.

The number of other adventurers in this part of the forest was significantly smaller compared to the side I had come from originally, with there only having been two other groups of adventurers I had managed to spot before heading inside the forest. While I appreciated being in a normal society once again, I couldn't help but feel like being alone and by myself was still more comforting. Perhaps this was a side effect of being a snake now? Perhaps I was afraid of people finding out who I was and immediately hunting me down?

Who knows.

As I headed deeper inside, I eventually came across a small flowing river, which seemed to flow off towards what I assume was the western side of the woods aka the side I had mostly spent most of my time in. Now, in case you are wondering on how I knew where was which direction – it was thanks to 'Enlightened'.

The brand new subskill it gained allowed not only for me to detect magical energy near me, but also find my surroundings — almost as if I had a built-in map inside my head. It was a pretty handy thing to have.

Kneeling down in front of the river, I looked into its water.

River Water
Type; Clean

Thank god.
I lowered my hands into the water, taking some into my palms before drinking it. Surprisingly, I could taste the water now – something I've been unable to do up until now due to me not having any tastebuds as a snake. However, I assume, because of 'Mimic' and me now having a technical 'human body' I also had the senses of a human.

I could feel like a human through touch, I could smell, I could hear, see... and now I could taste. It seems like the 'Mimic' skill was more impressive than I had initially thought.

After drinking some water, I looked around, spotting a slight fragment of a deep red petal. Rushing over, I looked around the tree where the fragment was. There, at the tree trunk's base, covering its roots, was a rather large patch of flowers, with deep red petals. Kneeling down, I sharpened my gaze on them.

Crimson Moon Lily
Type; Medicinal Herb Rank; C

"Perfect! Just what I was looking for."

I reached to my right side, taking off my small bag and opening it, before carefully harvesting the flowers from the patch. The flowers had this interesting scent – like roses and tulips mixed together with strawberries and rain. Their texture was rough, feeling like there was small hair on them and their petals glimmered beautifully, reflecting the sunshine like a mirror.

If I didn't need to collect them for the commission, I would probably take them for myself as a souvenir to keep, simply because of how beautiful they were. After harvesting from the entire patch, I had gathered around twenty five of them. Looking around, I spotted another patch of them nearby – only a smaller one.

Quickly moving over, I decided to collect all of them as well. Though I only needed five more to complete the commission, I figured collecting more than thirty couldn't hurt. Besides, I did want to keep one or two. While collecting, I heard something rummaging from nearby bushes. Looking over, I sharpened my gaze, closing up my bag and placing it back over my head.

Afterwards, I carefully approached the bushes, keeping on high guard. As I got closer, the rummaging sound increased, which definitely frightened me a little. I was about to pull back the bushes to see what was inside, before a dagger suddenly flew out of them, forcing me to leap back at the last second, barely dodging it as it lodged itself into the tree branch above.

"That – was close."

I looked at the dagger in the branch, before looking back at the bushes. After a bit more rummaging, three green creatures leapt out of them. They were short, wore tattered clothing which looked like leather tied around their waists and had long ears and large noses. The creatures also wielded what looked like low quality and terrible weapons.

Wooden Club
Grade; F

Rough Stone Knife

Stone Dagger
Grade; E

"And they also seem pretty weak..."

Green Goblin (Unintelligent)
Rank; D

Goblins... I believe I had faced some before, however the ones I had faced were far more impressive, being dressed in metal plated armour and wielded weapons and shields that far outclassed these pieces of junk that these three critters were holding in their small green hands.

Another thing that caught my eye is the 'Unintelligent' tag next to their species name. It was something new, I hadn't seen before – did it hint towards an intelligent form of these Green Goblins existing? Probably. Exhaling, I rose to my feet, the green goblins looking at me and laughing. They weren't exactly intimidating or worth my time... However, I remember there being a commission from the guild that was requesting Goblin ears... Even though I hadn't accepted the commission to gather them, I wonder if I bring back some, will they still pay me for them?

Who knows. But, I suppose it's better to see what happens rather than sit here and just ask questions. The green monsters shouted at me, before rushing towards me, their weapons high in the air. Not moving from my place, I decided to give something a try, just to see how useful he would be.

"Arvalor, come to me."

The shadow below me increased in size, before shooting up and morphing. It bent and twisted for a bit, before forming into the large Chimera, who immediately let out a loud roar with all of its heads. After Arvalor had come out, I pointed at the goblins.

"Take them out will you?"

This was a perfect opportunity to see how strong Arvalor was. His rank was 'E' which seemed to be higher than any of the goblins, so I assume it wouldn't be hard for him to take down these beings.

The shadowy Chimera roared at the goblins, causing them to freeze in place.

Arvalor has activated Rare Skill [Intimidation].

Impressive – He never used that against me in battle... I wonder how much it would have screwed me over if he had. After freezing the goblins in place, the Chimera leapt at them, tearing the green creatures apart with ease, before letting out a victorious roar.

I shed a slight sweat, before laughing.
I suppose I should have expected this outcome... Arvalor was a creature I had trouble with when I fought him, and at the time he was at level seventy, and his rank was unknown, however basing it off of my rank at the time, I'd say he was probably a top of the class B-Rank or even a high class A-Rank.

Though he seemed to have gotten weaker after I turned him into a Shadow Beast, it still appears that some low level enemies are no match for it. Exhaling, I smiled towards the Chimera, who was now sitting down like a puppy and looking at me with all three of its heads, wide eyes – like a dog pleading.

"Well done."

I pat the lion and goat head, with the snake head seemingly looking envious, before sliding in under my right hand to get some of the pats as well. I chuckled, before turning around.

"Now, return."

The Chimera broke apart, sinking back into my shadow. I then sighed, looking at the goblins. I know I had told Arvalor to take them out... But he kind of completely mutilated them all, tearing apart basically everything. It looked rather disgusting how the goblin blood was smeared across the ground and trees.

"Let's hope the ears are intact..."

I thought, approaching the first goblin and kneeling down. Luckily for me, its ears were untouched by Arvalors relentless claws, which made me exhale in relief before grabbing onto them. I didn't have a knife or dagger with me, so I suppose ripping the ears off was the only way to do it.

I was about to rip the ear off, before stopping and looking up at the trees again. The stone dagger that had flown at me was still stuck in the tree branch...

...

The sun was beginning to slowly set as I approached the Adventuring Guilds doors. In the end, I had claimed the stone dagger that the goblin threw at me as my own, using it to carefully cut off the ears from the dead goblins before placing them into a small extra pouch I had created using 'Shadowlord'.

Entering the guild building, I walked over to the nearest free receptionist, which appeared to be a female dwarf, who cheerfully smiled at me as I approached, taking off my bag.

"I've brought the Crimson Moon Lillies as requested in the commission."

"Right. Sir Riyo?"

I nodded. The receptionist took hold of my bag, before opening it and checking inside it. Afterwards, she looked back at me with another smile.

"I will take these to confirm the amount, please wait here."

"Hold on, I actually was wondering whether I could hand in some other items I also brought."

I quickly spoke up before the dwarf left. She looked at me curiously, while I took out the small pouch with the goblin ears.

"I saw a commission which requested Goblin ears, so I took the measure to bring back some. I know I didn't accept the commission, but would I be able to hand them in?"

The receptionist took the pouch from me, opening it up and examining its contents.

"I'll have to take a look at them. Depending on their quality and quantity, we will pay you some extra money. Now, please wait here Sir Riyo."

I nodded lightly as the receptionist ran off into the back room with my bag and pouch. Luckily for me, it looked like I was able to sell those goblin ears for extra money to the guild, despite not having taken the job to bring them back. That was good.

I waited for a while, with the receptionist eventually returning back and bringing over my back and pouch, as well as a second pouch.

"I have confirmed the amount of herbs. You've actually brought more than required, so the guild took the liberty of adding some extra payment. As for the goblin ears, they were of excellent quality and very well extracted. We've thrown in an extra six silver coins per ear you brought. In total, your reward is 34 silver coins."

The receptionist smiled, handing me the bag and two pouches. I immediately put my bag back on before placing the pouches inside it and then bowing towards the receptionist.

"Thank you so much."

"No need to thank me Sir Riyo. The Adventuring Guild thanks you for your work. Have a nice evening."

I nodded, turning around before bidding the receptionist a farewell and leaving the guild, feeling a few stares fall onto me as I did from nearby adventurers. After leaving the guild, I began searching around for some place I could crash for the night. In old novels I used to read as a child, a good place for people like me to rest for the night were inns...

Where do I find one though?

Looking around the town, I eventually managed to find an inn, which was located not too far from the Adventuring Guild building. Above its entrance was a large sign with the inn's name – 'The Night Owl'.

Interesting name.
I headed inside the building, closing the door behind me. Inside was a warm atmosphere and a welcoming air. There was light laughter of other people who were drinking together as well as the scent of something that smelled delicious filling the place. I walked over to what appeared to be the Inns reception, a young lass standing there, before looking at me and smiling.

"Evening mister, would you like a room?"

"I would indeed. How much?"

"It's one silver coin for a night."

One silver coin? With the amount I have, I can't tell whether that was cheap or not. However, it seemed reasonable, so I reached into the bag, taking out the pouch I had received with the money from the guild, opening it and taking out a single silver coin before handing it to the lass.

The lady took the coin and threw it into a drawer, closing it afterwards before crouching down. After a moment, she stood back up and handed me a key.

"Your room is upstairs, number thirteen."

She stated with a smile.

"Thank you."

I took the key from her, before moving away, the young lass waving me a goodbye as she watched me walking away with a smile. I moved up the stairs to the second floor, before beginning to search through the hall.

"Ten... Eleven... Twelve... Number thirteen - here it is."

I thought, moving up to the door and placing the key into its lock and unlocking it, opening the door and entering the room afterwards. The room wasn't too big, however it wasn't too cramped either. There was a single window - with a view out at the town, and a bed to the left of it.

In the right farthest corner of the room, was a desk with a single chair and the right corner closest to the door was a coat rack. It seemed this room was quite simple in its interior, however at the same time, had pretty much everything you could need for a good night's rest. Walking over to the desk, there was a small lantern on it with a candle inside it, and some matches next to it.

Picking up the matches, I was a bit surprised that this world had something like this in it, however I did not complain about it. Taking one match out, I lit it, before lighting the candle and blowing out the match. Despite the lantern's rather small size, it actually managed to give off a decent amount of light.

I exhaled, before stretching out and walking over to the bed and sitting down into it. The bed was soft, but not too soft – having this stiffness to it. The blanket and sheets on it weren't anything extraordinary, however felt good quality and the pillow was also passable for a good rest. Laying down in the bed, I stared up at the ceiling.

It felt strange suddenly laying in a bed again, after a month or so of just sleeping outside in the grass and below trees in the forest. At the same time, it felt good again. No longer would I have to endure some unpleasantly cold temperatures or the constant risk of being ambushed during my sleep. I exhaled lightly, picking up my right arm and raising it above my head, simply staring at my hand.

It was strange moving around with a human body again.
I was so used to being forced to move and live like a snake, that moving like this... it felt kind of clunky. Like I wasn't able to properly control my own body. I sighed lightly, placing my hand onto my chest and looking back up at the ceiling again.

"Despite over a month having passed since I reincarnated in this world, I still haven't managed to get used to this world or my situation completely. Every night I go to sleep with a slight tingle of fear in my heart and every morning I wake up, hoping that all of this was some dream. I wasn't meant for