"My name is Shiravesti. What is your name?"

  The little demon boy stared at me. "Clef."

  I smiled. "Clef. What a beautiful name."

  "Are the humans going to invade again?"

  I shook my head. "No, the Mirror Maiden did not want that, and … the Hero will naturally follow her wishes."

  "Really?" The boy beamed. "Then we can finally live at peace again. But why aren't you with the other adults making the new Sonata? I heard the Hero himself ordered it, so it has to be awesome!"

  Children are truly the purest. "The Hero will be fine on his own."

  He cooked his head. "Then why are you here?"

  "You could say it is to make up for a mistake, before I go mad."

  - Shiravesti, Master researcher from the planet Sel

  "Take formation!"

  "Affirmative, Boss."

  Tom eyed the monster. He needed to give orders fast or else they were all dead. "Ilona, use light to blind it. Sierra throw daggers to box it in. Mark, Hiro; block off its escape."

  The monster was caught off guard when they acted. His target frozen in place, Tom swung Trash, not even bothering to activate the aura sword. "It’s over. [supreme sword slash of awesomeness]!" He cut the monster in two, ending its life. Tom had won.

  "That was a lot of effort to defeat a small demon slime. You know that they only eat plants right?" Sierra commented. "And what is the supreme slash of awesomeness? Swinging your sword isn’t a skill."

  "Its [supreme sword slash of awesomeness], with brackets." Tom corrected.

  Ilona shook her head looking at Sierra. "All filthy demons must be eradicated. That includes their local wildlife that threaten our land. Even if they may look cute. Sierra, I told you to read more of the scriptures. You used to be such a devout follower back at the capital."

  Sierra only rolled her eyes in response, and didn’t bother to start a fight. That was new to Tom. Had he caused some character development to take place? God, he was an amazing protagonist.

  "That was a nice strike," Hiro said. "But your footing was a bit off."

  Hiro showed him the proper stance, and Tom tried to copy him. He needed to perfect his new awesome move after all. Mark just stood besides them smiling gleefully. "Stop smiling, minion Mark."

  "Sorry," Mark said. "If only Jeremy was here to see this." At that remark he looked a bit sad.

  "Who?"

  "That noble who died on our first expedition, remember?" Sierra quickly added.

  Ilona looked suspiciously at Tom. "You know, all the other nobles I have met always care about the nobles, and ignore the commoners. You’re different."

  Tom nodded. "Yeah, they all flock around me you know."

  "Sure," Hiro said.

  After Tom had figured out the stance, a soldier came up to them and told Ilona a nobleman had fainted at the sight of a slime. Ilona left with Hiro to guard her, leaving the three of them.

  "If it isn’t my minion duo. No, the two minions and the awesome soldier."

  "Don’t call us that!" Sierra complained.

  Mark chuckled. "I kinda like it."

  Sierra sighed and looked around. When she was sure that nobody else was there, she leaned in. Tom and Mark instinctively leaned in too. "Tom, you are weak."

  Trash hummed, and Tom gaged. "What the space?"

  "Don’t be rude, Sierra." Mark said. "And language, Tom."

  "I didn’t mean it like that. Tom you need to learn some new skills, your weird hobby of naming your slashes clearly indicates that. Class specific skills aren’t that well known to others outside that class, especially observers whom the king hoards. However, I know one, but you must promise not to tell anyone else." She looked at Mark specifically.

  Tom had no idea why she was so serious about this, but he nodded along with Mark.

  "You see," Sierra said. "I was named by an otherworlder."

  Mark gasped. "Ilona is going to kill you if she finds out. And drag your corpse to the nearest church, change your legal name, and then resurrect you."

  "Yeah, yeah. But you promised to keep it a secret, so don't tell anyone!"

  Tom looked back and forth between them both. "What’s so bad about an otherworlder naming you?"

  "Nothing really. But ever since the Hero made his … rebellion, the church hates all otherworlders. It’s especially easy when the Hero goes around killing them all, so being associated with an otherworlder is dangerous. Anyway, the otherworlder who named me, Shiravesti, was also an observer. She named me after one of her skills: see area."

  "That’s the stupidest thing I have ever heard. Who calls someone after a skill? If I was an otherworlder I wouldn’t have such a bad naming sense."

  Trash hummed as if he begged to differ.

  So, there was an observer skill called [see area]? That did sound interesting. "Do you know how the skill works?"

  Sierra shrugged. "Just some tidbits my brother told me. Apparently, instead of focusing on someone's aura, you focus on the general aura of the world. Then you can sense your environment in more detail by removing all the individual auras you sense being left with the contrasts."

  "That’s confusing, but I guess I’ll try." Tom wasn’t that good at sensing individual auras yet, but he was very good at getting the general feeling of it. In his opinion at least. He closed his eyes, and felt the sensations of Mark and Sierra's auras. Mark had an aura with a strong hint of rugged orange, which he guessed was his affinity to earth spirits, but other details weren't that clear to him. Sierra had a complete dark aura; he had expected to see her afinity to poison spirits but saw no hint of purple. Ever since he miraculously managed to create the first ring around his aura, he knew the colors had something to do with aura, but after the fight with the demon with the color green not representing what he anticipated, he was back at square one. Now that he focused on her aura, her aura was not so similar to the tone of black representing shadow, but much more like the black hole — sonata — color. Higher grade spirits were confusing.

  He shook his head. "Focus on the basics first," he told himself. Then he tried expanding his range. His understanding of spirits wasn't perfect, but ignoring higher grades he did feel confident the colors were important to distinguish lower grade spirits authorities. If he had to sense the general aura of the world, then reducing every aura he sensed down to their stereotypical colour would probably work.

  Tom closed his eyes, but his range was too low, and his two minions auras were interfering with the process. Trash hummed. That reminded him, this aura sword amplified his abilities. He tried resonating with Trash the same way he did when using [stabilize]. "[see area]".

  Instantly he could sense his aura sense expand. Even though it wasn’t detailed, he could sense the general shape of the trees. Bugs stuck out like a shore thumb due to the color and intensity being vastly different from the sensation of a tree; they had a mostly green color as they crawled around the brown bark. He couldn’t see himself, but sensed Sierra and Mark as black and rugge orange silhouettes, as well as another aura further ahead, being represented as an uneven mix of grey and green.

  "I think I did it. Maybe?" Tom said, uncertain.

  "Good job," Sierra said. "You’re surprisingly talented."

  Tom scratched his head. He wasn’t used to getting compliments, but it was nice. Perhaps ditching the nobles wasn’t a bad idea after all. "At the end of my range ahead from here I could sense another aura. I am not sure what it is, but it’s probably another slime. Mark, could you go find it? That way I could pinpoint the maximum range of this skill."

  "On it Boss," Mark said, running off in that direction.

  When Mark was gone Trash spoke. "That was all me by the way, demon girl. He could barely manage a single tree."

  Sierra chuckled. "I figured as much. Learning a skill takes a lot of work. I’m glad you’re with him, Trash."

  Tom pouted. Maybe Trash wasn't such a bad aura sword after all, but that didn't change that he annoying. His eyes moved to the nearby tresstump and he found a book laying on it. "Is that Hiro's book?" Tom pointed at it.

  Sierra looked at it. "Definitely. You should take it and give it to him later. The contents of that book is … explicit, so you should make sure no one sees it."

  "Explicit? I thought Hiro was the silent and cool type. Didn't take him for a smut enjoyer."

  "T-That's," she fumbled. "It's not that—. You know what, you should ask him about the book yourself in private. It would be too complicated for — or I rather talk about that when I am more prepared."

  Unauthorized content usage: if you discover this narrative on Amazon, report the violation.

  "This book definitely has to be something weird," Tom concluded, but didn't pry further. He took the book and put it in his satchel, the soul gem inside glistening when it made contact with sunlight. "Speaking of asking: are you sure I can keep this soul gem?"

  She nodded. "I just wanted to take it before the nobles could use it for more nefarious purposes. Such as trapping the souls of demons inside."

  "And what of that other demon spy you had no idea about? Did you learn something more?"

  She folded her arms, and sat on the tree stump. "I contacted someone I know in the demon lands, and apparently they were sent on the orders of demons from the north to gather intel, much earlier than even I started. It seems the demons supporting war have grown resteless and it blew up in their face. With a demon defeated the humans will be much more reassured in their own capabilities."

  Tom nodded. "And how did that … angel, manage to infiltrate the humans so well that he was even made the head instructor for the nobles?"

  "That is because it is the speciality of his ensemble — or tribe if that word makes more sense. Angels live north of the shadow swamps were I am from and are basically stuck up people. They are an ensembles that are closer to the capital, and henceforth the demon king. Their job is to look over the border and my people, but they are as useful as the nobles of this kingdom." She sighed. "Anyway, in contrast to us shadow demons that mainly hide in the shadows, angels can directly manipulate others with illusions to seem more grand or likable. Changing their form to look more human and likable is easy for them."

  "If he managed to infiltrate us, why didn’t he just use embodied spirits to poison all the nobles?" Tom asked.

  "That would easily go wrong, especially if our dear friend Ilona just healed them all. Just like she did with everyone that was wounded yesterday. Also, such a high ranking demon wouldn’t use embodiment for everything. Getting rid of a few nobles such as the son of a duke, sure. But completely relying on embodiment to complete a mission would not look great. You might think using embodiment is a useful ability, but for the more powerful demons it is mainly looked down upon. According to local legends it was the great error beast Ether who gave us the ability to use embodiment, and thereby made us less than the demons of higher birth whom rely on their ensembles Sonata. Some people even pray to Ether as their higher being, which is probably why they don't like it."

  "What a shame," Trash hummed. "I guess it’s left to me to shine the usefulness of this ability. The struggles of being one of the greatest aura swords—."

  "So, you think the war is escalating?" As an observer, embodiment was a life saver. He never figured people would dislike such a cool ability.

  Sierra shook her head. "Even though a lot of demons do indeed want war, the demon king is against it since he has first hand experience with the Hero. It sounds to me like a group of powerful demons are testing the waters."

  "But, like, aren't you on the same team as the demons? Can't you rat them out?"

  She looked down. "It's complicated. Because I did this on my own initiative, and since I am not from one of the more influential ensembles, there is no way for me to contact the demon king. He is locked inside his castle most of the times anyway." She sighed. "But you don't need to worry. I took on this mission to help avoid war, so … I will handle it." She stood up and grabbed her satchel. "Forget about the geopolitics, it is time for you to meet her."

  "Her?"

  Sierra rummaged through her satchel, and took out a golden colored soul gem.

  Tom could sense a vibration from the golden gem. "Hi, it’s nice to meet you! I haven’t seen anyone else in such a long time. Are they your friends, Sierra? And is that the 50th aura sword I sense? Such a nice toy you found."

  "Hey!" Trash hummed. "I am not a toy, I am a dangerous weapon."

  Did that sphere just talk? Well, he did have a talking sword so it wasn't that shocking to be honest. Was there a person stuck in the orb? No, a soul? "Is that a soul trapped inside?"

  "That's correct. You asked once how I was able to avoid people knowing about my real identity as a demon. It’s because this gem contains the soul of an ancient chameleon Singer. They are a type of demon that not only can alter others perception of you, but even the world. I still don't fully comprehend it, but due to this soul stone I can borrow this ability." Sierra explained.

  "That's amazing, but I am not sure if it’s ethical."

  The orb hummed. "Don’t worry, I consent. Isn’t much else to do anyway other than wait for my soul to slowly wither away. Will take some eons, so I might as well help young Sierra here. It also keeps me from loosing my sanity."

  "Then, a new companion?" This power did sound useful.

  Trash hummed in protest. "I say we ditch her. There can only be one talking item."

  Trash did have a point. Too many characters would make his adventure confusing. He was already struggling to remember the name of that noble he was invited to the ball by.

  The orb hummed. "Unfortunately I get tired easily, and—." It yawned. "This is all for me today." Then the humming Tom felt stopped, and the orb dimmed.

  Sierra put the golden orb back in her bag. "You still have your soul gem right? Do remember not to use all the spirits in it if you dislike dying. Also, as much as you have helped me, I cannot buy items to embody for you all the time. Using this soul gem instead of spirit stones is a better alternative to avoid running out of embodied items. You should go to the witch Astra to see if she could fix it to your glove."

  "But what if I use all of the spirits inside? Besides the last one of course."

  "Then you can give me the soul gem so I can embody spirits into it. Spirits naturally get embodied into a soul gem, but it takes years, decades even. I am able to — lets say catch spirits from the surrounding environment, embody them onto myself, and then re-embody them onto the soul gem. It is a meticulous process that takes a lot of time, so don't use spirits recklessly. Oh, and I am only able to embody low tier spirits into the soul gem. I can only catch middle grade poison and shadow spirits since I have an affinity to them, but they won't get embodied into a soul gem since they would clash with the lower tier spirits."

  So he would have the soul gem, spirit stones, and a few poison spirit embodied vials. "That sounds amazing. Thank—."

  His conversation was cut off from a scream in the distance. It was Mark running with an error beast at his heels.

  Trash hummed. "What an interesting looking slime."

  ***

  Tom skipped through the entrance of Makeshift Town. He did get some curious looks wondering what he was so happy about. Defeating a demon had made him surprisingly fulfilled, and this soul gem was the perfect reward. Not that he got any other rewards. Apparently, him and Sierra defeating the demon was a 'joint team effort' together with the nobles or something. So the rewards money was all given to the nobles to fix the damage done to their barracks. Nonsense. He had been uncharacteristically heroic, but that was just another reason to leave this place for better rewards. They did not like wannabe heroes in this kingdom, but perhaps it was different somewhere else? Sierra, as a demon, was much more comfortable talking about otherworlders after all.

  Walking past a café, a group of female soldiers glared at him. He recognized her, that background character always trying to beat him up. Letis. Honestly, props to her for making him remember her name.

  Feeling confident, he winked at her. Perhaps she was jealous of the MAIN CHARACTHER ENERGY? In response her eyes bulged and she started repeatedly smashing her head into the table, and made all the people around her panic.

  Trash hummed. "Psychological warfare. Didn't think you were the type. You better hurry before she decides to get revenge."

  Tom peeked behind to see a group of people holding her back. A grey silhouette flashed across her body, and she growled slowly dragging the group with her. He heard the sound of a whistle, and a city guard ran towards them. "No skills are allowed without permission!"

  Tom quickly picked up the pace towards the witches shop.

  When he arrived, both of the witches were lounging near the counter. "Oh, it's you." Astra said. "Sierra’s not with you today?"

  "Nope. I am actually here for something personal." Tom put the soul stone on the counter. It caught both of their attention.

  "A soul gem? Those are rare," Astra said.

  He nodded. "I was wondering if you would put it on one of my gloves."

  "No."

  "Thanks so — wait why?"

  Astra went back to focusing on the schematics she was drawing. "I have more useful things to do with my time then to make adjustments to gloves."

  Saying it that way did sound pretty simple, but if he asked someone else it would be likely they would rat him out for stealing the soul gem from the nobles. "Whatever then. My friend borrowed a box dungeon from the Great Inventor Artorios himself, so perhaps I will ask him?"

  That caught her attention. "Great Inventor," she scoffed. "That farting overconfident buffoon! Who gave him the right to call himself a Great Inventor? There is no way I am going to loose to that twerp."

  "You really don't like him, huh."

  She slammed her fist on the counter. "My expertise is technological development to make common life easier, but now I constantly have people asking me to make weapons. He is the reason the entire Witches Academia is in constant turmoil. Making weapons for the humans and causing an entire arms race around the Void. How the hell will weapons save the world, that—. I will make your stupid glove. And you know what, I will make it much better. Only if you find that idiotic inventor and punch him in his face!"

  Tom shrugged. "Guess I can do that."

  "But how do you want me to improve it?"

  He hesitated. "Anyway you find fitting I guess. The plan is to have it periodically filled with spirits, so I could use them instead of spirit stones."

  Astra listened intently. "That is actually an interesting invention. However, how would you fill the soul stone with spirits? I recon it would take a decade to get 5 spirits at best."

  "By using embodiment. I don't mean to say I know a demon that uses embodiment, just theoretically."

  "That girl Sierra can help you with that, no? She is a demon," Meliel nonchalantly added.

  His eyes widened. "Wait, you know she’s a demon?"

  Meliel nodded. "Such a low level shrouding spell won’t work on witches. We are the ones that specialize in bending the laws of nature after all."

  "Yes, we witches are superior."Astra nervously added.

  "Hey, you look as confused as me. Don’t try to take credit for her intuition. Even I knew she was a demon, how did you not?"

  "I focus on magical inventions, not on catching random demons. Whatever, I will try and do as you say. As for the payment," She touched her face. "50 gold coins would suffice."

  50! Astra looked too focused drawing up a design to ask more details about how he was going to pay, so Tom figured he could ask Alice to pay for him.

  "And concerning your demon friend," Meliel said. "She wouldn't listen to me, but you should tell her to go back. The people in this camp are the weakest of the bunch, but once reinforcement arrives she will be snuffed out immediately."

  "I am sure that won't — never mind that makes sense. But she is committed to her cause. I am sure she will be fine," he retorted.

  Meliel just shrugged listening to his response. "Speaking of commitment, did you tell Alice about me yet?" Meliel asked.

  "Uh. I forgot, sorry. Today I am planning on visiting her, so I will tell her then." His eyes lit up. Meliel was a powerful witch, so she must know a lot about the world. "By the way, I was wondering if you knew something about higher beings? Specifically how to get blessed by one."

  She had an unreadable expression on her face. "There are several different types of higher beings. Close to here in the New Forest is the Ent King, a relatively new higher being that looks over the forest. Although I could list several others, I am afraid it would be of no use as you have already gotten the blessing of a higher being."

  "Wait, what do you mean by that?"

  "As a witch I can sense the touch of a higher being. One of the archangels to be specific. If you aren't satisfied you should visit the grand temple in the capital. A mortal can only receive one divine blessing at a time."

  Wait, so he was already blessed? A bad blessing obviously. He must have gotten it when he arrived in this world. "So I need to get to the capital to ever have the chance of getting an OP blessing." But how would he even find a way to leave the camp in the first place?

  "As much as I respect your decision, blindly pursuing power is not a good idea. Power is often gained when there is a purpose behind it. Otherwise, you will find that this world will hurt you in retaliation."

  Tom scoffed. "Don't worry. This world is predictable enough. And my life motto is that anything is possible, so I will have my OP powers one way or another." He waved them goodbye. "Anyways, I will go talk to Alice. See you all later."

  Astra nodded and focused again on the design she was drawing. Besides her Meliel just stared at him. "Be careful."

  ***

  Tom sighed. "I can't believe I got so sidetracked on my EPIC ADVENTURE."

  "Barely training and playing games does that," Trash hummed.

  "Hey! There were games I had never heard of before. Of course I had to try them." He scratched his head. "But he was right. He needed to get to the capital. Somehow."

  On his way to the Commander's Office he saw a group of soldiers forming a crowd.

  Trash hummed. "What did you do to make them all mad? Oh, right. Being a delusional main character."

  Tom rolled his eyes. "They aren't waiting for me." He realized that since in their jealousy the background character would often glare or do their best to ignore him when he walked past them.

  Walking closer he tried to hear what they were talking about.

  "I am serious! There is an otherworlder in this camp."

  "An otherworlder? No way. Why hasn't anyone killed it yet?"