Alex stared cross-eyed at the blade inches from his neck, trying not to move. He swallowed nervously as he attempted to watch both the sword and the large-shouldered, fur-covered figure holding it. What am I sposed to do? Why do I keep getting into these situations where people are threatening to kill me? Though at least these people don’t want to eat me. I think.

A shorter, hooded figure walked into view, stopping in front of Alex.

“Well, look what we have here,” the hooded figure said. “A human was following us. I told you it was not a denizen of this forest.”

“Well, it could’ve been,” the figure holding the sword answered indignantly. “Too much crazy shit in this forest.”

“It is a very peculiar forest, most likely due to the high mana concentration and secluded nature of it. I myself have found the Ever Forest to be quite fascinating for a while.”

“Yeah yeah, very fun, but what are we going to do with this thing?” They gestured towards Alex with the sword. Not killing me would be very much appreciated, Alex thought but didn’t dare say anything aloud.

The cloaked figure pulled back their hood, revealing a strangely metallic face, and stared at him. The two steel grey eyes seemed to bore into Alex, and he felt as if the person was gazing deeper than just his face.

After a moment, their metallic eyes widened in shock.

“It appears that they are a demon, Youghon,” the metallic figure said in surprise. “And only rank 0.”

“Would you look at that. We got ourselves one.” The furred figure turned to Alex. “It looks like a reasonable demon, don’t you think?”

“No demon is reasonable, though it does seem to possess at least a rudimentary intelligence.” The metallic-faced figure stroked their chin for a moment before turning to Alex.

“Demon, we will be bringing you back to our camp. It is up to you if you go willingly or if we will have to force you to accompany us. I for one believe it would be in everyone's best interest if you were to cooperate with us. What do you say?”

“I mean, sure? Don’t really have much of a choice, do I?” Alex responded, just hoping the big furred figure wouldn’t decide to use his sword.

“Huh, would you look at that, a reasonable demon, I be damned,” the sword-weielding figure said, but they didn’t lower their weapon from his neck. “But how can we trust you, demon?”

“Becuase I don’t want you to hit me with that sword?” Alex asked, eyeing the weapon.

The one holding the weapon let out a hearty chuckle.

“I like you kid, good answer.”

As the furred figure stood there, chuckling to himself, Alex felt a jolt of mana from the direction of the metallic figure, as they raised their hand and a metal spike shot out, embedding itself into the ground next to Alex’s foot.

“Though that large brute isn’t the only one you should be worried about, demon.” A predatory grin bloomed on their metallic face. “So don’t double cross us.”

What that just magic? I need to learn that!

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” Alex said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice.

“Verry well then, see that you don’t.” Their face returned to the expressionless mask it was before. “I guess introductions are in order. You may call me Atsali, and the brutish leonen is Youghon.”

“You can call me Yon though, everyone does, except him,” the leoned said, resting his sword on his shoulder, pointing to Astali with his chin. “What’s your name, demon?”

“Just Alex.” He paused for a second. “Wait, how did you know I was a demon? I don’t think I really look like one.”

“It was redumentray,” Astali said. “Though you do look very human-like, a simple [Anylize] revealed your true nature.”

“[Anylize]? What’s that?” Alex asked, instantly curious.

“[Anylize] is a basic analysis Ability.” He raised his hand as if he was conducting a lecture. “There are more powerful variant"s, though it does reveal quite a bit of useful information, unlike other Abilities, such as [Inspect], though it is marginally harder to obtain.”

Alex just stared blankly at him.

“He don’t know about any of that stuff, he’s a demon, remember?” Youghon said with a snort.

“My mistake. It is hard to remember that demons have no concept of The System, nor can access it. It is truely regrettable.” The metallic man looked deep in thought for a second. “Though I doubt the majority of demons can realize that they’re missing out on something.”

As Astari kept talking, Alex was reeling a little bit. Wait, demons aren’t supposed to be able to access The System? I’m just going to assume that the blue screens are what they’re talking about there. But I’m able to see those, and I even leveled up? What is going on? He thought for a moment longer. Probably shouldn’t ask these two about that though. They seem a little murdery.

“The System?” Alex asked, hoping to get a few more answers without revealing anything about himself.

“You know, the thing that helps everyone grow stronger if they want it.” This time it was Youghon that answered. “Everyone has it, except you demons I guess. Crazy to think about though. What’s it like not knowing your levels and Skills?”

“Normal, I guess?” Alex answered with a shrug.

“So fucking wild.” Youghon shook his head, obviously trying to wrap his head around that.

“We can continue this at a later time, being out after dark is not advisable in this forest.” He pulled the cowl of his cloak up. “Though I would love to hear how you managed to survive all this time or did you just jump through the portal recently?”

“I’ve been here a little bit, though not too long,” Alex hedged. Should I just tell them everything? They might be able to help.

“Very interesting. I’m surprised you even lived a single night in this forest since you only register as rank 0.” They turned around and started walking.

Not seeing any alternative, Alex started to follow, with Youghon bring up the rear.

Rank 0? I’ve seen a few things with ranks, like that Thera Crusher I defeated was only rank 0, but the Yuameth was Rank 1 if I remember correctly. Should I ask about ranks or would it feel like I’m pestering them too much?

Alex continued to walk, silently struggling, debating if he would ask more questions or not. After a few moments, he couldn’t take his curiosity any longer.

“What’s a rank? You said I was rank 0. Is that bad?” Alex nervously asked.

“Ranks are simply a way to differentiate between levels of power. For those with The System, it is a reflection of our level. Rank 0 would be anyone from level 1 to 9, Rank 1 would be 10 to 19, and so forth.” They paused to look behind to see if Alex was following along. After he nodded, Astari continued. “But for those who are somewhat outside of the system, such as demons and sometimes fey, their rank describes their overall power, in a more general way, since they have no levels for it to be based on.”

“Thank you for explaining it to me,” Alex said.

That makes sense, so it’s just a basic way of saying what your level is without actually saying what it is.

“You’re doing him a favor really,” called out Youghon from behind. “He loves explaining shit like that. Makes him feel smart.”

“I do not need to feel smart, since I assume my inttiligince is leaps and bounds above yours, you blundering brute,” Astari retorted back.

Alex just kept his head down as the two bickered back and forth. He couldn’t tell if it was in good fun, or the two not liking each other. Alex wanted to ask more questions about literally everything but didn’t want to intrude into an argument they seemed to be having.

After about an hour of walking, Astari suddenly disappeared from sight. Alex stopped and stared at the air where the cloaked figure had just been moments before. He turned around to look at Youghon questingly.

The burly man just let out a laugh and gestured forwards.

“Just keep walking.”

Shrugging, Alex took a few more steps and then gasps as the forest around him vanished, leaving a sizable clearing instead. A thick stone wall rose up in the middle, which was where Astari was heading.

Alex took a few steps backward, and the wall and clearing disappeared from sight. Only when he moved forwards did the forest again disappear. Now that’s really cool. A big illusion? Magic is so awesome.

A heavy hand on his shoulder brought him back to the present. He looked up and saw Youghon pushing him towards the wall. Not really having another choice, Alex started walking. As they drew nearer the wall, Alex could see it was curved, encircling what appeared to be a sizable area.

When they got up to the wall, Alex stared up at the tall wall that towered over him. He could see Astari moving his hands in a complicated motion. On a whim, Alex focused his mana senses on the man and widened his eyes as he felt a torrent of mana being moved. Thick streams twisted and contorted in the hands of the mage, forming a dizzying pattern.

After a short while, the mana pulsed and faded from his senses, and Alex heard a deep grinding sound as a portion of the wall started to slide down, forming an entrance. Alex stood there, entranced by the obvious use of magic that happened right in front of him.

He was led inside of the walls by Youghon, as Astari followed after, closing the gap he had made as he did.

Inside of the walls was a collection of tents, hammocks, and a few stone huts that Alex could see. A few individuals walked around, and Alex stared at each one. A diminutive woman floated by, hair blowing in the wind, even though Alex couldn’t feel any. He could see a man that looked like they had stopped off a set of a high fantasy movie, their flowing hair tucked behind two long ears. A bow over one shoulder while a fox ran alongside them.

“You go introduce our newest demon to the boss, I need to go check up on something,” Youghon called out to Astari as they jogged off.

“No one will have touched the dredge you call beer I promise you.” Astari then turned to Alex. “Well then, follow me.”

Crap, I need to meet the boss? Why do I need to do that? They could just put me in a tent and call it good. Or tell me to set up my own.

Alex followed after Astari, dragging his feet. He passed a few more tents until they got to the center of the camp. An impressive looking building rose up in the middle, seemingly made from crystal. It was only a single-story house, but surrounded by tents and stone huts, it looked like a mansion.

Astari knocked on the door, their metal fingers making sharp ringing sounds. They stepped to the side and waited patiently.

They didn’t have to wait long before the crystal door opened, showing a tall and lanky figure that was dressed in subdued black clothing.

“Ah, Astari, always a pleasure. And I see you brought company. Is the Lady expecting you?” The figure asked, giving a polite bow to Astari.

“I am unfortunately unannounced, though I feel that Lady Vivi would welcome my visit. I was searching the forest with Youghon, and stumbled upon a demon. This demon to be exact.” He turned and pointed at Alex.

“I will inform the Lady, please wait.” And with that the figure disappeared inside once more, only to emerge moments later.

“The Lady can see you now.”

Astari gestured for Alex to enter, and he did, looking around nervously.

Great, I get to meet the boss of a bunch of people living out in a forest that want to meet demons for whatever reason. What could go wrong?