"Oi, Pay-Pay!" I heard Fiona calling from the other side of the road. "Wait up a sec!"

"I told you not to call me that," I replied, unsure where it even came from.

"But you can call me Fi-Fi so that we're even!" She cheered, beginning her walk towards me.

A loud rumbling was approaching, seemingly with no sign of stopping. I glanced around to find the source of it and noticed a car approaching.

I glanced between my friend crossing the road as if there were a hundred hours in the day and the car driving as if it had to be somewhere twenty minutes ago.

"Watch out!" I warned, noticing that the car seemed to be going faster now. I dashed towards her and saw her eyes widen as she saw the imminent danger.

"Payton!" She yelled, reaching for me. I didn't take her hand, though. I shouldered her out of the way, seeing realization wash upon her face as it all faded to black.

𝘚𝘰, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳, 𝘩𝘶𝘩? was all I could think as I stared into the infinite darkness. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐'𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦.

I must have only been in the abyss for a few moments before streaks of light appeared all around me, not too dissimilar to the way sci-fi movies depicted wormholes. The streaks of light grew in numbers until they meshed together to reveal…

A bland room. Brown wood surrounded me, logs stacked high against every smooth, stone wall. I felt below me and noticed I was also sitting on a pile of logs on the furthest end of the room.

[𝐖𝐞𝐥𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞, 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐒𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐰𝐨𝐨𝐝.]

𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥? 𝘚𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘓𝘪𝘯𝘸𝘰𝘰𝘥? 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳-𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘮? I thought, my head spinning with thoughts of where I was, what these strange words in front of me were, and what I was going to do next.

[𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐫𝐧 𝐚𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐝𝐮𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡.]

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘪𝘤, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘢 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥? I thought, quickly realizing I was likely arguing with nothing but words.

[𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐟 𝐆𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐧.]

I slowly, and carefully, slid down the log pile, all whilst holding a conversation with the voice in my head.

𝘏𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘊𝘢𝘱𝘪𝘵𝘢𝘭? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘣𝘦? I questioned, practically scoffing.

[𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐄𝐥𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥, 𝐓𝐚𝐫𝐫'𝐞𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐃𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐨𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐭.]

I stopped in my tracks, coming to a dead stop in the middle of the room.

𝘌𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘴? 𝘋𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴? 𝘋𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘯 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥? 𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥?

[𝐈𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐬𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐲𝐞𝐬.]

I continued out of the farmhouse, conversing with what I lovingly dubbed my 'Menu'.

It answered every question I had as best as it could, which helped me get informed about my new world.

I made my way to Garrin, guided by my Menu. On the journey, which only lasted around two hours, I stopped by a river to drink and wash up.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦 I thought, running a hand down my face.

Billowing obsidian hair, pale skin, and gray pupils. My appearance didn't differ from how I'd imagined every villain in fantasy books in my past life.

After admiring my new appearance- which was a considerable upgrade- I remembered what my Menu had said.

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤? I asked mentally, finally becoming accustomed to my thoughts receiving answers.

[𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐔𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞 𝐀𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝'𝐬 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝, 𝐰𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐛𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐢𝐭.]

𝘚𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘴𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 I thought, cracking my neck in preparation.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘢 𝘧𝘦𝘸 𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘴, I thought, holding my hand up. A fireball the size of a house erupted from my hand and launched itself at the trees on the other side of the river.

[𝐀𝐬 𝐚 𝐃𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐨𝐫𝐝, 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐜 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫.]

𝘞𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥'𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘳 I thought, watching as my spell devoured the ocean of greenery.

𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦.

I raised my hand once more, watching as a small-scale tsunami leaped from it, reversing my prior actions. I realized, however, that by setting the forest on fire and drowning it afterward I had killed a few monsters.

A small activity window appeared in the bottom left of my vision, small enough so it wasn't a hindrance but large enough to make out.

Similar to the credits after movies, a list ran down it showing all of the wildlife I had exterminated. Many of the names were things I had never seen before such as a Tigrera=, a Ginman, and a Lornen.

Numbers appeared next to each of these notifications, but a message appeared at the bottom of it, stating:

[𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝟑𝟓𝟎 𝐄𝐗𝐏, 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟖]

I decided to continue on my journey and was able to see the city from the path. A carriage passed me by, but I barely noticed it as I tried to come to terms with my new abilities.

𝘚𝘰 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘶𝘩? 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘵.

"Help!" a voice yelled from the carriage up ahead. A middle-aged, slightly tubby man came running towards me, his eyes watering in fear of whatever he was trying to flee from. "Run, boy! That thing's gonna kill us!"

I looked back to his carriage, which was now in pieces. Next to the wreckage stood a figure, about 8 feet tall with muscles as big as my head. Two rounded ears sat atop its head, and as my vision focused I finally realized what it was.

A tiger on its hind legs, staring me down with an intensity unlike any other.

𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨?

[𝐀 𝐓𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐞𝐫𝐚. 𝐀 𝐁-𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.]

𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘸𝘰 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 I thought, not questioning why I felt so calm in this situation. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵?

"Aren't you listening to me?" The man screamed, trying to tug me by my shoulder. "A kid like you can't fight that thing, let's just run to the city and alert the guards!" He ordered, glancing between the gate which was only 20 minutes up the road.

"I'll be alright," I said, removing his hand gently. "I think I'm quite strong."

"You're quite fucking stupid is what you are! It's not my fault you're throwing your life away!" He yelled over his shoulder, making a panicked dash for safety. I watched as he nearly fell several times, only being kept on his feet by sheer luck.

A growl and footsteps strong enough to make the ground beneath me shake brought my attention back to my opponent. The Tigrera was approaching, yet I felt no fear. As though by instinct, I raised my hand.

The rocks at my feet responded to my call, floating up to my hand before propelling towards the beast which stood before me. As the rocks crashed into the bipedal tiger's body gashes began to appear.

The growls began to turn from confident to angry, and when my opponent was only a few steps away I stopped my barrage.

"I am warning you. Leave this place if you wish to continue living," I said, staring it dead in the eyes. In response, the Tigrera roared in my face and got spittle over my face and clothing. "I warned you."

𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘰 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘩𝘺𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩? I asked, with my thoughts moving faster than I thought possible.

[𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐭, 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐝𝐲.]

Good enough for me.

I wound up a punch, remembering those few boxing lessons I did a few years back and unleashed a body shot. I heard the beast exhale a coarse gasp and felt its ribs breaking against my fist.

After pulling my fist back from my first punch, I grabbed it by the ears and brought my knee up to meet its nose. The crunching sound was… satisfactory to say the least. It was so satisfying that I did it once more.

To finish my frenzy of attacks I clenched my fist and decided to test how far I could push magic.

𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦.

I could feel the gravitational pull that my hand was creating, the wind around it whirling to a center and the pressure it was putting on my hand. I was able to use it, but not for long due to the immense pain it was causing after only a few seconds of use.

I decided not to see what would happen if I maintained that magic for too long and acted quickly. I leaped up to meet its face and throw an overhead punch, hitting it on the top of its skull.

The Tigrera slumped after the punch, lifeless.

[𝐆𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝟑𝟎 𝐄𝐗𝐏. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 𝟗.]

I grabbed the beast by its tail and dragged it behind me as I made my way to the gate. I was in my head, pondering magic's limits.

It's able to make its gravitational pull, it can create the elements out of thin air. Was it on Earth? Were magicians able to tap into its powers and never told us?

"I'm telling you, you need to get a platoon out there!" I heard a familiar voice plead, pointing in the direction I had just walked from. "There's a boy over there trying to fight a massive Tigrera! He's going to die!"

"Sir, we do not have the power to have a unit deployed. Our job is to make sure no monsters enter this city," a guard stated, holding him at an arm's length. "If you want to help that boy, then head over to the adventurer's guild and ask for he-"

"Sir," another guard interrupted. "Is that the boy?"

"What? Are you insane? How could he have handled that beast in the time I've been he-" the man was stunned to see me, and equally as shocked at the beast I had in tow.

"This beast destroyed that man's cart, so I killed it," I stated, dropping it in front of the guards- who were just as stunned as the man.

"Where is your party?" One of the guards asked, glancing behind me.

"I'm alone," I shook my head. "I'm just coming to enroll in the Academy."

The guards looked to each other, then to the man. A silent agreement seemed to be made by the three of them, though I didn't know what.

"What's your name?" One of them asked.

"Saria Linwood."

"What age are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Are you an adventurer?"

𝘚𝘩𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘦? I thought, running a hand through my hair in thought.

"Not officially, I just like to fight monsters," was all I could muster. I hadn't known it before, but that statement held more truth in it than I first believed.

I was a Demon Lord to the core, it seemed.