I turned three years old. My body could now finally withstand the strain of my circuits, so the real fun begins now.

First, I'll have to check if my magecraft spells work in this world. This was going to take a few weeks. My "recreating the first magic so I'll become a badass" project was going along smoothly.

I discovered you couldn't just reinforce anything with Mana. When I tried to reinforce glass, it shattered the moment I poured Mana into it. The same thing happened with rocks, metal, and just about anything too hard. I wouldn't recommend using Mana to reinforce your body, not unless you want to feel like you're internally combusting. Mana's thick viscosity made it unsuitable to reinforce anything with small gaps. Or, in other words, anything too hard or dense. It required large gaps to flow freely, like the ones in wood, fabric, or my projections.

Speaking of fabric, I was already turning the silkworm cocoons into thread. There were actually two different kinds of silkworm native in this area. One produced white silk, and the other produced gold silk. I had to alter the design slightly to fit this color scheme. I was raising the silkworms under my bed within a protection spell so Lilia won't notice them when she was cleaning, and a time-quickening barrier to speed up their growth. I kept the cocoons hidden in a giant pot in my study, with a few Deterrent Spells just in case.

...

On that note, my magic studies were advancing far too slowly.

"My, Rudy does love that book, doesn't he?" Zenith said with a smile as I puttered about with "A Textbook of Magic" in hand, as I usually did.

My parents didn't seem bothered by the way I always lugged the book around. Even when I was eating, I'd keep the book tucked under my arm. I did, however, make sure to not read it in front of anyone. I still wasn't sure what this world's views on magic were.

Back in my world, magecraft was shunned and hidden away, and the phantasmal species known as "Witches" were hunted and persecuted.

Of course, considering I was holding a magic textbook in my hand, magic probably wasn't hidden away from the general public. The book did say anyone could use magic as long as they had Mana. But it didn't mean people didn't have a dim view of it. Maybe only adults practiced magic, and children were banned from using it? Magicians risked blacking out if they used too much Mana; people might think it stunted a child's growth. With all that in mind, I decided to keep my magical aptitude a secret from my family. A magus always hides their research, after all. Our maid, Lilia, would occasionally give me stern looks, but my parents remained as oblivious as ever, so I was pretty sure I was safe. I didn't want to waste my childhood, gotta flex my talents before it was too late.

...

...

One afternoon, my secret magic training came to an end.

My magical reserves had grown a decent amount, so I went through the incantation for an intermediate spell. Splash flow: Size one, speed zero. I figured that like usual, the water would pool into my bucket. Maybe it would overflow a bit, but I had a water manipulation spell in my crest.

So, I cast the spell...and launched forth an impressive amount of water that blasted a massive hole in the wall. It flew so far that I couldn't even see where it landed. And it literally rained outside. I stood there, dumbstruck, watching as the water dripped from the wooden edges of that hole. I cursed my stupidity, people would surely know this was made by magical means. There was nothing I could do now. I didn't have a spell that could fix this.

Paul was the first to rush in. "Rudy!" He cried out, "Are you-" His jaw dropped at the sight of the wall. "What happened in here? Are you alright?"

Paul was a good guy. It was clear that I did this, but all he cared about was that I was all right. He went on his guard, carefully checking the surroundings.

"Monster attack?" He muttered under his breath, "No way. Not in broad daylight."

"Oh goodness," Zenith gasped as she came into the room. She was always calmer than my dad. She looked at the shattered wall, then at the pool of water on the floor. "Huh?" Her gaze fell on the spell book lying open on the ground. My mother picked up the book, scanned the page it was on, and then looked back and forth between me and the book. Her mouth curled into a warm smile. The smile didn't reach her eyes. It was creepy. I wanted to look away, but I tried as hard as I could to keep my gaze locked with Zenith's. It was better to be honest here; lying could make things worse. "Rudy, did you speak some of the words from that book out loud?" She asked.

"I'm sorry," I replied with a tiny nod. A straightforward apology was best when you'd done something wrong.

"Sorry?" Paul asked, "That was an intermediate sp-"

"Oh, honey, did you hear that?!" Zenith interrupted, practically squeaking, "Oh, I just knew our little boy was a genius!" She balled her hands into fists and hopped around in excitement.

Well, she was in a good mood. I guess that meant apology excepted?

Paul seemed at a loss. "Wait, hold on." He said, looking at me, "We haven't even taught him how to read yet, or-"

"We'll have to hire a tutor for him right away! Oh, he's going to grow up to be an amazing mage!"

Zenith's reaction to my ability to use magic was one of barely contained glee. It seemed my fears were unfounded. Meanwhile, Lilia had casually and wordlessly begun to clean up.

"Honey, let's head into Roa tomorrow and post a job for a tutor!" Zenith said. "We need to make sure Rudy can hone his talents!" Zenith was over the moon, rambling on and on about how I was a genius.

This was like my past life's father all over again. Using an intermediate spell wasn't that impressive. Right?

"Honey, we have to get him a home tutor!" Zenith said, "I'm sure we'll be able to find a great magic instructor in Roa!"

It seemed parents were the same no matter which would you're in. Any time a kid shows the slightest inkling of talent, it's straight to making sure they get the proper education for their gifts.

Paul was less enthusiastic about Zenith's suggestion to find me a magic tutor. "Hold up, now. Didn't we promise that if we had a boy, we'd raise him to be a swordsman?"

So a girl would be a mage, but a boy would be a swordsman? They must have agreed to that before I was born.

"But he can already use intermediate magic at his age!" Zenith rebutted, "With the right training, he'd be an amazing mage!"

"A promise is a promise, though!"

"Don't talk to me about promises! You break yours all the time."

"We're not talking about me right now!"

And so my parents got into a bit of a spat. The argument dragged on for a bit until Lilia finished cleaning up.

"What if he studies magic in the morning and practices swordplay in the afternoons?" She suggested with a sigh.

That put the argument to rest, and my parents decided on their kid's studies without even bothering to ask him what he wanted to do. Well, no big deal, that plan didn't sound too bad.

But that aside...

"MY BOUNDED FIELD!"

...

...

And so it was decided that a home tutor should be hired for me. I gathered that the position of personal instructor to a young noble was well-paying. Paul was one of the few knights in the area, which made him a low-ranking noble.

Still, we were out in the sticks on the far border of the kingdom, though, and out on the frontier, high-level talent (especially mages) was in short supply. If we put a request up on the Mages' Guide or Adventurers' Guide, would anyone even show up?

My parents were also worried about that prospect, but they apparently found someone promptly, because my lessons were going to start the next day. And since there was no inn in our village, my teacher would be living with us.

My parents were fairly certain that my teacher would be some retired adventurer. Young people wouldn't come all this way to the boonies, and there was no shortage of jobs for the royal magicians back in the capital. As I understood it, only advanced-ranked mages taught the arcane arts. In my mind's eye, I pictured a middle-aged or elderly fellow with many years of diligent study under his belt, complete with the long beard that was requisite for such wizards.

"I'm Roxy. It's a pleasure to meet you."

My expectations were quite off the mark. The person who showed up was a young girl, maybe of junior-high age. She was clad in brown, wizardry robes, her blue hair styled into braids, her posture prim and proper. Her white skin looked untouched by the sun, and her eyes were somewhat sleepy. Her expression didn't exactly radiate sociability, and despite her lack of glasses, she looked like the sort of girl who liked to hole up in a library. In one hand, she carried a bag, and in the other, she held a staff.

The family came to greet her together, and my mother carried me in her arms.

"..."

"..."

My parents looked her over, totally lost. No wonder, really. This couldn't have been what they were expecting. When you ask for a home tutor, you'd figure you'd get someone a bit further on in years. And instead, here was this cute little thing. She was perfect. I wanted her to be my bride.

"Oh, uh. Are-are you the home tutor?" Zenith finally asked.

"Aren't you a little, uh..." Paul managed.

My parents were fumbling with their words, so I decided to finish them. "You're little."

"Hey, you're sure one to talk." Roxy snapped back.

She sure seemed to be touchy about the subject. And I wasn't even talking about her breasts.

Roxy let out a sigh, "So, where's this student of mine?" She asked, looking around.

"Oh, that would be our boy right here," Zenith replied, bouncing me slightly in her arms.

I gave Roxy a cheeky wink. Her eyes went wide, and she sighed once more.

"Ugh, this happens sometimes." She muttered under her breath, "Kid shows signs of growing up a little fast and the damn parents get it into their heads that he's got a special talent."

Excuse me? Can you literally move the stars in the sky? I agreed with her, but still.

"You said something?" Paul asked.

"Oh, nothing." She replied. "I'm just not sure that your son would be able to understand the principles of magic."

"Oh, don't you worry." Zenith said, brimming with motherly pride, "Our little Rudy is a genius, you'll see!"

Yet again, Roxy sighed. 'All right then. I'll see what I can do." She sounded like she'd already decided it was futile.

And so, that was the first day of taking classes with Roxy in the morning and practicing swordplay with Paul in the afternoon.

...

"Okay, so this magic textbook here... Actually. Before we get to that, how about we see how much magic you can use, Rudy?"

Roxy had taken me into the yard for our first lesson. I gathered that magic was something typically done outside. You wouldn't want a fireball burning the house down, or a waterfall to flood the room.

"First, I'll demonstrate."

Roxy pointed her staff at my mother's favorite tree. Oh, dear. Zenith was going to be pissed.

"Let the vast and blessed waters converge where thou seekest. I call forth a refreshing burbling stream here and now-Waterball."

A waterball formed at the tip of her staff, before it hurtled toward my mother's favorite tree, snapping it in half.

"What do you think?"

"Uh. Miss? My mom loves that tree and spends lots of time caring for it. She's gonna pretty angry that you broke it."

"Huh? Really?!"

"Without a doubt."

One time I accidentally shot a fireball and burned off one of its branches. Zenith was in a pretty foul mood after that stunt. I'm just glad she didn't know it was me who did it.

"Oh, that's not good." Roxy stammered, rushing over to the tree in a panic. "I have to do something about this." With a grunt, she hefted the fallen trunk back into place. Then, red in the face and straining with exertion, she began to chant. "Let this divine power be as satisfying nourishment, giving one who has lost their strength the strength to rise again-Healing!"

Slowly and surely, the trunk of the tree worked it's way back into its original position.

Okay, credit where credit is due: That was pretty amazing.

"You can use healing magic just like mom!"

"Hm? Yes. Up to intermediate level."

"Oh, wow! That's amazing!"

"Oh, not at all! With the proper training, anyone could do it." Roxy's tone was somewhat curt, but the corners of her mouth softened, and her nose wiggled proudly.

Yeah, she was happy, all right. All it took was laying on some praise. Man, she was easy to please.

"All right. Now you try it."

"Okay!" I held out my hand and- Crap. I hadn't used this incantation in forever. How did it go again? "Let the vast and blessed waters converge where thou seekest-"

At that moment, the wind blew Roxy's skirt up, and I caught a small glimpse of the holy cloth all girls wore. That distracted me, making me cut the rest of the incantation and just form the water from my Mana. The waterball flew through the air, though I didn't bother seeing where it landed. I was too busy looking up a girl's skirt.

"Care to explain yourself?" Roxy snapped me out of heaven.

"Uh-uh. It's nothing!" I stumbled back, "How did I do?"

"You cut the incantation in half."

"Yeah." "Do you always abridge it like that?" Roxy asked.

"Well, I normally...uh...skip it."

"You what?!" Roxy's eyes were wide with shock and disbelief as she looked down at me. She quickly gained composure, however. "Okay. Wordless spellcasting. I see. Maybe it's worth training this kid after all."

I grinned.

"Aaaahh!"

From behind us, a scream split the air. Zenith had come outside to see how things were going. She dropped the tray she'd been carrying and brought her hands to her mouth as she looked over the split tree lying on the ground. Sadness filled her face. A moment later, that sadness was replaced by livid anger. She stomped over to Roxy, getting right in her face.

"Roxy, please don't use my trees as practice dummies. Oh, honestly."

...

After getting scolded by Zenith for a while, she restored the tree to its formal glory with healing magic and left to cook lunch. Roxy knelt in the dirt, poking a stone with her finger.

"Figures I'll screw up on day one. Hehehehe. I guess I'll be fired tomorrow."

"I'm sorry you got yelled at, miss. That was all my fault."

I rubbed my chin with my hand. I hadn't struck up a conversation with anyone in close to ten years. So I couldn't find the right words to comfort her. No. I just needed to calm down and think. What would the protagonist of one of those dating sims I liked say to comfort someone at a time like this? Okay, I think I know what to do now.

I put a hand on Roxy's shoulder. "You didn't fail here, miss."

"Rudy...?"

"You just gained some more experience, that's all."

OH, WOW, That was cheesy. I guess this was why I stopped playing those. It seemed to have a good effect, though.

Roxy was taken aback, "Yes, you're...you're right. Thank you." She stopped sulking and stood up, flashing a smile before flicking me on the forehead.

"Ow!"

And so, right from day one, I formed a little bond with Roxy.

...

Afternoons were spent practicing swordplay with Paul.

And it was hell!

I'm a magus, a magician! Not a swordsman! But I guess it was good to know how to use a sword. We didn't have a wooden practice sword suitable for a toddler of my stature, so our focus was on physical training. Running, push-ups, sit-ups, things like that. I could just project a training sword, but my parents didn't know that. According to Paul, getting my body used to moving was the first priority. On the days he was too busy, he would tell me to keep up with the fundamentals. Guess dads are like that in every world. My former father told me to invent my own spells at six. I'll just have to bare with it.

A young child didn't have the stamina to train all afternoon, so we finished up around mid-afternoon. I used the time between then and dinner to work on my spells.

Adjusting the spell's size increased the Mana required. I didn't get why it required Mana to make a spell smaller, but I guess that's just magic for ya. Almost nothing makes sense. My magical reserves had grown to the point that I wouldn't burn through them unless I cast large spells. But if I wanted to use up all my Mana in secrecy, I could just use the pseudo First Magic I invented and burn through my reserves. It took a surprising amount of Mana and Od to project something that wouldn't fade with time. I could only project thirty small items before I passed out. I'll need to expand my Mana pool.

After a while of power expansion though, I wanted to move on to actual applications of magic. So I decided to focus on practicing more precise spellcrafting. I wanted to make my effects smaller and more complex. Like creating sculptures from ice, taking dirt from the yard and breaking it down to its constituent components, locking and unlocking doors, and so on. Reshaping something already hardy and solid was obviously more difficult and took more Mana. Working with intricate and delicate details, or attempting to work with both speed and precision expended vastly more power as well.

I also experienced using spells from different magical branches at the same time. This took more than three times the magical expenditure than using two spells of the same branch did. In other words, trying to be quick and precise with two spells of different schools simultaneously was also a great way to burn through my reserves.

My training went on like this until I couldn't exhaust my reserves unless I attempted Greater Rituals. This was when I started working on my magecraft spells seriously.

...

I practiced magecraft at night in secrecy, when everyone was asleep and wouldn't see the mysteries I could perform. My magecraft could be considered alien, after all. I wouldn't want people thinking I was some demon god from another planet.

I say I practice magecraft, but I experiment with magic as well.

One of the first things I discovered was that I was completely wrong about how mages generate the elements for spells. Mages summoned elements from nearby sources, not by creating them from Mana. It seems my stupidity discovered a whole new branch of magic.

Hahahahaha.

Anyways, back to magecraft. I just recently finished testing all my spells. It seemed they all worked in this world. My astromancy was more potent than ever, thanks to the fact this world was still in the age of the gods. I may or may not have summoned a meteor shower with more than ten thousand meteors. They were all small ones that burned up in the atmosphere, but still.

I began experimenting with magic circles. And they pretty much worked like my circuits and mana pool. The ones from my world couldn't handle Mana-they just shatter-and the ones from this world couldn't handle Od-nothing happens when I pump it through. That pesky "waste" energy was a real pain to deal with, but without it, I can't reinvent the first magic.

Since I was in the age of the gods, there was something I always wanted to do.

Teleportation.

I made theories about it in my past life, but never got the chance to put them to practice-I was hit by a moving metal box. Unfortunately, all my notes on the subject are on earth, still stored in my bunker underground. I wonder if the Clocktower has found it yet? Not that I care. I'm in a different world. Though it's going to be annoying to rewrite every single one of my theories.

I'm still working on my mystic code, it's taking an unbelievable amount of time to raise all the silkworms required. I finished drawing the design a few months ago, so all I can do now is wait.

...

...

One night, while spinning the silk thread into fabric, I heard the lascivious sound of a creaking bedframe and lurid moaning coming from somewhere. Well, not "somewhere," really-it was coming from Paul and Zenith's bedroom. And my were they vigorous. I just hope I'd get a little sister. Little brothers are the worst. From the sounds they were making it seemed that Paul was pretty good in bed. I hope I'd inherited that as his son. You can't blame me for wanting a family of my own.

Listening to them do "it" initially excited me, but it had recently grown stale. I was too busy with magecraft, magic, and raising my silkworms. Also, the creaking and moaning would stop as soon as I approached their room, which was pretty damn amusing.

I let out a breath as the last of the threads became silky, white fabric. Spinning thread and making fabric was never my strong suit. I snapped my fingers, and the newly finished cloth folded itself up and floated into my closet. I stretched my arms as I stood up, it had been four hours since my parents put me to bed, meaning I had been spinning cloth for over three hours. It may not look like it, but controlling threads to make cloth was taxing on my reserves.

I headed to the toilet, wondering if I should let them know their son, now capable of walking, was there. Maybe this time I'll say something like, "Mommy? Daddy? What are you doin' naked?" It'll be hilarious hearing what excuses they come up with.

Hehehehehe.

With that in mind, I slipped out of my room as quietly as I could-except someone had already beaten me to the punch. The blue-haired girl was hunched in the dark hallway, peeking into the bedroom through the gap in the door. Her cheeks were flushed bright red, and her breathing had sunk to a low, rough panting, her gaze locked inside of the room. One of her hands was inside her robes, moving rather suggestively.

I crept back to my room. Roxy's in the thrill of adolesce, after all. I had the decency to pretend I didn't see anything. That said, I definitely liked what I saw.

...

...

Four months later, I was able to cast intermediate spells. At this point, Roxy began to give me classroom-style lessons in the evening. Uh, that probably makes it sound sexier than it was. This was about studying, first and foremost. She was a good teacher. She was fussy about sticking to a particular curriculum, but she'd also ramp up the content of our lessons based on how well I understood things. She was good at intuitively responding to her student. She had a book that acted as a supplement to my textbook, from which she'd ask me questions; if I got one right, we'd move on to the next one, and if I didn't know something, she'd very politely explain it to me. It might not sound like much, but my world was slowly opening up.

...

...

"Miss Roxy, how come there are only spells for things to be used in combat?" I asked abruptly.

"Oh, well, that's not really the case, actually." Roxy replied, "Let's see. What's the best way to explain it? Okay, first off, it's said that magic was originally created by the High Elves."

So elves exist here. Interesting.

"Miss Roxy, what are elves?" I asked.

"Allow me to explain. Elves are a race of people who currently live in the northern part of the Millis Continent."

According to Roxy, long before even the Great Human-Demon Wars, when the world was engulfed in the unceasing spiral of battle and chaos, the High Elves, to fight their enemies, entreated the spirits of the forests to control the wind and earth. And thus, the first magic spells were born.

"Wow! So there's an entire history to this and everything?" I asked.

"Of course there is!" Roxy huffed, rebuking me with a nod. "Modern magic takes its form from humans mimicking the spells the elves used in battle and reworking them. Humans are good at that sort of thing, after all."

"We are?"

"Yes. It's almost always humans who push for innovation. Only combat spells are well known because magic is mostly used in battle. For anything else, humans have invented some trinket or machine for us to rely on."

I get it. So we were in that kind of setting where tools and devices were simpler to use than magic. That made enough sense. Granted, silent casting would still be easier.

"Moreover." Roxy continued, "Not all magic is used for battle. For instance, Summoning magic lets you call forth powerful fiends or spirits."

"Summoning magic! Do you think you'd be able to teach me that soon?"

"I'm afraid not. I can't use it myself." Roxy replied. "But to get back to my earlier point, magical implements also exist."

Magical implements? What did she mean by that? A mystic code or something?

"Could you explain those?" I asked.

"Magical implements are devices that have special magical effects. They've got a magic circle or runes inscribed somewhere within them, so even if someone isn't a mage, they can still make use of them. Though no one inscribes runes anymore. Some of them utilize vast amounts of magical power, though."

Okay, so that was pretty much what I expected. It was just a fancy name for mystic codes. Though one thing stuck out to me.

"What are runes, miss Roxy?"

I always wondered why I couldn't find any mention of runes in my magic textbook.

Roxy scratched her chin as if trying to dig up old memories, then her eyes lit up, "Runes were said to be the first embodiment of magic, discovered ten thousand years ago by an un-named dwarf. Composed of only straight lines and possessing mechanics similar to magic circles, they are symbols that represent the laws of the world. Once inscribed, they automatically realize mysteries accordingly with the meaning that they represent. However, the precise meaning of each rune varies depending on the mage. The mages who mastered these runes were called 'Druids'."

Okay, that lines up with the runes of my old world, except for the "being discovered by a dwarf" and the druid part.

"But why doesn't anyone use them anymore?" I asked.

"Back in the older days, between ten thousand and eight thousand years ago, runes were the primary form of magic. They were easy to use and didn't require any incantations. However, during the first Great Human-Demon war, the dwarves were forced to flee their homeland and take shelter at the foot of the Blue Dragon Mountain Range in the Millis Continent, since back then, they counted as a demon race. During that process, all the druids of the dwarf trib died in combat. Since most of the druids were part of the dwarf trib, few remained who could pass on their teachings. After that, all the remaining druids were killed one by one, until no one knew how to cast them. Now, no one even knows what runes look like." Roxy finished.

Wow. That was quite a story. I'd never thought runes would be lost in this world. So that's why my magic textbook didn't hold anything about them. No one even knew their shapes or names. It's kind of depressing.

"Wait, now that I think about it, there is one rune we know the name of," Roxy said after a brief pause.

"Yes?"

"The rune is called 'Ansuz,' and it represents god."

Ansuz, I recognized that name. It was the first rune I ever learned to carve. If this rune had the same name, then its shape was probably the same as well. This means the rest of the runes were likely similar or even exactly the same as the ones I know. It made sense, my runecraft worked in this world, after all. I guess you could say I'm a master of runes. I'm nowhere near the level of Scáthach , but my level exceeds all modern magi.

"Does this make me the last druid alive?" I mused out loud.

"Did you say something?" Roxy asked.

"Oh-uh...nothing!" I stammered out, "Miss Roxy, what's the difference between a fiend and a monster?"

It was best to change the subject. I'll tell them about my unique abilities later.

"There isn't much difference."

She explained that monsters were sudden mutations in normal animals. If they were lucky enough to grow in numbers, establish themselves as a new species, and develop intellect, over the generations they became fiends. But apparently, many creatures that possessed intelligence but still attacked humans were classified as monsters. There were also cases of fiends growing more savage and brutal over the generations, reverting back into monsters. So, to sum it up, monsters attacked humans and fiends did not.

"So then, demons are just a more evolved version of fiends?" I asked.

"No, demons are completely different. The name 'demon' comes from long ago when the races of men and demons battled one another."

"Is that the Great Human-Demon War you mentioned earlier?"

"That's right," Roxy said, "The first conflict happened around seven thousand years ago."

"Wow, that's so long ago it's almost dizzying to think about." This world evidently had quite a long history.

"Oh, it's not all that long ago. Humans and demons were still at war with one another as recently as four hundred years ago. It started seven thousand years ago, and the two sides have been in conflict off and on ever since."

Four hundred years sounded long enough, but seven thousand years of ongoing fighting? Humans and demons mush hate each other.

"Ah, okay, I get it," I said. "So then, what are demons?"

"Well, it's a little hard to define," Roxy said.

The simplest way to put it, according to her, was that "demons" included whoever fought on the demons' side in the most recent conflict. But this, too, had its exceptions.

"I'm a demon myself, actually."

"Oh. You-you are?"

I had a demon for a tutor, which means we probably weren't at war right now.

"That's right." Roxy said, "More specifically, I'm one of the Migurd, from the Biegoya Region of the demon continent. You must have noticed your parents' surprise when they first saw me, right, Rudy?"

"But that cause you're so tiny, right?"

"I am not tiny." Roxy puffed her cheeks out and pouted. She looked so cute right now. "But no, they were surprised by the color of my hair.

"Why?" I thought it was a pretty shade of blue.

"They say that, for the demonic races, the closer our hair is to green, the more savage we tend to be. Depending on the lighting, my hair can look pretty green, too."

Green? Of all colors, why green? Roxy's hair was a striking sky-blue, and she twirled a finger in her bangs as she explained herself. Her mannerisms were adorable.

"I think your hair is pretty," I said.

"Oh, thank you very much. But that's the sort of thing you say to a girl you like after you grow up."

I didn't miss my opening. "I like you right now, miss."

I know it's cheesy, but hey, hitting on cute girls is what I do.

"I see. Well, in another ten or fifteen years, if your feelings haven't changed, please feel free to tell me again."

She'd pretty cleanly rebuffed by, but I caught the happy look that crossed her face.

"To get back to the subject at hand," Roxy said, "The idea that more brightly colored hair signifies danger is nothing but a superstition."

"Oh. Is it?" Now I felt stupid for taking it seriously.

"Yes. During the war four thousand years ago, a race known as the Superd, a green-haired race from the Babynos Region, went on a brutal rampage. That's where the myth comes from. The color of one's hair doesn't have anything to do with that."

"A brutal rampage?"

"Indeed. After only a decade and a change of war, they became feared by friend and foe alike, becoming as violent as they were despised. They were so dangerous that, after the war, persecution drove them almost completely from the demon continent."

Their own allies pushed them away after the war? Wow. Harsh.

"People really hate them that much?" I asked.

"They do."

"What did they do to be hated so badly?"

"Well, I can only tell you what I've heard. Things like attacking allied demon settlements and slaughtering the women and children, or wiping out all of their foes on the battlefield and turning on their allies. When I was a kid I heard stories like that all the time. 'Don't stay up too late or the Superd will gobble you up.' That sort of thing."

Well...Every world needs a good boogeyman.

Roxy continued. "The Migurd and Superd are closely related, and I've heard we used to get treated much the same as they were." She paused to make sure she had my attention. "I imagine your parents will probably tell you something like this soon enough, but if you ever see someone with emerald green hair and a red jewel set on their forehead, make sure you don't go anywhere near them. And if contact is unavoidable, whatever you do, make sure you don't make them mad."

Emerald green hair and a red gem on the forehead? She must be describing the Superd.

"What happens if I make them mad?"

"You might get your entire family killed."

"You said emerald green hair, with a red gem in their forehead, right?"

"Yes, that's right. The thing on their forehead is their third eye, which allows them to see the flow of magic."

"Are all the Superd women?" I asked.

"No. There are men, too, like you'd expect."

"If they do something with the jewel on their head does it turn blue or something?"

Roxy tilted her head in bafflement. "Um, no? At least, not that I know of?"

Well, I was happy I'd gotten to ask what I wanted. "It sounds like they're pretty easy to spot, at least," I said.

"That's right. If you ever see one, just act casual, like you've got something else to do, and get out of there. If you bolt all of a sudden, you might provoke them."

Spotting some punk and making a run for it just invited the chase.

"So, if I do have to take to one, just speak very politely and I should be okay."

"As long as you don't say anything blatantly degrading, then there ought to be no problem. However, there are many differences between human and demon cultures, so you might not know what words will trigger an outburst. The safest thing is to avoid being overly sarcastic and that sort of thing."

These guys seemed to have very short tempers. They were the victims of oppression, but it sounded like the fears surrounding them had some basis.

If I got killed, I doubted I'll get reincarnated again.

I wanted to live a full life this time.

So I'll stay away from these Superds.

….

So, what do you all think? Not bad, I hope. I apologize if there are any mistakes. I am only a fourteen-year-old.

I'm new to this website, so there will be kinks to work out.

Anyways, Please like, share, follow, and comment.

As always, good luck with your game of life.