A few days later Nero was sitting in a multi purpose cafe.
Still fashioned in his all black with a leather coat to match, he was drinking a coffee and going over everything he had learned these past days. He spent 90 % of his time merely observing, taking in this foreign land.
Which turned out to be less foreign than he'd imagined. Most commodities, stores, and food were almost identical to his world.
The only differences were the people themselves
and the brilliant light in the sky. On his first day in the city, Nero thought the sun would blind him if he looked with his naked eye.
But when he did, he was completely fine.
It didn't even burn or hurt if he looked too long. He had thought this was because he was magically awakened now. But he quickly learned that wasn't true after only a few hours of observation.
He noticed many people shielding their eyes from the sun, and he deduced that his apparent immunity to being blinded by the sun had to do with his "subject of light and darkness" ability.
But even more interesting than the sun, were the people. There was a vast and diverse population of people here. There were people with all kinds of different eyes, hair and skin colors. There were people who were more akin to cats and reptiles than humans and there were people who looked mostly human but had oddly shaped ears or had horns that grew from their heads and so much more. In his world, not fully human people weren't foreign but didn't look so drastically unhuman like.
Over the course of these past few days, he had become enamored with the multitude of different kinds of people here.
He had also learned the name of this city, "Asale", which was the exact same name as the city in his home world.
And that had all but confirmed it for him.
Growing up, everyone knew about the myth of the sun. But there was a story in which the myth originated. It was said that there was once a world where the sun and moon both covered one large and vast world. Forever rotating around that world. But then a war so destructive and horrific, made a god descend and split the world in two. Creating my world and apparently this one.
Nero was no longer inclined to disregard myths or legends now. Not after he had seen and walked under the sun, something he thought couldn't exist for his entire life.
And this particular legend lined up too well. There was no way it was a coincidence that this city could have the same name and be nearly identical to the one in his world, and there not be a connection between them.
Sighing, Nero sipped his coffee, and looked out of the glass window in front of him to the busy streets.
He had learned much but not enough, not what he really wanted to know.
Why had his world been destroyed?
He knew it was highly unlikely he would get those answers out here with the mundane people of this world. And so that meant he had to get them in the military, from those in power. And to get there he needed power. And he hadn't been neglecting that part of his observation and studies. Much like his own world, most of the mundane world, like lights, showers, chairs, homes and transportation were
All powered by sorcery, a deviant evolution of magic.
Looking to his left, he noted the blue gemstone in the middle of the floating table he was seated at. He didn't fully understand it, but from what he had studied, those who were proficient in sorcery could imbue objects with certain characteristics and commands, thus making this table float.
Taking the last sip of coffee, Nero raised his right hand and called out for a waiter. Soon, a young woman approached him. She had long styled pink hair and pupilless eyes, the same color.
Speaking in a polite tone. He told her he was ready to pay. The woman nodded.
'That'll be four silver sol coins, sir.
Nero nodded with a smile as an answer.
The woman fashioned a golden box from her apron. After pushing a few buttons on the rim of the box, it opened, and she held it out to him. Nero stood and placed 4 silver coins in the box and placed a 5th on top of it. The church had sent him a sizable sum of money on his second day here.
The currency pretty much worked the same as what he already knew; it was just named and shaped differently.
After thanking the woman, he quickly left the shop. Garnering many curious looks as he did so. Despite his situation and lack of knowledge, Nero was slightly excited for today.
He'd be taking the first steps in learning to wield magic.