The group stood in the doorway, clearly blocking the only exit with their bodies, seemingly intent on getting something from me, did I slip up somewhere? I secretly got into an attacking stance, trying to look as relaxed as possible, mana was circulating around my body and through the air at increasing speeds, ready to fire off any spells I could think of, if it came to it.

"You look like a pretty capable mage, rookie" Pretty boy clearly muttered something under his breath, his every word exuded violent intent as he stared lewdly at my chest, joined by the questionable monk, although the elf seemed to look at me with pity.

"Alright, I'm ain't getting involved wit dis, I'll be in the back room whilst you discuss your differences" The frog said as he walked into what I could only assume was the back room, before popping his sooty head out to say one last comment "By da way, ta shops enchanted wit a few dozen protection charms, and if that fails, it has a self-repair function, so go wild, and good luck lass"

Something about the pitying look he gave me before he finally left caused my heart to go cold, chilled sweat dripping down my face as my mind raced. Where humans really that powerful? I had never fought one before, I had never even seen one fight, what would I do if they were too fast for me to see, I wouldn't even be able to defend myself, I acted as quickly as I could, moulding the mana around me into a bubble shape, continuously pouring mana onto it to enforce it as much as possible.

[Achieved skill: Mana Bubble Lvl 1]

[Achieved skill:: Mana Manipulation Lvl 1]

Black text flashed briefly across my vision, but I ignored it as I was concentrating on preparing for other scenarios that played in my head, I entwined thin threads of mana around the handles of the blades attached to my wrists, In the event that magic proved ineffective against these beings, no text appeared this time. I had very little training in the use of aura, but I mustered what knowledge I had on the subject to release what should be an surreal image of my rage and hatred upon my enemies, whilst I was at it, I also enchanted my blades to sharpen and boost their speed.

I steadied my breathing, focusing on even the most minute movements of the things that threatened me, the world faded around me, leaving me in a black abyss, only the creatures before me remained, they looked calm, they hadn't even flinched as I set up my defences, It made my blood boil with anger, I could feel the heat exuding around me igniting the air with deep red fire, yet they remained unmoving, I had enough of it.

I infused a single ball of fire with as much mana as I could, it took on a reddish orange hue when I finished, I launched it directly at the pretty boy and he started moving at unbelievable speeds, I could barely even see the blade swing as it cut my magic apart, his companions were launched out of the shop, and the door had exploded, sending wood dust, splinters and bits of stone everywhere. My magic proved ineffective but his face was covered in shallow cuts and small burns, and his armour was dented in areas and lost a significant amount of its lustre to scratches and bits of metal that had impaled themselves into it.

I could see the windows of houses had shattered on the other side of the street, glass impaling the suspicious monk through the throat, blood was gushing out like a rusty fountain as he struggled to pull it out, I had been right, he must have been a magic caster, no monk would be weak enough to even be bothered by a simple piece of glass through the windpipe.

I could see blood dripping from the room of a house directly opposite to the blacksmith, so I either hit a bird or the elf landed up there, I looked back to the pretty boy, only to see his paled face trembling as he struggled to stay on his feet, and a pool of his own blood growing under him, flowing from the gaps in his armour. I honestly took pity on him, so I threw one of my blades at him his face, but his blade flashed from his hands, blocking the path of the comparatively slow moving projectile, unfortunately for him, I had kept the threads of mana attached to the blade, it arced around his blade and impaled itself into the centre of his chest.

Pretty boy collapsed with a dull thud and metallic clanking, his face was filled with fear in his final moments, and I could smell urine. This battle was wrong, I let fear get to me, even now I'm on edge, I'm just dissippointed in myself, thinking such weaklings were beings worthy of fear, pathetic.

I tried to calm myself, I stabilised my breathing and relaxed my muscles, then I cast an illusion around myself to give the impression that the battle was remotely fair, scratches and cuts appeared all over my outfit, although I couldn't fake blood, I think it looked pretty good, and performing this magic gave me an idea, changing my clothes to look a little more sensible. I changed the yellow robe to a dark red colour, the bunny slippers into fluffy dark blue boots, the oven mitts into proper gloves and giving them the same colour as the boots, and finally I changed the helmet-like mushroom into a spotted hood, complete with a shadowy face.

[Achieved skill: Mana Thread Lvl 1]

[Achieved skill: Surreal Intentions Lvl 1]

[Achieved skill: Aura Enchant Lvl 1]

[Achieved skill: True Focus Lvl 1]

[Awakened skill: Cowards Domain]

[Achieved skill: Fire Magic Lvl 1]

[Awakened skill: Phantom Swordsmanship Lvl 1]

[Achieved skill: Illusion Magic Lvl 1]

Achieved skill: Disguise Lvl 1]

[Achieved title: Overwhelming]

[Due to the effects of the [Overwhelming] title, [Surreal Intentions] and [Phantom Swordsmanship] have become Lvl 10]

A slew of black text assaulted my vision, my brain felt like it was being torn apart as I fell to the floor clutching my head and writhing in agony, eventually blacking out from the pain.