"We have to get to her fast!" I exclaimed, while running towards the signal as fast as I could, all while completing the process of mana extraction from my mana pool, and then splitting the drop into fine particles and sending them in equal parts to my muscles , to be able to move faster and to make them stronger for the upcoming battle, and to my bones, so they can withstand the excess force what will be produced by my mana reinforced muscle. This is my Mana magic equivalent of lesser strength, and lesser speed combined.

I was running as fast as an arrow, leaving a trail on wind and dust behind me, where I would see Krog lagging behind while carrying his shield, clearly ready for battle. His speed was slower and his steps were heavier that what I would have wanted it to be, but we can fix that later. Right now, I have to get to Shem as fast as possible.

As time passed, I gave up on running along the streets, as I realised I was closing in on her location, and pulled some mana away from my upper body, towards my legs, and jumped.

A few minutes ago, Shem's point of view...

Hmmm, what should I buy. hehe, should I just begin the trade here right now between the shops, or should I buy things that may be useful in the capital. Wait, before anything, what I need the most is information. I need to know that market prices here and in the capital for everything, and only one way to find that out, exploration!

"Alright, let's go!"

Narrator's point of view...

... At this point, there were random flashes of pink in every store and stall in the market street...

"Wow, there was soooooo much more than usual today! It took me almost a minute to go through them all!! Wow! Anyway, now that I know everything, I should -"

*Bumb*

"Hey watch it, I'm walking here!" Shem said while getting back up and wiping her clothes from dust.

"Hehe, hey boss, how is she? Will she do for tonight?" the shrieking voice of an unimaginably thin man rang in her ears.

She shot her head up, only to find 2 men, about 15 years old, but with characteristics of thugs. The one who spoke was Insid, a follower of Dious, the son of the City Lord of Taberna. And behind him, was standing a slightly shorter man, of about 5 ft; Dious in flesh! Both Insid, and Dious formed an insidious pair of arrogant fellows, with postures that overkilled the very terms of lewd and arrogant, respectively.

She knew she was in trouble, because Dious had been pursuing her since 2 years. He had asked her nicely to become his consort, but she declined him every-time. Once he even went to the extent of trying to kidnap her. Thankfully, Sylvia was around and was able to supress the thugs with just glare. After that, Sylvia stormed into the City Lord mansion, and threatened to flatten the town, and kill every living relative of the lord, 'If even a hair on her head is damaged... Do ... You Understand...?' was what she said. And Shem had a quiet life without Dious for almost a year. But now she bumps into him in the market, while Sylvia is out somewhere! her luck must have run out. Now was the time to run!

And that is what she did, but her arm was suddenly held, and then she was dragged back to her original place. After seeing that Insid was the one holding her, she thought of a last ditch effort to run, 'let’s see how you try to look at me like that again after THIS!' She swung her right leg in an elegant arch, upwards toward his groin, and *crunch*, the sound of a marble being crushed could be audibly heard. Insid, instantly fainted from the shock, and Dious was left speechless.

This was it, her chance to escape! she turned around and began to run away from Dious, whose expression morphed from disbeleif to hatred as he shouted, "Get her, Alive or Dead!"

Instantly, 7 figures, initially hidden in the crowd began to swiftly follow after Shem as she squeezed her way through the crowd. One of the figures threw a dagger at Shem, but just before it could touch her, her ring started glowing a faint white, and then a gust of wind exploded from it, bypassing Shem, and went straight to the dagger, at which point the dagger stopped in its tracks. The ring then died down to a shade darker than it was initially, however, Shem did not stop to look, she just kept running, and thanking Jon in her mind, for his timely gift.

Jon's point of view...

As I was in the air, I extracted a drop of mana, and split it in two, and inserted each droplet into each of my eyes, trying my best to imagine the eye of an eagle from my previous school biology textbook. After about 0.3 seconds, it was a success. I know it was because my eyes didn't blow-up. Yes, magic is very dangerous! Anyway, from up here, and with my eagle eyes, I was able to spot Shen, and the danger she was in.

As I was landing, I was already preparing for another jump, but with a more accurate trajectory as compared to straight up. Upon landing, I bent my right knee, and pushed onto the ground with the other, launching myself to the right, parallel to the road. Looking down the path I was taking, I spotted Shem, and I think she saw me, because she was now running even faster towards me, with some signs of relief on her face.

But just as she was about to reach me, her expression suddenly changed...