It was a gamble I was willing to take.
The panels of confirmation of my class began to slowly bounce in front of me before vibrating and then disappearing into thin air.
My vision and senses went with it, and just as I reawoke with my mind still intact, I felt the light drizzle of rain patter against my face.
"*sigh*... Such a relaxing feeling," I muttered before sitting up and making sure that I was still in the alleyway as I was the safest there.
『Status』
[Name: Cyrus]
[Race: Human]
[Class: Water Magician]
[Level: 1/25] (0/100) XP Needed
[HP: 35/35 MP: 10/10 SP: 15/15] - Normal Human
[Strength: 5] - Normal Human
[Defense: 3] - Normal Human
[Magic: 13] - Normal Human
[Speed: 3] - Normal Human
[Aether: 5] - Non Human
[Skills: [Tidal Strike] [Water Manipulation] [Water Ring]
…
"Oh, shit. What… I got [Water Ring]? Is this for real?" I muttered to myself with a large smile as not only was I satisfied by my magic stat, but also the second skill I had acquired upon classing up.
I was expecting to get some bullshit like [Water Strike] which was literally just the devolved version of [Tidal Strike], but I actually got something useful.
[Water Ring] is a type of buff skill that is heavenly for any beginner mage who has extremely low speed and defense.
Though, the most exciting part about the skill is its potential to grow into a pretty good skill that will take me far.
"Alright, maybe I should test out my new strength," I smirked before immediately locking onto a juicy target.
He was a businessman with a golden oni mask that looked so cool that I knew that I needed to get my hands on it.
But, still drunk on my newly found power, I didn't realize the sore mistake I was about to make.
First, I gathered his attention by accidentally bumping into him, and after putting on my not so very good child-like face, I ran back into the alleyway.
"Oh, my bad, kid. I didn't see you there," He said with a nice smile, and just as he reached towards me to possibly ruffle my hair, I grabbed onto a pair of his fingers and yanked him downwards.
I infused my muscles with mana, but as I had a significant increase in my strength already, I was able to easily pull the man who had his guard let down.
Ksh
I pulled out my sharpened rock and then went to go stab his eye, but just as it was about to puncture him, his hand covered his face.
"Boy, oh boy… Kids these days are quite aggressive," He said, and his long hair shuffled a bit from the breezy wind funneling through the dark alleyway.
Its whistle matched with the man's movements as he shoved me away and then pulled out the sharp rock from the back of his hand.
Blood spurted out, and a shiver ran down my spine.
While glaring intensely at the man who was tying his long hair back into a ponytail, I backed up to behind the well, where I grabbed another sharpened rock.
I had made tons in preparation that one of them broke, but I never thought it would get stolen by my victim.
"Hey, it was just a prank, dude," I said, and the man chuckled a bit just as he finished tying his hair.
We both stared at each other for a few more seconds before he suddenly disappeared, and…
BAM
He clocked me in the stomach, but thankfully, I had activated [Water Ring] in time, helping me brace some of the damage.
[A ring of water has reinforced your body]
A literal ring of water wrapped around both my index fingers, filling me with a sense of reassurance.
"Ack… *cough* *cough* *cough* *cough*... Ouch," I muttered as I held my stomach.
"Oh, you're pretty good," The man said before backing up and then taking out a pair of beautiful black knives that had white engravings on them.
Crrkkkkkk
He scratched the knives together, creating an ear-screeching sound that reverberated inside the alleyway.
"It's a shame you had to die this way," The man muttered before dashing towards me and making a swift cut towards my throat.
He was planning on ending this quickly and painlessly for me, but I wasn't as much a pushover as the man thought.
I rolled out of the way of the slash, slightly surprising him with my nimble moves but still persisted and proceeded with his decision.
SHING SHING SHING SHING
This time, he upped his speed, and I was able to just barely avoid fatal cuts, but still received tons of light scratches that caused me to be covered in blood… or he was still going easy on me.
I could feel it… Just like the man who I thought was a dragon, he was suppressing his power, and the bloodlust hiding behind that face was so strong that it practically weighed on me like thousands of pounds.
"Oh… You're not even trying to escape?" He asked.
"I know that opening is a trap," I replied, and the man smiled even wider before doing a more powerful swing that had a bit of a charge up.
Questions marks filled my head, but I acted on instinct and dived under his arm, allowing me to have my back against the open street where it seemed nobody cared to notice our little skirmish.
SHING
But, it seems I still ended up falling into his trap due to some rust, as he had practically cut through half of my forearm.
The laceration was so deep you could see my bone.
"Oh man, that was supposed to end you right there," He muttered.
Bloop… SHING
"HUFF… HUFF… HUFF… Dammit," I muttered as my last resort had been completely stopped in its tracks.
The reason why I wasn't fighting back was due to me gathering the water at the bottom of the well with [Water Manipulation] and forming it into a spear.
And as the fight slowly continued, I rose it up the well, waiting for the chance to use it… but it was still stopped.
"Unfortunate… I wish I could take you in as a student,"
BAM… Tunk
My head hit the ground with a hollow sound.