[Main Scenario #1]

I drank half the bottle she had passed me and poured the rest on my face to help with the heat. It had been 10 minutes and there was no sign of Prisoner of Paranoia or any of the others. I had to figure out the coins myself. What bothered me was the sword resting on the woman's belt, she was definitely going to use it against me and with intent to kill.

"Might I ask why you want to kill me?" I asked.

"Ohh..... I thought you didn't need a reason to kill as long as it benefits you?" she replied her voice full of sarcasm.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The nerve of some people" she muttered under her breath. Although she had muttered it under her breath I'm a hundred percent sure she intended for me to hear it.

"Do I have to explain my every action to you? You have a token and I need one to clear the scenario, is that not good enough for you?" she said.

"Fair enough"

'I nEeD a ToKeN ... iS tHaT nOt GoOd EnOuGh FoR yOu' like I'd believe that after she tied me and waited days for me to wake up. This was definitely personal. But I had more pressing matters to deal with rather than argue about it. Since I could not access my stats...wait stats I needed to find her stats to, see what skills she had and most importantly who her constellation backer was.

Now how do I go about activating a skill? From the last time, I had realized that it was more about feeling than incantation. I started to glare at her, maybe that would open the character list. Nope nothing, I glared a bit more.

"What?!!" she asked clearly frustrated.

"Nothing"

Great I hadn't even asked for her name and it was already awkward, As soon as the question Who was she? popped into my mind I heard a message in my ears.

[Skill Character List has been activated.]

「 [Character Summary]

Name: Thalia 

Age: 23 years old.

Sponsor: Shinto.

Exclusive Attributes: Honorable Warrior, Archer, Ronin...

Skills: Archery Lv. 4, Kenjutsu Lv. 2, Clear Strike Lv. 3.

Stigma: Divine Protection. Lv 1, Divine Intervention Lv. 1, Fujin's Blessing Lv.1, Raijin's Blessing Lv. 1, Eternal Flame Lv. 1

Overall Stats: Physique Lv. 7, Strength Lv. 6, Agility Lv. 8, Magic Power Lv. 2.

Overall Evaluation: The overall stats are very good. She has a strong sense of justice, She seeks to atone for her wrongs.」

Yeah, I might die today, I had absolutely no idea who Shinto was. Her attributes told me that she was a seasoned warrior, her skills were all combat-based and to say that her stats were good would be an understatement. Also, the sheer amount of stigmas she had in her possession But now I knew why she had given me an hour of preparation time. Attribute: Honorable Warrior, she didn't find it honorable to defeat a tired enemy.

I could not see my stats, so it was best to assume all my stats were Lv.1, which would make my overall stats Physique, Strength, Agility, and Magic Power all Lv1. I would have liked to improve my strength first but with the situation being as it was I had no chance of winning if I improved my strength. I had to invest in Magic Power and of course, I needed agility to dodge her attacks. 

[Coins Possessed:4,900 coins]

[Would you like to view the tutorial on coin usage]

Yes. As soon as I thought that a new system message popped up.

[You have acquired an extremely weak mass-produced story The Usage Of Coins]

 And just like that, I learnt how to use coins. It was like I had always known how to use them.

Invest 2,700 coins in Magic Power.

[Magic Power Lv.1 -> Magic Power Lv. 10]

[Your Magic Power Level has increased dramatically!!]

[Your body is flowing with Magic]

An incredible feeling overwhelmed me. I felt like a baby who had just learnt to walk, it was like a whole new world had opened itself to me. My ecstaticness was interrupted by a system message.

[Your current incarnation body cannot handle your magic power]

[Magic Power is forcibly reduced to lv. 5]

Damnit. Just when I thought that things were finally going my way. I checked the amount of coins I had left.

[Coins possessed: 2,100 coins]

Now I had only one choice left. Invest 1,350 coins in Physique. Invest 850 coins in Agility.

[Phisique Lv. 1 -> Phisique Lv. 5]

[Your Physique level has increased significantly.]

[Your body's sturdiness has increased significantly]

[Your incarnation body is now capable of handling your Magic Power]

[Magic Power Lv. 5 -> Magic Power Lv. 10]

[Agility Lv.1 -> Agility Lv.3]

[Your Agility level has increased] 

Now, I needed a weapon, preferably a sword. It was time to put all that magic power to use. I reached for a tree branch that felt right and broke it to use it as a makeshift hilt.

"Alright. Time's up. Get ready to die" Thalia said drawing her sword from her scabbard. She put one leg forward and positioned her sword in front of her at a 45-degree angle. A stance I was familiar with. I don't know the exact name of the stance but it was a kendo stance. Japanese swordplay.

I took a deep breath and poured my magic into the makeshift sword hilt, I closed my eyes and imagined the magic taking the form of a longsword.

[Skill D■■■lo■m■■t has been activated]

[Skill Mana Manipulation has been acquired]

[Skill Mana Manipulation has been activated]

[Skill Mana Blade has been acquired]

[Skill Mana Blade has been activated]

Blue light shot out of the makeshift hilt to form a glowing longsword.

"I have to say, this feels better than I imagined it would" A smile crept up my face as I met her eyes positioning the mana blade between me and her. If this Mana Manipulation was what I thought it was, I had a few more tricks up my sleeve.

She looked startled by the Mana Blade and began taking small careful steps forward slowly closing the distance between us. I wasn't going to let her control the pace of the battle. That was the only chance I had at winning this. I dashed forward with all my might. 

-CLANG-

The sound of swords clashing echoed through the forest.