"I'm escaping the manor today."
Thinking back to the earlier conversation, Cyan let out a quiet chuckle.
That old Baron practically handed me the location of the mine… Even if it wasn't intentional, there's no way I'd pass up bait like this.
After waiting for a long while—until Sitri had locked the door—Cyan sprang to his feet.
"I'll need to use both—an emitted electric particle, and atomic control."
First, he spread a current throughout his body, stimulating his nerves and muscles. Blood circulation accelerated, making his movements lighter, more efficient. The current also formed a faint electromagnetic field against the ground, reducing friction.
Second, he could use it to break locks—by releasing a rapid burst of electricity to create vibrations within the mechanism.
—Clack.
"It worked."
"Now all that's left is the main door… and I'm out."
Moving with light, fluid steps, Cyan slipped out of the manor with ease.
Not long after, aided by his innate talent that boosted his speed, he approached the ruins.
The weather shifted abruptly. Dark clouds gathered in an instant, swallowing the sky.
This is strange… The moon was clear just moments ago, and now everything's dark and suffocating.
Suddenly—
—Zap… BOOM!
A bolt of lightning crashed down.
Thanks to his speed, Cyan narrowly dodged it. But before he could react, more followed in rapid succession.
"Tch… annoying."
"Still, I'm almost there."
As the outline of a rocky mine came into view, an overwhelming pressure descended upon him.
So this is the 'gravity magic' Baron mentioned… troublesome.
Struggling against it, Cyan noticed something off.
"My legs are taking more force than the rest of my body…"
"My body isn't being pushed down—it's being pulled… slightly forward."
"…This feels more like magnetic attraction than gravity."
"Gravity should press everything downward. But this—this is pulling me."
The closer he got, the hotter his head became, his chest tightening as if being crushed.
I was right.
A simple gravity spell wouldn't cause this many irregular effects. It should be stable.
This has to be a massive deposit of adamantite… heavily charged, producing an intense field.
I don't know the exact cause yet—but I know how to deal with it.
Good thing I brought this.
With that thought, Cyan pulled out a vial from his pocket—the elixir.
He drank it in one gulp.
A surge of mana flooded his body instantly.
"I need to burn through this quickly… or I'll overload."
"If that happens, it'll be worse than a fever or stomach pain…"
"…I could even die."
"I'll reconstruct part of my feet. With this level of mana regeneration, it's possible."
"I'll rearrange the ions within my cells—turn the skin on my feet into a bioinsulating layer."
Cyan immediately began consuming mana, forcing the transformation.
The process was pure torture.
His mana burned down to near empty—only to surge back to full again, over and over. His body overheated, then collapsed into exhaustion, then surged again. His stomach twisted violently.
It felt like being torn apart… thousands of times in succession.
By the time the elixir wore off, Cyan had completed his goal.
An insulated pair of feet.
"…Just as I thought. I can move more freely now."
"Though 'freely' might be an exaggeration."
"I look like a frog moving with both legs stuck together…"
"If i don't move like that, the voltage difference will fry my feet"
"I still have to move forward, all for the sake of rare adamantite"
Without wasting another second, Cyan moved deeper into the cave.
Jump...Jump...Jump.......