It had been about an hour of silence, and Toyota had nothing to do. Looking out of the window, he could see the seemingly endless, sprawling green grass plains. In the distance, he could see a large tree that dwarfed any redwood he could possibly imagine. It was so far in the distance, yet with their speed, it didn't even seem to get any bigger. He had asked the hired driver how long it would take, and he responded by saying that ground dragons can run at a top speed of up to 100 kilometers per hour, and without any stops or rests, they could reach the capital in 4 hours.
This only further proved his frustration—how could he have possibly helped Felt with a 3-hour time limit? Although that was probably why the reward was so high. Maybe it would have been possible if he managed to convince a magic user to bring him there or use an advanced teleport spell, but it would have used an astronomical amount of mana. Didn't matter, 'cause Felt is fine anyway.
How should he plan for the capital? First, he needed to rent an inn. With his money, it shouldn't be a problem. Then buy some stockable food, maybe some clothes, then find Reinhard. He remembered that he should have a mansion, so that actually might be the first thing he should try getting out of the way—just try to find him and set up a meeting. But he felt quite hesitant to, with him being a member of the royal guards. He wouldn't be so easy to meet. If he could find him on his off time, that would be beneficial. Although, he needed to make a valid explanation for how he knew all of this information without being suspected, tortured, and interrogated, or for Reinhard to write it off as false information. If he directly lied to Reinhard, he was sure some sort of Divine Protections would go off, so he needed to only tell partial truths while being vague about how he knew its origins.
As he seemed to zone out, he was reminded of the thing in his mind. The fact that the parasite had answered his questions showed that it had access to the same info on the system he did. But while he figured out that the system was something innate to him, he didn't understand how or why. Was this even a system? Or a way to slowly build up and rationalize his own power, like something in a certain popular Korean story that had to do with a Shadow Monarch? He should be able to figure this out all by himself. He just needed to navigate his system with clear intent on what he wanted to do, and he was sure it would work out.
After all, that parasite only told him what it was able to figure out. Its only power was to manipulate the memories of the souls he received. What if that time limit, with 90 days or something, he got from the system before he came to this place was actually when that parasite would attempt to take over his body? He couldn't remember what was said, but he felt that some part of that message was manipulated.
After continuing to stare out the window blankly and still not seeing the city even close yet, he thought about practicing his magic. He didn't remember what happened after trying his gravity increacing magic. What could have happened? He did remember a pressure in his head but couldn't remember anything after that. Could he have made his brain compress with the gravity, causing himself to be knocked out? If so, he now had a method to instantly put himself to sleep. But why did his attempt instantly fail? What was different from his gravity reducing spell?
Murak… that's it. The concepts are different. When using the gravity increacing spell on a human, I need to use my mana around them like a shell, not spread it internally. While with the gravity reducing spell, I don't need to be precise and just fill their body with mana. This is all theoretical, but I'm going to try it.
He paused for a moment before looking around the inside of the carriage, his eyes fixating on the thin-looking wooden planks on the floor. Is this really a good idea? What if I fail and fall through the floor? Well, if I start slowly, I should be able to adjust the intensity of the gravity. If I train under this, I will have DBZ potential.
Spreading mana throughout his body, he allowed it to expand, then forced all of the mana to be pushed outward toward his skin. Some black mist circulated out of him, similar to the smoke from a Gear Second Luffy. Then for the first time, instead of shouting the spell, he internalized it—Vita—the mana exuding from his skin condensed. He felt a pressure bore down on him as his legs started to buckle. He tried to ever so slightly pull the condensed mana molecules apart from each other. When he did that, the pressure eased. It felt like standing under a waterfall, then the waterfall turned into a heavy shower. Every breath he took was a struggle, still he was conscious.
He tried getting into pushup position. He went down quickly, but when he tried to get back up, he struggled for 5 seconds before collapsing. The gravity he was currently under was around 3G. This isn't a good starting point. He pulled apart the clumped mana molecules further until his breathing, while still heavy, eased. His heart beat fast instead of hammering. This is way better to stay under, although he could tell that his face was slightly sagging—but he probably looked exactly the same.
Getting back into pushup position, he managed to do 5 before collapsing. His head rested uncomfortably on the floor. Sitting up, he grinned. This was amazing. He had his own gravity room.
But how come this ability seemed so much stronger than the others? Actually, his mana seemed to have a lot more quantity in his body, and when he woke up, his spells used on Rem seemed way more effective. He assumed it was only because of the adrenaline and his fight-or-flight circumstances, but that might not be the case.
Notification:
Vita: increases gravity. (Mastery Level: 2) — NEW
Ha, notifications aren't controlled by the parasite.
Now I just need to find a combat application for this. For the gravity spells, it seems I can only use them while directly being able to put my mana into it, and it will be completely null by the time my mana dissipates from it, so it's quite limited.
A slow smile graced his lips. When I am able to use the Authority of Sloth, can I imbue my mana into objects through my unseen hands? Theoretically, he could. I mean, I could also theoretically imbue mana through the ground to spread it to objects, but trying that was like trying to tell someone to break through a tank's defenses with water pressure. While it could be done, the precision and power needed were on a different level.
If his mana pool kept getting larger, then he should be able to eventually — but that was a big if.
System, not you parasite, show me my spell slots and masteries.
Vita: Amplifies gravity. (Mastery Level: 2)
Murak: Decreases gravity. (Mastery Level: 2)
Minia: Creates purple projectiles. (Mastery Level: 2)
Shamac: Distorts senses with inky mist. Potential for minor teleportation. (Mastery Level: 1)
Only Shamac is still at level 1. It's making me kinda frustrated.
For Shamac, he knew what the principles that were needed for it — he just lacked the power. It was about gathering, condensing, and releasing. While he felt he now had an understanding and mana control of an expert, his current mana was still laughable even after the boost.
Could the boost be from the memories he received? It's possible. Maybe after combining Envy's soul with his, gaining its memories was stabilizing him. That was an interesting thought.
Forcing himself up with Vita still in place, he slid the mini driver door open. He had been making a bit of noise, and the driver seemed too quiet. Opening the door and peeking his head out, he noticed the driver half-asleep.
"What... wake up!"
The old, grey-haired driver startled awake.
"I wasn't sleeping, just resting my eyes."
The audacity of this old man.
The red and green ground dragon turned its head back at the driver, still running forward, glaring at him. These dragons felt like Pokémon — the way they couldn't speak human yet still seemed intelligent enough to completely understand the situation.
He wanted one.
He wasn't allowed to have pets. Something about his touch increasing something. Well, now when he got to the capital, he wanted to buy a ground dragon. He would treat it perfectly — feed it, pet it, and show it love.
He imagined himself playing fetch with it as its face slowly morphed into a golden retriever. He shook his head. It's not a dog.
What do ground dragons even like doing other than running?
Pulling his head out of the sliding mini door, he decided to sit down — his joints were starting to hurt under the gravity. Looking out the window, he finally saw the city.
It was like how one would expect a generic isekai city to look — a circular, dome-like wall surrounding it. There was a bunch of shabby shacks outside of the wall that, as they got closer, seemed almost pitiable. The large, thin towers inside the city dwarfed them.
The entrance to the city was a large arch with two guards stationed at each side. Inside, as if a second layer of protection, there was a drawbridge and a moat. The drawbridge was already lowered, and multiple carriages were seen entering. Each was stopped for an entrance fee by another guard.
As his carriage finally made it inside the city wall, the old driver opened the door and asked, "Where would you like me to drop you off?"
Not knowing any part of the city, he might as well find out for himself and sightsee. This would be his first time being a tourist.
"Right here is fine!" he shouted, before exaggeratedly jumping out of the back of the carriage — only to faceplant, his gravity magic still activated.
Okay, I'll deactivate you for now. Just for sightseeing.
After dispersing the mana in his body, he felt like he could jump a skyscraper.
"Are you okay?" the driver asked, seeing him covered in dirt with a little blood on his nose, speaking as if he was a random pedestrian. "I didn't see you on the turn."
How incompetent are you that you forgot who you were driving to the capital?
"Oh, it's you. How did you get like this?" the driver said, his face turning contemplative.
"I fell getting out," he mumbled.
"Ha, clumsy."
He felt a flicker of annoyance. If this man was an Uber driver, 3 stars at most.
Walking up to the front of the carriage where the ground dragon stood, he slowly approached, reaching out carefully.
"Thank you for bringing me here. Can I pat you?"
The dragon looked down at Toyota, tilted its head, then leaned forward and closed its eyes. These creatures really were intelligent.
He reached the top of its head, feeling the rough scales — if he moved his hand one way, they were smooth, but in the opposite direction, they were sharp.
"Alright, time to get going," he said.
The driver, as if he had no attention span, slapped the reins, causing the dragon to jump. It turned its head and growled before slowly jogging off. The dragon glanced back at Toyota, almost as if wishing for a reasonable owner.
So that's what a ground dragon feels like… kinda similar to crocodile skin.
Looking around, there were a lot of narrow places. Streets were only for carriages, and there were sidewalks on both sides. It was a similar system to a modern-day road — except the amount of alleys branching and connecting to the sidewalks made it feel like a maze.
No wonder I couldn't find Felt with Emilia... wait, that wasn't me. That was the younger me.
It was starting to get dark out. He didn't know which way would lead to an inn, but it seemed like the deeper he went into the city, the more pristine and fancy everything got. If I head that way, I should find a nice inn.
As he walked down a quiet street with few pedestrians, he could swear he heard three pairs of footsteps — like an echo.
This felt dangerously familiar. Why was his heart beating this fast?
Instinctively, he cast a spell — for the first time without using a chant.
Quickly turning into a narrow alley, he used the close walls and his decreased gravity to wall-bounce back and forth as fast as possible, gaining height. Reaching the roof, he grabbed the tiles and hoisted himself up. A few old tiles cracked in his hands.
Now fully on the roof, he peeked over the edge to see if his fear was justified — and he was being followed.
That's when, as if fate itself found a joke funny, the three stooges walked quickly around the corner, their heads darting around, trying to find their prey — the one who had wandered into a secluded space.
"Where did the guy with the ring go?" the smallest one asked.
Seeing their faces — the faces that beat and stabbed him — made him realize how alone he was.
A sense of pure, overwhelming ecstasy slammed into Toyota, as if the devil itself had sunk its claws into his soul. His lips twisted into a wicked grin, his teeth gleaming like a predator's. His eyes sharpened into slits, and a faint red and black smoke began to coil from his head like a serpent.
He looked like a man who had found joy in the promise of violence.
The reckless urge to turn that alley into a massacre was already too strong. No point holding back.
Reducing his gravity to near weightlessness, he launched himself downward toward the snake-like man — the bastard who had stabbed him.
The man's eyes widened in horror as a looming shadow swallowed him.
Toyota whispered, voice dripping with menace:
"Vita."
The moment his feet touched down, he amplified the gravity around them, turning the landing into a devastating impact. His boots crushed the man's skull into the ground with a sickening crack, embedding him halfway into the stone pavement.
The remaining two froze, the blood draining from their faces as they stared at the "easy target" now standing atop their shattered friend — smiling at them like a monster savoring the hunt.
They lost control. One of them literally shit himself.
The smallest one panicked, turned tail, and bolted, screaming for help, praying that somehow a knight might hear him.
He never got the chance.
Toyota's hand snapped out like a viper, grabbing the man's face and muffling his screams. With a single effortless motion, he hurled the man through the air toward the biggest mugger.
It looked like he'd overshot the throw — until the word came again, like a curse:
"Vita."
Gravity seized the flying man midair, yanking him downward at terrifying speed. He crashed head-first into the large man's face with a sickening thud, the sheer force snapping the giant's head back and sending both of them crashing to the ground, unconscious.
Silence fell over the alley.
The red and black smoke trailing from Toyota's head began to fade. His grin slowly vanished, replaced by a hollow calm.
That was impulsive... Good thing I took out the guy with the knife first.
He stood among the broken bodies, his heart hammering against his ribs. A cold glint flickered in his eyes.
Should I kill them?
They deserved it. They'd tried to rob him once — they'd try again on someone more helpless. Killing them would be justice.
But something inside him hesitated.
He knew. If he crossed that line — if he took a human life — something in him would snap. And it wouldn't heal.
He meant that literally.
Maybe... maybe this beating was enough to scar them for life.
Walking over to the man whose head was half-sunk into the pavement, Toyota rifled through his pockets and found a pair of dual knives — sleek, sharp, deadly.
The knife that killed me... Still so beautiful.
He tapped his ring three times, vanishing the weapons into his storage space.
Leaving the alley behind, the reality of what he just did finally caught up to him.
I jumped off a three-story building just to curb stomp a mugger... then threw a dwarf at a giant and folded both of them like paper. When did my body get this insane?
And how the hell am I fine?
He glanced back once at the crumpled muggers.
Actually... that first guy definitely has brain damage.
(AN: I was pondering whether to have his instincts take over and have the 3 stooges end or have them stay in the story for relevance. Did I make the right choice? Also, I want to give MC a ground dragon, give me name ideas.
I've set an official release schedule: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Although when I get bored, I add extra.
Bonus chapters will drop on Saturdays if my demands are met. 🔫
Trade deal:
You give me 70 power stones, and I give you a bonus chapter.
Sounds fair, right?)