Author's Reincarnation in a Fantasy Setting

[8 Days Ago]

A few minutes after Anya, Leon, and Ellyn left the warehouse.

***

"Pffff! Phew~ Man, breathing was hard down there!" I let out a breath of relief as I broke the ground above my head and got out of a 12ft deep hole.

After that I dragged Challes out too; he was unconscious because of mana outage but was still alive.

I threw Challes on the floor and then looked around the area; no one was there but the condition of the room, or well, the whole warehouse was in ruins.

Searching for a wall that was still intact I went there and sat on the floor leaning against the wall. Then I used my elemental magic and created a bubble of water and drank it.

"Sigh, now shall we get to work."

My biggest fear was now gone; I'd survived through my death. Now, this might sound a bit confusing so let me explain it to you—about how I survived.

First of all, all the things which happened to me, whether it is Challes kidnapping me or blowing up this room via magic circuits, I already knew all that beforehand thanks to the knowledge I had of loli_pop's novel.

Just that was a big advantage for me. After that I went along with things and let them unfold as they did in the novel—this involves letting Challes kidnap me and bring me here, Anya, Leon, and Ellyn coming here to save me, and then this whole room getting blown up by Anya's mistake.

But to do all of this I first had to defeat Enen so that Challes can get the motivation to kidnap me, that's why I started experimenting on finding a way or technique which can rival magiken.

Then I discovered the technique to heat up the sword thing. I then defeated Enen in the most humiliating way possible—yeah doing that did bring a lot of attention and spotlight in the training session which I didn't want but being alive was the top priority, of course.

After all, if I'm not alive in the first place then what'll I do with a peaceful life? And judging by the direction things are going in and what had to come in the future, I don't think my dream of a quiet and peaceful life will ever be realized.

Anyway, when the match was over I knew that Challes would be waiting to kidnap me, which he was and I let him kidnap me. Though I had bought the anti-dote with me to prevent myself from losing consciousness.

However a slight problem occurred, it was Ryfin. He was stopping Challes from taking me and he would've been successful if I hadn't given him the hint that I'm fine.

That seriously is a pain. He didn't exist in the novel so predicting his moves was a huge problem. But for that moment I got rid of him.

Then all I had to do was wait until Anya came here with Leon and Ellyn and then die in front of her. This was important because I wanted myself to be declared dead at least in the academy.

And as for why I didn't actually die? Well, I knew about the magic circuits so when Challes was fighting with Leon I'd created an underground chamber-type space with the help of elemental magic.

I first used the earth element to remove the soil and make the stone walls, after that I used the ice element to make the second covering of the walls to absorb the heat, then made one more layer of the wall again with earth magic.

I'd keep the ceiling or rather the entrance blocked so that I will be up on the floor until the last moment but I had reduced the thickness of the floor.

I also created a small pipeline that went out of the warehouse and opened in the air so that I can keep breathing even when the chamber is closed from all sides and won't suffocate.

Challes came afterward and sat behind me, and then at the same time when Anya stepped inside I removed the floor below me and the chair and along with Challes fell in the chamber I'd created.

I quickly closed the entrance with three layers just like the wall and hence I was protected from the explosion. In the meantime when Anya was crying and all, using fire element I burned the ropes that had been tying me from the chair and freed myself.

Since then what I did was wait until Anya and the others were out of the warehouse, and when they were, I opened the entrance of the chamber again creating a staircase with the earth element, I got out.

And here we are right now.

I could've avoided doing all this if I hadn't let myself get kidnapped by Challes but there was a reason I went through all this trouble.

It was so that I can get out of the academy and do what I wanted to. There is an item I want; one that could make me stronger.

And to acquire that item I'd have to come out of the academy since it is located outside the city. I need that item specifically because without it I don't think I'll be able to survive through 'The Calamity' and what comes after that.

It won't even change the plot much since Leon discovered that item, used it for a few chapters, and then forgot about it. Hence I chose this one.

Now that I was dead in the eyes of the world, I can operate freely—which I wanted to do for a while now.

I got up to my feet and walked toward the door of this room, there in a corner where the explosion hadn't reached, a card was lying on the ground. I picked it up and took a good look at it.

'It was a wise choice to get Ellyn on my side,' I thought.

This card, of course, was my transaction card.