The Runic Alchemist

"What?"

Suddenly, all the horrifying atmosphere around them dissipated. His mind felt lighter, and his eyes became more focused. The image of her as a demonic witch was replaced by her normal, blank face with long ears. Though she still had a frown, as if even more confused by the events than he was, who had nearly soiled himself.

His breathing returned to normal, and his heart calmed down. He suddenly realized that the colors of the room were more vibrant than he remembered. He immediately searched deeper and felt his warm, liquid mana pool, completely filled to the brim. Before he could enjoy the feeling, however, she made one of the vines cover his mouth as she began chanting once again. This time, the spell took longer.

It was the same spell she had used to bind him before, but now it was activated from the beginning, forming the white runic structure inches away from her mouth instead of the quick launch she had done in the meeting that originated from her hand, where her ring was.

She had underestimated him though, thinking he was incapacitated despite having mana. She didn't bind his arms with enough powerful vines, she didn't know him well enough even though he had shown his toughness before. Damian repeated the circle in real-time with his World Shaper hands and Eyes of Truth as it formed before his eyes.

The multi-element infusion was slightly off due to his lack of practice, but he managed to finish it at the same time as she did. Damian smirked, thinking he had outsmarted her, forgetting that she was a third-ranker and he was a fledgling first-ranker. The spell was even more mana-hungry than the mana-sucking spell he had used in Faerunia.

The draining of mana immediately made him unconscious as both spells activated simultaneously. The last thing Damian saw were ethereal green golden glowing vines creeping closer and closer before he blacked out.

______

"He doesn't look like it though..."

"Still, do as I say and get back from there. Stay away from him... Clean up the room if you have so much extra time..."

"But why do they say he is a devil with red demon like eyes and an ugly face then? Pasha even said he doesn't feel pain..." A childish voice entered Damian's ears as his consciousness hazily returned with a headache like never before.

"Mama... MAMA... Look, he is waking up..." The voice came from beside him once again.

Damian tried opening his eyes, feeling as though it was a chore. The haze in his mind reflected in his vision.

At last, his vision cleared enough for him to somewhat return to his usual self. He was back in his small room. But something felt off—his hands and legs were too heavy, and there was a blinding pain in his stomach as if someone was trying to pull his entrails out. The maid and her look-alike, with short green hair and big, childish eyes, stood near his bed, looking down at him.

The child was barely ten, maybe the same age as Damian had guessed, though he was never good at guessing a kid's age. The mother, whom he assumed was the child's mother from their conversation, looked at him with anger, frustration, and a hint of disappointment. What happened? Did she think he had attacked her precious lady or something?

Ignoring everything else, Damian reached inside and sensed his mana core. Despite his fear, there were no ethereal vines coiling around his body. He could access his mana again. However, a thick green vine, the width of his forearm, was connected deep within his molten mana core, stretching out of his body and disappearing into the wooden ceiling above. That didn't look good.

This was the source of the pain in his stomach.

Covering his hand with a coating of mana, Damian tried to grab the vine, but it was ethereal, and his hand passed through it as if he were hallucinating. The rattling of chains drew his attention. His arms and legs were bound by chains, much thicker than handcuffs, with runic inscriptions on their steel surface.

The other end of the green vine pointed to a mana signature he wished to stay far-far away from...

"You will pay for your sins..." the maid said, her eyes burning with fire and her face filled with disgust.

What sins was she talking about? She hadn't hated him like this before. Did his spell do something bad to the commander? How could that be? He had run out of mana. But her spell hadn't succeeded either; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to access his mana.

What was going on?

The child looked confused and a bit hesitant, glancing at her mother who had such an expression. They left, the little girl giving him one last look before following her mother. Not wanting to stay there a moment longer, Damian raised his right hand despite the bindings and ignored the blinding pain from his mana core. And started creating a runic circle.

Damian finished creating a modified fire rune with a radius of barely his fingertips like a magic lighter, intensity however was to it's absolute limit making it more like a oxy-acetylene torch, it was even more mana-heavy than a normal fire rune. Fortunately, his body was full of mana.

Using the intense flames, Damian weakened the steel chains with patience, continuously fueling the rune with mana until he could pull them apart and break them with his strength.

Damian half-expected the runes around the steel chains to activate and restrict his mana, but for some reason, they did not. Free from his bindings, Damian got up from the bed and ran toward the small window, the steel chains rattling behind him. The window was too small, and breaking it would alert the guard outside. So, Damian took out one of his slow wormhole spell scrolls and pointed it outside.

With a black runic circle, a dark purple portal opened, ending above the third floor level with winds blowing hard from it, hundreds of tents were seen below like small patches on white ground. Jumping from there would be suicide, even if he managed to land safely.