The city had just plunged into chaos. Several buildings had exploded for no apparent reason; the police and special forces of Speedwagon were clearly outnumbered by the damage spreading across the city.
The ground above the dungeon began to tremble slightly—not enough to be an earthquake, but just enough to give the impression that the city was being turned upside down.
My efforts from last night had paid off. The Art of the Blue Sage is a particular art of deduction: it allows one to imbue objects with properties using ether, or conversely, to amplify them, all through the use of runic language. Of course, this is only possible if I fully understand the properties I want to use.
Luckily, I'm an expert at that! I had created bombs from flour and a sealed 20-liter container. I simply enhanced the flammability of the flour and placed it in a container that I "programmed" via a rune to produce a spark when I triggered it with my ether. After all, sacred ivory resists ether but doesn't prevent me from using it, and that was keeping our former colleagues busy. The bombs were placed where they wouldn't harm anyone but would draw enough attention. Who would've thought? I had become a terrorist… Mom would kill me if she found out.
— "Looks like it worked. I think we have an hour, Shin,"I said to Shin, who started smiling. His plan was solid: he had anticipated the possibility of being caught by Tom and Céline or spied on by Grid seeking revenge, hence this plan B.
— "Hand it to me,"he said in a dry voice, taking a deep breath. That's when I forced myself to vomit, and among what I had swallowed was a test tube filled with flour, softened by increasing the glass's elasticity.
Horrified, I had to catch it in my mouth after swallowing it, all because of those damned handcuffs. I threw it hard enough for it to land in Shin's cell, where he struggled to pick it up with his hands chained behind his back and placed it between the links of his cuffs.
— "What are you doing? Don't tell me you caused all this?"Haru asked incredulously, while the other two prisoners looked on curiously, wondering what we were planning next.
— "Go ahead, Manu."Shin is definitely crazy. To free himself from his handcuffs, he planned to blow up the test tube using the same method as the bombs. Horrified and reluctant, I activated the device.
A fiery explosion erupted behind Shin, at the level of his cuffs; strong enough to weaken the sacred ivory. Coupled with Shin's boost, which pushed him to the limits of what a Level 0 person could do, he broke his handcuffs.
— "Huff… Huff…"He… had done it… He broke the sacred ivory! My joy evaporated as quickly as it came when I saw my friend's wrists burned and bloody. Yet… yet the determination in his eyes hadn't wavered an inch.
— "Congratulations, you freed yourself from your handcuffs, kid, but that's it. What are you going to do now?"
The sarcastic, mocking voice of the woman on the right echoed in the dungeon, while the chubby dealer laughed heartily, mocking our efforts. But it's true, I hadn't thought further when executing Shin's plan… There was a huge flaw I hadn't even noticed.
— "Inhale… Exhale."
While everyone mocked Shin and even his closest ally seemed ready to sink into despair, Shin continued paving his path to destiny. He inhaled and exhaled, pushing the perpetual cycle to its limit while activating his boost.
Even using all his resources, he could only reach the boundaries of Level 0—enough to weaken the sacred ivory, but not to break it. After all, he didn't have a combat technique. The difference was subtle but crucial: fighting his own way allowed only 80% of the amplification from his boost and perpetual cycle, whereas using a proper combat technique could unlock up to 150% of his potential.
Manu admired his friend's efforts, though he thought them useless. He thought: "Damn! I need to find a way out within the next hour, or all this will have been for nothing!" And at that moment, hope rekindled in his eyes. He saw Shin take a position he immediately recognized: his fist ignited with a green flame as his feet anchored to the ground. He… he was mimicking the Mountain Tiger, and more importantly… it was the technique that had defeated them during their escape.
Even if only an imitation, everything changes if Shin uses it. After all, he had faced the most talented practitioner of this martial art for three years without ever backing down. He was almost as effective as a true master. Even at only 80% of the real technique, it was enough, combined with the boost, to temporarily surpass Level 0 and reach the base of Level 1.
— "Destiny, you say? Watch what I do with it."— "Mountain Tiger: King of the Mountain."
In one beautifully executed motion, Shin sent the door of his cell flying like a cardboard box in the wind. He had done it!
— "Huff… Huff…"Shin had succeeded, but his arm was in terrible shape, as if it had been run over. It was blackened—the price to pay for using a martial technique one is untrained in or incompatible with.
— "Not that I like saying I'm right, but looks like I was, huh?"he said with a smirk. For once, Manu's face broke into a big smile.
— "Why isn't the alarm going off?"Haru exclaimed, noticing the first irregularity. After all, as chief engineer, she knew the functioning of all prison systems, and she also noticed the fire alarm wasn't working.
— "Manu wasn't the only one involved in the preparations."Shin said as he retrieved the cell keys hidden under one of the dungeon stair bricks. All the prisoners held their breath as Shin held the ticket back to freedom in his hands.
— "I figured we might get imprisoned either today or later, so I broke the fire alarm and hid the keys here."
Finishing his explanation, he headed toward Haru's cell, surprising everyone, and not Manu's. Now, it was time to face destiny. The hour of the drama had finally arrived.