The Life I Refuse to Waste

Zeldryn stared at the chair that had just shifted, his eyes widening. Although it had moved less than a centimeter, a smile slowly appeared on his face.

After failing again and again to understand mana, one of his experiments had finally succeeded.

"Hahaha... finally."

He immediately tried again. He pushed harder with the mana particle that was still pressed against the backrest, but the result barely changed. The chair only shifted slightly, no matter how hard Zeldryn tried.

His brows furrowed.

'So it's not about how hard I push it.'

His gaze fell on the single mana particle he was using.

'If one particle can only produce this much force... what if I add more?'

Zeldryn pulled another mana particle toward him and gave it solid properties in the same way. Once both particles were positioned against the surface of the backrest, he pushed them at the same time.

The chair shifted farther.

Zeldryn's smile immediately widened.

'Right.'

His heart beat faster from an excitement that felt almost excessive for such a small achievement.

'Damn. Why am I this happy? For another Manholer, something like this might be completely ordinary.'

But he didn't stop.

Two particles became four, then six, until eventually there were ten.

Each addition produced a stronger push. When Zeldryn used all ten particles at once, the chair slid forward as if it had just been pushed by an adult's hand.

Zeldryn let out a small laugh.

He pulled the chair back, then pushed it forward and backward several times. The result was always the same. As long as all ten particles maintained their solid properties and moved together, the chair could be pushed without being touched directly.

Once he was satisfied, his gaze dropped toward the underside of the chair.

'If I can push it from the side...'

A new idea came to him.

'Can I make it fly too?'

His excitement immediately returned.

Zeldryn moved all ten particles beneath the seat of the chair and began pushing upward. At first, the chair only trembled slightly, but a few seconds later, its legs actually lifted off the floor.

A smile appeared on his face again.

'It worked?'

The chair rose a little higher.

However, before Zeldryn could enjoy his success, the left side of the chair began to sink.

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His smile disappeared.

"Hm?"

He tried to hold it in position, but the chair continued tilting until it finally toppled sideways and hit the floor.

THUD!

Zeldryn stared at the chair lying on the floor.

"..."

He let out a quiet sigh.

'Of course it wouldn't be that easy.'

After setting the chair upright again, Zeldryn tried to understand what had gone wrong. All ten particles had been gathered within a small area directly beneath the seat. Although ten particles sounded like a lot, the area they covered wasn't even wider than a few of an adult's fingers.

With such a small point of force, the chair had no support to keep it balanced.

Zeldryn looked at the chair's four legs.

'Then I just need to spread out the points of force.'

He moved four particles beneath each of the chair's legs, while the remaining six stayed beneath the seat to provide lift.

After making sure everything was in the right position, Zeldryn pushed upward again.

This time, all four legs of the chair lifted almost simultaneously.

One centimeter.

Then a little higher.

The chair reached around three centimeters before slowly beginning to tilt backward.

Zeldryn immediately tried to correct it, but he was too late.

THUD!

The chair fell again.

Zeldryn frowned.

'Why is it still falling?'

He didn't immediately try for a third time. His gaze moved across the chair from front to back as he recalled the position of every particle.

He had already supported all four legs and applied force from below, but all of that force was only working vertically. There was nothing preventing the chair from shifting or tilting to either side.

A few seconds later, Zeldryn finally realized his mistake.

'Damn, of course.'

He needed not only lifting force, but also something to keep the chair in position.

The ten particles began moving again.

This time, Zeldryn placed four particles as supports beneath each of the chair's legs. Four others were positioned at the front, back, left, and right sides to resist changes in direction. The remaining two particles were placed beneath the center of the seat to help lift it.

Once everything was ready, he slowly began applying pressure.

The chair rose again.

Zeldryn carefully watched every movement.

None of its sides immediately dropped like before. The chair remained relatively level even though none of its legs were touching the floor anymore.

'There...'

He continued raising it.

Its movement was extremely slow.

The first few millimeters were almost impossible to notice. Zeldryn even had to watch the shadow beneath the chair's legs to make sure it was actually still moving.

Five millimeters.

Almost one centimeter.

Then even higher.

Zeldryn maintained his concentration while continuously adjusting the pressure from each particle. Even a slight change on one side caused the chair to begin tilting, forcing him to immediately balance it with the particles on the opposite side.

After nearly fifteen minutes, the chair was finally hovering around two centimeters above the floor.

Sweat had already covered Zeldryn's temples.

'So damn slow.'

He continued maintaining it, but not long afterward, a feeling of emptiness began to emerge from his Mana Hole.

The sensation grew stronger.

Zeldryn immediately released his control.

THUD!

The chair dropped back onto the floor from its insignificant height.

Zeldryn himself immediately collapsed onto the bed. His breathing was heavy after maintaining ten particles at once for more than ten minutes.

"Damn... I did succeed, but this is way too slow."

He stared at the ceiling while catching his breath.

"If I used this in a real battle, I'd probably have died several times before that thing even rose two centimeters."

Even so, he was still satisfied with the result.

Today's experiment proved that the number of particles affected the amount of force he could produce. Their position and the direction of their force turned out to be just as important. With the right arrangement, mana could even be used to lift an object and keep it suspended in the air.

There was only one problem.

He was still far too slow.

After resting for a while, Zeldryn turned toward the window. The light entering the room had already turned orange.

He blinked.

'It's already evening?'

He slowly got up from the bed.

'I trained for that long? Well... whenever I practice mana, time really does seem to pass quickly.'

Zeldryn walked toward the window and looked at the sun beginning to descend toward the horizon. The sky did grow dark earlier during Dusk Month, but seeing how late the day had already become still surprised him a little.

He was just about to think over the results of his training again when a knock came from the door.

Knock. Knock.

"My apologies, Lord. It's me, Hera."