Alex was in a dark and secluded place.
These last hours had been torment for him.
He had been battered, stabbed, blasted, slashed, and thrown around by gods knew how many spells.
He was now almost out of healing potions, and his mana potions had taken a deep hit.
He had been consuming them like a kid eating candy.
And now, he was starting to feel his mana leak from his core.
'I have Mana Leakage Syndrome,' Alex realized immediately. It was obvious.
Instead of regenerating mana over time, he would now lose it, adding to his already messed-up situation.
He had to leave the capital urgently, so he had been collecting armor pieces from guards he ambushed.
He stuck to one armor piece per guard to avoid lingering too long in one place. In exchange, he had to go around not only dodging patrols but also ambushing them and taking a single piece of armor at a time.
After nearly twenty-five minutes, he finally had everything he needed to blend in with the guards.
Luckily, it wasn't full plate armor; otherwise, he would have needed far more time. It was more of a light armor set with fewer pieces, but enough to cover the essential parts and mimic the standard look.
He put on the armor, grabbed the lance the guards used, and stepped out of his hiding place.
He still needed to return for his bag—too many precious items were inside to leave behind. His alchemy recipes, his dream book… things he couldn't simply abandon.
Now that he was disguised, he could start walking toward it while pretending to be searching for someone.
Fortunately, on his way, he didn't encounter any commander or captain who might have asked for updates. While Alex could mimic the guards' searching behavior well enough, he didn't know their customs or how they addressed superiors. The moment he opened his mouth, he would be exposed.
Once he reached his hiding place, he collected his bag and kept walking.
He had to discard it and pretend to be searching every time a patrol went by.
But slowly and steadily, he approached the border of the capital.
As he got closer, the patrols dwindled, and he began to relax, believing he was almost free.
"Hey, going somewhere?" a feminine voice asked behind him.
Alex shuddered. He knew exactly who it belonged to, but what made him truly nervous was that he hadn't felt even a hint of magical pulse.
He turned around to see Lydia floating in the air alongside Eva, both staring at him.
"You're probably wondering how you didn't feel me coming, right?" Lydia said with a mischievous smile. She hit the nail on the head.
'Creepy,' Alex thought at her frightening intuition.
"Well, that's one of the perks of a little spell from the space category," Lydia replied, despite Alex not asking aloud.
"I have a question, though—why lie?" Lydia asked.
"Would you have let me do it if I told you?" Alex answered with a question.
"No," Lydia said plainly.
"Then you answered your own question," Alex replied.
"But I could have helped you," Lydia countered.
"How? Would you have been able to arrest Bren Alderfell?" Alex asked. His tone was patient, but in his mind he was already calculating escape routes, wondering if there was even a remote chance of slipping away from her.
Lydia's expression turned awkward. She didn't know if she could have managed that.
"Well… it's complicated…" Lydia began, but Alex cut her off.
"Don't bother, you couldn't have. No one could. That's why I took justice into my own hands," Alex said, anger rising.
"In fact, the capital should be thanking me. I got rid of a perverted monger who liked to assault women and kill for the simplest reasons. You're welcome," he added, frustration spilling out as his anger rose further.
Lydia saw his emotions spiking and changed the subject to de-escalate.
"You almost made it out. Congratulations—you're most likely the first person at tier one who managed what you did," she praised.
"I've been surviving my whole life. I know my way around fleeing," Alex stated, falling for the trick.
"Many people have been surviving their whole lives, Alex. You're not special for that. You're special for your tenacity, cunning, and intelligence. And those happen to be qualities I like… so how about a proposition?" Lydia said, amused.
Eva saw where this was going but said nothing—she was only a secretary, not an official.
Alex waited.
"How about you come with me obediently, stay arrested until this blows over, and then start working for me? Your intelligence would be most welcome." Lydia's tone made it clear this was more of a command than a question.
Alex noticed this and guessed she wouldn't take no for an answer. Quietly, he shifted his body to hide his hand, took out all his gaseous poisons, and prepared.
"I refuse. The Alderfells would never let me go, even under your protection. You're not that powerful," Alex said, giving her a reason to avoid provoking immediate aggression.
"Perhaps I'm not. But you know who is? My boss. He could protect you—if you prove yourself useful. Now, be a good boy and come over," Lydia said, smiling as she beckoned.
As Alex expected, she wasn't accepting a refusal. So he played along, taking slow steps forward.
Lydia, seeing this, was overjoyed; she had successfully outsmarted the kid and was about to capture him as she planned. She already imagined all Alex could accomplish in the future.
When Alex was only a few meters away, he looked at Eva.
"Sorry."
"Huh? What for?" Eva asked.
Alex lifted his hand and smashed the vials in front of them.
A thick gaseous mixture of sedatives and paralyzers filled the air.
Alex spun around immediately and sprinted. He used Water Scape immediately, stretching the spell to its limit.
Lydia watched with an amused expression. His last desperate attempt was another impressive show of cunning—she hadn't even noticed him taking the vials out of his space artifact.
The poisons didn't even reach ten centimeters from her; she stopped them with gravity magic, while Eva did the same.
Lydia glanced at Eva.
"It seems he's quite wild. I'll need to tame him a little," she said with a wide grin.
"Don't be too rough. He isn't that strong," Eva pleaded.
"Relax, I want him to work properly after all," Lydia replied, still clinging to her plan of making Alex hers.
She then vanished and reappeared in the air a few meters beside Alex, who had just emerged from Water Scape.
"Nice try, kiddo," Lydia teased, flicking her finger.
Alex felt an immense force slam into him, launching him like a meteor. He crashed into the ground, bracing for serious damage, but Lydia cushioned the impact with magic.
He landed on his back, dizzy, staring at the sky. Before he could move, an overwhelming weight pressed onto his chestplate—a bear's weight.
Lydia reappeared next to him and casually sat on his chest, using gravity magic to increase her weight.
He had no more tricks, and nowhere left to run.