The moment the gravity started weakening, I froze.
It was like I was on some giant invisible elevator heading for the sky, only the button for "up" was broken and stuck on max.
I blinked, trying to process the change, but before I could figure out what to do, I felt my feet lift off the ground.
Slowly at first, like I was getting a taste of flying...except I wasn't ready for it.
My feet left the rubble below, and I wasn't sure whether to panic or enjoy it.
I tried to plant my feet back down, but nope. No luck. I was a human balloon drifting upward.
"Great." I muttered to myself.
My staff was floating away too, and I swear it had a mind of its own. It was like the staff was mocking me, twirling in the air just out of reach.
I stretched my hand toward it, but all I managed to do was look ridiculous, like a toddler trying to grab a cookie jar that was way too high.
As I rose higher, I could feel the debris around me start to follow suit, slowly floating up. I stared at a chunk of rock, and for a moment, I felt like it was in on the joke, too. It floated with me, almost smugly. Like, yeah, we're going up, buddy!
"Hey, you! Get back here!" I yelled at my staff, trying to sound authoritative, but it just kept floating farther away.
I was starting to look like an idiot.
I floated higher and higher, first five meters, then ten, then twenty.
My heart and mind were starting to race, a deep sense of unease creeping in. From this height, if the gravity I'd felt earlier returned, even my bones would remember their ancient lineage.
And as the sages had warned, never plant a red flag.
Yet, here I was, making the same mistake by overthinking it.
The gravity returned with a vengeance.
Without warning, everything—me, the floating debris—came to a sudden halt.
There was no noise, no shift in the air, just a dead stop in mid-air.
Then, with a brutal force, gravity slammed into me again.
It felt like being released from a bow. My body plummeted, gravity pulling me down with an intensity I had never felt before. I considered blocking with my hands, but the force was too much. I couldn't move, my body locked in place.
I did the only thing I could think of.
My will sharpened, and I commanded my core to absorb as much energy as possible, hoping to lessen the force even slightly. It was my only chance to endure the impact and maybe survive the inevitable crash.
The ground rushed toward me, faster and faster.
Boom.
For a moment, everything went dark.
Then, my vision snapped back, along with a crushing wave of pain. A lot of pain.
The force pressed down on me again, so heavy that even breathing felt like a battle. I could hear debris shattering around me, grinding into dust under the relentless gravity.
And finally, I understood why this entire area was nothing but ruins.
Nothing could stand here.
No building, no creature, nothing could survive under this absurd pressure.
Two more minutes of this merciless punishment dragged on, each second stretching unbearably. Then, as suddenly as it had arrived, the force lifted.
I gasped, coughing as I finally sucked in a proper breath.
I lay there, chest rising and falling in shaky breaths, my muscles screaming in protest. Every inch of my body ached like I had just been flattened by a mountain. I couldn't even muster enough strength to turn onto my back.
I tried moving my fingers first.
They twitched, stiff and sore, but at least they responded. My arms, though? Different story. It felt like they had been packed with lead.
With a groan, I turned my head to the side and caught sight of my hand. The moment I did, my brain stalled.
Bruises, deep and ugly, covered my arms like splattered ink.
My skin wasn't just red, it had turned an unnatural mix of dark purple and black, stretched tight over swollen muscles. Veins bulged along my forearms, pulsing weakly, as if squeezed to their limit. I was sure cracks must have formed along the bone.
I exhaled slowly. That wasn't great.
I shifted my focus to my chest, a bad idea. The moment I did, a sharp pain flared up, and I clenched my teeth to hold back a curse. My ribs protested any movement, and from how deep the pain ran, I wasn't ruling out multiple fractures.
Legs? Same situation. I could feel the strain in my bones, like they had been bent under an impossible weight. My feet tingled, like the blood was just now starting to flow properly again.
Then my brain caught up with a horrifying realization.
What if this shit repeated at regular intervals?
"I'm dead," I muttered.
I swore to do something about my regeneration, maybe get a skill to overdrive it for situations like this.
Gritting my teeth, I cursed six generations of every person I disliked and started crawling forward. Bit by bit, like a snail, I dragged myself toward my staff.
Every movement sent fresh waves of pain through my battered body, but I pushed on.
When I finally reached it, I exhaled in relief.
I funneled 10 units of Essence into Constitution, hoping to at least speed up my regeneration. Then, with every ounce of willpower I had left, I turned onto my back.
"Fuck."
My eyes locked onto the flickering dome above, taking in the absurdity of the whole situation.
I let out a chuckle, which instantly turned into regret as pain shot through my crushed muscles and broken bones.
With another slow breath, I forced myself to focus. I needed to deal with the situation.
And at this moment, there was only one thing my broken body could do, stop being stupid and go back instead of pressing forward.
I had barely taken a few steps into this area, so returning should be much, much easier.
Extracting the Essence from my staff, I shrunk it down, gritted my teeth, and began the long, painful crawl back to where I started.
Almost ten minutes passed as I crawled toward the start line. It was just ahead, I could see it.
I forced my brain to go blank, avoiding any thoughts that could jinx me. But that, in itself, was a red flag.
Essence went wild again.
I knew what was coming.
Gritting my teeth, I pushed myself forward, dragging my broken body across the rubble. My chest and legs scraped against the rough ground, my shattered hand barely able to keep me moving.
Faster.
Faster.
But this just wasn't my night.
Gravity returned like an uninvited guest, slamming into my back.
A grunt tore from my throat as blood spilled from my mouth. My body was crushed deeper into the ground, pinned under the relentless force.
I closed my eyes and let go.
There was no point in fighting it anymore. I relaxed my mind, focusing on anything other than the boiling pain in my bones.
But my core stayed active, continuously generating Essence.
The crushing force finally ended.
I knew what came next.
It would pamper me with love before slamming me down again.
And just as expected, the gravity started weakening.
My fingers tightened around my staff as my body lifted off the ground.
Three feet.
Six feet.
Nine feet.
That was enough.
Gritting my teeth, I activated [Seismic Burst].
Strength and Essence surged toward my legs, along with an unbearable wave of pain.
I clenched my eyes shut, refusing to let tears escape.
Then, with a boom, Essence exploded from my feet, launching me forward like a rocket.
The weakened gravity made me soar through the air before I finally started descending.
I crashed, rolling across the ground like a ragdoll.
Sprawled on my back, I weakly tilted my head.
A few meters ahead, debris floated lazily in the air.
I smiled.
"Fuck you."
And then, my body shut down.