Rae had decided to take on the dungeon at school. She'd learned that her fire magic circles still worked, but instead of producing fire, they now generated electricity. This could have been useful—if only the electricity could be easily directed in a specific direction. Unfortunately, that was not the case.
The magic circles created electric arcs that resembled those from Tesla coils. The voltage was extraordinarily high, nearing three million volts, and at a range of one meter, it could go even higher. Anything that conducted electricity—whether it was a person, an object, or even Rae herself—could easily be injured by the volts.
The issue wasn't the high voltage itself, which in isolation wasn't always dangerous, but the fact that once the electricity created a current, it became extremely hazardous. High voltage could cause severe injuries when it flowed through a conductor like a human body, potentially even being fatal if the current was strong enough.
To avoid injury, Rae reasoned that the key was ensuring no one was grounded or, if they were, that they were insulated. This would prevent the current from finding a clear path to flow through anyone, minimizing the risk of harm. So, while the electric spells were a powerful addition to her arsenal, they were limited by the need to carefully manage the flow of current.
Currently, Rae was trying to figure out how to become airborne without relying on wind magic. She planned to manipulate gravity, though it was a long shot. Dark magic, she thought, might give her the ability to control gravity. She began theorizing about the connection between dark magic and anti-photons.
She knew photons were created when excited electrons returned to their ground state. But anti-photons, she wondered, how were they created? Rae believed anti-photons were essentially photons that traveled backward in time, meaning they were once photons before their transformation.
Gravity, she thought, was tied to the curvature of space-time and, in turn, was likely connected to photons and anti-photons. It was produced by elementary particles known as gravitons, though the exact source of gravitons wasn't clear. However, there was a well-established link between mass and gravitational force. The more massive an object, the stronger its gravitational pull. Rae considered the most massive object known to humanity: black holes, which had the strongest gravitational force.
When she thought about photons and anti-photons, Rae concluded that black holes were formed from an accumulation of anti-photons, while white holes were formed by an excess of photons. Modern physics theorized that black holes and white holes were connected, potentially forming a bridge between the past and the future.
Rae's theory was that photons might transform into anti-photons when passing through the Higgs boson field. The transformation would result in the creation of gravitons—the particles responsible for gravity. If she could control the photons and anti-photons interacting with the Higgs field, she reasoned that she might be able to manipulate gravitons and, by extension, control gravity.
She wasn't sure she could directly manipulate gravitons, but wondered if they were essentially just photons that hadn't fully transformed into anti-photons yet. If that were the case, anyone with control over photons or anti-photons could influence gravity, even if only partially.
Rae tested her theory by applying both light and dark magic to the gravitons in the area. To her surprise, it worked. Light magic produced antigravity effects, such as making things float. Dark magic had a similar effect, though less stable. However, dark magic also had the added effect of enhancing gravity, making objects in the area feel significantly heavier.
With this new discovery, Rae realized she had unlocked gravity magic. If she practiced enough, she might be able to gain a significant advantage in combat or flight. The downside was the spell's casting time—it was slower than usual, even when using a magic circle—and the mana drain was immense, especially when trying to increase the strength of the gravitational force.
Gravity magic seemed like the best option for flight, which was why she'd started studying it in the first place.
Now armed with a variety of new magic, Rae was looking forward to the raid that would take place in a week. Her weapons had been repaired, ensuring she could fight in melee if her spells weren't enough.
Throughout the week, Rae noticed that Eleanor was also training, seemingly preparing for the raid as well. The foreign princess, Cilia, had expressed interest in joining the raid, but Rae wasn't comfortable with that. She couldn't risk Cilia's safety; if anything happened to her, Rae would face the consequences.
As the days ticked down to the dungeon raid, Rae couldn't help but feel a sense of excitement. Though the main goal was to gather any valuable treasures—whether for reviving the dead or obtaining a powerful weapon to use against the Demon King—she was eager to see what the dungeon held in store for them.