Clear—Equivalent Exchange

"This is such a hassle now..."

Other than his own home, Falan felt there was nowhere safe in this world.

In fact, even his own home was dangerous. After all, Orario had no confidentiality measures whatsoever.

In other words, even if he deliberately kept himself hidden, information about him could still leak out.

"Clear." Constantly avoiding adventurers, Falan entered a small alley.

Using his hands as a base, he cast a sphere roughly one meter in diameter in a straight line.

The pile of garbage blocking the alley vanished completely.

"Non-living objects can be erased directly."

He checked his Backpack and found none of the garbage inside.

Falan began analyzing his Life Magic. "Backpack" and "Clear" could be considered the same type of ability. The difference was that "Backpack" stored and organized items, while "Clear" skipped the organizing process and erased them directly.

"I just don't know whether this ability has restrictions. For example, can it only erase ownerless objects?"

After all, if it could erase items without any restrictions, then "Clear" would definitely be a bug no less powerful than "Backpack."

Imagine two people in a duel. If one suddenly said Clear, the other person's weapon would disappear.

If it could even erase living beings directly, then no matter how strong a monster was, it would not survive a single Clear.

Then "Clear" would undoubtedly be the most powerful offensive magic in this world.

Unfortunately, all of that still needed confirmation. The Dungeon was currently closed to him.

Otherwise, according to Falan's original plan, he really would have gone to the Dungeon to test his abilities.

"Ugh... My head hurts a little. Is this equivalent exchange? Erasing a certain amount of matter requires an equivalent amount of mana?"

Although Falan did think his current ability was pretty broken,

if every use left him this severely drained of mana,

then regardless of whether it could only erase ownerless objects or even erase life itself,

Falan could only keep it hidden as his trump card. After all, suffering mana depletion in the Dungeon

was an extremely dangerous matter. At least until he understood the cost of his ability,

Falan had no intention of casually using this "Clear" magic.

"I'm back." After wandering around Orario once, Falan returned home and quietly spoke.

He saw the wine god completely absorbed in brewing, without a trace of his former gloomy expression.

"So this is the wine god?" Falan murmured softly.

Falan had already formed an impression of Soma.

An immortal who was ruthless in his actions and disliked anything he personally handled—a sinister old schemer.

Now, Falan's impression of Soma had been completely overturned.

Rather than Soma plotting against his Familia, it was more accurate to say that the Soma Familia had disappointed Him.

For a god who could focus so wholeheartedly on brewing wine, would managing a Familia truly be difficult if He devoted His attention to it?

"You're back?" As Falan came to his senses, the wine god stopped what he was doing.

"Yes, I'm back, Lord Soma. What did you do today?"

"Woke up, ate, brewed wine, waited for you to return."

"..." That was certainly a concise and efficient lifestyle.

"Lord Soma, what are your thoughts about the Familia's future?"

"What thoughts could I have? I don't plan on managing it anyway. As long as I have somewhere to brew wine, that's enough."

"..." That was truly detached...

"What about the surviving members of the Soma Familia?"

"If you want to gather them, make sure of your own safety first."

Soma calmly gestured for him to put away the Divine Wine on the table.

Soma sat down beside him and spoke again. "After all, can you guarantee they won't expose you?"

"..." Honestly, he really could not guarantee that.

After all, Falan had only joined the Soma Familia two or three days ago.

Aside from the god in his own home, he knew practically nothing about the Soma Familia.

Not to mention those Soma Familia adventurers he had never met, who might still be in the Dungeon.

"Probably not." In this world, as long as the benefits offered were great enough, betrayal was always possible.

Even though most members of the Soma Familia were immersed in the intoxicating effects of Divine Wine,

if someone offered a considerable price, they might turn around and sell Falan out immediately.

"By the way, what did you do today?"

"I tried out my Clear today."

"How was the effect?"

"Very good. Just as described, it can directly erase the matter within an area in front of me."

"What about high-strength equipment? Can it erase that directly as well?"

"It probably can in the future, but not right now..."

Falan quietly explained to Soma his speculation that mana consumption and the objects erased operated on a form of equivalent exchange.

"Erasure through equivalent exchange? That really does fit the concept of magic." After hearing his explanation, Soma nodded. "Compared to that 'Backpack,' which can store anything freely without any cost, this 'Clear' is far more reasonable."

"Reasonable is one thing, but it can only be kept as a trump card. I also didn't have time today to test whether it can erase monsters directly."

Soma shook his head. "If possible, don't test it on monsters. If it truly is equivalent exchange, then erasing a monster may not consume mana, but your own life."

"Life..." Falan could not help falling silent.

He could understand what Soma meant. If the law governing "Clear" truly was equivalent exchange,

then erasing a monster would mean trading one life for another.

[Name]: Falan

[Level]: Lv.1

[Abilities]
Strength: H100→101
Endurance: I90→I93
Dexterity: I87→I88
Agility: I89→I90
Magic: H101→G250

[Development Abilities]:

[Magic]: Life Magic