Cursed Mine and the Suppression of Magic Power

"Ready? Let's go in!"

At Erza's command, the four-person team maintained a tight formation and entered the Wailing Abyss mine, which resembled the gaping maw of some enormous beast.

The moment they stepped into the entrance, an aura entirely different from the outside world washed over them.

It was an indescribable sensation—cold, damp, and sticky, as if the air itself had become a thin swamp. Every breath carried a rotten, nauseating stench. The cave walls were slick with moisture and covered in dark bluish-green moss. Abandoned mine carts and tools lay scattered across the ground. The entire mine was shrouded in deathly silence.

Erza, Gray, and Lucy's expressions all changed slightly at almost the same time.

"This is..." Gray frowned. "My magic power... it feels like it isn't flowing properly."

"I feel it too!" Lucy said nervously. She could sense that her connection to the Celestial Spirit World seemed to have been veiled by an invisible layer of gauze, becoming blurred. "It's like... my magic power has rusted."

Erza's expression was the gravest of all. As an S-Class mage, her control over her own magic power far exceeded that of ordinary people. She could clearly feel an invisible, cold energy trying to invade her body through her skin and breath, like countless tiny leeches greedily sucking away the magic power within her.

"This is the Weakening Curse mentioned in the report," Erza said in a low voice. "Everyone, wrap your bodies in magic power to resist the curse's erosion! Don't let it enter your bodies!"

The three immediately did as she said, faint auras of magic power appearing around their bodies. However, this defense also meant that their magic power was being consumed at an extremely rapid rate.

Holding up magical flames, they cautiously made their way deeper into the mine.

The mine's interior was far more complex than they had imagined, with branching paths and side tunnels as dense as a spiderweb. There were also dried dark-red stains on the cave walls, though they had no idea whether they were rust or something else.

The farther they went, the denser that cold, sticky cursed aura became, and the more obvious its suppressive effect on their magic power grew.

Gray tried using Ice Make, only to find that an ice spear he could normally form in an instant now required twice the usual time and magic power. Worse, the ice he created was murky and impure, its strength greatly diminished.

Erza also felt immense pressure. Every time she used Requip, the magic power it consumed increased geometrically. She had to devote most of her magic power to resisting the curse's erosion; otherwise, her prized Knight magic would be impossible to use properly.

Lucy's situation was the worst. She tried to summon her Celestial Spirits, only to discover that after inserting her key into the air, the Celestial Spirit Gate opened with extraordinary difficulty. From beyond the gate came the Celestial Spirits' unease and resistance. This place caused extreme discomfort to Celestial Spirits, who lived on magic power.

"Damn it... what kind of hellhole is this?" Gray gritted his teeth, fine beads of sweat already forming on his forehead. "At this rate, our magic power will be drained before we even find the source of the curse!"

They finally understood why this mission had been rated S-Class.

It did not defeat them with powerful enemies. Instead, it undermined the very foundation mages depended on for survival—magic power. Here, mages were like tigers stripped of their fangs and claws: possessing strength, yet unable to use it.

Just as the three struggled onward, with even a trace of retreat beginning to form in their hearts, a lazy, complaining voice came from the middle of the group.

"Hey, you three, can you walk faster?"

All three turned around at once and looked at the "special consultant" who had remained silent ever since entering the mine.

Roronoa Zoro was following behind them with an impatient expression, and he even had the leisure to look around.

"It's dark and damp in here, and the air smells awful. Hurry up, find what we're looking for, and get out," he complained.

"Zoro..." Lucy stared at him in shock. "Don't you... feel anything at all?"

"Feel? Feel what?" Zoro looked at them as if they were inexplicable. "It just feels a little cold, and it smells bad. Why do you all look like you've run hundreds of kilometers? Your faces look terrible."

His expression practically said, Are your bodies really that weak? It plunged Erza, Gray, and Lucy into deep silence.