The room was silent except for the faint hum of energy swirling around me.Floating in front of me was a dull, pitch-black stone — the Gravitas Stone, a mineral so rare that even big merchant collectors called it a "fantasy."
And there I was, using it like a damn light switch.
"Heh," I muttered, smirking to myself. "Who would've thought that the first thing I'd do after transmigrating into a novel is go shopping for rare cosmic rocks?"
Let's rewind a little.When I first landed in this world, dazed and confused, the first rational thought I had was—"Find something that'll counter the MC's Space Affinity before he turns me into a pancake."
Because really, what else could possibly go against space but gravity itself?
The perfect nemesis.
Like xianxia's analogue, the yin to the hero's yang.Also, I just liked the idea of being able to say "Sit down" and having people literally fall to their knees.
So, on my second day in this world, I'd ordered Lira to locate a Gravitas Stone.And because my maid is terrifyingly efficient, she'd found one within three days — probably after scaring half the underworld into cooperating.
Now, standing here, with that heavy stone hovering in front of me, I could almost feel the universe groaning under its weight.It was like holding a piece of a black hole, compressed and polished into a pebble.
"Alright," I said, cracking my neck, "time to awaken my affinity."
The process wasn't exactly difficult. I already had Crystal Affinity, one of the advanced branches of Earth Affinity — which, conveniently, was one of the prerequisite paths toward Gravity Affinity.
Yeah, in this world, affinities aren't static.You can actually develop new ones through sheer practice, training, and decades of painful, mind-numbing effort.Fortunately for me, I had neither the patience nor the masochism for that.
So, I skipped the grind and went straight for the rare item route.Efficiency, baby.
I sat cross-legged, the Gravitas Stone floating just above my palm. I drank the elixir, then my body started shimmering faintly, resonating with the stone's pull. The air around me trembled, bending slightly, as if reality itself had taken a deep breath.
"Okay… inhale, exhale, and—holy hell, that's heavy!"
My body suddenly felt like someone had dropped a mountain on my shoulders. My limbs screamed, the floor cracked, and even the light of bulbs was faintly bending towards me
It was working.The raw, crushing weight of gravity itself was seeping into my mana channels, fusing with my core.For a second, I thought my spine was about to fold like cheap parchment.
"Ahh yes," I gasped, "nothing says success like potential organ failure."
But soon, the pressure stabilized. The air grew still, the stone dissolved into motes of black light, and I felt something deep within me click — like a lock finally finding its key.
Then came the familiar ding sound in my head.Well, not an actual sound. More like that smug internal satisfaction of knowing I just broke another rule of the universe.
The world around me pulsed once, and suddenly, I could feel the gravity of everything — the pull of the earth beneath me, the subtle weight of the air, even the faint attraction between particles of dust.
A grin spread across my face.
"Gravity Affinity: awakened," I whispered dramatically."Congratulations, Rishi. You're now officially one step closer to being the universe's most handsome natural disaster."
If anyone saw me now, they'd think I was some kind of legendary sage deep in enlightenment.In reality, I was just a smug extra who'd cheated his way into a cosmic power.
Still, I had to admit — it felt good.Not "I-just-won-the-lottery" good.More like "I-just-outplayed-the-plot-and-the-protagonist-at-the-same-time" good.
I looked down at my hands, flexing my fingers, feeling the subtle shift in space around them. A pebble on the floor trembled, then slowly rose, orbiting around me like a tiny moon.
"Perfect," I murmured. "Now I can make things float… or crush them into atomic paste. The best of both worlds."
Lira stood silently near the door, as usual — expression calm, aura restrained, probably wondering why her young master was giggling like a mad scientist.
"Lira," I said, standing up and dusting off my robe, "you remember when I said we were going out for training?"
She tilted her head slightly, her way of asking "Yes, and what chaos are we walking into this time?"
"Well," I continued, smirking, "training can wait. It's time to meet the old foxes."
If there's one thing more dangerous than an unrestrained angry protagonist, it's the noble elders of the Darknorth family — old vultures in fine robes who smile at you while calculating how to sell your corpse for political gain.
I wasn't worried about enemies outside the estate.Out there, I could fight, run, or trick my way out.But inside? Inside the family?
That was a den of hyenas.And hyenas smile before they bite.
As I walked toward the door, a faint shimmer of gravity trailed behind me, bending the light ever so slightly.My grin widened.
"Well then," I muttered, "time to see which of the old geezers still think the extra is harmless."
Lira silently followed as I stepped out of the chamber.
The path ahead wasn't smooth, but at least now I had gravity on my side — literally.And if things went south, well…Let's just say I was more than ready to pull a few people down to my level.