Blue Dust

Since these gangs wanted to target him, he had decided to deal with them. He didn't need to resort to mass killings to cripple their organizations; all he had to do was stop the money flow, and they would fall apart like a house of cards.

While Lazy wasn't the sole producer of Blue Dust, they would find it hard to be competitive in the market without his expertise. Isaiah had made sure to observe the entire manufacturing process of Blue Dust carefully. While due to his low mana sense, he couldn't replicate it, there was no reason why he couldn't employ someone to do it. Maybe he could even try to craft a formation and automate the process in the future.

Blue Dust was simply mana gem shattered in a way that would allow its dust to retain its mana without it being dispersed into the surroundings. Blue Dust was a dangerous drug for Rank 0 individuals, but for Rank 1, whose body was already accustomed to mana, it was no different than candy.

"Let's see," he dipped his fingertip into a jar of Blue Dust, tasting it. The taste was quite acidic; if he had to compare it to something, it would be a battery. Just like predicted, the drug's effects were ineffective to him due to his rank. The moment foreign mana invaded his system, it was forced to join the mana flow of his own mana, getting neutralized.

He then lifted the entire jar, consuming all the Blue Dust contained inside. This time, a large torrent of mana attacked his flow, causing it to fluctuate. He carefully controlled his mana flow, protecting against the incoming torrent.

Soon after, the foreign mana was once again stabilized. He could feel that his mana flow was more steady. While it was a minor improvement, it was still something. This was the first progress he had made in his rank since entering Rank 1. Due to his poor mana sense, if he wanted to refine his mana using outside mana, he would have to expend his own mana at a high rate; it was highly inefficient.

"I should get my hands on a mana circulation technique," he thought. It was beyond odd for him not to have a mana circulation technique already since, without it, entering Rank 1 was a near-impossible act. However, since he had used the Mana Boost Method to enter Rank 1, he hadn't had a need for it so far.

That, however, was not the main reason. One could actually get a mana circulation technique from the government easily. It was also the main reason behind the Silver Empire's cubic architecture; since it circulated the mana in a square pattern, it was easier and cheaper to build cubic architectures.

It was obviously flawed, so Isaiah didn't want to use it. While it wasn't impossible to go back from it, it was an expensive and hard procedure to undo, especially after a long time of use.

Most Rank 1 mages came up with their own mana circulation techniques. There was no one-size-fits-all option due to each mage having a unique mana flow. Even if you managed to get your hands on a high-level mana circulation technique, it wouldn't be more than research material. Obviously, the insight you would gain from it was still valuable.

Isaiah also wanted to create his own mana circulation technique, but his current knowledge in the field was shallow. He would have to gather more knowledge before he dived in.

He decided to deal with his mana problems later, quickly going around the room, collecting all he deemed valuable. It was mostly documents and dealings which would help further his understanding of the district, giving him an edge.

He sprinkled Blue Dust on the floor and formed an explosion formation with it, leaving a little surprise.

He once again used the same illusion trick on the door, easily exiting the room. As he was halfway out of the corridor, he had to activate the formation before he was able to exit due to his wavering control over it because of the range.

BOOM! CRUMBLE, CRUMBLE, a huge explosion rang, causing half of the building's bottom to turn to rubble. Soon the building couldn't hold its own weight and collapsed entirely, CRASH. By then, Isaiah was already out of it. He didn't even bother looking back; he walked the streets as if nothing had happened, with his hands in his pockets. 

People were running around, either running away or rushing to the place of the explosion. He even saw the guards act, this time different than last time. A woman was leading them; her armor had a female figure, hazel eyes pierced from the visor of the helm, her blonde hair was let out from the back of the helm, ruffling in the air.

Isaiah's eyes met with hers, causing a smile to appear on his face. She rushed past him, speeding through the streets. "Would you look at that coincidence. Alice Indra, the daughter of Jax Indra," he thought to himself.

He soon arrived back in front of his casino's construction site. It was already a quarter of the way done thanks to magic. "Seems like it will be ready for operation in five days," he mused.

He watched huge blocks of silver being lifted by a Rank 1 earth mage, then Rank 0 mages fused the blocks together and shaped them. It was rapid progress, even in real-time.

Swoosh! A huge gust of wind was released, and a woman landed on the ground near Isaiah. "Quite the entrance, I must say, Miss Alice," he looked intently at her.

Alice rose from the ground, straightening her legs and fixing her posture. "Mr. Isaiah, I could say the same thing for you. You make quite impactful exits." The purpose behind her words was clear, hinting at Isaiah being the culprit behind the explosion.

Isaiah simply laughed. "Well, I didn't know I had such notoriety, but hearing it from you honors me." He made eye contact with her. "I assume you are here due to the explosion." He then sarcastically acted sad. "Sigh, all those hard-working criminals died, such a shame."

Even though Alice was fuming inside, she kept her cool. "Sigh, I can't believe my father is siding with this douchebag." She had received direct orders from her father to let Isaiah off. While at first glance, it might seem like Isaiah was challenging the guards with his actions, he was actually doing their job for them. While their relationship was rough, it was mutually beneficial. Isaiah cleaned the streets from criminals, and the guards kept a blind eye to his over-the-line actions.

Alice spoke sharply, "I just came here to warn you about the dangerous vigilante operating around. Since you are new here, you might be his next target, so be careful." Her words contained a double meaning; it was a clear warning not to take things too far.

""His"? How do you know his gender? Also, how are you sure it's the same guy?" he inquired. He was genuinely curious. While he didn't mind being the main suspect, he thought he hadn't left behind any clues.

Alice realized she had said too much. She hesitantly said, "Footsteps at all the scenes match. We can also tell his gender from his footsteps." She decided to show goodwill and give a bit of information. It was not highly secretive information either way.

"Footsteps, huh?" Isaiah thought to himself. He was no amateur and obviously hadn't forgotten to cover his tracks, but they had still managed to track his footsteps somehow. "Could it be specialized earth magic?" he made a guess, not entirely sure. He made a mental note to be more careful in the future.