To find a way out of the waterway, I proceeded with research on mana.

As a result, by using mana, I was able to acquire the skill to carve rocks even without tools.

It's a subtle skill to call it a cheat, but under the current situation, it could be an opportunity to escape.

I want to use this skill to somehow escape.

When I woke up in the morning, I immediately went to the area where the water had been dammed up due to the collapse and investigated the area and surrounding area again.

Although the flow of water has slowed down, it has continued ever since the collapse, and has not been completely stopped at the collapse site.

There is a gap below the water surface where water can flow.

 Even though I call it a gap, there is no place where people or luggage can pass through.

If there was even a small hole, I thought about expanding it, but there was no place I could easily pass through.

I carefully investigated the surrounding area, but there was no place that looked like it could be easily destroyed.

From now, I will give up on escaping in the short term and be prepared for it to take some time.

If I take advantage of the ability to carve rocks with my skill, there are mainly three escape routes.

Although there is a risk of collapse, I can destroy the collapsed area from below, make a hole in the surrounding wall to create a detour, or build scaffolding up to the ceiling.

To create a foothold to reach the ceiling, all I need to do is create a depression that will serve as a foothold.

If I prioritize the time it takes to escape, I might be able to escape as quickly as possible with this method, but there is a possibility that I won't be able to secure water after that.

No, there is a possibility that mana can replace water, but considering that I know how energy is synthesized in the body and that water is essential, I don't feel like trying it.

As for drilling a new hole in the surrounding wall that will serve as a detour, choosing a location on solid rock, would reduce the chance of it collapsing during work, making it safer, but it's unclear how thick the wall will have to be digged to escape.

It's possible that the walls are thin and I can escape unexpectedly quickly, but considering the unfortunate situation I've been in so far, it's even possible that it will take several years.

After much deliberation, I decided to use the process of elimination and chose the escape route of breaking down the collapse site from below, which was dangerous but could speed up the work by digging while breaking, and I could predict the distance I would have to break down.

If I manage to break it down, I'll be able to climb onto the wooden box and move forward using the flow of water.

I will start working with the goal of digging a hole that is at least big enough to fit the wooden box through.

With my current skills, I can only shave 3cm by using mana manipulation several times, so it seems like it will be a tedious task.

A journey of a thousand miles is more than just one step; if you want to move forward even a little, you have no choice but to keep going.

I tried to dive into the water and break it down from below, but the mana dissolved into the water and it didn't work.

 I gave up and started chipping away at the part that was above the water little by little to make a hole.

Perhaps because the area I could remove was small, my mana didn't decrease much.

I continuously performed mana manipulation.

When the mana decreased, I absorbed it from the surroundings and returned to work, repeating the process over and over again.

Many of the places where the collapse occurred were stable, as it had already been more than a month since the collapse, but on rare occasions, the collapse became larger and the hole closed, so the hole didn't get any bigger.

 (It only takes a few minutes with my craft.)

Still, I was glad that I felt like I could move forward, even if just a little.

 After working all day on the first day, I was able to make a hole that allowed me to move forward about 30cm.

I don't yet know how far I will need to go, but I have no choice but to move forward steadily.

I was thinking that if I was lucky, there would be a big collapse and there would be a gaping hole for my escape, but it seems that it would be difficult.

While continuing to dig the hole, I will prepare for the day of my escape and simultaneously proceed with the time-consuming verification of mana research.

Even though I said, preparing for my escape, I don’t have to eat much at the moment, but as long as I drink water, I will not have any health problems.

However, I can fell hungry, and considering my previous life's common sense, I should ingest as much of the substances necessary for my body's growth as possible.

Even if I am taking in mana, it's hard to imagine that something that will supplement my body's growth will be synthesized from it...

 If this continues, my body might not grow much.

Although I have limited fuel, I now have a chance of escaping, so I plan to regularly secure fish and grill them to eat as well as provide food reserves for the time I escape.

For verification, which is part of the mana research, I decided to prioritize securing time for digging the hole, and proceeded with things that could be done in a short amount of time and required long-term observation.

It would be good to examine the effect of mana on the growth of plants (bamboo).

 Now that my future direction had been decided, all that was left was  to continue with a simple daily life.

 ...

 ...

 ...

In the end, I finished digging the hole I needed to escape 18 days after I was first able to carve rocks.

It was neither long nor short.

It felt like a short period of time because I was working so hard every day, but it took a long time.

It was also painful that while digging, large collapses occurred several times and I had to start over.

Although my heart was broken every time a collapse occurred, I continued to work mindlessly.

Maybe it's because of the patience I cultivated as a working adult.

 There were some good things that happened by repeating the work.

By using mana repeatedly, I was able to experience the improvement of my skills.

The effects of the range and speed of mana absorption, mana sensing, and mana manipulation skills have clearly increased.

After carrying fallen rocks and carved stones over and over again, it became possible to carry larger objects with ease.

Progress has also been made in verifying the effect of mana on the growth of plants (bamboo).

As a result of testing, the pattern in which mana was poured directly into the bamboo, imagining growth resulted in the fastest growth.

I had assumed that if the mana was poured into the roots, it would be absorbed more efficiently and the growth would be faster, but the unexpected result was that it was better to pour it directly into the bamboo.

Compared to regular bamboo that had not been treated with mana, the height of the bamboo increased by about 1 meter in 5 days.

Since the number of samples was small, there may be differences in the environment such as individual differences or the ground where the plants were planted, so I consider the results to be just a reference, but I was surprised to see such a large difference.

Although the grown bamboo was rather thin, I decided to take it with me as a commemorative bamboo material from the cave.

I also secured some fish, but I didn't have any materials suitable for long-term storage, such as salt, and it didn't seem like it would last very long, so I ended up cutting back on the amount.

In the end, I was trapped here for 58 days.

It will end today and I will move forward tomorrow.

 (I am finally there.)