Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer
Chapter 161 Their Thoughts And Ashton’s Plan

"...are you sure that it was Bioweapon and not a real one?"

"It doesn't have any horns." Blake stated to the person he was talking to. "It required at least a hundred-plus people to be sacrificed for that thing to appear, even then it was unstable. That wasn't a genuine one, that's for sure."

The guy on the other side of the call visibly grimaced and said: "Damn, how troublesome."

"Indeed it is. And if this isn't enough to put the Skydemon Cult up to your list, then I think it's time for those old folks to resign." Blake snorted.m

"Hey, shh!! What if someone hears you?"

"I said what I said!" Blake stressed out. "You're not stupid. We both know what this entails! If they could create one, then we must assume that they already have an army of it!"

"This ritual requires a lot of people to be used as a sacrifice! You weren't here so you wouldn't understand. We nearly failed in this! If it weren't for some timely reinforcements, we three wouldn't have been able to stop that thing! How many innocent people would've died because of that?"

"I'm tired of sounding like a broken record to you guys so do me a favor and tell those geezers to start doing something or else I will do something instead."

"At least, if I do something, then some people can be saved. I just can't guarantee that those old folks wouldn't get in between the crossfire." Blake coldly spat as he terminated the call.

"Tch." He clicked his tongue and collapsed on the couch.

He reached out to his pockets and bit on a cigarette, lighting it up by using the lowest level of fire emission spell in place of a lighter. Taking a deep huff, he sighed and ruffled his hair out of irritation.

"Damn it, what the hell has gotten to me?" He mused to himself.

It's times like this that his mood drops to the lowest level. He's stressed out, that much is obvious.

Carrying the burden of 9 lives filled with nothing but bleakness and fighting, Blake is understandably very exhausted.

His exhaustion is one that penetrates him deep to his soul, hell that might even be where the exhaustion was coming from in the first place...

Sometimes, he just wishes that he could just rest. Unfortunately, he couldn't. Whenever he starts thinking that he could, something will happen which will force him to interfere.

Blake had gotten so used to it that sometimes, he feels as if he was just a walking corpse instead.

Nevertheless, even though his sheer desire to rest easy and sleep all day long, he still ends up doing something since something must be done so that he can rest. That's the idea basically...unfortunately, some people just don't get it. And that annoys him the most.

It's hard to believe that there are people who had gotten complacent and had already accepted the current status quo. The same people already accepted their fate and chose to live under this false sense of peace and security.

Living 9 lives so far desensitized Blake so this illusionary peace couldn't fool him. What's worse is that, no matter what age he got reincarnated in, the problem was still there.

How can he rest easy knowing that?

"...damned geezers." He cursed under his breath, "The invaders don't give a fuck about that 'treaty' or whatever, hell they might not even know what you guys are talking about yet you all are still serving them lives of Heroes on a silver platter. How is that any good?"

Of course, he knows about this too. Why else would he stick beside Alice still if it weren't for this? Blake is still Blake, after all, he's here to protect Alice just in case those Geezers dare to lay a finger on her.

He hasn't told Mary about this yet, and he doesn't know if he has the heart to ever tell her. As for Ashton...

'...that kid.' Blake narrowed his eyes. 'He's strong. He's hiding a lot of things from us and I wouldn't be surprised if he knows some information too.'

'The sheer fact that he was able to survive out there, by himself and with a burden with him...returning in one piece and still sane, is nothing short of a miracle.'

'...I would know, I've been there after all.'

Unpleasant memories replayed in his mind, he shook his head and fought the wry smile that was making its way to his lips.

'His spells were really strong though. Plus, he bears the crest of Gaia now. Did he become her agent? Well, no problem if he was. That's Gaia after all.'

'I don't know what he's planning to do from this point onwards but I should watch him closely.'

And just like that, Blake delved into his thoughts more and more until he fell asleep on the couch.

Thwack! Thwack!

In the middle of a large open yard, under the direct glare of moonlight, a girl with long black hair could be seen swinging her sword with a stern expression.

Her face wore a strict expression. Her arms trembled and her clothes were drenched in sweat, causing it to stick to her body. Still, she didn't stop swinging her sword despite the clear exhaustion she felt.

'What a roller coaster of events.' She mused inwardly, 'First was a rookie mistake, then a timely intervention which ultimately saved the day.'

'Conferred Knight, my foot! Ruby Knight, my ass!' Alice berated herself. 'Unacceptable! I nearly caused the death of so many people today! Totally unacceptable!'

'It seems that I became too complacent because of my rapid increase in strength. I can't let that happen. I must work harder. Become even more stronger.'

'Stronger than everyone else! That way, we won't have to live in fear anymore! This war has gone on for far too long! This must end now or it will never be over!'

Unbeknownst to Alice, her desire was causing her Providence to react. In a mystical way, or as Ashton would say — through the power of the Plot Armor, her potential is being unearthed even more and her destiny was shining brighter than ever.

Alice is becoming fitter and fitter for the role of this Generation's Hero.

If Ashton was to know this, he would be torn between feeling jubilant and feeling bad.

On one hand, the stronger Alice is, the better. At least she'd be strong enough to protect herself and make a difference.

But on the other hand, since she's being groomed as the next Hero on the silver platter, the stronger she is, the juicer she gets for the starving invaders who are already salivating for her flesh.

'...Ash has become strong.' She mused inwardly. 'Although he didn't answer Mary's question, it's clear that his Spells must've reached at least Lv.50 and that's the minimum.'

'Adding the fact that he was a White Mage, 'Hell' wouldn't even begin to describe how the experience must've felt for him during the past five years.'

'...'

'...should I also make a trip there?' She thought to herself, 'If he became stronger by being exposed to danger 24/7, then I should be too, right?'

'But Master probably won't let me.' Alice clicked her tongue upon remembering this.

Yes, it is most likely that Oracle Felicia wouldn't allow her to venture outside even for a noble cause. As for why that is, Alice doesn't know.

So, since she couldn't do anything about it right now, she might as well focus on what she could do right now.

Meanwhile on Ashton's side...

What happened this day was a bit enlightening for him.

Seeing his friends in action gave him a rough understanding of the disparity between the invaders and fellow humans.

Sufficed to say, he wasn't too happy about it for now. In his eyes, there are tons of things to improve upon.

And such improvements are something he's definitely keeping an eye out for.

"...is it done?" He asked Aria whose hands were on her side, admiring her masterpiece so far.

She then replied: "Yep. Isn't she a thing of beauty?"

"Yep." Ashton flat-out agreed.

Both of them looked at 'The Core' from 'ARC' Blueprints, hooked into a bunch of neatly arranged and hidden electric wires. Those wires are connected to a room that is being powered by 'The Core'.

"Good job, Babe. I knew I could count on you." Ashton kissed her and Aria swooned.

"Now, I only wished that there is a Copy and Paste function in real life so that we can mass produce this." Aria sighed.

"So long as you already drew the schematics for it, we can just hire people to create more. People in this part of the city are desperate for work anyway."

"Yeah, I noticed that too." Aria nodded.

"Anyway, since 'The Core' has been proven to work, then we can start the plan: HSB, for real."

"...you're about to get busy again," Arai stated softly.

"We still have time though. And I promise I'll try my best to not neglect you. Plus, there's still at least two weeks until before the System returns online."

"Fine with me..."