Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer-Chapter 263: Great Returns!
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Explosions rang out within a vast space. The earth shook, the sky darkened and the wind screamed. The scene looked apocalyptic but in reality, it was not.
These changes were caused by two people fighting with all intentions of severely injuring each other. Their last clash nearly caused this entire area to collapse due to how intense it was, thankfully they still have the decency to stop before they damaged this place beyond repair.
"That's mildly annoying and reassuring, ironically." One of them said, "I'm already at the Void Rank yet I still can't defeat you. But it's also good to know that you won't just flop over and die in case somebody with the same strength as I confront you."
"...I'll take that as a compliment." The other said. "This is a tie, though."
These two were Alice and Ashton who just sparred.
Ashton wanted to test their strength after their breakthrough just to see it in action. Overall, he was pleasantly surprised. Getting rid of one's mortal shackles truly makes one a different breed.
He also sparred with Mary and Blake earlier. The results were the same, a tie in a one-on-one match. If the three of them worked together against him, he'd surely be defeated.
"Alright, we're done here. You guys can go back, I'll stay to repair the place."
"Okay. See you later." Alice said before promptly disappearing from where she was.
Since she became a Void Rank expert, she also unlocked the ability to teleport. She doesn't know Space Laws enough but she has gained a slight awareness of it, and with her current strength, folding it was a simple task for her.
Ashton sensed that Alice left with Mary and Blake. They'd probably take it easy for a few days since they've been cultivating harshly during these past few months. They needed to relax for a bit to decompress.
After they left, Ashton gazed around the place they used to spar and shook his head briefly. It's damaged way beyond his expectations but it's fine.
He released his Dream Soul Domain and started his Lucid Dreams.
The scene of utter destruction and desolation instantly vanished, replaced by the image of what this place looked like before they decided to use it as a sparring arena.
It was clean, organized, and peaceful, just the way he likes it. Ashton overlapped this image in his Lucid Dreams to reality, holding it up for a few seconds before retrieving his domain.
After the domain disappeared, they no longer looked like a bombing zone. It reverted to its previous form just like that. Ashton didn't even need to try.
He could've done this in front of his friends but he chose not to. Although they knew that he gained awareness of Dream Laws, he told them that utilizing it was more difficult than he expected and he was still experimenting with it, which was a White Lie.
Dream Laws are indeed complicated, but it's not something that would stomp him. He lied not because he didn't trust them, it's more so because he was being careful.
Ashton had no idea what kind of abilities or methods their enemies might use, especially now that they are taking Humanity semi-seriously. He needed to keep as many trump cards as possible without his close friends knowing. He could only hope that they understand why he has to do this in the future.
The results of the spar were also somewhat staged. He fought them to a tie without utilizing his Dream Laws as much. He used it enough to hopefully fool them but in reality, if he used them right away, the fight would've been over before it started.
He could just forcefully pull their consciousness into a dream, trapping them and leaving their physical body defenseless. Ashton has the freedom to not walk in and out of his dreams, and since his enemies' physical bodies were defenseless, things can only go worse from there.
From this, it's clear that Ashton's Dream Laws were incredibly powerful, and it deserves to be treated as a trump card.
After he overwrite reality for a bit using his dreams, Ashton sat down on the ground and opened up the System.
He received some hefty rewards from the Beneficiary Returns but he has yet to check them. Now that he was done with testing those three and was completely alone in this place, it was time for him to see what he got.
In total, he received 6 Items, and a hefty amount of Skill Points and Spell Points as well.
The items he received were: Immortal's Bonfire Bluprint, Utopian Fountain Blueprint, Mountain Deity's Statue, Stairway to Heaven Blueprint, Lake of Blood Blueprint, and the Slumbering Immortal King's Bed Blueprint.
Each one of these items was extremely useful not just for him but also for Humanity. Most of them are blueprints but it's fine since they're the Instant-Build kind. He just needed enough materials and the infrastructure would come to life.
For the first one, the Immortal Bonfire was a World-Class Treasure. If he were to build this, the bonfire will immediately know that he was part Human and Fey.
The Immortal Bonfire gathers the emotions and thoughts of the people around it. At first, it doesn't do much and it also takes a very long time for it to be able to do something, but when it does, it will terrify even the Immortals.
The second one, the Utopian Fountain is also a World-class Treasure. Upon its construction, it will automatically filter water for an entire area while also making it immune from any kind of corruption. This treasure's influence was big enough to cover the entire Last Bastion.
With this, Ashton could remove people from the task of purifying the water, giving him more manpower to move things around. Plus, they will never have to worry about potentially using foul water.
The Mountain Deity's Statue is basically the Utopian Fountain but for Land. It covers up Last Bastion as a whole, making it immune to any kind of corruption. It also improves the vitality of the land within its territory, allowing for more bountiful harvests.
Stairway to Heaven and the Lake of Blood are infrastructures that could only be used by Ascendants.
Both are training grounds for Ascendants to improve. The Stairway to Heaven is a giant flight of stairs. It is blessed by Divine Presence which would press down on those who attempt to climb it. The higher they were, the heavier the pressure they'd feel.
They would also experience terrifying visions once they reached the higher steps, making it extremely dangerous but also beneficial for Ascendants.
The Lake of Blood on the other hand is where Ascendants could not only temper their mental faculties but also forge their bodies even stronger.
For starters, the Lake of Blood looks very sinister. It was a boiling lake of blood, it has a sharp stench that could make anybody grimace in disgust.
Taking a dip in it would instantly make any Ascendant feel like they're being boiled alive. It would be painful yes but also beneficial for them since it will temper their bodies, making them even stronger.
What is scary about the Lake of Blood is the Heart Demons that will attack those who are submerged in it. The closer they are to the core of the lake, the more terrifying these visions would get.
Still, despite the risks, confronting these Heart Demons will illuminate an Ascendant's flaws, allowing them to fix them and, by extension, make them stronger.
And finally, there's the Slumbering Immortal King's Bed.
This is something for Ashton's personal use it seems. The Slumberin Immortal King's Bed is a treasure that could amplify someone who's acknowledged by Dream Laws.
If he were to lie down on it, the bed will amplify his Dream Soul Domain by at least 10 times, allowing him to practically cover this entire planet easily. He could stretch it into a single direction to affect those who were stationed just outside the Planet's atmosphere.
The most terrifying aspect of this bed was the fact that it allows him to easily descend into anybody's dream.
Dreamwalking is an ability that Ashton unlocked when he gained awareness of the Dream Laws. It is the power to visit someone's dream and influence them from there.
He couldn't just do it to everybody though because of his lack of experience. Plus, the stronger his target was, the harder it is for him to infiltrate their actual dreams.
But the Slumbering Immortal King's Bed makes that easier for him. Now, he could check the Miraculous Son and Demon Emperor's Dream whenever he wants.
He didn't need to lure them into a trap anymore. He could also just do it in the comfort of his own home, considering that he has this bed with him.
Overall, Humanity just received a phenomenal boost with these items. He could surely buy more time with them to make Humanity even more stronger for the eventual clash.
Nodding in satisfaction upon seeing these items, Ashton stood up and left to gather resources to build them.
