Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer

Chapter 198 Sword In The Stump

"Justin! Hey, Justin! Come on, wait up, please! Can't we rest for a bit? We've been walking for hours now."

"Trust me, Doug. I wanna rest too, but we both know we can't afford that kind of luxury. Just endure it a bit more. We're nearly there."

In the middle of a deserted road, under the harsh glare of the scorching sun, two men could be seen walking down the road.

Just from a glance, it is obvious that both of them were tired. Their clothes were drenched in sweat and they were panting so much.

The heat of the sun was forcing them to consume their water supply at an alarming rate. Even with the conscious idea that they should be conserving it, they just can't help it.

This road that they're on, was a rather obscure path that has been unused for quite some time. Nobody really knows why but nobody uses these roads anymore. It's not like it's under construction or something, it's still functional albeit a little dirty, and that's mainly because nobody maintaining it anymore.

"Are you even sure that we're going on the right way?" The man named Doug complained, "There's nobody here? How are we supposed to go outside from here? Would we even find what we're looking for here?"

"Just trust me, Doug. I know this path, my Dad used to bring me here before regularly. I know it like the back of my hand. This will be worth it, I promise." Justin replied, trying to convince his friend to keep going.

"...we should've at least brought a car or something. How did you even convince me to walk all the way there? It just doesn't make sense!"

"This road isn't accessible by any automobile, Doug. I thought I told you that earlier?" Justin replied, "Plus, I didn't convince you. It was you who wanted to come with me. That's why I don't understand why you're complaining too much."

"Hey! I might....be a lot of things...but a deserter is not. Ain't no way I'm letting you fight angels on your own."

As it turns out, both of them were participants in the Mystic Guild's recruitment.

"And I appreciate that, truly. But please, stop whining. Save your energy for the upcoming fight instead."

Justin and Doug were childhood friends. They grew up in City N with a relatively peaceful and normal environment.

That's until the disaster of City M occurred...

Being their neighboring city, all citizens of City N mourned for the loss of so many lives, but more importantly, they grew afraid of what will come next.

A whole city, gone, just like that. Nobody even knew how exactly it happened, they just all knew that it disappeared from the face of the earth and that's it.

And as it turns out City N's citizens had every right to be afraid. Not only because of the possibility that they are next on the list but also because nobody wants to die.

Sadly, even with preparations on hand, they still couldn't escape their fate. The disaster still struck and many lives were lost.

Unlike City M though, City N didn't disappear. It's still there, but it's destroyed beyond recognition. It has been burned down to the ground, and only rubble and scraps remains.

Some people survived the disaster, and among these people, Justin and Doug were included. The rest of their respective family on the other hand...weren't so lucky.

The loss had been a traumatic event for both of them.

Now that they've grown older, Justin vowed to become stronger. He didn't want to be hopeless in front of those things anymore.

This is why when he heard about this event, he didn't hesitate to participate. He had been searching for a chance like this. Now that it's here, there's no way he'd miss it.

Doug on the other hand, joined in because he didn't want Justin to do this alone. They've known each other for so long that they're practically brothers. There was no way that he'd let Justin go out there alone despite his fears.

Right now, they are both on the way to completing the final task of the recruitment process. The weird thing is that Justin was so adamant that he was going to take this path instead of the widely accessible roads available to them.

Doug has no idea what Justin was trying to accomplish here, he's just here for his brother.

Justin on the other hand knows that this is where their chance lies. If the thing he was looking for was still here, then the task would be a breeze for the two of them.

They walked for a bit more, nearly passing out because of the heat. Even still, they arrived at their destination.

"We're here!" Justin exclaimed feeling some of his energy returning to him.

The 'here' he's talking about, was a dead forest. And frankly, Doug wasn't impressed. He didn't even find this funny at all.

"Are you seriously telling me, that we came all the way here just for a dead forest? Justin..."

"Shush..." Justin hurriedly silenced Doug. "Save it, just wait here and rest."

Instead of explaining, Justin instead chose to prove himself by going deeper into the dead forest.

Looking around, this place hasn't changed at all. It looks and feels exactly the same in his memory.

Justin wasn't lying when he said that he knew this place like the back of his hand. Even with his eyes closed, he could go in here and arrive at any location he desired.

But that's not really why he's here for...

At the very core of the dead forest, there is a lone and decaying tree house. Seeing that place caused nostalgia to hit Justin like a truck, causing him to miss his family all of a sudden. But he shook it off after some time. He had other matters to attend to.

With a nimble hop, he landed on the balcony of the tree house. He then pushed the door open, causing a loud and eerie creaking sound to ensue.

The interior of the tree house was worse than the exterior. Signs of rot and decay could be seen everywhere. It is covered in dense spider webs and it smells so bad in there.

Justin didn't mind any of this, he instead followed his memories.

Suddenly, it's like he could see his younger self and his father's silhouette in front of him, re-enacting the moment when he first arrived here.

Justin never really understood why his father brought him here all those years ago, and quite regularly too. After all, this City F previously, which is far away from City N. It just doesn't make sense, why come all the way here just for a tree house?

Well, he'd probably never know the answer to any of that. All he knows is that, as weird as this might seem, he was thankful to his father for taking him to this place frequently because the time has come to take what was left for him here.

Justin climbed down the stairs and reached the base of the tree house. Behind him, was the door that lead outside, around him was a messy clutter of rotting things, and in front of him was the trunk of the tree that supported all of this...

And beneath him, was a creaking wooden floor which gives off an impression that it will give in at any moment now.

Justin crouched down and patted away the accumulating dust on the floor. After a brief search, he finally found what he was looking for. A hidden contraption, which he twisted and pulled, causing parts of the floor to collapse, revealing a set of stairs leading even further down.

Without any hesitation, he took the stairs and arrived at the secret room that only he and his father knew.

"...yes, it is indeed still here." He murmured to himself upon seeing the thing in front of him.

It was an old and rusted sword, buried deep into a tree stump. It certainly didn't look impressive or anything but Justin knows the truth.

This sword contained immense power. His father told him that this sword belongs to their family and recognizes their bloodline.

'One day, when you're old enough, you must return here and pull this sword out of the stump. It has already recognized you as its owner but you're still too young and naive.'

'When the time comes that you find a reason to fight, I hope that you'll use this sword to uphold justice and protect what's important to you.'

Justin can still hear these words being said to him by his father. He didn't understand it back then but now...

"The time has come," Justin murmured to himself. "Come, Sword. There are enemies to kill."

Justin seemed to have heard a faint cry coming from the sword. Therefore, he placed his hand on the hilt and pulled it out.

The sword was then removed from the stump and changed its appearance on his hands.

Justin felt an inexhaustible flood of power coursing through his body. And for some reason, he seems to have learned all there is to know about this sword.

Raising it above him, he turned into a streak of thunder that broke out of the tree house. He then landed in front of the frightened Doug and said:

"Come on, let's finish the task."

Back at the Morning Sun Federation's Headquarters, at President's office, Ashton watched this all with interest and said:

"Huh...interesting."