My Idle System

Inside a grand hall, decorated lavishly in stark contrast to the shabby outside appearance of the building, a serious meeting was currently going on.

Different from the hall they usually used for gatherings, the Drevane family, who were receiving some special guests today, had chosen to use the best hall they possessed.

Chairs lined themselves into two parallel lines that extended forward and ended at the front, where instead of one main seat, there were two distinct thrones.

One, where Vortan, the patriarch, was seated with practiced dignity, and another, where a man dressed in clothes clearly different from those commonly used on Earth, had positioned himself.

"Regardless of the result of the upcoming trip, you are going to share the mines of Cyrith with us and fulfill our other demands... is that acceptable, so we can already depart?" the man, clearly an outsider but seemingly quite fluent in English, asked with an air of impatience.

The upcoming trip... it was one meant to pay back the mysterious person who had killed Nyra first, then Kael second, and then other important members of the Drevane family third.

The culprit hadn't shown his tail yet, and his identity remained frustratingly mysterious for the Drevane family. But there was still a location they could investigate, and they were determined to try it once again.

This time though, instead of going alone arrogantly like they had the previous time, they were going to bring an outsider with them... an outsider standing at the very top of the second rank!

"Don't worry about that. Like I said before, forty percent of the revenue from the Cyrith stones is going to be given to you after this trip concludes," Vortan said, an amiable smile carefully arranged on his face.

Cyrith stones — special stones that had started appearing in the last few months after the first sign had manifested.

They were practically quartz, already plentiful all around the world. But somehow they had transformed lately, becoming infinitely more precious, especially for the Outsiders. They practically would kill to acquire even a small amount.

The stones could be used for making enhanced weapons and even some alchemy concoctions, according to the outsider's brief explanation.

But was that really all there was to it?

That remained to be determined.

Regardless of their true value, Vortan was absolutely determined to pay back the one who had dared to mess with his Drevane family.

To pull back now, when the enemy was clearly someone incredibly strong, not easily contented with? That was not something Vortan would ever consider.

But he had still decided to be extremely careful this time as they approached the culprit.

That's why, while it was completely beneath him, he still maintained a fawning attitude as he continued talking diplomatically with the outsider beside him.

"Then, let's go already. I will simply take a few capable members from your Drevane family with me... there's no need to bring thousands to catch an ant that doesn't even dare to reveal itself properly," the outsider said with an arrogant tone and condescending attitude as he stood up, clearly prepared to be done with this trivial errand quickly before he turned back to his more important business.

Vortan's eyes narrowed dangerously as he heard the dismissive words, but he still endured in the end, having already decided that later, he would hire another, stronger outsider to dispose of this arrogant piece of shit.

But he didn't have to do that in the end.

No, perhaps it was more accurate to say that he never got the chance?

SMASH!

Hot blood suddenly drenched Vortan's face and expensive clothes as he watched in horror how the outsider, who had been acting so arrogantly until this very moment, suddenly had his entire upper body completely pulverized.

Everything had happened in a single instant.

He hadn't even felt any warning signs... and were he to have been the target of the said attack, then he wouldn't have left even his lower body intact.

That was the sheer extent of the terrifying attack's power.

A brief flash of light... a devastating impact, and then the next thing he felt was the hot blood splashing across his face.

He watched numbly as the lower part of the outsider's body slowly fell to the ground with a wet thud. Then, moving as if in a trance, he turned his horrified gaze outside.

He looked through the window, and kilometers away in the distance, he seemed to be able to make out the shape of something. There, amidst the dense bushes, a black barrel seemed to be extended precisely in his direction... and Vortan literally shit himself while standing.

He completely lost his composure, and he was not any better than his family members, who suddenly started spreading in blind panic all around the hall, like terrified chickens who didn't know where to go with themselves.

-------

In another place entirely, where the culprit responsible for making the Drevane Patriarch shit himself was positioned, a beautiful... no, a cute woman with a distinctly not-cute expression lay flat on her stomach as she gazed coldly at one of the buildings down below.

In her steady hands was a sniper rifle that seemed to resemble more of an artillery piece than a simple, individual-use firearm.

It was clearly a handmade weapon, modified extensively and specifically for the one using it... crafted perfectly to meet her unique needs.

Nina looked at the absolute chaos that had ensued after she attacked just once, observing with perfect calmness before she smoothly pulled the trigger once again.

She had already successfully constructed the second circle around her heart, officially becoming a two-circle mage of considerable power.

And her strength had increased dramatically as a result.

Essence, which had always seemed on the verge of running out from her body before, now seemed far more abundant and readily available.

And where previously she had found considerable difficulty in constructing two magic circles to attack simultaneously... now, she could do that easily without strain.

No, let alone two magic circles — now, Nina was able to construct three at the same time without effort. And if she had ample time to prepare?

Then making that number four was definitely not impossible.

But it was still straining on her reserves, so she would typically just use it at the start of battles, exactly like she had done just now.

She had used four different spells previously in perfect synchronization.

One for completely concealing sound.

One for dramatically accelerating the speed of the bullet.

One to make it exponentially more destructive upon impact.

And lastly, one to strengthen the bullet itself, enabling it to endure the intense friction with the air and the immense pressure she was putting on it.

Four magic circles, each precisely responsible for one crucial thing.

Nina had used that devastating combination to dispose of the strongest person there first. Then she methodically moved on to the others.

She started systematically from the strongest-looking people, while deliberately leaving the head clown there alive for someone else to deal with.

With her hair tied in a practical ponytail and eyes that seemed to be completely bare of warmth — far too cold, colder than Christian had ever seen her before… Nina continued killing people.

What was the exact reason for her drastic changes like this?

Even the person herself actually didn't know for certain... but that she was not in a good mood? That was abundantly apparent!