Christian who began by mentioning the Infinitel company and the Ashvale family, both of whom were already aware of their current situation, explained how things couldn't continue , as Vincent Quin could easily fabricate something against them without even making the move himself, and they will be pursued by the entire country. He also pointed out that if the Ashvale family interfered and caught them off guard, it would be an even bigger disaster, as there was no way his current self was capable of standing against an entire ancient family.
Christian said everything, except for the part about Damian Slate being the one who killed his parents, as he thought it was not a topic to bring up before a meal.
Then there was Eva, who, after hearing his entire explanation, had her attention fixated on only one thing.
"So, you mean, you made the AI... I mean Iris, and she's pretty much involved in everything?"
Feeling a little strange that this was the only thing she chose to comment on, Christian still replied in a proud tone, "Yes, she is my prized work."
Eva, feeling like all kinds of possibilities were opening up before her, asked in an anticipatory tone, "Can she also help me?"
Looking at her shining eyes, which resembled those of a child who had finally received the toy they had been nagging their parents about for ages, Christian felt an urge to tease her. But in the end, he simply smiled and said, "Iris, you heard that?"
Iris's voice came out from Eva's phone, leaving her astonished. Then, as Eva started examining her phone, seemingly trying to figure out how this was possible, Christian looking at all of that couldn't have been more satisfied with her reaction.
As time passed and the initial excitement faded, while they were now eating, Eva suddenly asked, "You know, I've been meaning to ask, but, do you have an essence technique you're currently training with? Should I ask Sophia to teach you hers?"
Christian replied casually, "I already have one." Then, after a moment, he added, "But is it okay to share techniques like that with others?"
"Of course, it's not allowed. If it was found out that the technique was leaked through her, she could be heavily punished. But… arriving at this point, does it really matter?" Eva replied, still surprised that he already had a technique to train with, though her tone remained normal.
"Well, that's true," Christian agreed instantly, and after thinking for a moment, he added, "Then later, tell her to teach me the technique she has. If it's better, I can still switch to it since it's still early on."
"Okay, but how did you acquire it?" Eva, still curious, couldn't help but ask.
This time, Christian looked at her strangely, as if the answer was obvious, and said, "How else would I get it other than hacking, and with Iris's help?"
Eva fidgeted slightly in her seat when she heard his answer, thinking to herself how she hadn't thought of that. Still, she quickly got over it and said, "Then you need to be careful when using it. These techniques are easily recognized, and if it's found out that you stole it, you could really face numerous problems."
"Well, it's still better than being weak and unable to defend myself, right?" Christian replied casually.
Seeing the way Christian put it, Eva found herself nodding. "Well, that's true."
Despite what he said, Christian actually had other thoughts brewing in his mind. He had watched countless anime, read manga and novels, and through them, now with the help of the idle system, he had a vision… an ambition, or whatever it could be called.
In stories, most of the time, because the protagonist's opponent is always one stage of power or more higher, he would need to use his strongest move and target his opponent's weakest defense. It was an act of the strongest against the weakest, allowing the protagonist to finally barely claim victory.
Well, there were naturally those overpowered protagonists, but that wasn't what he meant now.
Anyway, for Christian, who had gone through vast amounts of information via hacking and Iris's help, he discovered something, or, more accurately, he deduced it, as his thoughts could still turn out to be wrong. But whether it was the government, the Infinitel company, or any other side in his world, he felt like they were channeling all their efforts into advancing essence techniques. All their focus seemed to be directed toward researching "essence," while they were neglecting the fruit of their civilization: science and technology.
What does that mean? That means the potential of essence techniques is a lot higher than his initial assessment.
And with pure technology, there was no way of reaching a point where it could face essence techniques effectively anytime soon.
In this current age, where even nuclear weapons exist, despite being weapons of mass destruction with limited utility against individuals, if such destructive power was still deemed insufficient, it only emphasized the overwhelming strength of essence techniques.
While Christian felt like he was drifting away from the main topic, his thoughts were actually simple. He wanted his weakest move, what he considered to be himself without an essence technique, relying solely on his body or whatever advancements he could later achieve through science, to be capable of defeating any opponent. He wanted his weakest to be enough to handle all his enemies.
He also didn't want to get too involved with the ancient families or the more mysterious people from outside the world.
It felt like if he were to make an enemy, it would become a never-ending cycle; defeat the first opponent, only for a stronger one to appear, then face the supposed strongest, only to discover there was someone even stronger. This pattern would repeat endlessly, leading him to eventually face the truly strongest individuals in the world.
Was living like that really not exhausting?
Christian, at the very least, knew he didn't wish to live his life that way.