305 Crew (1/2)

He now commands a total of 5 mid-size battleships and 15 small ones in his arsenal. One of the mid-size battleships was powered by both Aether and Mana. It was named Providence and will be one of his trump cards in case a battle broke out. It looks like a normal battleship like the Excellence and Transcendence but everything inside was completely different.

Aside from that, during the summer in the country, Traceless Hands had gathered all the magicians who wanted to travel in space.

Thanks to Lacus and Yumi's effort, they have managed to raise awareness and hint to the people about the approaching danger.

The information about the efforts of the three Grand Arcanists to prevent this had also been leaked to the public which only confirmed the rumors.

Not only that, but they have managed to control the situation and it not resulted in any crowd panic. Well, it may also be due to the virtual game that has a similar premise. Its influence couldn't easily be described with words.

”Are you nervous?”

”Who wouldn't be? But I'm also a bit excited?”

”Haha... That's true... I just hope that no accident will happen.”

”Sshh! Don't jinx it!”

This conversation can be heard almost anywhere within the spaceship. They were aware that the ship was now being readied and has been positioned to be catapulted at the Mass Driver...

A total of 50 magicians has boarded the spaceship. They were all nervous and a bit excited at the same time as it would only be a few more moments until they were brought to outer space.

They will be the crew of several battleships under Ace's control.

This has been permitted and approved by the government and as a matter of fact, the country's leader has even offered to send talented magicians to help.

Unfortunately, they were still playing the Alien Invasion game.

It was due to Ace's insistence that the game was also a way for him to test the people he wanted to be on his side during the battle.

He didn't want just anyone to man his battleships but he wanted to learn about them through the virtual world which would later be analyzed by Avalon.

It would also be unfair to the people who had first played the game before getting the exam if Ace just agreed to their request.

”Haa~ It seems that the spaceship was truly operated by an A.I. just like in the game.”

”Yeah... Just like Freya... It's very interesting.”

”If that was the case, the battleship that where we will be stationed would also be controlled by the A.I.?”

”Most likely... However, as we are all aware, the A.I. was not capable of utilizing mana to its full potential. It can only trigger them using simple methods but was not capable of controlling them at all.”

The first batch of magicians selected were all people who had reached more than 22 years old.

Aside from playing games, they were also people who were working in the real world. Most of them were Combat Magicians who were working as security personnel, tutors, mercenary, and researchers. There were also 10 Magic Engineers who were previously working as fabricators.

However, because of Ace's generous offer, they decided to join the frontline to earn money and hopefully, some prestige. Once they managed to return, they were sure that they will be recognized and appreciated by many people. It was something they have never even dreamed of but was now within their grasp.