Inside the Simulation Zone...
Ashton and the simulated figure of Demon Prince Lu dashed around each other, turning into mere blurs of motion with how fast they were moving.
With guns blazing and smoking, Ashton constantly fired shots that transforms into streaks of light, leaving devastating aftermath in their wake. Meanwhile, Demon Prince Lu looked horrifying in his true form.
Demon Prince Lu's true form is that of a Leech Abomination. Due to his Noble Bloodline, he has a Domain that moves with him. Inside this domain, Demon Prince Lu's physical parameters are boosted. In addition, he releases a magnetic field that attracts living beings with blood towards himself. His mere touch is deadly for he can instantly drain his target's blood if they're not careful around him.
That's not a fun experience, Ashton would know, after all, he's experienced that a couple of times by now.
Demon Prince Lu's body was large, though, despite his size, he's incredibly swift. His flexibility also gives Ashton a ton of problems, the way he can twist his body at an impossible angle to casually evade Ashton's attacks was seriously grating on the gunslinger's nerves.
So far, nothing's still working on the Demon Prince. This fight is yet another defeat for Ashton. His spells and skills aren't enough to kill the demon so it's still a dead end.
That being said though, his progress is nothing to scoff at...
Currently, Ashton's at Archmage Rank Lv.9 (8th Refinement). He's closing in on another breakthrough. It's astonishing how fast his progress has become, though it made sense in the end. After all, he's quite literally squeezing out his potential to improve his skills and promote his strength.
Anyone who has the same aptitude as him, thrown in a situation like this, would probably experience something similar. If anything, their progress might even be faster since Ashton's cultivation technique forcibly slows him down.
Needless to say though, the fact that he can now force this Demon Prince to reveal his true form signifies Ashton's progress. Before he couldn't even last a few rounds from this guy but now, he's able to corner him properly.
Ashton's Basic Firearms Proficiency had reached 3-Star Phenomenon Rank too. Which meant that his Gunslinger skills are more terrifying and devastating. His casual shot can probably topple a mountain at this point. Plus his range was constantly increasing too.
As for his Spells, well, they're still on the grind. The cost of the grind was hurting Ashton's pockets but honestly, it's fine.
The depressing thing about this is that he did find some good White Magic Spells in the Grand Archives, he wanted to learn them so badly and add them to his arsenal but his curse prevents him from doing so.
Most of the White Magic Spells that he saw were of the Offensive Type, and Ashton's Curse of Mediocrity prevents him from learning those at all. He wanted to cry but had no tears.
Still, it's okay. Thanks to his Sub-Artifact: Mortal Reminder, he doesn't need them for now anyway. He could just convert his Support Spells into Offensive ones through his guns and it's working so far.
The sad part about the Mortal Reminder is the fact that the Blood-Drinking Seal doesn't work on it, which was a bummer since Ashton was looking forward to it too.
Whether it's the original Blood-Drinking Seal or its improved version, the sub-artifact wasn't having it. That sucks...
This meant that Ashton had to apply it to another weapon, preferably something that's not considered an Artifact Weapon. Ashton had been thinking about this for a while now and he still hasn't made a decision.
'I mean...I do have the Staff and the Basic Staff Technique.' Ashton logically thought to himself, 'It's there...I have the foundations for it, it is available to me and it is a viable option.'
'It's just...boring, I guess.'
'I kind of want to remind the Invaders about the terror of Mr. Slayer, 'cause it might be fun to see their faces when they realize what's going on, but...I don't have a scythe.'
Ashton pursed his lips and brought something out of his Inventory.
'Well...there's this.'
[Scythe 101 - Manual (Consumable)]
From its description, Ashton could tell that this book would teach him everything he needs to know about wielding the unorthodox weapon that this Scythe.
The only thing that's making him hesitate right now is the fact that he has way too many things to train and adding this would spread his attention a little too thin.
'Is it worth it?' He asked himself.
Thinking about what Mr. Slayer achieved made him feel good about this decision, that being said, the Hero had a one-track mind, Ashton shouldn't compare himself to him because they're different from one another.
Ashton's goal lies elsewhere, he's planning to become the next in line to be martyrized. He wanted to be the Bigwig that calls the shots and be the last line of defense against the invaders.
Yes, this requires him to be strong but Ashton's already on his way there, he already had a good foundation for himself. With his Gunslinger Arts, his Spells, the System, and his wits plus his knowledge and experience. This is already way more than anyone else could have.
If he add another thing to cultivate, wouldn't that just slow him down even more?
'But...Slayer's Path.' Ashton groaned.
It only took him one week to completely revamp the Blood-Drinking Seal. With his genius level of intellect, he made it so that the seal will no longer have a time limit, expanded its previous capacity to almost limitless, and made it so that the seal will refine the weapon it was attached to until it reaches the upper limit.
Ashton made it so that he no longer has to swerve into the other lane just to experience the benefits of the Slayer's Path. He had worked so hard for that and it'd be a shame if he didn't at least give it a try.
This dilemma makes him sigh in uncertainty...
He's in a bit of a pinch right now to be completely honest. His needs and wants are somewhat clashing and he doesn't know what to do.
Ashton stared at a blank space for a bit before eventually cursing: 'You know what? Fuck it.'
He clutched the [Scythe 101 - Manual (Consumable)] a little too hard on his clutch and it suddenly turned into a streak of light that shot to his head.
Ashton was momentarily dazed with the wave of information he received from the book all of a sudden, the next thing he knew, he was staring at the System's notification floating in front of him...
[Scythe 101; Consumed.]
[Added; Basic Scythe Arts (Lv.1)]
[Sycthe Arts - Lv.1]
Increases familiarity when wielding sickles or Scythes by 5%
Attack boost when using Sickles or Scythes: 10%
Chance to ignore defenses: 2%
"Yep, I did it..." Ashton petulantly whispered to himself. Now that the skill was added to his list, there's no way he can ignore it anymore.
He has made his decision, since he had taken this, he might as well see this through to the end. So what if he's a little too loaded? He'll just make it work. He has the foundations to do so anyway.
He stood up from his seat and walked towards Aria's lab.
Because of his upgraded authority within the library, he could add additional rooms here. He made a separate lab for his girlfriend since the previous one was too small and was running out of space for her experiments.
"Hey, Babe." Ashton approached her with a smile.
"Oh, hey." Aria kissed his cheeks and asked: "You look constipated, what's wrong?"
"Why must you say it that way?" Ashton feigned tears, which caused Aria to giggle. "Well, I did something that I might regret later on but I did it anyway..."
He then told Aria what he did and supplied them with his thought process. Aria listened to him attentively, which she always does that's why Ashton's so in love with her, and told him:
"Hey, I don't think it's a bad thing." She stated, "I mean, yes you might have a lot but you have time. You're a genius, you'd learn this fast."
Ashton could seriously just 'reward' her, right here and right now because she said that. But he remained calm.
"Well, the problem is...I got the skill to start training with a Scythe, but I don't have a Scythe."
Aria's eyes suddenly shined like the sun as she asked him: "Can I make you one?"
"I'd love that, actually." Ashton nodded with a smile.
"Great!! Ooh! I'm fired up. I'm gonna make you the best Scythe ever!!" Aria balled her fist in excitement. Then she gasped and said: "Wait! Didn't you have the bones of the Undead Dragon from the next before? Also that the bladed Mantis limbs? Gimme those! I'll use it to create your Scythe!!"
"Ooh!!" Ashton liked that idea. "I like the sound of that. Tell you what though, I'll give normal batches of materials first so that you can practice, once you're proficient enough, I'll give you those materials. How does that sound?"
"Deal!!" Aria jumped on his arms and kissed him. Ashton chuckled and handed her some materials before leaving her lab so that she can work in peace.
Seriously, he's so in love with her...
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