Another month passed by and Ashton still has to make a move.
This doesn't mean that he's idle though...well, he kind of is but considering the nature of his System, that just makes him even stronger. Plus, he's actually training to top it off, making his progress significantly faster than what it should be.
Currently, Ashton is at Lv. 4 of Practitioner Rank, he just finished his 8th refinement last night.
Most of his spells are at least Lv.20, way ahead of his actual level. The cost to upgrade them is now reaching five digits, and this isn't counting the amount he has to charge if he wants to shorten the time it takes for them to finish.
As for his skills, mainly the Staff Technique and the Gunslinger ones, they're coming along. Since he can't use the grinding spots to hasten their development, he just needed to practice them himself.
His Staff Technique reached Lv.10, just a shy of a step away from reaching the next stage. Though, his Basic Firearm Proficiency reached 3-star Unity Rank due to the sheer amount of practice he's had with it.
With that, Ashton can use the Mortal Reminder like it's an extension of his body. His aim is true and he could even shoot at things that's not within his line of sight accurately. It's a bizarre sensation, yet it's one that he welcomed with open arms.
The skills under his Gunslinger Skill Tree reached Lv.11 and above. All that mental training within the Simulation Zone helps, and since his perception of time is warped in there, he could squeeze more results from the training.
The feeling of getting stronger day by day is something Ashton couldn't get enough of. He previously thought that he was not much of a fighter himself, that he's more of a studious hermit. But as it turns out, he was wrong.
There's just something truly gratifying upon realizing how strong you get. The confidence that comes with it is just a bonus. Plus the action he gets makes it more bearable for him to stay out here, at least he has an outlet to release his frustrations upon.
Speaking of which, Ashton's inactivity is coming to an end...
Recently, he had been immersing into the Simulation Zone quite often since he has not reached the point where he can seriously consider clearing the horde of demons lurking at the ruins of City M.
In his simulations, he was waging a war against them alone. Gun blazing and blinking all over the place, Ashton was like a shooting star in the battlefield.
One of his shots will sometimes take out clusters of Demons much to his satisfaction. The Imps, including the adult one, that he saw before, are no match for him. The Crowfather isn't a problem anymore so the only thing that could cause him to fail is the Tormentor.
In a straight up 1v1, the Tormentor isn't a problem to him anymore. Ashton grew strong enough to be able to penetrate it's pesky barrier and shatter the lantern, effectively weakening the damn thing and killing it shortly after.
The Tormentor becomes a huge headache if there's demons around it. Again, this demon can devour the soul of enemies and allies alike. Yes it might take time but it will definitely make it harder for Ashton to kill it if that keeps on happening.
To remedy that, the Tormentor has to be the first one to die. Yes, it's troublesome but it is a viable strategy. Ashton can't kill it with a single shot but so long as he has time, he can make it work.
Sadly, Demons by nature are cunning. 9 times out of 10, they will discover what he's planning and would devise a plan to stop him. They screwed up Ashton's plan several times in the simulation already so he would know.
8 times out of 10 in his attempts, he will fail and die. Ashton didn't like the sound of that so he decided to refine his work more before he eventually goes out there.
And that's exactly what he's been doing during the past couple of days...
Ashton practically threw himself at the Simulation Zone at every waking moment. He says that he's not overworking himself and he doesn't seem like he was but it doesn't stop Aria from worrying about him. Even Jerry would remind to take it easy.
Of course, he knew that they're worried about him but he's honestly fine. He might appear tired most of the times but it's nothing a good sleep can't cure.
He's already used to the Simulation Zone, in fact everything comes naturally to him already. He's pushing himself to the limit, yes but that's to be expected, no? After all, he has to be strong if he wants to get back home.
He heeds their advice of course. Ashton learned his lesson already. He knows that he has to take care of himself and pay more attention to his body since he'll be the one who would do all the fighting.
Ashton's aware of that...but he can't exactly just stay still and pray that he'd just wake up one day invincible right? That would be nice but unfortunately, that's not how the world works.
Still, he takes their words to his heart. He knew better than to worry Aria. He takes weekends off of his training to spend quality time with her and to give his body enough time to catch-up.
That takes care of his rest and his relationship with her so he's more than willing to do it.
Of course, Ashton would never forget about his roots. Magical Studies...
How can he call himself a mage if he's not knowledgeable about magic? It'd be a damn shame if he isn't when he's literally the keeper of the Grand Library.
Ashton didn't slow down with his learning, if anything he became even faster thanks to the boost of intellect he received from awakening his bloodline.
Speaking of bloodline, Ashton already consumed the rest of the bloodline pills. And because its effect diminishes with multiple consumption, the potency of his bloodline increased to a measly 15% in total. It isn't much but it's respectable.
But yes, his theory knowledge helped a lot when it comes of his practice as well. Since he had the Simulation Zone, he can test out theories to confirm them. Proven theories can directly increase his change of survival out here so why not?
In terms of Mana Density, Ashton is on par with Archmages already. If you consider the purity of Mana as well? Some Archmages back in the Last Bastion wouldn't even amount to anything in front of him.
All of this is thanks to his cultivation technique really. Even though it slows down his actual speed of cultivation, the pay-off is worth the investment.
As for other matters, Ashton already secured a source of fresh food thank to his and Aria's combined efforts. Building the lab turns out to be the correct decision after all.
So far, they've set-up a greenhouse for all sorts of vegetables, fruits and wheat. All are growing under a formation which promotes their growth. And because they are infused with Mana, the products won't spoil for a very long time.
It came with a perfect timing too since Ashton noticed that they're making a dent on his food supplies. This is a way to replenish them to ensure they won't run out of food.
Water is the next resources they're working with. Ashton still has a lot in his Inventory but it's not advisable to rely on that. They have to find a way secure a fresh water source not only for drinking use but for cleaning and other purposes as well.
This is part of the reason why Ashton was trying his best to hone is skills faster. The earlier he can explore the world and make his way back home, the sooner he can solve this problem.
The other projects that Ashton and Aria paid attention to has something to do with technology and the environment of the outside world.
There's no better time to do this research since they're already here. Ashton had been gathering samples of the ruins for them to study. They wanted to understand what makes the outside world so different from the Last Bastion.
Why is it harmful for them and not the demons or the angels? There's no way that it's just the soil because that doesn't explain the Black Fog at all nor why Humanity's technology malfunctions here. It's quite a mystery really and they want to find that out.
Again, better now than never...
All in all, there's still a lot for Ashton to do. He's still too far from home and to weak to ensure his safety. Him clearing out the ruins of City M is just the start, if he wants to make his way back to the Last Bastion, he will need to fight literal hordes of hostiles to do so.
Ashton has all he needs to make it happen. He just needs to make sure that he keeps himself alive to use them.
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