'So that's what it is like...reaching the Phenomenon Stage of a Martial Skill...' Ashton mused to himself as he recalled the wondrous state he was in a few minutes ago.
It felt like he was omnipotent all of a sudden. It's a state where his senses are dialed up to 20 yet without any side effects. That level of awareness is so addicting that he wants to experience it again.
He received so much inspiration in that state though. The fact that he was able to bend space itself with just pure skill is mind-blowing to him...and for others too should they discover his achievements.
How old is Ashton? He's 15! Ever seen a 15-year-old bending space just because he shot? Yeah, didn't think so, huh?
Not to mention, he just broke through Lv.1 Archmage Rank not too long ago. He's probably the youngest Archmage humanity had in a long while. Sadly, nobody aside from Aria was here to know that.
To top this all off, he's probably the scariest Archmage there is. Not long after his breakthrough, he already demolished a strategic base of demons, doing so all by himself.
Yes, it did take some time but it doesn't make this any less impressive.
And to celebrate his achievements, Ashton was rewarded handsomely.
[Undead Dragon; Slain. Cleptomancy worked! You received: True Dragon's Skull Bone.]
[Strategic Demon Base: Destroyed! You've been rewarded with: S-rank Bloodline Pills, 3 Fragments of Divine Gunslinger Soul Card, 3 White Mage Exclusive High-Order Spell Cards!]
And this isn't even including the mountain of loot he snatched from the Undead Dragon's hoard.
Rubbing his palms in excitement, he opened his Inventory to sort out his spoils and to also check the descriptions of his newly received items.
[True Dragon's Skull Bone]
A Treasure Relic that comes from the remains of a True Dragon.
Unique Skill: Apex Predator.
The Unique Skill of the skull bone; Apex Predator - is a suppressive intimidation skill. It's a wonderful deterrence for those who possess weaker will and strength compared to him.
'System, how do I use the skull bone?'
[You fuse with is Host. Fair warning, this process will be extremely painful since you'll replace your skull bone with this instead. But so long as you're careful and your willpower is strong, then there shouldn't be any problems.]
'Ooh.' Ashton winced upon hearing that. 'Replacing my skull huh...that sounds incredibly dangerous alright. Oh well, I'll deal with it later.'
Ashton then moved on to his other items such as the S-Rank Bloodline Pills; which increases the purity of his blood by 5% directly and don't have any diminishing effects no matter how many he consumes. Since he received three of these, then that's another 15% increase. Once he consumed these all, the purity of his Bloodline will reach 45%, that's already impressive.
And then, there's the Fragments of Divine Gunslinger Soul Card. He now has a total of 4, he's missing 6 to create a complete one. He doesn't know if he could complete collecting all the necessary fragments before arriving back home since the drop rate appears to be random and it only appears after he did something noteworthy.
'System, use all of the White Mage Exclusive High-Order Spell Cards.'
[Acknowledged.]
[Congratulations Host, you have 3 new High-Order Spells; White Guardian, Golden Time, and Magical Aurora.]
'Alright! Let's check this out...'
[White Guardian]
Link one's self to another. All damage received will be divided equally among the linked people. Attacks below High-Order Spell standards will be nullified.
Maximum number of links: 5
Duration: 2 hours
Cooldown: 24 hours
[Golden Time]
Puts the user into a stasis, granting them momentary invincibility to all manner of danger.
Duration: 10 secs.
Cooldown: 2 hours.
[Magical Aurora]
An illusion-based High-Order White Magic Spell that befuddles every hostile within a kilometer's radius.
Duration: 30 minutes.
Cooldown: 12 hours.
'Ooh! Ooh! Nice.' Ashton smiled in satisfaction. He had a good roll this time around. He was surprised by the last spell considering that it's not a buff but an illusion-based spell, but that reminds him that White Magic isn't exactly just for buffing, healing, or purifying evil.
Either way, he can't wait to see the alternative effects of these spells when uses them with his guns. He wouldn't test him now of course since he's still tired. But later, surely.
Ashton continued sorting his Inventory, checking out the things he received from the treasure hoard as well.
He discovered that he managed to snatch a lot of shinies from the jaws of the dragon. There are a lot of trinkets here that he doesn't know of yet. Ashton felt excited since most of these trinkets might turn into useful materials that would allow him to build a lot of things.
Surprisingly enough, he received a crap-tons of blueprints from the hoard. All of which are written in a language he couldn't understand but the drawings looked rather important.
Looking at these made him question a lot of things. These blueprints didn't look like they were made by humans at all. First of all, the language is a dead giveaway and then there's the mechanisms that are depicted there.
This technology looked so advanced that it's mocking Humanity's progress just by existing.
The real question is, where did these come from? Who were the creators of this advanced technology?
This...this is worth his time researching. Now he's determined to hole up inside the library for quite some time to get answers or at least, clues.
The biggest surprise for him though is the amount of Mana Crystals he accumulated...
[Mana Crystals: 11.3B High-Grade, 100B Mid-grade, 115M Low-grade.]
'11.3 Billion High-Grade Mana Crystals!!! Hooo boy! I am filthy rich bitch!' Ashton laughed uproariously upon seeing these ridiculous numbers.
Like what was mentioned before, there are mountains of Mana Crytal Formations within the cave of the Undead Dragon alone, not to mention the smaller hoards he ransacked as he went down the nest.
All of these were steeped in Demonic Corruption before but thanks to his Purity Flames, they were purified and useable. Now, Ashton doesn't have to worry again about the cost of grinding his spells.
All in all, Ashton made a serious killing and profits in this endeavor of his. He can now say that all of his efforts were worth it.
Yes, he did have a difficult time at the start but it's over now.
He's planning on having a short vacation from any fights to focus on resting. He's been under pressure for a long time and it is taking its toll on his body. He needed plenty of rest, food, cuddles, and, if Aria's willing, of course, lots of sex to decompress.
Ashton would hole up inside the library for a while. Researching these blueprints might lead him to an astonishing discovery in his life. Maybe it won't, who can say? But it does worth his time to find the outcome of the research.
Bleeding his senses outside, he could still see the enormous bonfire that is the old demon nest. The raging white flames are starting to creep around its edges, threatening to spread far and wide.
That too will take some time. A lot of demons would probably die because of that and that's perfectly okay with him.
Ashton also wants to consolidate his overall strength. He had experienced several advancements not too long ago, everything happened so quickly that he just breezed through it. That's fine since it's within reason but it'd be a detriment to his cultivation in the long run if he didn't fix it.
So, he will make sure to spend some time consolidating his recent breakthroughs to lay down a stable foundation for himself.
At this point, Ashton's already determined to become stronger. It's not out of duty but out of desire. He wants to be stronger so that he won't be mere food for the demons and to protect his loved ones as well.
The past 6 months were enlightening to him...
It made Ashton realize that this is his life now. 'When in Rome, do as Romans do' - this saying resonated with him during his stay out here.
This isn't Earth. He knows that from the moment he transmigrated but he never really understood the weight of it until he was wrested away from his safety bubble.
Under the trials and tribulations he faced, phantom pains of death, and truths he realized during his time out here, Ashton is changing.
He could tell, but as to where this direction will go, that remains a mystery even to himself.
All he could do is to follow the path he has chosen. Whether it leads him to a dead-end or a new beginning, only time would tell.
"Hey, Babe."
Ashton jolted out of his stupor when he felt the touch of his lover. He unconsciously leaned into the contact and smiled at her.
"Hey to you too, I guess."
Aria chuckled as she unhesitatingly sat on his lap. She gave him a peck on the lips and asked: "Are you done with your outside matters?"
"Yep, all done." Ashton nodded.
"Great! Now, off to the showers with you, stinky man!" She playfully scrunched up her nose and pushed herself away from him, her hips swinging seductively as she goes;
"Meet me in bed once you smell nice. Who knows? Maybe I'll reward you with something." She looked back and winked in his direction.
Ashton didn't say a word and quite literally teleported to the showers...
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