Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer
chapter-10

<Name: Norman Reid

Alias: Agent Theta

Rank: Lv.8 Warrior

Current Thoughts: 'Take this kid to his new home, guide him a bit, leave and be done for today. Maybe I can have a drink after the shift's over.'>

'Oh, so it works this way. Good to know. Sorry, Agent. It's been hard on you, don't worry you can have drink when you go home. You deserve it.'

[Identify] will surely be useful for his everyday life, Ashton can already see it. While its range is limited to his line of sight, it shouldn't pose a huge problem for now.

'Oh, System? Can Identify be placed on the Grinding Spots?'

[Negative. Host can only use the Grinding Spots for Spells.]

'Then how do I level-up Identify ? Wait, can I level it up to begin with?'

[Host can increase the level of skill: Identify through normal means. Using it often to increase your proficiency with it.]

'Ah, I see. Okay, that shouldn't be hard. I can tell that I'd be relying on it a lot anyway so it should be fast...at least I hope so.'

Once he was done with testing his new skill, Ashton paid close attention to his Profile Page. If had checked the documents on his hand, he would've noticed that the details written on it are the same as what the system currently displayed. Which is how it's supposed to be.

'Mageroot...although I still don't know much about it, just by looking at what's written in here, I can tell that my potential seems to be bad.'

[Mageroot Grades: Human (5 tiers), Mystic (3 tiers), Treasure, Earthen, Heavenly, Ancient, Mysterious Rainbow.]

'Yep, as I expected. Mine's at 5th-Tier Human Rank. Lowest of the low. Damn. Also, there's the cursed Magical Artifact.'

[Cursed Mystic Book (Rare)]

• Reading speed +100%

• Curse of Mediocrity - the bearer of the curse will not be able to use any Intermediate Level Skills or above.

[Battle Sprit/Magical Artifact Grades: Simple, Rare, Profound, Epic, and Legendary.]

'So the grade of my Magical Artifact is a bit better...but that curse...'

Ashton couldn't help but feel bitter when he read the description of that curse.

Reality really has a way of slapping somebody to wake them up from their fantasies, doesn't it?

Just as he dreamed about the prospects of one day, calling down a fat meteor from who knows where to smite his foes, fate decided to show him the middle finger, cursed him and told him to deal with it.

'That's somewhat depressing isn't it? I only get to use Basic Spells. Well, I don't know what are considered as a Basic Spell just yet, I just hope that it isn't just some smoke and mirrors or misdirection-type 'Spells'. That would be too sad...'

'Hey, System. Do you have any idea why I'm cursed?'

[System advices Host to figure that out himself.]

'Can the curse be removed?'

[Negative. Host is too weak.]

'That means, its possible once I'm strong enough?'

[Indeed. Good luck, Host.]

'Alright, I guess I can work with that. For now, I should focus on getting used to living in this world and catching-up with the latest event while also getting my education level up, that way I can at least plan out what I'm going to do.'

'I can't put the Cultivation Manual on the Grinding Spots either, can I?'

[Negative.]

'Thought so...alright. It is what it is. I should chill for now I guess.'

Even though Ashton was eager to explore the different uses of his System, he doesn't really have anything to work with right now so he could only wait patiently.

Without anything to do, Ashton looked at the scenery behind the windows. He can see that it's already around noon. It's bright outside and probably hot as well but a lot of people are still out doing their own business.

He noticed that this specific part of the city's really populated and active. He also noticed that the congregation of modernized buildings are really concentrated on this area.

Ashton guessed that this is probably the commercial area that Ms. Jones was talking about. If he's right, then they should be near his new home already.

About 10 minutes after that, Ashton noticed the car slowing down. He looked at the surroundings and saw his new home. The car stopped in front of the house and Agent Theta wasted no time to get out of the car. He opened the door for Ashton who jumped out and looked at his new home eagerly.

"Welcome to your new home, Kid."

"Oh, wow! It is much bigger than I thought it would be!" Ashton uttered in pure awe.

Compared to his house on Earth, this one wins without even a single doubt. It's about the size of a basketball court. It has a garage, a nice looking yard, two-storeys high.

Honestly this is too big for a single person to use, much less a teenager. But can you hear Ashton complaining? Hell, no!

"Satisfied?"

"Very! I'm looking forward to start my new life in here." Ashton replied enthusiastically.

"Let's go inside then, I'll give you a tour." Agent Theta walked forward and approached the doors with Ashton trailing behind him.

Just before entering, the Agent stopped and faced Ashton.

"See this?" He pointed at the rectangular mechanism attached to the door. "This is the Security Module of your house. Since this is the entrance, it will scan all people who are approaching."

"Right now, your profile is already uploaded to this. It was Ms. Jones who encrypted it so this should recognize you and allow you to enter. As for me, I'm just a guest and I can only enter with you."

"Later, you will learn how to change the settings of the Security Module so you can personalize it according to how you like it. For now, stand beside me and let us allow this thing to scan us."

The two of them stepped forward and when they entered a certain spot, they heard a mechanical voice right ahead.

"Pause for Identi-scan."

A red light then started scanning them from head to toe, after that the light turned green and the mechanical voice sounded again.

"Welcome, Home Owner Ashton and Guest." It said as the doors swung open.

Ashton's mouth was gaping and he didn't even try to hide it.

'That was so freaking cool!!!!' He gushed mentally. These kinds of things are those that he read on novels or saw at a movie which had the sci-fi genre.

He never imagined that there would be a day when he will get to experience it first hand. Oh, life is good. Life is truly good.

The entrance of the house was a bit narrow but it lead to an open space. There, Ashton saw a cozy interior that followed a beige-theme as its base. There are furniture readily available, glass doors leading outside the yard and the pool!

He has a swimming pool!

There's a big TV on the wall, the one that as big as those at the cinemas. At least he thinks that's a TV, he could be wrong though. Apart from that, he also saw doors that leads to the other parts of the house as well as stairs leading up to the second floor. To top things off, everything looks clean as well.

Beep! Beep!

"Wha-!" Ashton was surprised. He saw something approaching them. He's about to ask what that thing is but Agent Theta was already explaining it.

"This is a Butler-bot. A caretaker and housekeeper in one. It works for you and will attend to your needs but you must know that it can't do everything on its own. Having it shouldn't be a reason for you to get lazy."

Beep! Beep!

The Butler-bot was standing in front of Ashton, twisting and turning eagerly. On it's head, there is a small screen that displayed a smiling face and text-bubble saying:

'Welcome home, Master Ashton. I am your Butler-bot, please call me Jerry. Nice to meet you!'

"Oh! Hello, Jerry. Nice to meet you too. I'll be on your care."

Jerry flashed another smiling face and the text-bubble changed to: 'I got you, Master. I noticed that your bag seems heavy and full of clothes. May I take them to your room first?'

"Oh, uh...sure. Here you go." Ashton handed his bag to Jerry and the bot merrily rolled away carrying his stuff towards his room.

"Alright, let's get on with the tour." Agent Theta spoke this time.

Ashton the followed him as he introduced the different areas of the house to him. There's the receiving area, the yard and the pool. There's also the kitchen, the dining area, the spare rooms on the ground floor as well as comfort rooms and bathrooms.

Most importantly, there's a door that has another scanner that only allows Ashton inside. This door leads to the Training Room which took half of the space.

Apparently, practicing skills, spells or even just breaking through the next level causes a lot of commotion which is why this place is built and heavily fortified to endure the abuse.

Afterwards, they come to the second floor.