Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer
chapter-78

"Okay, this doesn't make any god damn sense!!" Ashton yelled to no one in particular.

He was looking up in distress as he held his guns who were still smoking from being used. In front of him, the ashes of his simulated victims are starting to scatter.

"How in the world does White Magic hurts a Demon!? And why the hell am I only finding this out now?" Ashton yelled indignantly at the sky.

He could cry about it really. The revelations that he been discovering lately was really taking a toll on his mentality.

'Using a Healing Spell on a Demon.' This statement was supposed to a joke. You know? Something stupid to laugh about cause he's bored and just wanted to see what will happen?

But to his overwhelming surprise, the moment the spell landed on the Demon, it melted like butter under direct heat. The demon didn't even have the time to scream.

Just to emphasize how ridiculous this discovery was, Ashton used the Warmth Spell!

[Warmth - Lv. 15]

• Cast a orb that heals injuries over time.

• Lasts for 5 minutes.

• Healing Range: 15 meters.

This spell is considered as the weakest healing spell under the White Magic branch! It's one of the fundamental spells that everyone can learn. It's easy to cast and doesn't require too much mana at all.

"It is a healing spell, everyone knows that! So how the hell does this little yellow ball of warmth, even more effective than an actual Fireball Spell when it comes to demons? It seriously doesn't make sense dude!!"

While Ashton does sound like he's complaining a lot, in truth he's just being dramatic. Loneliness and a little bit of sleep deprivation does that to people. He's just really upset that it has taken him this long to even discover it. Even though it really doesn't make sense to him.

This is a wild discovery, sure. How the hell would anyone even believe him when he says that White Mages are absolute terrors in a demon infested territories? What made this even more ridiculous is that, this information isn't written anywhere else. At least not to the ones that he has access within the library.

His White Magic professor didn't tell him anything either. At this point, Ashton's considering a few theories that might be the reason behind all of this;

First is the fact that this is a well known idea amongst the upper echelons of the society but it is hidden to common folk probably in attempts to not saturate the number of people who will abuse White Magic. The number of natural White Mages are far too few to begin with so it's kind of like a filter.

Second is the fact that it's a secret to most people as well. Probably because of greed? Who knows?

The final theory he has is that, nobody really knows and he's the first one to even try it. Yes, it might sound a little too far-fetched but the serious lack of documentation about something so useful is just downright criminal. This gives him the idea that he is indeed the first one to discover this.

Either way, these are all just theories. While it's nice to know them, it doesn't really help him a lot since, well...he's alone here with Aria. The application though is the complete opposite.

Right now, Ashton's primary bullets are in the form of condensed Warmth Spell Shots. Again, the spell itself doesn't drain too much mana, hell the mana cost is even lesser compared to the regular bullets.

In addition to that, he can always shoot himself to heal mid-battle which is just neat if you ask him.

"If White Magic is effective against Demons, would Black Magic be effective against Angels?"

Yes, it is weird but the other race that contested the demons from conquering this world are the Angels. They're not the ones like Ashton's old world romanticized. These pigeons will not hesitate to gut humans at the first sight. They're called Angels not because the religious beliefs of Earth is present here, it's because that's what they call themselves.

Still, that's an idea at least. If White Magic turns out to be harmful for Demons, then its opposite; Black Magic, should be harmful for Angels as well.

He can't really test this out right now since he's in the middle of a demon infested territory. Maybe one day though.

On another note!

Ashton finally discovered a way to defeat the Crowfather! This ties to his recent discovery too! Apparently, the Purify Spell - which is commonly used to get rid of tormented soil, is absolutely lethal to the Crowfather.

One shot of Purify and the Crowfather screams in agony, unable to give birth to more crows. Shooting it three times with Purify Bullets on top of Burning Rounds is enough to get rid of it completely.

Ashton couldn't even explain how relieved he was about this discovery. Although shooting Purify using the guns and using offensively costs more mana than Warmth, it's within an acceptable range that Ashton doesn't mind putting it as his secondary rounds.

Plus, using it in conjunction with his guns intensifies its effect. With it, Ashton can purify larger patches of ground which gives him safety in terms of footing.

With the recent discoveries he made, Ashton's chances of survival significantly increased. All he needs right now is just more practice and soon, he'll be able to clear the demons roaming within the ruins of City M.

For now though, he called it day.

He felt somewhat exhausted. He didn't want to overdo it once again since it's just not optimal. Plus, Aria will give him another earful and he frankly doesn't want that right now.

He retreated from the Simulation Zone and released a long sigh. He stood-up from his seat and went out to look for his girlfriend.

Ashton found her in the librarian's station, buried in her books. They've stationed themselves at the 6th floor and Aria had been reading non-stop recently.

Apparently, this was her first time here as well. The previous keepers kept her away from this floor for some unknown reasons but Ashton's obviously different. He didn't see any harm on doing that so he allowed her here.

Seemingly feeling his presence behind her, Aria leaned back and rested her head on his chest without peeling her attention away from the book she's reading.

Ashton sat behind her and nuzzled his face in the crook of her neck, peppering it with kisses and wrapping his arms around her waist. They sat like this in comfort and peaceful silence.

He looked up and peeked at the book she's reading. The book's about History, something that Ashton doesn't really care about.

"Have you eaten yet?" He asked softly.

Aria shook her head and said: "No, I was waiting for you."

"Hmm..." Ashton sighed and kissed her cheeks, "Are you craving for something?"

"...I'm not pregnant." She said, "at least I don't think so."

"Wha-! No, that's not what I mean!"

"Haha, I know. 'M just messin' with you."

"Geez, you made nervous." Ashton chuckled, "For a second there I forgot that you can't get pregnant."

"That's what you get for going so hard on me." Aria huffed.

"Hmph, as if you didn't love that." He snorted, "remind me again who's begging for it?"

"Shut-up!" Aria glared at him with a healthy blush on her face.

Ashton just laughed and pulled her in to a long and passionate kiss.

After their brief making-out session, he pulled away gently and asked: "But seriously? Are you craving for something?"

"I'm down for some pasta and ice cream."

"Sounds good." Ashton nodded, he then stood up and said: "Alright, go back to your books. I'll call you in once I'm done."

"Okay."

With that, Ashton left her to her books as he headed to their shared room to cook dinner.

Even though Ashton mostly relied on Jerry to prepare his meals before, it doesn't mean that he's rusty when it comes to cooking. If anything, he's even better now.

Once he was finished cooking their meal, he called Aria in and they ate as they converse about random things. After that, they sat on the couch, watching some horror movies they haven't seen before while eating ice cream.

Once they got bored and sleepy, they moved to their room and cuddled until they fell asleep.

This kind of mundane normalcy isn't much to be honest but it keeps Ashton from slipping to madness.

He really couldn't thank his lucky stars enough to have Aria by his side. God knows without her, he'd probably turn insane from all the stress and loneliness eating away at him.

His task of survival is only bearable since she's with him. While he's not really reliant on her, her presence keeps him sane and grounded.

Ashton still hasn't made enough progress. Hell, he hadn't even started his journey back home, he's still at the same place where he started. Nevertheless, his personal progress is steadily increasing.

Soon, he will be strong enough to begin his journey. Soon, he will be strong enough to make his way back home.

That is his promise.