Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer
chapter-94

[Quest: Survive!]

: Host has been forced into an uncompromising predicament but hope is not gone. Survive the horrors and dangers of the Outside World for as long as you can.

Survive for 1 month - Rewards: Bloodline Purification Pill x5 (Complete)

Survive for 3 months - Rewards: Mobile Safehouse x1 (Complete)

Survive for 6 months - Rewards: Exosuit x1 (Complete)

Survive for 1 year - Rewards: Randomized 'Trait' x1

Survive for 3 years - Rewards: Specialization Soul Card (L) x1

Survive for 5 years - Rewards: Curse Banishment Pill x1

[Mission: Investigate]

: It's a long way home from here. Where even is 'here'? Well, why don't find out? Plus, aren't you curious as to what the Outside World looked like? The more you discover, the more rewards you'll get.

Discover where you are - Time Limit: None. Rewards: New System Function unlocked. (Complete)

Find a way back home - Time Limit: None. Rewards: Randomized 'Trait' x1

Discover and Study Hostiles - Amount: 100/200. Rewards: New System Function unlocked.

Path to Enlightenment - Time Limit: None. Rewards: System Overhaul. (Incomplete)

It's been six months since Ashton received this mission. His progress has been rather slow yet steady.

Ashton can feel it, he's nearly out of this godforsaken nest of demons. He could practically feel the foul breeze of the outside, he just had a few more tunnels to check and he'd find his way out of this damn place.

At this point, Ashton has already killed most of the 'Boss' demons here; the ones that are at the same level as the Nightmare Devourer. The only left is that damned Undead Dragon.

"Tch." Ashton clicked his tongue as his consciousness returned to his body. He sighed and said: "Failed again. This sucks. That damn dragon is really something else."

A whole month, that is how long he's been trying to search for a way to kill this Undead Dragon. So far, he's been unlucky. He had lost count on how many times he had died under the claws of that damned thing.

The Undead Dragon was fierce.

Not only was it huge, it is extremely aggressive too. The Nightmare Demon was right, the dragon isn't kind to those that visit its nest unless they were called. It practically attacks the moment you step foot inside its nest.

It being a dragon is already troublesome in itself. But add the fact that it's Undead too? Now that's just cheating.

Being an Undead Dragon, this thing had the authority to use Demonic Corruption in its attacks. Because of how strong it is, the potency of corruption is rather fierce too. It's the kind that even Lv. 30 Purify couldn't deal with it fast enough.

Not even his Exosuit made Ashton feel safe against that thing.

[Exosuit: M-117]

An all-terrain exosuit that could protect the user from all sorts of outside harm.

Unique Skill: Mana Storage, Memorize, and Auto-Cast.

Durability: 10,000/10,000

The Exosuit is nice, it's Unique Skill allows him to store mana into the suit which he could then use to either amplify the defenses of the suit or absorb it if he runs out in the middle of the battle.

Memorize allows him to record spells into the suit, Buffs only. He could then program the suit to Auto-Cast these spells whenever he wears it. The fuel for the spells will either come from the storage of the suit or Ashton himself.

Paired with the Cloak of Apparition, Ashton's security just went to a whole another level. Yet even with this, dealing with that Undead Dragon is still hard.

He already knows the problem. It isn't because he lacks trinkets or powerful skills, he just lacks strength in general.

Ashton could lock down the dragon with his spells. He could do so for an extended period, but he lacks the required lethality to deal with the damn thing once and for all.

The Undead Dragon has an astonishing vitality for a creature that's metaphorically dead. It's absurd.

He isn't just strong enough, he's also not fast enough to avoid being hurt by the damn demon, cause its deceptively swift.

Every part of its body is steeped in corruption. Hell, the thing itself is leaking and reeking with it. It's disgusting and repulsive, which is why Ashton couldn't, in his good conscience, allow this thing to continue to exist.

He swore that he was not leaving this place, not until he killed that thing.

So right now, he's focused on cultivation.

Currently, Ashton's at Lv.9 Practitioner Stage (9th Refinement). He's so close to another major Breakthrough which will undoubtedly give him more benefits and will quite literally raise his strength to a whole new level.

Because of this, he entered seclusion inside the Grand Library. He didn't do it like locking himself inside a room and swearing to not go out unless he's done with his breakthrough. That kind of seclusion doesn't work for him.

Instead, Ashton took it easy and had a routine. He replaces sleep with meditation then would refine his skills, he would take breaks to eat, bathe and spend time with his girlfriend before throwing himself into it again. This is how he did it.

He found out that this method is more effective for him and it's more beneficial since it's not warping his mentality to that of an old hermit. Ashton already lived like one in his previous life, there's no need to do it again.

When it comes to refining his skills though, that's rather slow compared to the growth of his spells (after all he can use the Grinding Slots for his spells, not his skills).

Most of his Spells have now reached Lv. 35 and above. The cost of the grind is rather astronomical at this point, reaching six digits for one spell and longer periods for completion. The acceleration cost isn't low either. Actually, Ashton's close to running out of Mana Crystal's again.

He'd have to search for a new mine to empty, but that's really up to luck at this point.

Then again, there's also the Undead Dragon's Treasure Hoard.

So long as he kills that thing, everything this big lizard hoarded will end up as his, he'd just need to purify them first of course since they were steeped in demonic corruption.

The nest of the Undead Dragon itself is filled with corrupted Mana Crystals. Not to mention, the treasure hoard itself is literally a mountain high.

It's just another good reason for Ashton to kill that thing.

His skills; mainly his Staff Technique and his Gunslinger Skills are somewhat progressing, albeit slowly.

Ashton has already forgone the Staff Technique since he truly doesn't have a good reason to keep training it. He's mostly using his guns and that's why his Gunslinger Skills are being upgraded way more frequently.

His [Firearms Proficiency] had now reached the peak 5-star Unity Stage. Just shy of a step away from the Phenomenon Stage, which he's gunning (hehe) for during this seclusion for him.

The skills under his Gunslinger Skill Tree...

[Precision - Lv.20 (Passive)]

Increases Hit Rate by 30%

[Accuracy - Lv.20 (Passive)]

Increases Hit Accuracy by 30%

[One Shot - Lv.20 (Passive)]

Insta-kill chance - 0.2%

[Ranger - Lv.20 (Passive)]

Increases Range by 200 meters

[Footwork - Lv. 20 (Passive)]

Increases ease of movement by 30%

[Piercing Rounds - Lv.Max]

Shoots a bullet that pierces through an enemy

[Curve Shot - Lv.Max]

Fires a bullet that curves to hit the target.

[Burning Rounds - Lv.Max]

Fires a bullet that set the target ablaze upon contact.

[Scatter Shot - Lv. Max]

Fires a round that explodes into tiny shrapnels.

[Charged Shot Lv. Max]

Hold fire for 1/5/10/30/60 secs. to increase its power.

Most of his passive skills are still increasing while the active skills are already maxed. The max level for active skills is lv.10 and with how frequently he uses them, it's no wonder he maxed them out rather quickly.

There are still a few skills that are locked in the skill tree. So far, these are all he can get from it and he's fine with that.

As for his self-created skills like; Anti-Abomination Shot, White Phosphorous Shot, Heavenly Cremation Shot, Collapsing Zone Shot, etc. Those aren't registered in the skill list since they more like formulas for skill combinations rather than skills themselves.

As for his High-Order Spells, they're all still level 1. The Grinding Slot still doesn't accommodate them so he'd have to upgrade them through normal means, which is going to take some time but it's fine.

All in all, Ashton's making a lot of progress. He's a completely different person compared to who he was a few months ago. The pressure of being constantly besieged by demons squeezes out his potential, which is already not bad, to begin with, making him stronger day by day.

Of course, it's also thanks to the System being there for him. If it weren't for its existence, there's probably no way he'd make this work.

Still, it's a long, long road home. He does feel a bit melancholic whenever he remembers the good old days of slacking around and hanging out with his friends. That being said, that just fuels his desire to go back home.

Hopefully by the time he returns, they are still there.