Ashton closed the missions tab and got immersed in his own trail of thoughts.
It is clear that the System was pushing for his survival as well which is good. And since the point was made, Ashton now has to think of his next steps.
Aria is still sleeping right now so he couldn't ask his questions. For now, since he doesn't know how long he can stay inside the Grand Library, he might as well think about making an actual shelter.
He made a mental note to explore the ruins of City M at one point. He figured that maybe he can scavenge some items around (if there even is any), he also had to search for a relatively safe spot to hide for now.
The last location he was at wasn't that bad but it's exposed. Ashton would be stupid to stay there since he would most definitely be seen by the creatures that will eventually wander inside the city.
Once again, he was reminded that he's surrounded in all sides. There isn't even a wall behind his back anymore. He had to carve a spot for himself where he can stay and remain safe for now. A temporary base of sorts, just in case.
If there's anything he's grateful for, it'd be the fact that he worked hard in his studies and training.
While Ashton hasn't read nor memorized everything that the Grand Library has to offer, he at least read enough to know of many things, specifically ones that would help out on his current situation.
He's pressed for time but as long as he can sit down and plan for a bit, he would definitely hatch a plan that could ensure his safety.
Additionally, his cultivation wasn't stagnant...
[Profile]
Host: Ashton West
Race: Human
Aptitude:
• Mageroot: Mysterious Rainbow
• Magical Artifact: Book of Infinity (Cursed-Legendary)
• Providence: Fey Emperor's Blessings (???)
Specialization: [White Mage]
Rank: Apprentice Lv.9 (8th Refinement)
Cultivation Technique: Treasure Glazed Nine-Refinements Sutra
This is the bulk of Ashton's progress so far before disaster struck City M.
On top of this, he also has quite a number of spells under his belt. Most of them are strictly for support since that's geared towards his Specialization and most of them are Lv. 4 or above.
As for offensive spells well, he had the basic ones like Mana Bolt, Stun Bolt, Arcane Missile and etc. but they are low-levelled. He didn't put much attention to them since he figured that he won't be needing them soon.
Well, that thought certainly aged poorly hasn't it? Oh, he regretting it now.
In fact, it's because of this that Ashton's immediate act after discovering that he'd had to survive on his own, was to grind this skills to the max, or least, as high as he could take them.
He had opened up additional Grinding Slots for them and even charged Mana Crystals to accelerate the speed. Now, he could only hope that they'll be ready before he's confronted by the dangers of the outside world.
Ashton wasn't worried about his supplies. He had certainly accumulated a lot of them thanks to his daily sign-in chance and the marvelous skill; [Cleptomancy] - a system skill that generates 'drops' whenever he 'kills' an enemy.
The reason why this skill is so busted is because it works on his Grinding Slots as well.
Just a reminder on how the Grinding Slots work, it takes a sliver of consciousness away, forming an avatar that gets submerged in a virtual arena where time is stretched. There, the avatar will practice spells to raise its efficiency. The training arena changes to maximize the effect of the grind, it almost always starts with training dummies but then it switches to virtual live targets and so on.
Cleptomancy works here, so whenever Ashton's avatars kills a dummy or a living target, he get a drop. And the resources he gathered so far accumulated in his inventory, so he wasn't necessarily lacking in supplies for now.
Money became useless which is a bummer but Mana Crystals are still very useless. However, since he's out on his own, Ashton's supply of it will eventually run out so he had to be wise about spending them.
Clothes, he has a lot of those. Food? Don't worry about it. Water? Literal tanks of them were in his inventory for some reason. Woods, metals, tools, blueprints? They're there too...
Honestly, if he released his stocks back then, he'd probably put a dent on Humanity's economy.
Honestly, so long as he's careful, surviving for at least five years shouldn't be too difficult for him.
'But still, all of this is useless if I'm not strong enough.'
'Prof. Rycard drilled this to us in the Combat Class; in the face of Absolute Strength, everything is useless.'
'I'm too weak to be here.' Ashton lamented, 'The youngest explorers or Licensed Cultivators should be Archmages or Grandmasters at least. I'm not even close to that.'
'Even the air around here could probably kill me if I'm not careful.' He smiled wryly to himself, 'I still have one refinement to go before I can breakthrough to the Practitioner Stage. I should make my presence scarce before then.'
While Ashton simmered on his own thoughts, Aria shifted on his side, catching his attention.
He couldn't fight the fond smile forming on his lips as she unconsciously sought his warmth, snuggling deeper into his embrace.
She buried her face in the crook of his neck and pulled him closer like he was her life-sized plushy. Her breath tickled Ashton a bit but he didn't mind.
Instead, he just pulled her closer. Hearing her sigh ever so softly as he did so. Ashton removed the strands of hair covering her face, tucking it gently behind her ears.
He couldn't help but stare at her...
Aria's eyes were still puffy from crying. Her uniform was still mostly intact save the edges that were tattered. It's amusing how she seems to be pouting in her sleep though...
Honestly, if this awful disaster didn't occur, he might've already asked this girl out.
He had plans on doing that after the final exams. Ashton had grew extremely fond of this shy but bubbly librarian that sometimes he had to fight the urge of just kissing her senseless.
And if he's not horrible when it comes to social interactions and reading people, he'd know that Aria feels the same way.
He's not an idiot. He notices how she acts with him around. Their little interactions within the last six months were a proof of that, plus sometimes she can be very obvious as well.
Ashton find this adorable of course, and since he was originally planning of living out his life the way he see fit, he figured that he should give it a chance and take on the initiative.
Sadly, it seems that now is not the right time for them to explore this option out.
Not when they're in the middle of a very dangerous situation.
Plus, there are things that Aria needs to explain to him before he determines how they progress from here.
'For now though...' Ashton paused as he wrapped his arms around Aria protectively, smiling ever so slightly when she lets out a faint noise as he did so; '...this is nice. I'd take this for now.'
Ashton closed his eyes and evened out his breathing.
He has many things to do from now on, he doesn't know how much time he has left before some creature discovers him but right now, he has the advantage and he plans on capitalizing on that.
He needs to be strong not just for himself, but for Aria as well. He's determined to survive and find a way back home, back to his friends and to his race.
Fighting is inevitable. He knows this. He doesn't doubt this. He will fight and he will be pushed to his limits. The lessons he learned from his teachers were nowhere near enough to guarantee his survival, hell he doesn't even know if he'd make out of this in on piece.
This road will be a thorny one. Who can say what he'll discover and what he'll find out here. He has the advantage of being the Host of the System, but it's not a reason for him to be careless, if anything, he should exercise more caution on his steps.
When he got reincarnated here, Ashton wasn't expecting to be sent in such a dangerous world. He made peace with the idea that he didn't really want to be a part of it. He just wanted to study magic since it fascinates him, cultivation was just something he do because it's a way for him to learn more magic.
Alas, fate has other plans for him. He doesn't know why this has to happen to him. Why him of all people? Unfortunately, he wouldn't really get his answers anytime soon.
As for how his journey back home will go, well hopefully not too bad. He had this vague feeling that he'd discover something that would change his life here but right now, that's not his priority.
The long journey way back home...starts here.
