With him successfully upgrading his status to a Chief Keeper of the Grand Library, Ashton can now stay inside the Library indefinitely. This means that he doesn't have to rely on the underground bunkers anymore to keep himself safe.
Additionally, the Gatekeeper said that he can make small changes within the Library. These changes are limited to moving shelves mentally, adding a single room like Aria's, relocating the Librarian's desk and other small things. It isn't much but it's a nice addition to his authority.
The fact that he had to be out of combat to enter the Grand Library still hasn't changed though. Not to mention, he'll appear at the same spot where he disappeared which might give him problems in the future. It doesn't help that he can't spread his perception beyond the library to check his surroundings. It's not like time become suspended outside while he's inside so that might really cause some problems for him.
Either way, baby steps for now. At least he has somewhere to he if he wants to rest. That in itself is a lifesaver. To ensure his personal safety, he just had to make sure that he'll be inside an isolated spot before he enters the library so that there will be no surprises for him once he leaves.
Using his new authority, Ashton decided to add another room within the library. But before that, he decided to overhaul Aria's room since they're sharing it for now.
He made Aria's room bigger, it's now at the size of a 5-star Hotel Suite. He was able to expand this thanks to the System of course.
Throughout his sign-ins and the magic of [Cleptomancy], he accumulated a lot of blueprints for all sorts of things. One of them was the 5-Star Hotel Suite which is just perfect for the two of them.
What makes this Blueprint better is the fact that it could be used multiple times. Once he used the template it has, he just needed to supply the necessary resources to build it, which he has crap tons of by the way, and then the magic of the library did the rest for him.
Aria didn't even woke-up from the overhaul, she slept through it since it made no fuss at all. She'd be surprised no doubt when she wakes up. Her room is now bigger, has a lot of couches, has working appliances, a kitchen, a nice bathroom, and etc.
Sadly, since they're far away from the civilization, internet connection doesn't work which is definitely a bummer. There's a tv, though it can only play movies that they've downloaded before they were transported here. Same goes for games, they can only play the offline ones.
Still, that's better than nothing. At least they have more than one source of entertainment at this point. This should be effective in decompressing the stress Ashton will accumulate as he ventures through the dangers of the outside world.
As for the new room, he made it into a Laboratory.
His first choice was actually a Training Room but he figured that it'd be redundant since he already had the Simulation Zone from the System, and that's easily way better than any training rooms that are available.
The reason he chose the Laboratory is because he wanted to study the kind of wildlife the outside world has.
Ashton has a decent foundation when it comes to the knowledge of Herbs thanks to his studies at the Academy. Since he's going to spend a lot of time in the Outside World, then he should at least learn as much as he could.
By studying the wildlife around him, maybe he can discover ways to in order to make survival easier for himself and others. Maybe he can concoct potions or make ointments that will cure diseases that are often caught by the expeditionary. Who knows?
Additionally, the Lab could also serve as a greenhouse to secure food supplies. While Ashton has many in his stock, an emergency might struck him so it's better than nothing. He just wants to cover all of his basis at this point. Plus, Aria could definitely use some distraction while he isn't around.
Once he's done with all of this. He checked the lab one last time before exiting and returning to their shared room. Since he can now stay indefinitely here, he figured that he should pamper his girlfriend a bit before going back to training.
Peng! Peng! Peng!
Gunshots echoed all over his surroundings. Ashton's expression was somber as he continued firing his guns to shoot the projectiles coming his way.
Sadly, the said projectiles were too fast and there seems to be no end to them. He only hits half of the shots he's firing due to how fast they were. It certainly doesn't help that this projectiles seems to be intelligent as well.
Right now, Ashton was barely hanging on. He has several ribs cracked, a punctured lung and several holes in his arms and legs. One of his eyes were missing as well.
In his delirious state, his concentration blurred for a bit and that was enough to end him. A projectile went through his skull, ending his life in the process.
Thankfully, this is all just a simulation. Ashton was alive, only mentally exhausted. He could feel the phantom pain of the injuries he accumulated from the last run, but he'll be fine.
"...still can't do it. Not even close. But I'm definitely improving." Ashton mused to himself as he lied down to calm his breathing.
Ashton had been suffering defeat again and again under the hands of the Crowfather within the simulation. That Demon is seriously a pain in the ass to deal with...
The fact that it could devour its own children to restore its vitality made it seem like Crowfathers have pseudo-Immortality.
Ashton tried to blow it its head in more ways than one but nothing worked. Even if he did blow up its head, it will just re-grow them as if nothing happened.
A battle of attrition doesn't seems to work either since Crowfathers can virtually give birth to limitless amounts of crows. Killing all crows it produces wasn't enough to even slow it down on its tracks. If anything, that just provokes the Crowfather into upping the production rate which in turn will hasten his death.
"I need to increase my proficiency, upgrade my passive gunslinger skills and more. All in all, I need to be stronger."
Although Ashton is just a level 1 Practitioner right now, he's strong enough to slaughter three packs of Imps. He even succeeded on taking down the adult one already. This meant that his experience is definitely helping him. And since the simulation almost seems to real, he shouldn't have any difficulties replicating that result in an actual battlefield.
Ashton empty his mind for a bit. He stared at the ceiling of the room, resting. He doesn't feel extremely exhausted, he just needed a short rest for now.
As he rested, his thoughts began running on their own...
He made no efforts on stopping them though, instead he followed them until an idea crossed his mind.
"...huh, I actually never tried that before."
He sat up and immediately closed his eyes, feeling the familiar sensation of being immersed into the Simulation Zone.
No, Ashton didn't plan on fighting the Crowfather again. In fact he didn't even summon a single imp nor used the battlefield which looked like the ruins of City M.
He was fine with the blank white space.
Ashton summoned his guns and took a deep breath. He raised them both and circulated his mana in a different way...like how he would do it when he's casting a spell.
Pshht! Boom!
"Holy shit!!!" He exclaimed.
Instead of a regular bullet, Ashton just shot a streak of aquamarine light which flew at the speed of sound. The shot was so strong enough to even beat a regular sniper rifle shot. The best part is that, there's almost no recoil when he did that.
"What do you mean I can cast spells with my guns!!?" He was wide-eyed as he stared at the guns on his hand.
That's right! Just now, Ashton just casted a regular Mana Bolt Spell using his guns. At first, he didn't believe that it'd work, but it turns out that he's a man or little faith. He actually did in his first try.
Psshhht! Boom!
...and he did it again on his second try. He's almost surprised with how easy this was. He's even more surprised by the implications of this discovery.
"Holy shit! This changes everything!!"
Mana Bolt, Stun Bolt, Arcane Missile...
Mana Bolt + Piercing Shot. Mana Bolt + Burning Rounds. Mana Bolt + Curving Shots. Mana Bolt + Bouncing Shot...
Stun Bolt on the left gun, Mana Bolt on the right. Dual Arcane Missile Shot...
Healing Shot? Yes, please! Shooting a target dummy to apply buffs? Say no more! How about a de-buff? Forget about it!
Ashton was like a kid who just discovered the amusement park on a sugar high. He practically bottomed out his mana just by testing all sorts of combinations with his guns.
"Oh...I'm going to have so much fun in this."
