Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer-Novel

[Elven Blood Vial]

Increases the potency of your bloodline.

No diminishing effects.

[Wish Stone]

Increases one's Fortune permanently

Can only be used once.

[Fragmented Soul Card: Divine Gunslinger (SSS)]

A soul card that can be used once your reached Sorcerer Lv.9 (Peak)

Requires 9 more fragments to complete.

Ashton did hit a jackpot with these drops. It was unexpected but considering that he kind of did the System a favor, he really lucked out in this. That being said, some things puzzled him.

'System, the Elven Blood Vial will increase the potency of my Fae Bloodline yes? And if it does, how much are we looking here if I consumed all 5 vials?'

[Yes, Host. The Elven Blood Vial will increase the potency of your Fae Bloodline. Consuming all five will grant you a 10% increase based on the current potency of your bloodline.]

'I take that the higher the bloodline's concentration is, the harder it is to increase it further, yes?'

[Indeed.]

'Alright.' Ashton nodded, 'Then, how does Fortune affect me?'

[Using the Gamer slang, Fortune would be your Luck Stat.]

'Hmm? I thought that'd be my Providence?'

[Providence is the base Luck amount people are born with. Only through miracles do those increase. Fortune is the Luck value you accumulate based on your life encounters.]

'I see.' Ashton took that in mind, 'As for the Soul Card, I thought I'd be condensing this instead of it being a drop?'

[Your situation is a bit different from normal cultivators, Host.]

[While Sorcerers indeed condense their Soul Cards through careful accumulation, don't forget that you essentially have two Specializations.]

[You already have White Mage, and if you don't plan on changing out of that anytime soon, then the Soul Card you'll be condensing in the future will be tied to that Specialization.]

[Gunslinger is a System-issued Specialization though, you'd find it difficult to upgrade that through the same method as your main class, therefore the System issued you fragmented upgrades instead. Of course, you have to complete them first before you can use them.]

'Okay, that makes a lot more sense. Thank you, System.'

[You're Welcome, Host.]

The explanation he got from the system was satisfactory so he turned his attention elsewhere.

He gazed at what was in front of him and saw that the jungle was almost gone completely. The fire, however, was nowhere near done.

The flames are still raging on. It's starting to scatter somewhere else.

Ashton looked down and saw that he was still killing demons despite not firing any more shots, he can tell since he's still receiving common drops thanks to Cleptomancy.

Fwoosh!

Ashton was startled by the sudden swelling of the flames. He looked to his right and saw the flames rapidly coating the surface of a creak.

The creak, if he remembers it correctly, passes through the jungle. Ashton had no clue as to how it was possible for water to be set ablaze but here it was.

This creak is connected to the river over there and the purple haze field on the other side. Since it caught on fire, it's safe to say that those places will burn as well.

Ashton was tempted to watch really. He wanted to see the river burned to the ground but honestly, he needs to explore. He had already spent a few hours of daytime just setting the jungle on fire and waiting for it to be gone. He only has a few hours left before sundown and he doesn't usually stay out during nighttime since it'll be more dangerous out here from that point.

The flames wouldn't hurt him. He'd feel their heat just a little bit but it won't hurt him since he's the one who caused it in the first place. This is one of the few tricks he learned from the Mystic Academy after all, under his Magic 101 Professor.

As he approached what remains of the jungle, Ashton repeatedly scanned his surroundings. Better be safe than sorry in his opinion. Although the flames are still raging-on, there might still be some demons here who could shrug off something like this.

Once he arrived there, he noticed that the demonic corruption is fading due to his fire. This is the side-effect of having Purify as a bullet.

"Seeds?" He mused to himself as he crouched down and inspected the little things he saw on the ground.

He scanned the seeds for corruption and didn't find any. He held one in his palms and tried to identify it. The skill failed since there are no records for these types of seeds.

"I wonder why you all didn't automatically appear in my Inventory?" He mused to himself, the seeds didn't look nor feel dangerous so why has it not appeared directly in his Inventory instead?

"Can I not put them in there?" He asked himself.

He attempted that and frowned when he saw that they got in without any problems.

"...weird." He muttered, later then he shrugged and took them all in any way. Aria might discover what's so special about them later.

He continued roaming the remains of the jungle, completely unaffected by the flames that still rage on. Aside from discovering the mysterious seeds, he also discovered other unique things like; crystalized tree branches. Logs that are completely immune to the flames, gemstones, etc.

He has no idea what they are for now but he still kept them since they may be useful later.

Once he's done roaming the jungle, he discovered that there's nothing else special in it. Not even a speck was left by the Eldritch Abomination which is nice.

There is a place right behind the jungle but he decided to ignore that area for now. He checked out the river he saw back then to see what he could find first.

When he arrived there, the river was completely dried out. Flames still licked the depths but not much of it remained anymore. Sadly, the river didn't turn into clean water for him to use, they evaporated due to the flames, which is probably for the best, but still...

Anyways, since there are no more threats lurk8ng around thanks to the flames, Ashton jumped down at the dent. The ground is still soft and wet, it's still oozing with corruption but the flames will take care of that soon.

Here, Ashton found several things like crystallized fish bones, weird-looking algae, moss, crystals, and gemstones as well.

He followed the path of the river and upon reaching its end...or rather, its origins, he saw a large rotting corpse burning intensely by his fire.

He could already see the skeleton of this thing. It's gigantic. Ashton could easily fit into its eye socket.

"I think the flames are purifying and refining this thing." He mused to himself, "that'll take time."

He then looked around, checking if he missed something important.

Eventually, his pulse suddenly gave him a response that he wasn't expecting.

"There's a mine here." He mused to himself. "As for what kind of mine it is, I don't know yet. Better mark that down."

Ashton wrote some notes in his journal. He even left some physical markings on the mine itself just to make sure he won't get lost next time. Once he did that, he jumped out of there and ran toward the purple haze field which changed greatly too.

The purple haze is gone, and the demons lurking within it are presumably dead too. There's only a scent of burnt something there. He walked around and see if he could find some unique trinkets, and he did!

Crystalized bones, blades of grass, teeth, horns, pelts...he even discovered some kind of a totem in there. He picked them all up and will inspect them later at the lab.

Ashton continued exploring around, seeing if there are still other things he missed on the way.

He did not find any sort of contraption that will send him directly to the bottom, which is a bummer but that's fine. He got a nice haul anyway from all the pyromania he caused.

Ashton didn't explore any further since he noticed that the sun was almost down. He went back to the location of the mine and set up a ward there that can isolate his aura and protect him before he went inside the Grand Library.

He scanned his surroundings and saw that Aria was currently cooped-up inside the lab. She's in the middle of testing something.

Ashton had a quick snack before he went to the library where Jerry is.

He asked for a book that has details about unique trinkets that can be found in the outside world. After a couple of minutes of waiting, Jerry returned carrying a stack of books.

Ashton thanked the bot and then dived into his research. After an hour or so, he mostly identified most of the things he picked up just now.

As it turns out, those trinkets are valuable materials. Humanity had recorded a long list of things they can be used for. The most prominent is the crystalized remains. These could fetch high prizes back in the Last Bastion.

Sadly, he's nowhere near that place and he's certainly not pressed for money.