Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer

[Profile]

Host: Ashton West

Race: Human

Bloodline: Human/Empyrean Fey

Title: Sorcerer of Dreams

Aptitude:

Mageroot: Auspicious Rainbow Cloud

Magical Artifact: Unsealed Book of Infinity

Providence: Fey Emperor's Grace

Rank: Lv.1 Sorcerer (Unrefined)

Specialization: White Mage (Class Change Available)

Traits: Purity, Scholar

Laws: Dream Law

The Sorcerer Rank...

If this was still Humanity in its previous state, Ashton could've been said to have reached the top of the world.

'Wielder of Laws' that's what Sorcerers are. Although Virtues are considered to be Laws as well, they're just a part of its grand scheme, mere concepts if you will.

Sorcerers weave Laws at every stroke of their hand. And since Laws are the fundamental cogs that make up the structure of this world, then Sorcerers could be said to have the power to shape the world.

Well, that's mostly an exaggeration so far. Truthfully, with how weak Humans were with the addition of the suppression from the Invaders, Humanity couldn't wield that much power.

...but that's not entirely the case at this point.

Plus, Ashton was built differently. He had nine virtues that fused into one, earning the acknowledgment of Dream Laws. To say that he's one of a kind would sound like an understatement at this point.

Speaking of Dream Laws...that's another thing that Ashton had to learn from scratch.

Out of all the possibilities there are for the results of the fusion of his Virtues, he would've never expected to gain Dream Laws.

Nobody from Humanity's history had wielded the Law of Dreams, that's for sure. Meaning that he doesn't have anything that he could use as a guide.

Dreams are different from Illusions or Mirages. Dreams are more mysterious and phantasmal compared to those two. And since nobody has it before, it's obvious that it's not included in any Branches of Magic. So he has to improvise from now on.

In addition to him becoming the Sorcerer of Dreams, Ashton also unlocked his very own Sorcerer's Tower.

A Sorcerer's Tower is a unique phenomenon that occurs when a Sorcerer fights with their honor in line. The tower is the representation of their magical excellence, their pride, and power.

Once the Sorcerer's Tower is out, it will generate a field. The size of the field depends on how strong the Sorcerer is and how deep their foundations were.

This field is called the Sorcerer's Domain, a field where a Sorcerer's strength will be amplified by at least 50%.

Ashton's Sorcerer's tower is 99-foot-tall. It's practically a giant compared to other sorcerers. Similarly, his domain coverage is just as ridiculous, reaching 999 meters.

This is the result of the many refinements he had as well as the number of his Virtues. To think that he had already reached this absurd height right from the start is already mind-blowing on its own.

"I guess I might as well switch my Specialization now..." He mused to himself.

Taking out the Soul Card from his inventory, he crushed it in his hand. It turned into specks of tiny light that fused with him. Ashton unconsciously closed his eyes and felt a wave of information rousing from the depths of his memories.

Images of Aether and its forms showed themselves to him. This vision lasted for around five minutes before Ashton's consciousness returned to reality.

[Specialization, changed. Congratulations, you are now an Aether Soul Mage.]

[Aether Soul Mage (Legend)]

: Grants absolute authority over Aether Energy.

: All Spells and Skills using Aether Energy will deal double damage.

: Aether Spells/Skills uses 50% less Aether and deal 『Soul Damage』.

: Legend Soul Card Bonus Effect — no penalty when using other types of Spells or Skills.

Ashton raised a finger and saw how Aether automatically condensed into a tiny marble on his fingertips. He smiled to himself a bit before dispersing it.

He had just gotten even more ridiculous at this point. Being able to wield Aether Magic this easily was already a boon. Not to mention, the fact that Aether Spells or Skills could deal damage directly to his target's soul, is what really makes this Specialization broken.

With this, he should be able to feel more confident about his chances against their enemies. And as Humanity's final defensive line, the stronger he was, the better.

***

Right after stabilizing his new power, Ashton made his way out of his training room and went into the Fey Beast Garden.

He was initially tempted to call this the Dinosaurs Garden but he ultimately ruled it out.

Anyway, he came here to test out something and so far, he's surprised.

He'd admit, he wasn't expecting anything special when he gained the Dream Laws. As it turns out, he had severely underestimated what it could do.

Ashton initially thought that Dreams Laws were uncontrollable. Like the ones many people would have where anything goes, and also forgettable once they woke up from it.

But no, this wasn't the case.

Dream Laws gave him power over Lucid Dreams, one that is controllable while retaining the freedom of anything being possible. Lucid Dreams are fuelled by his imagination, and Ashton being a Mage, he of course has a very broad and colorful imagination.

Ashton can directly subject his target to a dream, and since the dream is under his control, anything he could imagine will happen to a certain degree.

For example, he thought about giving wings to a T-Rex, and lo and behold, it fucking grew wings and started flying.

He then thought about giving it clothes, and again, that happened. He changed its size, gave it human teeth at one point (which was oddly terrifying), elongated its arms, and so on...

Without fail, all of his thoughts came to reality.

In addition to this, Ashton could also sense the thoughts of his target. He could tell what they were thinking like they were an open book to him.

The possibilities this opened up for him were immense. But more than that, Ashton realized one crucial point about Dream Laws.

And that is the fact that it could modify reality to a certain extent...

There are limitations of course. He just can't suddenly turn the sun black or something along those lines...yet at least. But still, the fact that it gave him the power to warp reality in a way somewhat frightens him.

It's a deadly tool to have...it's a power than can easily corrupt its wielder.

Anything that doesn't conform with your beliefs or is just downright dislikable to you can be changed with a simple wave of a hand.

Reality-warping blurs the line of a person's morality, which is why it's frightening to have.

Nevertheless, if this was used sparingly and for the sake of the greater good, it is a very powerful trump card to have.

That being said, it wouldn't be easy to master this.

Being the Sorcerer of Dreams gives him an edge of course, but still, he had to Master Dream Laws on his own.

Mastering a Law is something that all Sorcerers must do. Ashton is no different. If anything, it'd be more demanding for him considering that he had to refine this law a total of nine times thanks to his cultivation technique.

Speaking of which, Ashton already improved the Treasure Glazed, Nine Refinements Sutra using the knowledge he acquired about cultivation. He had ironed out the flaws and made it better so now, so he should be gaining better results from it starting now.

As for the Dream Laws, it uses Aether Energy. Which thankfully didn't become a problem for him since he had just become an Aether Soul Mage.

He had a lot of room for improvement so he'd be using his open schedule to improve even faster.

Blake, Mary, and Alice already reached this rank before him. In fact, they're at the halfway mark to breaking the shackles of mortality. Although he could still match them blow per blow if he faltered they'd leave him behind.

Which is fine since they're allies but it's not good for his pride. He didn't want to be left behind.

Plus, it'll be harder for him to match them once they broke through their mortal shackles, since he was considering himself Humanity's last line of defense, then he obviously couldn't lose to them, right?

'The invaders we will face from now on will be much stronger as well...'

At this point, there's no hiding their progress anymore. They killed important people of the Invaders, and those people weren't weak. So that fact that they've fallen into this, as the invaders would call it, backward planet, then it's obvious that its locals were something else.

'They would start taking us seriously from this point onwards.' He thought to himself. 'I wouldn't rule out the possibility of them calling for reinforcements too.'

He could continue chipping their numbers down but eventually, they'd caught up in this strategy. He needed to plan ahead if he wants to ensure their chances of survival.

"Jerry, do you copy?"

"At your service, Master."

"Send out the notices. We'll perform the Curse Expunging Initiative tomorrow."

"Understood, Sir. Is there any time frame you'd prefer for this event?"

"Afternoon is fine."

"As you wish. The notice has been sent to the profiled people."

"Thank you. You may return to your duties."

"Understood."