Idle Mage: Humanity's Strongest Backer

"...finally done."

Aria sighed as she slumped on the ground, feeling tired and a little bit out of breath. Her face had streaks of black paint, her hair is a mess, and the work clothes she was wearing are similarly dirtied as well.

Despite her exhaustion though, her eyes were clear and joyous. She did it. She managed to not only turn Demon Trinkets into paint, she also managed to apply it to the whole safehouse all by herself.

The process of converting Demon Trinkets into paint had taken several attempts. She failed a total of three times but she succeeded on her 4th try. The paint job she did was also well done, the safehouse looked different yet unchanged at the same time.

Ashton silently appeared next to her. Aria let out a yelp when she felt that she was being hoisted off the ground. She giggled when her man started peppering kisses on her face.

"Job well done, Babe." Ashton kissed her on the lips. Aria hummed and wrapped her arms around him.

They kissed for a while and then separated. Ashton patted her ass, gave it a few squeezes, and said: "Off to the showers you go. You smell. I'll take this baby out on a test drive."

Aria scrunched up her nose at him but didn't say anything, she just left the lab and went towards their shared room to clean herself.

Once she left, Ashton stared at the safehouse and nodded to himself. He just used Scan and Identify on the safehouse and this is what he got:

[Mobile Safehouse]

It's not much but it serves well as a temporary home in the middle of nowhere. Plus, it can move so that's a bonus!

Functions: Mobility, Heating, Cooling, Security, Cloaking, and Size-Alteration.

Can be summoned at will.

(New!) Corruption Coating - the safehouse is now treated as a corrupted vessel. This neutralizes Demonic Aggression to a certain degree. Can be turned on and off.

Durability: 10,000/10,000

'A job well done, truly.' Ashton smiled.

The fact that the System itself recognized Aria's efforts makes this even more impressive. With this new function, Ashton should have an easier time dealing with River of Tar.

With that in mind, Ashton took the safehouse to his Inventory. He then wore his usual attire, making sure everything was prepared before he sets out.

Once he double-checked his stuff, he disappeared from the Grand Library and appeared outside.

As soon as he appeared, he summoned the safehouse and started controlling it. He didn't dare to go fast, he wanted to be careful so that he can react if things go south.

The safehouse can be controlled mentally since he's the owner of it. It hovers in the air but doesn't make any noise so long as it travels at a constant speed.

With the Corruption Coating on, the safehouse essentially blended with its surroundings. Ashton could sense it through the fact that he's more sensitive to the trend of the world.

Visibly, it looks weird since there's a floating house trying to approach the river, but in terms of natural phenomena, nothing's weird here. In fact, everything was in harmony.

Of course, he doesn't count. But thankfully, he's hiding behind the cloaking mechanism of the safe house so he's not upsetting this harmony.

Once the safehouse touched the waters if you can even call it that, it automatically adjusted to its new surroundings. It no longer hovered in the air, it just kept on moving onwards, allowing itself to be carried by the waves.

Ashton was barely controlling this thing, he's not spending too much energy to do so either. He's just adjusting the position of the safehouse ever so often to make sure that he's going in the right direction. He leaves the rest to the waves.

Of course, this doesn't mean that Ashton was relaxed. He remained vigilant in case of emergency. If you read the net effect of the safe house, it says there that the neutralization of Demonic Aggression only amounts to a certain degree.

This means that if there are stronger demons out here, they might get suspicious and check this thing out.

Ashton wouldn't want that to happen so he's keeping an eye out.

His senses bled out of the walls, scanning everything within 500 meters around him. Thanks to his constant exposure to Demonic Corruption and his growth in cultivation, his senses were tempered constantly, allowing him to sense this far.

Everything was calm and he was relieved by that. Though, even if that was the case, he still remained doubtful. So long as he's within enemy territory, he shouldn't trust anything easily.

His senses caught some interesting things as the safehouse sailed. He captured some demonic creature leaping out of the waters. Sometimes, he would even tense up whenever he see some tentacles moving in his direction ever so slightly.

He prayed for a safe and peaceful voyage. So far, it's working. He doesn't have any idea for how long though.

As he sailed, Ashton chatted with Aria. He wasn't doing anything strenuous, just keeping a lookout, so he gave some attention to spare.

It took Aria a week to complete the experiment and renovation of the safe house, she ate and slept at the lab so the two of them didn't get to talk as much back then, which is why he's making up for it now.

Judging by how fast he's going, it would take him three days to cross this river. And that's because there would be no mishaps along the way.

It's not that the safehouse is going slow, it's to ensure that he won't provoke the peaceful monstrosities that may be resting at the depths of this river.

Unfortunately, it seems that he can't really escape them all...

"Shit!" Ashton cursed.

He felt a strong sense of crisis pressing down on his chest. Without any shred of hesitation, he immediately disappeared along with the safehouse and appeared inside the Grand Library.

His senses remained connected outside, which allowed him to see what will happen if he'd been even a second too late with his actions.

The black and murky waves of the river suddenly surged up, causing great turbulence to shake the surroundings.

Then, from the depths of the waters, something big rose. Like two hills rising from the depths, a gaping maw was revealed, causing jet streams of water to splash around.

It didn't end there...

From that gaping maw, several thick and gross-looking tentacles suddenly erupted. They look just like the ones that could be seen everywhere in the river, only these were thicker and more active.

They have more fangs and eyes than the other ones. The sheer sight of it sent a cold chill down Ashton's spine.

The gaping maw suddenly snap shut once the tentacles withdrew with a crisp sound that echoed for miles before it retreated to the depths.

Ashton paled and swallowed hard upon witnessing that scene. He felt his back drenched in cold sweat while his heart pounded on his chest.

Close...that was way too fucking close! Had he been late even for a second there, he's probably be spending time in the bowels of whatever that thing was.

"...was that a fucking whale!?" Ashton asked, wide-eyed as he replayed the scene in his head.

He didn't see it clearly because he was too panicked and it happened way too fast, but judging from the size of that mouth, he's most likely correct.

And if he is correct...well shit. This voyage just became a little too dangerous.

"Ash! W-what happened!?" Aria asked hurriedly when she saw him appearing here looking like this.

"Babe!" Ashton looked at her with a wronged expression. "There's a Cthulu Whale under the river! I'm scared."

Aria nearly stumbled backward when Ashton shamelessly buried his face in her bountiful chest and started feigning a miserable cry.

He's been out for what? Five or six hours at most? Yet here he was, already encountering something that nightmares are made out of.

Seriously, what's up with his luck? Why does it suck so much? It doesn't make sense! Shouldn't he be luckier since he got that boost before? Why does it seem like it made his luck ever worse?

Like a kid who got bullied at school, Ashton told Aria what happened. The latter tried to comfort him as best as she could but she knows that Ashton isn't that frightened.

Surprised and a little panicked, yes. But scared? Not really. He had seen all sorts of monstrosities out there in his travels, this one isn't enough to completely terrify him.

Ashton's just complaining more than anything. Just asking to be pampered. For all she knows, he's probably already planning on how to deal with that thing already.

"Do you plan on fighting it?" She asked.

"Don't feel like doing so..." Ashton pouted as buried his face even deeper into her bosom. "Seriously, I just want a peaceful voyage. Why can't I have that? Why does my luck suck too bad?"

Aria smiled wryly but didn't say anything. At this point, she doesn't really have to say anything anyway. She knows him, he'll figure out a way. He just needs to vent for a little bit.

"...boob heaven..."

By doing this apparently...