Sorcerer’s Handbook

“I barely have any personal time left in my day now.”

Sonya vented her frustrations, “I start with Required Courses or General Education Courses at 8 in the morning because I’ve switched to the Swordsmanship Department. Even though I no longer have to attend the Water Art Department’s classes, I still have to take Swordsmanship Introduction and Swordsmanship Practice. On top of that, Professor Trozan checks on my swordsmanship progress and spars with me almost every day; there’s hardly a moment to rest.”

It seemed odd to Sonya herself, as Professor Trozan was no idle professor tending to flowers and plants in retirement. Instead, he was the renowned Hidden Hand Sword Saint, the star Sorcerer of Swordflower College.

Although Trozan had taken Sonya and Felix as Research Apprentices, it didn’t warrant his daily concern for them. After all, Trozan had seen plenty of talents, and time for a Tri-wings Sanctuary Sorcerer wasn’t so cheap.

Yet Professor Trozan not only visited them every day but even took the time to spar with Sonya — a privilege solely hers, as Felix could only watch enviously from the sidelines.

Felix was the senior student, but Professor Trozan’s blatant favoritism towards her made Sonya feel awkward and secretly thrilled.

She had considered the possibility of an Observer’s manipulation, but that seemed unlikely — this was the Hidden Hand Sword Saint, after all!

If an Observer could control her, that might be the limit; how could they possibly control Professor Trozan?

And if they could control Professor Trozan, why on earth would they have him beat her up?

Sonya tried to persuade him with as much politeness as she could muster, “but my daytime study load is already heavy enough; I don’t need to be forced into two more hours of Swordsmanship Training at night.”

“Besides, that training isn’t very meaningful. Now that I have the Vibration Sword, I should be focusing on summoning other supportive spirits based on the Vibration Sword, not continuing with basic training…”

Sonya felt somewhat guilty as she said this.

Although she was right, after becoming a Sorcerer, she should switch from swordsmanship training to ‘spirit training’, to improve her skills in using spirits.

Some might find it odd, as wasn’t the Vibration Sword spirit something Sonya had summoned and fully understood? Why was there room for improvement?

This was because Sonya fully grasped the ‘theory’, but she hadn’t completely deciphered the ‘reality’. Using spirits was a practice where theory and reality intersected, naturally presenting a vast potential for discovery.

For instance, the ‘Inner Vibration Sword’ Sonya used to kill the Orc sorcerer was the result of her recent studies.

This move no longer treated the Vibration Sword as a Long-range Attack but concentrated it at the tip of the sword, exploding within the enemy’s body upon stabbing, causing devastating damage instantly.

There were many more variations of the Vibration Sword to explore, and training in spirit usage was undoubtedly essential.

Furthermore, if Sonya perfected her Vibration Sword techniques, she could even summon corresponding supportive spirits.

For instance, once Sonya had fully mastered the Inner Vibration Sword, there was a high probability that she would be able to summon the Inner Spirit. The Inner Spirit could compress the power of the Vibration Sword spirit to a hundred percent and even temporarily store it within an enemy or an object, waiting for the Sorcerer’s mental command to suddenly detonate.

Because two spirits were used, the Inner Vibration Sword had now become the more powerful and unpredictable ‘Miracle Inner Vibration Sword.’

Of course, this was just a rudimentary Miracle, not even worthy of being included in the Sorcerer’s Miracle Catalog, with no commercial value.

But this reflects the normal growth process of a Sorcerer: summoning one spirit and then, based on this spirit, summoning other supportive spirits to extend an entire Miracle system.

So Sonya’s request was quite reasonable.

However, the problem was that she was a Swordcerer.

Among Swordcerers, there is a saying: If you only want to be an ordinary Swordcerer, then follow the school’s curriculum; but if you aspire to become a Golden Two Wings, Tri-wings Sanctuary, or even reach higher realms of Swordcerers, then mastering the three spirits of Slash Sword, Thrust Sword, and Cleave Sword is essential.

All Swordsmanship spirits, in essence, are derivations of these three fundamental spirits: slash, thrust, and cleave. While mastering these three does not guarantee strength, not mastering them certainly means you have weaknesses.

Therefore, it was considered reasonable for Sonya to continue her basic Swordsmanship Training these days, and even Felix had not fallen behind in training—any ambitious Swordcerer Apprentice would take this time to solidify their foundation.

So why did Sonya propose to the Observer to cancel her Training?

Apart from the minor issue of being genuinely exhausted and lacking any time for Entertainment, the main reason was, of course, that she wanted to test her own influence.

It wasn’t about conducting a compliance test with the Observer, but Sonya was not content with being controlled by others.

Even if the Observer rejected her this time, it wouldn’t matter. Sonya could gradually probe and strategize, reminding the Observer every day of her great efforts and hard work. After all, the squeaky wheel gets the grease.

Someday, Sonya would figure out the Observer’s psychological bottom line and thought patterns.

By then, who controls whom would be up for debate…

“You make a good point,”

Ashe nodded, seemingly convinced by the Swordswoman’s argument.

Sonya was momentarily taken aback, thinking: Is the Observer that easy to persuade?

“But I want to ask you—if you had an extra two hours at night, what would you plan to do?”

“Probably… read some books, watch a play, attend a dance to meet more friends?”

“So in other words, all Entertainment, fun and games, right?”

Ashe tapped his fingers on the ship’s hull, recalling how his old boss used to sweet-talk people.

“Have you ever met someone from a wealthier background than you?”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever met someone from a wealthier background who also has Talent equal to yours?”

“Yes.”

“You know what’s the most terrifying thing in this world? It’s someone who comes from a better background than you, has Talent that’s not inferior to yours, and works harder than you!” Ashe said earnestly. “When you can’t help but want to stop for Rest, others will take the opportunity to widen the gap between you.”

Sonya felt a slight stir in her heart, remembering Felix leaving in his silver luxury sedan.

“Don’t waste your life at the age when you should be working the hardest, don’t long for pleasure when you should be struggling. There are so many people in this world whose starting point is our finish line. Are you content to only be able to look up at others’ backs in the future, content to be just an ordinary person, with no mark left in the Sea of Knowledge or anywhere else?”

Sonya’s lips moved, and she finally shook her head, “Not content.”

Ashe continued with gravity, “So, Swordswoman, your thoughts are not good, and don’t blame me for criticizing you. You feel tired? Good, comfort is for the elderly. You want to enjoy life? Sure, but enjoyment is for the successful.”

“You, in your prime, should bravely step out of your comfort zone and fill your life with struggle. Don’t let other people’s lives blind you. Do you want to be just an ordinary person like them in the future? Don’t let your inner desires cloud your reason; hedonism will only slow your sword-drawing speed.”

“If there’s something you like, strive for it, so in the future if you fail, you can blame the world to your heart’s content, not yourself.”

“We Sorcerers do not dwell on the past or wish for the afterlife; we only seek a spectacular life in the present, full of passion and rivalry!”

Sonya was silent for a long time, then nodded heavily: “Observer, you are right!”

Alright, got through that… Ashe breathed a sigh of relief. He was still a bit uncomfortable with this kind of work; after all, it used to be his boss doing the motivational speeches, and now it was his turn to build someone else’s psyche.

And you know what? This job of inducing anxiety in others is quite interesting; no wonder the boss often shared anxiety-inducing articles with friends.

“Then changing two hours of Training to one hour shouldn’t make a big impact, right?”

Ashe blinked, suddenly noticing that the area prompt in the ‘Exploration in Virtual Realm’ changed from ‘Wait a moment’ to ‘Right now,’ he quickly changed the subject: “No more idle chat, brace yourself, we’re about to enter a Dangerous Zone!”

The boat passed through layers of white mist, and a small island appeared before the two of them.

On the island was a huge white-furred fox, its fur reflecting purple and white arcs of light, as if the moon had fallen there, so beautiful it was hard to look away. It lay under a tree, its body and tail curled up into a fluffy ball, making one want to stroke it.

“It’s a fox dragon,” Sonya whispered, her voice filled with excitement, “It’s asleep!”

The boat silently neared the shore; they tiptoed to the fox dragon’s head, exchanged a look, and readied themselves to strike.

Sonya assumed the posture of drawing her longsword, while Ashe summoned a Substitute spirit to create a Substitute. The two, holding blunted longswords, aimed at the fox dragon’s head—in the Virtual Realm, Ashe’s consciousness was free from the confines of the body, naturally no longer bound by the neck chip, allowing the use of spirits.

After some testing, Ashe discovered that although a Substitute could easily be destroyed with a poke, it could still attack before being destroyed. In situations like the current one, it made sense to let the Substitute join in to add to the damage.

As for the unsharpened longsword, just as Sonya could produce a wooden sword, Ashe could also summon the weapons he had used in previous Deathmatches. Actually, Ashe would have preferred to summon a Gun, but the problem was that he had never handled any firearms in real life, so he couldn’t imagine it…

Prepared, the two nodded at each other, and silently counted down—three, two, one—and attacked simultaneously!

“Laido Vibration Sword!”

“Double Slash!”

The sleeping fox dragon was instantly decapitated by three swords at the same time, letting out a sharp roar that nearly deafened Ashe and Sonya for a moment. The Substitute was directly shattered by the roar.

But the fox dragon seemed to be dazed by the attack, unable to even stand up, and could only struggle and snap wildly on the ground.

Ashe and Sonya, not ones to adhere to any sort of chivalry in this scenario, took advantage of the fox dragon’s weakened state, picked up their weapons, and relentlessly bludgeoned its head. Ashe even took the opportunity to stroke its fur.

After a dozen seconds or so, the fox dragon let out a cry of unwillingness and dissipated into a cloud of white smoke.

It left behind three slumbering spirits, which seemed confused and stared blankly at the unfamiliar Sorcerers. But Sonya wasn’t looking at the spirits; instead, she reached for a bright Orb on the ground.

“What is this?”

“An Experience Orb,” Sonya said, her eyes revealing an unmistakable desire as she focused on the orb. “There are no Restrictions, no requirements. As long as a Sorcerer absorbs this Experience Orb, they will gain all the insights of a Knowledge Creature and instantly master a Magical Faction!”

“If it’s a Faction they already know, it could even significantly elevate a Sorcerer’s realm of knowledge, paving the way for Promotion and eliminating any bottlenecks!”

“Exploration in the Virtual Realm is the accumulation of thousands of miles.”

“The Experience Orb is enlightenment in an instant!”