Sorcerer’s Handbook

What am I doing?

Sonya leaned against Ashe’s shoulder, not daring to lift her head.

The village girl felt like a demon had just taken control of her body. She was completely dazed, and by the time she came to her senses, she was already leaning against the Observer’s shoulder.

This was definitely not her intention! It must be because she hadn’t been to the Virtual Realm for too long, causing her soul to be a bit hazy. Or perhaps it was the loud footsteps of the Celestial Bull, or maybe the blinding light of the Reverse Golden Rain!

What to do, what to do, what to do…

Can a Blade Fish Dragon come to the rescue? I promise I’ll send you off in the highest style of Blood Moon Blossoms, making sure you die a glorious and heroic death!

If it were just the Observer, it wouldn’t be so bad, but the problem was that the Witch was watching from behind!

She had clearly appeared in the back seat with the Witch, but she had deliberately moved to the front seat to hold… cling to… and lean on the Observer to rest. Sonya couldn’t even imagine the expression on the Witch’s face right now!

Their behavior in the Amnesia Cabin was already enough to make the Witch misunderstand, and now Sonya hadn’t just failed to clear up the misunderstanding, she had lost any chance to explain herself!

She felt her face burning with embarrassment, so much so that she didn’t dare to face anyone!

As she thought about it, Sonya couldn’t help but blame the man in front of her-Little Trumpet, can’t you tell that I really need help right now! Even though there’s no verbal, facial, physical, or eye contact communication, can’t you sense my inner turmoil?

Can’t you just do something silly to break this awkward atmosphere?

She decided to give him a hint.

Sonya gently nudged his shoulder.

No response. Try again.

Another nudge, another nudge, another nudge…

Ashe watched Sonya continuously rubbing her head against his shoulder. He felt like his trench coat was about to get worn out. But this scene looked familiar; Lise would occasionally cling to him like this for a hug, acting just like a koala bear.

So, the sword Princess means…

Ashe blinked and gently hugged Sonya. But as soon as his hand touched her waist, Sonya jerked her head up like she had been electrocuted. Her face flushed with embarrassment, lips tightly pressed together, and her big, watery eyes glared at Ashe, as if saying, “How dare you be so bold.”

Ashe immediately raised his hands in surrender. The village girl let out a soft humph and quickly moved to the farthest seat, treating Ashe like a used rag she was done with.

Nervously, she glanced back to find that the Witch had actually laid down in the back seat, facing the seatback as if she hadn’t seen anything.

Witch, you’re so considerate!

Though she knew it was self-deception, Sonya still let out a sigh of relief and said, “Witch, wake up, don’t sleep!”

“Hmm?” Deya rubbed her eyes as she sat up. “Are you guys done?”

Boom!

Sonya felt like her head was about to burst with steam, and the little bit of composure she had managed to maintain was shattered by the Witch’s question.

Ashe, however, remained calm. “Well, it’s normal to want someone to talk to and rely on when you’re stressed. Witch, do you want to be pampered? We have both a male mom and a female mom available.”

“I’m not being pampered…” Sonya said, embarrassed, lowering her head with a voice as small as a mosquito’s buzz.

“No, no,” Deya waved her hand dismissively. “I already have someone to pamper me.”

Despite wasting quite a bit of time, this little episode helped the three of them, who hadn’t been together for nearly ten days, naturally and comfortably form a cohesive unit once more.

The sports car roared as it drove across the Time Continent.

There was so much information they needed to share that they didn’t know where to start.

“According to the virtual realm map, we’ll reach the Spider Tower region when we enter the Virtual Realm tomorrow,” Ashe said. “Tonight, we can continue our adventure without worrying about a heroic soul commander suddenly charging at us with an army.”

“Luckily, you gave us the potion; otherwise, normal soul recovery would have been impossible,” Sonya said as she moved back to the rear seat. Although her face was still slightly red, her strong mental fortitude allowed her to participate in the conversation normally. “By the way, did you trigger the Conceptual Secret Toxin?”

“After you triggered it, I checked your data, and it has been triggered.”

“What is the Conceptual Secret Toxin?”

Ashe and Sonya exchanged a glance, then Ashe shook his head at Deya. “The Conceptual Secret Toxin currently only has side effects. It’s best if you don’t know about it.”

Secret toxins have two valuable aspects: the intelligence they provide and the positive enhancements they bring. Some toxins are worth sharing, such as the Vortex Secret Toxin for its informational value, and the Golden Fish Secret Toxin and Bronze Dragon Secret Toxin for their beneficial effects.

However, most toxins are not worth sharing, like the Conceptual Secret Toxin and the Expel Secret Toxin.

Yes, the Conceptual Secret Toxin does unveil the mysteries of the conceptual Incarnation, but what use is that to Ashe and the others? Does it get them a discount on fruit?

Though the side effects of the Conceptual Secret Toxin are bearable, why add another chronic condition unnecessarily?

Deya gave them a suspicious look. “Are you guys excluding me?”

This was exactly what Sonya feared most—if they all had the toxin, it was fine. If only she had it, that was manageable too. But if only two people were infected, it would be troublesome.

A combination like [sword Princess + Witch] was fine since the Observer would definitely trust their judgment; however, [sword Princess + Observer] would be problematic, as the Witch would have every reason to suspect those two.

Ashe shot a blaming look at Sonya—since it wasn’t a beneficial toxin, why mention it at all? Why not just keep it to herself instead of sharing unpleasant details with everyone?

Now, the Witch suspected that the unpleasantness might be something more intriguing. Should they let her dive in headfirst or pull her into the mess?

But Sonya had her reasons: “There was a ‘Starsfall’ incident on my end, and coincidentally, the Empress’s heroic soul snatched the ‘Incarnation of the Stars.’ I suspect she might have directly crushed the ‘Incarnation of the Stars,’ which caused all related spirits to be annihilated… I thought you would all get infected with the Conceptual Secret Toxin after seeing the Starsfall.”

“Starsfall incident?”

After Sonya briefly described the scene where stars nearly shattered the Firmament, Ashe and Deya exchanged glances and shook their heads. “We didn’t encounter anything like that.”

“Wait a minute.” Deya seemed to be deep in thought. “Incarnation of the Stars, Starsfall, causing all related spirits to be annihilated, could it be…”

Ashe abruptly slammed on the brakes, causing the sports car to carve donut-like skid marks on the grass. Deya was thrown to one side by the inertia, and just as she steadied herself, Sonya grabbed her shoulders and shook her like a fruit drink being mixed!

“What, what, what are you guys doing?!”

Ashe asked, “What about the stars?”

Deya, dizzy from the shaking, replied, “Didn’t they fall?”

Ashe started spinning the sports car in circles. “Not enough, sword Princess, keep shaking her!”

“Got it!”

“Aaaaah… ugh!” Deya was so nauseated from the spinning and shaking that she dry-heaved. Luckily, this was the Virtual Realm, and she couldn’t throw up anything but secrets.

The Witch raised her head and saw the Observer and the sword Princess looking at her kindly. She quickly raised her hands to shield her face in surrender. “I forgot, I really forgot. I don’t know anything about the stars, and I didn’t see you hugging the Observer, sword Princess. I didn’t see anything, I don’t know anything, please let me go!”

Sonya cracked her knuckles, making a popping sound. “( *￣︿￣) Seems like there’s still some residual memory…”