Sorcerer’s Handbook

Aside from the map update, Ashe’s soul summoning spirit also underwent new changes.

The soul summoning spirit, previously a triangular bipyramid with six faces, had only one face glowing blue. After absorbing Valcas’s Blood Tomb soul summoning spirit, another face began to glow red.

“This spirit has successfully absorbed a spirit of the same name, unlocking new troop types: ‘Blood Minion,’ ‘Adventurer,’ ‘Blood Hunter,’ and ‘Two-tone Anchor.’”

“Blood Tomb: Blood Minion”

“Ranged soul damage +10%. 3 layers of armor, free-form shape, can consume life to shoot Blood Arrows. Each unit consumes 1 point of soul power.”

“Blood Tomb: Adventurer”

“Melee soul damage +15%, movement speed increased by 30%, can plunder 1 point of soul power for the commander with each kill of a war unit. 2 layers of armor, humanoid creature. Each unit consumes 2 points of soul power.”

“Blood Tomb: Blood Hunter”

“Gunmanship and Swordsmanship soul damage +20%. 4 layers of armor, humanoid creature, comes equipped with a long sword and the Miracle ‘Blood Frenzy.’ Each unit consumes 4 points of soul power.”

“Blood Frenzy: Applied to oneself, enters a state of lost sanity with greatly increased attack speed and movement speed, lasting until death in battle.”

While “Adventurer” might be a common name coincidence, “Blood Hunter” clearly pointed to the lifelong enemy of the Cult Leader, the ace profession of the Blood Moon Kingdom, the Blood Hunter.

Actually, after hearing the Sword Princess mention that someone similar to the Star Prayer had appeared in her kingdom, Ashe had some premonitions. These Blood Tomb professions completely confirmed his suspicions: the Virtual Realm’s troop types are closely related to real-world professions, or rather, each Virtual Realm troop type has a real-world counterpart.

Speaking of which, when Ashe was being chased by the Empress’s heroic soul, he saw troops wearing Red Hats from the Spider Tower. He didn’t think much of it at the time, but now that he recalls, weren’t they just the Red Hat security forces from the Gospel Kingdom?

However, is it that the Virtual Realm troop types mimic real-world prototypes, or has reality infiltrated the Virtual Realm, creating these troop types…?

Compared to the familiar Blood Tomb troop types, the new troop type left Ashe baffled.

“Two-tone Anchor”

“2 layers of armor, 20% anchoring, each unit consumes 2 points of soul power.”

“Anchoring”

“When you encounter any external influence (physical attack, mental shock, curse debilitation, etc.) or self-change (consuming spellforce, enhancing yourself, etc.), there is a chance to trigger the anchoring effect. Once anchoring is triggered, for the next 5 seconds, you cannot be influenced by external factors, nor can you influence the external world.”

Unlike other troop types, “Two-tone Anchor” doesn’t have a prefix like “Star Shrine” or “Blood Tomb,” indicating that it is not an exclusive troop type of any faction. Moreover, it doesn’t have any attack bonuses; its only feature is the “anchoring” special effect.

At first glance, this effect seems very powerful: once triggered, you become invincible to external influences. But the problem is that when “anchoring” is triggered, Ashe also cannot influence the external world, becoming a mere bystander—wait a minute, could this be an exclusive troop type derived from my title of “apocalypse observer”?

However, this troop type is exactly what Ashe needed. If they were really chased by the Spider Tower legion, this 20% anchoring could potentially help them avoid multiple fatal attacks. Even if anchoring limits their ability to attack, it wouldn’t matter—in the face of the heroic soul legion, their combat power was negligible anyway. Their main strategy was to rely on the Sports car to gas the pursuers to death.

After organizing his gains, Ashe looked up at Valcas. “You’re just giving this to me, aren’t you afraid I’ll go back on my word? And if you were willing to surrender, why didn’t you surrender to those two sorcerers earlier?”

“I may lack emotions, but I’m not brainless.” Valcas pointed to her temple. “The Ashe Heath in my memory is a fool with an excess of conscience. Besides, I have no means to restrain you. When I give it to you makes no difference; I have to trust you. As for those two… my memory tells me they are not trustworthy.”

Ashe didn’t think much of it, simply assuming that Valcas had encountered unfamiliar sorcerers whom she didn’t dare to trust easily.

“Can’t you surrender and leave?” Ashe asked, puzzled.

The Death Arena allows for surrender. It’s normal for knowledge creatures and sorcerer projections not to surrender; after all, the former can’t speak, and the latter have no self-awareness. But a heroic soul commander, who is at least a form of artificial intelligence, why wouldn’t they surrender?

“You sorcerers can surrender because when the Arena drains your spellforce, you leave the virtual realm and return to reality,” Valcas said, naturally using the term “sorcerers.” “But we cannot surrender because after the Arena drains our spellforce, we remain here. The Arena continues to absorb our souls until we completely merge with it.”

“Sorcerers and virtual realm creatures are different. While you outsiders can’t survive long-term in the virtual realm, you have certain advantages that we cannot match.”

It was at this moment that Ashe truly realized he was conversing with a virtual realm creature. The virtual realm, for Ashe, was a place of adventure, a dating venue, and an escape from reality. If Ashe ever decided to settle down and leave the virtual realm, he could sever ties with it completely.

But for Valcas and her kind, the virtual realm was their reality.

The Reverse Golden Rain, the Arena, resource points, the Golden Flow… these were rare wonders for Ashe and his companions but regular surroundings for Valcas and her people, elements they needed to map and record.

Life and death imposed an insurmountable veil between them.

If sorcerers were tourists in the virtual realm, Ashe might be one of the few who deeply understood the local culture. While other sorcerers might at best communicate with a Raging Slashing Dragon through roars, Ashe had engaged in meaningful dialogue with two heroic soul commanders, learning truths that even Sanctuary Legends might not know.

The Empress commander had even admired Ashe after their conversation, so much so that she wanted to keep him in the virtual realm-forever.

Ashe mused, “If I died in the Gospel Kingdom, would I likely become a colleague of the Empress’s heroic soul? But my body is from the Blood Moon Kingdom, and I’ve participated in the Blood Moon Tribunal. Would the Blood Moon Sovereign fight the Omniscient Weaver to claim me as a talent?”

“So, only I can surrender and leave?”

“That’s correct,” Valcas nodded. “But if you insist on killing me, there’s nothing I can do. I’ve given you all my spirits before my death, including the soul summoning spirit. I no longer have any combat capabilities.”

Ashe suddenly summoned the Heart Sword spirit. Valcas stared at the Heart Sword, lifting her head slightly to expose her smooth neck, as if waiting for an end.

“Do you want me to return it to you?” Ashe asked.

Valcas was slightly taken aback and shook her head. “The Virtual Realm doesn’t allow the exchange of spirits. The moment you release the Heart Sword, it will vanish and escape.”

“Oh, right,” Ashe remembered the rule.

The elf woman asked, “And you’ve upgraded this spirit to two-wings. Are you still willing to give it back to me?”

Ashe countered, “But wasn’t this a gift you prepared for your child?”

“You can keep it,” Valcas thought for a moment. “However… speaking of which, I have a favor to ask.”

“As long as it’s not making me your colleague, I’m open to it.”

“During my final moments, when I was about to be executed by the Titan Executioner, ‘Valcas’ had a message for her child. If you get the chance, please find that child and deliver this message.”

I’m no longer in the Blood Moon Kingdom… Ashe was silent for a moment and then nodded. “Alright.”

The elf woman gazed into the distance, as if reading the final page of a non-existent book, and with a cold tone, recited the story’s closing lines: “I’m sorry… You should live well. I’ve disappointed you. Never follow my path and violate the Bloodline Prohibition Law.”

Ashe was silent for a moment and then asked, “You said you have no desires other than ‘understanding memory.’ So why do you want me to deliver your message?”

Valcas glanced at him, her lips curling into the only smile she showed during their entire conversation.

“Yes, why indeed?”