Sorcerer’s Handbook

Let’s rewind to the early morning of May 20th.

When Yvaren Belldate captured the Funeral Firm group, she didn’t hand them over to the Red Hat, nor did she preemptively eliminate Ashe and Harvey. Instead, she made a strange deal with Annan: Yvaren would protect their whereabouts and even provide them with comfortable accommodations, but they were only allowed to operate within her manor and were forbidden from leaving without permission.

Additionally, as soon as the six of them collectively earned 6000 bell points, the deal would be over, and the Funeral Firm group would regain their freedom.

There were six of them, meaning each person needed to earn 1000 bell points. Yvaren offered them various positions, where working eight hours a day could earn them 60 bell points, and overtime could yield up to 100 bell points.

In theory, without eating or drinking, they could all escape within ten days at most.

The fairness of this deal was undeniable. With Annan, the head of the Funeral Firm, personally supervising and detailing all the specifics, it was impossible for Yvaren to exploit any loopholes to trap them.

However, the deal itself was quite peculiar.

Ashe initially thought Yvaren wanted to use this to coerce them into practicing Criminal Law, but the jobs Yvaren provided were all quite normal: cleaning corridors, trimming gardens, hanging clothes to dry… there was even a position for a healer. The only challenge was the sheer volume of work due to the size of the Belldate manor.

The only overt pitfall was that food and drink required spending bell points, which would significantly slow down their accumulation of points. Thus, Ashe and the others’ initial plan was to work without spending, relying on Banjeet’s suitcase for sustenance.

They hadn’t forgotten that Banjeet carried a lot of emergency rations.

However, Banjeet explained that his emergency rations were plentiful but insufficient to support six people for over ten days, especially given that they needed to perform high-intensity work daily. Fresh, nutritious food was necessary to sustain their bodies.

Moreover, Annan also mentioned, “If you only save money without spending it, you’ll easily fall into Yvaren’s trap. Belldate loves people like you who delay gratification and force yourselves to endure hardship. You use future expectations to overcome present difficulties, continuously putting pressure on yourselves. When an irresistible temptation appears, you’ll use the word ‘reward’ to hypnotize yourselves, squandering your wealth for a moment of happiness.”

“The so-called currency only has value when it circulates. If you don’t use it at all, it’s just numbers on a ledger, and it’s easier to spend it thoughtlessly. Even if it’s just to understand the value of bell points and to cherish your earnings, you should use bell points to buy food.”

“I can only remind you of one thing: at most, you can only use the bell points you earn yourselves. You must never use ‘Bell-Pay’ or accept any gifts from Yvaren, unless she explicitly says, ‘This is an unconditional gift for you.’”

“Bell-Pay and gifts are the most sinister Miracles of Belldate, the crowning achievements of the Dominance Sect.”

When Annan unveiled the mysteries of the Dominance Sect, Ashe and the others finally understood Yvaren’s cunning intentions.

The Dominance Sect is an ancient faction with a long history, a derivative of the Mental Sect, also known as the ‘Enslavement Sect.’

Its name says it all—dominating others, enslaving all things.

It is said that during the chaotic times a millennium ago, the Dominance Sect was at its peak. Any powerful faction inevitably had high-ranking domination sorcerers. Only domination sorcerers could represent the comprehensive combat power of a faction; factions without domination sorcerers were nothing more than insignificant riffraff.

The reason lies in the domination sorcerers’ ability to possess the combat power to fight against thousands. This is not a metaphor; it’s the literal ‘one against ten thousand’: domination sorcerers could enslave legions numbering over ten thousand, commanding them to destroy classical armies that relied on shouted commands and foot messengers.

Even sorcerers of the same rank could not compete with a domination sorcerer commanding a structured legion. Titles like ‘Strategic Sorcerer’ and ‘Legion Sorcerer’ allowed the Dominance Sect to look down on other spellcasting factions. There was even a period when the saying ‘the end of spellcasting is domination’ became popular.

However, the greatest enemy of the Spellcasting Sect is the development of the times, the progress of spellcasting, and the ever-changing human heart.

When the Yisuo Royal Family unified the Gospel, the demand for war was suppressed to the extreme, and the disadvantages of the Dominance Sect were magnified instantly: domination sorcerers often controlled specific combat beasts, such as wolves, cats, rats, pigs, and so on. In times of war, these beasts could be sustained or bred for battle, but without war, there was no reason to maintain these private assets of the domination sorcerers.

A domination sorcerer without a legion was merely a downgraded version of a mental sorcerer. Domination sorcerers also tried to reverse the trend by having their legions engage in production and mining, but even the most agile beast couldn’t compete with the clumsiest orc.

As for using the Dominance Sect to run livestock farming—it wasn’t impossible, but ordinary people without the Dominance Sect could also shepherd sheep and raise pigs quite well.

Not all military facilities can be converted to civilian businesses.

This wasn’t even a slow decline; after all, a decline is a gradual process. The Dominance Sect instantaneously collapsed on the day the Gospel was unified, celebrating peace with its demise.

According to the historical process, perhaps if the Gospel fell into chaos again or if there was a large-scale war between Kingdoms, the Dominance Sect would be dug up from the annals of history and updated, blooming with even more brilliant and cruel colors.

Royal power is not eternal; only interests are everlasting.

But the Belldate family successfully halted the wheels of history, becoming the only reverse-trend powerhouse in the entire Gospel—they invented Miracles that could dominate intelligent creatures.

The reason the Dominance Sect only enslaved beasts and not intelligent creatures—even those regarded as the ‘scum’ of intelligent beings like orcs, ogres, and goblins—was that intelligent creatures possess civilization and can communicate, which means they can accumulate knowledge and enhance their wisdom.

Wisdom is not a fixed attribute. For example, an orc who graduated from university undoubtedly has greater wisdom than a human who grew up in the jungle with beasts. As long as one keeps acquiring new knowledge, forming their own worldview, and learning to think, their wisdom will gradually increase.

And the natural enemy of the Dominance Sect is wisdom.

The essence of domination is to “impose one’s will upon others,” making one’s commands the fate of enslaved creatures and one’s will their sole directive.

Why are beasts easier to dominate? Because they lack sufficient wisdom. Even if they resist, they don’t know why they resist, how to resist, or what to do after resisting. The process of domination is akin to telling them, “Listen to me, and you’ll be well-fed, well-watered, and warm.” The beasts think this is acceptable, so they submit to enslavement.

Intelligent creatures, however, can think, desire more, and question, “Can I just eat without working?” “I don’t want to go,” “Is it possible you could be my slave?” One or two such creatures are manageable, but when their numbers reach thousands or tens of thousands, the difficulty of domination increases exponentially, rendering control impossible.

A domination sorcerer who can enslave a legion of ten thousand beasts can at most dominate ten intelligent creatures. Moreover, beasts almost never rebel, but intelligent creatures have a high likelihood of betraying the sorcerer out of dissatisfaction.

So, how many intelligent creatures has Belldate dominated?

According to statistics, Mephila had a permanent population of 7.958 million in 1687. And that’s just a fraction because, unlike Vamora, Belldate’s influence extends throughout the Gospel. The total number of people she dominates likely exceeds ten million.

Belldate achieved this astonishing feat by combining the Dominance Sect with the Ritual Sect, leveraging the power of the Virtual Realm.

Belldate doesn’t strive for 100% domination over other beings, and Yvaren doesn’t possess the vastness needed to control the souls of millions. Instead, they utilize mutually beneficial Pacts to a certain extent—offering sufficient benefits in exchange for a portion of the subjects’ cognitive abilities.

It’s said to be a peculiar sensation; the dominated individuals don’t feel as if another person has taken residence in their minds—Belldate doesn’t have the time to delve into the tumultuous thoughts of every mortal. In fact, surveys show that the people of Mephila consider this a “profitable deal,” “a bargain,” “Belldate got the short end of the stick.”

But is Belldate really losing out?

According to statistics, Mephila ranks first in the Gospel for average working hours per capita, last in aging population, first in consumption levels, and has a populace that is universally in debt.

The seemingly incompatible terms “advance consumption for entertainment,” “high-intensity work,” and “marriage and childbirth” are common characteristics of every Mephilan. Despite getting married and having children, each Mephilan also works intensely every day, spends all their income, often overdrawing their credit limits during holidays, and then returns to high-intensity work.

When they reach the age of fifty and their physical functions begin to decline, Mephilans suddenly develop desires to “relive their adventure dreams,” “embrace life’s challenges,” or “explore the vast Gospel.” They voluntarily vacate their jobs, spend all their money, and venture into the Abyss, towering mountains, or other life-threatening places, effectively ending their lives. As a result, Mephila maintains a healthy population structure, with bustling streets filled with young and robust individuals, and hardly a single elderly person in sight, always vibrant and dynamic.

Incidentally, the city with the highest aging population is Vamora.

Every Mephilan feels normal and believes their life is joyful and fulfilling, and this is precisely what makes Belldate so terrifying.

Belldate uses Rituals to convert the cognitive abilities of millions of people into her own mental processing power, subtly influencing every dominated individual through mental threads. Simply put, Belldate uses the cognitive resources provided by the Mephilans to dominate them. Thus, even though Yvaren is only a two-wings sorcerer, she can easily wield mental control over millions of people.

Belldate doesn’t attempt to forcibly dominate the populace with commands like “work until you die,” “give me all your money,” or “commit suicide if your efficiency drops to make way for the young.” Such orders would be met with resistance. Instead, she subtly modifies Mephilans on a cognitive level with sweetened concepts like “pursue your dreams,” “reward yourself,” and “take risks before you grow old,” transforming them into the producers and consumers she needs.

The Belldate Corporation has maintained its stronghold in Mephila for many years, even claiming the era’s dividends in the city on the second level for itself. This success demonstrates that they have successfully transformed the Dominance Sect into a new version that adapts to a civilized society.

The medium through which Belldate dominates the masses is money, or more specifically, loans.

They provide the entire society with interest-free loans that can be borrowed at any time and repaid over years, but the collateral is the borrower’s shared cognitive abilities. The more one borrows, the greater the share of their cognitive abilities.

How the people of Mephila dealt with this in the past is unknown, but today, nearly all Mephilans treat “Bell-Pay loans” as their personal wallets, spending recklessly in their youth.

If they collectively defaulted, Belldate might face a financial crisis. Interestingly, once Mephilans reach adulthood, they work hard to repay their loans and then continue borrowing and spending. The term “defaulter” is almost non-existent in Mephila.

“Rather than calling it the Dominance Sect, it should be called the Money Sect,” Annan summarized. “Now you understand why Yvaren asked us to save 6000 bell points? She’s simply providing you with a channel to spend, luring you into using Bell-Pay, which then allows her to infiltrate your mind and transform you into the slaves she needs.”

“Do not accept any gifts from her unless she explicitly states that they are unconditional. As long as she hasn’t declared it, it remains her property. Every second you use it, you are encroaching on her assets, and she can demand repayment with your cognitive abilities.”

Igor had a question: “Why don’t Azura, Vamora, and other places adopt this effective Money Sect method? Why is it only Belldate using it?”

Annan replied, “Because not every Family has an Angel ancestor.”

The fundamental reason Belldate can dominate millions is that each of their loans is bound by a “money for cognitive abilities” Pact. The true enforcer of these Pacts is not Yvaren, nor her ancestors, but the Virtual Realm.

Only the Virtual Realm can support such high-frequency contracts, occurring millions of times daily. In a sense, Belldate’s real backing is the Virtual Realm.

Even if other Families wanted to emulate Belldate, without the Virtual Realm, they wouldn’t be able to dominate even a few dozen people, let alone run a small to medium-sized enterprise.

In the past, Annan and the others did not understand how Belldate managed to secure the support of the Virtual Realm. It wasn’t until the Family Ranking was released that they understood—the Necromancy Angel, although not leaving a legacy for the family, left behind a golden key for her descendants to enslave all beings.

“The Necromancy Sect and the Dominance Sect have similarities,” Harvey explained. “The Dominance Sect enslaves the living, while the Necromancy Sect creates and enslaves the dead. The Necromancy Angel was able to extrapolate from this and invent new dominance Miracles. It might seem off-track, but it’s quite reasonable.”

By now, everyone understood their next goals.

Earn 6000 bell points.

And avoid owing Yvaren anything.

“And yet you still dare to buy things from Yvaren!” Igor slammed the table in anger. “Today, you think it’s okay to use the bell points you’ve earned. Tomorrow, you’ll think it’s okay to use a little Bell-Pay. The day after, you’ll be mortgaging your brain for cheap! This is how she gradually breaks down your psychological defenses until you let down your guard and become slaves to that vile glue woman!”

Harvey raised his hand. “Igor…”

“Harvey, can’t you be a bit more mindful?” Igor sighed. “Everyone knows you love the Necromancy Sect. Everyone sees that you will inherit the Angel’s mantle one day. And the Angel whose grave you’re digging up is Yvaren’s ancestor. Do you think she has any goodwill towards you? She just wants to use you to reclaim her ancestor’s legacy. How can you still dare to buy her things? If I were you, I’d consider myself a corpse already and avoid listening to, seeing, or speaking to that venomous woman!”

Lise also raised her hand. “Aunt Bukin…”

“You don’t get to speak either!” Igor glared at Lise. “Can’t you use a hand mirror? Do you really need to seek that little convenience? Didn’t Ashe teach you not to talk to strangers? Yvaren is like a female Ogre who preys on children. Why would you still interact with her?”

Ashe raised his hand with a complicated expression. “Male Bewitcher, that…”

Igor, growing more and more furious, interrupted, “Ashe, you’re the most ridiculous. This morning, you swore you could resist temptation, and now you’re already feeling weak. Let me guess, is she seducing you? Can’t you hold out for a few days or take care of it yourself? Please don’t tell me you’re attracted to Yvaren, that Dwarf.”

“Igor Bukin.”

Igor was slightly stunned and turned his head slowly to see the blue-haired girl standing behind him.

“Sorry, the Dwarf wants to see you. Please come with me.”

“…No problem.” The Con Artist quickly composed himself, following Yvaren out as if nothing had happened. But before leaving, he turned and glared at Ashe and the others, as if questioning why they hadn’t warned him.

However, Ashe and the others felt wronged. They had tried several times to interrupt Igor, but the Con Artist’s Miracle of speech was released so quickly and urgently that they could only watch as Igor repeatedly insulted Yvaren.

“Do you think a coffin can fit two people?” Harvey suddenly asked.

Ashe thought for a moment. “I think it’s possible. Igor is quite slim.”

Lise blinked, confused. “Huh (⊙△⊙)?”

Ashe patted Lise’s head. “Lise, today it’s just the three of us having dinner. No one else, got it?”

Lise’s eyes widened in shock. “Σ(°△ °|||) You mean you guys have already decided Aunt Bukin is doomed!?”