Sorcerer’s Handbook

When Ashe regained consciousness, he felt someone in his arms.

He blinked, his gaze slowly drifting downward…

And then he saw a pair of black and white silk legs.

The Witch had placed her legs on him, curling up like a child in the Sword Princess’s arms. Although he was relieved that it wasn’t an operator in his arms, being used as a footrest by the Witch was something he couldn’t quite accept—especially since she hadn’t taken off her boots!

As Ashe woke up, Sonya also regained consciousness. She first felt the soft warmth in her arms, blushed slightly, and looked down to see it was the Witch. Instantly relieved, she then turned her head and saw Ashe.

Noticing the reproach in Ashe’s eyes, Sonya’s nose twitched slightly, she pouted and avoided his gaze, then nudged the Witch. “Wake up!”

Deya sat up groggily, her hair color now back to normal, and yawned, “I’m exhausted…”

“I remember that the Sword Princess and I didn’t make it across the Golden Flow,” Ashe said, glancing sideways at Sonya, who pretended not to see.

“I was the one who pulled you up,” Deya said. “But I wasn’t foolish enough to turn back in the Golden Flow. I climbed to the shore first and then pulled you both up.”

Sonya blushed deeply with shame—she had been called a fool by the Witch and had no way to refute it.

“But what did you use to pull us up…” Ashe trailed off, realizing the answer himself.

The Water-born Thread!

Both he and the Sword Princess had the Water-born Thread placed by the Witch around their necks! Initially, it was just a ‘mutual destruction line’ to ease the Witch’s mind, but it had unexpectedly become their ‘lifeline’!

Sonya asked, “But wouldn’t the Water-born Thread cut our necks?”

“I can increase the density of the water spell spirit, making the Water-born Thread soft and tough,” Deya said, spreading her hands. “For example, the Water-born Thread I hold in my hands feels as soft as a teddy bear’s paw, no matter how hard I pull, it won’t cut my hands.”

“How long have we been resting?” Ashe asked.

“About a few minutes, I think,” Deya replied uncertainly. “After dragging you out of the Golden Flow, I collapsed from exhaustion myself.”

Ashe opened the virtual realm map and found that the surrounding area was normal, with no trace of the heroic soul legion. Although Ashe didn’t know how long the Golden Flow stretched, neither did the heroic soul legion—in the commander’s map, the Golden Flow was the only unmarkable landmark because its position changed every day, every hour, and every second.

The Golden Flow was the trace left by the white bull, which was constantly moving, so the Golden Flow was always changing. Generally speaking, there were actually only two main branches of the Golden Flow, corresponding to the two front legs of the white bull, but these main branches split into countless smaller branches, forming a network of the Golden Flow that created normal flowing spacetime.

The tributary they had just crossed might be an end branch, extending only a few dozen meters; but it could also be a third-level or even second-level branch, stretching for kilometers, making it impossible for the heroic soul legion to catch up within a few hours.

Besides, even if the heroic soul legion could rush over, Ashe had no solution. Their soul energy was entirely spent on repairing their soul bodies, leaving no extra energy for movement.

Moving in the virtual realm required soul energy. Previously, they had saved energy by riding in a car, but now that the sports car was wrecked and they had no other means of transportation… Wait a minute?

Ashe suddenly remembered that the Substitute could carry him, couldn’t it?

Although he could only summon one Substitute, if the Substitute carried him, and he carried the Sword Princess, and the Sword Princess carried the Witch, forming a human stack, wouldn’t they still be able to move normally?

When Ashe proposed this idea, it was met with unanimous opposition from the Sword Princess and the Witch.

Sonya said, “How far can the Substitute go? If the heroic soul legion really catches up, the Substitute definitely won’t outrun them. If the heroic soul legion doesn’t find us, we can leave in a few minutes, so there’s no need to complicate things.”

“Just thinking about it feels weird,” Deya said. “But it’s interesting that the Substitute can be used this way… Speaking of which, is the Substitute considered a Rare Spirit?”

“In my place, it doesn’t count,” the village girl shook her head. “But it’s not very useful. The Substitute can’t inherit the sorcerer’s spirits, can’t speak for precise operations, and collapses at the slightest touch. In battle, it can only serve as a decoy. In daily life, it can handle some basic chores. However, the Substitute spirit has a huge appetite, needing to consume a silver coin every few days, which is two to three times that of an ordinary spirit… If a sorcerer is particularly lazy, they might specifically acquire a Substitute spirit.”

Deya nodded repeatedly. “Indeed.”

Ashe also abandoned the idea. Due to the Golden Flow, the surrounding area was actually quite safe, as virtual realm creatures instinctively avoided the Golden Flow.

If they wandered too far, they might encounter a sorcerer projection or a wandering Blade Fish Dragon, and moving around now would put them in a weakened state, risking being kicked out of the virtual realm. Escaping only to violate the Pact and die would be too unlucky.

“Let’s sort out what we’ve gained and lost,” Ashe said, rubbing his temples. “Sword Princess, you…”

“Witch, we really owe it to you,” Sonya interrupted, pressing down Deya’s stray hair. “Without you, we wouldn’t have made it. The Witch is the best!”

“Hehe,” Deya scratched her head shyly. “I’m not that great…”

“This time, the Witch really did a great job,” Ashe said, reaching out to pat the Witch as a gesture of praise, but Deya dodged. “Compared to that, Sword Princess, you…”

“Are we still in the Spider Tower area tomorrow?” Sonya asked.

Ashe checked the virtual realm map. “The Celestial Bull will spend half of tomorrow night in the Spider Tower area, but the ‘mandatory three-hour stay’ requirement only triggers once when the Celestial Bull enters the Spider Tower area. The next activation will be when the white bull enters the Spider Tower area again, so we don’t need to enter the virtual realm tomorrow.”

“Is the car breaking down a problem? The newly made Alchemy Throne won’t fail, will it?”

“It should be fine…”

“Oh, by the way, Witch, you were so arrogant just now. Let me mimic it for you…”

The Sword Princess deflected the conversation.

Ashe returned to reality, feeling somewhat frustrated.

The sword Princess’s act of rescuing someone in the Golden Flow was incredibly foolish. Ashe had intended to find an opportunity to give her a stern talking-to, and it had to be in front of the Witch. He wanted to prove that he was impartial, holding every operator to the same strict standards, and that he would never cover for incompetent teammates as the Extreme Mode captain.

However, the sword Princess was exhibiting her extrovert extraordinaire tendencies, leaving Ashe no chance to interject. It wasn’t that there were no opportunities, but every time Ashe tried to speak, he was cut off by the sword Princess’s pitiful gaze, forcing him to continue refining his words.

By the time Ashe had formulated a stern yet gentle speech in his mind, their Virtual Realm work shift had unknowingly reached the three-hour mark. The sword Princess clocked out immediately, giving Ashe no chance to hold a meeting.

Still, Ashe knew that deep down, he didn’t want to scold the sword Princess.

After all, he was a Cult Leader, not a saint. The fact that the sword Princess dared to turn back to save him in such a situation, even if it was a misguided and futile action, made it impossible for Ashe not to feel grateful.

But Ashe needed to think about the team.

In their recent clash with the Empress’s heroic soul, the cracks in their team dynamics had been laid bare. On a normal day, things might be fine, but in truly critical moments, the Witch instinctively didn’t trust the two of them. If it came to a situation where someone had to be sacrificed, the Witch would believe she was the one to be discarded first.

In fact, the Witch’s feeling was accurate.

It’s the existence of favoritism that allows for distinctions in closeness. Ashe was only human, not a Divine Sovereign; how could he possibly achieve a completely emotionless ‘fair and just’ stance?

Even the Blood Moon Sovereign favored the Blood Saint Moonshadow.

But thinking this way and acting on it are different matters. Ashe had to find a way to demonstrate his stance, or the team would eventually become united only in appearance while divided in reality.

It was time to show his true management skills!

But if managing just three people was this troublesome, how would he handle a larger team in the future…?

Ashe sighed. Just as he was about to get up, he suddenly felt someone in his arms.

He looked down and saw another pair of feet.

It was Lise. She was sleeping right next to Ashe, her little feet resting on his stomach, drooling on her teddy bear. Ashe remembered that Lise had asked to sleep with him last night. Since he was going to the Virtual Realm anyway, he had let her.

Why does everyone like to use me as a footrest…?

Since it was still early dawn, Ashe lay back down and summoned the Gospel Book. He opened *Aurora’s Sorcerer Handbook*, and information immediately popped up.

“Growth Report of Death Maniac Sword Princess 5.17~5.23”

“Swordsmanship Sect: Golden → Golden”

“Light Sect: Silver → Silver”

“Water Sect: Silver → Silver”

“Time Sect: Silver → Golden”

“Spellforce: Golden One-Winged → Golden Two-Wings”

“Training Evaluation: A!”

“Due to receiving an A-level evaluation, Death Maniac Sword Princess obtained the Sorcerer Handbook’s class enhancement: Annihilation Golden Sorcerer → Crippled Troop!”

“Crippled Troop Class Trait: Deals 20% extra damage to heroic soul commanders, each strike breaks one layer of troop armor.”

“Growth Report of the Black and White Witch 5.17~5.23”

“Bond Level: 1 → 2 (40% experience sharing)”

“Mental Sect: Silver → Silver”

“Fist-Claw Sect: Golden → Golden”

“Time Sect: Silver → Golden”

“Water Sect: Silver → Silver”

“Spellforce: Golden Two-Wings → Golden Three-Winged”

“Training Evaluation: A!”

“Due to receiving an A-level evaluation, the Black and White Witch obtained the Sorcerer Handbook’s class enhancement: Annihilation Follower → Death Warrior!”

“Death Warrior: Deals 20% extra damage to heroic soul commanders, each strike causes a brief pause for heroic soul commanders.”

Ashe immediately noticed something was wrong—how had both the sword Princess and the Witch’s Time Sect reached the Golden level!?

It made sense for the Witch to advance to Golden since she naturally possessed a time talent. But the sword Princess had obtained her Time Sect realm from the Amnesia Cabin; she hadn’t undergone any training!

The Cult Leader realized something, opened his operator interface, and found that his own Time Sect was already at the Golden level!

His Swordsmanship Sect was still at the Silver level!

What is this? The hard-earned efforts can’t compare to the sudden windfall?

Ashe could figure out the reason for their Time Sect’s rapid growth with his toenails—Golden Flow!

The Virtual Realm is the fairest; you get as much as you give. Although the three of them barely survived in the Golden Flow, they directly faced the essence of time, gaining a massive amount of sect experience, which pushed their Sect Realms to the Golden level!

However, this kind of thing is probably a one-time deal; only the first adventure yields such huge rewards. Even if they gain experience in a second attempt, it won’t push their Sect Realms to the Sanctuary level.

On another note, the sword Princess and the Witch’s new classes, ‘crippled troop’ and ‘death warrior,’ are quite interesting. They seem specifically designed to deal with the heroic soul legion. But right now, they’re trying to avoid the heroic soul legion, so how could they possibly provoke those monsters?

Besides, the Witch’s Bond Level also increased by one. Perhaps it’s due to the Shared Life they experienced earlier.

“Mm…”

Lise let out a cute, lazy sound, kicking her legs on his stomach, smacking her lips, and then hugging Ashe, wiping her drool on his clothes. Ashe pushed this 40-pound attachment away and got up to wash.

Ashe was halfway through brushing his teeth when Lise, still sleepy, walked into the bathroom, tearing open a new toothbrush cup to brush her teeth next to him.

The little girl glanced at the mirror, her body slightly stiffening. Then she quickly finished rinsing and washing her face, turning to hug Ashe.

“…There’s a towel right there. Do you have to use my pajamas to wipe your hands?” Ashe said helplessly.

‘Lise’ shook her head, snuggling into Ashe’s arms like a little pig.

“Why are you so clingy today?”

“…I had a dream last night.”

“A nightmare?”

‘Lise’ thought for a moment, then shook her head again. “I dreamt that everyone had someone who cared about them, but I was all alone, excluded.”

“Don’t worry, dreams are the opposite of reality. In real life, you’re probably the one excluding everyone else.”

After washing his face, Ashe took ‘Lise’ to the vanity, saying while helping her comb her hair, “Let me do your hair today.”

“Hey? Didn’t you always tell me to ask Aunt Bukin for help before?” Lise was a bit surprised.

“What if Aunt Bukin isn’t with us anymore?” Ashe said calmly. “We can’t always rely on him, can we?”

“But even if I don’t ask Aunt Bukin, I can still ask Aunt Annan, Uncle Banjeet, or Uncle Harvey for help!”

Ashe felt deeply humiliated. “It’s one thing if I’m not as good as Annan and Banjeet, but why am I even less dependable than Harvey!?”

“Alice is quite pretty…” Lise muttered. “But, is Aunt Bukin really going to leave us?”

“To be precise, he won’t need friends like us anymore.” Ashe shrugged. “In the journey of life, people come and go. Some leave for new opportunities, some to inherit family businesses, some because of their father-in-law’s support. Only the hardworking stay on the train… I’m used to it.”

“But what if Aunt Bukin gets scammed?”

“Him? A Con Artist? Scammed?”

“Doesn’t Aunt Bukin always say you tricked him? He seems to fall for fool’s tricks easily.”

“You have a point… Are you insulting me?”

After flicking Lise’s forehead, Ashe pondered. “Speaking of which, Belldate’s interest in Igor is indeed suspicious… As his friends, we should really vet Belldate properly to ensure her sincerity!”

Lise blinked. “So kind-hearted?”

“The main reason is that while my heart wants to wish him a happy marriage, I’m not magnanimous enough to accept a friend’s success,” Ashe said seriously. “If I can legitimately ruin his happiness, that would be fantastic.”