Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Observer, why don’t you just apologize?”

During a battle at a large mercury resource point, Deya stepped back to Ashe’s side and whispered to him while they had a brief respite from fighting the Overlord Foxlamp Dragon.

“Even if I wanted to apologize, I need to know what I did wrong,” Ashe said helplessly.

“But if you did nothing wrong, why is she so angry?”

With a mournful cry, the Foxlamp Dragon exploded, dropping three spirits and an Experience Orb. One of the spirits was a two-winged Flow spirit, perfect for replacing Ashe’s one-winged Flow. The two-winged Moon Threads spirit and the light spell orb were both suitable for feeding the Sword Princess.

As Ashe handed over the spirits and the orb, Sonya snatched them from his hand instantly, as if she didn’t want to have even a moment of physical contact with him.

Deya watched from the side, shaking her head repeatedly with a ‘See, I told you’ expression, covering her mouth in schadenfreude until the Sword Princess glanced over, at which point she turned to scavenge for resources.

Ashe was equally at a loss-he had no idea what had happened!

Tonight, the Sword Princess was acting very strangely, treating him with extreme hostility. Even when they first met, she wasn’t this bad. But Ashe couldn’t recall doing anything to offend her. He hadn’t succeeded in scolding her the night before, and they didn’t even log in last night. So why had the Sword Princess suddenly turned into the Extreme Sword Princess Overlord Lord tonight?

Ashe thought about it seriously. He hadn’t drawn any special event cards for the Sword Princess recently, so it couldn’t be his fault. It had to be something in the Sword Princess’s own storyline.

Could it be that the TV drama the Sword Princess was filming had received terrible reviews, and her character was being trashed?

Or had she lost in a competition and been mercilessly mocked by the Anti-Sword Princess Alliance?

Or maybe a classmate had betrayed her, and there was an infiltrator in the Stretch Paw Club?

It could also be due to her physiological cycle…

There were too many possibilities for Ashe to figure out. He thought for a moment and walked over to Sonya under Deya’s reverent gaze. “Sword Princess, I need to talk to you.”

“Talk,” Sonya said, still sifting through mercury materials.

“Even though I don’t know why you’re in a bad mood, taking it out on others isn’t a good thing, you know.”

Sonya looked up at him. “Do you mean taking out my anger on those who have nothing to do with it?”

“Exactly.”

“Well, then I’m not taking out my anger.”

Deya struggled to hold back her laughter, while Ashe, looking frustrated, went to collect the Mercury Essence.

They were currently in the Star Shrine phase, and Ashe had previously obtained the Star Shrine map from Demilo. This allowed them to explore the Time Continent as if they had a complete map. Usually, the commander’s map couldn’t be saved and could only be used on the night the commander was defeated. However, the virtual realm map had a memory function, turning a single-use item into an infinite-use one, allowing Ashe and his team to enjoy a well-planned sightseeing tour.

Ashe didn’t blindly choose virtual realm locations with special mechanisms. Those places were widely scattered and had inconsistent rewards. For example, the Amnesia Cabin wasn’t very profitable even without the Empress Heroic Soul issue. Similarly, while Ashe benefited from the Legendary Library, the Witch didn’t get anything—mainly because the Witch was too greedy.

In comparison, scavenging resources to upgrade the Alchemy Throne was far more critical. Concentrating spellforce was always a guaranteed improvement, not to mention that scavenging resources often yielded spirits and Experience Orbs. Thus, Ashe devised a route that passed through many rare resource points, hoping to significantly upgrade the Alchemy Throne by the end of the night.

After Ashe and his team finished scavenging the fifth resource point, he noticed on the map that a heroic soul legion was approaching.

It was still the Star Shrine phase, and it was the Spider Tower legion’s turn to move. There was no way the Empress’s commander legion could chase them down. Ashe didn’t pay much attention, driving around to the next resource point.

However, as soon as they finished scavenging, they found the heroic soul legion right in their faces!

Several Thousand-feathered Drakes in the distance were continuously attacking the sports car’s Refracting Wall. Ashe quickly drove away. This heroic soul legion didn’t seem to have many troops, and they didn’t engage in close combat, so the escape was relatively easy.

But this raised a significant issue—how could the Star Shrine’s heroic soul legion precisely locate them and chase them down?

“Our paramour loves us too much…” Ashe gritted his teeth. “She actually leaked our coordinates to all factions!?”

This had to be the reason. The Empress, realizing she couldn’t kill Ashe and his team, disclosed their coordinates and location-tracking method to all factions. She might even have revealed that they possessed a Secret Incarnation, enticing other factions to join the hunt for Ashe!

As for why the Empress would risk losing the Secret Incarnation to do this, the reason was simple-she knew she couldn’t catch them on her own!

The Empress likely didn’t know that they barely survived crossing the Golden Flow, but just having the ability to cross it put Ashe and his team in an unbeatable position. No matter how strong the heroic soul legion, they could only look wistfully at the Golden Flow.

If she couldn’t have it, then no one else should either!

By releasing this information and inciting all factions to hunt Ashe and his team, the worst-case scenario would be the destruction of the Secret Incarnation. The best-case scenario would be Ashe and his team exhausting their soul power in other areas, arriving at the Spider Tower territory without the ability to cross the Golden Flow, and being easily captured by the Empress’s heroic soul.

If she didn’t release the information, her legion would certainly never catch Ashe, who could cross the Golden Flow!

Given this comparison, even a fool would know what to choose, let alone an Empress as malicious as her!

Moreover, don’t forget that although the destruction of a conceptual Incarnation would cause all related spirits to collapse, the conceptual Incarnation could be regenerated given enough time. Losing the Secret Incarnation was a significant loss but still recoverable. If the Secret Incarnation were permanently taken to the Third Layer of the Virtual Realm by Ashe and his team, it would be an irreparable disaster!

Even if they were far in the static domain, the Empress could still chase them to exhaustion!

This tactic could be easily countered: Ashe and his team could simply avoid logging into the virtual realm except during the Spider Tower phase. However, this would drastically slow their growth, making it uncertain when they could reach the Third Layer of the Virtual Realm and giving the Empress’s heroic soul more opportunities to ambush and kill them!

Each move was more devious than the last, and each step was more cunning!

When Ashe explained his thoughts, the operators gasped. Deya asked, “So, what do we do?”

“Develop as fast as we can!” Ashe said. “Our sports car is faster than a heroic soul legion. We’ll grab resources and flee before they can catch up! As long as we have a detailed map, we can always find time and space to grow, even under siege!”

Although Sonya and Deya knew that the Observer’s plan made sense, they still felt a bit surreal. Ordinary two-wing sorcerers carefully explored the Time Continent, considering an encounter with a Raging Slashing Dragon a significant Adventure. Yet here they were, planning to grow amid the encirclement and extermination attempts by the Time Continent’s most fearsome presence—the heroic soul legion.

Is this really the kind of pressure a two-wing sorcerer can handle?

Despite their doubts, Sonya and Deya felt no fear. After numerous close calls and having personally defeated a heroic soul legion, they had lost their fear of it. In fact, knowing that the heroic soul legion would chase them only fueled their determination!

“We’re here.”

Ashe suddenly stopped in front of a garden surrounded by wooden railings. Inside, white mist swirled, shimmering with light, and they could even hear singing. Sonya was stunned. “The Misty Miracle Wonderland?”

“Hurry, grab the spirits!”

As soon as Ashe spoke, the three sorcerers used various Movement Miracles to rush in and snatch the spirits. The Misty Miracle Wonderland was a type of Miracle Wonderland where the spirits hid in thick mist. Sorcerers had to rely on luck to catch them. Once a sorcerer entered the Wonderland, the mist would quickly dissipate, and the spirits would vanish, requiring an entire cycle to regroup.

“Hey!”

Ashe dashed here and there but didn’t catch a single spirit, feeling like a pampered young master chasing women, only to be easily dodged. Was this going to be his turn to get nothing?

Taking a deep breath, Ashe remembered that the spirits here loved to sing. He should capture them by following the sound. Sound, sound, sound…

It’s over here!

Ashe leaped precisely towards the source of the sound, only to collide with someone and tumble onto the grass. Looking up, he saw the Sword Princess, who had been in a foul mood all day, sitting on top of him. He gasped, “Sorry, it was an accident—”

“Shh.” Sonya, lying on top of him, covered his mouth. “The Witch isn’t nearby, right?”

“(⊙_⊙)?”

“Hehe.” The village girl laughed. “How was my act today? Convincing?”

“What?” The Cult Leader was taken aback. “Your bad mood today—”

“All an act!” Sonya winked at Ashe. “This way, the Witch will definitely think we’re not getting along, right?”

Why would you do that…? Ashe didn’t need to ask; he already knew the answer.

Just as he could see the cracks in the team, the sword Princess could see them too. While Ashe hadn’t figured out a solution, the sword Princess had come up with hers: since the Witch thought they were too close to be trusted, why not make it seem like they were on bad terms?

Though the method seemed overly simple, it was effective because the Witch was actually a naive and inexperienced girl, perfectly fooled by their act.

“Phew.” Ashe sighed with relief. “I thought—”

“Thought I suddenly started hating you?” Sonya widened her eyes at Ashe, her gaze sparkling, her eyebrows arched, and the corners of her mouth curving like a fox that had snuck a treat.

“Yeah, I thought I must have offended you somehow.”

“You offend me in plenty of ways.”

At this moment, Sonya seemed to realize their position was quite awkward. Blushing, she moved to sit beside him while Ashe also sat up, pondering. “So, should we keep interacting like we did today?”

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s good. It makes things easier for me too—”

“Then I’ll tell the Witch tomorrow that I’ve forgiven you and everything’s back to normal. The effect is already there anyway.”

Ashe glanced at her. Sonya tilted her head. “You aren’t… mad at me, are you?”

“Why would I be mad at you?”

“If it were me, I’d definitely be mad…” Sonya looked down at her fingertips, touching them together. “Actually, I could hardly keep it up just now. I wanted to explain everything to you, but the Witch was always nearby.”

Ashe crossed his arms, looking quite troubled. “Restoring things to normal is fine, but if you plan to attack me like you did earlier, it’s best to wait until the Witch isn’t around—”

“I won’t do it again!”