Sorcerer’s Handbook

The two conversed with phrases that resembled a couple on a date, but they were neither a couple nor was there any agreement between them.

“Congratulations, Mr. Igor,” Anfel pulled out a chair and gracefully sat across from the Con Artist.

“What’s there to congratulate about being number one on the Ranking of Schemes?”

Igor rubbed his temples and said, “Now the entire Gospel is comparing me to Harvey. I’ve even heard people in Mephila saying that the ‘Rust Crow’ and the ‘Ghost King’ are the gatekeepers of Doomsday… Some even think I’m more valuable because only Harvey can inherit the legacy of the Necromancy Angel, but the Ritual knowledge I’ll possess in the future is core technology that everyone can use.”

“Speaking of which, does Gospel have a complaint hotline? I really want to complain about its lack of user-friendly experience.” Igor sighed, resting his face on his hand. “Schemes that get exposed — are they still schemes? Can a revealed mystery still make people laugh?”

“Can’t they?” Anfel retorted.

Igor stared at the red-haired girl, a slight smile playing on his lips. “Of course… they can.”

“The only insight I’ve gained in my career is that there are far too many fools in this world and not enough con artists. The only lesson humans have learned from history is that they never learn any lesson.”

“Whether a good reputation or a bad one, reputation itself is a scarce resource; how you use it is up to you. Now everyone knows I’m a master of schemes. Subconsciously, they’ll refuse to believe my words. By slightly exploiting this cognitive bias, I can set countless traps for my enemies.”

“Even if they already know the future schemes, it won’t enhance their wisdom; it will turn into their ‘stupidity.’ As long as I slightly change the question format, these test-takers who can’t apply one concept to another will fall into my traps just as easily—because the essence of fraud is not ‘information asymmetry,’ but ‘desire.’”

“Increase what they desire, gift what they need.” Igor said with genuine appreciation, “I am truly fortunate to have come to Mephila, to Belldate. If not for this journey, I wouldn’t have such a clear understanding of my path.”

Anfel blinked, “You really like this principle of the Dominance Sect?”

“It’s too narrow, too short-sighted,” Igor smiled and waggled his finger, “This is not only the core of the Dominance Sect but also a summary of societal rules, and indeed the laws of the world’s operation.”

“Though the societal systems of Blood Moon and Gospel are vastly different, they boil down to these two sentences: incite the people’s desires and then hand over the means of production to them. Ultimately, social operation is merely the ruling class defrauding the lower level populace and plundering the value of their production. It’s just that fraud is beautified into political platforms, and plunder is hidden within imperceptible gears of operation.”

“The Virtual Realm is no different; spellcasters spend their whole lives striving, and in the end, all their wisdom becomes nourishment for the Virtual Realm… What scythe is sharper than death? Who’s harvest is more thorough than the Virtual Realm’s? Con artists like me who still need to speak are actually third-rate; true fraud doesn’t require words and has always existed, with countless intelligent people dedicating themselves to it over millennia.”

“The desire society taps into is ‘a better life,’ and the Virtual Realm incites the desire for ‘greater power,’ but fundamentally, they both use the same thing to deceive living beings.” Igor raised a finger, “And that is ‘the future.’”

“For the sake of the future, anyone is willing to give up everything.”

“The Rust Crow understands this, which is why he is invincible, fooling all beings and toying with Gospel.” Igor clasped his hands together and smiled, “Although I’m still not the Rust Crow, by observing the Ranking of Schemes, my theoretical knowledge is sufficient. All I lack now is practical experience.”

“I have no doubt that Mr. Igor will attain the heights seen in the Ranking of Schemes,” Anfel said. “But my congratulations are not for the fame, future knowledge, or material rewards that the Ranking of Schemes brings to you. It’s because, with the Ranking of Schemes’ explanation, you don’t have to worry about being misunderstood.”

“Isn’t it true that you’re actually very grateful to the Gospel?” Anfel blinked, “Gospel is your best witness.”

Igor’s smile faded as he calmly looked at Anfel.

“Are you here to stop me?”

“How could I? I don’t have that capability.” Anfel shook her head. “I’m not even a spellcaster.”

“However, you’re not going to meet Yvaren later, although she has many questions she wants to ask you. So, I’m here to ask on her behalf.”

“Fine,” Igor said. “I also have questions. How about we take turns—one question for each of us?”

“A fair trade,” Anfel nodded. “Yvaren has plenty of questions, but what she most wants to know is how Mr. Igor managed to seize the highest authority of Belldate?”

Without a doubt, Igor’s betrayal this time has pushed Belldate into a cesspit, leaving them covered in filth that can’t be washed away.

Because everyone in the Gospel knows that the core technology of the Dominance Sect belongs to Belldate.

Now, as long as the Funeral group escapes, everyone will think that Belldate is harboring them, no matter how much Yvaren tries to clarify.

If she claims that “Igor seized Belldate’s highest authority” and expects people to believe it, it would be like Harvey saying he found a live-in girlfriend—everyone’s response would be, “You must be deceiving the Gospel (girlfriend), right?”

Your family has ruled the city with this core technology for hundreds of years, and the only mistake in hundreds of years just happens to occur in this instance?

Who’s going to believe that?

Even if Gospel says you’re right, people will construct a thousand conspiracy theories to prove you’re wrong!

And taking it a step further, even if Igor is 99% in the wrong, does that mean Yvaren is completely blameless?

It takes two to tango—why didn’t Igor target other families?

Belldate must also be at fault!

Moreover, Yvaren indeed has a fault—if she hadn’t tried to control the spellcasters of the eight major families, this mess wouldn’t have occurred.

Regardless, the eight families are doomed, the only difference being whether they suffer under Yvaren’s draining control or get directly crushed by Igor.

“The first day I arrived at the manor, I noticed the sheer number of statues here—it felt excessive, and the variety seemed… incredibly comprehensive,” Igor said. “Given that I’m a mental spellcaster, I began to wonder… Could these be containers for storing mental energy?”

“Yvaren is merely a two-wings spellcaster; her soul cannot bear the mental energy of millions. Moreover, the Dominance Sect has been part of your family’s heritage for so long, there must be a mechanism so foolproof that even an idiot could use it.”

“The reason there are so many types of statues is to accommodate different individuals, ideally funneling similar mental energies into the same statue, then purifying and eliminating the waste.”

Anfel nodded. “I’ve heard that most of the statues used to depict farmers in simple clothes, but now they mostly represent company employees in formal attire.”

“Then, I asked the Gospel where the statue most similar to me was located.” At this point, Igor looked a bit exasperated. “Whether it was a glitch with the Gospel or an issue with your family’s sorting mechanism, it determined that the statue most similar to me was a Bewitcher paladin.”

Anfel covered her mouth with a giggle. “I think it fits quite well.”

“So, I conducted many experiments next to the statue,” Igor continued. “Most of them were futile; mental miracles had no effect on the statue—until…”

“I used bell points.”

Anfel made a sound of realization. “Ah, I see.”

“After using bell points, while performing internal observation, I noticed a wisp of my mental energy being transferred into the statue,” Igor explained. “It was such a minuscule amount that it was nearly imperceptible. The next second, my mental energy recovered, and I even suspected it was just my imagination.”

“Then, I delved deeper and discovered that whether I used 1 bell point or 100 bell points, the loss of mental energy was the same. Meaning, this mechanism wasn’t about extracting energy—it was about… connection.”

“The statues are the base stations, individuals are the terminals, and the mode of connection is bell points.”

“I previously wondered why your family went to the trouble of using ‘bell points’ as currency. You don’t need virtual currency for profit, after all.” Igor looked down at the Gospel Book. “It wasn’t until that moment that I realized, ‘bell points’ weren’t for the convenience of the public; they were for your family. Simultaneously, bell points are also your family’s most secure safeguard.”

“The highest authority is crucial, but not every patriarch of Belldate is a smart person. How do you guarantee that Belldate’s authority won’t be deceived by outsiders? It can’t be physical, it can’t be a secret code, it can’t be a spirit… Your ancestors came up with an ingenious answer.”

“A virtual currency completely controlled by your family: bell points.”

“The act of ‘spending bell points’ itself is a domination miracle!” Igor’s tone was full of admiration. “The specific operation is—if you can pay off a debtor’s debt, you can dominate the debtor’s pledged cognitive power!”

“Everyone’s price is the amount of their debt!”

“There’s no such thing as the highest authority. The person who can throw out the most bell points at any moment holds the highest authority. But undoubtedly, the patriarch of Belldate, who has nearly unlimited bell points, possesses the financial power to dominate all debtors!”

“There’s another interesting aspect of the design: only those with debt can activate this system. So, if outsiders dare to touch the domination system, they’ll first have to become debtors of Belldate… it’s like delivery right to your doorstep.”

“But this design also applies to the patriarch of Belldate. In other words, the patriarch too has a price.” Igor glanced at the window, as if he could see Yvaren looking out from afar. “So, to counteract this, the patriarch of Belldate only needs to incur a debt so high that no one can possibly afford it. For instance…”

“1 billion.”

He paused. “Per minute.”

Anfel tilted her head and asked, “But… Mr. Igor, you’re not exactly wealthy, are you?”

“I’m not wealthy, but Yvaren thoughtfully provided us with Bell-Pay and gave us a very high limit.” Igor spread open his Gospel Book. “Conveniently, it’s one billion.”

“But I have to say, over the centuries, you’ve made no technical innovations, not even a safeguard mechanism against retrieval. I actively used ‘Bell-Pay’ to borrow, spending 1 bell point, 2 bell points, 3 bell points… Through different numbers of transactions, after seven consecutive retrievals from the mental wave I emitted, I identified the signal that modifies the limit.”

“This is the only technically sophisticated operation in this scheme—I hacked Bell-Pay. Although my usage of Bell-Pay still leaves a record, as it’s managed by the Gospel’s financial system, and I can’t actually steal any money. But no matter how many bell points I spend, it won’t reduce my borrowing limit.”

“In other words…”

Igor turned his Gospel Book toward Anfel. “I can now incur a debt of one billion and spend one billion every second.”

Anfel looked down and saw Igor’s debt skyrocketing by the second on his Gospel Book, yet the Con Artist himself seemed unbothered.

“Yvaren doesn’t lose without reason.” The red-haired girl sighed. “You have completely unraveled the secret of Belldate’s control.”

“In the domination system, those who borrow against their own future are the dominated; while those who borrow against the futures of millions are the dominators.”