Sorcerer’s Handbook

In the Virtual Realm, the Sea of Knowledge.

“The Moonshadow Werewolves unable to transform under the moonlight… Your Prison really is full of talents, worthy of a multi-racial nation.”

Sonya lay at the prow of the Boat, gazing at the dim skies: “But what exactly is the ritual of the Gourmet? I’ve never heard of such a brutal and bizarre ceremony. Could it be that he wishes to summon a spirit from the Gluttony Faction?”

In theory, the Magical Factions that sorcerers should find easiest to master are not Fire Magic, Earth Magic, or Swordsmanship – the External Method Factions that are readily accessible. After all, External Method Factions require intentional Training to gain experience.

On the other hand, Inner Method Factions can grow in experience even without deliberate Training.

What are Inner Method Factions? They involve the physiological activities that a sorcerer must engage in daily.

Eating, sleeping, listening, observing, excreting… These unavoidable physiological activities since childhood – if they could be converted into magical experience, almost every sorcerer would be proficient in seven or eight Magical Factions.

Unfortunately, that’s just theoretical.

While Inner Method Factions may seem the simplest and most relaxed, in reality, they have much higher barriers to entry compared to External Method Factions. No matter how difficult External Method Factions may be, one can still learn them with enough effort. However, Inner Method Factions are often tied to racial Talent. If you were not born with an innate Talent for an Inner Method Faction, then you would never be able to master one on your own.

The ‘Gluttony Faction’ Sonya referred to is one such Inner Method Faction, typically found only among Ogre communities. And not all Ogres can learn it – only a handful of Ogre sorcerers might suddenly have an epiphany and gain entry to the Gluttony Faction.

Inner Method Factions cannot be taught. What guidance can one offer on eating, defecating, and sleeping?

Additionally, Inner Method Factions are deeply connected to inner desires, emotional fluctuations, and personality traits. These are pieces of knowledge that cannot be conveyed through narration, falling into the category of ‘understood through intuition rather than verbal instruction.’

Sonya’s speculation wasn’t without reason, as eating is almost synonymous with the Gluttony Faction. Many believe that Ogres possess the Talent for the Gluttony Faction precisely because they are cannibals.

“I also think that Langna is eating for the sake of eating, but Igor has a different opinion – he feels that in this ritual, eating is merely the most insignificant step. The true essence of the Ritual Track is not consumption, but love.”

“Love?”

“Have you ever farmed before?”

If it were anyone else, Sonya would have taken it as a double insult.

The first insult would be the suspicion that she, a youthful and beautiful Female Sorcerer, had ever farmed.

The second would be questioning whether she, a rustic girl from an agricultural town, had never farmed!

“…Go on, I can follow.”

“Igor thinks that what Langna is doing is akin to farming,” Ashe said, lying at the stern, nibbling on his fingernails. “He plants the seeds of love in the heart of his target and through the most bloody intimate contact – eating – he allows the seeds of love to take root and sprout rapidly, akin to fertilizing and nurturing the process.”

“Although Ronald is reluctant to admit it, he has indeed lost interest in almost everything else, with the only thing igniting his desire being participation in Langna’s Ritual. Even if Langna suddenly changes his menu, I’m afraid Ronald will voluntarily add his own name to it.”

Sonya felt a bit perplexed just listening, “So once the seeds of love have matured, what does Langna reap? Souls?”

“Igor hasn’t figured it out either. It’s probably related to the Soul, but not just the Soul,” Ashe spoke, “But that’s between the two of them—what we need to confirm is that there is an unbreakable Bond between Langna and Ronald, and that’s our angle to exploit.”

“So if you guys persuade Ronald, you essentially gain Langna as an ally,” Sonya reminded them. “But they are both vicious Death row inmates; are you sure about this?”

Unlike Igor, the Con Artist with little combat capability, Ronald is the Golden Beak of the Woodpecker Gang, skilled in traps, Gun Technique, and various lethal skills; while Langna is even more terrifying, a Moonshadow Werewolf, who would be considered high-level combat power even among Two Wings Sorcerers.

Compared to them, Ashe and Igor are like two little lambs that can only bleat.

Once they lose the protection of the prison, facing these two evil Death row inmates, Ashe and Igor are unlikely to have a good outcome.

“The prison isn’t a talent market, I don’t have many choices,” Ashe said helplessly. “To find two individuals with decent strength who are willing to escape from prison is already lucky. You can’t expect their character to be great too, only hope that Shattered Lake Prison’s reformation of Prisoners is very successful.”

Ironically, Ashe hopes the prison’s reformation isn’t too successful, so he can find inmates daring enough to escape with him; yet he also hopes it’s successful enough that those daring to escape will do so only to contribute positively to society.

“But actually, I shouldn’t be the one worrying, when it comes to safety, Igor is far more concerned than I am.”

Ashe stretched his legs out on the Boat: “He’s already implanted suggestions in Ronald, intensified his sense of crisis… It’s not really deception, just making Ronald clearly aware that as long as he doesn’t kill Langna, his desire to be devoured by Langna will never disappear.”

Sonya pushed Ashe’s legs back: “Won’t they end up killing each other once they escape from prison?”

“Killing each other? I think it’s more than that. If possible, Igor would definitely have them attract the attention of the Sin Hunter’s Hall, then he’d take the chance to escape,” Ashe said with a bitter smile. “Plus, he’s still holding onto one of my wishes, and I haven’t even figured out how to deal with it yet.”

Although a wish can’t be too excessive, it must be something the other person can do without causing an instinctive rejection, such as a ‘suicide’ demand which goes against one’s instincts.

Thus, Ashe only asked Igor to ‘help him’ escape from prison, not for Igor to ‘let him’ escape, as the latter type of demanding wish would be invalid.

Even so, Igor could make Ashe’s escape quite challenging. For instance, during a getaway, if Igor commands Ashe to ‘cover our retreat,’ Ashe won’t be able to refuse such a reasonable demand.

Even if hundreds of Blood Mad Hunters are charging at them, Ashe must turn back and hold them off, showing a ‘covering retreat’ posture before he can continue to run away.

“What’s your plan then? And do you have a plan of action after the escape?”

“I have a rough idea. First, I’ll find this body’s enemy, an Elf Professor named Sylin. See if I can get revenge; if not, I’ll steal some money and then figure out how to survive.”

“So, you’re basically winging it? Aren’t you afraid that the outside world is even more dangerous than the Prison, since at least you are safe inside the Prison?”

“That’s called achieving sustainable gains in the field of adventure, extracting and transmitting causal analysis as a lever to empower life, and refining the escape logic to consider resource allocation…”

“Speak in a way that a child can understand, please.”

“It means that I’m willing to walk the path I’ve chosen, no matter how difficult it is.” Ashe spoke leisurely: “Regret is something for the future me to worry about; the current me only needs to consider how to avoid regrets. You wouldn’t want to see me washing my face with tears every day because I’m locked up in the Prison, right?”

“Why don’t you show me? I love watching people cry their eyes out, especially when they’re a snotty mess.”

“Besides,” Ashe sat up, “I have you.”

“I can’t help you,” Sonya rolled her eyes.

Ashe explained, “Because of our Bond, the stronger you are, the stronger I become. So, if you don’t want to explore the Virtual Realm all alone in the future, you better start increasing your Training regimen and not always leave on time. Don’t live so comfortably at such a young age; be brave and step out of your comfort zone!”

“Now that you mention it, I feel a strong urge to slack off. Ah, I just won’t train, I’ll just play.” Sonya muttered, sitting up and stretching, “Has your arcane energy recovered?”

“It’s almost fully recovered.”

They had recently encountered a Mist Bubble Dragon in its Growth Stage and had nearly depleted their arcane energy to narrowly chase it away, necessitating a Rest on the Boat. Times like these often became their opportunity to share daily experiences.

Truth be told, they had quite a lot of Rest time because after gathering more than half of their Silver Wings, both the difficulty of Inheritance Island and the strength of Knowledge Creatures had increased significantly. The most common scenario was that the Knowledge Creatures would deplete their arcane energy and then flee.

Ashe even suspected that Knowledge Creatures deliberately came to drain them.

However, the Swordswoman said this was normal. Since they couldn’t instantly kill Knowledge Creatures or have control miracles like stunning to gain a speed advantage, it was difficult to capture Knowledge Creatures.

This is a common dilemma for Silver Sorcerers—they often excel in only one aspect. In reality, they can work as a team, but in the Virtual Realm, any weakness becomes a severe tactical flaw.

This situation usually persists until they reach Golden Two Wings or even Tri-wings Sanctuary. Only then can Sorcerers perfect their arcane systems, but by then, they’ll also face new challenges in the Virtual Realm.

Ashe opened the Map of the Virtual Realm, but there wasn’t much to see; the 24 Area grid surrounding them was all “waste of effort” zones with no rewards. In situations like these, they often had no choice but to pick a direction at random and try their luck—

“Ah!?”

Sonya was a bit puzzled: “How did you—”

Ashe quickly reached out to cover Sonya’s mouth, putting his index finger to his lips.

Sonya blinked, instantly understanding, and asked in a hushed voice, “Is there a Sorcerer nearby?”

Ashe nodded and turned to look at the sea area shrouded in white mist.

On the Virtual Realm Map, a yellow marker, identical to the ones representing Ashe and Sonya, suddenly appeared in the neighboring Area!

Ten meters away from the Boat, within the white mist, a small Gate of Truth opened up in space, and a figure fell from it.

Just before hitting the water, she burst into a puff of smoke and transformed into a tiny bat, flapping its wings and flying forward.

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