Sorcerer’s Handbook

Backstage at the Starfall Auditorium, Sonya was silently rehearsing her lines while looking at the cue cards. However, as she pondered, she couldn’t help but drift towards the back door, only to be quickly stopped by Lois.

“The restroom isn’t that way!”

“I think I’d be better off with a warning!”

“Weren’t you determined just a moment ago? Why the cold feet now?”

“Because I’ve realized I’m not as confident as I imagined, I’m scared!”

At that moment, a handsome young man dressed in a deep blue suit approached Sonya with a greeting, “Miss Therave, good evening. Can I help you with anything?”

“Mr. Cage, good evening,” Sonya quickly responded, “Your timing is perfect. I need you to hold back my roommate Lois because she’s preventing me from running away.”

This young man was none other than Arsenault Cage, Sonya’s co-host and a second-year student in the Wind Department. He was hailed as the ‘Sword Grass’ of the sophomores, and his handsome looks even inspired the female students to form a fan club for him.

If it weren’t for Felix going undercover to take him down a peg, he’d undoubtedly be the nemesis of all the male students on campus.

Arsenault smiled and said, “Professor Liblom sent me to remind you that the gala is starting in ten minutes. Please resolve your personal issues and then get ready behind the curtain. This is our first collaboration, and if I make any mistakes, I ask for Miss Therave’s understanding. I hope we can become friends after tonight.”

Sonya shook her head: “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely make such a big scene that you won’t be able to recover from it, and I hope you won’t hate me after tonight.”

He was taken aback for a moment: “Miss Therave, you really are… quite humorous. I’ll go ahead and wait for you.”

Once Arsenault left, Sonya pleaded, “Please let me go, Lois. I’m really scared. My heart is racing, and I’m sure I’ll cause a huge problem!”

“No, no!” Lois shook her head repeatedly, “What about your ambition? Don’t you want to become a Delarose? Are you content to just be a Swordcerer from now on?”

“I understand the big picture, and I know I’ll regret it if I leave, but I still want to go!”

As the two were entangled, Engulite and Adelle came in through the back door. Adelle burst in excitedly, “There’s a star hanging halfway down the sky outside; you all should take a look!”

Engulite looked at Sonya, who seemed on the verge of tears: “What’s wrong with her now?”

Lois explained helplessly, “She’s having a crisis of confidence, thinking of fleeing again.”

“That’s strange. The Sonya I know is a Swordcerer who dares to challenge Felix and Leoni. Why would she be so hesitant?” Engulite thought for a moment, then suddenly clapped her hands, “I’ve got it! Sonya is the type who performs better the more nervous she is. Right now, we just need to push her onto the stage.”

Engulite, as the number one fan who witnessed Sonya’s rise from the start, had her words met with unanimous agreement. Consequently, Sonya was pulled to the preparation area behind the curtain, where Professor Liblom and the others responsible for the gala were waiting.

Upon seeing Sonya arrive, Professor Liblom nodded slightly and turned to the staff, saying, “Get ready to raise the curtain; we can begin now.”

At this point, Sonya had no room for retreat.

She took a deep breath, smoothed out the wrinkles on her dress, and exchanged a glance with Arsenault, saying, “Try to hog the limelight by yourself during the event, and avoid interacting too much with me. Remember my advice—the more I talk, the more likely it is that something will go wrong.”

It was the first time Arsenault had heard such a request.

He had also been the host of last year’s party, and at that time, his partner had tried every trick in the book to steal his thunder, interrupting and adding lines, competing for attention. Arsenault was a bit worried that this year it might be her again, but instead, he was paired with a freshman.

But what he expected the most from Sonya was just a bit of cooperation—he didn’t expect Sonya to actively step back, which he found quite strange. Logically speaking, every gala host would want to become a league host, and thus would want to showcase their talent during the gala to get the professors’ recognition and recommendation.

Was Sonya there just to play the role of a host? Or perhaps she was just accompanying a friend to the selection and ended up being chosen herself, so she wasn’t very enthusiastic?

Arsenault had many thoughts flash through his mind, but outwardly he simply nodded: “I will try my best to meet your request.”

Professor Liblom said, “The curtain will rise in ten seconds. Take your positions; the stage is all yours now. Remember to turn on your microphones.”

Arsenault stepped onto the stage first, and as Sonya looked at the stage she had longed for, her heart suddenly calmed.

“Observer, are you there?”

Sonya knew there would be no response, but for some reason, she felt suddenly filled with courage. Her brows relaxed, the corners of her mouth turned up slightly, and a smile appeared in her eyes.

Observer, are you also fighting a lonely battle?

If I really mess this up, you’ll have to make it up to me.

“Doodle-doo—”

With the orchestra’s sonata, the lighting lit up, and the curtain opened.

Facing the gaze of students and faculty from both schools, Sonya completely got into her element.

“Ladies and gentlemen, good evening, I am Arsenault Cage, your host for tonight’s gala.”

“And I am your host, Sonya Therave.”

In Shattered Lake Prison, Ashe’s dormitory.

The White-haired Hunter, Gerard, sat on the edge of the bed, holding a book borrowed from the library titled “Basic Tutorial on Simulating Lightning Magic (Third Edition),” a textbook that Ashe had stopped understanding since starting college.

After reading for a while, Gerard rubbed his eyes and turned to look at Ashe, who was also reading at the head of the bed.

However, unlike him, Ashe was reading a comic book titled “It’s All My Fault for Saying I Like Married Women.”

This was said to be a very popular romance comic in Kaimon City. Gerard even saw Emma reading this comic during her leisure time.

It was rumored that this comic was about to be adapted into a drama series, with Ron, who would play the lead role, hailing from the same Research Institute as Gerard—but while others were beloved movie stars, Gerard was the Blood Mad Hunter, whom people feared as if they were opening a coffin lid.

Noticing Gerard’s gaze, Ashe raised his eyebrows and said, “Want to take a look? I highly recommend this comic. It offers a unique portrayal of love and human nature that transcends the boundaries of Race and time. But you should probably read it alone in bed, because sometimes it’s so sweet you’ll twist on the bed like a worm, and other times it’s so sad it’ll give you a stomach ache.”

“I thought you were putting on an act for me,” said Gerard. “It’s hard to imagine you reading romance comics.”

“What kind of image do I have in your eyes, then?”

“Probably like a madman always plotting to overthrow the Blood Moon Tribunal. I thought the books you’d be into would be something like ‘The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind’, ‘How to Start a Storm in the Virtual Realm with Bare Hands’, or ‘Criminal Law’ – something that would benefit your Occupation.”

“I told you, I’ve lost my memory. I’m not some Cult Leader,” Ashe sighed. “Right now, I just want to live peacefully, facing the sea with spring flowers blooming.”

“Interesting,” Gerard chuckled. “You don’t seem afraid of me. I thought you wouldn’t dare come back to the dormitory tonight and would hide out in someone else’s room instead.”

“Why should I be afraid? You’re not going to do anything to me.”

“That’s not true. The only ones with shackles are you guys, my permission rules are very clean, there are no prohibitions.” Gerard reached for the longsword leaning against the bed. “That means, if I want to, I could take your head off at any moment.”

“Then I have even less to fear,” Ashe was surprisingly calm. “Since you can act at any time, and the Prison isn’t big, there’s no way I could escape if you really wanted to do something to me. Staying in my own dormitory, at least I can die with some dignity.”

“Plus, I don’t believe you’d lay a hand on me. As it stands, I’m just a Death row inmate being pursued by the Blood Moon Tribunal, struggling to survive every day. Killing me would bring you no benefit, and I can’t think of any reason you must.”

Gerard touched the hilt of his sword and then let go.

“Indeed, that’s also the correct way to deal with scum – killing doesn’t create value. Better to let you all slowly rot and breed maggots in this Prison, entertaining the citizens you’ve troubled and frightened like clowns, and die an ugly death, squeezing out whatever value you have to atone for your sins.”

“To be honest, I kind of agree with that approach,” Ashe commented. “It would be even better if I weren’t a permanent resident here.”

“But you seem pretty relaxed,” Gerard’s pupils flashed with a blood light. “I’ve been here more than once – many people who’ve just been brought in by me become very unstable, hysterical, repentant, begging for mercy, all kinds. But I’ve never seen anyone as naturally relaxed as you.”

“Do you already have a way out of this Prison?”

Ashe met Gerard’s gaze, “Yeah, I’m waiting for you guys to realize you’ve got the wrong person and let me out when your conscience kicks in.”

Gerard laughed heartily, pulled out a bottle of liquor from his pocket, and took a swig, “I was also beginning to wonder if I got the wrong person, but hearing you say that, I feel relieved.”

“Ah?”

“I never expected that you would actually have a way to escape from prison!”

Clang!

The moment Gerard’s sword swung down, Ashe thought about using the Slay Me Miracle on himself, pulling out the Honeyed Blade to fight Gerard desperately. But he restrained the impulse—even if he used the Slay Me Miracle to lift the Chip Restriction, with his Silver One Wing strength, even if Gerard fought him with both hands and feet tied, he could crush him effortlessly!

The sword blade kissed Ashe’s neck, leaving a shallow trail of blood.

Gerard’s nose twitched, and the crimson in his pupils deepened.

“Why do you come to that conclusion?” Ashe asked.

“Intuition,” Gerard said flatly. “Plus, I think I’ve figured out your method of escape.”

Ashe’s heart thumped wildly—could it be? They hadn’t even had a chance to act, and he had been found out?

Is this the power of the Blood Mad Hunter, Captain of the Tri-wings Sanctuary Sorcerers?

Or is there a traitor among them?

“You must be hoping the Four Pillars will come to rescue you, right!”

Ashe’s eyes widened, his mouth slightly agape, a look of disbelief on his face, as if he had just seen someone fall in a Bumping Scam ten meters away from a car.

After a brief silence, he said with difficulty, “I haven’t read the law, but I think the criminal proceedings here should be ‘innocent until proven guilty,’ right? Even if you want to frame me, you should at least provide some evidence so I can die content, rather than just using your conjecture to convict me!”

“Captain Gerard, you are a person of importance with many matters to attend to; do you really need to trouble yourself with a minor prisoner like me?”

“Because I actually came especially for you, Ashe Heath.”

Ashe was taken aback.

Gerard continued, “Someone told me you would escape, and they hoped I could stop you and directly eliminate you as a source of trouble… They even expended a great favor just to ask me to come to Shattered Lake.”

“Killing a prisoner is a serious crime, and in Kaimon City, aside from a very few individuals, no one is exempt from this crime, and I am one of those few.”

The name that followed Ashe like a shadow almost instantly leapt to his mind, a chill running through his entire body, and the killing intent from the sword blade made Ashe feel as though he’d fallen into an ice cellar.

But he still asked, “Who is it?”

“Sylin Dole,” Gerard said somberly. “He said that the remnants of the Four Pillars Cult must not be allowed to continue living in this world.”

“To stop the Four Pillars, for the glory of the Blood Moon, Ashe Heath must die.”

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