The Sorcerer's Handbook

The moment Ashe regained consciousness, he realized someone was resting in his arms.

Blinking away the grogginess, he looked down to find a pair of long legs in black-and-white stockings draped over him. The Witch had curled up like a child, her legs resting in his lap while her upper body was cradled by the Swordswoman. While Ashe was relieved not to have an actual fellow operator slumped across him, being used as a footrest by the Witch was still deeply unsettling, especially since she hadn't even bothered to take off her boots.

As he sat there processing the situation, Sonya also came to her senses. Feeling a soft warmth in her arms, she blushed slightly and looked down. Seeing it was only the Witch, she let out a sigh of relief, then turned around and caught Ashe's eye.

Sensing the silent reproach in his gaze, Sonya wrinkled her nose and pouted. Looking away, she gave the Witch a gentle nudge. "Wake up."

Dia sat up groggily. Her hair had reverted to its normal state. She let out a massive yawn. "I'm exhausted..."

"I remember the Swordswoman and I failing to swim across the River of Flowing Gold..." Ashe said, glancing sideways at Sonya. In response, she steadfastly pretended not to notice.

Dia replied, "I pulled you both out. I wasn't foolish enough to turn back into the current, so I climbed onto the bank first before dragging you up."

Sonya flushed deep red all the way to her ears. Being called foolish by the Witch left her completely speechless.

"But what did you use to pull us?" Ashe asked.

The answer dawned on him the moment the words left his mouth. Oh, right, the Aqua Lines!

Both he and the Swordswoman still had the Witch's Aqua Lines looped around their necks. What had originally been a fail-safe to ensure mutual destruction meant to reassure the Witch had unexpectedly become their lifeline.

Sonya frowned slightly. "But why didn't the Aqua Lines slice our throats open when you yanked on them?"

"I can adjust the ratio of Water Class spirits to make them soft and flexible," Dia explained, spreading her hands. "When I hold them like this, for example, they feel just like a teddy bear's paws. No matter how hard I pull, they won't hurt a bit."

"How long were we out?" Ashe asked.

"Probably just a few minutes," Dia said, shrugging weakly. "Once I dragged you out of the river, I was so spent that I just collapsed right next to you."

Ashe opened his Virtual World Map. The surrounding area was quiet, with no signs of the Legion of Heroes anywhere nearby. Neither he nor the Empress Hero knew exactly how long this particular stretch of the River of Flowing Gold actually was. On a commander's map, the river was the one landmark that could never be accurately pinned down. Its position shifted every single second.

The River of Flowing Gold was the physical trace left behind by the White Ox, which was always in constant motion. Because of that, the river shifted endlessly. In theory, there were only two main rivers corresponding to the beast's two forelegs, but these branched out into countless tributaries, forming a vast, tree-like network of flowing time.

The stretch they had just tried to cross might have been a minor tributary that evaporated within dozens of meters, or a secondary or tertiary branch stretching for kilometers. Either way, it would take the Legion of Heroes hours to track them down.

That said, even if the enemy army stumbled upon them now, Ashe would have been completely helpless. Their soul energy had been fully drained just from repairing their damaged bodies, leaving them without even the strength to stand.

Moving around the Virtual World required soul energy. They had bypassed that cost before thanks to their car, but now that the vehicle was destroyed, they were left completely stranded.

Wait a second. Ashe suddenly remembered something. Can I get the Substitute spirit to carry me?

He could only summon one substitute at a time. But if it carried him, and he carried the Swordswoman, who then carried the Witch... that ridiculous four-tier stack would let them travel without burning any of their own energy.

The moment Ashe pitched the idea, both the Swordswoman and the Witch shot it down instantly.

"How far is a substitute even going to get us?" Sonya asked dismissively. "If the Legion of Heroes tracks us down, a substitute won't save us. And if they don't show up, we only need to rest here for like half an hour before we can walk out on our own anyway. There's no need to make things weird."

Dia agreed. "Just picturing that looks bizarre. But wait, can a Substitute spirit even be used like that? Come to think of it, are they considered rare?"

"Back where I'm from? Not really," Sonya said, shaking her head. "But they aren't very useful either. Substitutes can't inherit a sorcerer's other spirits, can't talk to coordinate with you, and they poof out of existence the second they take a hit. In a fight, they're just basic support. Honestly, they're only good for simple chores, and even then, they eat a ridiculous amount. A substitute burns through a Silver Coin every few days. That's two to three times what a normal spirit consumes. Only total slacker sorcerers bother raising them."

Dia nodded. "Yeah, that makes sense."

With that, Ashe dropped the idea. The area near the River of Flowing Gold was relatively safe anyway, as most Virtual World creatures instinctively steered clear of it.

If they wandered too far, they ran the risk of running into sorcerer projections or wandering Fish-Slaying Dragons. Acting recklessly in their current state could get them forcibly kicked out of the Virtual World, which meant dying for violating the contract. That would be a pretty miserable way to go after just escaping death.

"Then let's go over what we gained and lost for now," Ashe said, rubbing his temples. "Swordswoman, you—"

"Witch, it's all thanks to you back there," Sonya interrupted smoothly, reaching over to pat down a stray lock of Dia's hair. "If it weren't for you, we'd be dead. You were amazing."

"Hehe," Dia chuckled, scratching her head shyly. "It really wasn't that impressive..."

"No, the Witch definitely did the heavy lifting this time," Ashe agreed.

However, when he reached out to pat her head, Dia quickly dodged his hand. He cleared his throat, trying to get back on track. "Compared to that, Swordswoman, you—"

Once again, Sonya interjected before he could finish, "Are we still going to be in the Spider Tower region tomorrow?"

Ashe checked the Virtual World Map. "The White Ox will be in the Spider Tower region for about half of tomorrow night. But the 'mandatory three-hour stay' requirement only triggers under the condition that the Celestial Chariot Ox enters the Spider Tower region. Since it's already inside, it won't apply again until the White Ox enters the region next time. In other words, we don't even need to come to the Virtual World tomorrow if we don't want to."

"The car is gone, but that's fine, right?" Sonya asked, brushing past his explanation. "The newly upgraded Alchemical Throne won't be affected either, right?"

"It should be fine..."

"Oh, right, right! Witch, did you know?" Sonya turned to Dia, completely ignoring Ashe now. "You sounded insanely arrogant back there. Hold on, let me imitate you..."

***

Having been completely brushed off by the Swordswoman, Ashe returned to the real world feeling a little irritated.

Her attempt to save someone in the River of Flowing Gold had been utterly reckless. He had originally planned to find the right moment to give her a proper lecture. In fact, he wanted to do it right in front of the Witch. It was the perfect opportunity to prove he was a principled team leader who drew clear lines between business and personal feelings, treated every companion with equal strictness, and would never cover for incompetent teammates.

Yet, the Swordswoman had unleashed her "extreme social charisma" at the exact right moment, leaving him with zero openings to interject. It wasn't that an opening didn't exist. Rather, every time he opened his mouth to speak, she would stop him dead with her pitiful eyes, forcing him to overthink and carefully reconsider his words.

By the time Ashe finally pieced together a perfectly structured, stern-yet-gentle speech in his mind, their three-hour "Virtual World Shift" had already flown by. The Swordswoman had instantly clocked out the second it ended, leaving him no chance to call a proper meeting.

Deep down, though, Ashe knew the truth. He simply didn't want to blame her.

After all, he was a cult leader, not a saint. In that life-or-death situation, the Swordswoman had turned back specifically to save him. Even if it was a blunder and ultimately useless, how could he not feel grateful? But he still had to think about the team.

Their confrontation with the Empress Hero had already exposed the cracks in their group dynamics. Under normal circumstances, they could manage, but in a true crisis, the Witch instinctively wouldn't trust either of them. If a situation arose where someone had to be sacrificed, she would immediately assume she was the one being abandoned.

And in truth, her intuition wasn't wrong.

Favoritism naturally created a hierarchy. Ashe was human, not an emotionless deity. How could he possibly treat everyone with perfectly sterile fairness? Even the Blood Moon Lord favored the Blood Saint and Moonshadow over others.

Acknowledging a bias was one thing, but acting on it was another. Ashe needed to find a way to clearly state his stance. Otherwise, the team would eventually dissolve into a superficial harmony masking deep mistrust.

It's time to demonstrate my true managerial skills! he thought. Then again, if managing just three people is already this exhausting, how am I supposed to lead an entire organization in the future...

Ashe sighed, then suddenly felt something resting on him.

Looking down, he spotted a pair of small feet. They belonged to Lys, who was sound asleep beside him. She was hugging a teddy bear, drooling onto her pillow, with her little feet resting right on his stomach. It struck Ashe that Lys had insisted on sleeping with him last night. Since he was going to be exploring the Virtual World anyway, he had just let her have her way.

Why does everyone keep using me as a footrest...

Since it was still early morning, Ashe lay back down, summoned the Book of Gospel, and opened the Aurora Sorcerer's Handbook. A message immediately popped up.

[Death Maniac Swordswoman Progress Report (5.17–5.23)]

Sword Class: Gold → Gold

Light Class: Silver → Silver

Water Class: Silver → Silver

Time Class: Silver → Gold

Mana: One-Feather (Gold) → Two-Feathers (Gold)

Training Evaluation: A!

[Because she earned an A! rating, Death Maniac Swordswoman received a profession upgrade from the Sorcerer's Handbook: Annihilation Alchemist → Remnant Soldier.]

[Remnant Soldier]

Profession Trait

- Deals an additional 20% damage to Hero Commanders. Each strike breaks one layer of unit armor.

[Black-White Witch Progress Report (5.17–5.23)]

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

Mind Class: Silver → Silver

Fist and Claw Class: Gold → Gold

Time Class: Silver → Gold

Water Class: Silver → Silver

Mana: Two-Feathers (Gold) → Three-Feathers (Gold)

Training Evaluation: A!

[Because she earned an A! rating, Black-White Witch received a profession upgrade from the Sorcerer's Handbook: Annihilation Follower → Death Soldier.]

[Death Soldier]

Profession Trait

- Deals an additional 20% damage to Hero Commanders. Each strike briefly staggers Hero Commanders.

Ashe quickly spotted something unusual. Both the Swordswoman and the Witch had advanced their Time Class to Gold.

The Witch reaching Gold made sense, given her natural proficiency in Time Class. The Swordswoman, however, had only acquired time-related knowledge from the Amnesia Cabin and had never undergone any actual training.

Realizing what this implied, the cult leader quickly opened his own operator interface. His Time Class had also reached Gold, yet his Sword Class remained stubbornly at Silver.

What is this, a jackpot? We just skipped years of painful training in a single night.

With a bit of thought, Ashe realized that this sudden surge had been due to the River of Flowing Gold.

The Virtual World operated on a system of absolute impartiality. The greater the risk, the greater the reward. The three of them had narrowly escaped death in those waters, directly confronting the raw essence of time. In doing so, they had absorbed a massive amount of Time Class experience, forcibly pushing their levels into the Gold Rank.

However, an opportunity like this was likely a one-time occurrence. Only a first encounter could grant such enormous gains. Even if they accumulated experience there in the future, it wouldn't be enough to trigger a breakthrough into the Sacred Realm.

As for the Swordswoman and the Witch's new professions, they were certainly intriguing. Clearly, they were designed specifically to counter the Legion of Heroes. But given that the trio was already barely managing to avoid that army, why on earth would they go out of their way to provoke them again?

Additionally, the Witch's bond level had increased by one tier, which was likely a byproduct of their recent shared life-and-death ordeal.

"Mmm..."

Lys let out a sleepy, adorable murmur, kicking her legs against his stomach and smacking her lips. She clung tightly to him, shamelessly wiping the drool from her cheek right onto his clothes. Ashe pushed away the several-dozen-pound sleeping lump and got up to wash his face.

Halfway through brushing his teeth, a half-asleep Lys wandered into the bathroom. She grabbed a fresh cup and began brushing her teeth right beside him.

The little girl glanced into the mirror and suddenly froze. After a quick rinse, she turned around and wrapped her arms tightly around Ashe.

"Isn't there a towel right next to you? Do you really have to use my pajamas to wipe your hands?" Ashe asked helplessly.

Lys simply shook her head and burrowed into his arms like a little pig.

"Why are you so clingy today?"

"I had a dream last night," she mumbled.

"Was it a nightmare?"

Lys thought for a moment, then shook her head. "I dreamed that everyone else had someone to care for them, but I was left all alone."

"Don't worry, dreams are always the opposite. In reality, you're definitely the one excluding everyone else."

After finishing up, Ashe brought Lys over to the dressing table and began combing her hair.

Lys asked in surprise, "Huh? Isn't Aunt Perskin usually the one to help me with this?"

"What if Aunt Perskin doesn't stay with us in the future? We can't rely on others forever."

"But even if I don't ask Aunt Perskin, I can still ask Aunt Annan, Uncle Pankey, or Uncle Harvey!"

Ashe felt deeply insulted. "It's fine if I'm ranked lower than Annan and Pankey, but how am I somehow worse than Harvey?"

"Alice is pretty too... But... is Aunt Perskin really going to leave us?"

"To be precise, he just doesn't need friends like us anymore," Ashe said with a shrug. "People get on and off the train of life. Some leave because they get wrecked, some go home to inherit a family business, and some leave after marrying into a powerful family. Only wage slaves stay on the train forever. I'm used to it."

"But what if Aunt Perskin gets tricked?"

"Him? A fraudster? Getting tricked?"

"Aunt Perskin always says he gets tricked by you. He seems pretty easy to fool."

"You do have a point. Wait, are you insulting me?"

After lightly flicking Lys on the head, Ashe fell into thought. "Come to think of it, the Belldets' attitude toward Iger is definitely a bit suspicious. As his in-laws, we need to properly vet Evelyn and make sure her intentions are genuine."

Lys blinked. "Since when did you become so considerate?"

With a straight face, Ashe said, "While I genuinely want to wish him a happy marriage, I'm just not big enough of a person to stomach a friend's success. If I can legally ruin his happiness, that would actually be perfect."