The Sorcerer's Handbook

The moment the two of them heard the sharp crack of a gunshot, they each dove in opposite directions to avoid the bullet.

Just then, an explosion suddenly echoed through the air. The hunter’s shot had scattered into buckshot, and åneither Ashe nor Sonya could escape the grazing pellets.

Ashe had expected to feel searing pain, but when the shards passed through him, all he felt was a strange emptiness, as if something inside him had been drained. It was like the exhaustion of a 400-meter spårint condensed into a single instant. Then he remembered that he wasn’t physically there and was just a projection of his mind. Being hit by bullets only cost him soul energy.

Sonya, in contrast, was prepared. Her Advanced Virtual World class had trained her for this moment.

She dodged with Watch and Strike, then charged at the hunter. When she was still some distance away from the hunter, she raised her wooden sword high and slashed downward. Faint white light gathered along the blade and formed a crescent-shaped arc of sword energy that shot toward the hunter.

”Wave!”

The attack was the signature spirit of the Vlozrada Family. It was a rare, long-range Sword Class spirit and could be further developed into powerful offense-type Miracles, such as the Fission Wave Slash and the Silver Wheel Burst.

The hunter dodged while chanting, ”Three thousand arts refined, with one gun in hand. Speed cuts through, and nothing withstands.”

His long gun glimmered, and he fired again. Despite its ancient flintlock appearance, it could still fire effectively.

This time, Ashe and Sonya were ready. Neither panicked. Ashe rolled lazily aside, while Sonya drew her sword into a precise, quick-draw stance and stepped forward, unleashing another spinning Wave attack.

Clang!

The bullet was deflected midair, and the hunter, just a few steps away, was cut hard. His long gun split cleanly in two.

Without a second thought, Ashe rushed forward and pinned the hunter, while Sonya recovered from her stance and swung her wooden sword fiercely.

In an instant, the hunter dispersed into thick mist, leaving nothing behind but a leather-bound notebook that tumbled onto the rocks.

Seeing Sonya lodge her sword in the rock, Ashe rubbed his skull. ”Hey, hey, hey! You almost blew my head off!”

Sonya responded with a twinge of regret, ”Almost? What a shame.”

She bent to pick up the notebook, flipped through a few pages, and handed it to Ashe.

Inside was a hunting log.

The first page detailed a mouse, including its weight, size, fur color, cause of death, and even a photo pinned to a wall by an arrow. The following pages featured a spider, a rabbit, a roe deer, and more. By the tenth page, the prey had shifted from small, gentle animals to a wild, ferocious wolf. Here, the hunter showcased a new skill where he set a trap to bring it down.”

By the twenty-third page, the subject was a fully armored beastman soldier wielding a long gun. The next twenty pages documented more beastman soldiers felled by gunfire. What fascinated Ashe most wasn’t just the kills, but the technique. The hunter had abandoned bows and arrows entirely. Instead, he turned to the beastmen’s own firearms, combined with jungle traps, to take on entire units single-handedly.

The notebook revealed nothing personal about the hunter. Even so, Ashe could piece together fragments of the man’s life from the records he left behind. He was born into a family of hunters in a jungle village and inherited the skills his father had passed down to him. Then, one day, a beastman army appeared without warning and tore his home apart.

He fought back with the bows and arrows he had once taken pride in, only to watch them bounce uselessly off the beastmen’s armor. The enemy’s firearms, however, tore through his people with ease. After that day, he abandoned the weapons of his childhood and quickly mastered the use of firearms. In the jungle that he knew better than anyone, he became a grim reaper, stalking beastmen to avenge his fallen village.

The terror he inspired was clear in the faces of the dying beastmen. The first few were likely taken by surprise and died quietly before they even realized they were under attack. Those who came after showed fear as they tried to escape. The last group had thrown down their weapons and hidden in the bushes. Their faces were filled with desperate devotion, as though they were praying the reaper would overlook them.

In time, the hunter broadened his range of targets. He went after animals, humans, beastmen, goblins, the wealthy, bandits, prostitutes, and even ordinary people. After a hundred pages, the entries shifted back to beastmen. The next three hundred pages each detailed a different beastman hunt, all of which were recorded with meticulous care.

The hunter’s identity remained a mystery, but Ashe deduced a few things from what he observed. Firstly, the beastmen had likely been killed with a Worshiper Model 5 Standard Rifle. Secondly, all of them were riddled with multiple bullet holes. Based on these clues, Ashe concluded that the notebook’s owner must have served in the army and fought beastmen during the war.

But he didn’t only kill soldiers. He killed children, women, the elderly, and even his own comrades. Regardless of the target, he remained true to his weapon and killed each of them with a single gunshot.

Later, the hunter seemed to have settled into a life of relative prosperity. This was evident in how he had shifted his prey to harmless herbivores like rabbits and deer. Additionally, his human victims were no longer soldiers or bandits, but maids, servants, and slaves.

Notably, servants made up a large portion of his human victims. It appeared the hunter owned an estate with many servants. However, his lingering trauma from the war made him keep his gun at all times. At the slightest hint of suspicion, he would shoot a servant without a second thought.

Suddenly, Ashe flipped to a page depicting an elderly woman. He guessed she was probably the hunter’s wife. There was no fear, panic, or confusion in her eyes. Instead, they were filled with pity, pity for the hunter himself.

When Ashe reached the last page, he realized the final entry recorded the hunter’s own death.

[Cabin Storley]

Species

- Human Male

Age

- 56 years old

Weight

- 72 kg

Height

- 1.76 m

Features

- Brown skin; Thick hair; Body odor

Cause of death

- Killed by an arrow

The photo showed a weathered man in proper attire, holding his gun toward an enemy. Before he had the chance to pull the trigger, an arrow had pierced his eye straight through his skull.

Ashe didn’t know who had shot him. It could have been an old enemy, the elderly woman’s son, or maybe a thief. He also couldn’t understand why a battle-hardened man like Cabin Storley had been slower than an arrow this time. Had his body grown sluggish, or had he underestimated the power of a bow?

Either way, Cabin Storley’s hunting record ended there. Perhaps his name would appear in someone else’s hunting log.

At the very end, Ashe found an iron medal tucked inside. He couldn’t read the inscription, but being made of iron, its monetary value was probably low. It was likely the first medal Cabin had ever earned, perhaps representing the most glorious moment of his life.

Ashe picked up the medal and felt a warm energy flow into his hand. Shortly after, a message appeared on the screen.

[Rapid Fire]

One-Winged Spirit

Requirement

- Must have a ranged weapon.

Basic Effect

- Allows an immediate second shot after firing once.

Passive Effect

- Increases ranged accuracy.

Signature Quote

- Sometimes, the seconds you lose can never be reclaimed in a lifetime.

At the same time, the game automatically prompted.

[Detected available currency recharge. Would you like to exchange for points?]