The Sorcerer's Handbook

Seated in the small boat, Ashe and Sonya kept their eyes fixed on the Sorcerer’s Handbook bound in worn leather.

Like the previous handbooks they had seen, this one revealed nothing about the sorcerer himself. For convenience’s sake, they called him the Explorer. The reason was that his greatest passion was exploring natural landscapes, and this handbook recorded every place he had visited.

[Lava Cave]

The construction site took over a year, but Phase Three is finally complete. Before the team leader takes on a new project, I should have time to visit the Lava Cave.

I arrived at the village closest to the Lava Cave, only to learn the team leader had taken on another major project. Sigh...

A few months later, I finally carved out time to explore the Lava Cave again. Luck was on my side this time. I spent a good sum hiring a local guide.

It was incredible. Lava flowed across the ground, and pollen from blooming flowers could ignite and explode. Yet inside the cave, a cold, refreshing underground river awaited. What an astonishing wonderland!

I was ecstatic and terrified. I even encountered a turquoise-fire female dragon! It must have escaped from the Virtual World long ago and made a nest in the cave. Haha, I took pictures, and the fee I earned from submitting them was enough to fund another visit!

The entries followed this pattern. The Explorer often overcame countless obstacles before finally setting out, and sometimes work forced him to halt his expeditions. In a way, he did well in balancing the demands of his work while keeping his eyes on his dreams.

”He’s probably a civil engineer,” Sonya remarked.

Ashe nodded in agreement. Civil engineers were the same in any world... long stretches on construction sites, working nonstop whenever a project demanded it, then idling with no income when there wasn’t one. With the endless solo travels on top of that, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Explorer had remained single his whole life...

The first half of the handbook recorded his real-world travels, while the latter half detailed the sights of the Sea of Knowledge. Even the Virtual World counted as a tourist destination for the Explorer.

If he met a sorcerer who enjoyed fishing, Ashe had no doubt he would fish in the Sea of Knowledge. But fishing there carried enormous risk and minimal reward. Either the sorcerer came up empty-handed, or the Knowledge Creatures did. Only one of the two could survive.

There were many permanent destinations in the Sea of Knowledge, like the Sea Waterfall, the Grand Road, and the Sky Bubbles. Some were so obscure that even Sonya hadn’t heard of them. Unlike the Whirlpool, they offered no advantage to sorcerers, so Sword and Roses University naturally didn’t teach students about them.

The Sea Waterfall was exactly what it sounded like, a waterfall plunging straight from the ocean. The Grand Road was a land path stretching across the entire Sea of Knowledge, and the Sky Bubbles were enormous floating spheres. When they appeared, the surrounding white mist would lighten considerably.

The Explorer had personally witnessed all three. He had jumped into the Sea Waterfall to see what lay beneath, only to die instantly in the Virtual World. He had run endlessly along the Grand Road until he was utterly exhausted, and he had watched the Sky Bubbles float past at speeds too fast for him to chase.

The handbook overflowed with the joy and awe the Explorer felt witnessing the wonders of the world, and even Ashe and Sonya couldn’t help feeling a smile tug at their lips.

Finally, they reached the chapter on the Golden Fish.

[Golden Fish]

I searched through countless records and visited many scholars, trying to determine the whereabouts of the Golden Fish. But as the greatest secret of the Sea of Knowledge, information about it was pitifully scarce. In the end, I turned to novels. Perhaps someone who had found the Golden Fish could not resist the urge to boast and secretly hid the truth within a story. I think that is entirely possible.

Most sorcerers and scholars believe the Golden Fish resides in the most dangerous core region, but I hold a different view. The Golden Fish carries the Continent of Time on its back. Can a creature of such size truly fit within the core?

No sorcerer has ever fully explored the core region. Perhaps the Sea of Knowledge is far, far larger than we imagine.

Only a sorcerer who has fully spread the Silver Wing can find the Golden Fish? That seems very likely. I should first complete my ten-thousand-mile voyage.

I have already spread my Silver Wing and ventured into the core, yet I still found no trace of the Golden Fish. Could it be that it remains submerged most of the time, surfacing only on rare occasions? Very possible. I decided to dive into the sea.

I died.

I died.

I died.

I should retire. My friends keep urging me not to enter the Virtual World anymore. At my age, dying there would severely damage my soul and drastically shorten my lifespan. The last time I died in the Virtual World, I nearly suffered brain death.

But I really want to see the Golden Fish. Even if I were to glimpse it for a single moment and die immediately after, I would still be willing.

Golden Fish... where are you?

I think... I have found the Golden Fish. If it’s real, then the Golden Fish is enormous. How could an ordinary person even reach it? Luckily, I’m an Earth Class sorcerer. I can pile soil endlessly, and this height is nothing to me. Looks like I might actually see the Golden Fish in my lifetime.

Ten layers... fifty layers... a hundred... no, I need to rebuild the foundation. The Golden Fish is far too tall. Two hundred... three hundred... five hundred...

Sigh. If only I could fly.

When the soil beneath my feet collapsed at over eight hundred layers, I realized falling from this height could shatter my entire soul. Finally, the tombstone I prepared for myself could serve its purpose.

It’s a bit regretful, but at least I found the Golden Fish before dying. That gives me peace... wait, I haven’t even organized my collection at home!

Damn!

Ashe and Sonya almost wanted to drag the elderly sorcerer they’d just beaten back outside for another thrashing. He hadn’t left any crucial information! What they wanted to know was how he actually found the Golden Fish.

Here! Take two coins. Fill in the process for us!

Unfortunately, that’s where the Sorcerer’s Handbook ended. The Golden Fish was also the last destination the Explorer ever pursued in his life.

Sonya asked, puzzled. ”So... how did he actually find the Golden Fish? He had searched for so long without success. How did he suddenly encounter it?”

Ashe speculated. ”Maybe it’s because he was too old. Could it be that the Golden Fish only appears to sorcerers nearing the end of their lives?”

After a while, they gave up trying to figure it out. Their Silver Wings weren’t fully formed yet, so there was no rush to search for the Golden Fish anyway.

The three spirits the Explorer left behind were all Earth Class. Together, they could form a Miracle, but neither Ashe nor Sonya had any interest in Earth Class sorcery. After discussing it, Ashe took them. Earth Class sorcerers weren’t highly valued in production roles, so the spirits weren’t worth much. Even if Sonya sold them, she wouldn’t earn much.

As for the Sorcerer’s Handbook, Ashe felt that a civil engineer’s skills wouldn’t help him, so he gave it to the Swordswoman. He had already absorbed three handbooks himself, while this was the first one the Swordswoman could make use of. It was only right she had it this time.

In truth, most skills in Sorcerer’s Handbooks were rarely useful. For instance, Counter-Surveillance, Pleasure Secrets (only effective on females over two meters), and Skinning Mastery were all trivial tricks that didn’t improve quality of life or add value to a résumé, unless the interviewer happened to be a two-meter-tall giant.

It was Sonya’s first time absorbing a Sorcerer’s Handbook, and she looked a little tense. ”By the way... what does the last line, ’I haven’t organized my collection at home yet,’ mean? Why would he care about his collection before dying?”

Ashe shrugged. ”Well, the Explorer was an elderly, single man. It’s only natural that he’d probably have a few... undisclosed collections at home. As they say, don’t fear shattering your body; just leave your innocence behind in the world.”

By now, Sonya had finished absorbing the manual. She stared at Ashe with a strange expression.

”What skill did you get? Fire-making, wilderness survival, or maybe a single-person recipe book?”

”No. It’s a very useful skill.”

”What skill?”

Sonya said softly, ”Insightful Gaze. It lets me understand others’ thoughts more easily just by looking at them. It seems that after meeting countless people on his travels and witnessing the ups and downs of life, the Explorer gradually developed this ability as he came to understand human nature.”

Ashe nearly fell into the water in frustration. That’s exactly the skill I needed for the jailbreak!