The Sorcerer's Handbook

[Blazing Soul Essence Tonic: When a powerful soul dissipates, it releases a trace of blazing soul essence. Consuming it provides profound healing to the soul; a Golden Soul will recover rapidly within seven days, during which time the mana absorption rate in the Virtual World is increased by 10%. Just what kind of people, and what kind of place, could gather a bottle of such essence so easily?]

[Passion Potion: The user becomes more honest and enthusiastic, openly expressing their emotions and developing a strong desire to pursue intimate relationships. It also significantly lowers their inhibitions. Bond growth speed with operators increases by 100% for one day.]

With the nine Pure Radiance Tonics he had just pulled added to the one in his inventory, Ashe had ten in total. He used the Alchemist’s Refining Flask to process them in pairs. Four refinements succeeded, yielding three higher-grade Blazing Soul Essence Tonics and one Passion Potion.

Ashe had undoubtedly achieved his primary goal. With those three Blazing Soul Essence Tonics, he, the Swordswoman, and the Witch could fully recover from their soul injuries before the next round in the Spider Tower.

As for the Passion Potion... its effects were certainly appealing, but it felt like a recipe for disaster. If he gave it to the Witch, her affection for him would skyrocket. She might cling to him, hug him, and initiate all sorts of intimacy. Just the thought of it was incredibly satisfying.

However, the Swordswoman was right there. Ashe had already exhausted all his workplace political capital just to get her to accept the Witch into the team. Now that the Witch seemed to be settling into a ”secretary” role, that narrow-minded, jealous redhead would undoubtedly throw a fit.

So... should I give the potion to the Swordswoman instead?

That was a gamble. If their bond reached a new level within that day, Ashe would win. But if nothing changed, the Swordswoman would eventually realize what he’d done and explode in fury. It wouldn’t kill him, but his life would become a living hell.

Beyond the Swordswoman’s feelings, Ashe also had to consider the Witch’s perspective. What happened in the Amnesia Cabin might have already caused a misunderstanding. If she saw him suddenly growing close to the Swordswoman, she might feel like she didn’t belong at all, like an unwanted third wheel. Or worse, there might have been no misunderstanding in the first place, and her suspicions were exactly right....

Ashe let out a quiet sigh.

He had worked a regular job before and understood why certain workplace taboos existed. Colleagues could become good friends, but they should remain just that. Once that line was crossed, it would not only affect others but also harm oneself. Work existed to earn money and sustain a material life, not to seek emotional fulfillment. A team was a team, and a family was a family. The former required clear rewards and punishments, fairness, and shared interests, while the latter relied on tolerance, compromise, and emotional bonds.

The two should never be mixed together.

Ashe had never worked for a small startup, but he’d heard enough from his classmates that any small company that failed to distinguish between ”team” and ”family” usually did little more than pay rent for a few months before quietly disappearing.

Even with a three-person team, Ashe carried the awareness of a leader. He knew this team wasn’t his final destination. Even if it remained just the three of them, he had to manage their dynamics with care. The classic failure, where two people grew closer and alienated the third, was as common as balding among urban office workers.

Both logic and emotion dictated that Ashe maintain the balance. That meant the Passion Potion absolutely could not be used on the Swordswoman.

As for dismissing one of them for a day to use the potion on the other? That was even worse. If he put himself in their shoes, returning from a break only to find the boss and a coworker conspiring together would make anyone feel excluded. They would immediately start questioning the team’s fairness.

The bottle of Passion Potion would have to stay on the shelf for now.

Still, Ashe had no intention of letting it go to waste. If being close to one person made the other uneasy... what if he advanced his relationships with both at the same time? If he could pull another Passion Potion in the future, giving one to the Witch and the Swordswoman simultaneously might lead to a grand harmony, pushing all their bonds to a new stage.

Sure, there was a tiny bit of selfish intent involved, but Ashe felt his logic was sound. It was for the better future of the team... mostly.

In any case, with the mysterious Woven Festival looming in reality and the pursuit in the Virtual World ongoing, the team couldn’t afford a drastic upheaval. This was a critical moment for survival.

As the saying goes, ”Only after food and warmth are secured does desire arise.” It was better to ensure material safety before indulging in emotional fulfillment.

Still, recalling the events of the Amnesia Cabin, Ashe couldn’t help but let out a laugh. He would definitely bring up the Swordswoman’s coy, teasing remarks during a safer battle round. It would be a waste not to use such excellent ammunition.

The card pulls had handled the ”food and warmth” stage. Next came the exciting part, ”desire.”

If my intent can help me pull tonics, surely it can bring me a golden legend! I want a new operator! I want more useful Virtual World items! I want a relic that increases sorcery class experience even while the operators are resting!

His emotions weren’t quite high enough yet. Ashe calmed his breathing and began to scan the current event-exclusive banner, searching for the one thing he truly, desperately desired...

[Bride · Swordswoman]

Something is surging... something is rising within me!

Ashe shouted, ”Now! Amplify the intent!”

[Your faithful Gospel will now amplify your intent. Countdown: 3... 2... 1... You have entered the amplified state. Remaining duration: 10 seconds.]

”Draw!”

The interface exploded in a chaotic blend of gold and white light.

[Black-White Witch’s Magic Mirror Fragment]

[Energy Potion x1]

[EXP Potion x1]

Everything that followed was a wash of common white light.

[Black-White Witch’s Magic Mirror Fragment]

- No one knows how many fragments of the magic mirror the Black-White Witch has lost, but anyone who picks one up soon meets an untimely death. The curse persists until the fragment is returned to its rightful owner. It is said the Witch shattered the mirror herself, desperate to escape the reflection within. Using it unlocks additional bond functions.

Ashe paused, lost in thought. Does this count as a success or a failure?

It counted as a success, but only barely so. He had managed to pull one gold item, even if it was just an enhancement fragment for the Witch. Calling it a total failure didn’t feel right, but it wasn’t the jackpot he had hoped for.

Since he had already gone ten pulls without a gold before this, hitting the pity rate now wasn’t statistically surprising. This might have been just a normal pull, completely unaffected by his ”amplified intent.”

There was, of course, another possibility. He had never actually seen the Swordswoman in her bridal form. Trying to manifest a ”desire” without a visual reference had its limits. His intent simply hadn’t been vivid enough to tilt the system’s scales.

Ashe consoled himself with the pragmatic thought. Still, an enhancement item for the Witch is objectively more useful than a bridal skin for the Swordswoman. At least I didn’t lose out...

He still had Gospel Points and currency left, but he decided to call it a day. With only 190 Gospel Points remaining, he needed to save them for emergencies. In the Gospel Kingdom, points that could retrieve any piece of information were an incomparable strategic resource. Their value far surpassed a sorcerer’s individual strength.

After using the Black-White Witch’s Magic Mirror Fragment, the Witch’s profile updated.

[Black-White Witch]

Species

- Human Female

Age

- 19 years old

Bond Level

- 1 (35% experience sharing)

Bond Resonance

- Manipulating Hearts: Even without relevant Mind Class spirits, you and the Witch possess a supernatural ability to influence others’ hearts.

Profession

- Annihilation Follower

Profession Trait

- Deal an additional 5% damage to groups of Knowledge Creatures.

Silver Blessing · Witch’s Taboo

- Secret grants you power, and concealment is your weapon. The fewer people in reality who know your true self, the stronger you become in the Virtual World. Current concealment: 85% (unknown to anyone), granting +85% mana recovery rate. (Excludes the Watcher’s observations.)

Owned Items

- Training Gloves

Controlled Spirits

- Mask, Water Therapy, Claws, Torrent...

Mind Class

- Silver

Fist and Claw Class

- Gold

Time Class

- Silver

Water Class

- Silver

Knowledge Curse

- Bronze Dragon Secret Poison

The Witch’s concealment level had dropped. It used to be 93%, but now it sat at 85%. Since the taboo only counted people in reality, neither he nor the Swordswoman should have been able to affect it. That meant someone in the real world had already begun to suspect her. Ashe thought, You’ve been far too careless!

Then there was the Bond Resonance. Last time, the Swordswoman and he had shared something called [Never Enough]. Now, he and the Witch had [Manipulating Hearts]. When have I ever manipulated anyone?

Ashe didn’t dwell on it. It was likely just a default setting of the player system. He casually used a Blazing Soul Essence Tonic on the Witch and opened the Swordswoman’s interface. At first glance, something felt off.

Knowledge Curse

- Golden Fish Secret Poison, Whirlpool Secret Poison, Exile Secret Poison, Bronze Dragon Secret Poison, Concept Secret Poison

Why does she have an extra secret poison? Did she secretly grow stronger behind my back?

Since Ashe could access the details of the new poison directly, it meant he already possessed the knowledge required to understand it.

[Concept Secret Poison]

Poison Details: In the Virtual World, certain abstract concepts can gain physical form under special conditions, manifesting as conceptual incarnations. Possessing such an incarnation grants the highest-priority buffs. If the incarnation is destroyed, the concept temporarily vanishes from the Virtual World. All related spirits are instantly destroyed and cannot be reborn until the concept reappears.

Number of Infected: 79

Poison Enhancement Level: 79%

Current Effect: You occasionally witness traces of all Miracles. (At 50%, this is a beneficial effect. At 100%, it becomes a significant negative effect.)

Ashe was momentarily at a loss. Witnessing the traces of Miracles... shouldn’t that have been a blessing?

However, when he lifted his head, his entire worldview shattered.

The desk lamp, the walls, the ceiling, the carpet, the blanket, everything in his room suddenly transformed into a postmodern nightmare woven from spider silk. A faint realization struck him, and he instinctively turned to look out the window at Vanmura.

The once-thriving cityscape had vanished. In its place stood a massive spider nest, shrouded in countless layers of silk. An endless, airtight web stretched across the sky, reaching all the way to the horizon.

In the fog-covered streets, spiders moved where people once walked. Every living being was tethered by dozens of silk threads. They didn’t appear to walk of their own volition. Instead, the threads jerked them forward like puppets, guiding them through the nests.

Ashe shot to his feet in shock, only to feel something thick and sticky on his hands. He looked down.

His entire body was entangled in countless strands of silk. The bed he had been sitting on had become a cocoon for storing prey. He was an insect trapped in a web. Thick, viscous white fluid coated his skin. Threads began to burrow into his mouth and eyes, attempting to stifle his voice, blind his sight, and seize his heart.

A second later, the world snapped back to normal.

The room was just a room. The city was just a city. The white bedsheets lay smooth and untouched.

Ashe touched his face. His skin was clean, with no trace of residue.

This was the second Knowledge Curse he had encountered that carried a negative effect. The first was the Whirlpool Secret Poison, which made him feel a deep disgust toward water. Thanks to a trick the Swordswoman taught him, where he looked away from the water and convinced himself he was soaking in cola, he had mostly adapted.

Compared to that, the Concept Secret Poison was far more dangerous.

For the weak, ignorance was often the only shield. Ashe had always known the Gospel was everywhere, like the air itself. But to witness its horror so vividly... sooner or later, it would drive a person to hysterical fear and despair.

If water repulsed him, he could drink cola or milk. But if the air, the ground, and even his food became sources of terror... where was left to run?

”This might be the first time since arriving in the Gospel... that I’ve actually started to miss the Blood Moon Kingdom.”