The Sorcerer's Handbook

The Witch’s style of growth relied on rapidly integrating spirits into a tactical system, researching Miracles better suited to her, strengthening her power, and then leveraging that power to obtain even more spirits. She was a textbook adventure-type sorcerer. Gradual, slow progression simply did not suit her, as she could only unlock her true potential through a combat-driven cycle of growth.

Dia explained, ”My sisters can help me design Miracles, but it comes at a cost. It consumes my mental energy. At most, they can engage in high-intensity thinking for eight hours a day before they have to stop. Any more than that, and my body will become completely exhausted.

”Mental energy can be roughly divided into thoughts, willpower, and emotions, each suited for different purposes. For example, thoughts are best for analysis, while willpower is ideal for self-enhancement. But ultimately, they are all just different forms of mental energy. With this Sharp Will spirit, I can generate a sharper sense of willpower for my sisters, allowing them to think for much longer periods.”

Ashe blinked. Wait... so her sisters already work an eight-hour day designing Miracles for her, and now, with the Sharp Will spirit, she’s going to make them work overtime? What Mom and Dad said was right. There’s a good reason I should never go into business with relatives or close friends.

He hadn’t expected the witch to be this kind of corporate slavedriver. Damn it, when am I going to get a stand-in who can handle creative work for me? Physical labor from a substitute is no longer enough for my growing needs. No wonder the Witch calls them her sisters. If a stand-in could construct Miracles and design tactical systems for me, I’d happily call them Big Brother!

While Ashe was internally lamenting the sheer incompetence of his own imaginary stand-in, Dia had already successfully controlled the two spirits. Lys’s mana was sealed in the real world, leaving her unable to directly activate spirits. However, as long as she could find a way to resonate with the Virtual World, it was entirely possible for her to activate the Sharp Will spirit.

Compared to the Sharp Will spirit, Dia cared far more about the Mutual Heart spirit. Or rather, she needed its passive effect, which made the sorcerer more easily empathized with.

This would significantly boost Lys’s likability in the eyes of others. Furthermore, Dia needed it for herself. Perhaps it was because she now had a younger sister, or perhaps it was a lingering aftereffect of her near-death experience during the white mist anomaly, but she had noticed that White Queen and the others were becoming less indulgent and far more strict with her. Lately, she had even been forced to participate in the grueling work of Miracle construction.

It was already outrageous enough that Lys had monopolized Ashe’s affection. She absolutely could not let her steal White Queen’s and the others’ favoritism as well!

Suddenly, White Queen’s voice echoed in her mind. ”You’re thinking too loudly. We can all hear you...”

Black Butler chimed in dryly, ”Imagine competing with a little girl for attention all just to slack off. Now that’s truly impressive.”

Dia fought back defensively. ”It’s just a casual thought! Am I not allowed to even think now? Don’t I have freedom of thought? You’re all ganging up on me! You don’t love me anymore!”

Black Butler questioned, ”Really? You’re not just trying to find a way to slack off?”

”Not at all!”

”Then say it. ’Sisters don’t lie to each other.’”

Dia deflected. ”I’m angry now. I won’t be okay unless you comfort me!”

”Say ’Sisters don’t lie to each other!’”

”White Queen, look! Black Butler is still picking on me!”

”You can’t even bring yourself to say that one sentence!”

Red Death Apostle interjected, ”Black, calm down. All Dia wants is to remain our pampered sister. She has done nothing wrong.”

Dia snorted internally. She didn’t care about her sisters’ teasing. This was all part of a calculated strategy. Sooner or later, they would give in. In theory, empathy was supposed to lead to mutual compromise. Since Dia was the most willful of the sisters, they would naturally be the ones to accommodate her.

Yet, precisely because she was the most willful younger sister, she still held onto a quiet, genuine hope that her sisters could truly understand her feelings, and once again... believe in her.

***

Once Ashe had looted all the Resource Points, he stopped Sonya and Dia before they could step into the car. ”Wait a moment.”

Sonya paused, blinking in confusion before suddenly looking back toward the mine. ”Oh right, this is a Gem Mine... which means...”

”We’ve finally gathered all the materials!” Ashe opened the sports car’s upgrade interface and pulled up the modification blueprint. ”Upgrade, Alchemical Throne!”

The car seats immediately began to split, reorganize, and transform. In no time, the ordinary leather shifted into a radiant, rose-gold throne. Floating right at the crest of the seat was a single drop of golden blood. Around it, the drifting Reverse Golden Rain seemed to be drawn in, spinning into a golden ribbon that anchored itself to the droplet at the peak.

[Alchemical Throne · Level 1]

- Increases absorption speed of Gold Mana by 30%.

Ashe exhausted his entire current stash of essence to burn through the upgrades, pushing the Alchemical Throne straight to level 4. The only visible change was that the single droplet of golden blood at the top of the seat had multiplied into four.

[Alchemical Throne · Level 4]

- Increases absorption speed of Gold Mana by 60%.

Materials Needed for Next Level:

- 600 Gem Essence, 600 Crystal Essence, 600 Mercury Essence, 600 Wood Essence, 600 Ore Essence, 600 Gold Essence

As the most critical external upgrade for the sports car, the Alchemical Throne demanded an absurdly diverse pool of resources. Gem mines were particularly rare. It had taken twenty days on the Continent of Time and two full laps by the Celestial Chariot Ox for Ashe to finally unlock the switch to accelerate their cultivation.

Still, it was entirely worth it. The initial bonus was 30%, with each subsequent level adding another 10%. The maximum level for the car’s external upgrade was 18, which would yield a staggering 210% total boost.

While they were still a long way off from level eighteen, Ashe comforted himself with the fact that their previous resource gathering had only been slow because they lacked a map. The Star Hall region housed several rare Resource Points. As long as they systematically looted their way through, the Alchemical Throne would level up in no time.

The moment the sorcerers stepped back into the car, they immediately felt the difference between a standard ”luxury” sports car and a ”whale-funded” one. An abundance of Gold Mana was absolutely pouring in. With a full 60% increase, their absorption speed was nearly twice as fast as before. The shift in density was unmistakable, and the ”kids” were thoroughly satisfied.

Just as they were basking in the sudden influx of mana, Ashe abruptly slammed on the brakes. He said, ”There are a few Thousand-Feathered Bird Dragons ahead.”

Upon hearing this, the fellow operators instantly grew tense.

As high-level Knowledge Creatures, Thousand-Feathered Bird Dragons were usually solitary. There was only one situation in which they would gather in flocks, and that was when they served as escort troops for a Legion of Heroes. Sure enough, a Legion of Heroes they were not familiar with was right ahead of them.

Despite being some distance apart, Sonya instinctively lowered her voice. ”Are you sure this isn’t the Spider Tower region?

”All I can say is that the White Ox would need at least another day to reach the Amnesia Cabin.”

There was nothing particularly shocking about the encounter. Stumbling upon a Hero might be a rare occurrence for ordinary sorcerers traveling on foot, but the Continent of Time was their primary operational theater. If normal people ran into them occasionally, it only made sense that a speeding sports car would cross paths with them more frequently.

The surrounding terrain was wide open, and the lingering pressure from the Empress Hero still weighed heavily on their minds. Ashe and the others had no desire to entertain any reckless ideas. Hence, they decided to simply slip past from the flank.

However, as Ashe steered closer, the Virtual World Map suddenly refreshed, revealing an area marked Worth a Visit right in the dead center of the enemy’s escort formation.

Ashe thought grimly. Has the Virtual World Map been renamed the Malicious Map? It’s literally recommending that we walk straight into a regular army’s encirclement!

Ashe took a closer look and realized someone was already inside the area. Two yellow markers, exactly the same as theirs, were pulsing within the formation. This meant two other sorcerers were trapped inside.

Sharing the space with them was a red marker representing a Knowledge Creature, as well as a black marker representing an unknown entity. On the Continent of Time, unknown entities were almost always either sorcerer projections or Hero Commanders.

Ashe gasped in shock. ”Someone is actually trying to assassinate a Hero Commander? Are they insane?”

Sonya reached out, gently patting Ashe on the head. ”I won’t allow you to insult yourself like that.”