The Sorcerer's Handbook

”Don’t panic,” Sonya said. ”The reason we can’t return to reality is that we’re not in the Distant Sky Domain. We’re inside a dream. There’s a bubble-like barrier between us and reality, preventing a direct exit. As long as we leave the dream and return to the Distant Sky Domain, we can leave the Virtual World normally.”

Dia asked anxiously, ”Then how do we get out?”

”Find the Dream Master, or just fly upward,” Sonya explained. ”The ceiling on this place shouldn’t be too high. Ascending one to two hundred meters should be enough to break free. The real problem is that the moment we return to the Distant Sky Domain, we’ll die immediately.”

Ashe froze. ”What?”

”The dream is actually a protective mechanism for sorcerers. Once we lose its protection and are exposed directly to the domain, we’ll be subjected to the Forbidden Ritual of Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon Resonance, killing us very quickly. Only by deploying a Sacred Realm can one resist the harmonization. No sorcerer can sustain a Sacred Realm indefinitely, so we have to hide within dreams to avoid constant exposure.”

Dia raised her hand. ”Wait! Because we don’t have a Sacred Realm, we don’t dare pass through spatial gates. Because we don’t have a Sacred Realm, we can’t leave the dream. And because we don’t have a Sacred Realm, we can’t return to the Distant Sky Domain or exit the Virtual World properly... We can neither leave nor escape. Doesn’t that mean we’re doomed?”

The village girl nodded firmly. ”Yes, we are. That’s precisely how Three-Winged sorcerers learn to master a Sacred Realm. Either you keep dying until your soul is extinguished and you’re erased from the ranks of Sacred Realm sorcerers, or you endure the deaths brought by spatial teleportation and the Forbidden Ritual until you grasp the fundamentals of the Space Class and comprehend how to deploy a Sacred Realm, officially becoming a Sacred Realm sorcerer.”

Sonya shrugged. ”Without a Sacred Realm, you can’t progress, and you’re not even qualified to survive in the Distant Sky Domain. The Virtual World doesn’t hand you a Sacred Realm for free. There’s no benefit where leveling up automatically grants you skills. If you want to master the Time Class, go soak in the River of Flowing Gold. If you want to learn the Space Class, die a few, or a dozen times in the Distant Sky Domain. Die hundreds of times, however, and your soul will probably collapse completely.”

Dia asked, ”So... we’re going to die soon?”

”It’s said that sorcerers with an exceptional talent for understanding spatial laws can comprehend the Sacred Realm and deploy it during their very first experience of the Forbidden Ritual,” Sonya said. ”Those kinds of geniuses usually come from the beastfolk races. Humans are rarely like that... Watcher, how’s our aptitude for spatial laws?”

”Not outstanding enough for me to notice.”

”Then no matter what, we’ll have to die at least once,” Sonya said, stretching lazily. ”This kind of death shouldn’t harm the soul too much. With your soul-healing potions, Watcher, we should recover quickly.”

”So we won’t be able to see each other for the next few days...” Dia murmured. ”Maybe that’s for the best.”

Ashe felt a wave of confusion. Not see each other for days?

Compared to the dangerous plan to infiltrate the imperial palace in a few days, this news left him feeling even more disheartened.

As if noticing his gaze, Sonya looked back at him in silence. Lips pressed tight, she stared straight into his eyes with stubborn resolve, as if waiting for him to speak.

Her gaze made Ashe uneasy. He instinctively looked away, turning his attention to the surrounding shops and buildings. Grandia Boutique, Mirror Fine Goods, Dreamveil Art Plaza, Snow White Candy Shop, Perskin-Perk Orphanage...

Dia sensed the atmosphere growing strange and asked tentatively, ”Should I... go scout ahead?”

With her arms crossed, Sonya said, ”Do you know why the dreams in the Distant Sky Domain are called Mirage Bubbles? Compared to real dreams, they’re closer to fragile bubbles. You never know when they’ll burst—”

Pop.

The entire world shattered like glass. Everything around them vanished in an instant.

Ashe looked up as the true Distant Sky Domain finally reflected in his eyes. Boundless in every direction, the entire world was bright, though where the light originated was impossible to tell. It felt as if they had fallen into the open sky itself. It was nearly empty, yet in every direction, countless rainbow-hued bubbles drifted through the distance, looking minuscule against the vast expanse.

They floated in a vacuum, unbalanced yet remaining suspended.

The cult leader instinctively spread his Gold and Silver wings, trying to fly. He saw the village girl shake her head, signaling that it was futile.

Sonya stretched her arm toward Ashe as far as she could. He reached out as well, attempting to touch her fingertips in those final moments.

A faint, almost inaudible wind pierced through his soul. He watched as his and the Swordswoman’s fingertips dissolved into nothingness; he saw the terrified Witch crash into him before all three of them disintegrated into oblivion.

The wind effortlessly tore their souls apart, carving new voids within every fragment of their being.

Forbidden Ritual of Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon Resonance—Winds that Become.

A few seconds later, their scattered soul fragments began to gather, reconstructing piece by piece until their physical shapes were restored. It was as beautiful as petals reassembling a flower. The voids within their souls converged completely, forming brand-new, independent spaces, each as vast as their original selves.

Forbidden Ritual of Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon Resonance—Blooms that Dwell.

A few seconds later, the crude space that had just formed within their bodies began to collapse upon itself. What had once been whole fractured anew, into shards and grains. This time, the destruction was irreversible. From the outside, their bodies crumbled like an avalanche, rapidly disintegrating. The three of them could only watch in silence as they dissolved into nothingness in midair.

Forbidden Ritual of Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon Resonance—Snows that Decay.

In the end, nothing remained of them. Their consciousnesses drifted alone in the empty expanse. Drawn by pure awareness, or perhaps a kind of soul gravity, their scattered energy gathered once more, condensing into spherical forms to shape new soul bodies like fragile bubbles. These new forms were small and delicate. After enduring the torment of the previous three phases, however, a stable space finally took shape within them, one capable of briefly persisting within the domain.

So this is the embryonic form of a Sacred Realm, they realized.

Forbidden Ritual of Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon Resonance—Moons that Empty.

With a farewell that went unheard, the bubbles shattered, and their consciousnesses returned.

***

In the Starry Kingdom.

Sonya stepped out of the Meditation Tower. She gazed at the starlit night beyond, lost in thought for a moment.

Instead of returning to her dormitory, she walked all the way to the school gates. Just as she was about to spread her wings and take flight, a familiar silver luxury car pulled up beside her.

”You can still get past curfew this late?” she asked.

”Within reasonable limits, I hold a bit of privilege,” Felix replied. ”Where to?”

Sonya pointed toward the distant white tower piercing the sky. The second young master of the Vlozrada family found the destination a little odd, yet he refrained from questioning her. He had intended to chat with the Claw-Stretching Club President about Damian. Sensing that her thoughts were elsewhere, he suppressed the urge to speak.

A few minutes later, Sonya watched the silver car drive off before turning to face the towering white spire.

At the base of the tower lay a forest. No one truly knew whether it had existed before construction or had been conjured later through Miracles. No guards patrolled the woods. A stone path led toward the tower, yet an invisible barrier blocked access to its stairs.

In the past, Sonya had been unable to perceive the barrier at all. Now, she could faintly sense its outline.

At the top of the white tower shimmered a clear blue light. Sonya knew the Star Prayer Devotee was maintaining the stability of the heavens above.

After a moment’s hesitation, she checked her surroundings to ensure she was alone. Stepping forward, she knelt on the stone path before the tower, faced it directly, clasped her hands, closed her eyes, and prayed in silence.

The Starry Lord’s church did not open its doors to the general public, reserving faith for the nobility alone. Consequently, the newly constructed tower was the closest place Sonya could find to reach the Starry Lord.

After a while, she opened her eyes and looked up, seeking a response from the realm of stars above.

I prayed to the stars for you in secret. No one knows, save for the Starry Lord.