Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Polite Curtain Call: Even the most spectacular play must come to an end with a bow. When you bow, the entire audience must stand and applaud.”

“Affix Identification Reward: A small amount of Prophecy Sect experience and a small amount of spellforce.”

“Limited Affix Privilege: You can trigger the Polite Curtain Call once.”

When Ashe and the others discovered the third affix, they realized that this was the correct way to clear the stage.

If a sorcerer could know in advance about the “Polite Curtain Call” and bow to the orc sorcerers and the Xiahui Dragon, the latter would turn into audience members and applaud, thus leaving their actor state naturally.

However, even so, the sorcerer must have the means of intangible attacks to defeat these enemies, such as using a wind spell, music spell, psychic impact, or time decay. Yet, these are relatively niche sects-intangibles are harder to grasp than tangibles.

Although this dream phantom seems to be a difficult type, it shows that the Virtual Realm has begun assessing a sorcerer’s comprehensive skills: recognizing affixes, defending against instant kills, and mastering multiple attack methods to deal with different situations. A sorcerer with a single approach will find it difficult to progress in the Distant Sky Domain, and the ability to draw analogies is a skill that must be mastered at the sanctuary sorcerer stage.

After identifying all the affixes, the dream phantom suddenly collapsed into a point and shattered on its own!

Everyone fell into the true Distant Sky Domain, floating in the air surrounded by infinite light, with dream phantoms like bubbles in the distance. However, they had no time to admire the view, and immediately raised a sanctuary to prevent the Ritual of Prohibited Synchronization of Wind, Flower, Snow, and Moon!

At this moment, Ashe suddenly remembered something and hurriedly spread his golden and silver Twin Wings, rushing towards Sonya-the crimson blessing could only maintain a sanctuary for 3 seconds, after which it would shatter!

“Wait!”

The village girl raised her hand to stop him and, after hesitating for a moment, said, “I think… I can already concentrate on a sanctuary.”

“So quickly?” Ashe was taken aback, then breathed a sigh of relief, “That’s great.”

“Why did the dream phantom suddenly break?” Deya complained, “We haven’t even collected our loot yet.”

Vesser suddenly said, “Sink into your soul and take a look.”

Everyone looked inward to their souls and quickly noticed a large bubble composed of several smaller bubbles, which could be pierced with a single thought.

“Oh,” Sonya recalled, “this is an affix bubble!”

“When a sorcerer completes certain Phantoms, the Phantom may directly shrink into the sorcerer’s soul and, based on the affixes the sorcerer experienced that day, create an affix bubble!”

“Just pierce the bubble, and you can generate a corresponding Three Wings Rare Spirit affix!”

“The professor said affix bubbles appear randomly and aren’t related to the difficulty of the Phantom. It might appear after the first Phantom, or it might not appear for over a dozen. But only affix bubbles can give birth to Rare Spirits that a sorcerer cannot summon otherwise.”

“Are there really spirits that sorcerers can’t summon?” Ashe blinked.

“Of course,” said Deya, taking over the explanation. “For example, the ‘Witness’ spirit I just obtained is impossible to summon. Or rather, the race capable of summoning this spirit no longer exists, and no creature can attack others with their sight now… Only within a Phantom can affixes like ‘Witness’ appear, leading to the birth of similar spirits.”

“I see…” Ashe murmured. “How did you get your ‘Witness’ spirit?”

Deya blinked. “It was a gift from my grandmother.”

“But wasn’t your relationship with your grandmother pretty poor?”

“For certain reasons, I forgave her.”

“Congratulations.” Ashe continued to look inward at the bubbles. “I have eight bubbles here, each corresponding to eight affixes, so do I just pierce one at random?”

“Huh?” Sonya was surprised. “Why do I have nine?”

Deya said, “I have nine as well.”

“I have ten,” Vesser raised her head, “and this number, combined with the collections we obtained, matches.”

Everyone was stunned and turned to look at Ashe. He shrugged. “I have no idea.”

“Now that you mention it, the effects of the collections are very similar to affixes,” Vesser mused. “Could these collections be affixes that once existed? How come you don’t know, Observer, considering it’s your power?”

“Because he had amnesia before,” Sonya said.

Actually, at that time, I just meant I lost Heath’s memories… Although I felt a little like explaining, seeing that the Witch and the sword Princess both believed it deeply, and since Ashe didn’t really know how to explain his ignorance about the collections’ origins, he decided to let it be.

Vesser’s gaze at Ashe immediately rippled with curiosity-like the sword Princess and the Witch, she too quickly connected it to the trope of a ‘strong hero awakening.’ After all, being able to form a party in the Virtual Realm is already an extraordinary feat, and combined with his seemingly endless trump cards, it’s easy for anyone to think he’s a high-level character starting anew.

However, she quickly collected herself and said calmly, “From the outside, you can’t tell the difference between the bubbles… it’s all down to luck.”

Pop.

As the affix bubbles in their souls burst, four fantasy spirits were born.

Deya had the worst luck, obtaining the relatively common ‘Bubble’ spirit. But she didn’t really care about what spirit she got. After all, she had an entire Kingdom at her disposal, and her main reasons for entering the Virtual Realm were to condense her spellforce and spend time with Ashe. The rewards she gained from the Virtual Realm were just an added pleasure, much like a wealthy wife playing games with her husband. If she happened to get a rare spirit, it would be great, but she wasn’t betting on it to transform her abilities.

Ashe obtained the ‘Acting’ spirit, but it didn’t have the “Invulnerable Opening Scene” effect. It merely allowed sorcerers to perform with emotional depth as if they were following a script, making it a rare but not particularly useful spirit. However, Ashe was excited about a very interesting experiment he thought of and was pleased to add it to his collection.

When Vesser and Sonya revealed their new spirits, Ashe gasped in surprise, “You two better watch your steps in the coming days-careful not to trip on flat ground.”

Sonya’s new spirit resembled a ruby, while Vesser’s was a beam of inspiration-these were the spirit forms of the collections ‘Crimson Blessing’ and ‘Inspiration Glasses’!

However, Sonya shook her head. “They aren’t as practical as before.”

“Crimson Blessing”

“Three Wings Spirit”

“Limit: None.”

“Passive Effect: Automatically raises a Sanctuary when attacked, lasts for 3 seconds, cools down for 10 seconds.”

“‘May your flames always shine brightly.’”

—

“Inspiration”

“Three Wings Spirit”

“Limit: None.”

“Basic Effect: Enables reasoning and association based on existing Intelligence about a specific target.”

“Passive Effect: You might suddenly recall distant yet relevant important clues or insights.”

“‘I close my eyes and touch the inspiration, reading the Braille left by Truth.’”

“The “Crimson Blessing” isn’t too bad. Although a three-second Sanctuary isn’t particularly powerful, its most important feature is the automatic defense, allowing the sword Princess to avoid being ambushed no matter her condition. However, it was surprising to see that this spirit has only a passive effect and no active effect, which was quite eye-opening for Ashe and the others.

The “Inspiration” spirit is a bit tricky. It’s not useless-quite the opposite. In the Distant Sky Domain, where reasoning through affixes is essential, this spirit can truly shine. But compared to the “Inspiration Glasses” collection, “Inspiration” seems much weaker.

After these tense battles, these rewards were enough to soothe their weary souls. Ashe let out a breath and said, “Let’s call it a night.”

Everyone agreed. Although only three hours had passed, their soul energy was already 80% depleted. Reaching the next dream phantom would require some time, and the lengthy escape battle where they received beatings without fighting back drained all their energy and spirit. Continuing the adventure might lead to mistakes and potential danger.

Even though their adventure was over, it didn’t mean they had to go back immediately. Sonya suggested, “Now we have some free time, let’s chat.”

“Sure,” Ashe said, “do you want to hear about my experiences in the Gospel Kingdom?”

Deya didn’t mind either way, and Vesser was about to nod in agreement when she saw Sonya shaking her head repeatedly. “Let’s not talk about that tonight. Let’s start with your current situation.”

Wasn’t the sword Princess eager to hear about it earlier? Now she seems uninterested… Ashe scratched his head and said, “I’m currently with my companions, pursuing the Silver Lantern.”

“It’s the first time I’ve heard you mention companions,” muttered the Stretch Paw Club President.

“They’re my companions from the Prison Break. You know them-the mental sorcerer and the necromancer,” Ashe laughed. “We’ve been working together ever since.”

“But didn’t you say they were villains?”

“Ashe chuckled, hovering in mid-air with his arms crossed. ‘They’re definitely Lala Fatty in the making,’ he said, referring to his eccentric companions. ‘But when it comes to teamwork, they’re quite reliable.’

‘The mental sorcerer is meticulous, considerate, and has a bright, cheerful smile.’

Deya recalled the cold glint in Igor’s eyes and his mischievous smirk. Back then, Lise would insist on sleeping with Ashe at night, largely out of fear that the Con Artist might silently choke her in her sleep-a thought that left her trembling with dread.

Vesser remembered the mental sorcerer’s chilling Mental Scream and his intricate traps made from fire oil, stakes, and bombs. Wherever she ran, there was a trap waiting, and even more so, the Raven Annihilation was lurking on her escape route. Before being drawn into the Virtual Realm, the person Vesser feared most was the mental sorcerer, followed by Raven Annihilation.

‘The necromancer is a silent savant, an artist lost in his own world.’

Deya remembered how Harvey tended to Alice every night, the food he prepared for her, and… she stopped herself, feeling the Little Witch in her mind almost sickened by the memories.

Vesser thought of the necromancer’s despair-fueled Miracle, the way he merged with corpses to become a nether knight, charging through Food Factory Town. Although he did stop Vesser’s escape, his actions also terrified the townspeople. Later, when Ashe and his companions were allegedly driven out, the necromancer likely played a significant role in that chaotic scene.

‘They sound surprisingly decent,’ Sonya remarked, somewhat bemused. ‘How did two Death Row Inmates you randomly met in prison turn out so well?’

Deya and Vesser felt like ants were crawling in their throats, resisting the urge to interject, and instead turned their heads away.

‘Maybe they only seem normal in front of me,’ Ashe admitted, aware of himself. ‘Or perhaps I’ve been influenced by them; their odd behavior doesn’t surprise me anymore.’

‘No, you’re not strange at all,’ Sonya assured him. ‘So, tell us more about your upcoming plans.’

Ashe was puzzled. ‘Why do you want to know?’

‘To brainstorm with you, of course, and help you deal with the Silver Lantern and Little Trumpet,’ Sonya replied.”