Sorcerer’s Handbook - Chapter 246: Spoils of War

The second piece of loot plummeted in value.

“Demilo’s Hand-Drawn Map”

“It seems foolish to record everything that’s subject to change, but heroic souls usually don’t have much else to do.”

Just as it sounds, this is a map, its material feels like parchment. When Ashe unfolds it, detailed annotations covering its surface become visible.

Glowing points: Current location, Main City of Star Hall.

Terrain: Swamp, mud, forest, cave, mountain range…

Resource Points: Lumber mill, ore pit, crystal mine, mercury factory, gold mine…

Special Areas: Dragon’s nest, River of Flowing Gold, Destiny’s Inquiry House, Miracle Park, Tree of Wisdom…

“No Rainbow Tail.” Ashe and companions meticulously examine the map, shaking their heads in disappointment. They had hoped the heroic soul’s map would contain information on Rainbow Tail, considering that heroic souls, in theory, are part of the Virtual Realm establishment, and thus, such insider information could potentially be known.

However, aside from the absence of Rainbow Tail, the map was as comprehensive as they come. Leaving aside the Resource Points, just “Destiny’s Inquiry House” and “Miracle Park” alone were worth a visit. The former offered opportunities to ask questions about the Virtual Realm through answers, while the latter allowed one to freeload spirit companions.

The “Tree of Wisdom” was even more formidable. The Swordswoman mentioned that one could pay a certain price to directly elevate one’s standing within a Faction Realm—an equivalent to a Sanctuary pass, a Sorcerer’s wishing machine, a life-altering tree.

This sounded more reliable than Rainbow Tail, but the issue lay in the “certain price”—though there were cases where one could advance by paying a trivial price, many more records told of Sorcerers paying a grim price and ultimately resorting to suicide.

For instance, the price demanded by the Tree of Wisdom might be the Sorcerer’s loss of the ability to speak (including listening, reading, and writing) for three days. Coincidentally, the Sorcerer becomes entangled in a murder case. Unable to communicate, the Sorcerer mistakenly believes that other criminal facts have been exposed, and in desperation, commits murder; likewise, without means of communication, the Sorcerer suspects that their spouse and child are planning to betray them and ends up killing their entire family.

Once the Sorcerer returns to normal, the real murderer is apprehended, but the Sorcerer, upon learning the truth, also succumbs to a mental breakdown and their soul retreats to the Virtual Realm.

Despite its notorious reputation, the Tree of Wisdom still attracted many Sorcerers because they knew they lacked sufficient wisdom. However, compared to seeking Rainbow Tail, Sorcerers were more inclined to do so, as failing to find Rainbow Tail at most meant losing Soul Energy, while confronting the Tree of Wisdom meant selling one’s soul.

Logically, this Map, filled with important intelligence, should have been the top prize among the spoils of war, but Ashe and the others were less enthusiastic—because it was, indeed, just a Map.

It was not a spirit.

Experience Orbs could be absorbed, spirits could be commanded, but they couldn’t take the Map out of the Virtual Realm, nor could they keep it for their next entry. Even if they memorized the Map’s information, they didn’t know where they would appear upon their next venture into the Virtual Realm. Trying to find reference coordinates would only lead to getting lost in the Curtain Maze of the Reverse Golden Rain.

A Map without reference points is like falling in love with a Paper person—no matter how much you invest, you only harvest emptiness.

As for using the Map tonight to indulge in the thrill of discovering special Areas, not to mention their car was about to explode, the key point was—the high-value special Areas were not close by.

There was a scale on the Map, and they estimated that even the nearest Miracle Park was 10 kilometers away. If the sports car was still operational, it might have been fine, but on foot, just the journey through thorns and underbrush could deplete all their Soul Energy.

Distance was not the only issue; they had engaged in battles with the Fierce Wolf Dragon clan and the heroic soul legion in this Area, and then they had just rested for a while. Even though they had previously traveled by car, staying in the same Area for such a long time meant that the White Bull had already traveled quite a distance.

If they didn’t want to be caught by the stillness of time, they had to either move forward quickly or log off and exit the Virtual Realm right there—they simply didn’t have time to search for Miracle Park.

However, compared to Resource Points, the several glowing important annotations on the Map were even more attractive to the Sorcerers.

The glowing points on the Map indicated their current location and four distant Star Halls within the Main Cities, which were very far away and seemingly within the Static Domain. Although there was no additional information, the mere name “Star Hall Main Cities” gave Ashe and the others a glimpse into the iceberg that was the Time Continent—these heroic soul legions were not naturally occurring special ecologies, but rather agents backed by Virtual Realm powers!

So, in this world, who could establish hidden forces within the Virtual Realm, enslaving Sorcerer Projections and Knowledge Creatures for their own use?

“Could the Star Halls be a force created by the Divine Master?” Sonya asked in a hushed tone, as if afraid of drawing the attention of a great entity.

“Possibly, or possibly not,” Ashe shook his head. “The intelligence we’ve gathered is too scarce to make any meaningful guesses. These Main Cities could also be relics of an ancient era, any Sorcerer Projection that enters might be transformed into a heroic soul, awakened with spiritual intelligence, and then they prepare to assemble a Virtual Realm army to counterattack the real world—”

“Isn’t that just the fairy tale story I was just talking about!” Deya pointed out sharply, noticing Ashe’s impromptu use of the tale.

“In any case, if we want to uncover the secrets of the heroic soul legion, we need to take a look at what exactly these so-called Main Cities have to offer,” Ashe said with a hint of regret. “Too bad we can’t take this Map with us…”

“Don’t you, the Observer, have a Virtual Realm Map?” Sonya raised her hands and then clapped them together with a snap: “Can’t you invoke some kind of Fusion Miracle to combine them?”

Sonya’s words sparked an epiphany in Ashe. He opened the Virtual Realm Map, and sure enough, a prompt popped up: “Map information has been updated.”

The “Zoom” button on the right side of the Virtual Realm Map was now marked with a red exclamation point. Ashe had used the “Zoom” feature at the very beginning, but after enlarging, the other Areas remained unknown, so he hadn’t used this skill since, keeping the Map at the smallest scale.

Now, clicking on “Zoom,” the Map expanded to its largest state, and Ashe saw what appeared to be a pizza pie cut into eight slices—most of the Map was still unknown territory, but roughly one-eighth of the Area was now revealed with various terrains, Resource Points, special Areas, and even the four Star Hall Main Cities were marked on it.

Looking at this expansive Map, there was an irresistible urge to uncover every dark and unknown Area.

In addition to that, Ashe noticed a small, distinct, known Area amidst the unknown. After closely examining landmarks like “Stone Mine Caves” and “River of Flowing Gold,” he confirmed this was the place they had explored the night before.

It turns out the Virtual Realm Map has the ability to automatically record and create maps!

And he had been oblivious to it all along!

Although Ashe didn’t know how useful this map-recording feature would be—since each entry into the Virtual Realm landed them in different locations, and they had managed to navigate successfully without a map before—he still felt a sense of loss. It was akin to the regret one might feel after confessing to a childhood friend, only to discover that the friend had harbored feelings for three years already. Why had he hesitated for so long?

While the truth would have been apparent had he simply opened the Map, Ashe was still filled with gratitude towards Sonya, who reminded him: “Swordswoman, I am so moved right now, I feel like kissing you.”

“No problem.”

Sonya extended her hand, gesturing for Ashe to kiss it. Ashe glanced at it: “You’ve been swinging your sword with that hand; it’s not sweaty, is it…?”

Sonya made a fist: “Stand still, I can kiss you with my fist, and French kissing is also an option—as long as your mouth can fit my fist.”

“Why only kiss the Swordswoman? What about me?” Deya exclaimed in shock. “Observer, are you implying I haven’t done well enough?”

“Actually, if we were to distribute based on merit, it should be you kissing me,” Ashe said with his arms crossed. “But if we start using kisses to reward the most valuable player after each Battle, it would be awkward… Even if I don’t mind, you certainly would.”

“Let’s take this opportunity to establish some everyday etiquette. The most intimate actions between the three of us shall be limited to hugs and holding hands. Acts like kissing and caressing are too intimate and should be prohibited, as they might make another person uncomfortable.”

Ashe paused: “But what’s done in private is a different matter.”

Sonya: “What are you thinking?”

Deya: “I think I know what the Observer is thinking… And it’s not happening! The White Queen wouldn’t, the Red Death Eater wouldn’t, the Black Butler wouldn’t, and neither would I!”

“The information on this Map has already been recorded onto my Virtual Realm Map,” Ashe said, steering the conversation back to the main topic as if he hadn’t heard their banter. “If we happen to land in an Area on the Map next time, we can explore nearby Resource Points and special Areas.”

If the Commander’s Handbook was a sweet taste of success for Ashe and his companions, then this Resource Map was like a feast. However, its utility was quite limited; if it weren’t for Ashe’s ability to import external records into the Virtual Realm Map, he wouldn’t be able to enjoy this banquet at all.

The Virtual Realm wouldn’t just generate a Map specifically for Ashe, so there was only one possibility—a Sorcerer proficient in a certain Faction could ‘absorb’ this Map.

A term almost subconsciously surfaced in Ashe’s mind: Prophecy Faction.

Coincidentally, the Gospel Kingdom was a place where the Prophecy Faction reigned supreme, unchallenged. Was it possible…? Ashe quickly snuffed out this ambitious thought. Rather than practicing the Prophecy Faction himself, it would be more efficient and comfortable to hope for drawing an Operator from the Prophecy Faction.

Ashe, oh Ashe, when faced with a challenge, remember not to first think about how to do it yourself, but how to delegate the work to the right person. The skill of delegating, learned in the Workplace, should not be forgotten in a different world.

Ashe quietly reflected on this oversight and then guiltlessly picked up the third piece of spoils.

The third trophy was peculiar; although Ashe could tell it was a spirit by touch, it didn’t look anything like a spirit—it had no wings.

At first glance, it appeared to be a hexagonal bipyramid, resembling an ornament that could be worn as an earring, completely transparent but with one side emitting a blue glow.

However, the information emanating from within it was eye-opening for any Sorcerer:

“Soul Summoning”

“Zero Wing Spirit”

“Restriction: Can only appear within the Virtual Realm, can only be used within the Virtual Realm.”

“Effect ① Soul Summoning: You can absorb the residual soul power of soldiers.”

“Effect ② Command: You can bestow troop types upon yourself and your followers, but bestowing troop types requires the consumption of soul power. A Sorcerer can grant the same troop type to multiple units, but only the armor can stack.”

“Below are the currently summonable troop types”

“Star Hall Star Swordsman: Swords deal +15% Soul Damage. Comes with 3 layers of armor, humanoid form, and is equipped with a longsword. Each unit consumes 1 point of soul power.”

“Star Hall Star Archer: Shots deal +20% Soul Damage, and include precision locking aim that does not reduce damage with distance. Comes with 2 layers of armor, humanoid form, and is equipped with a bow and arrows. Each unit consumes 2 points of soul power.”

“This spirit cannot evolve.”

“This spirit can unlock different troop types by absorbing spirits of the same name.”

“Only one of the same spirit can be owned.”

“‘Congratulations on becoming a player in this never-ending game, although you don’t even qualify to be a pawn.’”