Sorcerer’s Handbook

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The sound of swords clashing rang out like a steel symphony. Felix was somewhat surprised - the training sword he was using was made of black iron ebony, one of the finest choices even for a real weapon.

Yet his opponent was using nothing more than an ordinary wooden sword, and had exchanged dozens of strikes without it breaking or splintering, either the wood was of an unusually hardy quality or their swordsmanship was highly skilled.

He suspected both were true.

The instant his opponent dropped back on defense, Felix's eyes glinted sharply. Gripping his sword high he slashed down with full force, pivoting his body to add momentum, making it look from the outside as if he was 'sliding' at high speed. The ebony sword crashed down like a shockwave!

Yet he struck empty air!

Just like the last few times, right before his attack landed on the opening in his opponent's defense, Sonya would make an extremely bizarre footwork maneuver, interrupting all motion to abruptly slide along the ground, barely avoiding his killing blow by a hair's breadth every time. Then--

He turned to see Sonya's tranquil, icy gaze and the fading afterimage of her wooden sword slashing back at him!

Clang!

Felix quickly swung his sword to block the blow, growing more anxious by the second. Although Sonya had yet to injure him, he could feel the increasing pressure as she became more familiar with the Fluctuation posture.

At first Felix thought that continuous heavy attacks would be enough to defeat this suddenly appeared swordplay genius.

He didn't expect that in addition to the Starchild posture, she had also mastered a bizarre footwork that allowed her to evade his certain-hit attacks again and again. While Felix had more or less figured out her rhythm by now, at the same time Sonya had also grasped the essence of the Fluctuation posture, effectively narrowing the gap between them!

In addition to that, she had a mastery of barehanded blade-drawing skills.

Compared to the Fluctuation posture however, the instantaneous explosion of barehanded blade-drawing was still somewhat lacking. Felix actually hoped she would engage him with barehanded blade-drawing, since the reverse recoil alone would be enough to shatter her wrist. But after being burned once Sonya simply abandoned barehanded blade-drawing, focusing wholeheartedly on contending with Felix.

Felix didn't want to drag this out any longer, nor could he. Even if he dragged it out until Sonya was exhausted, that would just be a hollow victory.

And with that gorgeous and alluring body of hers, it seemed she had endless stamina. He felt that if it dragged on, the one worn out wouldn't be her, but himself!

It was time to end this!

Without looking for any particular opening, he abruptly took a step back, once again assuming the Fluctuation posture, deeply exhaling a mouthful of stale air as he stared at Sonya like a sword.

"Next move, lose and fail!" His tone allowed no compromise.

"Very well."

The next second, the observing crowd revealed looks of astonishment, while Felix's face was filled with fury!

Because Sonya was holding her wooden sword high in her right hand, body turned sideways to welcome the opponent, looking exactly the same as Felix--she had actually assumed the Fluctuation posture!

No one believed Sonya had learned the Fluctuation posture, first of all she had just witnessed it earlier tonight, and even if she had observed Felix training before, it would be impossible to learn it--Felix trained in the drill grounds every day, everyone could see the details of his practice, yet who among them had managed to secretly learn the hidden teachings of the Vlozrada family?

A posture involved not just the movements, but breathing methods, footwork, and specific details in exertion of strength. Just watching was far from enough to learn it. Even if someone taught you, not everyone had the talent to comprehend it--every faction that could enter the virtual realm had extremely high barriers to entry.

Therefore, the only reason the crowd could think of for Sonya mimicking the Fluctuation posture was one--to taunt Felix!

Nothing was more insulting than using your opponent's own moves to defeat them.

Clearly the taunt was very successful. Felix's face had turned nearly black with anger, yet he said not a word.

Only Sylvia couldn't help but cheer silently--using this method to taunt and provoke Felix, he wouldn't be able to forget you even if he wanted to. She never imagined there would be such a cunning girl among the first year hunters, it was a lesson for her as well...Next, you should arrange your defeat to give Felix a way out, naturally agreeing to future contests to increase your interactions, right?

"You're just humiliating yourself!" Felix shouted furiously. Stepping forward, turning his body, his single-handed sword lashed out like a whip, smashing down like a meteor, flowing relentlessly downward like spilling water!

No fancy naming of techniques, the core concept of this move was a single 'Break'--putting his full might into smashing apart his opponent's defense!

Felix targeted Sonya's knees, he had noticed her bizarre footwork always had some telltale sign from her knees. He could predict her evasion direction from the movements of her knees, then adjust the angle of his sword accordingly, determined to shatter her resistance in a single blow!

But beyond his predictions, Sonya did not evade. Instead she used the exact same move as him--advancing step, turning the body, swinging sword crashing down!

Meet the fiercest head on with the fiercest!

Clang!

Following a teeth-grating thunderous boom, the two crossed by each other. The crowd held their breaths, waiting for the outcome.

Snap.

The tip of Sonya's wooden sword broke off, falling to the ground.

This was no surprise to the crowd, as they saw a swordswoman manifest above Felix's shoulder, the most eye-catching detail was her sword formed by black light--the Fluctuation sword spirit!

"A breakthrough in the heat of battle! So mid-fight breakthroughs really do happen!"

"Summoning your innate spirit in the midst of combat!"

"As expected of a Vlozrada!"

Iris hurried over to support Sonya, comforting her, "Don't lose heart, you'll be able to summon your own spirit soon. Then during the next match..."

"I didn't lose." Sonya stated lightly.

The crowd was stunned, thinking Sonya was just unable to accept the loss of face. But the next second, Felix's ebony sword also snapped apart with a crack, falling to the ground.

Above Sonya's shoulder, a swordswoman also appeared. Unlike Felix's however, hers was female, and her sword was formed from white light.

"Fluctuation sword spirit!?"

"How did she also summon the Vlozrada's Fluctuation sword spirit, could it be..."

"She learned Felix's Fluctuation posture mid-battle, then directly summoned it?"

"How is that possible..."

"Wait, isn't that saying she went from novice to swordmaster in the course of a few hours?"

At this notion, the crowd was nearly knocked senseless--many of them had spent years without reaching swordmaster level, yet Sonya managed it overnight?

The crowd's envy, Iris' astonishment, Sylvia's jealousy, the complexity in Felix's eyes...

But Sonya had no mind to care about any of that.

She stared straight at the Observer who was standing to the side watching, a look on her face that said 'I already know the truth'.

In her heart she asked: "You mean you're just a figment of my psyche, not a real existence? You just represent my inner thoughts? You're just my delusion?"

The Observer did not speak, only squatted down to pick up the broken sword that had fallen to the ground. He then pressed it to the break in Sonya's wooden sword, wiping lightly with his hand, and the wooden sword was restored as if it had never been damaged, not a single crack visible.

Even having performed such a miraculous deed, no one noticed him, no one even noticed the restored wooden sword.

He clapped his hands, turned, and walked outside, leaving Sonya fuming with rage at his parting words:

"You guess?"