Sorcerer’s Handbook

"So this is the virtual world..."

Ashe dipped his hand into the sea water, smelled and tasted it. Surprisingly, it tasted a little sweet.

Looking down, the sea surface was very blurry and he couldn't see his own reflection clearly.

Examining his attire, he found himself wearing the same dark windbreaker as his character illustration, looking quite stylish.

"It's just like how the virtual world is described in the textbooks."

Since there was no one else around, Sonya also spoke up openly: "This must be the Sea of Knowledge, also known as the Silver Sea, the Primordial Sea... Regardless of whether one is a genius or mediocre, a legendary Six-Winged Archon or a single-winged mage, their first stop upon entering the virtual world is undoubtedly this ocean."

"The only difference is this." Sonya knocked on the small boat, looking around and noticing a book symbol on the bow and a sword symbol on the stern.

"The textbooks say that mages should arrive here naked..."

"Naked?" Ashe glanced at Sonya's black halter dress.

Sonya immediately blushed and instinctively covered her chest: "Our appearances in the virtual world are projections of our consciousness. 'Naked' means we can't bring in external objects from reality... I've heard that people initially arrive in the virtual world swimming naked in the sea, so it's impossible to have a boat!"

"I see!" Ashe suddenly clapped his hands.

"See what?"

"This boat must be your true form, you're just a soul illusion!"

"What?" Sonya was taken aback.

"Your consciousness has split into two parts. One part is your dense soul, materialized into this small boat for you to sail; the other part is your agile intellect, taking your current form. The soul is the boat, the mind is the person. The boat carries the person sailing towards the other shore, that must be it!" Ashe asserted confidently.

It did sound somewhat reasonable, but...

"How do you prove it?" Sonya asked.

Without thinking, Ashe said: "If you don't believe me, jump into the sea and try. If I'm right, you won't be able to leave this boat!"

No sooner said than done, Sonya directly leapt into the sea with a splash. Fortunately with the dream trial experience, although Sonya had never learned to swim, she at least knew some water skills and wouldn't sink like a rock.

Soon Sonya flipped back onto the boat and harrumphed coldly: "You're wrong, I can leave the boat. This boat is definitely not a manifestation of my soul..."

She was a little smug at personally proving the observer's words wrong, but when she turned to look, she realized the observer was watching her.

Although his appearance was still obscured by the dimness, Sonya could fully sense his gaze. She looked down and saw that her clothes were soaked by the seawater, clinging wetly to her body and outlining her graceful curves.

"You--" Sonya was so angry she directly raised her wooden sword, disregarding the difference in their strengths, and immediately summoned her vibration sword spirit to slash at him. Ashe quickly retreated and surrendered: "Wait wait, where did you get that wooden sword?"

Huh?

Sonya looked at the wooden sword in her hand. She remembered not having any weapon earlier. But when she saw how irritating the observer was, she instinctively wanted to beat him with a wooden sword...

"You see, when you wanted a wooden sword, it appeared. Clearly this boat also manifested because you didn't want to swim," Ashe spread his hands. "I was just testing earlier, and this proves the boat is indeed a manifestation of will."

"Was that peeping also part of your test? No, the wooden sword is the weapon I'm most familiar with, so I can easily manifest it, just like how I manifested clothes!"

"Don't falsely accuse me, I was openly and uprightly looking! There was no peeping involved!"

After this little interlude, the unfamiliarity and fear from first arriving in the virtual world dissipated.

Moreover, having someone to accompany felt reassuring, like having someone to take the fall whenever anything happened. Both of them felt a sense of stability.

But just as Sonya didn't know the difference between this 'observer' and that 'observer', Ashe also didn't know the distinction between this 'swordswoman' and that 'swordswoman'.

One hour ago.

After dinner, back in the prison dormitory, the swordswoman started chatting about very adult topics with Ashe.

"I have two pieces of news. The good news is, you'll be living in free state-provided housing for the rest of your life."

"There's such a good deal?"

"The bad news is, you could be dragged off to be beheaded at any time."

Ashe understood: "I can't escape?"

The swordswoman sat on the bed with her legs crossed and arms folded, eyeing Ashe askance: "You should know that mages are the most powerful group in this world, right? As an ordinary person, it's impossible for you to contend against mages."

"Even that masochist mage who transformed his body into diamond, after his link to the virtual world was severed, could only become a diamond rat wallowing in shit."

"The experiences today should also let you understand, as long as you still have the chip on your nape, no matter where you are, you remain bound by endless shackles."

Speaking of this, Ashe's expression also changed slightly. He had thought the miracle chip was like an implantable computer, but didn't expect the chip to turn him into a computer -- yet his admin privileges were remotely controlled by others.

Whether he could hit people, what content he could see, what words he could speak, were all under the admin's control. Today the admin could make him a civilized youth who followed etiquette and rules; tomorrow the admin could make him eat shit in big mouthfuls.

Before removing the chip, all his plans were equivalent to a computer virus -- the admin only needed to reinstall the system to instantly kill everything. If the admin felt Ashe was beyond repair, he could even directly scrap and recycle him, restarting Ashe's life.

"Is there a way to remove the chip?" Ashe gritted his teeth and asked: "Like directly scraping the nape off..."

"If it was so simple to remove, this prison wouldn't be so lively."

The swordswoman sneered: "Although called a chip, during your growth process, the miracle chip has gradually fused into the deepest parts of your marrow. Now every one of your bones, nerves, muscles has the chip's imprint. To remove the chip, jumping into molten steel at a steel mill might work. "

"In other words, ordinary methods can't remove the chip." Ashe said. "Then what about mage methods?"

"Mages have more methods." The swordswoman said. "The most likely for you to obtain is the sword miracle Slash Me."

"Slash Me is a defensive miracle for swordsmages, specialized in cleansing abnormal status effects. Although it's just a silver miracle even single-wing mages can use, it can directly cleanse most persistent damage caused by two-wing spirits."

"The miracle chip is aimed at ordinary people and single-wing mages, and can't withstand the might of the two-wing Slash Me miracle. As long as you can use Slash Me, you can instantly clear all miracle chips from your body, which will give you the chance to escape."

"Then how do I obtain the Slash Me miracle?"

"To cast miracles, you first need to have a spirit. And to obtain a spirit, you have four paths." The swordswoman held up four fingers:

"First, resonating with the virtual world through learning knowledge, manifesting virtual world knowledge into a spirit in reality."

"Second, searching the virtual world for wild spirits."

"Third, killing mages and seizing their spirits."

"Fourth, spirit trading."

"First of all, you can't take the first path." The swordswoman glanced at Ashe. "The miracle chip has already severed your connection to the virtual world. No matter how much knowledge you absorb, it's impossible to resonate with the virtual world."

Ashe looked at his character information in the light screen, and indeed saw a 'Virtual World Resonance Prohibited'.

"As for the third path, it's not unheard of for an ordinary person to kill a mage with their mortal body. Most cases happened when concubines and gigolos took the chance to plot against their masters during sex..."

The swordswoman looked over Ashe and shook her head: "You don't have a chance with this path either."

"Don't deny it so absolutely! I do have a chance relying on my face! I can also earn a living with my looks!"

"And there's no need to elaborate on the fourth path, you simply don't have the capital to trade with others."

"In summary," the swordswoman was too lazy to argue with Ashe, "searching the virtual world for wild spirits is your only way to obtain a spirit."

Ashe: "Then how do I go to the virtual world?"

Swordswoman: "The only way to enter the virtual world is triggering the Truth Gate within a spirit, letting your consciousness directly cross over to the virtual world."

Ashe blinked.

"So what you mean is, to go to the virtual world, I first need to have a spirit?"

"Precisely."

"And my purpose for going to the virtual world is to find a spirit?"

"Well said."

"Wait wait wait..."

Ashe clutched his forehead and retreated.

"Isn't this just like the plight of a new college grad discovering that all job postings require 3 years of experience?! I can't go to the virtual world without a spirit, but I need to go to the virtual world to find a spirit. Isn't this an endless loop?"

"Who told you that you need your own spirit to go to the virtual world?"

"Huh?"

The swordswoman pointed at herself: "Did you forget? I already have a vibration sword spirit. I'm qualified to enter the virtual world. Observer, you've formed a soul bond with me through the Manual, even sharing experience. Bringing you along to the virtual world is easy."

There's this function too? Ashe instinctively opened the Sorcerer's Handbook and wanted to reread his talents, but discovered a new module had appeared in the game somehow:

"Virtual World Expedition": Organize operator teams to explore the virtual world.

However, when Ashe clicked "Virtual World Expedition", selected 'Apocalypse Observer' and 'Death Maniac Swordswoman' to act together, and clicked "Ready", nothing changed in reality -- because 'Death Maniac Swordswoman' was still "Preparing".

"I'm already ready, hurry up and confirm too." Ashe urged.

"I'll go back and prepare, you can slowly wait."

Ashe was baffled: "What do you still need to prepare?"

"Lots, lots, a virgin like you wouldn't understand."

Watching the swordswoman curl her lips in a mocking smile and disappear into the air, Ashe could only lie in bed and wait. Perhaps the regeneration treatment drained too much strength, or perhaps the night was overly boring without a phone to scroll, Ashe soon felt drowsy and closed his eyes.

When he woke up again, he saw the swordswoman sitting with him in the same boat, floating on an ocean shrouded in white fog.

On the small boat in the Sea of Knowledge, Ashe suddenly recalled something and silently tried to summon the light screen.

He both failed and succeeded -- he failed because although he summoned the light screen, most functions became ineffective, the virtual world indeed didn't support external plugins; but he succeeded because the Sorcerer's Handbook could still run.

He opened the Handbook's "Virtual World Expedition", and suddenly a map popped up on the light screen, with a message:

"You have entered virtual world expedition mode, please read the beginner's guide..."

On the other side, Sonya noticed Ashe wasn't speaking, so she also focused her mind on the virtual world. She bent over and used her hands to stir the seawater, trying to propel the small boat forward.

"Wait, don't rush and move around randomly, swordswoman. Let me handle it."