Sorcerer’s Handbook

“15 points expended.”

“Ashe Heath can exploit the vulnerability from threats: Igor Bukin, Archibald Harvey, Lise.”

“…Huh?”

For a fleeting moment, Igor truly thought he held an extremely important place in Ashe’s heart, nearly bursting with elation—wouldn’t he then be able to brazenly leverage this washed-up Cult Leader?

However, the moment he saw the name ‘Lise’, he came back to his senses: himself and Harvey were one thing, being fellow countrymen and comrades in adversity, but how could a little girl, barely known for less than a day and who almost doomed Ashe’s future, become a chip to threaten Ashe?

If Lise were kidnapped and threatened to be burned without ransom, given Ashe’s nature, he would probably ponder whether to supply matches or fuel.

It couldn’t possibly be because Lise was a cute, white-haired little Lolita, that Ashe would treat her differently!

Igor was good-looking too, ranked even higher than Lise on the Beauty Ranking, yet still ended up thoroughly duped by Ashe!

So, it was clear that the Gospel had made a mistake: Igor, Harvey, and Lise were currently the characters most closely related and on the same side as Ashe, hence the Gospel mistook them as allies of interest, consequently deducing that Ashe’s vulnerability were these three.

If Igor wasn’t mistaken, Harvey’s vulnerability must surely be the three of them – himself, Ashe, and Lise. But he was too lazy to verify—there went 15 points, now his wealth entirely depended on the patronage of Miss Annan, necessitating frugal spending!

So this was the meaning of Revelation, if he inquired about Ashe Heath, the Gospel would certainly provide an incorrect answer.

All thanks to Ashe!

These 15 points, he would make Ashe pay back a thousandfold!

Ashe, sitting opposite Igor, was unaware that he had inadvertently accrued another debt. At this moment, he was staring at the response from the Gospel, his brow slightly furrowed.

“Can the Omnipotent Wish allow me to transmigrate back to my own world?”

“1 point expended.”

“The Omnipotent Wish can traverse time and space, worlds as well, but whether it can reach a specific world requires a case-by-case analysis.”

‘Case-by-case analysis’ – upon seeing such an official response, Ashe almost triggered PTSD. He had heard this kind of talk too much in the workplace, and the subtext was always, “I can do this for you, but I don’t want to put in the effort.”

On the other hand, this statement also gave Ashe some confidence.

If the Gospel had assured him with certainty, Ashe would have been suspicious of whether the Divine Master was a colleague of Igor’s – in any world, only swindlers can guarantee to fulfill all your wishes.

So, if I could obtain this Omnipotent Wish, could I really go home?

Realizing this hope, Ashe wasn’t overly excited. It’s not that he didn’t miss his mom’s hearty soup or his dad’s nagging, but as he had told the Swordswoman in the Virtual Realm, he wasn’t the type of person who needed to cling to a wish to survive.

Embracing hope pretentiously and then sinking into despair just as pretentiously was too pitiful.

When Ashe arrived in this world, he had no illusions about making it back alive.

Therefore, if he obtained the Omnipotent Wish and successfully returned to face the pressures of matchmaking, mortgages, retirement, and the like, it would certainly be a good reason to resign, lie flat, and celebrate;

But if the Omnipotent Wish wasn’t so omnipotent, Ashe wouldn’t be too disappointed;

If he didn’t get it, Ashe would just draw circles and curse the lucky one, then forget about it afterward.

After verifying the usability of the Omnipotent Wish, Ashe suddenly felt he had nothing to ask.

Summoning a spirit? Suitable for which Magical Factions? But his cultivation experience was full of fluff, not a bit of solid content, completely reliant on being an accessory to the Swordswoman for today’s strength, he had neither the necessity nor the ability to cultivate on his own – ‘diligence’ and ‘focus’ were the foundations of all Sorcerers, and Ashe had lost these two skills after high school.

And no need to ask if the existing Spirits are being utilized efficiently. Once Ashe began the Exploration in Virtual Realm, a spirit upgrade was inevitable. Aside from the Heart Sword, Substitute, Earth Sword, and Wind Barrier, the rest were likely to be replaced or relegated to a lower priority.

Just as Freya wouldn’t fuss over a Mud Worker used for a single night, Ashe had no interest in dwelling on spirits that were on the verge of being replaced.

This strategy could even be taken a step further—there was no need to waste resources on Ashe. As an accessory, one should be aware of their role and not aspire to surpass the innate Talents of Operators through effort and resources!

Self-awareness was one of Ashe’s virtues!

With a thought, he opened “Aurora’s Sorcerer Handbook,” and a message popped up.

“Death Maniac Swordswoman’s Growth Report 4.26~5.2”

“Swordsmanship Faction: Silver → Silver”

“Radiance Magic Faction: Silver → Silver”

“Water Faction: Silver → Silver”

“Mind Faction: Silver → Silver”

“Arcane Energy: Silver Full-Wing → Gold Virtual Wing”

“Cultivation Evaluation: Grade S!”

“Due to achieving Grade S, Death Maniac Swordswoman receives Occupational Enhancement: Soulbreak Silver Sorcerer → Frenzy Dancer!”

“Frenzy Dancer Occupational Traits: Attacking the same target increases attack speed by 2%, stacking up to 5 times, and the effect is immediately lost when switching targets.”

“With the boost in arcane energy, the Death Maniac Swordswoman’s Talent is enhanced!”

“Due to achieving Grade S, Death Maniac Swordswoman receives the Assessment Mission ‘Frenzy Dance’!”

“Frenzy Dance: Within the next 7 days, perform 10,000 effective Slashes. Upon completing the mission, the Frenzy Dancer’s Occupational Trait can be permanently fixed! Current progress (0/10000).”

Ashe hadn’t expected the Sorcerer Handbook to come up with new tricks—why was it always personal benefits for the Swordswoman? He wanted some too!

Permanently fixing Occupational Traits meant that even if a new occupation were chosen in the future, the Swordswoman would retain the ‘Frenzy Dance’ trait, essentially gaining a passive skill.

Ashe understood the significance of this mechanism: if the ‘Frenzy Dance’ could be fixed this time, what about next time? Or the time after that?

This essentially provided the Swordswoman and other Operators with a strengthening system separate from spirits. It’s not to say that the Swordswoman could now dominate a standard Two Wings Sorcerer—actually, at the moment, it’s the regular Two Wings Sorcerers who could easily overpower the two illegal immigrants on the Time Continent. However, with long-term cultivation and an increasing number of solidified Occupational Traits, the Operators’ combat abilities are bound to experience sudden and formidable growth.

It’s like having a job where, despite earning the same wage, your colleague makes extra income from rent. Ten Years down the line, you’re still saving for a down payment while they’re taking out a mortgage on a second property.

The only tricky part is this Assessment Mission. In the past, it would have been a breeze to complete, but now, with both Ashe and the Swordswoman’s souls not knowing when they will fully recover, if they can’t go to the Virtual Realm to slay monsters, the Swordswoman might as well take a part-time job at the slaughterhouse…

Aside from that, the Swordswoman’s Inherent Talent has also become stronger!

“Inherent Talent Swordswoman (mid-tier): Gain an additional 150% Swordsmanship experience, a low chance to gain 10000% Swordsmanship experience, and a very low chance to trigger the Resentful Dragon’s Phantom (unlocks higher Talent levels after strength improvement).”

The Swordswoman’s Talent had also advanced to mid-tier, not much different from the Black-and-White Witch. But just as the Witch has a chance to trigger the ‘Bronze Dragon’s Favor,’ the Swordswoman also has a probability of triggering the ‘Resentful Dragon’s Phantom.’ Ashe nodded at this, though no detailed explanation popped up.

There’s not much to say about the cultivation strategy for the Swordswoman. Although the system kept suggesting Entertainment time, Ashe was not keen on accepting this kind of advice.

At worst, he’d just tell the Swordswoman a few more cold jokes in the Virtual Realm—that’s his Entertainment!

When Ashe opened the interface for the Black-and-White Witch, he found that in just one day, there had been significant changes—

“Occupation: Daughter of the Bronze Dragon”

“Occupational Traits: A young lady favored by the Bronze Dragon, currently under a special curse. After lifting the curse, one can obtain the Bronze Dragon’s blessing. While cursed, the Black-and-White Witch suffers a -75% learning efficiency across all Factions and benefits from a +10 Luck Check.”

“Curse Example: The maiden transforms into an old crone and can only lift the curse with a true love’s kiss, but is unable to communicate the curse’s details to others.”

“Knowledge Curse: Bronze Dragon’s Secret Poison”

This curse… looks quite fairy-tale-like.

No wonder the Witch didn’t allow Ashe to ask about her condition—it turns out she was gagged too, making any questions futile.

But this begs the question: is the Witch’s current real-life state that of an old woman?

She may not even be human—perhaps transformed into a frog, a rabbit, or even Lala Fatty.

However, this Occupation’s debuff is too powerful; a -75% learning efficiency effectively halves the effort, while the only benefit is a +10 Luck Check, similar to Ashe’s previous Occupation “Cult Leader.” But being a Cult Leader did not have such severe negative effects, aside from making Ashe as popular as a rat crossing the street.

Simply put, this Occupation currently only offers negative returns, much like Ashe’s Calamity Walker.

But according to the Sorcerer world’s principle of ‘greater risk, greater reward,’ the Witch’s blessing after lifting the curse should be very powerful—perhaps even transforming into a dragon. Then, Ashe wouldn’t need a car in the Virtual Realm; he could just become a Dragon Rider!

Additionally, the Witch suddenly acquired an Eviction Secret Poison, likely obtained after triggering the Bronze Dragon’s Favor. Ashe wanted to check the poison’s details but was met with a prompt:

“You do not know this secret poison.”

Well, of course, I don’t! How could I if you don’t tell me?!

Ashe guessed that unlike other data, if a player doesn’t know about the secret poison, it won’t be displayed to prevent players from being fed garbage by an Operator—like Eviction Secret Poison, a trashy poison Ashe would certainly prefer to be ignorant of.

Just as he was about to arrange a Cultivation Strategy, Ashe found himself scratching his head: The Witch’s Talent is undoubtedly of the Time Faction, but her major, the Fist and Claw Faction, is gold-tier. Clearly, the Witch’s main output method is also Fist and Claw, and it just so happens Ashe has a Training Gloves with a +15% efficiency. So, should the Witch’s training direction be the Fist and Claw Faction or the Time Faction?

If it were the old days, Ashe would have chosen randomly, but now he has the Gospel, which could provide direct guidance!

“I have a friend…”