Mage Manual

Chapter 44: Chapter 44 “The Death Mad Sword Maiden’s Silver Coins

With the interlude of the Experience Treasure Orb, the distribution of the remaining three Technique Spirits naturally became relaxed and enjoyable.

Although Sonia strongly requested that all three Technique Spirits be given to Ash, after careful consideration, he chose to take the two less valuable ones, ‘Fox Fire’ and ‘Light,’ and gave the most useful ‘Moon Thread’ to Sonia.

‘Fox Fire’

‘One-winged Technique Spirit’

‘Restriction: The Mage must possess a tail.’

‘Basic Effect: Wield your tail to cast varying amounts of blue flames, which can adhere to specific objects and burn for a period without causing pain to the target, even inducing pleasure.’

‘Passive Effect: Body hair becomes more robust and flammable.’

‘”Pain and pleasure are but illusions; when you burn away the disguise that is your skin, the truth within reveals itself.”‘

…

‘Light’

‘One-winged Technique Spirit’

‘Restriction: The Mage must possess a luminous medium or be near a light source.’

‘Basic Effect: Emits a light that can be suspended in the air and move flexibly according to your will.’

‘Passive Effect: You become more spirited in well-lit areas.’

‘”It is not light that dispels darkness, but darkness that chases after light.”‘

…

‘Moon Thread’

‘One-winged Technique Spirit’

‘Restriction: The Mage must possess a luminous medium or be near a light source.’

‘Basic Effect: Creates multiple temporary, taut strands of Moonlight Silk suspended in air.’

‘Passive Effect: You become more agile under moonlight.’

‘”Listen, the moonlight weaves the veil of the night.”‘

Clearly, ‘Fox Fire’ and ‘Light’ must have been the main attack methods of the fluorescent fox dragon, with Fox Fire attached to Light creating a continuous and flexible flame attack.

They were lucky to have beaten the sleeping fluorescent fox dragon; otherwise, just the ‘Fox Fire Light’ would have been enough to give them a hard time, not to mention the ‘Moon Thread’—Sonia gave it a try and found it could create steel-hard, suspended threads in the air. Anyone who bumped into them would instantly be sliced by the threads, making it a perfect trap for a staged accident.

Originally, Ash wanted the ‘Moon Thread,’ but it was useless for him in prison since he couldn’t use Technique Spirits, and having a great one wouldn’t make any difference. Therefore, he chose ‘Fox Fire’ and ‘Light’ to immediately make an in-app purchase with—neither of them had tails, and hence they did not meet the conditions to use the ‘Fox Fire Light.’

The stronger ‘Moon Thread’ was handed over to the Sword Maiden for research; after all, her learning experience would also be shared with Ash, and he couldn’t let her go without having a workbook in her hands.

At this time, Ash suddenly realized a problem: “Can we exchange Technique Spirits in the Void Realm?”

Upon hearing this, Sonia knew what he was planning: “You want me to help you find the Technique Spirit of the chopping miracle and exchange it in the Void Realm?”

“Yes, after all, you—”

“It won’t work.”

“Huh?”

“Never unlink your Technique Spirit in the Void Realm, it will lead to serious consequences.”

Ash swallowed hard.

“What kind of consequences?”

“The Technique Spirit will run away instantly, in a heartbeat.”

“…Can’t we catch it back?”

Sonia shook her head, “No Mage can catch them back—you may not realize, but to the Technique Spirits, we Mages are just foreign travelers. In this Void Realm, the Technique Spirits are the true masters.”

“Although Technique Spirits are not exactly living things—there’s even a question mark over whether they can think—they undoubtedly have certain instincts—such as a yearning for freedom.”

Remembering how the Technique Spirits on the adventure island had promptly fled, Ash nodded but still seemed puzzled.

“The escape speed of Technique Spirits seems slow, why can’t they be caught?”

“Because those are Technique Spirits that haven’t been caught before. Do you think a mouse that has been caught once is more or less vigilant than one that hasn’t?”

“Learning is also one of the instincts of Technique Spirits.”

“But even if Technique Spirits are highly vigilant, they can’t move quickly.”

Sonia nodded and then shook her head, “In the real world, you’re right. When you unlink from a Technique Spirit in reality, although it will flee, it does not greatly affect reality and can easily be captured.”

“But the Void Realm is the home of the Technique Spirits, this is where miracles originate.”

“If the Technique Spirit wills it, the whole Void Realm will help it.”

“Although we don’t know what the Technique Spirit will sacrifice, numerous records show that if you unlink from your Technique Spirit in the Void Realm, it will disappear instantly, and to date, no Mage has been able to retrieve one.”

Another path was blocked, and Ash sighed, just about to move on, but Sonia stopped him, “Don’t rush off, there’s more stuff to split here.”

Sonia walked to the small tree the fluorescent fox dragon had been coiled around and plucked two unripe little fruits from it. Ash took one and could not make out its variety at all.

“Void Fruit, Soul Fruit, Mysterious Fruit—this thing has many names and shapes, but the effect is the same—eating it replenishes the lost soul energy and extends the exploration time of this trip to the Void Realm.”

“By the way, it tastes awful.”

Ash gagged as he looked at the Sword Maiden, taking several seconds to recover from the nausea; it was as bad as eating excrement, “Next time, could you put the important points at the forefront?”

“This isn’t bad at all, I don’t want to eat a second one,” Sonia’s face contorted with disgust.

…

Perhaps it was the Experience Treasure Orb that had exhausted their luck, for Ash didn’t find any “worthwhile” or “welcoming” areas in the following time. It was either a “seeking one’s own doom” or a “wasted effort” zone, and “run quickly” prompts even appeared at times.

After leaving the Void Realm and returning to the prison, Ash recharged both ‘Fox Fire’ and ‘Light,’ each valued at 10 points. Together with the previously sold ‘Rapid Fire’ Technique Spirit, Ash had accumulated 30 points.

Exactly, and in the game, ‘a set of Source Crystals’ was also valued at 30 points.

Although Ash could continue to save up for a bigger purchase, the pressure in his heart grew heavier after hearing Professor Selin’s order to hunt him from Valcas. The prison wasn’t his shield—danger was everywhere!

If you don’t spend when you should, you won’t have the chance to spend it later!

Spending all 30 points to purchase ‘a set of Source Crystals,’ Ash received 6 of them, and thanks to the first-time top-up reward doubling, he actually obtained 12 Source Crystals. @@novelbin@@

Adding the 3 Source Crystals he got from signing in over the past few days, Ash had a total of 15 Source Crystals, allowing for 5 card draws!

Returning to the card draw after three days, Ash washed his hands first, clasped them together, and prayed to every Divine Being he could name; he didn’t even spare the Origin of Miracles of this world, “Void Realm, oh Void Realm, I’m using your Technique Spirits for an in-app purchase to draw cards, which is to say I’m actually drawing cards on your behalf. What’s yours is mine, and mine will eventually be yours too, making me prosper is the same as making yourself prosper. I won’t say much else; you understand…”

Card draw!

Not fulfilling the requirement for a ten-consecutive draw, Ash resorted to consecutive single draws, believing in the magic of his faith!

White light—’Energy Potion’!

White light—’Basic Combat Card’!

Great, the Sword Maiden won’t be having any rest next week either.

Purple light—’Void Realm Telescope’!

Orange light—’Death Mad Sword Maiden’s Silver Coin’!

Purple light—’Awakening Battle Record’!

Three new items in a row, is this the charm of single draws?

‘Void Realm Telescope’: While exploring the Void Realm, your observation distance is increased by +1.

The shorter the description, the stronger the effect—Ash understood immediately how valuable this item was. His current Void Realm observing distance was only 1, which meant he could only see the adjacent 8 grid spaces. With this telescope, his observation area would increase from 3×3 to 5×5, the number of observable grids jumping from 8 to 24!

A significant reason Ash hadn’t found a suitable exploration area was his “short-sightedness” in the Void Realm, only able to take the safest routes before him. With this item, their Void Realm exploration efficiency would increase by at least 50%.

‘Death Mad Sword Maiden’s Silver Coin’: One of the three silver coins long treasured by the Death Mad Sword Maiden, lost after many years. If someone were to meet the Death Mad Sword Maiden with this coin, they would receive a reward, or death. Once used, it expands the Bonds feature.

Although the description was vague, Ash spotted the gimmick at a glance: wasn’t this the full potential unlocking mechanism in mobile game card draws? When you draw the same character, you unlock more of the character’s abilities, enticing players to spend more.

Using ‘Death Mad Sword Maiden’s Silver Coin,’ the information of ‘Death Mad Sword Maiden’ changed:

‘Death Mad Sword Maiden’

‘Human Race·Female·18 years old’

‘Bonds Level: 1 (35% experience sharing)’

‘Bonds Resonance·Insatiable Greed: While acting together, there’s a chance to acquire better spoils.’

‘Profession: One-winged Sword Master’

‘Professional characteristics: Reduces energy consumption by 10% when using swordsmanship Technique Spirits’

‘Held Items: Training Wooden Sword’

‘Controlled Spirits: Wave Motion Sword, Moonlight Silk, Rapid Stream’

‘Sword Technique Faction: Silver Level’

‘Radiant Faction: Silver Level’

‘Water Technique Faction: Uninitiated’

‘Void Realm Exploration: 0.002%’

Aside from the experience sharing ratio increasing from 30% to 35%, the biggest change was obviously the new ‘Bonds Resonance·Insatiable Greed’.

This was clearly a flaw of the Sword Maiden, not really Ash’s concern, but the effect was good; he would leave the final blow in battles to the Sword Maiden from now on.

Ash looked at the last item drawn, the ‘Awakening Battle Record’.

Drawn in purple light, indicating it wasn’t just any common item but something as valuable as the ‘Void Realm Telescope.’

‘Awakening Battle Record’: Arrange a high-difficulty battle for the operators, thus entering an Awakening State. In the Awakening State, the operator gains 250% battle experience and is more likely to perform miracles, summon Technique Spirits, and break through realms (Danger Level: Medium).

“I hardly have any personal time these days…”

“I’m so tired…”

“Can we reduce training to just an hour…”

As if Sword Maiden’s complaints echoed in his ears, Ash’s face showed struggle. Just at that moment, the morning anthem of the prison played punctually:

“If hurt enough, take both your hands, and gladly sever, yesterday’s curse. Through the night, till daylight, leaving scars…”

The song seemed to steel Ash’s resolve; he resolutely used the ‘Awakening Battle Record’!

Selected target, Death Mad Sword Maiden!

“Sword Maiden, I’m doing this for your own good!”