Sorcerer’s Handbook

Transcendence Zone, Underground Building Base.

“Not just the present, but the future.”

Staring at the revelation forming from the condensation on the mirror, Igor pondered for a moment. After rinsing his mouth, he wiped away the foam, grabbed his waterproof bag, and left the room.

Reaching the bathhouse level on the 51st floor, the Con Artist saw his two companions already soaking in the small pool in their usual spot. Sitting down, he asked, “Where’s Tamashi?”

“He’s not a sorcerer like us, so his routine is different. Why would he get up so early?” Ashe replied, removing the warm towel from his face. “Besides, he hasn’t picked up your bad habit of bathing first thing in the morning. He probably just showers in his room.”

“Can you believe the most advanced hotel rooms here don’t even have bathtubs?” Igor lazily relaxed in the water. “Still, it’s better than the Food Factory Town, where there wasn’t even a communal bath.”

“It’s surprising that there’s even a hotel here at all,” Ashe remarked. “An entire societal structure within a single building.”

“Perfectly normal,” Harvey said, munching on chocolate. “A corpse birthing a civilization of scavengers.”

Among the three of them, Harvey was losing vitality the fastest. During a fight a couple of days prior, a gas station explosion burned away half of his body. Fortunately, he was in a state of ‘Frostfire’ at the time and shared the damage with Alice. He even used part of his body to reconstruct hers – Ashe often wondered if all of Alice’s flesh and bones had been replaced by Harvey’s own.

Harvey’s situation was like a primary school math problem – if a swimming pool is being drained while water is being added, when will it be full?

“We can stay in this building for at most two more days,” Igor declared, “No amount of money will buy us more time… If the Silver Lantern doesn’t make a move by then, we’ll have to flee to the nearest town and wait it out.”

They couldn’t camp out in the wild; no one wanted to test their luck against the Choking Green of the night.

“Speaking of which, I have a big plan,” Ashe signaled for them to come closer and whispered, “I think the Silver Lantern wants to seize the Transcendent Cult’s Demi-God.”

Igor was slightly taken aback but quickly understood-of course, if it was just about escaping, Silver Lantern could have left overnight. There was no need to linger here.

Though restocking supplies was a possibility, she had just done that at the Food Factory Town and didn’t need more so soon. The most valuable things in this hundred-story building were the two Demi-Gods!

“But she already has several Demi-Gods herself,” Igor frowned, “Why would she-“

“During the battle three days ago,” Harvey suddenly spoke up, “She didn’t use the power of her Demi-God to attack us, she just blew up the gas station. She’s being stingy.”

Why was she stingy with the power of her Demi-God?

Igor had an epiphany: “Without disciples to replenish, every use of her Demi-God decreases its power. She needs to find a way to seize other Demi-Gods; otherwise, she risks running out of power on her Demi-God! Yes, she does have a motive to steal the Transcendent Demi-God! But when will she make her move?”

“During the worship period from 7 to 9 PM,” Ashe said. “Other times the Demi-Gods are heavily guarded. Even if she disguises herself, she can’t get close. But during worship, disciples can approach the Demi-Gods, and that’s her chance.”

“So we need to attend the worship and wait nearby for Silver Lantern to fall into the trap?” Harvey asked.

While Igor was contemplating the details of their actions, he noticed Ashe shaking his head: “No, worship could assimilate us. It’s best if we wait outside. Once Silver Lantern seizes one Demi-God, I’ll immediately attempt Divine Hosting on the second Demi-God to stop her.”

Hmm?

The Con Artist looked up at Ashe, puzzled: “Why are you planning it this way?”

Ashe blinked: “Is there something wrong with this plan?”

The Con Artist thought carefully and found the plan quite reasonable. First, the Transcendent Cult was not on friendly terms with them; if they abruptly requested to attend worship, the cult might not agree. Plus, the risk of assimilation during worship was too high.

However…

“Did you come up with this plan yourself?” Igor asked earnestly. “This is very important.”

How did he see through that!?

Ashe was genuinely surprised. “This is guidance I received from an Adventure in the Virtual Realm. Does it not look like something I could come up with?”

Of course, it doesn’t seem like something you could come up with, the Con Artist thought.

Because there’s a significant flaw in this plan-after Silver Lantern seizes the first Transcendent Demi-God, the other disciples will surely band together to attack her. The cunning and malicious Silver Lantern would naturally attempt Divine Hosting, using the power of the Transcendent Demi-God against or even to destroy the Transcendence followers, causing their spirits to shatter in an instant.

At that point, if Ashe rushes in to Divine Host the second Transcendent Demi-God and helps the disciples repel or capture Silver Lantern, he would immediately gain the exalted prestige of the Transcendent Cult-as long as Ashe doesn’t try to occupy the Demi-God, the disciples would see him as the spokesperson for the Demi-Gods, a savior of fate!

The crux of this plan isn’t capturing Silver Lantern, but stealing the Transcendent Cult!

And this precisely solved Igor’s worries that had been plaguing him during the past few nights of Meditation.

Capturing Silver Lantern was just the first phase.

The second phase involves dealing with the Four Pillars Cult.

The third phase is figuring out how to find a portal to leave the Kingdom of Senlo-with the technical power of the Gray Fox Divine Era, there should be some fantasy creation allowing travel across different realms.

However, relying on only the three of them with Sanctuary level strength is simply insufficient for either the second or third phase. The Four Pillars Cult not only has more Sanctuaries, but the Mercury Trojan Horse likely possesses other pieces of the Gray Fox heritage. Should a ‘Dragon Blood Cultivation System’ emerge, Igor and the others wouldn’t even stand a chance in battle.

As for gathering the Gray Fox’s heritage, that’s even more troublesome. Most of the heritage is currently held tightly by various cults. First, they would need to figure out which cult has artifacts like a space gate, and then find a way to acquire them, whether by negotiating, stealing, or deceiving.

But if they weren’t just wandering renegades, but representatives of a major power, all of this would become significantly easier.

Being part of a major power means having the ability to trade with other factions-in the Senlo Wasteland, unless renegade Sanctuaries can wipe out others’ cults, no one is willing to trade with heretics.

A major power also means access to a vast stream of Intelligence, even mobilizing other cults to gang up on the Four Pillars Cult!

Moreover, if they could control a specific faction, not only could they more effectively hunt down Silver Lantern, but they could also obtain more high-energy food, directly countering the curse effects of the Blood Seed!

Not just the present, but the future.

Increase what they desire, gift what they need.

To seize power in the cult as saviors, they must first let disaster toll the cult’s death knell.

“Do you think the plan needs any optimization?” Ashe asked, watching Igor steeped in thought.

“No need,” Igor replied with absolute certainty. “Let’s proceed with this plan.”