Sorcerer’s Handbook

When Ashe was surrounded by the Transcendence followers, he initially thought he was in for a tough fight. Despite the fact that in his state of remote divine hosting they posed no threat, he still couldn’t just go on a rampage after acquiring the Transcendent Demi-God while in someone else’s territory.

Silver Lantern might be shameless, but he still had a conscience!

Surprisingly, the Transcendence followers did not attack immediately and were willing to listen to their explanation.

If it had been another cult, Ashe might have thought they were intimidated, but the Transcendent Cult doesn’t even have such a concept. Their decisions result from calculations within the intelligent computing hub. If they believed Ashe was guilty of seizing the Demi-God, they would have used every follower to keep him here.

Now that Silver Lantern has fled with the Resonance String, and that the Transcendent Demi-God is with Ashe, they would at least try to subdue Ashe before any discussion.

However, when Ashe attempted to explain, the Transcendence followers pointed to Harvey and asked the necromancer to speak. After listening to Harvey’s account, the Transcendence followers were willing to trust them, provided Ashe returned the Transcendent Demi-God before leaving in the morning.

Everyone was surprised at Harvey’s favorable standing with the Transcendent Cult. Recalling Harvey’s actions, Ashe couldn’t help but ask, “Is it because you can play the harmonica?”

“Not at all,” Harvey replied. “It’s probably because I’m so close to the undead now.”

Undead?

Transcendental consciousness, the shedding of self.

Undead.

Undead creatures having intelligence but no consciousness precisely align with what the Transcendent Cult seeks to achieve. Though there is a crucial difference: the undead are dead, while the cult seeks to evolve while living.

Harvey’s “Frostfire” is currently in a state of superposition between life and death. His consciousness is close to the silent undead, yet he’s still alive, making him deserving of the Transcendent Cult’s approval.

Still, Ashe suspected the harmonica might have something to do with it-perhaps the affection a little girl had for Harvey found its way to the intelligent computing hub. If one person liked Harvey, it might sway the entire Transcendent Cult to like him.

The Transcendent Cult then posed a question: Does Ashe have civic permission to acquire the Transcendent Demi-God?

Upon receiving an affirmative answer, they proposed a deal: if Ashe would use his citizenship to help them unlock several items of the gray fox heritage, they were willing to gift Ashe and his team a piece of the heritage and permit Ashe to remotely host the Transcendent Demi-God.

“Remote divine hosting?” The silver-haired beauty’s eyes flickered. “Did you place your faith in the Transcendent Cult?”

“No,” Ashe replied, pulling out a card. “But they gave me this.”

“Oh,” the silver-haired beauty understood immediately. “An atonement voucher.”

Atonement vouchers can be produced by any cult, created during worship ceremonies through the resonance between the disciples and the Demi-God. Initially, they weren’t intended for remote divine hosting but rather to help disciples in crossing the night.

Though the most steadfast followers can cross the Choking Green, there are always those less resolute who succumb to its corrupting transformation.

As long as a disciple carries an atonement voucher, even if their willpower is insufficient to withstand the Choking Green, they can remain unharmed. Eventually, followers discovered that the atonement voucher is the most stable connection to the Demi-God, making it perfect for remote divine hosting.

“So, not only did you avoid conflict with the Transcendent Cult, but you also obtained an atonement voucher and heritage…” the silver-haired beauty remarked thoughtfully.

Ashe chuckled and stood up, saying, “I don’t mind telling you what heritage I obtained-this: the divine hosting belt!”

He revealed the stylishly sinister belt around his waist, which had a slot seemingly made for the atonement voucher.

“With this belt and the atonement voucher, I can perform perfect divine hosting even without the Transcendent Demi-God nearby,” Ashe explained. “I could take on Silver Lantern if needed.”

Though he mentioned Silver Lantern, he was clearly also hinting at the Four Pillars Cult, represented by the silver-haired beauty. Since he would eventually reveal his divine hosting capabilities in a battle against Silver Lantern, he might as well use it to intimidate Mercury Trojan Horse now.

However, despite the impressive name, the divine hosting belt is essentially a toy from the Gray Fox Divine Era.

When Ashe picked up the divine hosting belt, using his citizenship, he received this feedback: “Unregistered user detected. Please log into Zero-Style Toy Company or play as a guest…”

“Zero-Style Toy Company thanks you for your purchase. The Zero-Style Transformation Belt currently only supports the divine hosting function. Please use with Demi-God card! Additional functions can be unlocked upon login, supporting up to 10 cards at once, with more plugins available for download!”

“Divine Hosting: Operates with inserted Demi-God card, max load 100%, max quantity 1.”

The Demi-God card and atonement vouchers are essentially the same items known by different names across various eras, serving different expectations.

From these observations, Ashe could discern the intelligence of the Transcendent Cult: the divine hosting belt holds no value for Transcendence followers since they don’t leave the Transcendence Building. However, by giving it to Ashe, no matter how he uses it outside, it depletes the power of other cults and acts as a living advertisement for the Transcendent Cult. Regardless of the outcome, the cult benefits.

If the atonement vouchers run out, Ashe will have to return to the Transcendent Cult to replenish them. Back and forth, Ashe might eventually become a Transcendence follower-at least, that’s Igor’s take on it. Ashe, on the other hand, believes the cult’s real interest might actually lie with Harvey.

After all, even though the Transcendent Cult adhered to their promise and gifted Ashe the divine hosting belt from the gray fox heritage, they also went the extra mile to craft a personalized tremolo harmonica for Harvey.

The silver-haired beauty glanced at the belt with indifference and continued, “You say you almost caught Silver Lantern?”

Ashe nodded, giving a brief account of his pursuit of Silver Lantern.

As the silver-haired beauty listened, they suddenly raised a question, “Your combat style seems to have changed. Earlier, you showed no prowess in ranged attacks, and as far as I know, divine hosts find it challenging to attack at long distances. But then suddenly, you were able to significantly damage Silver Lantern from afar… What happened?”

Ashe had no intention of revealing everything to a potential future adversary. “I made a breakthrough during the fight.”

“You possess abilities I’m unaware of,” the silver-haired beauty noted, poker-faced. “And it’s not something you can constantly use. Otherwise, you would have used it at the start to deal with Silver Lantern. Let me guess… could it be a hidden personality?”

Igor immediately glanced at Ashe, while the silver-haired beauty shook their head, continuing, “No, with the help of a mental sorcerer, if you truly had a hidden personality, you could leverage it as a regular weapon. So it’s not your hidden personality but rather…”

“Your hidden self.”

Ashe neither confirmed nor denied anything, uninterested in leaking Intelligence to the Four Pillars Cult. “Your turn now; tell us what you know about Silver Lantern.”

However, the silver-haired beauty continued to fixate on Ashe. “I want to see the real you beneath the facade.”

Ashe calmly replied, “Sorry, I don’t perform for anyone.”

“Oh, really? Even if the mental sorcerer beside you becomes a Trojan Horse too, you still wouldn’t let your true self out?”

Smack!

Guests turned to see a red-haired girl flipping the table and grabbing the silver-haired beauty. Realizing it was just a fight between women, they shrugged and went back to their drinks.

Not wanting to cause a scene, Ashe dragged the silver-haired beauty into a side alley. “What did you just say?”

“You’re just ordinarily angry now,” she shook her head. “Still not your true self.”

Thud!

Ashe punched her in the stomach. She instinctively doubled over but remained calm, shaking her head. “That’s useless; your strength is barely good enough for a massage. Right now, you’d struggle to even crush Lala Fatty… Of course, if you use Divine Hosting, you could break through Kaleidoscope’s restraints and kill me. But would it matter?”

It wouldn’t.

She was just a disciple of the Four Pillars Cult controlled by Mercury Trojan Horse. Killing her wouldn’t make a difference when Mercury Trojan Horse could control countless others.

Moreover, what if…

“Or are you hoping I’ll come to you in another body?” she whispered softly in his ear. “Should it be the silent necromancer or the cunning mental sorcerer?”

Smack!

Ashe silently withdrew his hand, watching the silver-haired beauty fall to the ground from his slap. “Are you here to declare our cooperation with the Four Pillars Cult officially ended?”

“Of course not.” The silver-haired beauty sat on the ground, touching her face and shaking her head. She looked up at Igor, who had finished settling the tavern bill, and smiled. “Seems like he doesn’t care that much about you two.”

“If you knew how we met,” Igor said calmly, “you wouldn’t have any weird misconceptions about our relationship.”

“If you’re just here to taunt us, then leave. Or tell us about Silver Lantern.”

The silver-haired beauty stood up, dusting off her skirt. “Silver Lantern is in Black Robe Town.”

Ashe and Igor showed no surprise at this information. Black Robe Town was the largest town closest to the Transcendence Building, and given its trade nature, Silver Lantern replenishing there was only to be expected.

“How did you recognize both of us?” Igor asked. “We look and dress completely different from our originals.”

“Allow me to keep that a secret,” the silver-haired beauty replied, tapping her lips. “Since Ashe isn’t willing to show his true self, I have to maintain a little mystery too. Goodbye, gentlemen.”

Watching the silver-haired beauty disappear into the crowd, Igor turned to see Ashe leaning against the wall, deep in thought.

“We should continue shopping.”

“Yeah.”

Although Ashe agreed, he didn’t move, lost in his thoughts. The Con Artist glanced at him, then walked directly into the shopping street. After a while, he returned with two ice creams, keeping one for himself and handing the other to the Cult Leader.

Ashe took a big bite, unbothered by the cold, getting whipped cream all over his lips. After the ice cream melted in his mouth, he suddenly said, “She was lying.”

“Hmm?”

“There’s no way she put Mercury in you guys; you didn’t even touch the Trojan Horse back then. If her tactile ability didn’t require contact, she would have turned Silver Lantern into a Trojan Horse long ago. How could she have been overthrown by Silver Lantern?”

Igor was taken aback, then nodded after thinking it over. “You’re right. That’s a huge inconsistency.”

“But why would she use such a lie to provoke me?” Ashe frowned. “Was it just to see my hidden cards?”

“Come to think of it, I’ve been concerned about one thing,” Igor said. “It makes sense that she recognized us, but why did she only ask about Harvey?”

Ashe blinked and quickly realized.

Mercury Trojan Horse was not just Mercury Trojan Horse. She was also Tamashi’s former companion, Tanomoo. Given Tamashi’s hatred for her, and seeing Tamashi wasn’t with them, why didn’t she inquire about Raven’s whereabouts but only asked about the necromancer?

Just as a thought was about to form, someone suddenly shouted from the alleyway entrance, “Finally found you two. Even with a prophecy and Miracle, there are plenty of red-haired, red-eyed women around here…”

They turned to see an unfamiliar woman, and asked, “Who are you?”

“Haven’t you gotten used to my way of showing up yet?” she laughed.

“Since Tamashi isn’t here, you can still call me Mercury Trojan Horse.”

In the Virtual Realm, Distant Sky Domain.

As soon as the four operators appeared within the dream phantom, Sonya immediately looked to Ashe and asked, “How did your fight with Silver Lantern go?”

“Good thing you logged into the Virtual Realm tonight,” Deya sighed with relief. “I was worried something happened to you.”

Since a conflict with Silver Lantern was planned, Ashe had anticipated being unable to log into the Virtual Realm for a day or two. He had intended for the Sword Princess and the Witch to team up for exploration, as partnering up multiple sorcerers would be more efficient than going solo, even though the Dream Treasure House was bound to him.

But after a moment’s hesitation, both the Sword Princess and the Witch opposed the idea, preferring to operate independently. Ashe found it puzzling; they had seemed quite close before. Still, if they weren’t interested, it was no big deal, just a night or two.

“It’s a long story, and something very puzzling just happened…” Ashe turned to the quiet girl nearby, proactively greeting the new operator: “Good evening, Vesser.”

Vesser lowered her hand from her face and smiled warmly. “Good evening, Observer.”