Sorcerer’s Handbook

“Oh?”

Tamashi seemed genuinely surprised: “Your Kingdom doesn’t have that? What’s it called again? I can hardly remember, something like… Infant Incubator?”

“It’s probably the most widespread gray fox heritage,” he said. “There are many discounted items in the self-service vending machines, but almost every cult inevitably buys a bunch of Infant Incubators. If they don’t have them, they find ways to buy or borrow from other cults. Although ‘Dragon Array Shopping Cards’ are hard to come by, as a cult, finding one or two is relatively easy.”

The term ‘self-service vending machine’ was not unfamiliar to Ashe and his companions; in fact, they had just passed by one today.

It looked like a large, glossy black box with a control panel. By inserting a shopping card or paying with credit points-though naturally, no one in the wasteland had credit points-one could purchase five million types of Dragon Array’s own products.

No delivery was needed; it was produced on the spot.

Shopping cards and vending machines were the most common and practical heritages in the wasteland. Cults could restore social production and even repair some divine era production lines by relying on these vending machines to stock up, eagerly licking the remnants of the divine era’s glory.

“With just the genetic information of two people, the Infant Incubator can automatically create life. If enough genetic information is provided, multiple possibilities can be matched, and the most excellent attributes can be selected,” Tamashi explained. “Generally, the Infant Incubator operates endlessly. Although some still choose natural pregnancy, as long as one is eligible to queue, no one would opt for the outdated method of childbirth.”

He paused, “I was born this way.”

“Before I was old enough to understand, they seemed to have already died. We basically grew up with older kids taking care of the younger ones, generation after generation… Being a warrior is a position with a high mortality rate.”

“Just living in this wasteland already comes with a high mortality rate.”

Ashe quietly watched the distant skirmishes, feeling a complex mix of emotions. Faith created the divine era, faith sparked wars, faith united wills to resist Choking Green, faith drove disciples to brave death… Each Kingdom has its own theme, and Senlo’s theme is probably ‘burning faith.’”

Every Senlo native Ashe had encountered along the way-Mercury Trojan Horse, Raven Annihilation, Silver Lantern, Transcendence followers-everyone seemed to be in a hurry, as if time were slipping through their fingers. The chaos and strife of the wasteland filled their hearts with an inexplicable sense of urgency. They were all eager to burn through their own value before reaching the end, like moths drawn to a flame in the darkness, desperate to feel even a sliver of warmth.

Perhaps this was the foundation of the divine era, or perhaps it was the root of war.

As the blue of the sky deepened into a richer hue and the night breeze carried the deadly intent of Choking Green, both sides finally retreated and ceased fighting. The attackers set up camp, surrounding the city with bright bonfires that held back the darkness. The faith of tens of thousands was enough to repel the invasion of Choking Green.

“We should head over,” Ashe said, releasing the clutch and twisting the right handle of his steel monster, which emitted the hum of electromagnetic rotation.

“What cult is that?” Igor suddenly asked, pointing toward the attackers.

“The Nature Cult,” Raven replied. “Their ideal is to study methods of transforming the body into nature-becoming flame, light, ice, or earth. Their ultimate goal is to embody the sun, or even become part of the Virtual Realm… They’re followers of the Circle Cicada Demi-God, pursuing a more eternal and grander Immortality.”

“Do they have any grievances with the Transcendent Cult?”

“Huh?” Tamashi was taken aback. “I don’t know. But why would any cult have grievances with the Transcendent Cult?”

In the Land of Senlo, the Transcendent Cult was undoubtedly a unique oddity. No matter what ideals other cults pursued, they all harbored a fervent desire for expansion. Only the Transcendent Cult kept to itself, holed up in its building, ignoring you as long as you didn’t intrude.

Without Silver Lantern’s combat prowess, it would be difficult to even provoke the Transcendent Cult.

Igor glanced at Raven and said, “I have a feeling that if we reveal our connection to the Transcendent Cult, we might run into trouble.”

Even now, Igor hadn’t revealed that he possessed the spirit of ‘Revelation.’ With Tamashi by his side, he certainly wasn’t going to mention it.

While brushing his teeth this morning, the Revelation had whispered, ‘Don’t expose the Transcendent Cult.’ In the perilous Senlo wasteland, Igor didn’t dare ignore the implications of fate.

“Then we’ll keep it hidden,” Ashe said decisively, parking the Transcendent motorcycle.

Igor pondered for a moment. Always cautious, he wondered if merely hiding their connection to the Transcendent Cult would be enough.

The Con Artist turned to Tamashi and said, “Lend us a few sets of clothes.”

With that, he pulled out three sets of Raven Annihilation outfits from his Spatial Card, signaling for everyone to put them on but to wear face covers instead of masks. Then he took out a bottle of something from his pocket, applied it to his hair, and instantly his blond locks turned brown.

He glanced at Tamashi and added, “Take off your mask for now. Anyone would recognize you as Raven Annihilation.”

Raven watched them quietly, not asking why. Instead, he tore a few strips of cloth from the hem of his clothes and began wrapping them around his face, soon transforming into a bandaged figure with only his eyes exposed.

Once everything was ready, Ashe picked up Tamashi, and the three of them unfurled their golden and silver Twin Wings, soaring toward the camp. They were halted by soldiers at the outskirts, and soon a blond young man with glowing pupils approached, his piercing gaze scrutinizing them carefully.

“Who are you?”

“Travelers.”

“Where are you from?”

“Tribulation Fire Temple.”

The blond young man frowned. “Isn’t the Tribulation Fire Temple a group of bandits… and hasn’t it already been destroyed?”

“Yes,” Igor replied, a hint of sorrow on his face. “Due to the threat from the Four Pillars Cult, we were actually sent by the Tribulation Fire Temple as a goodwill delegation, hoping to join the Qinyi Alliance. But unexpectedly… and with the fire extinguished, our atonement vouchers have also become invalid. We hope the Nature Cult can shelter us for a night, or perhaps longer.”

Ashe’s Transcendent atonement voucher was still usable, but it was a finite resource-once depleted, he’d have to return to replenish it. Using it to resist Choking Green overnight would consume an unknown amount, and it wasn’t 100% effective either. He might wake up the next day to find parts of himself already overrun by the green.

The cults of the Qinyi Alliance were generally friendly to travelers, which was why they had taken the risk to seek shelter here.

The blond young man caught the underlying message in the Con Artist’s words-they wanted to join the Nature Cult.

A sorcerer from a fallen cult was a valuable resource anywhere, but the blond young man glanced at them and asked, “Are you a group of four travelers?”

“No,” Igor said, pointing at Tamashi. “He was picked up by my companion on the road. It seems he was abandoned due to facial disabilities, possibly a defective product of natural pregnancy. We’re planning to take him to Black Robe Town to help him find a nighttime job that doesn’t require a good face… He doesn’t even have virtual wings. How could he be part of our group?”

In the Land of Senlo, merchants are divided into two categories: stationary merchants and Travelers. Stationary merchants operate within fixed routes, selling specific goods, and the majority of merchant caravans fall into this category. Travelers, on the other hand, are essentially part-time Intelligence brokers. They are often tasked with gathering information for their respective cults, which requires them to venture into dangerous, far-flung regions. Most Travelers are composed of two-wings sorcerers-no surprise, since they can fly quickly. While other means of transportation exist, flying is the most common. The distance a two-wings sorcerer can cover in 12 hours is often considered the maximum distance between a town and its neighboring outposts.

The blond young man finally nodded and extended his hand. “Supplicant of the Nature Cult, Norey Supernatural.”

Norey led them into the camp, asking as they walked, “Did you encounter any other merchant caravans on your journey?”

Igor furrowed his brow in thought. “When we set out from Baimang Town, we did come across a group of merchants on motorcycles.”

“Were they not on the same route as you?”

“No, they seemed to be heading toward Lilac Town.”

Norey sighed. “That’s a shame.”

“Why so? Perhaps we could be of service.”

“Just missed out on a good deal,” Norey said. “If I could have caught those four, I might have saved a few Dragon Array Shopping Cards…”

“A few Dragon Array Shopping Cards!” Igor’s eyes widened. “That big of a deal?”

“Of course,” Norey chuckled. “It’s related to the fall of Nightfall-“

Boom!

At that moment, a deafening explosion erupted from the city in the distance!