Chapter 102: You Really Don’t Care About Your Own Life and Death?
“Sincerity”
“Single-Wing Spirit”
“Restriction: Must possess a heart”
“Basic Effect: Transforms the heart into a ‘Sincere Heart’. During the duration, greatly enhances the sorcerer’s mental resistance in various aspects, and weakens negative effects that act upon the soul, consciousness and mind, such as dizziness, confusion, lethargy, etc.”
“Passive Effect: The sorcerer will become more fond of telling the truth, prefer sincere communication, and more easily discern the authenticity of others’ words.”
“‘There are only two tragedies in life: one is not telling the truth, the other is not telling the truth truth.'”
Sonya stroked this transparent butterfly-like single-wing spirit, feeling an incredible sensation. This was not her first time summoning a spirit, but it was the first time doing so without any precautions, making it so surprisingly delightful.
She knew the “Sincerity” spirit was summoned due to the Observer’s compulsory ritual, yet she grasped “Sincerity” with almost no obstacles, fully comprehending its knowledge structure.
Sonya had a strong premonition: even if she were to lose “Sincerity” in the future, she could summon it again.
Clearly she had never studied any knowledge about “Sincerity”, and her own nature was also far different from “Sincerity”. However, as she stroked this transparent butterfly, the resonance of knowledge connected her with the spirit, giving Sonya a feeling as if they were blood-bound. It was as if “Sincerity” was also her spirit when her birth.
She suddenly recalled what was taught in class about the origin of sorcerers.
The first sorcerers did not know how to summon spirits. They simply lived normal lives, then all kinds of “little cuties” would emerge to help them.
In that distant era, time was abundant, worth waiting for. Every second and minute could bring spirits to their side.
Ashe opened the “Operator Management” interface and took a look.
“Death Maniac Swordswoman”
“Human Female Age 18”
“Trust Level: 2 (40% EXP Sharing)”
“Resonance of Trust – Greed Falls Short: Chance to acquire better spoils when acting together.”
“Profession: Silver Sorcerer of Annihilation”
“Professional Trait: Recover 0.5% max arcane energy with each effective attack.”
“Possessions: Wooden Training Sword”
“Controlled Spirits: Vibration Sword, Moon Silk, Virtual World Telescope, Murderous Sword, Split Sword, Sheath, Sharpen”
“Sword Style: Silver Rank”
“Light Style: Silver Rank”
“Water Style: Silver Rank”
“Mind Style: Silver Rank”
“Virtual World Exploration: 0.098%”
“Curse of Knowledge: Whirlpool Venom”
As expected, her Mind Style directly rose to Silver rank, but how did she obtain several spirits I haven’t seen before?
Sonya told Ashe about her experiences and gains these past two days, equally surprising and delighting him. He thought this was likely the social and story modules that were missing from Aurora’s Sorcerer Handbook. Even without a player’s help, a mature swordswoman could progress through the story alone and obtain rewards.
Although Ashe could not help the swordswoman clear “game levels”, he was determined not to drag her down, and would try his best to accommodate her needs when dividing spoils in the future.
“I can teach you ‘Murderous Activation’, but I cannot tell you about ‘Sheath’s Gathered Light’ and ‘Sharpen for Ten Years’,” Sonya explained. “The latter two miracles were taught by Professor Trotzam. We signed a non-disclosure agreement that only grants me usage rights, not sharing rights. Before tearing up the contract, I cannot reveal any information about those two miracles.”
Ashe expressed understanding. Those two miracles were the swordswoman’s character-exclusive story rewards. Naturally it was impossible to share them with other characters. The source of Murderous Activation was the Murderous Sword, which was a reward they obtained together in the virtual world. Gaining additional storylines from it was like bonus rewards, so everyone could benefit.
However, he was not interested in these miracles. After all, he did not have the key spirits, and he himself was a sorcerer without any skills. Even if he learned the miracles, he would not be able to research much out of them.
Sonya glanced at him and pursed her lips to ask, “What about you? Did you break out of prison?”
Ashe shook his head and recounted the bizarre experiences of the past two days.
Upon hearing that the prison break plan was cancelled, the Three-Winged Saint Hunter had arrived, and he was even nearly murdered by the captain in his dorm room, Sonya’s emotions also fluctuated up and down.
“So what are you going to do? Wait until ten days later to break out the prison again?”
“Hopefully,” Ashe shrugged. “But there’s another Blood Moon Tribunal in a few days. I highly suspect I’ll be selected into the lucky eight again. With Sylin even inviting Saint sorcerers, I don’t believe he’ll miss this chance to openly and legally end my life.”
“Last time I had Valcas standing in front of me. This time I can only rely on my own abilities to get through.”
“You want to contend against the Blood Moon Tribunal?”
“I want to act pitiful on the livestream, so the audience votes for other criminals instead.”
“So in other words, you plan on waiting helplessly for your death.” Sonya’s brows furrowed as she showed an unsatisfied expression.
In the past, Sonya would have brushed it off with a joke or two even if she mocked him. After all, the Observer’s reality was unrelated to her. The Observer’s complaints and worries about his circumstances were at most chatting material during their breaks.
She had never truly cared about – or rather, worried about – the Observer’s circumstances.
But this time, Sonya could not help but ask, “Don’t you have any backup plans or hidden cards? If you really encounter an inescapable predicament, do you have any surefire way to get out of it?”
“No no, if I did I would have broken out already to breathe the sweet outside air.”
“How could you not have any, you can force me to train, you can see through the secrets of the virtual world, you can casually read the Sorcerer Handbook, you even made me summon spirits I’d never imagined before. How could you not even be able to save yourself?”
“But I really can’t do it,” Ashe spread his hands helplessly. “I guess I’m just unlucky. Sorry.”
Sonya stared at him intently, and suddenly said, “Is it my misperception, or do you really not care about your own life and death?”
Ashe was slightly startled. He turned his head and looked at the misty ocean, saying awkwardly, “Hearing you care so much about me, I’m a little embarrassed.”
“I’m not…”
Sonya suddenly froze mid-sentence. “Wait, did my ritual stop?”
Ashe nodded. “Of course, the ritual already ended when you summoned the ‘Sincerity’ spirit. By the way, your Mind rank also rose to Silver. Remember to find some books to read when you get back – or perhaps I can arrange Mind training for you.”
“No need, I’ll go learn Mind myself!” Sonya firmly rejected. She looked at Ashe suspiciously for a moment, and suddenly blurted out, “Observer, you are a humble, friendly and kind good person.”
Ashe wondered why he had just received a deluxe good person card. He saw Sonya breathe a long sigh of relief, “Ah, lying feels so nice.”
Ashe was speechless. He scoffed, “I don’t want to discuss this with you. It’s time to explore the virtual world. Since we’ve both formed the Silver Wings, we’ll play it safe for now and explore low-risk areas as much as possible—”
“You haven’t answered my question yet.”
Sonya grabbed Ashe’s right wrist as he was about to tap the light screen. Her pale red eyes stared straight at Ashe’s blurry visage. “I’ve never seen anyone care so little about their own life and death. Is it that you have some mysterious hidden card I don’t know about, or do you really not care at all about your own life and death?”
“Hey, it’s not that I don’t care. It’s just that I don’t see the need to outwardly display my nervousness. Do you really want to see me panicking and shivering in fear? Swordswoman, you have such twisted tastes~” Ashe spoke lightly. His words also sounded reasonable.
Yet Sonya shook her head.
“When I was young, my mother would occasionally bring home snacks and treats. Whenever I asked her to eat some too, she would always shake her head and say she already ate. That’s the feeling you’re giving me now – do you think I’m a little girl? Even a little girl could see through such a flimsy lie.”
Ashe thought for a moment, then relaxed and laid down in the boat. He smiled lightly.
“I didn’t lie, I told the truth. If I wasn’t afraid of death, how could I care so much about breaking out? How could I rack my brains to form an escape team? I also fear death, I also desire life – that’s a biological instinct. It’s just…”
“Just what?”
“The most I can think of is just living. No past, no future, no family, no friends. The only drive pushing me to move forward now is simple biological inertia. I don’t have a goal worth striving for. Living is just for the sake of living.”
“Sounds like nonsense and drama,right? I was afraid you’d laugh at me.” He shrugged. “I don’t know how to describe this feeling…It’s like my whole being is light as a balloon, yet only a slender thread ties me to the ground.”
“It sounds like the early symptoms of ‘Eternal Life Syndrome’,” said Sonya. “Some high-age legendary sorcerers have a chance of contracting this special illness. Because their virtual world explorations have stalled and their management of reality is severely lacking, coupled with their old age meaning they have not updated their social circles in time, or even unable to keep up with the changing times, they eventually fall into confusion and loneliness.”
“‘Eternal Life Syndrome’ was considered a terminal illness long ago. Sorcerers who had it would quickly have their souls wither away and die.”
Ashe was shocked. “That serious?”
“But with the development of medical sorcerers, this illness was soon cracked. No sorcerer has died from ‘Eternal Life Syndrome’ in the past few centuries.”
Sonya held up two fingers. “There are two treatment methods. The first is directly using the miracle ‘Lamp of Hope’ to reignite the spark within the sorcerer and help them rediscover their life’s goal. ‘Lamp of Hope’ is also a very common medical miracle that can effectively treat illnesses stemming from the mind and consciousness.”
Although Ashe had tried his best to keep an open mind about this world, he still found himself constantly surprised by the sorcerers – even sentimental diseases could be cured. Sorcerers really were wondrous.
“The second method is counseling, which is getting you back on track through conversation. Do you need me to provide treatment?”
“Sure, how does the counseling work?”
“First, you have to call me Master.”
Ashe was silent for a moment. “Swordswoman, I feel you also show some symptoms of ‘Eternal Life Syndrome’. How about I provide treatment for you first… Even little boy would not believe a lie that obvious!”
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