Sorcerer’s Handbook

While Ashe was being written off as irredeemable kitchen waste, far away in the bustling imperial capital of Nabistin, there lay a series of grand and solemn palaces. Among them, the most eye-catching was the towering Tower built on a small island in the middle of Yalan Lake. With its white walls and blue roofs, accompanied by the singing of orioles and the circling of doves, the structure seemed to belong not to this world but to a fairy tale.

“…And so, the brave knight defeated the fire-breathing Evil Dragon and found the beautiful princess in its lair. Together, they returned to the capital and were celebrated by all. The king officiated their wedding, and the knight and princess lived happily ever after, a joyous and congratulatory occasion.”

Granny, with a smile radiating across her face, closed the picture book as the room’s clock chimed, and a charming cuckoo bird popped out to announce the time.

“Princess, the clock has struck twelve; it is time for you to sleep,” Granny said gently as she tugged at the covers, careful as if the mere act of covering the princess could cause harm.

The princess blinked her lovely pale green eyes, which twinkled like stars with dazzling brilliance. Her skin was as pure white as snow, her lips as red as blood, and she had long, black hair that cascaded down like a waterfall, fanning out on the pillow.

“Granny Marsha, when will the Evil Dragon come to capture me?” she asked.

Granny patted the princess’s head with a smile, “The brave knights are all outside protecting you, so the Evil Dragon can’t come and take you away, my dear princess.”

“Ah? Won’t the Evil Dragon be very disappointed then?” the princess said, somewhat forlornly. “It wants to capture me so badly, just as I long to see Nina… Granny Marsha, when will Nina come to visit me?”

“Princess Nina is very busy, but as soon as she has some free time, she will surely come to visit you.”

The princess lay in bed, her thoughts wandering. She pictured the Evil Dragon in her mind: it would have four beautiful sharp horns, scales that glimmered, and a mouth full of fierce but neatly arranged sharp teeth. Its eyes would be as large as half-moon mirrors, and I could see my reflection in its pupils…

When the Princess turned over in bed, she was stunned: a Bronze Dragon, exactly as she had imagined, appeared outside the window, gently flapping its wings in the air and gazing at her with vertical pupils.

The Princess threw back the covers and got out of bed, dressed in a pure white cotton nightgown, her bare feet touching the cold marble floor. She walked over to the window and met the gaze of the Bronze Dragon.

“Have you come to take me away?”

The Bronze Dragon remained silent, just quietly watching her.

But the Princess, as if hearing something, smiled brightly: “Alright, I’ll go with you.”

Compared to the knights who had always guarded her at the base of the Tower, the Princess felt that the Evil Dragon in front of her was more like the hero who would save her—she would ride on the back of the Evil Dragon, soaring through the skies, looking down upon the magnificent earth and experiencing the thrilling adventures she had longed for.

She carefully climbed over the window sill, and the barriers that had previously stopped her seemed to vanish in that moment. Sitting on the edge of the window, her two adorable, shiny little feet gently swayed as she opened her arms toward the Bronze Dragon: “Thank you, Evil Dragon.”

However, the knights below the Tower were, in fact, watchers.

The Bronze Dragon did not exist in reality.

But the Princess really did jump.

With a piercing whistle cutting through the night, the entire Palace was alerted. The Palace Sorcerers were urgently summoned, and the Tri-wings Sanctuary Sorcerers flew directly to the room at the top of the Tower for a thorough search, but still found nothing.

“Where’s the Princess?”

“The Princess is missing!”

“Go look for her! Get the Prophet over here! …No, use the Gospel to ask for the Princess’s location! No matter the cost in Points, use all the Gospels necessary!”

“It’s no use, the Gospel won’t respond!”

“How is that possible…”

The frustrated trackers soon left the Princess’s room, which they had disrupted, extending their search throughout the entire imperial city.

No one noticed that an uninvited guest had already appeared in the room and had been watching the whole drama unfold from the sidelines.

He walked to the window, hands resting on the sill, and stretched his head out to survey the magnificent royal city that was lit up below. Layer upon layer of aurora-like Curtains gradually unfolded above the city. Thousands of ‘Hawkeye’ drones took off from various locations, laser-like Pattern Lines emerged on the ground, and all surveillance systems were activated at full capacity. In minutes, every corner of the city had been checked, and all spatial Miracles Purified, all in search of the missing princess.

“It saves me the trouble,” he said with a chuckle, resting his chin on his hand. “Educating the Swordswoman has cost me quite a bit of ‘time’.”

“Who are you?”

A petulant voice suddenly came from behind him. The observer turned his head to look at the young girl in a black dress standing by the bed. She had stunningly beautiful features, skin white as snow, lips red as blood, and long, shiny black hair.

Unlike the tranquil and lovely princess who had just jumped, she appeared furious, hands on her hips, puffing up her face as she glared at the observer, almost as if she was about to rush up and take a big bite.

“Although I would like to say it’s nice to meet you for the first time, we have already made eye contact just now,” the observer said, spreading his hands. “Pleased to meet you, Witch. I am the apocalypse observer, but you can call me observer.”

“I am not a Witch!” She walked straight up to him, poking his chest with her finger. “I am Princess Lise Deya; you can call me Princess Lise or Princess Deya. I’ve never had such a strange title as ‘Witch’!”

The observer tactically leaned back and asked, “So, should I call you Lise or Deya?”

She blinked, “…Deya.”

“But I think ‘Witch’ sounds nicer,” the observer turned back to look at the increasingly bustling imperial capital. “So, Witch, how does freedom feel?”

“Are you mocking me?” Deya grabbed the observer’s collar and twisted him back around, almost lifting him off his feet. “Who exactly are you? How did you manage to break through the barriers to enter the royal city, and even my Tower? Without the help of the Bronze Dragon, I couldn’t have possibly left this prison!”

“If a legendary Sorcerer could possibly infiltrate this place, then your ability to see me truly surpasses the realm of mortals,” Deya said earnestly. “I am not a Soul, not a spirit, nor arcane energy; I am an illusion, a thought, a sentiment… Other than Lise, no one should be able to notice my existence, no one in this world should be able to see me.”

“How can you see a thought?”

Deya scrutinized the Observer’s face, shrouded in mist. “Are you the Divine Master?”

“I’m sorry to disappoint you.”

Lifted up by Deya, the Observer showed no irritation, calmly stating, “I am not a god, at least… not yet. On the contrary, I am here to seek your help.”

Deya cocked her head, “What help?”

“Become my companion, accept my arrangements.”

“Should I take that as your declaration of slavery?”

“I vow to defend your right to free thought to the death.”

“Absurd.”

Deya forcefully pushed the Observer out of the window, and pure white radiance began to emanate from her as the center. In an instant, the entire world turned into a vast expanse of whiteness, leaving only Deya standing and the Observer falling.

The Observer’s dark red cloak gradually turned gray, and his entire being came to a halt, as if time had frozen around him.

“Though I do not know who you are, nor how you can see me, the fact that you can communicate with me means you are within my thought,” Deya articulated each word. “Intruding into someone else’s Kingdom of thought is a very dangerous thing.”

She clasped her hands together: “Be shattered into countless pieces by time, Observer!”

As soon as Deya finished speaking, the Observer’s body shattered like a mirror, breaking smaller and smaller until it turned into a pile of sparkling sand.

Hmph, is that all there is to it?… Just as this thought surfaced in Deya’s mind, suddenly, cracking sounds came from all directions!

Crack!

Deya looked up, only to find the pure white still world she created cracked like a mirror, fissures spreading everywhere! In each fragment of the world, the Observer’s blurred figure appeared!

Everywhere under the heavens, in all directions, endless, omnipresent!

“Not an illusion, not a facade; each one is the real me.”

The voices of the Observers resonated like rolling thunder, the resonance nearly shaking Deya’s form: “We come from a second ago, a nanosecond ago, a millionth of a nanosecond ago… Instead of using time to kill, you should learn how to use time to not die.”

“It seems I can’t save the effort after all.”

By the time Deya collected her thoughts, she found herself sitting on the edge of the bed with the Observer still beside the windowsill, as if nothing had happened.

But Deya knew that in the mental confrontation that had just occurred, even within her own Kingdom of thought, she had lost, and utterly so. She couldn’t describe the feeling—her free thought had been defeated!

She rolled on the bed and hid behind it to avoid the Observer’s gaze, asking cautiously like a startled rabbit: “Do you, being such an entity, truly need my help?”

“You seem to overestimate me a bit,” the Observer said with a smile: “I am also just a distant longing. Without some special methods, I couldn’t even see you. My actual presence has just set foot on the Time Continent, without a single Gold feather, weaker than you. With your help, exploring the Virtual Realm will be much easier.”

How could that be… Deya didn’t believe for a second that the Observer only had Two Wings, but she quickly caught on to the key phrase he mentioned: “Exploring the Virtual Realm?”

“Yes, you will join my team for Exploring the Virtual Realm, and together we will make a splash across the Time Continent.” The Observer nodded: “But don’t expect me to provide any information. As for the Virtual Realm and the Time Continent, you have a deeper understanding than I.”

Exploring the Virtual Realm together? Deya instinctively wanted to dismiss such a fanciful idea, but on second thought, it seemed more ordinary compared to the Observer’s ability to see her.

The main point was, the Observer had no reason to deceive her, a mere Two Wings Sorcerer, even if she was favored by the Bronze Dragon.

However, if the Observer’s strength really was less than hers, that meant…

“That’s right,” the Observer suddenly recalled something and said: “I also have a companion who is a Swordcerer. Together, we have traversed the Sea of Knowledge, defeating many enemies.”

Deya pushed aside the bold thoughts that sprang to mind. “Do I have the right to refuse?”

“I also have a companion who is a Swordcerer. Together we’ve sailed the Sea of Knowledge, slaying many enemies,” the Observer repeated with a smile.

Frustrated, she pointed at the Observer and exclaimed, “You’re threatening me!”

“I prefer to think of it as temptation,” the Observer tilted his head slightly: “But I swear to defend your right to free imagination to the death.”

Deya seemed about to say more when suddenly her expression changed, and she vanished in a blur.

“Not even a goodbye, such an impolite Princess,” the Observer lounged in the chair at the vanity: “So what if the Cultists have captured her? Why the panic? She should have known that the favor of the Bronze Dragon isn’t so easily borne.”

“Compared to you, she’s really quite mischievous.”

The Swordswoman sat at the edge of the windowsill, her long legs in black stockings swinging gently in the air, her expression tinged with worry: “But she’s too mischievous, I’m more concerned about whether Ashe can handle her.”

“Don’t worry.”

The Observer said with a playful smile, “Isn’t there Sonya?”

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