Sorcerer’s Handbook

At this moment, Igor finished researching his next developmental path, his face revealing a very complex expression.

The smoking Butler Youth noticed this scene and asked, “Mr. Bukin, do you have any questions?”

“Nothing much, I just feel… the people here are really blessed.”

Igor’s tone was somewhat melancholic: “The answer I just got for 82 Points would have been impossible to obtain with any amount of money in the previous Kingdom. But, you, sir, have been living here since you were young, so perhaps you can’t understand the feelings of someone from the countryside like me?”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Banjeet said with a smile: “The Gospel is bestowed selflessly upon the world, but not everyone is eligible to partake in it. I was equally astonished the first time I Prayed for the Gospel, by the greatness of the Omniscient Weaver.”

“I’ve had a question since last night,” Igor inquired: “With less than 10,000 on each Ranking List, and only the top ten positions listed, even without accounting for overlaps, there are less than a hundred thousand spots available in the entire Kingdom. If making the list is the sole source of Points, then how does the average person earn Points?”

“Organizational Rankings,” Banjeet stated succinctly: “For instance, if the Funeral Firm makes the list, Miss would share a certain proportion of Points with me as profit sharing. Ordinary people just need to join top ten companies in their respective fields that can make the list, and their salaries will generally include Points.”

“Besides, the Points from various city Ranking Lists are also distributed to workers in their respective fields, like the ‘Security Ranking’ Points would definitely be shared with those wearing the Red Cap. Basically, as long as you are a tax-paying citizen, you will receive a certain amount of Points as a year-end benefit.”

Igor nodded, “That sounds quite fair…”

Ashe, who was editing his question, raised an eyebrow upon hearing this: “Igor, do you really think it’s fair?”

Igor instinctively wanted to argue, but seeing Banjeet’s surprised expression, he realized Ashe was right. Yet, even after pondering for a long while, the Con Artist couldn’t figure out the catch.

“Igor, a smart person like you naturally can’t see the cunning within this system,” Harvey laughed. “Because you are certain that with effort, you can join a good company, earn your first Points, and then gradually snowball and grow. But even a Corpse could tell you that the positions and companies that share Points are limited, and those qualified to compete for these spots must have improved themselves into high-quality talents through Points.”

“Points are the universal Currency, and nobody thinks they have enough. Unlike wealth, which has a limit to how much one can indulge in, Points can be easily spent. Therefore, the Kingdom definitely follows the Pareto principle, with a large amount of Points flowing into the hands of a few. Moreover, with the Family System in place, the deeper the accumulation of Points in the parent generation, the easier it is for the progeny to make the list. Those at the bottom simply don’t have the resources to compete with Points families.”

“That can’t be right,” Igor frowned. “There should be free basic education here—”

“That’s exactly it, Igor. You’re too smart, and that’s why you can’t see through it,” Harvey said. “Do you think the children from the same Nursery as you can become Two Wings Sorcerers like you? Your intelligence and self-discipline have already exceeded the ordinary, and you can perfect your knowledge system through self-study. But ordinary people need guidance and someone to fill in the gaps, and this is where Points come into play.”

“Of course, maybe I’m wrong,” Harvey looked at Banjeet. “Points really are the Boon of the Gospel Kingdom and haven’t become a barrier between classes.”

Banjeet flicked the ash from his palm and smiled, “Mr. Harvey, you’re mostly right, but because of the Loopholes in the Gospel, the social system of the Gospel Kingdom isn’t that simple.”

“Loopholes?”

“Miss didn’t seem to mention this,” Banjeet said. “Aside from the Slaughter Ranking and other ‘Sin Ranking Lists,’ most normal lists consider personal credit.”

Almost instantly, both Igor and Harvey’s eyes lit up with an unusual gleam—that of laid-off workers suddenly discovering new job opportunities.

“Not all crimes result in arrests, and in fact, even if someone commits murder, as long as the Red Cap doesn’t find out, it’s as if it never happened. However, the Gospel records all illegal activities in one’s credit report, and if someone suddenly disappears from the rankings, the Red Cap will likely find something if they decide to investigate.”

“The Loophole in the Gospel is that as long as you’re not the one committing the act, it won’t affect your own credit.”

“So even those who aren’t qualified to be on the rankings have their own kind of work they can do.”

Igor pondered, “I thought Firms were just organizations that did the dirty work…”

“Firms are at most for pruning branches, eliminating pests and diseases.” Banjeet pointed outside the balcony, “Azura is actually a three-tiered city.”

“The second layer bathed in sunlight, the first layer that clings to the earth.”

“And the negative first layer that absorbs nutrients.”

Azura’s Sewer, Mermaid Palace.

“Do you guys really not plan to buy a dehumidifier?” Annan complained, crouching by the poolside. “This sticky humidity is so uncomfortable.”

“This level of humidity is just perfect for us, Sea demons.” Sirimoro lounged in the pool, flicking his tail and splashing water, which was blocked by a barrier Annan casually put up. “Stop it, I don’t want to get wet going back.”

“You could change your clothes here,” Sirimoro suggested, resting his arms on the pool edge, speaking as if singing, “Especially since your Firm has been removed from the Mission Ranking, and you, having betrayed your employer, surely won’t have any commissions in the future. With all this free time, why not come and play in the water with me?”

“You’re quite well-informed.”

“Water knows everything.”

Sirimoro propped his chin, looking up at Annan, “Why not just join us Merfolk? Although you’re not a Sea demon and certainly can’t become one of the Ten Sea Witches, I would still value you and perform the Bubble Ritual for you!”

“Thanks for the kind offer,” Annan said, not amused, “but I don’t have anyone I fancy, nor am I interested in losing my voice.”

Sea demons are a branch of Merfolk, but quite different from them: Merfolk evolved limbs while retaining fish-like characteristics, whereas Sea demons have upper bodies not much different from humans, only their heads retain coral-like fin spines, but their lower bodies are snake or fish-like.

Thanks to their outstanding Talent from the Prophecy Faction, Sea demons are virtually the uncrowned kings within the hidden world of the Kingdom, able to glean the most intelligence from the Deep Blue Gospel at the lowest cost. The Ten Sea Witches, like Sirimoro here before Annan, have their roots in the nine most prosperous cities of the Kingdom, commanding all the hidden organizations within Azura.

Sea demons don’t reject outsiders from joining their ranks, but new members must pass the Bubble Ritual: either kill their lover or lose their voice. Completing one of these tasks earns the trust of the Sea demons and even a share of their prophetic Talent. However, it also means forfeiting the right to appear on the conventional Ranking List, a sort of initiation into the hidden organizations.

“I want to—”

“If you’re here to talk business, then you know the drill.”

Annan paused, resignedly dropping to the ground to start doing push-ups.

Merfolk have a peculiar hobby—they enjoy watching humans exercise. Normally that would be fine, but if you want to discuss business with them, you inevitably have to work out while talking to them, much like social drinking.

“I want, to use, my favor, to ask you to do something for me,” Annan panted after doing just a few push-ups.

Watching the sweat bead on Annan’s forehead, Sirimoro giggled, leaping out of the pool without causing a single splash. She slid next to Annan, her voice slick as a duet of echoes: “Are you sure? That favor helped me become a Sea Witch. Once you use it, you’ll have no more advantages with the Merfolk.”

“I’m sure.”

“State your request, the water is listening.”

“In the last fifteen years in the Azura region, have there been any deceased Echo Children?”

Sirimoro summoned her Deep Blue Gospel. With a thought, the necessary information organized itself and appeared—once someone obtains a Gospel, it automatically gathers all intelligence about the holder’s surroundings. When needed, the holder can open the Gospel to peruse everything they ‘once knew,’ without spending any Points, effectively carrying a personal library with them.

“There are 76 names,” Sirimoro said with schadenfreude. “Almost no successful cases, the best one died at the age of five.”

“Are all these Wet Work handled by your people?”

“Of course, they wouldn’t dare to deal with such tasks themselves; they always entrust our people to carry out the final execution,” Sirimoro stated. “But if you’re looking to acquire the Miracle Technique of these families, that’s out of my reach. We have a Contract. Even in the Gospel Kingdom, no Legend Sorcerer can break a Contract written on Fabric.”

“I don’t need their techniques,” Annan said. “Are you also in charge of disposing of the Corpses?”

“Sure, it’s just part of the job anyway.”

“How about the quality of these Echo Children?”

“They are quite exceptional, having gone through so many iterations over the years,” Sirimoro explained. “Almost every one of them is a Genius of all Faction Realms, with some infants reaching the Silver Tier at just two years old. However, these geniuses artificially created through Miracles are almost inevitably short-lived. To deceive the Weaving Festival and secure a seat, they need to live for over ten years, or else the Weaving Festival won’t recognize these Echo Children.”

Echo Children are a unique product of the Gospel Kingdom. These infants are subjected to Miracles during gestation to prematurely develop their intellect, almost all possessing Talent across all Factions. If they can survive until the age of ten, they are certain to master a Gold Tier Faction Technique.

But they seldom live to be ten.

The purpose of these Echo Children is to launch surprise attacks and to deceive the Weaving Festival.

As long as these children live past ten years and their potential is recognized by the Weaving Festival, they will essentially become true Echoers. After all, while the Weaving Festival’s Ranking List is random, Echo Children are geniuses of all Factions. Whatever question you pose, if I can’t answer it, consider it a loss for me.

Of course, the rewards of the Weaving Festival are naturally taken by their Family, while the Echo Children are kept alive until they die naturally. Without rewards to extend their lifespan, Echo Children can only live up to fifteen years at most. After all, geniuses artificially created in such a way are too much against the natural order. If there were no severe consequences, the whole Gospel Kingdom would have ascended long ago.

Just as the Blood Moon Kingdom excels in Bio-modification, the Gospel Kingdom has a profound cultivation in the field of artificial geniuses—from the very first day the Weaving Festival appeared, countless individuals have pondered how to deceive the ‘Prophecy’ of the Omniscient Weaver.

In the future, it might be possible to create a Faction Genius capable of living stably until the age of 20, but for now, the Echo Child initiative is more like a lottery for the elite Families, a test of the technological progress accumulated over the past fifty years, akin to an arms race.

Annan said, “I need you to alter the records of the Echo Child to specify three individuals, even creating the illusion that they have not died and have been active in the outskirts, Sewers, and forests all this time.”

Sirimoro was somewhat surprised and casually asked, “No problem. Do you want to pick specific birth years?”

“No need,” Annan replied. “Just change the records for all the Echo Children who died in the past fifteen years.”

“All of them?”

“All of them.”

Sirimoro narrowed her eyes slightly.

She realized what Annan intended to do.

The Gospel had many loopholes, one of which was the ‘Retrieval Loophole.’ When the Gospel sought to query individuals with the same name and surname, it could potentially mix up the information of multiple people into a single profile.

But this loophole had been fixed a long time ago. As long as you were born in the Gospel Kingdom, the Gospel would assign you a unique number that only it could know, avoiding any confusion with others who might share your name and surname.

Annan undoubtedly knew this, yet she was willing to expend her favor to merge the Echo Child records with those of the three individuals. This meant she was quite confident that she could trigger the ‘Retrieval Loophole’ in the Gospel, leading it to mistake these three individuals for whole-Faction Geniuses.

This meant that these three individuals…

Suddenly, a Contract Fabric was extended in front of Sirimoro.

“Even though I trust the integrity of a Sea Witch, it’s safer to have a contract,” Annan insisted, completely exhausted and collapsing to the ground, her amethyst earring swaying in the light. “Once the contract is signed, I’ll hand over the names, appearances, and information of those three to you.”

Sirimoro took the Fabric, signed her name, and watched as the Fabric burned away. She then asked, “You’re willing to risk your Firm’s ranking for this? Was your whole-hearted effort to support me in becoming the Azura Sea Witch also for this moment?”

Annan nodded, her tired face etched with determination.

“I’ve staked the name of Dolan on this.”

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