Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Ashe had almost forgotten that Sorcerer Handbook was a game that allowed recharging.

He thought the source crystals he obtained from daily check-ins were the only source for summoning, not expecting there was recognized currency in this world.

Regardless of the value being high or low, this discovery motivated Ashe again – like when your boss tells you “work hard and I’ll promote you next time”, even knowing the hope is slim, at least there’s still a glimmer.

But he didn’t dare recharge with the medals right away, because he could tell these medals were the transcendental foundation and source of power sorcerers desperately sought in this world – spirit arts!

“Do you want this spirit art?” he asked.

To Ashe's surprise, Sonya didn’t seem very interested in this spirit art: “If you want it, then take it.”

Now Ashe was the curious one: “But this is a spirit art, don’t you want it?”

“It’s neither a sword spirit art, nor a universal one. I have no use for it and it would just waste my money.”

“What does money have to do with it?” Ashe asked, confused.

Sonya gave Ashe a strange look. The observer was subtly mocking her for being poor. After all, the observer could sail a small ship in the virtual world, how could he not understand such basic sorcerer knowledge?

Or was the observer a rich nobleman who was simply ignorant of common sense? There were often such comical tropes in novels about “rich nobles lacking common sense”. She didn't expect to encounter this nearly extinct species in real life!

With Sonya's explanation, Ashe realized the ecosystem of spirit arts in this world was far more complex than he imagined.

Firstly, spirit arts needed to be fed, and circulating currency was used to feed them!

Silver coins, gold coins, those were the main staples for spirit arts. One-wing spirit arts required silver coins, two-wing spirit arts required gold coins. Spirit arts without proper feeding would dissipate on their own. Some poor sorcerers really could inadvertently starve their spirit arts to death!

In addition to currency, spirit arts could also be fed with other materials, but each spirit art needed different feeding materials, which was extremely troublesome to find. Silver and gold coins were universal feeding staples for all spirit arts, so over time, sorcerers didn't even know how to properly feed their own spirit arts. As long as they stuffed money down the spirits' throats, the job was done.

On top of that, the mere existence of spirit arts consumed sorcerers' mental strength. Sorcerers with many spirit arts were like men with many girlfriends - their wallets and even their bodies couldn't handle it.

Therefore, for low-level sorcerers, especially those with fine proletariat traditions, more spirit arts was definitely not better. They had to be selective in choosing suitable spirit arts for themselves. 'Fewer but better' was the developmental strategy for most low-level sorcerers.

Secondly, there were usage restrictions on spirit arts.

Based on restrictions, spirit arts were divided into factions, such as sword factions requiring swords, gun factions requiring guns, masochist factions requiring strong physique, fist factions relying on fists, and so on. Spirit arts with high requirements for the sorcerer were specific faction arts, also known as specialized arts, such as 'Vibration Sword', which required a sword to invoke.

Spirit arts without particular requirements, or with easily met requirements for the vast majority of sorcerers, were called universal arts, such as 'Eagle Eyes', which any sorcerer with eyes could invoke.

Generally speaking, a sorcerer's spirit arts consisted of specialized and universal arts. It was best for specialized arts to not exceed two factions, while the number of universal arts depended on compatibility, avoiding unnecessary spirits.Witness the debut of this chapter, unveiled through Ñôv€l--B1n.

Even if Sonya took this 'Rapid Fire' art, she would surely sell it instead of wasting her money keeping it.

"That serious?"

"It's serious, but easily preventable since you'll feel unwell while reading the sorcerer handbook if absorbing it would be problematic."

Speaking of which, Sonya was also curious: "From what I've heard, the average sorcerer encountering ten handbooks would be lucky to absorb two or three. Many sorcerers don't even encounter absorbable handbooks in their lifetime... How do you directly absorb any random sorcerer handbook you pick up without contamination?"

Ashe naturally couldn't answer this. Following Sonya's instructions, he guided his consciousness to touch the Hunting Notes in hand.

The Hunting Notes turned into a light smoke entering his body. Before long, Ashe felt like a block of ice in his mind melted, suddenly gaining a lot of indescribable knowledge.

He opened the Operator Management in game, discovering he had gained a new skill.

Anti-reconnaissance Expertise

As a jungle hunter and war soldier, even if Cabin Storley never formally studied anti-reconnaissance, he must have honed this survival skill through war. For Ashe who planned to escape, anti-reconnaissance could come in handy.

After Ashe absorbed the Hunting Notes, they discovered the small island was sinking. They hurried back to the ship, and before long the island completely vanished. The sea surface was tranquil and serene, as if nothing had ever happened.

"That's the strangeness of the virtual world - fleeting encounters, only for inheritance." Sonya sighed sentimentally, "The sea of knowledge contains countless islands of inheritance, quietly waiting for newborn sorcerers to discover them. Once sorcerers take the inheritance, the islands naturally return to the sea... Some say the islands are materializations of sorcerers' obsessions, traces they hope future generations will remember them by, so they leave their inheritance on the sea's surface."

"All sorcerers' traces of life are deeply engraved in the virtual world. We'll encounter the inheritance of countless predecessors here, battle gunmages from hundreds of years ago, converse with sages from thousands of years ago, everything is possible... And our traces will also be engraved in the virtual world. Hundreds of years later when some sorcerer tears through the white fog, they will also encounter the challenges we left behind."

"That sounds romantic."

"Does it? Do you think you can unreservedly pass down your life for future generations to admire your grand achievements?"

Ashe immediately felt it wasn't romantic: "Can sorcerers delete some life records before they die? Like Learning Materials, Art and Life, and stuff like that..."

"How to die with dignity and how to live shamefully have always been the two major important research projects for sorcerers."

Although Sonya got nothing good while Ashe took everything, she was very relaxed. She stretched lazily on the ship: "Where to next? You decide, I'll listen to you."

The island battle could hardly be called thrilling. If Ashe could always find these inheritance islands, Sonya was very willing to take risks.

As long as they encountered a sword spirit art or suitable sorcerer handbook even once, she would profit tremendously.

Many sorcerers only hoped to safely explore the virtual world. Forget encountering virtual world inheritance, not running into danger was already enough to delight and satisfy them.

"Let me see..."

Ashe opened Virtual World Exploration to check the surrounding grid conditions:

Waste of effort, Waste of effort, Waste of effort, Waste of effort, Better not go, Waste of effort, Waste of effort, Waste of effort.

"Huh?"