Chapter 42

Chapter 42

"I barely have any personal time these days," Sonya complained bitterly.

"Classes start at 8am every day - either core courses or electives. Since I transferred to the Sword Arts Department, I don't have to take the Water Magic classes anymore, but I do have Intro to Sword Arts and Practical Sword Arts. On top of that, Professor Trotzam checks my progress almost every day and spars with me once. I'm on my feet all day without a moment's rest."

Sonya found it strange. Professor Trotzam was no idle retired professor who had nothing better to do than fuss over students - he was the legendary Hidden Hands Saint, the most famous sorcerer at Swordflower College.

While Trotzam had taken on Sonya and Felix as research apprentices, he didn't need to check on them every day. It wasn't like Trotzam had never seen geniuses before. A Three Wings Saint like him certainly didn't have time to waste.

Yet not only did Professor Trotzam visit them daily, he even spared time to spar with Sonya - a privilege exclusive to her that made Felix look on enviously.

Even though Felix was the senior apprentice, Trotzam so clearly favored her that it made Sonya feel bad but secretly smug at the same time.

She wondered if it was the Observer's doing, but dismissed the idea - that was the Hidden Hands Saint they were talking about!

If the Observer could control her, that was probably the limit. How could he possibly manipulate someone like Trotzam?

Besides, if the Observer could control Trotzam, why make him beat her up instead of doing something more useful?

"I know you want me to achieve something in sword arts," Sonya said as politely as she could. "But the workload I have during the day is enough already. I don't need to be forced to train sword arts for another two hours at night."

"Also, those extra training sessions are rather pointless. Now that I have the Vibration Sword spirit, I should focus my training on summoning auxiliary spirits to complement it, instead of basic drills..."

Sonya felt a bit guilty saying those words.

She was right, of course. As a sorcerer, she should switch from sword drills to "spirit training", improving her techniques in wielding spirits.

Some may find it odd - wasn't the Vibration Sword spirit summoned and completely understood by Sonya herself? Why was there still room for improvement?

That was because Sonya had fully understood the theory, but not the reality of it. Applying spirits involved combining theory with practice in reality, so there was great potential still untapped.This chapter was first shared on the Ñøv€lß1n platform.

Take Sonya's new move "Inner Vibration Sword" for example. It was the fruit of her labor these past couple days.

Instead of shooting the Vibration Sword from afar, she now concentrated its power at the tip of her blade, unleashing a destructive burst within the enemy's body after stabbing them.

There were many more techniques to uncover for the Vibration Sword. Spirit training was undoubtedly necessary.

What's more, by mastering the Vibration Sword fully, Sonya could summon corresponding auxiliary spirits.

For instance, completely mastering "Inner Vibration Sword" would give Sonya a high chance of summoning the "Inner" spirit. The Inner spirit could compress the Vibration Sword's power by 100% or even temporarily store it within enemies or objects, to be detonated later by the sorcerer's will.

With two spirits combined, the "Inner Vibration Sword" would become the even mightier "Miracle Inner Vibration Sword", much harder for enemies to predict.

Of course, this was still a very basic miracle, not even worthy of being listed in the Sorcerer's Compendium of Miracles, with no commercial value.

But it reflected a sorcerer's normal growth process - summon one spirit, then use it as foundation to summon auxiliary spirits, expanding it into a whole system of miracles.

So Sonya's request was reasonable.

The problem was, she was a swordswoman.

"We mages ask not of the past, nor the future, only this life of blazing glory, relishing bonds and vengeance alike!"

After a long silence, Sonya nodded heavily. "You're right, Observer!"

Phew, managed to hoodwink her...Ashe was still not used to this job. He used to be the one getting psyched up by his boss. Now it was his turn to do the psyche-up.

Gotta say, inducing anxiety in others was pretty fun. No wonder his boss loved sharing anxious posts.

"How about reducing it to one hour instead of two? That shouldn't impact much, right?"

Ashe blinked as the navigation prompt in the Virtual World changed from "Wait" to "Now", quickly changing the subject: "No more chit-chat, focus up! We're entering dangerous territory!"

The boat sailed through misty layers until an island came into view.

On the island was a giant white fox, fur glinting with purple-white light as if the moon had fallen here, entrancingly beautiful. It lay coiled under a tree, body and tail furled up adorably, making one want to pet it badly.

"It's the Foxlight Dragon," Sonya whispered excitedly. "It's asleep!"

They quietly rowed ashore and tiptoed to the dragon's head, exchanging glances. Bracing themselves,

Sonya took a battojutsu stance while Ashe summoned a shadow clone with an unsharpened sword, both aimed at the fox dragon's head - freed of his real body's constraints, Ashe could use spirits in the Virtual World.

Tests showed his shadow clones, while easily dispelled by a poke, could attack before being popped. So in situations like this, they added extra damage.

As for unsharpened swords, just like Sonya could conjure a wooden one, Ashe naturally summoned weapons from his past Deathmatches. Guns were what he really wanted, but having never touched them in reality, he couldn't imagine them into existence...

Ready, they mouthed the countdown - three, two, one, strike!

"Flash Vibration Sword!"

"Double Slash!"

The slumbering fox dragon was simultaneously smashed in the head by three swords. It unleashed a piercing howl that nearly deafened Sonya and Ashe, dispelling the shadow clone instantly.

But the fox seemed stunned, unable even to get up, just thrashing wildly on the ground.

Naturally they had no chivalry to speak of, taking the chance to whack it more while Ashe stroked its fur.

After a dozen seconds, the fox let out an unwilling roar and dissolved into white smoke.

It left behind three slumbering spirits who seemed confused, blankly eyeing the unfamiliar mages. But Sonya's eyes were fixed not on them, but a bright orb on the ground.

"What's that?"

"An Experience Orb," Sonya stared at the orb, desire unconcealed in her eyes. "No limits, no requirements. Any sorcerer who absorbs this gains the enlightenment and mastery of the knowledge being! Instant expertise in a whole school of magic!"

"For the same school, it can even greatly boost the sorcerer's level of learning and comprehension, smoothing their path of advancement forevermore!"

"Virtual Exploration is accumulation through the long road."

"Experience Orbs are sudden enlightenment in an instant!"