Chapter 214: Sharing the Secret Poison

Chapter 214: Sharing the Secret Poison

“Attention, prepare for battle.”

Deya glanced at the rain-obscured sky ahead, a flicker of realization crossing her face: “Observer, do you possess an Exploration Miracle that works within the Reverse Golden Rain?”

If the Sea of Knowledge’s white mist reduces visibility through its dreariness, then the Time Continent’s golden rain obscures vision with its intense brightness. Apart from the nearby vegetation, Sorcerers could hardly discern whether the plants within ten steps were large trees, thickets, or small monsters, as everything was bathed in a golden sheen.

And much like the white mist, the vast majority of Exploration Miracles couldn’t penetrate this curtain of rain. Thus, adventuring in the Time Continent bore no fundamental difference from that in the Sea of Knowledge.

The difference lay solely in whether monsters dragged you under from the sea or jumped out from behind a tree to bludgeon you unexpectedly.

However, to Ashe, the Virtual Realm was like a girl in a short skirt, having lifted just a bit of her mysterious domain for him. He hadn’t seen the full picture yet, but at least he could see the ‘absolute territory.’

The Virtual Realm Telescope remained effective, and the Virtual Realm Map still displayed the situation within a 24-tile radius.

It seemed that because it was loaded with a sports car, the map also showed the car’s health. Along the way, many trees had been bulldozed, leaving the car’s health below 50%. However, it could recover 1% health every few minutes, so there was no need to be frugal with its use—as long as it didn’t fall apart.

In addition, the Virtual Realm Map displayed the White Bull’s direction of travel, with its four hooves clearly imprinted on the Holographic Screen. The White Bull wasn’t moving in a straight line but with a slight curve. Yet, because the White Bull was so massive, to them—mere ants—this curvature was like the sea’s surface not being entirely flat, utterly imperceptible.

But Ashe noticed a problem—the map’s left and right seemed reversed. When the sports car moved left, their marker went right.

It wasn’t a big issue; Ashe manually rotated the map 180° to correct it. After all, it was an internal beta Version of the company; even if the Virtual Realm Map suddenly froze, blue-screened, and popped up a warning, Ashe wouldn’t be surprised.

Speaking of which, what to do if the game froze? There was no way to summon the task manager or to shut down... Would knocking oneself out count as a physical shutdown?

As the sports car approached the green “Worth a visit” Area, Ashe stopped the vehicle and glanced at the detailed information inside the area, his expression changing instantly:

“There are some White Velocidragons ahead!”

Sonya took a moment to register this, but Deya’s eyes lit up: “Some?”

“Yes, some!”

“Some White Velocidragons, worth a visit.”

“A group of Knowledge Creatures?” Sonya blinked, recalling the information she had read over the past few days, and soon she too became excited: “Could it be a Resource Point?”

“What’s a Resource Point?” Ashe was somewhat puzzled.

He had rested for several days at Freya’s home and took the opportunity to cram a lot of common knowledge about the Sorcerer world, but information about the Time Continent was considered very high-end knowledge, equivalent to professional papers in his previous life, and unnecessary for non-Two Wings Sorcerers to understand.

When Ashe searched for the Time Continent within the Blood Moon Curtain, the most common search results were “Romance of the Time Continent,” “Abandoned in the Gaps of Time,” and “Chasing Time to Find You.” The general public’s perception of the Time Continent was — it’s convenient for romance.

After all, one is always swimming in the Sea of Knowledge with not-so-great scenery, completely lacking the romantic atmosphere of the Time Continent. Moreover, the inclusion of ‘time’ in its name gave screenwriters plenty of room to let their imaginations run wild, allowing for adaptations and wild stories. From the plot summaries Ashe read, it seemed that the Time Continent, as portrayed under the Curtain, not only manipulated time but could also cause gender changes, speed up childbirth, hasten one’s death, and facilitate infidelity—in short, it was the perfect stage for deeply tortured love stories.

Later, when Ashe arrived in the Gospel Kingdom, he didn’t do much of substance, so he came to the Virtual Realm for his examination without any prior preparation. However, he had a reason for doing so—because he was sure the Swordswoman had done her homework.

Deya looked at Sonya with surprise, and Sonya spread her hands: “The Observer had amnesia before.”

“I see, like the Sorcerer in the fairy tale ‘The Amnesiac Sorcerer and the Naive Girl’?”

“I haven’t heard of the fairy tale you’re mentioning.”Updated from n0velbIn.(c)o/m

At that moment, both Deya and Sonya were struck with a thought, but they didn’t continue the topic. Instead, they began explaining to Ashe: “Resource Points are special Areas that started appearing on the Time Continent. They are often guarded by Gregarious Knowledge Creatures. Knowledge Creatures drive spirits to manage the Resource Points, so these points often hold rare resources that we sorcerers can use. If we’re lucky, we might even find treasures that surpass the gains of an Experience Orb!”

Deya added, “But the Gregarious Creatures guarding the Resource Points can be tough to handle unless you’re a Battle Sorcerer specializing in area attacks. Otherwise, facing a swarm of them can throw you into disarray. I once attacked a Resource Point and had to retreat because I nearly died. But now that we have three people...”

“Let’s divide our tactical roles,” Ashe suggested. “My abilities mainly include the miracles ‘Sword Barrier’ and ‘Heart Sword.’ ‘Sword Barrier’ can provide long-range defense support, while ‘Heart Sword’ allows for Long-range Attacks. Unless something unexpected happens, I’ll be the long-range attacker. Ah, I’ve also created a new miracle called ‘Rush,’ which is a short-distance movement miracle.”

“You created a miracle? Let me see it later,” Sonya said. “I haven’t had any recent changes. I have the ‘Counterattack Miracle’ known as ‘Water Moon’ and a series of close-combat miracles derived from ‘Vibration Sword.’”

It’s a bit nuanced; to say it’s useless wouldn’t be quite right, as it could potentially save a life at certain moments. But to say it’s useful, a cooldown time of 23 hours seems excessively long...

“Have you been infected with the Secret Poison?”

“Yes.”

“No.”

Both turned to look at Sonya, who was somewhat confused: “Why can’t I be infected with Secret Poison?”

Ashe glanced at the Operator interface, and indeed, the Swordswoman had not been infected with the Bronze Dragon Secret Poison.

Deya explained, “Actually, I not only saw the Bronze Dragon with my own eyes, but I was also infected with the Secret Poison only after triggering the curse Trial. I thought that you wouldn’t be able to...”

She paused, then suddenly remembered that the Observer had indeed seen the Bronze Dragon—when she jumped down from the Tower, the Observer was right there watching!

Sonya looked towards Ashe, who spread his hands: “I am certain through special abilities that she indeed triggered the Bronze Dragon’s Favor. Swordswoman, you don’t have this channel, so...”

“Eh?” The White Queen blinked, her tone surprised: “So it’s like you, Swordswoman, having the Golden Fish Secret Poison with the Observer—now I also have a Secret Poison that only the Observer and I possess?”

Sonya, feeling a bit sour, responded, “It’s just a Secret Poison, which really isn’t that important for a Sorcerer...”

“Wait.” Ashe thought for a moment and then said, “If belief alone can lead to infection... Swordswoman, are you willing to believe in me unconditionally? Without verification, without thought, forsaking the rigor of a Sorcerer, emptying the suspicion of others, and believing in me as if believing in the Truth, can you do that?

“I...” Sonya’s expression was conflicted, but in the end, she shook her head: “I can’t.”

How could she entrust herself completely to the distant Observer when she wouldn’t even fully trust her own mother? Her education wouldn’t allow it, her knowledge wouldn’t allow it, her pride even less so.

“But what about just once?”

Ashe blinked, reaching out and tapping Sonya’s forehead.

“The Bronze Dragon Secret Poison, it’s real.”

“Swordswoman, trust me this time.”

Tick-tock.

When Sonya heard the sound of the clock hands moving, she was so excited she nearly jumped out of her seat. But she restrained herself, simply folding her arms and glancing at Deya: “Hmm, this Bronze Dragon Secret Poison is really something, able to dodge damage once—thanks, Witch.”

Ashe checked the Operator interface, and sure enough, there was an additional Secret Poison in the Swordswoman’s status, with the Number of Secret Poison Infected increasing to 24.

“This means that you, Witch, could also potentially be infected with the Golden Fish Secret Poison,” said Ashe. “As long as the Bond between us is strong enough, and you trust me enough.”

Deya stared blankly at the scene, while the White Queen’s mind raced, eventually coming to a conclusion: She could not shake the Swordswoman’s position in the Observer’s heart.

Not for now, at least.

“Alright,” the White Witch said with a beaming smile, “Let’s work hard together.”

“Speaking of which, have we forgotten something?”

“Right,” Ashe regained his focus. “We were supposed to assign tactical positions... But now that we share the Secret Poison, it’s like we’ve boosted our Battle capability. What kind of Miracle or spirit do you mainly use, Witch? Are your tactics close-ranged, like Fist and Claw?”

“Theoretically, it belongs to the Fist and Claw Faction, but it’s not exactly that.”

Deya brought her fists together, pulling out three transparent, flowing threads.

“I prefer to call it,” she said with a pure and sweet smile, “death thread.”