Chapter 112: Chapter 102: Do You Really Not Care About Your Own Life and Death?
“Sincerity”
“One-winged Technique Spirit”
“Restriction: Must possess a heart”
“Basic Effect: Transforms the heart into a ‘Heart of Sincerity’, significantly enhancing the mage’s various spirit resistances during the effect period, reducing the impact of negative effects such as dizziness, confusion, and sluggishness that act on the soul, consciousness, and thought processes.”
“Passive Effect: Mages will beco more inclined to tell the truth, prefer sincere communication, and more easily distinguish the truth from lies in others’ speech.”
“‘There are only two tragedies in life: not telling the truth, and telling the truth.'”
...
Sonia caressed the Technique Spirit that looked like a transparent butterfly, feeling a sense of wonder she couldn’t explain. It wasn’t her first ti summoning a Technique Spirit, but it was the first ti she had done so unexpectedly and delightfully.
She knew the “Sincerity” Technique Spirit was summoned because of the Observer’s forced ritual, but she mastered “Sincerity” without any barrier, completely grasping the knowledge structure of “Sincerity.”
Sonia had a strong premonition: even if she lost “Sincerity” one day, she could summon it again.
Despite never having learnt about “Sincerity” before, and despite her nature being very different from “Sincerity,” touching this transparent butterfly caused a resonance of knowledge that connected her to the Technique Spirit. Sonia felt as though “Sincerity” was her own flesh and blood Technique Spirit.
She suddenly recalled what she had learnt in class about the origin of mages.
The very first mages didn’t know how to summon Technique Spirits; they simply lived their lives normally, and then “little darlings” would continually appear to help them.
In that distant era, ti was long and worth waiting for; every minute and second could bring the arrival of a Technique Spirit.
Ash opened the “Operator Managent” and glanced at it.
“Death Mad Sword Maiden”
“Human Race· Female · 18 years old”
“Bonds Level: 2 (40% experience sharing)”
“Bonds Resonance· Insatiable Greed: When acting simultaneously, there is a chance of acquiring better spoils.”
“Profession: Silver Mage of Annihilation”
“Professional Characteristics: Each effective attack restores 0.5% of maximum Magic Power”
“Held Items: Training Wooden Sword”
“Controlled Spirits: Wave Motion Sword, Moon Silk, Rapid Stream, Slaughter Sword, Splitting Sword, sword scabbard, Grinding Sword”
“Sword Technique Faction: Silver Level”
“Radiant Faction: Silver Level”
“Water Technique Faction: Silver Level”
“Spirit Faction: Silver Level”
“Void Realm Exploration: 0.098%”
“Knowledge Curse: Vortex Secret Poison”
As expected, the Spirit Faction had directly advanced to Silver Level, but how did she acquire several Technique Spirits she had never seen before?
Sonia told Ash about her experiences and gains from the past two days, causing him to be both shocked and delighted. He thought this might be the missing social developnt and plot modules from “Aurora’s Mage Manual,” specific to Sword Maidens, indicating that even without players’ help, mature Sword Maidens could complete the plot and receive their rewards.
Although Ash couldn’t help the Sword Maiden with the “ga levels,” he resolved not to hold her back. In the future, while distributing spoils, he would take care of the Sword Maiden’s needs as much as possible.
“I can teach you ‘Slaughter Activation’, but I can’t speak of ‘Scabbard Gleam’ and ‘Ten Years of Grinding Sword’.” Sonia explained, “The last two miracles were taught to by Professor Trozan; we signed an encasent contract. I have only the rights to use these miracles, not to share them. I can’t reveal any information about these two miracles before tearing up the contract.”
Ash expressed his understanding. Those two miracles were character-exclusive plot rewards for the Sword Maiden, which naturally couldn’t be shared with other characters. The source of ‘Slaughter Activation’ was the Slaughter Sword, which they both gained from their ti in the Void Realm. Subsequently, the Sword Maiden triggered additional plot in her world because of this, equating to extra rewards, naturally benefiting everyone.
However, he wasn’t interested in these miracles; after all, he didn’t have any key Technique Spirits, and he himself was a mage without any special techniques. Even if he learned the Miracle Techniques, he couldn’t make much out of them.
Sonia gave him a glance and, pursing her lips, asked, “What about you? Did you escape?”
Ash shook his head, sharing his bizarre experiences of the past two days.
Hearing that the jailbreak plan was canceled, that Hunters from the Three-winged Holy Realm had arrived, and that he was almost assassinated by the Hunter Captain in his dormitory, Sonia’s emotions fluctuated as well.
“So what are you planning to do? Wait ten days and then escape?”
“I hope so,” Ash shrugged. “But in a few days, there will be a Blood Moon Judgent, and I have to wonder whether I’ll once again be chosen as one of the lucky eight – Selin even summoned a Holy Sanctuary Mage, I don’t believe he will miss this opportunity to let die a justified death.”
“Just last ti, Valcas stood in front of , but this ti, I can only rely on my own strength to get through,” Ash said.
“You want to contend against the Blood Moon Judgent?”
“I want to play up my misery during the live stream to get the viewers to vote for other criminals.”
“That sounds like you’re planning to just sit and wait for death,” Sonia frowned slightly, showing her displeasure.
In the past, Sonia might have teased him a bit and moved on, since the Observer’s reality had nothing to do with her—it was, at most, a topic of conversation during their rest tis.
She had never genuinely cared—or worried—about the Observer’s situation.
But this ti, Sonia couldn’t help but ask, “Don’t you have any contingency plans or trump cards? If you really face an unavoidable dead end, do you have any certain ans to escape?”
“None, none at all, if there were, I’d have already escaped prison and be breathing the sweet air outside,” he said.
“How can you not have any? You can force to train, you can uncover the secrets of the Void Realm, you can casually read through Aurora’s Mage Manual, and you can even make summon Technique Spirits I’ve never thought of. How is it possible that you can’t even save yourself?”
“But I just can’t,” Ash spread his hands, “Maybe I’m just unlucky, sorry.”
Sonia looked at him intently and suddenly said, “Is it my illusion, or do you really not care about your own life and death?”
Ash was slightly taken aback and, turning his head to look at the adjacent Mist Sea, said with feigned shyness, “Hearing you care so much about makes a little embarrassed.”
“It’s not like that…”
Sonia stopped mid-sentence and suddenly froze, “Wait, does that an my ritual was interrupted?”
Ash nodded, “Of course, your ritual was already interrupted when you summoned the ‘Sincerity’ Technique Spirit. By the way, your Spirit Faction Realm also advanced to Silver Level. Rember to find so books to read when you get back—maybe I can also arrange for so Spirit Faction training.”
“No need, I will study the Spirit Faction myself!” Sonia firmly declined, eying Ash suspiciously, then suddenly blurted out, “Observer, you are a humble, kindhearted, good person.”
Ash wondered how he ended up receiving such a luxury edition of a complint card, only to hear Sonia sigh with relief, “Ah, lying really feels good.”
Ash, his face covered in black lines, clicked his tongue, “I don’t have ti to banter with you, it’s ti to explore the Void Realm. Since we’ve both ford the Silver Wings, let’s focus on stability and try to explore lower-risk areas—”
“You haven’t answered my question.”
Sonia grasped Ash’s wrist as he was about to tap the Light Screen, her pale red eyes fixed intently on Ash’s blurred face, “I’ve never seen anyone so indifferent to their own life and death. Is it that you have so mysterious backup I don’t know about, or do you genuinely not care about your own life?”
“Hey, why would I be indifferent? I just think there’s no need to show nervousness. Do you really want to see terrified, panicked, and shivering? Sword Maiden, you really have a wicked sense of humor~”
Ash’s tone was light-hearted, and his words did seem to make sense, but Sonia shook her head.
“When I was a child, my mother would sotis bring ho little treats and tasty things. Whenever I asked her to try so, she would always shake her head and say she had already eaten,” Sonia said. “That’s the impression you give —do you think I’m a little girl? Even a little girl could see through such a transparent lie.”
Ash thought about it, relaxed his body, and lay back on the small boat, laughing helplessly.
“I didn’t lie; I was telling the truth. If I weren’t afraid of dying, why would I be so keen on escaping? Why would I rack my brains to form an escape team? I am also afraid of death, and I also desire to live; it’s an instinct for all living creatures. It’s just that…”
“Just what?”
“All I can think of is just living,” Ash gazed at the grey Void Realm sky, “Without a past, without a future, with no family, no friends, what drives to keep going now is just pure biological inertia. I don’t have a goal worth fighting for; living is just living for the sake of living.”
“Sounds a bit pretentious, doesn’t it? I’m afraid you’ll mock .” He shrugged, “I also don’t know how to describe this feeling… I feel as light as a balloon, with only a thin thread tying to the ground.”
“It sounds like the early stages of Longevity Syndro,” Sonia said. “So old, long-lived Legendary Mages have a chance of contracting this unique disease. Because their Void Realm Exploration cos to a standstill, and they seriously neglect their reality, on top of being too old to make new friends and unable to keep up with the tis, they ultimately fall into confusion and Loneliness.”
“Longevity Syndro was considered an incurable disease many years ago; mages would quickly die as their spirits withered.”
Ash startled, “That serious?”
“But with the developnt of dical Mages, the disease was quickly decoded, and no mages have died from ‘Longevity Syndro’ for centuries.”
Sonia held up two fingers, “There are two treatnt thods. The first thod uses the Miracle ‘Lamp of Hope’ directly, allowing mages to reignite the lamp in their hearts and regain their life goals. ‘Lamp of Hope’ is also a very common dical Miracle, effective in treating various ntal and consciousness diseases.”
Although Ash had already tried to overestimate this world, he didn’t expect that the Mage’s world would keep surprising him—there’s even a cure for pretentious diseases; Mages are indeed marvelous.
“The second thod is talk therapy, which is through conversation to help you rally. Do you need my help with your treatnt?”
“Sure, how does talk therapy work?”
“First, you have to call Master.”
Ash was silent for a mont and said, “Sword Maiden, I think you might also show so symptoms of ‘Longevity Syndro.’ How about we start with treating you… even a little boy wouldn’t believe such a lie!”
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