Virtual Realm, on a small inherited island, the flames are raging!
“Flames, burn my body!”
The axe-wielding Artificer in heavy armor roared, his whole body engulfed in flames, even his pupils turned into flames. He opened his mouth and exhaled flames, while boiling magma flowed out from the gaps in his armor!
The flaming blade of the axe ignited, and he shouted as he swept it. Sonia immediately retreated to avoid it, and then he suddenly rolled to the left and lunged forward. The axe transformed into a sword shape, fiercely stabbing towards Asho, who was attempting a sneak attack with his Heart Sword!
Asho immediately plunged his sword into the ground, activating the Artisan spirits “Earth Sword” and “Wind Barrier,” forming a miracle – “Sword Wind Barrier”!
The bright yellow sword barrier perfectly enveloped Asho!
Clang!
The flaming sword and the Sword Wind Barrier emitted a piercing explosion, but even until the flames on the sword were worn out by the sword wind, Asho did not take a step back, and the barrier remained intact!
This defensive miracle, powered by the two Artisan spirits, was almost an impregnable fortress in the Knowledge Sea!
Although the attack was thwarted, the flames in the eyes of the axe-wielding Artificer remained fervent. He let out a low roar, and the flaming sword spewed out boiling magma, fiercely thrusting towards the Sword Wind Barrier!
“Joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, all fall into dust!”
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!
With each explosion, the magma-spewing sword struck the Sword Wind Barrier like a heavy cannon. Asho’s Artificing power almost vanished like a waterfall, and the luster of the barrier dimmed, appearing on the verge of collapse!
This was the attacking miracle of the axe-wielding Artificer!
“Sword Girl!”
With Asho’s shout, Sonia was also ready. The wooden sword’s tip flashed with a steel-like brilliance as it sliced into the Artificer’s armor!
At the same time, the wooden sword erupted with sharp fluctuations, transforming into rotating blades that spread out, cutting the Artificer into dozens of pieces!
With the acquisition of the “Flaming Sword,” Sonia’s “Wave Splitter” was finally complete. Because the fluctuating sword was more about impact than cutting, and the splitting sword weakened its attack power to increase the attack area, the previous “Wave Splitter” looked intimidating but lacked sufficient damage.
But now, with the sharpness of the Flaming Sword, Wave Splitter compensated for its lack of attack power. Coupled with its large attack range and medium-short attack distance, it could be considered the most practical sword technique among the Sword Girl’s repertoire!
The only problem was that Sonia had just obtained the Flaming Sword, and she was not very proficient in using it. It took some time for them to coordinate and prepare. She couldn’t find an opportunity to use it earlier, but now that Asho had attracted the enemy’s attention, she finally had enough time to cast the spell.
Of course, whether she deliberately wanted to see Asho get hit, no one knew.
“Pitying all living beings, there are many worries…”
With the last sigh, the axe-wielding Artificer extinguished like a flame, leaving behind four Artisan spirits and a Sorcerer’s Manual.
However, neither of them hurried to collect the spoils. Asho looked at Sonia with some confusion. “Why didn’t you say a word tonight? Is your throat sore?”
Since entering the Virtual Realm, the Sword Girl had been silent. Asho thought she was in a bad mood, but even after the battle, she didn’t make any comments. This was very unusual.
In the past, she would first talk about her contributions in the battle, then point out the mistakes Asho made, making him feel that he had contributed very little and feel grateful to her…
Wait a minute?
Upon careful consideration, was the Sword Girl always using her words to suppress me and make me dependent on her?
Just as Asho’s corporate slave radar was reacting, Sonia shook her head and pointed at Asho, then pointed at her own mouth.
Asho understood: “You mean, this is because the effect of that random Sorcery Spirit summoning card is in progress, and you are in the summoning ritual, unable to speak?”
Sonia nodded.
“Then you can write. If you want to say something, write it on the sand.”
Sonia suddenly realized, clapped her hands heavily, and used the wooden sword to write a few words on the sand.
“Observer, I curse you, little loudspeaker.”
Asho looked at Sonia, and Sonia looked at the words on the sand. She spoke, “So, not only can I not lie with my mouth, I can’t even write against my true feelings.”
In Sonia’s explanation, which included one insulting sentence for every five sentences, Asho quickly understood – she randomly obtained the summoning ritual for “Sincerity,” which was a very precious spirit in the Mentalism branch. This summoning ritual was very simple, not requiring the squandering of sweat like swordsmanship or the extensive time spent studying like other magical branches. It simply required honesty and the inability to lie.
To be honest, Sonia’s luck wasn’t bad. Not only because the “Sincerity” spirit in the Mentalism branch was extremely valuable, but also because this summoning ritual didn’t really affect most people.
Like Asho, he spoke the truth every day, and no one would believe he was an unjust heresy leader.
For other ordinary people, even if they had to tell the truth every day, they could try to stay at home as much as possible and remain silent outside.
But Sonia couldn’t do that – she was a prominent figure in school, and every move she made was observed by countless people. Not to mention that she didn’t go looking for trouble, but there were plenty of things coming her way every day, from building relationships to conspiracies, both within and outside the school.If Sonia had been a cold person from the beginning, it would have been fine, but the problem was that she used to be a well-behaved student, a perfect lady who was well-received as a first-year swordswoman.
She suddenly couldn’t lie, and it felt like her character had collapsed. Sonia became arrogant and no longer cared about maintaining interpersonal relationships!
Asho laughed as he listened, and Sonia became angry. “Are you kidding me? I’m in trouble now, and you’re not helping me stop this ritual!”
“I’m sorry, I haven’t received professional training. I can’t help but laugh when I see you so unlucky,” Asho chuckled. “But if you stop this ritual, you won’t be able to summon ‘Sincerity’ on your own, and you won’t be able to elevate your Soul Division to the Silver Realm. Is that really what you want?”
Sonia hesitated. “If I continue this ritual, I will offend many people in the next few days. And their value, compared to the Soul Division… it’s obvious that the Soul Division is more important.”
After saying this, Sonia paused for a moment. Did she really think that way? Was she the kind of person who valued personal strength the most, even if it meant damaging her interpersonal relationships?
“You see, you said it yourself.”
“But at least help me pause it for one day! In a few days, I have to be the host of the fellowship party. I have to lie then, or I will offend many people!”
“I can’t do that,” Asho shrugged. “After I arranged your schedule for this week, I can’t cancel it. At most, I can temporarily add some special events for you, but I can’t reduce your existing itinerary.”
“Incompetent! You can only control weaklings through despicable means!”
“You’re right. After all, it’s not me who controls you, but Orola… the gift from my previous life,” Asho shrugged.
Sonia had actually anticipated this, because the power of the Observer to control her was much greater than his own current power. In other words, the Observer didn’t control her based on his current abilities.
Since it wasn’t the present, it must be the legacy left behind by him as a legendary powerhouse before his memory loss and rebirth.
Perhaps this was why the Observer had always clung to her. He couldn’t freely use that legacy, and it randomly chose her. So the Observer could only try his best to help her become stronger, and when Sonia reached a certain level of strength, she would then reciprocate.
The insult Sonia had just uttered was not a momentary impulse. Since entering the Virtual Realm, she had been planning to use the label of “I can only tell the truth now” to make slightly offensive accusations, in order to make the Observer voluntarily reveal more information without causing his resentment.
Honesty could also be used.
As Sonia carefully digested the information revealed by Asho, he suddenly asked, “By the way, Sword Girl, do you hate me?”
“I don’t hate you.”
Sonia had just finished speaking when she covered her mouth, her eyebrows almost raised. She was really angry this time.
“I warn you, if you take this opportunity to ask about my secrets,” she said seriously, “I will hate you forever.”
“Sorry, I’m sorry, my bad,” Asho quickly apologized three times. “You have the priority to choose tonight’s spoils… huh?”
As he spoke, the four Artisans summoned by the Sword Girl Sorcerer had unknowingly climbed onto Asho. One of them, a cat-shaped single-winged Artisan, was the most outrageous, constantly rubbing against Asho’s armpit as if it smelled good.
Noticing Sonia’s puzzled expression, Asho explained, “I used an Artisan Excitement Potion. Its effect is stronger than the Artisan Joy Potion you drank, so the Artisans are all clinging to me.”
“Do these potions make the Artisans actively seek us out?”
“I don’t know, but it can increase the Artisans’ affinity towards us. Maybe it’s possible?”
The four Artisans were ‘Axe Strike,’ ‘Incineration,’ ‘Magma,’ and ‘Remnant.’ Axe Strike was an essential Artisan for the Axe Sorcerer, effectively increasing the destructive power of the Axe Form and Sword Form. Interestingly, it was a cat-shaped Artisan.
‘Incineration’ and ‘Magma’ were Fire Sorcery Artisans. Together, they almost broke through Asho’s Sword Wind Barrier.
‘Remnant’ belonged to the Weakness Sorcery Division. Its specific effect was that the more damage it received, the stronger its body’s recovery ability and resistance became, and it greatly reduced pain sensitivity. Therefore, the ‘Natural Miracle’ performed by the Axe Sorcerer just now was actually a commonly used skill.
From this battle, it could be seen that the Sorcerer Projections they encountered were becoming stronger and stronger. From the beginning, there was only a Gun Sorcerer with one Artisan, to this Axe Sorcerer with four Artisans and mastery of two Miracles. The rapid growth of Artificing power led to the True Gate delving deeper into the Sea of Knowledge.
Unless they chose to escape and lie low, the Virtual Realm would always be chasing after the Sorcerers.
Sonia flipped through the Sorcerer’s Manual and threw it to Asho. Asho took a look and found that it was a “Loot Catalog” – it seemed that the Axe Sorcerer was a thief in his previous life?
No, Asho quickly overturned his own idea. This Axe Sorcerer was probably a religious mercenary, or rather, a mercenary with religious beliefs, because most of the loot was contributed as supplies to the “Temple of Arson.”The spoils of war were various materials contributed to the Holy Temple, the wisdom races developed into followers, and the Sorcery Spirits or miraculous sorcery techniques were also handed over to the Holy Temple for distribution. It was unknown whether the Axe Sorcerer had excellent morals or the rules of the Holy Temple were strict, but the Axe Sorcerer almost never embezzled the spoils of war, except for…
“Sword Girl, take a look at this.”
“I’m not like you, accepting everything like a Veela.” Sonia shrugged and said, “You know, I can’t lie now.”
Although Asho felt that she was taking the opportunity to scold him openly and he didn’t even have the right to retort, he had no evidence.
“It says how to trigger the vortex.”
“A vortex, no wonder… trigger the vortex?”
Facing Sonia’s surprised gaze, Asho nodded, “According to this, the vortex is actually a mechanism in the Virtual Realm that can be triggered artificially!”