Sorcerer’s Handbook

Could there be a Kingdom where the Four Pillars Cult successfully subverts the order and dominates the region? In that place, the Cult Leader holds both religious and secular power; in that place, those who do not believe in the Four Pillars Cult are imprisoned; in that place, everyone is bombarded day and night by incessant spam messages from the Four Pillars Cult without any way to opt out…

Such a place indeed exists.

Ashe flipped through the Sorcerer’s Handbook in his hands. They had bumped into and killed a sorcerer projection while on the road. The Witch glanced through the handbook and discovered it contained information about the Four Pillars Cult that everyone was interested in, so she handed it to him to look over—mainly because the White Queen and her sisters did not allow Deya to read such intelligence about the Dark God.

Ashe, on the other hand, had no such reservations. If the Four Pillars Cult could indeed corrupt someone, then the Cult Leader’s originals would be completely rotten, devoid of any ‘human’ elements, not to mention the Eternal Presence curse still hung over him. Worrying about being corrupted by the Four Pillars Cult to Ashe was like Lala Fatty worrying about becoming food—there was no way for them to control such outcomes.

The handbook’s owner was a Temple sorcerer affiliated with a religious sect, adept in fire spell and gunmanship, who had earned the title ‘Blast Knight’. Let’s call him Blast for now.

The handbook was a rather conventional record of combat experiences, detailing nine significant battles from birth to death. It might seem few in number, but that was because Blast omitted all battles he could win easily. Therefore, these nine battles were either evenly matched or heavily imbalanced, with nearly every battle fought to the brink of death with all his efforts.

In these nine battles, Blast fought against the Four Pillars Cult in five of them. Through Blast’s impressions of his enemies, Ashe and his companions could almost see the rapid rise of the Four Pillars Cult: at first, they were merely “insignificant heretics,” later, “a bit troublesome thieves,” then “competitors to the Temple,” and finally, they became “formidable adversaries” and “inescapable nightmares”!

Initially, they fought ‘extermination battles’ to suppress the Four Pillars Cult, which later turned into retreat battles as they suffered successive defeats. In the end, it came down to desperate defensive battles to protect the Temple, showing how the Temple was almost shattered by the Four Pillars Cult’s relentless attacks.

Moreover, it almost seemed like another timeline where Ashe overthrew Gerard and dominated Kaimon City, eventually reigning over the Blood Moon—how could the Four Pillars Cult in this Kingdom gain power so easily?

What stood out in the last battle was that Blast didn’t actually believe the Temple would lose. Phrases like “As long as the Temple deploys the ultimate weapon, these heretics will definitely be annihilated” appeared multiple times. Given that Blast was a two-wings sorcerer, his confidence was far from arrogance; yet, the Temple’s base was still obliterated.

The reason was “that woman actually controlled the weapon and turned it against us, she defected to the Four Pillars Cult.”

This perplexed Ashe and his companions: the strongest combat force of a sorcerer organization was not a sorcerer themselves, but an externally controlled object?

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It wasn’t that they were filled with the ‘arrogance of sorcerers’. On the contrary, they all knew it was normal for sorcerers to be weaker than artificial constructs. The destructive power of most two-wings sorcerers might not even surpass that of a gun, their reconnaissance abilities were generally inferior to drones, and their mobility was even less than that—after all, even Sanctuary sorcerers prefer to ride in vehicles.

But guns rust, drones can be shot down, and hovercars can turn into moving coffins in an instant. The true power of a sorcerer lies in their miracles that transcend ordinary rules: teleportation, gun explosions, mental shock, time manipulation… Artificial constructs pale in comparison to these miracles; only a sorcerer can counter another sorcerer.

The Temple Blast belonged to must have had Sanctuary sorcerers, possibly even legendary sorcerers, yet their strongest combat power was still an external object. Did that Kingdom manage to create an object with near Angel-level power?

Ashe pondered further, considering that the Four Pillars Cult there had somehow enlisted Angel-level power?

Although Ashe had no fondness for the Four Pillars Cult, he felt some bitterness in realizing his starting point was a survival game, whereas others began with a strategy game.

Luckily, the Eternal Presence curse provided some comfort, otherwise, Ashe might’ve considered himself the most unfortunate regional manager of the Four Pillars Cult.

“However,” Ashe remarked while examining the details of the final battle, “the traitorous ‘that woman’… Why does this description seem so familiar?”

“It does seem a bit familiar.” Sonya and Deya nodded in agreement.

But news from other Kingdoms was ultimately just irrelevant entertainment. After finishing the Sorcerer’s Handbook, Ashe gained a new skill called “Cavalry Mastery”. Although it was called cavalry, Blast was actually riding a motorcycle, making him a high-speed moving spellcasting shooter, which sounded both bloody and exciting.

Still, it was more practical than something like “Fishing Mastery”—recently, all modes of transportation in Nabistin were motorcycles. With this “Cavalry Mastery,” Ashe could even race with Annan.

With that in mind, Ashe couldn’t help but glance at Deya, “Witch, how many skills have you mastered?”

Ever since arriving at the Time Continent, all collected Sorcerer’s Handbooks were given to the Witch first. Plus, with three to four sorcerer projections crashing into them each night, Ashe suddenly realized that the Witch’s reading volume might be off the charts.

“Huh?” Deya was startled and thought for a moment: “Most of the skills are actually pretty useless, but White Queen and the others think slightly useful ones include things like ‘Financial Analysis’, ‘Political Tactics’, ‘Human Structure Analysis’, ‘Social Ecology Research’, ‘Expression Management’, ‘Hydraulic Engineering Research’, ‘Cryptography’, and ‘Love

Deya casually listed over a dozen skill names before continuing, “…and a few dozen other skills. They’re not really useful because I’ve never systematically studied any of this; I can only rely on reading Sorcerer’s Handbooks to acquire various knowledge…”

However, the Cult Leader and the village girl were already dumbfounded at this point. They never expected that the most knowledgeable person here would be the seemingly dim-witted Witch.

Illiterate—it’s me!

“Even if you became an emperor, you’d be more than capable,” Sonya said, somewhat envious. “Having so many practical skills must be very helpful in your daily life, right?”

“Huh?” Deya blinked, recalling how Lise’s hair needed Aunt Bukin to style, how she needed Ashe to sleep beside her, and how after a bit of study, she could indulge in food and play, “Maybe… I guess?”

Though envious, the village girl wasn’t resentful, as most of the high-value spirits collected by the team were handled by her, and those could be exchanged for tangible silver.

Thanks to such financial stability, she could even send money back home, giving her the privilege to be selective about opportunities without having to undersell herself prematurely for money.

For example, during the Meteor Trial, merchants offered her endorsement deals that varied by as much as twenty times in value, proving her commercial worth still had room for appreciation, even if she couldn’t match the top-tier performers.

If she could clinch the top spot in the College League, she could seamlessly transition into film and music, quickly becoming a star on par with Delarose. Even if she wasn’t of nobility, she’d become part of high society!

Once this was achieved, she’d have the considerable financial backing to support even a legendary sorcerer!

This was Sonya’s small goal: to earn enough to support a legendary sorcerer!

After all, even if Observer was highly skilled before his rebirth, he was probably just a legendary sorcerer, right?