Chapter 547: Iger the Optimist, Harvey the Art Enthusiast

[Polite Curtain Call: No matter how brilliant the play, every performance must eventually come to an end. When you bow, all the audience members must stand and applaud.]

[Affix Identification Reward: A small amount of Prophecy Class experience and a small amount of mana.]

[Limited Affix Privilege: You may trigger Polite Curtain Call once.]

Once Ashe and the others identified the third affix, they realized this was the correct way to clear the Mirage Bubble.

If a sorcerer knew about Polite Curtain Call beforehand and bowed to the orc sorcerer and the Duskshadow Dragon, the two would turn into audience members and applaud. Naturally, they would also leave their roles as actors.

Even so, a sorcerer still needed a way to attack without using anything tangible to deal with these enemies. Wind spells, sound spells, mental attacks, time-based aging, and the like could all work, but these were all less commonly practiced sorcery classes. Intangible things were inherently harder to master than tangible ones.

This Mirage Bubble was clearly on the more difficult end of the spectrum, but it also showed the Virtual World had begun testing a sorcerer's overall abilities. They needed to identify affixes through reconnaissance, defend against instant-kill attacks, and master different methods of attack to deal with different situations. A sorcerer relying on only one method would soon find themselves stuck in the Distant Sky Domain, unable to make any further progress. At the Sacred Realm level, the ability to apply what they learned to different situations was a skill every sorcerer needed to master.

Once they identified all the affixes, the Mirage Bubble suddenly shrank into a single point before shattering on its own.

Everyone fell into the true Distant Sky Domain, floating in the air as countless lights stretched around them. In the distance, bubbles containing Mirage Bubbles floated everywhere. They had no time to admire the scenery. They immediately raised their Sacred Realms to prevent the Forbidden Ritual of Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon Resonance from taking effect.

At that moment, Ashe suddenly remembered something. He hurriedly spread his Gold and Silver Wings and flew toward Sonya. The Scarlet Blessing could only sustain a Sacred Realm for three seconds. Once those three seconds were up, it would shatter.

The village girl raised a hand to stop him. "Wait!"

After hesitating for a moment, she said, "I think I can form my own Sacred Realm now."

"That fast?" Ashe froze, then breathed a sigh of relief. "That's great."

"Why did the Mirage Bubble suddenly break?" Dia complained. "We haven't even picked up the loot yet."

"Try looking into your souls," Weiser suddenly said.

Everyone turned their attention inward. Before long, they noticed a large bubble made up of several smaller bubbles inside their souls. They only needed a thought to pierce one.

The realization hit Sonya at once. "Ah! These are Affix Bubbles!"

"When a sorcerer clears certain Mirage Bubbles, the bubble can sometimes shrink directly into their soul. It then forms Affix Bubbles based on the affixes the sorcerer encountered that day. Piercing one of these bubbles creates a Three-Winged spirit corresponding to that affix!

"The professor mentioned that Affix Bubbles appear randomly, regardless of the difficulty of the Mirage Bubble. You might get one from your very first bubble, or you might clear more than a dozen without seeing a single one. But only Affix Bubbles can give birth to rare spirits that sorcerers cannot summon themselves."

Ashe blinked. "There are spirits sorcerers can't summon?"

"Of course." Dia picked up where she left off. "Take the Witness spirit I just got, for example. It's impossible to summon. Or rather, the species capable of summoning this spirit no longer exists. There's no living creature that can attack someone simply by looking at them. Only inside a Mirage Bubble can an affix like Witness appear and give birth to a similar spirit."

"I see..." Ashe muttered. "Then how did you get your Witness spirit?"

Dia blinked. "Grandma gave it to me."

"Didn't you have a pretty bad relationship with your grandma?"

"Things happened, and I ended up forgiving her after."

"Congratulations," Ashe continued examining the bubbles. "I have eight composite bubbles here, which happen to correspond to the eight affixes. So, should I just pierce one at random?"

"Huh?" Sonya froze. "Why do I have nine?"

"I have nine too," Dia said.

"I have ten," Weiser said, raising her head. "That number matches the number of artifacts we obtained."

Everyone froze and turned to look at Ashe.

He spread his hands. "I have no idea."

"Come to think of it, the effects of the artifacts are quite similar to affixes," Weiser murmured. "Could they be affixes that once existed? This is your power, Watcher. How could you not know?"

"Because he lost his memories," Sonya said.

Actually, what I meant was that I lost my memories as Heath...

Ashe wanted to explain, but seeing the Witch and Swordswoman completely convinced that was the case, coupled with the fact that he had no idea how to explain why he knew nothing about the origins of the artifacts, he simply let the misunderstanding stand.

Weiser's gaze toward Ashe immediately rippled with intrigue. Like the Swordswoman and the Witch, she instantly thought of all sorts of scenarios involving a powerful figure awakening from the past. Being able to form a party with others in the Virtual World was already an extraordinary ability. Add to that the endless stream of trump cards he kept revealing, and any normal person would naturally assume he was a max-level character starting over with a new account.

She quickly reined in her gaze and said calmly, "There is no way to tell the bubbles apart from the outside. I guess we will just have to leave it to luck."

Pop.

As the bubbles inside their souls burst, four spirits emerged.

Dia had the worst luck, receiving the relatively common Bubbles spirit. She did not mind what kind of spirit she got anyway. With an entire kingdom at her disposal, she had come to the Virtual World simply to gather mana and spend time with Ashe. The rewards she gained here were just another source of fun. It was more or less like a billionaire heiress playing games with her husband. Finding a rare spirit would certainly be great, but she never expected these rewards to provide her with any meaningful leap in strength.

Ashe obtained the Acting spirit. It lacked the invincible effect of Curtain Call, instead allowing a sorcerer to perform according to a script with genuine emotion. It was a rare spirit, but not particularly useful. Ashe, however, thought of a rather interesting experiment he could try with it and happily stored it in his soul.

When Weiser and Sonya revealed their new spirits, Ashe sucked in a sharp breath. "You two better be careful for the next few days. You might trip over nothing and fall flat on your faces."

Sonya's new spirit looked like a ruby, while Weiser's took the form of a ray of light. They were none other than the spirit manifestations of the artifacts Scarlet Blessing and Insight Glasses.

Sonya shook her head. "They are not nearly as useful as the originals."

[Scarlet Blessing]

Three-Winged Spirit

Requirement

- None.

Basic Effect

- None.

Passive Effect

- Automatically creates a Sacred Realm whenever you are subjected to an external attack. Lasts for 3 seconds, with a 10-second cooldown.

Signature Quote

- May your flames burn brightly forever.

━━━━━━━━━━━━

[Insight]

Three-Winged Spirit

Requirement

- None.

Basic Effect

- Uses existing information to make deductions and associations about a specific target.

Passive Effect

- You will suddenly recall distant but important clues and lines of thought related to your current situation.

Signature Quote

- I close my eyes and touch the light, reading the Braille of truth left behind for me.

Scarlet Blessing was straightforward enough. Three seconds of Sacred Realm protection was nothing impressive, but its greatest value lay in its automatic defense. It meant the Swordswoman could no longer be caught off guard, no matter what state she was in. Still, everyone was amazed to discover the spirit possessed a passive effect without any active one.

Insight, however, was more complicated. It was by no means useless. In the Distant Sky Domain, where they had to deduce affixes through clues, it could prove extremely useful. Compared to the Insight Glasses artifact, the spirit version seemed considerably weaker.

Still, after that dangerous battle, their rewards were more than enough to soothe their exhausted souls.

Ashe let out a long breath. "That is enough for tonight."

Everyone nodded. They had only spent three hours in the Virtual World, but they had already used up eighty percent of their soul energy. They would also have to slowly fly to the next Mirage Bubble. On top of that, they had spent more than half an hour desperately running for their lives without being able to fight back. The ordeal had drained what little energy they had left. If they continued exploring, they might make a careless mistake and lose their lives.

Their adventure was over, but that did not mean they had to return immediately.

"Since we have some time, let's chat," Sonya said.

"Sure," Ashe smiled. "Want to hear about what happened to me in the Gospel Kingdom?"

Dia did not particularly mind, and Weiser was just about to nod when Sonya shook her head repeatedly. "Not that tonight. Let us talk about your situation first."

Wasn't the Swordswoman eager to hear about it earlier? Why doesn't she care anymore?

Ashe scratched his head. "Right now, I am traveling with a few companions to hunt down Silver Lamp."

"This is the first time I have heard you mention having companions," the Claw-Stretching Club President muttered.

"They were my companions when I escaped from prison. You know them too, the Mind Class sorcerer and the necromancer. We have been traveling together ever since."

"But I thought you said they were bad people?"

"They are absolutely prime candidates to feed the Lala Fats," Ashe floated in the air with his arms crossed. "But as companions, they are actually pretty trustworthy. The Mind Class sorcerer is meticulous, considerate, and always cheerful."

Dia remembered the cold look in Iger's eyes and the sinister smile always curling across his lips. One of the main reasons Lys went looking for Ashe every night was because she was afraid the fraudster would strangle her in her sleep, leaving her trembling in fear.

Weiser remembered the Mind Class sorcerer's Psychic Scream, along with the elaborate traps he had constructed using lamp oil, stakes, and explosives. Wherever she fled, another trap awaited her. He had even manipulated Tahmas into joining the pursuit.[1] Before entering the Virtual World, the Mind Class sorcerer had been the person Weiser feared most, followed by Tahmas.

"The necromancer is quiet, immensely talented, and an artist completely absorbed in his own world."

Dia remembered how Harvey maintained Alice every night. She remembered the food he prepared for Alice. She remembered Harvey...

No. I cannot think about this anymore. Little Witch is already feeling sick.

Weiser remembered the necromancer's despairingly concentrated negative-energy Miracles, as well as the time he merged with a corpse and transformed into some sort of Hell knight before charging through the Food Factory Town. He had certainly stopped Weiser from escaping, but he had also plunged the entire town into terror. Later, when she heard Ashe and the others had been driven out, she figured the necromancer's terrifying rampage through the town had played a major part in it.[2]

"They sound pretty good," Sonya said, somewhat puzzled. "How did two death row inmates you randomly picked up from prison both turn out so well?"

Dia and Weiser felt as if ants were crawling up their throats, but they both swallowed their complaints and looked away.

"Maybe they just seem normal around me," Ashe had enough self-awareness to realize the possibility. "Or maybe they have already rubbed off on me. Maybe I have gotten so used to their weird behavior that nothing they do surprises me anymore."

"No. You are not weird at all," Sonya said. "Now, tell me about your plans for dealing with Silver Lamp."

Ashe looked puzzled. "Why do you want to know?"

"Obviously, I am going to help you come up with a plan to deal with that little trumpet, Silver Lamp."

1. Refer to C530. The raw text mentioned that Iger ambushed her along with Tahmas. However, that did not make sense since both Iger and Ashe were immobilized at the time, leaving Alice and Tahmas as the only ones still able to move. ☜

2. I've checked multiple times, and the author never explicitly describes these scenes in the earlier chapters. We'll just have to assume they happened off-screen while she was fighting the Crowslaughter Sect member. ☜