Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 235: The Changing Witch

Cornered beasts fight with a crazed desperation, yet the Hunter’s threads had silently entangled its limbs. As the creature panicked due to its shifting center of gravity, the butcher’s blade swung down with a heavy blow.

Miracle Water Thread, Miracle Evil Light Slash!

Precise and elegant, yet brutal and efficient, the first Overlord Creature the trio encountered, the Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon, had its head split open like a watermelon. It possessed a mane of lacquer-black hair as if styled by a beauty salon and a massive body akin to a dump truck. However, now it was destined to dissipate into motes of light, mingling with the Reverse Golden Rain and sinking into the soil as nourishment.

Several spirits took the opportunity to flee but were casually captured by the trio.

“It’s not much different from the usual monster hordes.”

Sonya sheathed her sword, interlaced her fingers and stretched them forward, flexing her joints to relax, commenting like a Gourmet, “But the last Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon did have its merits. Scales, 2 points; movements, 3 points; meat quality, 4 points. But for the skull, I’d give it 5 points—it’s as crisp as a chip—”

“That comment alone will have me remove chips from my menu for at least the next five days; my fats thank you,” Ashe said, not amused. “But to be fair, this Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon’s strength is no less than other Large Creatures. Plus, it commanded the other fierce wolf dragons—there were three times it almost severely injured you.”

“You had my back, didn’t you?” Sonya glanced at Ashe and suddenly caught sight of an incredibly cute girl. Her large eyes seemed expectant, a proud tuft of red hair on her head begging to be smoothed down.

Sonya couldn’t help but reach out and ruffle Deya’s head, “Besides, I have the super impressive Witch by my side. How could a mere Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon escape our exquisite teamwork?”

“Exactly!” Deya said proudly, hands on her hips, “As long as the Swordswoman is with me, even ten more would be no challenge!”

“If you can attract the hatred of ten Giant Fierce Wolf Dragons as firmly as capitalists attract the labor of their workers, I wouldn’t mind your enthusiasm for the job.” Ashe clapped his hands. “Alright, now it’s time to collect the bonus. Let’s see what surprises the Fierce Wolf Dragons have prepared for us.”

The Fierce Wolf Dragon’s den was the third Resource Point they had found tonight and was also the first overlord Resource Point they encountered—with not only thirteen Fierce Wolf Dragons but also one overlord creature, the Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon.

Of course, the battle wasn’t as easy as these three made it sound, as if they were cheating in a single-player game with a co-op team. An overlord creature has combat power comparable to that of a Large Creature and can also command Gregarious Creatures in combat support. They fight without any sense of honor.

When the boss attacks, its minions will shamelessly sneak attack, and even a Battle Sorcerer who excels in group combat would be as helpless as a student who realizes on the last day of summer vacation that they have yet to do their homework.

Fortunately, Ashe and his companions were just as shameless. They found a narrow passage and blew up the walls on both sides, reducing the space to only allow two young girls to dodge and weave. Ashe then stood behind, stabbing with his Heart Sword, quickly exhausting the Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon’s minions. What followed was a one-on-three showdown with the Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon.

The Resource Point they had fought so hard to secure was naturally rich in spoils. The den contained three types of resources in production: wood, mercury, and sulfur.

Wood and ore were the cheapest resources; the first two Resource Points they found tonight contained wood and ore. But mercury and sulfur were rare.

“Fiery Sulfur” was the best fuel for Fire Magic and Gun Technique spirits, while “Mercurial Silver” was a universal lubricant for spirits of Poison Magic, Water Art, machinery, and other Factions.

The rarer the material, the wider the range of spirits it could cultivate, and the stronger the effect. Meanwhile, ordinary wood and ore materials were not only picky for the spirits but also yielded inferior cultivation results.

Sometimes Ashe even wondered if he was the servant and the spirits were the masters. How else could he explain going through hardship and risking his life to find cultivation resources for the spirits?

In short, the den of the Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon was likely the best haul of the night.

However…

Ashe gazed at the pool of mercury before him, next to which stood a machine that looked both crude and somewhat complex, as if an Orc had drunkenly cobbled it together from a pile of parts in a once-off artistic endeavor that could never be replicated.

But it was this contraption, which rightly belonged in a heap of junk, that had been driven by the spirits of the Fierce Wolf Dragons, extracting mercury from the pool and refining it into precious materials like “Stoneflow Silver” and “Stonemilk Silver.”

Ashe looked around. The den of the Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon was a cave overgrown with wildly proliferating vines, and due to the Fierce Wolf Dragons’ lack of interest in constructing a Sewer system, the natural odors were quite pronounced.

Yet the square edges exposed on the ceiling, the pillars that had crumbled, leaving only their bases, and the corner artifact that once was a fire pit but now served as a urinal for the Fierce Wolf Dragons, all suggested that the Giant Fierce Wolf Dragon was merely a tenant here, not the landlord.

Of course, it was also possible that the previous landlords devolved into the appearance of Fierce Wolf Dragons – the idea of enemy and ally being of the same origin wasn’t novel. But since the Swordswoman had just compared their skulls to potato chips, Ashe decided to forsake such tedious conjectures, hoping he’d still be able to enjoy cucumber-flavored chips in six days.

“Observer! Observer!”

The Witch ran up to him, extending her hand: “Here’s some Galewood, and this Purple Sulfur, you can use them!”

“Ah, thanks.”

“You’re welcome!” And with that, the Witch zipped off to scavenge other resources.

Ashe’s gaze followed her retreating figure, and Sonya, unbeknownst to him, had stealthily moved to his side: “The Witch is… a bit odd today.”

Ashe had noticed as well – it was impossible not to. Today, the Witch’s hair was black, her dress too, and it reached down to her knees, unlike yesterday’s white miniskirt that revealed her thighs, a stark change.

In battle, too, she no longer transformed into a fiery red warrior; only her sheer gloves would change to a rose-red hue, and her hair seemed to be highlighted with streaks of crimson, a blend of black and red.

Of course, what Sonya was referring to wasn’t the Witch’s change of clothing, but her personality.

Unlike the composed and calm demeanor of the previous night, tonight’s Witch was as lively as the icing on a cake and proved to be quite gullible—after just two Battles, Sonya had easily learned all about the Witch’s spirits, Miracles, and her preferred style of combat. Their relationship had progressed at a breakneck pace.

If this were the real world, they would be at the level of going to the Restroom together, holding hands.

Moreover, after the first Battle ended, Sonya couldn’t resist patting the Witch on the head as a form of praise when she noticed the red tuft of hair sticking up. Unexpectedly, this gesture opened the floodgates, and after every Battle, the Witch made sure she was in Sonya’s line of sight, urging praise with her expressive tuft of hair.

What kind of environment could possibly cultivate such a personality?

Even in Gales, it would be hard to find a girl this easy to bamboozle, right?

However, these were not the main points. The crux was that the Witch was trying to curry favor with the Observer and herself in a very clumsy way. Seeing Sonya’s friendly demeanor, the Witch felt that she no longer needed to invest much effort there, so she kept gravitating towards the Observer.

Handing materials to the Observer, asking what colors he liked, complimenting him on his good looks today… it was cringeworthy to the point of making one want to curl their toes.

Yet, this adorably silly Witch made Sonya feel she was even more difficult to handle.

If it were the composed Witch from the night before, Sonya could use all her skills and go all out to deal with her.

While Sonya is now among the upper echelons of Swordflower College, she was no stranger to factional competition, class politics, dormitory hierarchies, and cliques among girls when she first started. Just a month ago, she and Lois were still at each other’s throats.

If ‘dealing with manipulative women’ could be categorized as a Magical Faction, Sonya felt confident she could easily earn a Gold Tier in that discipline.

Sonya initially suspected that the Witch was adopting the ‘clueless cute’ strategy to win hearts, as the naïve and sweet approach always seemed to be in demand. Even Delarose starred in a few Shadow Dramas with titles like “The Domineering Prince Falls for the Silly Sweetheart,” and Sonya herself had taken this approach during her first semester to boost her popularity at the college. She knew all too well the devastating effect of such an innocent and pure façade.

Especially when feigned, the lethality of innocence is strongest since true naivety may lack finesse, whereas a contrived act hits just the right notes, not angering anyone.

But Sonya found that the Witch was genuinely naive.

It was as if the Witch had torn off the Werewolf Mask she used for defense the previous night, revealing the harmless and pure face of a lamb. She seemed to lack experience in interacting with her peers, her way of socializing involved laying her heart out in the open, shouting for attention—’look at me, look at me’—a country kid would have more guile.

Being an expert at feigning innocence herself, Sonya could tell this wasn’t an act. But if it wasn’t an act, then what about the composed White Witch from the night before?

Ashe seemed to have some guesses, as he knew the Witch’s Inherent Talent was a Personality Split, and the Witch from last night was clearly not the same persona as the one tonight.

But should this information be shared with the Swordswoman?

Or rather, should he be the one to tell her?

“I suggest you ask her directly, after all, it should be her privacy.”

“Just tell me since you know.”

“But if the Witch asks about your secrets, should I be honest with her too?”

Ashe waved his hand dismissively, as if to swat away annoying flies, before Sonya could retort: “I know what you’re going to say—yes, emotions are profound because of their depth, and relationships are intimate because of their closeness. You should indeed have more privileges with me than the Witch, such as discussing her gossip behind her back.”

“I do enjoy gossip, but the premise is those people don’t become colleagues we meet every day. The three of us will be comrades-in-arms who stick together out of a fear of death in the foreseeable future. It’s no big deal to whisper and vent about the third person occasionally, but we shouldn’t make it a habit to privately discuss the gossip of teammates—it would inevitably lead to you, Swordswoman, thinking we’re talking about your secrets whenever you see me and the Witch together.”

Sonya immediately countered, “I’m not that sensitive!”

“I think the only thing in this world that’s more sensitive than you is Secret Poison,” said Ashe in irritation. “Although it’s inevitable to form cliques when a team gets larger, right now there are only three of us. I hope we can keep the atmosphere at the level of a student interest group for as long as possible, before we enter the dirty adult world of gossiping about colleagues all day.”

“Actually, I’ve had a question for a long time—what does gossip mean?”

“You didn’t understand?”

“Given the context, I can guess it probably means speaking ill of others.”

“It’s basically talking about people’s private matters.”

“What does that mean, ‘private matters’?”

“Are you picking a fight?” Ashe was losing his patience. “If you want to know the Witch’s secrets, just go ask her yourself!”

“But asking about someone’s secrets so bluntly can make one seem to have low emotional intelligence…”

“Then let me help you. I’m actually quite curious too.”

Without further ado, Ashe pulled Sonya along to find Deya. Sonya was taken aback by the sudden hand-holding—it wasn’t their first time holding hands. They had clasped hands while soaring through the Sea of Knowledge, and there had been times during battle when they assisted each other. But this casual contact in everyday circumstances was new.

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