Mage Manual-Chapter 232 - 201 Sword Maidens New Talent Witchs New

Chapter 232: Chapter 201: Sword Maiden’s New Talent, Witch’s New Profession

Chapter 232: Chapter 201: Sword Maiden’s New Talent, Witch’s New Profession

“15 points consumed.”

“Ash Heath can exploit these vulnerabilities as threats: Igula Bokin, Archibald Harvey, and Liss.”

“…What?”

For a moment, Igula truly thought he held an extremely important position in Ash’s heart, almost ecstatic— could he then exploit this has-been cult leader relentlessly?

However, the moment he saw the name ‘Liss,’ he calmed down: it might be understandable for him and Harvey, as they were fellow countrymen and comrades who shared hardships, but how could a little girl, just met less than a day ago and who nearly ruined Ash’s life, possibly become a leverage against Ash?

If Liss were kidnapped and threatened to be burned without ransom, knowing Ash’s character, he would probably ponder whether to give matches or fuel.

It couldn’t possibly be because Liss was a cute white-haired little girl that Ash would treat her differently, right?

Igula was also good-looking, ranking even higher than Liss on the Beauty List, yet Ash still tricked him mercilessly!

So, it was clear that the Gospel Book was mistaken here: Igula, Harvey, and Liss were currently the characters most closely connected to Ash and on the same team, so the Gospel Book mistakenly regarded them as allies of interest, thus concluding Ash’s vulnerabilities were these three.

If Igula wasn’t wrong, Harvey’s vulnerabilities would definitely be the three of them. But he was too lazy to verify—15 points just vanished, now his financial resources were all dependent on Miss Hanna’s patronage, and he had to be cautious with his spending!

So, this was what the revelation meant: if he asked about Ash Heath, the Gospel Book would provide incorrect answers.

It was all Ash’s fault!

These 15 points had to be repaid by Ash a thousandfold!

Sitting opposite Igula, Ash was unaware that he had inadvertently accrued another debt. He was currently examining the response from the Gospel Book, his brow slightly furrowed.

“Can a ‘Heart’s Desire’ enable me to return to my own world?”

“One point consumed.”

The sourc𝗲 of this content is freēwēbηovel.c૦m.

“A ‘Heart’s Desire’ can traverse time and space, worlds too, but whether it can reach a specific world needs to be analyzed based on the specific situation.”

‘Specific situation needs specific analysis’—seeing such an official response almost triggered Ash with traumatic stress. He had heard this too much in his professional setting, the implication being “I can do it, but I don’t want to try hard for you.”

However, on the other hand, this statement also gave Ash some confidence.

If the Gospel Book had assured with certainty that it ‘definitely could,’ Ash would have suspected that the Divine Lord was just another one of Igula’s colleagues—across all worlds, only a swindler can guarantee to fulfill all your desires.

Does that mean, if I can obtain this ‘Heart’s Desire,’ I can return home?

Realizing this hope, Ash felt surprisingly unexcited. It’s not that he didn’t miss his mom’s nutritious soup or dad’s constant nagging, but as he had told the Sword Maiden in the Void Realm, he wasn’t the type of person who depended on wishes to survive.

To naively embrace hope and then naively succumb to disappointment was just too sad.

When Ash arrived in this world, he had no expectations of returning alive.

Thus, if he obtained this ‘Heart’s Desire’ and successfully went back to face pressures from marriage, mortgage, and eldercare, it would indeed be great, worth resigning and relaxing to celebrate;

But if this ‘Heart’s Desire’ was not so omnipotent, Ash wouldn’t be too disappointed;

If he didn’t get it, Ash would just curse the lucky one in frustration and then forget about the matter soon.

After verifying the feasibility of the ‘Heart’s Desire,’ Ash suddenly felt he had nothing to ask.

Summon what Technique Spirit? Suit what Magic Faction? But his cultivation experience was filled with fluff, not a single worthwhile point, entirely relying on being an accessory to the Sword Maiden for his current strength; he had no need nor the ability to cultivate independently—’Diligence’ and ‘Focus’ were the basics for every Mage, and Ash had lost these skills after his high school senior year.

If efficiently using his existing Technique Spirits weren’t necessary to ask, then as long as Ash continued exploring the Void Realm, the replacement of Technique Spirits was sure to happen quickly, except for Spirit Faction’s Heart Sword, Substitute, Earth Sword, and Wind Barrier; the others were definitely going to be replaced or directly discarded.

Just like Freyja wouldn’t be picky about a mason only needed for one night, Ash had no interest in spending thought on a batch of soon-to-be-replaced Technique Spirits.

This development strategy could even be further intensified—there was no need to waste resources on Ash; an accessory should stay aware of its role, not delusionally trying to transcend operators’ talents with efforts and resources!

Self-awareness was indeed Ash’s strength!

With a thought, he opened “Aurora’s Mage Manual,” and a message instantly popped up.

“Death Mad Sword Maiden’s growth report from 4.26 to 5.2”

“Sword Technique Faction: Silver → Silver”

“Light Magic Faction: Silver → Silver”

“Water Technique Faction: Silver → Silver”

“Spirit Faction: Silver → Silver”

“Magic Power: Silver Full Wings → Golden Illusion Wings”

“Training Evaluation: S!”

“Due to receiving an S rating, the Death Mad Sword Maiden gains a professional enhancement from the Mage’s Handbook: Soul-Rending Silver Mage → Mad Dancer!”

“Mad Dancer · Professional Characteristics: Attacking the same target increases the attack speed by 2%, accumulable up to 5 times, effect immediately nullified upon changing the target.”

“Due to the enhancement in Magic Power, the innate talent of the Death Mad Sword Maiden has been enhanced!”

“Due to receiving an S rating, the Death Mad Sword Maiden gains the professional assessment task ‘Mad Dance’!”

“Mad Dance: Perform 10,000 effective strikes within the next 7 days. Upon completion of the task, the ‘Mad Dance’ professional characteristic can be permanently solidified! Current progress (0/10,000).”

Ash hadn’t expected the Mage’s Handbook to come up with new tricks—why was it always personal benefits for the Sword Maiden? He wanted some too!

Permanently solidifying professional characteristics means that even if the Sword Maiden switched professions the next time, she would still possess the ‘Mad Dance’ characteristic, effectively gaining a passive skill.

Ash naturally understood the powerful implications of this mechanism: if ‘Mad Dance’ could be solidified this time, what about next time? And the time after that?

This meant that the Sword Maiden and other operators were possessing an enhancement system in addition to the Technique Spirit, not to say that the Sword Maiden could crush an ordinary Two-winged Mage—well, in reality, the ordinary Two-winged Mages could easily crush the two of them who had smuggled themselves onto the Time Continent—but as they were cultivated over a long time with more solidified professional characteristics, their combat power would surely experience a tremendous breakthrough.

It’s like having the same job, even if the pay is the same, if your colleague earns rent on the side, after ten years you haven’t even gathered the down payment, whereas the colleague has already taken out a loan for their second property.

The only issue is this professional assessment task; it would have been easy in the past, but now, with their souls still indisposed, if they couldn’t go to the Void Realm to hunt monsters, they’d have to rely on the Sword Maiden finding part-time work at a slaughterhouse…

Besides, the Sword Maiden’s talent has also grown stronger!

“Innate Talent · Sword Maiden (Upper): Gains an additional 150% swordsmanship experience, a low chance to gain 10,000% swordsmanship experience, and a very low chance to trigger the Phantom of the Vengeful Dragon (strength enhancement after unlocking talent level).”

The Sword Maiden’s talent has been raised to be about equal to the Witch, but just as the Witch has a chance to trigger ‘Favor of the Bronze Dragon,’ the Sword Maiden also has the chance to trigger ‘Phantom of the Vengeful Dragon.’ Ash nodded, but no detailed description popped up.

There’s not much to say about the Sword Maiden’s training strategy, though the system is suggesting giving her leisure time, Ash still doesn’t accept this type of advice.

He’ll just tell the Sword Maiden more cold jokes in the Void Realm—I’m her entertainment!

When Ash opened the interface for the Black and White Witch, he found that just one day had wrought tremendous changes—

“Profession: Daughter of the Bronze Dragon”

“Professional Characteristics: A young lady favored by the Bronze Dragon, currently in a special curse state, can obtain the blessing of the Bronze Dragon upon lifting the curse. Under the curse state, the Black and White Witch gains -75% learning efficiency across all factions, effect +10 luck checks.”

“Curse example: The maiden turns into an old crone, to be lifted by a true love’s kiss, yet she cannot disclose the curse’s details to others.”

“Knowledge Curse: Secret Poison of the Bronze Dragon”

This curse… seems rather fairy tale-like, doesn’t it?

No wonder the Witch wouldn’t let Ash inquire about her situation; she had been gagged all along, asking her was futile.

But now that it’s mentioned, is the Witch currently an old hag?

She might not even be human, possibly transformed into a frog or a rabbit, or even a lump of fat.

Still, the debuffs of this profession are too strong, -75% learning efficiency is significantly undermining her efforts, with only +10 to luck checks as a bonus, much like Ash’s former profession ‘Cult Leader,’ but without such severe negative effects.

Simply put, this profession currently offers purely negative benefits, very much like Ash’s ‘Eternal Damnation Walker.’

However, following the Mage world’s principle ‘the greater the risk, the higher the reward,’ the ‘Blessing of the Bronze Dragon’ that the Witch could gain after breaking the curse is likely very strong, potentially allowing her to transform into a dragon—then Ash wouldn’t need any vehicles in the Void Realm, he could just be a Dragon Knight!

Additionally, the Witch had suddenly obtained ‘Secret Poison of the Bronze Dragon,’ likely triggered by ‘Favor of the Bronze Dragon.’ Ash wanted to check the contents of the poison, but a prompt popped up:

“You do not know this poison.”

No kidding, how would I know if you don’t tell me!?

Ash figured that like other data, if the player is unaware of the poison, it wouldn’t display to prevent players from being fed garbage—like Dismissal Poison, certainly something Ash would rather not know about.

Just as he was planning the training strategy, Ash scratched his head: the Witch’s talent is undeniably from the Time Faction, but her primary training faction is the Fist Claw Faction, clearly demonstrating that the Witch’s main output method is also Fist Claw, and Ash happens to have Training Gloves with +15% efficiency, so should the Witch train in the Fist Claw Faction, or should she choose the Time Faction?

In the past, Ash would have picked casually, but now he has the ‘Gospel Book,’ so he can simply use a gospel!

“I have a friend…”