Mage Manual
Chapter 305 - Chapter 305 Chapter 261 The Gift the Sword Maiden Gave to

Chapter 305: Chapter 261 The Gift the Sword Maiden Gave to Sonia Chapter 305: Chapter 261 The Gift the Sword Maiden Gave to Sonia As Ash turned the pages, he felt as though he had transformed into the protagonist within, personally experiencing each and every memory.

What was interesting, though, was that this book didn’t contain stories about blacksmithing.

To be precise, it wasn’t just about blacksmithing, which left Ash, who had been expecting such tales, somewhat disappointed.

The mage who left behind his memories seemed to be a Creation Mage of multiple factions and possessed an extremely high mastery in the Spirit Faction.

He was able to enslave a knowledge creature within the Void Realm and then infuse it with the wonders of various factions, including the ‘Hormone Frenzy’ of the Biological Faction and ‘Steel Scale Armor’ of the Alchemy Faction, among others. Riding the knowledge creature, he rampaged across the Time Continent.

Although the mage in the book was probably one of the exceedingly rare geniuses among Two-winged Mages, Ash vaguely remembered that the Kingdom of Blood Moon had hundreds of millions of people, the Kingdom of Gospel had no shortage of population either, not to mention other realms. Among these countless individuals, the emergence of thousands or even tens of thousands of super geniuses was almost a certainty. Hence, geniuses capable of roaming unopposed in the Void Realm could very well number in the thousands.

This realization made Ash inwardly check his own underestimation, for due to the Mage’s Handbook, maps, and the automobile, he did not believe that mages of the same level in the Void Realm could pose a threat to him, let alone catch up to him.

Yet reality taught him that even without cheats, fast cars, or maps, geniuses could create monsters that transcended the current version of mounts, steamrolling the Void Realm and plundering Magic Power!

‘Myriad are the frosty skies that vie for freedom,’ this is the sole law of the Void Realm.

I have cheats, you have talent, he has luck, everyone has a bright future.

This book chronicled the enslavement and transformation process of the Void Realm’s knowledge creatures by the mage. Had it been read by a Spirit Faction or Alchemy Faction mage, they might have gained substantial insight. However, Ash’s knowledge in the Spirit Faction was merely a Silver Spear wax candle flame he had acquired from the Sword Maiden; consequently, while he could understand each knowledge point presented, he found it utterly incomprehensible when they were linked together, much like attending an advanced mathematics class.

Ash casually finished reading the book and immediately knew the reward he had received.

All of his swordsmanship Technique Spirits burst forth from him, while a golden hammer appeared above the book, hammering down hard upon each Sword Technique Spirit.

Clang! The Stabbing Sword Technique Spirit became Two-winged.

Clang! The Cutting Sword Technique Spirit became Two-winged.

Clang! The Heart Sword Technique Spirit became Two-winged.

In the blink of an eye, all of Ash’s Sword Technique Spirits had advanced to Two-winged!

That was the reward for reading this book, also a miracle once performed by the talented mage within–the “Sword Refinement into Wings”!

Because the talented mage liked to enslave knowledge creatures proficient in close-quarters combat like the Fish-Slicing Dragon, Violent Slash Dragon, and Umbrella Bird Dragon, which often carried Sword Technique Spirits, the mage had conceptualized a method to further strengthen them–forcibly evolving their Technique Spirits that had not yet reached Two-winged level!

It may sound like an unfair cheat to force One-winged Technique Spirits to ascend to Two-winged, but for a genius, cheating is what constitutes a miracle. Thus, the “Sword Refinement into Wings” was born–whenever this miracle was cast, it could elevate all of a target’s Sword Technique Spirits to Two-winged!

However, this miracle was not permanent and even required the constant expenditure of Magic Power by the mage to maintain. Should the Magic Power be interrupted, the temporarily boosted Two-winged Technique Spirits would revert back to One-winged.

Ironically, the threshold for this miracle was immensely high, unattainable for anyone but an Alchemist. Yet, what need would an ordinary Alchemist have to cultivate Sword Technique Faction skills? Consequently, the practicality of “Sword Refinement into Wings” was extremely low, meaningful only in the hands of this gifted mage.

But if this miracle were to be used as a reward, that would be different.

Now, all of Ash’s swordsmanship Technique Spirits had been upgraded to Two-winged, but this miracle was not cast by a mage; it was activated by the Legendary Library.

Or rather, this miracle had the backing of the Void Realm.

This also meant that even if the “Sword Cultivation to Wings” was originally just a temporary enhancement miracle, when the caster was the Void Realm, the temporary enhancement would transform into a permanent enhancement!

There might be many hidden dangers, such as these three Technique Spirits being unable to advance to Three-winged, but Ash clearly did not care about that–let alone whether he could advance to a Three-winged, even if he were able to advance quickly, he could switch to other Three-winged Technique Spirits and alter his tactical system. There was no need to cling to these few Technique Spirits as if they were heirlooms.

Perhaps many mages would stubbornly evolve their favorite Technique Spirits, but as a member of the Mud Species, Ash had no attachment or perseverance toward ‘swordsmanship,’ ‘belief,’ or ‘Technique Spirits that had accompanied him for many years.’

If a more useful slave Technique Spirit appeared, Ash was even willing to replace ‘Substitute,’ the first Technique Spirit he had obtained!

Operators are like limbs, Technique Spirits are like clothing; that was Ash’s Law!

Moreover, it was one thing for ‘Cutting Sword’ and ‘Piercing Sword,’ but Ash hadn’t expected ‘Heart Sword’ to also be promoted to Two-winged. Since ‘Heart Sword’ was extremely valuable, rarely practical, and the Sword Maiden had always hoped Ash would advance this Technique Spirit to Two-winged, Ash himself was reluctant to give up this flexible attacking Technique Spirit. However, Ash’s own Sword Technique Faction was so subpar that he could only rely on feeding it sword technique materials to gradually grow it.

Now that ‘Heart Sword’ had been promoted to Two-winged, Ash wouldn’t need to compete with the Sword Maiden for sword technique materials anymore, and his attack power could also say goodbye to mediocre scratches–this time at least he’d be able to break through defenses!

Hmph, when the Sword Maiden logs on tomorrow night, she will certainly be in for a big surprise!

Ash was very satisfied with his gains and put the book back on the shelf. Next, he was to leave a part of his memory here.

Which segment of memory to leave seemed to be without question–memories from his previous life were not to be left, as those were the treasures and secrets he refused to share with anyone; as for memories from this life, only the jailbreak episode could slightly connect with ‘Legendary.’

Ash placed his finger on the shelf and quickly entered into a state of reminiscence. In the empty space his finger was pointing to, a new book was slowly taking shape…

…

…

Meanwhile, on the first floor of the Legendary Library, a red-haired lady in black gauze was pressing her finger against the shelf. Her body was like smoldering ash, seemingly illusory, as if it might dissipate into a waft of smoke at any moment.

Like threads of memory, a new book was gradually woven into existence. The moment it was fully born, countless exhausted, insane wails spread out like ripples. All the shelves began to seep dark red blood, and the floor turned into a soft, rotting quagmire, inch by inch swallowing those who entered the library.

However, when the red-haired lady pulled the book out, all the anomalies disappeared.

“Hmph, just as I thought,” she laughed. “Though the guide says to read the book first, then record the memories, in fact, these two steps have no particular order.”

“In other words, one can record memories first and then read a book, including… reading the memories one just put down.”

“Sonia,” she opened the book. “I hope you like this gift.”