Mage Manual
Chapter 454 - 375: Are You Done?

Chapter 454: Chapter 375: Are You Done?

What am I doing?

Sonia leaned against Ash’s shoulder, not daring to lift her head.

It felt as if a devil had taken control of her body just moments before, leaving her entire being feeling dizzy. By the time she regained her senses, she found herself resting on the Observer’s shoulder.

This was definitely not her intention! It must have been too long since she last visited the Void Realm, causing her soul to become somewhat unclear. Or perhaps it was the deafening steps of the Heavenly Carriage Bull, or maybe the brilliant glint of the Golden Rain was too dazzling!

What to do, what to do, what to do...

Would a Fish-Slicing Dragon make a dramatic rescue? I promise I would send you off with the highest honors, with a grand, heroic departure!

It would be one thing if it were just the Observer, but the Witch was watching from behind!

She had clearly appeared in the backseat alongside the Witch, but made a point to flip to the front seat to rest... cling to... lean on the Observer. Sonia couldn’t even imagine what expression the Witch had now!

Their conduct in the amnesia cabin was already enough to cause misunderstandings with the Witch. And now, instead of clearing things up, Sonia had completely lost the right to explain herself!

She felt her face was burning, too embarrassed to face anyone!

As she dwelt on this, Sonia couldn’t help but blame the man before her—hey megaphone, can’t you sense that I desperately need help right now? Even though we haven’t communicated through words, expressions, gestures, or eye contact, can’t you perceive my mental activity at all?

Can’t you just play dumb and quickly break this indescribable tension?

I need to remind him.

Sonia gently nudged his shoulder.

No response, let’s try again.

Once more, and again, and again...

Ash looked at Sonia, who kept rubbing her head against his shoulder, feeling his coat might be worn through by the friction. This scene, however, was somewhat familiar, as Liss would occasionally cling to him for a hug like a koala begging for cuddles.

So, the Sword Maiden’s intention is...

Ash blinked and gently embraced Sonia. But no sooner had he touched her waist than she jerked her head up to stare at him, her face flushing red, lips tightly pursed, big watery eyes glaring fiercely at Ash, as if saying ’how dare you be so bold’.

Ash immediately raised his hands in surrender, and Village Girl huffed softly, quickly moving to sit as far away as possible, treating Ash like a discarded rag.

She nervously glanced back and realized that, to her surprise, the Witch had actually laid down in the backseat, her face toward the seatback asleep, as if she had seen nothing.

Witch, you’re so understanding!

Although she knew she was deceiving herself, Sonia couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief. Not quite convincingly, she then said, "Witch, wake up, stop sleeping!"

"Hmm?" Diya rubbed her eyes and sat up, "Are you guys done?"

Bang!

Sonia felt her head expel a puff of hot steam; the Witch’s counter-question instantly sank any composure she had managed to keep.

Ash, however, was quite composed, "Well, it’s natural for people to seek comfort and depend on someone when under stress. Witch, do you want to cuddle? We have both male and female caregivers available for you to choose from."

"It’s not that I’m being clingy..." Sonia said embarrassingly, her voice as tiny as a mosquito’s.

"No, no," Diya waved her hand dismissively, "I’ve got someone I can cuddle with."

Although they had wasted quite a bit of time, the episode naturally brought the three, who had been parted for nearly ten days, back into a harmonious whole.

The sports car hummed and roared, traveling across the Time Continent.

With so much information to exchange, they didn’t know where to start.

"According to the Void Realm Map, we won’t reach the Spider Tower area until we enter the Void Realm tomorrow," Ash said. "We can still go on an adventure tonight without worrying about a Heroic Soul Commander suddenly charging at us with an army."

"Lucky for the potion you gave, otherwise a normal soul wouldn’t recover fast enough," Sonia settled back into the rear seat, her cheeks still flushed, yet with strong mental fortitude she was able to join in the conversation. "Speaking of which, have you guys triggered any Concept Poison?"

"After you triggered it, I looked at your data and triggered it too."

"What’s Concept Poison?"

Ash exchanged a glance with Sonia, then shook his head at Diya. "For now, Concept Poison only has side effects; you’re better off not knowing."

Secret Poison has two values: one is the significant value of the poison’s information itself, and the other is the positive enhancement it brings. Some poisons are worth sharing, like the Vortex Secret Poison, or the Golden Fish Poison and Bronze Dragon Poison which are enhancements.

But a lot more are not worth sharing, like Concept Poison and Exorcism Poison.

Right, Concept Poison indeed revealed the mystery behind the Concept Avatar, but what good was it to Ash and the others? Does it get them a discount on fruit?

Even if the side effects of Concept Poison were bearable, why bother contracting another chronic illness?

Diya looked at them suspiciously: "You’re not excluding me, are you?"

This was precisely the scenario Sonia was most concerned about—if they were all affected by the poison, that would be one thing, and if only she was affected that would be manageable. But it would be troublesome if it was just the two of them infected.

A combination like [Sword Maiden + Witch] wasn’t a problem, since the Observer would definitely trust their judgment; however, a [Sword Maiden + Observer] duo would be problematic, and the Witch would surely have grounds to suspect this lovey-dovey pair.

Ash also shot Sonia a reproachful look—It wasn’t even a good poison; why not just keep it to yourself? Now that you’ve mentioned it, you want to share this crap with everyone.

Now what? The Witch suspects it’s not crap but rather an enticing lewd photo; should we let her get crapped on or drag her into a pit of fire?

But Sonia had her reasons. "My side encountered a ’Star Cluster Fall’ incident, and coincidentally, the Empress’ Soul took away the ’Star Cluster Avatar.’ I suspect she directly squished the ’Star Cluster Avatar,’ leading to the annihilation of all related Technique Spirits... I thought after you saw the Star Cluster Fall, you all would be infected with Concept Poison."

"A Star Cluster Fall incident?"

After Sonia gave a brief description of how the Star Cluster nearly breached the Heavenly Curtain, Ash and Diya exchanged glances, shaking their heads, "We didn’t encounter anything like that."

"Wait a sec," Diya pondered, "Star Cluster Avatar, Star Cluster Fall, leading to the annihilation of all related Technique Spirits, could it be..."

Ash slammed the brakes suddenly, the sports car skidding circles on the grass, leaving trails like doughnuts. Diya, swayed by inertia, almost fell over but the moment she stabilized, Sonia grabbed her shoulders and shook her furiously like a bottle of orange juice with pulp!

"What what what are you doing?"

Ash asked, "What about the Star Cluster?"

Diya, dizzied by the shaking, replied, "Didn’t it fall?"

Ash revved the car and spun in place, "Not enough, Sword Maiden, keep shaking!"

"Got it!"

"Ararararara... Wah!" Diya turned nauseous from the continuous spinning and shaking, and thankfully, since this was the Void Realm, aside from secrets, she couldn’t vomit anything.

The Witch lifted her head, seeing the Observer and the Sword Maiden looking at her with concern, raised her hands defensively over her face, and surrendered, "I forgot, I really forgot, I don’t know anything about a Star Cluster, I didn’t see you, Sword Maiden, hugging the Observer just now; I saw nothing and know nothing, spare me, please!"

Sonia clenched her fists with a snap, "(* ￣︿￣) Seems like there might still be some memory left..."