Mage Manual
Chapter 461 - 382 Surrender

Chapter 461: Chapter 382 Surrender

If one were to elect the person who helped Ash the most inside Shattered Lake Prison, the answer would be almost undoubtedly clear—it wasn’t Harvey, not Lanna, not number 222, and definitely not Igula, but Valcas Uer.

Without Valcas, Ash would have turned into a firework during the Blood Moon Judgement long ago. It was precisely the opportunity presented by the once-in-a-century "Judgement Elf" that drew out the worst in the hearts of Kaimon City’s people, allowing Ash, the infamous and highly sought-after Cult Leader, to escape his fate by sheer luck.

Valcas did not wish to save Ash by any means; even when he gifted Ash his Technique Spirits like Heart Sword, Earth Sword, and Wind Barrier upon his dying breath, it was merely to cause trouble for Selin.

Ash didn’t delude himself into thinking he owed anything to Valcas. In fact, after experiencing a series of highs and lows, such as escaping from prison, fleeing Blood Moon, joining the Funeral Ceremony, fleeing from Azura, the White Mist Mutations, and being captured by Belladett, Ash had almost forgotten the Elf who had taken the fall for him.

To encounter Valcas in the Void Realm was unexpected, yet it made perfect sense.

After a Mage’s death, their soul falls into the six layers of Hell, stripped of all emotions, leaving behind only pure memories and a soul that descends into the Void Realm to become a Mage’s projection, serving as a legacy and trial for future generations.

This sort of enforced traditional vice prevented Mages from monopolizing intellectual property. Even if nations isolated themselves, knowledge still circulated within the Void Realm, thus giving rise to a flourishing Mage civilization.

As a Two-winged Mage, Valcas was naturally to become a projection for the Mages of the Time Continent. Since Commanders of Heroic Souls were transformed from Mage projections, his becoming a Heroic Soul Commander was reasonable.

When Valcas died, Ash had wondered if he would encounter his projection in the Void Realm, but he never imagined fate would indeed be so enigmatic.

But—

"Aren’t you supposed to be male?" Ash asked, dumbfounded.

He and Valcas had crossed swords in a deep connection, and Ash’s eyesight wasn’t so poor that he couldn’t distinguish gender!

"I haven’t always been male," the Heroic Soul Valcas answered calmly, "After being a female Elf for nearly a hundred years, wanting to experience the world of a male Elf is a perfectly normal desire. Among the Elf Clan, this is a very common mindset, and humans also choose their preferred gender upon reaching adulthood. Almost every Elf in my memory has gone through a ’gender change period’; if they like it, they keep it; if not, they change back."

"Besides curiosity about the opposite sex, another reason is that I now have my own children. According to my thoughts, if I do not undergo facial surgery, then living with my children in the future would still raise suspicions from the Church of Beloved. But since I’m having surgery anyway, why not change my gender completely, so at most people might suspect me of being a pedophilic Elf, but they wouldn’t suspect any blood relation with my child."

"However, physical modifications in reality are not recognized by the Void Realm, so it can only display the true shape of my soul, which is why I reverted to my original appearance... Any other questions?"

Questions? There were far too many!

Instead of just getting plastic surgery, why switch genders completely—is it like choosing to buy a house instead of just renting one because one might as well spend more? How did he slide down this slippery slope so thoroughly?

Although Ash had heard multiple times that Blood Moon leads in biological modification, those technological achievements mostly manifested among the lower class who mechanized themselves to adapt to advanced capitalist production. He’d never imagined that the middle class could be so playful—he completely failed to tell that Valcas had not always been male!

Yet, this made things a bit complicated.

Seeing Ash silently raise his long sword, Valcas’s fingers gently brushed over the blade, assuming a standard swordsmanship stance. "Do you also wish to kill me?"

"Yes," Ash was frank, "Killing a Commander drops items like maps, Soul Summoning Technique Spirits, and Commander manuals, all resources I urgently need. As I just told you, I am being pursued by Spider Tower and cannot miss any chance to quickly grow stronger... I must protect those I value."

Indeed, Valcas had saved Ash, and the Technique Spirits he provided had helped Ash tremendously—if it weren’t for Heart Sword, Ash would never have been able to perform the Miracle of prison break; the miracle "Sword Barrier" combination of Earth Sword and Wind Barrier remains a vital part of his tactical system to this day.

But Valcas was dead, during the Blood Moon Judgement, crushed into a puddle of mosquito blood by a Titan Executioner.

What remained before Ash was but a remnant of the past, a soul ennobled by the Divine Lord.

Although Ash could not appreciate Harvey’s Necromancy Faction, the Necromancers had one thing right—those who are dead should serve the living, and not the other way around.

Despite feeling somewhat uneasy, Ash would not be soft-hearted. He was not only carrying his own life but also the future of the Sword Maiden and the Witch.

"To protect others, huh..." Valcas nodded, "I see, there’s no helping it then."

"So, Valcas," Ash took a deep breath, "please guide me—"

"Could you possibly not want the Commander’s handbook?"

Ash, who was already psychologically prepared, was baffled by this question, and it took him a while to respond, "...I guess so?"

The benefits brought by the Commander’s handbook were Command Skills and faction experience; among these, Command Skills held no significance for mages, and Ash wasn’t in dire need of that little bit of faction experience either.

But why are you asking this?

"I can give you the Soul Summoning Technique Spirit and the map," Valcas said calmly, "Can you not kill me?"

It took Ash quite a while to wrap his head around it, "...Why?"

"I no longer have any Soul Power, and continuing to fight you would most likely result in my death. If I can exchange certain resources for my life, such a trade is worthwhile," Valcas spoke, "Unless it’s a war with another country, there’s no need for a Commander to fight to the death—dying here would bring no Merit."

"But a Commander I killed before fought me to the very last second..."

"Perhaps he believed he had a chance to defeat you until the moment he died," Valcas shook his head, "But I have no Soul Power and no followers, with such a slim chance of winning."

"But you’re not the kind of person who gives up without a fight!"

Valcas paused slightly, then asked, "What kind of person am I in your impression?"

"Proud, impulsive, emotional, and you like to infuriate others with your sharp tongue," Ash said, "Even if you knew you were going to lose, you would definitely try your best to negotiate with me until there was no hope left... to be more precise, you’re the type who would rather die than compromise."

"If you were willing to compromise, then you wouldn’t die in the first place."

The main reason why Selin pushed Valcas to death was because Valcas refused to give up raising her child; as an Elf, Valcas could even end up in prison, with Selin contributing greatly there. Yet, Valcas refused to compromise to the very end, insisting on violating the "Bloodline Prohibition Law," leading a thoroughly disappointed Selin to finally give up on her child she had watched grow up... or perhaps, her daughter.

In a sense, Selin was actually the ultimate hypocrite; although he himself was taking care of Valcas, he did not allow Valcas to care for her children.

However, it was precisely because of this conflict in recognition that Selin so vehemently forbade Valcas from repeating his mistakes—in the Blood Moon, ’selfishness’ was the only political correctness. Everything Selin did was in hopes that Valcas would become more selfish and turn into an Elf better suited for survival in the Blood Moon Society; this was his ’kindness’ towards Valcas.

"If Valcas couldn’t become ’normal,’ perhaps letting her die would have been the best outcome"... Ash did not know Selin’s true thoughts, but he felt that Selin might think this way.

After all, even Fernand, a mayor with such high status and power, couldn’t see his son; in the vast Blood Moon, was there really a place that could accommodate a parent and child?

"Is that so?" Valcas said, "So that’s the kind of person I was?"

Ash realized something, "Valcas, you..."

The female Elf sheathed her sword and looked around before sitting down on a relatively large rock. Seeing this, Ash could no longer maintain a battle-ready stance and went to sit down cross-legged as well.

"What would you like to know?"