Mage Manual
Chapter 514 - 418 But They Are Not You

Chapter 514: Chapter 418 But They Are Not You

"To victory!"

Outside the competition center, Sonia caught the small bottle of alcohol tossed to her and raised an eyebrow, "Why do you still carry alcohol with you?"

"If you had lost, this would have been a health drink to drown your sorrows," Adelle giggled as she held onto the Village Girl’s hands. "Ahh, we look quite similar, don’t we? How come you can annihilate five contestants with a single sword strike?"

"Not the same at all. Your butt is bigger and you’re meatier." Lois said.

"That’s called being voluptuous!" Adelle grimaced, "And the fat’s all in the right places. I definitely don’t have any extra... flab..."

Adelle pinched her waist and then fell silent for a long while. Sonia twisted open the bottle and took a sip, then a familiar voice came from behind, "Junior!"

Sonia turned around to see her senior Reonie, the red-haired dancer who came over and gave the Village Girl a tight hug, laughing, "You fought well! I can’t wait to face you in the arena."

"Having seen my Blood Moon Shatter, you still have the confidence to defeat me?" Sonia laughed.

"Of course," Reonie snatched the bottle and took a swig, chuckling, "I admit you’re stronger now, but I’ll figure out a way to counter your Miracle before we meet. And my Rhythm Melody might just shatter your Blood Moon. If you get cocky, wait till I make you cry! By the way, want to grab a drink at the Secret Garden afterwards?"

"Thanks, but I already have plans tonight."

"What a shame, then I’ll go find the professor." Reonie waved goodbye, "By the way, Professor Nidara thinks highly of you too. I think he’s regretting not having taken you on as a student first."

"Wow," Adelle enviously turned into a lemon, "My professor only regrets why he gave me a passing grade and then watches me not keep up with the pace next semester."

"Couldn’t you just try to catch up by studying harder?" Ingrid said.

"I’d rather the professor regretted."

During the conversation, Professor Trozan also came to their side and suddenly said, "Ride back with me in my car."

Normally, students would take the regular bus back since the competition center has direct buses to all major universities, but Sonia’s performance tonight really made Professor Trozan proud, so he made an exception to be her driver.

Her roommates also seized the chance to hitch a ride. Professor Trozan’s car wasn’t anything special, but it seemed she used some Technique Spirit while driving; the car was not only very smooth but also liked to snake through traffic, charging on a bloody path through congested roads.

"Look outside." Ingrid suddenly said.

Outside in the city’s Light Screen, scenes of Sonia defeating Linda with a single strike of Blood Moon were looping. Not just in Jiale City, but Yabakulei, Maji, Meit... now the whole Kingdom of Stars was still reveling in the opening’s Meteor Disaster.

"Famous in Sword Flower, famous in the Imperial City, famous in the Kingdom of Stars..." Lois said, "You reached your goal in just two months."

"Still a long way off," Sonia intently watched herself on the Light Screen outside, unwilling to divert her gaze, "Unless I keep winning and become the number one, people will forget me soon."

"Could you press down your corners of your mouth when you’re being modest? You look exactly like a smug villain! My dog does the same vain face when I take pictures of it!"

Sonia turned to look intently at Lois, and just when Lois thought she was angry, the Village Girl placed her hands on her head, imitating dog ears, and gleefully said, "Woof."

Lois only felt her face burn with heat, and turning her head aside, she said, "You want me to take a photo of you too, right?"

"Sonia! Sonia!" Adelle exclaimed while looking at her wrist’s Light Screen, "You have to see the school’s Veil, it’s completely flooded by you!"

"Is someone bad-mouthing me?"

"How could they? It’s your turn now, the whole school is proud of you. Anyone who dares speak ill of you would be instantly ripped apart," Adelle said. "You should use your verified account to make a post to strengthen your image, and then we from the Claw Club can take the chance to expand!"

"Sure!"

Soon, while the excitement of the evening had yet to fade among the Sword Flower students, they saw the post made by the redhead Sword Maiden on the school’s Veil.

In her post, Sonia first briefly reviewed her freshman year experiences, sharing amusing anecdotes about professors and the cafeteria, making Sword Flower students realize that Sonia was not some unapproachable genius but rather an ordinary student just like them.

Then, Sonia recounted the famous events from Sword Flower University’s past few years, evoking old students’ memories and inciting a sense of collective pride among the younger students.

Next, Sonia analyzed why Sword Flower University hadn’t performed well in competitions in recent years, subtly suggesting that the university wasn’t lacking, but rather suppressed by other schools—a conspiracy theory that had long been popular on the school’s Veil and was met with widespread agreement.

Finally, Sonia modestly mentioned her accomplishments of the evening, stating she had only made a small contribution and that there was still much work to be done.

But the students, overcome with emotion, were nearly bursting to write out thousands of words in essays to praise Miss Sevi. Sonia’s post quickly went viral, glaringly pinned at the top of the Veil, and surely the ’Anti-Village Girl Alliance’ must have been fuming, about ready to have their brains eaten by the Fish-Slicing Dragon and buried in secret frustration.

After returning to the school dorms, Professor Trozan stopped Sonia as she got out of the car, handed her a Fluorite, and just drove off without saying anything.

Looking at the Two-winged sword Technique Spirit within the Fluorite, Sonia thought to herself that Trozan was truly a mature adult; a thousand praises couldn’t compare to handing over money directly.

This kind of professor, I like!

Back in the dormitory building, it was as lively as the emperor arriving at the harem. Since seats at the sports center were scarce, most students could only watch the live broadcast in their dorms. Hearing that Sonia had returned, they immediately rushed over to greet their new queen. Soon, the entire dormitory building echoed with chants of ’Sonia! Sonia!’ The Village Girl wanted to find a duty teacher to suppress them, but then she saw the duty teacher also shouting at the stairway entrance.

Tch, how Sword Flower University has changed, it’s absolutely fantastic!

Finally making it back to her room, Sonia was utterly exhausted, but now it was Lois and the others’ turn to work: War Dresses are cumbersome to put on and just as troublesome to take off. It took over half an hour to fully remove it, during which Sonia took the time to rest with her eyes closed.

After regaining some energy, Sonia went out to the balcony, washed her face while facing the river full of starlight, and opened her wristband to dial a contact number, bringing the wristband to her ear.

Shortly after, the call connected.

"Linda?"

Sonia wanted to say something, but instead sighed helplessly, "Mom, it’s me."

Martha’s voice was a bit anxious, "I just saw you fighting on the Light Screen. Are you hurt? Should I come over?"

"Not at all, not at all. They couldn’t even touch my clothes."

"Well, will there be any consequences for injuring those people?"

"That was a Mage competition, everyone is responsible for their own life and death. How could there be any problem? Moreover, I was representing Sword Flower University, so even if something happened, the school would handle it."

After finishing, the call fell into silence, Sonia had a lot to say, but she just couldn’t voice the words.

Suddenly, she heard laughter coming from the other side.

Hearing the laughter, Sonia couldn’t help but laugh as well, "What are you laughing at?"

"Nothing, mom just thinks our Linda looks really cute."

"Of course, whose daughter do you think she is?"

Sonia exhaled deeply, suddenly feeling her whole body relax, "I have another competition in a few days, make sure you watch."

"Okay! I don’t understand Mage work, and you need to take good care of yourself and not push yourself too hard."

Ending the conversation, Sonia went to the restroom to change, and when she came out, she encountered Adelle, who was just out of a bath wrapped in a towel. Seeing Sonia’s attire, Adelle instantly understood, "Are you going to the Void Realm tonight?"

"Yes," Sonia blinked, "We Mages go to the Void Realm to rest."

"Yes, yes."

"Absolutely right."

Ingrid and Lois kept agreeing, Sonia gave them a curious look but didn’t pay much attention and left the dorm straight away.

Once the "village girl" left the dorm, the three roommates started gossiping about her.

"Ingrid," Adelle asked while blow-drying her hair, "What do you think of this kind of behavior?"

"I can only say it’s pretty terrifying," Ingrid replied. "I wouldn’t have believed it before I went to the Sea of Knowledge, but after I soaked there for so many days, I knew something was off. Having a hectic, intense fight only makes me want to come back and sleep, not to continue fighting in another round of overtime in the Void Realm—is it possible to cure a hangover with more alcohol?"

"Although that’s true, having a little drink the next morning does indeed help with a hangover," Adelle said. "Don’t ask me why I know."

"In conclusion," Lois said, "either Sonia is a super-hardworking freak, even beyond Ingrid, or her version of the Void Realm is different from what we know."

"How could it be different?" Adelle tilted her head, "Can it turn from an adventure drama into a romance drama?"

...

Void Realm, Time Continent.

Upon arrival, Ash immediately opened the Void Realm Map to check their location, "We are in the area before Blood Tomb, there aren’t detailed maps, so we must proceed with caution and avoid the Heroic Soul Army chasing us..."

"Cough cough!" Sonia cleared her throat and hugged Diya affectionately, "Witch, in the opening of our college competition today, I fought in the first round of Meteor Disaster."

"Metor Disaster? What’s that?" Diya asked.

"Meteor Disaster is..."

"Then I directly defeated Verlin using Blood Moon Shattered Lake..."

"The remaining four fought back desperately..."

"The whole Kingdom of Stars was watching my Meteor Disaster tonight..."

After Sonia finished recounting her glorious evening, Diya listened with her eyes full of longing, "That sounds so fun, being able to compete, become famous, and have so many people admire you... Is school really that interesting? Wow, wouldn’t that make you a super-celebrity as a Sword Maiden?"

"Not exactly," Sonia said casually. "I have to keep winning until I take the championship crown to be recognized by the Stars."

"But it’s already pretty amazing, Sword Maiden. You’re like taking on five at once; I don’t even know if I could face five Two-winged Mages head-on..."

"Of course, you could. Witch, your Time Faction is unbeatable. If it were you in the match instead of me, the competition would have ended even quicker!"

The sports car stopped outside a gem mining site, and Ash clapped his hands, "Quick, quick, quick, let’s gather as many resources here as we can before the Heroic Soul Army catches up!"

Diya swiftly jumped out of the car and rushed towards the mine, while Sonia lingered behind slowly.

Just as Ash was about to get out of the car, he felt his wrist being grabbed.

"What’s up?"

Sonia looked at him with an expression that said ’how dare you even ask’ and pointed to herself, "I won the Meteor Disaster."

"Uh-huh," Ash blinked, "You mentioned that quite loudly just now, I heard it."

"Then shouldn’t you..." Sonia fluttered her eyelashes, "say something about it?"

Ash looked perplexed.

"But, but I always prioritize giving you all my gains," he scratched his head, "So how about I give you all of tonight’s Technique Spirit gains?"

"Ugh," Sonia shook his arm vigorously, pouting unhappily, "Can’t you just praise me a bit?"

"You just said the audience friends and professors praised you, plus the Witch too."

"But they aren’t you."