Mage Manual
Chapter 542 - 440: The Future Ash is Hiding Something

Chapter 542: Chapter 440: The Future Ash is Hiding Something

Ash’s listening experience was completely different from the other two operators. If Sonia and Diya’s listening experience was "What the heck are you talking about?", his was crystal clear.

"o(*≧▽≦)ツ Here I come~~~ Let’s take it slow. Tonight is definitely going to be a night to remember..."

"Hey, wait a second! Don’t talk!"

"Somebody is listening, a Prophecy Angel? Or a Divine Lord? No, this feeling is even purer, it seems like the power of that person on Ruby Mountain... I remember now, it’s the Fate Q&A!"

"But that’s not right either, how could Fate Q&A see the current me?"

"Don’t move, don’t move, we’re being listened to, be serious... Hiss!"

"Hmm? Don’t talk, write on the palm of my hand... Yes, I used to hold a Secret Avatar for a while. These Concept Avatars are the best anchors, no wonder Ruby Mountain could connect me with the past, and the Secret Avatar even has a ’Concealment’ effect, Ruby Mountain didn’t realize I had already detected the spying!"

"The answer is 3. I can’t say much else, otherwise Fate Q&A will erase this recording."

Perhaps out of intuition, or perhaps fearing it might affect his image, Ash concealed the first and fifth part of the conversation. But just the rest of the self-narration was enough to open the eyes of the Sword Witch and the Witch.

"’Don’t talk’?" Sonia widened her eyes, "Based on the options, you were with at least three people, right?"

Diya suddenly asked, "Observer, have you ever disclosed anything about the Secret Avatar in reality?"

"No, at least not yet."

"But in this content, someone reminded you about the Secret Avatar by writing in your palm, which means that person must be me or the Sword Witch?"

Ash quickly explained, "It could also be a future new operative!"

"Isn’t that the same? It’s still someone from our team." Sonia blinked, "So the people referred to in options 1, 2, and 3, are they us? Is this question asking who among the team members is closest to you?"

"...I can’t rule that out." Ash spread his hands, "But it’s also possible that I might reveal the Secret Avatar in the future—"

"Are you crazy? The Secret Avatar is a Concept Avatar, key to the survival of the related Magic Faction. Revealing it would do more harm than good!" Sonia immediately said, "This secret should only be known by us few, not even to the new operative!"

"Alright, alright." Ash wanted to quickly end this topic, "What we should be focusing on now is that the future me could actually detect the Fate Q&A—"

"Observer, what would you do together with three team members?" Diya asked curiously.

"Play games or chat." Ash answered nonchalantly, "What else could it be?"

The Village Girl looked suspiciously at the Cult Leader, "You wouldn’t be hiding something, would you?"

"It’s the future me who’s hiding something!" Ash forcefully steered the conversation back, "He knew he was becoming material for the Fate Q&A and yet didn’t take the chance to pass on some information to me!"

He definitely hid something!

But Sonia glanced at the Witch and knew this wasn’t the time to press further, so she said, "Didn’t he say it? Once he reveals other information, Fate Q&A definitely won’t use this recording."

"However, your future self seemed very surprised to be listened to." Sonia mused, "Could it be that you’ve become strong enough to block all prophetic reconnaissance? But both the Witch and I would be synchronously upgrading with you, why wouldn’t the future me and the Witch have the same abilities?"

"Could it be different times?" Ash suggested, "The future you heard may only be a few years away, while the future I heard might be decades later."

"And when you realized you were being listened to, your first reaction was that you were being spied on by an Angel or a Divine Lord." Sonia murmured, "Could it be that decades later you’ve grown to the level of an Angel or a Divine Lord? And you even mentioned Ruby Mountain... You must be at least a Legendary Mage by now!"

"What is Ruby Mountain?" Ash asked curially.

"Ruby Mountain is the name for the fourth layer of the Void Realm, also known as the Mountain of Legends, half-step heaven, nearly a divine zone." Soniaexplained, "Your future self is very familiar with the power of Ruby Mountain, even deducing that you were being recorded by Fate Q&A... You’ve become so strong."

"It’s us who are strong." Ash emphasized, "We’ll climb the Void Realm together and enjoy the magnificent view from the summit."

The village girl quickly overcame the subtle feelings of inferiority in her heart and nodded, "It must be because the future me is too powerful, so Fate Q&A can’t hear me and can only choose a weaker version of myself!"

"Hold on." Diya suddenly noticed something, "The future Observer said the Secret Avatar inherently possesses concealment effects, so it can counter the reconnaissance of the Void Realm, which means..."

"Exactly!" Ash nodded excitedly, "If Fate Q&A keeps picking the distant future, then the future me will definitely help cheat!"

"Congratulations, you’ve answered one question correctly. Would you like to continue with the questions?"

"The listening material for the second question begins—"

"...Hmm? Has it started already?"

"I just remembered after the last time, there indeed was such a Fate Q&A, but it’s been too long ago and I was in a bit of chaos at that time... so I didn’t remember in time."

"The Void Realm won’t let you take advantage all the time, Fate Q&A must have already sensed something off... The answer to this question is ①."

"Different times selves aren’t the same self. Therefore, I will not reveal any future to you, to avoid killing your present."

"The Secret Avatar is very useful."

"Question: The Observer... (noise)?"

"①Suspender Stockings ②Glasses ③War Dress ④??? (noise)"

Ash briefly described the situation of the second question, and Sonia looked at him skeptically, "You could only hear noise for the question and the fourth option? If you don’t want to mention it, we won’t mind, we don’t care that much about your privacy."

Diya nodded continuously, confusedly asking, "But why would suspender stockings, glasses, and the war dress appear as options together? What kind of question would that be?"

Ash shook his head and promptly started the third question, but soon put down the headphones and said to the operators, "The third question is all noise, the only word I could clearly hear was ’question,’ even the question and options were jumbled. I picked one at random and got it wrong."

Seeing his expression which didn’t seem to be deceitful, the Sword Maiden and Witch also believed him—if Ash could keep getting it right using this loophole, they’d actually be scared.

Many Mages are not afraid to offend the Divine Lord but hold reverence for the Void Realm. For example, the Divine Lord is like a company boss, though they manage your livelihood, even if you secretly embezzle the company’s assets the Divine Lord won’t care much; the Void Realm, however, is like a bank, would you dare to exploit a bank’s loophole and cause destruction?

The Fate Q&A ended, and naturally, it was time for the question session.

Originally, Ash and his team were ready with questions—just like the first Fate Q&A, they wanted to inquire about the Seven-colored Tail.

Although their Golden Wings hadn’t unfolded yet, with the absorption speed of the ’Alchemy Throne’ and the cultivation boost from the sports car, they would probably finish the yearly process of other Mages in less than a month.

However, unfolding the Golden Wings is only the basic requirement for promotion to Three-winged, countless Mages get stuck at the faction realm for years, unable to break through the Holy Sanctuary Level. Although the Sword Witch and the Witch are geniuses, wanting to elevate their main faction to Holy Sanctuary Level within a few months to a year would require them to enjoy Experience Treasure Orbs like eating crab roe broad beans every night.

Ash estimated that only by exterminating the Fish-Slicing Dragon clan on the Time Continent could he possibly feed the Sword Maiden to Holy Sanctuary Level.

Therefore, looking for the Seven-colored Tail was definitely worth it, plus they had the successful experience with the golden fish, they naturally wanted to experience the thrill of smuggling again.

However, in Ash’s second listening material, ’his future self’ had already brightly hinted at him how to use this Fate Q&A.

"’Your future self’ emphasizes that the Secret Avatar is very important," Sonia said. "Yet our current utilization rate of the Secret Avatar is close to zero, the Concept Avatar itself is Secret Poison, I dare not ask about it, and we can’t find much from the data... If we want to know the usage of the Secret Avatar, we have to make use of this opportunity."

Ash nodded, "Now we have two opportunities to ask questions, we can ask once about how to use the Secret Avatar, and once about the information on the Seven-colored Tail."

After a brief discussion, they decided for Diya, who got one question correct, to ask about the Seven-colored Tail, and Ash, who got two questions correct, to ask about the use of the Secret Avatar—the Seven-colored Tail surely belongs to the Secret Poison level of knowledge, no matter who asks, the Void Realm would definitely answer vaguely; however, the usage of the Secret Avatar is not Secret Poison, Ash, having answered more questions, would definitely obtain more valid information.

Of course, they still needed to be mindful of their questioning technique, otherwise, if the Void Realm answered, ’The best use of the Secret Avatar is for the Heroic Soul Commander,’ then they would be at a loss.

Ash asked, "With our current resources, how can we effectively develop the Secret Avatar?"

The Void Realm answered in detail, "①Use the ’Aqua Line’ to bind the Soul Summoning Technique Spirit, then target the Soul Summoning Technique Spirit with ’Fury Sword’ and ’Evil Light Slash,’ the threatened Secret Avatar will share its first power; ②Kill a Spider Tower Commander, unlock Spider Tower troops, the Secret Avatar will share its second power."