Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 374: Im Just a Bit Tired Lately

The two gun-sword sorcerers stared blankly at Sonya, who had just called for help and then immediately cut off the communication. The abrupt end was as if the heroine had accidentally been caught by the main villain.

“Uh, uh,” one of the gun-sword sorcerers hesitantly asked, “Miss Therave, what are you…?”

“Ah, it’s none of your business,” Sonya waved her hand dismissively. “You’re just doing your job, and I won’t blame you for that. But you’ve wasted two minutes of my time, and someone has to be held accountable. I’m just a student, so I don’t have the authority to demand an explanation from Truth College. That’s why I called my professor. Although Professor Trozan is just a low-level Sanctuary sorcerer, she still has some clout.”

“When the professor arrives, you should truthfully explain who instructed you to intercept me and who intends to restrict my passage. Although Professor Trozan has a bad temper, she won’t randomly harm people. Your lives won’t be in danger.”

The two gun-sword sorcerers glanced at each other, operated their Miracle wristbands, and then stepped aside. “The administration has approved your passage. Please go ahead.”

“No, no.” Sonya shook her head and waved her hands, doubly rejecting the sorcerers’ goodwill. “I’ve already called Professor Trozan for help, and I need to wait here to report the grievances I’ve endured. This trick can’t be used often, but since I’ve used it, I must make the most of it.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not blaming you. But I advise you not to be stubborn. Your salary isn’t worth the trouble of offending a Sanctuary sorcerer.”

“Miss Therave, please calm down and don’t be so angry. We will—”

“So you know I’m angry,” Sonya smiled. “Look, I’m this angry just because my time was wasted. Now guess how angry Professor Trozan will be when she finds out I tricked her into coming here and wasting her time? I’m her student, so she won’t take her anger out on me. Now, who do you think she’ll vent her anger on?”

Sonya’s relationship with Trozan wasn’t that good, and Trozan hated being deceived. A scolding was inevitable when she got back.

But Trozan also cared a lot about her reputation. It was she who helped Sonya get access to the “Time Training Room.” Now that Sonya was being blocked outside and had specifically called her over, Trozan, no matter how angry she might be, had to stand up for Sonya.

Even if Truth College had intercepted Sonya according to regulations, it wouldn’t matter. As swordsmanship practitioners, they were not prophecy sorcerers; they believed in following their hearts and acting freely. When it was time to draw their swords, they would draw their swords!

Perhaps it was due to the mental connection among swordsmanship practitioners, but Sonya was very certain that Trozan would definitely stand by her side and would never bow down to Truth College.

Because Trozan’s main focus wasn’t the versatile Mental Sect,

nor the soft-yet-strong Water Sect,

but the ever-advancing Swordsmanship Sect!

If Trozan knew her student was in the right but didn’t dare stand up for her, she could forget about advancing the Swordsmanship Sect to the legendary level in her lifetime!

Similarly, Sonya had a vague feeling that if she left quietly, swallowing her anger, her Swordsmanship Sect wouldn’t progress to the Sanctuary level until she retaliated.

She suddenly had an epiphany: the cultivation of a spellcasting sect wasn’t just limited to combat and training; it was closely related to the sorcerer’s conduct, emotions, and way of thinking.

Sonya had met many swordsmanship practitioners. Whether they were sloppy or neat, lively or gloomy, they were all invariably strong-willed.

Even if they admitted defeat, their eyes were full of a determination that said, “Just you wait.”

Speaking of which, when Sonya was choosing her spellcasting sect in her first year, she chose the Water Department because she felt that water sorcerers best matched her ideal image: low-key yet elegant, gentle yet strong, able to compromise yet firm in their principles.

If she were a water sorcerer, she might have found a better, more gentle way to defuse others’ malice towards her.

But unfortunately, the Observer insisted she practice swordsmanship.

After experiencing time and again the feeling of defending her dignity with a sword, she could never go back to being that cautious village girl.

Even the Observer didn’t dare let her be wronged, so why should she endure this indignity here?!

“Miss Therave, please don’t say that. We’ve already reported your visit to the administration in time. This is a reasonable delay—”

“I’m sorry, but we swordsmanship practitioners are just that uncultured. You can explain these reasons to the Sanctuary sorcerer.”

The gun-sword sorcerers knew they couldn’t persuade Sonya any further. Soon, a young assistant hurried over. “Miss Therave—”

“Have I offended you?” Sonya interrupted him directly.

“Of course not—”

“Then why are you blocking me from going to the training room?”

“It’s a misunderstanding.” The young assistant said helplessly, “The school has recently tightened security measures—”

“Okay.”

Sonya interrupted him again and summoned a spirit. “This is the ‘Sincerity’ spirit. When you lie in its presence, it changes color. Now, please repeat, is it really a misunderstanding?”

The young assistant’s face changed, and he forced a smile. “It’s rare for a swordsmanship practitioner to carry a Mental spirit…”

Sonya remained silent, staring coldly at him. The young assistant was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, “I’m just a small figure. Please don’t make it hard for me, okay?”

“Okay, I won’t make it hard for you.”

Sonya looked up towards the sky, and everyone else followed suit. They saw a streak of sword light cutting through the blue sky and white clouds, heading towards them. When it landed, it transformed into a female swordsman with fluffy hair.

She glanced at Sonya. “I thought by the time I arrived, you’d either be completely naked or down to your underwear at most.”

“Are you here to rescue me or to see me humiliated?”

“That’s not a single-choice question.” Trozan looked around. “I violated the Galaxia No-Fly Ordinance to rush here. You didn’t call me just to give me a tour of Truth College, did you?”

“Here’s the situation: these people tried to stop me from entering the Time Training Room. He asked me not to make things difficult for them, so I called you, Professor.” Sonya spread her hands. “You were the one who helped me apply for the Time Training Room. By not letting me in, they’re not slapping me in the face; they’re slapping your heart-shaped butt!”

Trozan glared fiercely at her student, tugged at the hem of her coat, and turned to face the young assistant.

“Professor Trozan, Miss Therave, this really is just a misunderstanding—”

When Sonya once again summoned the “Sincerity” spirit, the young assistant hesitated for a moment and then fell silent.

“I was kidding. The ‘Sincerity’ spirit can’t actually detect lies,” Sonya said with a smile. “So, you can lie in front of a Sanctuary sorcerer without hesitation.”

It was as if his spine had been removed. The young assistant lowered his head and sighed. “I promise this mistake won’t happen again.”

“Admitting fault just because I showed up? I’m not a spirit of apology; I don’t have that ability,” Trozan raised an eyebrow. “So, tell me, who exactly is targeting my student?”

“Professor, think about it. Have you offended anyone recently?”

Trozan thought for a moment and started counting on her fingers, “One, two, three, four, five…”

“Forget I asked,” Sonya said as she stepped into the gray-white building. “I’ll leave the rest to you, Professor. I’m going inside to train now. I’ve already wasted 15 minutes… Professor, I don’t believe a single word of his promise. Can you guarantee that I won’t encounter this kind of baseless malice again?”

“Are you the professor, or am I the professor? You want me to make promises to you?” Trozan snorted coldly.

Sonya shrugged and, as she turned to leave, heard Trozan say, “Next time, just call me over directly. No need to shout so dramatically.”

It’s settled.

Sonya knew that Professor Trozan would definitely blow this matter up, making it troublesome for everyone involved, even embarrassing Truth College.

And that was exactly the outcome she wanted.

I might be disgusted by you, but don’t think you’ll get away with it easily!

At worst, I’ll get a scolding from Professor Trozan when I get back, but you all will be losing your bonuses!

Entering the Time Training Room, she found it divided into strength, agility, and intelligence zones. Sonya had reserved the strength training room. As soon as she stepped inside, her heart started pounding violently. The suddenly increased gravity nearly made her fall to her knees.

The Level 1 Time Training Room accelerated time by 1.1 times and increased gravity by 1.1 times.

As the most sought-after training facility at Truth College, the Time Training Room’s effectiveness was indisputable. The 1.1-fold increase in gravity provided effective training for a sorcerer’s entire body, including internal organs, enhancing the efficiency of Physical Sect spirits by at least 25%. The 1.1-fold time acceleration didn’t speed up real time but rather the sorcerer’s cognitive time.

In Sonya’s perception, although her thoughts accelerated, her body did not change, and it even seemed slower due to the increased gravity. If she could maintain her training in this state, her body and even her soul would significantly strengthen, and her insight and reaction times would break through their limits.

The training room provided self-repairing armor effigies. After changing into her training clothes and taking out a wooden sword, Sonya began her Swordsmanship practice. But after just ten minutes, her breathing became irregular, and her posture started to deteriorate.

Compared to sorcerers who had been well-nourished and physically trained from a young age, Sonya’s foundation was indeed weak. Not to mention comparing herself to nobility like Felix and Engulite, even compared to Adelle and Lois, Sonya’s basic physical fitness was far inferior.

Having lacked adequate meat, eggs, and milk in her diet as a child, it was hard to make up for it later in life. The Observer’s “Forced Training” had allowed Sonya to quickly catch up to the level of a formal swordsman, but it had also exhausted her body’s potential.

Because ordinary training could no longer further strengthen her body, Sonya applied to use the Time Training Room. However, her body couldn’t squeeze out any more potential, so she would soon hit her limit.

But Sonya was prepared for this.

“Sword Body” spirit!

A thin layer of sword light covered Sonya’s skin, internal organs, tissues, and muscles. With even the slightest movement, she felt the sword light stabbing her all over.

As a combination of the Swordsmanship Sect and the Physical Sect, the “Sword Body” could generate sword light that a sorcerer could absorb. Once enough sword light was absorbed, the sorcerer could forge an exceptional Sword Body.

However, the Sword Body spirit had two major drawbacks: the efficiency of absorbing sword light was very low, and only by persisting in training when the sorcerer’s entire body was exhausted could they slowly absorb the sword light to replace their body’s potential. Additionally, when the sword light covered the body, every tiny movement caused the sword light to painfully prick the nerves.

Therefore, even among swordsmen, it was rare to use the “Sword Body” to enhance oneself unless they had a spirit that could make them immune to pain. Although Sonya didn’t have a spirit to block pain, she had her own method.

“Forced Training”!

After so many days of Forced Training, Sonya realized that she could not only start Forced Training ahead of time to free up her evening training hours but also break the two-hour Forced Training into segments.

This meant she could train on her own until her body was exhausted and then trigger “Forced Training,” allowing the Observer’s power to drive her body to continue her deep training!

Just like now!

Her erratic breathing became steady, and her distorted movements corrected themselves. The stabbing pain of the sword light was suppressed into silent screams, and her physical exhaustion was sweated out drop by drop.

However, this full-power training mode naturally had its drawbacks.

The first thing that couldn’t withstand it wasn’t Sonya’s body but herself.

When the pain and exhaustion were about to overwhelm her soul, Sonya immediately stopped training and activated the “Sincerity” spirit to significantly enhance her mental resistance, forcibly enduring the bone-deep fatigue and the pain in every limb!

Snap.

As soon as she exited the Forced Training state, Sonya collapsed to the ground, feeling as if she had melted like ice cream. Her clothes were so soaked it was as if she had just been pulled out of water, and her tear ducts worked harder than when she was born to wash her eyes-Sonya didn’t know if she was crying from pain or exhaustion.

So tired, so painful, I can’t do this, I want to die…

She suddenly remembered the conversation she had with the young assistant earlier and couldn’t help but let out a bitter smile.

If only one could gain happiness from training, perhaps most geniuses are like that, but unfortunately, she wasn’t. What drove her to work hard was never the joy found in training but…

After resting for a while, Sonya sat up and chugged down a large bottle of water, then gritted her teeth and stood up to continue training.

In the evening, when Sonya returned to the dormitory, she immediately collapsed onto the table.

Lois glanced at her, “Tired?”

“Yeah.”

“If you’re tired, go take a shower and sleep.”

“No can do.” The Stretch Paw Club President stretched and pulled out a few thick books. “I still have to read.”

“Haven’t you already read those Time Continent books?” Adelle poked her head out from her bed.

“Just reading them once doesn’t mean I remember everything. There are lots of details that are easy to overlook.” The village girl said seriously, “If I don’t go over them a few more times now, it’ll be troublesome if I can’t recall them in the Virtual Realm.”

Since she put it that way, neither Lois nor Adelle could stop her from being so diligent.

But as she continued reading, the village girl suddenly exclaimed, “Oh no, I almost forgot!”

“Did you forget to do your laundry?” Adelle asked, poking her head out again. “I forgot too—let’s do it together.”

“I have a voice audition in a couple of days, I need to practice my vocal cords now!”

“Acting, releasing singles, reading, training, preparing for the College League…” Lois counted on her fingers, “I haven’t seen you take a break lately. Aren’t you tired?”

“Is Sonya really this pitiful?” Adelle said. “Fine, I’ll help you with the laundry.”

“Tired, yes, but these are things I have to do.” Sonya raised her head, “I don’t want to regret not seizing these opportunities when I’m old.”

“I don’t think you’ll even get the chance to grow old,” Lois said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if you suddenly dropped dead one day.”

“Would the school waive all our papers and assignments to keep us quiet?” Adelle joked.

“Don’t worry, I take good care of myself. No need to worry about me.”

Sonya waved goodbye to her roommates with a smile, but she stopped just as she reached the dormitory door.

After a moment, she said, “I won’t be back tonight.”

Lois blinked, “Are you going to practice your voice all night? Are you training your throat or murdering it?”

“No.” Sonya shook her head, her eyes shining like stars. “My soul has fully recovered.”

With that, Sonya left the dormitory like the wind, leaving Lois and Adelle no chance to say anything.

“How did she recover so quickly?” Adelle wondered. “I heard that the soul recovery period for two-wings sorcerers is usually quite long… Could it be that Sonya was bitten by Lala Fatty, so her soul wound was shallow?”

“I thought she would take a break after dying in the virtual realm this time,” Lois sighed. “But she’s working even harder than before… Plus, she used to be able to rest and sleep, but now that her soul has recovered, she’s pushing herself both in reality and in the virtual realm.”

Adelle nodded, “Every time I see Sonya working so hard, I feel guilty just lying around.”

Lois rolled her eyes at her. “By the way, add me to Sonya’s fan group… I’ll help you guys with the management.”

“Weren’t you not interested before?”

“I’m still not interested, but… I might as well do something while I’m idle.”

Meditation Building.

Touching the Gate of Truth, her consciousness sank into the virtual realm.

When Sonya opened her eyes, the familiar sight of Reverse Golden Rain filled her vision once again.

As always, she sat in the back seat of the sports car, with the Witch beside her and the Observer in the front seat.

“Hmm…” Ashe opened the virtual realm map, “Let me check how far we are from the Spider Tower area… Huh?”

Ashe turned his head to see the Sword Princess climbing over from the back seat, wrapping her arms around his neck and resting her head on his shoulder.

Ashe blinked, “Sword Princess, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, don’t move, just let me stay like this for a while.” Sonya took a deep breath, savoring the moment, her head gently rubbing against his shoulder. All the day’s hardship, grievances, and pretense seemed to vanish.

“I’m just a bit tired lately.”