Sorcerer’s Handbook

The Whirlpool, also known as the Shortcut of Fate, the Ladder of Advancement, or The Cursed One’s Last Stroke of Luck, is an extremely rare natural wonder within the Sea of Knowledge.

This natural phenomenon is entirely different from other Virtual Realm existences. Knowledge Creatures have habitats; Inheritance Island and Adventure Island remain unchanged for millennia unless a sorcerer steps onto them. However, natural wonders appear at random times and locations and vanish after a certain period, almost as if they were the fabrications of rumors within the Virtual Realm.

If the luckiest of sorcerers might encounter Knowledge Creatures, Inheritance Island, or Adventure Island at least once in their lifetime, even the luckiest may never come across a Whirlpool. It’s considered the ultimate test of fortune.

The reason why those who encounter a Whirlpool are so envied and resented is due to its immense power—the ability to transfer locations within the Virtual Realm!

A sorcerer who steps into a Whirlpool will emerge from another Whirlpool in a different area of the Sea of Knowledge.

While it does seem quite marvelous, a mere spatial transfer couldn’t possibly be the cause of such longing among sorcerers, could it?

The reason lies in the fact that the Whirlpool isn’t just a simple transfer. It allows a sorcerer to pass through a mysterious channel within the Whirlpool, crossing countless areas of the Sea of Knowledge in just a few seconds; all the while, the fundamental Rule that ‘the further one sails in the Sea of Knowledge, the more arcane energy one absorbs’ remains unbroken!

If two Whirlpools are thousands of miles apart, then by crossing through the channel of a Whirlpool, a sorcerer would be deemed to have sailed those thousands of miles in the Sea of Knowledge, directly absorbing enough arcane energy to form complete Silver Wings!

How could sorcerers not be driven to madness by this prospect?

An ordinary sorcerer would need to sail for two to three years to form Silver Wings theoretically, provided they do not perish in the Sea of Knowledge—besides the ‘death cooldown’ where the more arcane energy one has, the greater the death penalty, there is also the Sword of Damocles hanging overhead: the more arcane energy a sorcerer has, the greater the chance of encountering danger!

Each time a sorcerer opens the Gate of Truth to enter the Virtual Realm, they arrive at a different location, not where their last exploration ended.

The stronger a sorcerer’s arcane energy, the closer their arrival point in the Virtual Realm is to the core areas of the Sea of Knowledge. The Inheritance Islands and Knowledge Creatures in the core areas not only yield richer spoils but are also much more dangerous!

Countless Official Sorcerers, on the verge of forming Silver Wings, have been attacked by Knowledge Creatures as soon as they entered the Virtual Realm, only to flee and encounter even more ferocious creatures, getting ‘welcomed’ by several Knowledge Creatures in turn and delightfully exiting the Virtual Realm.

Exploring for a few minutes and cooling down for several days is often the harsh reality for these ‘nearly perfected’ sorcerers.

Thus it’s not entirely without reason that the Whirlpool is dubbed ‘The Cursed One’s Last Stroke of Luck’: It refers not only to the sorcerer exhausting their lifetime’s luck upon encountering a Whirlpool but also to the difficulty of exploring the high-difficulty areas of the Sea of Knowledge with a sudden increase in arcane energy—much like a low-ranked player trying to play in a high-ranked match, only to be beaten into retreat.

Despite this, no Sorcerer would not long for the Whirlpool. And in places where the base number of Sorcerers is large enough, there are occasionally one or two lucky individuals who encounter a Whirlpool—like Leoni, who beat Sonya soundly this morning. She formed her Silver Wings so swiftly that many students believe she must have encountered a short-distance Whirlpool. Everyone was so envious they turned green with jealousy!

After hearing Sonya’s introduction, Ashe couldn’t help but get excited. Right now, he is the one who is most in dire need of strength; every bit stronger he gets, the more hope he has to escape from prison!

Moreover, with three additional spirits, it was evident that his arcane energy was not sufficient.

The Heart Sword and Wind Barrier were manageable, but the Earth Sword spirit is a Two Wings spirit, consuming arcane energy like a faucet gushing water. Yet, the effect it produced wasn’t even one-fifth as powerful.

The reason Ashe could show off in front of the Swordswoman earlier, creating a Sword Barrier that the Thunder Holder couldn’t break through, was that his arcane energy had already fallen to less than one-fifth. He still had to think about how to trick the Swordswoman into exerting more strength in their fight.

The Boat passed through layers of white mist, and soon the Whirlpool appeared before them.

True to its reputation as a natural Miracle, the Whirlpool was indeed very mysterious and strange—although it was a constantly rotating vortex, the surrounding Area was as calm as if it were an audience of Observers, with the water flow completely unaffected by the Whirlpool.

Even when the Boat was less than two meters away from the Whirlpool, there was no pull on it. If a Sorcerer with poor eyesight were swimming by, they might not even notice the Miracle right beside them.

“Go quickly, the Whirlpool could disappear at any moment!”

“Wait a moment.”

Ashe noticed that when they entered the Area of the Whirlpool, the exploration range on the Map suddenly extended two very long routes, and at the farthest end of each route, there were two prompts: “Wait a moment” and “No danger but you might not end up here randomly.”

“I think we’d better wait a moment.”

“Is this the effect of your detection ability?”

“It seems this Whirlpool randomly leads to two other Whirlpools, one requires waiting, the other is safe.”

Last time, because they waited a moment, they got the chance to catch the fox dragon off guard while it was sleeping, so naturally, Sonya trusted the Observer’s judgment.

However, after waiting for about ten seconds and seeing the Whirlpool get smaller, she couldn’t help but become anxious, “If I can enter a Whirlpool just once, even dying would be worth it! It’s just a few days without being able to enter the Virtual Realm!”

Ashe glanced at her, “If I can’t enter the Virtual Realm for a few days, the probability of me collecting all the ‘Slay Me’ Miracle spirits will be even slimmer.”

Sonya was left speechless.

Compared to life, the growth of arcane energy truly was insignificant, but…

She looked at the Whirlpool shrinking more and more, wanting to speak but holding back, stopping and then wanting to speak again.

“Do you want to go in first? Let me wait until it’s safe before entering?” Ashe saw her thoughts at a glance, “It sounds feasible, but it’s not practical—you forgot, didn’t you? I can’t open the Gate of Truth in Prison. If you die, I won’t be able to enter the Virtual Realm either. We are bound together, for better or for worse.”

“However, I’m not sure if my judgment is correct. After all, there’s a fifty percent chance of reaching a safe Whirlpool. Even if we’re unlucky and end up in a dangerous one, we might not necessarily die. But if we miss the Whirlpool, we truly miss out. If you want to go, I don’t mind.”

“Really don’t mind?”

“I don’t mind.”

“You won’t secretly hold a grudge against me or seek revenge?”

“I won’t.”

“You won’t suddenly bring up this matter someday to accuse me?”

“I won’t.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“Observer, you are truly dishonest, even trying to deceive a college girl like me,” Sonya sighed, dejectedly staring at the Whirlpool. “If we really miss this Whirlpool, I’ll definitely never let you forget this moment every time you make a mistake in the future.”

“I really don’t mind, though.”

“I don’t believe that. If it were me, I would hold a grudge for a lifetime, never forgetting that I missed out on a Whirlpool opportunity until the day I die.”

Ashe collapsed in despair: “That’s you, not me. I’m not as… petty as you are.”

“I only trust myself, so I believe you’re the same kind of person,” Sonya pouted her lips.

“I’m not so selfish as to think that everyone else is selfless. Anyway, I’ve waited with you this time. You better remember that this is a huge sacrifice for me. You should jot down my good deeds in a little notebook and share with me any benefits you receive later on.”

Ashe was slightly stunned, suddenly feeling as if he had another reason to escape from prison.

Does this world really not have any strangers worth caring for? It seems that might not be the case.

“Of course, whenever I get a piece of meat to eat, I’ll definitely call you over to take in the aroma.”

“You really are a Small horn…”

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