Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 332: Senhaesers Dream

After dinner, Ashe returned to the gaming floor to continue his battle against the Extreme Mode.

Before parting ways, he had created an Advanced Substitute for Little Lise and casually asked why the Substitute had disappeared. According to Ashe’s initial spellforce, the Advanced Substitute should have lasted the entire day, but by the afternoon, Ashe felt his Substitute had vanished.

Lise innocently replied that she didn’t know either. She hadn’t made the Substitute do any heavy work; it just carried her a bit, sang a few songs, and helped her grab some books.

Ashe figured that the combined effect of two spirits might have increased the spellforce consumption, so he didn’t think too much of it and handed over the Substitute’s order permissions to Lise, letting her take it away.

However, the Substitute behaved rather strangely, looking back at Ashe every few steps, as if it had a lot to say.

But Ashe, eager to play Epic, had no time to focus on the signals from the Substitute. His mind was preoccupied with whether he should switch his gaming profession.

The original account holder’s main profession was a battle sorcerer, so Ashe initially played as a battle sorcerer too. However, he discovered that in high-difficulty raids, the hardest profession to play was the healing sorcerer, followed by the damage-absorbing sorcerer, and lastly, the battle sorcerer.

Of course, the healing sorcerer in Epic wasn’t a “life profession” performing surgeries in a hospital, but more akin to a “battlefield medic.” In Epic, healing sorcerers are primarily responsible for timely healing and group defense, damage-absorbing sorcerers for attracting enemy attention and leading enemy skills, and battle sorcerers simply need to find safe opportunities to unleash bursts of damage.

Due to the high enemy damage in high-difficulty raids, it’s easy for the team to suffer casualties or even wipe out. Therefore, the competency of the healing sorcerer is crucial to the team’s survival. While a battle sorcerer slacking off merely means the enemy isn’t defeated, a healing sorcerer slacking off means the team gets defeated.

He realized that many teams’ strategic decisions and commands were made by healing sorcerers. In fact, healing sorcerers stationed at the rear had a better overall view of the situation, making them ideal for command positions. Additionally, a competent healing sorcerer needed to be aware of each team member’s condition, which required a level of tactical expertise surpassing that of battle sorcerers and damage-absorbing sorcerers.

According to the principle of equal responsibilities and rights, healing sorcerers, bearing such significant responsibilities, naturally are granted higher command authority.

Aspiring to become the team’s commander, Ashe naturally needed to take on the challenge of the most difficult profession.

Although Ashe currently didn’t possess a Healing Miracle, the “sword body barrier” was definitely a remote shield miracle. It had saved the sword Princess Witch from danger multiple times, positioning him as a healing sorcerer in his current team.

There was also a minor reason: after a whole afternoon, his battle sorcerer account had gained a bad reputation. No team tackling Extreme Mode wanted to let him in, so Ashe had no choice but to switch his profession to a healing sorcerer and sneak into a newbie raid team, hoping he wouldn’t be recognized.

After reading some strategies, Ashe felt the heraldry on the back of his hand heating up, indicating that Senhaeser’s Family Rebirth Dream had been activated.

Should he go in and check it out?

Ashe was somewhat hesitant. He was quite interested in this small Virtual Realm, especially since it was described as a free Carnival dream world, which sounded a lot more fun than Epic.

However, after what Banjeet had told him, Ashe also felt a bit apprehensive. He had confidence in his self-control, but if there were dozens of Elves, housewives, queens, long straight black-haired beauties, twin-tailed blondes, white-haired girls, and other types of women clinging to him, he might end up renaming himself Ashe Senhaeser.

But if he didn’t go…?

Annan didn’t have any performance requirements for him, but Ashe had developed a driven mindset to strive for success.

Let’s not forget, although Ashe had successfully drawn the healing soul item, allowing him to come online in time before the next Spider Tower round, solving the immediate problem at hand.

Now he needed to face the second challenge—how would they handle the Empress’ heroic soul legion’s pursuit once they entered the Virtual Realm?

And it wasn’t just a pursuit for a day or two. As long as Ashe and his two companions hadn’t climbed to the third level of the Virtual Realm, they would have to deal with a heroic soul legion with combat power hundreds of times greater than theirs in each Spider Tower round.

The crisis wasn’t only within the Virtual Realm. In reality, the other end of Ashe’s Pact lock was still being wielded by Annan.

This time, Ashe was lucky enough not to be forced into a romantic situation by Annan, but who’s to say that next time she wouldn’t make him clean a cesspit, leaving him covered in filth?

Was there any way to put an end to these troubles once and for all?

The term that came to his mind was like a thirsty beast, eagerly drawing all his thoughts: the Divine Sovereign’s Wish.

With the Divine Sovereign’s Wish, whether it was Annan, the Gospel Book, or the Empress’ heroic soul, these problems would no longer be an issue.

If Ashe could make it onto the second Future Ranking list, it would likely increase his chances of obtaining the Divine Sovereign’s Wish.

Just then, the Gospel Book suddenly popped open by itself, turning to the page of Aurora’s Sorcerer Handbook.

“Operator ‘apocalypse observer’ has triggered a personal exclusive story quest.”

“A new module ‘Senhaeser’s Dream’ has been unlocked.”

To this day, this lousy game still had features he hadn’t played?

In the upper right corner of the “virtual realm exploration” section, there was a small “Senhaeser’s Dream” icon, like a fleeting temporary event task bar.

Clicking on “Senhaeser’s Dream,” Ashe saw an unprecedented sight—this event wasn’t blank but had exquisite event illustrations!

“Inside a high-rise office shrouded in white mist, an elegant and enchanting Beautiful Red Hat Elf sat on a throne, overlooking Vamora city through the floor-to-ceiling windows like a queen ruling the city! Beside her was a younger, more spirited Red Hat Elf, whispering in her ear.”

On either side of the event illustration were two options: “Dream Shard Redemption Shop” and “Dream Expedition.”

“Dream Expedition: You can now embark on a dream expedition. Each expedition will yield a varying amount of dream shards.”

Ashe first checked out the “Dream Shard Redemption Shop” and was instantly dazzled by the rewards: various Experience Orbs, not to mention the “Five Spirits of the Peerless Secret Sword Random Gift Box,” the “Time Spirit Random Gift Box,” the “Prophecy Spirit Random Gift Box,” and other miraculous items that he might never obtain even after a lifetime of grinding in the Virtual Realm!

Ashe hurriedly clicked on “dream expedition,” only to be immediately jolted awake:

“Warning: Operator’s soul damage detected. Participation in dream expedition is not recommended.”

Damn, my soul still has several days before it fully recovers, and by then, we might have already left Vamora!

However, Ashe noticed that the expedition button wasn’t grayed out, so he clicked it again:

“Soul damage detected in operator. ‘Substitute’ and ‘orders’ spirits detected. It is recommended that the operator dispatch a substitute for the dream expedition to avoid further soul damage.”

“Note ①: The substitute can still be used normally in reality during the dream expedition.”

“Note ②: During the dream expedition, the operator cannot obtain any dream intelligence or control the substitute’s actions, only the expedition’s rewards. Please choose wisely.”

Thump!

Ashe felt his heart racing, his breathing quickening, and his face heating up, every pore on his body bursting with excitement!

All he could see was that sentence—”It is recommended that the operator dispatch a substitute for the dream expedition!”

He could finally send a substitute to work in his place!

Auto-dungeon runs!

Proxy commands!

Earning rewards while lying down!

What more could he ask for!?

“Dream Expedition” – “Dispatch Substitute” – “Select Expedition Target,” Ashe opened the list and found that one of the options was indeed to engage in a romantic affair.

Then, three more options popped up on the screen.

“Please choose the substitute’s action style—”

“Apocalypse Observer: Calm type, suitable for intelligence gathering, sowing discord, creating chaos, etc. (Not recommended).”

“Death Maniac Sword Princess: Frenzied type, suitable for creating chaos, killing, arson, assassination, sabotage, etc. (Not recommended).”

“Black and White Witch: Joyful type, suitable for creating chaos, role-playing, manipulating emotions, etc. (Recommended).”

Instead of dispatching a real operator, it was just having the substitute mimic one of these action styles… Naturally, Ashe followed the game’s recommendation.

“Dream Expedition” – “Dispatch Substitute” – “Romantic Affair” – “Action Style (Black and White Witch),” confirm!

The heraldry on the back of his hand stopped heating up, and the in-game “dream expedition” status changed to “in progress.”

Ashe blinked.

Was it really that simple?

So… am I really free now?

Since Ashe had nothing else to do, he decided to switch his profession to healing sorcerer and mess around in the game.

In Lise’s room, Little Lise was talking to the mirror, saying who knows what, while the Substitute was hunched over the desk, browsing various ancient books. Whenever it encountered keywords like “Gospel Incarnation,” “Yisuo Royal Family,” or “Armored,” it would fold the page.

Once Deya and her sisters discovered that the Substitute had some level of intelligence, they decisively stopped Lise from exhausting its physical strength and switched to more advanced mental tasks.

Their Gospel points were still too few, so they didn’t qualify to directly inquire about deeper secrets. They could only hope to find some clues in the literature. Luckily, Senhaeser’s family had been prosperous for hundreds of years; otherwise, they wouldn’t have found so many materials.

Suddenly, the back of the Substitute’s hand heated up slightly.

The Substitute was momentarily dazed, then continued working.

At the same time, within the white Dream, a figure quietly appeared.

She looked at her Substitute’s appearance, spun around, and transformed into the appearance of the “Black and White Witch” portrait.

“If you’re happy and you know it, clap your hands~”

“If you’re happy and you know it, nod your head~”

“If you’re happy and you know it, then we’ll all go together~!”

By the time she finished singing the three lines, seventeen sisters had appeared around her. They were dressed differently, had different hair colors, and their expressions varied greatly, but their faces were identical.

“Do we really have to date that man on his behalf?”

“Such a hassle…”

“Annoying, don’t involve me in this.”

“Do we have to transform into him? No way, he’s so ugly.”

“Hey? I think he’s kind of cute, at least cuter than the Observer.”

“When you put it that way, it’s hard for me to argue with you. After all, there might not be anything more unappealing than the Observer even at the bottom of the Abyss.”

“Hungry, cake, red velvet cake, I want red velvet cake!”

As soon as the sisters appeared, they started expressing their opinions. Soon, opinions turned into arguments, arguments turned into screams, and screams turned into howls, almost shattering the white Dream with the noise-

“Shhh.”

The Witch gently placed a finger on her lips, and all fell silent.

“We are only here temporarily thanks to Ashe’s Substitute. Regardless, we still need to complete our mission. As for appearance, gender, and race, it doesn’t matter. We just need to resemble Ashe enough so that the Gospel will attribute our romantic escapades to his flirtatiousness.”

“As long as you make sure to develop a romance, you can do whatever you want with the rest of your time-don’t forget, this is the unrestrained Family Dream. Whatever you want to do, someone will join you in your madness.”

“Oh, and don’t forget about the Secret Incarnation.”

The Witch waved her hand, and a Gospel Book appeared in her grasp. The other sisters followed suit, each holding a Gospel Book.

“With our own accounts and the permissions of the Secret Incarnation, we can access most of the data and intelligence for free. While we can’t speak of it outside and can only use it here… you all know how to take advantage of this intelligence, right?”

“Read her desires!”

“Become her favorite!”

“Confuse her mind!”

The sisters’ eyes gleamed as they chanted wicked slogans, disappearing one by one into the mist.

“Well, I’d better start too.” The Witch murmured, “Miss Annan, the Elf patriarch, the not-yet-corrupted White Queen, the sane Black Butler, the Scarlet Dead Apostles I haven’t killed yet, and…”

“Damn, I want to play with every single one of them. Which one should I start with?”