Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 382: Surrender

If one were to choose the person who helped Ashe the most in Shattered Lake Prison, the answer would be almost indisputable—not Harvey, not Langna, not 222, and certainly not Igor, but Valcas Uhl.

Without Valcas, Ashe would have long since become a firework in the Blood Moon Tribunal. It was precisely because of the rare occurrence of the “Judgment Elf” that drew out the deep-seated malice of the citizens of Kaimon City, that Ashe, the rapidly rising and notorious cult leader, barely escaped his fate.

Valcas, of course, did not intend to save Ashe. Even when he sent the Heart Sword, Earth Sword, Wind Wall, and other spirits to Ashe before his death, it was merely to spite Sylin.

Ashe did not think he needed to feel indebted to Valcas. In fact, after experiencing a series of ups and downs—escaping prison, fleeing the Blood Moon, joining the Funeral, escaping Azura, the white mist anomaly, being captured by Belldate, and more—Ashe had almost forgotten about the elf who had once shielded him.

Encountering Valcas in the Virtual Realm was unexpected, yet made perfect sense.

Upon a sorcerer’s death, their soul falls into the six layers of hell, stripping away all emotions and leaving only the purest memories and soul. These are then transformed into sorcerer projections in the Virtual Realm, becoming a legacy test for future sorcerers.

This forced tradition prevents sorcerers from monopolizing intellectual property. Even if kingdoms close their borders, knowledge still circulates within the Virtual Realm, leading to the flourishing of sorcerer civilization.

As a two-wings sorcerer, Valcas naturally became a sorcerer projection on the Time Continent upon his death. Since heroic soul commanders are transformed from sorcerer projections, it was only logical that he would become a heroic soul commander.

以下是翻译后的章节内容：

When Valcas had just died, Ashe had wondered if he might encounter her projection in the Virtual Realm. He just hadn’t expected fate to be so uncanny.

But—

“Aren’t you a man?” Ashe asked, dumbfounded.

He and Valcas had fought each other before, and no matter how blind Ashe was, he could still tell the difference between a man and a woman!

“I haven’t always been a man,” the heroic soul Valcas said calmly. “After being a female elf for nearly a hundred years, it was only natural to want to experience the world as a male elf. This is a very common thought among the Elf, and humans also choose their preferred gender upon reaching adulthood. Almost every elf I remember has gone through a ‘gender-changing period.’ If they liked it, they stayed that way; if not, they changed back.”

“Apart from curiosity about the opposite sex, another reason was that I had my own child. According to my thinking, if I didn’t undergo cosmetic surgery, living with my child in the future would arouse suspicion from the Beloved Church. But since I was already altering my appearance, I decided to change my gender as well. This way, at worst, people would suspect me of being a pedophile elf, rather than suspecting a blood relationship with my child.”

“However, biomechanical modifications in reality are not recognized by the Virtual Realm, which only reflects the true form of my soul. So, I’ve reverted to my original appearance… Any other questions?”

Questions? Too many!

Turning cosmetic surgery into gender change? Like opting to buy a house instead of just renting, because why not? This was a complete slippery slope!

Although Ashe had heard many times that the biomechanical modifications under the Blood Moon were the best in the world, he had thought such technological advancements mainly allowed the lower classes to adapt to advanced capitalist production through mechanical modifications. He never imagined the middle class would be so adept at this too—he couldn’t even tell Valcas had ever been anything but male!

This did make things a bit tricky, though.

Seeing Ashe silently raise his long sword, Valcas gently brushed her fingers along the blade, assuming a standard swordsmanship stance: “Do you want to kill me too?”

“Yes,” Ashe said bluntly. “Killing a commander can yield a map, soul summoning spirit, and commander handbook, all of which are resources I desperately need. As I mentioned earlier, I am being hunted by the Spider Tower and can’t miss any opportunity to quickly increase my strength… I need to protect the people I care about.”

Indeed, Valcas had saved Ashe, and the spirits she sent had helped him immensely—without the Heart Sword, Ashe would never have been able to perform the Slash Me Miracle and break out of prison; the Miracle of the Earth Sword and Wind Wall combination, the “sword body barrier,” remains a crucial part of his tactical system.

But Valcas was already dead, crushed into a smear of blood by the Titan executioner in the Blood Moon Tribunal.

What remained before Ashe now was just a memory of the past, a soul enlightened by the Divine Sovereign.

Although Ashe couldn’t quite appreciate Harvey’s Necromancy Sect, the necromancers had a saying that was very true: the dead should serve the living, not the other way around.

Even if he felt a bit uneasy, Ashe wouldn’t hesitate. He carried more than just his own life; he bore the future of the sword Princess and the Witch.

“To protect others…” Valcas nodded. “I see, there’s no helping it then.”

“So, Valcas,” Ashe took a deep breath, “please instruct me—”

“Can you not take the commander handbook?”

Prepared for combat, Ashe was taken aback by this request. After a moment, he replied, “…I suppose so?”

The benefits of the commander handbook were mainly in command skills and sect experience, neither of which were particularly useful to a sorcerer like Ashe, who didn’t need the command skills and wasn’t desperate for a bit of sect experience.

But why ask this?

“I can give you the soul summoning spirit and the map,” Valcas said calmly. “Can you spare my life?”

Ashe was stunned for a moment. “…Why?”

“I no longer have any soul power left. Continuing to fight you would likely result in my death. If I can trade some resources for my life, it’s a deal worth making,” Valcas explained. “Unless it’s a war between Kingdoms, a commander doesn’t need to fight to the death—dying here won’t earn any merit.”

“But the last commander I fought battled me to the very end…”

“Perhaps he believed he had a chance to defeat you until the very last moment,” Valcas shook her head. “But I have no soul power, no followers; my chances of winning are too slim.”

“But you’re not the type to surrender without a fight!”

Valcas was slightly taken aback and asked, “In your impression, what kind of person am I?”

“Proud, impulsive, emotional, and you like to provoke others with sharp words,” Ashe said. “Even if you knew you would lose, you would definitely try to fight me to the end until there was no hope… More accurately, you’re someone who would rather die than compromise.”

“If you were willing to compromise, you wouldn’t have died in the first place.”

The main reason Sylin forced Valcas to her death was that Valcas refused to give up raising her child. Despite being an Elf, Valcas ended up in prison, and Sylin played a significant role in that. Yet, Valcas refused to compromise until the end, insisting on violating the Bloodline Prohibition Law. It was only after being completely disappointed that Sylin decisively abandoned the child he had watched grow up… or rather, the daughter.

In a sense, Sylin was the ultimate double standard—he took care of Valcas himself but wouldn’t allow Valcas to care for her own child.

However, it was precisely because of this contradictory understanding that Sylin so vehemently prohibited Valcas from repeating his mistakes—in the Blood Moon, “selfishness” was the only political correctness. Everything Sylin did was in the hope that Valcas would become more selfish and more adaptable to survival in Blood Moon society; this was his way of showing kindness to Valcas.

“If Valcas couldn’t become ‘normal,’ then perhaps letting her die was the best outcome”… Ashe didn’t know Sylin’s true thoughts, but he felt this might be what Sylin believed.

After all, even someone as powerful as mayor Fenanshe couldn’t be in contact with his own son. In the vast Blood Moon, was there really a place that could accommodate a parent and child?

“Is that so?” Valcas said. “So that’s the kind of person Valcas is?”

Ashe realized something. “Valcas, you…”

The female Elf sheathed her sword, looked around, and walked over to sit on a larger rock. Seeing this, Ashe couldn’t maintain his combat stance and went over to sit cross-legged.

“What do you want to know?”