Sorcerer’s Handbook

The sensation of blood sliding across the skin felt like being caressed.

On the fifteenth level of the Silent Spiral, Gwen raised her head, watching Igor's blood slide down her arm, and a strange thought suddenly crossed her mind-his blood is warm too.

But this was not a good sign.

Igor was already in a critical condition, not even out of life-threatening danger. The concentrated attack from the Black Feather Guard had damaged most of his organs, breaking several ribs, with one piercing into his lung. If not for timely treatment, he might have already stepped into hell.

Even so, he remained in a state of massive blood loss and other Negative Statuses. The treatment from the Hydrotherapy spirit also relied on consuming life force. After such a severe injury, Igor had lost at least several years of his lifespan and exhausted all the life force stored in his cells. Normally, he should immediately enter a deep recovery sleep.

Like Ashe in Shattered Lake Prison, every time his body was wrecked, he would sleep soundly on the Healer's bed before waking up.

The fact that the Con Artist could still stay awake was already a result of using Mental spellcasting to deceive his body. Even if he suddenly fainted in the next second, his body had done its utmost for him.

But to pull Gwen up, Igor had to squeeze out the last bit of energy from his body. His freshly healed wounds burst open again, and newly healed muscles tore once more. This ragged doll continued to spill its stuffing.

Drip.

Soon, Igor's right hand turned into a bloody arm, with all the wounds on his arm and shoulder bursting open. Although Gwen couldn't see it, the wounds on Igor's other exertion points, like his left hand, chest, and waist, must have opened too.

Gwen quietly watched Igor's bleeding right hand without speaking. Igor still held her arm tightly, his nails almost digging into her flesh, without saying a word.

Suddenly, Gwen drew the dagger from her waist. It was a gift from Ashe, custom-made in Black Robe Town, with a walnut handle and black steel blade, the blade engraved with the Radiant Golden "Gwen," no surname, just the name. Gwen liked this gift very much and usually didn't want to use it.

Yet now, her hand trembled as she summoned the spirit, first tearing her already ragged pants, revealing smooth, taut thighs, and then-

"What are you doing?"

"Reducing weight," Gwen succinctly explained.

"No point," Igor calmly replied. "If it's just a matter of weight, you could spread your virtual wings and fly up yourself. But you can't resist the downward pull, and I can't lift you an inch despite using all my strength, showing that what we're fighting against is not natural gravity, but a Miracle beyond reality."

"It matters," she softly said. "At least you don't have to pull me so hard."

"If I need you to do something, I'll say so," Igor coldly said. "Don't be so self-righteous. If you have nothing to do, just feel it and tell me if you sense anything unusual."

Gwen closed her eyes, thought for a moment, and said, "…I feel like I'm in a waterfall, endless Riptides washing over me…and the Riptides are so fine, fine enough to pass through my body…"

"I feel like a drop of water in the stream."

Igor was silent for a moment, then suddenly asked, "You have a Hydrotherapy spirit, check if there's any change in your body."

Gwen summoned the Hydrotherapy spirit, using the power of water to retrieve her body's interior. After a while, she slowly shook her head, her voice somewhat dry, "I…didn't find any problems."

Igor looked at her for a while, lowered his eyelids, "That's good."

However, Gwen opened up, "Mr. Igor, I've always wanted to tell you all a joke, but never found the chance, couldn't naturally blend it into the conversation like Mr. Ashe."

Igor said, "Of course, he's foolish enough to do it effortlessly."

"You know, in Senlo's night, there's only Choking Green, no moon, no stars," Gwen said. "But I'm a Star sorcerer, isn't that funny?"

The Con Artist's lips bore a bloodstain, clearly a sign of internal bleeding from his ruptured organs. Yet he smiled, "You indeed have no talent for jokes."

"I learned about stars from books," Gwen said. "They appear in the night, twinkling to illuminate the earth, so even at night, it won't be dark; they form many patterns, creating many bands of light, the starry sky is much prettier than daytime; there's even the Adventure of meteors, making wishes upon them to fulfill desires…"

"I'm quite envious that at your age, you can still have such unrealistic fantasies, though the last one is almost an unfounded urban legend," Igor said. "You'll be disappointed."

"No," Gwen said. "Even if there's only one star in the night, I'd be satisfied. As a child, I always thought, the night is so dark, yet so vast, it's incredibly lonely. Even one star shining in the night wouldn't seem so solitary."

"Surely many people are like me, lonely at night, staring at the pitch-black sky. If there's a star accompanying us, at least we'd have a friend."

"I thought this every night, and unknowingly summoned the Starlight Spirit." Gwen turned her head, looking at the Starlight Spirit on her shoulder, "I always felt I wasn't the only Star sorcerer. Surely many people are like me, looking at the empty night, thinking of the sparkling stars."

Igor suddenly coughed twice, tightly closing his mouth and throat, making a swallowing motion, his voice hoarse, "Organize it, and tell them this joke next time. I guarantee Ashe and Chikara will at least smile."

Gwen stared at him blankly, softly said, "Don't swallow it back, if you want to vomit, just do it."

Igor said, "I just think coughing up blood looks ugly."

Gwen shook her head, exhaled deeply, and said, "Actually, I lied to you earlier, I feel some changes in my body. The invisible Riptide is eroding me as it washes over. Although I haven't changed yet, once a certain threshold is crossed, I might collapse."

She whispered, "Like water dissolving into water."

"Yeah, I guessed."

"You guessed?"

"Who do you think you are, who do you think I am?" Igor coldly said. "I'm a Con Artist, able to grasp someone's character within half an hour, and you've been in my sight for over a month. Do you think there's any secret left in my eyes?"