Mage Manual

Ash realized he was dreaming.

In the dream, he hadn’t crossed over to the mage world but was reborn in the vibrant university days, that wonderful time when he was thrilled to finally break free from his parents’ constraints and live independently in the big city. The dorm was old, the air conditioning was absent, early classes were a daily occurrence, but it was undeniably joyful.

Previously, his university life was all about gaming in the dorm with his roommates for four years, letting loose the repressed laziness and carefreeness from the twelve years of hard study. It seemed like nobody needed to worry about the future. In the end, after graduation, some roommates went back to inherit their family businesses, while others quietly took civil service exams. Luckily, Ash keenly sensed that the era of mobile games was coming, and after graduation, he joined a major mobile game company. Although he would often slack off, the company was quite profitable, so even after playing for four years in college, he still managed to do quite well.

After his rebirth, Ash naturally couldn’t be so indulgent, but he didn’t need to work too hard either. He stored some promising cryptocurrencies and comfortably enjoyed the rose-colored campus life, participating in various club activities. Singing performances with the Anime Association’s Dream Sound Group, collaborating on performances with the drama club’s script department, racing downhill on the road with the skateboard club...

Gradually, his relationships with several women became intimate. Take, for example, the girl he met in the skateboard club. She would race downhill, using her glove to brake and adjust direction before stylishly stopping in front of Ash, removing her helmet to reveal her brilliant red hair, leaving him heart-pounding; or the cute junior he met in Dream Sound, whom he performed with many times and who always liked to call him "dad," much to his annoyance; not forgetting the silver-haired senior from the drama club, who would always end up biting his lip during mistaken kiss scenes; and the sharp-tongued, cunning female professor whose presence became subtly charged after he saw her working part-time at a maid cafe...

That day, the red-haired girl said she got injured while training, and Ash quickly went to take care of her. But at the same time, the junior, the senior, and the professor all fell ill or got injured, leaving Ash extremely busy caring for them and managing each injury. Although two classmates wanted to help, Ash felt he could handle it alone.

Seeing them all recover their spirits, Ash finally relaxed, refusing their thanks and returning to the dorm full of pride before going to sleep...

"Ah...?"

Ash slowly opened his eyes and saw the familiar tent patterns.

As he tried to sit up, Felix immediately came over to support him: "Vishi said you shouldn’t move around, just stay seated in bed. Here, have some water."

Felix tucked a pillow behind Ash and carefully fed him sips of water. Dedarose pulled open the tent flap, "The Observer’s awake? I’ll let the others know."

Ash noticed it was night outside and asked, "How long was I asleep?"

"Not long at all, roughly three hours," Felix checked his pocket watch, "How are you feeling now?"

"Still feel like I’m not fully awake, can’t muster any strength..." Ash coughed slightly and touched his face, "It still stings a bit... and both sides hurt."

"It’d be strange if your face didn’t hurt..." Felix muttered, "Really no strength? No particularly strong desires?"

"I guess not?" Ash was puzzled, "Why are you asking?"

"Though Vishi said you might forget, I thought I’d check," Felix continued, "Can you recall the last thing you remember?"

Ash pondered for a while, "We crossed the Sky Gate, and I destroyed it with a sword... right, we crossed the Sky Gate! Which kingdom did we end up in? Blood Moon? Or Gospel? Or maybe Paradise Abyss?"

"It was Senluo, but leave that aside for a moment. Do you not remember what happened afterward?"

Ash was taken aback, Senluo?

Did they actually reach the already-destroyed Kingdom of Senluo?

But with five Sky Gates leading to five kingdoms, ending up in Senluo wasn’t surprising. At least they escaped the Star Cluster Dominion’s pursuit, where the Celestial Angels couldn’t hunt them directly. In this perspective, any kingdom they reached would be the same.

Reflecting carefully, Ash realized that Senluo might actually be a good choice, considering the Star Cluster’s absorption of other kingdoms. They could risk exposing themselves under Star Cluster’s gaze anywhere else, but not here, where Senluo lay in ruins beyond their reach, offering Ash and his companions peace of mind.

Survival was the only issue, but they, being demigod mages, had more than half a year’s worth of food stocked in spatial equipment, and could even artificially accelerate plant growth if needed. Half a year should be enough to figure a way out, giving Ash time to search for traces of Igula and Harvey.

Never forget, they rampaged together through the Senluo Wasteland for several months.

Although the towns they passed, the strangers they met, the sights they saw no longer existed, Ash realized that these traces didn’t depend on physical things. The first trace was the promise left by the "Technique Spirit of Justice," and the second was a joke once told by Harvey—neither related to physical objects but were drifting phantoms even Ash wouldn’t normally notice.

He vaguely understood that these traces’ true significance lay in their shared past, enabling him to tie those connections into their future.

Besides collecting traces, coming to Senluo also allowed Ash to realize a long-held wish...

"Really can’t remember?" Felix asked, "Think again, leave this Senluo thing aside first."

"Didn’t I just fall asleep afterward?" Ash blinked, confused, "Did something happen? More important than Senluo?"

"Not more important, but possibly revealing your hidden secrets..."

Felix fed him more water, glancing repeatedly at Ash’s lower half concealed by the blanket, "We all know now that you sold your soul to protect us."

Thump.

Ash was stunned, sipping warm water as his body grew cold inch by inch, ice shards seeming to form in his veins.

Had he been exposed? Did they find out about selling 25% of his soul?

No, more critically, what had he done to make them discover he lost 25% of his soul!? Had his personality veered sharply toward that of a Youmo and made him commit countless heinous acts?

Thinking of how Youmos casually destroyed life like dressing or eating, and tortured others as naturally as breathing or sleeping, Ash’s mind began to shake, he urgently asked, "What did I do?"

"You..."

Felix hesitated, started speaking, then paused, finally sighing deeply.

"You violated the Sword Maiden when she was unable to move."

Ash was taken aback.

"You also violated the Witch, Silver Lamp, and Vishi."

Ash blinked.

"And you played with all four together."

Ash’s body started to shake.

"And they woke up soon after, only weakened by soul injuries making movement difficult," Felix continued, "But you didn’t stop, escalating your demands to make them comply with you."

Ash lay back down, covering his head with the blanket, "My head feels dizzy, need to rest longer, don’t tell them I’m awake."