Mage Manual-Chapter 565 - 458 Witch’s Skill

"Could there actually be a kingdom where the Four Pillars God Sect successfully subverts order and rules supreme? Where the Cult Leader is the embodiment of divine authority; where disbelief in the Four Pillars Gods lands you in prison; where everyone is incessantly bombarded day and night with spam from the Four Pillars Gods and yet unable to reply ’unsubscribe’..."

Indeed, such places do exist.

Ash was flipping through the Mage’s Handbook he held. Along their journey, they had inadvertently killed a Mage’s projection, and the Witch found information about the Four Pillars God Sect inside, which intrigued everyone, so she let him have a look—mainly because queens such as the White Queen forbade Diya from seeing such intelligence about Evil Gods.

For Ash, it hardly mattered. If the Four Pillars Gods truly had the power to corrupt, then every bit of the Cult Leader’s essence would be pure filth, devoid of any ’human’ element, not to mention the curse of Eternal Damnation was also upon him. He worried about being corrupted by the Four Pillars Gods about as much as a slab of meat worries about turning into a meal—neither was within their control.

The handbook’s owner was a Holy Temple Mage, allied with religious power, proficient in Fire Technique and gun technique, who had once earned the repute of ’Blast Knight’, hence temporarily referred to as Blast.

The handbook was organized as a typical battle record, documenting nine significant battles from birth to death. At first glance, that might seem few, but that’s because Blast had ignored all the battles he could win easily. Hence, these nine battles were either evenly matched or greatly skewed, with nearly each one a desperate fight between life and death.

In these nine battles, five were against the Four Pillars God Sect. Through Blast’s impressions of his enemies, Ash and his companions could almost visualize the rapid rise of the Four Pillars God Sect: first labeled as ’inconsequential heretics’, then ’somewhat troublesome thieves’, next ’competitors to the Holy Temple’, and eventually ’formidable foes’ and ’inescapable nightmares’!

It started with a ’battle of annihilation’ to suppress the Four Pillars God Sect, followed by a ’retreat battle’ marking successive defeats, and finally a ’defensive battle’ in a deadly struggle to protect the Holy Temple, clearly showing that the Holy Temple was almost shattered by the continued assault of the Four Pillars God Sect.

And it all seemed like another timeline for Ash, where he retaliates against Gerard. subverts Kaimon City, and eventually dominates the Blood Moon—but is it really so easy to mix with the Four Pillars God Sect in this kingdom?

Of particular interest, in the last battle, Blast didn’t actually think the Holy Temple would lose. ’Just bring out the ultimate weapon, and it will surely annihilate these heretics,’ this line appeared frequently. And considering Blast was a Two-winged Mage, his confidence was not out of arrogance. Yet, the Holy Temple’s base was still destroyed.

The reason was ’that woman actually turned the weapons against us, she actually sided with the Four Pillars God Sect.’

Consequently, Ash and his companions found it quite strange: how could the strongest combat power of a Mage organization be not the Mage themselves but an external thing that could be controlled?

It wasn’t that they were filled with ’Mage’s arrogance’; on the contrary, they were well aware that it was entirely typical for Mages to be weaker than artificial creations. Most Two-winged Mages likely couldn’t surpass guns in destructive capability, and their reconnaissance was generally inferior to drones, not to mention mobility—even Holy Sanctuary Mages preferred to ride in cars.

But guns could rust, drones could be shattered, and Floating Cars could turn into mobile tombs in a second. The power of a Mage lay in possessing Miracles that transcended rules; Instant Teleportation, Gun Explosion, Mind Shock, Time Passage... In the face of Miracles, artificial creations could only pale, only a Mage could contend with a Mage.

Moreover, Blast’s Holy Temple surely had Holy Sanctuary Mages, perhaps even Legendary Mages, yet their greatest strength was still an external object—in other words, could that kingdom create artifacts nearly as mighty as Angel combat power?

On second thought, Ash realized, did the Four Pillars God Sect there actually manage to gain the allegiance of Angel-like combat forces!?

Although Ash had no fondness for the Four Pillars God Sect, thinking of his own beginning as a survival game while others started with a strategic game, he couldn’t help but harbor a bit of resentment towards the Four Pillars Gods.

Fortunately, there was still Eternal Damnation at the bottom, or else Ash would feel he was the most miserable regional manager of the Four Pillars God Sect.

"But," Ash looked at the details of the last battle, "the ’woman who defected’...this description feels eerily familiar."

"There is a bit of that," Sonia and Diya nodded repeatedly.

However, news from other kingdoms was ultimately just trivial entertainment. After reading through this handbook, Ash acquired a new skill, "Cavalry Mastery." Although it was called cavalry mastery, it involved riding a motorcycle, making him a high-speed shooting Knight. It sounded full of bloodshed and thrilling violence.

But it was certainly more useful than something like "Fishing Mastery"—lately in Nabistin, everyone was moving around on motorcycles, and with "Cavalry Mastery," Ash could now race with Hanna.

Speaking of which, Ash couldn’t help but glance at Diya, "Witch, how many skills have you mastered?"

Since arriving in the Time Continent, the Mage’s Handbooks collected by the team were primarily supplied to the Witch. Moreover, with her killing three or four fraudulent Mages every night, Ash realized that the Witch’s reading volume seemed a bit outrageous.

"Ah?" Diya blinked, thought for a moment, "Actually, most skills are not very useful. The slightly useful ones that Sister Bai and the others think are just ’Financial Analysis,’ ’Political Manipulation,’ ’Human Anatomy,’ ’Social Ecology Research,’ ’Expression Management,’ ’Water Engineering Research,’ ’Cryptography,’ ’Love Hunt’..."

Diya casually listed a dozen skill names, then added, "...and several dozen other skills. Actually, they’re not that useful, but since I haven’t systematically studied, I can only rely on reading the Mage’s Handbook to acquire various knowledge..."

However, the Cult Leader and the Village Girl were already dumbfounded at this moment. They had never imagined that the most knowledgeable person present would be the seemingly dullest Witch.

Illiteracy is myself!

"You could even become an emperor with all those practical skills," Sonia said with some envy. "They must be really helpful in your life, right?"

"Ah?" Diya blinked her eyes. She recalled Liss needed Auntie Bokin for her hair, Ash for sleeping, and after a little study each day, she could go enjoy food and fun, "Probably... yes?"

The Village Girl, unable to casually read the Mage’s Handbook, was envious but not jealous. After all, the majority of the high-value Technique Spirits collected by the team were handled by her, and those could be traded for real silver and gold.

Since she had financial surplus, she could even send money home, allowing her the dignity to be selective with the opportunities others offered her, rather than devaluing herself prematurely for the sake of money.

For instance, as the face of a brand before and after the Meteor Disaster, she was offered twenty times the initial rate. Although still not a match for the top Shadow Actress like Dedarose, it was enough to prove that there was room for appreciation in her commercial value.

If she could secure first place in the college league, then the Village Girl might as well make a breakthrough into films, release an album, and rapidly become a top-tier star on the same level as Dedarose—even if not a noble, she would then have the wealth of a tycoon!

That way, she could confidently maintain even a Legendary Mage!

This was Sonia’s little goal: to earn enough money to support a Legendary Mage!

After all, even if the Observer was reborn more formidable, he would probably only be a Legendary Mage.

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l