Mage Manual

After getting off the sightseeing train, Freyja pulled Ash along to her house, but Siflin had already made arrangements. Kaimon City was her territory after all, and Siflin finally showed the majesty of the Blood Moon Legendary, summoning several luxury cars to take everyone to the most prestigious luxury hotel in Kaimon City, booking an entire floor to avoid any senseless fools disturbing the demigods’ rest.

"Please rest well, the restaurant for dinner has also been booked, and tonight I will gather various tourism plans for you to choose from." Siflin nodded slightly, "Welcome to Kaimon City."

Everyone thanked her and entered their respective rooms. Before Freyja and Ash entered their room, Siflin knocked Meiwa out and dragged her away, politely waving goodbye to everyone.

Upon entering the room, Ash first checked for any Miracle Wave, then turned around and saw a bed large enough to fit seven people. He stared at the bed for a moment, thinking that the Blood Moon culture had its merits; hotels in other countries wouldn’t prepare such large beds.

The first day had no scheduled activities and was for free time. Whenever Ash traveled, on the first day, he would stay at the hotel no matter where he was. Despite not feeling tired, he enjoyed this lazy rhythm of life, spending a day doing nothing; it felt like he had stolen a day from the world.

But once Sonia and the others were done changing, they would probably drag him out to explore... Though Ash wasn’t particularly eager to go out, he didn’t dislike being taken out. For him, shopping was quite dull, but with friends or a lover, it wasn’t dull at all.

Ash entered the bathroom to freshen up, and upon entering, he saw a small bat perched on the light fixture. He nonchalantly washed his hands and suddenly blocked the faucet with his finger, precisely spraying water at the small bat on the light.

"Are you still immature!?"

The small bat transformed into Siflin and landed down, arms crossed, staring at him angrily. Ash wiped his hands dry, snorting with laughter, "Who told you to peep at me in the bathroom, you naughty bat!"

"Who peeped at you!" Siflin seethed, showing her sharp teeth, "It’s not like I haven’t seen it before!"

"What brings you here?" Ash laughed, "Freja and I just got caught once; I don’t want to get caught again with you... Getting caught twice in one day would ruin my reputation."

"You actually have a reputation?" Siflin questioned, "Aren’t you the infamous trash bin known from the Blood Moon to Dazzling Star?"

Ash shrugged, "But getting caught twice in a day means a trash bin with an IQ problem."

Siflin rolled her eyes at him, then looked down without speaking. Ash didn’t urge her, instead combing his bangs in the mirror.

"Don’t let Meiwa get hurt," she suddenly said.

"Freyja is already a Legendary Mage," Ash chuckled, "Those in the mortal world who can harm her are few and far between."

"Just happens that all such people are around you," Siflin sighed, "Earlier, when she hugged you to act cute, you have no idea how nervous I was. I really feared that the women around you might suddenly become fierce... She’s just a mere Legend."

"The Sword Maiden and the others aren’t as unreasonable as you think," Ash replied, "Even if they’re truly angry, they’ll only vent it on me. They know very well, the only person who’s deserving of punishment is me, and can only be me."

"Understanding rationally is one thing, letting emotions vent is another," Siflin said, "If they’re unwilling to hurt you, where will they place their full resentment? To escape fate, people learn to deceive themselves and to bully the weak."

Ash looked at Siflin in the mirror, speaking seriously, "I promise Freyja won’t get hurt."

"Will you not hurt her either?" Siflin looked at him, "You know how fiercely and humbly she feels for you... If you give her a little sunshine, she’ll shine; give her a little river, she’ll overflow; as long as you’re willing to give her a bit of love, she’ll be satisfied."

Ash softly said, "I actually don’t wish for this to happen."

"But it’s already like this," Siflin said, "I just want to say... I’ve been with her the entire year, though I really don’t agree with her feelings, and think you’re not the right lover, yet she’s truly become better through chasing you; that’s why Hanna, Tamasi, and I willingly support her."

"She’s my best friend," she looked down, "Don’t hurt my friend."

Ash turned to glance at her, smiling, "Of course, she’s the second person to make me feel there’s warmth and humanity in the Kingdom of Blood Moon."

"Who’s the first? The Sword Maiden?"

"It’s the Medical Practitioner [222]," Ash blinked, "I still think that crow healer outfit suits you more."

Siflin snorted, "I’ve been away from Shattered Lake Prison for a long time, don’t call me 222 anymore."

"Then what should I call you? Siflin?"

"Also don’t call me by my name," the little bat shivered slightly, "Feels weird."

"Then..." Ash hesitated a moment, "Wife?"

"Get lost!"

Siflin approached Ash, saying seriously, "Don’t think that just because we did those things together back then, it meant something; you know for us Blood Moonians, promiscuity is quite normal. That time I was simply indulging with Freyja and the others, conveniently progressing to Legendary. We have no relationship!"

"Not friends?"

"Just friends!"

Ash pressed his lips together in thought for a moment, seemingly torn about something, before sighing helplessly and cupping Siflin’s face to kiss her. At first, Siflin was a bit taken aback, but soon she wrapped her arms around Ash’s waist, pushing him against the wall for a deep kiss.

"What are you doing?" Siflin spoke nonchalantly, but her face blushed to her ears, "Are you bullying people because you’re a Demigod Mage?"

"Maybe it’s because of the experience I’ve gained from spending too much time with girls." Ash blinked, "I felt like you wanted me to kiss you just now."

"What kind of jerk intuition is that..." Siflin muttered, poking Ash’s lips with her finger, "Freyja, Sword Maiden, me... In just a few hours, you’ve kissed so many girls back to back. Are you a Meiwa who accepts all women indiscriminately?"

"Of course not!" Ash shook his head, "I have feelings for you."

"We haven’t seen each other for so long, where do you get those feelings?"

"You have feelings for me, so I have feelings for you."

Siflin pressed her lips together, "We Blood Moonians don’t develop feelings for someone just because we had a moment—especially not one that happened outside reality."

"But I do." Ash chuckled softly, "I find it hard to say no to my woman’s requests."

"Who’s your woman!" Siflin stomped on Ash’s foot hard, retreated to the door, and said, "I’m not like that silly girl Freyja. Even if I do want you to kiss me, and even if it happens again, it would be me hiring you. I won’t jump into your firepit! Goodbye!"

Watching Siflin turn into a small bat and leave, Ash looked down at his boot, just about to squat down to clean it, when Siflin flew back in a hurry and leapt at him. Under his puzzled gaze, she opened her mouth, exposed her sharp teeth, and bit his neck hard.

She couldn’t pierce it.

Ash’s soul body was no joke; a mere Legendary Mage without a Miracle would find it hard to even scratch his skin. Siflin bit several times but couldn’t even leave a mark, instead it was more like she was kissing his neck.

"Do you need me to lower my defenses a bit?" Ash asked kindly.

"Mmm." Siflin nodded.

With Ash’s effort, Siflin finally pierced his neck and left bite marks. She snorted, "We Blood Saint Clan leave marks on our subjects after enjoyment, representing our level of recognition for the pleasure."

"No wonder you suddenly bit me then, I thought you were uncomfortable, but it turns out it was the opposite..."

"The point is, this means you’re the Servant!" Siflin argued, "I’m enjoying your Supreme of Magic services! Next time I’ll really bite you hard! Goodbye!"

She turned into a small bat and left, but flew so quickly she slammed into the wall. Ash watched with a mix of amusement and concern, though Siflin seemed embarrassed and quickly slipped away.

Finally alone, Ash washed his face and let out a long sigh while drying. His brows were furrowed with a hint of confusion.

He knew something was wrong with himself.

In the past, even if he received Siflin’s ambiguous signals, he would feign ignorance or actively avoid them.

He has always mistrusted brief impulses leading to pleasure, believing instead that feelings tempered by time were far more precious... and he consistently acted on that belief.

Responding to impulsive emotions from others, for him, was irresponsible.

Yet today, he didn’t evade Felix, Freyja, Siflin’s feelings, and even actively responded to their impulsive suggestions. Looking back, he felt like a lovesick goof.

Now he truly couldn’t deny he wasn’t a trash bin, Ash thought.

But he really couldn’t just ignore their feelings... If in the past he could still wait to test everything with time, now there was no time left. He didn’t want the tender dreams of these young girls to become minor regrets under the end-time skies.

However, it might not be for such moralistic reasons... maybe under pressure, he wanted to indulge himself, to go wild one last time, and face life’s end without regrets.

"Life is short." Ash chuckled bitterly, looking up at his reflection.

And there he saw, a blood-drenched Death Mad standing behind him.

"Stretch out your palm," Death Mad said coldly, "Today I won’t stop until I burn through it."

Ash turned, shocked, but his gaze was immediately drawn to the objects she held: "What are these?"

"Helmet of the Tyrant, mask of the traitor, skull of the Merciful Father, skin of the Prince."

Death Mad threw the blood-soaked items to the ground and said, "While you were out like a Meiwa, I wasn’t idle—I took a trip to the Divine Domain."

"Killed all the Gods of Four Pillars."