Mage Manual

In the palace of the Ancient Battlefield, Sonia was lying on the bed, staring into space. Although their main palace is in the Sky Garden, they also built palaces in the Ancient Battlefield and Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon. However, compared to the bird-chirping flower-fragrance of the Sky Garden, the Ancient Battlefield and Wind, Flower, Snow, Moon were indeed less livable, with deserts or oceans outside.

The deep blue starlight streamed through the window veil, blending gently with the darkness inside the room. Loneliness permeated the air, yet it wasn’t suffocating. Rather, it allowed one to find peace and forget all worries. The day-night system of the Heavenly Kingdom was very simple; during the day, the Wonder provided light, and at night, it was removed, letting the star radiance from the Star Cluster on the seventh level of the Void Realm shine into the phase.

Sonia slowly sat up, the thin blanket sliding down to her thighs. She glanced at the night outside and murmured, "It’s so late."

She slipped on her shoes and socks, went to the mirror under the dim starlight, and scrutinized herself. "My eye rims look a bit red..."

Staring at the mirror, she began to space out again, forcing a smile and softly said to the red-haired girl in the reflection, "He doesn’t know I’m here."

The Sword Maiden, vibrant and gallant, returned as she gently wiped away the traces of weakness from her eye rims with her fingertips. She patted her cheeks, adjusted her mindset, and left the bedroom, preparing to go back to the Sky Garden side.

But just as she was about to leave the palace, she saw the Seven-winged Mage flying over from afar, with radiant colors trailing behind him like a meteor breaking through the night sky. Seeing Sonia appear, he hastened and shouted from afar, "Don’t run, don’t run away yet!"

Sonia looked at him and couldn’t help but laugh, intentionally making a turning-away gesture. Ash’s speed suddenly shot up by 100%, crashing into Sonia like a mud truck. They rolled over several times on the palace ground, Ash hurriedly said, "Take a look at this gift before you go, okay? I’ve been busy all afternoon!"

"Don’t worry, I’m not leaving."

Sonia smiled, looked at the gift Ash was cautiously protecting even while rolling, "This is..."

A bouquet of flowers.

A conical umbels arrangement with sparse branches, dotted with slightly glowing platinum-colored small flowers, looking as though the entire starry sky had been plucked down. Sonia took the bouquet, glanced left and right, and looked at Ash with a face full of confusion.

Ash seemed a bit tense, "How is it? Doesn’t it look good?"

"It looks good, but..." Sonia said, "I didn’t find anything special about it."

"It glows!"

"Besides looking good and glowing? You said you were busy all afternoon... Did you spend all that time preparing this bouquet?"

"Don’t think it’s simple. I spent a long time making the flowers grow around the Wish Pool, and this was possible because we moved the Wish Pool along with the ecosystem. Only then could I quickly construct the flower’s growing environment, and what you’re holding is the third version. I deemed the first two versions not good enough, so I improved them to the current one..."

"Wait," Sonia blinked, sharply catching the key point, "You made this using the Wish Pool yourself?"

"Yeah, if you don’t believe me, we could go see the Wish Pool!" Ash held Sonia’s hand, eager to fly out, proudly flaunting, "The plains around the Wish Pool are full of these flowers, both in the sky and on the ground it’s a sea of stars and extremely beautiful. I think we could camp there, or simply move the palace over there—"

"It’s not that I don’t believe you," Sonia held him back, amused and puzzled, "Just... if you wanted to give me flowers, can’t you just pick them from the Sky Garden? Why cultivate them yourself?"

"Because the Sky Garden belongs to Vishi," Ash looked at the red-haired girl, as if it were a matter of course, "This bouquet is a gift I want to give you; how could I pick them from her garden?"

Sonia paused, her expression gradually becoming tender, lowering her eyelids, she chuckled softly, "You..."

"What?"

"I said I really like it," Sonia held the bouquet and smiled, "But don’t you think it’s a bit of a waste for a Supreme of Magic to spend an afternoon researching flowers? It feels like I’ve become an evil concubine who confuses you away from your proper work."

"I also think so." Ash scratched his head, "In the past, I definitely wouldn’t do this. Even if I would gift you something, it’d be something useful for you. While passing by the Wish Pool, I pondered whether to summon a few rare Technique Spirits to help you, making a bouquet of Technique Spirit flowers that are not only beautiful but useful as well. Isn’t this more meaningful than just ordinary flowers?"

Sonia nodded repeatedly, seeing this realist who went against all romance as the Ash she knew, "Then why didn’t you do so?"

"How to put it..." Ash crossed his arms and pondered, "Probably because of a sense of security. I think we don’t always need to pursue meaning in everything, so... I just wanted to do something meaningless that would make you happy."

"Technique Spirit flowers are beautiful and functional, but this bouquet is just beautiful. Yet, I think receiving this bouquet would make you a little happier."

Sonia squinted, a dangerous curve arose at the corner of her mouth, "So you mean, I’m the kind of vulgar and vain, only caring about appearance, wanting to waste your time to gain your affection, foolish village girl?"

At this moment, Ash realized he was no match for this woman— I just said you might be a little happier, how could you interpret it to such an extent!? Even if it’s not quoting out of context, this is at least distortion, turning white into black, and forcefully accusing me of eating raw pork!

"Understand what to do now?" Sonia asked leisurely.

"Understood," Ash said gloomily, "I’ll make up for the Technique Spirit bouquet tomorrow."

"Good boy."

Sonia turned around to leave, and Ash watched her nervously. However, she merely took out a vase, placed the bouquet into it, poured some water to facilitate its care, and positioned it at the center of the palace for admiration.

"Didn’t you say you didn’t like it?"

"Who said I didn’t like it?" Sonia rolled her eyes at him and asked, "Does this kind of flower have a name?"

"I nurtured it through the Wish Pool, primarily blending the Law of the Wish Technique Spirit," Ash pondered, "Let’s call it the Desire Flower!"

"Ew." Sonia looked disgusted, "Even if you named it Dazzling Star, I would consider you put in some effort. Can you be a bit more thoughtful?"

"Then why don’t you try naming it?" Ash retorted with dissatisfaction.

"It’s related to the Wish Technique Spirit, and looks like a sky full of stars..." Sonia mused for a moment, then blinked at Ash:

"How about calling it ’A Heart to Wish For’?"

Several kilometers away, the fields surrounding the Wish Pool were awash with glittering white flowers, merging into a dazzling sea of stars, dreamlike and serene. In the palace on the Ancient Battlefield, Ash rushed over, embracing Sonia, yet too fearful to exert much strength, almost cautiously, as if the person in his arms was a bubble that might burst at any moment.

"Can we not argue like this next time?" Ash whispered, "I’m truly scared you’ll suddenly disappear and leave me."

"Are you even qualified to say such things?" Sonia embraced his waist, resting her chin on his shoulder, whispering in his ear: "Clearly, it’s you who likes to vanish suddenly."

"So you won’t break up, right?" Ash asked nervously, "Let’s agree first, even if you wish to part ways, I’ll still cling to you. There’s no way I can bear to leave you."

Seeing this pitiful puppy-like man, Sonia chuckled, reached out, and playfully pinched Ash’s cheek, with a trace of allure flashing through her brows, she gently said, "I can’t bear it either."

Ash held her hand, leading her into the palace, looking around searchingly. When Sonia saw him lift his plump tail, she understood what he was thinking and pointed ahead, saying, "The bedroom is that way."

Ash blinked, "Huh? I just wanted to find a place to sit down and chat, I didn’t mean anything else!"

Sonia glanced at the chairs in the hall, pouting before pulling Ash into the bedroom, pushing him onto the bed, and directly reaching for his belt. Ash grabbed her hand, nervously asking, "Want to smoke?"

"No." Sonia shook her head, her voice light, "You don’t like the smell of smoke."

She wrapped her arms around Ash, kissing him, yet Ash stretched out a finger to block between their lips. The two’s faces were almost touching, eyes locked, as a moment of silence filled the room, with the dim starlight unable to dispel the darkness within, but sufficient to illuminate the emotions swirling in their eyes.

"... Can’t we skip the middle part and just make up?" Sonia gently broke the silence, asking softly, "We can finish and head back, happy as if nothing happened, can’t we?"

Ash blinked, then suddenly burst out laughing. Sonia blushed slightly with anger: "Are you laughing at me!?"

"No, I was just thinking how we truly are a match made in heaven, even our strategies align." Ash embraced her, laughing: "I thought of using a honey trap to make you let down your guard and bare your heart, you wanted to use a honey trap to gloss over it, this is a win-win honey trap!"

"Nonsense!" Sonia chuckled, "You’re not even a honey trap, at most, you’re a food trap!"

Ash looked at her, lowered his head, and kissed her, fiercely, passionately, lingering. When they were entangled on the bed with disheveled clothes, Ash suddenly paused, looked at her seriously and asked, "Do you really want me to be sad?"

Sonia lightly bit her lower lip, breathing shallowly and quickly, instinctively averting her gaze: "... You’re breaking the rules."

"But I truly can’t fathom your thoughts this time." Ash genuinely said, "How about we take the test together this time, alright?"

Sonia helplessly rolled her eyes at him, nestling into his embrace silently for a moment before a muffled voice emerged: "I want to help you."

"I’ll accept whoever you like in the future, I’ll accompany you in whatever you do, I’ll help manage your team, manage the Heavenly Kingdom, I won’t let you worry anymore, and won’t let you be sad again."

"No matter what you do, I’ll support you, no matter what happens, I’ll stand by your side." She looked up, hopeful eyes on Ash: "I’m willing to become an unconditionally supportive companion; you just need to rely on me fully... Does that sound alright?"