Sorcerer’s Handbook

Swordflower College, Harvest Orchard.

Mifa put on her work uniform and stepped out of the treehouse, ready to start her shift for the day. She looked up, and the luminous star’s sunlight shamelessly clung to her, making the entire orchard its captive. The sun was scorching, even though the weather forecast had promised a sunny yet cloudy day—it’s no wonder Galaxia’s clouds were like nobles, straying off course by mid-morning.

Although the orchard’s glass Wall shielded her from the heat, Mifa didn’t really enjoy working in such a bright environment.

Her hometown was known as the City of Fruits, but the price was at least twenty hours of intense sunlight each day. When she first arrived in Galaxia, she would lie on the lawn every night, stargazing, and sometimes even fell asleep right there—sleeping without light piercing her eyes was absolutely wonderful.

After greeting the other part-time students, Mifa went to her tree counter and sat down. In front of her were rows of ‘fruit trees,’ but instead of fruit, the trees bore ‘fluorites’ that sealed spirits.

Enclosed by the glass Wall, the orchard had hundreds of trees, each with at least twenty fruits. This meant there were thousands of sealed spirits in the orchard, including many high-level spirits with two-wings or even three wings.

This was the Spirit Trading Center of Swordflower College, Harvest Orchard.

Much like the Forest Library, Swordflower College didn’t like building conventional trading centers. Instead, they used this orchard setup, allowing students to see various Rare Spirits hanging above them every time they entered, which was way more thrilling than browsing a spirit catalog.

You could see them but couldn’t pick them—how tantalizing!

Although it appeared unguarded, this orchard was the work of a legendary spellcaster. The last student who tried to steal a fruit almost became a part of the trees. Not only could it prevent spirits from retaliating against thieves, but it could also use the trees as a medium to continuously nourish the spirits. Even in Galaxia, it was a renowned trading platform for spirits—though its spirit quality wasn’t as high as Truth College’s “Tomb of Knowledge.”

However, regarding the work environment, Mifa had no complaints. After all, most of the time, she sat behind the counter browsing forums on the veil.

Although Mifa wasn’t a native of Galaxia, she wasn’t poor either. Her parents were spellcaster specialists at the local Bureau of Agriculture, and they were quite well-off. Thanks to her family’s influence, Mifa was able to get into Swordflower College.

It was also due to her parents’ advice that Mifa started participating in the college’s work-study program from her freshman year. She didn’t really need the money, but working for the college offered rewards beyond pay; it also provided Swordflower Points.

Swordflower Points weren’t a form of currency but rather a metric for evaluating students. Students could earn points by winning academic competitions, ranking high in final exams, or inventing miracle procedures. Accumulating points would elevate a student’s status, with levels ranging from ordinary white student, excellent green student, honor gold student, to legendary orange student.

Naturally, there were benefits to rising in student status, and most students were eager to engage in campus life to earn points.

However, most students had been top achievers in their local areas before being admitted to Swordflower College. Upon arriving at college, they naturally believed they could earn points through awards and top rankings. Even Mifa, on her first day here, had thoughts like “I’m going to study hard,” “I want to be in the top three of my grade,” “I’m going to participate in competitions,” and “If Truth College tries to recruit me, should I accept?”

Reality quickly sobered these proud students. Now, they were competing with geniuses of the same age, and only a very few could truly stand out. The rest were just background characters, mere supporting roles.

However, it took most students about one or two years to fully recognize and accept their mediocrity. By that time, they had fewer opportunities to earn points and would likely graduate as ‘ordinary students.’

Mifa, who had been repeatedly advised by her parents, took the most reliable path from the beginning: working.

Though not a lot, working for Swordflower College was the most stable way to earn points.

Her parents had already calculated that as long as Mifa continued working for four years and graduated normally as a spellcaster, she could graduate as an ‘honor student.’

The benefits of being an ‘honor student’ were immense. Not only could one retain their student status indefinitely, but even after graduation, they could continue to use the college’s facilities. Moreover, Swordflower College prioritized hiring honor students for faculty positions!

If Mifa could secure a job at Swordflower College, she could settle down in Galaxia!

Unlike her parents, who were assigned to an agricultural city after graduation, enduring twenty hours of sunlight each day. Although their quality of life was decent, they could only glimpse the bustling city life through TV dramas on the veil.

Settling in Galaxia and becoming a ‘preparatory noble’ was not only her parents’ hope but also Mifa’s aspiration.

However, she wasn’t working just for the points; she genuinely enjoyed her part-time job at the orchard.

Every day, students came to purchase or sell spirits, giving Mifa a glimpse into their lives. Some students, usually low-profile, thrived in the Virtual Realm; others bought spirits from different Sects, seemingly planning to switch Sects; some spent a fortune on spirits not belonging to their Sect, perhaps as a birthday gift for a lover…

Buying and selling spirits required real money, making it the most direct form of voting.

Additionally, working at Harvest Orchard provided the chance to encounter the school’s celebrities, like The Orange Dancer, Vlozrada, and-

Creak.

The glass door opened, and the first customer of the day walked down the orchard path. Mifa looked at the guest and instinctively held her breath, feeling like the sunlight on her skin was getting hotter.

“Mifa, good morning.”

Sonya sat down in front of her and smiled, “What a coincidence, you’re on duty again today.”

Mifa suppressed her excitement and nodded vigorously, “Yes, what a coincidence.”

Not a coincidence at all. Mifa had asked her supervisor to schedule her in the mornings and hadn’t taken a day off for a month. She knew that Sonya would come to Harvest Orchard to offload her spoils after entering the Virtual Realm, so she stayed at the counter.

If anyone in the school knew the most about the growth of the Red-Haired Sword Princess, Mifa dared to say it was herself, even more than Professor Trozan.

The first time Sonya came to sell spirits, Mifa was the one who served her. Due to her good looks and the bond of being outsiders, they hit it off and became chatty friends right away. Back then, Mifa thought of her as a “kind and talented female spellcaster.”

But soon, Mifa realized that “talented” was an understatement for someone like Sonya. The Red-Haired Sword Princess would come by every two or three days to sell spirits, and the sheer volume made Mifa wonder if there had been any news about “spirit warehouse thefts” or a “red-haired female phantom thief.”

It wasn’t just the quantity, either. Mifa noticed that most of the spirits Sonya sold were dropped by Blade Fish Dragons, as if she were being hunted by the Blade Fish Dragon Protection Association in the Virtual Realm. Blade Fish Dragons were the most likely knowledge creatures to drop Swordsmanship Orbs, and based on the number of creatures Sonya had slain, she must have absorbed at least one orb, maybe even two-a conjecture that could cure low blood pressure among Swords Sect students.

Adding to the rumors that Sonya had emerged full-winged from the Whirlpool overnight, Mifa’s gaze toward her grew increasingly filled with admiration.

Sonya wasn’t just some talented female spellcaster.

She was a girl favored by the divine clock, a spellcaster watched by the Stars!

Mifa firmly believed that the next era would bear the name Sonya Therave!

So, Mifa joined Sonya’s fan club, following her life closely and hoping the club president would provide more updates on the Red-Haired Sword Princess’s daily activities. It’s hard to describe, but just knowing that Sonya was training hard every day and had recently summoned a new swordsmanship spirit made Mifa feel energized herself.

She was destined to be an unnoticed minor star, but she yearned to follow the path of a legendary comet.

“Let’s sell these spirits first,” Sonya said, displaying four spirits. Mifa immediately scanned them with her work wristband to determine their prices.

The news of Sonya’s soul recovery and her sudden departure from a friend’s party to explore the Virtual Realm had already spread across the school’s veil the night before, so Mifa wasn’t surprised by Sonya’s haul.

However, something seemed a bit odd—although all four were One-Winged Spirits, the ‘Fierce Claw’ spirit was quite rare in the Sea of Knowledge. If Mifa remembered correctly, the primary source of ‘Fierce Claw’ spirits should be the Dire Wolf Dragon, a pack animal from the Time Continent.

A bold guess swirled in Mifa’s mind, but she didn’t say anything. Instead, she continued to serve Sonya as usual, providing the buyback prices for the spirits and finally saying, “Since your student level is ‘outstanding student,’ the selling price is increased by 5%, which has been accounted for.”

Sonya’s scholarship from the previous term had naturally earned her many Swordflower points, and selling spirits to the Harvest Orchard also increased her points—Swordflower College encouraged students to sell their Virtual Realm gains to the school to expand its spirit variety.

However, due to the varying quality of students, the top-ranked student spirit platform in Galaxia was Truth College’s “Tomb of Knowledge,” while the “Harvest Orchard” might only rank in the top three. In fact, there were five contenders for those top three spots.

As an ‘outstanding student,’ Sonya received a 5% increase in selling prices, a 5% discount on purchase prices, and waived consignment fees for selling spirits at the Harvest Orchard. For an ordinary spellcaster, these benefits might be negligible, but for a high-volume seller like Sonya, the 5% discount could potentially cause the school to lose money.

Of course, the school’s losses had nothing to do with Mifa. If she could, she would offer a 500% discount.

Sonya chose to sell everything and said, “I want to purchase miracles and spirits.”

The “Harvest Orchard” was associated with the Astral Hall, which compiled the Star Miracles Directory, allowing students to purchase miracle procedures directly from there.

“Please proceed,” Mifa said.

“First, I’m looking for an attack miracle based on Sword Mark and Heart Sword, preferably without other rare spirits.”

Mifa checked her records: “There are three miracles that meet your criteria: the Mid-tier True Golden ‘Heart Pen’ valued at 15 gold coins, the Lower-tier Radiant Golden ‘Sword Prison’ valued at 58 gold coins, and the Upper-tier Radiant Rainbow ‘Heart Form’ valued at 100 rainbow coins. Would you like to see the effect visuals for these miracles?”

“No need,” Sonya replied, her face darkening. “I can’t afford any of them.”

This is the downside of rare spirits—’Heart Sword,’ as one of the Five Spirits of the Peerless Secret Sword, forms the basis for high-level Miracles. The most expensive one, “Heart Form,” is an Upper-tier Radiant Rainbow Miracle, extremely powerful even in the hands of a Sanctuary spellcaster. If it were based on ‘slash sword’ + ‘Sword Mark,’ she could definitely find a bunch of cheaper Upper-tier Radiant Silver Miracles.

However, after a moment of hesitation, Sonya said, “Let me see the effect of ‘Heart Pen’.”

Mifa turned the Holographic Screen around, allowing Sonya to watch the demonstration of Heart Pen.

The screen was transparent, and while Sonya watched it, Mifa pretended to look nonchalantly from behind.

The Red-Haired Sword Princess is truly amazing! It’s always you who astonishes me. Only tomorrow’s Red-Haired Sword Princess can surprise me more! You looked so cool during your duel with The Orange Dancer, though you’re always this cool! How can you be so incredible! Remember to take good care of yourself, eat well, sleep well, and be happy every day!

Oh no, it’s a pity you’ll be going to the Virtual Realm without sleep. I really wish the club president would take more pictures of you sleeping… Sorry, that was too much, but I really want to see it!

“…Alright, thank you.”

“Do you want to buy it?”

The village girl absentmindedly bit her finger, not caring about how this small gesture might excite her fan: “…Not for now.”

It wasn’t that she didn’t have 15 gold coins, or that she was unwilling to spend 15 gold coins on a Miracle procedure for the Observer, but buying it would halve her liquid assets, leaving her with very low risk tolerance. And… alright, she just didn’t want to spend 15 gold coins on the Observer.

She hadn’t even spent 15 gold coins on herself!

Little Trumpet, if only it were possible to trade spirits in the Virtual Realm, Sonya would rather research a new Miracle herself than spend 15 gold coins on someone else’s procedure!

The thought of spending such a large sum of money made her stomach churn, even if her wallet could handle it. She would lose her appetite!

Moreover, the Observer’s “Sword Art” Miracle was still usable, even if it was a bit lousy…

Maybe in the future, she could obtain a spirit that better complements ‘Heart Sword’…

Currently, the team’s combat strength was sufficient…

Sonya convinced herself in three sentences not to spend the 15 gold coins and continued to ask, “Is there a spirit that can quickly calm someone down?”

“There are many,” Mifa replied. “Calm Mind, Tranquil Heart, Mind Cleanse… they’re mostly from the Mental Sect.”

Spirits from the Mental Sect had no flaws other than being expensive. Although cheaper than Miracle procedures, they were still costly enough to make the village girl cry at night. Suddenly, she remembered something and asked, “Are there any Miracle procedures that include the ‘sincerity’ spirit and can quickly calm a spellcaster?”

Mifa gave a positive answer: “Yes.”

When the transaction was completed, not only did Sonya fail to increase her assets, but she also lost one-sixth of her wealth. However, the village girl was in a good mood, indicating that this investment should yield ideal returns.

As Sonya prepared to leave, Mifa couldn’t suppress her enthusiasm for being close to her idol any longer and whispered, “Good luck!”

The village girl looked at her, puzzled. “What?”

“Good luck tonight!” Mifa said, clenching her fist. “I believe you can definitely win at Trajectory College!”

Trajectory College?

Sonya was taken aback. “Wait, what do you mean?”

“Tonight, Swordflower College is having a social gathering with Trajectory College!” Mifa said. “You didn’t know?”

“I knew about it.” Sonya had indeed heard about the event. Just like Truth College having a social gathering with Swordflower College, Swordflower College would naturally seek gatherings with other colleges. “But what does that have to do with me?”

Mifa was stunned. “You’re one of the students in the social gathering, and I heard that Senior Sister Leoni voluntarily gave up the Chief battle slot for you to take on the Chief battle.”

A Friendly Match typically consists of five rounds: Vanguard Battle, Forward Battle, Center Battle, Sub-chief Battle, and Chief Battle. When Sonya heard that she would be responsible for the Chief Battle, her first reaction was excitement. After all, the Chief Battle is a showdown between the strongest participants from both sides, and it meant that Swordflower College publicly acknowledged her as the strongest student this year!

However, she quickly realized a problem: since the Chief Battle is the most anticipated, it is usually the last match.

“…Mifa, do you know until what time the Friendly Match at the social evening usually runs?”

“It generally runs until 3 AM,” Mifa thought for a moment and said. “After each match, the teachers from both schools provide commentary and guidance. They might even hold an immediate rematch so that students can fight again under their teachers’ guidance… After the five matches, there is usually a professor exhibition match.”

“That’s where the professor fights against five students from the visiting school. It’s the highlight of the evening.”

“The last social evening would have also gone until 3 AM if it hadn’t been for an unexpected event.”

In Stars, the more important a spellcaster event is, the later it is held, often as late as possible. This is because the stars represent the gaze of the Stars Sovereign. Although no one deliberately spreads the faith of the Stars Sovereign, everyone subconsciously reveres the starry sky and hopes to receive the favor of the starlight.

Sonya blinked: “So, when does the Chief Battle start?”

“Midnight.”