Sorcerer Manual - Chapter 4
Chapter 4: The Observer
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
This was a small island.
However, this was only because Sonia did not find a suitable term with her limited vocabulary. After all, this was only a small area the size of a palm that had suddenly protruded from the surface of the sea. It was as if the waves could drown it if they were any larger.
But the sea was quiet, very much so, with nary a trace of wind. Sonia dipped her legs into the water, stepped onto the wet sand, and looked at her surroundings.
Every inch of her surroundings was filled with a milky white fog. The sky was like a smudged spot of thick ink, dark and heavy.
‘I’m dreaming’, Sonia thought.
She clearly remembered that she was sleeping in the female dormitory of Sword and Rose Sorcerer University, so it was impossible for her to suddenly appear on a small island.
The thought that it was a dream made Sonia feel much more relaxed. Curious, she crouched down to taste the seawater and found that it tasted just like the water she usually drank. There was even a hint of sweetness to it. It didn’t at all taste of the salty bitterness that the online education course had described.
Sonia was even more certain that she was dreaming. She had never been to the seaside or tasted seawater, so she had no idea what it tasted like.
“But if I’m dreaming…” Sonia looked at the center of the island. “Why would I dream of a corpse I’ve never seen before? ”
In the middle of the island, an unfamiliar corpse was half-kneeling on the sand.
He was wearing a black trench coat and a hood. His face was blurry, and his clothes were heavy. It was impossible to tell if he was a man or a woman from his appearance.
A long sword pierced through his chest, but he did not fall. Instead, he knelt on one knee on the ground. His left hand held the scabbard at his waist, and his right hand held the hilt that had not been sharpened. It was as if someone had pierced his heart before he drew the sword.
There was nothing on the island apart from the corpse and the sand. Sonia could not swim, and she believed that she was dreaming, so she boldly walked over to examine the corpse.
She discovered that the sword that had pierced through the corpse was still dripping with blood. The blood flowed along the beautiful carvings on the sword and flowed in reverse to the dark ruby embedded in the sword compartment, making the entire sword seem to come alive. It was really too beautiful…
When Sonia came back to her senses, she was already gripping the sword tightly.
The scabbard that matched her palm perfectly, the dazzling sword patterns that completely matched her aesthetic sense, as well as the feeling that seemed to extend from her limbs—it was as if this sword…
… as if this sword was a weapon made specifically for her.
Without thinking, Sonia pulled the sword from the corpse.
She had thought that the corpse would fall, so she took a step back as soon as she pulled it out to prevent it from hitting her.
However, the corpse did not fall.
Instead, he stood up.
Thud, thud. With the sound of steel bottom boots stepping on the sand, Sonia watched in horror as the corpse slowly straightened its back and unsheathed a cold and sharp longsword.
With a whoosh, the tip of his sword pierced through the air, pointing straight at Sonia. Although she could not see his eyes clearly, Sonia could feel his emotionless gaze staring at her!
“Don’t worry, Sword Maiden. This time, I’m not your enemy.”
The voice of the corpse was neither male nor female. It sounded like a voice formed from the clash of mechanical teeth. “I will only kill you.”
Your definition of an enemy seems to be very different from that of a normal person… Sonia held the gorgeous sword tightly in her hand, as if it could give her some sense of safety.
“Who are you?” she asked, her voice shaking slightly.
“My name is Terminus Observer. You can call me Observer.” The Observer said,”In the next 72 hours, you can only leave after defeating me. Otherwise, you can only leave after staying for 72 hours.”
“Isn’t this a dream?” Sonia’s eyes widened.
“The only difference between dream and reality is that reality is a dream woven by the masses, while a dream…”
“…is a cage you’ve constructed for yourself.”
As soon as the Observer finished speaking, he stepped on the sand and slashed forward. Even though Sonia had retreated as much as she could, she still could not avoid the shining blade—
“You have ten seconds to rest.”
Sonia was on her knees, her hands clamped over her throat and her face a mask of horror.
The tearing pain was extremely real, as if she had just had her neck slit by this strange person.
If this was a dream, she should have woken up from her comfortable and warm bed the moment she suffered such pain.
However—
“Ten seconds have passed. I advise you to grip your sword firmly. Only then can you…”
Sonia raised her head and saw the Observer gripping the hilt of his sword at his waist tightly. He assumed a sword stance, stepped hard on the sand, and charged at her with all his might!
Sonia hurriedly raised her sword and retreated, but the Observer’s single step abruptly spanned ten-odd steps in distance. When she saw the sword gleam left by the Observer, the Observer’s voice came from behind her—
“…die with a little dignity.”
“You have ten seconds to rest.”
When Sonia recovered from the pain of decapitation, she jumped into the sea without hesitation. She didn’t care, even if she couldn’t swim!
As if her fear of death had stimulated her potential, Sonia practically learned how to swim by herself. Although it was an extremely unsightly dog-paddle swimming technique, it was enough as long as she could get away from that horrifying island with the madman!
If it were not for the fact that her stomach was empty in the dream, she’d even have tried the fart propulsion method mentioned in jokes.
Amidst the splash of water, Sonia could hear the Observer’s voice clearly. “Fleeing is shameful.”
“And futile.”
Suddenly, there was a chill on the back of her neck. Sonia looked down and saw the tip of a cold sword sticking out of her neck.
Before the waves of pain overwhelmed her, Sonia found herself back on the island.
“You have ten seconds to rest.”
This time she didn’t run. She looked at the Observer’s hand.
“You seem to be expecting me to lose my weapon after throwing the sword out?” The Observer leisurely sheathed the sword. “Why are you still so naive after experiencing so many deaths?”
“You’re way too unreasonable.” Sonia smiled weakly.
“Reason only exists on the tip of the sword. If you want to reason with me, using your words is pointless. Use your sword to convince me.”
Before the Observer could finish, Sonia plunged into the sea with a splash. But this time, she didn’t swim. She chose to dive into the sea, trying to avoid the Observer’s attack.
‘You can’t cut through the sea!’ she thought.
It was true. Five seconds, ten seconds, thirty seconds… One minute passed and Sonia was not attacked.
However, because she could not breathe, she felt like she was about to faint.
Why was it that cerebral hypoxia could still cause a lack of cerebral blood supply, when this was clearly a dream?!
The pain of holding her breath was no less painful than decapitation. Sonia couldn’t hold it in any longer. She randomly picked a spot and tried to take a breath before diving again. She was hoping that she would be lucky. I only need to breathe for one or two seconds. He can’t possibly discover me so quickly, can he?!
A few seconds later, Sonia sat on the island and covered her mouth, which had just been pierced. She kept licking her teeth to make sure that her tongue wasn’t severed by the thrown sword.
“You have ten seconds to rest.”
“Observer!”
Sonia yelled, her face full of anger. She gritted her teeth, gripped her sword with both hands, and summoned up her courage to walk towards the Observer. The Observer responded with an “oh” and stroked the hilt of his sword with his right hand. “If you want to cut your break short, I have no objections.”
Thud!
Sonia fell to her knees in front of the Observer.
“Great, benevolent, kind Lord of the Unknown. Sonia is willing to pray to you day and night, listen to your sacred words, follow your miracles, and chant your decree… Please don’t torture me like this. Just tell me what you want me to do. I’m very good and obedient. I’ll do anything you order me to do. Boohoo…”
“Anything?” the Observer asked.
Sonia looked up. Her tear-stained face was particularly alluring. She seemed to hesitate for a moment, her face flushed. She gritted her teeth and nodded. “Anything.”
“Very well. I order you to—” The Observer gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and assumed a sword stance. “Defeat me.”
Clang!
“You have ten seconds to rest.”
Sonia lay on the sand and stared blankly at the dark sky. Then, she stood up and asked in confusion,
“No, I didn’t offend you in the past. Why do you want to waste your time on a small fry like me? There are so many people who have committed heinous crimes in this world. If you want to punish and get rid of evil, I can recommend a few candidates for you. If you’re a big baddie, I can also recommend a few powerful and dignified figures who are less scrupulous in the dark to you.”
“I’m just a very ordinary schoolgirl. It’s not worth spending so much effort to deal with me. Your current actions are like hitting a mosquito with a spiral laser cannon. Having a swordmaster chop firewood is a huge waste of resources, don’t you agree?”
“Just tell me what you want me to do. One look is enough to tell that I’m a delicate rose anyone can trample on. I was born to follow the flow…”
As Sonia tried to persuade him, the Observer shook his head. “You’re wrong.”
Sonia immediately said, “What did I say wrong? Tell me, I will definitely change it.”
“Your very first statement was wrong.”
“First statement?”
“How can you be sure,” the Observer gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and assumed a stance of accepting a sword, “that you didn’t offend me in the past?”
Clang!
“You have ten seconds to rest.”
Maybe it was because she had died too often, Sonia even began to feel that beheading was not that much, and not too bad after getting used to the pain.
She looked up at the Observer. “I just have to stay for seventy-two hours to get out of this damn dream?”
“Yes.” The Observer nodded. “However, there is no clock here. 72 hours is not a long time compared to a person’s life, but for death, 72 hours isn’t a short time either.”
“Can you really hold out for 72 hours of continuous deaths?”
“And why would you believe the words of someone who keeps killing you in your dream? What if I was lying?”
“Say that is the truth. Even if you manage to escape the dream tonight, what about tomorrow night? What about the night after tomorrow?”
The Observer adopted a sword stance. “Now that you’ve experienced death, you shouldn’t hope for miracles.”
Clang!
The Observer stepped forward, and as he drew their sword and swept it across, his whole body also spun in a circle. In an instant, he crossed more than ten steps, and his longsword, accompanied by a tremendous rotating momentum, was about to behead Sonia again like a hot knife cutting butter—
Clang!
For the first time, Sonia’s sword blocked the sharpness of the Observer!
At this moment, there was no expression on Sonia’s face. There was no fear, no anger, no killing intent, no plea. There was only the coldest silence. Her ruby-like pupils reflected the blurry image of the Observer, as if she wanted to engrave him in her heart!
“You leave me no choice..”
