Heroic Spirit Legion

The Heroic Spirit Legion: a combined fighting force of sorcerer projections and knowledge creatures. No one knew why the sorcerer projections on the Time Continent mingled with knowledge creatures in the first place. Even mind sorcerers, who excelled most at subjugation, could only briefly control one or two knowledge creatures. Commanding a massive horde of them was far beyond the capabilities of a Two-Winged Sorcerer. It was like putting a small child behind the wheel of a heavy truck—physically impossible by stature alone; even if the truck somehow moved, that wouldn't be the child's doing, but the truck humoring them. Quite a few sorcerers had wanted to investigate the secret of sorcerer projections controlling knowledge creatures, but they were usually torn to shreds by the monstrous army upon making contact. Far from studying them, catching a glimpse of the sorcerer projection commanding the legion was considered lucky. Many sorcerers went to their deaths believing they had merely interrupted an outing by a whole family of knowledge creatures, never imagining that the dead were waging war on the living. "The Heroic Spirit Legion is an invincible existence on the Time Continent—or rather, invincible to us," Sonia said. "Setting aside the Heroic Spirit acting as commander, the knowledge creatures in the legion alone are formidable enough. With a Heroic Spirit directing them, even the most enduring, berserk ascetic sorcerer would have their sorcery power completely drained." "Sorcerers can undoubtedly take on a hundred foes at once, but that only applies when a powerful sorcerer fights a hundred weaklings. Every single creature in a Heroic Spirit Legion boasts combat strength on par with a Two-Winged Sorcerer. Sheer numbers alone could drown any traveler crossing the Time Continent, and the Heroic Spirit directs them as seamlessly as their own limbs... Compared to the commanding ability of a Heroic Spirit, the Great Dire Wolf-Dragon's counterattack earlier was child's play." "Perhaps only a Sanctuary Sorcerer would have the power to defeat a Heroic Spirit Legion, but Sanctuary Sorcerers can't set foot on the Time Continent at all." "Heroic Spirit?" Yaxiu raised an eyebrow. "In works like *Stories of the Time Continent*, *Golden Secret Chronicles*, and *The Rain Veil*, authors refer to sorcerer projections capable of commanding knowledge creatures as Heroic Spirits to distinguish them from ordinary sorcerer projections. It seems to have become the customary term." Sonia gazed in the direction the Heroic Spirit Legion had departed. "Heroic Spirit Legions are considered relatively rare on the Time Continent. While most Two-Winged Sorcerers spot one once or twice, running into this walking calamity on our very second day... should we call ourselves lucky or unlucky?" "And this is only ranked the second most dangerous existence?" Yaxiu blinked. "Then what's ranked number one? Sanctuary Sorcerers from the floor above coming back down to the Time Continent to smurf and bully noobs?" "Ranked number one is, of course, wars between Heroic Spirit Legions," Sonia said. "Rumor has it that just the aftershocks of their clashes can splash through the rain veil and wipe out a group of sorcerers. A famous saying on the Time Continent goes: 'Never chase the sounds of battle, for you will always be the innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.'" "I think a fairy tale I read mentioned Heroic Spirit Legions too," Diya recalled. "A sorcerer framed by an enemy and robbed of his lover lingered on after death due to his obsession. Aided by seven dragons, he assembled a Heroic Spirit Legion, charged back into reality, eradicated his foe, and finally found peace after a parting kiss with his lover..." "The story structure fits a fairy tale well enough, but the premise is a bit too realistic..." Yaxiu evaluated. "I'd give it an eight out of ten." "Save the fairy tale convention for when we're farther away. The Heroic Spirit Legion might come back," Sonia urged. "Let's hurry up and leave. If we get killed by a Heroic Spirit Legion, we're done for. Even with soul specialty drinks, we'd be bedridden for a whole month." Just as dying in the lair of social creatures caused greater soul loss, the knowledge creatures in a Heroic Spirit Legion naturally all craved a taste of that rare delicacy—a sorcerer's soul. Upon death, a sorcerer's soul was left completely undefended; if devoured entirely, the sorcerer would die for good. However, since each knowledge creature could only take a single bite, having more knowledge creatures around at the moment of death meant a greater loss of soul. Still, unless one triggered some taboo (such as Expulsion Secret Poison), Void Realm creatures generally didn't consume a sorcerer's soul down to nothing. Just like harvesting chives without uprooting them, they let sorcerers return to reality to recover their bodies for the next harvest. Yet Yaxiu sank into thought. "Since no one has ever defeated a Heroic Spirit Legion, why are people so sure the commander is a sorcerer projection? Maybe some other sorcerer triggered a Void Realm mechanic and gained the ability to command knowledge creatures." "Sorcerers must have used prophecies to gather intel, right?" Sonia wasn't entirely sure either. "Besides, if it weren't Heroic Spirits but actual sorcerers controlling them, then once those sorcerers left the Time Continent and reached the Distant Sky Realm, wouldn't they still be able to enslave knowledge creatures? Yet I've never heard my professor mention anything like that happening in the Distant Sky Realm." "Even in the Distant Sky Realm, no sorcerer can organize knowledge creatures into a legion and conquer in all directions like a Heroic Spirit does. In fact, there aren't even Heroic Spirit Legions there... Heroic Spirit Legions are unique specialties of the Time Continent, just as the Vortex was a perk of the Sea of Knowledge." "And whether the commander is a sorcerer or a Heroic Spirit doesn't matter at all. The point is, we need to hurry up and... Wait, don't tell me you're getting funny ideas?" "Don't make me sound like some captain harboring improper designs on his female team members." Yaxiu flashed a smile that looked decidedly improper. "I just want to try tackling a higher difficulty." *I'd rather you had improper designs on us...* Sonia suppressed the urge to curse as best she could, methodically breaking it down for Yaxiu: "Leaving aside whether we could even beat a Heroic Spirit Legion, the real question is, what's the payout?" "A Heroic Spirit Legion is harder to challenge than a resource point, yet the rewards are worse. The cost-performance ratio is awful. If you just want to challenge higher difficulties for fun, then next time fight in melee alongside me while the Witch covers us from behind." "All three of us could fight in melee together," Diya protested, though she didn't second Yaxiu's idea, evidently tacitly agreeing with Sonia's objection. "Who says the Heroic Spirit won't drop rarer sorcery spirits or more detailed sorcerer manuals? The Void Realm is a fair and impartial referee. I'm sure that if we defeat a Heroic Spirit Legion, the Void Realm won't skimp on our rightful rewards," Yaxiu said. "Besides, I have a hunch there's some huge secret behind the Heroic Spirit Legion—maybe it's even related to the Seven-Colored Tail." "My dear Sword Princess, if you're willing to put in overtime to elevate your swordsmanship faction to the Sanctuary rank, I wouldn't mind abandoning this risky notion." Sonia retorted crossly, "We didn't take that much of a risk when we uncovered the secret of the Golden Fish, did we?" "That was built on our luck in running into the Destiny Q&A islet and reading several sorcerer manuals that served as crucial references," Yaxiu said, spreading his hands. "Lady Luck won't always smile on us—not to mention my recent mishaps, where the Goddess of Fate might talk trash behind my back at critical moments." "Why should we be able to find the Seven-Colored Tail when no other sorcerers can? On account of your pretty faces, or because of my supreme driving skills?" "We take the risks ordinary sorcerers dare not take; we seize the opportunities ordinary sorcerers dare not touch; we fight the enemies ordinary sorcerers dare not face. Only then can we reap rewards beyond anything ordinary sorcerers achieve." Though she felt the Watcher was spouting sophistry, thinking it over made it sound oddly reasonable. It wasn't as if Sonia didn't understand the principle of 'high risk, high reward,' but she was currently a quintessential member of the academic faction, prizing stable returns and despising risky ventures. Especially after advancing to Two Wings, this cautious petty-bourgeois mindset hadn't weakened; rather, it had solidified, fixating entirely on preserving her existing gains. It wasn't that her greed was merely superficial; her world was simply too small. Everyone around her was a classmate inferior to her, the only powerhouse she had contact with was Professor Trozan—who envied her talent—she was regarded by countless people as a future Sword Saint, the nobles clamoring to cozy up to her could burst the girls' dormitory, and Sword Flower Academy would take pride in her... She had already overachieved her life goals for the next twenty years ahead of schedule, feeling as if she could already retire, enjoy life, and pursue her dreams. In fact, she had quietly swapped her daytime curriculum for sound sorcery and performing arts classes; over the course of an entire day, the time she actually spent cultivating swordsmanship was merely the two hours arranged by the Watcher. She had progressed too fast, and her ambition hadn't kept up. "I support the Watcher's idea," Diya raised her hand and said, "Only the unconventional makes for a fairy tale. If we want to become legends, we have to walk paths no one else has trodden. An unchanging life will only ever be summarized by people as 'many years later.'" Sonia asked, "Witch, you want to become a Legendary Sorcerer?" "Actually, Little Red and the White Queen do; I don't care much for power," Diya said earnestly. "Little Red craves higher levels of combat, while the White Queen hopes to gain more bargaining chips by mastering power... But we're sisters, so their dreams are naturally my dreams too!" "Then what's your dream?" Yaxiu asked out of the blue. "Me? I..." Diya was taken aback, tilting her head. "To live happily ever after with my sisters forever, of course." "Feels even harder than becoming a legend." "Indeed." The two dirty adults mercilessly tore apart the naive young girl's pure dream. "All right, I'll bet my life alongside you," Sonia sighed helplessly. "But that brings us to the second question: Can we win? In an open area, I don't see us having the slightest chance of victory." "We can win," Yaxiu said, looking at the Void Realm Map. "Because they walked into a narrow space of their own accord—they've entered the cave we just looted." Sonia froze. "Could they be related to the Great Dire Wolf-Dragon?" "Maybe an employer-employee relationship. But being banished here to guard a resource point makes the Great Dire Wolf-Dragon look more like an unbudgeted outsourced temp worker." On the Void Realm Map, the icons of the Heroic Spirit Legion marched one after another into the Great Dire Wolf-Dragon's former lair. Clearly, a share of the loot Yaxiu and his companions had plundered belonged to the Heroic Spirit Legion. "Even inside the den, there are still far too many of them," Diya pondered. "Can we repeat our old trick and bottle them up at the entrance to finish them off?" Yaxiu shook his head and waved his hand, doubly shooting down Diya's idea. "Too risky. If anything goes wrong, we won't even be able to run, leaving us to die gruesome deaths in the beasts' jaws." "We're taking on a Heroic Spirit Legion! The risk is practically on par with eating brightly colored unknown mushrooms, yet you still have the leisure to plan an escape route?" Seeing that Yaxiu still clung to a 'breezy dungeon clear' mindset, Sonia couldn't help snarking, "You want all the swagger and a safety helmet at the same time—the world doesn't offer sweet deals like that, you know." "Oh, but it does," Yaxiu replied with certainty. "I have a method that lets us defeat the Heroic Spirit Legion and make a getaway at a moment's notice." *Have the two of us go fight while you stay in the car ready to bolt at any second...?* Just as Sonia's retort took shape in her mind, she realized the core of Yaxiu's actual plan. "The Great Dire Wolf-Dragon's home is pretty spacious. It should have plenty of room for a sports car to pay a visit. If the Great Dire Wolf-Dragon knew about it in the underworld, it would surely thank us for holding such a grand memorial service over its grave." Yaxiu brought up the vehicle upgrade tree, his gaze scanning the list of activatable peripherals. "These resources were originally meant for upgrading the 'Alchemical Throne,' but when the time comes to use them, use them we must. In that case..." "It's time to show off the driving skills of someone who took the practical test three times!"