The Sorcerer's Handbook

”You have ten seconds to rest.”

Sonya let out a long, heavy breath as she frantically recalled every detail of the battle so far.

Sonya was fairly confident that repeated deaths hadn’t cost her any memories, yet the thought that she might unknowingly overlook something crucial gnawed at her. She had to do everything in her power to avoid such a fatal mistake.

She had long since lost count, nor could she be bothered to tally exactly how many times she had died. At this moment, her mind was focused entirely on the Watcher of Doomsday before her, and she had pushed away all potential distractions, like her mother, classmates, exams, and ambitions, to the furthest corners of her mind. She analyzed his every move, committing his ruthless attacks to muscle memory!

As she observed him, a realization struck her. The Watcher possessed no extraordinary abilities. He didn’t even hold a physical advantage over me.

Compared to her, he was nothing more than a swordsman, at best a skilled one.

Sonya had seen master swordsmen who had practiced their skills to perfection. The mere act of them gripping their sword hilt was enough to fill the weak with dread and compel them into submission, while even a casual swing sent chills, like needles pricking the back, through the onlookers.

Compared to those true masters, the Watcher was nothing more than an ordinary foothold. Yes, just a foothold.

Sonya had died again, but this time, in her last-ditch effort to counterattack, she successfully struck the Watcher.

Yet, just like the sword returning to him after being thrown, the Watcher appeared completely unharmed after taking a blade to the chest. It was as if the wound had healed instantly.

If there had been a recovery period[1], Sonya would have risked her life to strike him repeatedly, gradually accumulating enough damage to defeat him. Unfortunately, this duel was meant to be fair, leaving her no such loopholes.

Sonya thought, A fair duel, huh.

She found it somewhat ironic. Nevertheless, she had to admit that, just as she revived after being struck down, the Watcher’s instantaneous healing made the fight truly fair.

The unreasonable restrictions left her with only one option: to defeat the Watcher through absolute skill in this duel.

The ten seconds were up. Time itself seemed to become tangible in that instant. Sonya tensed, gripped her sword, and charged straight at the Watcher!

At the start of every battle, the Watcher would hold his sword in a ready stance before stepping forward, drawing, and spinning into a horizontal slash. The farther Sonya was from him, the more devastating the blow. Sometimes, it even knocked the sword from her hands entirely!

This move was similar to the famed quick-draw slash[2]. The method to counter it was simple. Refrain from dodging. Instead, step forward actively to interrupt the spin!

Clang!

Sonya’s arms were nearly numb from the vibrations, but she had succeeded in stopping the Watcher’s spin, dragging him into lethal close-quarters combat.

After dying so many times, she no longer cared about a few more holes in her body. As long as she could kill the Watcher before she succumbed to her injuries, it would be her victory!

Clang! Clang! Clang!

After several seamless exchanges, Sonya silently counted to five in her head. Just as she finished, the Watcher evaded in a bizarre, abrupt direction, then stepped forward with a sword slash aimed at her head! The strike came suddenly and was deadly in every sense.

At first, Sonya thought it was some supernatural ability. But after enduring several deaths, she realized it was merely a combat footwork technique.

Even so, Sonya had no counter for it. She simply couldn’t predict which way the Watcher would evade!

Because the Watcher would often observe her strike first, then evade and immediately counterattack, Sonya named this move Watch and Strike.[3]

The quick-draw slash was easy to block, but Watch and Strike was nearly impossible to defend against. Sonya didn’t even try. She raised her arm. Using her forearm bones to absorb the sword’s impact, she closed the distance for a desperate beheading strike.

The Watch and Strike’s greatest weakness was its lack of raw power. It couldn’t sever her arm.

As the sword sliced across her arm, the Watcher slid strangely across the sand, evading once more. He barely avoided Sonya’s blade, then stepped forward with a strike aimed at her neck.

Two Watch and Strikes in a row!?

***

”You have ten seconds to rest.”

Sonya slapped her cheeks and gripped her sword tightly at the Watcher. ”Come on!”

The Watcher assumed his ready stance and unleashed the quick-draw slash.

This time, no metallic clang of blades clashing was heard. The Watcher remained in his spinning-slash stance, yet he hadn’t struck anything.

Just before the Watcher’s slash reached Sonya, she suddenly slid across the sand in a bizarre stance, evading in a completely different direction!

Still recovering from the spin slash, the Watcher left himself open, and Sonya was free to counterattack! But instead, Sonya took on the sheathing stance. ”After dying so many times, even a pig would have learned your moves!”

This time, she stepped forward, drew the sword again, and turned around in a horizontal slash.

Watch and Strike! Quick-draw slash!

Sonya followed Watch and Strike with a quick-draw slash to compensate for its lack of offensive power!

She had long mastered the quick-draw slash, but had held back, waiting until she was confident in Watch and Strike as well. Now, she combined both techniques in hopes of cutting down the Watcher in a single decisive strike!

With the fierce spinning momentum, Sonya felt almost no resistance as her blade sliced through the Watcher’s chest like a hot knife through butter.

She couldn’t reach his neck due to her height, and lifting her arms even slightly during the spin put too much strain on her, so his chest would have to do.

Sonya could hardly believe it. Just like that, I did it?

She quickly regained her balance from the spinning slash and eyed the Watcher warily. ”Does this mean I’ve defeated you?”

The Watcher said, ”Yes, congratulations. You have managed to defeat me when I use only one sword.”

Sonya frowned. One sword?

The Watcher lightly flicked his toe through the sand, then hooked and pulled another longsword out with it.

”The first half is over. The second half begins now,” he said, raising both blades in a crossed stance. ”And there will be no ten-second rest from here on.”

***

Sonya clutched her head and sat up, finding only Angelica left in the dorm room. Angelica was already dressed and ready to go.

”Sonya, we have morning classes today. Aren’t you coming?”

”What time is it?”

”7:30 AM. We have General Ed this morning. I remember you usually wake up an hour early on General Ed mornings to do your skincare and makeup... The others have already left. You don’t look well.”

”Is that so?” Sonya unconsciously touched her neck before shaking her head and collecting herself. ”I... probably had a nightmare.”

Angelica replied indifferently, ”A nightmare? You’ll forget it soon. Just remember to come to class. Don’t skip, or we’ll lose dorm points.”

After that, Angelica left, and Sonya was alone in the room.

On any other morning when she overslept, Sonya would be hurrying to wash up, apply makeup, and get ready. But today, she sat numbly on the bed, lost in thought. It’s so strange... It’s just a dream, yet it feels overwhelmingly real. And the weirdest part... from the first death to the ninety-ninth, I remember everything so vividly. Even the pain I went through still feels fresh.

Once the Watcher entered dual-blade mode, the intensity of their battle skyrocketed. Sonya barely had a moment to breathe before the Watcher was upon her again. Her arms were nearly numb from exhaustion. By the end, she relied almost entirely on instinct to meet the Watcher’s relentless onslaught.

Watch and Strike... quick-draw slash... Watch and Strike into quick-draw slash... quick-draw slash into Watch and Strike... triple Watch and Strike... triple quick-draw slash... Again and again, Sonya countered the Watcher’s endless variations with just these two techniques. She had nearly exhausted every combination.

When she finally defeated the Watcher, she felt nothing. In the end, it had all been endless Watch and Strikes and quick-draw slashes, while evading the Watcher’s attacks and striking any openings it left until it fell.

Before he fell, the Watcher had said one thing to her. ”This trial is over, but your life has only just begun.”

She still couldn’t see the Watcher’s face, nor hear his tone, but Sonya was certain it was anything but good news.

Sonya slowly chewed over the name, sounding as though she was grinding it between her teeth before swallowing it down, ”Watcher of Doomsday...”

***

Meanwhile, in the luxurious master suite of the underground cells of Caimon City’s Shattered Lake Prison, Ashe yawned and stretched. He felt unusually drained, as if he’d been beaten up.

He turned on the light screen and saw a new message in Aurora’s Sorcerer Handbook.

[Your bond with the Death Maniac Swordswoman has deepened after the trial.]

Ashe scratched his head. ”I can deepen bonds just by assigning a trial? Is that even a thing?”

1. In many fights or games, after taking damage, a character often has a brief period of vulnerability before they recover, during which an opponent can exploit their weakness. This is known as the recovery period. In this case, the phrase implies that if the Watcher had a recovery period, Sonya could have exploited that brief vulnerability to wear him down. ☜

2. The term ”quick-draw slash” refers to a technique in Japanese swordsmanship, particularly Iaido or Kenjutsu, where the practitioner draws the sword from its sheath and strikes in a single, fluid motion. It emphasizes speed, precision, and the seamless combination of drawing and attacking ☜

3. In the original text, the move now called ”Watch and Strike” was written as 见切, which directly translates to mikiri. In Japanese swordsmanship, mikiri refers to a counterattack executed by reading the opponent’s movements and timing a strike as they commit. It is not merely a dodge or block, but a technique that turns observation into an immediate offensive action. However, since the novel is heavily Western-influenced, the term mikiri might feel out of place. For this reason, I chose to be a bit innovative and named the move ”Watch and Strike.” ☜