This wasn't the first time Ashe and his companions had crossed paths with other sorcerers in the Virtual World.

While the odds of a chance encounter on the Continent of Time were generally slim, Ashe's group moved at an incredible pace in their car. Furthermore, with his Virtual World Map displaying a massive twenty-four-grid radius, they frequently caught sight of the telltale yellow markers indicating other sorcerers.

Without exception, however, they always chose to steer clear of strangers. They had no interest in staging a tragic scene of dynamic betrayal, nor did they care to reenact the classic friendly greeting followed by a bullet to the back.

There were two reasons for that. Firstly, other sorcerers simply weren't worth interacting with. At this level, everyone was merely a Two-Winged sorcerer. Even if both parties felt safe sharing secrets under the assumption that they would never meet again, what could they actually trade? Schemes and poisons to use against each other?

Secondly, other sorcerers weren't worth killing. Unless you belonged to a specialized organization like the Blissful Peace Agency, which made a literal business out of hunting sorcerers from reality into the Virtual World, there was rarely a conflict of interest. The Virtual...