Staring at the nine spirits laid out before him, Ashe had no choice but to do a brief set of impromptu calisthenics to calm his surging excitement.3

During last night's exploration of the Virtual World alone, they had harvested a total of twelve spirits. Three of them, rumored to sell for a high price, had been taken away by the Swordswoman. Even so, Ashe's gains from a single night nearly matched what he normally earned over several days. That was without even counting the two Experience Orbs they had also obtained.0

Unless he managed to draw another Virtual World exploration artifact, Ashe knew it would be nearly impossible to replicate last night's results before his Silver Wing fully unfolded.0

That night's experience also served as a vivid confirmation of a life principle he had long summarized during work hours. Working hard was worse than slacking off. Slacking off was worse than exploiting others. And...3