Recaps

Ian discovered that his body-tempering strength far surpassed Horton’s expectations, then joined his teacher on an expedition to the ruins of Veridian Wizard Academy. After signing a contract and traveling deep into Veridian Forest, Horton revealed the hidden entrance beneath an ancient hill, and Ian followed him underground.

• Horton tested Ian’s body-tempering defense and found it far stronger than his own at the same level.
• Ian suspected the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method might be incomplete, but Horton gave him three days to prepare for the expedition.
• Horton and Ian signed a contract to divide the ruins’ resources, with Horton responsible for their safety and Ian responsible for opening the ruin.
• Horton flew with Ian into Veridian Forest, where they traveled past increasingly powerful Magic Beasts and reached a clearing beside an azure lake.
• Horton used the Imprint Body Tempering Method to reveal a passage beneath an ancient hill, then entered it with Ian following.

Ian passed the Unbreakable Rune assessment and became a full member of Veridian Wizard Academy, gaining ownership of the Emerald Shadow Wizard School’s secret realm. After defeating its final guardians, he opened the gate to the treasury.

• Horton led Ian through a passage into a demiplane containing a vast palace and a smaller black castle marked with the Unbreakable Rune.
• Ian illuminated every rune on the stele in three seconds, triggering the realm’s system to grant him academy membership and ownership of the secret realm.
• The system sent Horton out of the castle, then returned him when Ian explained that he had inherited the realm.
• Ian entered the castle and faced two peak wizard apprentice Alchemy Puppets while Horton was pushed away by a force field.
• Ian struck both puppets with Frostfire Nova, passed the final test, and opened the gate to a treasury filled with lights of every color.

Ian and Horton explored the first Castle in Veridian Forest, where they found body-refining inheritances and supplies, and learned that a Fourth-Ring Wizard had once owned the secret realm. After dividing the resources and leaving the trial grounds, they returned to the School and saw Valen and another wizard waiting overhead with grim expressions.

• Ian and Horton found Knowledge Crystals, First-Ring potions, Mid-grade Magic Stones, and close-combat Witchcraft Artifacts in the Castle, which Ian identified as a trial site for Veridian Forest’s body-refining academy.
• Ian explained that the larger Castle held the academy’s precious collections and that the Wizard Tower beyond the trial room required body-refining cultivation to pass.
• Ian revealed that the secret realm’s previous owner had been a Fourth-Ring Wizard, and Horton entered the Wizard Tower but was swiftly defeated by a First-Ring Body-Refining Wizard.
• Ian and Horton divided the resources, with Ian taking the Knowledge Crystal, potions, one hundred Magic Stones, three artifacts, and two Alchemy Puppets.
• Ian and Horton returned to the School and saw Valen and another wizard hovering above it with grim expressions.

Horton told Ian that Flint School and Darkriver School planned to drive their school and Grayrock School from Veridian Forest, so he decided to relocate Horton Wizard School to the City of Elements. After Ian proved stronger than Vilo in a duel, Vilo declared herself his girlfriend and kissed him.

• Horton told Ian about the alliance against their schools and announced that Horton Wizard School would leave Veridian Forest for the City of Elements.
• Horton assigned Vilo and Ronan to assess the school's resources and find out who would leave with him.
• Horton urged Vilo to spend more time with Ian, and she pursued Ian to challenge him to a fight.
• Ian defeated Vilo's firebird with his tempest, demonstrating that he had reached peak Wizard Apprentice.
• Vilo conceded, declared herself Ian's girlfriend, and kissed him.

Ian left Horton Wizard School with Horton and their companions for Green Corridor, where Isaac revealed that Ian’s achievements had surpassed Horton’s on the resonance rankings. Before the group arrived, Horton gave Ian two more inherited spells, leaving Ian ready to continue his training at Green Corridor.

• More than fifty second-class apprentices, a dozen third-class apprentices, and all the peak wizard apprentices chose to leave Horton Wizard School with Horton, while most wizard lineages stayed behind.
• Isaac arrived by airship and invited Horton and Ian aboard, then asked Horton to let Ian stay at Green Corridor; Horton refused because Ian would first try the Elemental Mysteries assessment.
• Isaac later told Horton about Ian’s accomplishments at Green Corridor, including his place above Horton on the resonance rankings.
• Horton gave Ian knowledge crystals containing the Tree Muscle Spell and the Nature Perception Spell, completing Ian’s inherited spells alongside Life Drain.
• Ian quickly learned the basics of both spells, focused on mastering Nature Perception, and arrived at Green Corridor with the others.

Ian spent six months stranded in Emerald City, mastering Wizardry and raising his talent to 1,500 points while reflecting on the limits of his spiritual power. After the Green Corridor and Black Flame reopened the route, he boarded the Green Vine Airship with Horton and the others, bound for Elemental Mysteries and the Academy assessment.

• Isaac arranged for Horton and Ian's group to stay in Emerald City and use Green Corridor facilities while Black Flame blocked the routes.
• Ian mastered Hand of Fire Source in the elemental simulation chamber before the conflict delayed their departure.
• During six months in Emerald City, Ian mastered the Wizardry from Horton's and Blackstone's legacies, raised his talent to 1,500, and reached fourteen marks of spiritual power.
• Ian concluded that he needed to reach Silver Moon Tier talent to compete with gifted apprentices, then received Horton's message that they would leave the next morning.
• Ian boarded the Green Vine Airship with Horton, Chris, Sam, and the others, and watched Emerald City recede as he thought of returning to Veridian Forest and the Academy's secret vault.

Ian confronted the Green Corridor apprentices after they mistreated his schoolmates aboard the airship and challenged their leader, Green Wing, to a fight. The fight began in the ship’s open arena as Wizard Horton and Xavier watched from above.

• Wizard Horton gave Ian a card granting access to one of the airship’s two top-level Meditation Rooms and warned him that Green Corridor had apprentices nearing Official Wizard status.
• Ian learned that Green Corridor apprentices had barred his schoolmates from the Meditation Rooms and forced them to crowd into one side of the dining hall.
• After Evan easily defeated Ronan, Sam pleaded with Green Wing on Ian’s behalf, and Green Wing offered to let the school use the tables if Ian defeated Evan.
• Ian instead challenged Green Wing and demanded that, if he won, Green Corridor give up half of the Meditation Rooms; Green Wing accepted and said he would not use the rudiments of First Ring Wizardry.
• Ian and Green Wing took their places in the airship’s arena as Wizard Horton and Xavier watched, and the Servant Witch started the fight.

A harpy attack interrupted Ian and Green Wing’s duel, forcing the wizards aboard the Airship to fight together. Ian’s powerful spells impressed the Green Corridor wizards, and the chapter ended with Green Wing proposing that the schools share their facilities and Ian agreeing.

• Vilo warned that a huge flock of harpies was closing in, and Xavier and Horton ordered everyone to prepare for battle.
• The Airship’s shield broke, and Ian used a Mental Power Impact to rouse wizards stunned by the harpies’ shrieks.
• Ian killed a harpy carrying off a Green Corridor wizard and swiftly defeated several more harpies, revealing his strength to Green Wing and the others.
• Xavier and Horton killed the two harpy leaders, causing the remaining harpies to scatter and ending the battle.
• Green Wing acknowledged Ian’s strength, called off their duel, and proposed that their schools share all facilities; Ian agreed.

After Ian’s battle against the harpies, his strength changed how the other Wizards treated him, and he received First Ring rune materials while preparing to join Elemental Mysteries. Two months later, the Airship reached the City of Elements region as Ian continued to improve his abilities.

• Lawrence Cresswell thanked Ian for saving his life, and Xavier praised Ian before giving him a First Ring harpy skull containing a rune.
• Horton tested Ian’s progress on three legacy techniques, was astonished by his proficiency, and gave him their First Ring versions to study.
• Green Wing honored the agreement to share the Meditation Room, while Vilo visited Ian and spent the night with him.
• Ian examined the First Ring Wizardry techniques, decided they were unsuitable for him, and obtained another harpy skull from Sam.
• During two months of travel, Ian mastered Harpy’s Howl and improved his talent and mental power as the Airship endured further attacks.
• The Airship finally reached the City of Elements region.

Ian and Horton arrived in the City of Elements, where Horton took Ian to the Verdant Shadow Wizard Family. Horton confronted his family and demanded the Magic Field on the Fifth Layer as his father's inheritance.

• Ian and the other Wizards saw the vast City of Elements and entered its Sixth Layer after paying for temporary residence rights.
• Horton told Ian about the city's layers and took him to the Fifth Layer, where his former family lived.
• Horton announced himself at the Verdant Shadow Wizard Family estate, and his cousin Lance welcomed him inside.
• Horton met his uncle Jules in the family hall and demanded the Magic Field on the Fifth Layer, saying it had belonged to his father.

Horton and Ian left the Emerald Shadow Family after Jules refused to return Horton’s magic field, then bought an estate on Grayrock Alley to establish a school. After Marcus of the Rust Wizard School extorted an establishment fee from Horton, Ian resolved to take the examination for Elemental Mystery Wizard Academy.

• Jules refused to give Horton his father’s magic field and offered him a small spirit field as compensation, which Horton accepted.
• Horton told Ian how his family had rejected and expelled him, then said they would buy a school headquarters and develop the magic field.
• Horton spent thirty thousand Magic Stones on an estate on Grayrock Alley and brought everyone there to clean it up.
• Marcus demanded three thousand Magic Stones and a monthly service fee for the Rust Wizard School’s approval, and Horton paid him.
• Ian reflected on the City of Elements and resolved to take the examination for Elemental Mystery Wizard Academy.

Ian adjusted to life in the City of Elements, where costly meditation rooms and disputes over the school’s magic herb fields complicated his preparations for the assessment. Horton gave Ian ten Deep Blue Potions, and after a month of focused cultivation Ian’s mental power reached 17; then Audrey invited him to meet at a tavern.

• Ian discovered that the manor had slightly elevated magical power and rented a high-grade Meditation Room to improve his meditation.
• Farn told Ian that another wizard school was occupying the magic herb fields promised to Horton and that Vilo had been taken away by her uncle, Nathan Dusk Song.
• Horton explained Vilo’s family situation and gave Ian ten Deep Blue Potions to help him reach the peak of Zero Ring.
• Ian spent a month cultivating while Horton dealt with disputes over the herb fields and friction with neighboring schools.
• Ian raised his mental power measure to 17, then received an invitation from Audrey to meet at a tavern.

Ian met Audrey in the City of Elements and learned that the upcoming Elemental Mysteries assessment had doubled its admissions but also raised the age limit and placed greater weight on combat. Audrey gave Ian her gold card to support his training, and after three months of cultivation, he was ready to face the assessment.

• Ian met Audrey at a tavern and learned she was the daughter of the Pierce Chamber of Commerce president.
• Audrey told Ian that Elemental Mysteries would admit four hundred candidates, raise the non-Academy age limit to thirty, and emphasize combat in its assessment.
• Audrey gave Ian her gold card, granting him access to fourth-floor training rooms and a free loan of up to fifty thousand Magic Stones, and said she would help him find another path if he failed to enter Elemental Mysteries.
• Audrey hugged Ian, thanked him for saving her, and left after saying goodbye.
• Ian used the gold card to train in the Meditation Room and Elemental Simulation Room for three months.

Ian discovered that the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method was incomplete and resolved to investigate the Four Symbols Academy. He joined the academy assessment, passed its first screening, and learned that his talent fell short of the Silver Moon tier while two other candidates surpassed it.

• Ian saw that the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method had stalled at 350 proficiency and suspected it was missing part of its teachings.
• Ian returned to the Horton Wizard School, where Horton told him the final assessment would begin in a week.
• Ian and Horton traveled to the assessment, and Ian passed through the light membrane that screened for age and peak Wizard Apprentice mental power.
• Ian reached the second-floor talent test and lit seventeen patterns on a stone pillar.
• Ian noticed that the pillars beside him had each lit more than twenty patterns, marking two candidates as Silver Moon-tier talents.

Ian completed the Elemental Mysteries assessment and ranked twenty-fifth after surviving the Illusion Tower’s simulated battles. He secured a place at the academy, where a new journey awaited him.

• Ian reunited with Vilo, learned she had been treated well during the family war, and saw that both of them had made the top thousand after the second assessment.
• The candidates who passed followed the Molten Fire Academy Wizard to the Illusion Tower for the final assessment, which would determine the top four hundred entrants and their academy rankings.
• Ian fought increasingly difficult simulated enemies, using elemental and body-tempering Wizardry while keeping his ability to cast Wizardry instantly hidden.
• After all candidates finished, the rankings placed Abraham Flameheart first, Ael Star-Eye second, and Ian twenty-fifth.
• Ian learned that he had successfully joined the Elemental Mysteries and prepared to begin a new journey.

Ian joined Elemental Mysteries and learned about its benefits, branches, and mentor-selection process, while considering the Four Symbols Academy as a potential fit for his abilities. After touring the Academy, he returned to Horton Wizard School, where a delegation from Rust Wizard School greeted him as a genius.

• Ian found Green Wing and Sam in the rankings, while Vilo had missed the top four hundred.
• Malcolm Gentil explained the Academy’s benefits, handed out insignia badges, and told the new wizards to choose a branch and mentor within three days.
• Ian read about the Four Symbols Academy and its dean, Kilan Howard, and considered trying to join despite the demanding talent requirements.
• Malcolm Steele led the new members on a tour of the Academy’s facilities and residential area, including its vast Library.
• Ian returned to Horton Wizard School with Horton and Vilo, and Vilo’s uncle Seth left after saying he would not agree to the pair being together.
• Three wizards from Rust Wizard School arrived at the school, and their leader greeted Ian as a genius wizard.

After Ian ranked twenty-fifth and joined Elemental Mysteries, he received an apology, congratulations, and sponsorship offers from powerful factions. He signed Audrey’s unusually generous contract, then learned that his chosen mentor, Kilan Howard, abandoned students whose growth slowed—a method that seemed perfectly suited to Ian.

• Theodore apologized to Horton and Ian for a Rust Wizard School wizard’s unauthorized service fee, congratulated Ian on his ranking, and gave them Magic Stones.
• Audrey learned Ian had joined Elemental Mysteries, while Jules dismissed the news as no threat because Ian lacked Silver Moon-grade talent.
• Wizards from several factions and families offered to sponsor Ian, but he rejected their terms until Audrey presented a generous contract from the Bayers Family.
• Ian signed Audrey’s contract, which provided monthly Magic Stones, advancement resources, and discounts in exchange for helping her when needed.
• Audrey warned Ian that Kilan Howard tested students with escalating goals and abandoned those whose progress slowed, and Ian realized that the method suited his own ability to keep advancing.

Ian chose to pursue Wizard Kieran and the Four Symbols Academy, then entered the Elemental Mysteries’ core territory for an interview with Huo Yan. There, his talent let him see a vast black waterfall of valuable knowledge pouring into the academy’s center.

• Audrey explained the Four Symbols Academy’s weaknesses and advantages, and Ian reaffirmed his decision to seek Kieran as his mentor.
• Ian submitted his assessment application, listing Kieran first, Huo Yan second, and a Four Symbols Academy wizard third.
• Ian used his proficiency panel to improve his Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method and advanced its Resonance Chapter to Expert.
• Ian received an interview notice from Huo Yan and followed a Servant Witch into the Elemental Mysteries’ core territory.
• Ian surveyed the five branch academies and saw at least a hundred thousand black threads of valuable knowledge flowing into the academy’s center.

Ian was rejected by Molten Fire Academy because its three places were reserved for Silvermoon-grade talents, then secured permission to wait for an interview with his first-choice mentor, Charlie. After a month of study, Ian finally received Charlie’s overdue interview notice.

• Ian saw strange black lines that suggested a talent value of at least a hundred thousand, but they vanished before he could examine them.
• Sam told Ian that Green Wing had entered Wind Whisper Academy as a student of its head, and that Molten Fire Academy would accept only three Silvermoon-grade talents.
• Huo Yan reviewed Ian’s battle records, praised his combat and spellcasting ability, but rejected him because he had only first-grade talent.
• Wizard Milo offered to take Ian as his student, but agreed to let him try for Charlie first.
• Ian spent a month meditating and studying while his Meditation Method proficiency rose to 385, then received Charlie’s interview notice.

Ian demonstrated his mastery of the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method to Kieran, who accepted him as a student after Ian surpassed the method’s known limit. Kieran gave Ian the missing portion and challenged him to master the complete method within half a year to earn support with a matching Rank One wizardry.

• A servant led Ian to Kieran’s manor, where Kieran rejected a wizard’s demonstration as mediocre.
• Kieran reviewed footage of Ian’s combat and questioned whether the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method was Ian’s only advantage.
• Ian pushed the method’s resonance beyond its 200% limit, reaching nearly 230% through a portion he had independently comprehended.
• Kieran was impressed by Ian’s sorcery talent and accepted him as his student, though Ian could call him Mentor until becoming a Rank One Wizard.
• Kieran gave Ian a Knowledge Crystal containing the meditation method’s missing portion and challenged him to reach its limit within half a year.

After passing Kieran’s assessment, Ian was sent to Castle Number Three, where Kilan Howard made him and the other selected wizards probationary students with a demanding three-year deadline. Ian ended the chapter standing apart from the Academy-born students and their favored peers, quietly listening to them talk.

• Kieran ordered a servant named Brandon to take Ian to Castle Number Three, and Ian declined to report Brandon after Kieran threatened to send him to the battlefield.
• Ian arrived at Castle Number Three and waited with the other selected wizards, including a First-Ring Wizard in a black robe.
• Kilan Howard arrived with Ael Star-Eye and announced that the wizards were probationary students who had to become official first-ring wizards and achieve a recognized breakthrough within three years.
• Kilan introduced Peter Whitman as his student and left, while Peter offered his contact information and asked the group to introduce themselves.
• The wizards introduced themselves, and Ian learned that Ael had also chosen Kilan; Peter and the Academy-born students focused their attention on Ael while Ian stood quietly with the other assessment students.

After passing Kieran’s assessment, Ian studied the Knowledge Crystal and revised his approach to the Meditation Method. His choice of mentor stirred reactions across the City of Elements, while his Mental Power quietly reached its limit at 20 degrees.

• Ian told Milo that he had passed Kieran’s assessment, and Milo said he could seek him out again if he was not Kieran’s student after three years.
• Ian studied Kieran’s Knowledge Crystal, used it to refine his own approach, and found flaws in his Meditation Method as his Elemental Resonance Field’s resonance increased.
• Theodore learned that Ian had chosen Kieran as his mentor and called the heads of the various schools to discuss bringing Horton Wizard School into Graystone Street.
• Old Harker learned that the Harker Family had to give up its magical field, while Jules dismissed concerns about Ian’s connection to Kieran.
• Audrey proudly told her friends that Kieran had accepted Ian, then secured resources from her father for Ian’s future advancement.
• Ian continued studying and meditating until his Mental Power reached 20 degrees, its limit.

Ian attended the monthly gathering at Four Symbols Academy, where Kieran taught elemental fusion and answered the apprentices’ questions. After learning why the other apprentices looked down on his School background, Ian received Audrey’s support and continued his studies until his Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method reached Master Level.

• Ian learned that Horton was struggling to remove Old Huck from the school’s grounds, while Ian focused on advancing toward the first ring and obtaining Wizardry suited to his Meditation Method.
• At the monthly gathering, Ian met Ryan and listened to Kieran lecture on elemental fusion before asking him a question about the Meditation Method.
• Andre invited the apprentices to eat together, but the other Wizard Academy students treated Ian coldly, so he left early.
• Audrey explained that Ian was looked down on because he lacked the backing other apprentices had and promised him a standard set of advancement resources from her father.
• Ian resumed improving his Meditation Method and studying Wizardry, and twenty days later the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method reached Master Level.

Ian reached Master Level in his meditation method, received a valuable zero-ring potion-making inheritance from Isaac, and continued improving his skills. At the second monthly exchange meeting, he returned to Castle Three after finding he lacked time to explore much of the Elemental Core Zone.

• Ian raised the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method—Resonance Chapter to Master Level, gaining 130 talent points and a 350% elemental resonance field.
• Sam visited Ian with a complete zero-ring potion-making inheritance from Isaac, and Ian thanked Isaac for the gift.
• Isaac regretted not taking Ian as his student but decided Ian was better suited to the Elemental Mysteries and sent him the inheritance.
• Ian bought materials and resumed practicing potion-making and the Eye of Harmonization.
• At the start of the month, Ian entered the Elemental Core Zone but turned back when he ran short on time, then arrived at Castle Three for the second exchange meeting.

Kieran dismissed Ryan for failing to meet his standards and examined Ian’s progress, then explained how first-ring wizards chose spells. Ian chose the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method and received its five-system spell set, before returning to the hall and meeting a warmly smiling Andre.

• Kieran assigned the apprentices different numbers of questions and told Ryan to leave, rejecting his plea for another chance.
• Ian asked questions about the lecture, then followed Kieran into a private room and displayed a resonance field of three hundred and fifty.
• Kieran explained that first-ring wizards could imprint spells and revealed that the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method could support five Mental Power crystals.
• Ian chose the Four-Element Resonance Meditation Method, and Kieran gave him a Knowledge Crystal containing its five-system spells.
• Ian returned to the main hall, where Andre approached him with a radiant smile and called him his brother.