Chapter Summaries

Ian collected his upgraded Witchcraft Artifact and set out to confront the Blackstone School families, choosing the powerful Greenfield Family as his first target. The chapter ended with his carriage reaching Greenfield territory as he prepared to test his fighting strength.

• Ian visited the Alchemy Department, inspected his new carriage and reinforced staff, and arranged for Joz to teach Emily.
• Ian summoned Renee and ordered her to identify the hardest Blackstone School family to handle and notify the school's Wizards.
• Renee named the Greenfield Family, which had three Third-Rank Wizard Apprentices, as the strongest surrendered family, and Ian ordered the carriage there while asking Ronan to send witnesses.
• Ed told Joz he would support Ian only if Ian settled the matter successfully, while Ronan ordered the Combat Department to stay out of the confrontation.
• Ian's carriage crossed into the former Blackstone School region and reached the Greenfield Family's territory.

Ian confronted the Greenfield Wizard Family over its refusal to pay the school’s resource levy and slaughtered its leaders after revealing his strength. He collected their Space Rings and uncovered a hidden chamber beneath the ruins.

• Ian arrived at the Greenfield Wizard Family’s town with Renee and encountered Rune among the Combat Department wizards, who had orders not to help him.
• Aurelian offered to negotiate the family’s resource contribution, and Ian sent Renee away before demanding that the family pay ninety percent.
• Ian trapped Aurelian and the assembled wizards inside the Cage Witchcraft Artifact and unleashed a devastating storm of wind blades.
• Ian killed Aurelian and the other wizards, gathered their Space Rings, and discovered a staircase leading to a secret chamber beneath the ground.

Ian uncovered Blackstone Drake’s hidden legacy, which included the knowledge of an Official Wizard and a clue to a higher-ring legacy held by Horton. After the barrier fell, Ian declared the Greenfield Family defeated, confiscated its assets, and warned the other families against challenging the school.

• Ian found a mithril box buried beneath the secret chamber and discovered Blackstone Drake’s wizard book and recorded message.
• Blackstone Drake’s message revealed that his legacy contained his path to becoming an Official Wizard and asked its inheritor to kill Horton, who possessed a clue to a second- or third-ring legacy.
• Ian gathered the hidden items and removed the barrier, then dodged the spells that were attacking it.
• Renee and the gathered wizards entered the blood-soaked ruins and saw Aurelian’s remains and the aftermath of the battle.
• Ian announced that the Greenfield Family had resisted and attempted to assassinate the school’s leaders, ordered its assets confiscated, and warned the other families.
• Renee offered to handle the aftermath, while Logan Dalton and Rune were left stunned by Ian’s strength.

On the carriage ride back, Ian studied Blackstone’s legacy and resolved to enter the Elemental Mystery Wizard Academy and pursue Silver Moon-tier talent. After reporting his actions against the Greenfield Wizard School to Horton, Ian showed him Blackstone’s wizard book, whose familiar aura changed Horton’s expression.

• Ian examined Blackstone’s legacy, learning three core fire sorceries and the requirements for advancing to an Official Wizard.
• Ian read Blackstone’s account of how a lack of talent, resources, and Academy support had limited his advancement, and committed to entering the Elemental Mystery Wizard Academy.
• Ian set his next goals as becoming a peak wizard apprentice and raising his talent to the Silver Moon tier.
• Vilo told Ian that Horton was waiting, then walked him to the Wizard Tower and revealed that Horton was her father.
• Ian reported how he had dealt with the Greenfield Wizard School, and Horton approved of his actions.
• Ian showed Horton Blackstone’s wizard book, and Horton reacted to its familiar aura.

Ian learned about Silver Moon Tier talent, chose Horton’s Life Drain spell, and helped Greenfield Wizard School settle after its leadership was wiped out. After three months of training, Ian mastered Life Drain, and Victor awakened.

• Horton explained that Silver Moon Tier talent surpassed Mortal Star Tier and offered Ian three plant-based spells; Ian chose Life Drain.
• Horton gave Ian a Knowledge Crystal and said he would be away for several months, while privately searching a map of Veridian Forest for an unknown location.
• After Ian returned, Greenfield Wizard School’s resistance collapsed, Ed crafted him a superior Witch Robe, and former Blackstone Wizards joined the school.
• Ian gave Victor the Emerald Morning Dew, and Victor’s mental strength began to recover.
• Ian mastered Life Drain after three months of training, and Victor awakened.

Ian used Life Drain to absorb vitality from magic plants and continued growing stronger while managing his department and helping Victor. After Horton returned from a trip, Ian demonstrated extraordinary mastery of Life Drain, and Horton offered him a body-tempering method before revealing an Armor Plate identical to Ian’s.

• Ian practiced Life Drain, reviewed his progress, and went to visit the newly awakened Victor, whom he offered a place helping manage the Logistics Department.
• Vilo told Ian that Horton had returned and wanted to see him.
• Horton showed Ian a rare Veridian Grass, and Ian drained its vitality with Life Drain.
• Horton was shocked by Ian’s spellcasting talent and offered him a top-tier body-tempering method.
• Horton produced a dark gray Armor Plate that was exactly like Ian’s.

Ian cultivated the Imprint Body Tempering Method under Horton’s guidance, raised his talent to 1,000 points, and discovered he could sense how valuable knowledge was to him. The chapter ended with two Official Wizards from Reno Mines warning that powerful factions were coming to Veridian Forest, leaving Horton wounded and the Academy facing a looming invasion.

• Horton explained that the Imprint Body Tempering Method came from a destroyed wizard academy whose secret vault lay in Veridian Forest, and asked Ian to help meet its entry requirement in exchange for a share of its contents.
• Ian trained in Horton’s Wizard Tower with Veridian Grass, rapidly advancing his body-tempering method and sorceries while improving his Mental Power.
• After several sorceries reached Master Level, Ian’s talent rose to 1,000 points, granting him a new ability to sense the value of knowledge through black lines.
• Two Official Wizards, including Valen from Reno Mines, attacked Horton and demanded that he leave Veridian Forest, then offered an alliance against stronger incoming factions.
• Horton returned injured after the fight, and Ian realized that a major upheaval was approaching the Academy.

After Horton's injury weakened the school, Horton ceded much of the former Blackstone territory to Grayrock Wizard School and focused on preparing Ian for the growing conflict. As more schools entered Veridian Forest and war resumed, Ian continued cultivating underground and reached Master Level in the Imprint Body Tempering Method.

• Horton ordered Ian, Vilo, and Ronan to withdraw forces from the former Blackstone territory and give most of it to Grayrock Wizard School.
• Horton took Ian to the school's underground elemental pool and told him to cultivate there until he raised the Unbreakable Rune to its limit.
• Grayrock Wizard School entered Veridian Forest, established a base with Horton's cooperation, and signed an alliance pact with the Horton Wizard School.
• The Flint School and Darkriver School arrived, renewed the fighting, and began swallowing territory from the Horton Wizard School and the Blackrock Wizard School.
• Ian cultivated in the underground cavern for three months and raised the Imprint Body Tempering Method to Master Level.

After reaching Master Level in the Imprint Body Tempering Method, Ian improved his rune-analysis talent and trained for three months with Horton’s veridian grass potion. He fully condensed the Unbreakable Rune and broke through to peak wizard apprentice as the fighting across Veridian Forest intensified.

• Ian reached Master Level in the Imprint Body Tempering Method, gaining 100 talent points and improving his ability to analyze runes.
• After reading reports about battles and resource conflicts, Ian resolved to join Elemental Mysteries and continued training underground.
• Horton returned with first-ring veridian grass and prepared a potion to strengthen Ian’s body and mental power.
• Ian endured the potion with little strain, and Horton gradually increased the amount of veridian grass juice.
• Over the next three months, Ian trained while the wizard schools’ conflicts worsened and casualties mounted.
• Ian fully condensed the Unbreakable Rune and reached peak wizard apprentice.

Ian condensed the Resonance Rune and reached Peak Wizard Apprentice, then learned about Horton’s past and his determination to pursue higher realms. After Ian condensed the Unbreakable Rune, Horton tested his defenses and discovered that Ian could withstand far more than expected.

• Ian reached Peak Wizard Apprentice and demonstrated how his condensed Resonance Rune strengthened his fire spell.
• Horton told Ian that he had left his family in the City of Elements to pursue higher knowledge, and recalled receiving the Meditation Method from Kilan Howard.
• Ian reflected on his own desire to explore the extraordinary world and grew more determined to join an Academy and pursue the First Ring.
• Ian said the Unbreakable Rune made his body feel diamond-hard and assured Horton that he understood it.
• Horton attacked Ian to test the Unbreakable Rune, but Ian endured five Peak Wizard Apprentice-level strikes and asked him to hit harder.

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.