Chapter Summaries

Li Ang created a character whose parents had been murdered, forcing him to flee Barkley for Pande Continent. After choosing to face life head-on without saving or quitting, he fell into darkness.

• The character's father trained him in sword and lance, while his mother told him how his father had rescued her from kidnappers.
• His father left him alone for a year, and he survived on the streets before becoming a bounty hunter.
• After receiving news that his parents had been killed, he fled Barkley with his father's sword and chose to travel by Fieltzwe merchant ship to Mistveil City.
• Li Ang selected the option to face life head-on without saving or quitting, then lost consciousness.
• A voice asked whether any young lads were looking for a future in war.

In Mistveil City, Li Ang entered a tournament offering a Pioneer Baron certificate as its champion’s prize, hoping to regain his family’s place among the nobles. He negotiated a larger payment to help Young Master Foucher reach the finals, but remained determined to win the tournament himself.

• Li Ang prepared to enter the grand tournament while hiding his face from the Crimson Brotherhood, which was hunting the original owner of his body, Lyon Griffin.
• Fat Boss offered Li Ang a thousand denars to help Young Master Foucher reach the finals by carrying him through the team battles.
• Li Ang refused the initial offer because he wanted the Pioneer Baron certificate and a chance to restore his family’s knightly status.
• Li Ang bargained Fat Boss up to eighteen hundred denars, then warned that Foucher was so weak his advancement might look suspicious.
• Fat Boss told Li Ang to focus on bringing Foucher to the finals, unaware that Li Ang’s hidden interface showed his exceptional weapon skills.

After half a year in Mistveil City’s arena, Li Ang entered a high-profile team tournament hoping to earn money and leave before the Crimson Brotherhood could find him. He charged into the opening melee and knocked an opponent unconscious, while his frail teammate Foucher stayed out of the fight.

• Li Ang recalled that his body’s original owner had been hunted by the Crimson Brotherhood and had survived by hiding and training in the arena.
• Li Ang decided the joint tournament was a chance to make money and leave Mistveil City, though a Pioneer Baron certificate would bring enemies unless he had an army to protect it.
• Li Ang and Foucher entered the first match, but Foucher struggled with the lance and switched to a shield and axe.
• Li Ang held Foucher back until the other teams began fighting, then Foucher moved toward the Golden Lion Banner to blend in.
• Li Ang charged into the melee and struck an opponent from behind with his lance, sending him off his horse unconscious.

Li Ang used ruthless tactics to win the melee alongside Foucher, earning boos from the crowd but the approval of Duke Alma. Before their semifinal, Li Ang bet on Foucher to advance and extorted the Fat Boss into giving him Alice, the golden-maned horse.

• Li Ang fought strategically in the melee, leaving the other teams to wear each other down before joining Foucher to defeat the remaining opponents.
• Li Ang unseated a charging opponent by striking his horse, then knocked down an injured contestant before Foucher could reach him.
• The crowd booed Li Ang, while Duke Alma praised his tactics and reflected that Li Ang was not the child of someone he remembered.
• After the melee ended, the Fat Boss anticipated profits from Li Ang and Foucher's semifinal, and Li Ang asked about betting on Foucher.
• Li Ang bet two hundred denars on Foucher to advance and demanded Alice instead of the winnings, and the Fat Boss agreed.

Li Ang advanced to the finals after Foucher broke his foot and surrendered, then agreed to risk his remaining 500 denars against Sir Rayman in a fully armored duel. The chapter ended as Li Ang faced the far better-equipped knight, determined to win the championship and secure the Pioneer Baron certificate.

• Foucher fell into a pit, broke his foot, and surrendered, advancing Li Ang to the finals.
• Fat Boss told Li Ang that Duke Alma had ordered the final to be a fully armored duel against Sir Rayman and warned that Li Ang could be killed.
• Li Ang decided to bet his remaining 500 denars on himself and asked Andrew for the Meitengheim prisoners and Alice in exchange for his winnings if he won.
• Andrew accepted Li Ang's proposal and urged him to win.
• Li Ang entered the final on a black travel horse with a lance and faced Sir Rayman, whose armor and weapons far surpassed his own.

Li Ang defeated Sir Rayman in the tournament final and reluctantly won the championship, leaving him exposed to the Crimson Brotherhood and facing a dangerous journey to Lion City. He then visited a group of unruly Meitengheim men in the arena’s prison cells, hoping to recruit warriors.

• Li Ang avoided Sir Rayman’s heavy cavalry charges until his warhorse grew exhausted, then switched his lance to his left hand and knocked him from his horse.
• Sir Rayman rose and continued fighting on foot, but conceded after Li Ang picked up his fallen lance and he realized his injuries and armor left him at a disadvantage.
• Li Ang won the championship, regretted having to reveal his conspicuous appearance, and learned he would need to travel to Lion City to claim his reward and register as a Pioneer Lord.
• Fat Boss Andrew gave Li Ang a parchment about the Meitengheim men held beneath the arena, and Li Ang entered their prison hoping to recruit them.

Li Ang challenged Kloze, leader of a band of Meitengheim mercenaries, to a greatsword duel to prove himself worthy of their loyalty. Li Ang struck Kloze with his sword pommel, leaving the duel’s outcome uncertain.

• Li Ang told the Meitengheim men he had bought them to fight as mercenaries, and Kloze demanded proof that Li Ang was a capable leader.
• Li Ang proposed a greatsword duel: if he won, the men would swear loyalty to him; if he lost, he would free them.
• Kloze introduced himself as a Meitengheim Great Swordsman, and the two men chose greatswords and began the duel.
• Kloze tested Li Ang with a feint, but Li Ang held his ground before lunging inside Kloze’s reach.
• Li Ang crossed blades with Kloze at close range and struck his chin with the pommel, sending him staggering backward.

Li Ang defeated Kloze and gained the loyalty of the Meitengheim warriors, then led them out of Mistveil City in search of money and safety. On the road, they discovered the pirates who had enslaved them, and Li Ang urged his men to reclaim their equipment.

• Kloze attacked Li Ang with a spinning greatsword, but Li Ang used a diagonal slash to disarm him and bend his blade.
• Kloze and the Meitengheim people swore loyalty to Li Ang, who accepted the bent sword and took the men and their horses out of the arena.
• Li Ang kept the greatswords for his unequipped followers and hurried east from Mistveil City, worried that he lacked money for the journey to Lion City.
• Kloze spotted pirates in a valley far inland and recognized them as the men who had captured and sold the Meitengheim warriors.
• Li Ang noticed a pirate carrying a Meitengheim two-handed sword and asked his men if they wanted to take their equipment back.

Li Ang and the Meitengheim men attacked a pirate hideout and recovered their stolen armor and weapons. After the battle, they found a shackled young man in the cave and wondered why the pirates had kept him there.

• Li Ang led the hungry Meitengheim men toward a cave where pirates were cooking, then tried to approach unnoticed while Kloze circled around the slope.
• A pirate spotted Li Ang and shot a crossbow bolt at him, so Li Ang called for an attack and charged the pirates.
• Kloze killed the crossbowman, while the Meitengheim men routed the pirates through the mountain terrain without suffering serious losses.
• The Meitengheim men ate the mushroom soup and recovered their armor and weapons from the cave.
• Li Ang and Kloze found two surviving prisoners, including a shackled young man, and exchanged suspicious glances about his connection to the pirates.

Li Ang rescued Ansen, a runaway seminary student who dreamed of becoming a true knight, from a pirate camp and offered him a place in his party. After Ansen pleaded for a captured pirate’s life, the party system finally confirmed that he had joined.

• Li Ang and Kloze learned that the captured young man, Ansen, was a seminary student and skilled in medicine, and Ansen treated Sammer’s injured foot.
• Ansen explained that he had fled his studies to pursue knighthood, but pirates had captured him after he boarded a disguised pirate ship.
• Li Ang offered Ansen a place in his party, but freeing him from his ankle shackle did not trigger the party system’s recruitment message.
• A captured pirate asked Ansen to secure his life in exchange for information, trusting that Ansen would keep his word.
• Ansen asked Li Ang to spare the crippled pirate, and Li Ang agreed as the system confirmed Ansen had joined his party.

Li Ang learned of the Griffin Knights’ lost garrison but put the treasure hunt aside to register as a Pioneer Lord before Duke Alma reached Lion City. He arrived in the capital and found the Noble Council, where he prepared to secure official recognition.

• Ansen told Li Ang about pirates searching for the Griffin Knights’ hidden garrison near Long River Town, and Li Ang decided to remember the information for later.
• Ansen advised Li Ang to reach Lion City before Duke Alma, so Li Ang rode ahead alone on Alice while the others planned to regroup near Long River Town.
• Li Ang crossed a thousand miles by noon on the third day and entered Lion City without being stopped by the guards.
• Li Ang rode through the capital to find the Noble Council and noted how the Lionheart rulers had altered the city and the statue of the goddess Eunomia.

Li Ang registered his intention to become a Pioneer Lord and discovered that Count Oden Fletcher, the famed defender of Brave Shield Fortress, was overseeing the Noble Council. Oden offered him a choice between establishing a territory near Long River Forest or serving as a knight at Brave Shield Fortress, leaving Li Ang to weigh the risks and rewards.

• Li Ang presented his certificate at the Noble Council and was introduced to Count Oden Fletcher.
• Oden explained that Ryman, his son-in-law and Li Ang’s opponent in the Fieltzwe finals, had praised Li Ang’s swordsmanship and would accept the result.
• Li Ang recognized that Oden’s remarks about Duke Alma hinted at a conflict, and Oden admitted Alma had recommended him for his administrative post.
• Oden offered Li Ang the choice of founding a Pioneer territory near Long River Forest or becoming his knight and receiving a Knight’s Territory.

Li Ang became a Pioneer Lord and secured an alliance with Earl Oden by agreeing to deal with bandits in Fletcher Village. He left the Noble Council with a thousand-denar loan and headed for an inn, still wary of danger and carrying a large sum of gold.

• Li Ang chose to become a Pioneer Lord and agreed to help Earl Oden fight the bandits harassing his lands.
• Li Ang persuaded Oden to lend him a thousand denars, and Oden granted him the title of Reserve Baron and the right to settle Long River Forest.
• Li Ang left the Noble Council with his badge and the loan, while considering the requirements for establishing his territory.
• Li Ang decided to spend the night at an inn beside King's Avenue because he and his horse were exhausted.
• Li Ang entered the inn cautiously, concerned about assassins and the money he carried.

Li Ang accidentally killed a drunken swordsman in a tavern and fled with the corpse to avoid trouble. While trying to bury the body, he was ambushed by Crimson Brotherhood assassins and escaped to a street marked by a golden lion crest, where he called for help.

• A drunken man attacked Li Ang after asking what he was looking at, and Li Ang accidentally killed him when a chair drove the drunk's sword into his skull.
• The tavern owner told Li Ang to take the dead man's weapon, purse, and body and leave, so Li Ang loaded the corpse onto his horse and rode away.
• A pale-faced nobleman who had fled the tavern appeared with masked Crimson Brotherhood assassins as Li Ang prepared to bury the body by the city wall.
• Li Ang mounted Alice and fought his way through the assassins, escaping down the alleys as they threw knives after him.
• Li Ang reached a street bearing a golden lion crest, stopped when he saw it, and shouted for help as the assassins caught up.

After Li Ang was brought to the Lion Knight Order following an alley confrontation, the knights discovered the victim’s body had been reduced to an empty skin and suspected a Fallen One. Li Ang returned to the Adventurer Tavern, where the owner later approached him with a business deal.

• Li Ang blamed three would-be attackers for a drunkard’s death, and the Lion Knight Order detained them after verifying his Pioneer Noble Emblem.
• The knights and Li Ang found only the victim’s empty human skin in the alley, prompting the knights to suspect a Fallen One while the pale-faced man escaped.
• The Lion Knight Order launched a citywide investigation, and Li Ang worried that heretical demons from another world might be real.
• Li Ang returned to the Adventurer Tavern, rented Room 3, and noticed an alluring woman leaving the room across from his.
• After bringing Li Ang his delayed meal, the tavern owner recognized the Pioneer Noble Emblem and offered to discuss a business deal.

Li Ang hired Sarah the “Fox Spirit,” a noble-born traveling bard fleeing Foucher, to join his party and handle diplomacy. Sarah set out with Li Ang’s group for Long River Town, keeping her family name secret.

• Li Ang learned that Sarah was seeking a party to take her from Lion City to Long River Town and decided to speak with her.
• Sarah explained that Foucher had been pursuing her and that, despite his recent crippling, she feared his return to Lion City.
• Sarah revealed that Foucher’s influence had left her without work and money, making it difficult for her to travel alone.
• Li Ang offered Sarah one hundred denars to handle his party’s diplomatic affairs and gather information about local customs, faiths, and nobles.
• Sarah accepted the offer but refused to reveal her family name, and she joined Li Ang’s party.

Li Ang and Sarah traveled through Long River Town’s desolate wilderness, where they encountered a large band of nomadic raiders. Sarah identified them as Gatu, leaving Li Ang to hurry toward town to warn the garrison about a possible invasion.

• Li Ang and Sarah rode together into Long River Town’s vast, mostly uninhabited territory.
• They traveled through the night, with Sarah telling Li Ang about the lands and histories she knew.
• At dawn, Li Ang and Sarah hid as more than a hundred armed cavalrymen rode past carrying goods taken from civilians.
• Sarah recognized the riders as Gatu and feared that Brave Shield Fortress had fallen.
• Li Ang urged Sarah to hurry with him to Long River Town and report the Gatu invasion to the garrison.

Li Ang and Sarah reached Long River Town and reported seeing more than a hundred Gato Raiders deep inside its territory. After learning Brave Shield Fortress had sent no warning, Li Ang suspected the raiders’ presence was tied to the power struggle between Grand Duke Alma and Count Oden, and presented Oden’s letter to Knight Commander Ralph.

• Li Ang and Sarah arrived in Long River Town, a prosperous trading city whose administration and defenses were divided between Grand Duke Alma and Count Oden’s factions.
• Li Ang showed his noble insignia at the city defense barracks and told Ralph that he had seen over a hundred Gato Raiders south of town.
• Ralph doubted the report because Brave Shield Fortress had sent no warning and the Gatu had not raided the territory in thirty years.
• Sarah hinted that Duke Alma’s actions involving Foucher might explain the situation, and Li Ang stopped her from saying more.
• Li Ang gave Ralph Oden’s letter of cooperation and connected the raiders’ presence to the struggle over Long River Town.

Li Ang persuaded Ralph that Gatu raiders had entered Long River Town with help from Fletcher Village’s supposed bandits, threatening Earl Oden’s position. He proposed staging further Gatu raids and building a nomad camp near Duke Alma’s nephew’s territory, then prepared to leave for Fletcher Village.

• Li Ang argued that the Gatu cavalry likely entered the kingdom with help from the Fletcher Village bandits, implicating Earl Oden’s forces in dereliction of duty.
• Li Ang ordered Ralph to pursue the Gatu cavalry and recover their horses and equipment, then asked for maps, weapons, carpenters, and building materials.
• Li Ang told Ralph his plan was to build a Gatu camp near Duke Alma’s nephew’s territory and stage raids in Duke Alma’s lands to spread blame for the incursion.
• Li Ang had Sarah write a materials list and told Ralph to inform Earl Oden and deliver supplies to the Adventurer Tavern before Li Ang departed for Fletcher Village.
• Sarah pointed out that Li Ang had requested far more carpenters, lumber, and tents than his planned camp needed, and Li Ang brushed off her objection.

Li Ang recruited mercenaries in Long River Town and waited for Ansen and the others to arrive, while trying to manage his limited funds. Ansen arrived with Kloze and the others after they guarded a caravan, and Li Ang went to meet the caravan to buy food.

• Li Ang recruited 23 Mercenary Crossbowmen and discovered that two other recruits were actually Farmers.
• Li Ang stopped recruiting to conserve his remaining denars and learned that Sarah was too exhausted to help with records.
• Ansen arrived in Long River Town after he and the others rode with a caravan they had guarded, but he had refused its payment.
• Ansen explained that Kloze and the others were helping unload the caravan’s goods in exchange for a meal.
• Li Ang asked Ansen to manage logistics, learned that he lacked the experience, and went with him to the caravan to buy food.