Chapter Summaries

Richard inspected his newly rented courtyard and discovered that bats attracted by a substance on the gate had caused the ghostly knocking. After stopping them with alkali solution, he left for White Stone Tower Academy, musing about the rhythm of music from a tavern.

• Richard explored the courtyard and planned how to turn its rooms into laboratories and storage areas.
• Richard investigated the repeated knocks and used Stealth Technique to catch bats ramming the gate.
• Richard identified a scent on the gate that attracted the bats and applied Alkali Solution to stop them from returning.
• Richard continued planning his laboratory before leaving the courtyard for White Stone Tower Academy.
• Richard passed Salt and Fire and analyzed the rhythms of the woman's music as he walked away.

Jack Trist confronted Baji about Ruth’s unfinished task, but Baji dragged him into his room and frightened and humiliated him. Richard witnessed the aftermath, promised to keep it from Ruth, and continued upstairs wondering what her other fiancés would be like.

• Jack Trist visited Baji at Ruth’s request to ask how his assigned task was going, and Baji refused to answer him.
• Jack taunted Baji and hinted that he knew about Baji’s private behavior, prompting Baji to drag him into his room and tear his clothes while threatening him.
• Jack left in tattered clothes, and Baji told him to accept what had happened and ran off.
• Richard saw Baji and Jack in the corridor, and Baji explained himself and asked Richard to keep the incident secret from Ruth.
• Richard promised to keep quiet, asked about Baji’s toothpick, and went upstairs, reflecting on Ruth’s unusual fiancés.

Richard used scientific methods to produce a purer imitation of the Spartan Heroic Potion in his laboratory while Pandora slept. Pandora drank the entire tube without waking or showing any effect, and Richard began preparing another batch.

• Richard finished preparing a trial Spartan Heroic Potion and compared it with the potion Macbeth had given him.
• Richard observed that his scientifically prepared potion was darker, purer, and less diluted than the original.
• Pandora suddenly appeared beside Richard, took the trial potion, and swallowed it while still half-asleep.
• Pandora showed no reaction, tossed away the empty tube, and returned to sleep.
• Richard accepted the loss and began measuring ingredients to prepare another batch.

Richard tested the Spartan Heroic Potion on rats and himself, finding that it boosted strength, senses, and metabolism like a stimulant. He diluted the potion a hundredfold, named it the Spartan Warrior Potion, and left Pandora in charge of the house as he went out with it.

• Richard tested different doses of the Spartan Heroic Potion on rats as the remaining test subjects fled or died.
• Richard took a tiny amount of the potion beneath his tongue and experienced increased heart rate, strength, speed, and senses.
• Richard concluded that the potion acted like a stimulant but could not determine how it affected Bloodline Seeds.
• Richard recorded his results and diluted the potion a hundredfold to reduce its potency and make it easier to sell.
• Richard named the diluted potion the Spartan Warrior Potion, packed it in a wooden box, and told Pandora to watch the house before leaving.

Richard met Alex to exchange gathered equipment and materials for a batch of Spartan Warrior Potion, then hired him to sell it. Alex agreed to distribute the hundred bottles for a five percent commission, but collapsed from exhaustion after testing the potion.

• Alex showed Richard the requested equipment and materials, and Richard gave him a bottle of diluted potion to test.
• Alex mistook the Spartan Warrior Potion for liquor, drank it, and used his enhanced strength to move the tavern room's furniture before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Richard explained the potion's temporary boosts and offered Alex two Low-grade Crystal Coins per bottle sold, plus a five percent commission.
• Alex agreed to sell the hundred bottles and asked about the potion's name, so Richard told him the legend of The 300 Spartans.
• Richard left Alex on the floor to recover and reminded him to explain the displaced furniture to the tavern owner.

Richard encountered a street battle between the Red Sker Gang and a group of Musclemen, then fought the gang members who tried to steal his box. He drank a small sip of Spartan Heroic Potion and challenged the remaining attackers to come at him all at once.

• Richard found both ends of the street blocked as weapon-wielders and Musclemen charged toward each other.
• Richard cast four spells on himself and watched the two groups fight, with the weapon-wielders gradually gaining the upper hand.
• A red-haired man from the Red Sker Gang demanded Richard's box, and Richard refused to hand it over.
• Richard knocked down the gang members who attacked him and set the box aside to keep it safe.
• Richard drank a small sip of Spartan Heroic Potion and invited the remaining gang members to attack him together.

Richard helped Baji and the Steel Brotherhood defeat the Red Sker Gang, then returned to his laboratory to examine mutated fungi with a newly assembled microscope. He discovered the fungi had changed after fusing with additives and pondered the result.

• Richard and Baji’s reinforcements crushed the Red Sker Gang and captured its members for ransom.
• Baji thanked Richard, explained he had joined the Steel Brotherhood to earn money and buy back his freedom, and offered him the gang’s help.
• After Richard left, Baji warned a fellow muscle man not to mistake his friend for a romantic interest.
• Richard assembled a powerful optical microscope from parts he had obtained from Alex.
• Richard examined fungi from the Drift Bottle and noticed they had mutated after fusing with additives.

Richard considered his next research after making progress with the Drift Bottle’s magic patterns and the Spartan Heroic Potion, but lacked a subject for studying Bloodline Seeds. When Gu Tas broke into his courtyard, Richard discovered that he possessed one, knocked him unconscious, and dragged him into the Main Laboratory.

• Richard recorded ideas about using the Drift Bottle’s cell-fusion function to cultivate experimental materials and decided not to devote excessive time to deciphering its remaining patterns.
• Richard wondered whether to study the Spell System or pursue Bloodline Seed research, which had stalled for lack of a test subject.
• Gu Tas climbed into Richard’s courtyard and searched the rooms for something he believed was there.
• Richard spotted Gu Tas’s Bloodline Seed and revealed that he was a Wizard, prompting Gu Tas to flee.
• Richard stopped Gu Tas with Wind Repulsion, subdued him, and rendered him unconscious by pressing his carotid sinus.
• Richard judged Gu Tas suitable experimental material and dragged him into the Main Laboratory.

Richard interrogated the bound Gu Tas, who revealed that Alex had sold him Spartan Warrior Potions at inflated prices and claimed he had killed Alex to learn Richard’s address. Doubting the story, Richard left to check on Alex and told Pandora to guard Gu Tas, who began plotting an escape.

• Richard questioned Gu Tas, who identified himself and said he had come seeking Spartan Warrior Potion to strengthen his bloodline power.
• Gu Tas explained that Alex had charged him three Low-grade Crystal Coins for his first potion and later demanded five per bottle, leaving Gu Tas unable to buy more.
• Gu Tas claimed he had tortured and killed Alex to obtain Richard’s address and take Alex’s potions.
• Richard doubted Gu Tas’s story, reasoned that he would have used the potions before coming, and decided to check on Alex.
• Richard instructed Pandora to watch Gu Tas and left, while Gu Tas studied the room and planned to escape.

Richard visited Alex after Gu Tas claimed Alex had revealed Richard’s address, only to find Alex safely bathing at home. Alex admitted to overcharging customers and gradually recalled that he may have let Richard’s address slip during a conversation.

• Richard went to Alex’s home in the slums and found him bathing, confirming Gu Tas had used the story to lure Richard away.
• Richard confronted Alex, who admitted to selling Richard’s potions at inflated prices and hiding the extra Crystal Coins.
• Richard asked Alex about Gu Tas, and Alex recalled selling him a potion before he returned to bargain for more.
• Richard told Alex that Gu Tas had entered his home and claimed Alex gave him the address.
• Alex denied revealing the address until Richard suggested Gu Tas had drawn it out of him, prompting Alex to remember that he may have let it slip.

Richard warned Alex to protect himself and fulfill their business arrangement, then took the dinner Alex had prepared. Meanwhile, Gu Tas escaped his restraints in the laboratory but was knocked unconscious by Pandora before he could act.

• Richard told Alex that their partnership depended on his staying safe and completing the requested sales, while allowing him to keep any extra profit.
• Richard took most of Alex's dinner, leaving him with a plate of beans for Madam Amanda, who stormed out when she saw it.
• Gu Tas used a shard of a broken Glass Tube to cut his ropes and free himself.
• Gu Tas planned to kill the sleeping girl, steal potions, and burn down the courtyard, but discovered that she had disappeared.
• Pandora punched Gu Tas unconscious and returned to bed.

Gu Tas struggled to understand why Richard had tied him up but served him a lavish meal, then tried and failed to persuade Richard to release him. Richard revealed that the meal was part of a research procedure and approached Gu Tas with a crude syringe to draw blood.

• Gu Tas questioned his apparent escape and ate the meal Richard had brought while bound to a chair.
• Gu Tas threatened Richard with his own revenge and his friends’ rescue, but his words only revealed that no one knew where he was.
• Gu Tas admitted defeat and asked to be released, but Richard refused and said Gu Tas had considerable value.
• Richard explained that the food was meant to help him measure Gu Tas’s physical data before drawing blood.
• Richard retrieved a crude, glass-bodied syringe and walked toward Gu Tas, who watched it with widening eyes.

Richard drew and tested Gu Tas’s blood under different conditions while Gu Tas struggled and protested, then gagged him so he could work without waking Pandora. Gu Tas eventually fell asleep, only to be jolted awake by another painful needle prick.

• Richard restrained Gu Tas and drew blood from him, then prepared a smear and ran biochemical tests on the sample.
• Richard returned to draw more blood while Gu Tas shouted and demanded that he stop.
• Richard tried to silence Gu Tas with a rag, but Gu Tas repeatedly spat it out.
• Richard used a spoon to pin down Gu Tas’s tongue and stuffed the rag into his mouth, quieting him and letting Pandora sleep.
• Gu Tas watched Richard experiment until he drifted off, then woke when another needle prick caused burning pain at his elbow.

Richard continued experimenting on Gu Tas, then researched Bloodline Seeds at the White Stone Tower Academy library. He borrowed two books and secretly took a third in his Space Iron Ring before leaving.

• Richard kept Gu Tas awake and subjected him to repeated blood draws and experiments for several days.
• Richard failed to reproduce the ancient ring’s heating phenomenon and searched the library for books about Bloodline Seeds.
• Richard read and sorted books alongside Gelo, who left for Swordsmanship Class with Baji, now his friend.
• A gray-haired library clerk refused to lend Richard one of the three useful books, so Richard borrowed the other two.
• Richard secretly slipped the restricted book into his Space Iron Ring and left the library with all three books.

Richard analyzed experiments on the Spartan potion and Blood Power, then theorized that Bloodline Seeds were hormone-secreting glands whose response to the potion triggered a powerful Limit Amplification Hormone. The chapter ended with him recording his theory, without testing whether it was correct.

• Richard reviewed results showing that the diluted potion increased physical indicators and that its effects were delayed, suggesting hormonal rather than neural regulation.
• Richard found that subjects using both Blood Power and the diluted potion experienced a third, stronger peak in their physical enhancement.
• Richard theorized that Bloodline Seeds were heritable glands that secreted Ordinary Amplification Hormone and Limit Amplification Hormone.
• Richard proposed that the Spartan Heroic Potion stimulated Bloodline Glands to release Limit Amplification Hormone through a feedback chain.
• Richard finished writing his theory and turned his gaze toward one side.

Richard prepared to test his theories by drawing more blood from Gu Tas, who threatened to kill himself unless Richard released him. Richard explained why biting off his tongue was unlikely to work, leaving Gu Tas to insist he had another method of suicide.

• Gu Tas endured irregular confinement, meals, and repeated blood draws while Richard considered experiments involving him.
• Richard approached Gu Tas with a syringe, and Gu Tas resisted and demanded to be released.
• Gu Tas threatened to kill himself, arguing that Richard needed him alive for his research.
• Richard explained that biting off his tongue was unlikely to kill him and said he could treat any resulting airway obstruction.
• Gu Tas claimed he could still kill himself by another method but refused to reveal it, and Richard challenged him to try.

Richard kept Gu Tas alive through starvation with intravenous fluids while investigating the Bloodline Seed and Spartan Heroic Potion. He identified the rare Limit Amplification Hormone as the key to creating superhuman effects, then considered genetic engineering as a way to produce it at scale.

• Richard strapped Gu Tas down and gave him saline and glucose through an IV, preventing him from starving to death.
• Richard recorded that the Spartan Heroic Potion triggered a hormone cascade involving the Bloodline Gland and Limit Amplification Hormone.
• Richard concluded that Limit Amplification Hormone could make an ordinary person superhuman but was too difficult and costly to extract and too scarce to use practically.
• Richard recalled how genetic engineering enabled mass production of human insulin and identified it as a possible solution to producing the hormone.

Richard realized that Wizard methods involving cell fusion and cultivation could let him pursue genetic engineering despite the world’s primitive technology. He began his new research by drawing a large amount of blood from Gu Tas.

• Richard failed to find a way to perform conventional genetic engineering with the Wizard World's limited technology.
• Gu Tas taunted Richard until Richard threatened to force a Conical Flask into his mouth, making Gu Tas fall silent.
• Richard connected the Drift Bottle's cell-fusion patterns to genetic engineering and decided to experiment repeatedly with cell fusion and cultivation.
• Richard forced a Conical Flask into Gu Tas's mouth and drew blood from him to prepare for his research.

Richard kept to himself while researching magic runes at White Stone Tower Academy, until the ancient ring reacted to a book carried by a short girl. He obtained My Autobiography - Moratos and was left wondering what it recorded.

• Richard dismissed Jessica's attempt to befriend him and continued reading, determined to avoid unnecessary contact and focus on his research.
• After the ancient ring warmed, Richard followed its reaction through the library toward the service desk.
• Richard asked a short girl to show him the books she was borrowing, and the ring grew hotter when she revealed My Autobiography - Moratos.
• Richard asked for the book, and the short girl blushed, handed it to him, and fled.

Richard discovered that My Autobiography - Moratos made his Antique Ring heat up, then returned to the laboratory and found Gu Tas missing and Pandora asleep amid broken glass and blood. Pandora had beaten Gu Tas and left him stuck on the roof after he escaped his ropes and disturbed her sleep.

• Richard read My Autobiography - Moratos and noticed that the Antique Ring had reacted to it, while Baji acted strangely when he saw the book.
• Richard returned to the laboratory and found Gu Tas's chair empty, broken glass and blood on the floor, and Pandora asleep.
• Pandora told Richard that Gu Tas had not escaped and pointed toward the roof.
• Gu Tas cut through his ropes, smashed a glass bottle, and threw another at Pandora when she ordered him to stop.
• Pandora beat Gu Tas, dragged him back into the laboratory when he tried to crawl away, and left him stuck on the roof.