Chapter Summaries

Richard discovered that a powerful mental spell from a nearby mountain had driven the forest animals into a murderous frenzy, and the maddened creatures swarmed toward the castle hill. Pandora and Richard faced the first beasts at the summit, with Pandora striking before they could attack.

• Richard projected his consciousness through the forest and saw predators and herbivores behaving with unnatural aggression.
• Richard traced the frenzy to strange mental waves emanating from a nearby mountain and resisted their influence with his Mental Strength.
• The madness spread through the forest, turning even small animals violent as thousands converged on the castle hill.
• Richard returned to his body and argued that staying beside Pandora was safer than retreating into the castle.
• Pandora warned Richard to go inside, then remained silent as crazed animals surrounded the hilltop.
• Pandora attacked first as the gathered beasts prepared to charge.

Pandora fought the endless hordes of crazed animals surrounding the hill, killing them with her fists and a tree-trunk club. When the club broke, she turned a black bear into a makeshift weapon and kept striking the attackers.

• Pandora smashed through the animals with her fists and killed more than a hundred, but the horde quickly filled the gap around her.
• Pandora realized that at least ten thousand crazed animals surrounded the hill and that she had to hold them off until dawn.
• Pandora swung the tree trunk into the charging animals, but the weapon eventually split apart as the horde continued attacking.
• Pandora threw away the broken club, grabbed a black bear, and swung it into the surrounding animals.
• The black bear endured repeated collisions with the horde and desperately wished to go home.

Pandora and Richard fought off waves of crazed animals around the castle, with Richard using spells and a scalpel to protect himself. The battle continued as Richard was wounded by a fast, possibly demonized silver rabbit.

• Pandora broke her second tree-trunk club and retreated to retrieve the third as smaller animals attacked her.
• Richard used Enhanced Wind Repulsion to clear the animals surrounding Pandora, and she resumed fighting with the third trunk.
• Richard killed a Yellow Weasel that lunged at him, then fought off other attackers with his scalpel and wind spells.
• A silver-white rabbit struck Richard while he prepared to cast a spell, scratching his face.
• Richard recognized the rabbit as unusually fast and possibly demonized, and readied his scalpel to face it.

Richard fought a demonized silver rabbit and used several magic-rune spells to stop its escape. He left the rabbit falling after a burst of blue flame blinded and disoriented it.

• Richard blocked the silver rabbit's attacks with his scalpel, wounded its hind leg, and was clawed in return.
• Richard activated a Wind Barrier and Wind Brute Force to break through the rabbit's defenses and wound it.
• The silver rabbit tried to flee, using the Air Wall to run sideways and evade Richard.
• Richard used Wind Agility to pursue the rabbit and created another Wind Barrier in its path.
• Richard activated Phosphorus Candle, and the blue flame made the silver rabbit stagger and fall.

Richard used a liquid oxygen airburst to wipe out the animals surrounding him and Pandora, then recovered the dead Demonic Silver Rabbit for research. The horde soon surged back up the hill, leaving Pandora facing the same seemingly endless battle.

• After the blinded silver rabbit unleashed a storm of wind blades and tried to escape, Richard combined liquid oxygen clusters and sent them after it.
• Richard ignited the liquid oxygen in midair, creating a massive blast that killed or incapacitated animals across the hilltop.
• Pandora realized the blast had made her ears hurt and looked angrily at Richard after recalling his warning to cover them.
• Richard found the silver rabbit dead in the blast zone, carried it back, and stored it in the castle for research.
• More frenzied animals charged up the hill, and Pandora resumed fighting as the horde overwhelmed the summit again.

Richard and Pandora fought the beast tide through the night until Gregory arrived and burned the attacking animals to ashes. With the battle over, Pandora remained angry at Gregory for arriving late and making her break three tree trunks.

• Richard and Pandora fought off waves of crazed animals, and Richard used a Liquid Oxygen Bomb to clear the hilltop temporarily.
• As another wave charged, Pandora hurled a tree trunk at Gregory, who had returned a day early but arrived after the beast tide had begun.
• Pandora confronted Gregory about being late, while he tried to explain and she repeatedly ordered him to come down.
• Gregory breathed a torrent of flames over the horde, killing the crazed animals and ending the battle.
• After the night fell silent, Pandora remained angry because she had broken three tree trunks before Gregory arrived.

After the beast tide damaged the hilltop, Richard discussed ways to defend against future attacks and said he would investigate the nearby mountain as their likely source. He began dissecting a magical Silver Rabbit in his laboratory while Pandora watched, and his anatomy lesson continued.

• Pandora watched the injured animals queue to drink and made a wild boar return to the back of the line after it tried to cut ahead.
• Richard inspected the beast tide's damage to the hilltop buildings and considered defenses, including a wall and stronger bombs.
• Pandora told Richard the beast tide occurred once a month, and Richard said he suspected the nearby mountain caused it and would investigate during the next attack.
• Richard invited Pandora to watch him dissect the magical Silver Rabbit, and she returned with a tall stool after briefly leaving the laboratory.
• Richard dissected the Silver Rabbit and explained its skin, lungs, and heart to Pandora as she watched and listened.

Richard transformed the Silver Rabbit’s internal organs into powerful single-use spell items and developed a numerical Power Index to compare their destructive force. After repairing several structures and building two more unusual devices, he settled into research as a month passed.

• Richard processed the Silver Rabbit’s organs into nine spell items by preserving, hardening, shaping, and inscribing them.
• Richard measured the items’ power using his Power Index, finding the heart reached 3K while the other organs ranged from 200 to 500.
• Richard put away the spell items and left his laboratory for the night.
• Richard repaired the windmill, Mixed Feed Shaft Kiln, and Shallow Pool, then built two more crude technological structures.
• Richard spent the following weeks learning spells and researching their principles, and a month passed.

As the autumn beast tide swept toward the Black Ancient Castle, Gregory and Pandora fought off the crazed animals while Richard investigated the mountain producing the mental waves. Richard reached the blood-soaked mountain and began descending into its soil to find the source.

• A powerful mental wave from the nearby mountain turned the frenzied animals into Flesh Puppets and sent them charging across the forest.
• Gregory transformed into a dragon and used repeated blasts of fire to slaughter the animals advancing on the hill.
• Pandora stayed near the castle, punching down any stragglers that reached the hill and criticizing Gregory when he made mistakes.
• Richard sent his consciousness out of his body, shielded it from the mountain's mental waves, and flew toward the source of the beast tide.
• Richard found the mountain's surface covered in blood and corpses, then began sinking his consciousness into the soil.

Richard explored a hidden chamber inside the mountain and encountered a Crystal Skull that nearly captured his consciousness. He escaped back to his body, but returned with severe injuries and a dangerously racing heart.

• Richard searched inside the mountain for a passage and discovered an artificial chamber containing a two-tiered altar and a Crystal Skull.
• Richard approached the Crystal Skull, which unleashed a powerful mental force that bound his consciousness and dragged him toward the altar.
• Richard weakened the force pulling him back to his body, then concentrated his Mental Strength and used the transparent strip to escape.
• The Crystal Skull's attack rebounded, cracking its surface and shaking the altar as Richard's consciousness was pulled out of the mountain.
• Richard returned to his body in the castle and collapsed, bleeding and suffering severe pain as his heart rate neared two hundred.

Richard survived the aftermath of using a powerful force against the Crystal Skull, then learned that the beast tide had dispersed while he was unconscious. He headed down the hill with Pandora to investigate the mountain, where he found Wild Boar disrupting the animals’ orderly line at the pool.

• Richard used water and medicine to slow his racing heartbeat, but passed out before the powder took effect.
• Richard awoke after one night and learned that the beast tide had dispersed soon after he collapsed.
• Richard suspected that the crack he had made in the Crystal Skull had affected the beast tide and decided to find a way to remove the skull from the mountain.
• Richard took the spell tool made from Silver Rabbit’s internal organs and left the castle with Pandora.
• At the pool, Richard saw Wild Boar shove past the other animals in line to reach the water.

Pandora left Wild Boar to chase Richard, while Wild Boar fled and worried about finding water. A group of nobles rode into the forest, where Lanster answered their mockery with a duel challenge, and Prince Gelo asked why they had not encountered any beasts.

• Pandora saw Richard heading toward the mountain, let Wild Boar escape, and followed Richard.
• Wild Boar ran far into the forest and worried that he would be unable to drink from the pond.
• Earl Vik and the other nobles mocked Viscount Lanster for his shabby armor, dwindling wealth, and lack of military achievements.
• Lanster challenged a young noble from the Caesar Family to a duel, and the noble backed down after Prince Gelo silenced the group.
• Prince Gelo asked Lanster why the hunting party had not seen any wild beasts in the forest.

Lanster explained the Black Forest’s monthly beast tide to Prince Gelo, who gave him a pair of fine gloves and worried that the new King might threaten his succession. Meanwhile, Richard realized the mountain’s Crystal Skull could be a Wizard Artifact that enhanced intelligence and mental strength, but he still did not know how to remove it.

• Lanster explained that the beast tide had just passed, leaving fewer animals in the Black Forest, and Prince Gelo agreed to continue hunting.
• Prince Gelo gave Lanster his gloves and shared his fear that the new King might move against him because he threatened his son’s future inheritance.
• Lanster looked toward the Caesar Family noble who had argued with him, causing the man to fall behind the group in fear.
• A thirsty wild boar found the water Gelo had spilled and followed its trail toward the hunting party.
• Richard and Pandora walked up the mountain as Richard reasoned that the Crystal Skull’s spiritual fluctuation enhanced animals’ intelligence and might strengthen a Wizard’s mental power.

Richard used a Liquid Oxygen Explosive to blast an opening into the mountain and planned how to excavate a safe tunnel to reach the hidden chamber. Elsewhere, Prince Gelo’s hunting party heard a strange roar from the mountain, but nothing appeared.

• Richard confirmed that he could not reach the hidden chamber through an existing passage and decided to dig through the mountain.
• Richard packed wood shavings and dry grass soaked with liquid oxygen into a hole, then detonated it behind an Air Wall.
• Richard judged that blasting would speed the excavation but considered the need for supports, ventilation, and debris removal before proceeding.
• Richard concluded that he needed high-quality iron and people to trade with, then headed down the mountain with Pandora.
• Prince Gelo’s hunting party heard a roar that startled their horses, but after half a minute, nothing happened.

Prince Gelo’s rabbit hunt turned into a desperate escape when a huge wild boar charged him. With his weapons lost and help still out of reach, he faced the boar armed with only a waterskin.

• Viscount Lancaster dismissed rumors of dragons and other monsters in his territory, and Gelo was disappointed to learn they were false.
• Gelo spotted a Gray Rabbit, shot it with a White Feather Arrow, and prepared to celebrate his catch.
• A huge wild boar burst from the grass and charged Gelo as the nobles and soldiers shouted in alarm.
• Lancaster tried to intercept the boar but was delayed by unfamiliar nobles, allowing it to reach Gelo and knock his horse down.
• Gelo escaped being pinned beneath his horse, then fled from the boar without weapons and called for help.
• Gelo clutched his waterskin and wondered if he could fight the boar with it as the animal pursued him.

Richard and Pandora encountered Prince Gelo’s hunting party after a wild boar fled from them, and Richard used a display of magic to prevent the hunters from confronting him. He later accepted Gelo’s dinner invitation, intending to learn about the area and obtain iron for his excavation plans.

• The wild boar mistook Richard and Pandora’s arrival for a trap, licked Gelo’s waterskin, and fled through the hunters’ encirclement.
• Gelo’s party gathered around him, then challenged Richard and Pandora, who had frightened the boar away.
• Richard summoned a phosphorus flame and told the hunters to let him pass or face his magic, so they made way for him and Pandora.
• Gelo invited Richard to dinner to thank him, but Richard initially refused.
• That night, Richard and Pandora joined Gelo for a private dinner, as Richard hoped to learn about the surrounding area and secure iron for his excavation plans.

At a forest banquet, Richard listened as Prince Gelo described the Emerald Kingdom and asked to learn magic so he could survive his older brother’s rule. Richard warned that Gelo was safer in the Royal Capital than in the forest, leaving Gelo stunned by the danger he had overlooked.

• Richard shared a meal with Prince Gelo and learned that the Emerald Kingdom had few Wizards because its magical resources were scarce.
• Prince Gelo asked Richard to teach him magic so he could become a Wizard and protect himself.
• Gelo explained that his older brother had become King and was delaying the grants of titles and lands to Gelo and two other brothers.
• Richard argued that Gelo’s older brother was more likely to grant the brothers fiefs than kill them, and that the Royal Capital offered Gelo greater protection.
• Richard warned that nobles, political enemies, or a neighboring kingdom might target Gelo while he was away from the Royal Capital, stunning the prince.

Richard traded Gelo a bottle of Ether that could help him meditate in exchange for ten thousand jin of iron. As Richard and Pandora left the banquet, he noticed the camp had grown strangely deserted and smelled blood near Gelo’s tent, so he rushed back inside.

• Richard told Gelo he was only a Wizard Apprentice and could not teach him spells, then offered Ether in exchange for ten thousand jin of iron delivered within ten days.
• Gelo accepted the deal, took the bottle, and eagerly tried a breath of Ether.
• Richard left the banquet with Pandora and reprimanded her for biting a silver fork she had taken from someone else.
• Richard noticed the soldiers had disappeared and smelled blood near Gelo’s tent, then rushed inside.

Richard found Gelo wounded and unconscious in his tent, then threatened the nobles with Gelo’s sword to force them to obey him. After discovering that Gelo’s chainmail had limited the injury to a flesh wound, Richard left Pandora to guard him while he prepared to treat him.

• Richard entered the tent and found Gelo bleeding from a wound in his lower abdomen as nobles rushed inside.
• Richard held Gelo’s sword to his throat and ordered the nobles to follow his arrangements or risk Gelo’s death.
• Richard assigned Viscount Lancaster to keep the nobles away from Gelo, and Lancaster forced them out of the tent.
• Richard examined Gelo and found that his chainmail had kept the dagger wound from reaching his internal organs.
• Richard gave Gelo’s sword to Pandora and told her to guard him, but Pandora demonstrated that she preferred using her fists.

Richard took a noble’s sword and killed his horse to obtain its blood vessels, then ordered him to collect feathers for an unspecified purpose. He threatened the terrified Bill into obeying and returned to the tent with the vessels.

• Pandora’s punch frightened the nobles, and Richard whispered something to Viscount Lancaster before leaving the tent.
• Richard asked Bill Caesar for his longsword and identified Bill’s horse among the animals outside.
• Richard stabbed the horse through the heart and used Wind Brute Force to crush its legs when it struggled.
• Richard cut two arterial blood vessels from the dead horse and ordered Bill to bring him feathers.
• Richard threatened Bill with the same fate as his horse, and Bill ran off to obey as Richard returned to the tent.