Chapter Summaries

Anvis explained to Fiona that her closeness with Luo Qi could threaten both her reputation and Luo Qi’s safety because of the gap in their status. After helping Fiona settle into Pamir Academy, he let her explore the campus on her own.

• Fiona asked Anvis whether he wanted her to keep her distance from Luo Qi, and Anvis confirmed that he did.
• Anvis told Fiona that their father knew about Luo Qi and warned that the Family might make the commoner disappear if he continued seeking her out.
• Fiona was shocked to learn that her choices could have serious consequences for Luo Qi, and Anvis urged her to understand that the world beyond the castle was not simple.
• Anvis took Fiona to collect her freshman identity badge and chose neighboring independent First-Class Residences for them.
• Anvis gave Fiona the supplies prepared by the Family and transferred one thousand Credit Points to her before letting her explore the academy.

After reviewing Luo Qi’s investigation report, Anvis decided to let him rise within the Rebel Army because keeping him close served Anvis’s interests. He later took Fiona to the Royal Capital Auction House and warned her about the Outlanders’ behavior.

• Anvis read the report describing Luo Qi’s Fortuitous Encounter and destroyed it after learning the ruins’ location.
• Anvis considered how Fate protected Children of Destiny and chose not to harm Luo Qi, preferring to guide his rise in the Rebel Army.
• Anvis traveled with Fiona through the Royal Capital to attend an auction and buy an item he remembered from his previous life.
• Fiona marveled at the Outlanders, and Anvis warned her that they would exploit any opportunity for rewards, leaving her shocked.

Anvis brought Fiona to the Gloria Auction House, where he caught Last Dragonborn sneaking inside and recruited him as a follower. He renamed the Elf Rivers, leaving the player to contemplate his overwritten character name.

• Anvis escorted Fiona into the Gloria Auction House, where nearby players crowded around them before the guards ushered them inside.
• Anvis led Fiona and the reception supervisor down a rear corridor after noticing something unusual.
• Last Dragonborn teleported into the auction house with a magic dart and sent a message telling his allies to suspend operations.
• Anvis recognized Last Dragonborn, accepted his flattery, and offered him a chance to become his follower.
• Last Dragonborn accepted, and Anvis renamed him Rivers, replacing the character name he had chosen.

Anvis brought the Last Dragonborn and Tiramisu to a private room at Gloria Auction House, where he planned to acquire a mysterious crystal egg before it could cause a catastrophe. The auction began with Anvis watching from above, determined to save the capital’s citizens.

• The Last Dragonborn asked Anvis to let his companion join them, and Anvis agreed.
• Tiramisu arrived, and Anvis recognized her as White Light Arena’s Midnight Queen and considered the Players’ Clubs useful for gathering intelligence.
• Anvis and the others entered a private room at Gloria Auction House, where Fiona and Kate browsed the catalog and the Players enjoyed refreshments.
• Anvis recalled that the Sky Blue Crystal he wanted was actually an egg destined to be used in a ritual that would cause the Dawn Disaster.
• The auction began as the lights went out and the auctioneer appeared onstage.

Anvis watched the auction as Fiona bought a Stardust pendant for Little Cat Kate, whose magic revealed a Greater Mirror Image. When the auction’s first finale treasure appeared, a masked black-robed man recognized the crystal as the offering foretold to summon the Flame of Freezing All Things.

• Manglio auctioned a flawless Star Mark Crystal, which an unidentified guest in private room seven bought for 168,000 Gold Coins.
• Anvis observed the bidding without participating, while Little Cat Tiramisu recorded the auction.
• Fiona bid 86,000 Gold Coins for the Sixth Rank Starlight Diamond Pendant Stardust and hung it around Little Cat Kate’s neck.
• Little Cat Kate activated the pendant’s Greater Mirror Image Art, creating a lifelike image of herself.
• Manglio unveiled a mysterious Artifact, and a masked black-robed man recognized the crystal as the foretold offering and crushed his burning pendant into powder.

Anvis competed with a masked Black Robed Man for a mysterious Azure Crystal at the Gloria Auction House, driving its price far beyond the man's means. Anvis won the bidding war and recognized Guest 74 as connected to the future Rebel Army, Final Dawn.

• Manglio presented the Azure Crystal as a mysterious Strange Object and opened bidding at one hundred thousand Gold Coins.
• Bidders drove the price to three hundred thousand Gold Coins before Anvis entered the auction from the top-floor box.
• The Black Robed Man kept bidding against Anvis, while Anvis ordered his guards to investigate Guest 74 discreetly.
• The Black Robed Man offered one million and seventy thousand Gold Coins, but Anvis outbid him by one thousand and identified him as connected to Final Dawn.

Anvis acquired the Vortex Crystal Egg at the auction and discovered that it lacked energy, then took Fiona back to the Academy to investigate how to incubate it. He left the Last Dragonborn with a way to contact him and a quest, while the two Players stayed behind and collected the room’s Demonized Fruit.

• The Black Robed Man gave up on seizing the Vortex Crystal Egg and planned to investigate Anvis’s party so he could reclaim it later.
• Anvis declined the Gloria Auction House Chief Appraiser’s offer of a thirty percent refund in exchange for the crystal’s purpose, then tested the crystal with his Spiritual Power.
• Anvis let the two Players inspect the crystal, whose Panel described it as a Legendary Strange Object that increased meditation experience gain but lacked energy.
• Anvis told Fiona the crystal might become a pet like Kate and said he would look for a way to incubate it, then ended their visit to the auction.
• Anvis gave the Last Dragonborn a Crystal Ball and a quest to train with one of his merchant caravans before he and Fiona teleported back to the Academy.
• After Anvis and Fiona left, the two Players swept the private room’s Demonized Fruit from the table.

Last Dragonborn and Tiramisu discussed Anvis’s extraordinary strength before pursuing a surveillance quest, while a disguised Hein Kurman returned to his hotel after a failed bid. Hein learned that his organization had ordered him to suspend action, but he vowed to find another way to challenge the Empire’s apparent prosperity; then someone knocked and announced that his dinner had arrived.

• Last Dragonborn told Tiramisu that Anvis had reached an unusually high level and Challenge Rating, and she planned to submit information about him to her Club.
• Last Dragonborn and Tiramisu left to follow their target, a nobleman suspected of having an affair and illegitimate children.
• A guard from the Olyvendi Family tracked the Black Robed Man’s spatial trail to the Dragon’s Slumber hotel.
• The Black Robed Man revealed himself as Hein Kurman, president of the Branded Silver Vine Merchant Guild and a leader in an underground Resistance Organization.
• Hein received orders to suspend all actions, then vowed to find something else to replace the Crystal Egg and undermine the Empire’s false prosperity.
• Someone knocked on Hein’s door and announced that his dinner had arrived.

Hein received a warning from the Door in the Pupil about a prophecy possibly connected to the Olyvendi Family, while Anvis learned of Hein’s secret ties and began testing the Azure Crystal egg. Anvis found that pure Wind Attribute Magic produced the egg’s most regular rhythm and continued the experiment with it.

• A waiter delivered Hein a message from a High-rank Prophet, who said the egg’s buyer belonged to the Olyvendi Family and shared a prophecy about a blazing star rising from a crystal bird’s crown.
• Hein destroyed the recording crystal ball and checked the ring’s ordinary contents, unaware that an Olyvendi guard had witnessed him receiving the message.
• Anvis reviewed the guard’s recording and Hein Kurman’s profile, recognized the Door in the Pupil symbol, and went to his new Underground Lab.
• Anvis and Seer Silver tested different kinds of mana on the Azure Crystal egg and found that Wind Attribute Magic made its rhythm the most orderly.
• Anvis switched the experiment to pure Wind Attribute Magic.

Anvis tested the Crystal Egg’s magic capacity while prophecies about the Icy Wind Crystal Bird stirred the empire’s Dark Side into investigating the Olyvendi Family. The chapter ended with a tavern owner frustrated by Players as an owl-like call sounded.

• Anvis had Seer Silver increase the Crystal Egg’s magic supply until the crystal grew unstable, then ordered ongoing monitoring and saved Seer Silver’s voice as Preset Six.
• Prophets interpreted a bright star rising from the crystal bird’s crest as a sign that the Olyvendi Family or its associates would shape future events.
• Agents across the empire began investigating the Olyvendi Family and searching for the meaning of the prophetic star.
• The owner of the “Moist Cat” Tavern sent an encrypted report about the Olyvendi Family, then returned to the counter.
• The tavern owner angrily drove away Players who mocked him before an owl-like call sounded.

Anvis received a letter from the Duke warning that a prophecy had appeared ten years earlier than expected, disrupting the Olyvendi Family’s plans and threatening to plunge the Empire’s nobility into turmoil. Suspecting Fiona might be connected to it, Anvis went to find her.

• A tavern owner reflected on the dangerous operation his superiors were preparing and continued serving the Players who visited his tavern.
• Anvis read a specially protected letter from the Duke describing the changed prophecy and warning him to protect himself and Fiona.
• Anvis recalled how the prophecy had once triggered conflict between the Olyvendi Family and other imperial powers, and how the Olyvendis had purged spies while claiming ignorance of its meaning.
• Anvis decided the early prophecy forced him to accelerate his plans and wondered whether the egg he had encountered had caused the change.
• Anvis suspected the prophecy might concern Fiona and went to find her, discovering her reading an illustrated storybook with her Little Cat.

Anvis visited Fiona at Pamir Academy to discuss a prophecy warning of danger and checked her Fate Line, which remained obscured while Kate’s had grown brighter. Fiona assured him that she and Kate could protect themselves and offered to protect Anvis too, unaware that his apparent weakness was partly a matter of keeping his true abilities secret.

• Fiona opened the door to Anvis after waking from a book dream with Kate beside her.
• Anvis warned Fiona that the prophecy could prompt someone to test them and urged her to stay alert.
• Anvis used the Mercury Eye to examine Fiona and Kate’s Fate Lines, finding Fiona’s unchanged and Kate’s much brighter.
• Fiona said she was nearly Fourth Rank and that Kate had reached Second Rank, so both could defend her.
• Fiona asked whether Anvis had awakened his bloodline, and he said he might not do so until Fourth Rank.
• Fiona offered to protect Anvis from enemies, and he warmly accepted her promise.

Anvis attended the Mystery and Ruins Academy’s welcoming ceremony and noticed that his presence had drawn an unusually large freshman class. After the banquet, he received a concealed invitation from the Truth Society, leaving him to consider a new approach from the mysterious group.

• Fiona chose Pamir Summoning Academy, and Anvis escorted her to its welcoming ceremony before returning to his own academy.
• Anvis and Rebecca watched the freshmen attempt the Curiosities Exhibition Room trial, where the green-haired boy reached the exit first.
• Nancy distributed the freshmen’s rewards and announced the academy rules, while the banquet’s conversation repeatedly turned toward Anvis.
• Anvis noted the freshmen’s names and received a sealed letter from a girl in the Defense School on behalf of an unknown upperclassman.
• Anvis opened the letter in his protected Laboratory and found an invitation from the Truth Society.

Anvis entered the Dream World for the Truth Society's newcomer assessment, where candidates had to find the true venue and reach it by any means. He arrived at a forest clearing with two other newcomers, and Safiya guessed that they had been sent there because they were expected to discover their next task.

• Anvis examined the invitation and learned that the assessment would take place in the Dream World at midnight on the fifteenth day of Hearthfire Month.
• Anvis prepared his combat Magic Raiment and used the invitation to enter the Dream World.
• Anvis arrived in a forest clearing beneath a massive Dream White Oak, where Kaxiu and Safiya were already waiting.
• Anvis asked whether the clearing was the venue, and Kaxiu said he did not know and introduced himself.
• Safiya suggested that the newcomers had been sent there specifically because they were newcomers and that something nearby would reveal their next task.

Anvis, Safiya, Kaxiu, and Ailisha learned that they had to find the Truth Society’s true venue during a trial in the Dream Forest. They found a fragment of a guiding array and set out to locate the others, while a masked figure monitored a nearly depleted hourglass beside a large mystic array.

• Anvis identified a force field around the Oak Tree, and Safiya confirmed its range with her Magic Cube.
• A mental message announced a trial assessment and gave the four newcomers twelve Magic Hours to find the true venue.
• Anvis, Safiya, Kaxiu, and Ailisha introduced themselves and agreed to investigate the Oak Tree together.
• The group dispelled an illusion and found a broken Black Stone Slab bearing part of a guiding array.
• Kaxiu transformed a skeleton into a compass that pointed toward another Stone Tablet Fragment northwest of them, and the group set off.
• In a canyon, a masked figure watched a nearly empty Magic Hourglass beside a glowing mystic array.

A Black Robed Man activated a magic array that sent an independent Dream World drifting toward the Trial World. Inside the trial, Anvis and his companions defeated a Fourth Rank Dream Giant Ape, but Anvis sensed an unexplained danger as they continued their assessment.

• The Black Robed Man entered coordinates into a magic array, causing an independent Dream World to break away from Uniwal's Dream and drift toward the Trial World.
• Safiya directed Anvis, Ailisha, and Kaxiu as they fought the Fourth Rank Dream Giant Ape to retrieve the third Stone Tablet.
• Anvis sensed a prophetic warning but stabilized his spell and pierced the ape's vital mark, killing it.
• Ailisha and Kaxiu found no danger nearby when Anvis told them he sensed something was wrong.
• Anvis suggested they continue exploring and finish the assessment as soon as possible.

Anvis discovered a hidden Player near the Giant Ape Territory and persuaded him to join the group. Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao accepted a quest to follow them as they continued toward the next Stone Tablet.

• Anvis spotted a Player disguised as a rock and threatened him with a fireball until he revealed himself.
• Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao explained that colorful mist had transported him from a cave in the Dream World into the forest.
• Anvis proposed bringing the weak but stealthy Player along, and Safiya and Kaxiu agreed while Ailisha questioned whether he was part of the Assessment.
• Anvis offered to help Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao search for his Crystal Spider, triggering a quest that would make the group hostile if he refused.
• Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao accepted the quest and followed the group on his floating disc.

Anvis and his companions restored the Stone Tablet array and followed its path to the Purple Moon, where it transformed into a gate bearing Hermox’s Riddle. As the group debated whether the gate was safe, Anvis strengthened Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao and sent him to touch it.

• Safiya repaired the Stone Tablet Magic Array, and Anvis activated it to reveal a path toward the Purple Moon.
• Safiya warned the group about Dream Rifts, and Kaxiu sent wraiths ahead as they followed the path through the dangerous sky.
• The Stone Tablet dissolved into light at the Purple Moon, which transformed into a Stone Gate engraved with Hermox’s Riddle.
• Truth Society members watched the trial from another Dream Space, and a gold-emblem member ordered them to observe the unexpected Player.
• Safiya explained that the gate required an answer to the riddle, while Kaxiu warned it might be a cursed trap and Safiya could not distinguish between them.
• Anvis declared that Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao should touch the gate, strengthened him with a protective aura, and sent him forward.

Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao entered the door to the Deep Dream trial, and Anvis found himself in an illusion that vanished when he sensed an overwhelming danger. Anvis activated his Family Amulet for help as the people monitoring the Assessment discussed the danger and its time limit.

• Kaxiu, Safiya, and Ailisha protected Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao before he entered the door using Anvis's answer.
• Safiya detected that Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao had reached the Deep Dream, and Anvis explained the door's riddle and the next trial to Ailisha.
• Anvis appeared in an illusion of his Academy residence, but his premonition of danger caused the illusion to dissipate.
• Anvis used a Detection Ring and the Lai Eggshell for protection, then activated his Crystal Bird pendant to call for help.
• The Black Robed Man learned that the Assessment participants had only about one and a half Magic Hours to complete the trial, while the cloaked figure hinted that the Truth Society's Ninth Rank and Duke Carlras could not simply intervene.
• Duke Carlot sensed Anvis's Family Amulet activate and decided to rescue him, while warning himself that Anvis would pay if he had called for help over a difficult trial.

Anvis escaped the trial illusion and navigated the maze while Duke Carlot was prevented from intervening by Hall Aslaid. Anvis and his teammates reached the final teleportation array, where they learned that one person would have to be left behind as the Trial World faced collapse.

• Hall Aslaid stopped Duke Carlot from opening a spatial passage and warned him that intervening would disqualify Anvis from joining the Truth Society.
• Anvis escaped the illusion, found the maze's three Keys and his temporary teammates, and woke them with a lightning spell.
• Anvis paid Baiyi Shengxue Yi Piaopiao to wait, then hurried his teammates toward the maze's central door after sensing danger would arrive within fifteen minutes.
• Anvis opened the central door with the three Keys, and the group entered the final teleportation array, which asked them to choose one person to abandon.
• Anvis and his teammates chose the Outsider because he could revive, leaving Truth Society members unsure how to classify their answer.