Recaps

After Moxidu drove Kaisersen from the city over the destruction of his Water Element Fission Generator, Dean Dadalong tried to mediate but agreed to supply replacement materials. Moxidu warned Saine to strike back decisively against weaker enemies, and later received several more mediators, including Di'ersi, Meili's mentor.

• Owl Qi and the other Academy Supervisors flew after Moxidu and Kaisersen once their battle ended.
• Dean Dadalong visited Moxidu to urge him to let the dispute go, but Moxidu explained that Kaisersen's interference had ruined his Water Element Fission Generator.
• Dadalong agreed to gather the materials Moxidu needed and insisted he complete the Element Fission Generator on schedule.
• Moxidu told Saine to retaliate hard against weaker opponents and recalled that his Second Senior Brother might have survived if he had followed that principle.
• Three more Formal Black Wizards came to persuade Moxidu to spare Kaisersen, and Moxidu welcomed the last visitor, the potion-maker Di'ersi.

Master Deers negotiated with Moxidu to spare Kaisersen in exchange for valuable materials, while Saine's Senior Brother Zorro gave him a Crystal Ball and encouraged his alchemy. Saine learned that Zorro was a Quasi-Magician whose focus on alchemy had left him weak in combat.

• Master Deers offered Moxidu rare materials on Kaisersen's behalf and persuaded him to spare Kaisersen, provided the compensation arrived within three days.
• Master Deers explained that Kaisersen wanted to stay at the academy because Black Magicians hoped to profit from the Time-Space Rift.
• Zorro gave Saine a Crystal Ball so he could test his Mental Strength without visiting the Public Library.
• Zorro praised Saine's alchemy talent and became more willing to guide him after Saine had given him a Low-Level Recovery Potion.
• Saine learned that Zorro was a Quasi-Magician who had neglected combat training while concentrating on alchemy.

Saine planned his studies after his Mentor’s laboratory was damaged, then returned to Ke Suo Long’s anatomy class to develop skills he hoped to use in creating Synthetic Beast servants. The chapter left him performing a corpse dissection as the class watched.

• Saine checked his slow progress in Mental Strength and Magic Power and planned to study Intermediate magic, attend classes, and read his five Magic Books.
• Ke Suo Long invited Saine to join his faction, but Saine respectfully declined because he was already Moxidu’s disciple.
• Ke Suo Long appointed Saine as his assistant at the Laboratory Table and praised his quick learning and steady hands.
• Ke Suo Long began the anatomy class by ordering Saine to remove the heart from an apprentice’s corpse without damaging it.
• Saine calmly began the dissection, hoping anatomy would prepare him to create powerful Synthetic Beast servants.

During Ke Suo Long’s dissection lesson, his pet rat devoured an apprentice who ruined his specimen, terrifying the class. Saine secretly helped a young female apprentice correct her work, and Ke Suo Long let her pass without noticing Saine’s intervention.

• Ke Suo Long punished an apprentice for ruining a specimen by having his rat swallow him.
• The rat’s attack frightened the apprentices, who carefully worked on their specimens while Ke Suo Long inspected them.
• Saine noticed a young female apprentice had made two mistakes and saw her silently plead for help.
• Saine demonstrated a correction with his knife, and the apprentice used the Cross Stitching Method to fix her specimen.
• Ke Suo Long praised the apprentice’s remedy, wondered aloud whether he had taught her the technique, and moved on.

After saving Tian Di from Master Ke Suo Long’s anatomy class, Saine asked her to help carry a specimen back to his dormitory. Tian Di mistook his request as a chance to become his protected dependent, while Saine simply expected a favor in return.

• Three apprentices were eaten during Master Ke Suo Long’s anatomy class, and the surviving apprentices left after the lesson ended.
• Wei Da and several Low-Level Apprentices respectfully greeted Saine as they passed him.
• Tian Di thanked Saine for saving her, and Saine explained that the three dead apprentices had made more than three obvious mistakes.
• Tian Di offered to do something for Saine, imagining he might become her backer, but Saine asked her to carry an apprentice specimen to his dormitory.
• Tian Di agreed to help while assuming Saine had ulterior motives; Saine only wanted to apply the Principle of Equivalent Exchange.

Saine studied the Wizard World and continued attending the academy’s newly opened Public Classrooms, while he and Lina planned to identify Magician Ke Suo Long’s unusual preservative fluid. His mentor Moxidu’s popular lessons gave Saine a chance to learn more advanced material, and Tian Di’s conversations with him led other apprentices to assume she was under his protection.

• Saine read Moxidu’s book but found no clear answers about the Wizard World, the Surface World, or how to leave the Underdark.
• Lina joined Saine, and he asked her to help identify the unusual preservative fluid on Ke Suo Long’s specimen.
• Saine audited Public Classrooms in subjects including potions, magical beasts, magic models, fire magic, and alchemy.
• Moxidu brought deeper material to his lectures, drew full classrooms, and had Saine assist him.
• Tian Di spoke with Saine after class, and other apprentices assumed she was his forbidden possession.

Saine continued attending Public Classroom lessons while studying intermediate spells and considering how to protect himself in battle. He chose to exchange Academy Points for Fire Wall, a spell he believed could serve as a directional defense as well as an attack.

• Saine suspected Di'ersi's interest in him was connected to Moxidu, and he recalled seeing her force apprentices to test dangerous medicines in class.
• Saine studied Flame Hand to prepare for his upcoming mandatory mission and shared the Magic Book on Object Control Art with Lina.
• Saine decided he needed a defensive spell because he lacked magical equipment and could not create puppet meat shields.
• Saine selected the Public Library's Fire Wall spell, judging that it could block attacks from one direction and was within his ability to master.

Saine left the City of Mozhsuobula to complete an academy mission exterminating Blue Jaw Feathers in Gray White Valley and test his new spells. After reaching the moss fields, he was approached by the hunched human residents who cultivated them.

• Fatty Baus warned Saine about leaving the city, then gave him Iron Phosphorus Powder, Sweet Berries, and potions Meili had left for him.
• Saine accepted Meili's potions and left the shop, heading northeast out of the City of Mozhsuobula.
• Saine traveled to Gray White Valley, where Blue Jaw Feather flocks threatened the humans growing underground moss.
• Several hunched residents ran out of the valley's wooden huts when Saine arrived in his black Magic Robe.

Saine investigated a Blue Jaw Feather flock that was eating the moss crop in Gray White Valley, threatening the Underground Humans’ food supply. After arranging torches to protect the field, he crept toward the birds and set out Iron Phosphorus Powder and Sweet Berries for his plan.

• The Underground Humans begged Saine to drive away the Blue Jaw Feather flock before it ate their moss.
• Saine ordered the humans to place torches around the field and approached the birds’ barren feeding ground.
• Saine counted twenty-six adult Blue Jaw Feathers, including a Blue Jaw Feather King, and heard juveniles deeper in the Moss Field.
• The Underground Humans lit torches while Saine prepared to confront the flock.
• Saine crawled closer, scattering Iron Phosphorus Powder and burying Sweet Berries in the soil.

Saine lured a flock of Blue Jaw Feathers, including their king, into an ambush and used Fire Wall and Iron Phosphorus Powder to engulf them in flames. The wounded king and several birds charged at him, and Saine summoned a giant flaming hand to meet them.

• Saine drew Blue Jaw Feathers to his ambush with Sweet Berries and waited until seventeen adults, including the Blue Jaw Feather King, entered the Iron Phosphorus Powder.
• Saine cast two Fire Walls, igniting the powder and the flammable moss to trap the flock in a spreading sea of fire.
• The Underground Humans watched the burning flock from hiding, while Saine assessed Fire Wall's power and his slow casting.
• The Blue Jaw Feather King escaped the flames with three badly injured adults, then charged Saine alongside four less-injured birds.
• Saine began chanting and conjured a giant hand of fire in the darkness.

Saine defeated the Blue Jaw Feather flock in Gray White Valley, collected valuable spoils, and shared the remaining creatures with the Underground Humans. On his return to the City of Mozhsuobula, an ambusher wounded him, but Saine struck back and brought the attacker down.

• Saine killed the Blue Jaw Feather King with Flame Hand, driving the surviving Blue Jaw Feathers from Gray White Valley.
• Saine collected claws, beaks, eggs, and a hind leg, then gave the Underground Humans the remaining Blue Jaw Feather corpses to compensate for their burned Moss Field.
• Saine left Gray White Valley and headed back toward the City of Mozhsuobula with his spoils.
• An attacker ambushed Saine with a poisoned dagger, but Saine dodged and fired the Strong Acid Scepter at the attacker.
• Saine approached the fallen attacker and identified it as a dwarf wearing Black Moss Skin Clothes.

Saine survived a Gray Dwarf’s ambush on the road from Gray White Valley, but the attacker’s poison left him badly weakened. After waking in a hidden cave, he recovered enough to eat and assess his situation, still stranded in the Underground World.

• Saine killed the wounded Gray Dwarf with a Minor Fireball, took its dagger and bundle, and searched for a safe place to recover.
• Saine found a small cave, barricaded its entrance, and discovered that the Gray Dwarf’s dagger had been coated with Blue Lichen Juice that was paralyzing his body.
• Saine drank potions he had received from Baus and lost consciousness, thinking that he owed Meili his life.
• Saine awoke in the cave, found that he could move his right hand again, and drank his last Low-Level Recovery Potion.
• Saine discovered that most of his supplies were gone, then ate one of the four remaining Blue Jaw Feather Eggs and decided to learn how to make Nutrient Potions from Senior Sister Fei'er.

After surviving a Gray Dwarf attack, Saine returned to the City of Mozhsuobula, sold most of his spoils, and discovered his Blue Jaw Feather Eggs were worth far more than expected. He left for the academy to submit his mission, carrying a recovery potion from Fatty Baus.

• Saine left his hiding place, recovered his route to the City of Mozhsuobula, and entered the city without trouble.
• Fatty Baus questioned Saine about his injuries and delayed return, then appraised the spoils Saine had brought back.
• Baus valued Saine’s goods at nearly five hundred Black Gold, largely because Demi-human Tribes wanted his three Blue Jaw Feather Eggs.
• Saine declined Baus’s offer of an advance and prepared to return to the academy to submit his mission.
• Baus gave Saine a Low-Level Recovery Potion made by Meili, and Saine hurried toward the academy.

After returning injured from his academy mission, Saine arranged for Fei'er to teach him to make Nutrient Potions and for Zorro to teach him alchemy. He continued practicing alchemy in Moxidu’s laboratory, where repeated failures led him to reconsider his workspace and tell Lina they should resume plans to move.

• Moxidu teased Saine about returning wounded and refused to use Flesh Regeneration magic on him.
• Saine asked Fei'er to teach him to make Nutrient Potions and asked Zorro for alchemy lessons; both agreed, though Zorro could only teach him at night.
• Zorro reflected that Moxidu might have taken Saine as a disciple because he resembled a fallen Second Junior Brother, then returned to the demanding alchemy work with Moxidu.
• Saine’s attempt to carve a Magic Rune Array into a Blue Jaw Feather Claw failed again, exhausting the material’s Element Power.
• Saine reviewed what had gone wrong and told Lina that the Laboratory Table was too small and they should resume their moving plans.

Saine and Lina settled into a spacious dormitory and discussed their neighbors, magical studies, and the different professions in the Wizard World over dinner. Lina’s explanation led Saine to plan to study the intermediate spell Object Control Art and read Ankeda Annotations more carefully.

• Saine and Lina moved into a secluded, spacious home in the second-to-last Apprentice Dormitory building.
• Saine told Lina that the two male apprentices living together on their floor surprised him, and Lina explained that their neighbors were Mali, a promising Intermediate Apprentice, and Stanson, an Advanced Apprentice skilled in rare Bloodline Magics.
• Saine and Lina prepared dinner together and shared recent findings from their magical studies.
• Lina explained that Ankeda Annotations described wizards and other magical professions, and identified them as Fire Elementalists.
• Saine decided to study Object Control Art while examining Ankeda Annotations more closely.

Saine collected 577 Black Gold from Baus and saw a Floating Behemoth bring nearly a thousand children to the Black Wizard Academy, of whom only 272 met the Mental Strength requirement. At Moxidu's laboratory, Saine overheard Moxidu and Di'ersi worry that future apprentice numbers might not meet the Dean's requirements.

• Baus gave Saine 577 Black Gold after selling the goods, including the Blue Jaw Feather Eggs at auction.
• A Floating Behemoth arrived over the City of Mozhsuobula carrying a new batch of children from the Surface World.
• The academy enrolled 272 of the nearly thousand children who met the minimum Mental Strength requirement.
• Saine returned to his studies instead of visiting the new apprentices' dormitory.
• Saine overheard Di'ersi ask Moxidu whether the academy would have enough qualified apprentices in ten years.

Moxidu and Di'ersi discussed the Black Wizard Academy's plans, their alliance, and the disparity in resources and apprentice recruitment between Black Magicians and the Surface Holy Towers. Moxidu ended by wondering whether a powerful magician might someday bring broad reforms like the ancient knight who changed the Knights' Halls.

• Moxidu told Di'ersi that the Black Wizard Academy's apprentices could meet Dean Martin and the others' requirements for their long-planned project.
• Moxidu reflected that his limited resources and devotion to alchemy had held back his magical advancement, and that Zorro most resembled him among his disciples.
• Di'ersi reported that Wote and the other raiders had been discovered after Dean Dadalong found two magical marks on their floating ship.
• Moxidu and Di'ersi criticized the Holy Towers for monopolizing resources and apprentice candidates, while Moxidu defended the Black Domain's broader recruitment practices.
• Moxidu praised the Knights' Halls for recruiting attendants from all humanity and wondered whether a similarly powerful reformer would arise among magicians.

Saine learned to make Nutrient Potion from Fei'er, then discussed possible ingredient substitutes with Meili while shopping for materials. He encouraged Meili to focus on cultivation as his next compulsory academy mission drew near.

• Di'ersi dismissed Moxidu's complaints about knights while they discussed the standing of magicians and knights in the Wizard World.
• Saine and Zorro continued enchanting Blue Jaw Feather Claws, and over the next half month Saine produced three with the Sharpness Spell.
• Fei'er taught Saine to make Nutrient Potion and explained why its recipe used Black Scabies Insect shells and Underground Multi-Legged Packhorse saliva.
• At Fatty Baus's shop, Meili suggested replacing those ingredients with Cane Thistle Grass and Green Plum juice or Ailan Water, while warning that the formula needed testing.
• Saine declined to have Meili improve the potion and urged her to cultivate, noting that her Mental Strength was 17.

Saine completed a safe patrol mission and spent three years advancing his studies, alchemy, and cultivation in the Underground World. At twenty, he had become a skilled alchemist with 38 Mental Strength and had learned Skeleton Summoning from Lina.

• Saine told Fatty Baus he planned to take a routine patrol mission and discussed selling enchanted Blue Jaw Feather Claws.
• Saine completed the patrol in three days and spent the following years studying, completing missions, assisting Moxidu, and cultivating.
• Three years later, Saine finished an Elemental Converter in Moxidu's laboratory and stayed behind with Fei'er to tidy up.
• Saine had surpassed Fei'er in alchemy and had made four Low-Level Magic Items, including a Light Spell ring that sold for three hundred Black Gold.
• Saine's Mental Strength had reached 38 points, and he had learned Object Control Art, Fire Chain Blade, and Skeleton Summoning from Lina.

After Saine and Fei'er cleaned Moxidu's laboratory, Fei'er renewed her request to spend a night with him and gave him three days to decide. Fei'er left hoping he would come, while Saine stayed behind confused and unsure what to do.

• Saine and Fei'er tidied Moxidu's laboratory together after a night of experiments.
• Fei'er asked Saine whether he had considered her request from the previous week, and Saine hesitated.
• Fei'er told Saine to visit her dormitory in three days if he wanted to accept, then left the laboratory.
• Fei'er checked her reflection in a magic mirror and worried about aging and her chances of becoming a Formal Magician.
• Fei'er hoped Saine would come and joked to herself that she would force herself on him if he did not.

Saine left Moxidu’s laboratory and visited his friend, Owl Supervisor Qi, in White Crow Forest, where Qi had previously shared details about the Underdark’s history and magical beasts. The chapter left Saine meeting Qi again, with the owl’s family and the number of Owl Supervisors still secret.

• Saine reflected on the Black Wizard Academy’s apprentice casualties as he walked toward the dormitory after working under Moxidu.
• Saine left the path and traveled through White Crow Forest to the enormous tree where Qi lived.
• Saine called to Qi, and the owl flew down to meet him.
• Saine recalled that Qi was a 137-year-old Quasi-Level Magical Beast and had told him how Black Magicians had conquered the region around the City of Mozhsuobula.
• Qi had refused to reveal how many Owl Supervisors the academy had or identify its elder blood relatives.

Saine spent the day meditating in White Crow Forest and returned to the dormitory with troubling thoughts about Senior Sister Fei'er’s request. He kept the request from Lina, and the chapter ended with Saine reflecting on his broad curiosity about magical knowledge.

• Saine gave Owl Qi an exhausted Energy Crystal, which the owl promptly ate.
• Saine meditated in White Crow Forest until evening, then returned to the dormitory.
• Saine and Lina prepared dinner together, but Saine kept silent about Senior Sister Fei'er’s request because he feared it would lead Lina to challenge her.
• Saine reread the Ankeda Annotations and resolved to explore magical fields beyond his main elemental studies.
• Saine suggested that he and Lina leave the dishes and rest early.

Saine confessed everything to Lina, who urged him to accept Senior Sister Fei'er's advances for the sake of his future and survival. Three days later, Saine visited Fei'er and was pulled into her room, while a Quasi-Magician watched from above.

• Saine told Lina the truth about his circumstances and said he planned to refuse Fei'er.
• Lina advised Saine to go to Fei'er, reasoning that the relationship could help him under Moxidu and advance his goal of returning to the Surface World.
• Saine and Lina reaffirmed their bond and spent the night together.
• Three days later, Saine arrived at Fei'er's dormitory and knocked on her door.
• Fei'er opened the door in a house dress, blushed at Saine's reaction, pulled him inside, and shut the door.
• A Quasi-Magician living above Fei'er noticed Saine's visit and privately commented on it; Fei'er pinned Saine against the bed.

Saine and Fei'er began a sexual relationship after she used aphrodisiac potions, and Saine later struggled to keep her demands from interfering with his studies. Half a month later, Fei'er wanted to see him more often, while Saine remained committed to limiting their meetings and continuing his research.

• Fei'er used aphrodisiac potions and pushed Saine toward her bed, and they began a sexual relationship.
• Saine took control of their encounter, and Fei'er was left too exhausted to wake; he gave her a Recovery Potion and Nutrient Potions before leaving for the library.
• Saine returned to his studies, though he worried about the strange mood of Mentor Moxidu and the laboratory.
• Over the next half month, Saine visited Fei'er twice more, and the encounters left him exhausted and disrupted his research.
• Fei'er urged Saine to visit her more often, but Saine maintained a limit of once a week, and Fei'er accepted that she could not monopolize him from Lina.

Moxidu told Saine and Fei'er that attacks on the academy’s Floating Ships had forced Headmaster Dadalong to advance an expedition through a Time-Space Rift, with Black Wizard Apprentices expected to enter first. Saine searched the Public Library for information about Alien Planes and ended the chapter wondering what awaited beyond the rift.

• Moxidu gave Saine another half-year leave from his compulsory academy mission and urged Fei'er to advance beyond the Advanced Apprentice realm.
• Moxidu explained that Surface World magicians and knights had attacked the academy’s Floating Ships, leading Headmaster Dadalong to suspend the raids and advance the Different World exploration.
• Moxidu told Saine and Fei'er that apprentices would be sent first through the Time-Space Rift to help plant Coordinate Generators, and said he planned to take them to the Western Islands after the exploration.
• Saine visited the Public Library and found only a few books with useful information about Alien Planes, including Microscopic Elements and Marco Polo's Travels.
• Saine returned to his bed and wondered what centaurs were, while Lina remained away at Master Feilunna's experiment.