Recaps

After defeating Mark, Saine returned to class and focused on studying while the other apprentices watched him warily. He collected his monthly Challenge Stage reward but decided to prioritize his studies and let others take his ranking.

• Saine occupied the front-row seat in class, and Mark arrived with his arm bandaged but avoided challenging him again.
• Irene began the Fire Element Transformation Course, and Saine ignored the apprentices' attention to study.
• Saine received a High-Level Energy Crystal, an Awakening Potion, and two stalks of Ailan Grass as his monthly Challenge Stage reward.
• Saine decided to focus on increasing his Magic Power and Mental Strength, studying spells, and pursuing alchemy and potion-making.
• Saine concluded that he had no time to defend his Challenge Stage ranking and would yield it to anyone who wanted it.

Saine continued focusing on his studies at Azure Source Holy Tower Academy while Mark remained frustrated that Saine had stopped challenging apprentices. Three years later, Saine met his friend Green in the library, where they discussed Green’s research into combining ice and fire magic.

• Saine received Academy Rewards for three consecutive months because the apprentice rankings had few active challengers, while Mark returned to nineteenth place in the Combat Power Ranking.
• Irene scolded Mark for obsessing over Saine and pursuing a new girlfriend instead of studying.
• Over the next three years, Saine continued deepening his magical knowledge by attending lectures and spending long hours in the library.
• Saine found the Atlas of Light on the library’s seventh floor and spoke with Green, who was researching the fusion of ice and fire elements.
• Saine and Green’s friendship was rooted in their shared bookish routines, and Green had become an Advanced Apprentice through years of hard work.

Saine reflected on why the Azure Source Holy Tower recruited commoner apprentices and listened as Green explained his nearly mature Ice-Fire Magic research. The chapter ended with Green learning that Saine had recently reached the Quasi-Magician threshold of 70 Mental Strength and magic power.

• The Azure Source Holy Tower recruited commoner apprentices after a director proposed searching among them for talented candidates, using the academy's surplus funds to support them.
• Green joined the academy as a commoner apprentice, receiving free admission and an annual subsidy in exchange for a longer service commitment.
• Saine considered his friendship with Green an investment but noted that Green had never asked him for money despite knowing Saine borrowed books often.
• Green explained his Ice-Fire Magic research to Saine in the library, and Saine recognized that the theory seemed close to maturity.
• Saine said he planned to return to his dormitory to study a Light Magic book and consolidate his recent breakthrough beyond 70 Mental Strength and magic power.
• Green expressed envy when Saine confirmed he had reached the Quasi-Magician threshold a few days earlier.

Saine reflected on the divide between apprentices and Level 1 magicians and reaffirmed that he wanted to pursue magic rather than inherit the earldom. When he returned to his residence, the academy's Magic Messenger delivered him a sealed letter.

• Saine considered how Formal Magicians could harness the Element Power of the natural world and why the Wizard World sent only Level 1 experts into Plane Wars.
• Saine recalled that Solon had married, had a son, and was expected to inherit the earldom after Saine declined his place as first heir.
• Saine resolved to join the society of Level 1 creatures and remain indifferent to noble titles and ordinary life.
• A black crow delivered Saine a letter whose Element Power seal showed whether it had been opened.

Saine learned that his grandfather had died and that his cousin Serena would come to Azure Source Holy Tower seeking his help. Six months later, while Saine was conducting experiments to transform Sun's Eye Magic, Formal Magician Irene interrupted him to say a relative was looking for him.

• Earl Grant wrote to Saine that Saine's grandfather had died suddenly, and that Serena had grieved deeply.
• Earl Grant told Saine that Serena would come to Azure Source Holy Tower after arranging their grandfather's funeral, likely at the Ferrell Family's suggestion.
• Saine considered how to help Serena enter Azure Source Holy Tower Academy outside its enrollment period, then returned to stabilizing his Mental Strength.
• Six months later, Saine's experiments showed progress toward transforming Sun's Eye Magic into powerful Light-Fire Dual Element Magic.
• Formal Magician Irene contacted Saine through the Crystal Ball and told him that a relative was looking for him.

Saine met his cousin Serena outside the Holy Tower Academy after Magician Irene tracked him down to tell him she had arrived. Recognizing their blood relation, he asked Irene to help Serena enter the academy, and she led them inside.

• Magician Irene confronted Saine for blocking his Crystal Ball and explained that Serena had come to the academy looking for him.
• Saine and Serena recognized their blood relation through his Bloodline Tracing Magic and the family tokens she carried.
• Serena’s grandfather’s cane stirred Saine’s sorrow and memories, and Saine asked Irene to recommend Serena to the academy.
• Irene agreed to help and led Saine and Serena into the Holy Tower Academy, where Serena marveled at its scenery and tower.

Saine helped Serena complete her enrollment at Holy Tower Academy, and when they realized she had nowhere to stay, he offered to take her in temporarily. Serena had also been sent with the hope of strengthening her ties with Saine, whom her family elders considered a possible marriage partner.

• Formal Magician Irene introduced Serena and completed her enrollment, putting the two Level-1 Energy Crystal fee on Director Johnny's tab.
• Irene left before Saine could thank her, and Serena praised her as a good person.
• Saine learned that Serena was eighteen and, after realizing she had no dormitory, invited her to stay with him for the time being.
• Serena recalled that her family elders had urged her to build a relationship with Saine, and Ancestor Ze Lato had suggested they could marry.

Saine and Serena settled into a quiet routine at his residence while she studied at the Holy Tower and helped with the household. As Saine’s Sun’s Eye Magic research neared completion, he invited Serena to assist in his laboratory, where her studies in light and fire magic could benefit from the work.

• Saine arranged rooms on the first floor of his residence for Serena, and Little Seven moved from its former territory.
• Serena began attending public courses and exploring the academy while preparing meals and cleaning for Saine.
• Saine focused on perfecting Sun’s Eye Magic, spending much of his time in the laboratory and library.
• Saine learned that Serena studied light magic with fire magic as a supplement, and he asked her to help record experimental data in his laboratory.
• Serena agreed to help, and Saine offered to pay her.

Saine completed his improved Sun's Eye Magic experiment with Serena's help, producing a version nearly four times as powerful as the original. He rewarded Serena and confirmed that he was a thirty-one-year-old Quasi-Magician.

• Serena assisted Saine with his complex Sun's Eye Magic experiment and learned the Light-element spell Scorching Ray during the month and a half of work.
• Saine completed the improved Sun's Eye, which preliminary calculations showed was nearly four times as powerful as the original.
• Saine gave Serena Fire Attribute Energy Crystals as payment for her help, insisting she accept them.
• Serena asked Saine whether he was a Quasi-Magician, and he confirmed his rank and told her he was thirty-one.
• Saine encouraged Serena to believe that she could reach the same level in the future.

Saine tested his improved Sun's Eye Magic at the Azure Source Holy Tower's Training Ground and discovered it could destroy targets and break through the grounds' Energy Shield. He fled after an angry Second-Level Magician called out, leaving the damage and his experiment behind.

• Saine rented a private area at the Training Ground to test his improved Sun's Eye Magic, which could absorb natural Element Power and fire six volleys of six beams.
• Saine fired two volleys at the distant slope, obliterating the targets and blasting away a third of the slope.
• Saine directed a volley at the Training Ground's Energy Shield, weakening the section without realizing it.
• Saine fired the remaining three volleys at the same spot, blasting a huge hole through the shield.
• Saine began recording the damage, but an angry Second-Level Magician shouted about a Formal Magician testing magic in the Apprentice Zone, so Saine put away his Crystal Ball and left.

Saine overheard apprentices gossiping about the Training Ground damage he had secretly caused, then encountered Green with a group preparing an academy mission. Green introduced Saine as a Quasi-Magician, but Saine showed little interest in Hildas Goron or the other apprentices.

• Apprentices outside the library speculated about the Formal Magician who had damaged the Training Ground's Energy Shield, while Saine realized they were discussing his own spell.
• Saine entered the library area and spotted Green standing among a group of apprentices.
• Saine greeted Green, who said the group was planning to carry out an academy mission.
• Green introduced Saine to the group and revealed that Saine was a Quasi-Magician, drawing the apprentices' attention.
• Hildas Goron introduced himself to Saine, but Saine and Green made no effort to build connections with him or the other apprentices.

Saine considered the Azure Source Holy Tower’s mandatory academy missions and decided to take an investigation assignment concerning a frenzied Magical Beast in the Giggson Duchy. As he traveled by floating ship, he reflected on the Holy Tower’s guarded teaching and his decision not to take a Formal Magician as his master.

• Saine learned from Green that Green and the others planned to hunt Magical Beasts and gather materials in the Green Source Mountain Range, then left them and entered the Holy Tower Library.
• Saine decided to carry out an academy mission before his next deadline and chose an Advanced Apprentice-level investigation into a quasi-rank Magical Beast in the Giggson Duchy.
• Saine traveled aboard a floating ship above the Green Source Sea, enjoying the change from his usual studies and research.
• Saine reflected that the Formal Magicians who taught advanced courses withheld much of their knowledge unless apprentices became their disciples.
• Before departing, Saine left Cousin Serena Energy Crystals and Magic Coins and warned her that his mission might take a while.

Saine reached the Salted Basin to investigate a maddened Quasi-Level Magical Beast from the Underground World. At a mining camp, he backed Earl Krupp’s plan to clear the area and ordered the beast captured or killed once found.

• Saine traveled from the Azure Source Holy Tower to the Giggson Duchy and learned that the Salted Basin’s maddened Quasi-Level Magical Beast had not yet been killed.
• Giggson Duchy soldiers escorted Saine to the mining area, where he saw the duchy’s magically equipped troops and artillery.
• Saine entered a heated dispute between Earl Krupp and representatives of three mercenary groups over whether they should clear the whole mining area or only hunt the beast.
• Saine told the groups to follow Earl Krupp’s plan, clear the mining area, and capture and kill the Quasi-Level Magical Beast once they found it.
• The tall female knight glared angrily at Saine after he gave his orders.

Saine investigated the mine where a mutated Quasi-Level Magical Beast had appeared and discovered signs of dangerous underground creatures. After saving two poisoned Red Scale Mercenary Group members, he wondered whether the academy knew more about the disturbances than it had revealed.

• Saine and Little Seven searched the mine tunnel and found unfamiliar Quasi-Level Magical Beast tracks and brown-black fur.
• Saine hurried to a battle and found the Red Scale Captain fighting Underground Subhumans; two mercenaries had been poisoned and were near death.
• Saine treated the two wounded mercenaries with underground herbs, easing the Red Scale Mercenary Group's hostility toward him.
• Saine and the others continued deeper into the mine, where underground creatures attacked them with increasing frequency.
• Saine questioned whether the academy already knew the cause of the magical beasts' madness, while reasoning that the mission should not exceed the official danger level.

Saine led the mercenaries deeper into the underground mine despite mounting casualties, arguing that the intensity of the Underground Subhuman attacks showed they were nearing the target. After ordering the other mercenary groups and Giggerson Kingdom soldiers to join them, he warned the captains to prepare for the unknown threat ahead.

• Black Bats attacked the rear flank, killing another mercenary and bringing the Red Scale Mercenary Group's losses to five.
• Red Scales urged Saine to stop and regroup, but Saine argued the subhuman attacks were near their limit and pushed the group to advance.
• Red Scales asked whether they should summon the other mercenary groups and the Giggerson Kingdom soldiers, and Saine agreed.
• Earl Krupp objected that the mission had been contracted to the mercenaries, but Saine threatened to record his obstruction in the Holy Tower memorandum, forcing him to send his soldiers forward.
• The other two mercenary captains reported more than thirty casualties between their groups, and Saine warned them they were nearing the target without yet understanding the attacks or finding the Quasi-Level Magical Beast.

Saine led a force of more than five hundred into a vast underground cavern, where they encountered a wounded Lion Spider Beast and an ambush by Underground Subhumans and Black Bats. Saine stopped the whistles directing the attack, but the injured whistle-holder was swallowed by the Lion Spider Beast.

• Saine led the enlarged force deeper into the mine, where they found a cavern filled with bones and remains.
• Saine and the others discovered a wounded Lion Spider Beast at the cavern's center.
• A swarm of Black Bats and hidden Underground Subhumans attacked the group.
• Saine and the soldiers and mercenaries fought back with spells, weapons, and cannons, inflicting heavy casualties.
• Saine found the demi-human directing the attack with a short azure staff and struck it with Scorching Ray.
• The wounded demi-human crawled toward the Lion Spider Beast, which swallowed it whole.

Saine and the knights fought the evolving Lion Spider Beast in the Underground Space, and Saine killed it with Sun's Eye Magic. After the battle, he found a corroded black stone that appeared to be a humanoid Divine Statue with a spider abdomen.

• The Lion Spider Beast devoured a Subhuman corpse and began a violent, apparently abnormal evolution.
• Saine led the knights in attacking the still-evolving beast as Earl Krupp's forces fired ballista bolts and Black Fire Cannon shells.
• The Red Scale Captain and other fighters engaged the beast at close range while Saine and Little Seven supported them with magic and Wind Blades.
• As the Lion Spider Beast endured their attacks and grew more dangerous, Saine cast Sun's Eye Magic, blasting most of its head away.
• The dying Lion Spider Beast exploded, killing an Advanced Squire and injuring other fighters with its flesh and blood.
• Saine searched the beast's remains and found a black stone that seemed to be a corroded humanoid Divine Statue with a spider abdomen.

After the Lion Spider Beast’s death, Saine found little loot but treated the injured mercenaries with antidotes he brewed himself. When Red Scales jokingly offered to sleep with him as thanks, Saine accepted, and used magic to overcome her attempts to turn the tables.

• Saine concealed a black stone and told Red Scales he had found nothing, then agreed to try treating the mercenaries injured by the beast’s toxic remains.
• Saine found no Magic Crystal among the Lion Spider Beast’s remains and collected fragments for a Holy Tower quest; Little Seven declined to eat the corrosive flesh.
• Saine brewed Low-Level Antidotes for the injured, earning the gratitude of Red Scales’s mercenaries and the Giggson Duchy’s soldiers.
• Red Scales teased Saine by offering to sleep with him as repayment, and Saine surprised everyone by accepting.
• In bed, Saine restrained Red Scales with Elemental Fire Chains and a Flame Hand until the struggling knight finally yielded.

Saine returned from the Giggson Duchy to the Azure Source Holy Tower and submitted his mutated magical beast investigation mission. After a Second-Level Magician questioned him about the mission and examined his evidence, Saine received a reward of sixty Academy Points and three High-Level Energy Crystals, then headed back to his dormitory to test new ideas for Sun's Eye Magic.

• Saine offered to refine Red Scales's greatsword before leaving the Giggson Duchy, and they parted as he departed for the Azure Source Holy Tower.
• Saine went to the Mission Hall and was led to a second-floor room, where a Black-Haired Magician questioned him about the underground mine mission.
• Saine recounted his findings and showed the Black-Haired Magician the Lion Spider Beast remains, magical beast blood, and a black Divine Statue stone fragment.
• The Black-Haired Magician dismissed Saine without explaining the stone's origins and told him to collect his reward in the hall.
• Saine received sixty Academy Points and three High-Level Energy Crystals, then returned to his dormitory to work on Sun's Eye Magic.

After returning to the dormitory, Saine nearly lost his composure around Serena before turning back to his research. He spent two months dismantling Azure Source Holy Tower identity badges, gaining new alchemical knowledge and discovering hidden functions, but had to replace several badges along the way.

• Saine found Serena had prepared a lavish dinner, and the sight of her reminded him of Lina as he briefly pressed Serena against the dining table before regaining control.
• Saine considered expanding Sun's Eye to produce thirty-six eyes, but concluded his current abilities and magic power could not support the research.
• Saine began dismantling an Azure Source Holy Tower Apprentice Badge to study its alchemical construction.
• After two months, Saine had learned unfamiliar alchemical techniques and discovered that badges could conceal their signal and help locate nearby wearers.
• Saine reported badges lost and claimed replacements three times, and he also ruined two of Serena's badges.

Saine transformed the Pale Mask into a Crimson Mask, his first independently crafted High-Level Magic Item, then tried to incorporate Sun's Eye magic into it. After a blast shattered the mask during a third elemental-node experiment, Saine emerged unharmed but covered in soot.

• Saine inscribed Detection Art and Spirit Recovery Art into the Pale Mask, then reinforced it and added Flame Ray to create the High-Level Crimson Mask.
• Saine embedded a fire-element High-Level Energy Crystal in the Crimson Mask, allowing it to cast Flame Ray ten times before needing another energy source.
• Serena praised the mask and remarked that its Energy Crystal looked like an eye, prompting Saine to consider combining alchemy with his Sun's Eye Magic research.
• Two months later, Saine had inscribed two Sun's Eye elemental nodes into the Crimson Mask and began adding a third.
• A violent explosion destroyed the laboratory and split the Crimson Mask in two, while Saine dodged the blast and emerged covered in soot.

After the Crimson Mask shattered during his experiment, Saine prepared a stronger Sun's Eye Mask and spent more than three years researching and creating it. As the Regional Holy Tower Academy War approached, Azure Source Holy Tower's apprentices faced mounting anxiety over the academy's high casualty rate.

• Saine realized the Crimson Mask had proved that Sun's Eye Magic could be engraved onto a mask, but its materials could withstand only two Sun's Eyes.
• Saine planned to engrave six Sun's Eyes onto a new mask, then bought materials and studied magic array patterns before beginning a second attempt.
• Saine estimated his chances of successfully creating the Sun's Eye Mask at sixty to seventy percent and devoted himself to the experiment for more than three years.
• With the Regional Holy Tower Academy War six months away, Azure Source Holy Tower's apprentice population grew and veteran apprentices warned of the dangers.
• Azure Source Holy Tower apprentices feared the war after their academy suffered a casualty rate approaching forty percent in the previous one, though survivors could earn valuable rewards.

Director Johnny and Irene went to Saine’s residence after he missed several days of mandatory pre-war training, only to find him and Serena emerging from an explosion in his laboratory. The chapter left Johnny confronting a disheveled Saine, whose excitement about the blast puzzled him.

• Director Johnny learned that Saine had missed pre-war training and could not be reached, despite the academy’s surveillance showing he had stayed in his room for years.
• Director Johnny and Irene went to Saine’s residence to find out what he had been doing.
• Irene told Johnny that Saine was living with his Cousin Serena, aggravating his anger.
• Johnny used Sonic Magic to call Saine out, shaking the house and nearby woods.
• An explosion erupted in Saine’s house, and Saine and Serena ran outside covered in soot.
• Johnny noticed Saine’s apparent excitement and wondered whether the explosion had made him lose his mind.

Saine learned that the Regional Holy Tower Academy War was imminent after completing a formal-tier Magic Conductor, the Sun’s Eye Mask. He attended the pre-war training and learned that the trial served as both a contest among Holy Towers and military preparation for the Wizard World.

• Director Johnny found Saine disheveled after a laboratory explosion, recognized that he had reached Quasi-Magician, and ordered him to attend the next day’s mobilization training and avoid dying in the Academy War.
• After Johnny and the others left, Saine inspected the golden Sun’s Eye Mask, the formal-tier Magic Conductor he had spent three years crafting.
• Saine arrived punctually at the Teaching Building and joined more than a hundred Advanced Apprentices and higher, including Mark and veteran Quasi-Magicians.
• A Formal Magician explained that the Regional Holy Tower Academy War was an apprentice trial among neighboring Holy Towers and a form of military training for the Wizard World.

Saine learned how the Regional Holy Tower Academy War worked and saw that Azure Source Holy Tower planned to prioritize survival over aggressive competition. Unwilling to settle for a modest ranking, he decided to leave the academy’s main force and pursue points on his own, aiming for the top twenty.

• Saine learned that the five Holy Tower Academies would compete in a sealed Trial Space, where apprentices earned points by claiming resources, defeating rivals, and killing Alien Creatures.
• The instructors explained that apprentices could activate their Gravity Shield badges to escape danger, and warned them that the previous war’s casualty rate had approached forty percent.
• Saine concluded that Azure Source Holy Tower’s cautious strategy would leave it competing mainly for fourth place and decided to act alone once the war began.
• Saine set his sights on the top twenty in the overall points ranking, whose rewards would help apprentices advance to Formal Magician.
• Saine’s status showed 81 Mental Strength, 79 Magic Power, and 21 Constitution, with his Mental Strength having grown through alchemy and magical research.