Chapter Summaries

Adam received an Active Seal Crystal from Mage Victor and continued work on Frank’s Mechanical Body. After Mage Kino helped complete Frank’s advanced modification, Frank knelt before Adam and announced that he intended to leave the laboratory.

• Mage Victor warned Adam that Monte Carlo’s apprentices might kill and gave him an Active Seal Crystal that could suppress advancement.
• Frank awoke from his coma, and Adam ordered him to inspect his new Mechanical Body for two days.
• Adam told his assistants to prepare for his next experiment on electromagnetic induction.
• Mage Kino arrived to help Adam modify Frank’s Mechanical Body, and the modification succeeded after three days.
• Frank knelt before Adam with a contract and said he needed to leave the laboratory, prompting Adam to ask why.

Frank asked Adam to help him pursue full-body alchemical modification, and Adam signed a contract with him. Years later, Mordo Tower launched for a Plane Conquest, while Adam and Elliot awaited the arrival of Monte Carlo’s exchange delegation, which Adam had heard intended to cause trouble.

• Frank told Adam that he wanted to join Kino Mage’s laboratory for full-body alchemical modification, and Adam signed a contract promising Frank would become his guardian if he advanced to Formal Mage.
• Adam asked Elliot about Hyperdimensional Mages’ expeditions, and Elliot explained that Mage Towers served as spacecraft and that Tower Wars followed conflicts over plane coordinates.
• Mordo Tower transformed into a spacecraft and flew through a Dimensional Rift toward the Other Plane, leaving Adam yearning to join a future war.
• Monte Carlo’s apprentices and their escorts traveled through a Teleportation Array toward Mordo Academy for an exchange event, while a Mordo mage urged the apprentices to kill them if necessary.
• Elliot worried that his old enemies might be among the Monte Carlo delegation, and admitted to Adam that he had exaggerated his past boasts.

Adam returned to his laboratory while Monte Carlo’s delegation arrived for an exchange that James warned could turn violent. His team reported that experiments on electromagnetic induction remained inconsistent in Aether and magic-rich conditions, so Adam ordered them to test the phenomenon in an Aether-active environment.

• Adam left Elliot behind and returned to his laboratory, where assistants gathered to work under his direction.
• Adam offered James a vitality potion, but James refused, saying old age had sharpened his control over Mental Power and that his remaining lifespan was enough.
• James warned Adam and Kovol that Monte Carlo’s apprentices were savage combatants, and the Devil said the Mage Masters would allow the weak to die.
• Kovol and James reported that their experiments on current, magnetic fields, and electromagnetic induction produced unstable results in Aether and High-Magic environments.
• Adam reviewed the reports and ordered the team to repeat the experiment in an Aether-active environment while recording every fluctuation and possible correlation.

Adam continued funding his research while learning that James was nearing death from the strain of his telekinesis. Near the end of his life, James confronted Francis, the Monte Carlo apprentice who had once killed his squad, and the chapter left them facing one another.

• Adam rejected the Devil’s suggestion to postpone his research and doubled funding for every laboratory.
• The Devil told Adam that James’s life aura was fading and that his powerful Mental Power was consuming his remaining vitality.
• Three months later, James left the laboratory, bought a Mental Power-burning potion, and prepared to risk his life on one final attempt to advance.
• James encountered Francis humiliating Mordo Academy apprentices with wind and recognized him as the man who had killed James’s former squad.
• James stopped Francis’s Gale with telekinesis and chose not to run away; Francis noticed him and asked who he was.

James confronted Francis, the man he blamed for the deaths of his companions during the Tower War, and challenged him to a duel to the death. After James left for the Duel Arena, Bill and Monica ordered Francis to deal with him before they went to see Mordo's true genius.

• Francis recognized James as the survivor who had fled during the attack on District Seventeen and told the Monte Carlo apprentices that James had abandoned his companions.
• James insisted he had not run away, explaining to himself that a tornado had knocked him unconscious and that he had returned too late to save his companions.
• James used his telekinesis to stop Francis and his companions, then challenged Francis to a duel with their lives at stake.
• Francis accepted James's challenge and erupted in fury after James walked away toward the Duel Arena.
• Bill and Monica arrived, told Francis to kill James, and said they had found someone interesting and would take him to see Mordo's true genius afterward.

James faced Francis in a duel at the Duel Arena, drawing a crowd of Mordo and Monte Carlo apprentices. James survived Francis's opening wind attacks with Telekinesis and stepped forward to punch into Francis's tornadoes as five of them formed.

• Elliot heard that James had challenged Francis, rushed toward the Duel Arena, then turned to fetch Adam.
• James ignored the apprentices urging him to abandon the duel and waited calmly for Francis.
• Francis attacked James with Wind Blades and wind spheres, but James used Telekinesis Barriers and materialized Telekinesis to block and shatter them.
• Francis formed a massive tornado from countless Wind Blades while the spectators raised defenses against the debris.
• James enveloped himself in condensed Telekinesis and threw a straight punch at the tornado as Francis summoned five tornadoes.

Elliot rushed to Adam’s laboratory to warn him that James had gone looking for death, but Adam was away presiding over experiments. Adam and his assistants successfully verified the Electromagnetic Induction Law in an aether environment, though the gift of aether abruptly vanished before Adam’s advancement was complete.

• Elliot learned that James had taken leave, then told the Devil that James was in danger; the Devil offered to help in Adam’s absence.
• Adam directed his assistants through experiments that established the Electromagnetic Induction Law in an aether environment and verified displacement current.
• Adam completed the derivation, and aether’s gift descended upon him and the assistants as Electromagnetic Magic was proven to exist.
• The assistants celebrated their role in creating a new field and expected Adam to advance to Formal Mage.
• Aether’s gift vanished abruptly, leaving Kovol and the others wondering whether the theory was wrong or Electromagnetic Magic did not exist.

Adam’s experiment succeeded, but an automatic seal interrupted his attempted advancement and left his soul in a dangerous in-between state. He learned that James had dueled Francis and arrived just as they killed each other, then demanded to know what James had injected himself with.

• Adam announced the experiment’s success, rewarded his assistants, and explained that a personal matter had prevented him from advancing.
• After learning James was dueling Francis, Adam flew to the Duel Arena to check on his old friend.
• James injected himself with a vial as Francis launched a condensed Wind Blade at him.
• James enveloped himself and the Telekinesis giant in Light Flame, then embraced Francis; both fell to the stage and were declared dead.
• Adam struck the stage with lightning, asked Elliot about James’s syringe, and threatened Bill when he severed the Telekinesis.

Adam retaliated after Monte Carlo apprentices killed James in a duel, wiping out their force and trapping Bill and Monica in his Magnetic Field. He badly wounded Monica and continued attacking as the two tried to escape, knowing Monte Carlo's Mage Masters might soon arrive.

• Elliot and the Devil retreated when Adam arrived, while Bill mocked him and the Monte Carlo apprentices dismissed him as sheltered.
• Adam tried to take James's corpse, but a Monte Carlo apprentice attacked it with a fireball, prompting Adam to declare that they were seeking death.
• Adam's Magnetic Field stopped the apprentices' escape, and his lightning killed the attacker while strange metal weapons pierced the rest of the Monte Carlo force.
• Bill and Monica tried to flee, but Adam's Magnetic Field slowed them and he sent Iron Swords after them, shattering Monica's Mage's Armor and badly wounding her.
• Bill rescued Monica with a Water Screen and carried her toward the ground as she pleaded for help; Adam snapped his fingers and sent lightning from sky to earth, preparing to finish them.

Adam overwhelmed Bill and Monica in the Duel Arena, but Tim Page intervened after Bill was killed and Monica was left barely alive. Dean Barbara blocked Tim’s attack on Adam and confronted him over violating the Mage Council’s regulations.

• Dean Barbara and Tim Page argued over Adam’s fight while watching the Duel Arena, and Tim threatened her over Bill and Monica.
• Adam used his Magnetic Field and illusions to prevent Bill and Monica from escaping, then attacked them with electrified Iron Sand Swords.
• Bill was blasted into nothingness, while Monica survived with grave injuries as Tim Page’s attack forced Adam to teleport away.
• Tim Page attacked Adam, who prepared to break his seal, but Dean Barbara intervened and warned Tim that he had violated Mage Council regulations.

After Tim Page left Mordo Academy, Dean Barbara assured Adam that the Mage Council’s rules would protect him and told him the War Trial would take place in two years. Adam cremated James, promised to help Frank with his failing Mechanical Body, and spent the intervening years refining spells before Victor Mage arrived to announce the trial was about to begin.

• Tim Page took Monica and left Mordo Academy, and Dean Barbara explained to Adam that the Mage Council’s rules prevented Tim from killing him or attacking him during the War Trial.
• Dean Barbara told Adam that qualified apprentices across the Fifth Element Holy Tower’s territory would take the War Trial together in two years.
• Adam submitted his research, then led his friends and assistants out of the academy to cremate James and scatter his ashes.
• Frank revealed that his Mechanical Body’s batteries could no longer supply enough energy, and Adam promised to find a solution.
• Adam spent the next two years working in his laboratory and keeping a low profile.
• Victor Mage’s avatar visited Adam and told him the War Trial was about to begin.

Adam left Mordo Tower for the Fifth Element Holy Tower, saying goodbye to his friends before arriving in Meyer City. Victor Mage explained why True Spirit Mage Towers existed in void-carved spaces, then brought Adam to the Rex Mage Club.

• Adam refused the Devil’s request to say goodbye and left his laboratory for the Tower.
• Elliot, William, Krystal, and Adam’s other acquaintances gathered to bid him farewell, and Adam departed with Victor Dean through the Teleportation Array.
• Adam and Victor Mage emerged in Meyer City, where Victor Mage showed him the Fifth Element Holy Tower in the Mage Plane.
• Victor Mage explained that True Spirit Mage Towers were built in spaces carved from the void because their Disturbing Force could cause disasters in the Main Plane.
• Victor Mage brought Adam to the Rex Mage Club—Rex Consortium.

Adam accompanied Victor Mage to the Rex Mage Club, where he learned about the Rex Consortium and met apprentices gathering for the War Trial. He met the twins Shelly and Haili, who credited his Telekinesis research with improving their magic but hoped he would help them master its difficult Rune Arrays.

• Victor Mage brought Adam and the Devil into the Rex Mage Club, where Adam saw succubi and learned that the club belonged to Rex Hyperdimensional.
• Victor Mage explained that the Rex Consortium was an alliance of seven Hyperdimensional Mages formed to develop Other Planes and share resources.
• At a gathering of High-Level Mages, Andre, dean of Rex Mage Academy, introduced Adam to apprentices qualified for the War Trial.
• Adam met apprentices from several Towers, including the identical twins Shelly and Haili, who practiced the Telekinesis Meditation Method he had created.
• Haili demonstrated Telekinesis and said it had helped her and Shelly coordinate their different elemental magic, then hinted that she wanted Adam to help with the difficult Rune Arrays.
• Adam declined to offer help without a closer relationship, leaving Haili frustrated while Shelly laughed.

Adam traded a nine-rune Telekinesis Meditation Method for Shelly and Haili’s Elemental True Body Cultivation Method. After Victor Mage warned him not to attempt the standard cultivation method yet, Adam read about the War Trial and learned apprentices would face low-level Anti-Mages in their Gathering Zones.

• Shelly asked Adam to trade knowledge about Telekinesis, and Aike joined the conversation before leaving after Haili taunted him.
• Adam demonstrated his advanced Telekinesis Meditation Method and rejected the sisters’ War Trial information and composite magic research as insufficient payment.
• Shelly offered the Elemental True Body Cultivation Method, and Adam exchanged it for his earlier nine-rune Telekinesis Meditation Method.
• Victor Mage warned Adam to avoid profound research while awaiting a possible Holy Tower summons and not to try the standard Elemental True Body method.
• Adam read the War Trial information and learned apprentices would face Anti-Mages at level two or below, then discovered the sisters’ composite magic method relied on Telekinesis to reduce elemental conflict.

Adam spent the final three days preparing for the War Trial by refining his electromagnetic magic and learning how trials led to positions in the Fifth Element Holy Tower. He and the other apprentices arrived at the Holy Tower, where Victor Mage noted that few candidates had gathered and that the trial might not be difficult.

• Adam considered how to form an Elemental True Body suited to his unfamiliar electromagnetic elements, but found no suitable model.
• During three days in his room, Adam standardized his Magnetic Field, Iron Sand Sword, Electric Element control, Electromagnetic Cannon, and Plasma Cannon spells.
• Adam asked Haili why so few apprentices qualified for the trial, and she explained that successful candidates could train with the Fifth Element Holy Tower and become high-ranking members.
• Victor Mage ordered the apprentices to teleport into the Fifth Element Holy Tower, where a suppression array protected them from its dense elemental aura.
• Adam saw that thousands of apprentices had gathered, and Andre Mage and Victor Mage discussed the calm Aether Tide and the lack of recently discovered large planes.

Priscilla Hyperdimensional explained the deadly rules of the War Trial and transported the apprentices to Anti-Mage Island, where the Anti-Mages prepared to fight them. Adam arrived alone in the wilderness and sent Devil to scout; Devil soon reported finding a Gathering Zone.

• Priscilla Hyperdimensional announced that apprentices had to earn one thousand merit points by killing creatures capable of communicating with magic power, though the island held fewer than one hundred and fifty thousand points total.
• Priscilla warned that the trial was lethal and that Merit Badges would self-destruct if apprentices left without authorization, but no one withdrew.
• Priscilla teleported the apprentices to Anti-Mage Island, where Formal-level Anti-Mages rallied their families and schools to attack unfamiliar humans.
• Adam found himself alone in the wilderness and ordered Devil to scout for nearby people without attacking anyone.
• Adam considered the trial's unclear rules while adjusting his energy aura, and Devil reported finding a Gathering Zone.

Adam infiltrated Koyin City on Xilan Island to investigate the Om Family and discovered that Anti-Mage forces were organizing against the Trial Apprentices. After confirming that no Formal Mages were in the city, he attacked the Lord's Mansion and drew out its defenders.

• Adam questioned a water-stall owner and other ordinary people, learning that Koyin City belonged to the Om Family and was ruled by a Mage Master named Ohm.
• Adam sent the Devil to scout the Lord's Mansion, where it found ten weak energy signatures and a barrier around the central building.
• Adam overheard enough of a conversation inside the building to conclude that the island's Anti-Mage forces were joining together against the Trial Apprentices and that no Formal Mages were in Koyin City.
• Adam enveloped the Lord's Mansion in his Magnetic Field, prompting its apprentices to look skyward and several well-dressed people to rush out and call him a traitor.

Adam attacked Koyin City, destroying the Om Family’s defenses and defeating the Despair Monster created by the Ohm Blood Sacrifice Grand Spell. The city’s people were all killed, and Adam flew away, concerned about how the destruction might affect his trial evaluation.

• Dawn summoned a monster bird, but Adam destroyed it with a Negative Energy Impact and disrupted the Anti-Mage Apprentices’ spell.
• Adam used multiple Thunder Domains to break the Lord's Mansion barrier while the Devil killed an apprentice and opened a weak point.
• The Om leader sacrificed himself with the Ohm Blood Sacrifice Grand Spell, causing the Blood Mist to kill the Anti-Mage Apprentices and every mortal in the town.
• Adam destroyed the Lord's Mansion with Iron Sand Swords and Electromagnetic Cannons as the city’s flesh and blood formed a Despair Monster.
• Adam vaporized the Despair Monster with a Plasma Cannon, noted his fifty-three Merit points and the city’s destruction, then flew away.

Cook Om learned that the Om Family members in Koyin City had been annihilated and ordered the Anti-Mages to regroup and evacuate ordinary people. Adam encountered three Trial Apprentices near another town, where they discovered thirty-two apprentice-level Energy Fluctuations and no Formal Mages.

• An apprentice reported that twenty-three Om Family soul crystals had shattered, and Cook Om warned Quinn that the attackers were elite traitors before ordering him to follow the plan.
• Cook Om told Peter to relocate as many ordinary people as possible, even if some had to be sacrificed to hinder the traitors.
• Three Trial Apprentices outside Koyin City speculated that a Magic Scroll had caused the powerful Electric Element attack and learned that their rat-led investigation would take two more hours.
• Adam spotted three nearby Trial Apprentices on his bracelet, introduced himself as Adam of Mordo Tower, and confirmed that he had attacked Koyin City.
• One apprentice criticized Adam for acting rashly, but the rat's investigation then revealed that the nearby town held thirty-two apprentice-level Energy Fluctuations, including one at the Critical Point, and no Formal Mages.

Adam learned that intelligence about nearby cities could be exchanged for Merit Points, then attacked an Anti-Mage town where mortals were being slaughtered for despair. After destroying the Lord's Mansion and earning thirty-two Merit Points, he asked three Trial Apprentices to sell him their intelligence about other cities.

• Adam heard that Anti-Mages were killing mortals and asked whether the casters were gathered at the central Lord's Mansion.
• An apprentice invited Adam to scout nearby cities and trade intelligence for Merit Points, and Adam learned the town's location.
• Adam flew into the town while the Devil slipped inside, then prepared Multiple Thunder Domains as the City Lord ordered his subordinates to keep torturing mortals.
• The Devil distracted the City Lord, and Adam's thunder and Iron Sand Swords destroyed the Lord's Mansion and devastated the town.
• Adam earned thirty-two Merit Points, approached the frightened Trial Apprentices, and asked them to name a price for their intelligence about other cities.