Chapter Summaries

Locke selected Thunderbolt Potato seeds to strengthen the combat capabilities of his Magic Plants and considered his cultivation, potion, and business plans. Meanwhile, the competition committee began evaluating entries and preparing a preliminary ranking before practical combat tests.

• Locke chose Thunderbolt Potato over Tuber Mine and exchanged ten seeds from Ruby to add lightning damage to his King Rotten Soil Konjac.
• Locke planned to cultivate Thunderbolt Potato and Great Greenleaf Plantain, complete his studies and potion research, and grow his laboratory’s sales.
• Locke wondered whether his Perseus's Eye Lichen could win the Academy’s Custom Magic Plant Competition and considered the benefits of victory.
• Advanced Breeder Jonas Cortes instructed the committee to rank entries by combat performance, breeders’ records, and studio standards.
• Jonas said the committee would verify past combat data, test the submitted Magic Plants, and award procurement contracts to the three best performers.

Zack worried that Locke’s Perseus’s Eye Lichen would be undervalued because it lacked a history of wartime deployment. He planned to use his connections to secure trial purchases and get the plant taken seriously by the judges.

• A Formal Wizard judge praised Green Sprout Studio’s improved Gear Iron Thorn and noted its mature combat record gave it a major advantage.
• Jonas Cortes argued that young Breeders and individual entries such as Perseus’s Eye Lichen still deserved a chance in the competition.
• Zack reviewed Locke’s submission and worried that Perseus’s Eye Lichen’s lack of wartime deployment records would lower its ranking.
• Zack decided to invite Jonas Cortes’s student Clifford Stevens to dinner and ask Combat Department squad captains to consider privately purchasing Perseus’s Eye Lichen for trial use.
• Zack planned to tell Locke about his efforts and arrange a meal with him.

Zack explained how major studios were arranging combat squad trials to improve their entries’ chances in the Custom Magic Plant Competition, then introduced Locke to Captain Jack Gray. Jack’s Magic Eye reacted violently to Locke and detected Black Wizard aura on him, leaving Zack surprised and ordering food to interrupt the moment.

• Zack told Locke that studios were securing combat squad captains to use their Magic Plants in battle, and promised to support Locke’s entry, Perseus's Eye Lichen.
• Zack said Captain Jack Gray, a Storm Wizard and friend of his, was coming to discuss using Locke’s Magic Plant on the front lines.
• Jack arrived after describing how his squad had caught a Black Wizard spy, and Zack introduced him to Locke as the developer of the Crystal Palmfire Lotus.
• Jack shook Locke’s hand, but his Magic Eye flashed red and nearly attacked before Jack restrained it.
• Jack said his Magic Eye had detected Black Wizard aura on Locke, and Zack hurriedly called for a waiter.

Locke explained his Vampire research to Captain Jack, then presented Perseus's Eye Lichen as a Defensive Magic Plant worthy of front-line use. Captain Jack agreed to buy ten plants and asked Locke about developing supporting spells for it.

• Locke told Captain Jack that he had captured a First-Class Wizard Apprentice Vampire for experiments, and the two discussed fighting undead enemies.
• Locke explained how Combat Department Wizards could use their battle experience to publish valuable research papers, which Captain Jack praised.
• Zack presented Captain Jack with Locke's research, a purchase contract, and combat footage demonstrating Perseus's Eye Lichen.
• Captain Jack criticized Green Sprout Studio for repeatedly entering Gear Iron Thorn in competitions and declared Perseus's Eye Lichen superior for front-line defense.
• Captain Jack agreed to purchase ten Perseus's Eye Lichen plants and asked Locke when he would develop supporting spells for them.

Senior Zack explained how research groups funded and developed supporting Plant Magic spells, and Locke learned that the Perseus's Eye Lichen's competition ranking could determine the cost and quality of its spell. Locke sold Captain Jack ten plants and left to check the bloodline cultivation in his laboratory.

• Senior Zack explained that Academy and White Wizard Association funds could cover development costs for popular Plant Magic projects, while research groups could gain funding and prestige.
• Locke asked what made a project popular, and Zack said the Perseus's Eye Lichen would attract research groups if it won the competition or placed in the top three.
• Zack explained that winning could let Locke develop a supporting spell without paying, while a top-three finish would likely require him to contribute several thousand Magic Stones.
• Captain Jack signed a contract to buy Perseus's Eye Lichen from Locke for 100 Magic Stones per plant and paid 1,000 Magic Stones for ten.
• Locke arranged for his Minotaur servant to deliver the plants to Captain Jack's team camp, then returned to his laboratory to check the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat bloodline cultivation.

Locke used Gray Mushroom Bacillus and archaeological techniques to create a refined Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat bloodline, then brewed and injected a bloodline modification potion. As his body transformed, his muscles, Magic Pressure, and Mana began to increase.

• Locke cultivated Gray Mushroom Bacillus with the Cat-girl Princess Bloodline and extracted blood containing the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat’s distinctive cells.
• After repeated experiments, Locke combined three tubes of the blood in the Synthesis Cube and produced a refined bloodline with 95% similarity to the ancient creature’s original.
• Locke separated the bloodline essence, designed a modification formula, and brewed two bottles of Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat Bloodline Modification Potion.
• Locke injected one potion into his vein, triggering a physical transformation that made his muscles, Magic Pressure, and Mana rise.

Locke underwent Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat Bloodline Modification, which raised his mana to 500 and gave him a powerful but mana-intensive activation state. He resolved to investigate the mysterious bloodline in his eyes as he assessed his new abilities.

• Locke's Mental Power rose as he experienced the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat's final memories and reflected on the ancient cataclysm that Archaeologists sought to understand.
• Locke recorded the changing golden pattern in his pupils with a True Sight Crystal and decided he needed to uncover the source of his mysterious bloodline.
• Locke drank five Cell Division Acceleration Potions and endured the intense heat as the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat Bloodline Modification began.
• After an hour, Locke's mana had increased from 462 to 500, and he entered the bloodline activation state with a Spell Eye, tiger stripes, and clawed hands.
• Locke found that his strengthened body could maintain the activation state for only ten minutes because it consumed about fifty mana per minute.

After modifying his body with the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat bloodline, Locke assessed his enhanced strength and considered how to improve the bloodline further. He went to test his new close-combat ability on Howard, who refused to fight, so Locke dragged him out of the cage.

• Locke found that closing the Innate Magic Eye let him maintain bloodline activation longer while retaining the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat's physical combat ability.
• He discovered that the bloodline had greatly improved his normal physique and decided to keep refining it rather than add another Ancient Creature Bloodline.
• Locke considered analyzing the Innate Magic Eye's Earth Extreme Magnetism and decided to seek help from a Shaping School research group instead.
• When Locke entered Sophia's Magic Creature Breeding Room, the creatures became fearful, and the Dryad asked why it was afraid of him.
• Locke challenged Howard to close combat, but Howard refused, so Locke pulled him from the Binding Cage and gave him fresh blood to restore his strength.

Locke tested the strength and speed of his Ancient Creature Bloodline by overwhelming the vampire Howard, then pursued him using his Great Green Owl Plantain’s flight spell. Howard finally broke down and offered to become Locke’s slave in exchange for an end to the experiments.

• Locke let Howard try to escape, activated his Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat Bloodline, and caught and slammed him into the ground with overwhelming speed.
• Locke assessed his bloodline-modified body as a powerful trump card, while noting that his mana limited how long he could maintain the transformation.
• Locke revived Howard with magical creature blood and released him to test his plant-type spells; Howard fled in terror.
• Locke used Plant Mimicry Art: Raptor with the Great Green Owl Plantain to catch up to Howard and block his path.
• After Locke brought out a three-barreled Shooter Pea, Howard surrendered and offered to become Locke’s slave and cooperate with his experiments.

Locke accepted Vampire Howard’s pledge in exchange for his cooperation as an experimental subject, then used Tomb Spirit Summoning to bind him. He tested the Three-Headed Shooter Pea on Howard and ordered him to try escaping so Locke could practice for the next five days.

• Locke agreed to take Vampire Howard as his subordinate if Howard cooperated with experiments and left the Black Wizard organization when Locke became a Formal Wizard.
• Locke summoned a powerful Pharaoh King Mask Tomb Spirit, which possessed Howard, and discovered his Ancient Creature Bloodline had strengthened the spell.
• Locke determined that he could turn a hidden Tomb Spirit into an offensive Pharaoh King Mask Tomb Spirit when close to its host.
• Locke tested the Three-Headed Shooter Pea on Howard, firing three flaming Steel-Bullet Peas and recording the attack with a True Sight Crystal.
• Locke ordered Howard to use any means necessary to escape while Locke practiced his shooting accuracy over the next five days.

Locke defeated Vampire Howard and learned why Howard had sought to become a Black Wizard. After receiving a letter about an upcoming operation at the Curse Spell Research Institute, Locke used his Tomb Spirit connection to spy on Leonie Murphy inside the institute, where Second-Class Wizard Apprentices were carving curse formulas into living sacrifices.

• Locke used the Three-Headed Shooter Pea and Splitting Spell to blast Howard from the sky, then reviewed his combat abilities and gave Howard Magic Creature blood and a clean coat.
• Howard told Locke that he had wanted to become a Black Wizard to escape the brutal class system of the Black Wizard Land and protect his family.
• Locke received a letter saying the operation targeting the Curse Spell Research Institute would begin in five days and that his teacher wanted him to gather information through Leonie Murphy.
• Locke strengthened his distant Tomb Spirit connection with the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat bloodline and used it to see through the Tomb Spirit's eyes.
• Locke saw Leonie Murphy in a hall where Second-Class Wizard Apprentices carved Curse Spell Formulas into immobilized living sacrifices.

Locke used Tomb Spirit Summoning to contact Leonie Murphy inside the Curse Spell Research Institute and ordered him to gather information about its layout and defenses. Leonie agreed, and after Yude Roosevelt humiliated him, he silently resolved that Locke’s backing would let him rise and settle the score.

• Locke observed Second-Class Wizard Apprentices testing composite Curse Spell Formulas inside the Curse Spell Research Institute, where a Sixfold Curse Barrier blocked ordinary White Magic.
• Locke contacted Leonie Murphy through the Tomb Spirit, warned him not to betray him, and ordered him to map the institute and learn about its traps, defenses, personnel, and research.
• Leonie Murphy agreed to follow Locke’s orders, believing Locke had arranged his transfer back to the institute and could help him rise in the Blood Curse Court.
• Yude Roosevelt used a Pain Rune Rod to torment Leonie, mocked his master’s fall from the Wizard Seed sequence, and declared himself the apprentices’ supervisor.
• Leonie endured the humiliation in silence and vowed that, with Locke backing him, he would make Yude pay.

Locke learned how the Sixfold Curse Barrier worked from Howard and took him along to examine a Curse Spell Research Institute. He then met Anglu and Aixi at the Chimera Market to recruit assistants for the Bear Spirit Emerald Gallbladder Potion trials.

• Howard explained that the Sixfold Curse Barrier tainted energy and stopped White Wizards from casting spells, and that its upkeep consumed enormous funds.
• Howard revealed that the Blood Curse Court had kept the barrier active since Locke's squad destroyed one of its research institutes, and Locke asked Howard and the Speed Painter to help him examine the site.
• Locke put Howard in a binding cage and went to the Chimera Market to meet Anglu and Aixi about recruiting assistants for the potion trials.
• Locke proposed recruiting six Second-Class Wizard Apprentices to assist with mortal and animal experiments, trials, and clinic data; Anglu and Aixi agreed.
• Anglu noticed that Locke's mana seemed to surpass his own, and Locke told Anglu and Aixi that the applicants had arrived for interviews.

Locke recruited six Second-Class Wizard Apprentices to help Anglu and Aixi conduct the third-phase trials of the Bear Spirit Emerald Gallbladder Potion, then left to hire a Speed Painter for a month. His stated reason was to document buildings and preserve records of plants and potions, while the job would also support his planned undercover decapitation operation at the Curse Spell Research Institute.

• Aixi rejected most applicants for lacking clinical-trial experience and selected three qualified Second-Class Wizard Apprentices from the first sixteen candidates.
• Locke recognized Pierre, his former friend, and Aixi hired him to assist with animal experiments under the guidance of an experienced apprentice.
• Locke and his colleagues selected the final two apprentices, signed contracts with all six, and Locke left Anglu and Aixi in charge of the project and its funds.
• Locke gave Anglu and Aixi five hundred Magic Stones for experiment expenses and said he had personal matters to handle.
• Locke went to an Illusion School gallery to hire a Speed Painter for a month to survey the Curse Spell Research Institute and document Magic Plants and potions.

Locke visited the Speed Painter Elagabalus to ask for a map of the Curse Spell Research Institute and learned about the magical paintings he created. After Locke diagnosed the illness that killed Elagabalus’s first wife, Elagabalus mistook him for a Potion Master.

• Locke admired a magical portrait whose gaze followed him through the gallery.
• Elagabalus described how his first wife died after a failed breakthrough to the Formal Wizard level and how he preserved her likeness in a magical painting.
• Elagabalus used the Illusory Projection Spell to turn the portrait into a three-dimensional projection.
• Locke explained that the wife’s symptoms suggested an imbalance in her body’s elemental structure and proposed a possible treatment with a Triangular Force Potion.
• Elagabalus noticed Locke’s badges and praised his diagnosis, assuming he was a Potion Master.

Locke hired Elagabalus, a certified Speed Painter from the Atlas Color Institute, to document his magic plant and potion work in magic paintings. Elagabalus explained his prices and the functions he could add, including maps and traps, as they arranged for him to begin after finishing his current commissions.

• Elagabalus told Locke that his first wife died because he could not afford the treatment Locke had once suggested, then mentioned his later marriages.
• Locke asked Elagabalus to work for a month recording his magic plant and potion projects, and Elagabalus agreed to come after completing his current commissions.
• Elagabalus introduced himself as a First-Class Wizard Apprentice of the Atlas Color Institute and listed his Speed Painter credentials and competition ranking.
• Locke gave his name and identified himself as a student of Lilith's Cottage.
• Elagabalus explained the prices of basic two- and three-dimensional magic paintings and the extra costs for features such as illusion attacks, controls, maps, and traps.

Locke hired Elagabalus to paint several magic paintings and exposed the illusion concealing the artist’s shabby gallery. Back in his laboratory, Locke safely took Fission Potion using his Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat Bloodline and confirmed it could rapidly increase his Mana, while he remained determined to join Sophia’s operation for Tartarus Cave Worm Spinal Fluid.

• Locke persuaded Elagabalus to set aside other commissions and paint at least six basic magic paintings, with possible traps and maps to follow.
• Locke recognized that a mass-hypnosis magic painting concealed the gallery’s unfinished interior and Elagabalus’s cheap decorations.
• Locke tested Fission Potion on a white mouse, calculated the danger using his formula, and drank a dose while activating his Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat Bloodline.
• Locke’s elemental fission reaction ended safely after more than twenty minutes, and his Mana rose to 505.
• Locke concluded that the potion and his stronger physique could accelerate his progress, but he still planned to join Sophia’s undercover operation to obtain Tartarus Cave Worm Spinal Fluid.

Locke briefed Sophia the Witch on the Sixfold Curse Barrier and prepared his plantation and potion laboratory for his absence before their operation against the Blood Curse Court. Sophia explained how they would bypass the barrier, ordered Locke to finish mapping the Curse Spell Research Institute, and funded the Speed Painters.

• Locke arranged for Teri, Anglu, Aixi, and the Minotaur slaves to keep his potion and plantation work going while he was away.
• Locke told Sophia the Witch about the Sixfold Curse Barrier, and Sophia said the operation could destroy its exposed formation core before entering the barrier.
• Sophia said Locke's discovery had lowered Rashid Tariel's chance of survival to less than three percent.
• Sophia instructed Locke to make and store potions, keep his movements secret, and finish the Institute's interior map before the operation in four days.
• Sophia gave Locke fifteen hundred Magic Stones to hire Speed Painters and cover his expenses.

Locke hired Elagabalus and Tock Carlisle to create magical paintings, then revealed that they would help him make a map of the Curse Spell Research Institute. After hearing the institute’s secrets, the two Speed Painters feared they had become entangled in a dangerous matter.

• Elagabalus brought his indebted junior, Tock Carlisle, to Locke’s suite and explained that Tock would assist him.
• Elagabalus and Tock completed a magical painting of the Crystal Palmfire Lotus, which Locke praised for its detailed, adjustable image.
• Locke introduced Howard as his assistant, and Elagabalus became frightened when he realized Howard was a Black Wizard.
• Locke had Howard change into a White Wizard’s robe, then asked Elagabalus and Tock to paint a map based on his descriptions of the Curse Spell Research Institute.
• After hearing secret information about Curse Magic, Elagabalus and Tock grew frightened that Locke might silence them.

Locke completed a tracking Magic Painting Map with Elagabalus, then bought a large stock of functional potions from the Owl Cauldron Potion Shop. He asked Anglu and Aixi to conceal the purchase records, and Anglu agreed after assuming Locke wanted to prepare results for an experiment before ethical review.

• Locke, Elagabalus, Howard, and another Speed Painter completed a Magic Painting Map that tracked the effect of Locke’s Magic Pressure near Rashid Tariel.
• Locke hired Elagabalus to make three-dimensional Magic Paintings of his magical plants and potions while his residence was guarded and sealed.
• Locke spent two thousand Magic Stones at the Owl Cauldron Potion Shop on a large supply of functional potions, including doses with dangerous side effects.
• Anglu and Aixi warned Locke that taking so many potions could kill him, but Locke said most were for an experiment and the Black-and-White Flame Potions were for combat.
• Locke asked Anglu and Aixi to seal the purchase records, and Anglu agreed, believing Locke wanted to prepare experimental results before seeking ethical approval.