Chapter Summaries

Locke concealed his impending breakthrough as he left the auction and prepared to enter the Forbidden Forest. Harlan Vela led Locke and five apprentices to Mistralin Path, where Locke began his assignment as their team leader.

• Christine helped Locke conceal his plan to become a Formal Wizard, and Locke left the auction disguised as her apprentice with his resources stored in his Astral Ring.
• Locke returned to his residence, noticed Sophia had moved away, and secured approval to enter the Forbidden Forest.
• Locke became team leader of five First-Class Wizard Apprentices from Lilith's Cottage, while Harlan Vela remained unaware that Locke planned to break through.
• Harlan Vela brought the group to Mistralin Path and explained that Mistralin's Mana protected the entrance and that the Forbidden Forest was a dangerous public secret realm.
• Harlan Vela told Locke to protect the five apprentices and ordered them to follow Locke's commands before they entered the Forbidden Forest.

Locke led five First-Class Wizard Apprentices into the Forbidden Forest, where he explained the forest’s unusual plant-based ecosystem and warned them to follow his orders. After revealing that Frog Tongue Moss attacked at the slightest sound, he identified nearby creatures that could counter it as the group began exploring the forest.

• Locke warned the five First-Class Wizard Apprentices that the Forbidden Forest was dangerous and ordered them to stay with the group.
• Locke entered Mistralin Path and noticed that the Forbidden Forest’s Magic Tide strengthened plant-type magic.
• The statue of Ms. Mistralin moved aside at the end of the path, revealing an entrance to the true Forbidden Forest.
• Locke stopped Sebastian from stepping onto the forest floor and used a stone to reveal that the weeds were Frog Tongue Moss.
• Locke explained that Frog Tongue Moss attacked in response to sound and described the Forbidden Forest as a dangerous Green Desert.
• Locke spotted Sound-Absorbing Mushrooms and Sloth Stone Lizards nearby, identifying them as ways to counter the moss.

Locke led five First-Class Wizard Apprentices through the Forbidden Forest, gathering magical resources and encountering strange phenomena. When a swarm of Army Ants emerged, they met Wayne Acosta and other Secret Fire Academy apprentices, who demanded that Lilith's Cottage's group stay clear of their hunt.

• Locke used a Sloth Stone Lizard's cry to slow Frog Tongue Moss, then harvested some and invited the others to collect it.
• Locke and the group traveled deeper into the Forbidden Forest, where they saw dangerous plants and strange footprint-related phenomena.
• A giant Army Ant attacked, and Nixon defended himself with his Gear Iron Thorn.
• More than a hundred Army Ants emerged from the ground, while Locke's group sensed approaching wizards.
• Wayne Acosta identified the Army Ants as Secret Fire Academy's target and told the Lilith's Cottage apprentices to move aside.

Locke Augustine confronted Wayne Acosta and the Secret Fire Academy Wizards for trespassing in Lilith's Cottage's Forbidden Forest territory. When the Army Ant Queen emerged, Locke killed it instantly with Earth Extreme Magnetism, leaving the rival Wizards stunned.

• Locke Augustine cut down Army Ants and told Wayne Acosta and the Secret Fire Academy Wizards to leave Lilith's Cottage's territory.
• Secret Fire Academy Wizards attacked Locke and his companions with a barrage of fireballs, but Locke extinguished the flames with the Blackchain Sword Bamboo.
• Wayne Acosta held back from challenging Locke when an earth tremor announced the Army Ant Queen's arrival.
• Locke unleashed Earth Extreme Magnetism with 900 Magic Pressure, severing the Army Ant Queen and crushing it to the ground.

After driving off the Secret Fire Academy wizards, Locke gave Sebastian's group a map and left to search for a five-hundred-year-old research institute. Using Archaeologist magic, he located the hidden institute in a swamp, where the chapter left him at its entrance.

• Locke forced Wayne Acosta and the Secret Fire Academy wizards to retreat, then claimed the Army Ant Queen's gland and let the others divide the remaining materials.
• Locke gave Sebastian a Magic Painting Map and left the exploration team to search for a special research project.
• Locke used an Ancient Pointer charged with Wizard Foucault's aura to track the project, flying past the Screaming Willows while a Sound-Absorbing Mushroom blocked their shrieks.
• Locke calculated the target's location in a swamp and revealed the Illusion School magic concealing the research institute by landing on a particular rock.

Locke discovered a hidden laboratory guarded by a dangerous swamp and unlocked it using a pattern from Wizard Foucault's Memory Fragment. There, he found the research behind Forest Sanctuary and decided to try completing the spell so he could become a Formal Wizard.

• Locke used three King Rotten Soil Konjacs to destroy a Swamp Mud Monster without risking a chain of explosions in the swamp.
• Locke unlocked the floating pyramid laboratory with Wizard Foucault's Magic Lock pattern and entered its still-functioning interior.
• Locke examined living creatures in cultivation tanks but left them untouched, then activated the Central Control Room's magic lamps.
• Locke found detailed records showing that Wizard Lewis and Wizard Foucault had failed to develop Forest Sanctuary because they could not create a close enough connection between wizards and magical plants.
• Locke recognized that Forest Sanctuary could enhance and stack Permanent Defense Fields, and considered using the laboratory's spell model platform to finish the project and become a Formal Wizard.

The Blood Lord led the Blood Curse Court in a surprise attack on Lilith's Cottage headquarters, while Locke used a simulation device to confirm that the Forest Sanctuary Spell Model suited him. He settled in a hidden research institute and prepared to begin his breakthrough into a Formal Wizard.

• The Blood Lord revealed that a spy inside Lilith's Cottage had helped the Vampires bypass its defenses and could shut down its barrier.
• Stanley vowed to drain the blood of Witch Sophia's students and friends, and the Blood Lord ordered the group to turn Lilith's Cottage's students into undead soldiers.
• Hassan watched the Blood Curse Court prepare to attack, with his Wizard mentor among them.
• Locke used the laboratory's virtual device to confirm that Forest Sanctuary's Spell Models could replace the Legacy Wizard Formation and fit his magical philosophy.
• Locke decided to adjust the Spell Model and attempt his Formal Wizard breakthrough inside the protected research institute.

Locke used a Sacrifice Potion to raise his Mana and inscribe a Permanent Defense Field, successfully advancing to a First-Ring Wizard. Natural Force then strengthened him, restoring his youth and rapidly growing the Execution Hammer Mushroom seed.

• Locke drank a Sacrifice Potion and endured its flames while inscribing the Magic Sanctuary spell model onto his soul.
• Locke drank an element-stabilizing potion to balance the Fire Element as his Mana approached one thousand and his body rapidly aged.
• Locke completed the Permanent Defense Field spell model and advanced into a Formal Wizard as his Magic Pressure surged.
• Locke drew in Natural Force, advancing his meditation method and rapidly increasing his magical power.
• The Execution Hammer Mushroom seed absorbed Natural Force and grew into a hammer-sized fruiting body, while Locke regained his youth as his lifespan increased.

Locke’s breakthrough to First-Ring Wizard caused upheaval across the Forbidden Forest, prompting its intelligent inhabitants and the Secret Fire Academy apprentices to react. As Locke’s mana continued to rise, he returned to the Natural Force Plane and received a charge from the World Tree to guard his race against another world-destroying disaster.

• The tree fairy explained that Locke had become a formal wizard within the bounds of the pact and urged the forest’s leaders not to interfere, while arranging to report him to the King of the Forbidden Forest.
• Wayne Acosta recognized the First-Ring Wizard’s magic pressure, abandoned the search for the army ant queen, and led the Secret Fire Academy apprentices toward the forest exit.
• Wayne warned his companions that their earlier clash with Lilith’s Cottage could bring serious trouble and that they might need their tutor to negotiate with Locke.
• Locke’s mana reached 1,500 and kept climbing as natural force flowed into him from the Natural Force Plane.
• Locke stood beneath the World Tree, touched its trunk, and heard it name him Three-Eye and entrust him with guarding his race against another world-destroying disaster.

Locke communicated with the World Tree and learned that Type I Natural Guardians were Disaster Beasts tasked with triggering disasters to restart stagnant evolution. The connection gave him a powerful Natural Force Rune and doubled his strength, while leaving him determined to investigate the ancient catastrophe that disrupted the Natural Guardian system.

• Locke used the Modo Language to ask the World Tree about guardianship, ancient victories, and the disaster from five hundred thousand years ago.
• The World Tree explained that Type I Natural Guardians were Disaster Beasts who caused disasters to drive stagnant species and ecosystems to evolve.
• Locke received a Natural Force Rune that doubled his Mana and foundational strength and altered the Earth Extreme Magnetism in his Innate Magic Eye.
• The World Tree showed Locke examples of disasters forcing stagnant species, civilizations, and forests to change, then warned him not to let the ancient catastrophe happen again.
• After the connection ended, Locke recorded the knowledge, considered pursuing stronger Ancient Creature Bloodlines, and resolved to investigate the catastrophe.
• Locke checked the Amethyst Matrix and saw that his Mana was 3000 and his Magic Pressure was 3500.

Locke examined his breakthrough to First-Ring Wizard, discovering that he had reached Mental Power Vaporization and gained five hundred points of Abyssal Energy. He studied the unresolved effects of his advancement and the power of his First-Ring Execution Hammer Mushroom.

• Locke shattered the Amethyst Matrix with his Magic Pressure and realized he had advanced directly to Mental Power Vaporization.
• Locke found that his body had returned to its peak, but his Abyssal Energy had risen from one hundred to five hundred and formed a cycle between his eyes.
• Locke identified mixed Aether Elements in his Mental Power and Abyssal Energy as two problems to investigate at the Academy.
• Locke summoned the Execution Hammer Mushroom and considered how First-Ring Magic Plants gained strength from Wood Element Crystal Clusters in their cells.

Locke chose to finish constructing Forest Sanctuary in the hidden research institute and confronted Dean Lewis’s lingering illusion. After learning that Lewis’s Ghost Image Spell had preserved only fragments of his thoughts, Locke accepted Lewis’s help locating Magic Plants for his sanctuary.

• Locke decided to complete Forest Sanctuary in the research institute before leaving the Forbidden Forest.
• Locke sensed Dean Lewis watching and summoned his illusion from the Square Crystal and Lantern Grass.
• Dean Lewis explained that he was a remnant of Lewis’s thoughts preserved by Ghost Image Spell, and that he had not been spying deliberately.
• Dean Lewis revealed that he and Foucault had developed the magic Locke completed, and admitted to conducting experiments on Formal Wizards of Botany.
• Dean Lewis offered Locke the coordinates of usable Magic Plants so he could construct Forest Sanctuary.

Locke followed Dean Lewis’s guidance to begin building a Forest Sanctuary using six Red-Earth Holly trees. As Locke linked the trees through his Distributed Psionic Virtual Neural Network, Lewis realized that distributed Psionics could complete the magic he had researched for decades.

• Locke found the Red-Earth Holly trees in the laboratory, and Dean Lewis identified them as the ideal foundation for a Forest Sanctuary.
• Lewis explained how forest stages and Red-Earth Holly’s vitality made the trees suitable for the project.
• Locke moved six thirty-meter-tall Red-Earth Holly trees into a Constant Temperature Planting Room and adjusted its conditions with Lewis’s guidance.
• Locke planted and watered the trees, then carved runes into their trunks with the Golden Grafting Knife.
• The trees resisted Locke’s Mana, but he suppressed them with his 3,500 Magic Pressure and completed Mana Grafting.
• Lewis recognized that Locke’s Distributed Psionic Virtual Neural Network could connect the trees’ distributed intelligence and enable the Forest Sanctuary.

Locke inscribed the Life Force Field and Oak Magic Armor onto the six Red-Earth Hollies, completing the Forest Sanctuary. Dean Lewis’s obsession briefly turned greedy and drove him to covet Locke’s body, but he regained clarity and vanished after thanking Locke.

• The six Red-Earth Hollies bonded with Locke, shared their Life Force Field with him, and accepted Forest Sanctuary runes.
• Locke inscribed the Life Force Field and Oak Magic Armor on the six trees, completing the Forest Sanctuary and testing both defensive spells.
• Dean Lewis’s phantom began to vanish, then demanded Locke’s body and declared that he wanted recognition for his work.
• Locke activated the Life Force Field and warned Dean Lewis against becoming a puppet of greed.
• Dean Lewis regained his clarity, acknowledged that his obsession had been to seek the truth, and thanked Locke before disappearing.
• Locke recorded his thoughts about the Forest Sanctuary and the possibility that similar personal traits might relate to becoming a Second Ring wizard.

Locke left the research facility after becoming a First-Ring Wizard and rescued Sebastian and the other apprentices from a Shadow Leopard King. As Locke led them out of the Forbidden Forest, its King watched from the depths and discussed Locke’s nature and the forest’s enemies with the Silent Bee Fairy.

• Locke tested the Execution Hammer Mushroom with Armed Plants, secured the research facility, and used the Great Green Owl Plantain to leave.
• Locke found Sebastian and four other apprentices fighting a Shadow Leopard King and killed the beast with the Blackchain Sword Bamboo.
• Sebastian and the others realized Locke had become a First-Ring Wizard, addressed him as Mentor, and accepted his offer to escort them out of the Forbidden Forest.
• The King of the Forbidden Forest and the Silent Bee Fairy watched Locke and discussed why they would not approach him.
• A mysterious chain sound echoed through the forest, and the King returned to its depths, leaving behind the deadly Footprints of Death Itself.

Locke and Sebastian’s group left the Forbidden Forest as the Blood Curse Court attacked Lilith’s Cottage with a blood-filled curse. Trapped in a Sixfold Curse Barrier, Locke faced six top Wizard Candidate sequences, but he calmly rejected Laurie Vick’s claim that he might have escaped.

• Locke and Sebastian’s group left the Forbidden Forest and saw a massive blood-red stake descending over the port city as the Academy’s Life Force Field vanished.
• Locke recognized the stake as an advanced Blood Curse spell and deduced that its nourishing blood was also a curse targeting the land.
• A First Ring Sixfold Curse Barrier appeared beneath Locke and his companions, filling them with negative energy and disabling their magic.
• Six Vampires, including Hassan and Laurie Vick, revealed themselves and trapped Sebastian’s group in the barrier.
• Laurie explained that her Spore Curse had immobilized the group and mocked Locke’s chances of escape, but Locke called her remark a joke that had gone too far.

Locke revealed that he had become a Formal Wizard and shattered the Sixfold Curse Barrier, turning the ambush against the Black Wizard Seeds. He killed four of them and gravely wounded Laurie while secretly allowing Hassan to escape, then pursued him to preserve Hassan’s cover with his mentor.

• Locke’s Magic Pressure rose above 1,000, overwhelming the six Black Wizard Apprentices and draining the Negative Energy that sustained the Sixfold Curse Barrier.
• Locke shattered the barrier, freeing Sebastian and the others, while the six Black Wizard Apprentices fled and secretly cast curses at one another.
• Locke used Omen Mandrake Vines and his Life Force Field to drag the apprentices back, killing four and grievously injuring Laurie.
• Hassan broke free using a special power and escaped, while Locke pursued him and used his Life Force Field to destroy Laurie’s Vampire Curse.
• Locke revealed that he had noticed Hassan’s hidden escape route and had spared him to protect him from suspicion by his mentor, then aimed the Three-Headed Shooter Pea at Hassan.

Locke headed to Lilith's Cottage Academy after ordering Sebastian and the others to defend it, and discovered that a coordinated Black Wizard Alliance attack was underway. As he concealed himself to observe, Hanmoke announced that the alliance intended to cripple the Academy and seize its resources as part of a broader campaign to overthrow the White Wizards' order.

• Locke spared Hassan by stopping his attack before it killed him, then sent Sebastian and the others to support the Academy while he went alone to its main campus.
• Locke observed that a curse was strengthening the city’s people and ecology, apparently to prepare them for later stages of the curse.
• Locke saw the Corpse Court’s forces emerge alongside those of the White Bone Order, Specter Holy Church, and Blood Curse Court, and chose to hide and watch.
• Hanmoke told the assembled Black Wizards that the White Wizards had exploited them and that the alliance would seize Lilith’s Cottage’s potions and magical resources by force.
• Hanmoke revealed that the alliance leader had discovered a medium-sized plane and that the attack would test which organizations could join its planned conquest.

Locke defended the port city from the Black Wizard Alliance’s assault and discovered that its forces were using dark magic to make the plants around Lilith’s Cottage go on strike, destabilizing the whole ecosystem. As he observed the unfolding ecological disaster, Gabriel contacted him through the Nibelungen Astrology System and realized Locke had become a Formal Wizard with vaporized Mana.

• Locke erased the magic controlling a Skeleton King and its army, freeing their bound souls and learning that the White Bone Order used failed apprentices as skeletal materials.
• Locke destroyed the Skeleton King and headed to check Lilith’s Cottage’s defensive barrier.
• Locke sensed that the Wood Element was rapidly diminishing as the Black Wizard Alliance accelerated the effects of the plants’ collective strike, unleashing ecological disasters around the headquarters.
• Locke recognized the crisis as an opportunity to study the changing ecosystem and let the Nibelungen Astrology System connect to his mental link.
• Gabriel discovered that Locke had become a Formal Wizard with vaporized Mana and asked how he had advanced.

Locke learned that Black Wizards had attacked Lilith's Cottage and set out to restart its disabled defense system. His Life Force Field helped him travel through the city, but Stanley confronted him before he reached the installation.

• Gabriel told Locke that Black Wizards had trapped Lilith's Cottage's wizards and shut down its large-scale defense field, and Francis and Claudia Forbes asked him to restart it.
• Locke learned that the Black Wizards had disrupted plant life and weakened Plant Magic, but realized Forest Sanctuary let him draw Wood Element Particles from his own forest ecosystem.
• Following Gabriel's prophetic guidance, Locke crossed the city and used his Life Force Field to defeat undead and Black Wizard apprentices along the way.
• Stanley's curse mark flared in a narrow alley, and Stanley appeared, recognized Locke as Augustine, and was shocked to discover he had become a Formal Wizard.