Chapter Summaries

Locke investigated the dead wizards in the library and pursued the Black Wizards through the void battleship, encountering Thunder God Palace Phantoms along the way. He sent three newly transformed Emperor Rotten Soil Konjac familiars ahead to hunt the fleeing Black Wizard while he faced the phantoms blocking his path.

• Locke found three dead Land of Six Towers Formal Wizards and deduced that a Conjuration School wizard had killed them with throwing knives after using an illusion to prevent them from raising their defenses.
• Locke questioned a surviving First-Ring Wizard, learned the Black Wizards had gone through Exit 6, and raced after them on the Great Green Leaf Dragon Sparrow.
• A Thunder God Palace Phantom confronted Locke in Passage 6, but its liquid lightning armor began breaking down inside the void battleship, and Locke destroyed it with the dragon sparrow's aerial root tail.
• Locke realized the Black Wizard had lured more Thunder God Palace Phantoms into the passage to delay pursuit while carrying out the robbery and escaping with a Plutarch Family heir.
• Locke placed Shadow Rune Stones into three Emperor Rotten Soil Konjacs, transformed them into shadowy plant familiars, and sent them ahead to pursue the Black Wizard.

Clown Leader tortured Alicia and killed her Pike Bird while fleeing with Beast Tamer, but Locke caught up with the Black Wizards. Locke took Beast Tamer’s Astral Ring and attacked, gravely wounding him and his Golden Lion while Clown Leader escaped with Alicia as a hostage.

• Clown Leader cut Alicia’s face, killed her Pike Bird, and dragged her toward the Void Battleship’s energy core.
• Clown Leader told Beast Tamer that Locke was pursuing him and that the Thunder God Palace Phantoms were holding Locke back.
• Locke’s Dragon Might and three Rotten Soil Konjac Fireworks appeared in Passage Six, and Locke severed Beast Tamer’s left arm to take his Astral Ring.
• Clown Leader grabbed Alicia and threatened to kill her, but Locke attacked both Black Wizards with Gold Sand Torrent.
• Clown Leader dodged with Alicia, while Locke’s Gold Sand Torrent gravely wounded Beast Tamer and his Golden Lion.
• Locke formed Flamebright Aura-infused Gold Sand Bullets and fired at the Black Wizards without giving them time to recover.

Locke defeated the Clown Leader and stopped the Beast Tamer’s ambush, then pursued the fleeing wizard while Alicia learned his name and thanked him as her savior. Alicia watched Locke disappear down the corridor, remembering that he had rescued her.

• Locke exposed the Clown Leader as a Shapeshifter and pierced the Beast Tamer’s hand when he tried to summon a magical bird.
• The Clown Leader attacked Locke through a gap in his Oak Magic Armor, but Locke switched to Steam Bark and burned him with high-temperature steam.
• Locke trapped the Clown Leader with a Gravity Field and killed him with an Execution Hammer Mushroom, then took his ring and the looted supplies.
• The Beast Tamer cut off his right arm, escaped on a Rhinoceros Beetle, and left another beetle for Locke to capture as material.
• Alicia thanked Locke and asked his name, and Locke introduced himself before chasing the Beast Tamer.

Locke realized the apparent Holy Wizard who had joined his pursuit was actually the Magic Thief Circus’s leader, Zoe, and watched the pirates escape. Aboard their retreating ship, Zoe ordered the surviving members to avoid Locke and abandon revenge after their costly failure.

• Locke met a Liquefaction Stage Holy Wizard in the hall, showed his consultant badge, and agreed to search a separate passage for the fleeing Black Wizards.
• Locke noticed clues that the Holy Wizard was an impostor, returned to the hall, and saw a Joker card and an escape craft fleeing the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle.
• Locke concluded that Zoe had deceived him with a disguise and escaped with the Magic Thief Circus.
• The female Speed Painter treated the injured beast tamer and reported that Joker was dead, the puppeteer had been captured, and half the circus had been lost.
• Zoe explained that the circus would not seek revenge, and the diviner confirmed that attacking Locke could destroy them.
• Zoe ordered the circus to investigate passengers and avoid Locke Augustine, then told the Speed Painter not to ask about her former ties to the White Wizards.

Edward explained how Zoe and the Black Wizards used Forced Exile to attack the retired Void Battleship, then informed Locke and Wol Ruiz that they would receive association medals for their actions. The chapter left the rescued wizards preparing to continue their journey, with Wol Ruiz unimpressed by his honorary reward.

• Edward told Locke and the other wizards that Zoe came from the High Heaven Plains and had used her knowledge of the Void Battleship’s defenses to help the Black Wizards board it.
• Edward explained that Zoe had used Forced Exile, a Purple Exile Path sealing magic, after the Magic Thief Circus members made physical contact with passengers.
• The wizards discussed Zoe’s origins, and Edward’s explanation calmed those who had considered filing complaints against the airship work crew.
• Locke asked Edward why Zoe had joined the Black Wizards, but Edward could only speculate that she had clashed with other wizards over benefits or an experiment.
• Edward announced that Wizard Augustine would receive the Deep-Space Whale Song Silver-Trace Medal and Wol Ruiz would receive the Copper-Trace Medal.
• Wol Ruiz asked for money instead, then walked away when Edward explained that the airship organization could offer only an honorary medal.

Alicia declined to hold the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle responsible for the danger she faced and asked Captain Edward only to deliver everyone safely to the Land of Six Towers. Later, Locke considered brewing Mammon's Powder Potion, and Alicia offered to check whether her Astral Ring contained the materials he needed.

• Captain Edward apologized to Alicia and offered compensation after her butler, Harris, threatened consequences from the Plutarch Family.
• Alicia told Harris not to blame the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle and asked Captain Edward to bring everyone safely to the Land of Six Towers.
• Captain Edward promised safe passage and said the nearby webway would shorten their trip to fifteen days.
• Locke considered brewing Mammon's Powder Potion but worried that he lacked enough materials.
• Alicia appeared beside Locke and asked what materials he needed, offering to look in her Astral Ring.

Locke invited Alicia to help brew Mammon’s Powder Potion after discovering her skill as a Potion Master. Alicia warned him about the potion’s hidden personality-altering side effect and proposed a counteracting formula, leaving the two ready to exchange Potion knowledge.

• Alicia offered Locke potion ingredients in gratitude, and Locke asked for four rare materials needed to brew Mammon’s Powder Potion.
• Alicia recognized the potion Locke was preparing and, after Locke agreed, joined him in his potion room as an assistant.
• Alicia warned Locke that Mammon’s Powder could make drinkers arrogant and fond of lecturing others, citing an experiment by her senior at Verdantia University.
• Alicia wrote a formula for a specialized enhancement potion that might counteract Mammon’s Powder’s side effects, though it required an exceptionally strong physique.
• Locke recognized Alicia’s talent and proposed that they exchange Potion knowledge, which she welcomed.

Locke and Alicia successfully combined an improved Mammon's Powder Potion with a Toxicity Counteracting Potion, nearly eliminating the potion's side effects in an apprentice test. Locke tried the paired potions himself, found them safe, and expected them to accelerate his Mana growth and Golden Two-Headed Dragon Bloodline.

• A Third-Class Wizard Apprentice drank diluted Mammon's Powder Potion and briefly manifested golden Mental Power without suffering personality changes.
• Alicia praised Locke's cold-processing method and explained that her Toxicity Counteracting Potion had nearly eliminated the potion's side effects.
• The apprentice thanked Locke and Alicia after learning that the potion had strengthened his abilities and could help him remain aboard the Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle.
• Alicia calculated that undiluted potions could still demand an unusually strong constitution from Formal Wizards.
• Locke drank Mammon's Powder Potion together with the Toxicity Counteracting Potion, experienced no apparent harm, and said he could take a bottle daily.
• Alicia scolded Locke for testing the potions on himself and admitted he was her only friend.

Locke and Alicia discussed using their improved Mammon's Powder Potion to accelerate their progress toward Liquefaction, and Alicia chose to trust their work and take it. Alicia also revealed that becoming a Second-Ring Wizard required a rare resource from the World Core of a medium-sized world, leaving Locke considering how he could obtain one.

• Locke measured his Mana after taking Mammon's Powder Potion and estimated he could reach Liquefaction within a few months.
• Locke urged Alicia to strengthen her body and use the potion, but Alicia worried that the batch had not completed all three phases of testing.
• Locke explained why he had accepted the risk and left Alicia her share of the potion to decide for herself.
• Alicia told Locke that reaching the Second Ring required a second Racial Limit Break and a special resource found in the World Core of a medium-sized world.
• Alicia reflected on how the attack by a Black Wizard had changed her views on status and power, and said she wanted to pursue strength and truth as Locke did.
• Alicia took her portion of Mammon's Powder Potion, resolved to become a Liquefaction Wizard and seek revenge on the Black Wizards, then left the laboratory.

Locke and Alicia exchanged potion knowledge during their journey to the Land of Six Towers, deepening their friendship before the airship reached its destination. Alicia explained the region’s mining history and gave Locke enchanted letter paper so they could stay in contact.

• Locke and Alicia shared potion knowledge, and Locke told her how lightning-attributed Magic Flame improved the Holy Spring Nectar Potion.
• Alicia explained that her family’s bloodline-modification traditions had limited her potion studies, despite her talent in the field.
• The airship descended into the Land of Six Towers, where Locke saw mining towns, wizard towers, and the six white towers that formed a protective barrier.
• Alicia told Locke that the towers supported magical-ore mining and that bloodline modifications had originally helped miners endure underground radiation.
• Alicia gave Locke communication paper and offered potion ingredients in exchange for continuing their discussions, and Locke accepted.
• Alicia asked about Wizard Salvador, and Locke clarified that Salvador was someone he had been assigned to protect rather than a friend.

Locke arrived in the Land of Six Towers with Wizard Salvador and Wizard Kode, where Salvador accused the Ptolemy Family of hiring Black Wizards to kill him and praised Locke’s help. Witch Charlotte and Salvador offered to recommend Locke to the Hand of the Jungle’s new Truth Institute, leaving him interested in keeping it as a career option.

• The Sun-Chasing Silver Shuttle arrived at the Land of Six Towers, and Locke disembarked with Wizard Salvador and Wizard Kode.
• Wizard Salvador told Witch Charlotte that Black Wizards hired by the Ptolemy Family had tried to kill him, and he praised Locke for protecting him.
• Witch Charlotte promised to investigate the Ptolemy Family’s businesses through the Environmental Protection Bureau, while she and Salvador criticized the White Wizard Association’s Holy Wizards.
• Witch Charlotte and Wizard Salvador offered to write Locke recommendation letters for the Hand of the Jungle’s Truth Institute.
• Locke accepted their offers but declined to buy Witch Charlotte’s Jade-Cup Round-Hat Watermelon Vine because he lacked enough Magic Stones.

Locke met Wizard Anthony, who had become head of the Philayde Family and offered him hospitality, resources, and access to local research funding. The chapter left Locke weighing Anthony’s support against the family-controlled system that had corrupted the Land of Six Towers’ regional fund.

• Wizard Salvador offered to recommend Locke for a teaching position and criticized Wizard Charlotte for charging money for donated Magic Plants.
• Locke met Wizard Anthony, Peggy Philayde, and the Philayde Family, and learned Anthony had recently become the family’s head.
• Wizard Anthony explained that managing the family’s resources had changed his plans to leave and that he expected to reach Liquefaction within five years.
• Wizard Anthony offered Locke a marriage alliance and a welcome at White Elephant Magic Gem University, but Locke declined the marriage offer because he still planned to seek a teaching position elsewhere.
• Wizard Anthony offered Locke access to the university’s resources and a regional First-Ring Fund project, while Locke recognized that the Land of Six Towers’ family wizards controlled the fund for their own benefit.

Locke toured White Elephant Tower with Wizard Anthony and learned about its immense scale, functions, and bloodline-based defenses. He saw how the Land of Six Towers’ abundance and security shaped its wizards, while Anthony suggested the tower’s supposed limits might be a myth.

• Locke followed Wizard Anthony and the Philayde Family into White Elephant Tower, whose vast structure extended far underground and above the surface.
• Anthony explained that the six towers connected the surface with underground mines and that pure-blood wizard blood activated their full defensive power.
• Locke visited the university, research, residential, and banquet districts as they traveled through White Elephant Tower on Floating Staircases.
• Peggy claimed the six towers made the Land of Six Towers secure without Second-Ring Wizards, and Locke recognized how its comfort encouraged some wizards to pursue power and desire.
• Anthony recounted Great Wizard Sura’s view that the belief that wizards could use the towers but not manage them was an overblown legend.

At a Philayde Family banquet, Anthony presented Locke with rare Mosswood Marrow as recompense for helping him display his authority. Gower challenged Locke to identify a potion to dispute the gift, but Locke recognized it as a poorly targeted One-Horned Rhino Bloodline Modification Potion, leaving Gower speechless.

• The Philayde Family arrived at a lavish banquet in the hall twenty kilometers above the ground, where Anthony seated Locke among the gathering’s influential wizards.
• Anthony showed Locke several magical gems and offered him ten pieces of Mosswood Marrow, worth at least thirty thousand Magic Stones, as a gift.
• Gower Philayde objected to Anthony giving a family treasure to an outsider and challenged Locke to identify an unnamed potion by smell.
• Locke identified the potion as a One-Horned Rhino Bloodline Modification Potion and noted that its bloodline targeting precision was low.
• Gower fell silent, and Anthony asked whether Locke’s guess was correct.

At a banquet hosted by Wizard Anthony, Locke proved his Potions skill and learned how Anthony used neglected research projects to gain influence in the Land of Six Towers. Locke then began reviewing proposals from struggling commoner wizards and found a nearly completed project developing a reconnaissance Magic Plant.

• Gaul admitted that Locke had correctly identified the One-Horned Rhino Bloodline Modification Potion, and Wizard Anthony praised Locke’s Potions ability before the gathered family wizards.
• Wizard Anthony explained that he gained recognition by taking on promising projects rejected by commoner funding committees and unfinished projects abandoned by family wizards, which he called zombie projects.
• Anthony told Locke that family wizards used the rare Tidal Orb to half-elementalize themselves and improve their chances of becoming Formal Wizards, at the cost of losing any chance of further advancement.
• A First-Ring Wizard offered Locke a proposal for cultivating Purple Licorice, but Locke declined because the plant had little value and was outside his research interests.
• After reviewing several applications, Locke met a white-haired old wizard who said Magic Gem University was about to expel him and his thirty-five-year project lacked funds to finish developing Wandering Shadow-Eye Grass into a First-Ring reconnaissance Magic Plant.

At the Land of Six Towers banquet, Locke secured funding support for four nearly completed research projects, including an Eye Grass project that could improve his reconnaissance abilities. He left for his room after arranging to inspect the researchers’ laboratories the next day.

• Locke agreed to help Collins obtain funding for his Eye Grass project, while declining Collins's offer of authorship positions.
• Collins explained that family wizards dominated teaching positions and funding in the Land of Six Towers, leaving commoner wizards with few opportunities.
• Locke reviewed more applications and agreed to support three nearly completed Potions projects in addition to Collins's project.
• Locke told Wizard Anthony about the four projects, and Anthony promised to have all four funding applications approved the next day.
• Locke arranged to visit the four researchers' laboratories, then returned to his room with a maid sent by Anthony.

During a month in the Land of Six Towers, Locke helped Wizard Collins complete research on Wandering Shadow-Eye Grass and secured access to a wizard tower’s Arcane Energy Pool. After Collins left, Locke began experimenting with the plants himself and wondered about the relationship between wizard towers and Second-Ring Wizards.

• Locke traveled between four cities to observe research projects and help them apply for funding.
• Wizard Collins completed tests on Wandering Shadow-Eye Grass and offered Locke first authorship, but Locke declined.
• Locke requested twenty mature Eye Grass plants and permission to use the Arcane Energy Pool for his own experiments.
• Wizard Collins left with ten plants to finish the paper, while Locke sent Claudia Mendes away and stored the remaining plants.
• Locke placed three Eye Grass plants in his Synthesis Cube and considered using the remaining funds and the Arcane Energy Pool to grow more.
• Locke reflected on how wizard towers drained Mana and speculated about their possible connection to Second-Ring Wizards.

Alicia sent Locke a large collection of potion ingredients and rare recipes, asking him to share half of the potions he brewed in return. Locke accepted the arrangement, while Alicia’s steward approved of her continued correspondence with him and noted her Mana was improving.

• A Formal Wizard delivered three crates of potion ingredients and five recipes from Alicia to Locke, who initially considered returning them.
• Locke and Alicia agreed that he would send her half of the potions he successfully brewed from the gifted materials.
• Alicia told Locke that she was searching for a First Ring Archaeology inheritance and might be able to sell him one.
• Alicia explained to the old steward that the gifts would let her keep discussing Potions with Locke, and the steward approved.

Locke completed two new Eye Grass subspecies, Shadow Grass and Golden Eye Grass, and tested their abilities. After Claudia told him Great Wizard Sura had summoned the foreign Potion Masters, Locke asked her to attack Golden Eye Grass as its first test against a bloodline transformation.

• Locke synthesized Shadow Grass with Wandering Shadow-Eye Grass and Mammon Demon blood, gaining a plant that moved through shadows and shared its vision with him.
• Locke created Golden Eye Grass using his blood and realized that his blood carried the Golden Two-Headed Dragon bloodline.
• Locke tested Golden Eye Grass against a Flame Spark Spell and found that it blocked the ordinary magical impact.
• Claudia told Locke that Great Wizard Sura had summoned the foreign Potion Masters to assess their abilities and select candidates to treat him.
• Locke asked Claudia to attack Golden Eye Grass, and she transformed her arm and leg into Bloodwing Bird features before kicking at it.

Locke tested the Golden Eye Grass, found that its mixed elemental structure gave it exceptional defensive strength, and assigned further trials to Wizard Collins. He then traveled with Peggy toward White Dragon Tower Number Two, where he learned it was the territory of the Plutarch and Ptolemy Families and wondered how the Plutarch Family viewed the Ptolemy Family’s recent actions.

• Claudia struck Locke’s Golden Eye Grass with a powerful kick, but it suffered only minor damage, which Locke quickly healed with magic energy and Rapid Growth.
• Locke examined the Golden Eye Grass and found that its intertwined Wood and Metal Element fibers and crystal clusters strengthened its cells.
• Locke gave Claudia the Golden Eye Grass and Shadow Grass to seal and deliver to Wizard Collins for testing, ordering her to keep their origins and test data confidential.
• Locke reflected on his improved potion formulas and traveled from Anthony’s residence toward White Dragon Tower Number Two with Peggy.
• Peggy warned Locke that the White Dragon Tower had stricter rules and complicated family politics, and Locke realized it was the territory of the Plutarch and Ptolemy Families.
• Locke wondered how the Plutarch Family regarded the Ptolemy Family after its Black Wizards killed many Plutarch wizards and nearly threatened Alicia’s life.