Chapter Summaries

Sophia explained the costly equipment needed for Locke’s Mana Resonance Cultivation Method and lent him her Focus Spell Monocle. She then assigned Locke to teach three newly arrived Wizard Seedlings, leaving him in charge as they nervously waited for him to speak.

• Sophia told Locke that apprentices needed a Radiation Cauldron to practice the method without casting Magic Sun themselves, and explained the costs of buying or renting one.
• Sophia lent Locke her Focus Spell Monocle and said the Academy’s higher-ups would later deliver his Advanced Meditation Method, which would require a Non-Proliferation Agreement.
• Three new Wizard Seedlings arrived with assignment letters, and Sophia accepted them as her students after noting their Wood Element compatibility and one student’s skill making Blood-Stopping Powder.
• Sophia told the students that Locke would handle their lessons and answer their questions, then left for her laboratory.
• Locke accepted responsibility for teaching the three students five times a week, while they nervously waited and he read their assignment letters.

Locke met his three new Wizard Seedling students, explained their studies and the Academy’s expectations, and began arranging their student loans. After Nikki and Sybil offered him their meager savings as tuition, Locke told all three that he would teach them without charging fees.

• Locke reviewed Nikki Crawford, Sybil Lake, and Leo Sith’s backgrounds, then reassured Leo that he was safe and introduced himself as Senior Locke.
• Locke told the students to attend his daily group lessons and the three public courses, and warned that they had to become Second-Class Wizard Apprentices within five years or be expelled.
• The students confirmed that their freshman mentor had explained the five-percent student loans, and Locke invited them to his house to handle the paperwork.
• Nikki and Sybil offered Locke their saved Magic Stones as tuition, while Leo admitted that he owed the Academy thirty Magic Stones and had no money.
• Locke refused to charge tuition or miscellaneous fees and told the students to come with him.

A month later, Locke used the Firework Cantrip Model to bind a Level 7 King Rotten Soil Konjac to his Mana, completing the Oyster Flower Cannon. He prepared to test its power by firing it at his laboratory wall.

• Locke examined the Level 7 King Rotten Soil Konjac, whose poisonous fungi could disrupt its victims’ senses and cognition.
• Locke carefully checked the forty-nine Ogham Tree Runes needed for the Oyster Flower Cannon Cantrip Model.
• Locke subdued the King Rotten Soil Konjac’s attacking roots by channeling Mana from his Dark Cyan Jades.
• After half an hour, Locke completed the Cantrip Model and used Firework energy modification fluid to finish transforming the plant.
• Locke tested the completed Firework by having the King Rotten Soil Konjac open its petals and fire at a laboratory wall.

Locke tested his new Firework spell and reflected on delays to his research and garden applications. Domenico Reeves and Chriselle arrived to apologize for defaming him and offered compensation, leaving Locke asking what the Reeves Family would give him.

• Locke tested the Firework, a Level-7 King Rotten Soil Konjac combined with the Oyster Flower Cannon, and found that it could disrupt an enemy's perception.
• Locke noted that his Mana had barely grown while his Advanced Meditation Method and medium-sized plant garden applications remained delayed, though Teacher Sophia had given him land for Ironwire Ox-Tendon Grass.
• Domenico Reeves and Chriselle came to Locke's laboratory to apologize for Chriselle's past actions and explain that she had publicly clarified the truth.
• Chriselle admitted that her narrow-mindedness had caused people to misunderstand Locke, while Domenico offered gifts from the Reeves Family to settle the matter.
• Locke asked Domenico what the Reeves Family would offer to make up for the defamation, and Chriselle regretted her earlier willfulness.

Domenico offered Locke expensive equipment and the Reeves Family’s botanical garden to make amends for obstructing him in the past. Locke accepted the apology, while Domenico reprimanded Chriselle for endangering the family’s standing.

• Domenico offered Locke Seed Screening Equipment and Columnar Elemental Separation Equipment, but Locke remained dissatisfied over the Reeves Family’s past actions.
• Domenico offered Locke free use of a small-to-medium-sized botanical garden, and Locke agreed to put the conflict behind them.
• Domenico told Locke that the equipment would be delivered the next day, then left with Chriselle.
• Chriselle questioned why the Reeves Family had sacrificed so many resources, and Domenico explained that Locke’s talent and ties to Sophia made him someone the weakened family could not afford to offend.
• Chriselle regretted her behavior and apologized, and Domenico ordered her to stay inside from then on.

Locke inspected his new Plantation, calculated the costs of expanding his Magic Plant business, and decided to develop a synthesized Palmfire Lotus. Afterward, he encountered his old friends Lorne and Pierre, whose hopes faded when he asked why they were still Third-Class Wizard Apprentices.

• The Reeves Family delivered equipment and an Alchemy Cabin, and Locke inspected the hundred-mu Plantation and confirmed its soil needed treatment.
• Locke calculated his expenses and income, then planned to transplant his Ironwire Ox-Tendon Grass and develop a third Magic Plant.
• Locke chose the Palmfire Lotus as his next synthesis project and theorized that the Synthesis Cube could reveal optimal Mana Resonance frequencies.
• Locke left the Plantation and found Lorne and Pierre waiting outside his Alchemy Cabins.
• Locke asked Lorne and Pierre why they were still Third-Class Wizard Apprentices, and their hopeful expressions vanished.

Locke warned Pierre that Senior Anglong’s offer to pay him fifty Magic Stones a month for working in a Potions laboratory was a bid to use Pierre’s rare Low Magic Resistance Constitution as experimental material. He advised Pierre to refuse or demand better compensation, leaving the decision to him.

• Pierre asked Locke to review Anglong’s contract, hoping to earn money as a Potions laboratory assistant.
• Locke recognized Pierre’s recurring allergies as signs of Low Magic Resistance Constitution and warned that Anglong wanted him as an experimental subject.
• Locke explained that Pierre’s constitution made him an unusually valuable human test subject because low magic resistance did not interfere much with potion effects.
• Locke advised Pierre not to accept fifty Magic Stones a month and suggested that one hundred would be more appropriate.
• Pierre joked that he might rather become Locke’s experimental subject, but Locke declined and left the choice of signing the contract to Pierre.

Pierre rejected Senior Anglong’s offer to be a test subject, while Locke transformed a Clivia into a weapon with the Armed Plants spell. Locke then visited Kentry Forge Workshop to learn about its work producing Magic Items and the rivalry between the Alchemy and Enchantment Schools.

• Pierre chose to stay safe rather than earn a hundred Magic Stones a month as Senior Anglong’s test subject.
• Locke transformed a Clivia with forty Ogham Tree Runes and Armed Plants, creating a sharp Crescent Grass Blade around his left arm.
• Locke tested the Crescent Grass Blade by cutting through an iron cage, then traveled to Chimera Market.
• Tyn Kentry introduced himself at Kentry Forge Workshop and explained that the workshop used a Flame Furnace Refinement Array to fulfill a large order from Lilith’s Cottage.
• Tyn criticized apprentices who relied on crude arrays and enchanting methods to make Magic Items, as Locke considered the rivalry between the Alchemy and Enchantment Schools.

Locke bought Cold-Pattern Meteoric Iron from Tayne to strengthen and conceal the combat capabilities of his Clivia. He then noticed the nearby House of Historians and planned to visit its Necromancer for answers about his birth mother's ring and the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat bloodline.

• Tayne explained how magic alloys for Magic Plants needed to balance compatibility, elemental stability, hardness, and sharpness.
• Tayne offered Locke expensive Orichalcum alloy or his own Cold-Pattern Meteoric Iron, and Locke chose the latter for two hundred Magic Stones.
• Tayne directed Locke to a private room where he could attach the alloy to his Magic Plant in confidence.
• Locke noticed the House of Historians and learned from Tayne that its owner was a wandering Necromancer and historian consulted by wizards.
• Locke went to equip his Clivia with the alloy before visiting the historian to investigate his mother's ring and the Three-Eyed Tiger-Eyed Cat bloodline.

Locke forged the Clivia into a Leaf Blade and visited Historian McCarthy to appraise Count Augustine’s mysterious ring. McCarthy identified unusual metals in the ring and recognized that Locke had an Orkney Ancient Giant Bear bloodline modification, leaving him suddenly eager to welcome Locke.

• Locke fused Cold-Pattern Meteoric Iron with the Clivia to create a flexible Leaf Blade.
• Locke paid Tayne the Dwarf two hundred Magic Stones and entered the neighboring information shop.
• Locke read the shop’s rules and asked McCarthy about his archaeology crash course before requesting a confidential appraisal of a ring.
• McCarthy identified the ring’s Still Iron, Replicating Bronze, and Nibelungen Mithril, and said it was not from the Southeastern Corner Region.
• McCarthy smelled Locke’s Orkney Ancient Giant Bear bloodline modification, waived the appraisal fee, and warmly welcomed him.

Locke consulted McCarthy about Ancient Creature Bloodlines and learned how archaeology scholars used fossils and necromantic magic to find and refine them. McCarthy explained that extracting the Cat-girl Princesses’ faint bloodlines would be extremely difficult and likely yield unusable results.

• Locke asked McCarthy about Ancient Creature Bloodlines, and McCarthy described them as a major field for archaeology scholars.
• McCarthy explained that he traced bloodlines through fossils, searched for living descendants, and refined their bloodlines using historical information.
• McCarthy used necromantic magic to show Locke lingering images of past visitors and explained how Negative Energy Particles preserved records of past events.
• McCarthy showed Locke modifications from Archaeopteryx, Bony Fishman, and Mogus Ancient Giant Lizard bloodlines, then asked how Locke obtained his pure Orkney Ancient Giant Bear Bloodline.
• Locke claimed that his mentor, a Formal Wizard-level Potion Master, had extracted the bloodline by chance, and McCarthy accepted the explanation.
• Locke asked how to extract Ancient Creature Bloodlines from his Cat-girl Princess slaves, and McCarthy said their bloodlines were too faint for a reliable, useful extraction.

Locke learned from McCarthy about ancient creature bloodlines and considered researching Archaeology and ancient magical plants, but prioritized becoming a Formal Wizard. He bought supplies for his faction mission and headed to the public botanical garden.

• McCarthy explained his theory that ancient creatures possessed special bloodline factors and described the Archaeopteryx Bone Claws granted by his own bloodline.
• Locke considered whether he could synthesize genuine ancient bloodlines and explore a new field of ancient magical botany.
• Locke bid farewell to McCarthy, who offered to answer his questions about ancient bloodlines for free.
• Locke entered Golden Secret and spent Magic Stones renting a Radiation Cauldron and buying Palmfire Lotuses and cultivation supplies.
• Locke stored his purchases in his Astral Ring and headed to the faction's public super-giant botanical garden to complete his mandatory mission.

Locke began tending five hundred mu of public Magic Fields at Lilith's Cottage, where he encountered veteran apprentices and Mary and Anglong. After a quiet day of work, he returned to his private botanical garden and found it nearly ready to expand as the Horadric Cube synthesized Palmfire Lotuses.

• Thomas Belen showed Locke the public Magic Fields and explained his month-long assignment, the available supplies, and the option to hire apprentices.
• Locke observed the experienced First-Class Wizard Apprentices and overheard Mary discuss the Breeder Competition and the Academy's retaliation against the Blood Curse Court.
• Anglong arrived, greeted Mary, and explained that he had obtained an Assistant Breeder Certificate while seeking a change from his stalled potion project.
• Locke began removing harmful fungi from the Phoenix Feather Flowers and spent the day tending his assigned fields without being disturbed.
• Locke inspected the Reeves Family's botanical garden and estimated that he could open twenty more mu of Magic Fields in about a week while the Horadric Cube synthesized three Palmfire Lotuses.

During the handover at the Public Botanical Garden, Locke learned why Hughes Coffman had formed a society to protect the Magic Fields and was invited to join. Locke agreed to consider joining for now, and the society offered a way for First-Class Wizard Apprentices to coordinate their mandatory labor.

• Hughes Coffman arrived early to inspect the five hundred acres of Public Magic Fields Locke had cared for and praised their condition.
• Hughes Coffman proposed that Locke partner with his group to maintain the fields, explaining that several apprentices often tended the same plots and careless work could damage them.
• Hughes Coffman explained how societies helped First-Class Wizard Apprentices share information and schedule their Academy labor, then invited Locke to join the Coffman Public Magic Field Breeding Society.
• Hughes Coffman told Locke that a previous apprentice had polluted the Magic Fields with Grass Spirit Essence Gel, causing widespread plant deaths and leaving Hughes blamed for the losses.
• Locke recognized the dangers of Grass Spirit Essence Gel and said he would consider joining Hughes Coffman's society.

Locke used a Deep Blue Diamond to improve his mana stability and accelerate his Magic Flame practice before taking the Assistant Potion Maker certification examination. He passed the written test, and the chapter left him waiting for his own Magic Flame assessment after Bette performed poorly.

• Locke concealed the Deep Blue Diamond in a necklace and found that it greatly improved his mana stability.
• Locke practiced switching among the five common Magic Flames and planned to learn potion brewing to reduce costs and earn Magic Stones.
• Two months later, Locke took the Assistant Potion Maker certification examination at Lilith's Cottage and passed the written test.
• Derek Jones announced that all three examinees had barely passed the written test before beginning the Magic Flame assessment.
• Bette switched between Magic Flames in about 5.5 seconds, and Derek Jones scolded him for taking the examination unprepared.

Locke demonstrated exceptional control of Magic Flames in the Potion Assistant exam and received advice from Wizard Derek Jones. In the final round, the candidates chose potions to brew, and Locke prepared to make Mind-Calming Ointment.

• Gogol passed the Magic Flame test with an average transition time under three seconds.
• Locke smoothly shifted between five elemental Magic Flames, averaging 1.5 seconds per transition, and Wizard Derek Jones praised his Mana control.
• Wizard Derek Jones advanced Locke and Bette to the practical round, though Bette had already been eliminated from the exam.
• Locke chose Mind-Calming Ointment, Gogol chose Bloodstanching Moss Salve, and Bette chose Night-Vision Potion, prompting Derek Jones to scold Bette.
• Locke took out his brewing equipment and the ingredients for Mind-Calming Ointment.

Locke demonstrated his potion-making skill by refining a high-quality Mind-Calming Ointment, while Gogol and Bette completed their own potions for assessment. Derek Jones passed Locke and Gogol as Assistant Potion Makers, but failed Bette.

• Locke used carefully controlled Magic Flame to refine Mind-Calming Ointment and cooled it gradually to preserve its medicinal properties.
• Derek Jones praised Locke's practical skill and judged his ointment to be upper-middle quality.
• Derek Jones rated Gogol's Bloodstanching Moss Salve as average but allowed him to pass.
• Derek Jones failed Bette's Night-Vision Potion because its quality was too low.
• Derek Jones announced that Locke Augustine and Gogol Hadden had passed the assessment and become Assistant Potion Makers.

After passing the Assistant Potion Maker examination, Locke rejected several job offers and returned home to experiment with Mind-Calming Ointment. A Formal Wizard named Urien Ritchie arrived and asked to speak with him privately, leaving Locke to wonder whether the visit concerned the Advanced Meditation Method.

• Locke and Gogol received invitations from wizard families, shops, and institutions after earning their Assistant Potion Maker badges.
• Locke rejected the Healing Hand Clinic's offer to work fifteen days each month brewing three specified potions.
• Locke returned to his cabin and prepared three tubes of Mind-Calming Ointment for synthesis.
• Locke sensed a Formal Wizard's Magic Pressure outside his door and extinguished the fireplace.
• Urien Ritchie identified himself and asked Locke Augustine to speak with him in private.

Wizard Urien Ritchie asked Locke to tutor his frail grandson Caven in potion-making, offering a monthly payment and help securing the Advanced Meditation Method. Locke learned why Caven needed a tutor and was left to decide whether to accept the request.

• Locke welcomed Wizard Urien Ritchie and Caven into his home and learned that Caven dreamed of becoming a Potion Master.
• Wizard Urien Ritchie explained that an enemy had left Caven gravely ill and that Caven's poor aptitude made it difficult to find him a suitable tutor.
• Wizard Urien Ritchie asked Locke to teach Caven for one hour each week and offered him a thousand Magic Stones each month.
• Wizard Urien Ritchie promised to help Locke gain approval for the Advanced Meditation Method within ten days and offered him a favor if he agreed.

Locke agreed to tutor Caven Ritchie in exchange for Wizard Urien Ritchie’s favor and a possible Advancement Potion when Locke approached Formal Wizard advancement. While synthesizing preparations, Locke discovered a new recipe for Memory Ointment and realized it could support a future Potion Laboratory.

• Locke accepted Wizard Urien Ritchie’s request to tutor Caven, and Urien offered him a favor that could provide an Advancement Potion when Locke was ready to advance.
• Urien told Caven he hoped Locke would become a trusted teacher and a future safeguard for him, and Caven agreed to listen to Locke.
• After half a month of synthesizing preparations, Locke discovered that combining Mind-Calming Ointment with Mind-Concentrating Incense produced Memory Ointment.
• Locke examined the recipe and learned that Memory Ointment improved concentration and memory by fifty percent for four hours, though it was mildly toxic and for external use only.
• Locke concluded that apprentices would buy Memory Ointment in large quantities and that selling it could keep a Potion Laboratory running.