Chapter Summaries

Locke bought a Nightwalker Feather Garment and an Agility Armband from Tayne to improve his chances of surviving the Wizard War. He then arranged to buy eighty Minotaur noble slaves from the Slave Depot at the original price and planned to inspect them the next day.

• Tayne recommended his Nightwalker Feather Garment, and Locke paid five hundred Magic Stones for it.
• Locke bought an Agility Armband from Tayne for three hundred Magic Stones after declining the Wizard Sword.
• Locke went to the Slave Depot and asked Dark Elf Benny to sell him eighty Minotaur noble slaves at ten Magic Stones each.
• Benny brought in Blood Elf Xie'erlei, who agreed to keep the price at ten Magic Stones per slave because Locke was buying in bulk.
• Locke agreed to sign the contract after Xie'erlei promised to bring slaves from nearby inventories for him to inspect the next day.

Locke learned that his Crystal Palmfire Lotus had ranked fifth in the White Wizard Association Breeder Competition preliminaries and prepared to improve his work for the finals. Meanwhile, Vampire Howard rallied Blood Curse Court spies in Lilith's Cottage to hunt ranked Breeders and Potion Masters, revealing that an undead wave would soon plunge the region into chaos.

• Locke received the competition committee's letter confirming his place in the finals and discovered that his Crystal Palmfire Lotus ranked fifth among thousands of entries.
• Locke recognized that experienced Breeders had held back in the preliminaries and resolved to work harder to secure a strong finals placement and its Magic Stone rewards.
• Vampire Howard told nine Blood Curse Court apprentices that they had orders to hunt talented Breeders and Potion Masters according to the preliminary rankings.
• Howard revealed that the academy had helped him become a First-Class Wizard Apprentice and planned to unleash three groups of undead to attack Lilith's Cottage's territory.
• The Blood Curse Court Vampires eagerly awaited Howard's explanation of how he had advanced in rank.

Howard revealed that the Blood Curse Court had unlocked Blood Devouring, allowing vampire apprentices to gain Mana by consuming the hearts of talented White Wizard Apprentices. After Locke Augustine placed fifth in the Breeder Competition preliminaries, his result impressed Mary and made Francis regret assigning him to Sophia, so Francis planned to arrange benefits for him and secure Sophia’s commitment to the Academy.

• Howard explained Blood Devouring to the vampire apprentices and said it could help them advance by consuming White Wizard Apprentices with better aptitude.
• Howard used a blood-red pendant called the Blood Key to unlock the new ability for the nine vampire apprentices.
• Mary saw that she had placed eleventh and Locke Augustine fifth in the Breeder Competition preliminaries, and she wondered whether Locke had a mentor guiding him.
• Francis reviewed the rankings and regretted assigning Locke to Sophia after recognizing his potential in Breeding Science.
• Francis decided to arrange a small-to-medium-sized botanical garden for Locke and wanted Sophia to sign a contract to remain at the Academy.

Harlan Vela arranged special training for his Breeder students and asked about Locke Augustine after seeing his strong preliminary ranking. Locke received approval for his Plantation expansion and Personal Potion Laboratory, then began setting up the Plantation and preparing to accelerate his potion research.

• Harlan Vela promised his three Breeder students seven days of special training and urged them to improve their rankings and catch up to Mary.
• Harlan Vela asked his students about Locke Augustine, learned he was Sophia's student and ranked fifth, and decided to watch his performance in the finals.
• Locke received academy approval for his small-to-medium-scale Plantation and Personal Potion Laboratory, and planned to advance his Memory Ointment experiments and seek a profitable crop.
• Locke had ten Minotaur noble slaves install the Weather Control Instrument at the center of his Plantation and set the enclosed area's temperature to forty degrees.
• Locke went to oversee construction of his Personal Potion Laboratory, which had been officially recorded by the academy and could begin human experimentation procedures.

Locke began setting up his new Personal Potion Laboratory in a city far from Witch Sophia’s residence, choosing an economical renovation plan that would let him start producing potions and cultivation supplies. He planned to grow Emerald Lichen and use it to enhance Bear Spirit Bile Potion, leaving him poised to build a profitable potion business and retaliate against the Blood Curse Court without direct violence.

• Locke traveled by Engel Whirlwind Snail to his newly approved Personal Potion Laboratory, where Tali Calvin and three Wizard Apprentices were overseeing its renovation.
• Tali Calvin presented renovation plans costing 4,000 or 1,500 Magic Stones, and Locke chose the cheaper plan with basic equipment and a mass-production line.
• Locke planned to use the laboratory to mass-produce Advanced Rapid-Growth Gel, Advanced Nutrient Soil, and Advanced Nutrient Solution, as well as Memory Ointment and Lesser Emerald Potions.
• Locke decided to develop Emerald Lichen for his fourth Magic Plant and use it to enhance Bear Spirit Bile Potion at both the Plantation and the laboratory.
• Locke intended to sell Emerald Lichen and the enhanced potion for profit while strengthening the potion’s curse-dispelling effects against the Blood Curse Court and Hassan.

Locke assigned Teri and three Wizard Seedlings to conduct a three-month Memory Ointment experiment, then helped Leo with his Green Purifying Grasp studies. At the Healing Hand Clinic, he learned that a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice from Verdantia University named Ruixing needed help with a curse, and he suspected he had met her before.

• Locke instructed Teri to test Memory Ointment on Pierre and record its effects and possible side effects for three months.
• Locke assigned three Wizard Seedlings to track Memory Ointment results in three groups of lab mice and told them to supervise one another.
• Leo asked Locke about Ogham Tree Runes in Green Purifying Grasp, and Locke answered his questions before encouraging him to keep studying.
• Locke rode his Engel Whirlwind Snail to the Healing Hand Clinic, where Aixi and Anglu asked him to examine a cursed patient.
• Aixi explained that Ruixing, a Level 6 Second-Class Wizard Apprentice from Verdantia University, had been ambushed by the Blood Curse Court and was receiving free treatment.
• Locke recognized Ruixing's name and wondered whether he had met her before.

Locke examined Ruixing’s curse and discovered that it had corrupted the Tifro Rootvines bound to her mana, leaving her unable to move. He proposed three untested treatment plans for Aixi and Anglu to assess, while Ruixing recognized Locke as vaguely familiar but could not remember where they had met.

• Locke identified Ruixing’s three corrupted Tifro Rootvines and determined that the curse had entangled her, her magical plants, and their shared mana.
• Locke concluded that the Blood Curse Court had developed a curse targeting magical plants, and Anglu offered to split Ruixing’s treatment fee among himself, Locke, and Aixi.
• Locke agreed that Aixi should share the fee and asked her and Anglu to assess three treatment plans he had devised.
• Ruixing recalled that the Blood Curse Court had ambushed her after she went out alone, and she felt regret as she lay helpless in the hospital bed.
• Ruixing thought Locke looked familiar but blamed the sensation on her muddled mind.

Locke and his friends planned how to treat Ruixing’s Bloodthirst Curse and deteriorated magic plants, weighing three risky approaches. They chose to weaken the plants with a Radiation Cauldron before replacing them, and Locke prepared to begin treatment.

• Locke proposed severing Ruixing’s Mana connection to her magic plants, restoring the cursed plants through mutation, or weakening and replacing them.
• Anglu and Aixi ruled out restoring the mutated plants and agreed that direct replacement was too dangerous for Ruixing.
• Aixi recommended giving Ruixing Royal Jelly Potion and forty-five bottles of Bear Spirit Bile Potion, with the potions administered through an IV if necessary.
• Anglu and Aixi agreed to Locke’s plan to use the Radiation Cauldron to weaken Ruixing’s magic plants before replacing them while they lifted her curse.
• Locke said he would have his servant bring the Radiation Cauldron, and Anglu warned him to ensure it was transported carefully.

Locke and the infirmary staff used the Radiation Cauldron and Mana Resonance Cultivation Method to weaken the cursed Tifro Rootvines and replace them with Super Mandrake Vines, saving Ruixing. As Locke took the weakened vines for research, he discovered an inscription identifying the curse’s creator as Saflin Sagamore.

• Locke placed Ruixing and the Radiation Cauldron in an isolation room and used mixed mana radiation to weaken the three Tifro Rootvines.
• The Rootvines initially grew more violent, but after twenty minutes they weakened and Ruixing’s curse-binding Cantrip models began to collapse.
• Locke, Aixi, and Anglu replaced Ruixing’s three Tifro Rootvines with Super Mandrake Vines, lifting the curse but leaving her in a coma from exhaustion.
• Locke, Aixi, and Anglu celebrated the successful treatment, and Locke took the weakened vines for research.
• Locke found the inscription [Sequence Two: Saflin Sagamore] on a vine and looked up the name.

Sophia and Wizard Edwin discussed Locke’s work treating curses and the academy’s efforts to cure Hassan’s Mother-Child Giant Corpse Blood Curse. Edwin warned Sophia that Locke might face harsh treatment if he took the Breeder certification exam, since Madam Morgana, Sophia’s estranged mentor, would be the chief examiner.

• Wizard Edwin praised Sophia’s student and his own students for treating patients with an unconventional method, while Sophia urged them to find a way to cure the new curse using pure potions.
• Wizard Edwin said First-Class Wizard Apprentices Anglong, Astrid, and Miranda would attempt to cure Hassan’s curse, and he named Astrid as his strongest candidate.
• Sophia asked whether First-Class Wizard Apprentice Albert would come, prompting Edwin to ask whether she had reconciled with Madam Morgana.
• Sophia said Locke had progressed quickly in Breeding Science and signed a bulk procurement contract with the academy.
• Wizard Edwin advised Sophia against letting Locke take the Breeder certification exam this year because Madam Morgana would be chief examiner and might criticize him harshly.

One month after adopting the Advanced Meditation Method, Locke had doubled his Mana and mastered the Lesser Emerald Potion. He reviewed his plantation’s output and planned to improve security at his botanical garden and Potion Laboratory by shopping at the Chimera Market.

• Locke measured his Mana at 446 and reflected on how the Advanced Meditation Method had rapidly increased his strength during its Newbie Benefit Period.
• Locke considered how Wizard Apprentices struggled to advance past eight hundred Mana and wondered whether Academy Wizard Seeds could access an Advancement Potion.
• Locke refined three tubes of Lesser Emerald Potion and decided to combine them in his Synthesis Cube.
• Locke reviewed his delivery of one thousand Crystal Palmfire Lotuses to Zack and expected his Magic Field to produce the remaining plants within the next two months.
• Locke considered buying magical surveillance equipment and Magic Locks at the Chimera Market to secure his botanical garden and Potion Laboratory.

Locke bought three True-Seeing Orbs from Tayne Kentry to monitor his Plantation and Potion Laboratory, rejecting the more expensive defenses and Clay Puppet. On his way out of Chimera Market, he met Zack, who invited him to lunch and shared that Locke’s delivered Magic Plants had helped in the Wizard War against the Blood Curse Court.

• Locke visited Tayne Kentry’s workshop to buy security equipment for his Plantation and Potion Laboratory.
• Tayne demonstrated his True-Seeing Orbs and pitched Protection Barriers and a Clay Puppet, but Locke bought only three True-Seeing Orbs for 660 Magic Stones.
• Tayne tried to interest Locke in another creation as he left, but Locke departed with the three orbs.
• Locke encountered Zack, who praised the Magic Plants Locke had delivered for their service in the Wizard War against the Blood Curse Court.
• Zack invited Locke to the Witch’s Kitchen, and Locke accepted, hoping to hear what had made Zack so pleased.

At Witch’s Kitchen, Zack told Locke that Crystal Palmfire Lotuses had performed exceptionally in battle and produced a lava-forming effect that damaged enemy defenses. The academy had begun developing supporting cantrip models around the discovery and invited Locke to join the group.

• Zack explained to Locke why bulk procurement of new Magic Plants was risky, recalling how an unstable Bell Flower variety had nearly ruined him.
• Zack described how battle wizards used Locke’s Crystal Palmfire Lotuses in Scorched-Earth Bombs against the Blood Curse Court’s Curse Spell Research Institute near Lilith’s Cottage.
• Locke examined the battle images and deduced that crystallized Wood-Element fibers had concentrated Fire Energy, producing lava that continued damaging defenses and underground traps.
• Zack told Locke that the academy had named the effect the Lava Conduit phenomenon and planned supporting cantrip models based on the lotuses’ Crystallization of Wood-Element Fibers structure.
• Zack invited Locke to join the academy’s development group, leaving the decision to him.

Locke refused Zack’s request to develop Spell Models for the Crystal Palmfire Lotus, choosing to focus on magical plants and potions. Zack told him that Teacher Harlan Vela had publicly used Locke’s success to mock Verdantia University, then warned that the Blood Curse Court was attacking skilled junior apprentices, leaving Locke to plan to warn his own apprentices.

• Locke declined to develop a spell system for the Crystal Palmfire Lotus because his work on magical plants and potions took priority.
• Zack told Locke that Teacher Harlan Vela had cited his advancement and role in curing Ruixing to silence Potion Masters from Verdantia University at a Potion Exchange.
• Zack said Teacher Harlan Vela thought highly of Locke after the exchange and had been telling his students about him.
• Zack warned Locke that the Blood Curse Court was attacking skilled Second-Class and Third-Class Wizard Apprentices while the Academy investigated a spy network and sent apprentices to fight Undead Creatures.
• Locke decided to warn his junior apprentices, especially Pierre, whose work on the Memory Ointment report was important to him.

Locke practiced Treant Enlightenment and Vine Boxing, then discussed his Memory Ointment results with Sophia. Sophia warned him that their strained relationship with this year’s chief examiner could cause him to fail the Breeder certification examination and asked whether he still wanted to take it.

• Locke failed to use Treant Enlightenment on Aiden Twig, identified problems with his Mana and Spell Model, and resolved to keep practicing as he acquired resources.
• Locke demonstrated Vine Boxing, which let his three Omen Mandrake Vines unleash a rapid barrage of fifteen vine fists.
• Locke told Sophia that Memory Ointment had improved Pierre’s memory by about fifty percent and accelerated his progress toward becoming a Second-Class Wizard Apprentice.
• Sophia warned Locke that her poor relationship with this year’s chief examiner meant he would most likely fail the Breeder certification examination, then asked whether he still wanted to take it.

Locke agreed to take the Breeder exam after Wizard Sophia assured him the chief examiner would not unfairly reject his results, and she told him to memorize the industry code. When Pierre failed to appear at Locke’s laboratory, Locke sensed danger and rode out to find him, intending to enlist Gabi’s help.

• Locke decided to take the Breeder exam, and Wizard Sophia gave him the Breeder Industry Code of Conduct to memorize.
• Locke inspected his Personal Potion Laboratory and asked Teri why Pierre had missed his scheduled cognitive experiment.
• Locke ordered Teri and the three Wizard Seedlings to keep producing Lesser Emerald Potion while he went to look for Pierre.
• Locke noticed his Omen Mandrake Vines had turned slightly red and followed their connection toward Pierre.
• Locke rode his Engel Whirlwind Snail toward Knockturn Alley, planning to ask the Shapeshifter Gabi to locate Pierre.

Locke hired Gabi Montoya to track Pierre and rushed toward the mountains, where Pierre and Lorne had been trapped by the Blood Curse Court. Gabi found their trail, but the two apprentices were already surrounded and being attacked by seven Second-Class Wizard Apprentices.

• Locke gave Gabi Montoya an Omen Mandrake Vines leaf and hired her for 70 Magic Stones to find Pierre.
• Gabi tracked Pierre's scent with her Spirit Cat abilities, and Locke told her to fly ahead as an owl and report through the Whispering Spell.
• Lorne and Pierre, exhausted and wounded among a mass of Ghouls, regretted taking the academy's undead-elimination mission against Locke's advice.
• Seven Blood Curse Court apprentices emerged from the forest and captured Lorne and Pierre.
• A Vampire Apprentice pierced Lorne's shoulders while another held Pierre and began casting the Paralysis Curse on him.

Locke rescued Lorne and Pierre by killing the Blood Curse Court’s seven Vampire apprentices and purifying the undead-corrupted forest with an atomized Lesser Emerald Potion. He then exposed a First-Class Wizard Apprentice hiding underground, who had used the seven as bait to ambush him.

• Pierre suffered the Paralysis Curse’s despairing effects as Locke arrived and slaughtered four of the seven Vampire apprentices with his Magic Vine attacks.
• Locke trapped the three surviving Vampires in Omen Mandrake Vines, then killed them with Poison Berry Shot and Vine Strangulation.
• Locke atomized a Lesser Emerald Potion across the forest, purifying the corrupted trees and freeing the souls bound to the undead.
• Lorne and Pierre recognized Locke as their rescuer, but Locke signaled them to stay back when Gabi warned him about a creature approaching from underground.
• Locke blocked a blood-claw attack with his Clivia leaf blade and confronted the hidden First-Class Wizard Apprentice who had used the seven Vampires as bait.

Locke fought the vampire Howard, who had been sent by the Blood Curse Court to kill him for developing the Crystal Palmfire Lotus. Howard escaped Locke’s traps and attacks by regenerating and severing his own legs, while Locke pursued him and prepared another assault.

• Howard emerged from the dirt in a monstrous vampire form and attacked Locke, but Locke’s hidden Omen Mandrake Vine pierced his chest without killing him.
• Locke used Firework, Omen Mandrake Vines, Armed Plants, and his defensive garment to keep Howard at a distance as they fought across the mountains.
• Howard’s Blood Claws wounded Locke’s defenses, but Locke’s Armed Plants cut Howard repeatedly, and Howard revealed that his mission came from the Blood Curse Court.
• Locke bound Howard with Wild Grass Entanglement, forcing the vampire to sever his own legs and fly free before they could regenerate.
• Locke pursued Howard and threw a Crystal Palmfire Lotus at him while beginning to cast Scorched-Earth Bomb.

Locke defeated and captured Howard of the Blood Curse Court, discovering that a Lesser Emerald Potion weakened the Vampire’s Blood Curse. The strange reaction between Locke’s Orkney Ancient Giant Bear bloodline and an unknown bloodline left him determined to study Archaeology, and he set out with Gabi to find his friends and report to his wizard mentor.

• Locke used five Scorched-Earth Bombs and his Armed Plants to cripple Howard, then stopped him from casting a curse and captured him.
• Locke found that Lesser Emerald Potion weakened Howard’s Blood Curse and bound the Vampire in a cocoon of plants.
• Gabi praised Locke’s fighting and accepted seventy Magic Stones for helping him.
• Locke noticed that the Orkney Ancient Giant Bear bloodline had reacted with another hidden bloodline in his body and resolved to study Archaeology.
• Locke and Gabi left to find his two friends so he could take Howard to his wizard mentor.