Chapter Summaries

At a banquet, Arrow confronted Edgar and Anabe about recruiting Ian and other Minor Family members, making sure the guests overheard his doubts about their motives and his future. He pointed to Jungle Home’s revoked Wanted Poster and concluded that everything had to be judged from the perspective of interests.

• Arrow politely left Ian and Manli to speak with Anabe and Edgar in the lounge.
• Anabe teased Arrow for turning down Manli, and Edgar made a pointed joke about Arrow’s age.
• Arrow challenged Edgar for recruiting Ian, the head of the Bu'en Family, when he had only asked for help finding mortal teachers.
• Arrow asked what the recruits would do if he left, prompting concern among guests who were secretly listening.
• Arrow recalled that Jungle Home had revoked his Wanted Poster despite the evidence against him and asked why.
• Arrow declared that everything had to be analyzed from the perspective of interests.

Arro explained that he planned to leave to pursue becoming a Formal Wizard and insisted that the Academy must develop according to his original plans. As he and Anabe staged a conversation to deliver warnings and secure support for the Demon Hunters, Anabe urged Arro to let powerful families live near the Academy as its protectors.

• Arro claimed Jungle Home had lifted his wanted poster because it recognized his combat talent and potential to become a Formal Wizard.
• Anabe questioned whether Jungle Home could accept Arro after he killed the Academy's Mentor, and Arro argued that lifting the poster showed it could.
• Arro accused Anabe of recruiting people who could change the Academy's purpose and said he would rather abandon it than let it become a poor copy of a Wizard Academy.
• Arro confirmed that he intended to leave for a few years and return to see how the Academy developed, while signaling that the Demon Hunters had his backing and that he alone set the Academy's rules.
• Anabe pointed out that Arro's deterrence might not protect the Academy and proposed letting powerful families live nearby, with the Demon Hunters acting as Arro's eyes.

Arro set strict rules for Minor Families residing in Lan'er Village and told Cat Faction Academy’s teachers to meet about student recruitment. As he left the banquet, Elena Taylor offered him a marriage alliance on behalf of the Taylor Family.

• Arro approved Anabe’s plan for Minor Families to live in Lan'er Village under Demon Hunter oversight, but prohibited them from disturbing ordinary people or the school.
• Arro instructed Elena Taylor to gather the academy’s teachers in the Meeting Room the next afternoon to discuss student recruitment.
• Arro left the banquet to rest and prepare for Blood Qi Gallop training.
• Elena Taylor stopped Arro and offered five hundred Magic Stones, three Secret Treasures, ten trained Maids, and access to the Taylor Family’s spell books in exchange for a Marriage Alliance.

Arrow refused Elena Taylor’s increasingly generous offers, insisting that the Taylor Family focus on providing teachers for the Academy. The next day, his training improved his Endurance and Constitution, while Holly’s wooden control finger gave him an unexpected first step toward building a Wooden Mech.

• Elena Taylor offered Arrow a Marriage Alliance, gifts, and a personal maid, but he refused and told the Taylor Family to provide teachers for the Academy or leave.
• After practicing "Blood Qi Gallop," Arrow’s heart grew stronger, and his System Panel showed increased Endurance and Constitution.
• Arrow realized that continued training could further strengthen his heart and improve his physical attributes.
• Holly showed Arrow a controllable wooden finger she had built using his mechanical notes and the Wind Dragon Armor blueprint.
• Arrow asked Holly to bring him the materials and a blueprint for the finger, then teased her about her drawing skills.

Holly explained how she had built a Wooden Finger by adapting the Wind Dragon Armor’s functions, and Arrow praised her ingenuity. Arrow then left the Underground Base wearing the Wind Dragon Armor to ask Anabe what the Minor Families were planning.

• Holly explained that the Wooden Finger used a water-pressure drive, hydraulics modeled on the Magic Strike Technique, and a motion transmission system based on Arrow’s Puppet Magic Runes blueprint.
• Arrow recognized that Holly had uncovered the operating logic of Puppet Magic Runes in the blueprint and called her a genius.
• Holly credited Arrow’s scientific methods for her work, while Arrow acknowledged her talent and encouraged her to keep working hard.
• Arrow considered the risks of gaining strength through combat, then put on the Wind Dragon Armor and left to find Anabe and learn the Minor Families’ plans.

Elena Taylor reported that Arrow rejected the proposed marriage alliance, and Karel explained how becoming Arrow’s wife could give her family leverage against the weakened Fernando Wizard Family. The chapter ended with Elena realizing that Arrow’s name might help her family reach an understanding with the Fernando family and contend with outside threats drawn to the Dark Plain.

• Elena Taylor told Karel that Arrow had refused the marriage alliance, and Karel explained that his refusal showed he could be trusted.
• Karel argued that Elena’s title as Arrow’s wife could protect her and help the Taylor Family challenge the Fernando Wizard Family.
• Karel compared Arrow to a young lion and the weakened Fernando family to an old lion king, explaining why the family would fear provoking him.
• Elena reasoned that the Fernando family would avoid angering Arrow because he might lead its rivals or eventually destroy it.
• Karel directed Elena to consider the wider region, and she realized Arrow’s name could help the Taylor Family reach an understanding with the Fernando Wizard Family amid outside interest in the Dark Plain.

Arro and Anabe discussed how Arro’s influence could help the Minor Families resist the Fernando Wizard Family without drawing him into a formal alliance. Later, Elena Taylor reunited with Luna Ranelli at Cat Faction Academy, where Luna worried about whether the Dean would forgive Redd Ranelli.

• Arro asked Anabe what the Minor Families might do after he rejected their marriage alliance proposals, and Anabe explained that they might offer gifts or seek other ways to gain his favor.
• Anabe argued that the Minor Families needed to unite and borrow Arro’s influence to balance the Fernando Wizard Family, while Arro warned that he would eventually leave and Anabe would have to defend the Viscount Territory and Cat Faction Academy.
• Anabe advised Arro to accept some goodwill without interfering in the Minor Families’ affairs, and Arro agreed to meet the teachers and discuss recruitment.
• At the Cat Faction Academy faculty building, Elena Taylor greeted Luna Ranelli and expressed relief that she had survived the Ranelli Family’s upheaval.
• Luna Ranelli said she hoped the Dean would forgive Redd Ranelli for his previous offense.

Elena Taylor confronted Luna Ranelli over her remarks about Dean Arrow and the Fernando Wizard Family before Arrow arrived and gathered the young nobles to discuss staffing his Academy. Arrow outlined plans to recruit refugee children and sort them into five grades, leaving the group to consider how their differing backgrounds would affect admission.

• Elena Taylor accused Luna Ranelli of blaming Dean Arrow for her family's disaster and defended Arrow against the Fernando Wizard Family's actions.
• Luna Ranelli denied being close to Redd Ranelli and protested that Elena Taylor was making things up about her.
• Dean Arrow arrived, and the young men and women greeted him before taking their seats around his long table.
• Arrow instructed the group to seat men on the left and women on the right at future meetings.
• Arrow explained that the Academy's buildings and teachers were ready and proposed admitting refugee children aged ten to thirteen, assessing their foundations, and placing them into five grades.
• Ian questioned the need for entrance assessments, and Arrow explained that commoners in the Earl's territory had received some education.

Arrow appointed Ian Boone as Dean of Academic Affairs for a trial month, giving him responsibility for supervising teachers and coordinating instruction. As the other teachers argued over who should hold the new position, Arrow observed their rivalries and reaffirmed that Ian would serve first.

• Arrow publicly appointed Ian Boone Dean of Academic Affairs and outlined the role's responsibilities.
• Ian accepted the position eagerly, while Arrow warned him not to abuse his authority or make decisions about teachers without approval.
• Arrow set a one-month trial period and said he would choose someone else if Ian performed poorly.
• Elena Taylor offered to take the role, prompting Ian and several others to argue over who was best suited for it.
• Arrow stopped the dispute and confirmed that Ian would serve for one month before his results were assessed.

Ian Boone and the others organized the Cat Faction Academy’s classes and duties, while their enthusiasm grew as they worked together. The chapter then shifted to Ace and Jack, who went to sign up as long-term laborers after hearing they would receive food, housing, and free schooling in exchange for years of unpaid work.

• Arro assigned subjects and duties, including Holly teaching Mechanical Structure Design, Anabe teaching Body Polishing and Combat Skills, and the Little Wizards handling other classes and academy preparations.
• The Little Wizards worked through curriculum schedules, exams, and other arrangements, becoming increasingly enthusiastic about the academy.
• Ace awoke from a nightmare, and Jack urged him to hurry to the Vice Dean’s recruitment for long-term laborers aged ten to twelve.
• Jack explained that the laborers would receive food, housing, and free academy schooling but would work without pay for ten years.
• Ace worried about the offer, then felt reassured after learning the laborers would help make things for Arro and called the Vice Dean a good person.

Arrow corrected Anabe’s plan for Cat Faction Academy, expanding admissions beyond the refugee laborers while preserving the academy’s neutral position. He also asked Anabe to bring Edgar back to help prepare for the opening, while the shortage of magical plants remained unresolved.

• Arrow objected that recruiting more than four hundred refugees as long-term laborers made the academy seem restrictive, and Anabe explained how he had recruited them.
• Arrow decided to exempt applicants who tested directly into fourth grade from labor contracts and fees, and arranged for Dylan to announce outside admissions across the territory and nearby noble territories.
• Arrow reassured Anabe that he had arranged for teachers and that the younger grades could operate as Literacy Classes.
• After work, Arrow asked Anabe about academy management and suggested that Edgar return to help with preparations.
• Anabe worried that Edgar was needed to find magical plants, but Arrow said the academy could let that search wait while still continuing to acquire plants.

Arro postponed involving the Minor Families and Demon Hunters, choosing to focus on studying the Growth Spell and exploring new uses for Dunjia Technique. He planned to practice creating a portable sheet that could imitate colors and surroundings, but his limited skill meant he would start with simple images on a tablet-sized board.

• Arro decided not to rush into asking the Minor Families to gather magical plants, since his alliances were still undeveloped and he wanted to build his strength first.
• Arro spent four hours studying the Growth Spell's magical pattern structure, marked unfamiliar sections, and estimated that mastering it alongside Lava Burst would take about a month.
• Arro realized Dunjia Technique might imitate colors and surroundings, potentially allowing him to create disguises or camouflage.
• Arro found he could only create close-range wooden forms resembling himself, so he planned to practice simple images on a tablet-sized board.

Karel Taylor and Elena Taylor considered whether to send ordinary students to Arrow’s Academy, while Luna Ranelli delivered her word list to Arrow and revealed a secret letter linked to the Fernando Wizard Family. Arrow overheard her through a water mirror and realized the letter’s message might prevent students from enrolling.

• Karel Taylor praised Elena Taylor’s notebook and discussed sending ordinary people to Arrow’s Academy, but Elena argued that the journey was too dangerous.
• Karel Taylor proposed preventing the Ranelli Family from sending people if the Taylor Family could not safely send its own, and Elena understood his intention.
• Luna Ranelli brought Arrow the list of five hundred, one thousand, and two thousand common words, admitting that her servants had compiled it while she slept.
• After Arrow left the office, Luna took out a sealed letter signed “Fernando” and wondered whether the Fernando Wizard Family had told her not to arrange for students to enroll.
• Arrow paused downstairs after overhearing Luna through a water mirror, then shattered the mirror when someone called to him.

Lord Arrow and Dylan argued over the Viscount Territory’s inability to afford the hundreds of refugee students, while Lord Arrow insisted that the people and their education mattered. The chapter ended with Lord Arrow considering ways for the Academy to support itself or the territory rather than remain a financial burden.

• Dylan rushed to Lord Arrow and warned that the territory could not feed hundreds of students while also recruiting soldiers and maintaining order.
• Lord Arrow asked Dylan what mattered most in the territory and said he wanted people capable of thought, not obedient livestock.
• Dylan calculated that feeding four hundred students would cost about four hundred Gold Coins a year and warned that poor harvests and a shortage of farmhands would leave the territory unable to pay.
• Lord Arrow rejected abandoning the students and considered how to make the Academy self-sufficient or a source of support for the territory.

Arrow sought new income for the territory and chose salt production, asking Dylan to bring Poison Salt Ore for Holly to study. After Dylan left, Arrow practiced controlling a crude Snake Game with Evasion Armor, but the game ended with an unexpected remark.

• Arrow proposed increasing food production with composting and considered factories that could sell goods to the Outside World.
• Arrow chose salt as a profitable necessity and learned from Dylan that Poison Salt Mountain lay near Peran Manor's Logging Camp.
• Arrow told Dylan to bring raw materials so Holly could study salt extraction, and Dylan left for Lix City without eating breakfast.
• Arrow practiced displaying and playing Snake Game with Evasion Armor while eating breakfast.
• Arrow lost the game when the snake hit the edge, and someone exclaimed, “Ah, you're so bad!”

Arro considered Ian's offer to split more than five hundred Magic Stones' worth of supplies in exchange for keeping the Bu'en Family away, while Ian became fascinated by Arro's Trick. Arro then realized a Magic Tool with buttons might solve the Trick's control problem, including the host problem.

• Ian told Arro he had resolved to pursue freedom and asked whether Arro could keep the Bu'en Family out of his territory.
• Ian offered to split the family's supplies, including an Alchemy Table, with Arro if he refused them entry; Arro promised to decide that afternoon.
• Ian asked to learn and play with Arro's Trick, but Arro said his control was not good enough.
• Ian insisted every spellcasting problem had a solution, prompting Arro to consider using a button-based Magic Tool to control the Trick and address its host problem.

Arro considered how to turn his simple game into a larger project, then proposed opening an arcade in Lan’er Village. While training, Anabe explained that the Bu’en Family’s offer was an apology tied to its isolation after the Waning Moon Island explosion, but he left Arro with an unfinished warning.

• Arro realized that creating a computer would require solving software and input problems, and that his trick could not work for someone else without an Enchanted Treasure.
• Arro recognized that games from his previous life could be valuable in a world with little entertainment and asked Ian what he thought of opening an arcade in Lan’er Village.
• Ian offered to help, and Arro asked him to lend the family’s Alchemy Table once it arrived.
• Arro asked Anabe why the Bu’en Family was making an indirect offer, and Anabe explained that the family had become isolated after the Waning Moon Island explosion and could be destroyed if Arro rejected it.
• Anabe began explaining that others might target the Bu’en Family to curry favor with Arro, but he did not finish his thought.

Arro and Anabe discussed Bu'en Family’s precarious position and whether Arro should accept its gift. After Arro left Anabe to train, Anabe interpreted Arro’s cryptic advice as a clue to Qi Blood Rampage’s flaws and began looking to nature for a solution.

• Anabe explained that Bu'en Family faced threats from the other families and could become a useful ally to Arro.
• Arro decided to discuss accepting Bu'en Family’s gift later, since Ian had tied it to barring the family’s other members from the viscount territory.
• Arro left the Training Ground to continue practicing elsewhere, while Anabe wondered why he had been told to train there.
• Anabe realized that Qi Blood Rampage required three external forces to work in sync, making the training especially difficult.
• Anabe took Arro’s words about nature as a hint to learn from animals and considered how that might help his training.

Anabe developed a way to reorganize the movements of Qi Blood Rampage into animal-inspired groups and proposed combining its training and core stages into one method. Arrow understood that the unified movements might channel Life Force both toward the heart and back into the body, and Anabe asked him to help complete it.

• Anabe demonstrated his rearranged Qi Blood Rampage movements, which reminded Arrow of Five Animal Play.
• Arrow warned Anabe not to alter the core sequence or the repetitions that determined muscle fatigue.
• Anabe proposed labeling the core rhythm across his fingers and integrating the first and second stages into one method.
• Arrow realized the unified movements could function as both a training method and a striking method by directing Life Force in either direction.
• Anabe excitedly asked Arrow to help him complete the method.

Anabe proposed a simplified form of Qi Blood Rampage that could strengthen students’ muscles with only a small amount of magical plants, and Arrow recognized its potential. Arrow still refused to spend his own time developing it, but acknowledged Anabe’s work and left the next step open.

• Arrow told Anabe that the proposed movements would be a burden to him, though they might help others advance.
• Anabe pointed out that training the students would require more meat than the territory could afford.
• Anabe explained that students could practice one set of movements to direct Life Force through particular muscles and strengthen them with a small amount of magical plants.
• Arrow considered that the method might let students unleash extraordinary strength, but concluded it would not benefit him because he had already mastered Qi Blood Rampage.
• Arrow said he did not have time to develop the method, then praised Anabe for noticing the issues and thinking them through after only a few days of training.