Chapter Summaries

Shade told Miss Princess the story of Heart of the Ocean before they danced together ahead of the shipboard auction. At the auction, Shade memorized the ritual recorded on an ancient tablet, while Miss Princess passed on a relic and a potion sold for a high price.

• Shade told Miss Princess the story of a doomed ship and its sapphire necklace, and she admitted the tale had affected her.
• Miss Princess asked Shade to dance with her, and they shared one dance on the deck before heading to the auction.
• Shade and Miss Princess entered the invitation-only auction, where eleven lots were presented to twelve guests.
• Miss Princess stopped bidding on the Sand of Time relic when its price reached 460 pounds.
• Shade memorized the rain-praying ritual recorded on the ancient stone tablet, while the Ring Arcanist's Grace potion sold for 210 pounds.

Shade and Miss Princess attended an auction aboard a cruise ship near Coldwater Port, but Pirate's Blood Money began resonating as a ghostly vessel approached. Miss Princess identified the ship as the Sage Level Relic Fishbone Pirate Crew, and it crashed into the cruise ship, swallowing Shade and the others in black fog.

• After the auction, Shade and Miss Princess returned to the railing and talked as the cruise ship headed out to sea.
• Pirate's Blood Money began vibrating, and Miss Princess felt pain in her chest as an eerie song and storm approached from the northwest.
• A decrepit ship with ghostly green light charged through the storm, spreading Whisper Element, violent waves, and green moss across the deck.
• Miss Princess identified the ship as the Sage Level Relic Fishbone Pirate Crew and warned Shade not to leave the ship or agree to become a crew member.
• The pirate ship rammed the cruise ship, and black fog engulfed Shade as curses and whispered prayers overwhelmed his consciousness.

Shade awoke alone aboard a haunted ship in a storm-dark sea, where the vessel’s curse tried to assimilate him and the Whisper Element threatened his mind. After fighting undead and a hostile portrait, he pinned the photograph with his Holy Silver sword and forced its trapped, eyepatched occupant to surrender.

• Shade woke on a ruined ship beneath a black vortex and learned from the voice accompanying him that the ship was trying to assimilate him, though his divinity protected him.
• Shade crossed the rain-soaked deck, broke into the cabin, and found bones, bloodstains, and an undead figure formed from Ashes.
• Shade uncovered a framed collection of photographs, and the eyepatched man in the central portrait came alive and attacked him.
• Shade used Silver Moon radiance to drive back the portrait’s black mist, then pinned the photograph to the wall with his Holy Silver sword.
• The eyepatched man surrendered from inside the photograph, and Shade demanded to know what he was.

Shade questioned a haunted photograph and learned that the ship’s crew had been transformed into immortal beings who could escape only by finding the captain. He ventured deeper into the ship and encountered its grotesque chef, who offered to reveal how to leave and the ship’s secret.

• Shade forced the man in the photograph to explain that the ship’s crew had gone mad after the captain sought power from the Lord of the Scarlet Spiral, and that the captain knew how to leave.
• Shade concluded that he needed to find the captain and walked deeper into the ship despite the reaching skeletons and warped, stinking corridors.
• Shade followed the sounds of cooking to a cabin where a monstrous creature stirred clear water in a pot over ghostly green flames.
• The creature told Shade that it was the ship’s chef, then asked whether he wanted to know how to leave and learn the ship’s secret.

Shade drank the fish-bodied cook’s soup and learned that it turned anything consumed aboard the ship into spirit while making him increasingly hungry. He learned where to find the Captain and that his companion was aboard another version of the ship, but finding her would require further bargaining.

• Shade used Gluttony to test and treat the cook’s soup before drinking it, then discovered it filled his spirit while giving him intense hunger.
• The cook explained that food Shade ate aboard the ship would become spirit and that his hunger would keep growing until he left.
• Shade drank a second bowl and learned that the Captain was in the hold beneath him, reachable by following the corridor while ignoring unnecessary dangers.
• The cook told Shade that his companion was aboard the ship in a separate version and offered to bring her to him in exchange for another bowl.
• Shade hesitated as the cook prepared the third bowl and predicted he would drink it.

Shade drank four bowls of the ship’s soup to learn how to escape, then reunited with Miss Princess. They learned they must find the captain, survive a duel with the Sailors, and win a gamble to leave the ship.

• Shade drank the third bowl of soup, and the monster revealed that Miss Princess was nearby.
• The monster struck a wall panel, causing Miss Princess to burst through the fungal carpet in the corridor.
• Shade explained their situation, and Miss Princess said the way out lay in the deepest part of the ship.
• Shade drank the fourth bowl instead of letting Miss Princess take the risk.
• The monster explained that they had to find the captain, defeat the Sailors in a duel, and win a gamble to earn their freedom.
• Shade and Miss Princess left the cabin, while the monster returned to stirring its soup.

Shade and Miss Princess fought a Treasure Chest Monster in the ship’s hold, and Shade gained insight into Greed. They continued toward the next level, where a waterlogged sailor blocked the stairs and spoke of being swallowed by the sea.

• Shade and Miss Princess passed through the ship’s hold, where Miss Princess revealed her Core Runes and Words of Sublimation.
• Miss Princess used story-based Thaumaturgy to put the Treasure Chest Monster to sleep, and Shade killed it with the Holy Silver Greatsword.
• Shade gained insight into Greed from the Relic and told Miss Princess it had not cursed him.
• Shade and Miss Princess ignored fish-headed sailors and a weeping boy before finding stairs leading deeper into the hold.
• A dripping sailor sat across the stairs and told Shade and Miss Princess that the sea had swallowed part of his body and soul.

Shade and Miss Princess escaped the sailor’s curse with the Ruby Earring and continued down the ship’s stairs. Shade’s divine radiance appeared as they neared the Captain’s cabin, where he sensed an evil god’s power, and he prepared to lead the way while Miss Princess stayed beside him.

• Miss Princess used her Ruby Earring to restrain the sailor, and she and Shade hurried down the stairs.
• Shade and Miss Princess continued descending until they heard a commotion and saw sickly green light below.
• Golden fissures covered Shade’s body as God's Radiance appeared and eased his hunger.
• Shade concluded that the Captain’s cabin held an evil god’s power, though no evil god had watched the ship.
• Shade told Miss Princess to leave the coming encounter to him, and she agreed to follow while promising to intervene if he faltered.

Shade and Miss Princess reached the Fishbone Pirate Ship’s lowest deck, where its Captain demanded that Shade fight a sailor to earn the right to speak. Shade and Miss Princess defeated the sailor despite the cabin suppressing Shade’s powers, and the Captain accepted the victory.

• Shade and Miss Princess entered a cargo deck filled with undead sailors, treasure, and a lavish feast, where the Fishbone Pirate Ship’s Captain confronted them.
• The Captain offered Shade a choice to board the ship or defeat one sailor, and Shade refused to board and accepted the challenge.
• A one-eyed undead sailor attacked Shade, whose Silver Moon power was weakened by the cabin and whose Holy Silver sword shattered against the sailor’s saber.
• Shade used Chaotic Time Blade and Soul Echo while Miss Princess secretly summoned an archer to shoot the sailor, allowing Shade to melt its head with a small flash of moonlight.
• The Captain stopped Shade from seizing the sailor’s body, declared Shade the winner, and restrained the agitated undead crew.

Shade and Miss Princess faced a gambling challenge from the captain of the haunted ship, who set their freedom against three rounds of guessing. Shade lost the first round after the Mermaid tattoo changed hiding places, leaving him needing to win the next two.

• Mr. Darkness arrived but immediately fled after seeing Shade, Miss Princess, the captain, and the evil spirits.
• Shade and Miss Princess approached the table, and Shade agreed to gamble for their freedom.
• The captain revealed the Mermaid tattoo and declared that Shade had to win two of three rounds to free everyone aboard the cruise ship.
• Shade sensed that the Mermaid was beneath the White Bread, but it moved beneath the roast meat before he answered.
• The captain ruled that Shade had lost the first round and returned the Mermaid tattoo to his chest.

Shade endured the first round by eating bread made of desire, then won the second round by unlocking three boxes and claiming the Fishman's Elixir of Immortality. The Captain began a third wager using Rhodes Cards, leaving Shade to face another contest aboard the ship.

• The Captain offered Shade a loaf made of desire and threatened to keep Miss Princess if Shade refused to eat it.
• Shade ate the bread and told Miss Princess to stay behind him while he gambled for their freedom.
• The Captain wagered a Fishman's Elixir of Immortality hidden in one of three locked boxes, and Shade opened all three with his Door Key spell.
• Shade found the potion, took it, and declared that he had won the second round.
• The Captain proposed a third round of Rhodes Cards and explained that each player would arrange nine cards into three groups.

Shade challenged the Captain to Rhodes Cards, where the Captain openly stacked his deck and dealt himself three sets of 21. Shade exposed the Captain’s cheating by slipping Origin · Balance into his deck, leaving the Captain caught with 55 cards.

• The Captain dealt himself three sets of 21 and ordered Shade to pick his cards.
• Shade secretly sent Origin · Balance beneath the table while drawing the evil spirits’ attention.
• Shade lost his first set, then won a draw in the second set with Moon 4.
• Shade refused to reveal his third set and accused the Captain of cheating.
• The Captain found Origin · Balance in his deck, and Shade pointed out that it contained 55 cards instead of the standard 54.

Shade lost consciousness after eating three dishes to withstand the Captain’s hunger wager, and Miss Princess took his place. She began eating the remaining food to secure the release of everyone aboard the cruise ship.

• The Captain exposed Shade’s cheating and, after Shade revealed a Queen, offered a final wager involving an Ivory Dice.
• Shade rolled a three, and the Captain promised to release the passengers if Shade ate three dishes and could still say he wished to leave.
• Miss Princess offered to continue eating if Shade collapsed, and Shade finished the fish soup and purple grapes despite his growing hunger.
• Shade ate three Baked Beans, succumbed to the soul-deep hunger, and collapsed motionless on the table.
• Miss Princess began eating the beans in Shade’s place, demanding that the Captain release everyone he had robbed if she finished all the food.

Shade’s hunger and the power he had gained from devouring a god awakened a snowing Mystic Lock, turning the pirate ship into a moonlit feast and trapping its evil spirits. The Fishman Captain conceded, but Shade’s hunger and demand for more remained uncontrollable.

• Miss Princess ate two beans and nearly lost herself to the hunger they stirred, then wrapped a red ribbon around the third bean before eating it.
• Shade awakened the Gluttony power within his Mystic Lock, The Little Match Girl, and transformed the cabin into a snowy nighttime street with a lavish feast.
• The evil spirits became guests of the Blood Feast and were trapped at the table as the snow and tablecloth drained their strength.
• The Fishman Captain admitted defeat and urged Shade to leave, but Shade refused to stop demanding more.

Shade used the Mystic Lock to win a wager against the Fishman captain, learning how to lift Miss Princess’s curse and forcing the pirate ship to withdraw. After they returned to the cruise ship, Shade and Miss Princess escaped into the sea and headed east toward a waiting boat.

• Shade wagered with the Fishman captain and used the Mystic Lock’s wishes to learn the Mermaid’s Song curse could be lifted by preventing Miss Princess from entering the sea during the Sea Burial ritual.
• Shade won the captain’s ten empowered coins and learned the pirates had raided the cruise ship because they believed in fate; he then won their promise to leave the passengers alone and wished for Miss Princess’s safety.
• Shade gained the Greed Spirit Rune from the Fishbone Pirate Ship as the Mystic Lock ended, and the captain promised the pirates would never rob him again unless he provoked them.
• Shade and Miss Princess returned to the cruise ship, where the survivors began waking under the curse and the Orthodox Church’s warships approached.
• Miss Princess tore a wooden board from the deck and pulled Shade into the sea to escape; she told him her people were waiting to meet them to the east.
• Shade and Miss Princess swam toward a small boat they spotted offshore, with Miss Princess clinging to the board.

After escaping the pirate ship, Shade healed the exhausted Leisha Cavendish as their boat returned to Coldwater Port. Leisha learned that Shade had left her a gift and planned to meet her again on Wednesday, leaving her delighted by their shared adventure.

• Shade helped the exhausted Miss Princess aboard the small boat and used Cindyia's Silver Moon Gift to heal her mental injuries as she fell asleep.
• The boat reached Coldwater Port, and Leisha Cavendish woke to find Shade had jumped into the sea and left five minutes earlier.
• The older maid told Leisha that Shade would meet her at the Golden Rose Inn on Wednesday and asked her to notify The Church about the Sea Burial ritual and the evil god.
• The maid gave Leisha a box containing Mermaid-shaped Ruby Earrings that Shade had bought as a gift for her.
• Leisha remembered their day together, admired the earrings, and welcomed the adventure as a happy memory rather than a tragedy.

After returning from his dangerous adventure, Shade slept through the night and woke to find Miss Louisa waiting with Mia and breakfast. Louisa gave him a partial diary that confirmed her and Princess Leisha’s souls had been exchanging bodies, and Shade began reading how they first discovered the truth.

• Shade returned home at two in the morning, ate some biscuits, and fell asleep on his sofa from exhaustion.
• Miss Louisa arrived the next morning with Mia and breakfast, and Shade told her he had returned home after saying goodbye to Princess Leisha.
• Louisa explained that Leisha could not leave Coldwater Port because of the Mermaid's Song curse and handed Shade a partial diary about their secret.
• Shade read the diary and learned that Louisa and Leisha had first discovered their souls were exchanging bodies after waking in each other's lives.
• Louisa explained how their diaries helped them recognize the exchanges, then blushed as she recalled an embarrassing incident.

Shade read Miss Louisa and Princess Leisha’s diary and learned how their involuntary soul exchanges began and how their connection had deepened. Miss Louisa revealed that their “Another Me” talents seemed to be fusing, while Shade remained uneasy and asked whether their recent encounter had been planned.

• Shade read diary entries showing Louisa and Leisha’s early complaints and warnings as they adjusted to exchanging lives.
• Miss Louisa confirmed that she and Princess Leisha had been exchanging souls since reaching the fourth ring, eventually learning to limit the exchanges and switch voluntarily at a cost.
• Miss Louisa told Shade that she and Leisha had grown closer than family and that their Spirit Runes, Thaumaturgy, spells, and soul imprints were influencing each other.
• Miss Louisa asked Shade to keep their secret, and he agreed while remaining concerned about their growing connection.
• Shade continued reading the diary and asked whether his trip to Coldwater Port and his chance encounter with Princess Leisha had been part of a plan.

Shade learned that Dorothy and Princess Leisha shared bodies through a soul exchange, but could never meet face-to-face because proximity caused them pain. After Dorothy left, Shade secured dangerous coins and relics for containment and planned to seek help identifying them and locating the missing part of the God Summoning ritual.

• Miss Louisa explained that Leisha had tracked Shade to Coldwater Port and used her body to test his character, and she thanked him for saving Leisha from the cursed ship.
• Shade read Leisha's letter about the Church and Delarion Navy taking control of the cruise ship and receiving information about the Sea Burial ritual and the Fishbone Pirate Ship.
• Miss Louisa told Shade to call her Dorothy, then revealed that she and Leisha could exchange bodies but could never look at or approach each other without suffering pain.
• Dorothy left Shade's home, and Shade reflected that she was not the Academic Spy suspected by the Academy, though he could not reveal her secret connection to Leisha.
• Shade placed the bag of ten coins and Omnipotent Currency in God's Gift Box, and he planned to ask Annette to use the coins for divination and seek the missing ritual component.

Shade bought the Soul Fishing Rod relic and learned the Greed thaumaturgy Cherished Item, choosing his Rhodes card deck as its target. He tested its enhanced abilities at home, where Mia played with the flying cards.

• Shade paid Old Dad John 300 Pounds for the Soul Fishing Rod, which could harvest memories and spirit from living targets but carried dangerous side effects.
• Shade visited Black Raven Library and chose Cherished Item from a list of Greed thaumaturgies, spending 232 Pounds including materials.
• Shade used the learning materials at home and found that Cherished Item had selected his entire Rhodes card deck, excluding Origin · Balance.
• Shade discovered that the thaumaturgy let him control the deck precisely and made its cards sharp enough to cut through a newspaper and threaten a person's throat.
• Shade made a card fly around the table for Mia to chase, then stopped it so she could touch it.