Chapter Summaries

Arthur identified that the corpses belonged to people with knightly aptitude whose hearts had been removed, then treated Dirus’s illness caused by a Seed of Pollution. After gaining access to the Airlan Family’s library, Arthur began researching this world’s knights while the family watched him warily.

• Arthur explained that the corpses had their hearts removed and belonged to people with Life Seeds, including Dirus’s child.
• Arthur treated Dirus and discovered that a corrupting power from a Seed of Pollution was infecting him, though Arthur managed to suppress it.
• Arthur used his examination of Dirus to help the Chip analyze Dirus’s powerful breathing technique, advancing the Arthur Breathing Technique.
• Dirus and Kalam agreed that Arthur’s treatment had helped, but Dirus warned Kalam to keep the family’s affairs from the outsider.
• Arthur entered the Airlan Family library and found information about knights, but no breathing techniques available for practice.

Arthur studied the world’s knight system and discovered that its higher stages might help him advance as a wizard. He left the library determined to learn from other supernatural systems, though the origins of the most powerful knights remained unknown.

• Arthur rapidly read the library’s books and learned that knights advanced from awakening a Life Seed to Great Knight, Sky Knight, and Radiant Knight.
• Arthur compared knight advancement with wizardly bodily transformation and ordered the Chip to simulate combining the two methods.
• The Chip reported an 87.1% chance of a positive reaction that would accelerate advancement and a 9.4% chance of unpredictable aberrant effects.
• Arthur concluded that studying other worlds’ power systems could improve his own methods and potentially help him create a new school.
• After finishing the books, Arthur learned the names of the Origin Knight and Progenitor Knight stages but found little detail, and he discovered that nobles monopolized knighthood in this world.

Arthur treated Dirus’s worsening toxin and learned he could keep him alive for another year, but could not cure him without revealing his Moon Elf power. Dirus offered Arthur a way into Malan Academy, leaving Arthur to consider what the recommendation would cost him.

• Arthur assessed the world’s strength and concluded that, as a Second-level Wizard, he could rival a Radiant Knight.
• Arthur examined Dirus’s blood and suppressed the spread of the toxin during treatment.
• Kalam paid Arthur seven hundred Purple Gold Coins for his work.
• Arthur told Dirus that continued treatment could keep him alive for another year, though Arthur could not cure him completely.
• Dirus offered Arthur a Malan Academy token and explained that his Airlan Family connections could secure Arthur admission.
• Arthur asked Dirus what he would have to give in return.

Adier agreed to protect Dirus's illegitimate daughter for six months in exchange for a token, an introduction to Malan Kingdom, and money. After traveling for over a month, he enrolled at Malan Academy and encountered a powerful young woman.

• Dirus told Adier about his hidden daughter and asked him to protect her for six months, and Adier accepted the deal.
• Dirus gave Adier an invitation to the Malan Kingdom, a letter of introduction, and three thousand Purple Gold Coins.
• Adier left the Airlan Family through a secret passage and set out for Malan Academy, suspecting that protecting Dirus's daughter would bring trouble.
• After more than a month of travel, Adier arrived at Malan Academy, enrolled in its knightly school, and paid his fees.
• Adier passed a young woman in a red robe and sensed that she was nearly as strong as Dirus.

After enrolling at Malan Academy, Arthur delivered Dirus's letter to Tamar and her mother, then began his Knight Academy classes. He followed the sound of a crowd to a training ground, where two figures were fighting on a platform.

• Arthur noticed the red-clad Elina's exceptional talent, while the voice in her necklace urged her to watch him because his vitality suggested a lost Royal Descendant bloodline.
• Arthur visited Tamar and her mother, Triss, told them Dirus had died, and gave them his letter explaining his arrangements for them.
• Arthur accepted Triss's invitation to lunch, then arranged a nearby apartment for her and Tamar before returning to the academy days later.
• Arthur attended a dull lesson, and his Chip recorded the instruction.
• Arthur heard applause and weapons clashing, then found a crowd watching two figures fight on a platform.

Arthur opened a successful infirmary at Malan Academy to earn money for advanced Knight Breathing Techniques. After he treated a critically wounded young man brought in by Elina and her companions, the Blonde Youth warned him to stay on academy grounds.

• Arthur found that advanced Knight Breathing Techniques cost more than he could afford, so he decided to make money before training as a knight.
• Arthur opened the Arthur Potion Infirmary and invited Tamar to work there as an apprentice; over two months, he became well known across Malan Academy for his medical skills.
• Elina arrived with companions carrying a young man whose chest and internal organs were severely damaged, and she asked Arthur to treat him.
• Arthur used Moon Elf power and a potion to revive the young man, then arranged surgery and charged thirty Purple Gold Coins.
• After paying for the treatment, the Blonde Youth warned Arthur not to leave the academy grounds for now.

Adir treated injured students and nobles while suspecting Dirus knew more about the attacks targeting knightly families. He agreed to help Tamar leave the academy for three days with Andak, whose unusually high physical attributes made Adir doubt his claimed background.

• Adir treated the injured patients in the clinic and considered whether Dirus had sent him to Malan Academy to protect Tamar from the attacks.
• Adir met Tamar's boyfriend, Andak, and recalled that Lady Triss had once tried to match Tamar with him.
• Andak asked Adir to tell Lady Triss that Tamar was leaving to buy herbs so she could attend a dance with him at Rose Manor.
• Adir agreed to cover for Tamar and Andak's three-day trip outside the academy.
• After they left, Adir checked Andak's attributes and suspected he was more than a minor noble's descendant.

Arthur suspected that Andak, despite posing as a minor noble, was a powerful knight harboring murderous intent. Meanwhile, Tamar chose to attend a ball with Andak, and several days later the group left Malan Academy for the break.

• Arthur examined Andak's status and sensed murderous intent, resolving to investigate him further.
• Tamar told Yaris she would attend the ball with Andak and explained that she was content with their relationship.
• Yaris recalled the dangers ordinary people faced beyond the academy and agreed to accompany Tamar to the ball.
• Several days later, as Malan Academy began its break, Andak, Tamar, Yaris, and three others traveled from the academy by carriage.

Arthur arrived at Rose Manor for a ball and sensed that blood and corpses were buried beneath its rose gardens. He explored a hall devoted to the Turing Empire before nightfall, while the ball was about to begin.

• Yaris told Andak and the others about brutal murders of nobles in Catutan City, whose victims had been dismembered and used in what appeared to be a ritual.
• Andak led the group to Rose Manor and explained that the Keland Family had planted its roses and hosted balls there for decades.
• Arthur sensed blood, negative energy, and buried bones beneath the manor's roses, then entered the grounds while concealing his aura from Tamar and the others.
• Arthur visited a hall filled with relics of the Turing Empire and spoke with its caretaker about the statue of Turing the First.
• Night fell, and the ball at Rose Manor was about to begin.

Arthur watched the guests at Rose Manor while its roses dulled their senses and Morando Crand prepared a ritual. Tamar awoke beneath the manor and saw robed figures sacrificing people at an altar.

• Arthur noticed the roses' hallucinogenic effects and sensed blood and malice among the performers.
• Morando Crand welcomed the remaining guests and offered them the dancers and musicians, whose influence led them away.
• Andak embraced Tamar, but Morando, dressed as a priest, stopped him and said the ritual was about to begin.
• Tamar awoke in darkness and saw black-robed figures cut out victims' hearts and organs as priests chanted around the altar.

Arthur interrupted the Turing Cult’s sacrifice and rescued Tamar and Yaris, revealing Andak as a traitor. He defeated Morando and killed Andak, leaving Yaris alive but shaken.

• Tamar and Yaris were held paralyzed as Morando ordered the Turing Cult to continue sacrificing their companions.
• Andak carried Tamar to the altar and revealed that he intended to kill her, but Arthur appeared and ordered him to stop.
• Arthur unleashed Silver Radiance, destroying the black-robed figures and gravely wounding Morando.
• Morando questioned Arthur’s overwhelming strength, and Arthur kicked him away before confronting Andak.
• Andak took Yaris hostage, but Arthur’s sword aura spared her and split Andak in two.

Arthur searched Andak’s memories and discovered that black tokens from the Turing Cult had driven Andak’s transformation and were connected to Morando as well. He realized the pair had been collecting fragments of ancient Bloodline Marks, then returned Tamar and Yaris to the academy; days later, the discovery of Morando’s death and hundreds of buried skeletons shook the city.

• Arthur examined Andak’s memories and found that an object had caused his sudden rise and transformation.
• Arthur found a black jade token bearing a triangular symbol on Andak, recognized it as belonging to the Turing Cult, and discovered an identical token on Morando.
• Arthur magnified the crimson liquid in the bottles and saw faint fragments of Bloodline Marks, concluding that Andak and Morando had hunted people to obtain them.
• Arthur took Tamar and Yaris back to the academy that night and stayed there afterward.
• News spread that Morando had been found dead in Rose Manor, and constables sealed off the estate.
• Constables searching beneath Rose Manor uncovered hundreds of skeletons, including missing nobles and Malan Academy students.

Arthur disguised himself as Andak and traded purified ancient bloodlines with a Turing Cult contact for Purple Gold Coins and the Blood Armor Breathing Technique. He discovered that the cult had placed Elina, the Malan Empire’s Seventh Princess, on its target list with a fifty-thousand-coin bounty for her Royal Descendant bloodline.

• Arthur used Andak’s identity and token to enter a Turing Cult outpost in the forest.
• The red-haired contact accepted Arthur’s highly purified blood potion and valued it at eight thousand Purple Gold Coins.
• Arthur spent four thousand Purple Gold Coins on the Blood Armor Breathing Technique despite the contact’s warning that it offered poor prospects for reaching Sky Knight.
• The red-haired contact gave Arthur the cult’s latest target list and urged him to kill as many listed people as possible.
• Arthur found Elina’s entry on the list, identifying her as the Malan Empire’s Seventh Princess and a Top-tier Royal Descendant worth fifty thousand Purple Gold Coins.

Arthur learned that Princess Elina was a powerful Royal Descendant targeted by the Turing Cult, then advanced to Sky Knight through his newly deduced breathing technique. Elina later visited his clinic with a maimed Sky Knight and freshly prepared limbs, leaving Arthur to begin the operation.

• A red-haired Turing Cult member explained that Elina was an exceptionally powerful Royal Descendant and said the cult planned to target her in a mission from the Master.
• Arthur transferred the Chip's completed Arthur Breathing Technique and trained until the Chip warned him that he had reached his limit.
• After more than a month, Arthur advanced to Sky Knight and grew famous at Malan Academy for treating injured people.
• Elina visited Arthur's clinic and asked him to reattach the missing hand and foot of a Sky Knight.
• Arthur recognized that the prepared limbs had come from a Sky Knight, then led Elina and the patient to a nearby room.

Arthur operated on Anum and accepted Elina’s challenge to fight, after which she offered him a position as her knight. Elina and the voice in her mind identified Arthur as a highly gifted Royal Descendant and urged her to recruit him before her brothers could.

• Arthur gave Anum anesthetic and completed an operation to reconnect his severed limbs.
• Elina paid Arthur more than the thousand Purple Gold Coins he charged and asked him to fight her.
• Arthur and Elina fought as Sky Knights on a cordoned-off training ground, causing extensive damage before ending the match.
• Elina introduced herself as Elina Delke, revealed she was royalty, and offered Arthur a superior breathing technique if he became her knight.
• Arthur asked for time to consider Elina’s offer, while she and the voice in her mind discussed his Royal Descendant bloodline and the need to recruit him quickly.

Arthur weighed his options for supporting a royal contender and chose to accept Princess Elina’s recruitment, hoping to obtain a Radiant Knight-level breathing technique. After receiving her invitation to guard a manor during an upcoming banquet, he trained with her breathing technique and learned the Chip estimated he could advance to Radiant Knight in about half a year.

• Arthur considered the royal succession candidates and decided Elina was the best person to support because she had recruited him and might give him more attention.
• Elina’s people invited Arthur to banquets and events for more than a month before he finally accepted her offer.
• Arthur received Elina’s letter asking him to bring men and guard a manor during a banquet, and he suspected she knew the Turing Cult planned to target her.
• Arthur practiced the breathing technique Elina had provided and saw that his physical attributes were increasing again.
• The Chip estimated Arthur would meet the requirements to advance from Sky Knight to Radiant Knight in 178 days, and Arthur decided to seek the materials needed after handling current matters.

Elina arrived at Count Oris’s manor, where Oris suddenly attacked Arthur and Arthur blocked the strike. Oris left the hall, and Anum and Arthur went outside as a hoarse voice asked whether they had learned Arthur’s strength.

• Elina and her escort arrived at the manor, where Helot greeted her in place of his injured father, Count Oris.
• Elina’s inner voice warned that five Great Knights and two Sky Knights were concealed around the grounds, and said it could protect her unless a Radiant Knight appeared.
• Elina met Count Oris in the hall and introduced Arthur as a knight in her service and a Malan Academy cadet.
• Oris attacked Arthur without warning, but Arthur blocked the Titled Knight’s sword strike without moving.
• Oris claimed he had only been testing Arthur, then left the hall; Anum and Arthur exchanged a knowing glance and went outside.
• A hoarse voice in a dense forest asked whether they had found out how strong Arthur was.

Oris agreed to the First Prince's plan to recruit Arthur or have him killed alongside Princess Elina, then secretly killed a man at Qizhen. When Arthur went to retrieve the missing Anum, Oris challenged him to fight his guard captain, and a blade struck from behind.

• Oris was ordered to offer Arthur wealth, power, and other rewards to bring him over to the First Prince's side, or arrange his death if he refused.
• Oris killed a middle-aged knight in black leather armor at Qizhen with a sudden sword strike.
• Elina grew worried when Anum failed to return, and Arthur left to search for him.
• Arthur found Anum lying unconscious on a bed beside Oris, who claimed Anum had grown tired after sparring with a guard.
• Oris challenged Arthur to fight his guard captain before taking Anum, and an attacker struck Arthur from behind as he began to respond.

Arthur defeated the black-clad man who attacked him and rejected Oris’s offer to join the army, reaffirming his loyalty to Princess Elina. As Oris tried to persuade him, Anum suddenly attacked, and Oris revealed the power of a Titled Knight.

• A black-clad middle-aged man attacked Arthur from behind, but Arthur vanished and struck him with Silver Radiance, leaving him gravely wounded.
• Arthur demanded that Oris return Mr. Anum, and Oris apologized before offering him a place in the army as an honored war knight.
• Arthur refused, declaring himself Princess Elina’s knight and questioning Oris’s honor and trustworthiness.
• Anum rose from the wooden bed and lunged at Oris, who turned to meet him in powerful Battle Qi Armor with Battle Qi Wings.

Adil rescued Anum from Oris and hid him before heading toward the fighting around Elina. Elina faced a disciplined group of Turing Cult Sky Knights, who surrounded her without attacking.

• Oris overwhelmed Anum, but Adil intercepted him and stunned him with his immense Life Energy.
• Adil struck at the injured black-clad attacker, forcing Oris to block the blow, then carried Anum away while Oris chose not to pursue.
• After hearing fighting near Elina, Adil agreed to hide Anum, killed nearby pursuers, and left him in a concealed room.
• Elina confronted several black-robed Turing Cult members bearing triangular marks as their Sky Knight forces surrounded her in silence.