Chapter Summaries

An Yang studied mystic spells during the journey to the border, where Ghost Slaves surrounded his group at night. Sheryl revealed her strength by killing two attackers, and the remaining Ghost Slaves realized a Great Knight guarded someone important.

• Sheryl told An Yang that the group was running low on money, and An Yang gave her gold and gemstones to cover their expenses.
• An Yang studied the mystics’ Tier 0 spells and reflected on their flaws while continuing to learn and absorb mystic energy.
• As the carriage neared the border, Danyou and Martin stood guard against Ghost Slaves while An Yang and Sheryl prepared for danger.
• Ghost Slaves surrounded the camp and discussed capturing the travelers alive because they believed the carriage held people of noble status.
• Six Ghost Slaves attacked Danyou and Martin, while another charged Sheryl; she beheaded it with a swift sword strike.
• Sheryl killed a fleeing Ghost Slave, and the others panicked upon realizing a Great Knight was guarding the group.

An Yang and his companions reached the Federation border after recruiting Danyou and Martin as Imperial Guards, then witnessed a fierce battle between Federation forces and the You Nu. After proving their strength to the army, they were escorted to Lord Scott’s residence, where Scott invited An Yang inside.

• Sheryl frightened off the You Nu, and An Yang awarded badges to Danyou and Martin, who swore allegiance and became Imperial Guards.
• An Yang, Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin traveled to the border and watched Federation troops defeat a You Nu force.
• Federation scouts spotted the group, and Reserve Knights challenged them before Danyou demonstrated his strength and confirmed their identities.
• Great Knight Angis Beli escorted the group into the border camp after the battle and brought them to Lord Scott’s hut.
• Angis entered to notify Scott, then returned and told An Yang that Scott would receive him.

An Yang met Scott to seek a path to becoming a true mystic, and Scott offered him access to the Book of Kanoport if he killed the You Nu Duke. An Yang returned with the Duke’s head and traded it for the book and two Tier 1 spells, leaving with a warning not to practice them before finding the mystic organization.

• An Yang introduced himself as Aine and asked Scott for guidance on becoming a true mystic.
• Scott offered to lend An Yang the Book of Kanoport for half a month if he killed the You Nu Duke.
• An Yang returned the next morning with the You Nu Duke’s head, astonishing Scott.
• Scott lent An Yang the Book of Kanoport and traded two Tier 1 spells for the Duke’s skull.
• Scott warned An Yang not to practice the spells before reaching the mystic organization.

An Yang learned that killing the Nether Slave duke had created an opportunity for the Border Legion to win the war, while he investigated the locked contents of the Book of Kanoport and studied spells. After the fighting ended in Federal victory, his chip finished analyzing the book’s cipher and left him with twelve possible solutions to test.

• Angis reported the Nether Slaves’ chaotic all-out attack, recognized the duke’s skull, and learned from Scott that An Yang had killed it.
• Angis rushed to lead the Border Legion into battle, and An Yang returned to his tent with the Book of Kanoport and spell notes.
• An Yang sent Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin to join the fighting, while he studied the book and discovered that its true contents required a mystic decoding method.
• An Yang used his bio-chip to analyze the book’s cipher and read notes on the Resistance Field and High Temperature Eruption spells.
• The Federal Border Legion defeated the Nether Slaves and began pursuing their survivors and reclaiming territory.
• After more than two days, An Yang’s chip completed its analysis and produced twelve possible cipher solutions for him to test.

An Yang activated the Book of Kanoport and learned that it linked him to the Silent Tower, though its old information and limited responses made clear it was an outdated program. After Scott welcomed him as a promising apprentice, An Yang bid farewell and left for Capital Academy with his companions.

• An Yang reassembled the book’s black words and restored its energy supply, activating a message from the Silent Tower that certified him and gave him a deer-antler mark.
• The book rated An Yang first-class for his skill, then lowered him to second-class after his magic power resisted the mark’s energy; An Yang questioned its claims and confirmed its answers were limited.
• An Yang learned that the Silent Tower was based in Gloomy Valley in the obsolete Seran Duchy and directed apprentices to Golyas Academy, also known as Capital Academy.
• An Yang examined the book’s contents and operating principles for three days before visiting Scott, who praised his mark and suggested he attend Capital Academy.
• Scott told An Yang that his Great Knights had killed a You Nu sacrifice, and An Yang then returned to camp, gathered his other three companions, and departed.

An Yang arrived at Capital Academy and settled into his residence after Howard welcomed him and explained the academy’s connection to the Silent Tower. At dusk, a young woman who lived next door came to introduce herself.

• An Yang returned to the capital with his retainers and supplies, then traveled to Capital Academy after resting at a luxury hotel.
• Howard met An Yang at the academy gates, granted him access, and showed him around the grounds.
• Howard took An Yang to his residence, where An Yang, Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin moved in and unpacked.
• Howard delivered their identity certificates and arranged for An Yang to meet others the next day.
• At dusk, An Yang’s young female neighbor visited, and Sheryl invited her inside.

An Yang met his neighbor Winnie and learned about the Academy’s gifted residents and the Silent Tower’s restrictions on attendants and Guardian Knights. He decided Sheryl should take the apprentice selection so she could follow him, then went with Howard to learn how the Academy’s lessons worked.

• Winnie visited An Yang, explained that only seven gifted residents lived in their building, and was astonished to see his first-grade aptitude mark.
• Winnie warned An Yang that attendants and knights could not enter the Silent Tower, so An Yang proposed that Sheryl take the apprentice selection and she eagerly agreed.
• An Yang asked Danyou and Martin whether they wished to remain with him, and both knights swore they would follow him for life.
• Howard arrived the next morning and explained that the Academy offered free lessons every few days and paid classes taught in greater detail.

An Yang attended academy classes, learned mystical language, and helped Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin improve their mystic meditation before planning for them to join a mystic organization. He woke to find Winnie bound and unconscious in his living room, with Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin standing guard.

• Howard showed An Yang and Sheryl around the academy, introduced An Yang to the trainees, and took him to Teacher Melody’s mechanics class.
• An Yang attended a welcoming party, then received the next day’s class schedule and chose to study mystical language.
• Over the next two weeks, An Yang attended nearly every class and taught Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin an optimized mystic meditation method.
• An Yang planned for the three to enroll in a mystic organization before they went to the Silent Tower in winter.
• An Yang woke to find Winnie tied up and unconscious in his living room while Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin watched her in battle readiness.

An Yang learned that Winnie sometimes lost control after a failed attempt to construct a quasi-Tier 1 spell, then took Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin to Capital Academy’s aptitude inspection. The inspection found first-class aptitude among all three companions, drawing attention from the academy and the Silent Tower while the group continued serving An Yang as before.

• Sheryl told An Yang that she had restrained Winnie after Winnie attacked them during the night, and Winnie apologized after explaining that a flawed spell model had created an aggressive secondary personality.
• An Yang invited Winnie to eat and then took Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin to the academy’s aptitude inspection at Cleopatra Church.
• The inspection detected first-class aptitude in Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin, astonishing the academy official who conducted it.
• Academy officials, initiate students, and instructors visited to congratulate An Yang after word spread about the results.
• Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin rejected academy-arranged rooms and continued to follow An Yang, accepting gifts but ignoring offers from other parties.

An Yang studied mysticism and investigated the soul through experiments while observing ordinary students build a primitive steam engine at Capital Academy. As winter approached, he left the Hof Experimental Building with Sheryl and unexpectedly encountered someone.

• An Yang conducted an experiment combining Howling Flower and Grave Grass, but could only sense the soul’s chilling aura and concluded he needed many more attempts.
• Sheryl sensed energy from the experiment and followed An Yang to the Hof Experimental Building.
• An Yang watched students assemble a steam engine prototype and declined to guide them, saying they should advance the age themselves.
• An Yang explained to Sheryl that the machine could transform the world if it succeeded, then left the building with her.
• An Yang encountered an unexpected person as he and Sheryl were about to board the carriage.

An Yang encountered Confi and encouraged the steam-engine researchers to keep pursuing their project, though he could only provide limited support. A month later, Flynn arrived to lead the chosen initiates to the Silent Tower, warning them that their journey would include dangers.

• An Yang and Sheryl saw Confi, but An Yang declined to confront her and continued on to the academy.
• At the Hof Experimental Building, Sro and Milly told An Yang that funding problems and repeated failures threatened their steam-engine project and their graduation.
• An Yang urged the researchers not to abandon the steam engine, then left when they lost confidence; later, he gave them some research funding after they apologized.
• Confi waited near the experimental building, but An Yang returned home without speaking to her.
• Flynn addressed the recruits selected for the Silent Tower, identified An Yang, Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin as the most promising, and told them to gather at Rofis Plaza in three days.
• Flynn warned that the trip could bring attacks from other species and mystic forces among the You Nu tribes, but said he would protect the recruits.

An Yang and the other apprentices escorted a group of gifted youths toward Silent Tower, where Flynn’s harsh rules and the dangers of the road quickly frightened the newcomers. The convoy reached Soranka, where it was to meet youths directly recruited by the Tower before continuing its journey.

• Flynn warned the recruits that the journey could cost them their lives, but more than sixty still gathered in Lofis Square three days later.
• Tris Roland ordered the recruits to discard excess luggage and share carriages, while the mercenaries enforced the rules and treated An Yang’s apprentice group more favorably.
• Martin learned the convoy’s route and lodging plans from Tris, then reported them to An Yang.
• The convoy passed the corpses of recruits who had refused to join, and the mercenaries shot a boy who tried to escape; a noble girl’s father also refused to help her leave.
• The group camped overnight, where the apprentices received better treatment and Confi unsuccessfully asked An Yang to intercede for her.
• About three days later, the convoy reached Soranka to rest and meet the youths directly admitted by Silent Tower.

An Yang reunited with Lydia on the road to the Silent Tower and learned she had passed its direct test. Lydia refused to travel with him, saying she knew he did not want her company, leaving An Yang troubled by the hardship she had endured because of him.

• An Yang waited in Soranka while the group delayed its departure for the Silent Tower recruits to arrive.
• Lydia stopped the caravan, and An Yang invited her into his carriage after she turned away from him.
• An Yang asked Lydia about her recent life and apologized indirectly, while Lydia revealed that he had not contacted her for months.
• Lydia confirmed that she had passed the Silent Tower's direct test, but refused An Yang's offer to join his group.
• An Yang watched Lydia leave and felt responsible for her worn clothes and damaged greatsword.

An Yang and his companions traveled with the Silent Tower’s convoy, where repeated thief attacks exposed the mercenary corps’ strength and revealed that the danger was being managed as a trial. After a week on the road, the gifted travelers began forming factions and seeking closer ties with the apprentices.

• An Yang gave Lydia a replacement sword, and she remarked that Aine had changed before leaving the carriage.
• An Yang had Martin ask Tris to look after Lydia, strengthening Tris’s wariness of An Yang’s connections.
• When thieves attacked, An Yang killed an archer with a thrown spell-guided arrow and sent Danyou and Martin to fight while Sheryl guarded him.
• The mercenary corps defeated the thieves, and An Yang realized that its apparent failure to protect the carriages was meant to expose the travelers to danger.
• Over the following week, An Yang noticed that the corps allowed casualties during weak attacks but protected everyone against stronger enemies.
• As attacks continued, the travelers formed groups by status, region, and recruitment background, and they began drawing closer to the apprentices.

As the caravan entered Archilan Province, An Yang watched the talents, apprentices, and mercenaries form new alliances while learning that the region was home to hostile nonhuman races. A ghost slave ambush struck the caravan, leaving the noble talents under attack and many dead.

• Over several days, talents and apprentices formed factions and competed for food, shelter, and protection, while Flynn allowed the arrangements to develop.
• Martin told An Yang that Flynn had lifted restrictions on the mercenaries, allowing knights to choose future mystics as potential Guardian Knights.
• An Yang’s group stayed independent as the caravan entered the desolate Archilan Province, where Martin explained that other races and ghost slaves lived there and often attacked travelers.
• On the third day in the province, ghost slaves ambushed the caravan in a narrow mountain pass, targeting the academy faction’s noble talents.
• The noble talents proved unable to resist the attack, many were killed, and the mercenary group rushed into battle against the ghost slaves.

An Yang’s convoy survived a You Nu ambush that killed roughly half of the Gifted Ones, and he suspected the Silent Tower had knowingly allowed the weaker recruits to be targeted. The next day, the convoy was attacked by the Labrador bear tribe, which the knights and An Yang’s companions quickly defeated.

• The knights and Martin fought off the You Nu, while An Yang sent Danyou and Martin to check on Lady Lydia and protected those who sought his help.
• After the You Nu withdrew, An Yang inspected the battlefield and realized the Silent Tower had grouped weaker Gifted Ones where the ambush would strike, apparently accepting their deaths to advance the survivors.
• An Yang and his companions found and killed a wounded You Nu, then returned as the convoy cleared the dead and continued through the forest.
• The following day, the Labrador bear tribe charged the convoy, shouting that they meant to kill the humans and prevent the mysterious ones from having successors.
• Tris organized the defenses, and An Yang sent Danyou, Martin, and the others into battle as the knights charged the Labradors and defeated them in about three minutes.

An Yang and the convoy endured repeated attacks from hostile creatures in the forest, while he analyzed their unusual traits. Near the end of the journey, a scarred woman from Smedo Manor confronted Flynn and declared that her organization was breaking its nonaggression pact with the Silent Tower to destroy its genius.

• An Yang accepted a serving of Labrador bear meat, analyzed its beneficial trace elements, and stored their structure in his database.
• The convoy fought numerous hostile creatures, and An Yang collected parts from a steel-spiked monster to study its unusual body.
• The convoy continued toward Blackwater Wharf after the battle, having lost many Knights, trainees, and Gifted.
• An Yang sensed two powerful Mystics ahead, and Great Knight Tris halted the convoy as Flynn came out to meet a hooded rider.
• The rider revealed herself as a scarred woman from Smedo Manor and told Flynn that her organization was ending its pact to destroy the Silent Tower's genius.

Flynn fought Osoya and Gale while ordering the six First-class Talent students to escape. An Yang and the others rode north into the forest as Flynn held off their pursuers.

• Osoya and Gale revealed themselves as the attackers, and Flynn faced them while An Yang told Sheryl not to expose her hidden power.
• A Knight fired an arrow at Osoya, prompting Flynn and Osoya to begin fighting as Gale intercepted the mercenaries' arrows with purple-red light spots.
• Flynn ordered Tris to escort the six First-class Talent students away and urged everyone else to flee or hide.
• An Yang and the other students mounted horses and pushed through a panicked crowd, while Danyou and Martin helped clear their path.
• Osoya pursued the escaping group, but Flynn blocked her and used his crows and a black eagle to engage her and Gale.
• An Yang ignored people calling for him to stop and rode into the forest with the others.

An Yang and his companions fought off monsters and confronted Osoya at a river crossing, where An Yang used a water giant to help Sheryl defeat her. After Gale failed to appear, they killed Osoya and continued toward Blackwater Wharf, which they reached two days later.

• An Yang and the Knights fled north while a blue-feathered Falcon tracked them, fighting monsters and racing along a riverbank.
• Osoya caught up with the group at a shallow crossing, and An Yang used the Sleep Spell to knock out the Knights before he and four companions crossed the river.
• Sheryl, Danyou, and Martin engaged Osoya while An Yang summoned a towering river-water giant that overwhelmed her and let Sheryl sever her arm.
• An Yang questioned Osoya and waited several hours for Gale, but Gale did not come, so Sheryl killed Osoya.
• An Yang had Lydia explain Osoya's death to the awakened Knights, and the group rode on to Blackwater Wharf, arriving two days later.

An Yang and the surviving first-class talents reached Blackwater Wharf, where Silent Tower mystics learned of Smedo Manor’s attack and Osoya’s death. After a search recovered the remaining survivors and Flynn’s body, the Silent Tower gathered them aboard a ship bound for the Tower.

• A young apprentice named Boer met An Yang’s group at Blackwater Wharf and brought them to Lords Li and Aran.
• The Knights reported that Flynn had stayed behind to fight Gale and Osoya, and they revealed that they had killed Osoya and recovered her head.
• Li and Aran ordered a search of the forest, and Silent Tower corrosion eagles helped locate survivors while Flynn’s body was brought back.
• Over the next three days, survivors returned to the wharf; Boer reported that Tris and Confi had died, while Winnie survived, leaving roughly twenty talents and initiates alive.
• Four Silent Tower mystics investigated the battle sites, protected the survivors, and escorted them aboard a ship bound for the Silent Tower.