Chapter Summaries

He Xi spoke with Trist Solarin about his life in Drow society and why he escaped to the Surface World. Trist responded to He Xi’s welcome with an awkward attempt at a smile.

• He Xi thanked Trist for his commission and asked what had driven him to leave his homeland.
• Trist explained that Drow society valued women and priestesses, while men were treated as tools, and that he lost his standing after failing to have a daughter with his wife.
• Trist said a human bard’s biography introduced him to the idea of relationships based on love, friendship, and loyalty.
• Trist escaped through an abandoned tunnel during a conflict between houses.
• He Xi welcomed Trist to the Surface World and told him that people’s worth should depend on their choices and actions.
• Trist tried to smile in response, but his expression came out stiff and awkward.

After He Xi left, Trist struggled against an ancient force that demanded souls, while He Xi learned Telepathic Communication from Fivik and asked her to obtain a scroll for Shared Eye. The chapter ended with He Xi realizing Fivik was short on money too, as she tried to explain why she was eating sweets.

• He Xi agreed to bring Trist live Goblins, and Trist resisted an ancient presence that shouted “Blasphemy!!” when he called He Xi’s soul bright like sunlight.
• Trist decided that feeding the presence more Goblins would satisfy its appetite for now.
• He Xi told Fivik he wanted to use Telepathic Communication to contact Bruce, and she taught him the spell.
• Fivik explained that Shared Eye was a restricted spell requiring a Skill Scroll and offered to buy one if He Xi paid her.
• He Xi gave Fivik 20 Gold Shields toward the scroll, and she agreed to cover a small difference while insisting he repay her.
• Fivik defended her sweets as necessary Taste Magic Resistance training, then turned around and asked where He Xi had gone.

He Xi, Zoya, and Bruce tested whether He Xi’s magic could create an unusual undead by animating a Goblin. When the Goblin skeleton suddenly grew stronger and ran toward an abandoned settlement, the group followed it to a ruined manor.

• Zoya caught a Goblin, and He Xi used [Animate Dead] to turn it into a skeleton that initially remained still.
• He Xi practiced [Magic Missile] while Zoya trained and Bruce breathed fire near their campfire.
• The Goblin skeleton began running south, and He Xi discovered its level had risen from 8 to 14.
• He Xi, Zoya, and Bruce chased the skeleton for more than ten kilometers into an abandoned village.
• Bruce reported that the skeleton had entered a large house, and He Xi caught up with him near a ruined two-story manor.

He Xi, Zoya, and Bruce searched the ruined manor for the rogue goblin skeleton and found signs that someone had recently lived there. They cornered a starving man in the passage, who begged them not to kill him and offered them his food.

• He Xi, Zoya, and Bruce entered the manor and found the goblin skeleton’s scent stopped in the main hall.
• He Xi examined a family portrait and searched the second floor with Zoya and Bruce before they split up to investigate the manor.
• He Xi found a large, empty bedroom and wondered where the little girl from the painting had slept.
• Bruce detected a human scent on the first floor, where He Xi found a warm fire pit and bones stripped clean of meat.
• He Xi and Zoya followed footsteps through the manor and found a ragged, emaciated man hiding near a small door.
• The man begged He Xi and Zoya not to kill him and offered them the food he clutched.

He Xi questioned a starving vagrant in Shadow Split Manor and learned how the Blood Axe Gang destroyed Shadow Split Town. The vagrant concealed what he knew about the manor’s dangers, so He Xi left for Rose Town to look for an Adventurer Guild commission.

• He Xi offered the vagrant food and water, then asked why Shadow Split Town had been abandoned.
• The vagrant said the Blood Axe Gang had killed the baron and his family, burned the town, and that a bald man with a huge axe had slain the guard captain.
• The vagrant explained that adventurers had later searched the manor and taken what the bandits left behind.
• He Xi questioned why the vagrant stayed and whether he had seen unusual creatures, but the man denied knowing anything and showed obvious fear.
• He Xi gave the vagrant the remaining meat pies and left with Zoya and Bruce to seek information about the commission in Rose Town.

He Xi asked Clara about the commission concerning the Blood Axe Gang’s raid on Shadow Split Town and learned it had already been taken. Clara secretly gave him copies of the commission and the guild’s records, leaving him with details of the manor’s destruction and reports of unexplained nighttime disturbances.

• He Xi visited the Adventurer Guild with Zoya and received a new Black Iron II badge after his contribution reached 114 Silver Scales.
• He Xi asked Clara about the Shadow Split Town commission, and she told him another adventurer had taken it the day before.
• Clara invited He Xi to lunch at The Tasty Rose and secretly handed him a copy of the commission, which sought to investigate Tami’s true cause of death.
• Clara gave He Xi an internal guild record stating that Baron Goderick Shadow Split had died, Jasmine, Vio Bell, and Helena Shadow Split had disappeared, and the case had been closed.
• He Xi read that adventurers had found no useful clues at the ruined manor and that the Black Stone Squad had reported unidentified disturbances there at night.

He Xi asked Clara for more information about the Shadow Split Manor commission and learned that the missing painter Vio Bell had been famous. Clara brought Fei Yangyang, the captain of the last squad to investigate the manor, to tell He Xi what he knew.

• He Xi asked Clara why she had risked breaking guild regulations to help him, and she said she was friends with Karin.
• Clara told He Xi that Vio Bell was a renowned court painter whose disappearance had caused a stir, and that Shadow Split Town was the last place he had appeared.
• Clara offered to summon Fei Yangyang, captain of the Black Stone Squad, whose party had last investigated Shadow Split Manor.
• Zoya cut her mutton into pieces and fed it to Bruce beneath the table.
• Clara returned with Fei Yangyang, who challenged He Xi until Clara warned him to treat her friend respectfully.

He Xi learned from Fei Yangyang that a cursed painting at Shadow Rift Manor had harmed a member of the Black Stone Squad and that the commission concerned the death of Tami, a friend of Jasmine and a student of Vio Bell. He left Clara’s lunch to investigate, suspecting that Barton, the former groom he had met earlier, posted the commission.

• Clara asked Fei Yangyang to tell He Xi what the Black Stone Squad had discovered at Shadow Rift Manor.
• Fei Yangyang explained that Rod had touched a painting, then fainted and developed a fever, and that the squad believed it was cursed.
• Fei Yangyang said Barton had posted the commission to investigate Tami’s death and had acted strangely since the manor’s trouble.
• Clara dismissed Fei Yangyang and reminded him to pay the bill, which he happily treated as a chance to take her out.
• He Xi declined Clara’s soup and left with Zoya, increasing Zoya’s favorability by refusing Clara’s flirtation.
• He Xi wondered whether Barton had posted the commission, and Zoya agreed that it was possible.

He Xi reunited with Barton, the vagrant who had posted the manor commission, and received a diary found inside Shadow Split Manor. The diary began revealing Jasmine’s life at the manor and the Baron’s increasingly threatening behavior.

• He Xi sent Bruce to scout Loris and asked Zoya to support the investigation near the manor.
• He Xi found Barton hiding by the manor’s concealed entrance, and Barton admitted he had posted the commission.
• Barton took He Xi to his home and gave him a leather-bound diary he had found in the manor.
• He Xi read Jasmine’s diary, which described her arrival at the manor, her art lessons with Vio Bell, and the mirror Bell gave her to calm herself.
• Jasmine wrote that the Baron frightened her, made an unwanted advance, and later entered her locked room and attacked her.

He Xi read Jasmine’s diary, which accused Baron Godric of abusing Jasmine and murdering Tami, and learned that Barton was Tami’s father. He questioned whether the diary told the whole truth and ended by asking Barton about the girls’ friendship.

• Jasmine’s diary described her growing fear of Baron Godric, Teacher Bell’s support, and her suspicion that Godric had killed Tami.
• He Xi gave the diary to Zoya and questioned Barton, who admitted he could not read and had heard only a few passages.
• Barton revealed that Tami was his daughter and insisted she could not have drowned accidentally because she was an excellent swimmer.
• Barton struggled to believe the diary’s claims because he thought Baron Godric was a generous man, while He Xi considered whether Godric hid his crimes behind a good reputation.
• He Xi learned that Helena Shadow Split had reportedly come from the royal capital and been an adventurer before marrying the Baron, then asked Barton about Jasmine and Tami’s relationship.

He Xi learned that Barton had received food from skeletons at Shadow Rift Manor and believed Tami’s spirit remained there, strengthening He Xi’s suspicion that a self-aware undead controlled the manor. He hurried there ahead of Loris, only to find the cleric battered and facing a horde led by a giant skeleton.

• Barton told He Xi that Jasmine had been kind to Tami but grew increasingly withdrawn and seemed afraid of Baron Godric.
• Barton confessed that skeletons had secretly left him food for years and said he feared Tami’s soul was trapped in the manor.
• He Xi agreed to investigate and headed for Shadow Rift Manor, suspecting a powerful undead was controlling the skeletons.
• He Xi found that someone had smashed open the manor entrance and realized Loris had forced his way inside.
• A giant skeleton and a horde of undead burst from the manor, while the battered Loris struggled up from the rubble.

Loris invited He Xi and his companions to fight the undead, then admitted he could not hold out when the giant skeleton attacked. He Xi and Zoya helped turn the battle, and He Xi noticed that the giant skeleton fought with skill unlike the other undead.

• Loris formally invited He Xi and his companions to join him in destroying the undead, but He Xi pointed out that Loris needed their help.
• The giant skeleton attacked Loris, and He Xi raised a stone pillar to block its axe long enough for Loris to evade.
• Zoya appeared behind several skeletons and destroyed them while Loris struck the giant skeleton with his holy War Hammer, weakening it.
• Loris charged the giant skeleton again as He Xi observed that its precise combat skills differed from the other skeletons' instinctive attacks.
• He Xi recognized his missing skeleton in the horde and halted it with a command, while he and Zoya helped eliminate the remaining minions.

He Xi and his companions discovered Jasmine’s hidden basement and found a strange hand mirror that seemed tied to her diary. When Jasmine’s resentful ghost appeared, Solace of Home helped He Xi resist her attack, and he reached for his Personal Monster Quick Reference Manual.

• He Xi sent his skeleton deeper into the manor and persuaded Loris to let the group investigate while he fought the giant skeleton.
• He Xi, Zoya, and Bruce followed the skeleton into a hidden basement filled with Jasmine’s belongings.
• He Xi found his missing Goblin skeleton chained and tortured, and realized he could no longer command it.
• Bruce reacted to a black-mist hand mirror, which He Xi recognized as the mirror Jasmine had received from her teacher.
• Bruce’s fireball vanished into the mirror, and Jasmine’s ghost appeared and struck the group with a wave of negative energy.
• Solace of Home helped He Xi resist the fear, and he reached for his Personal Monster Quick Reference Manual.

He Xi identified Jasmine as a ghost and tried to earn her trust so he could resolve her obsession before Loris arrived. After Jasmine warned him to protect a strange mirror, a second spirit resembling Jonathan appeared at the basement stairs.

• He Xi prepared Mage Armor and Magic Missile after recognizing Jasmine as a ghost, but chose to speak with her rather than attack.
• He Xi showed Jasmine her diary and explained that Tami had found peace, easing some of Jasmine’s suspicion.
• Jasmine began to explain what had happened, but Loris shouted from the stairwell as he approached.
• He Xi urged Jasmine to retreat and went to block the entrance; Jasmine warned him that the mirror must not fall into anyone else’s hands.
• Zoya moved toward the mirror, but Jasmine told her not to touch it and asked for the dog to retrieve it.
• A greedy, savage spirit resembling Jonathan appeared at the top of the basement stairs.

He Xi stopped Loris from attacking Jasmine and showed him evidence that Vio Bell, not Jasmine’s father, had assaulted her. Jasmine revealed that the hand mirror controlled her, Vio Bell, Tami, and the skeletons, and Loris recognized it as Elysium’s Mirror of Whispers.

• Bruce snatched the hand mirror as a phantom rushed toward it, and Loris arrived, mistaking He Xi and the others for allies controlled by Jasmine.
• Loris charged at Jasmine, but He Xi used a Grease Spell and Earth Spike Technique to stop him.
• He Xi showed Loris Barton’s diary and explained that he had found the person who commissioned the investigation into Tami’s death.
• Jasmine said Vio Bell had used the mirror to hypnotize her into believing her father had assaulted her, and Loris reacted with shock and outrage.
• Jasmine confirmed that the mirror controlled Vio Bell, Tami, and the skeletons, prompting Loris to identify it as Elysium’s Mirror of Whispers.

He Xi and the others learned that the Mirror of Whispers of Elysium could control its owner and preserve hollowed-out souls, including four souls currently inside it. Bruce revealed that the mirror had tried to tempt him into attacking He Xi, but he had resisted after imagining the food inside it chasing him.

• Loris identified the mirror as a magical item once used by the legendary necromancer Bedaline Quake.
• He Xi's appraisal revealed the fragmentary label [Mirror of Whispers of Elysium (4/7)], and Jasmine warned that the mirror bewitched anyone who tried to understand it.
• Jasmine explained that Vio Bell had been controlled by the mirror and that its imprisoned souls gradually lost their thoughts, becoming puppets that only retained memories.
• He Xi guessed that the mirror could store and deploy souls, and Jasmine confirmed that four souls were inside it.
• Bruce said the mirror had urged him to breathe fire at He Xi in exchange for food, but visions of giant meat pies frightened him into resisting.

Jasmine explained how Vio Bell and Blood Axe Slag died, then revealed that someone had warned her about the attack on the estate. He Xi used Bruce to question Slag’s spirit, who confirmed that Helena had contacted him.

• Jasmine told He Xi that Vio Bell had killed Tami, and that she had used the mirror to kill Slag and bind both spirits to skeletons.
• Loris realized that he had fought Slag’s animated skeleton and boasted that he had defeated the infamous mercenary.
• Jasmine said she wanted revenge for her father and revealed that someone had left a note warning her of the Blood Axe Gang’s attack.
• He Xi suspected Baroness Helena, and Bruce agreed to summon Slag after He Xi promised him meat pies.
• Loris and He Xi failed to get Slag’s spirit to answer until Bruce ordered him to respond to He Xi, whom he called his master’s master.
• Slag told He Xi that Helena had contacted him.

He Xi learned that Helena had hired Slag to kill Vio Bell and Jasmine, but the baron died protecting Jasmine. After Jasmine agreed to question Vio Bell, his spirit revealed his past with Helena and provoked Jasmine's fury.

• Slag said Helena paid him to kill Vio Bell and Jasmine and promised to draw the manor guards away.
• Slag revealed that the baron stopped the attackers and died, allowing Jasmine to disappear; Jasmine learned her father had died protecting her.
• He Xi persuaded Jasmine to let Vio Bell's spirit out so they could learn about Helena and her motives.
• Bruce summoned Vio Bell, who said Helena had been one of his former partners and had later invited him to Shadow Split Town.
• Vio Bell claimed Helena wanted him dead because he had been friendly with Jasmine, and Jasmine's grief and fury erupted.

He Xi stopped Jasmine from becoming consumed by revenge and received the blackwood hand mirror, while Jasmine chose to remain at Shadow Manor. Loris gave He Xi the commission parchment, and He Xi left under the name Galen.

• Jasmine's grief and resentment over her father's death and Helena's betrayal threatened to transform her into an evil spirit.
• He Xi helped Jasmine understand that Helena's betrayal was not her fault, and her hatred began to fade.
• Jasmine gave He Xi the mirror, asked him to punish Helena if he encountered her, and chose to stay at the manor near her father's presence.
• Loris handed He Xi the commission parchment and agreed to explain the case to the Adventurer Guild.
• He Xi left with Zoya and Bruce, telling Loris his name was Galen, while Loris decided he would be the Second Partner of Justice.

He Xi freed Tami and another murdered child, learned more about the soul-stealing mirror, and advanced to Bronze IV after turning in the Shadow Manor commission. He then searched the guild board for a Goblin-related job and found several Bronze-level commissions.

• He Xi extracted the Fear Aura trait from a ghost, learned he could now extract unique skills or knowledge, and left copper nails for Barton after Tami said goodbye to her father.
• He Xi questioned Vio Bell about the mirror, learned Vio Bell had acquired it at an auction and used it to steal souls, then had Bruce return a murdered boy's spirit to freedom.
• He Xi went to the Adventurer Guild, turned in the Shadow Manor commission, and received a Bronze IV badge and his reward.
• He Xi looked for commissions involving Goblins and found postings to drive arrow-spined hedgehogs from an orchard, investigate singing at an old mine, and retrieve a missing millstone.