Chapter Summaries

Medivh completed the first Mage Tower’s Elemental Energy Pool by using four elemental Skeleton Mages as living Elemental Pedestals, then began converting more High Tower Castles to defend Kurd City. He left the chapter preparing to strengthen the city’s forces before war swept through the Odyssey Region.

• Medivh assigned four exceptional Green Bone Skeleton Mages of Earth, Ice, Fire, and Wind affinities to serve as Elemental Pedestals.
• The Skeleton Mages balanced the energy from the Four Elemental Realms and completed the Elemental Furnace and Energy Pool.
• Bishop Moana investigated the energy fluctuation, recognized Medivh’s unconventional method, and chose not to interfere.
• Medivh began converting the No. 1 High Tower Castle into a Mage Tower and planned further towers across Kurd City.
• Medivh relaxed with Lingxi, Suixin, and other Cat-girl Warlocks, then resumed resurrecting Purple Bone Skeletons to prepare Kurd City for war.

A severe drought left much of the Odyssey Region facing famine, while Kurd City remained secure under Medivh’s infrastructure. Envoys from Pioneer Territory arrived hoping to trade buried bones for food, leaving Medivh to consider their request.

• The Tiger-Cat Men, Fox-people, and Rabbit-people praised Medivh for keeping Kurd City safe from drought and famine.
• Medivh returned to No. 1 High Tower Castle after its renovation, where four former Elemental Pedestals served as its Tower Spirits.
• Medivh’s skeleton forces grew substantially, while his mental power approached the bottleneck of the intermediate second rank.
• The drought dried rivers and streams across the Odyssey Region and drove Drifter Strongholds and Alien Tribes toward famine.
• Leaders from Pioneer Territory sent envoys to Kurd City to offer bones from Ancient Battlefield Ruins in exchange for food.

Medivh traded grain for bones from the Pioneer Territory, helping ease the drought while replenishing Kurd’s supplies, and advanced his magic with the Mage Tower’s aid. As Kurd’s Mage Skeleton Corps developed an improved Curse of Weakness spell, Medivh began studying it while continuing to prepare for future dangers.

• Medivh arranged for a skeleton caravan to buy bones from the Pioneer Territory in exchange for grain vouchers, and the trade spread among drifters and Alien Tribes during the drought.
• The Gewalt Federation's Noble Council praised Medivh for relieving the Pioneer Territory's famine without disrupting the Great Expansion plans.
• Using bones from Tiger-Cat Transcendent Warriors, Medivh broke through to Tier 2 Mid-Level Mage, then resurrected a Mid-Grade Purple Bone Spirit Cat Warlock and several Blue Bone Gnoll Skeletons.
• The skeleton caravan bought bones across the Pioneer Territory and offered grain vouchers that could be redeemed in Kurd or used to arrange grain deliveries.
• The Skeleton Mage Corps presented Medivh with an improved Curse of Weakness spell, and he accepted the Spell Inheritance Scroll and began studying it.

Audrey advanced to Second-Rank Knight, and Medivh gave her the jewelry box his mother had meant for his future wife. He discovered the Hobarton Family’s Knight Breathing Technique inside, then spent three months building up Kurd City’s forces as the Great Expansion approached.

• Audrey found Medivh paying respects to his parents and learned that his mother had left a jewelry box for his future wife.
• Medivh gave Audrey the box, and she found a Magic Imprint of the Hobarton Family’s Knight Breathing Technique inside.
• Medivh placed the imprint behind his father’s memorial tablet and accepted that he had chosen to build his own foundation apart from the Hobarton Family.
• Audrey congratulated Medivh again on her advancement, and Medivh returned to the Alchemy Room to assemble Resurrected Skeletons.
• Over three months, Medivh greatly expanded his skeleton forces while the High Tower Castles in the First, Third, Fifth, Seventh, and Ninth Districts became Mage Towers linked by underground Magic Circuits.

Kurd City grew in population and military strength as Medivh strengthened its defenses against looming threats. The chapter ended with the Spirit Cat Tribe training a new generation of warriors while Black Furnace Fortress supplied the city with metals and weapons.

• Kurd City expanded to five rings and counted over 280,000 members of its four vassal tribes alongside 91,540 skeletons, including 680 Second-Rank Bone Spirits.
• Medivh stayed within the Mage Towers' defensive range because he feared assassination, and he assessed the city's defenses against attackers of different ranks.
• Xiao Hua showed her father He Chuan that she had become a Spirit Rune Warrior and vowed to fight for Kurd City after graduating from the academy.
• He Chuan promised Xiao Hua his longbow as a gift once she completed her training, as the Spirit Cat Tribe's Transcendent system grew stronger under Medivh's protection.
• Black Furnace Fortress developed as an underground mining and manufacturing center, sending Transcendent metals and weapons to Kurd City while keeping Goblins in sealed breeding pens.

Medivh oversaw bone processing and a major excavation that promised to strengthen Kurd City before receiving Agansa, who demanded the city and was refused. After leaving, Agansa questioned why Amanda had not attacked Medivh and claimed he could afford to offend the Hobarton Family.

• Medivh learned that archaeologists had uncovered an Ancient Battlefield from an Orc Empire invasion and went to direct the excavation himself.
• Medivh celebrated the haul of Blue-Grade bones, which could provide Kurd City with new combat skeletons and fill gaps in its forces.
• Agansa arrived in Kurd City and demanded that Medivh become his subordinate and hand over the city, claiming Medivh could not protect it during the Great Expansion.
• Medivh refused Agansa and ordered him escorted out, while Amanda declined Agansa's order to teach Medivh a lesson.
• After leaving the city, Agansa asked Amanda why she had not acted and said he had investigated Medivh's Hobarton Family background.

Knight Amanda explained that Agansa could not claim Kurd because Medivh belonged to the powerful Hobarton family, while Medivh anticipated the coming Great Expansion. After the Marquis of Loran told Draven that Medivh ruled Kurd, the Hobarton family prepared to support him and Draven ordered Wester to join the expedition.

• Knight Amanda told Agansa that the Hobarton family descended from the powerful Loran family and warned him that Medivh had backing he could not challenge.
• Agansa abandoned his plan to take Kurd and sought refugee bandits to recruit, while Medivh focused on preparing Kurd for the coming conflict.
• The Marquis of Loran informed Draven that Medivh was Kurd's lord and urged the Hobarton family to prepare for the Great Expansion.
• Draven learned that Medivh had made a name for himself in the Odyssey Region and decided the family would support him.
• Draven ordered Wester to join the Hobarton family's preparations, holding him accountable for his actions against Medivh.

Medivh strengthened Kurd City's skeleton forces and began expanding once the Great Expansion drew attention away. When Earl Hobarton arrived with family elders, Medivh challenged Wester to a duel, and the elders watched as Medivh's Magic Shield revealed he had advanced to Second-Rank Mage.

• Wester brooded over losing his chance to succeed Earl Hobarton, while Draven and the other elders judged him unfit to lead the family.
• Medivh expanded Kurd City's skeleton forces, ordered archaeological work suspended when the Great Expansion began, and withdrew his troops to the city.
• The Gewalt Federation's Pioneers advanced into the Wan River territories as the Orc Empire and Bear-man Empire sent troops southward.
• Medivh ordered Kurd City's expansion north and east, then agreed to receive Earl Hobarton and the family elders when they arrived in late February.
• Medivh challenged Wester to a duel, and Wester accepted, intending to spare him if he won.
• Draven chose to watch the duel, and the elders realized Medivh had advanced to Second-Rank Mage when his Magic Shield withstood the clash.

Medivh defeated Wester in their duel and killed him, settling their personal grudge. The Hobarton elders accepted Medivh's decision to establish a new family while urging him to keep the Loran Hobarton surname.

• Wester charged Medivh, but Medivh weakened him with a Curse of Weakness and overpowered him with his sword and Earth Battle Qi.
• The elders praised Medivh's skill, and the Second Elder refused to interfere because Wester had crossed the line by plotting against him.
• Medivh drove his sword through Wester's heart without giving him a chance to beg for mercy.
• The Hobarton elders agreed to let Medivh establish a new noble family and reminded him that his surname was Loran Hobarton.
• Medivh agreed to remember his ties to the Hobarton Family and accepted that they could remain allies.

Medivh explained Kurd City’s ambitious expansion plans, and the Hobarton Family agreed to support his campaign as he built an independent future. The chapter left Medivh supplying Knight Hilda’s troops with whatever equipment they requested.

• Medivh showed Draven and the Second Elder Kurd City’s plans to expand north and east, and the Second Elder approved his ambition and promised the family’s support.
• The Second Elder assigned Hilda to command Hobarton troops alongside Medivh’s army and told Audrey that the Newint Family would not trouble her.
• Medivh quartered the Hobarton troops in the Twenty-First, Twenty-Second, and Twenty-Third Ring Districts and arranged meals for them.
• Medivh took Hilda to the armory, where she requested twenty thousand sets of armor and continued asking for supplies.

Medivh welcomed the Hobarton Family's soldiers to Kurd City by supplying them with twenty thousand sets of fine iron armor, weapons, and a generous meal. After showing Hilda and the elders around his well-defended city and affirming that the Cat-men were his subjects, he left Hilda wondering what Audrey was secretly preparing for her.

• Medivh surprised the Hobarton Family elders by delivering twenty thousand sets of fine iron armor and explaining that Kurd City's specialized skeletons made military equipment in abundance.
• Medivh welcomed the newly arrived soldiers with new equipment and lunch, and Hilda and the elders praised the generous meal.
• Medivh toured Kurd City with Hilda and the elders, who saw the Cat-men's loyalty to him and the city's formidable defenses.
• A Hobarton clansman noted that foreign slave girls were valuable, but Medivh insisted the Cat-men were his people and would not be sold.
• Audrey measured Hilda and asked about her combat preferences, then gave the notes to Master Iron, who promised a result the next day.

Medivh welcomed the Hobarton Family soldiers with new equipment and a lavish banquet, winning their support with roast lamb, craft dark beer, and strong white liquor. After the feast, Count Draven and the knights admired Kurd City's glowing fluorspar streetlights, impressed by Medivh's wealth and generosity.

• Medivh served the Hobarton Family soldiers a whole roast lamb feast, and Knight Hilda announced when they could begin eating.
• Count Draven praised Medivh for the soldiers' new equipment and banquet, and the soldiers' morale rose as they became willing to fight for him.
• Medivh brought out craft dark beer and distilled white liquor, which Count Draven and the elders enjoyed and asked to take home.
• Knight Hilda allowed the soldiers to drink because the Orc army remained across the Fu River, while she kept a clear head.
• After the banquet ended with Vanilla Ice Cream, Count Draven and the knights saw Kurd City's fluorspar streetlights and marveled at Medivh's extravagance.

Medivh continued strengthening Kurd City while Audrey revealed the Fire Sparrow Armor she had commissioned for Hilda. Hilda accepted the gift and tested the armor, then learned Audrey avoided wearing hers at home because it was inconvenient with dresses.

• The Hobarton Family's knights agreed to help defend Kurd City and protect Medivh, with plans to evacuate him if danger grew too great.
• Medivh returned to the Underground Warehouse to refine Resurrected Skeletons and pursue the power needed to create top-grade Purple Bone Skeletons.
• The Earth-type Skeleton Mage led workers in expanding Kurd City toward the Wan River and Hengduan Mountains, while Hobarton soldiers rested and visited the Light Church for treatment.
• Audrey unveiled the Fire Sparrow Armor she had commissioned for Hilda, explaining it was a gift to thank the Hobarton Family for its support.
• Hilda tried on the Magic Rune Armament and found that it fit perfectly, but Audrey told her she could keep wearing it.
• Audrey explained that she did not wear her own Magic Rune Armor at home because it was inconvenient with dresses.

Hilda showed off the Fire Sparrow Armor Audrey had given her, revealing to Draven and the Hobarton knights that Kurd City could produce Magic Rune Armaments. Draven confronted Medivh, convinced the gift meant he was courting Hilda, but Medivh denied it, and Draven ended the debate insisting he would wear the armor himself if given the chance.

• Draven criticized Hilda's thin Fire Sparrow Armor until she activated it and revealed it was a Magic Rune Armament.
• The second elder and several knights rushed over, and Hilda explained that Audrey had given her the armor and that a mage in Kurd City had made it.
• Draven visited Medivh and accused him of giving Hilda the armor because he had feelings for her.
• Medivh explained that Audrey had given Hilda the armor as thanks and that it was a women's suit made for her.
• Draven argued that a Magic Rune Armament would benefit him regardless of its style and complained that Medivh had not given him one.

Medivh agreed to arrange Magic Rune Armaments for his grandfather and the Second Elder, learning more about the Second Elder’s loyalty to his missing father, Rhine. When an Orc Assassin Squad attacked Kurd City, the Second Elder revealed his Tier 5 strength and destroyed them, leaving Medivh and the Hobarton elders ready to stand against the coming war.

• Medivh promised to have a men’s Magic Rune Armament designed for his grandfather and agreed to arrange one for the Second Elder.
• Draven explained that the Second Elder had mentored Rhine and still searched for him because no body had ever been found after the Magic Beast Tide.
• Draven again suggested Medivh and Hilda would make a good couple, but Medivh said they could discuss it later.
• The Second Elder confronted an Orc Assassin Squad attacking Kurd City while Medivh and Draven watched from the High Tower.
• Draven told Medivh that the Second Elder had advanced to Tier 5, and the Second Elder defeated the Orc assassins and reduced them to ashes.
• The Second Elder called on Medivh to buy him a drink, and Medivh agreed.

Medivh arranged free custom Magic Rune Armaments for Draven and the Second Elder in gratitude for the Hobarton Family’s support. Hilda inspected Kurd’s defenses and tested its Skeleton Warriors, while the chapter ended with the Hobarton soldiers discovering that even Kurd’s farmers could match them in a fight.

• Medivh had Draven and the Second Elder measured for custom Magic Rune Armaments, which Draven explained were free payment for protecting Kurd.
• The Second Elder asked Draven about Medivh and Hilda, and Draven said they had misunderstood the meaning of Hilda’s Fire Sparrow Armor.
• Hilda asked Audrey to coordinate joint drills, and Audrey showed her the Skeleton Legion’s defensive positions and firepower.
• The Hobarton officers challenged Kurd’s Skeleton Warriors to spar, but Audrey’s elite Green Bone Skeletons easily defeated the Hobarton soldiers.
• Hilda tested more Green Bone Skeletons and found them all near-knight level, while Draven’s soldiers struggled to beat the White Bone Skeleton farmers.

Medivh’s Skeleton Legion revealed its formidable Transcendental Skeletons when Hilda sparred with them, showing Kurd City’s defenders how much strength the Legion could provide. Hilda and the Hobarton Legion continued training against the skeletons, improving their combat skills while the skeletons learned to fight more effectively.

• Audrey brought out the Skeleton Legion’s Transcendental Skeletons, and Hilda challenged twelve Minotaur Skeleton Warriors to a sparring match.
• Hilda activated her Fire Sparrow Armor, but Medivh sent in Mage Skeletons whose totems and curses overwhelmed her, so she conceded.
• Hilda kept sparring with the Transcendental Skeletons, learning to resist their taunts and curses until she could escape their encirclement.
• Medivh adjusted the skeletons’ tactics, and the skeletons learned to seize openings instead of relying only on attrition.
• Inspired by Hilda, the Hobarton Legion began sparring with skeletons, and its combat strength continued to rise.

As Kurd City expanded and prepared for war with the Orcs, Medivh concentrated its defenses around the central district and used the outer districts to slow attackers. After Orc squads failed to breach the city, Medivh reassured the Light Priests about his unconventional necromancy and presented custom Fierce Lion Battle Armor to two Hobarton elders.

• Medivh completed Kurd City's walls around 368 planned districts and focused Mage Tower upgrades on the central defenses while garrisoning the Eighteenth Ring District against Orc attacks.
• The Skeleton Legion and Hobarton Legion guarded the walls as Orc elite squads and assassins attacked Kurd City, but the defenses stopped them before they could reach the central district.
• The Second Elder gave Medivh the Orc assassins' corpses, and Medivh had them dried and stored with the other Orc bodies, easing Bishop Moana and the Light Priests' suspicions.
• The Skeleton Mage Corps developed the Fierce Lion Magic Rune Armament, and Medivh presented custom battle armor to Count Draven and the Second Elder.

Medivh strengthened Kurd City’s defenses while preparing for war, then welcomed Philemon and Philip of the Loran Family, Kurd City’s new neighbors. Philip arranged to hire Medivh’s skeletons to build a flood-safe settlement, and Finel discovered that Kurd City had a Mage Tower.

• Medivh spent his time resurrecting skeletons and reinforcing Kurd City’s defenses as early April arrived.
• Philemon and Philip arrived with a human army, and Draven and Medivh’s Skeleton Avatar welcomed them to Kurd City.
• Philemon explained that Marquis Loran had drawn the poor, flood-prone territory beside Kurd City to develop.
• Philip asked to hire Medivh’s skeletons to build a settlement before the rainy season, and Medivh agreed.
• Finel sensed an Elemental Array in Tower No. 24, and Medivh confirmed that Kurd City had a Mage Tower.

Medivh agreed to let Finel and the Loran Family mages rent rooms in Tower No. 9 in exchange for teaching his Skeleton Mages basic magic. As Philemon praised the Hobarton Family’s Mage Tower, Draven concealed that Medivh had designed it himself.

• Finel asked Medivh to rent rooms in Tower No. 9, and he agreed after setting rules for the Loran Family mages.
• Medivh planned to trade access to the tower for lessons that would fill gaps in his basic magic knowledge.
• Medivh's Skeleton Avatar escorted Finel and the other mages and apprentices to Tower No. 9 and assigned them rooms for cultivation and experiments.
• Finel recognized that basic magic was public knowledge, while advanced studies required graduation and formal membership in the Academic School.
• Philemon praised Draven for the Hobarton Family's apparent Mage Tower, and Draven said nothing, leaving him unaware that Medivh had devised it himself.