Chapter Summaries

Aaron and Bruce met Connelly Earse, who explained the Oak Ring Druids and the legacy Bruce’s teacher had left for him. Connelly preached about Mother Nature and showed Aaron a Secret Lore, whose first page startled him.

• Connelly Earse welcomed Aaron and Bruce, recognized Bruce as Clark’s student, and learned that Bruce’s teacher had died.
• Connelly explained that Clark had wanted Bruce to undergo a Historical Retrospection ritual and inherit a place in the Eye of Ancient Meng School.
• Connelly identified himself as a Third Primordial Druid of the Oak Ring and showed how his flesh-and-metal palm could form tools.
• Connelly described Mother Nature, the Oak Ring’s god, and its rival Druid faction’s differing beliefs.
• Connelly opened Secrets of Nature to show Aaron a portrait of Mother Nature, and Aaron was startled by what he saw.

Aaron saw a portrait of Mother Nature and recognized its two faces as Lin and Olivia, leaving him shaken by the possibility that they had become powerful hidden existences. He resolved not to approach them under his true identity and asked Connelly for help finding a Beyonder circle in Plymouth.

• Connelly showed Bruce and Aaron the Secrets of Nature, whose portrait of Mother Nature depicted a goddess with two faces resembling Lin and Olivia.
• Aaron wondered how Lin and Olivia could have survived the ancient upheavals and risen to become hidden existences, while fearing the portrait might be a trap.
• Connelly explained that the portrait showed only one of Mother Nature's many forms, and Aaron waited for danger that never came.
• Aaron decided he would keep his distance from Mother Nature and never contact Lin and Olivia using his true identity.
• Aaron discussed mysticism with Corneli and asked Mr. Ers to recommend a local Beyonder circle in Plymouth.

After leaving Connelly Earse and Bruce, Aaron disguised himself and entered Plymouth, where he began planning how to find housing and investigate the city’s Transcendent organizations. He ended the chapter considering the Investigation General Bureau’s occult connections and the possibility of tracing a Tower-path Non-Human Existence.

• Connelly Earse gave Aaron directions to a secret gathering, and Bruce reluctantly said goodbye to him.
• Aaron left the clock shop, changed his appearance, performed an anti-divination ritual, and safely joined the crowd.
• Aaron entered Plymouth and reflected on the city’s districts, including the hidden Black Queen District controlled by Transcendents.
• At Cat's Eye Cafe in Jeston District, Aaron read international news and planned to find modest lodging and investigate groups such as the Craftsman Brotherhood and Sunset School.
• Aaron considered approaching the Investigation General Bureau, puzzling over its Yao talismans and possible ties to Dawnbreak or another Age Controller.
• Aaron reasoned that Xisthos followed the Tower path and considered using him to find clues about a Tower-path Non-Human Existence.

Aaron entered the Black Queen District, a hidden gathering place for Plymouth’s mysterious traders, through a marked stall door in the Hunter Bar washroom. He identified the hall as the mystical item Halsey’s Moving Castle and learned that its owner could be teleported anywhere in Plymouth at random.

• Aaron reflected on Plymouth’s hardship and visited the Hunter Bar, where he considered becoming a bounty hunter despite his wealth and status.
• Aaron entered the bar’s seventh washroom stall and used a symbol on its door to open a passage into the Black Queen District.
• A masked man welcomed Aaron to the gathering, and Aaron surveyed the hall and its visitors.
• Aaron used his ability to examine the hall and identified it as Halsey’s Moving Castle, a powerful teleportation item with a dangerous effect on its owner.

Aaron explored a hidden-world market in the castle, examined wanted posters, and rejected the dubious wares offered by a black-toothed witch. He bought a collection of spiritual materials from the sisters Lily and Jesita, who appeared delighted by his lavish payment.

• Aaron entered the castle hall and inspected wanted posters for Victor Carlo and Kebo Phil.
• Aaron browsed the market and refused a bark scroll ritual and a book of secret lore offered by a black-toothed witch.
• Aaron considered buying contaminated materials but avoided purchasing too many to prevent attracting attention.
• Aaron approached Lily and Jesita’s stall and selected ores, Spirit Realm creature tissues, and spiritual remnants, including contaminated materials.
• Jesita quoted a price of nine hundred and ninety Gold Pounds, and Aaron paid without haggling.

Aaron rented a stall inside Halsey's Moving Castle and sold a magical pendant to a black-clad man for two thousand pounds. Master Gantis verified the item and asked Aaron about his remaining wares, while the buyer regretted spending his money before seeing them.

• Aaron rented a temporary stall under the name Green Potter and displayed talismans, potions, and three magical items.
• A black-clad man offered to buy Scarlet One's Offering, and Aaron described its powers and need for flesh and blood.
• The man brought Master Gantis to appraise the pendant, and Gantis confirmed its effects matched Aaron's description.
• The man paid Aaron two thousand pounds for Scarlet One's Offering.
• Gantis asked Aaron about the Sun Medal and Shadow Cloak, and the black-clad man regretted having spent his money on the pendant.

Aaron, posing as Green Potter, sold magical items at the market and drew the attention of Gantis and Tasha of the Red Bee. After Tasha secured his agreement to accept a crafting commission, Lily concluded that he and the master craftsman behind him were in danger.

• Lily and Jesita watched Aaron sell his magical items, and Lily realized his wares suggested he had a master craftsman backing him.
• Gantis invited Green Potter to meet the craftsman who made the items, and Aaron agreed to pass along the message.
• Lily warned Jesita that Green Potter’s lack of caution could attract greedy forces, then recognized Tasha of the Red Bee approaching him.
• Tasha asked Aaron to sell her the Sun Medal and Shadow Cloak, but he refused credit and requested gems, spiritual materials, or Secret Lore books in trade.
• Tasha proposed a crafting commission with Mr. Halsey as guarantor, and Aaron accepted.
• Lily pulled Jesita away, convinced Tasha had ensnared Aaron and that the hidden craftsman could also be caught up in danger.

Aaron accepted Tasha’s commission to forge a dagger from a cursed hand, unaware that she and her beast-like accomplice planned to use the material to ensnare him. After identifying the curse at his inn, Aaron recognized Tasha’s malicious intent and prepared to strike back.

• Aaron agreed to craft Tasha’s dagger for a one-thousand-pound deposit and signed an ordinary paper contract.
• Tasha told her beast-like accomplice that Aaron had accepted the commission, and he revealed their plan to exploit the cursed material from ancient ruins.
• Aaron left the Hunter Bar and rented a quiet room at Lockdo Inn without showing identification.
• Aaron examined the hand with Spiritual Identification and found a remnant of Crimson carrying a high-level darkness curse.
• Aaron concluded that Tasha had meant to trap him and resolved to defend himself by striking back.

Aaron forged a cursed mystical dagger called the Crying Blade, using divination to uncover the curse’s origins and turning its influence into part of the weapon. After setting a network of insects to watch for Tasha, he went to sleep, hoping she would come after him soon.

• Aaron used obsidian-like crystals and a withered hand to extract a dark-red crystal, then forged a dagger and fused the crystal into it through a ritual.
• As the hand’s curse began affecting him, Aaron divined its origin in an ancient ruin and discovered a fragmentary Secret Lore called the Blade Ritual.
• Aaron summoned the Spirit of Void, purified the curse into crystals of contamination, and pressed it onto the dagger to complete its enchantment.
• Aaron named the weapon the Crying Blade and noted that its two negative effects included the curse he had deliberately added.
• Aaron released insects from Roberts's Magic Insect Box to scout for Tasha, then washed up and fell asleep.

Aaron tricked Tasha into attacking him with the Crying Blade, reflecting the wound onto her and reclaiming the dagger. Tasha returned to Vulture headquarters with a bleeding wound, while McG concluded the curse had also afflicted the Craftsman behind Aaron.

• Aaron confronted Tasha in an alley and showed her the completed Crying Blade, hiding its Mirror Reflection effect.
• Tasha attacked Aaron with the dagger, but the first injury was reflected onto her palm, leaving it bleeding without end.
• Aaron recovered Crying Blade, and Tasha fled after sending insect-like creatures against him; his Demon Beetles devoured them.
• Aaron collected Tasha's blood to divine her whereabouts and the ordeal ahead, having transferred the curse from an ancient withered palm onto the dagger.
• At Vulture headquarters, Tasha told McG that Aaron had outmaneuvered her, and McG inferred that the Craftsman had also been cursed.

Aaron used a curse carried by Tasha to wipe out Vulture, whose members died from spreading, endlessly bleeding wounds. He recognized the curse could no longer spread after its one use, but planned to clean up before it reached the Lower City or attracted the Investigation General Bureau.

• McG watched Laude apply ointment to Tasha, but wounds appeared on Laude and McG, revealing that the curse had mutated.
• McG realized contact spread the curse, but Vulture members developed wounds after seeing Tasha's bleeding injuries.
• McG killed Tasha and ordered Vulture to purify her, but the curse continued spreading until the members died in a pool of blood.
• Aaron explained that the curse spread through the memory of seeing the wound and confirmed that Vulture had been wiped out.
• Aaron planned to send Auclair to search Vulture's den and clean up the curse's aftermath before it caused wider casualties.

Aaron possessed Auclair to raid Vulture's destroyed headquarters, took its valuables, and burned the site before returning to Halsey's Moving Castle. At the marketplace, he showed Lily the Crying Blade, whose effects left her flushed and collapsed on the ground.

• Aaron possessed Auclair and entered Vulture's headquarters, where he found McG and the other members dead.
• Aaron opened a hidden safe with his freezing power, collected the valuables and spiritual remnants, and took them away in Carnivore's Satchel.
• After Aaron left, flames consumed Vulture's headquarters and its protective concealment broke, exposing the burning building.
• At the marketplace, Aaron heard Beyonders discuss Vulture's destruction and returned to Lily and Jesita's stall.
• Aaron told Lily and Jesita that he had kept the Crying Blade, then invited Lily to try it.
• Lily drew the dagger and suffered its painful sensitivity effect until Aaron touched her hand and took the blade back, leaving her flushed and collapsed.

Aaron left Lily and Jesita, then joined Gantis at an exclusive gathering for Beyonders, where his reputation for destroying Vulture’s group drew attention. He learned the Investigation Bureau had restrained its surveillance of the Oak Ring, and suspected Bruce had escaped trouble because of his own warning.

• Aaron warned Jesita to remain humble, then left while Lily feared he was connected to Vulture’s destruction.
• Aaron displayed three new mystical items at the hall, and Gantis invited him to a more exclusive gathering.
• Gantis led Aaron to a meeting in Mr. Halsey’s castle, where Aaron introduced himself as Green Potter.
• Langley Tannis recognized Aaron’s reputation, and Professor offered to trade for the Blade Secret Rite.
• The gathered Beyonders discussed the Investigation Bureau’s restrained surveillance of the Oak Ring, and Aaron concluded that Bruce had avoided trouble because the Bureau feared him.

Aaron obtained Dream Explorer Solon's Notes from 'Professor' in exchange for one thousand pounds and agreeing to join an expedition to the Fallen City, Diat. Afterward, he took control of Hunter Bar and moved into a villa at 27 Phoenix Street, though he wished it were better concealed.

• At Gantis's gathering, 'Professor' offered Aaron Solon's Notes for one thousand pounds and a condition: joining an expedition to Diat.
• Gantis warned Aaron that Diat was extremely dangerous, and Aaron agreed to the deal and arranged to meet 'Professor' in the Spirit Realm.
• Aaron left Hunter Bar and learned that the bar had become his property through deeds found in Vulture's safe.
• Aaron purchased a quiet villa at 27 Phoenix Street under a false identity and entered it using another human-skin mask.
• Aaron inspected the villa and wished it had a spatial concealment effect like Halsey's castle.

Aaron deciphered Dreamseeker Solon’s notes and used their positioning technique to enter a beginner-friendly region of the Dream Realm. He arrived there with Yanan Town’s Spirit Realm region as his guiding lighthouse.

• Aaron used radiance to decipher the concealed script in Solon’s notes and learned that studying them could contaminate readers.
• Aaron read the notes’ account of Spirit Realm exploration and found a positioning technique based on an eternal reference point.
• Aaron chose the stable, Divine Child-level region corresponding to Yanan Town as his lighthouse for navigating the Spirit Realm.
• Aaron took Green Potter’s appearance, suppressed Auclair’s evil-spirit aura with a talisman, and prepared his spirit body for the journey.
• Aaron used the positioning technique to tear open a passage and entered the Dream Realm.

Aaron explored the Spirit Realm, where he met the young Transcendent Martin and learned how Shadow spells could protect spirits from contamination. He gathered sunflower petals before the landscape shifted into a desert, where a vast sandstorm revealed the image of a falling hawk.

• Aaron arrived in a relatively safe Spirit Realm wetland and met Martin, who had transformed into a sparrow using a Shadow spell.
• Martin explained that physical bodies and animal-shaped spirit bodies offered better protection from Spirit Realm contamination.
• Martin's teacher, a golden-winged hawk, seized him and warned Aaron that other Transcendents were more dangerous than the Spirit Realm.
• Aaron traveled through shifting landscapes, sensing Yanan Town and the wetland as lighthouses before discovering a sea of sunflowers.
• Aaron killed a two-headed snake, collected sunflower petals, and entered a desert where a huge sandstorm showed him a broken-winged hawk falling from the sky.

Aaron encountered Martin and his gravely wounded teacher, Eagle Falcon, in the Spirit Realm and agreed to help in exchange for Martin’s spell knowledge. As black-robed priests attacked, Aaron unleashed his Fourth Primordial power and overwhelmed them, leaving Martin stunned.

• Aaron watched black-robed priests emerge from a pyramid and strike Eagle Falcon’s hawk form with a stone weapon, bringing him down wounded.
• Martin begged Aaron for help, and Aaron agreed to protect him and his teacher in exchange for Spirit Realm knowledge.
• Martin gave Aaron a feather containing the secret art that transformed his spirit body into a swallow.
• Aaron confirmed Eagle Falcon was still alive, then faced the approaching priests as the black pyramid appeared behind them.
• Aaron froze the priests, used his Death decree, and shot the remaining attackers with Radiant Bullets.

Aaron destroyed the pyramid in the Dream Realm and helped Martin escape, then returned to Plymouth and began hiring staff for the Hunter Bar. He hired Isabet and William, who were set to start that evening.

• Aaron made the black-gold pyramid vanish, freeing Martin from the Dream Realm, and advised him to seek help for his teacher’s severe spiritual contamination.
• Aaron returned to 27 Phoenix Street with spiritual crystals and sunflower petals, then meditated until noon.
• Aaron visited the Hunter Bar, confirmed its supplies were restocked, and told Balkin to recruit more staff.
• Aaron wrote letters to Lilliat and Nicholas using a safe-house address as his correspondence location.
• Aaron interviewed Isabet and William, warned them about the bar’s dangers, and offered them jobs starting that evening.

Aaron tested whether Hunter Bar could still serve as a trusted bounty-hunter platform under his ownership. After accepting Carl’s captured bounty, he left Balkin to deliver Baffir and collect the payment.

• Aaron considered how Hunter Bar had earned its profits by offering bounty-hunting jobs and handling rewards.
• Carl entered Hunter Bar carrying the captured Baffir, silenced the crowd, and demanded a drink.
• Aaron told Carl the bar’s code phrase and commission had changed, then paid him twelve pounds for the bounty.
• Balkin and William took the unconscious Baffir to the back kitchen, and Aaron ordered Balkin to deliver him and collect the money.

After a glimpse into William’s difficult life and his secret occult inheritance, Aaron joined the Professor’s team for an expedition to Diat, the City of Fallen. The group prepared to enter the dangerous, unexplored city using a mirror shard as their key.

• Isabet met William after work, and he walked her partway home before returning to his cramped lodgings.
• William opened his family’s ancient Secret Lore, reflected on his exhausting life in Plymouth, and fell asleep without studying further.
• Aaron arranged for Balkin to manage Hunter Bar and later entered the Dream Realm to meet the Professor’s expedition team.
• The Professor introduced Langley Tannis, the Witch Rose, and the Shadow-wielding fighter Alexander to Aaron, whom he identified as Green Potter, a Beyonder of Yao.
• The Professor announced that the team would explore Diat and showed them a mirror shard that reflected the ruined city and served as their key.