Recaps

Sylutia pursued five Blood Clan raiders who attacked the Ninth Train and stole Blazing Sun Essence Crystals. She awakened the royal Blood Clan ability True Crimson Blood, killed all five, and wondered how she would explain what happened when she returned.

• Five Blood Clan members ambushed the Ninth Train, wounded its guards, broke the seals, and stole forty crates of Blazing Sun Essence Crystals.
• Sylutia and her team pursued the raiders, but Sylutia continued alone while Master Ge Zhen stayed to protect the train.
• Sylutia fought the five Fifth Order Blood Clan members and used True Crimson Blood to suppress their powers and transform her Aspect Power.
• Sylutia killed all five raiders, then worried about how to explain their deaths when she returned.

Sylutia returned safely to the Ninth Train after defeating five Blood Clan members, while the crew assumed she had escaped them and chose not to question her. She shared Kubo’s restorative pie with injured Inspection Department members, then went to sleep still unsure how to explain what had happened.

• Sylutia caught up with the Ninth Train, and Master Ge Zhen and the crew welcomed her back and praised her bravery.
• Amisha examined Sylutia, confirmed she was uninjured, and comforted her before Cheris brought her dinner.
• Sylutia ate Kubo’s Hero’s Triumphal Pie and felt its effects strengthen her recovery and Breathing Technique.
• Sylutia shared portions of the pie with the injured Inspection Department members, helping them recover.
• Sylutia returned to her room and fell asleep, still unable to tell the crew that she had defeated all five Blood Clan members.

At Hulan District, Sylutia learned that fighting and a mass evacuation had left tens of thousands of people stranded in the snow, and Master Ge Zhen refused to divert the Ninth Train to save them. Before the train departed, Sylutia organized a plan to guide the survivors toward the North Wind Defense Line and secured their cooperation with a blood oath and a promise to help them return home someday.

• The Ninth Train stopped at Hulan District, where Master Ge Zhen learned that the local leaders and Mages had fled after fighting over food left the district’s elderly, injured, and weak without supplies.
• Master Ge Zhen ordered the train refueled and declined to take in the roughly fifty thousand survivors, while Sylutia and Amisha witnessed their desperate condition.
• Sylutia found Elder Hemo and proposed making flatbed carts and leaving powerful machines to pull the survivors toward the North Wind Defense Line; Master Ge Zhen gave her one hour to prepare.
• Novaton and the other engineers built carts, Amisha arranged medicine and food, and Sylutia summoned local leaders to explain the plan and urge them to stop fighting.
• Sylutia showed the locals her Devil Creature, marked a route through the snow with a beam, and sent Flying Birds to guide and protect them.
• The survivors swore a blood oath to cooperate, and Sylutia promised to fight for their chance to return home if they reached the North Wind Defense Line.

Amisha comforted Sylutia over her decision to force the locals to follow her plans, telling her not to demand perfection of herself. Sylutia then revealed she had recovered the stolen Blazing Sun Essence Crystals and killed all five Blood Clan attackers, leaving Amisha astonished at her strength and potential.

• Sylutia asked Amisha whether helping the locals had been naïve, and Amisha took her to the infirmary for a private conversation.
• Amisha explained that Sylutia’s concern for others made her doubt herself, but that difficult situations sometimes required force and could not be solved perfectly.
• Amisha reassured Sylutia that she had done nothing wrong by using her abilities to help the locals and should not be bound by ordinary people’s judgments.
• Sylutia thanked Amisha and admitted that she had tracked down the escaped Blood Clan members the previous day.
• Sylutia revealed the recovered Blazing Sun Essence Crystals and five blood-red gemstones, proving she had killed all five attackers.
• Amisha marveled that Sylutia had accomplished this as a Fourth Order and wondered whether she could become the heir who would transform the Mage Alliance.

Kandra had only nine hours to activate the North Wind Defense Line before a massive storm threatened the Alliance’s northern districts, while the Ninth Train still had 920 kilometers to travel. Novaton and Sylutia set out in a Sixth Order war machine to obtain fuel, leaving the train to race onward toward Kandra.

• Kiran learned that the Third Train had reached Kandra, but the western trains were destroyed and the Second Train was delayed, leaving only nine hours to activate the defense line.
• Ge Zhen’s crew learned they had eight hours to cover 920 kilometers, and Novaton explained that the train could not accelerate further without more fuel.
• Novaton proposed sending a specialized Sixth Order war machine to Golani to retrieve fuel, and he chose Sylutia to assist him.
• Sylutia agreed to the mission, and the engineers assembled the war machine as the mages disembarked.
• The machine transformed into a Furnace Chariot and raced along the rails toward another route.

Sylutia and Novaton secured Charcoal Bricks from the people of Golani for the Ninth Train’s mission to replenish the North Wind Defense Line. After repairing a remote communications tower, Sylutia flew through the storm and caught up with the train, where Cheris and the others welcomed her back.

• Sylutia and Novaton arrived in Golani, where the mayor rallied the townspeople to load hundreds of tons of Charcoal Bricks onto the Chariot.
• Sylutia learned that a nearby monitoring tower had stopped communicating, and she agreed to repair it while the others returned to the train.
• Sylutia flew to the tower, replaced its communications equipment, installed a Fire Seed, and restored the connection.
• After contacting the train crew, Sylutia flew above the clouds to recover her strength and pursued the train through the storm.
• Sylutia landed on the train, and Cheris and the others wrapped her in blankets and carried her into the warm carriage.

The Ninth Train arrived at Kandra with its cargo of Blazing Sun Essence Crystals, which the city’s personnel loaded into the great furnace to power the North Wind Defense Line. Sylutia and the crew were finally able to rest as Anvis welcomed them, and the defense system began to awaken.

• The Ninth Train entered Kandra and unloaded its Blazing Sun Essence Crystals into the enormous furnace.
• Kandra’s mages installed the crystals in the main furnace and six smaller furnaces, while the train crew went to rest.
• Anvis introduced himself to the crew as Sage Kiran’s student and one of the six people overseeing Kandra.
• Anvis told the crew that all three trains on the western route had been lost and the Second Train on the eastern route had been delayed, making the Ninth Train’s arrival vital to the North Wind Defense Line.
• After the furnace was ready, Anvis left to oversee its activation, and gold-red energy spread from Kandra as the giant fans along the defense line began turning.

Kiran and Ge Zhen activated Kandra’s Core Furnace to power the North Wind Defense Line against the approaching continent-spanning storm. At full power, the line formed a towering wall of hot air that held the freezing storm at bay.

• Ge Zhen led Sylutia and the others to the Core Furnace, where Blazing Sun Essence Crystals fueled its molten basin and sent energy through pipes to the defense line’s turbines.
• Kiran ordered the furnace output raised from 12% to 35%, and the wind tunnels began drawing in air to form a barrier that weakened the approaching cold front.
• As the line reached 70% capacity, Kiran ordered the furnace to run at full power, and a pillar of fire rose above Kandra.
• The Core Furnace contained its blazing gas within a crystal barrier and sent surges of power through the turbines as the storm struck the defense line.
• The defense line’s wall of hot air held back the storm, turning icy currents that broke through into boiling steam.

After the storm eased, Sylutia explored Kandra and learned about the city’s people, markets, and Fire Seeds. When she returned to the dining hall, she witnessed a fight between the First and Second Train groups over the delay that had nearly prevented Kandra from restarting its furnace core, then was summoned to join the masters.

• Five days after the storm began to subside, Sylutia left her room and explored Kandra’s lower and commercial districts.
• Sylutia visited a shop selling supernatural materials and industrial goods, where she examined Fire Seeds and learned about their importance and scarcity.
• Sylutia returned to the dining hall and saw Commander Edrei and the First Train group fighting with members of the Second Train group over the route delay.
• Master Heeden and the other train leaders stopped the brawl and reprimanded those involved.
• Master Ge Zhen called Sylutia over to join the masters, and she approached them and introduced herself as Hedra.

Sylutia joined the masters for a meal, where they learned about her studies and gave her several valuable gifts. After the storms subsided, she set out with Novaton, Amisha, and others to inspect the North Wind Defense Line, and the train emerged onto the protected grasslands.

• Sylutia answered the masters’ questions about her background and studies, and they shared stories from their own youth.
• Master Ain gave Sylutia a Redfish Airship, and Master Wenersha, Master Heeden, and Master Ge Zhen each gave her a Fourth Order item.
• After the storm ended, Novaton invited Sylutia to accompany an inspection trip to the North Wind Defense Line, and she agreed.
• Sylutia packed her clothes and snacks, then joined Novaton, Amisha, and several physicians aboard a small train departing Kandra.
• Novaton explained the history and construction of the northern defense line as the train traveled through its passage.
• The train emerged from the city wall, revealing green grasslands where Grey-Mane Orcs herded livestock.

Sylutia explored the North Wind Defense Line and learned about the Grey-Mane Orcs’ lives beneath its shelter. After watching two youths spar, she treated Kara’s infected eye before leaving with the train for its next stop.

• Sylutia walked through the defense wall, observed the Grey-Mane Orc herders, and learned from an orc auntie about their sheltered lives and customs.
• Kara and Uya fought with wooden sticks, and Uya won after striking Kara across the face.
• Sylutia examined Kara’s swollen eye, identified an infection, and gave him medicine with instructions for treating it.
• Sylutia said goodbye to the orcs and left with the train, while the children watched her go and talked about visiting the southern cities.

Sylutia spent a peaceful evening with her companions beneath the stars, sharing food and watching the Orcs dance around the bonfire. As she drifted to sleep, she wondered what kind of life and pursuits she would choose after seeing so many different ways of living.

• Sylutia joined the traveling companions for a barbecue beside the train, while Hedra served grilled meat and Amisha drank beer.
• Amisha, tipsy beneath the stars, said she wanted to escape her duties and live somewhere new where she could sleep and eat without being asked to work.
• Sylutia ate grilled meat and drank a little beer, then sat beside the sleeping Amisha and watched the gathering.
• Several Orcs danced by the bonfire, and Sylutia politely declined an invitation to join them.
• Sylutia reflected on the different joys and ambitions people found in their lives, then yawned and fell asleep at the table.

After returning to Kandra, Sylutia learned that tens of thousands of people from Hulan District had survived their trek to the North Wind Defense Line, and she helped them find work. Just as she expected to resume her journey, she heard that Master Ge Zhen was assembling a team to hunt the Plesiosaur blocking the western railway.

• Sylutia returned to Kandra after spending five days traveling alongside the train and learning about Orc herders’ lives.
• Survivors from Hulan District told Sylutia that around thirty thousand of the more than forty thousand who set out had reached the North Wind Defense Line.
• Sylutia reunited with Elder Hemo and the survivors at a defense line node, where they thanked her for helping them endure the journey.
• Sylutia spent two days arranging simple jobs for the survivors through workshops and merchant associations in Kandra.
• Sylutia learned that Master Ge Zhen was organizing a team to hunt the Plesiosaur that had cut off the western railway line.

A special train carried elite fighters toward the western line to slay the Plesiosaur, while Master Ge Zhen taught them ancient dragon-slaying secret arts. As the train continued toward the battle, Sylutia studied the difficult techniques and tried to reconstruct their principles.

• The Alliance Council gathered seven masters, twenty-four Fifth Order experts, hundreds of Fourth Order elites, and twelve Sixth Order war machines aboard a train bound for the Plesiosaur.
• Master Ge Zhen explained the history of legendary dragon-slaying weapons and introduced the secret arts Bloomthorn Holy Sword: Tuqietika and Eye-Piercing Spear: Xuedelazi.
• Master Ge Zhen taught the fighters substitute spells that strengthened their weapons against Dragon Scale and improved their resistance to draconic pressure.
• The passengers devoted the journey to studying the ancient knowledge as the train sped toward the dragon.
• Sylutia repeatedly wrote and mentally reconstructed the secret arts, deepening her understanding of their difficult principles.

Sylutia and the Mage Alliance prepared to fight the Plesiosaur, then attacked it with war machines and a spell led by Master Ge Zhen. The projected holy spear Blooddraz pierced the dragon’s eye and skull, and the Plesiosaur collapsed into the mire.

• Sylutia met Vincent, who explained that the Plesiosaur was still sleeping in the mire and that the Alliance was preparing war machines.
• Sylutia and the others assembled fortifications, trenches, and airships around the muddy lake.
• The airships awakened the Plesiosaur, and the war machines opened fire as it fought back with its roar, dragonfire, and massive waves.
• The Plesiosaur melted one war machine and battered several others, while the remaining machines continued attacking and the masters prepared a spell.
• Master Ge Zhen and the other masters summoned a projection of Blooddraz, which pierced the Plesiosaur’s eye and skull, sending it crashing into the lake.

The Masters defeated the Plesiosaur and chose to capture it for research rather than kill it. As they transported the weakened dragon by train, Sylutia studied its abilities, helped care for it, and received a bottle of dragon blood.

• Holy Spear Blood Draz pierced the Plesiosaur's eye and skull, leaving it gravely wounded but alive.
• Master Heeden, Master Ain, and the other Masters chose to capture and restrain the Plesiosaur, then treated it and hauled it from the mud.
• Sylutia analyzed the dragon and discovered its rare talents, Fate Card, and powerful abilities.
• The Masters loaded the Plesiosaur onto a platform towed by a train and repeatedly weakened it with secret arts when it struggled free.
• Amisha enlisted Sylutia to help care for the dragon, and Sylutia received a bottle of pure dragon blood during a bloodletting session.

As the train carried the wounded Plesiosaur south, Sylutia reflected on how memories and past pain had shaped her, then played a flute that soothed the dragon. Five days later, the train entered the western hill country as its crew discussed the Plesiosaur’s future.

• The mages studied the Plesiosaur, stopped draining its blood, and learned from Master Ge Zhen how a Sixth Order dragon’s soul and memories differed from those of ordinary beings.
• Sylutia reflected on her past-life anxieties and how growth had changed her relationship with painful memories.
• Sylutia played a flute from fragments of a melody she remembered, and the Plesiosaur listened before settling into calmer sleep.
• Five days later, the crew discussed the crowds, researchers, and possible taming that might await the Plesiosaur in The Alliance.
• The train entered the western hill country as rain began to fall over the mountains.

The Plesiosaur escaped its restraints and fled through the rain as Sylutia worried that the Masters’ pursuit would let it recover. After the Masters nearly killed it with summoned creatures and the Spear of Shattered Pupils · Blooddraz, the wounded Plesiosaur reached a lake, regained its strength, and turned the storm against its pursuers.

• The Plesiosaur burned through its cables and fled the train, while Master Ain and the other Masters pursued it.
• The Plesiosaur used the Tide Mist Stone to conceal itself and escape, but the Masters dispersed the mist and summoned powerful creatures to trap it.
• The Masters’ projected holy spear pierced the Plesiosaur’s neck, but it dragged itself to a lake and submerged as another spear struck the water.
• Sylutia warned Master Ge Zhen that the Plesiosaur’s aura had changed, but the Masters hesitated to abandon their pursuit.
• The Plesiosaur summoned a vast storm, blasted the Masters with its breath and lightning, and forced them to flee as it began hunting them.

Sylutia distracted the rampaging Plesiosaur long enough for the masters to escape, then fought it with the dragon-slaying sword Tuchitika. She left the Plesiosaur fatally cursed and watched it fall into a mountain gorge, where it lost consciousness.

• Sylutia proposed drawing the Plesiosaur away while the masters fled, and Master Ge Zhen agreed and gave her protective magic items.
• The masters disrupted the storm and summoned Astral Wanderers to distract the Plesiosaur before scattering to safety.
• Sylutia conjured the sacred sword Tuchitika and lured the Plesiosaur into pursuing her through the storm.
• Sylutia dodged the Plesiosaur's attacks, learned its rhythms, and cut its back with Tuchitika, inflicting a curse that drained its strength and blood.
• The Plesiosaur's storm subsided as it weakened, and it fell into a mountain gorge, where it lost its sight and consciousness.

Sylutia recalled receiving a jade pendant from Princess Azure Slipper, which carried an unknown agreement and the Emerald Dragon’s favor. She used an Emerald Dynasty secret art to form a contract with the dying Plesiosaur, and the Hour Emerald Dragon confirmed that the previous agreement remained in effect.

• As a child, Sylutia met Princess Azure Slipper, who gave her a jade pendant representing a promise and agreement.
• Years later, Sylutia remembered the pendant’s connection to the Emerald Dragon and the secret arts of the Eastern Continent while facing the dying Plesiosaur.
• Sylutia absorbed the Plesiosaur’s curse with her holy sword and fed it Blood Currants to keep it alive.
• Sylutia performed the Spring Verdant Bamboo dragon contract, invoking the Hour Emerald Dragon’s recognition.
• The Hour Emerald Dragon consented to the contract and noted that Sylutia was still alive and the previous agreement remained in effect.

Sylutia soothed the wounded Plesiosaur, accepted one of its treasures, and sealed it in the Picture Book before the Mage Alliance could find it. Several days later, she reunited with friends at Thetis Academy and shared a meal as the storm season eased.

• Sylutia fed the exhausted Plesiosaur Blood Currants and played a flute to heal its hidden wounds and calm it.
• The Plesiosaur offered Sylutia its treasures, and she chose the Ancient Book bearing patterns like those on [Melancholy Praying in the Lake].
• With the Plesiosaur's cooperation, Sylutia sealed it into a card as [Storm Dragon] and flew away before dawn.
• The Mage Alliance failed to locate the Plesiosaur, archived its case, and prepared for the next storm; in July, the North Wind Defense Line handled the second wave better.
• At Black Rose Palace, Sylutia cooked lunch with Camilla for Lovier and Aurora, who enjoyed the dishes while spending time with her Shadow-Walking Beast.

Sylutia spent her holiday reading about the Eastern Continent and reflecting on how her blessings and loving upbringing shaped her desire to protect the world. She decided that becoming a hero who saved the world was something she genuinely looked forward to.

• Sylutia read about the Eastern Continent's Dragon Lantern Festival and the Emerald Forest Immortal Garden's history of creating an elixir of immortality.
• Sylutia considered the many ways people could extend their lifespans and recalled receiving Ayalani's blessing of eternal youth.
• Sylutia reflected that people often acted from pain, while happiness could go unnoticed until it was lost.
• Sylutia decided that a life should pursue what it loved and that she ought to protect the beautiful world that had given her so many blessings.
• Sylutia imagined becoming a great hero who saved the world and felt excited by the thought.

Sylutia unsealed Melancholy Dancing Under the Moon, a holy scripture of the Silver Radiance Church, and studied its rituals and account of how transcendent beings reached the Seventh Order. She hoped the church’s lost inheritance might help her develop the World of Shadows, while reflecting that she would likely pursue the path of mastering a specialized field.

• Sylutia deciphered the seal on the ancient tome from the Plesiosaur’s treasure vault and revealed Melancholy Dancing Under the Moon.
• Sylutia learned that the tome contained rituals, clues to the Hazy Moon Saintess Class, and a protection ritual that could establish a stronghold in the World of Shadows.
• Sylutia realized she had found two of the Silver Radiance Church’s holy scriptures and considered how recovering its remaining inheritance could aid the World of Shadows.
• Sylutia read the tome and learned that Seventh Order advancement required a miracle, which could come through an Hour’s favor, mastery of a specialized field, or a world-changing feat.
• Sylutia recalled that her mother, Xuelin, had likely reached the Seventh Order through specialized mastery and concluded that she would probably follow the same path.

As food shortages threatened stability across the Mage Alliance, Da Vinci assigned Sylutia to become deputy to Master Segna, the tower-guarding mage of Mishir District. Sylutia prepared to travel there with a team from the Inspection Department, aware that the assignment could lead to her succeeding Segna and considering a future visit to Meteor Lake.

• Students discussed rising food prices, shrinking harvests, panic-buying, and the coming Season of Sinking Fog, while Sylutia worried that famine could empower radical factions.
• Da Vinci told Sylutia that the Academy had appointed her deputy to Master Segna in Mishir District and explained the responsibilities of a tower-guarding mage.
• Da Vinci said that if Sylutia earned Segna's approval, she could succeed him, despite being only Fourth Order and despite five earlier candidates having failed to satisfy him.
• Sylutia prepared for a stay of more than a year, selected twenty Inspection Department members, and learned about Segna's long service and plans for retirement.
• Cheris brought the assembled team to Sylutia, who asked them to dress less conspicuously for the journey to Mishir District.
• Seeing her team disguised as the companions of a merchant's young lady, Sylutia remembered how long she had been away from Meteor Lake and considered returning to visit.

Sylutia learned about the twenty Mithril Clock elites assigned to help her, then set out with them for the Mishir District. The Academy Dean explained to Da Vinci why Hedra had been sent to succeed Master Segna and revealed Hedra’s remarkable crafting ability, leaving Da Vinci to understand the weight of the Dean’s expectations and the Alliance’s responsibilities.

• Da Vinci introduced Sylutia to twenty experienced Mithril Clock elites, and she memorized their names and specialties before leaving for the Mishir District the next day.
• After Sylutia departed, Da Vinci reported to the Academy Dean, who said Hedra cared little for fame and wealth and was not driven by ambition.
• The Academy Dean explained that Master Segna had built Mishir District’s sculpting and machinery industry and struggled to find a successor capable of preserving his life’s work.
• Da Vinci questioned whether Hedra could succeed Segna because she lacked apparent experience in mechanical manufacturing and sculpting runes.
• The Academy Dean revealed that Hedra had crafted a perfect Fourth Order construct while at Second Order, learning Composite Runes and finishing the work in one week.
• The Academy Dean said the Mishir District assignment would force Hedra to understand the Alliance’s industrial system, then explained to Da Vinci the burdens borne by the Alliance’s highest leaders.