Chapter Summaries

Ruger and Mahama were escorted to the Vango Family castle after Ruger subdued Ge Cili, where they met the family head, Phyllis. Phyllis welcomed them and offered Ruger access to the library and laboratories, while Varin remained by his side.

• Ge Cili confronted Dalton Vango and tried to keep Ruger and Mahama from leaving with him.
• Ruger used the Weighty Book and a red-black chain to capture Ge Cili, then agreed to go see Varin.
• Dalton introduced himself and took Ruger, Mahama, and Immanuel by carriage to the Vango castle.
• Phyllis welcomed Ruger and Mahama, then offered Ruger free use of the castle's library and laboratories.

Ruger and Mahama visited Phyllis’s castle in an insect nest, shared a meal, and chose a laboratory and library for their use. In the library, Immanuel warned Ruger that he might one day become invisible to him or be forgotten, and Ruger settled in to explore the vast collection.

• Phyllis welcomed Ruger and Mahama to her castle and served them an elaborate meal of insect dishes.
• Phyllis said she might soon be unable to enjoy the food, prompting Dalton Vango to react with surprise.
• Mahama requested a laboratory for Spell experiments, while Ruger chose a library.
• Ruger reflected on his ability to subdue a Three-Ring Wizard and noticed Varin’s mixed expression at their arrival.
• Immanuel appeared in the library and said Ruger might someday no longer see him or might forget him.
• Ruger brought out his Old Recliner and settled between the bookshelves to explore the library.

Ruger read about Kseim, a Wizard whose resonance with dragons grew through the grief of killing his dragon companions, and learned about related Resonance and Empathy Wizard paths. After finishing the book, Ruger noticed Lady Phyllis entering the library.

• Ruger picked a book at random and read The Dragon's Lament.
• The book recounted how Kseim developed powerful Resonance Spells by killing his dragon companions and resonating with their laments.
• Kseim killed his oldest Dragon Beast companion, whose final lament pushed his understanding of resonance to a new height.
• Ruger learned that Kseim became a legendary Resonance Wizard and read about the related path of the Empathy Wizard.
• Ruger put the book down, searched the library for his teacher, and noticed Lady Phyllis walking between the bookshelves.

Varin described the prosperous Insect Sea Domain and explained how the Vango Family operated, including its wizard apprentices and divided bloodlines. She revealed that her actions had left the family with only three three-ring wizards, while the four-ring wizard’s fate remained unknown.

• Varin joined Ruger in the Library, and they shared fruit tea as they discussed the Insect Sea Domain.
• Varin described the Domain’s cities, farming, insects, fighters, and trade, praising how carefully the region had been developed.
• Varin explained that wizard families with Wizard Cities recruited many apprentices of weak aptitude to keep those cities running.
• Varin told Ruger that the Vango Family had two hundred and seventy wizard apprentices but only three three-ring wizards left, and that the four-ring wizard’s whereabouts were unknown.
• Varin explained how the Vango Family’s Main House and branches changed over generations as bloodlines mingled and gifted outsiders joined the core.

Phyllis explained the Vango Family’s choices for wizards who wished to leave and revealed her plans to strengthen the family and support Varin. She asked Ruger to help stabilize the family, and he accepted access to its books while requesting more secluded collections.

• Phyllis told Ruger that the Vango Family had two Three-Ring Wizards, one of whom was largely occupied with his own affairs.
• Phyllis described the contracts and choices available to wizards who left their families, then revealed that the family’s only Four-Ring Wizard had returned under such a contract.
• Phyllis explained that neighboring Cavern Domains threatened the Insect Sea Domain and that she hoped to make the Vango Family a source of support for Varin.
• Phyllis asked Ruger to help her handle outside provocations and offered payment, including the possibility of marriage.
• Ruger declined marriage and asked instead for access to the family’s secluded book collections, while Phyllis promised him another gift.

Ruger studied the Vango Family’s Library and reflected on Varin and Phyllis’s different attachments to their family. He discovered an unconventional, incomplete Spellbook that used guidance and deliberate omissions to help readers create their own versions of a spell.

• Ruger considered how Phyllis had sought Mahama’s help on Varin’s behalf and why Varin might still care about the Vango Family despite resisting her fate.
• Ruger read about insects and the spirit of all things, finding ideas that echoed his own views about spells and spell models.
• Ruger reflected on the Library’s collected books as traces of the Vango Family’s history and suspected Mahama was close to becoming a Two-Ring Wizard.
• Ruger found an imitation Spellbook made by a Wizard who had failed to join the Knowledge Temple and realized it contained genuine but incomplete spellwork.
• Ruger saw how the book guided readers toward creating distinct spells and understood it as the dissenting Wizard’s mark on the Wizard world.

Ruger and Mahama discussed the Savens Family’s withdrawal from the Insect Sea Hunt and Voyage and Phyllis’s plan to invite them to a public contest instead. The contest could buy the Vango Family time while concealing the disappearance of its Four-Ring Wizard, but Ruger doubted the Savens Family would let them control the situation.

• Ruger considered taking a spellbook from the Library after finding a spell he wanted to learn.
• Mahama told Ruger that the Insect Sea Hunt and Voyage had been canceled after the Savens Family surveyed the Insect Sea and withdrew.
• Ruger and Mahama suspected the Savens Family had either backed down or gained enough information to act with confidence.
• Mahama explained that Phyllis had invited the Savens Family to compete along an Insect Sea route ending at a special Arena, with a voyage and four Wizard duels.
• Ruger recognized that the contest could buy the Vango Family time and hide the disappearance of its Four-Ring Wizard, but worried the Savens Family might not cooperate.

Ruger sent Big Guy to spar with Lord Dalton while he stayed in the Library, where he discussed origin power with Immanuel. Immanuel explained what the Supreme Council had revealed and speculated about the nature of the fifty-nine kinds, leaving Ruger pondering their connection to the creation of worlds.

• Ruger suggested that Lord Dalton accompany Big Guy to the Spell Practice Ground so Big Guy could test his new self, and Big Guy left to meet him.
• Alone in the Library, Ruger practiced the Grey Bullet Spell and reflected that his power suited decisive fights better than friendly sparring.
• Immanuel joined Ruger and explained that the Supreme Council had identified fifty-nine kinds of origin power and that only origin power could truly harm nightmare demons.
• Immanuel shared rumors that origin power might consist of the materials needed to create a world, while stressing that the Supreme Council had not confirmed them.
• Ruger asked whether ordinary Fireball and Light Spells were needed to create worlds, and Immanuel dismissed ancient deities' creation stories as fabricated legends.
• Ruger asked what Immanuel had been doing, and Immanuel said he had been reading books that reminded him of interesting things.

Ruger considered the mystery of Immanuel’s identity, then learned that the Vango and Savens Families had replaced their planned voyage with a twenty-match contest that concealed a struggle for power. While the families prepared their Wizard Apprentice selections, Ruger continued reading and gathered meat worms and supplies to surprise Aisijin and the others.

• Ruger asked Immanuel whether he remembered why he had become this way, but Immanuel said he did not know what he truly was and was not strongly driven to find out.
• Mahama told Ruger that the Savens Family had accepted the Vango Family’s proposal but replaced the Insect Sea voyage with twenty contests between Wizards from both domains, with deaths still permitted.
• Ruger concluded that the contest only disguised the Savens Family’s intentions and that they would attack the Vango Family if it showed signs of decline, regardless of the contest’s outcome.
• The Vango Family began selecting ten Wizard Apprentices in cities across the Insect Sea Domain, with the finalists set to compete in Moonworm City.
• Ruger continued reading in the Library and received meat worms, rearing instructions, and supplies to prepare a surprise for Aisijin and the others.

While reading in a Vango Family Library, Ruger and Immanuel were drawn into a high-grade Soul-Eater Book’s final use, a magical banquet that Wizard organizations used to settle disputes. The book’s spirit presented a meal shaped by trust and sacrifice, leaving Ruger and Immanuel trapped at the table with mysterious dishes before them.

• Ruger chose the larger, eclectic Library and found a dusty book titled "Chiesa's False Banquet" wedged behind a bookshelf.
• As Ruger read the book’s account of a final banquet, a figure appeared before him and he found himself seated at a dining table opposite Immanuel.
• Ruger and Immanuel discovered that both of their plates were empty and marked with a silvery-white sheen, while a strange presence spoke of trust and sacrifice.
• Ruger restrained himself from casting a spell when he noticed Immanuel examining the plate and sensed a ripple of mental power.
• Ruger asked the hazy figure where they were, and it explained that it was the spirit of a high-grade Soul-Eater Book created by the Soul-Eater Wizard.
• The book’s spirit said its final-use banquet was an elegant form of Wizard dueling, but that this meal was a unique contest of trust and sacrifice.

Ruger and Immanuel were drawn into the Soul-Eater Book’s meal, where Immanuel willingly accepted sacrifice, but the ritual instead strengthened them both. After the book’s spirit vanished, Immanuel explained that he had chosen to risk himself because he believed he was a false version of himself.

• The book’s spirit explained that Ruger and Immanuel had entered the meal through their mutual consent and warned that they had to eat or be eaten.
• Ruger asked Immanuel if he could eat him, and Immanuel agreed, causing the ritual to begin.
• The meal ended without Immanuel being consumed, and both he and Ruger gained a small amount of mental power as the book’s spirit vanished.
• Ruger found that Chiesa’s False Banquet had crumbled away, leaving its outer cover, and asked Immanuel about the Soul-Eater Wizard and the book.
• Immanuel said he had willingly risked himself because he was false and believed sacrificing himself for a real student was the rational choice.

Ruger read about a Wizard who had built her career around Foul-Smelling Skin while a young Wizard Apprentice secretly visited his Library. Phyllis told Ruger that the Vango Family’s contest against the Savens Family would begin soon in Moonworm City, with the Wizard Apprentice matches held first.

• Ruger read a semi-autobiographical account of a Wizard who perfected Foul-Smelling Skin and Air Armor.
• Little One secretly entered the Library, practiced a tiny Light Spell, and hid among the shelves when Phyllis arrived.
• Phyllis told Ruger that ten Wizard Apprentices had been selected to represent the Vango Family in the contest against the Savens Family.
• Phyllis explained that the contest would take place in Moonworm City and that the Wizard Apprentice matches would be held on the first day.
• Phyllis reminded Ruger to stay in good condition and left after assuring him that the Vango Family would flourish under her leadership.

Ruger comforted Marasi Vango after her brother died in the contest, then joined Mahama at the dueling ground as the Vango Family prepared for the Two-Ring Wizard matches against the Savens Family. The earlier matches had caused heavy losses, and Ruger expected his and Mahama’s unfamiliarity to their opponents to give the Vango Family an advantage.

• Ruger found Marasi Vango crying in the Library over her brother’s death and let her read and grieve without worrying about dirtying the book.
• The Vango Family lost six of its ten Wizard Apprentice matches, with one contestant killed, then lost three of five One-Ring Wizard matches, with two more deaths.
• The Two-Ring Wizard matches were postponed for a day so the Vango Family could hold funerals for the three dead contestants.
• Ruger and Mahama discussed how the Savens Family knew the Vango Family’s Wizards well, while their own unfamiliar faces might surprise their opponents.
• Ruger and Mahama arrived at the dueling ground, where the Vango Family and the Savens Family had gathered for the three Two-Ring Wizard duels.

Ruger watched a formal duel between a two-ring wizard from the Vango Family and one from the Savens Family, after the gathering framed the fight as a demonstration of friendship. The Vango wizard cut his opponent in half, but the fallen wizard transformed into a strange scarlet table whose pulsing vessels captivated the victor.

• Ruger observed the uneasy gathering and joked with Mahama and Big Guy about drawing the Savens Family's attention.
• A speaker announced that two-ring wizards would duel to demonstrate friendship between the Cavern Domains and test their younger wizards.
• A sharp-eyed two-ring wizard from the Vango Family stepped forward, followed by a smiling, scarlet-skinned wizard from the Savens Family.
• The Vango wizard transformed into an insect-like form and sliced open his opponent's belly, making the fat wizard topple backward.
• The fallen Savens wizard's body unfolded into a scarlet round table with vessel-like patterns and a tea set, and the Vango wizard stopped to stare at it.

Ruger watched the Crimson Round Table defeat a Vango Wizard, then saw Mahama kill a Savens Wizard before entering the contest himself. He introduced himself under a false name and used the Weighty Book to kill Vaxlim; Aize; Savens instantly.

• The Vango Family's Two-Ring Wizard reached for the Crimson Round Table and its pot, but the table drained and transformed him before he collapsed near death.
• The crimson-skinned fat Wizard withdrew, and Mahama defeated the female Savens Wizard by pounding the ground until blood seeped from beneath it.
• Ruger stepped forward before the Savens Family chose an opponent, then gave the false name Ruger; Vango to Vaxlim; Aize; Savens.
• Ruger summoned a chain from the accumulated malice between them and struck Vaxlim's head away with the Weighty Book.

After Ruger’s victory, a Three-Ring Wizard from the Savens Family praised the Vango Family’s hopes for renewal and left without challenging him. Ruger returned to the castle with Phyllis, Varin, and Mahama, where he chose the Library over a celebratory banquet and considered sitting out the remaining Three-Ring bouts.

• A Three-Ring Wizard from the Savens Family approached Ruger, but Ruger’s joking challenge led the Wizard to withdraw and wish him luck in guiding the Vango Family to greater heights.
• The Savens Family departed, and Phyllis took Ruger, Varin, and Mahama toward the castle in her alchemical carriage.
• Varin told Ruger that his teacher and Lord Dalton would compete in the final Three-Ring bouts.
• Phyllis offered to hold a celebratory banquet, but Ruger and Mahama showed little interest, so she decided not to hold one.
• Ruger said he preferred the Library and decided he would likely wait there for the results of the remaining bouts.

Ruger returned to the Library and reunited with Immanuel before being summoned to a gathering after the Vango Family's Three-Ring Wizard duels. The matches left the families tied, and the Savens Family demanded a final contest between Four-Ring Wizards as an imposing old wizard arrived.

• Ruger realized he had not seen Immanuel for some time, returned to the Library, and found his teacher sitting beside him.
• An attendant summoned Ruger to the family gathering, where he learned that Varin and Dalton Vango had won their duels.
• Dalton explained that his opponent had deliberately conceded after a minor injury, leaving the Savens and Vango Families tied at ten victories apiece.
• Phyllis told Ruger that the Savens Family had proposed a final contest between Four-Ring Wizards.
• An old Four-Ring Wizard entered the hall, released a surge of Mental Power, and fixed his gaze on Phyllis.

Ruger observed Phyllis welcome Normanu Vango, a Four-Ring Wizard and former Vango Family member who had returned as a Leaver. As Normanu reminisced in the side hall, Ruger considered the family contracts that had brought him back and continued eating pastries.

• Ruger noticed that the newcomer focused on Phyllis and watched Dalton react with confusion, suspecting the man was a powerful wizard.
• Phyllis thanked Normanu for answering her call and introduced him as a Four-Ring Wizard of the Vango Family.
• Ruger inferred that Phyllis had contacted Normanu through the family’s Leaver contracts and reflected on how those contracts protected the family.
• Jillian and the others bowed to Normanu, while Ruger joined them after finishing another pastry.
• Normanu said he had not returned in a long time and surveyed the side hall as Ruger watched him and kept chewing.

With Lord Normanu Vango’s arrival securing Phyllis’s position, Ruger returned to the Library while the Vango Family prepared to address its internal problems and continue the delayed showdown with the Savens Family. He began reading a book about an unusual wizard path that transformed temporary spell slots into permanent ones.

• Normanu Vango told Phyllis that she had not met the conditions for removal as family head and urged her to accept that the weakened family could afford to be broken further.
• Phyllis kept the showdown with the Savens Family scheduled for twenty days later, though Normanu’s arrival meant she no longer needed to delay it further.
• Ruger returned to the Library after the guests departed, while Phyllis kept Varin at the Vango Family’s home.
• Mahama took Dalton Vango to the family’s spell practice grounds so he could hone his newly solidified spells.
• Ruger began reading “Benson's Spell Fantasies and Beautiful, Tough Scales,” which described a wizard path that transformed temporary spell slots as its practitioners advanced.

Ruger read about Benson’s costly, ultimately abandoned experiments and hid the dangerous book in his Bedroom Space before falling asleep. He awoke to an indistinct visitor whose glittering eyes examined him as he found himself unable to move or breathe.

• Ruger read how Benson pursued bizarre Dragon Bloodline experiments, eventually creating a pink scale that held a spell but shattered whenever he used it.
• Ruger decided the Vango Family’s detailed book on Benson’s failures and soul implantation was too dangerous to leave out, so he stored it in his Bedroom Space as payment.
• Ruger settled into his Old Recliner and fell into deep, dreamless sleep while wondering whether he would dream of Benson.
• Ruger awoke without knowing when he had stirred and sensed a silent figure standing beside his recliner.
• The visitor’s glittering eyes examined Ruger as he became unable to move his neck or breathe.