Chapter Summaries

Ruger received a half-page from the Notebook instructing him that, if he faced an unresolvable danger or could not wait for the right moment, he could kill the teacher before him and take an unnamed thing from his heart. He continued spending time with his teacher and friends, then returned to his lodgings to order ingredients and Demon Hearts for his spell studies.

• Ruger read the half-page, which said he could obtain an unnamed thing by killing the teacher before him and crushing his heart if he judged the danger or timing required it.
• Ruger's teacher told him not to reveal or show what the page said and left the rest for Ruger to judge.
• Ruger joined his teacher and the others for a meal featuring dishes made from successfully raised insects and seafood.
• Ruger left the Bedroom Space alone and returned to his lodgings to study spells.
• Ruger used his Identity Badge to request ingredients and Demon Hearts, hoping they would help him master a spell and taste the Fine Wine.

Ruger tested his newly mastered Inverted Cup spell on Green, using a wine cup made from a Lesser Demon Heart. Green felt an unusual surge of intoxication and excitement while keeping his reason, leaving Ruger eager to study the cup's effects further.

• Ruger showed Green the unique cup created by his Inverted Cup spell and offered to give it to him.
• Ruger poured Sour Mushroom Wine into the cup while Green negotiated for a collection of several cups.
• Green drank from the cup after Ruger confirmed it was safe.
• Green braced himself against the table, then opened his eyes and released a ripple of mental power while describing how good he felt.

Ruger let Green test Sour Mushroom Wine while casting, and Green used the experiment to seek a promise that Ruger would preserve one of his spells. After their contract was completed, Ruger revealed a magical cup made from a Demon Heart and prepared a drink for himself.

• Green drank Sour Mushroom Wine and found that his mental power felt unusually active, though his Fireballs kept missing their targets.
• Green proposed a wager: if at least five of ten casts hit, Ruger would later tell him the name of his magical creation and allow him to record it.
• Green cast a modified Fireball Spell that produced three fireballs at a time, but none of them hit; Ruger then asked him to take out his contract.
• Ruger caught Green's floating contract and agreed to preserve a spell for him, and the completed contract burned away after recording their agreement.
• Ruger formed a dark green cup from a Demon Heart, making Green realize he had accepted too little in exchange for testing the wine.
• Ruger poured Sour Mushroom Wine into the new cup, added ice, and prepared to drink it himself.

Ruger tested the Inverted Cup and found that cups shaped from different demons gave Sour Mushroom Wine distinct flavors, revealing a new way to perceive demonic chaos. After Green suggested the spell could inspire a new path of training and combat, Ruger tried it while transformed and began shaping a cup from a black Demon Heart.

• Ruger told Green that the spell was called the Inverted Cup and drank first from Green’s cup, then from his own dark green cup.
• Ruger compared the drinks and realized that different demons’ chaos had different flavors and that the spell changed how he perceived them.
• Green said the Inverted Cup could help a Wizard create a new path of training, fighting, or an entire system, and Ruger considered similar possibilities.
• Ruger cast the Miserly Demonfall Spell, drank the rest of his dark green cup, and examined a black Demon Heart from a demon comparable to a Two-Ring Wizard.
• Ruger shaped the heart into a black triangular cup, while Green watched nervously and Ruger struggled to control his exaggerated smile.

Ruger used the black wine cup and Sour Mushroom Wine to intensify his mental power, successfully making the torn Notebook page catch fire by blending the Word of Flame into his laughter. After deciding not to pursue every possible use of the cup, he drank it all and reached the blood-colored river again as he recalled his demon true name character.

• Ruger infused his uncontrolled laughter with mental power and blended in the Word of Flame while sensing for the torn Notebook page.
• Ruger drank Sour Mushroom Wine from the black cup, and the page slowly caught fire.
• Ruger considered the cup’s unusual power and decided to focus on his spell and the Demon Heart, potentially leaving the cup’s study to Wizard Zorn.
• Ruger drained the cup and recalled his demon true name character, causing his sensations and chaotic mental state to recede.
• Ruger saw the blood-colored river again and wept as he felt its vast, warm embrace.

Ruger gazed upon the blood-red river and discovered two more characters of his true name, gaining a new understanding of the demon's heart he lacked. After returning from the vision, he shaped five Demon Heart wine cups for Green as payment.

• Ruger watched the blood-red river and realized that the endless Abyss, rather than the river, amplified the chaos in demons.
• Ruger saw two new characters of his true name appear beside the first and sensed their intimate connection to himself.
• Ruger understood that a demon's heart required more than the right outward shape and could not be replaced by an ordinary lump of flesh.
• Ruger returned to his Kobold form, and Green asked whether the gap between Two-Ring and One-Ring Wizards was so great.
• Ruger shaped five Demon Heart wine cups of different ranks and arranged them on the table to cover Green's payment.

Ruger and Green discussed their experiences with the Divine Object Art summons and realized that the participants were using their regrets to seek something and record it on stone slabs for the Holy Tribunal. They suspected the current pause was a period of preparation before the next round.

• Ruger showed Green the wine cups he had made, and Green tried five of them while wondering how Ruger had recovered from drunkenness so quickly.
• Green described encountering a dying three-ring wizard during his apprenticeship and regretting that the wizard had died after agreeing to give him a spell without leaving it behind.
• Ruger recounted his own experience while avoiding details that might influence Green, and his memories brought to mind the regrets of old Uncle Lunse, Jacksay, and their neighbors.
• Ruger and Green concluded that the summons involved using personal regrets to find something, depict it on stone slabs, and hand the slabs to the Holy Tribunal.
• Ruger reasoned that the break might be a waiting period while the Holy Tribunal's wizards consolidated their gains and prepared stone slabs for the next round.

Ruger tested whether Sour Mushroom Wine could improve his sleep meditation and spent the next six months pursuing meditation, reading, and spell research. He confirmed that a special silver wine cup slightly increased his mental-power growth, while a stronger cup made meditation too difficult.

• Ruger decided he needed to develop a demon heart to strengthen his Demon True Name and count as making progress.
• Ruger drank Sour Mushroom Wine from an apprentice-level cup and successfully entered sleep meditation beneath the Dream Tree.
• Ruger spent six months meditating on schedule while reading, practicing spells, and experimenting with materials for modifying his scales.
• Ruger chose a silver one-ring wine cup for meditation after finding that it boosted his mental-power growth slightly.
• Ruger tried a two-ring wine cup once, but abandoned it because it made entering meditation extraordinarily difficult.

Ruger successfully opened a small storage space inside a scale on his elbow after months of experimentation. He stored his Weighty Book in it and learned that his rest period would end in three days.

• Ruger prepared his elbow scale for a temporary infusion of spatial power, using a magic array and a costly solution.
• Ruger carefully observed the scale’s reactions through his senses and Spirit-Sucker Fur as the solution altered it.
• Ruger continued his work when his summons scroll signaled that his rest period was over.
• Ruger activated the magic array and successfully opened a storage space inside the scale, expanding it until it could hold a shelving unit.
• Ruger tested the space by storing and retrieving his Weighty Book, then read the scroll and learned his rest period would end in three days.

Ruger stepped through a Spatial Gate and struck the stone door of his lodgings, exhausted and unable to remember what had happened during the three days he had meant to spend resting. He suspected the Divine Object Art might have caused the memory loss, but feared his surroundings could be an illusion like the one he had encountered at the Old Lunse Potion Shop.

• Ruger stored the Demon Heart goblets, conscription scroll, a jar containing a soaking stone book, and Sour Mushroom Wine in the scales on his elbow.
• Ruger opened a Spatial Gate and struck his forehead against the stone door, then fell and hit the floor.
• Ruger realized he was in the corridor outside his lodgings but could not recall leaving, returning, or anything that had happened during his planned three days of rest.
• Ruger examined himself and concluded that he was suffering severe physical and mental exhaustion, possibly after another special assignment involving the Divine Object Art.
• Ruger feared his senses might be deceiving him and searched for the Two-Tone Slate, wondering whether it was hidden somewhere in the corridor.

Ruger realized that he had forgotten his entire latest period of rest and suspected a special contract with the Holy Tribunal. After entering his rest space, he checked on his friends and teacher and wondered whether the approaching honored guest and other wizards were facing similar problems.

• Ruger searched the enlarged Old Lunse Potion Shop, then used the Summons Scroll to ease his mental fog and exhaustion.
• After striking the Stone Door, Ruger noticed he had reverted to his kobold form and reread the scroll, whose wording convinced him that he had forgotten an entire period of rest.
• Ruger suspected a special contract had caused his lost memories and worried that an uninvited honored guest was drawing nearer as the intervals between appearances shrank.
• Ruger entered the Bedroom Space to check on his friends and teacher, then wondered how the Path Seeker, Lord Green, and Soldrich were doing.

Ruger found that the Cultivation Area and its inhabitants had been cared for during his absence, and struggled to stay awake as he reunited with them. His teacher followed instructions Ruger had left behind, then brought him to a custom chair where everyone was preparing food for him.

• Ruger saw Little Fairy reflecting on its progress and learned that it had reached the level of a Fourth-Level Wizard Apprentice.
• Ruger inspected the well-kept Cultivation Area and found the magic plants and Legtisa Bugs being tended according to his instructions.
• Ruger approached Immanuel and Strange Hand as they played chess, and Strange Hand ended the game and bowed to him.
• Immanuel told Ruger that he had followed a question and instruction Ruger had left, eating a paper ball when Ruger answered that it was not over.
• Immanuel carried Ruger to Big Silly Hum, Aisijin, Serious Mouse, Strange Hand, and Little Regna, who were preparing food for him.
• Tuzel fitted a crossbar onto the custom chair made for Ruger.

Ruger woke in his temporary quarters after a long, disorienting sleep and found his memory still badly damaged. He discovered a message in his own handwriting saying Green was gone, then sensed an unfamiliar wizard watching him from the corridor.

• Ruger assessed his mental power and realized that memory loss could hinder his progress and alter his destiny.
• Ruger cast Fendim's Flaming Centipede and counted 190 flaming legs, concluding that he had practiced during his previous rest periods.
• Ruger left his quarters and headed toward Green's room to learn who had visited him and what he had traded for his sacrifice.
• Ruger found a message in his own handwriting, written in sea-beast blood, telling him not to look for Green again.
• Ruger wondered whether Green had been eliminated or injured and noticed an unfamiliar wizard watching him warily from the corridor.

Ruger encountered an exhausted wizard in the corridor, confirming that others were also caught in the strange repetition surrounding Green’s quarters. Back in his room, he used the Divine Object Art on a teacup and saw a trace of himself happily talking with a large-headed wizard apprentice he no longer recognized.

• Ruger knocked on Green’s door but received no answer, then met a gaunt wizard who asked whether their situation was real.
• Ruger told the gaunt wizard that, by his reckoning, the events had repeated three times.
• Ruger returned to his quarters and examined the guest’s teacup with the Divine Object Art.
• Ruger saw a brief image of himself talking warmly with a large-headed wizard apprentice, though he could not remember the man.

Ruger wondered about a stranger he had glimpsed befriending in another possible life, then visited the Bedroom Space and learned more about his recovery and the spirit furs. After completing another fur-plucking ritual, he left the Bedroom Space and sensed someone knocking at the Stone Door.

• Ruger considered how he might have become friends with a big-headed stranger in a fleeting glimpse of another possibility.
• Ruger entered the Bedroom Space and met Stray Hair One, who told him he had seen Ruger slumped in a chair twice.
• Stray Hair One said about a year and a half had passed between those sightings, leading Ruger to realize his recovery after the second conscription had taken longer than he thought.
• Ruger and Stray Hair One carried out the Shedding Spell, producing new spirit furs and leaving a large patch of Ruger's belly bare.
• Ruger performed the cheek-to-cheek ritual with the spirit furs, left the Bedroom Space, and sensed someone knocking on the Stone Door.

Ruger received an invitation to a Wizards’ tea gathering but declined, then discovered a woman in his quarters wearing one of his robes. She claimed they knew each other and revealed that he had once deceived the Holy Tribunal, leaving Ruger wary and unsure of his missing memories.

• Four unfamiliar Wizards visited Ruger and invited him to join their mutual aid tea gathering, hoping he might share information as a Regretful One.
• Ruger said he had no useful information to offer, and the Wizards left without him agreeing to attend.
• A tall woman emerged from Ruger’s bedroom wearing one of his Wizard Robes, and Ruger struggled to recall whether they knew each other.
• The woman teased Ruger and said he was a Two-Ring Wizard who had dared to deceive the Holy Tribunal.
• Ruger activated Foul-Smelling Skin while the woman watched him with a smile.

Ruger suspected the woman in the bedroom had trapped him in an illusion, but she treated him like an old friend and honored their agreement to stay inside. He left for the Spell Practice Area, uneasy that his own past actions might have led him into a major deal.

• Ruger tested the room with Ash Bullets while the woman predicted his actions and watched him search.
• Ruger introduced himself with several names, and the woman laughed at his changing identities.
• Ruger claimed his loyalty to the Demon Hunter Wizards and the Holy Tribunal, prompting more laughter before the woman apologized.
• Ruger asked whether they were friends, and the woman agreed while confirming she could not leave the bedroom under their agreement.
• Ruger walked to the Spell Practice Area, and the woman closed the Stone Door behind him.
• Ruger collapsed into a recliner and worried that he might be involved in a major deal.

Ruger realized that he had suffered at least three memory losses after summoning a Divine Object, and that the woman in his Bedroom was connected to the summoning. He confronted her, and she revealed that she had helped trigger the Holy Tribunal’s protective mechanism so the Wizards would forget.

• Ruger pieced together his teacher’s account and the woman’s clues, concluding that he had undergone at least three memory losses and completed four Divine Object Art summonings.
• Ruger searched his storage spaces for records but found nothing, which made him more concerned that he had been doing something forbidden.
• Ruger went to the Bedroom he normally avoided, where the woman opened the door and teased him about recovering faster than before.
• Ruger guessed that the woman was connected to the Wizards’ summoning, then asked whether she had ever slept.
• The woman said Ruger had once begged her not to tell him too much and revealed that she had worked to trigger the Holy Tribunal’s protective mechanism so the Wizards would forget.

Ruger left the woman’s room, choosing not to learn more about their agreement or her abilities, and returned to the Spell Practice Area. He continued to follow the plans made by his past self, then remembered that he had meant to visit Master Soldrich.

• Ruger realized that the woman’s Wizard Robe carried his aura and that her wearing it helped conceal her from the Holy Tribunal.
• Ruger declined the woman’s offer to explain their agreement and left her room.
• Ruger returned to the Spell Practice Area, read Master Benson's Reverie, and decided that changing nothing was safest.
• Ruger considered visiting his big-headed Wizard Apprentice friend, then restrained his thoughts about matters beyond a Two-Ring Wizard’s concerns.
• Ruger remembered Master Soldrich and his earlier intention to see whether Soldrich had experienced the same situation as him.

Ruger read Lord Benson’s experiments on eating Magic Stones and tasting souls, reflecting on what souls revealed about memory and his own lost memories. He decided to avoid Lord Soldrich and the Bedroom Space while he waited for the approaching day and wondered whether his teacher’s merciless teacher would try to restore his memories.

• Ruger read how Lord Benson modified his stomach to live on Magic Stones, though he still needed a potion with meals.
• Ruger studied Benson’s experiments tasting souls and his chart connecting a soul’s flavor to a person’s traits and cause of death.
• Ruger considered the claim that souls did not contain memories, though Wizards could search them for secrets.
• Ruger decided to stay where he was, avoid Lord Soldrich and the Bedroom Space, and wait for the approaching day.
• Ruger worried that his teacher’s merciless teacher might interfere with his lost memories, then poured himself Sour Mushroom Wine.