Chapter Summaries

Ruger and Mona entered the Mushroom Forest and encountered a furious Dragonkin Girl confronting a male Wizard over a large unpaid debt. The Wizard threatened to expose her for breaking their contract, leaving the pair facing off as Ruger and Mona watched.

• Ruger considered the special master-familiar contract created by a veteran Seven-Ring Wizard, which he could only prepare for until he became an Origin Wizard.
• Ruger, Mona, and Zhizhi followed shifting spell fluctuations toward the Mushroom Forest, where a dragon roar and crashing mushrooms signaled a conflict nearby.
• They found a Dragonkin Girl and a male Wizard arguing on a broken mushroom as sap enveloped them.
• The Dragonkin Girl demanded payment of 12,074 standard portions of magic stones, while the Wizard claimed the amount had recently been 12,050.
• The Wizard threatened to spread word that the Dragonkin Girl had broken their contract, and she gripped her Long-Handled Battle Axe in fury.

Ruger and Mona witnessed a Dragonkin Girl confronting the wizard Lawrence over an unpaid debt, and Ruger offered to help for magic stones. After Lawrence explained that an unseen teacher’s guidance had led to a costly experiment and the prospect of becoming a Four-Ring Wizard, the Dragonkin Girl paid Ruger the promised two hundred magic stones.

• Ruger recognized the Dragonkin Girl’s Lower-Tier Dragon Summoning contract and inferred that she and Lawrence had arranged private work outside the Aberrant Dragon Management Association.
• Ruger offered the Dragonkin Girl help for magic stones, and she accepted his offer while Lawrence protested that he could not pay his debt yet.
• The Dragonkin Girl and Lawrence fought, revealing that Lawrence had prepared spells to counter her abilities, while Ruger and Mona watched over tea.
• Lawrence told the Dragonkin Girl that an unseen teacher had guided him, but the resulting experiment had exhausted his funds and left him injured; he said he might soon become a Four-Ring Wizard.
• The Dragonkin Girl put away her axe, approached Ruger, and paid him two hundred standard portions of magic stones.

Ruger realized the guidance Wizard Lawrence received could bring death if Lawrence failed to overcome the problem it addressed. Over a meal, Ruger offered to explain Lawrence’s mysterious souvenir for three hundred magic stones, leaving the Dragonkin Girl to pay after Lawrence accepted.

• Ruger concluded that Wizards who received guidance on a serious impasse risked death if they failed to make progress.
• Ruger invited Lawrence to share meat soup, and the Dragonkin Girl dragged Lawrence over to join them.
• Ruger asked Lawrence whether he had received a badge-shaped souvenir from his teacher.
• Ruger demanded three hundred standard portions of magic stones to explain the souvenir, and Lawrence silently indicated he wanted to hear more.
• The Dragonkin Girl realized Lawrence expected her to pay, glared at Ruger, and hurled the Storage Pocket at him.

Ruger explained that Lawrence’s badge qualified him to take the Demon Hunter Wizard Examination and revealed that his teacher was the legendary Demon Wizard. He then accepted a thousand magic stones to tell Lawrence about a second gift: a merciless spur, leaving Lawrence and the Dragonkin Girl alarmed by his dramatic account.

• Ruger explained that Lawrence’s badge was made from a demon’s curved horn, carried the Holy Tribunal’s recognition, and qualified him for the Demon Hunter Wizard Examination.
• Ruger told Lawrence that many badges of the same origin had appeared throughout history and identified his teacher as the legendary Demon Wizard.
• Ruger asked for a thousand magic stones to reveal something better, while the Dragonkin Girl warned Lawrence not to turn toward her.
• Lawrence gave the Dragonkin Girl a box to hold until he became a High-Rank Wizard, but she returned it and gave the magic stones to Ruger.
• The Dragonkin Girl mentioned a legend that a special dragon had cursed the kobolds, and Ruger asked her about it.
• Ruger called the second gift a precious, merciless spur and began a vivid account that frightened Lawrence and the Dragonkin Girl while Mona struggled not to laugh.

Ruger, Lawrence, Mona, and Yige shared tea and discussed Lawrence’s plans after Ruger’s warning about a coming event. Yige urged them to register Zhizhi and offered herself as a dragon companion, but Ruger and Mona could not summon her because neither had learned Lower-Tier Dragon Summoning.

• Yige told Zhizhi that registering with the Aberrant Dragon Management Association could earn her recognition and help her build a hoard of magic stones.
• Ruger stopped Yige from encouraging Zhizhi to pursue registration and dragon hoards, saying Zhizhi was still a hatchling.
• Lawrence thanked Ruger for explaining the changes in timing and said he would plan carefully for the possibility that the event might happen sooner.
• Ruger and Lawrence discussed uncertainty in their knowledge, exchanged Arcane Imprints, and talked about spells while Yige watched enviously.
• Yige offered to serve as a dragon companion and described her fighting abilities, but Ruger and Mona said they had not learned Lower-Tier Dragon Summoning.

Ruger, Mona, and their companions spent three days with Yige, learning Lower-Tier Dragon Summoning and arranging to hire her for future work before their gathering ended. As they left the Mushroom Forest, Ruger reflected on signs that the Demon Wizard had changed and was increasingly recruiting Wizards in desperate circumstances.

• Yige offered Ruger and Mona her Spellbook for Lower-Tier Dragon Summoning in exchange for their first three hiring commissions after they learned the spell.
• Ruger and Mona quickly mastered the one-ring spell, and Ruger signed a Spell Contract with Yige despite using his own copy of the Spellbook.
• Zhizhi enjoyed Mushroom Slurry, Wizard Lawrence's condition stabilized, and the gathering at the edge of the Mushroom Forest ended.
• Ruger recalled the Sealed Cavern conversation about the Demon Wizard losing control and compared Mona's unusual recruitment as a child with the recent rise in recruits facing hardship.
• Ruger considered Lawrence's reports that Wizards in difficult circumstances seemed more likely to attract the Demon Wizard's favor.

Ruger traveled with Zhizhi toward an abandoned Grotto City while Mona reflected on Prophecy Wizards and explained why she believed Ruger was the person she had sought. The journey continued when Zhizhi struck something and sent a round object flying into the distance.

• Ruger gathered mushroom cultures for experiments and considered spreading magic stones in Zhizhi’s sleeping hollow so she could grow.
• Ruger rode Zhizhi toward an abandoned Grotto City with a working Teleportation Array, following the direction Lord Lawrence had indicated.
• Mona told Ruger she was thinking about her epitaph and recounted a Prophecy Wizard’s joke about writing one before death.
• Mona explained that she had seen Ruger’s dining table as a vortex of fate and believed his presence had set his companions’ extraordinary fates in motion.
• Mona said she hoped Ruger’s vortex would accept her and that she could withstand it, and Ruger joked that he should charge her a fee.
• Zhizhi struck something as she crawled, sending a round object arcing into the distance.

Ruger and Mona found what appeared to be the Dragonkin Girl's severed head and discovered a tiny person inside it. The little person claimed not to know or have harmed the Dragonkin Girl, leaving Ruger poised to question it further.

• Zhizhi collided with a rolling head, and Ruger and Mona recognized the face as resembling the Dragonkin Girl.
• Ruger examined the head and concluded that it was not actually their Dragonkin Girl, though its identity remained unclear.
• Ruger had Zhizhi use Lesser Sharpness to split the head open, revealing a wriggling presence inside.
• A Palm-Sized Little Person emerged from the broken skull, thanked Ruger for saving it, and said it did not know the Dragonkin Girl.
• Ruger questioned the little person about harming his friend, and it denied knowing or hurting her while offering compensation.
• Mona tossed the little person a handkerchief, which it wrapped around itself as a robe.

Ruger negotiated shelter for the tiny Wizard in exchange for the complete method of cultivating something inside his head. The tiny woman accepted and climbed into a cloth pouch Ruger had prepared as her new place to stay.

• The tiny woman explained that a death-triggered spell had regrown her inside her modified skull, leaving her weak and unable to control her emotions.
• She said she had disguised herself as Ruger’s friend while she was in a hazy, partly unconscious state, and Mona examined the shattered skull fragments.
• Ruger demanded the complete cultivation method as payment for shelter and warned that he would abandon or hand her over if she became dangerous or troublesome.
• The tiny woman agreed to his conditions, and Ruger made a cloth pouch for her to use as a bedroom, study, or meditation room.
• The tiny woman climbed into the pouch as Mona watched and realized Ruger had tied it to fit over Zhizhi’s horn.

Ruger traveled through the Mushroom Forest with Zhizhi, Mona, and the recovering little Wizard, while weighing new risks as a Three-Ring Wizard. He spotted a golden-furred Underground Beast and discovered that his enhanced perception of special fur was linked to his Divine Temple, Stray Hair One, and his identity as the God of Spirit Fur.

• Ruger confirmed that the little Wizard could not yet cast spells and carried her in a cloth bag as she recovered.
• Ruger tested the little Wizard's emotional stability during the journey, and she grew calmer and more curious in Mona's care.
• Ruger noticed a golden-furred Underground Beast and directed Zhizhi to pursue it through the lively Mushroom Forest.
• Ruger cast a Fireball Spell near the beast and saw its golden fur dim the firelight, confirming that the fur was special.
• Ruger connected his heightened ability to sense special fur to the completed Divine Temple in the Bedroom Space, Stray Hair One's progress, and his identity as the God of Spirit Fur.

Ruger and Zhizhi hunted an Underground Beast in the Mushroom Forest, and Ruger discovered its golden fur retained some of its light-related properties after being cut away. They continued their journey with the severed tail stored away, while the little person tasted Sour Mushroom Wine and grimaced.

• Ruger used a Light Spell with Zhizhi’s help to strike the Underground Beast, whose golden fur flashed brightly enough to knock insects from a mushroom.
• The exhausted Underground Beast collapsed while eating the fallen insects, and Ruger cut off a section of its tail before it fled.
• Ruger tested the golden fur with spells and found that it still reacted to light, though its effect had weakened.
• Ruger dried and stored the tail, drank Sour Mushroom Wine, and continued riding Zhizhi with Mona and the little person.
• Ruger spilled wine onto the little person’s mouth, and she swallowed it before grimacing at its sour taste.

Ruger, Mona, and Zhizhi continued racing through the vast Mushroom Forest and found an abandoned mushroom cottage that might have belonged to the tiny woman. She did not recognize its red mushroom, and the group approached to investigate.

• Ruger realized that after eight days of travel, his group had likely reached the Mushroom Forest’s depths rather than its edge.
• Ruger reflected on the tiny woman’s fragile condition and the toll her attempt to escape death had taken on her.
• Zhizhi faltered when Ruger noticed a solitary mushroom cottage surrounded by overgrown, once-ordered gardens.
• Ruger woke the tiny woman and asked whether the cottage was her home.
• The tiny woman said she did not know how long she had been dead and had never seen the red mushroom.
• At Ruger’s instruction, Zhizhi approached the cottage.

Ruger and Mona explored a neglected but well-kept Mushroom House deep in the Mushroom Forest. They found its Wizard owner dead at the dining table, and Ruger paid his respects before turning toward the stairs.

• Ruger and Mona approached the Mushroom House with Zhizhi and the tiny creature hidden in a sack.
• Ruger noticed an alchemical flower above the door and entered the house with Mona.
• Ruger and Mona found a skeleton in gray robes seated at the dining table with a utensil in hand.
• Ruger concluded that the Wizard had accepted death without worrying where it came and bowed to him.
• Ruger turned toward the staircase leading to the upper floor.