Chapter Summaries

The witch doctors successfully hatched and educated the first elf, then began developing more embryos while Nesta sought a way to transform existing trolls. In the north, they discovered a Hornhoof shaman could use Arcane Arts and resisted interrogation, so Azshara prepared a hunting festival to draw the alliance leaders into the mountains.

• The witch doctors opened the eggshell, and the young elf awakened, learned to speak, and began attending school alongside troll children.
• Nesta ordered a thousand new embryos cultivated and kept natural troll reproduction as a free choice while he searched for a way to transform adults.
• At the northern fortress, Isa Tusk and the other witch doctors exposed Hatib’s ability to use Arcane Arts, but he refused to cooperate even under torture and threats.
• Nesta prioritized obtaining knowledge about the Spirit of the Ancestors, and Azshara set out to devise a way to obtain it while preserving the headquarters’ standing.
• The witch doctors announced a hunting festival for the Three Alliances’ clans, and Azshara secretly brought sixty Black Blade-Tusk Beasts to the Valley Outside the Mountains.

The Tusk Tribe used the Hornhoof People’s hunting festival to capture twelve elites and extract their ancestral knowledge, while the Rune Council weighed the risks of ancestral spirits and studied the Northern Lands. After learning about the region’s powerful states, Nesta chose to unify the Trolls before outside threats could reach them, and ended the chapter detaining the six tribes’ Witch Doctors as the Black Forest’s forced unification began.

• Azshara’s Black Blade-Tusk Beasts staged hunting accidents that captured twelve Hornhoof People elites, who then agreed to reveal their knowledge in exchange for a chance to live at Headquarters.
• The Rune Council chose to destroy the Hornhoof People’s ancestral altar after extracting its knowledge, while studying dream learning, weapon enchantment, and black-box spellcasting.
• The Tusk Tribe learned about the major powers and races of the Northern Lands, then decided to lie low, develop the Black Forest, strengthen its defenses, and absorb the remaining Troll tribes.
• The Executive Government fueled resistance in the six tribes’ western reclamation zones, then used a Seven-Tribe Joint Conference to pressure their leaders into negotiating with the rebels.
• Nesta showed the six tribes’ Witch Doctors the Tusk Tribe’s resources and Northern Lands intelligence, then rejected their proposal for a Seven Tribes Alliance and declared that all tribal identities must disappear.
• Nesta summoned Rough Tusk, Sharp Tusk, Azshara, and Rune Council Witch Doctors to detain the six visitors, declaring that the unification of the Black Forest had entered its final countdown.

Nesta ordered the Witch Doctors of the Six Great Tribes captured and confined while the Executive Government escalated its campaign to unify the Black Forest. As the Black Forest All-Troll Squad Conference approached, the warriors from the six tribes began to see the benefits of joining the Tusk Tribe’s system.

• Nesta had the Witch Doctors who came to Headquarters disarmed and confined, then sent Azshara, Rough Tusk, and Sharp Tusk to secretly subdue the remaining Witch Doctors of the Six Great Tribes.
• Azshara infiltrated a Sacred Mountain tribe with Little Black, rendered its Old Witch Doctor unconscious, and carried him out undetected before Little Black took him back to camp.
• Five days later, the advanced Witch Doctors returned with seven captives, and Nesta ordered them confined atop the Mother Tree while explaining his plans for complete unification.
• The Executive Government exploited unrest in the six tribes’ Western Reclamation Zone, deployed militia units, and promoted a unified Black Forest as the solution to the disorder.
• The Executive Government organized a Black Forest All-Troll Squad Conference, and observing a meeting of the Rune Council led some six-tribe warriors to hope that unification would give them access to its Witch Doctors.

The Troll tribes voted to unite as the Troll (Elf) Republic, and Nesta released the detained witch doctors under conditions. As the new government struggled with expanding bureaucracy and strict budget rules, Joelle pushed to reform the External Exploration Department and returned frustrated to her office.

• The six tribes’ representatives and the Tusk Tribe’s representatives voted overwhelmingly for unification, establishing the Troll (Elf) Republic and discarding the old tribal identities.
• Nesta ordered Sharp Tusk to release the detained witch doctors so long as they did not undermine unity, while the new government began reorganizing departments and registering citizens.
• Joelle called an emergency ministers’ meeting to propose four regional exploration bureaus, a Communications Bureau, and new recruitment and funding for the External Exploration Department.
• The ministers told Joelle that the department needed an emergency budget meeting to obtain funds and proposed adding a capped, vaguely allocated reserve to the formal budget.
• Joelle agreed to submit the proposals but left the meeting discouraged, feeling that government restrictions and mistrust kept her from doing her job effectively.

Joelle Tusk complained to Valerie about the obstacles she faced while trying to expand the External Exploration Department. Valerie later reflected on how the Rune Council had restricted the military and other institutions to guard against uncertainty in the future.

• Joelle hurried to Valerie and threw herself into her arms, upset about something that had happened at work.
• Valerie took Joelle to the External Exploration Department's office and asked what had made her unhappy.
• Joelle explained that officials had questioned her request for funding to expand the department, despite its purpose of helping the Republic learn about the outside world.
• Valerie recalled how the Rune Council had kept the military under its control through command structures, pay, and restrictions on political participation.
• Valerie concluded that the Council's rules might be designed to guard against uncertainty, including the possibility of a future leader misusing power.

Joelle secured flexible-budget funding and used it to expand the External Exploration Department, while the Executive Government established a talent-development program. After the Rune Council rejected her initial Totem proposals, Joelle adopted practical, direction-specific scout equipment and communications plans, bringing the department closer to field reconnaissance.

• Joelle obtained approval for a flexible budget after the People's Protection Council rejected the Executive Government's broader proposals, then received the first installment for her department.
• The ministers established the Executive Government Talent Development Program to train future government employees through central and local schools.
• Joelle recruited and trained personnel, built four regional exploration offices and support departments, and submitted Totem requirements to the Rune Council.
• After the council rejected her impractical proposals, Joelle approved a subordinate's segmented relay communications plan and direction-specific scout equipment based on the senses of northern races.
• The Rune Council approved Joelle's revised Totem proposal, Witch Doctors and apprentices prepared and engraved the Totems, and scout training advanced toward field reconnaissance.

Valerie’s proposed structure for the Intelligence Suppression Corps won the Military Commission’s approval, and she began forming a battalion for an evaluation exercise in three months. Meanwhile, Nesta and several commissioners debated how to arrange the exercise, but had not settled on a suitable target.

• Valerie’s plan organized reconnaissance squads into companies, detachments, and battalions, with communications and protection units supporting them.
• Nesta, Azshara, and the other commissioners approved Valerie’s report and ordered her to form a battalion for an exercise that would evaluate its coordination, communications, intelligence gathering, and ability to withstand risk.
• Valerie accepted the order, rallied her officers and noncommissioned officers, and began borrowing communications personnel and guards from other departments and units.
• Trolls seconded from the Executive Government Communications Department and sister units arrived, allowing Valerie to prepare the battalion for the assessment.
• Nesta and the commissioners discussed how to conduct the exercise, while Sharp Tusk lamented losing his tusks and Azshara teased him before Rough Tusk redirected the meeting.

Valerie led the Provisional 1st Battalion through a large-scale intelligence-gathering drill against a simulated enemy stronghold in the Black Forest. The battalion located the base, captured militia patrols for intelligence, and faced growing resistance as the defenders adjusted their tactics and deployed Witch Doctor Apprentices.

• Nesta prepared a simulated stronghold and assigned witch doctors, apprentices, and warriors to test the Intelligence Suppression Battalion’s capabilities.
• Valerie received an order to investigate suspected hostile traces in the Black Forest, mobilized her unit, and led it to the northeastern sector.
• Quenna Tusk and seven other reconnaissance squads tracked a Wind Wolf patrol, mapped patrol routes, and helped Valerie’s staff identify the enemy base.
• Valerie’s troops ambushed four militia patrols, captured prisoners, and gathered staged intelligence about the opposing force.
• The simulated defenders narrowed their patrols and merged teams, while Witch Doctor Apprentices strengthened their Totems and prompted frequent ambushes and counter-ambushes.
• Nesta and other witch doctors observed the battles to assess the battalion’s coordination, reconnaissance, and combat capabilities.

Quenna’s reconnaissance team discovered a convoy using a hidden gate and traced it to a satellite camp, prompting Valerie to plan an operation. After the brigade captured a convoy, its interrogation revealed the camp’s defenses, transport procedures, and a mine beneath it.

• Quenna’s team spotted a convoy entering and leaving the stronghold through a hidden northern gate and reported that it might explain the patrol stalemate.
• The brigade tracked the convoy and located a satellite camp with roughly a hundred enemies aboveground.
• Valerie rejected a direct assault and ordered the forces to capture a convoy traveling between the stronghold and the camp.
• The troops captured and interrogated the convoy escort, learning the transport schedule, security checks, camp garrison, mine, and managers’ role in monitoring goods.

Valerie’s intelligence suppression unit completed its final exercise, passed inspection, and received official recognition for its new structure. Valerie left active service, while the Republic continued expanding the force and developing its newly discovered mines and mineral research program.

• The reconnaissance teams infiltrated the sub-stronghold, captured two administrators, and escaped with intelligence about the enemy’s forces and mines, while their rearguard was ruled wiped out.
• Valerie chose not to attack the enemy strongholds and instead requested combat troops; the enemy reinforced the sub-stronghold and later tried to withdraw, but her teams kept it under surveillance until reinforcements arrived and the exercise ended.
• Nesta announced that the intelligence suppression unit had passed inspection, and the Republic honored Valerie and other contributors for the unit’s formation and performance.
• Valerie left active service as a reserve colonel and chose to travel around the Black Forest and nearby settlements, while the Republic began organizing the Intelligence Force’s Second and Third Battalions.
• The Republic established long-term mining sites at the two locations used in the exercise, and the Metal Research Institute continued investigating precious metals and searching for other mineral deposits.

After the assessment exercise, Nesta returned to the research institute as the Mother Tree’s trunk and canopy filled with research facilities, public spaces, and growing elf embryos. The new district around the tree was planned to house the school and government offices, with residential and commercial areas beyond them.

• Nesta returned to the research institute after the Witch Doctors completed their follow-up work from the assessment exercise.
• Witch Doctors established meditation rooms in the Mother Tree’s canopy and moved offices and laboratories into its trunk.
• The Elven Embryo Research Institute expanded its cultivation to one thousand embryos, which grew among the canopy branches.
• The Mother Tree’s trunk was organized to hold research and public facilities, including the Heroes’ Burial Ground, the Central Library, and the resting place of Cave Wolf.
• The council placed the First Central School in the new district north of the Mother Tree and planned space there for future government offices and public services.
• The author added a note apologizing for the short update and asking readers for follow-up reads.

Nesta reviewed the Executive Government’s proposal for a future city water and drainage system, added ideas for wells and plant-based water transport, and assigned the project as long-term work. He then returned to the Great Tree’s embryo research institute, where the Republic’s elf and magic beast cultivation programs had advanced and several witch doctors pursued specialized research.

• Nesta praised the Executive Government’s city plan, added groundwater, well, and hand-pump designs, and ordered plant-type witch doctors to develop water-transport vines for cities and farms.
• The council made the water systems a long-term project, requiring witch doctors to produce seeds while the vines grew gradually without accelerated cultivation.
• Nesta returned to the Great Tree’s research institute, where one thousand elf embryos were developing in reusable incubation chambers and about a hundred chambers were cultivating magic beasts.
• The Republic planned to offer young magic beasts as companions to top-performing Troll children, with Wind Wolves and Black Blade-Tusk Beasts as the main options.
• Azshara studied incubation environments, Sharp Tusk examined Cave Wolf cells, and Rough Tusk investigated combining plant photosynthesis with animal cells.

Nesta investigated whether cultivated Troll epidermal cells could be transplanted back into Trolls to enrich their energy and advance biological transformation. After every initial transplant was rejected, he expanded the experiments and found several cases with unusually delayed rejection, leaving the Witch Doctors to search for what distinguished them.

• Rough Tusk considered using photosynthesis-based energy replenishment to support Troll evolution and improve Totem use, while Nesta turned to biological research because he could not translate Elvenization into runes.
• Nesta cultivated epidermal samples from ten Troll warriors in modified chambers, where the cells proliferated and turned purple while consuming far fewer resources than elf embryos.
• The Witch Doctors transplanted the cultivated tissue into the warriors, but all ten bodies rejected it; Giant Tusk’s tissue was identified as external after four seconds, longer than most of the others.
• Nesta questioned Giant Tusk and the other test subjects individually, then ordered the Witch Doctors to expand the trials, keep participants within the Prime Period, and divide each chamber into ten compartments.
• The Witch Doctors collected samples from more than a thousand Trolls and began assembly-line transplant trials, recording several cases with identification periods of three to four and a half seconds.

Nesta and the witch doctors investigated exceptional warriors and identified will, expressed through resistance to emotional and bodily instincts, as a possible path beyond the warriors’ physical limits. They developed emotion-based training Arcane Arts and supporting Totems, leaving a preliminary system for warrior advancement ready for further testing.

• The witch doctors gathered detailed records and testimony about exceptional Trolls, and Nesta recognized their broad experience, discipline, restraint, and emotional control as signs of a possible key to advancement.
• Nesta concluded that exceptional warriors resisted their bodies’ rejection instincts through individual will, then connected emotional control and hormonal reactions to bodily enhancement.
• Nesta and the witch doctors analyzed rune microstructures and identified five kinds of plugins, including structures that regulated emotions, activated high-energy muscles, and reduced bodily side effects.
• The witch doctors created emotion-stimulating Arcane Arts and classified their effects into five levels, finding that exceptional Trolls such as Giant Tusk resisted stronger effects than ordinary warriors.
• The witch doctors proposed warrior levels based on emotional resistance and designed willpower training, but recognized that accumulated hormonal aftereffects made a protective Totem necessary.
• The witch doctors developed the Metabolism Totem to reduce hormonal aftereffects, along with Energy Boost Spell and Activation Spell Totems to support energy use and train high-energy muscle groups.

The witch doctors developed combat and training systems based on combined Totems, then tried to solve warriors’ lack of an independent energy source by implanting a miniature circulatory system in Giant Tusk. After Giant Tusk entered a perilous experiment to accept the implant, the Republic began introducing the new Totems and adjusting work policies to accommodate training.

• The witch doctors combined overlapping emotional abilities into Totems and defined warrior levels, training regimens, and combat skills, but identified the lack of an energy source as the main barrier to advancement.
• Nesta’s first incomplete implant experiment failed when the transplanted skin, wrapped in Giant Tusk’s tissue but excluded from his circulation, withered and fell off.
• Nesta and the witch doctors grew a miniature organ system from Giant Tusk’s tissues, implanted it in his chest, and placed him in hibernation while the new organs developed.
• After waking Giant Tusk, Nesta persuaded him that accepting the implant was his last chance to survive, and the witch doctors began simulating his imminent death to encourage his body to integrate it.
• The Republic’s Trolls began adopting new Totems and training methods, while technical workers’ reliance on specialized Totems prompted the government to establish Totem Engraver positions, improve technical staff benefits, and consider rotating field workers’ leave.

Nesta’s witch doctors discovered that Giant Tusk’s failed Elvenization had produced a small, adaptable organ, and they began planning further research and training. After reviewing three years of progress, Nesta heard that the Republic’s population, agriculture, livestock, industry, and transport were thriving, while declining birth rates prompted new exploration efforts.

• Giant Tusk’s implants mostly necrotized, but his accessory lungs supported a surviving cluster that developed into a multifunctional organ and gradually adapted to his body.
• Nesta revived Giant Tusk, explained the breakthrough, and ordered daily monitoring and training with the new totems.
• The witch doctors divided into teams to study Giant Tusk’s organ, monitor him, and investigate the accessory lungs’ primitive nutrients.
• Nesta summoned the Executive Government ministers and spent forty-eight lamp-hours reviewing the Republic’s population and economic development.
• Nesta approved the banking apprentices’ request to expand financial services in the Republic, subject to further government and council discussions.
• The Executive Government established exploration offices to seek higher Magic Beasts and other higher lifeforms as female Trolls’ willingness to bear children declined.

Troll explorers discovered that infrasonic signals from a volcanic crater might reveal enormous numbers of hidden lava creatures, prompting Nesta to investigate how living beings produce infrasound. By identifying Trolls’ signals and expanding his perception, Nesta formed a detailed mental view of headquarters before exhaustion overtook him.

• A Troll explorer detected rhythmic infrasonic signals around a volcanic crater, and Communications Department analysts identified more than a hundred possible life-response frequencies there.
• The analysis reached the witch doctors, and Nesta became interested in whether the signals came from creatures deep beneath the volcanoes.
• Nesta tested Trolls in a sealed room and confirmed that Trolls produced identifiable infrasonic signals.
• Nesta, Azshara, Sharp Tusk, and Rough Tusk learned to recognize Trolls’ signals and recorded samples from important individuals and local animal species.
• Nesta used the samples in a Wind Chime Meditation Room to perceive distant signals and construct a detailed mental view of headquarters.
• Nesta dismissed the mental scene, lay down, and fell asleep after exhausting himself.

Nesta and the witch doctors traveled to the Volcanic Range to investigate thousands of suspected life signs beneath its craters and prepare for a battle in the magma caverns. As the warriors settled into a lava lake, Nesta felt something stirring in his chest.

• Nesta and three other advanced witch doctors used sound monitoring to detect nearly ten thousand suspected life signs in the magma caverns beneath the Volcanic Range.
• Nesta led Azshara, Rough Tusk, Sharp Tusk, fifteen witch doctors, and three hundred elite warriors south to the Volcanic Range.
• During the climb, Azshara saw the ocean for the first time, and Nesta promised they would visit it after the battle.
• A warrior tested the lava, confirmed that Trolls could tolerate it, and the group lowered warriors, weapons, and ballistae into the crater.
• Nesta felt a familiar area in his chest stir as he entered the smoke-filled crater.

Nesta discovered that volcanic gases were reviving his auxiliary lungs as the witch doctors prepared an ambush at a lava lake. They captured three salamander-like creatures and found that the creatures appeared to be blind and had gill-like structures.

• Nesta meditated and accelerated the recovery of his auxiliary lungs, while Azshara, Sharp Tusk, and Rough Tusk also activated their own organs to varying degrees.
• Sharp Tusk organized the beast-type witch doctors, Rough Tusk linked the plant-based traps, and the warriors used Breath-Suppression Totems as the group prepared its ambush.
• The witch doctors waited several days and used Bionic Infrasound to lure a giant salamander-like creature to the lake, but let it return underwater while they waited for more.
• Three similar creatures surfaced together, and the witch doctors trapped them in vines and dragged them out of the lava lake.
• The witch doctors examined the captured creatures and discovered that they had no visible eyes and had gill-like structures beside their necks.

Nesta and the Trolls tried to capture the lava-dwelling monsters, then prepared an ambush when three enormous creatures rose from deep beneath the lake. The newcomers blasted open the crater wall and one swallowed the captured young, leaving the Trolls launching a furious counterattack.

• The Trolls studied the first lava monster’s clumsy movement on land and learned that it relied on the lava to move quickly and breathe efficiently.
• The monster spat molten slurry and vibrating black spears at the witch doctors, while Sharp Tusk tested a spear and warned the others about its destructive force.
• Nesta detected three huge creatures rising from below and ordered the Trolls to prepare spears, ballistae, barriers, and vines to block their escape.
• Nesta had the captured young hoisted upside down, enraging the surface monster, while two rising creatures fired black cones that shattered a wide section of the crater wall and sent warriors falling.
• A giant monster burst through the lake surface and swallowed the captured young, prompting Nesta to order an all-out attack as Troll warriors struck it with heavy spears.
• The warriors above and below the crater attacked the giant in volleys, killing two comrades in the chaos and inflicting multiple wounds on the creature.