Recaps

Charles secured a position at a magic beast slaughterhouse after showing he could gather a horned sheep’s magic power during an assessment. He began training under Marsil, and a chained, scaled wild boar arrived at their worktable.

• Charles and four other apprentices from Fenny's Hand applied for work at the District Eleven slaughterhouse, where a supervisor selected four to take an assessment.
• The supervisor explained that slaughterers had to gather a magic beast’s power into a portion of its body before killing it, then tested the apprentices on a horned sheep.
• After the first apprentice failed, Charles stimulated the sheep with his magic power and gathered its power in its chest and abdomen.
• The supervisor hired Charles and the two apprentices who followed him, then assigned them to learn from veteran workers.
• Marsil introduced himself to Charles and explained how workers slaughtered and processed magic beasts.
• A chained, scaled wild boar was delivered to Marsil and Charles’s worktable.

Charles endured half a month of menial work before Marsil let him slaughter a magical beast, earning him Soul Coins through the Wu Duo Duo Mall. After buying Marsil’s slaughtering insights, Charles gained methods for handling most low-level magical beasts and prepared to improve at his new job.

• Marsil made Charles and the other apprentices handle the dirty processing work without teaching them the real skills.
• After half a month, the supervisor urged Marsil to let Charles slaughter a magical beast, and Charles successfully processed it under Marsil’s guidance.
• Charles earned 0.6 Soul Coins when the beast died, and the supervisor assigned him to process magical beasts independently at Station Seven.
• Marsil warned Charles that inexperience could cost him Magic Stones, but Charles ignored him and continued working.
• After receiving criticism about losses, Charles bought Marsil’s low-level magical beast slaughtering and processing insights from the Wu Duo Duo Mall.
• Charles absorbed the insights and learned methods for handling most low-level magical beasts.

Charles saved Magic Stones from his slaughterhouse job and decided to take a goblin-catching mission to earn more. Erika gave him her savings for protection, and after buying and learning several zero-ring spells, Charles packed his equipment and prepared to leave.

• Charles became an official employee at the Magic Beast slaughterhouse and saved enough to buy Rat Speech and Bone Needle Bee.
• Charles told Erika he planned to catch goblins, and she gave him several dozen Magic Stones to buy more witchcraft spells.
• Charles bought Stone Deflection and Dim Vision, then purchased cultivation insights for his spells from Wuduo shops.
• Charles quickly learned Bone Needle Bee and practiced his other spells before packing his equipment to set out.

Charles joined Beck, Davis, Carter, Cotton, and Leslie on a goblin-catching mission in Isata’s sewers, where mutated goblins could earn them substantial Magic Stones. After preparing their equipment and entering the sewer at night, the group faced its foul stench as the hunt began.

• Charles arrived at Fenny's Hand’s gathering point and joined Beck, Davis, Carter, Cotton, and Leslie for the mission.
• Beck explained that they were to catch knight-level goblins in Isata’s sewers, with mutated goblins bringing especially high prices.
• The team reached a courtyard, gathered cages and equipment, and hired six servants to assist them.
• Beck led the armed group to a sewer entrance, where Carter and Davis unlocked the grate.
• The group entered the sewer with torches and gauze scarves, and Cotton complained about the stench.

Beck led Charles and the others into the sewers to lure and capture goblins. After the ambush began, Charles killed three goblins with Bone Needle Bee and charged into another with his shield.

• Beck found a broad sewer junction marked by goblin footprints and prepared bait to draw them in.
• Charles and the others hid around the bait while rats and insects spread its scent through the sewers.
• A group of more than a dozen goblins arrived, and Beck signaled the party to light torches and attack.
• Charles cast Bone Needle Bee and killed three charging goblins with bone spikes through their heads.
• Charles struck a burly goblin in the face with his iron shield as it tried to flee.

Charles profited from four nights of goblin hunts with Beck’s group, then left the Magic Beast slaughterhouse to hunt goblins independently. After buying the mobility spell Serpentine Glide, he prepared to operate alone in District Twelve.

• Charles and the other wizard apprentices ambushed goblins in the sewers, capturing knight-level goblins and killing others for personal rewards.
• The group continued hunting at night, earning steady returns and eventually capturing a mutated goblin; Charles received eighteen Magic Stones and had killed more than thirty goblins himself.
• Charles decided he could earn more by hunting alone, resigned from the Magic Beast slaughterhouse, and rented a courtyard house in the lower city district.
• Charles bought the zero-ring spell Serpentine Glide to improve his mobility before beginning his independent goblin hunts.

Charles lured goblins into the sewers and ambushed them with Bone Needle Bee, killing six before crippling three stronger goblins. The remaining goblins fell as they charged him, leaving Charles poised to capture survivors.

• Charles brought three servants into the sewers and prepared goblin bait using Beck’s method.
• Charles cast Rat Speech and Dim Vision while waiting for goblins to follow the bait’s scent.
• Eleven goblins arrived, and Charles killed three ordinary goblins with Bone Needle Bee.
• Charles killed three more ordinary goblins, panicking the survivors into fleeing.
• Charles revealed himself, then shot the three knight-level goblins in the knees as they charged, knocking them down.

Charles defeated a group of goblins in the sewer tunnels and captured three alive, but a much larger group arrived before he could continue hunting. He retreated with his servants and spoils, leaving the bait and goblins behind.

• Charles killed or disabled the goblins that attacked him, then used Bone Needle Bee to cripple two fleeing goblins and finished the fight.
• Charles ordered his servants to bind and gag three living goblins, remove the dead goblins' ears, and clean away the blood.
• Charles waited for another wave, but thirty or forty goblins emerged and began eating the bait and retrieving the corpses.
• Charles retreated from the sewer passage, used Serpentine Glide to escape faster, and fled with his servants and spoils.

Charles spent more than a month hunting goblins, earning Magic Stones and Soul Coins that he used to learn new spells and improve his cultivation. With a larger team and stronger magic, he returned to the sewers confident he could handle more goblins.

• Charles hunted goblins every three days for over a month, earning more than 180 Magic Stones and accumulating over 400 Soul Coins.
• Charles bought cultivation insights from three First-Ring Wizards and learned Greased Ground, Web Bomb, Foxfire Spell, Stunning Spell, and Leech Therapy.
• Charles’s magic power and mental strength grew, and he became confident facing groups of more than twenty goblins.
• Charles expanded his team to five people, with the original servants training the newcomers and one servant nearing the Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice level.
• Charles led the five-person team into the sewers at night and used Foxfire Spell to light their way as they searched for goblins.

Charles used trained sewer rats to scout for goblins, then ambushed a group of seventeen with a rapid sequence of spells. He trapped and stunned the five survivors without approaching them.

• Charles released trained rats to scout the passages and alert him when goblins appeared.
• A rat reported that sixteen or seventeen goblins were approaching, and Charles prepared as they split up around his scattered bait.
• Charles killed the goblins in several rapid rounds of Bone Needle Bee, leaving five alive.
• The five goblins fled down one passage, but Charles used Greased Ground to make them fall and Web Bombs to bind them.
• Charles cast Stunning Spell from a distance and stunned all five goblins.

Charles encountered a powerful subterranean mutant goblin and fought to capture it. After his usual attacks failed, he used the sewers and Acid Missile to injure it, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Charles had his servants bind the ordinary goblins, dispose of their corpses, and take the qualified goblins away while he restored his magic power.
• A black-skinned rat alerted Charles to a mutant goblin covered in mushrooms, which he recognized as a valuable source of Magic Stones.
• The mutant goblin charged Charles, but Greased Ground made it slip, while Bone Needle Bee and Web Bomb failed to stop it.
• Charles cast Serpentine Glide and fled the goblin's attack, then lured it onto another Greased Ground spell and sent it plunging into the sewer.
• Charles struck the mutant goblin's knee with Acid Missile as it climbed out of the sewer.

Charles captured a valuable mutated goblin after blinding and stunning it in the sewers, then took it to Isata for appraisal. A first-rank wizard apprentice examined the goblin and told Charles he had struck it rich.

• Charles weakened the mutated goblin with Acid Missiles and used Greased Ground and Stunning Spells to stop it from escaping.
• Charles blinded the goblin with Bone Needle Bee, knocked it unconscious, and had his servants secure it with chains.
• Charles led his servants and the captured goblins out of the sewers, then took the mutated goblin by carriage to Isata the next morning.
• Charles brought the goblin to Fenny's Hand for an appraisal, and a first-rank wizard apprentice examined it and said Charles had struck it rich.

Charles sought a buyer for a rare mutated goblin and negotiated with Lady Loran, a wizard who wanted it for her research. He accepted her offer of five hundred Magic Stones and two tutoring-class slots after she pressured the Fenny's Hand apprentice.

• A Fenny's Hand apprentice appraised Charles' mutated goblin at over six hundred Magic Stones and offered to find a buyer for an eight-percent fee.
• The apprentice summoned wealthy wizard lords, and Lady Loran arrived to inspect the goblin.
• Loran approved of the goblin, rejected Charles' asking price of one thousand Magic Stones, and offered five hundred instead.
• Loran intimidated the apprentice when he objected and offered Charles two tutoring-class slots alongside the five hundred Magic Stones.
• Charles agreed to Loran's offer, seeing value in the tutoring slots.

Charles traded Magic Stones for classroom cards and decided to study the Abyssal Grimoire, then returned to Erika with a card for her. Erika was thrilled to learn that both of them could attend a wizard lord’s class.

• Loran gave Charles three classroom cards after trading for his Magic Stones, and Charles agreed with another apprentice to value the cards at two hundred Magic Stones each.
• Charles decided to attend Loran’s class because she studied the Abyssal Grimoire, which related to his Succubus bloodline.
• Erika’s sister urged her to give up on Charles and criticized her for lending him the Magic Stones she had saved for classes.
• Charles arrived and comforted Erika, then gave her one classroom card and revealed that he had another for himself.
• Erika celebrated that she could attend a wizard lord’s class and showed her sister the card.

Charles and Erika used their saved Magic Stones to enroll in classes, with Charles beginning Abyssal Grimoire Studies under Loran. After class, Loran took Charles to her laboratory, where he heard the roar of the mutated goblin.

• Erika quit her job at Fenny's Hand so she could attend classes with Charles.
• Charles and Erika enrolled at Loran's learning institution, choosing Rune Studies and Abyssal Grimoire Studies respectively.
• Charles attended his first Abyssal Grimoire Studies lesson and learned he had to catch up on two months of material.
• Loran offered to make up for Charles's missed lessons and led him to her laboratory.
• Charles heard the mutated goblin roar inside Loran's laboratory.

Charles visited Professor Loran to learn about the Abyssal Grimoire and the demon bloodline in his body. Loran explained how the bloodline could aid his cultivation, and Charles left her laboratory resolved to study hard.

• Charles met Professor Loran, who noticed his Demonic Beast aura and examined his blood with a crystal ball.
• Loran identified a faint demon bloodline in Charles and offered to study his organs, but Charles refused.
• Loran explained that the Abyssal Grimoire taught bloodline modification, demon summoning, planar travel, and abyssal witchcraft.
• Loran said Charles’s stable inherited bloodline could boost his magical power and physical strength, and might awaken witchcraft-like abilities.
• Charles asked about the danger of summoning demons, and Loran said a proper contract would prevent backlash, though he could summon only a demon worm for now.
• Loran encouraged Charles to study under her, and he left her laboratory imagining having one of his own someday.

Charles studied the Abyssal Grimoire and bought Loran’s insights and the Gloomy Eye Meditation Technique, then met his classmates Joseph and Jody. The chapter left Charles and Joseph on friendlier terms after Jody insulted them.

• Charles bought Loran’s Abyssal Grimoire cultivation insights and asked her for advice on changing meditation techniques.
• Loran explained the Pain, Gloomy Eye, and Chaotic Touch Meditation Techniques and their disturbing cultivation requirements.
• Charles chose the Gloomy Eye Meditation Technique, and Loran sold him the scroll for 130 Magic Stones.
• After class, Joseph introduced himself to Charles, while Jody insulted them and left.
• Joseph told Charles that Jody came from a wizard family and that his own grandfather was a First-Rank Wizard Apprentice; Charles praised Joseph’s family and prospects.

Over half a year of training, Charles reached the threshold of a Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice and continued learning zero-ring spells while capturing goblins. He had made no progress finding Molly, and Joseph had devoted himself to spell experiments.

• Charles spent his days attending Loran's classes, training, capturing goblins for Magic Stones, and visiting Erika, while he continued to wonder about Molly.
• Charles used the Gloomy Eye Meditation Technique and broke through to become a Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice.
• Charles reflected on his progress and continued meditating, noting that Jody had advanced earlier by consuming many more potions.
• Charles learned and mastered numerous zero-ring spells, which he used in battles against goblins.
• Joseph focused on modifying spells and conducting experiments, a path Charles did not approve of.

As the Shadow Nightmare Realm approached, Loran was ordered to leave Isata and garrison a city, forcing her apprentices to choose whether to go with her. Charles initially planned to stay, but Loran offered to lend him cultivation resources and teach him more witchcraft if he joined her, and her final offer left him tempted.

• Loran told her apprentices that she had to leave Isata because of the approaching Shadow Nightmare Realm and gave them two days to decide whether to accompany her.
• Joseph warned Charles that traveling outside Isata during the intersection could expose them to dangerous shadow creatures, so Charles decided to stay.
• Loran asked Charles to become her assistant and go with her, but Charles refused because he feared he would be little help as an apprentice.
• Loran offered to lend Charles resources until he became a first-class apprentice, help him inscribe a rune array and contract an Abyssal demon, and teach him Zero-Ring witchcraft.
• Charles asked how much support she would provide, and Loran offered resources equal in value to what Jody bought from her each month.

Charles agreed to accompany Teacher Loran on a five-day expedition and met the four other apprentices she had recruited. When the group left the tower, they encountered a formidable Blood Ring Knight and his armored, scaled warhorse, leaving Charles curious about the knight’s rank.

• Charles accepted Loran’s offer to join her and prepared to leave in five days.
• Charles explained the trip to Erika without revealing its true purpose.
• Charles met Quake, Sal, Golder, and Jody at Loran’s office, where Sal mocked the second-rank apprentices and Jody challenged him.
• Loran stopped the apprentices’ quarrel with a display of pressure and led them out of the tower.
• Charles saw a Blood Ring Knight and his unusual warhorse, and Quake identified the knight’s rank.

Charles traveled with Loran’s convoy by carriage and river ship, then learned from Quake how Blood Ring Knights were created and how powerful they were. Quake asked why Loran had recruited Charles, and Charles explained that his goblin-catching work had impressed her.

• Charles traveled with Loran’s convoy for over half a month before boarding a ship that sailed upstream.
• Charles asked Quake what a Blood Ring Knight was, and Quake explained that wizards could modify talented Great Knights into fighters who rivaled one-ring wizards.
• Quake asked why Loran had invited Charles to join her assistant team and why he had accepted the mission as a Second-Rank Wizard Apprentice.
• Charles said Loran had recruited him after he attended her classes and sold goblins he caught to her laboratory.
• Quake was surprised to learn Charles had been catching goblins in the sewers since he was a Third-Rank Wizard Apprentice.

Charles told Quake that he knew thirty zero-ring spells, astonishing him with how much he had learned in a short time. Quake explained that he and other apprentices had joined Loran’s team because she offered to share her experience advancing to a first-ring wizard.

• Quake offered to exchange answers with Charles, who asked what conditions Loran had offered him to join her assistant team.
• Quake said Loran had promised to share her experience advancing to a first-ring wizard, and he suspected Sal and Golder had been drawn by the same offer.
• Charles revealed that he knew and could proficiently cast thirty zero-ring spells, leaving Quake stunned.
• Quake said that after ten years in Isata, he knew fewer than forty spells, and explained that learning spells took time apprentices also needed for meditation and earning Magic Stones.
• Charles reflected that his unusual learning talent and access to the Wu Duo Duo Mall had helped him master spells far faster than most apprentices.

After a long journey, Charles arrived with Loran and the other apprentices at a manor near a city in the Wizard Continent. Loran asserted control over the local wizard-apprentice families and ordered them to prepare for threats from the converging Shadow Nightmare Realm.

• After speaking with Quake, Charles recognized his strength and learned that his many mastered spells made him unusually capable among apprentices.
• Charles traveled by river and carriage with Loran's group for about a month and a half before reaching the manor.
• At a banquet gathering, Charles spoke with local apprentices while Jody kept apart from the others.
• Loran entered in a black robe, announced that the local families had to obey her, and ordered each to provide one Great Knight and ten knights by the next day.
• When an old apprentice questioned the order, Loran sent him flying with a look and warned the families to prepare for Nightmare Beasts and infected people.
• Loran promised monthly lessons for the local apprentices, who thanked her as they accepted her commands.

Loran organized apprentice patrols and explained the dangers of the Shadow Nightmare Realm’s coming convergence. After studying her materials, Charles was suddenly transported to a strange, hazy place.

• Loran assigned apprentices to patrol in pairs and told them to report powerful Shadow Nightmare threats to her.
• Loran explained the Nightmarespawn Parasites, Nightmare Beasts, and Shadow Nightmare warriors, then distributed reference booklets.
• Charles returned to his room and read that the two realms converged naturally, forcing their inhabitants into deadly encounters.
• Charles learned that knowledge of the Shadow Nightmare Realm could aid his future advancement as a wizard.
• After finishing the booklet, Charles found himself surrounded by a hazy veil and panicked over where he had ended up.

Charles became trapped in the decayed Shadow Nightmare Realm and searched the manor castle for a way back to the Wizard World. After a passage vanished and he found no other people, Danger Sense warned him of something lurking in a fireplace, where a pale arm suddenly burst out.

• Charles found the manor castle ruined and discovered that a candlestick-sized passage to the Wizard World was too small to enter before it vanished.
• Charles cast Misaligned Phantom, Danger Sense, and Lesser Arrow Defense, then cautiously searched the castle for another way out.
• Charles found a room that seemed recently occupied and recognized it as Quake's, but found no one inside.
• Charles felt Danger Sense warn him and spotted something moving beneath the ashes in a fireplace.
• A pale human forearm burst out of the fireplace as Charles cried out a warning.