Chapter Summaries

Charles satisfied the Omniscient Carbuncle with three questions and persuaded it to let him save his own question for a future meeting. The creature gave him a powerful book that would lead him back when the realms next intersected, then sent him home to the Wizard World.

• Jody escaped through the passageway while Charles kept the Omniscient Carbuncle occupied with questions.
• Charles answered that the crocodile was absent because it had gone to the lion's gathering, delighting the Omniscient Carbuncle.
• Charles asked to postpone his question until a future meeting, and the Omniscient Carbuncle agreed despite warning that the realms might not intersect again soon.
• The Omniscient Carbuncle gave Charles the book with the pained face, which entered his sea of spiritual power and would guide him back to the creature.
• The Omniscient Carbuncle opened a passage and returned Charles to Loran's underground laboratory in the Wizard World.

After Charles and Jody returned from the Shadow Nightmare Realm, Loran learned they had experienced thirteen days outside despite feeling they had been gone only a day or two. She rewarded them for sharing what happened and offered Charles help preparing for the Trial Plane, where he might obtain a Mind-Focusing Potion.

• Charles and Jody returned to Loran's laboratory, where she told them they had been gone for thirteen days.
• Charles and Jody recounted their Shadow Nightmare Realm experiences, including the Omniscient Carbuncle's different punishments and the strange messages they encountered.
• Loran warned them to tell no one else about the experience and said they should treat it as though it had never happened.
• Loran offered to implant a suitable demon bloodline into Jody, while Charles asked for a Mind-Focusing Potion to become a wizard.
• Loran explained that Mind-Focusing Potions had to be obtained in the Trial Plane and offered Charles guidance, basic apprentice wizard artifact equipment, and a registration slot.
• Charles said he would think over whether to join the next Trial Plane before returning to rest.

After returning from Loran's underground laboratory, Charles discovered that the book from the Omniscient Carbuncle was the Book of Orenis, named for the tormented Astral Elf whose skin formed its cover. By channeling magic power into its pages, he unlocked three first-circle spells, leaving him eager to use them in the Trial Plane.

• Charles returned to his farm, reassured Bruce, and summoned Demon Worms to keep him occupied.
• Charles examined the book's blank pages and promised the elf on its cover that he would try to persuade the Omniscient Brain to free her.
• The face on the cover bit Charles, and the book absorbed his blood, revealing its name as the Book of Orenis and identifying the elf as Orenis of the Astral Elves.
• Charles channeled magic power into the book and unlocked the first-circle spell Star-Tear Divination, then meditated to recover his strength.
• The next day, Charles unlocked two more first-circle spells: Dawnlight Arrow Rain and Lightpath Blink.

Charles tested the Book of Orenis’s three reusable first-ring spells, then chose to enter the Trial Plane. Loran gave him equipment, potions, and her Trial Plane notes before telling him to prepare for their return to Isata in a month.

• Charles used Dawnlight Arrow Rain to kill every Goblin in a settlement and gathered their soul power with his crystal ball.
• Charles tested Lightpath Blink, confirmed it could move him more than ninety meters between places with light, and resolved to join the Trial Plane.
• Charles told Loran he had decided to participate, and she agreed to register him and give him a basic set of apprentice equipment.
• Loran gave Charles magical artifacts, potions, and a booklet of her Trial Plane records, then told him the Shadow Nightmare Realm would return to Isata in a month.
• Charles inspected his new wand and metal armor, which contained Poison Flame Spell, Anti-Magic Coating, Simple Shield Spell, and Gallop Spell.

Charles returned to Isata with his companions after the Shadow Nightmare Realm receded, bringing his equipment, supplies, rats, and guards. He settled into a larger residence and spent the months before the Trial Plane opened cultivating and improving his Succubus Bloodline.

• Charles received talismans and potions from Loran, then prepared to leave with his equipment and belongings.
• Charles selected fifty rats to take and brought his guards, Bruce, and farm supplies on the journey back to Isata.
• Charles and his party returned to Isata, where Charles moved into a larger residence and planned spaces for his work, experiments, and companions.
• Erika became Charles's assistant after advancing to a second-circle wizard apprentice.
• Charles cultivated for eight or nine months by meditating, drawing spell scrolls, using potions and magical creature eyeballs, and purchasing Delis's Lesser Succubus Bloodline.

Charles prepared his equipment and assigned tasks to Erika and Bruce before heading to Isata’s Twelfth District to join the First-Rank Wizard Apprentices gathering for the Trial Plane. He arrived with peak apprentice abilities, numerous spells, and the Book of Orenis as his trump card.

• Charles packed potions and scrolls into his new alchemical pouch and backpack, then told Bruce to raise the rats that had begun mutating after exposure to Demon Worm flesh and blood.
• Charles left home after assigning tasks to Erika and Bruce and followed his trial token to a tower in Isata’s Twelfth District.
• Charles saw hundreds of First-Rank Wizard Apprentices gathering for the Trial Plane, with more still arriving from outside.
• Charles reflected on his peak magic power and mental strength, his Great Knight physique, and the spells he had learned over the past year.
• Charles sensed the Book of Orenis above his sea of mental strength and considered its three Rank One spells a potential deciding advantage.

Charles learned that the apprentice trial was a deadly contest in the Trial Plane, where apprentices could earn Mind-Focusing Potions by collecting credentials or clearing challenges. As the trial preparations began, he realized that survival and advancement were far from assured.

• Charles reviewed what Loran had told him about the vast Trial Plane, its varied terrain, and its deadly trials.
• A group of heavily armored warriors and a powerful black-robed wizard arrived to lead the apprentices to the teleportation array.
• The wizard announced that the apprentices would spend ten days in the Trial Plane and needed their trial credentials to return safely.
• The wizard explained that apprentices could earn Mind-Focusing Potions by collecting ten credentials or by opening treasure chests and clearing challenge towers.
• Charles realized that the trial could kill most of its thousands of participants, and the wizard warned them to beware of the environment and native creatures.

Charles entered the Trial Plane, where Trial Vouchers revealed the locations of nearby vouchers, and decided to hunt another apprentice rather than hide. After closing in on a target, he concealed himself and prepared demons and marked rats for an ambush as the other apprentice approached.

• Charles arrived in dense woodland after enduring a disorienting teleportation and considered how to survive the Trial Plane.
• Charles discovered that his Trial Voucher showed nearby vouchers and used movement, camouflage, and shield spells before heading toward the nearest target.
• Charles and the other apprentice moved toward each other, but neither could spot the other once they drew close.
• Charles hid behind an ancient tree, summoned a Mezzoloth and a Quasit, and positioned them to help ambush his opponent.
• Charles summoned Berserk Red-Eyed Rats, marked one for surveillance, and stayed concealed as the opposing apprentice cautiously entered the area.

Charles ambushed a cautious wizard apprentice with a coordinated attack by summoned demons, animals, and spells. The apprentice’s defenses began to weaken as Charles’s summons closed in.

• The wizard apprentice detected Charles’s Mezzoloth and attacked it with a wizard missile while preparing another spell.
• Charles sent Berserk Red-Eyed Rats at the apprentice, who summoned three Coyotes to stop them.
• Charles ordered the Quasit to attack and struck the apprentice with the Twelve Cough Technique, interrupting his attempt to use a scroll.
• The Quasit shrouded the apprentice in darkness and attacked, while Charles followed with Fearful Screech to disrupt him further.
• The Mezzoloth fought through the Coyotes, and Charles used Malicious Misdirection to make the apprentice cast his prepared spell at one of his own Coyotes.

Charles let a wizard apprentice die to his summoned demons, took the apprentice’s Trial Voucher and three talismans, then continued through the rainforest toward another trial participant. He avoided a venomous snake on the way and kept moving toward his goal of earning Mind-Focusing Potions.

• The Quasit and Mezzoloth overwhelmed the wizard apprentice and killed him after Charles’s Malicious Misdirection made him fail a decision.
• Charles collected the apprentice’s Trial Voucher and three talismans, but found that the apprentice’s soul and soul energy were already gone.
• Charles considered how later fights might become more dangerous as victors gathered equipment, then resumed his search for another trial participant.
• Charles kept his Simple Shield Spell and Danger Sense active as he crossed the humid forest toward his target.
• Charles dodged a black venomous snake’s strike and continued onward without wasting magic to chase it.

After killing a second wizard apprentice, Charles rested until the Trial Plane’s gray fog began driving everyone toward the same area. He realized the fog would force a battle that night and prepared to avoid standing out.

• Charles killed another wizard apprentice, took his Trial Token and talismans, and confirmed the corpse had no soul.
• Charles decided to conserve his soul power and rest rather than hunt for more opponents.
• At night, Charles spotted gray fog closing in and saw a black trail advancing toward the light points on his Trial Token.
• Charles sent Berserk Red-Eyed Rats into the fog, watched them die, and fled while tracking the fog’s movements.
• The fog forced the apprentices to converge, so Charles abandoned his plan to wait and prepared for a battle while trying not to draw attention.

Charles prepared defensive spells as more than a hundred wizard apprentices were confined in a five-kilometer area and battle broke out. When a wounded apprentice fled past his hiding place with a pursuer close behind, Charles ambushed and killed him, exposing his position to the surrounding danger.

• Charles cast several defensive and concealment spells, then hid near the gray fog at the edge of the confined area.
• Fighting erupted among the apprentices, and the chaos spread as they chased, fled, and attacked one another.
• A wounded apprentice ran within ten meters of Charles while fleeing his pursuer, forcing Charles to attack before he was exposed.
• Charles ensnared the fleeing apprentice with vines, stunned him with Fearful Screech, and hit him with several spells and spell scrolls.
• Charles's quasit leaped from its summoning circle and tore off the apprentice's head.

Charles defeated an arrogant wizard apprentice who attacked him, using spell scrolls and summoned demons to overwhelm him. He collected the fallen apprentices’ valuables and left their corpses displayed in the trees, while fighting continued elsewhere in the trial area.

• The quasit killed one apprentice and fled through the trees as the apprentice chasing it attacked Charles.
• Charles and the apprentice exchanged spells and scrolls, then Charles summoned an imp and two Mezzoloths to join the quasit.
• The enemy summoned elemental creatures, but Charles’s demons broke through them and overwhelmed the apprentice.
• The demons killed the apprentice, and Charles collected both enemies’ Trial Vouchers and valuables.
• Charles left the corpses hanging conspicuously in the trees as other apprentices continued fighting nearby.

After surviving the first night, Charles killed the enemy who had been tracking him and collected his tenth Trial Voucher, marking him as a target for anyone seeking a Mind-Focusing Potion. He discovered a Challenge Tower and approached it, weighing the risks and rewards as he stood at its entrance.

• Charles gathered the spoils and Trial Vouchers from the previous night's battlefield, where fewer than thirty of the more than one hundred people remained alive.
• Charles noticed an enemy following him and prepared for a fight as they moved away from the battlefield.
• Charles killed his pursuer with an ice spike and collected enough Trial Vouchers to reach ten, gaining a golden ring around his dot on the voucher.
• Charles rested through shallow meditation, then continued moving through the Trial Plane while watching the locations displayed on his voucher.
• Charles spotted a persistent tower-shaped dot, recognized it as the Challenge Tower, and approached the enormous stone tower.
• Charles considered entering the Challenge Tower for its Mind-Focusing Potion prize, but worried that someone else might claim a potion first.

Charles entered the Challenge Tower seeking the Mind-Focusing Potion promised to whoever defeated its seventh-stage guardian. He faced the first stage’s Shield Skeletons and discovered that Acid Missile could destroy them, but the challenge was still underway.

• Charles realized that a golden Trial Voucher mark could make him a target for newly advanced wizards, so he headed to the Challenge Tower.
• Charles entered the tower and learned that he had to defeat seven guardians to earn a Mind-Focusing Potion.
• The first guardian, a group of twenty Shield Skeletons, emerged, and Charles summoned four flying imps to attack them.
• Charles summoned Berserk Red-Eyed Rats to distract the skeletons while he searched for an effective way to fight undead.
• Charles destroyed a Shield Skeleton by corroding its skull with Acid Missile.

Charles cleared the Shield Skeletons and Lava Beetles in successive rounds of the Challenge Tower, then faced a group of Stitched Corpses. He used Greasy Ground and Foxfire Spell to set the slow undead ablaze, but the challenge continued amid smoke and stench.

• Charles defeated the Shield Skeletons, and the voice announced that the first round had been passed.
• Lava Beetles charged Charles, and one exploded after an imp struck it, killing the imp.
• Charles ordered the imps to throw tridents and used Bone Needle Bee to trigger explosions that destroyed the Lava Beetles.
• Twenty Stitched Corpses emerged, and Charles realized their stronger defenses made them harder to kill than Shield Skeletons.
• Charles cast Greasy Ground on a Stitched Corpse and ignited it with Foxfire Spell, causing the burning corpses to chase him around the hall.

Charles cleared the sixth stage of the Challenge Tower, then faced the seventh-stage guard, a Blood Ring Knight Projection. After his summoned Mezzoloth was killed and his sorceries proved only partly effective, Charles changed his plan and prepared to use the Book of Orenis.

• Charles defeated the sixth stage’s twenty miniature fire elementals after exhausting nearly all his Ice Spike and water-element scrolls.
• The tower announced the seventh-stage guard as a Blood Ring Knight Projection, which emerged mounted on an armored warhorse.
• Charles summoned a Mezzoloth and used several scrolls and sorceries, but the Blood Ring Knight killed the Mezzoloth and resisted most of his attacks.
• Charles used vision-obscuring and speed-enhancing sorceries to evade the Blood Ring Knight as its pale-red mist boosted its speed.
• Charles revised his plan and pulled out the Book of Orenis to cast Dawnlight Arrow Rain.

Charles defeated the seventh-floor guardian of the Challenge Tower and won three bottles of Mind-Focusing Potion. When the Trial Voucher marked him as carrying potions and nearby apprentices began closing in, Charles decided to kill everyone within fifty kilometers to secure time for his breakthrough.

• Charles used a first-circle spell to destroy the Blood Ring Knight and its warhorse, clearing the seventh floor.
• The Challenge Tower awarded Charles three bottles of Mind-Focusing Potion, and he stored them in his Alchemy Pouch.
• Charles discovered that his Trial Voucher now marked him with a potion symbol, while two nearby apprentices approached the tower.
• Charles decided to kill the apprentices around him rather than give up the potions or his Trial Voucher.
• An apprentice demanded that Charles hand over the Mind-Focusing Potion, and Charles attacked with two Poison Flame Spells while summoning an imp.

Charles killed several apprentices and used their Trial Vouchers to set a trap before retreating to a hidden spot. There, he drank Mind-Focusing Potions and began transforming his spiritual power to advance to a first-circle wizard.

• Charles killed an apprentice, collected his supplies, and chased another apprentice toward the Challenge Tower, where the fugitive escaped inside.
• Charles tracked down apprentices using Trial Vouchers, then left his own voucher as bait and kept another voucher to locate himself and recover it if needed.
• Charles killed seven or eight apprentices, set up defenses and traps in a safe location, and prepared to cultivate.
• Charles drank a Mind-Focusing Potion and began the transformation of his spiritual power, drawing on his knowledge to meet the wizard advancement test.
• Charles drank a second Mind-Focusing Potion to accelerate the transformation, bringing the first-circle breakthrough within reach.

Charles became a First-Circle Wizard in the Trial Plane and began reclaiming the vouchers he had left behind. He killed an apprentice trying to steal his potion-marked voucher, drawing the attention of nearby apprentices.

• A Quasit ambushed and killed a blue-robed apprentice who was approaching Charles, then delivered the apprentice’s Trial Voucher to him.
• Charles awakened as a First-Circle Wizard and set off to retrieve his own Trial Voucher.
• An apprentice searching for Charles’s potion-marked voucher found it hidden in a tree and moved to take it.
• Charles confronted the apprentice and killed him with three ice spikes, overcoming his layered defenses.
• Charles reclaimed his voucher and merged in the collected vouchers, while nearby apprentices arrived and realized a wizard was there.