Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Brock recounts how he left his dwarf tribe with Barrett, traveled widely, and learned magical craftsmanship under Barrett’s guidance. He became an accomplished maker of magical items and the two built a successful workshop together in Silverpine City.
• The partnership collapsed when Barrett repeatedly wandered away during the workshop’s busiest period. Overwhelmed by orders, Brock made mistakes, missed deadlines, paid heavy penalties, and faced angry customers and investors. He eventually recovered but abandoned his ambitions to expand.
• Brock has not seen Barrett in three years, though Barrett still sends occasional letters from the places he visits. Zeliel realizes he has traveled through some of those same locations.
• Zeliel asks where he can sell a Tier 5 plant-magic scroll while ensuring he can watch the buyer cast it. Brock directs him to a public noticeboard where mages can arrange specialized transactions.
• At the board, Zeliel finds a notice seeking a plant-magic scroll of at least Tier 4 multi-layer structure—potentially a match for his Tier 5 scroll. Before he can read the contact details, someone begins removing it, and Zeliel calls out.

Character developments and interactions

• Brock’s story reveals both his gratitude to Barrett as a mentor and his lasting resentment toward Barrett as an unreliable partner. Despite the workshop’s failure, Brock’s craftsmanship and distinctive magical products remain impressive.
• Zeliel listens sympathetically, comparing Brock’s burden to being left to carry a failing project alone. He tries to reassure Brock that Barrett’s teaching was valuable, while acknowledging his flaws.
• The two share a relaxed, friendly exchange. Brock is astonished to learn Zeliel may be proficient in several schools of magic, and jokes that Barrett’s “guidance of fate” may have led him to Blackstone Town.
• Brock appears moved by recounting the past; after Zeliel leaves, he seems poised to write Barrett a letter.

Significant themes

• Talent and mentorship: Barrett helped cultivate Brock’s exceptional skill, even though he failed as a dependable partner.
• Trust and responsibility: Brock bears the consequences of Barrett’s absences, illustrating how neglect can damage customers, investors, and a hard-earned reputation.
• Recovery and lost ambition: Brock rebuilds his livelihood but settles for a modest shop, having lost much of his drive to expand.
• Specialized exchange and fair expectations: The noticeboard connects people whose needs shops cannot meet, while its rules—and the mocking response to an unrealistic offer—emphasize accountability and reasonable demands.

Zeliel sold Jonas Ander the Thornwood Realm scroll for 1,600 gold coins and arranged to watch him cast the spell after learning it. Jonas planned to master it in four days, leaving Zeliel waiting to add the spell to his analysis queue.

• Zeliel met Jonas Ander, who had posted a notice seeking a tier 4 multi-layer spell, and showed him the tier 5 Thornwood Realm scroll.
• Jonas inspected the scroll and agreed to demonstrate Thornwood Realm after learning it, while Zeliel asked for no further explanation.
• Jonas offered 1,500 gold coins, then raised his offer to 1,600, and Zeliel accepted the full payment.
• Zeliel calculated that his 30 percent share of the sale would be 480 gold coins, with the rest divided among his four teammates.
• Jonas recognized Zeliel as the talented young mage rumored to have high affinity for many types of magic.
• Jonas said he would learn Thornwood Realm in about four days, and he and Zeliel arranged to meet at the Magic Experimental Ground.

Zeliel tested the powers he had gained from Redleaf Rift, awakening and expanding his Flame Domain across the Magic Experimental Ground. He unleashed a heavily enhanced Flame Lightning Spear that devastated the testing ground, and the Detection Crystal recorded a score of 122.

• Zeliel tested Fireball and Fractal Fire with Red Tide, raising their Detection Crystal scores to 5 and 7.
• Zeliel awakened Flame Domain, spreading it across more than fifty meters and drawing fire elements under his control.
• Zeliel found that Flame Domain greatly strengthened his fire magic, weakened other elements, and let him shape surrounding flames into rapidly cast Fireballs.
• Zeliel combined Flame Domain, Red Tide, Mana Harmonization, and the Storm Bracelet to form a supercharged Flame Lightning Spear.
• Zeliel launched the spear, wrecking the testing ground despite protecting himself with Ring of Repulsion.
• Zeliel saw the Detection Crystal stop at 122.

Zeliel tested his enhanced Flame Lightning Spear at the Mages' Guild, set a new power record, and damaged the Fourth Experimental Ground, but the staff let him leave without paying. That evening, he rejoined his companions at the Silver Branch Inn, where he returned the Storage Bags he had bought.

• Zeliel's flame domain boosted his Flame Lightning Spear to a record 122, but the blast badly damaged the Fourth Experimental Ground.
• The experimental ground staff checked Zeliel for injuries, explained that the protective runes and stone needed repairs, and told him he would not have to pay.
• Zeliel reflected that his flame domain could last only a few minutes and that his spell's fire component had reached a limit without a lightning domain.
• At the Silver Branch Inn, Zeliel met Hill, Gray, Vales, and Marcus, and Gray recounted his visit to a casino.
• Zeliel teased Gray about gambling and self-pleasure, then gave the group the five Storage Bags he had bought.

Zeliel sold a magic scroll and shared the proceeds with his party by giving them access to a Shared-Realm Storage Bag. After planning to report the Evil God Misaloth to the Church, he accepted Hill’s spare gear for safekeeping and sniffed one of her leather outfits.

• Zeliel showed Marcus, Gray, Vales, and Hill that the five Storage Bags shared one space, then explained that he had sold the scroll for 1,600 gold coins and left 1,120 for them.
• The party divided the remaining gold among themselves, paid Zeliel for the Shared-Realm Storage Bag, and agreed to use its Secondary Bags for their belongings and common supplies.
• Hill told Zeliel about an assassin romance she had seen at the theater, and Zeliel later spotted a brightly lit casino and considered visiting it with Gray because of his high luck.
• Zeliel planned to practice magic, visit the Magic Experimental Ground, and report Misaloth’s cult to the Church the next day.
• Hill brought Zeliel spare clothes and concealed weapons to store, explaining that she did not want to put them among the clutter in the Public Storage Bag.
• After Hill left, Zeliel inspected one of her leather outfits and sniffed it.