Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Opening + The Uncanny”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xu Mu transmigrates into the body of Green Wilson, only to discover that Green has just been stabbed through the heart during a failed occult summoning ritual.
• Although believed dead, Xu Mu remains conscious. The ritual’s residual magical energy spreads from Green’s injured heart through his body, gradually restoring movement and closing the wound.
• The men responsible, Les and Old Bill, abandon Green in a snowy potter’s field. They reveal that he was accidentally used as a blood sacrifice because of a misunderstanding involving their secret religious organization and summoning array.
• Green’s memories return. He learns that he is a fallen collateral noble of the powerful Wilson Family, a probationary steward, and an inexperienced practitioner of necromancy.
• His previous body had absorbed psychic energy from a damaged necromantic artifact. The stab wound released this energy, causing his body to begin lichification rather than die. Green realizes this transformation allowed Xu Mu’s soul to occupy the body.
• Green survives the freezing night, walks back to Landon City, and returns to his small room near the Wilson mansion. He intends to investigate the secret compartment containing the necromantic artifact.
• Before he can search it, Shirley, a young maid, summons him to accompany Vincent Wilson, the family heir.
• Vincent takes Green to the Rowa Auction House after hearing that three female elves have arrived and are being offered for sale.
• At the auction house, Green notices that the adventurers who captured the elves are tense and frightened rather than pleased with their expected profits.
• Investigation reveals that the adventurers encountered a terrifying supernatural anomaly while traveling from Gaia Forest. Several companions died, including an Advanced Apprentice Knight, and the group hurriedly stopped in Landon City to sell the elves.

Character Developments

• Green/Xu Mu: Awakens in a supernatural world and quickly adapts to his bizarre resurrection. He becomes more cautious and analytical after discovering his necromantic powers and possible lichification. His survival also gives him access to Green Wilson’s identity, memories, social position, and magical resources.
• Les: Revealed as an irritable and fearful member of the occult group. Though initially confident in the summoning ritual, he panics upon learning that Green belonged to the influential Wilson Family.
• Old Bill: A timid accomplice who appears to have recruited Green under false pretenses. He feels uneasy about killing a noble relative but submits to Les’s authority.
• Vincent Wilson: Introduced as an extravagant young nobleman obsessed with acquiring an elf, but he also demonstrates awareness and practical judgment by investigating the suspicious adventurers instead of acting blindly.
• Shirley: Established as Vincent’s young, cheerful, and loyal maid who maintains Green’s connection to the Wilson household.
• The adventurers: Their fear and exhaustion suggest that they have encountered something far more dangerous than ordinary monsters or bandits.

Significant Themes

• Survival and rebirth: Xu Mu gains a second life through a failed ritual, turning an intended sacrifice into an unexpected resurrection.
• Science and the supernatural: The setting combines industrial technology—gas lamps, steam-era transportation, firearms, and factories—with necromancy, evil gods, elves, and magical creatures.
• The uncanny and hidden danger: Ordinary-looking events conceal supernatural threats, from Green’s abnormal body to the mysterious anomaly pursuing the adventurers.
• Class and power: Green’s connection to the Wilson Family offers protection and status, while Les’s panic shows the danger of harming even a fallen noble.
• Consequences of ignorance: Green Wilson’s reckless experimentation with necromantic energy and the occult group’s careless ritual both produce disastrous results.

Character Interactions

• Les and Old Bill argue over the failed summoning and the danger of having sacrificed a member of the Wilson Family.
• Green relies on memories of his former relationships to interact naturally with Shirley and Vincent.
• Vincent treats Green as a trusted companion rather than a mere servant, allowing them to speak casually and exchange warnings.
• Green and Vincent jointly investigate the auction house’s suspicious circumstances.
• The waiter provides information after Vincent discreetly pays him, confirming that the adventurers are hiding the truth about the supernatural anomaly.
• The chapter ends with Green, Vincent, and the reader aware that the elf auction is connected to a dangerous and unexplained supernatural threat.

Key plot points

• Vincent realizes an Eerie powerful enough to kill an Advanced Apprentice Knight may have targeted the adventuring party because of the three Elves. Though tempted to claim them, he decides they are not worth provoking an unknown supernatural enemy and leaves.
• Back at his residence, Green examines the broken bone whistle. A blue-green light flows from it into his hand, and the artifact crumbles to powder.
• Strange electronic sounds follow. Green’s consciousness is drawn into a vision of a ruined city, where a game-like interface identifies him as Xu Mu (Green Wilson), a Junior Apprentice Necromancer.
• Green recognizes the ruins as the Graveyard faction from a strategy game he played before crossing worlds. The Town Hall restores itself, and he finds a cemetery containing five Skeleton Soldiers.
• He cannot recruit the Skeletons: the Graveyard has no visible resources or functioning recruitment system. Green returns to his body after about ten minutes and suspects the whistle’s energy opened the Graveyard but was insufficient to activate all its features. He plans to test this with another Magic Artifact.

Character developments and interactions

• Vincent shows restraint and political caution, choosing to avoid a dangerous Eerie rather than indulge his desires. Green respects his decision.
• Green moves from confusion and fear—especially when he discovers he has no body in the vision—to excitement at finding what may be his special advantage. His curiosity then turns to practical investigation as he tries to understand the Graveyard’s limits.
• Green interacts primarily with Vincent and, later, the magical interface. No one interrupts him while he examines the whistle.

Significant themes

• Restraint in the face of danger: Vincent weighs personal desire against the risk of provoking a powerful enemy.
• The supernatural and the unknown: The Eerie, the artifact’s mysterious energy, and Green’s sudden mental journey remain unexplained.
• Power with limitations: Green gains access to the Graveyard, but its potential is not yet usable.
• Cross-world identity: The interface names Green as Xu Mu, while assigning him the Necromancer class—apparently linked to his Lichification rather than his former game character.

Key plot points and events

• After learning more about the unsettling events at the auction house, Vincent invites Green to dinner. Before they can discuss the matter further, Vincent’s guard Rolt reports that Baron Lonanks and eight adventurers have been murdered.
• Vincent suspects the deaths are connected to the mysterious presence at the auction house, where Lonanks may have bought the three Elf slaves.
• Vincent’s father, Viscount Paul Wilson, summons Vincent to inspect the crime scene. Green accompanies them with Steward Laurence.
• At Lonanks’s mansion, they find the city’s senior officials and the baron’s grieving second wife. In the study, Lonanks’s body bears signs of a violent, terrifying death.
• The medical examiner detects a Psychic Energy reaction and concludes that an eerie supernatural being is responsible. The city officials decide to alert the Anomalies Bureau, since the threat is beyond local control.
• Green realizes that Psychic Energy may help him reopen the Graveyard within himself, which only partially activated after he absorbed energy from a Bone Whistle.

Character developments and interactions

• Vincent shifts from unease to urgent action. His father approves of his decision to avoid the auctioned Elves, recognizing that Vincent correctly sensed the danger.
• Green remains observant and reserved, but the examiner’s findings give him a new lead in pursuing the energy he needs.
• Viscount Paul emerges as an authoritative, watchful father who closely monitors Vincent’s choices.
• Steward Laurence acts as a respected intermediary, delivering Paul’s summons.
• The city officials confront their limited ability to respond and defer to the Anomalies Bureau.

Significant themes

• Supernatural danger versus civic authority: The murder shows that conventional police and political power may be inadequate against eerie beings.
• Restraint and survival: Vincent’s decision to avoid the Elves is validated as prudent.
• Power and Psychic Energy: The same force behind supernatural abilities may be the key to Green’s unfinished awakening.

Key plot points and events

• Green considers confronting the Eerie that killed Baron Lonanks to obtain its Psychic Energy, which might fully activate the Graveyard, but decides it would be far too dangerous.
• After most visitors leave the study, Green senses an invisible trace near the door. The strain of trying to see it unexpectedly triggers Death Spirit Sight, a first-circle Necromancy spell. For a moment, the world turns black and white, revealing hidden drops of blood.
• Green follows the blood trail to a storage room and then upstairs. The trail suggests the wounded Eerie paused by the storage-room door before heading to a guest room.
• Once left behind at the mansion, Green returns to the trail and deliberately casts Death Spirit Sight. After failing twice, he succeeds, though the spell causes severe pain and dizziness.
• Green reaches the guest room where the trail ends and cautiously opens the door.

Character developments

• Green makes a breakthrough in his Necromancy training, learning to cast Death Spirit Sight through repeated attempts and careful attention to the spell’s structure.
• He shows caution as well as ambition: although intrigued by the Eerie and its Psychic Energy, he recognizes that attacking it would likely mean death.
• The Baroness is presented as politically vulnerable. As a common-born widow facing a struggle over her husband’s estate, she seeks support from the city’s powerful figures.

Character interactions

• The Baroness refuses the elderly examiner’s request to take the Baron’s body for an autopsy, insisting on preserving its dignity.
• The Council Chairman arranges for people to remain at the mansion under the pretext of helping with funeral arrangements; the Baroness understands they are there to keep watch but cannot refuse.
• The city’s influential visitors are already positioning themselves to benefit from the inheritance dispute, while Green stays behind and investigates.

Significant themes

• Ambition versus survival: Green’s desire for power is tempered by his awareness of the danger.
• Unequal access to power: Supernatural abilities and Magic Artifacts may offer protection, but political influence and wealth also shape who gains advantage.
• Greed and vulnerability: The looming inheritance struggle shows how quickly a death can turn into a contest for property.
• Persistence and discovery: Green’s magical progress comes through observation, practice, and learning from failure.

Plot points and events

• Green searches Baron Lonanks’s former room with Death Spirit Sight and finds the Wind Blade Bracelet, a Magic Artifact hidden beneath the mattress. He absorbs its Psychic Energy, destroying the bracelet but finally activating the Graveyard’s Psychic Energy system.
• The Graveyard shows Green has 25 Psychic Energy points. He spends five to recruit a Skeleton Soldier, which proves far more capable than he expected: strong, quick, intelligent, and responsive to his commands.
• Green realizes he does not know Soul Summoning, the spell needed to bring the Skeleton Soldier into the real world. He decides to ask Vincent for help and leaves the Graveyard without recruiting more soldiers.
• The next morning, agents from the Anomalies Bureau arrive at Lonanks’s mansion to investigate the Baron’s death. Green is relieved from his temporary watch by Soren, returns to Wilson Castle, and approaches Vincent with a request.

Character developments and interactions

• Green becomes more confident in the Graveyard’s potential, but his lack of practical Necromancy training limits how he can use it. He also chooses to destroy the valuable bracelet because its stolen origin makes it unsafe to keep.
• Green observes the Bureau’s arrival but has little chance to learn more before being replaced. Vincent is curious about the agents, yet quickly turns his attention to why Green has come to the study.
• Green expects Vincent to help him learn Soul Summoning, but Vincent asks to hear the request before agreeing, reflecting the cautious, transactional etiquette of noble society.

Significant themes

• Power and its costs: Psychic Energy unlocks the Graveyard’s abilities, while artifacts can be consumed to gain it.
• Potential versus knowledge: Green can recruit powerful Undead but lacks the spell needed to deploy them in the living world.
• Secrecy and social calculation: Green sacrifices a valuable artifact to avoid exposure, while Vincent’s guarded response illustrates the careful bargaining that shapes noble relationships.

Key plot points and events

• Green tells Vincent he has become a novice Necromancy Magic Apprentice, though he is still far from being a Formal Necromancer.
• Vincent is delighted: Green’s progress could eventually benefit the Wilson Family, and he offers to help him find instruction.
• Green explains that he became an apprentice through self-study, aided by a damaged Bone Whistle, but has no teacher and knows no spells.
• Vincent takes him to Doctor Wilkins, the Wilson Family’s resident magical scholar, who is nearing the Formal Mage rank.
• Wilkins detects Green’s magical school and is astonished that he gathered Magic Power without a teacher, especially with help from a damaged artifact.
• Green asks Wilkins to teach him basic Necromancy spells; the chapter ends before Wilkins answers.

Character developments and interactions

• Green is candid about his achievement but modest about his prospects. He seeks practical guidance rather than praise.
• Vincent responds with sincere pride and renewed closeness, calling Green “brother.” He quickly takes action to help.
• Doctor Wilkins shifts from joking with Vincent to scrutinizing Green’s unusual achievement. His surprise reveals how extraordinary Green’s self-taught progress seems.
• The scene highlights the warm bond between Green and Vincent, while also showing Wilkins as an experienced, curious scholar.

Significant themes

• Talent and perseverance: Becoming a Magic Apprentice is difficult, and Green’s success is remarkable, even with the Bone Whistle’s help.
• Knowledge and mentorship: Magical ability alone is not enough; Green needs instruction to learn spells and advance.
• Family ambition and loyalty: Vincent’s happiness is personal, but he also recognizes the potential benefit Green’s future might bring to the Wilson Family.
• The uncertain nature of research: Wilkins’s failed experiment reflects how magical discovery often depends on repeated failure.

Key plot points and events

• Green asks Doctor Wilkins to teach him two basic Necromancy spells. Wilkins warns that spellcasting requires extreme precision and admits Necromancy is not his specialty.
• Since Green is determined—and has the Graveyard System to help him cast recognized spells—Wilkins agrees and gives him two spellbooks: Soul Summoning and Bone Spikes.
• Green returns to his room and studies Soul Summoning. The book explains competing theories about where undead come from: fragments of Void Spirit Energy or inhabitants of the Netherworld.
• Soul Summoning has three forms—Summon Skeleton, Summon Zombie, and Summon Ghost—depending on what the gathered energy joins with.
• After seven or eight hours of study and practice, Green masters the spell. The Graveyard System records Soul Summoning LV1.
• He attempts the spell and successfully forms a red Spell Circle and vortex. A skeletal arm begins to emerge, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character developments

• Green shows confidence, patience, and disciplined study. He is not deterred by Wilkins’s warning and methodically works through the spell’s difficulties.
• Doctor Wilkins is cautious but generous. He recognizes Green’s potential and gives him the spellbooks partly in hopes of earning the future goodwill of a promising magician.
• Vincent serves as the connection that brings Green to Wilkins, though he does not feature further in the chapter.

Significant themes

• Precision and perseverance: Magic is unforgiving, but careful study and persistence allow Green to master a difficult skill.
• Different ways of understanding the supernatural: The chapter contrasts theories of undead as constructed from spiritual energy with the idea that they are summoned from another realm.
• Unequal access to power: Green’s Graveyard System gives him an advantage over ordinary Necromancers, who may struggle to obtain powerful undead even after years of advancement.
• Potential and patronage: Wilkins’s gift reflects how established magicians may invest in people they believe could become influential.

Character interactions

• Green approaches Wilkins respectfully and accepts his limitations without complaint.
• Wilkins responds to Green’s resolve by supplying two useful spells, while also hoping to build a favorable relationship with him.
• Green then works alone, relying on the spellbook and his own careful practice to master Soul Summoning.

Key events

• Green successfully uses Soul Summoning to bring a well-equipped Skeleton Soldier from the Graveyard into the real world, then sends it back with Reverse Necromancy.
• He spends the night practicing. As a Novice Necromancer Apprentice, he can cast the spell twelve times before exhausting his Magic Power; without a Meditation Method, recovery initially takes about three hours. Practice raises Soul Summoning to LV2, improving its speed and efficiency.
• With his remaining Psychic Energy, Green recruits five more Skeleton Soldiers, increasing his forces. He considers replacing their outdated swords and shields with Enchanted Rifles, though cost and logistics remain uncertain.
• An equipment experiment shows that an item placed inside a summoned Soldier’s armor returns to the Graveyard with it, while equipment left behind in the real world rapidly decays. Green realizes the Graveyard may serve as portable storage.
• Green discovers Soul Summoning connects only to the Graveyard, not to the usual sources of random Undead summons, so he cannot test a comparison.
• Resting in the Graveyard’s Town Hall speeds his Magic Power recovery to about two hours. Continued practice raises Soul Summoning to LV3, but triggers severe pain, spasms, and bleeding from his nose and ears.

Character development and interactions

• Green is excited, curious, and highly practical: he tests the spell repeatedly, investigates how summoned creatures behave, and quickly turns discoveries into plans.
• He recognizes his limitations as a self-taught mage, especially his lack of a Meditation Method, but finds ways to compensate through the Graveyard.
• The Skeleton Soldier appears reluctant and hostile when Green touches it, yet submits because Green has power over it. It also resists having its gear removed and refuses to release its sword.
• Green’s relationship with the Soldiers is primarily that of a commander and experimenter; he views them as a standing army whose strength could be improved with better equipment.

Significant themes

• Self-reliance and resourcefulness: Green makes progress despite lacking formal training and scarce resources.
• Power and its costs: Repeated practice improves his spell but ultimately causes alarming physical harm.
• Experimentation and discovery: Green methodically tests summoning, recovery, and what can pass between worlds.
• Strategic ambition: He begins imagining the Graveyard not only as a source of troops but also as a mobile storehouse, while planning to modernize his army.

Plot points

• Green discovers that training Soul Summoning has stalled at LV3, so he turns to Bone Spikes. Lacking bones, he experiments with stones from his Graveyard and successfully summons a lethal field of stone spikes.
• The stone version is powerful but slow to cast. Green practices until the spell reaches LV2, improving its speed, though its high Magic Power cost limits how often he can use it.
• News reports reveal that the killings at Baron Lonanks’s home continued after the baron’s death. A relative and several servants were murdered, the widow escaped to the police, and the three Elf slaves disappeared under mysterious circumstances.
• Vincent tells Green that Anomalies Bureau investigators were nearby when the Elves vanished but noticed nothing. Green suspects the invisible Eerie was responsible and may have killed out of anger over the Wind Blade Bracelet he took. He realizes the Eerie could trace the theft to him and resolves to grow stronger quickly.
• Green demonstrates Soul Summoning to Vincent, summoning an imposing Skeleton Soldier. He conceals the Graveyard’s role, claiming he simply made contracts with unusually capable skeletons.
• Green borrows twenty Gold Pounds from Vincent so he can register with the Mages Association, gaining legal access to spellbooks and magical equipment.

Character developments and interactions

• Green shows resourcefulness by adapting Bone Spikes to use stone, and ambition in intensifying his spell training. The Eerie’s apparent vengeance also makes him newly anxious about his own vulnerability.
• Vincent is impressed by Green’s rapid progress and exceptional summon, regarding him as a potential genius. He accepts Green’s explanation without probing further and helps him with money.
• The Eerie is recast in Green’s mind as a dangerous, vengeful presence rather than a presumed rescuer of the Elves.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity and adaptation: Green works around scarce materials by modifying a spell.
• Power and vulnerability: Strong magic is limited by casting time, energy reserves, and the risk of facing a stronger foe.
• Secrecy and trust: Green relies on Vincent but keeps the Graveyard’s true nature hidden.
• Order and protection: Registering as a mage entails oversight, but also offers legal recognition and access to resources.

Plot points

• Green visits the Mages Association to register, using a recommendation letter from Doctor Wilkins to simplify the process. After completing the paperwork, he receives his membership booklet.
• He spends most of his borrowed money on an inexpensive laurel-wood Magic Staff. It modestly improves casting speed, though its defensive-spell storage is useless to him.
• Green takes the Association’s optional combat-strength test in a magically simulated winter forest. He summons a Skeleton Soldier before moving through the dark terrain.
• Two monster puppets attack. Green dodges one and defeats it with Bone Spikes, while his Skeleton Soldier swiftly kills the other. The test ends in under a minute, and the receptionist is astonished by his performance.

Character development

• Green is eager to assess his unusual abilities but remains cautious, summoning protection before exploring. His limited real combat experience shows when he panics and rolls clumsily to evade an attack.
• He gains confidence after seeing the Skeleton Soldier’s unexpectedly formidable fighting skill, while deliberately holding back rather than summoning another minion.
• His practical nature is clear in choosing the cheapest staff available, despite its limitations.

Character interactions

• Doctor Wilkins’s reputation earns Green respectful treatment and expedites his registration.
• The receptionists guide Green through the process and explain the test; after his surprising victory, the accompanying receptionist treats him with newfound respect.
• Green directs his Skeleton Soldier telepathically in battle, relying on it as both a shield and an effective combatant.

Significant themes

• Hidden potential: Green’s Graveyard produces Skeleton Soldiers much stronger than ordinary summons, overturning his doubts about their usefulness.
• Caution and resourcefulness: He compensates for inexperience with preparation, tactical spell use, and sensible restraint.
• Magic and spectacle: The Association’s lifelike simulation demonstrates the extraordinary possibilities of magic, while the test reveals how performance can challenge expectations.

Plot points and events

• Three days after returning from the Mages Association, Green moves into Wilson Castle and receives excellent care. Viscount Paul rewards his recognition as a registered Magic Apprentice with 200 Gold Pounds and promises to restore his family’s honor. Green accepts the money, implicitly agreeing to serve the Wilson family as an Attendant.
• Green meets Lola Claudi, an adventurer and black-market merchant, to buy magical objects whose Psychic Energy he can use to strengthen his Graveyard.
• Lola’s amethyst pendant proves to be an ordinary antique. Green then buys a badly damaged magical ring for five Gold Pounds, despite Lola’s attempt to charge more. Afterward, the Graveyard absorbs the ring’s energy, raising its Psychic Energy from zero to seven.
• Green asks Lola to find more damaged magical items. She offers to take him to a contact, One-Eyed Kerry Jin, for a two-Gold-Pound finder’s fee. Green pays and goes with her.
• Lola warns Green that Kerry is dangerous and that the Wilson family name may not protect him, though his status as a Necromancer might earn respect. As they travel west, sudden rain begins, leaving Green puzzled.

Character developments

• Green uses his new status and Paul’s gift to pursue greater power. He bargains confidently, conceals the Graveyard’s true purpose, and is willing to enter dangerous circles to obtain Psychic Energy.
• Lola is shown as sharp, connected, and opportunistic. Though annoyed at losing money on the ring, she recognizes a chance to profit by guiding Green to a potentially valuable source.
• Viscount Paul treats Green’s magical recognition as an opportunity to secure his loyalty and support the Wilson family’s interests.

Character interactions

• Paul’s generous gift establishes an unspoken exchange: Green gains wealth and protection, while the Wilson family expects his service.
• Green and Lola negotiate over the pendant and ring; their exchange mixes business, teasing, and mutual wariness. Green’s knowledge lets him expose the fake and hold firm on price.
• Lola’s warnings frame the meeting with Kerry as a step into more dangerous territory, while Green’s confidence suggests he believes he can handle the risk.

Significant themes

• Power and ambition: Green needs more Psychic Energy and recruits because his current forces cannot protect him against stronger opponents.
• Loyalty and patronage: Paul’s reward is both generosity and an effort to bind Green to the Wilson family.
• Deception and commerce: The fake pendant, Lola’s bargaining, and the black market all highlight a world where expertise and trust are scarce.
• Risk and escalation: Green’s search for power leads him from ordinary trading into increasingly dangerous networks.

Plot points and events

• A sudden, localized downpour strikes the commercial street as Green and Lola ride in a carriage. The Coachman ignores Green’s command to stop, and the pair realize an Eerie is nearby.
• Lola readies her rune-marked revolver and Green grips his Magic Staff. The Eerie’s passing brings a chill and a grating wail; people outside freeze and become dazed. The rain and mist soon clear, and the crowd returns to normal.
• Green suspects the powerful Eerie may be a Formal Rank creature and worries about its connection to the earlier Eerie and the three Elves. It headed toward the Rose Cafe, but he and Lola continue with their plans.
• At One-Eyed Kerry Jin’s business, they learn Kerry has been summoned away by the mayor. His receptionist and lover, Cindy, says several groups of tomb robbers have been attacked by strange, sudden rains that leave people disoriented or mad.
• Kerry returns about half an hour later and takes Green to a basement full of damaged antiques and possible Magic Artifacts. They agree Green will pay three Gold Pounds per item he selects.
• Green passes over several shelves, then picks up half of a rusted, broken sword. Cindy, unimpressed, leaves.

Character developments and interactions

• Green stays cautious during the Eerie encounter, then connects the street’s strange rain to reports of attacks on tomb robbers. He shows confidence and bargaining skill with Kerry, apparently relying on a special ability to identify worthwhile objects.
• Lola remains composed, draws her Fighting Aura-enhanced revolver, and accompanies Green to Kerry’s establishment.
• Cindy is shrewd and eager to advertise her connections, but her hint about the mayor is too conspicuous. She is warm and accommodating until Green chooses what looks like scrap metal.
• Kerry is eager to sell the unwanted goods and bargains with Green, settling on a per-item price.

Significant themes

• Growing supernatural danger: Repeated Eerie sightings suggest Landon City is becoming increasingly unsafe.
• Appearance versus hidden value: The basement is filled with damaged, seemingly worthless objects, yet Green selects an unimpressive sword fragment—hinting that its true worth may not be obvious.
• Uneasy uncertainty: The Eerie’s motives and connection to other strange events remain unknown, while Green’s choice of artifact raises questions about what he has recognized.

Key plot points and events

• Green searches Old One-Eye’s basement for Psychic Energy and selects thirteen damaged magical items. They contain only enough energy to recruit roughly a dozen Skeleton Soldiers—not enough to unlock a new building. Kerry is disappointed but earns thirty-nine Gold Pounds from the sale.
• Back in the shop, Green notices Elizabeth Franton, a striking noblewoman whose Fighting Aura suggests immense power. Their brief eye contact makes Green sense a terrifying presence; he resolves to avoid her. Kerry identifies her as a noble from Faerun City, while Lola teases Green about staring at her.
• A suspicious leather-clad man tries to sell goods to Cindy, but Kerry quietly signals her to offer an unfairly low price. The seller angrily prepares to leave.
• When the man bumps into Green, the Graveyard identifies him as a Wild Undead and offers “Fight” or “Recruit,” though the recruitment cost is unknown. Green cannot activate Recruit and chooses not to fight.
• Green learns from Kerry that the man has no living scent. Rather than let him go, Green offers to buy everything in his bag and invites him to his home to collect payment. The seemingly humble seller eagerly agrees, hiding a greedy, vicious look.

Character developments

• Green becomes more alert to the growing danger in Landon City, recognizes Elizabeth as a possible high-ranking threat, and shows bold curiosity about the disguised Undead seller.
• Kerry proves shrewd and ruthless in business, using the shop’s influence to pressure the seller; his unusually keen sense of smell also exposes the man’s unnatural nature.
• Elizabeth is introduced as powerful, mysterious, and socially alluring, but her true rank and purpose remain uncertain.
• The seller appears vulnerable when his deal fails, but his concealed Undead identity and predatory reaction to Green’s offer suggest danger.

Significant themes

• Hidden identities and deceptive appearances: The seller looks human but is Undead, while Elizabeth’s polished appearance masks intimidating power.
• Power and caution: Green weighs the dangers posed by formidable figures and chooses when to avoid confrontation and when to act.
• Greed and manipulation: Kerry pressures the seller over price, while the seller’s eagerness to follow Green hints at his own schemes.
• The supernatural entering everyday life: Magical artifacts, Fighting Aura, and the Graveyard’s detection system intersect with ordinary commerce, amid a city facing increasing Eerie incidents.

Character interactions

• Green and Kerry discuss the weak haul from the basement and later speak privately about the suspicious seller.
• Lola teases Green after he reacts to Elizabeth, while Kerry provides information about her.
• Kerry’s signal leads Cindy to drive a hard bargain with the seller, escalating his frustration.
• Green intervenes after learning the seller is Undead, presents himself as a buyer, and draws the man into following him away from the shop.

Key plot points and events

• During a carriage ride, Green examines a thief’s bag and secretly transfers Psychic Energy from previously acquired magical items into his Graveyard. With 64 Psychic Energy available, he recruits three Skeleton Soldiers, bringing his squad to eight.
• The carriage takes Green and the thief to a deserted lane. The thief attacks, revealing that he is a Hard-Skin Ghoul, a powerful level-two Undead creature.
• Confident that a higher-ranked Undead can dominate Skeleton Soldiers, the Ghoul charges them. Instead, Green’s eight soldiers coordinate effectively, disarm and injure it, and capture it.
• The Ghoul claims to serve Cristiano, an Advanced Necromancer Apprentice from neighboring Rhine City, and offers a ransom. Green recognizes the name but does not let the plea stop him.
• The Ghoul feigns surrender, then activates Frenzied Bloodlust, breaks through the Skeletons, and rushes Green. Green remains calm and casts Bone Spikes, striking the Ghoul with a barrage of sharpened spikes.

Character developments

• Green shows growing confidence and tactical skill: he builds up his forces, quickly summons and coordinates them, and keeps his composure when the Ghoul attacks at close range. His customized Bone Spikes prove far more lethal than the spell’s ordinary form.
• The Ghoul is revealed as intelligent enough to speak, bargain, and deceive, but its Frenzied Bloodlust strips away its reason and turns it into a direct threat.
• Cristiano is introduced indirectly as a powerful necromancer with a reputation—and a possible Lineage Legacy—suggesting a larger threat beyond the immediate fight.

Significant themes

• Preparation and ingenuity can overcome brute strength: the Ghoul expects its rank to give it an easy victory, but Green’s numbers and tactics turn the fight against it.
• Appearances and deception: the thief’s human disguise hides a monster, and the Ghoul’s plea for mercy conceals a planned escape.
• Control versus frenzy: Green’s calm decision-making contrasts with the Ghoul’s loss of reason under its bloodlust ability.
• Power brings wider complications: the Ghoul’s connection to Cristiano hints that Green’s actions may draw in stronger rivals.

Character interactions

• Green and the Ghoul shift from apparent buyer and seller to attacker and target, then captor and captive.
• The Ghoul tries to intimidate Green by invoking Undead hierarchy, then attempts to bargain through Cristiano’s name.
• Green’s Skeleton Soldiers act as a coordinated team, shielding and supporting one another as they subdue the Ghoul and defend Green during its escape attempt.

Key plot points and events

• Green defeats a Hard-Skin Ghoul in his first lethal fight, discovering that he can remain calm and cast spells effectively under pressure.
• The Graveyard offers to capture the critically wounded ghoul. Green accepts, and the Graveyard spends 20 psychic energy to heal and transform it.
• The ghoul becomes a stronger, mindless elite unit: a level-two Hard-Skin Ghoul with combat power of 9.5, enough to overpower several Skeleton Soldiers.
• Back at Wilson Castle, Green encounters Elizabeth Franton, the mysterious woman he previously met at Old One-Eye’s shop. She says she came to see Viscount Paul but instead takes an interest in Green.
• In private, Elizabeth offers him the latest Gelfis Meditation Method in exchange for learning how a novice Necromancer Apprentice defeated a Hard-Skin Ghoul.

Character developments

• Green gains confidence from surviving his first real battle, while also showing caution and pragmatism. He recognizes Elizabeth’s potential leverage and tries to conceal how much he wants the Meditation Method.
• Elizabeth Franton reveals herself as perceptive and calculating. She recognizes Green’s disguised ghoul encounter and uses his need for a Meditation Method to secure a conversation on her terms.
• The Coachman is badly shaken by the fight but manages to remain functional.

Character interactions

• Green directs the Coachman around the city while he examines the Graveyard and its newly captured creature.
• Green and Elizabeth exchange polite but guarded introductions. Though wary of her, Green agrees to speak with her because he is interested in magic and has little power to refuse.
• Their discussion shifts from Green’s collection of ancient magical fragments to Elizabeth’s proposed trade: the Meditation Method for the story of his victory.

Significant themes

• Growth through danger: Green’s first deadly fight reveals a talent for combat and boosts his confidence.
• Power and transformation: The Graveyard turns a near-dead enemy into a more powerful unit, showing how its resources can convert defeat into advantage.
• Knowledge as leverage: Elizabeth’s offer exposes how urgently Green needs magical training—and how that need gives her bargaining power.
• Caution amid ambition: Green wants to learn, but remains wary of powerful, mysterious people and the costs of dealing with them.

Key plot points and events

• During Green’s visit, Elizabeth is interrupted by a small red bird that enters Wilson Castle without setting off its expensive Defensive Magic Circle. The bird appears to deliver news that troubles her, and she abruptly ends the meeting.
• Elizabeth promises to bring Green the Gelfis Meditation Method, Third Edition next time. In return, she asks him to summon his unusual Skeleton for her to inspect.
• The next morning, Green warns Vincent that Elizabeth may be a powerful Formal-Rank Transcendent. Though he admits he is not certain, he believes she is formidable even by the standards of that rank.
• Vincent recognizes the danger and importance of the information and says he must tell his father.
• Lillisa, Vincent’s young sister, arrives hoping to see Green’s “moving dolls”—actually his Skeleton Soldiers. Green and Vincent manage to dissuade her, with Vincent promising her several things.
• Green returns to practicing [Bone Spikes]. He discovers that the spell’s projectiles quickly dissolve beyond a short range, and after failing to improve the spell, decides to focus on mastering its speed, precision, and flexibility.

Character developments and interactions

• Green remains wary of Elizabeth but is willing to show her a Skeleton Soldier in exchange for the rare meditation method. He also takes a practical approach to magic, prioritizing mastery of an existing spell over ambitious experimentation.
• Elizabeth appears to have urgent outside obligations and an interest in Green’s unusual summons. Her true motives remain unclear.
• Vincent shifts from idle curiosity about Elizabeth’s beauty to serious concern once Green describes her possible power. He trusts Green’s judgment and expresses sincere gratitude.
• Lillisa is curious and persistent, treating the Skeleton Soldiers as toys. Green and Vincent protect her from encountering something frightening or dangerous.

Significant themes

• Power and political stakes: A Formal-Rank Transcendent could affect the fate of the Wilson family and the whole city.
• Secrecy and unusual abilities: Green’s summoned Undead are attracting attention, though he believes their oddness alone will not reveal the Graveyard.
• Limits of knowledge and skill: Green’s failed attempt to extend [Bone Spikes] shows how difficult magical innovation is; disciplined practice may be more valuable than trying to reinvent a spell.
• Appearance versus reality: Elizabeth’s reputation for gentleness and beauty contrasts with the danger Green believes she represents; the “dolls” Lillisa expects are actually Skeleton Soldiers.

Plot points and events

• Green visits Old One-Eye to obtain military Enchanted Rifles for his Skeleton Soldiers. After haggling, they agree on a price of fifteen Gold Pounds per rifle, with better terms possible for a larger order.
• On his way home, Green spots Lillisa returning to Wilson Castle after dark. A reckless black carriage stops beside her, and two disguised men seize her in a planned kidnapping.
• Green rushes to help, summoning two Skeleton Soldiers and preparing a spell. The kidnappers shoot one Skeleton, but it survives and continues pursuing them.
• Before Green can deploy his more powerful Hard-Skin Ghoul, Doctor Wilkins intervenes with a devastating Arcane Missile. Recognizing Wilkins, Green orders his Skeletons to block the kidnappers’ escape.

Character developments

• Green shows practical ambition in seeking better weapons for his troops, but also quick courage and concern for Lillisa. Though frightened by the gunfire and reluctant to reveal his trump card, he acts decisively.
• Doctor Wilkins appears as a powerful and protective ally, arriving with enough force to halt the kidnapping.
• Lillisa is shown as adventurous and careless about being out after dark, making her vulnerable to the ambush.

Character interactions

• Green and Old One-Eye bargain sharply over the rifles, with Green’s willingness to walk away forcing the merchant to lower his price.
• Green attempts to rescue Lillisa with his Skeleton Soldiers, while the kidnappers use a gun to hold them off.
• Wilkins confronts the kidnappers, and Green coordinates with him by ordering his troops to seal off their escape.

Significant themes

• Protection and responsibility: Green risks himself to protect Lillisa, while Wilkins also responds to her danger.
• Preparation and limits of power: Green’s plans to upgrade his troops reflect the importance of equipment, but the gunfire exposes his vulnerability and the limits of his current defenses.
• Unexpected consequences: The kidnappers’ seemingly simple plan is disrupted by the presence of two mages and their forces.

Plot points and events

• The kidnappers’ leader grabs Lillisa and threatens to shoot her unless Doctor Wilkins and the others stand down. He urges his two accomplices to fight, arguing that they have no chance if captured.
• Green uses a precisely aimed, single Bone Spike to kill the leader without harming Lillisa. She escapes to Doctor Wilkins.
• The two remaining kidnappers suddenly transform under the effects of Demonic Beast Parasitism. Wilkins destroys the carriage, suspecting the mage controlling the parasites may be hiding inside, but finds no one.
• Green summons all eight Skeleton Soldiers to hold off the transformed attackers while Wilkins searches for their controller.
• Wilkins locates the hidden enemy in a nearby building and kills him with an Arcane Missile. Meanwhile, Green’s Skeleton Soldiers defeat both parasites with minimal losses.
• Green secretly collects the corpses’ Psychic Energy, gaining six points and raising the Graveyard’s reserve to 35.

Character developments

• Green shows improved precision and control of his Bone Spikes, then reveals that his Skeleton Soldiers are far more capable in combat than Wilkins expected. The encounter also deepens his ambition to become a more powerful Transcendent.
• Doctor Wilkins demonstrates quick judgment and formidable destructive power, identifying the parasitic magic and tracking down its controller.
• Lillisa reacts decisively when the leader is killed, escaping instead of freezing in danger.
• The kidnappers’ leader is revealed to be the carriage driver; his attempt to turn the hostage into leverage fails immediately.

Character interactions

• The kidnappers try to force Wilkins and Green to retreat by threatening Lillisa, but Green’s spell ends the standoff.
• Wilkins protects Lillisa and attacks the parasitic creatures’ unseen controller, while Green’s undead hold off the transformed kidnappers.
• Green admires Wilkins’s explosive magic, while Wilkins is surprised by the strength and resilience of Green’s Skeleton Soldiers.

Significant themes

• Power and competence: Green and Wilkins each underestimate the other’s abilities, only to be impressed by what the other can do.
• Adaptation and control: Green’s refined spellcasting and tactical use of his undead prove more effective than brute force alone.
• Hidden threats and vigilance: The danger persists after the apparent leader is killed, as a concealed mage and parasitic magic reveal the larger scheme behind the kidnapping.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• After the failed attempt to kidnap Lillisa, Landon City’s police investigate. They identify the two Demonic Insect hosts as members of a Lower District criminal group connected to the Tower of Yin Spirits, a brutal cult known for sacrificing an entire village.
• Green recalls that the original Green had once approached the cult and was killed as a sacrifice. He also realizes that killing the Demonic Insect hosts earned him Psychic Energy, suggesting that defeating supernatural enemies may help him grow stronger.
• Green expects the cult to retaliate against him and Doctor Wilkins, but sees the danger as an opportunity to test his abilities. The police make little progress finding the cult’s hideout.
• Green hires Lola for twenty Gold Pounds to locate the Tower’s secret lair. She accepts and hints that she may already know where it is.
• Vincent later reveals that the mage Doctor Wilkins destroyed was Xivir Rute, son and chosen successor of the cult’s Pontiff. His death turns the conflict into a potentially devastating blood feud.
• Green learns that the Pontiff, David True, is an Intermediate Apprentice able to communicate with a Wraith Evil God. Suspecting that Viscount Paul and David once made a secret deal and later fell out, Green focuses less on their politics than on confronting the cult himself.

Character developments and interactions

• Green remains calm and pragmatic. Rather than simply fear retaliation, he treats the cult as a chance to test his Psychic Energy theory and pursue what he thinks of as a “dungeon.” He is also clear-eyed about the Wilsons’ self-interest.
• Vincent is furious over the threat to his sister and works with the police to investigate. He brings Green the findings, then rushes to inform his father about Xivir’s identity.
• Lola admires Green’s role in the confrontation, though she initially doubts his claim that his Skeleton Soldiers defeated the Demonic Insect hosts. She agrees to help find the cult’s hideout—for payment—and leaves Green wondering how much she already knows.
• Viscount Paul and Vincent face the political danger of having killed the Pontiff’s son, while Green chooses not to involve himself in their private dealings.

Significant themes

• Power and progression: Green’s discovery that killing supernatural foes may grant Psychic Energy frames danger as a path to growth.
• Revenge and escalating conflict: The failed kidnapping and Xivir’s death turn a localized incident into a potentially ruinous feud.
• Moral ambiguity: The cult is monstrous, but Green does not act from a sense of justice; he pursues his own aims, while the Wilsons may have previously cooperated with the cult for their own interests.
• Secrecy and manipulation: The cult’s hidden operations and the suspected private bargain between David True and Viscount Paul leave the true causes of the kidnapping unresolved.

• While waiting for Lola to report back about the missing Tower of Yin Spirits, Green spends several days at Wilson Castle refining his magic. His Bone Spikes spell has advanced to level six, expanding its range and allowing him to choose between a single spike and an area attack.
• Green tests an Enchanted Rifle supplied by Old One-Eye. A Skeleton Soldier can use its Psychic Energy to activate the rifle’s runes, which let ordinary bullets pierce magic. Though the skeleton is slower and less accurate than a trained Knight, Green teaches it the basics of firing.
• The Graveyard responds to the new equipment by creating a new elite unit: the Gun Skeleton Soldier, with stronger combat power and improved armor. Green realizes it is cheaper to recruit a regular Skeleton Soldier and equip it himself than to recruit the elite unit directly, potentially saving scarce Psychic Energy. He also wonders about creating a mounted version, but that would require undead warhorses.
• Green orders thirty Enchanted Rifles from Old One-Eye for 450 Gold Pounds. He can afford the purchase thanks to Viscount Paul’s generous reward for rescuing Lillisa: money and a small estate. Old One-Eye, who had previously underestimated Green, is impressed by his wealth and confidence.
• Before Green leaves, Old One-Eye offers to connect him with a former Knights Order commander who has fallen into poverty and wants to sell leftover battlefield relics. Green is keen to inspect them, hoping damaged magical items may still contain Psychic Energy.
  Character developments and interactions: Green shows growing ingenuity by turning military equipment into a new undead unit and looking for ways to economize. His rescue of Lillisa has also earned him both gratitude and increased respect from Viscount Paul. Old One-Eye shifts from cautious politeness to genuine admiration and helps Green pursue a possible source of valuable relics.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes resourcefulness and adaptation, the value of scarce Psychic Energy, and the way battlefield tools and damaged relics can be repurposed. It also highlights how Green’s deeds and spending power change others’ perception of him.