Dean

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Dean (迪恩)
Species/Race	Human 37
Gender	Male 1
Age	15 7
Affiliation	Bru Magic Academy; Kana’s adventurer party; Sanderson’s disciple 2 5 16
Occupation/Role	Level-One Magic Apprentice; adventurer; trainee Magic Rune inscriber 1 15 50
Magical Affinities	Darkness, fire, and necromancy; darkness is dominant 6
Residence	Initially a makeshift slum hut; later a room in his party’s shared inn suite. Sanderson also prepares a cottage for his overnight studies 16 46 50
Status	Alive; bound by a soul contract with Stavago 14 50
First Appearance	Chapter 1, “Magic Apprentice” 1

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Level-One Magic Apprentice	1	Begins as the party’s weakest member. Basic Illumination and Basic Binding together consume more than half his mana.
Growth-oriented Magic Hand selected	9	Chooses a hand that can develop rather than a fixed Demon Hand, accepting substantially greater future mana costs.
78 mana; preparation for advancement	10	Receives Basic Troll Vortex Meditation. The late apprentice stage requires 80 mana; becoming a Level-Two Mage requires condensing a mana vortex.
Demon Horn enhancement	14	Gains greatly increased elemental sensitivity, perceiving surrounding elements as several times denser.
Infinite Eye acquired; 79 mana	15	Gains access to Stavago’s knowledge and begins rune training. Overnight free meditation, guided by his understanding of Troll Vortex Meditation, raises his mana by one point.
Basic Life Detection mastered	19	Learns the spell within minutes, successfully scanning a 100-meter radius at a cost of five mana.
Late-stage Level-One Magic Apprentice; 82 mana	20	Passes the 80-mana threshold and restores more than 70 mana in under half an hour. He suspects the Demon Horn is accelerating his growth.
Undead Summoning learned; lich servant obtained	38 41 42	Learns summoning through the Infinite Eye. Subsequently appears with Doge, the former goblin shaman heir, as his undead servant.
Magic-Forged spellbook bonded and activated	47 48	Establishes ownership through mental strength, then learns to open the book with mana and cast through it at reduced mana cost.
Ready to attempt genuine rune inscription	49 50	Intensive copying markedly improves his rune-writing. After recovering from mental exhaustion, Sanderson asks him to inscribe his first actual magic rune; completion is not shown.

Background / History

Academy and Early Adventuring

Dean enrolled at Bru Magic Academy a year before the opening events. His displayed aptitude was lower-middle among several hundred apprentices, and fear of rejection kept him from seeking a mentor. Scarce dark spellbooks and a complete lack of necromancy spellbooks prevented him from developing his strongest affinities 2 5 6.

He formed a party with Kana, Yanxi, and Lamore, taking small quests to support himself. Without family support, he lived in a cheap slum hut to preserve money for spellbooks. Capturing a baby Earth Slime finally brought his savings high enough to purchase a new spell 1 2 16 17.

Sanderson’s Apprenticeship and the Demon Contract

Dean intended to buy Small Fireball but chose Magic Hand for its dark affinity and combat potential. After attending Sanderson’s Ice Shaping lesson, he sought the instructor’s theoretical guidance and became his disciple. Sanderson identified the book as a complete version worth several hundred gold coins, despite Dean having paid only one 3 4 5 6.

Clay-model practice and a memory crystal depicting a One-Armed Demon helped Dean rethink his spell’s design. Rather than commit to a fixed combat hand, he chose a versatile Magic Hand capable of growth. Sanderson supported the decision with Basic Troll Vortex Meditation 7 8 9.

Sanderson then introduced Dean to Stavago and a knowledge-for-souls bargain inherited through four generations. Dean accepted the opportunity after questioning its price and asking whether Sanderson’s soul could someday be saved. Stavago offered to preserve the previous generations’ souls until Dean’s death 10 11 12 13.

Dean signed in blood after receiving a Demon Horn. The World Will removed hidden contractual traps, but Dean later discovered that Stavago’s claimed remaining lifespan—central to his hope of outliving the demon—was absent from the written agreement 14.

Goblin Conflict

During a farm investigation, Dean used newly learned Life Detection Magic to locate a goblin force far beyond the party’s ability to fight. He led the retreat and urged reporting the danger to the Adventurers’ Guild. When Guligus later tried to confiscate the party badge and reduce its reputation without proper procedure, Dean physically shielded the badge; Rukta subsequently upheld the party’s work and dismissed Guligus 19 20 22 24 26.

The party later followed goblins toward their nest. Dean supplied scouting, identified a Soul Stone, recognized a shaman’s soul transfer into a giant, and concealed the group’s presence during its approach to the temple. There he killed the newly appointed goblin shaman in a duel—his first killing of an intelligent being 30 31 36 37.

Dean used Undead Summoning on the dead goblin before its soul dissipated. The resulting lich, Doge, became his servant. When Silianth proposed examining Doge to find a weakness in the rampaging giant, Dean refused to sacrifice him. He accepted Doge’s alternative plan to retrieve the old shaman’s soul through the Goblin Scepter 38 41 42 43.

Spellbook and Rune Training

After returning to the inn, Dean received a mysterious spellbook among the party’s guild rewards. He unlocked it by supplying mental strength, unknowingly awakening its hidden consciousness. The book subsequently became portable and usable as a spellcasting focus 46 47 48.

His rune lessons advanced from paper practice to demanding repetition of twenty basic runes. He worked through meals until his mental strength was exhausted, then recovered under Sanderson and Wooden Man’s care. His improved technique earned him permission to attempt a genuine inscription 49 50.

Appearance

Dean is a thin, small youth with a still-childish appearance 6 23.

• Hair: Short and somewhat bristly 5.
• Clothing: Mage robes, which identify his profession even to the goblin shaman 1 37.
• Demon Horn: An additional bone protruding from the back of his neck 14.
• Spellbook accessory: Wears his shrunken spellbook on an iron chain around his neck 48.

Personality

Dean combines magical ambition with a strong survival instinct. He fears the dangers beyond his hometown and adopts Sanderson’s principle that staying alive comes first. Nevertheless, he accepts demanding training and a dangerous soul bargain when he believes they offer a meaningful path beyond his limitations 7 12 30.

His curiosity frequently makes him absent-minded, especially when new knowledge appears through the Infinite Eye. Pride can provoke angry exchanges with Kana, but it also drives his persistence: believing Sanderson is mocking his rune work, he concentrates so intensely that he forgets meals and exhausts himself 18 49.

Poverty makes Dean attentive to money and practical benefits, particularly storage-item crafting. His pragmatism does not erase his loyalty: he protects the team badge, asks about rescuing Sanderson’s soul, and defends Doge’s life and ownership of the scepter. Doge’s reunion with his former mentor leaves Dean troubled by his own role in their suffering 12 13 24 42 43 50.

Abilities & Skills

Basic Support Magic

• Basic Illumination: Lights every corner of the cave during the slime quest 1.
• Basic Binding: Creates a purple-black binding circle; Dean uses it to restrain the baby Earth Slime 1.
• Presence concealment: Covers the party’s stealth approach to the goblin temple; its spell name is not given 36.
• Limitation: He still lacks effective attack magic during the goblin shaman duel 37.

Magic Hand

Dean studies a dark-element spell whose level depends on its caster rather than a fixed tier 3.

• Dark Element Hand: Defense and support.
• Magic-Energy Hand: Speed and dexterity.
• Demon Hand: Combat strength, with less durability and dexterity than the other forms 6.
• Chosen approach: Preserve growth and versatility instead of fixing the initial form as a Demon Hand.
• Cost: Developing the hand into stronger forms demands dramatically more mana. His training and design choice are documented, but successful casting is not shown 7 9.

Basic Life Detection Magic

The Infinite Eye supplies a progressive set containing basic, intermediate, and advanced versions. Dean masters only the basic version in the provided events 18 19.

Property	Dean’s demonstrated result
Range	100-meter radius 19
Mana cost	Five points per cast 19
Duration	Ten minutes 19
Recasting interval	Thirty seconds 19
Targets	Companions, birds, underground creatures, and goblins 19 20
Stealth	Detects sleeping goblins without waking them 20

Infinite Eye

A concealed speck of light in Dean’s mind holds the knowledge obtained through Stavago’s contract 15.

• Supplies spell knowledge, including Life Detection and Undead Summoning 18 38 42.
• Releases knowledge gradually as Dean advances; some information cannot be shared 13.
• Does not replace study or training 12.
• Refuses to help him operate the mysterious spellbook because it regards the question as ordinary object use rather than worthwhile knowledge 47.

Meditation and Elemental Sensitivity

• Basic Troll Vortex Meditation: A method known for increasing mana reserves, provided to support his growth-oriented Magic Hand 9 10.
• Apprentice limitation: Without a condensed vortex, Dean still uses free meditation, steering it toward the method he has studied 15.
• Demon Horn benefit: Greatly improves elemental sensitivity. Dean links it to faster spell learning, mana recovery, and growth 14 20.
• Demonstrated recovery: Absorbing abundant fire elements restores his mana in under half an hour, compared with roughly five hours previously 20.

Necromancy and Servant Bond

• Learns introductory Undead Summoning through the Infinite Eye and draws its array with the dead goblin’s blood 38.
• Becomes Doge’s master through a Servant Contract, which lets him understand Doge’s fear 42.
• Recognizes that Doge’s scepter anchors his soul and must be protected 42.

Mental Strength and Rune Inscription

Dean’s mental strength reaches the peak of level one and exceeds that of his three teammates combined 47.

• Uses mental strength to establish ownership of the Magic-Forged spellbook 47.
• Trains in Spatial Structure Runes, which alter an object’s internal space 48.
• Develops highly accurate rune drawings through sustained repetition 49 50.
• Remains vulnerable to severe mental exhaustion; neither spellbook bonding nor prolonged rune practice is effortless 47 49 50.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Wand: A poor-quality Magic-Forged wand, described as barely qualifying for its grade 5 47.
• Complete Magic Hand spellbook: Bought for one gold coin; valued by Sanderson at several hundred 3 6.
• Demon Horn: Stavago’s bodily enhancement, intended to help Dean grow a stronger—and more valuable—soul 14.
• Troll Vortex Meditation manual: An elementary method with one use remaining when Sanderson gives it to him 10.
• Magic-Forged spellbook: Guild reward selected by Sanderson. Shrinks into a palm-sized booklet, costs ten mana to open, reduces spellcasting mana expenditure, and costs nothing to close. Its consciousness awakens without Dean’s knowledge 46 47 48.
• Soul-contract copy: Stored in his mind, allowing him to review the binding terms 14.

Relationships

• Sanderson — Mentor and principal supporter. Provides instruction, rare resources, protection, and a cottage for overnight study, while requiring Dean to earn his own spending money 5 9 42 50.
• Kana — Party captain, teammate, and later housemate. Their frequent arguments coexist with mutual loyalty; she also insists that his extraordinary mana recovery remain secret 16 20 24 46.
• Yanxi — Gentle teammate who worries about his treatment by Kana, supports him during searches, and invites him to live with the party 16 17 19.
• Lamore — Priest teammate who avoids prying into Dean’s unusual abilities and refuses to pressure him into surrendering Doge 19 43.
• Doge — Lich servant and former goblin shaman heir. Dean calls him his “greatest masterpiece” and promises to protect his soul-bearing staff 42.
• Stavago — Demonic contract partner. Gives Dean knowledge and the Demon Horn in exchange for his soul after death; his verbal assurances prove unreliable 11 14.
• Wooden Man — Sanderson’s servant, who recognizes Dean as a second master, feeds him, assists his recovery, and teases him about money 8 48 50.
• Mousse — Academy library attendant who sells him Magic Hand and explains its unusual nature and origin 2 3.
• Silianth — Lamore’s mentor. Clashes with Dean over risking Doge for the town’s safety, then accepts Doge’s alternative plan 42 43.
• Yue Sisi — Guild counter supervisor who defends the party. Her apparent interest in Dean embarrasses him and invites teasing from his companions 23 24 26.

Notable Quotes

“I've decided that I want to shape a Magic Hand that can gradually grow.” 9

“My mentor said that when you can't decide what to do, staying alive comes first.” 30

“I have no objection to Doge doing his part, but we cannot sacrifice him!” 43

Trivia

• Kana destroys Dean’s hut at least ten times during their first year as teammates. His slum protection payments do not cover damage caused by a teammate 16.
• Sanderson and Stavago mistake Dean’s overwhelmed hesitation during negotiations for exceptional willpower; Dean himself wonders whether Stavago was simply generous 15.
• A single mental-restoration pill used during his rune training costs ten gold coins—ten times the price he paid for Magic Hand 3 50.