Chapter Summaries

Dean’s group reached a battlefield where nearly a thousand Goblins were locked in a stalemate with adventurers, then joined the support unit at the rear. There, Lamore reunited with his mentor, and Sanderson questioned Dean about the enormous Undead Behemoth carrying him.

• Kana spotted the giant from the edge of the Magic Beast Forest, and her group headed toward the battle.
• Dean’s group circled the battlefield and found the Goblins and adventurers evenly matched, so they avoided intervening directly.
• The group slipped through the wheat field to the support unit, where novice adventurers treated wounded fighters.
• Lamore reunited with his mentor, a Third-Rank Priest, who scolded him for venturing into the Goblin Nest.
• Rukta returned injured, and the Priest and Lamore used healing techniques to repair his crushed arm.
• Rukta asked whether Dean was Sanderson’s new pupil, and Sanderson questioned Dean about the Undead Behemoth.

Dean introduced his Undead Lich Doge to Sanderson and the others, revealing that Doge had been the Goblin Shaman’s designated heir. As Blue Town’s adventurers struggled against the giant, Silianth asked to study Doge for clues to its weakness, and Sanderson stood between them.

• Doge explained that the Undead Behemoth had returned to the Undead World because summoning it had nearly depleted its mana.
• Dean told Sanderson and Rukta that Doge had been the giant’s heir, and Lamore confirmed Doge had received the Shaman Staff from the old Shaman.
• Doge worried that the others would take his staff, but Dean promised to protect it and explained that they might need Doge and the staff’s help.
• Sanderson publicly introduced Dean as his student, and Silianth asked Dean to surrender Doge for study to help defend Blue Town.
• Sanderson blocked Silianth and insisted that Dean was his student, while Lamore apologized and Dean reassured him that the situation was not his fault.

Dean and the others learned that Doge could use the Goblin Scepter to retrieve his former master's soul from the giant, offering a way to end the slaughter without sacrificing Doge. Doge approached the giant and spoke to the old Shaman, leaving Dean reflecting on the conflicting choices facing them.

• Silianth urged Dean to act as the giant continued injuring the adventurers, and Lamore treated a badly wounded shield-bearing adventurer.
• Doge explained that he could use the Goblin Scepter to collect his former master's soul from the giant and asked to keep the soul afterward.
• Sanderson confirmed the scepter held the souls of generations of Goblin Shamans, and Silianth agreed that Doge could return his master's soul to it.
• Doge approached the resting giant and spoke to the old Shaman in Goblin Language, causing the giant to kneel and reach toward him.
• Dean said he felt like a sinner toward Doge and the old Shaman, and Sanderson reminded him that choices looked different from different sides.

Dean and Sanderson discovered that the Goblin shaman’s possession of the giant had made him powerful, but the shaman’s soul was bound to the giant’s distant true body. After Doge’s attempt to negotiate failed and the shaman cast War Frenzy, the adventurers renewed their fight and agreed to hand Doge over as their last option.

• Dean told Sanderson that the old shaman had sacrificed Goblin and adventurer souls, used Goblin blood, and possessed the giant’s body.
• Sanderson explained that the shaman’s contract would let the giant claim his soul, but the Goblin Scepter might change his fate.
• The old shaman rejected Doge’s views, and his pounding and rhythmic growls drove the Goblin Tribe into a frenzied attack.
• Rukta readied his Twin Axes as Sanderson recognized the old shaman’s War Frenzy spell, which shrank the giant and weakened him.
• Rukta wounded the weakened giant, and Silianth demanded that Sanderson hand over Doge; Sanderson agreed, and Dean did not object.

Doge dispelled the old shaman’s War Frenzy, sent the Goblin Tribe retreating, and gathered the shaman’s soul into the Goblin Scepter before returning to the Undead Realm. A day later, Guildmaster Rukta announced that the Goblin Crisis had ended and promised Kana’s Squad a grand gift for their role in defeating the new shaman.

• Doge chose to use force against his mentor, and Dean gave him permission to begin.
• Doge dispelled War Frenzy and ordered the Goblin troops to retreat into the Magic Beast Forest.
• The old shaman’s soul entered the Goblin Scepter, and Doge returned to the Undead Realm at Dean’s request.
• Guildmaster Rukta announced that the Goblin Crisis and the recurring Goblin Uprising had ended.
• Rukta credited Kana’s Squad with defeating the new Goblin Shaman and promised them a grand gift.

Kana’s party returned to the inn and examined the valuable Guild rewards they had received. Dean was left trying to discover how to open the mysterious spellbook that his mentor had given him.

• Kana welcomed Dean into the group and showed him to his spacious but sparsely furnished room.
• The party examined the rewards: Lamore’s potion, Yanxi’s Magic Inner Armor, Kana’s Flame-Red Longbow, and Dean’s spellbook.
• Lamore explained that the potion could help him form a Magic Vortex, while the armor and bow were powerful equipment worth hundreds of gold coins.
• Dean tried feeding mana into the spellbook, but it passed straight through without opening it.
• Kana, Lamore, and Yanxi went to their rooms, leaving Dean alone with the unopened spellbook.

Dean discovered that mental strength, rather than magic power, could open his magic book, but the effort knocked him unconscious. The book’s hidden consciousness awakened, recognized Dean as its new owner, and found him unusually promising.

• Dean failed to channel magic power into the book and decided to try using his mental strength.
• Dean sent his mental strength into the book, which drained him until he fell unconscious.
• A triangle imprint appeared on the cover, marking Dean as the book’s owner, and its consciousness awakened.
• The consciousness dismissed Dean as too weak to meet it, then noticed unusual qualities in him and retreated into the book.

Dean discovered that the spellbook had become a small pendant he could open with mana, then visited Sanderson to continue his magical training. Sanderson began teaching him to inscribe Magic Runes, starting with Spatial Structure Runes.

• Dean found the spellbook in a tiny form and realized it had also appeared in his mind after he studied it overnight.
• Kana kicked open Dean's door to wake him, then hurried back to her room before he could respond.
• Dean visited Sanderson's courtyard, where Wooden Man told him to wait because Sanderson was still asleep.
• Dean used ten points of mana to open the spellbook and learned that it could function like a wand while reducing spell costs.
• Sanderson joined Dean for breakfast and announced that they would begin learning to inscribe Magic Runes.
• Sanderson chose Spatial Structure Runes as the first runes Dean would learn.

Sanderson taught Dean the basics of Magic Runes by assigning him repeated practice with twenty symbols. After drawing for the entire day, Dean became dizzy and could think of nothing but the runes.

• Sanderson explained how Magic Runes could alter objects and told Dean to practice drawing the basic symbols.
• Dean began the exercise, struggling with the intricate shapes and resolving to complete the repetitions.
• Sanderson watched Dean through his mental power, recalled his own training, and briefly fell asleep.
• Dean became absorbed in drawing and completed more than eight hundred repetitions, improving until his runes nearly matched Sanderson's.
• Sanderson judged Dean's intense concentration a success, and Dean stopped drawing as his vision blurred and his mind spun.

Dean recovered from exhausting his mental power and returned to Sanderson’s study to continue practicing magic runes. After seeing Dean’s improved control, Sanderson asked him to inscribe his first true magic rune.

• Dean woke in a cottage in Sanderson’s courtyard, where Wooden Man fed him porridge and gave him a sour pill to restore his depleted mental power.
• Wooden Man told Dean that each pill cost ten gold coins and that Sanderson would not give him spending money, disappointing Dean’s hopes of getting rich.
• After resting, Dean returned to Sanderson’s study and found Sanderson examining the magic runes he had drawn the previous day.
• Dean practiced drawing runes with smoother movements, and Sanderson approved of his progress.
• Sanderson told Dean to try inscribing his first true magic rune.