Chapter Summaries

Mulan and the old wizard prepared an alchemical treatment to heal Redhead and the others, then began the procedure on Redhead. Redhead endured the agony, awakened the symbol of Dawn within his soul, and the treatment appeared to succeed, though he passed out afterward.

• Mulan and the old wizard tested ingredients and prepared four restorative potions while Redhead and the others ate and drank in preparation.
• Redhead volunteered to undergo the first operation, and the old wizard poured a preparatory potion over him that caused severe pain but left him feeling healed and stronger.
• Mulan and the old wizard began inscribing runes on Redhead's soul, but the potion's power threatened to tear his soul apart.
• Redhead told his brothers not to underestimate him, and the symbol of Dawn appeared in his soul, setting it aflame and helping him endure the procedure.
• Mulan and the old wizard completed the hour-long alchemy and declared it a success, after which Redhead passed out.

Mulan and Hope completed the soul repairs on Redhead and his three brothers, whose appetites and physical resilience rapidly increased afterward. As the wizards searched for more energy-rich food for them, Mulan welcomed the chance to continue his research at their expense.

• Redhead and his brothers reassured their youngest brother into undergoing the final soul-repair procedure, which Hope and Mulan completed successfully.
• Over the next three days, the four men recovered while their appetites and physical resilience increased, prompting Mulan and the old wizard to examine them.
• Mulan wondered whether the brothers' growing abilities related to paths and magic power, while the old wizard doubted they could awaken magic power because of their flawed souls.
• The young wizard noticed that the four men remained hungry despite eating enormous quantities and suggested their food lacked enough energy.
• Mulan and the two wizards began looking for magic-infused food substitutes, while Mulan privately celebrated gaining research resources and supplies for free.

After helping two Solota Wizards complete research on the soul-repair procedure, Mulan departed with Redhead and the others. He gave them new names and declared them the Silent Knights of Dawn, promising to lead them in saving the world.

• Mulan, Mr. Gao'er, and Tommy finished discussing the flames that appeared during the soul repairs and signed their manuscript for Truth and Magic.
• Mr. Gao'er invited Mulan to join Solota, but Mulan declined and said he needed to keep traveling; Redhead and the others said goodbye to the wizards.
• Tommy gave Redhead the last jar of dried Swamp Demon Lizard tails before Mulan and his companions left at dawn.
• Mulan asked the four men about their childhood dreams, and they admitted they had wanted to become knights.
• Mulan renamed them Solomon, Caesar, Phoenix, and Reno, then named them the Silent Knights of Dawn and promised to lead them in saving the world.

Mulan and the editorial staff rushed out the third issue of Truth and Magic after receiving Hope, Gao'er, and Tommy’s groundbreaking manuscript. Tommy accidentally attacked the Gargoyle postman carrying the journals, but Hope and Tommy repaired him and sent him back with a reply, leaving Hope eager to promote the journal to old acquaintances.

• Mulan read the submission, praised its magical significance, and ordered the third issue of Truth and Magic published ahead of schedule.
• A Gargoyle postman delivered the three issues and an editorial letter to Tommy’s home, but Tommy mistook him for a threat and knocked him out of the sky.
• Tommy brought the journals and letter to Hope, who celebrated receiving the editorial department’s praise and copies of the issues.
• Hope told Tommy to repair the injured postman, and they released him two days later with a reply in his bag.
• Hope decided to visit his old acquaintances and tell them about Truth and Magic.

Hope and Tommy’s Truth and Magic impressed Solota’s wizards, who began spreading news of the journal. In Kingsbia, Farolynch and Shire investigated mysteriously drained horses and left town at night to search for the source, as Evil Moon Day approached.

• Hope showed two old wizards the third issue of Truth and Magic, and they praised his groundbreaking section on the soul.
• The wizards decided to tell others about the journal, helping its reputation spread through Solota.
• Farolynch and Shire found shriveled draft horses beside a river and discovered puncture wounds on their bodies.
• Farolynch and Shire warned Xin Erwei and the children to stay inside, then used a Runic Ritual to protect their rooms.
• Farolynch went upstream to investigate while Shire kept watch over the town and noticed both moons in the sky.

Farolynch tracked a blood-drinking monster to a city and discovered it was an abomination capable of Advanced Blood Magic. After it killed a bishop, Farolynch drew its attention with his own blood and prepared to keep it occupied until dawn.

• Farolynch found a village full of drained corpses and traced the destruction to an enormous creature that had likely appeared around Evil Moon Day.
• Farolynch followed gunshots into the hills and found that the creature had killed a hunter and carried off his body.
• Farolynch raced toward a nearby city, where the abomination smashed through homes and drained people of their blood.
• A bishop struck the monster with Holy Light, but it used Death Substitute and ambushed the bishop, apparently crushing him.
• Farolynch revealed his blood to lure the monster away from the city, and they charged toward each other.

Farolynch lured a terrifying flesh monster through the city, escaped its attacks, and realized it had followed his route toward Great Oak Town. He prepared to use Mulan’s Sunstone against the monster before it could reach the town.

• Farolynch evaded the monster through the city, but its magical shriek killed residents and shattered nearby buildings.
• The monster searched for Farolynch, then pursued him with fleshy tendrils as he escaped using his magic.
• Farolynch trapped the monster in a Death Coil, but it vanished before dawn and fled through the sewers into the river.
• Farolynch headed toward Great Oak Town and noticed the Dawn Mark burning in his palm and a trail of murky water in the river.
• Farolynch suspected the monster was following him and took out Mulan’s Sunstone, preparing to confront it.

Farolynch and Mulan used a sunstone to kill a mutated monster hiding beneath the river, then discovered red crystals linked to Farolynch’s blood. The city’s detectives mistakenly credited Shire with the victory, and news of the Radiant Judge’s supposed arrival spread through the city.

• Farolynch and Mulan tracked a bloodthirsty presence beneath the river, set up barriers, and used the sunstone to expose it.
• Farolynch hurled the empowered sunstone into the river, where its radiance killed the mutated mountain-of-flesh monster.
• Farolynch drew blood-red crystals from the monster’s mouth, and he and Mulan left without investigating them.
• People followed the light to the damaged riverbed, found the monster’s corpse, and alerted the local detectives.
• Shire’s devoted followers declared that he had destroyed the monster, and the story spread through the city.

Mulan held an outdoor class at Black Castle and used the Holy Relic, the Book of Dawn, to help promising students attempt supernatural breakthroughs. Handel drank an Awakening Potion and was overwhelmed by the weight of fate as his advancement began.

• Glando told Mulan that Kingsbia had credited him with destroying a man-eating monster, and Mulan planned to inspect the site himself.
• Mulan gathered nearly all the Black Castle students and introduced the Book of Dawn, explaining that its light could strengthen courage and that no one had opened it.
• Mulan called Handel forward as the first student to advance and gave him an Awakening Potion beneath the Holy Relic's radiance.
• Handel drank the potion, triggering a supernatural phenomenon that dimmed the daylight and filled the area with an oppressive force.
• Handel was driven to his knees as the ground cratered beneath him under the weight of fate.

Handel resisted the destiny star’s crushing pressure, awakened as a Supernatural Being, and celebrated his breakthrough with his classmates. Mulan then revealed Jenny’s rare talent as a Secret Realm Weaver and began her awakening test.

• Mulan showed the students the destiny star’s vision, while Handel struggled under its overwhelming pressure and confronted his self-doubt.
• Encouraged by the Book of Dawn’s light, his classmates’ concern, and Mulan’s trust, Handel declared that he would shatter destiny and stood upright.
• The destiny star burst into flame, and Handel broke through into the realm of a Supernatural Being as a tornado of blue magic power surrounded him.
• Mulan congratulated Handel, who thanked his professor before returning to his friends, and then called Jenny forward for the next test.
• Mulan revealed Jenny’s rare talent for the Secret Realm Division and gave her the Awakening Potion, which she drank as mist and phantom lights appeared around her.

Jenny advanced into the supernatural by creating her first secret realm, drawing the Black Castle’s students and observers into the new world. Mulan stayed outside and confirmed that the realm concealed the aura of a holy relic, enabling Dawn’s planned operation.

• Mulan explained that Secret Realm Weavers faced the danger of losing themselves in beautiful illusions as Jenny experienced a tempting fantasy hot spring with Hathaway.
• Jenny rejected the illusion, emerged from her advancement, and told Mulan she believed she needed to create a secret realm to become a Secret Realm Weaver.
• With Mulan’s guidance, Jenny wove a magical array and expanded it into a secret realm, stopping when her magic power was nearly exhausted.
• Jenny welcomed Hathaway, Sebastina, Menggeli, and the Queen’s Guards into the newly formed realm, then noticed that Mulan had remained outside.
• Mulan confirmed that Jenny’s genuine secret realm concealed the aura of the Book of Dawn, clearing an essential obstacle to Dawn’s planned operation.

After four Black Castle students advanced, Mulan Jonester reached the fourth rank as a Failure Knight, and the elf within him transformed into a blue-gold being named Silias. At a royal dinner celebrating the new graduates, Silias appeared before Nisheriel but vanished when she reached out to him.

• The Secret Realm Weaver advanced, and four students—Handel, Jenny, Charkus, and Upton—became Supernatural Beings and graduated from the Black Castle.
• Mulan crushed a brooch and advanced into a fourth-rank Failure Knight, unleashing a vast golden light across Digo City as the elf transformed alongside him.
• The next day, Nisheriel ennobled the four graduates and awarded Mulan a Queen's Medal of Honor at the Royal Palace.
• At dinner, Nisheriel discussed the strengthening elemental forces and the changes coming to the world with Mulan and the graduates.
• Nisheriel asked to meet the elf, and Mulan brought forth Silias, whose blue-gold form appeared before the queen before disappearing back into him.

Mulan arrived in Kingsbia, revealed that he had become a fourth-tier Victory Knight, and began creating a secret realm anchored to the Ancient Oak. The realm took shape around the transformed tree, leaving Farolynch and Shire awestruck while Mulan slept beneath its canopy.

• Mulan joined Xin Erwei's family for dinner and told Farolynch and Shire that he had advanced to fourth tier as a Victory Knight.
• Mulan asked Farolynch to fill two waterskins with blood and chose the Ancient Oak as the anchor for a secret realm.
• Mulan merged his magic power with the Ancient Oak, with the elf lending its power to help.
• The Ancient Oak grew into an immense tree as the secret realm formed, and Farolynch and Shire found themselves beneath its vast canopy.
• Farolynch and Shire were overwhelmed by the realm's scale and vitality, while Mulan fell asleep beneath the oak.

Farolynch and Shire explored Mulan’s new secret realm, where Silias explained how a true realm gained lasting life. Mulan welcomed Xin Erwei and the children into the sanctuary, then planned to experiment on a holy relic, while his brother Leo arrived in Digo searching for him.

• Farolynch and Shire saw the Silias World Tree identify itself and met Silias, who asked them not to wake the exhausted Mulan and explained what made a secret realm endure.
• Farolynch learned that touching the World Tree let recognized visitors leave, and Mulan invited Xin Erwei and the children to enter the sanctuary through the great oak’s shade.
• Xin Erwei and the children entered the realm and explored the World Tree while Mulan explained that its protection covered the area around Great Oak Town.
• Mulan told Farolynch and Shire that he needed a holy relic so he could try to destroy holy relics beneath the World Tree.
• Leo Jonester read a newspaper in Digo, learned about Mulan’s recent prominence, and set out to search for his younger brother.

Leo traveled from Valentine to Digo to collect the pirate Kilga and bring him back for questioning. On the train, Kilga warned that the pirate king Bloomfield would sense his approach to the sea, then laughed as a storm gathered.

• Leo arrived at Digo's central Police Station and arranged to collect the prisoner the morning after tomorrow.
• Leo stayed at an inn, where the proprietress seduced him because he resembled the man she fantasized about.
• After failing to find the Black Castle, Leo returned to the Police Station and took custody of Kilga.
• On the train to Valentine, Kilga said Leo's police force was not qualified to investigate the pirate raids and warned him about Bloomfield.
• Kilga laughed uncontrollably as lightning flashed and thunder announced the approaching storm.

Pirates attacked Valentine during a storm, destroying the white Wizard Tower and invading the harbor and police station. Leo escaped with Kilga, hoping to flee by sea before the pirates could capture him.

• Leo brought Kilga to the Valentine Police Department, where the pirate taunted his captors and waited for his comrades.
• Chief Nido’s fleet attacked the white Wizard Tower, forcing its wizard to flee through the Otherworld before monsters overwhelmed the lighthouse.
• The pirates sailed into Valentin Harbor, unleashed sea monsters, and ordered their forces to find Kilga and kill anyone who resisted.
• Sea monsters stormed the Police Department, and Leo confronted Kilga for failing to explain the danger.
• Kilga urged Leo to take him away so the pirates would pursue them instead of attacking Valentine, and Leo escaped with him and two officers through a water channel.

Leo was captured by Chief Nido’s pirates after Valentine was attacked, while Kilga died after secretly passing him a chart hidden in a sphere. After learning Leo was missing, Mulan joined Walton on a dangerous mission to pursue the pirates and confront Pirate King Bloomfield and the Wish-Granting Pot.

• Leo and Kilga were captured by Chief Nido after the pirates killed the police officers protecting them in Valentine.
• Aboard the pirate ship, Kilga gave Leo a sphere containing a chart, then died after vomiting it up; Nido confirmed the chart was genuine and ordered Kilga’s body thrown overboard.
• After the storm, news of Leo’s disappearance reached Mulan, who suspected Walton’s involvement in the attack, but Walton denied it.
• Mulan and Walton asked Nisheriel for permission to undertake a mission, and Mulan vowed to help rescue his brother and serve the Empire.
• Nisheriel granted Mulan permission to go, and Walton warned him that they would face Pirate King Bloomfield and the Wish-Granting Pot without help from the Empire’s fleet.

Mulan and Matt’s attempt to turn Balu human failed, so they sought Alopha’s help and learned the ritual needed a sacrifice. Mulan used life crystals from Kingsbia and gave Balu a reason to pursue his own meaning in life, potentially completing the alchemy’s final requirement.

• Mulan brought blood from Kingsbia to Matt’s workshop, and their first human transmutation attempt failed in an explosion.
• Mulan and Matt consulted Alopha, who agreed to help in exchange for two liters of Mulan’s blood and access to his research findings.
• Alopha explained that the ritual needed sacrifices, and he proposed using life crystals that held the life force of Kingsbia’s victims.
• Mulan gave Balu the life crystals and urged him to remember the people whose lives had made his possible.
• Balu began reflecting on finding meaning for himself, and Mulan sensed that the final link in the alchemy might have fallen into place.

Mulan, Matt, and Alopha completed Human Transmutation and restored Balu to a genuine human body. Balu asked to join Dawn, and Mulan welcomed him by creating the Daybreak Salute as a sign of their companionship.

• Mulan, Matt, and Alopha activated the repaired Ritual Array and transformed Balu inside a glowing cocoon.
• Balu emerged with a complete human body and voice, and the alchemists confirmed that the transmutation had succeeded.
• Matt proposed publishing their results in Truth and Magic, while Alopha agreed to have his name included and asked that some details remain private.
• Balu declined to stay with Matt and followed Mulan home, where he asked to join Dawn as his companion.
• Mulan formed Balu's hand into an OK sign against his heart and named it Dawn's Daybreak Salute.

Mulan returned to Valentine and promised Old Buck he would bring Leo home, then traveled to Bayer Port to join Walton's plan. Disguised as a sailor named Vincent, he boarded the Star of Heaven to infiltrate Bloomfield's pirate fleet and search for a chance to find Leo.

• Mulan returned home and reassured Old Buck that he would bring Leo back if he was still alive.
• Mulan left for Bayer Port, where Walton explained that he would board the Star of Heaven and be drawn into Bloomfield's search for the Wish-Granting Pot.
• Walton gave Mulan the altered Sea Soul blade and warned him not to use conspicuous powers or die.
• Mulan disguised himself as a rough-looking sailor and approached the Star of Heaven.
• The first mate mistook Mulan for Vincent and put him to work loading spices aboard the ship.