Chapter Summaries

Kronos won several arranged fights, warned an Assassin about the danger of his Pathway, and prepared for a voyage from Pritz Harbor to Gurain. He left the route unchanged to avoid Bansy Harbor and continued organizing his businesses and factories in Backlund.

• Kronos used the Eye of Time to anticipate his Assassin opponent’s attack, defeated him, and warned him not to advance further along his Pathway.
• Kronos accepted Violent Bear’s offer to visit Mr. Eye of Wisdom’s gathering place, then spent the following days fighting a Warrior, a Hunter, an Arbiter, and Violent Bear.
• Kronos and Beck completed the setup of Ansair Asset Management Company, acquired eighty-three percent of Coim Company, and arranged surveillance of Baronet Rafter Pound.
• Kronos confirmed that his convoy would sail from Pritz Harbor through Damir Port, Tiana Harbor, Bayam, and onward to Gurain, refusing Benjamin Bowen’s suggestion to stop at Bansy Harbor.
• Kronos checked on the Walter Factory, where workers had begun operating one smokeless-charcoal production line, and arranged further factory and dock development.

Kronos prepared to finish digesting his potion and considered attacking the Black Skull Gang, while Gner arrived after retiring and completing his own potion digestion. At Argyle Manor, Marquis Argyle approved Gner’s advancement and warned Kronos to keep his subordinates informed so fear would not lead to betrayal.

• Kronos visited Professor Portland's students and Saint Hilarion Church before returning to his villa in Empress Borough.
• Gner arrived at Kronos's home, said he had retired and mastered his potion, and agreed to advance to Sequence 8 and test his combat strength.
• Kronos told Gner about the Black Skull Gang, and Gner urged him to investigate their strength and avoid entering a fight unprepared.
• Kronos took Gner to Argyle Manor the next morning, then went to discuss the gang and Gner's advancement with Marquis Argyle.
• Marquis Argyle explained that Kronos's subordinates had reported his plans because they feared the gang, and warned him to prevent uncertainty from fostering betrayal.
• Marquis Argyle approved Gner taking the Sequence 8 potion and agreed to find a Sequence 7 Spirit Medium for him to fight.

Kronos visited the Argel Family storeroom, where he gave Gner a Warrior Pathway potion and requisitioned two Beyonder items. After Gner recovered, he sparred with a family bodyguard and proved stronger, while his planned test against a Nightmare remained ahead.

• Kronos entered the family storeroom with Gner, reviewed the potion formulas, and brewed a Pugilist potion for him.
• Gner drank the potion and convulsed before falling unconscious as his body underwent the advancement.
• Kronos took the Vampire Mask and the Vampire's Heart, learning that both required blood and that he could not requisition combat items yet.
• Gner woke feeling stronger, and Kronos told him he would soon spar with a Sequence 7 Nightmare.
• Kronos proposed that Gner spar with a Pugilist bodyguard, and Gner knocked the bodyguard down once he adjusted to his new strength.

After Gner advanced to Sequence 8, a Nightmare tested his abilities and warned Kronos that Gner could not rely on fists alone against mid-sequence Beyonders. Kronos and Gner then investigated the Black Skull Gang before Kronos faced a Nighthawk Midnight Poet in a boxing match, which ended with his opponent throwing the first punch.

• A Nightmare sent by Marquis Argyle sparred with Gner, then used a dream to subdue him and advised Kronos to notify the marquis before taking action.
• Kronos and Gner returned to Backlund and studied the Black Skull Gang, whose headquarters controlled the East Balam Dock and was guarded by armed men.
• Kronos and Gner staked out the gang's headquarters and saw senior members Lima and Moreira arrive before the leaders departed for what seemed to be a daily meeting.
• Kronos and Gner went to the Grizzly Bear Bar, where Violent Bear introduced Kronos's opponent, a Nighthawk and Sequence 8 Midnight Poet.
• Kronos and the Midnight Poet faced off in the ring until the crowd's jeers prompted the Nighthawk to punch at Kronos, who prepared to counter by targeting his elbow.

Kronos won a boxing match against a Nighthawk, then investigated the Black Skull Gang and prepared to face Booze, a suspiciously lucky Robot. After hearing Violent Bear’s accusations, Kronos agreed to investigate Booze before deciding how to deal with him.

• Kronos resisted the Nighthawk’s chanting with Rin, feigned disorientation, and won when his opponent jumped out of the ring.
• Kronos learned that the fighter was a Nighthawk from the Bridge Borough and introduced Gner to Violent Bear, who arranged their next boxing match for the following evening.
• Kronos and Gner surveyed the Black Skull Gang’s headquarters, then Kronos left Gner to help watch it while he hired a private detective.
• Violent Bear told Kronos that his next opponent, Booze, was a lucky Robot who swindled people and worked as a gang enforcer.
• Kronos agreed to have Booze investigated before deciding what to do, despite Gner’s concern that the plan might bring trouble.

Kronos waited for Boots at the Grizzly Bear Bar, then attacked him after he finally arrived. After a prolonged fight, Kronos wore Boots down and agreed to spare him if he worked for him.

• Boots repeatedly delayed his arrival, demanding another hundred pounds before agreeing to come to the bar.
• Boots arrived around two in the morning, and Kronos used the Eye of Time to study his unusual future timelines before attacking.
• Boots used robot-like thinking to dodge and counter Kronos, while Violent Bear guarded the door.
• Kronos activated the Vampire's Heart and changed to a counterattacking style, healing his injuries as Boots's spirituality ran low.
• Boots asked to work for Kronos, and Kronos accepted his offer.

Kronos captured Booze, continued preparing his businesses and plans, and attended an Eye of Wisdom Beyonder gathering in Bridge Borough. There, he bought sleep medicine and offered to purchase potion formulas and Beyonder items.

• Kronos and Violent Bear tied up Booze, and Kronos sent him to the manor so his family could question him about Monster Pathway formulas.
• Kronos introduced Gner to his company managers, checked on his businesses, and decided he would fight one more opponent before advancing to Sequence 7.
• Kronos spotted the Ernst Trading Company advertisement that revealed the time and entry code for an Eye of Wisdom gathering, then withdrew five thousand pounds.
• Kronos attended the gathering in a hooded robe and mask, bought ten bottles of sleep medicine from a plump Apothecary, and asked whether the Apothecary formula was for sale.
• Kronos announced that he wanted to buy potion formulas and Beyonder items, then looked toward Eye of Wisdom.

Kronos attended a gathering where he bought a Slumber Charm, traded information about missing blood, and tried to arrange a custom dagger and acquire Beyonder items. After leaving, he avoided the Grizzly Bear Bar and remembered to arrange fresh blood for the Beyonder items at his other residences.

• Kronos bought a Slumber Charm and asked about other charms, then arranged to discuss commissioning a weapon with its seller.
• Black Snake offered the Secrets Suppliant potion formula, but Kronos declined and instead identified Sanguine as possible thieves behind the missing blood at East Borough Hospital.
• Kronos warned Black Snake and an Apothecary about the dangers of seeking out the Sanguine, then collected ten pounds from each for his information.
• After the gathering, Kronos asked the middle-aged weapon seller to make him a nimble, sharp, possibly poisonous dagger and learned that the seller wanted the Lawyer potion formula.
• Kronos asked Eye of Wisdom to keep him in mind if he ever sold Beyonder items, then left the gathering and avoided the drinking contest at the Grizzly Bear Bar.
• On his way to the villa in West Borough, Kronos remembered that his other houses needed fresh blood prepared for his Beyonder items.

Kronos returned to Empress Borough and met Philip, explaining that he needed to fight a powerful Sequence 8 Barbarian to finish digesting his potion. They arranged for Kronos to disguise himself and spar with Duke Negan’s bodyguard, leaving Kronos close to advancing to Sequence 7.

• Kronos returned to the Empress Borough villa, where he continued refining formulas and learned that Gner had gathered information on the Black Skull Gang’s leaders.
• Philip visited Kronos and described accompanying Duke Negan on inspections of the navy alongside several noble families.
• Kronos told Philip that he needed to fight a strong Sequence 8 Barbarian to digest the last traces of his Melee Scholar potion.
• Kronos used a Beyonder item to disguise himself as Philip, and they arranged for him to visit Duke Negan’s house the next morning under the pretense of applying for a bodyguard position.
• After Philip left, Kronos anticipated that the fight would complete his potion digestion and allow him to take the Sequence 7 potion.

Kronos went to Duke Negan’s villa to test his combat abilities and advance his potion digestion. After sparring with a Barbarian and a Keeper of Knowledge, he realized that ordinary fights no longer helped, leaving a visit to the Black Skull Gang as his next option.

• Kronos arrived at Duke Negan’s villa disguised as a job seeker, and Duke Negan recognized him as a Beyonder but let Philip take him to the backyard.
• Philip had a bodyguard test Kronos, and Kronos struggled against the Barbarian’s strength while his potion digestion nearly finished before abruptly stopping.
• Kronos asked for a weaker Sequence 7 opponent, and Duke Negan arranged for him to spar with Mr. Alred, a Keeper of Knowledge.
• Kronos felt no potion digestion during the second fight and concluded that ordinary sparring could no longer help him, so he decided to visit the Black Skull Gang.

Kronos learned that the Ironclad Project was nearing procurement and hurried to work with Professor Portland on new material formulas that could make Walter Factory a major supplier. He offered Portland a substantial stake and a role leading the factory, tying the professor’s future to the business.

• Kronos reassured Philip that he was close to advancing and said he planned to sail with his family’s merchant fleet afterward.
• Duke Negan told Kronos that the Ironclad Project was about to begin procuring materials, giving him a chance to profit by developing specialized steel with Professor Portland.
• Kronos left Negan Villa for Backlund University, eager to discuss his material formulas with Portland.
• Portland praised Kronos’s formulas, and Kronos proposed working together and bringing him into Walter Factory.
• Kronos offered Portland thirty percent of the company, asked him to transfer his patents to Walter Factory, and invited him to lead its technical work.

Kronos and Portland spent several days testing and improving material formulas at the Walter Factory while Gner gathered information on the Black Skull Gang. After arranging support and weapons for an attack, Kronos sent a coded telegram to Argyle Manor and prepared to move against the gang the night after tomorrow.

• Kronos and Portland tested the formulas at the factory, reproducing most of them and using Portland’s expertise to improve one of his patented materials.
• Gner reported that the Black Skull Gang’s three leaders met regularly, appeared to be low Sequences, and could potentially be attacked at their headquarters.
• Kronos warned Gner that the gang was linked to powerful organizations, then admitted he had exaggerated to curb Gner’s overconfidence.
• Kronos planned to contact his family for assistance and attack the gang the night after tomorrow, while Gner returned to surveillance and arranged to buy weapons.
• Kronos rested for seventeen hours, then sent Argyle Manor a telegram saying he was coming home for worship the day after tomorrow.

Kronos and Gner attacked the Black Skull Gang after its members extorted Marquis Argyle, but Kronos called off the fight after warning the gang leaders. They escaped when Kronos sensed powerful Wraith reinforcements approaching, and he realized he had underestimated the East Balam Restoration Society.

• Kronos learned that his father had given Booze a Sequence 7 Potion before killing him to make a weapon for Kronos.
• Kronos and Gner ambushed the Black Skull Gang’s guards and fought the leaders Moreira, Lima, and Godopus inside their headquarters.
• Kronos knocked Moreira unconscious and disabled Godopus’s rifle, then stopped Gner when Lima offered to negotiate.
• Kronos identified himself as a member of Marquis Argyle’s family and warned the gang not to trouble the Marquis again.
• A Nightmare joined Kronos and Gner as they left, and Kronos explained that he had sensed five powerful Wraiths approaching.

After Kronos returned to Argyle Manor with Gner, he warned Marquis Argyle about the dangerous organizations and wraiths they had encountered. He advanced to Sequence 7 Warlock and discovered that the Time Stone had gained a time-reloading ability, then took Gner around the manor to test his Eye of Time.

• Kronos told Marquis Argyle that the East Balam Restoration Society, the Eternal Life Society, and the Numinous Episcopate were connected to the Black Skull Gang, and that powerful wraiths had threatened them.
• Marquis Argyle purified Kronos with the Sun Ring and told him to stay at the manor until the fleet was ready to sail.
• Kronos explained the danger to Gner, who agreed to stay at the manor for a few days instead of returning to Backlund.
• Kronos prepared and drank a Sequence 7 Warlock potion in the chapel, successfully advancing under the protection of the God of Steam and Machinery.
• Kronos discovered that the Time Stone's Concealment of Time lasted three hundred days and that Time reload could restore him to a saved state once per week.
• Kronos took Gner on a tour of Argyle Manor, using the opportunity to test the Eye of Time.

Kronos studied the Argel Family’s Spell Grimoire and realized its exhaustive teachings had hindered generations of Warlocks from advancing. Marquis Argyle revealed that the family had deliberately accepted those limits to reassure the Royal Family, and Kronos left determined to pursue his own path in secret.

• Kronos strengthened the Eye of Time, tested his Beyonder items, and spent several days studying the family’s Spell Grimoire.
• Kronos found that the grimoire’s countless derivative spells had left little room for innovation and had stalled the Argel Family’s advancement.
• Kronos confronted Marquis Argyle, who explained that the family had avoided seeking Sequence 4 formulas and obeyed the grimoire’s constraints to reassure the Royal Family.
• Marquis Argyle told Kronos that the Royal Family trusted the family only while it stayed out of politics and produced no demigods, and urged him to keep any attempt to break free secret.
• Kronos let go of his resentment and understood the sacrifices his family had made, while Marquis Argyle hoped he could surpass the kingdom’s founder and resolve the Hidden Sage’s curse.

Kronos learned why the Argel Family distrusted the Church of Steam and Machinery, then hid his private spell experiments behind an act of grief. As the Bowen Trading Company's fleet prepared to depart, he traveled with his family to Pritz Harbor and shared a rare day together before setting sail.

• Marquis Argyle told Kronos that the Church of Steam and Machinery had likely killed their ancestor Botu after he agreed to join the church and change pathways.
• Kronos left the study acting grief-stricken because someone in the manor was watching him, then read Ancestor Abner's spells and reconsidered his plans for studying the Criminal pathway.
• Kronos decided to investigate the power of time to advance his acting, but repeated attempts to understand Concealment of Time left him baffled.
• Kronos secretly practiced spells in his room while his family believed he was dispirited, and Marquis Argyle kept them from disturbing him.
• After the Bowen Trading Company's fleet finished loading, Marquis Argyle took the family to Pritz Harbor and arranged for Benjamin to buy them a fine house.
• Kronos, Marquis Argyle, the Marquise, and little Annie spent the evening walking together by the shore before Kronos's departure the next morning.

Kronos secretly departed by ship under the alias Klein, after friends and family saw him off and equipped him with a cache of powerful Beyonder items. He began his first sea voyage with Gner, confident in his disguise and preparations.

• Philip saw Kronos off, shared a drink with him, and gave him contact details for fleets, island bases, and trusted people.
• Portland assured Kronos that the Walter Factory and its patents were in good hands, while Beck Yardinis reported that Kronos's companies were awaiting the right opportunity.
• Kronos concealed his identity and boarded the ship with Gner, posing as a relative of Benjamin Bowen and using the alias Klein.
• Alone in his cabin, Kronos opened Marquis Argyle's gift and examined the Lucky One Cane, Mystic Pouch, Azure Brooch, Elf Charm, scrolls, potion, and his existing equipment.
• Gner invited Kronos onto the deck, where Kronos watched the crew work and admired the sea during his first ocean voyage.

Kronos and Gner arrived at Damir Port, where Kronos gathered information about the island and its surroundings. They reached the village near an extinct volcano, but Kronos stopped Gner from seeking lodging so he could preserve his planned Warlock cover story.

• Kronos and Gner disembarked at Damir Port and told Benjamin they were going to ask around for information.
• Kronos chose the Bird and Fish bar while Gner questioned patrons about nearby sights and villages.
• Kronos overheard that Edwina Edwards had become Vice Admiral Iceberg and that Admiral Amyrius Rieveldt had recently crushed several pirate crews.
• Gner learned that a sizable village lay south of town near an extinct volcano, whose warm caves were used to dry cured meat.
• Kronos rented a carriage, and he and Gner reached the village by evening; Kronos stopped Gner from asking a family for lodging to avoid undermining his Warlock disguise.

Kronos and Gner investigated a Phoenix-related presence in an extinct volcano after Kronos heard mysterious cries in his sleep. They followed the traces into a widening fissure, where they continued toward the source.

• Kronos and Gner spent the night in their carriage on the mountain and used sleep potions to rest.
• Before dawn, Kronos heard cries that revealed an image of a Phoenix to him, though Gner heard nothing.
• Kronos explained the Phoenix's legendary history and persuaded Gner to scout for a possible Spirit World entrance.
• Kronos used a spell to sense the Spirit World's presence, and the two traced it to a hole beside the meat-drying hut.
• Gner knocked out the caretaker, and Kronos and Gner crawled into a fissure where the Spirit World's presence was strongest.
• After crawling past a fork, Kronos and Gner felt the temperature drop and continued as the fissure widened enough to walk through.

Kronos discovered a drop of Phoenix blood beyond the Spirit World entrance but retreated because he could not reach it safely, then returned to the village and used a dramatic Warlock disguise to accelerate his potion digestion. He left still needing to find a way to create spells, the final part of his acting method.

• Kronos used his Eyes of Mystery Prying to spot a drop of Phoenix blood bearing the authorities of death and the Door Pathway beyond the Spirit World entrance, then retreated with Gner.
• Kronos collapsed the tunnel branch leading to the entrance to keep others from reaching the blood before he grew strong enough to claim it.
• Kronos and Gner returned to the carriage, left the cured meat untouched, and agreed to pose separately while Kronos went into the village.
• Kronos dressed as a hooded Warlock and floated into the village, causing the villagers to believe a deity had arrived and accelerating his potion digestion.
• Kronos estimated that learning spell knowledge and acting as a Warlock covered most of his potion, but he still had no progress on creating spells or using the power of time.