Chapter Summaries

Allen encountered a naturally formed water elemental while detouring around the Misty Lake Shore and fought to survive its lethal attacks. He destroyed its magic runes and Mana Core, killing it, then collapsed from exhaustion with the Mana Core in hand.

• Allen left Kaltz and detoured around the Misty Lake Shore to avoid Murloc territory.
• A water elemental ambushed Allen with Water Bolts and Frost Arrows, slowing his movements and draining his stamina.
• Allen realized he could weaken the elemental by destroying the magic runes on its hands, but struggled to find an opening.
• Allen hurled his sword to draw the elemental's Water Bolt, then blocked its Frost Arrow with a Wind Blade and rushed in.
• Allen shattered the elemental's runes and repeatedly attacked until it shrank into a shapeless mass.
• Allen pulled the transparent Mana Core from the water, causing the elemental to collapse, then fell to the ground exhausted.

Allen traveled to Dalaran with a caravan after surviving a water elemental ambush, then explored the city and visited its library to seek knowledge. He paid for access to the first floor and received a Reading Card, beginning his studies in the city.

• Allen collected a nearly depleted Water Elemental Heart, left the Misty Lake Shore, and reflected on his carelessness before traveling onward.
• Allen joined a caravan bound for Dalaran, helped protect it from trouble, and used Wind Blade in a battle, leading the merchants to treat him as a mage.
• Allen arrived at Dalaran, marveled at its arcane towers, accepted the caravan leader's Membership Card, and entered the city.
• Allen rented an expensive room at an inn, learned that his stay included three meals a day, and enjoyed his lunch.
• Allen visited Dalaran's library, paid 80 silver coins per hour to read, and received a Reading Card that let him borrow one protected book at a time.

Allen studied mage lore in Dalaran and learned how talent, magical power, and rank shaped the profession. During his aptitude test, his exceptional mental strength astonished the examiner, who offered to connect him with the Archmage Ganast Krins as a mentor.

• Allen spent six hours in the library reading about mage talents, training, titles, and the ten tiers of magical power.
• Allen learned that sixth-tier mages were called Archmages and that Antonidas led the Kirin Tor Council as Chief Archmage.
• Allen went to Dalaran's Mages' Association the next day and paid three gold coins to take an aptitude test.
• Allen used his mental strength to explore the testing device and filled its magical patterns with energy up to nearly halfway.
• The middle-aged mage was astonished by Allen's strength, and offered to introduce him to his mentor, the seventh-tier Archmage Ganast Krins, the Fire Controller.

After discovering that he had no magical affinity, Allen abandoned his plan to become a mage and searched Dalaran for another path while trying to conserve his dwindling money. A month later, he found a memoir by the eccentric Goblin alchemist Graia Goldwheel, whose story caught his attention.

• The middle-aged mage tested Allen and discovered that he had no magical affinity, ending the promised introduction to an Archmage.
• Allen recovered from his despair, decided not to return home, and reasoned that his otherworldly soul could not accept mana.
• Allen reviewed the six classes available to humans and found that none offered him an obvious path, so he planned to keep searching Dalaran's library.
• After a month of reading and struggling to earn money through low-ranking adventurer jobs, Allen cut his expenses and spent nearly all his time in the library.
• Allen noticed a memoir by Graia Goldwheel, a Goblin who had studied alchemy but became known for making bizarre prank potions instead.

Allen uncovered a hidden message in Jinlun’s biography that led him to an abandoned hunter’s cabin south of Greenwood Forest. There, he found a buried iron box but had not yet opened it.

• Allen noticed that Jinlun’s biography omitted the potion that had transformed his fortunes and contradicted other accounts of its invention.
• Allen found that the phrases “Greenwood Forest” and “the little cabin to the south” appeared in dated entries, revealing the cabin’s location.
• Allen borrowed Jinlun’s biography and another book about the potion, then searched the biography repeatedly until he discovered the hidden message.
• Allen traveled to Greenwood Forest, paid a villager to guide him to an abandoned hunter’s cabin, and searched inside.
• Allen spotted a potion-bottle design carved into the table, dug beneath it, and uncovered a rusty iron box.
• Allen inspected the box for traps before opening it.

Allen discovered Graia Goldwheel’s letter and potion formulas, then studied the healing potion formula and learned that brewing a magical version required a source of magic. He visited Chris Magic Goods Shop seeking one and rejected the expensive Firestone and Earthstone, leaving his search unresolved.

• Allen opened the buried chest and read Graia Goldwheel’s letter describing how nobles stole his work and murdered him.
• Allen examined Goldwheel’s potion formulas, chose to study the healing potion formula, and learned that ordinary and magical healing potions came from the same formula.
• Allen realized that brewing a magical healing potion required magic and decided to seek an energy source in the market and shops.
• Allen searched the market, found nothing useful, and went to Chris Magic Goods Shop with his Membership Card.
• The shopkeeper offered Allen Firestone for 720 gold coins and Earthstone for 450 gold coins after discounts, but Allen asked to see other options.

Allen began preparing to make Healing Potions, rented a house in Dalaran’s outer city, and arranged to buy alchemy equipment and ingredients. Meanwhile, the black-robed Lillian Chris set a scheme in motion involving a Water Elemental Heart and the Nine-Ring Tower.

• A shopkeeper showed Allen a perfect Water Elemental Heart, but Allen declined to buy it and left, suspecting a scheme.
• Lillian Chris told the shopkeeper to spread word that she awaited someone at the Nine-Ring Tower, then took the Water Elemental Heart and vanished.
• Allen remembered his own smaller Water Elemental Heart and calculated the costs and risks of brewing Healing Potions with his limited funds.
• Allen rented an old house in the outer city and arranged with a market vendor to obtain used alchemy equipment and secondary ingredients.
• Allen ordered fifty portions of duskweed from the Alchemy Association and paid the full price.

Allen studied Jinlun's healing potion formula and gathered equipment and ingredients so he could begin brewing in his outer-city house. After repeated failures, he traced the problem to infusing magic power from the Water Elemental Heart and kept searching for a balance he could not yet find.

• Allen secured his outer-city house and dug a concealed hole to hide valuable equipment.
• Allen studied Jinlun's formula and alchemy information for a week before collecting his equipment and Duskweed.
• Allen began brewing a healing potion, but the liquid reacted badly when he tried to infuse it with magic power from the Water Elemental Heart.
• Allen recorded his mistakes and made repeated attempts, but he used up his Duskweed without producing a finished potion.
• Allen bought more ingredients and continued testing, concluding that small differences between ingredients made the magic-power infusion difficult to balance.

Allen succeeded in brewing Healing Potions, built a small business selling them, and planned to gain Alchemy Apprentice status so he could join Dalaran and access the Library’s second floor. After learning the test requirements, he devised a way to use the Water Elemental Heart without drawing attention.

• Allen brewed a weakened Healing Potion, discovered that his strong mental power let him sense the balance point, and began producing potions more reliably.
• Allen sold the merchant his first potions and later negotiated a regular supply agreement for twenty vials a month at 780 silver coins each.
• Allen calculated that his growing potion business could ease his financial troubles and decided to qualify for Dalaran through alchemy.
• Allen learned that brewing one potion from the Association’s list within three attempts would earn him an Alchemy Apprentice Certificate, and he planned to take the test in three days.
• Allen decided to conceal the Water Elemental Heart inside his own brewing flask and cover it with cloth during the supervised test.

Allen passed Dalaran’s Alchemy Apprentice test, joined the association despite its mandatory assignments, and gained access to the Library’s second floor. He spent the next half month studying magical theory while continuing to brew Healing Potions.

• Allen brewed a Healing Potion during the association test, impressed Lord Arthur, and received his Alchemy Apprentice badge.
• Allen joined Dalaran after learning that apprentices without mentors could be assigned tasks they could not refuse.
• Allen used his new identification to enter the Library’s second floor and discovered books on magical theory.
• Allen spent five or six hours studying and decided to focus on the Library’s introductory magic books instead of searching for clues about other classes.
• Over the next half month, Allen studied at the Library and brewed Healing Potions, improving his success rate and keeping his best potions for himself.

Allen learned that George Hreliff had joined the Hreliff Family and heard that Drenden Archersman was backing the Chris Family in Dalaran. After studying magic, Allen accepted an association assignment to brew healing potions and began testing whether he could gather magical power with mental power alone.

• George Hreliff introduced Allen to Buckle Hreliff and revealed that he had formally joined the Hreliff Family.
• Buckle told Allen that Drenden Archersman had publicly declared support for the Chris Family, prompting Allen to connect the news to the Water Elemental Heart and the coming Council of Six election.
• Allen reflected on magical theories and concluded that mages understood little about nature and other forces beyond magic.
• Allen went to the association and received an assignment to brew fifteen healing potions of inferior grade or better for four hundred silver coins each.
• Allen tried gathering magical power from the air with his mental power to infuse a healing potion, struggled to concentrate it, and confirmed that mental power could gather it to some extent.

Allen tried to cast spells by constructing runes with mental power, but his attempts failed. After finding another mage’s similar failed experiments, he questioned the accepted explanation and considered why mental power could control mana despite being unable to interact with it directly.

• Allen attempted to construct a Fireball rune with mental power, but it collapsed before affecting the surrounding mana.
• Allen set the experiment aside and returned to brewing potions and studying at the library as Dalaran’s Kirin Tor elections approached.
• Allen received a larger Healing Potion assignment, sold half of his medium-grade potions to a young man for more than seventy gold coins, and kept his high-grade potions.
• Allen spent several days in the library and found an experiment record describing another mage’s failure to cast spells by constructing runes with mental power.
• Allen concluded that his mental power dispersed before it could form a rune and questioned why it could control mana if it could not interact with mana.

Allen’s mental power underwent a painful transformation, creating a soul space and leaving him in need of recovery. A week later, Archmage Kel'Thuzad summoned mages to assist Highlord Pelaven against rampaging magical beasts in Silverpine Forest, and Allen reluctantly joined the mission before choosing a book of basic spell runes as payment.

• Allen failed to gather enough mana from his surroundings to construct runes and cast spells.
• Allen’s mental power erupted while he tried to brew potions, then transformed and became several times stronger as a soul space appeared.
• Allen rested and studied his soul space for a week while recovering from the damage to his soul.
• Archmage Kel'Thuzad appeared at the potion-brewing hall and asked mages to help Highlord Pelaven deal with rampaging magical beasts in Silverpine Forest.
• Allen signed up for the mission despite not wanting to go, then chose a book of basic spell runes from Kel'Thuzad’s list of payments.

Allen discovered why his pure mental energy could not form runes outside his Soul Space and kept the revelation secret. Before leaving for Pelaven's territory, he bought and activated a defective spellbook that could store and replenish his mental energy, then headed to the meeting point.

• Allen realized that mages could not use pure mental energy to form runes because they lacked the mental strength to create a Soul Space, and he decided to keep the discovery secret.
• Allen prepared for his journey to Pelaven's territory, informed the merchant he would be leaving, and searched the eastern district for useful equipment.
• Allen bought a supposedly failed spellbook made from Deadman's Tree wood after discovering it could hold his pure mental energy.
• Allen charged the spellbook, activated it, and found that it could store about half his mental energy for later use.
• Allen named the activated book the Soul Book, disguised it as an ordinary black-bound book, and hurried to the meeting point with his luggage.

Allen traveled with a group of Dalaran mages and apprentices to Highlord Pelaven’s frontier outpost near Silverpine Forest, where he suspected their mission involved helping Pelaven expand into the dangerous forest. At the outpost, Allen met his roommate Ruizesi and revealed to him and other apprentices that he was an Alchemy Apprentice rather than a mage apprentice.

• Allen traveled from Dalaran to Highlord Pelaven’s outpost near Silverpine Forest with a group of mages and apprentices.
• The group arrived at the frontier outpost, where soldiers escorted them to the lord’s residence and assigned them rooms.
• Allen met his roommate Ruizesi, introduced himself as an Alchemy Apprentice, and studied basic runes before bed.
• Ruizesi told Allen that their mission was not to defend against magical beasts, and Allen suspected they could not refuse their assignment.
• At lunch, Ruizesi introduced Allen to Jim and Charles, who did not recognize him, so Allen explained that he had joined Dalaran as an Alchemy Apprentice rather than as a mage apprentice.

Allen settled into potion-making in Lord Pelaven’s territory while studying runes and developing a way to cast spells quickly through his soul space. After mastering Wind Blade, he realized its power depended on conversion runes and that he lacked the spell runes needed to improve it.

• Lord Pelaven divided the apprentices between alchemy work and other duties, and Mage Larz assigned Allen and the other alchemists to brew at least three potions a day.
• Allen began brewing the required potions, memorizing runes, and preparing spell runes in his soul space so he could cast Wind Blade quickly.
• Ruizesi told Allen that his patrol squad needed Healing Potions, and Allen sold him six Lesser Healing Potions at market price.
• After nearly a month, Allen received wages calculated from his success rate and potion output, which remained low because he brewed only the minimum each day.
• Allen mastered Wind Blade but found its power ordinary, then concluded that Spell Runes determined a spell’s strength and that he had almost none available.

Allen joined a search for the Magic Source behind the demonic corruption in Silverpine Forest and used his enhanced perception to detect a dangerous concentration of magic. When squad leader Ryan dismissed his warning and led the soldiers away, Magg stayed behind with Allen.

• Allen received an urgent notice and learned that Lord Pelaven needed the apprentices to locate the Magic Source in Silverpine Forest, where beasts were undergoing demonic corruption.
• Pelaven sent the troops into the forest to search, and Allen was assigned to Ryan's ten-man squad.
• Allen used the Soul Book to sense magical fluctuations and guided Ryan's squad toward areas of stronger magic.
• Allen detected a large group of corrupted beasts ahead and urged Ryan to take a detour, but Ryan doubted him and insulted his abilities.
• Ryan led the squad onward, while Magg stayed with Allen, saying he believed Allen was trying to prevent unnecessary losses.

Allen led Ryan’s surviving soldiers through an escape from a pack of corrupted beasts, then treated a wounded soldier and arranged a rest despite their dwindling supplies. As the group continued its mission to find the Magic Source, Allen believed Pelaven would send no reinforcements and focused on getting everyone out alive.

• Allen prepared traps and an escape route, then rescued Ryan’s retreating squad and guided them through the woods to high ground.
• Allen used vines and ice to slow the corrupted beasts, and the group escaped after more than half of Ryan’s squad was killed or wounded.
• Ryan admitted his mistake and apologized to the surviving soldiers, while Allen urged them to keep moving and complete their mission.
• Other squads were overwhelmed by corrupted beasts, and one squad was wiped out in under ten minutes.
• Allen used two drops of Healing Potion and clean gauze to treat a soldier’s bleeding wound after the group ran low on medicine.
• Ryan agreed to let the exhausted soldiers rest, while Allen privately concluded that Pelaven would not send reinforcements.

Allen discovered that a modified set of Conversion Runes let him cast a Wind Blade twice as powerful as an ordinary one, then told Ryan about his improvement. With supplies running low, they agreed to prepare a retreat but made one final reconnaissance trip into the hills, where they found an unnervingly silent area.

• Allen added a stroke to the Conversion Runes, successfully cast a powerful Wind Blade, and recorded the First-Rank spell after testing it.
• Allen told Ryan that his spell had improved, and Ryan explained that the squad was running low on dry rations and might have to leave within three days.
• Allen persuaded Ryan to take responsibility for the soldiers and consider retreating, and they planned a withdrawal route after deciding to explore the hills once more.
• Allen sensed abnormal magical power ahead, so he and Ryan left the soldiers behind and set out together to investigate.
• Allen and Ryan reached a quiet area with no visible signs of danger, but a stone Allen tossed ahead produced no movement.

Allen and Ryan escaped a giant Man Snake by leading it into a pack of Fel Beasts, and they recovered a fragment Allen identified as a Magic Source. After returning to the base, they learned that Fel Beasts had attacked while they were away, and Allen was summoned to meet Highlord Pelaven and a group of officers.

• Allen recognized the oversized Man Snake, struck its mouth with a Wind Blade, and fled with Ryan when the spell failed to stop it.
• Allen led Ryan to a pack of Fel Beasts, giving them a chance to escape while the creatures turned against the Man Snake.
• Ryan showed Allen a white stone he had picked up near the snake, and Allen identified it as a fragment of a Magic Source.
• Allen and Ryan returned to the base and learned that Fel Beasts had attacked, causing heavy losses and a lockdown.
• Ryan stayed to report their discoveries, while Allen returned to his quarters and rested.
• Highlord Pelaven summoned Allen the next morning, and Allen found Ryan, Larz, and several unfamiliar officers in the lord's hall.