Chapter Summaries

Ace used the Book of Magic to record his understanding of Minor Magic Trick and considered how its guidance and exchange system could help him recruit diligent discoverers. Daina sought new knowledge and materials at a Demon Hunter Camp, while Ace secretly followed her to observe what she would do.

• Ace recorded his understanding of Minor Magic Trick in the Magic Diary and considered how Book of Magic contractors could discover new beasts, materials, and runes for him.
• Daina raised her mental power to 2, explored the Book of Magic’s exchange rules, and learned that she could earn points by discovering or sacrificing beasts, materials, and runes.
• Daina considered exchanging for a Book of Magic to make Ace her junior, then decided to visit the Demon Hunter Camp to seek an easy task.
• Daina disguised herself in her brother’s clothes, left her parents a note, and went to the camp, where her exploration revealed no undiscovered beasts or materials.
• Ace sensed Daina’s movements, followed her to the camp, and watched as an old man invited her to visit his shop of newly caught Demonic Beasts.

Daina was lured into a trap by the Hungry Wolf Mutual Aid Society, but she used a cleverly shaped Magic Missile to defeat her captors and escape. Ace then uncovered the gang’s hideout and turned its members against one another, leaving their transformed leader to charge at him.

• Daina ignored the conflicting warnings and entered Old Parker’s shop, where Parker and his men trapped her in an iron cage.
• While buying time, Daina calculated a boomerang-shaped Magic Missile, and Ace secretly incapacitated the two men who could have dropped her into a pit.
• Daina’s missile struck all seven attackers; she cut her way out of the cage, killed the wounded men, and fled the shop.
• Ace dissolved the corpses, caught a gang member following Daina, and learned where the Hungry Wolf Mutual Aid Society was hiding.
• Ace reached the gang’s burrow and used an Illusory Barrier to make its members slaughter one another, but their leader transformed and charged at him.

Ace captured the Black Scale Leader and uncovered signs of a mysterious ritual, while the city-state publicly credited Inspector Dickens with destroying the Hungry Wolf Mutual Aid Society. Ace then prepared to lecture on the Wasteland Reclamation Decree and opened by introducing economics to a crowd eager to learn from his success.

• Ace imprisoned the Black Scale Leader, recorded strange patterns and a language in the Book of Magic, and secretly alerted a patrol unit to the underground lair.
• Daina returned home after killing seven members of the Hungry Wolf Mutual Aid Society and worried about revenge before falling asleep.
• Dickens's unit rescued imprisoned women and children, and the city-state later credited Dickens with wiping out the society.
• Ace and the captive leader rode back to Ace's residence hidden as buttons on a soldier's cuff.
• Morton told Ace to prepare a lecture on Intensive Farming and gave him a draft of the Wasteland Reclamation Decree.
• Ace addressed a crowd at the grand square, introduced economics, and asked how people could maximize their benefits while obeying city-state law.

Ace gave a speech on intensive cultivation and market economics, then resolved to use his knowledge to help ordinary people. While Daina and Bayern studied mathematics with him, Ace investigated a captured demon cultist and learned more about demon-like transformation and Demonic Language.

• Ace's speech on farming and economics impressed the crowd, and the Grand Regent offered him a future as his successor.
• Daina heard about Ace's speech from her brother, then visited Ace the next morning with pastries and found him training with a sword and shield.
• Bayern arrived to ask Ace about trigonometric functions, and Ace directed him to study with Daina.
• Daina began meeting Bayern to teach him mathematics while Ace researched the imprisoned half-human, half-monster in his basement.
• Ace discovered how the demon cultist transformed, tested which spells affected the transformed creature, and learned Demonic Language with Tongue of All Languages.
• Fuwa returned to its original form after tasting the knowledge Ace recorded in his Book of Magic.

Ace used knowledge infusion to teach Daina beginner Sword-and-Shield Combat, and she asked to join him on his trip to the Northern Territory. Before leaving, Ace offered Bayern a chance to pursue a more challenging path of knowledge, and Bayern accepted a contract with him.

• The Book Spirit explained that the ancient language carried traces of the World Rule, and Ace burned the demon-like creature to ashes.
• Ace infused Daina with his stored Sword-and-Shield Combat knowledge, and she impressed him by practicing with a shortsword and shield.
• Ace and Daina sparred over the following days, and Daina asked him to wait until the week after next so she could travel with him to the Northern Territory.
• Ace used an eye-hinting spell to present Bayern with a choice between an easy path of knowledge and a thorny path with unknown possibilities, and Bayern chose the latter.
• Ace appeared to Bayern as his moonlit double and formed a contract with him, after which Bayern lost consciousness.

Ace used the magic book to complete an Equivalent Exchange with Bayern and prepared to leave for the Northern Border. Daina embraced her growing power, traveled to Ace’s home, and introduced herself as his contractor and a Junior Wizard Apprentice.

• Bayern activated the Equivalent Exchange ritual, received a leather pouch, and used a Lesser Permanent Mental Blessing to raise his mental power to 0.6.
• Ace monitored Bayern and prepared information and an exchange list in the magic book before his planned departure for the Northern Border.
• Daina beat a drunk at the arena, reflected on her inhuman attributes, and later recorded combat techniques in her Magic Diary.
• Daina packed weapons and demon hunter’s gear, left a letter at home, and set out to find Ace.
• Ace welcomed Daina, demonstrated a Magic Missile, and heard her introduce herself as Firebearer’s contractor and a Junior Wizard Apprentice.

Ace revealed himself as the Iron Masked Fire Fist and accepted Daina as his disciple, teaching her the principles behind his magic-based organization. He and Daina traveled toward the Northern Border, where a village chief refused to trust Ace’s claim that he was a scholar.

• Ace revealed his Iron Masked Fire Fist identity to Daina, welcomed her as a fellow traveler, and accepted her as his disciple.
• Ace reviewed Daina’s raid on the Demon Hunter Camp, praised her spellwork, and explained that further magical knowledge required an exchange through the magic book.
• Ace established the principles of the magic-book organization, including secrecy, mutual aid, equivalent exchange, respect for knowledge, and the pursuit of truth.
• Ace added a long-distance text messaging ability to Daina’s magic book, and she became one of his Fellow Travelers.
• Ace and Daina set out for the Northern Border, where Ace trained her to hunt Demonic Beasts and record runes.
• Ace asked a village chief for lodging and offered Silver Talers, but the chief rejected the money and doubted Ace was a scholar because he was too young.

Ace and Daina stayed in the village, where Ace treated the villagers and used his new Limited Deduction Technique to improve Daina’s fighting skills. The chapter ended with Ace demonstrating Magic Trick for Daina, who mistakenly bit into a clay jar transformed into an apple.

• Ace used the Beguiling Spell to persuade the village chief to let him and Daina stay at his home.
• Ace opened a free clinic and treated several villagers using Ultrasonic Perception.
• Daina practiced her fighting techniques, and Ace used the Limited Deduction Technique to teach her advanced unarmed combat.
• Daina asked Ace for guidance, and he explained that she would need to develop her own comprehension of the techniques.
• Ace demonstrated Magic Trick by cleaning Daina and transforming a clay jar into an apple, which she bit into and found was still pottery.

Daina entered a state of magical transformation while training and emerged as an Intermediate Wizard Apprentice with solidified magic. Ace classified the combat techniques she developed as Enchanting Martial Skills and rewarded her with three rare spell models.

• Ace studied Magic Trick and found that adding incomplete demon language strengthened physical attacks, curses, and direct mental damage.
• Ace noticed Daina's training had triggered faint magical fluctuations, guarded her practice, and watched her techniques grow powerful enough to shatter rocks and crack the ground.
• Daina completed her magical transformation, and Ace congratulated her and explained the ranks of wizard apprentices.
• Ace cleaned Daina with a spell and apologized for the previous day's apple; Daina forgave him and returned to her room.
• Daina examined her new attributes, then Ace showed her the Enchanting Martial Skill entry for Daina Steel Fist Style and offered her three rare spell models as a reward.
• Daina accepted the spell models Thrust, Ejection Leg, and Localized Enhancement.

Daina experimented with enchanted martial skills and developed a system for creating and enhancing Magic Crystal weapons. As Ace and Daina left the village, Ace praised Daina for taking her first step as a magical researcher.

• Ace gave Daina spells for her Iron Masked Fire Fist persona and decided to guide her experiments with solidified mana.
• Daina tested Steel Fist Style, Spell Bounce, and Localized Enhancement, then used them to strengthen herself and a Magic Crystal sword.
• Daina developed a way to create Magic Crystal weapons more quickly and combine them with enhancement spells.
• Ace treated villagers during the free clinic, earned their trust, and resolved to help ordinary people without using medicine as an excuse.
• Ace and Daina left the village, and Daina devised spell models that produced Magic Crystal weapons and equipment.
• Ace congratulated Daina on beginning magical research and urged her to innovate rather than merely imitate existing spells.

Ace and Daina fought a pack of evil, chaotic monsters in the wilderness, testing Daina’s magic crystal weapons and Ace’s new spinning blade incantation. After they defeated the creatures, their corpses merged into a huge flesh monster that seized Daina with a tentacle.

• Ace and Daina discussed the scarcity of Demonic Beasts as they camped and ate roasted rabbit in the wilderness.
• Ace sensed more than a dozen monsters with chaotic, evil auras approaching, and Daina equipped her magic crystal gauntlets before charging into battle.
• Daina killed one rotting monster with a punch while Ace used his incantations to weaken and behead two others.
• Ace suspended several monsters in midair, letting Daina smash their heads apart and defeat the remaining attackers.
• The monsters’ corpses merged into a huge lump of flesh, which shot out a tentacle and grabbed Daina.

Ace and Daina escaped the monster and found a village whose inhabitants had been drained of blood for a dangerous ritual. As Ace destroyed the ritual, Senior Patrol Officer Dickens Rona’s brigade was ambushed nearby.

• Ace wounded the monster with a powerful blade spell, and Daina carried him away as they fled.
• Ace discovered the monster had split into hairless dogs and led Daina toward a nearby village.
• They found Blood Crows circling the village and retreated while Daina meditated.
• Ace scanned the village, found only dried corpses and a nearly mature ritual, then entered to destroy its magic nodes.
• Dickens Rona led a patrol brigade toward the massacre site, where scouts reported an ambush.

Dickens's troops fought the Dark Clergy as Ace destroyed the village ritual and discovered it was summoning demons. Ace rescued the wounded Daina, and they escaped the village as the threat continued to grow.

• Dickens's soldiers were ambushed by gray-robed Dark Clergy, so Dickens ordered his units into sunlight and told the Blade Squadron to burn the grass.
• The hoarse-voiced cleric sent believers after Ace and Daina while Ace destroyed ritual nodes and recorded supernatural knowledge.
• A seductive witch awakened the village's blood and sent Blood Crows toward the ritual center, where the black blood consumed them.
• Ace burned the attacking corpses with Glimmer, but horned demons emerged from the black blood as the village grew increasingly dangerous.
• Daina was wounded while fighting the demons, but she broke through their encirclement, and Ace arrived to help her escape with Swiftness.

Ace and Daina escaped the demonic ritual and traveled north while demons devastated the surrounding region. After nearly a month of research and travel, they reached Northern Territory Fortress, the city on the frontier where humanity fought the Demonic Beasts.

• Ace guided Daina away from the Dark Clergy as a Great Demon emerged and ordered the demons to build an Abyssal Altar for Dekbah.
• Ace used Magic Trick to cleanse Daina's wounds and corruption, then decided they would head north toward the Northern Frontier.
• Dickens Rona discovered the village had become abyssal, sent messengers to request aid from Great Hero Arnold Bain, and retreated with the remnants of his forces.
• News spread that Dickens's Third Patrol Battalion had been wiped out, and Arnold Bain led seven Heroes to fight the demons.
• During their journey, Daina discovered new uses for runes and developed Magic Crystal Shaping spells, while Ace used her research to strengthen his own magic.
• Ace and Daina arrived at Northern Territory Fortress, a snow-covered mountain city on the boundary of human civilization.

Bayern studied runes and Demonic Beasts, earning points and developing a stronger meditation method as he became convinced Ace had founded the wizard path. After news of an Abyssal Demon’s arrival halted his plan to travel north and meet Ace, Bayern headed south toward Tsimari Port.

• Bayern drew the Noise Choke-Cough spell and persuaded Tang Sen to take him into the Special Demonic Beast Prison to study Low-level Demonic Beasts.
• Bayern spent a month observing the beasts, earning 335 points and numerous runes, then exchanged ten points for an enhanced meditation spell model.
• Bayern earned 213 more points by visiting citizens’ and nobles’ homes, then studied active runes and experimented with reproducing spell models on Demonic Beast hides.
• Bayern reasoned that Ace might be a founder of the wizard path and decided to travel north to meet him.
• Bayern learned that Dickens’s thousand men had been wiped out, villages had been massacred, and a demon had descended, so he postponed his trip north and set off for Tsimari Port.

Ace and Daina entered the Northern Territory Fortress, where Ace planned to build a hospital and gain a reputation. While seeking help from Soron, Ace discovered that Soron's niece Jeanne resisted his Suggestion spell, and he began to suspect her soul was unusual.

• Ace and Daina entered the fortress using their badges and received three-month passes from Soron.
• Ace told Daina he wanted to establish a hospital, while she planned to gather information at a Demon Hunter Camp.
• Ace went to Soron's home and tried to use Suggestion on Jeanne, but she resisted and called him scary.
• Soron recognized Ace, sent Jeanne inside, and invited him to a tavern to discuss business.
• Ace and Soron shared a meal, and Soron asked what skills, reputation, and funds Ace had for making a name for himself.

Ace hired Soron to build his reputation among nobles and commoners, hoping to establish a trusted hospital in the Northern Frontier. After Soron’s rumors and Ace’s paintings made him famous, Ace gained the support of the Northern Frontier Guild Hall and the Rona family, leaving him honored as a celebrated figure in the region.

• Ace told Soron he wanted fame among nobles and commoners so he could establish a hospital, and he paid Soron to promote him as an outstanding painter.
• Soron repaid his creditors and recruited them to spread praise and rumors about Ace throughout Northern Territory Fortress.
• Ace dismissed Daina’s concerns about the rumors, asked about her investigation into Demonic Beasts, and continued painting, studying the Weird Ritual, and planning a laboratory for his future hospital.
• Over the next month, Ace’s paintings became highly sought after, and Hero Kent Rona visited him and received a painting.
• The Northern Frontier Guild Hall pledged support for Ace’s hospital, while Kent invited him to paint murals in the Frost Temple.
• After Ace completed the murals, Great Hero Moor Rona awarded him the First-Class Honor Medal of the Northern Frontier Legion, making Ace the region’s hottest figure.

Ace met with Soron and Jeanne, learned about the Dark Clergy and Jeanne’s strange spiritual changes, then finished building a secret laboratory beneath his hospital. He left the laboratory ready to support future wizard apprentices and magical research.

• Ace gave Soron Gold Talers and invited him and Jeanne to a tavern to observe Jeanne’s unusual soul.
• Soron told Ace that Great Hero Arnold had been gravely injured after destroying an Abyssal Altar and explained how the Dark Clergy gained power from demons.
• Jeanne reacted angrily to Ace’s judgment of a demon follower, and Ace sensed her soul turn blood-red before it returned to its usual crystalline state.
• Soron explained that he had found Jeanne near the Lar Mountains with no memories, then took her home with him.
• Ace secretly marked Soron and Jeanne with a tracking spell after they left.
• Ace completed his five-level underground laboratory, including facilities for magic books, experiments, creature containment, magic plants, and magic power storage.

Ace studied ritual magic and experimented with creating projections, while also warning Daina that her meditation method was holding back her growth. His attempts to make a projection from a Blood Crow failed, leaving him with an intact original and no projection.

• Ace saw that Daina was adventuring with demon hunters and sent her a message urging her to replace the Minimalist Meditation Method.
• Ace practiced Abyssal Language with an imp projection, then studied ritual knowledge and focused on the projection ritual.
• Ace charmed and controlled Blood Crows for experiments with the original-body replication and projection magic arrays.
• Ace's first experiment killed a Blood Crow and transferred its soul into the array, where it became abyssalized instead of forming a projection.
• Ace removed Abyss-connected patterns and tried again, but the Blood Crow survived without producing a projection.

Ace realized the Projection Ritual needed a sacrifice, redesigned it with a contract magic array to prevent betrayal, and successfully created a projection of himself. The chapter ended as magical chains linked Ace and his new mirror image, changing how Ace perceived the world.

• Ace left his failed ritual experiments to perform surgeries, then realized a Puchou's remark about needing no sacrifice might explain the ritual's flaw.
• Ace redesigned the Projection Ritual to include a sacrifice, successfully created a Blood Crow projection, and found that a creature could have only one projection before Hero level.
• Ace discovered that projections could betray their main bodies, studied the forbidden contracts, and added a contract magic array that made a Blood Crow projection completely obedient.
• Ace performed the completed ritual on himself, sacrificing part of his soul and Demonic Beast flesh, blood, and soul to form an identical projection.
• Magical chains entered Ace and his projection's foreheads, linking their souls and changing Ace's perception of the world.