Chapter Summaries

Lancelot toured Holy Sword Academy with Nancy St. Paul, who explained the academy’s departments and the importance of authority and credits. He revealed that his initial authority was level 6, surprising Nancy.

• Nancy St. Paul introduced herself to Lancelot at the school gates and offered to show him around Holy Sword Academy.
• Nancy took Lancelot through the campus on maglev platforms and described the academy’s departments and key divisions.
• Nancy explained that authority determined students’ treatment and was linked to military ranks, while level 30 required a collective decision that triggered special-level combat readiness.
• Nancy said level 6 authority equaled the rank of major and asked Lancelot what his initial authority was.
• Lancelot said he had level 6 authority, and Nancy reacted in shock.

Nancy explained how Holy Sword Academy's credits and access levels worked, then guided Lancelot to his residence in the Sea Lake Villa District. Lancelot settled into the villa, while Nancy left after deciding their difference in status made a romance impossible.

• Nancy explained that students earned credits through missions or by exchanging Crimson Notes, and described the unofficial credit dealers operating around academy rules.
• Lancelot exchanged contact information with Nancy, who sent him the account of a credit dealer called "Caterpillar."
• Nancy explained that she avoided dealing credits herself because the trade was risky and its dealers had powerful backers.
• Nancy brought Lancelot to his villa in the Sea Lake Villa District, an enrollment reward for his high access level.
• Lancelot's intelligent system confirmed his identity and opened the villa, and Nancy left after watching him go inside.

Lancelot toured his new villa, named its robot housekeeper Christine, and logged into the Holy Sword Academy website to select courses. He chose more than thirty subjects while keeping his unusual knowledge concealed until he became strong enough to protect himself.

• Christine showed Lancelot around the three-floor villa and its training facilities.
• Lancelot named the robot housekeeper Christine and asked her to make tea.
• Lancelot logged into the Holy Sword Academy website and reviewed the course selection rules and catalog.
• Lancelot selected ability development, combat, genetic engineering, and more than thirty other courses.
• Lancelot avoided choosing subjects that would reveal knowledge from his shared memories, deciding to keep his abilities hidden until he reached Sanctuary.

Holy Sword Academy’s leaders prepared for the new students’ arrival and selected Lancelot as the freshman representative. At the opening ceremony, Lancelot’s friends reunited with him as classmates, and the academy leaders made a dramatic entrance before the students.

• Vice Dean Louis chaired a meeting where the Holy Sword Academy leaders reported that their preparations for enrollment were complete.
• Kamori recommended Lancelot as the freshman representative, and the leaders agreed that he would speak at the opening ceremony.
• Bell, Stephanie, Rongside, and Jimmy met with Lancelot and explained why they had enrolled at the Holy Sword Academy.
• Lancelot toasted his new classmates and agreed to let Stephanie polish his opening ceremony speech.
• Urta and the other academy leaders arrived through a spatial rift at the opening ceremony, drawing the students’ attention to the white-bearded dean.

After enrolling at Holy Sword Academy, Lancelot attended his first ability development class and learned that the academy had created a specialized Holy Sword Gene Training Method. He recognized how valuable it could be for developing his many abilities and prepared to learn its first movement.

• Lancelot delivered the freshman representative speech, and the vice dean announced the freshman tournament would take place in half a month.
• School leaders met with Lancelot, Rongside, and other outstanding students, then Lancelot gathered academy information and continued training at home.
• Lancelot arrived at his first ability development class, where Instructor Lande introduced the Holy Sword Gene Training Method and explained its sixty levels.
• Lancelot realized the method could greatly improve his ability development, especially as an Innovation School student, and Instructor Lande began demonstrating the first movement.

Lancelot stood out during a painful Holy Sword Gene Training Method lesson, impressing Teacher Lande with his endurance and rapid progress. Lande introduced the academy’s Virtual Universe as a way to train more efficiently, then revealed the demigod artifact Sword Marrow as another aid.

• Students struggled through the painful Holy Sword Gene Training Method lesson while Lande urged them to keep going.
• Lande noticed Lancelot repeating the movements without tiring and used him as an example to motivate the other students.
• Lancelot relied on precise cellular control to master the exercises, practicing continuously while the other students entered treatment pods or passed out.
• Lande explained that the academy’s Virtual Universe could simulate transcendents below Sanctuary with over 99 percent accuracy and help students practice in painless mode, but it cost three credits an hour.
• Lande pointed out the demigod artifact stone sword and identified Sword Marrow as the second form of assistance.

Lancelot entered Holy Sword Academy’s Virtual Universe to practice the Holy Sword Gene Training Method in a safer setting. He pushed himself through repeated simulations, refining his movements until five hours had passed.

• Lancelot considered the cost of Sword Marrow and calculated that his scholarship and exchange quota gave him 2,100 credits to use.
• After eating at Sea Lake Villa District, Lancelot entered his home’s consciousness link pod and connected to the Virtual Universe.
• The Virtual Universe recognized Lancelot’s level-six clearance and reduced his usage fee to 2.7 credits per hour.
• Lancelot requested a private cultivation space and began practicing the Holy Sword Gene Training Method without fear of real injury.
• Lancelot repeatedly collapsed and revived as he corrected flaws in his movements, continuing his practice for five hours.

Lancelot practiced the first 56 movements of the Holy Sword Gene Training Method until his information panel recognized it at Lv1, then attended Gael Corison’s Innovation class. Gael explained that innovation meant combining abilities suited to oneself to forge a new path, leaving the students with his analogy of paving a road that culminated in an Innovation Ability.

• Lancelot reviewed the first 56 movements ten times in the Virtual Universe, fixed a problem, then practiced them in reality without injury.
• Lancelot’s information panel recorded the Holy Sword Gene Training Method at Lv1 after he practiced the movements seven times.
• The next morning, Lancelot chose to attend the Innovation class taught by Gael Corison.
• Gael asked the students to define innovation, and Lancelot admitted he did not know.
• Gael explained that Innovation School ability users created new paths by finding and balancing abilities suited to themselves, ultimately forming an Innovation Ability or Innovation Skill.

Teacher Gael explained how Innovation Skills were developed from combinations of abilities, then demonstrated his A+ rank Ironfeather Vulture transformation to the students. The class debated whether Innovation School users remained human, and Gael ended by explaining that the academy’s transformation-compatible combat suit cost fifty credits.

• Gael explained that students should study the Innovation Compendium and learn established Innovation Skills before trying to create their own.
• Gael transformed into his Ironfeather Vulture Innovation Skill and said he had used it to kill a young brass dragon.
• Gael explained that Innovation School abilities could alter users’ bodies, but said outward form mattered less than remaining loyal to humanity.
• The students debated transformations and the dean’s ability to become a miniature black hole, while Gael privately reflected on how rare the dean’s power was.
• A student asked what happened to Gael’s clothes during his transformation, and Gael showed them his academy combat suit before another student balked at its fifty-credit price.

After Teacher Gael’s lesson, Lancelot understood that Innovation Skills evolved their users by taking abilities from other creatures. He studied the Innovation Compendiums and watched Dean Urta use Annihilation Black Hole to defeat the golden dragon Clausius, then resolved to pursue even greater power.

• Teacher Gael taught Lancelot about awakening and combining abilities in the Innovation School.
• Lancelot concluded that innovators gained strength by plundering other creatures’ gifts and resolved to seek power for himself.
• Lancelot opened the library’s Innovation Compendium collection and found Dean Urta’s SSS-rank Annihilation Black Hole, which required nineteen abilities and twelve resources.
• Lancelot watched a recording of Urta absorbing Clausius’s dragon breath and swallowing the golden dragon in a black hole.
• Lancelot vowed to surpass Urta’s power and continued searching for Innovation Skills suited to his cultivation.

Lancelot chose to focus on improving his defense and began searching for a suitable Innovation Skill. Steel Tiger called and urged him to abandon [Body of Steel] and pursue the SSS-rank [Nine-Headed Thunder Dragon], but his proposed path conflicted with Lancelot’s plans.

• Lancelot weighed his four combat priorities and decided to focus on defense because [Body of Steel] was near its maximum level.
• Lancelot searched the exchange office for defensive Innovation Skills compatible with [Body of Steel].
• Steel Tiger called Lancelot, praised his achievements, and explained that he had arranged for Teacher Gael to teach him.
• Steel Tiger told Lancelot to choose an SSS-rank skill and make [Nine-Headed Thunder Dragon] his goal, recommending [Thunderlight Dragon Scales] as his third ability.
• Lancelot frowned as Steel Tiger’s cultivation plan diverged sharply from his own.

Lancelot rejected Steel Tiger’s advice to pursue an SSS-rank Innovation Skill from the start, insisting he would advance through ranks and create his own skills. Steel Tiger granted him access to levels 4 through 6 of the Domain of Spirit Thought, though he remained frustrated by Lancelot’s choice.

• Lancelot told Steel Tiger that building combat power through successive Innovation Skill ranks was better than waiting to develop an SSS-rank skill.
• Steel Tiger explained that genetic-chain capacity was limited and warned that redundant abilities could prevent Lancelot from mastering multiple SSS-rank skills.
• Lancelot understood Steel Tiger’s reasoning but refused to follow his recommended path.
• Lancelot said he intended to create his own Innovation Skills, prompting Steel Tiger to recall his own past ambition and caution him not to regret his choice.
• Steel Tiger granted Lancelot access to levels 4 through 6 of the Domain of Spirit Thought and ended the call.

Lancelot selected the S-Rank Innovation Skill Tree of Life after watching a demonstration of its extraordinary defenses and regeneration. He discovered that mastering it required rare, expensive resources, leaving him concerned about the credits he would need.

• Lancelot reviewed the Domain of Spirit Thought and considered the favor required to access its higher levels.
• Lancelot found Tree of Life and watched a battlefield demonstration of its resilience, corpse-fed growth, and recovery after nearly being destroyed.
• Lancelot decided Tree of Life was the skill he wanted, despite its demanding mastery requirements.
• Lancelot checked the exchange prices for Tree of Life’s supplementary resources and saw how costly they were.
• Lancelot read that High Wood Elf Blood came from a people with Legendary potential and learned that some were raised and harvested in black-market life factories.

Lancelot calculated the costs of awakening the Tree of Life abilities and found he lacked the credits to buy the needed resources. He decided to prioritize the rare Regenerative Bone Marrow bloodline potion and the Tree of Life Innovation Compendium, then contacted Caterpillar to find a way to earn credits.

• Lancelot calculated that auxiliary resources would cost 1,900 credits and ruled out risky awakening methods in favor of bloodline potions.
• Lancelot found legendary-quality Regenerative Bone Marrow and Life Drain potions at the exchange, priced at 2,200 and 390 credits, while the other potions he needed were out of stock.
• Lancelot calculated that buying Regenerative Bone Marrow and borrowing the Tree of Life Innovation Compendium would cost 2,320 credits, leaving him 233.5 credits short even after his allowance.
• Lancelot decided to secure Regenerative Bone Marrow and the Compendium as soon as possible, then messaged Caterpillar to ask whether they had any goods.

Lancelot negotiated a partnership with credit dealer Raquel Navi, securing a discounted rate and a 70 percent share of the business in exchange for backing him. After receiving 260 credits from Raquel and exchanging 60 million Crimson Notes for another 600, Lancelot planned to use the credits to borrow innovation catalogs.

• Caterpillar offered Lancelot 510 credits for 480 million Crimson Notes, and explained that he wanted Lancelot's backing in return for the discounted rate.
• Lancelot demanded a place in Caterpillar's business and negotiated a 70–30 profit split in his favor; Raquel agreed.
• Lancelot learned Caterpillar's real name was Raquel Navi and told him to transfer 260 credits immediately and raise the remaining credits within three days.
• Lancelot made the 480 million Crimson Notes his investment and authorized Raquel to use his name to expand the business, while warning him to contact Lancelot if trouble arose.
• Raquel sent Lancelot 260 credits, and Lancelot exchanged 60 million Crimson Notes for 600 more credits.
• Lancelot decided to use his credits to borrow the Regenerative Bone Marrow and Tree of Life innovation catalogs.

After studying the Tree of Life Innovation Compendium, Lancelot received a Legend-quality Heavenly Sunflower Star bloodline potion but decided to let his gene chain settle before taking it. He attended combat class, where he met Rongside and Stephanie, and the class fell silent when three red-haired youths arrived.

• Lancelot finished studying the Tree of Life Innovation Compendium and reflected on the value of the knowledge he had purchased.
• Christine told Lancelot that the exchange office had delivered his bloodline potion, and he examined the Heavenly Sunflower Star vial and its instructions.
• Lancelot decided to wait before absorbing the potion, stored it in the safe with Christine, and headed to combat class.
• Lancelot met Rongside and Stephanie in the classroom, where Rongside joked about being a healer who fought at the front.
• Three red-haired youths entered, and Rongside identified them as the Fax People.

Zyra began teaching Lancelot’s combat class, then selected him and Peidasi to spar. Peidasi prepared to challenge the joint entrance exam champion with the Morgan Family’s combat techniques.

• Students criticized the Fax People’s admission privileges, and Peidasi grew angry until Huaxi stopped him from confronting them.
• Zyra arrived to teach the combat class, and Lancelot sensed that she might be watching him.
• Zyra taught basic combat movements and later chose Lancelot, Peidasi, and two other students to spar.
• After the first pair finished, Lancelot and Peidasi entered the fighting area, where Peidasi prepared to use the Morgan Family’s combat techniques against him.

Lancelot defeated Peidasi after Peidasi escalated their sparring match by using his bloodline power, while Zyra punished him and dismissed the class. Zyra then questioned Lancelot about coexistence between humans and the Blood Clan and revealed that she and Minister Mona were a couple.

• At Zyra's command, Peidasi attacked Lancelot with lethal claws, but Lancelot calmly blocked him.
• Peidasi activated his bloodline power and unleashed the Wheel of the Blood Moon, stirring fear and rejection among the students as Huaxi worried about racial tensions.
• Lancelot suppressed the bloodline ability's effects with Absolute Control, then struck Peidasi with a lightning-covered punch that sent him crashing into a wall.
• Zyra stopped the spar, forced Peidasi to answer for using his bloodline talent, and deducted 100 credits from him.
• After the class dispersed, Zyra asked Lancelot whether humans and the Blood Clan could coexist peacefully, then told him that she and Minister Mona were a couple.

After Zyra warned Lancelot about the Blood Clan and gave him Mona’s investment, he realized the Alliance might be headed toward conflict. Meanwhile, Mona continued her dangerous seclusion, Peidasi plotted against Lancelot, and Lancelot set out to explore the Domain of Spirit Thought.

• Zyra gave Lancelot 5,000 credits, explained that Mona would be secluded for about two years, and sent him a friend request under the username “King of Martial Arts.”
• Lancelot concluded that Zyra had deliberately steered him into a clash with the Blood Clan and worried that the Alliance might soon fall into chaos.
• Urta told Zyra that the Second Blood Ancestor’s power had grown and warned her against manipulating Lancelot, while explaining that the Alliance could not withstand conflict with the Blood Clan.
• After his humiliation, Peidasi ordered an investigation into Lancelot and Zyra, learned that Zyra’s records were restricted, and decided to target Lancelot first.
• Lancelot bought a [Life Drain] bloodline potion and headed to the academy’s northern secret cultivation grounds to experience the Domain of Spirit Thought.

Lancelot visited the Domain of Spirit Thought to test how it could help him create an Innovation Skill. He discovered that its music accelerated his thinking, especially on the fourth level, and planned to return often.

• Lancelot entered the underground secret cultivation grounds and headed for the Domain of Spirit Thought.
• Lancelot found that the first level stimulated his thoughts and that activating the Flow Method's Heightened Focus increased the effect by more than seventy percent.
• Lancelot rode through the second and third levels, where increasingly clear music made his thoughts and inspiration faster.
• Lancelot met Boxi in the elevator and clarified that he had clearance to enter the fourth level.
• Lancelot experienced a brief sense of unity with the world on the fourth level as the music helped resolve questions from his accumulated knowledge.
• Lancelot realized the sudden insight came from applying his existing foundation and decided to visit the fourth level often.