Chapter Summaries

As the Black Tide advanced on Amad's forces, Amad and his allies prepared a swamp defense, but the Black Knights adapted and began breaking through. Amad confronted the Black Knight Commander in the sky, and the two launched into battle.

• The Black Knight Commander ordered the army to charge toward Amad's forces.
• Amad had the Steward release thousands of Nightmare Spirits as decoys, while other Nightmares transformed the battlefield into a venomous swamp.
• Richard supplied Puppet Billy's Killer Puppets with alloy daggers in exchange for a share of the Nightmare Power.
• The Steward's decoys drew Black Knights out of formation, but the Commander ordered the charging army to cut through its own scattered troops and restore its spearhead.
• The Black Knights crossed the swamp using Nightmare Power, burned through its treants, and began collapsing Amad's defense line.
• Amad ordered his forces to hold the line and faced the Black Knight Commander, whose warhorse charged across a road of fire as Amad awakened the Demon Sword.

Richard entered the Amad Residence, gathered Nightmare creatures and their power, then joined Suisa and Amanda in breaking into the basement. He found a Precursor Crystal among the Mimic Chests and escaped just before the basement’s sealed contents were exposed, prompting the injured Amad to rush back to the city.

• Richard collected the corpses of two Great Nightmares and other Nightmare constructs, then followed the traces of magic into the Amad Residence.
• Richard encountered Suisa and Amanda at the basement door, revealed himself as a wizard, and joined them in opening it.
• Suisa opened the basement door with his staff, and Richard and Amanda searched the Mimic Chests while Suisa headed for a sealed coffin.
• Richard killed a Mimic Chest, found a Precursor Crystal inside, and left the basement as the gap was about to close.
• Suisa opened the coffin’s seal, causing the Mimic Chests to go berserk, while Amad lost his left arm but killed the Black Knight Commander in battle.
• Amad sensed the basement had been invaded and flew back toward Amad City, alarming Puppet Billy.

Richard escaped Amad by disguising himself as a Nightmare Spirit, then refined Soul Origin and a Nightmare Rule before preparing to leave the Nightmare World. Fifty years later, he completed his transformation into a Second-Ring Wizard and returned.

• Richard disguised himself as a Nightmare Spirit and slipped away while Amad and Suisa began fighting over the creature flesh.
• Richard left the battlefield after Puppet Billy chose to defend his territory, taking a Killer Puppet from him as a memento.
• Richard refined Soul Origin to raise his mental power and absorbed the Nightmare Rule from the Killer Puppet's dagger.
• Richard refined the Precursor Artifact's Dream World Communication Technology and sent the device, Nightmare Crystals, and the daggerless Killer Puppet to Bone through Ulysses.
• Richard swallowed Soul Origin and left the Nightmare World, then completed his Second-Ring Wizard transformation in the secret realm fifty years later.

After returning from the Nightmare World, Richard rejoined the Black Tower Wizard Academy, reunited with Gerald, and agreed to a new contract with the academy. He also settled the war spoils and renewed his business arrangement with Tofer.

• Richard returned to the Bug Nest World after fifty years away, met Gerald’s new apprentice Yelena, and reunited with Gerald.
• Richard gave Vice Dean Alex half of his war profits and signed a five-hundred-year contract with the academy.
• Richard visited Tofer, Kevin’s grandson and successor, and agreed to sign a contract with him.

Richard returned to the Tower of Truth and began researching the Bug Nest World specimens, the Precursor Crystal, and Dream World Communication Technology. He sought a way to communicate with his Soul Seed across dimensions, and found a Soul Wizard willing to trade a prototype for Richard’s improved Priest Fungus.

• Richard renewed his Tower of Truth residence, reunited with Ellie, and told Anna and Jacques that he was well.
• Richard reviewed his research materials and chose to work on Dream World Communication Technology so he could stay in contact with Bone.
• Richard realized he needed a device to compress mental messages and a Rune Array to amplify them across dimensions.
• After several failed visits, Richard found that Vladie’s grandmaster had developed a prototype mental message compression technology.
• Vladie tasted Richard’s improved Priest Fungus, found that it healed his old soul injuries, and asked how much Richard had.

Richard traded fifty kilograms of improved Priest Fungus for Vladie's research notes, then spent decades studying the Soul School and Precursor Crystals. After discovering an energy-saving Rune, he designed and built the Wizard World's first Spell Support Vehicle, leaving the story with the completed Richard Type I ready for use.

• Richard agreed to trade fifty kilograms of improved Priest Fungus for Vladie's research notes and supplemented his Soul School knowledge before returning to his Wizard Tower.
• Richard spent twenty years studying the Soul School and Precursor Crystals, then used Crowvine to test whether the Body of Adaptation could adapt to toxins.
• Richard discovered a cyclic energy-circulation structure in the Precursor Crystals and created the Precursor Number One Rune, which reduced energy loss by nearly ten percent.
• Richard used the Rune to develop a mobile Spell Support Vehicle designed for concentrated fire, with help from Anna, Ellie, the society, and other wizards.
• Richard completed the vehicle, which carried twelve Alchemy Magic Stone Cannons and could fire 120 Fireball Techniques in ten seconds, and named it the Richard Type I Spell Support Vehicle.

Richard demonstrated his Spell Support Vehicle to the Black Wizards, who doubted its weak power and short-lived components, then brought in Vladimir to evaluate it. The chapter ended as Vladimir watched the vehicle unleash a concentrated barrage and realized its potential.

• Anna, Ellie, and Jacques criticized the Spell Support Vehicle’s low spell power, fragile components, and tracked design, while Richard defended its battlefield role.
• Richard summoned Gerald, who hurried to the Tower of Truth to see the weapon and worried that Richard had stolen parts of the Lavoisier Type II Magic-Stone Cannon design.
• Gerald learned that Richard had used only a small portion of the cannon’s parts and said he had invited Vladimir to evaluate the vehicle.
• Vladimir arrived two days later and followed Richard to a desert testing ground, where he sent out an Alchemy Puppet as a target.
• Richard fired the Spell Support Vehicle’s cannons, and Vladimir froze in shock at the concentrated barrage.

Richard’s Spell Support Vehicle impressed Vladimir, who arranged a demonstration for the Frost Legions’ leaders. Richard’s successful test silenced their doubts, and Andre realized he was about to lose another bet to him.

• Richard demonstrated that the Spell Support Vehicle fired 360 Fireball Techniques in thirty seconds, and Vladimir praised its firepower while noting its short operating limit.
• Richard explained how the vehicle could reduce wizard casualties and use replaceable casting components, then returned to work on the Dream World Communication Device.
• A month later, Vladimir invited Richard to demonstrate the vehicle to the Frost Number One Legion’s leaders, with members of Frost Number Two and Frost Number Three also attending.
• The Legion leaders placed bets on how well the compact vehicle would perform as Richard calibrated it.
• Richard fired 360 Fireballs at a target three kilometers away in thirty seconds, and Andre laughed that Richard would make another fortune from him.

Richard finalized a lucrative contract for Spell Support Vehicles with the Frost Number One, Number Two, and Number Three Legions, while completing most of the rune work for his spiritual power amplification device. The deal also required him to accompany the Legions on expeditions as a technical consultant, and Gerald explained why Wizard Families were trying to pair Richard with their juniors.

• Richard completed the most complex rune substrate for his spiritual power amplification device after months of reworking his runes.
• Richard learned that Gerald had finalized the Merchant Guild's deal with the Frost Legions and traveled to their garrison to sign the contract.
• Richard and the Legion Commanders signed an agreement for five hundred Spell Support Vehicles at eight hundred and fifty magic crystals each, along with training and expedition duties for Richard.
• Richard attended a banquet and complained to Gerald that several Wizard Family masters were pushing their juniors toward him.
• Gerald told Richard that Wizard Families wanted his descendants because they valued bloodlines, and he criticized their organization as inefficient.

Richard activated his Mental Power Amplifier and sent a message into the Nightmare World, awakening in the coffin carried by Bone. He briefly met the now-powerful Bone in the Lawless Land before falling asleep again, leaving Bone with armor and instructions to grow stronger while staying alive.

• Richard finished the Mental Power Amplifier and used it to send a compressed mental message through the Soul Seed into the Nightmare World.
• Bone, now known as the Black Coffin Sword Saint, heard Richard awaken inside the coffin he had carried for seventy-four years.
• Richard learned that Bone had become a Level Two Creature and had cleared the area around their courtyard in the Lawless Land.
• Richard gave Bone Adamantine armor and told him to grow stronger while prioritizing his safety, then fell asleep as the amplifier overheated.
• Bone placed Richard back in the coffin, regretted briefly considering betrayal, and set out for the Lawless One Tavern to find work.

Richard completed the Dream World Communication Device, then spent decades producing Spell Support Vehicles and developing the Body of Adaptation. After receiving an invitation to a Kanon Club event, he prepared to visit a secret realm suited to physical evolution while Ulysses began organizing a cult around a statue of him.

• Richard inspected the completed Dream World Communication Device, moved it into the Wizard Tower, and enjoyed a quiet afternoon with Ulysses and his beast-eared maids.
• Gerald delivered materials for fifty Spell Support Vehicles and fifteen thousand magic crystals, so Richard bought wizard-grade machine tools and began manufacturing the vehicles.
• Richard investigated the Body of Adaptation and spent fifty years testing poison adaptation, using a magically created duplicate to keep dangerous experiments from harming his original body.
• Richard concluded that his body's natural adaptation had reached its limit and decided to improve the Adaptation Potion formula.
• A bodybuilding owl delivered an invitation to a Kanon Club event in a secret realm suited to physical evolution, and Richard told Ulysses to watch the secret realm while he attended.
• Ulysses revealed that he was having Sacred Tree Elves make a statue of Richard as part of a plan to create a cult around him.

Richard entered the Mountain Secret Realm, where he discovered that its extreme gravity could strengthen his body as he explored the Mountain Dwarves’ martial inheritance. He became an honored guest at a temple and asked to learn the [Path of Mountains].

• Richard watched Jimmy test himself against an incarnation of Great Wizard Kanon, who told Jimmy that his Rune-patterned Battle Body had declined and that he was old.
• Jimmy sensed that Richard had advanced to the Second Ring and advised him to register his new strength and learn physique combat in the secret realm.
• Jimmy explained the Mountain Secret Realm’s rules and opened a rift, sending the invited wizards inside for a one-year exploration.
• Richard entered the Mountain Secret Realm, experienced its tenfold gravity, and noticed that flying there improved his body’s ability to draw in magic power.
• Richard visited a Mountain Dwarf temple, became its honored guest, and asked a Mountain Dwarf to teach him the [Path of Mountains].

Richard persuaded the abbot of Long Mountain Temple to teach him the temple’s open and monk-level inheritance, then helped him resolve his doubts about being a historical figure revived in a secret realm. Grateful for Richard’s guidance, the abbot also gave him the temple’s secret transmissions, [Mountain Body Forging] and [Mountain Breaking Fist].

• Richard explained that he wanted to learn the transmission to all under heaven and the monk transmission, and the abbot agreed after Richard offered Aldo Mushrooms.
• The abbot led Richard through Long Mountain Temple, where Richard observed the Mountain Dwarves’ physical training and the immense strength required to open the temple gates.
• Richard asked to learn combat techniques and physique cultivation, and the abbot brought him stone steles with the requested teachings.
• The abbot confessed that the secret realm had made him question whether he was truly himself and whether Long Mountain Temple was real.
• Richard explained that the abbot was the same person as his historical counterpart, revived by the world, and urged him to give his life meaning by rebuilding the temple.
• The abbot thanked Richard for clearing his doubts and gave him the secret transmissions [Mountain Body Forging] and [Mountain Breaking Fist].

Richard learned the Mountain Dwarves’ combat techniques and studied the Heart of the Mountain during his year at Long Mountain Temple, then returned to the Wizard World and attracted Great Wizard Kanon’s attention. Kanon praised Richard’s life-core development and invited him to consider joining Kanon Wizard Academy.

• Richard learned the Crushing Stone Fist and exchanged improved Priest Fungus for the abbot’s Long Mountain Fist Intent.
• Richard observed the Heart of the Mountain and recorded its energy structure as an incomplete Rune.
• Richard studied Mountain Body Forging and Mountain Breaking Fist, then left Long Mountain Temple after his one-year stay.
• Richard returned to the Wizard World, where his body drew in nearby magic power until Great Wizard Kanon sealed it.
• Great Wizard Kanon praised Richard and invited him to join Kanon Wizard Academy in the future.

After earning Great Wizard Kanon’s attention, Richard learned that Gerald was preparing to advance to Third-Ring Wizard and was called to Black Tower Wizard Academy to receive his will and cover his teaching duties. Richard then visited his junior sister Yelena and discovered she was researching a Dragon Bloodline.

• Richard handed Jimmy the secret transmissions and techniques he had acquired from the Mountain Dwarves, then left the secret realm and extracted a Gravity Field Rune Array from his Cipher Notes.
• Gerald summoned Richard to Black Tower Wizard Academy and revealed that Great Wizard Kanon had helped him find a way to prepare for his Third-Ring advancement.
• Gerald gave Richard his sealed will and told him that students would teach in his place for thirty years while he advanced in Black Tower.
• Richard returned to Black Tower and visited Yelena, whose apprentices Arya and Polina were overwhelmed by his life radiation until he restrained it.
• Richard noticed that the alien creatures in Yelena’s laboratory all had the same scales and asked whether she was researching Dragon Bloodline.

Richard discussed dragon blood research with Yelena, suggested that failed draconization caused cellular collapse, and received two test tubes of dragon blood. He then began teaching the new students at the Wizard Academy, advising apprentices to focus on survival, practical skills, and earning Magic Stones.

• Richard examined Yelena’s dragon-blooded rabbit and offered to hear about her research problem.
• Yelena showed Richard a recording of a rabbit collapsing after dragon blood triggered and then destroyed its draconization traits.
• Richard suggested that failed integration of dragon blood’s life information into the creature’s life core caused cellular collapse, and Yelena recorded his explanation.
• Richard received two test tubes of ordinary dragon blood from Yelena as payment for his advice.
• Richard taught his first class to the newly enrolled students and explained that a wizard’s essence differed at each stage of the profession.
• Richard advised Wizard Apprentices to earn Magic Stones, strengthen their spells, train for combat, and prioritize staying alive.

Richard made dragon blood serum and tested its effects on a white mouse, whose body rapidly draconified before it died. After Ulysses identified the serum as dangerously erosive and suspected dragons were Precursor biological weapons, it claimed it might know how to modify the serum.

• Richard processed Yelena’s dragon blood into serum while preparing Rune base plates for a gravity training room.
• Richard sent an Academy Watcher to buy white mice and reserve five portions of juvenile dragon serum from Wizard World dragons.
• Richard injected serum into a white mouse and recorded its rapid draconification, energy depletion, and death.
• Richard dissected the mouse and found its organs had changed incompletely, then confirmed its foul blood contained damaged cells.
• Richard summoned Ulysses, who tasted the serum, warned that its Life Force information eroded his body, and suspected dragons were Precursor biological weapons.
• Richard asked whether Ulysses could reduce the serum’s erosiveness, and Ulysses said it might have a solution.

Richard used Ulysses's Rule Script to suppress dragon-blood corrosion and spent decades researching a Dragon Transformation Battle Body. As he prepared to leave the laboratory, Jacques discovered a transformed clone—and noticed Richard's eyes had become vertical pupils.

• Ulysses inscribed a simplified Thousand-Faced God King's Rune Script into the Dragon Blood Serum, and Richard confirmed it prevented Dragon Transformation in a white mouse.
• Richard began researching dragon-transformed organs and glands, then designed a transplant plan he named the Dragon Transformation Battle Body.
• Ten years later, Richard obtained young dragon blood and injected its serum into clones; the transformation failed in a Level Two clone but spread in a Level One clone.
• After twenty more years, Jacques arrived to take over the laboratory and found a body that had undergone Dragon Transformation.
• Richard retrieved the transformed body, and Jacques noticed that Richard's eyes had become vertical pupils.

Richard completed his final delivery of Spell Support Vehicles to Vladimir, earning eighty thousand magic essence from the contract. Vladimir warned him that the Dean planned a Plane Expedition within the next hundred years, meaning Richard would soon be called to war.

• Jacques warned Richard that dragon transformation could damage his temperament and leave him vulnerable to dragons, but Richard said he knew his limits.
• Richard collected Yelena’s organized data on dragon transformation organs and returned to the Tower of Truth.
• Richard built and tested a gravity training room, then expanded a basement for practicing the Path of Mountains.
• Over the following decades, Richard continued his research and training while producing Spell Support Vehicles for the Frost Legion.
• Richard delivered the final batch of Spell Support Vehicles to Vladimir, bringing his total earnings to eighty thousand magic essence.
• Vladimir told Richard that the Dean planned a Plane Expedition within a hundred years and that Richard’s contract required him to accompany the army.

Richard struggled to comprehend Mountain Breaking Fist and sought a battle to help unlock its secrets. At the Colosseum, Jimmy paired him with the experienced Second-Ring Wizard Hath, and their unarmored duel began.

• Richard trained under tenfold gravity, checked his improving statistics, and reflected on his Blue Flame Breath and the cost of his training.
• Richard practiced Mountain Breaking Fist against an Essence of Mountain but could only leave a fist imprint, so he went to find Jimmy and ask for an opponent.
• Jimmy praised battle as essential to physical evolution and arranged a sparring match between Richard and Hath, a newly advanced Second-Ring Wizard with more combat experience.
• Richard and Hath chose to fight without Magic Armor, announced their names and academies, and Hath vanished as the duel began.