Chapter Summaries

Richard fought Hath in the Colosseum and won after unlocking the beginner level of Mountain Breaking Fist. Hath conceded, and Jimmy declared Richard the victor.

• Richard and Hath exchanged cautious blows while Hath used poison, but Richard’s resistance prevented it from taking effect.
• Hath mistook Richard’s slight twitch for poison taking hold and attacked, but Richard blocked him and counterattacked with Crushing Stone Fist.
• Richard used Long Mountain Fist Intent to disrupt Hath, then turned to Mountain Breaking Fist when Hath defended against his other techniques.
• Richard sensed a rhythm in the force rebounding through his body and struck Hath with a blow that smashed his bone armor, reaching the beginner level of Mountain Breaking Fist.
• Hath conceded, and Jimmy declared Richard the victor.

Richard discovered that Bone had been ambushed by Great Nightmare-level creatures while exploring an abandoned Nightmare Territory, and he fought them off before learning how Bone’s mission began. The survivors’ objective was to scout the territory and retrieve a Nightmare Artifact, though its danger remained unknown.

• Richard found Bone badly wounded and surrounded by more than a dozen Great Nightmare-level creatures, then attacked them with Hearts of Annihilation.
• Richard drove off the attackers, devoured several corpses, evolved into a Great Nightmare, and gained a stronger shadow-based talent and a closer connection to Bone.
• Richard asked Bone to explain how he had ended up in the abandoned territory.
• Twenty days earlier, Bone accepted a high-paying mission to scout an abandoned Nightmare Territory alongside nine other Nightmare Creatures.
• The Demon Bartender explained that the territory had been dragged into the Nightmare Domain after its lord lost a territorial war and said the group should retrieve a Nightmare Artifact.

Bone told Richard how his scouting party searched an abandoned Nightmare Territory for a Nightmare Artifact and found a black pyramid that unleashed a spatial catastrophe. Richard collapsed after considering the artifact’s role, and a black crow emerged from his shoulder to comment on Bone’s growth.

• Bone explained that the Demon Bartender sent his group to investigate a rumored Nightmare Artifact in an abandoned territory.
• The scouting party spent nearly a week mapping spatial anomalies, then entered the inner district, where a speaking Nightmare Creature was dragged into a house by endless shadows.
• After days of exploration and losing more members, Bone’s party reached a plaza and found a miniature black pyramid floating before a Nightmare Lord’s statue.
• The Nightmare Creatures rushed to seize the pyramid, but the Mist Coachman warned that it was activated; black light shattered the attackers and warped the territory’s space.
• Bone appeared among unfamiliar creatures, was overwhelmed and gravely wounded, and was later rescued when Richard woke and slaughtered their attackers.
• Richard concluded that the pyramid controlled the territory and involved spatial rules, then collapsed; after he recovered, a black crow emerged from his shoulder and asked Bone about his rapid growth.

Richard and his companions tried to leave the inner city but found a spatial loop blocking their escape, so they headed for the Nightmare Artifact. They discovered the artifact was the heart of the territory’s former Nightmare Lord, which offered Richard a deal.

• Ulysses warned Richard that the Nightmare Lord might still be alive, and Richard chose to leave the ruins rather than risk taking the artifact.
• Richard, Bone, and Ulysses found a spatial loop trapping them inside the inner city, forcing Richard to turn back toward the artifact.
• Ulysses discovered a depleted Mist Coachman, whom Richard named Coachman and placed in a Magic Pocket after learning about the district’s sound rule.
• At the plaza, the black pyramid spoke to Richard and proposed a deal.
• Ulysses revealed that the pyramid was the heart of the territory’s former lord, not an artifact with a spirit.

Richard traded a custom body for the Nightmare Lord Pyramid’s damaged Nightmare Artifact and arranged for the Coachman to serve Pyramid for five hundred years. Back in the Material World, Richard discovered that the artifact still connected to his soul across dimensions.

• Richard learned that Pyramid had recognized him as a wizard and negotiated to make it a custom body in exchange for a damaged Nightmare Artifact and the Coachman’s service.
• Richard used Pyramid’s help to summon Nightmare Creatures, restored the Coachman to Great Nightmare strength, and swore not to sabotage or attack Pyramid for five hundred years.
• Richard built Pyramid’s body from its energy circulation diagram, and Pyramid merged into it before handing over the artifact and leaving with the Coachman.
• Richard fused the artifact into his Nightmare Body and discovered it could amplify methods involving Nightmare Rules, including through connections to named subordinates.
• Richard warned Bone to leave the territory and avoid the tavern, then returned to the Material World and noticed the artifact’s connection reaching his soul across dimensions.

Richard discovered that his Nightmare Rules let him force people into nightmares shaped by their greatest fears, then lent Anna his Alchemy Golem for research. After spending twenty years studying the Heart of the Mountain Rune, he learned that he had to serve as a technical advisor in a planar war three years later.

• Richard tested his new nightmare ability on Number One and confirmed that it created frightening illusions without causing mental damage.
• Anna borrowed Richard’s Alchemy Golem to investigate a Cipher Note, and Richard used the exchange to encourage more open sharing of research among his circle.
• Richard began dismantling the incomplete Heart of the Mountain Rune to search for viable secondary Runes.
• Twenty years later, Anna told Richard she had finished researching the golem and asked him to retrieve it.
• Richard received Vladimir’s message ordering him to participate as a technical advisor in Clear Frost’s planar war three years later.

Richard prepared to leave for a planar war as a technical consultant and planned to focus on combat training and equipment upgrades. When he visited Anna to retrieve his golem, he found her discouraged by her miniaturized golem’s lack of a clear role, but a diagram of its earth elemental core gave him an idea for improving it.

• Richard learned he had to accompany the Spell Support Vehicles to the planar war and rearranged his training plans around combat and equipment upgrades.
• Richard visited Anna’s workshop to retrieve his golem and saw the smaller Alchemy Golem she had spent years building.
• Richard explained that Anna’s golem was too costly for a cheap weapon and too limited to serve as an elite weapon or guard.
• Anna revealed that the golem’s design had been inspired by a diagram in the Cipher Notes, and Richard noticed its internal structure was built around an earth elemental core.
• Richard suggested that his own research might give Anna’s golem a more useful purpose.

Richard showed Anna a Rune that could restore damaged earth structures and proposed that she develop a repairable golem for mass production. At the Kanon Club, Richard watched powerful Wizards fight, then entered the arena to face Hath, whose aggressive stance contrasted with Richard’s focus on learning.

• Richard demonstrated to Anna that his Rune could absorb earth and repair a damaged clod, including restoring its inscription.
• Richard offered Anna the Rune’s knowledge for free if she developed his proposed recoverable golem and arranged its sale through the merchant association.
• Richard watched two Second-Ring Wizards fight at the Kanon Club Colosseum and studied their techniques before preparing to face Hath.
• Richard and Hath entered the arena after trading words about whether battles were for victory or personal growth, and both began their bloodline transformations.
• A Giant Wizard watching from the stands predicted that Hath would lose to Richard.

Richard defeated Hath in the Colosseum, then spent a year and a half crafting powerful silver-white armor. In the Secret Realm, Ulysses presented him with a Faith Armament that supposedly granted luck.

• Richard easily defeated Hath by reading the flaws in his attack, and Jimmy urged Hath to learn from the loss.
• Richard extracted Adamantine and crafted enchanted plate armor that could assemble itself onto his body with a spell.
• Richard visited the Secret Realm and learned that Ulysses's healing was progressing but would eventually leave him asleep and unavailable.
• Ulysses gave Richard a Staff made from Faith Armaments and claimed its effect was luck, with little Faith Power required to use it.

Richard learned that his Fortune Staff could improve spell outcomes, finished crafting and testing it, and prepared for the Frost Legion’s departure. Vladimir explained that Richard’s Merchant Guild could apply for resource rights in the conquered world as an Army Merchant Guild, just as the Floating City arrived.

• Ulysses explained that the Staff’s Fortune Blessing used Faith Power and Miracle Power to tilt chaotic outcomes in Richard’s favor, and Richard learned that Miracle Power came from Ninth-level Life forms.
• Richard crafted a detachable-head Staff, fused the Faith Armament into it, and tested a fireball that gained twenty Energy Level from the Fortune Blessing.
• Richard spent the following year crafting additional Magic Armor before joining the Frost Legion to await the Floating City.
• Vladimir told Richard that the war’s enormous costs led Grand Wizards to invite Wizard Merchant Guilds to invest for possible mining rights in the conquered world.
• Vladimir explained that Richard’s deal with the Frost Legion could count as an investment and that Richard could submit a development application to the Command Department.
• The Floating City arrived, and Vladimir told Richard to prepare to enter it.

Azuhan Yajilit trained under his father, Harash Yajilit, and learned that the Morik Empire and its rivals had halted their wars to prepare for an alliance against the wizards. Meanwhile, Richard watched as the wizards’ Floating Cities approached the world, and the invasion began.

• Azuhan Yajilit practiced controlling Fire Elements and unleashed a golden Dragon Breath in his courtyard.
• Harash Yajilit visited Azuhan and told him the three great empires had stopped their wars and begun military cooperation against a race called Wizards.
• Richard watched the wizards’ Floating Cities approach the World Wall and saw the native forces waiting below.
• A message announced that the Floating Cities were about to enter the world.

Harash commanded the fire lizard armies of three empires against the wizards as two Floating Cities entered Crimson Sun World. The Mixed Slave Army was deployed and stalled by the natives, while the wizards assessed the world and its defenders before the White Wizard Legion prepared to join the battle.

• Harash ordered the Dragon Breath Cannons readied and commanded three Dragon Breath bombardment volleys as the Floating Cities crossed the World Wall.
• The native army fired tens of thousands of fireballs at the Floating Cities, but their heat-resistant hulls suffered only minor dents.
• Richard watched the wizards deploy the Mixed Slave Army, including Black Crystal Bugs from the Bug Nest World, and discussed their origin with Bob.
• Harash sent his fire lizard army against the disorganized Slave Legion, which the natives easily held back as the wizards gathered information about the world and its defenders.
• After more than half of the Mixed Slave Army had been expended, the Command Department ordered the White Wizard Legion to prepare.

The White and Black Wizards overwhelmed Harash’s Fire Lizard army with coordinated attacks, while the Fire Lizards’ Dragon Breath Cannons and Dragon Curse Masters inflicted losses of their own. The Fire Lizard King ordered Harash to retreat, and Richard headed down to join the battle for profit.

• The White Wizard Legion shielded itself from Dragon Breath Rounds and unleashed powerful spell barrages against the Fire Lizards and their Corpse Dragon Legion.
• Harash deployed Dragon Curse Masters to protect the Dragon Breath Cannons and warned the Fire Lizard King that he needed far more troops to defeat the wizards.
• Nachito identified the Dragon Curse Masters’ cursed flames, and the Command Department issued countermeasures as Black Wizard squads broke through the Fire Lizard defenses.
• The Fire Lizard King ordered Harash to withdraw, and Harash obeyed.
• Richard told Bob that he was going to join the fighting to make money.

Richard joined the White Wizard Legion’s pursuit of the fire lizards, captured one for later experiments, and learned that their civilization and possible dragon ancestry made them valuable subjects. When the legion prepared to assault Kafra City, Vladimir assigned Richard to accompany a squad into the city for street fighting.

• Richard killed fire lizards during their retreat and captured a wounded one, ordering it kept alive for experiments.
• Ulysses observed that the fire lizards likely had ancestors connected to dragons, and Richard agreed to investigate their blood after returning.
• Harash warned the Fire Lizard King that Kafra City was likely to fall, then reported that the wizards had over a million troops but could not replenish them quickly.
• The Fire Lizard King authorized Harash to mobilize the empire’s forces while cautioning him about rival empires.
• Richard arrived at Kafra City as the White Wizard Legion prepared to attack, and Vladimir explained that the city would require difficult street fighting.
• Vladimir sent Richard with a White Wizard squad to help clear the streets, and Richard agreed to cooperate with its captain.

Richard joined an elite White Wizard squad entering a city to fight the Fire Lizards, while the captain dismissed him as an inexperienced young master in need of protection. The squad discovered the city’s civilians had fled, then walked into an ambush by ten Level Two Fire Lizards.

• The White Wizard captain insisted on guarding Richard, despite Richard revealing he was a Second-Ring Wizard, and arranged for Wizards to surround him.
• Richard and the six other squad members entered the city equipped for street fighting and found it eerily empty of Fire Lizards.
• The squad used a Life Detection Crystal Ball to find and kill several elderly Fire Lizards hiding underground, and learned the civilians had already fled.
• The captain dismissed Aker’s suspicion that Richard was the Wizard who had repaired Magic Stone Cannons in the Bug Nest World and called Richard a spoiled young master.
• Ulysses warned that enemies were approaching, and ten Level Two Fire Lizards burst from surrounding buildings and attacked the squad.

Richard and Ulysses fought off a group of Imperial Dragon Warriors who had surrounded the White Wizard squad. After the captain recognized Richard and apologized for underestimating him, the squad prepared to continue clearing the city.

• Ten Imperial Dragon Warriors ambushed the White Wizard squad, forcing the captain to combine the squad’s magical shields and protect the wounded First-Ring Wizards.
• Richard left the barrier to collect a specimen, while the Imperial Dragon Warriors mistook his emergence for infighting and attacked him.
• Richard’s armor withstood a scimitar strike, and he knocked down one Imperial Dragon Warrior as Ulysses killed another; together they defeated several more and drove three away.
• The White Wizard captain apologized after seeing Richard’s strength, and a wounded First-Ring Wizard recognized him as the battlefield repairman who had worked with Master Vladimir.
• The captain offered Richard a black-gold scimitar to make amends, and Richard accepted it before the captain reorganized the squad to continue clearing the city.

After scouting duty ended, Richard dissected Fire Lizards and Imperial Dragon Warriors to investigate their unusual dragon blood, then used refined dragon blood to cultivate and implant a Physique Strengthening Gland. The gland activated in his body, completing the crucial step in his Dragon Transformation Battle Body.

• After seven days of scouting civilian districts, Richard's squad was relieved by White Wizards, and Richard returned to the Floating City.
• Richard dissected a captured Fire Lizard and found that its blood could yield Pure Dragon Blood despite lacking the corrosiveness he expected from dragon blood.
• Richard dissected Imperial Dragon Warriors and discovered that each had a Physique Strengthening Gland, while their blood also lacked corrosiveness until he refined it into corrosive Pure Dragon Blood.
• Richard decided to cultivate a Level Two clone body and grow a Physique Strengthening Gland, leaving the Fire Lizards' bloodline mystery for later study.
• Half a year later, Richard implanted the gland beneath his heart and connected its blood vessels and nerves.
• Richard's gland activated and released Reinforcement Hormone through his body, completing the crucial step of his Dragon Transformation Battle Body.

Richard learned that the wizard advance against the Fire Lizards had stalled despite Black Wizards joining the urban battles, and he suggested exploiting divisions among the three Fire Lizard nations. Meanwhile, Morik removed Harash as Grand Marshal and replaced him with Donar, while Harash forbade his son Azuhan from joining the war.

• Richard used the Reinforcement Hormone and went to the Army Merchant Guild to meet Bob.
• Bob told Richard that Imperial Dragon Warriors had inflicted heavy losses and that the wizards had captured only about ten cities in over three months.
• Richard suggested that the wizards could exploit divisions among the three Fire Lizard nations if their advance stalled.
• Morik reprimanded Harash for the losses among the Imperial Dragon Warriors and replaced him with Donar as Grand Marshal.
• Harash handed his command token to the princess and accepted his removal, while she assured him that his position might only be temporary.
• Azuhan asked to join the army, but Harash refused and told him the war would likely last a long time.

Richard warned Bob that the Fire Lizard scimitars were products of Dragon Alchemy rather than a novel form of Wizard Alchemy, saving him from a costly mistake. After extracting Dragon Alchemy from Bob’s collection, Richard transformed a scimitar into a powerful longsword and began exploring the technique.

• Richard examined a Fire Lizard scimitar and recognized enchantment resembling alchemy, then warned Bob that the weapons would have little value to most Alchemist Wizards.
• Richard explained to Bob that Wizard Alchemy originated as an imitation of Dragon Alchemy and identified the Fire Lizards as Dragon Bloodlines with signs of draconification.
• Bob realized established merchant guilds had avoided buying the scimitars, thanked Richard for preventing his losses, and lent him his collection for study.
• Richard returned to his room and extracted Dragon Alchemy from more than two hundred scimitars, spending some of his mental power.
• Richard used Dragon Alchemy to melt and reshape a scimitar into a longsword, then tested its strength against the Floating City’s metal wall.

Richard discovered that Dragon Alchemy and Wizard Alchemy could not be combined directly, but extracted a Life Drain Tree Pattern Diagram and began designing a weapon that used both techniques separately. Meanwhile, Harash taught Azuhan that Donar was drawing the wizards toward the Linksa Empire so the other empires would share the war’s losses.

• Richard found that inscribing Wizard Alchemy Runes on metal processed with Dragon Alchemy caused the sword to crack because the techniques interfered with each other.
• Richard extracted techniques from several black-gold scimitars and gained the Life Drain Tree Pattern Diagram from the White Wizard captain’s scimitar.
• Richard planned a Staff with Wizard Alchemy on its upper half and Dragon Alchemy on its lower half, then began drafting its design.
• The Fire Lizards changed to massed warrior street fighting, allowing White Wizards to return to the battlefield as the wizards captured more than seventy cities in a year.
• Harash had Azuhan study the map until he realized Marshal Donar was guiding the wizards toward the Linksa Empire.
• Harash explained that Donar wanted the other empires to bear losses too, preserving the continent’s balance of power and potentially using the wizards to unify the world.