Chapter Summaries

Richard used Bloodline Alchemy to fuse the Black Iron Beast bloodline, gaining powerful scales and a much stronger physique. After the transformation drained his mana and left him ravenously hungry, he recovered and prepared to collect the hundred Magic Stones.

• Richard extracted pure Black Iron Beast blood and used an alchemical array to create a Bloodline Seed in his heart.
• Richard discovered that the bloodline greatly enhanced his strength and let him grow scales tougher than plate armor.
• Richard awakened the scales with the Breathing Method, then put the bloodline to sleep when it consumed his life energy.
• Richard drank three Nutrient Potions to suppress his hunger and realized he should not activate the bloodline while his mana was exhausted.
• Richard washed up and changed clothes, noting that three months had passed and it was time to collect the hundred Magic Stones.

Richard delivered the Red Mercury he had refined to Gerald’s students and learned that Anna had issued the task. After Anna confirmed its extremely high purity, she invited Richard to join the Alchemy School.

• Richard tested his condition, then carefully carried his Red Mercury to the Central Black Tower and met Jacques.
• Jacques explained that Anna had issued the Red Mercury task in Gerald’s name and described the benefits of joining Gerald’s group.
• Anna arrived, inspected Richard’s Red Mercury, and praised his use of a brown glass bottle.
• Anna tested a drop of the Red Mercury, confirmed its high purity, and asked whether Richard had a mentor.
• After Richard said he was unattached, Anna invited him to join the Alchemy School.

Richard learned that his recent Bloodline Alchemy had strengthened his mental force through the feedback effect, then chose to join the Alchemy School as Gerald’s student. Gerald recognized Richard’s talent but required him to complete a test before qualifying.

• Anna and Jacques explained to Richard that his improved physique from Bloodline Alchemy had raised his mental force to the low-level apprentice standard.
• Jacques offered Richard the possibility of replacing his current bloodline with a more complete formula, and Anna left the choice of mentor to him.
• Richard decided to join the Alchemy School and become Gerald’s student, so Anna took him to the ninety-ninth floor of the Central Black Tower.
• Gerald inspected Richard’s Red Mercury and recognized his alchemical talent, then gave him a Crystal Ball and told him to make it to qualify.

Richard received the Pale Mask Magic Armor blueprint from Gerald and was given three months to make it. After gathering most of the materials, Richard accepted that he would need a partner to travel to the Black Stone Mountain Range and asked Ellie to join him.

• Gerald ordered Richard to make the Pale Mask Magic Armor within three months, and Richard agreed.
• Richard collected 110 Magic Stones from Anna, repaid Ellie, and began buying the materials listed in the blueprint.
• Richard learned that he needed a Black Striped Water Python Skull and found an Academy mission in the Black Stone Mountain Range that required a team.
• Richard turned down Loken's offer to team up and returned to ask Ellie to join him instead.
• Ellie agreed to accompany Richard to the Black Stone Mountain Range for half of the 300 Academy Coins mission reward.

Richard and Ellie traveled to the Black Stone Mountain Range to inspect White Crystal Deer and hunt a Black Striped Water Python, hiring Old John as their guide. After a day in the mountains, a blood-covered figure emerged from the forest as Old John vanished, leaving them facing a possible fight.

• Richard and Ellie accepted the mission, equipped themselves, and boarded the airship to the Black Stone Mountain Range without paying the fare.
• After arriving, Richard hired Old John, who knew the White Crystal Deer and had once seen a Black Striped Water Python.
• Old John led Richard and Ellie into the mountains and showed them a mana-containing mushroom, which Richard paid him to help find more of.
• After they walked through the mountains for a day, Old John prepared a roasted mountain chicken at their camp.
• Old John heard someone approaching, warned Richard and Ellie that a fight might break out, and slipped into the forest.
• A blood-covered figure emerged from the woods in front of Richard and Ellie.

Richard and Ellie survived Loken’s attempt to divert pursuers toward them, but a resulting forest fire forced them to flee until the mountain range’s Guardian Spirit extinguished it. Richard set out to track down Loken, while Loken escaped with stolen notes and believed Richard and Ellie had died.

• Loken arrived wounded, claimed he had obtained something, and fled into the woods while pursued by attackers.
• Richard and Ellie fought off the pursuers, but one survivor summoned a gale that spread Ellie’s fireball into a forest fire, so Richard killed them and carried Ellie through the flames.
• Old John led Richard and Ellie to a river, where they watched the Guardian Spirit absorb the fire before returning to the mountains.
• Richard learned Ellie had bought a Curse Magic spell and agreed to let her accompany him as he pursued Loken with Old John’s help.
• Loken watched the Guardian Spirit return, assumed Richard and Ellie were dead, and gloated over the stolen notes of an Advanced Apprentice.

Richard tracked down and killed Loken, while Ellie used Curse Magic to extract a Curse Worm from his corpse. Richard found an Advanced Apprentice’s notebook that revealed a Wizard’s laboratory in the Black Stone Mountain Range and ended with the words, “The wizard is dead!”

• Old John followed Loken’s trail to a valley, where Richard spotted Loken reading by a campfire and made a plan with Ellie and Old John to attack him.
• Richard charged Loken under a Silence Spell, broke through his two Force Field Barriers with Wind Raven Slash, and beheaded him.
• Ellie cast Curse Magic on Loken’s corpse and extracted a Curse Worm, which she collected as a useful casting material.
• Richard found Loken’s notebook and discovered it belonged to an Advanced Apprentice who had recorded a modification to the First-Circle Spell Hand of Flame.
• Richard read how the notebook’s owner had entered a Wizard’s laboratory in the Black Stone Mountain Range, and found the final blood-written message: “The wizard is dead!”

Richard explored the Black Stone Mountain Range with Ellie and Old John, gathering magical materials and hunting a Black Striped Water Python. After learning that a wizard’s laboratory near an old mudslide might remain undiscovered, he returned to the Academy and began crafting Magic Armor.

• Richard shared Magic Stones with Old John and Ellie, lent Ellie two stones, and claimed Loken’s Gale Boots.
• Richard and Ellie gathered Bai Jing from White Crystal Deer and collected immature herbs, though the deer’s beams badly scorched Richard.
• Old John lured a Black Striped Water Python out of its swamp, and Richard killed it with a Wind Raven Slash and collected its blood.
• Ellie extracted a Black Striped Worm from the python’s corpse, and Richard took the other half for himself after Ellie said she could not possess more Curse Worms.
• Old John told Richard that a major mudslide had occurred twenty years earlier and that rumors of monsters kept guides away from the area; Richard concluded the wizard’s laboratory might still be undiscovered.
• Richard and Ellie returned to the Academy, where Richard turned in the mission and began crafting Magic Armor in his dormitory.

Richard completed a Pale Mask and brought it to Gerald for evaluation, after Anna and Jacques recognized his quick success. Gerald realized he had accidentally given Richard the wrong blueprint and expected the mask to be defective, then asked to inspect it.

• Richard cleaned the Black Striped Water Python skull, prepared the alchemical materials, shaped the skull into a mask, and inscribed a Fear Spell.
• Richard noticed the mask was unusually fragile and decided it needed reinforcement, then showed it to Jacques, who praised his skill.
• Anna brought Richard and Jacques to Gerald after confirming Richard had finished the mask.
• Gerald struggled to remember Richard and realized he had mistakenly given him the Pale Mask blueprint instead of the Stealth Mask blueprint.
• Gerald assumed Richard's mask was defective and gently asked him to hand it over.

Richard’s Stealth Mask proved to be a premium Pale Mask, astonishing Gerald and his apprentices. After Richard explained that he had used an Enchanting Alchemical Array to overcome the inferior materials, Gerald gave him a Focus Potion formula and asked him to become his apprentice.

• Gerald tested Richard’s mask and discovered that it produced a mental shockwave instead of acting as a Stealth Mask.
• Gerald questioned Anna and Jacques about the premium Pale Mask, and both swore they had nothing to do with it.
• Richard swore upon his Sea of Souls that he had made the mask himself, confirming his extraordinary achievement.
• Gerald examined the inferior materials and offered Richard the Focus Potion formula in exchange for the secret behind the mask.
• Richard explained that he had enchanted the mask with an Enchanting Alchemical Array, and Gerald understood how it kept the Black Mercury from forming branch paths.
• Gerald gave Richard the formula and asked him to become his apprentice.

Richard became Gerald’s formal apprentice, received his first lessons, and arranged for Jacques to make him a Death Crow Chimera from the Core he had saved. Exhausted after extracting the Core’s information, Richard fell asleep dreaming of the Astral Realm.

• Richard signed a Soul Contract with Gerald and received Enlightenment that increased his mental strength.
• Gerald gave Richard introductory books to study and explained that apprentices had to buy further knowledge with Magic Stones.
• Anna gave Richard a badge that could deflect ranged physical spells, while Jacques offered to make him a Chimera.
• Richard recovered the Chimera Core from his entrance examination and extracted its information before handing it to Jacques.
• Richard chose a Death Crow Chimera for its Dark Vision and ability to see through illusions, and Jacques promised it would be ready in three days.
• Richard returned to his room, exhausted, and fell asleep longing to see the Astral Realm.

Richard studied how to care for Jacques’s Death Crow and continued building his relationship with Ellie. At a restaurant, he reunited with Kevin, accepted an Academy Coin from him, and learned that Kevin had started trading alchemy materials.

• Richard borrowed the Magic Pet Cultivation Manual, fed Jacques’s Death Crow iron pellets, and watered the plants on his balcony.
• Richard reviewed the alchemy books Gerald had given him and went to a restaurant with Ellie to strengthen their partnership.
• Richard recognized Kevin and Griffith at the restaurant and greeted them as old friends.
• Kevin gave Richard a one-hundred-denomination Academy Coin, and Richard detected Wisteria Flower on him.
• Kevin admitted that he had begun trading alchemy materials, prompting Richard to consider befriending him.

Richard continued studying alchemy and, after raising his mental power to twenty-two and finishing Gerald’s books, began preparing to practice making Magic Potions. He sought affordable materials and left Anna’s shop with a possible Red Mercury job waiting for when he had time.

• Kevin offered Richard cheap alchemical materials, and Griffith said Richard felt dangerous before Kevin concluded he might become a friend.
• Richard and Ellie ate Magic Patterned Pork Chop, then returned to the dormitory after splitting the bill.
• Over the next year, Richard raised his mental power to twenty-two and finished all the books Gerald had given him.
• Richard decided to use his remaining twenty Magic Stones to start making Magic Potions and copied out the Focus Potion formula.
• Richard asked Anna where to buy practice materials, and she recommended the Seven Luminaries Merchant Guild.
• Anna offered to lend Richard Magic Stones and asked him to refine another batch of Red Mercury when he had time; Richard headed to the merchant guild.

Richard bought materials from the Seven Luminaries Merchant Guild and learned that the Two-Headed Troll bloodline he needed for the second stage of Black Warrior Bloodline Alchemy cost five hundred Magic Stones. He met Ellie in the Test Area and asked her to join him for dinner as he planned how to earn more Magic Stones.

• Richard chose the Seven Luminaries Merchant Guild, bought materials for five formulas for five hundred and thirty Academy Coins, and signed a delivery contract.
• Richard searched the guild’s bloodline list and found that the Two-Headed Troll bloodline cost five hundred Magic Stones.
• Richard went to the Test Area and watched Ellie use an improved Hand of Flame to melt a metal target.
• Ellie told Richard that her mentor’s attitude had improved and that she had heard her mentor was Great Wizard Black Tower’s student.
• Richard asked Ellie to join him for dinner, and Ellie accepted.

Richard rejected Joseph’s attempt to pay him to leave Ellie, then began experimenting with the Focus Potion formula Gerald had given him. His first attempt failed, and he considered whether he could extract a potion-making skill.

• Joseph offered Richard five hundred Magic Stones to leave Ellie, but Richard joked that she was worth at least fifty thousand and revealed the offer to her.
• Joseph left without realizing Richard was Master Gerald’s formal apprentice, and Richard and Ellie laughed about the misunderstanding.
• An Academy Watcher delivered Richard’s potion-making supplies, and Richard prepared his room and ingredients to brew a Focus Potion.
• Richard followed the formula, but the mixture turned black and exploded into smoke before the potion was complete.
• Richard considered how ingredient preparation and magical power affected the result, then wondered if he could extract a skill for making potions.

Richard borrowed a premium Focus Potion from Anna and used the Miracle Furnace to extract potion-making skill, then spent a month brewing Focus Potions with exceptional success. After Anna sold his potions and paid him 130 Magic Stones, Richard headed to the Central Black Tower to spend his earnings.

• Anna lent Richard a premium Focus Potion in exchange for two premium potions once he could make them.
• Richard used the Miracle Furnace to extract potion-making skill from the potion and began brewing Focus Potions.
• Over the next month, Richard made sixty-five Focus Potions, recording his results as he practiced.
• Richard brought Anna a box of potions to consign, and she was astonished by his claimed fifty percent success rate.
• Anna sold forty-six potions and gave Richard 130 Magic Stones without taking a commission.
• Richard accepted the money and went to the Central Black Tower to go shopping.

Richard bought Lesser Fireball and Ice Cone spell models, then asked Ellie to isolate the Ice Cone’s kinetic-energy component for his experiments. He learned Ellie had become Master Susanna’s official apprentice and successfully engraved Lesser Fireball onto his soul, eager to test it.

• Richard bought the Lesser Fireball and Ice Cone spell models from the Spell Shop for eleven thousand Academy Coins.
• Richard gave Ellie the unopened Ice Cone scroll and asked her to separate the portion that released kinetic energy; she agreed and said Master Susanna had accepted her as an official apprentice.
• Richard congratulated Ellie, then fed iron beans to Munin, his Death Crow.
• Richard used the Truth Furnace to memorize the Lesser Fireball model and spent the night engraving it onto his soul.
• Richard completed the spell mark by dawn and eagerly wanted to test the power of his original Lesser Fireball.

Richard tested the damage of his spells and bloodline at the Academy’s Test Area, then received an invitation from Eric to an Apprentice Exchange Meeting. The chapter ended with Richard being asked to attend the gathering that night.

• Richard tested his Lesser Fireball and found it dealt 20 Energy Levels of fire damage, while the Lesser Fireball Staff dealt 49.
• Richard tested the Ice Cone Spell and learned it dealt piercing damage, then compared his Wind Raven Slash with and without his bloodline activated.
• Richard considered making more Focus Potions and received a message from Jacques summoning him to the Central Black Tower.
• Jacques introduced Richard to Eric, whose immense Life Force made Richard sense that he was dangerous.
• Eric invited Richard to his Apprentice Exchange Meeting that night.

Richard accepted Eric’s invitation to the Apprentice Exchange Meeting, and Jacques advised him to focus on becoming strong rather than chasing connections. Richard attended the meeting with Ellie, where Eric stopped an apprentice fight before opening the event.

• Eric invited Richard to the Exchange Meeting and explained that the formal apprentices would attend.
• Jacques told Richard that Eric was Vice Dean Alex’s apprentice, learned that Richard would attend with Ellie, and warned him not to take the gathering’s boasting or networking too seriously.
• Richard and Ellie presented their invitations to the Mechanical Guards and entered the lavish venue on the Central Black Tower’s seventy-second floor.
• Lac attacked Kahman, but Eric caught Lac’s Staff and forced him to apologize.
• Eric welcomed the apprentices, urged them to remain calm, and officially began the Exchange Meeting.

Richard spent three months recording his potion-brewing experiments without finding a pattern, until Ellie’s analysis of the Ice Cone Spell helped him realize he had neglected to measure changes in magical power. He rushed to the Commercial District to seek help.

• At the Exchange Meeting, Richard learned that Eric came from a Wizard Family and left early with Ellie, while Joseph bragged that he would brew at least fifty Focus Potions a month.
• For the next three months, Richard recorded data from hundreds of Magic Potion experiments but found no significant pattern.
• Ellie brought Richard her analysis of the Ice Cone Spell, including a Rune ring that converted magical power into kinetic energy with high theoretical efficiency.
• Reading Ellie’s notes, Richard realized he had failed to track magical-power changes during potion brewing.
• Richard leaped from his balcony and hurried to the Commercial District because he needed help.