Chapter Summaries

Richard learned the rules for the Apprentice War, a contest between Black and White Wizard Academies, and prepared for battle despite the White Wizards’ numerical advantage. The tournament began at Black Tower Wizard Academy, and Alex’s spell prepared to transport the apprentices to a Great Wizard’s secret realm.

• Richard read that apprentices would fight over resource points across three regions, with victory determined by territory and remaining numbers.
• Richard noted that White Wizard Apprentices outnumbered the Black Wizard apprentices nearly three and a half to one, then exchanged surplus Magic Stones for alchemy materials, including materials for Annihilation Grenades.
• Mechanical Puppets issued the apprentices badges that served as identification and proof of kills, while the Academy warned that apprentices who lost their badges would be executed.
• Vice Dean Alex told the apprentices that the Truth Wizards were watching the unprecedented experiment, but Richard remained wary of the excitement his speech stirred.
• Alex and dozens of Wizards jointly cast a spell to send the apprentices to the secret realm where the Apprentice War would take place.

Revel McIntosh and Richard took command of their respective groups of Wizard Apprentices as the Apprentice War began. Revel planned to attack the Dark Wizard Apprentices’ resource points, while Richard prepared to defend against the approaching White Wizard Apprentices.

• Revel McIntosh arrived at a resource point with Bartola and gathered the Guardian Wizard Academy apprentices around him.
• Revel proposed attacking Dark Wizard Apprentice resource points early, while Bartola declined to join the assault and asked for three hundred apprentices to build defenses.
• Richard took charge of the Black Tower Wizard Academy apprentices, warned them to obey his orders, and released Munin to scout.
• Richard spotted White Wizard Apprentices approaching and ordered the Dark Wizard Apprentices to prepare to defend.

Richard prepared the Dark Wizard Apprentices for an attack by the White Wizard Apprentices and led a devastating ambush that broke their formation. As the battle turned into a melee, Richard summoned a Flame Giant and ordered it to collect the enemy apprentices’ badges.

• Richard ordered the Dark Wizard Apprentices to clear a battlefield and prepare a fortress, undead, and mental attacks as Munin watched the approaching White Wizard Apprentices.
• Revel led the White Wizard Apprentices toward the Dark Wizard resource point, dismissing warnings that the cleared area might be a trap.
• Richard had the Soul Wizards disrupt the enemy vanguard and the Shaping Wizards bombard it with spells, causing the White Wizard Apprentices to panic and flee.
• Richard ordered the Dark Wizard Apprentices to attack the disorganized White Wizard force, while the two sides clashed in the forest.
• Richard drew a Magic Array and summoned a three-meter Flame Giant, then ordered it to slaughter the enemy and bring him their badges.

Richard led the Dark Wizard Apprentices to crush the White Wizard Apprentices in battle, then captured their public resource point. The White Wizard Apprentices began to organize a more disciplined retreat, and Richard halted his poorly trained troops from pursuing them.

• Richard collected eight badges after the Dark Wizard Apprentices defeated the White Wizard Apprentices, who left over three hundred corpses behind.
• Richard settled disputes over badges and ordered his troops to advance on the public resource point while Revel berated the defeated White Wizard Apprentices and prepared defenses.
• Richard sent Necromancers' skeleton puppets ahead to trigger the resource point's traps before the Dark Wizard Apprentices attacked.
• Revel ordered Oakes and Bazak to organize a retreat, limiting the White Wizard Apprentices' losses to around a hundred corpses.
• Richard ordered his troops to stop pursuing the retreating White Wizard Apprentices because his forces lacked the training to chase them safely.

Richard’s order to stop pursuing the White Wizard Apprentices sparked a challenge to his command, while Baltos used the White Wizards’ defeat to establish a Staff Department. Richard and Eugene fought for control as their summoned flame creatures clashed nearby.

• Eugene rallied apprentices who opposed Richard’s order, and Richard drew his Magic Eater Greatsword to confront them.
• Richard summoned the Flame Giant, while Eugene released a Flame Monster Bird and challenged Richard’s leadership.
• At the White Wizard resource point, Baltos proposed a Staff Department, and the apprentices approved it despite Revel’s departure.
• The Flame Giant and Flame Monster Bird continued fighting in the forest as Richard and Eugene’s battle neared its end.

Richard defeated Eugene after withstanding his devastating fire magic, then met the leaders of Void Wizard Academy and Annihilation Academy. The three leaders began discussing Black Tower’s battle with the White Wizards, and Richard revealed that his side had killed around four hundred opponents while losing about a dozen Apprentices.

• Eugene attacked Richard with repeated high-powered spells, but Richard’s defenses and regeneration allowed him to advance while conserving his strength.
• When other academies arrived, Richard enlarged his arm with Flesh Control, while Eugene used a rune-powered spell that consumed his life force to unleash a fireball exceeding two hundred Energy Level.
• Richard survived the blast by draining more than twenty Magic Stones stored inside his body, then killed Eugene with his Greatsword.
• Anderson of Void Wizard Academy introduced himself to Richard, and Aldo of Annihilation Academy arrived soon after.
• Richard invited Anderson and Aldo to the White Wizards’ abandoned camp, where the three academy leaders met without attendants.
• Richard told Anderson and Aldo that Black Tower had killed around four hundred White Wizards and lost about a dozen Apprentices.

Richard told Anderson and Aldo that the White Wizard Apprentices had suffered heavy losses and warned that some were preparing defenses at their resource point. After the two academies left to pursue them, Richard used the Alchemy School apprentices they left behind to help fortify the camp, wary that the White Wizards might rapidly improve in battle.

• Richard explained that the White Wizards had poor combat experience and had lost apprentices at a ratio of nearly one to forty.
• Richard warned Anderson and Aldo that some White Wizards had stayed behind to prepare defenses, and the two decided to pursue them.
• Richard agreed to share his original resource point among the three academies in exchange for borrowing their Alchemy School apprentices.
• Annihilation Wizard Academy and Void Wizard Academy departed, leaving thirty Alchemy School apprentices with Richard.
• Richard organized the apprentices to build defensive walls and carefully positioned traps around the camp.

Richard completed Black Tower Wizard Academy’s defenses and suspected that White Wizard fortifications could threaten the academies attacking them. Void Academy and Annihilation Academy launched a surprise assault on the White Wizards, whose commander Revel rushed to organize a defense.

• The Black Wizard apprentices built a wall, wooden shelters, and concealed Magic Array traps, while the Flame Giant devoured the Flame Monster Bird’s elemental core and grew stronger.
• Richard discovered that few Black Wizards knew auxiliary spells and inferred that White Wizards had specialized training and defensive fortifications, so he decided to observe the battle.
• Anderson and Aldo halted their forces near the White Wizards’ resource point, planned a north-and-south attack, and prepared their troops despite their suspicions about the enemy.
• Anderson prayed before leading Void Academy’s attack, while Aldo revived three powerful skeletons to lead Annihilation Academy’s charge.
• The White Wizards were caught setting traps, and Revel responded to the attack by ordering the apprentices to form up and threatening deserters with execution.

Revel organized the White Wizard Apprentices into a defensive formation and used coordinated spell attacks to drive back Void Wizard Academy. At the resource point, Baltos struggled to rally the southern defenders until reinforcements arrived, revealing Revel and Guardian Wizard Academy.

• Revel killed a fleeing apprentice, arranged the remaining White Wizards into a semicircular formation, and led them north.
• Anderson killed the white-haired apprentice with a mental attack, but Revel's coordinated barrage forced Anderson and the Void Academy apprentices to retreat.
• Baltos struggled to organize the southern defenders as Aldo's skeletons disrupted their formations, while Baltos used an Alchemy Magic Stone Cannon to hold the line.
• Revel's White Wizard Legion attacked Annihilation Academy's flank, prompting Aldo to order a retreat and Baltos to call for a counterattack.
• Baltos recognized Guardian Wizard Academy's emblem among the reinforcements and saw Revel watching him.

Revel reclaimed command of Guardian Wizard Academy after defeating Baltos’s forces, then advised the newly arrived Aurora and Frost Academies to prepare for war. Richard watched the White Wizard groups approach the Dark Wizards’ territory, recruited Doug to work in the rear, and learned that Anderson and Aldo planned a night raid.

• Revel defeated Baltos’s Staff Department, counted the heavy casualties, and ordered Guardian Wizard Academy’s apprentices to recover and repair their defenses.
• Revel met representatives Greg and Menasi, explained that White Wizard Apprentices needed battlefield experience and ambushes to compete with Dark Wizards, and urged them to accept that deaths were inevitable.
• Richard observed the two newly arrived Academies heading toward the public resource point and worried they might attack.
• Richard accepted Doug’s offer of roasted Magic Beast, had him sign a contract to manufacture alchemical goods in the rear, and gave him materials and instructions.
• Richard spotted Dark Wizard Apprentices scouting the White Wizard camp and located Void Academy and Annihilation Academy hiding in the forest.
• Anderson proposed a night raid, and Aldo agreed to join.

Dark Wizard Apprentices launched a night raid on the White Wizard camps, while Revel organized a counterattack and Richard mobilized reinforcements to protect the Black Wizard forces. Revel’s legion arrived in time to drive Anderson into retreat, then he recruited Menasi to help pursue the fleeing attackers.

• Aldo’s undead creatures pinned down Greg and tore through Clear Frost Academy’s camp, while Anderson and the Dark Wizard Apprentices attacked Aurora Academy and Menasi fought back with a skeletal general.
• After learning that Void Academy and Annihilation Academy were under attack, Revel divided Confidant Academy’s forces into three groups to support the camps and encircle the Dark Wizard Apprentices.
• Richard realized Revel’s plan and gathered nearly two hundred Dark Wizard Apprentices to march toward the battlefield.
• Confidant Academy arrived at Aurora Academy’s camp and its Spell Flood killed two attackers, while Revel’s Spiral Ice Cone attack forced Anderson to retreat into the forest.
• Revel asked Menasi to organize Aurora Academy’s apprentices and follow the fleeing Dark Wizard Apprentices to help wipe them out.

Revel led Confidant Academy, Clear Frost Academy, and Aurora Academy in an attempt to encircle the retreating Dark Wizard Apprentices, but Richard broke a hole through the White Wizard Legion and let them escape. The battle ended with heavy losses on both sides, while Revel identified Richard as the war’s greatest enemy.

• Revel persuaded Greg to gather Clear Frost Academy and Aurora Academy’s apprentices and help pursue the Dark Wizard Apprentices.
• Richard spotted the White Wizard Legions closing on Void Academy and Annihilation Academy and hurried toward the fighting, leaving Alchemical Apprentices to guard the Magic Array traps.
• Anderson and Aldo joined forces and tried to break through the encirclement as Revel’s forces advanced from behind.
• Richard charged through a White Wizard Legion after enduring a barrage of spells, opening a gap that allowed the Dark Wizard Apprentices to escape.
• Revel confronted Dennis over his retreat, then ordered him to regroup while removing him from command for the rest of the war.
• The academies counted their casualties, and Aurora Academy and Clear Frost Academy returned to their resource points as the six Deans watched from outside the secret realm.

Great Wizard Black Tower and the other Great Wizards revised the Apprentice War’s rules to give the Dark Wizards a chance at victory. Richard’s plan to target White Wizard food-gathering squads led to a stalemate and mounting casualties, while Revel proposed rationing supplies to counter the ambushes.

• Great Wizard Black Tower persuaded the other Great Wizards to count any single Black Wizard victory as a win, and he revised the contract.
• Richard revealed that Munin had helped him surveil the other Dark Wizard commanders and proposed abandoning resource-point captures in favor of ambushing White Wizard Apprentices who left to gather food.
• The Dark Wizard Academies sent out elite squads to attack White Wizard food-gathering parties while fortifying two resource points, creating a brief stalemate.
• A Dark Wizard squad killed White Wizard Apprentices and trapped their bodies with a Magic Array, killing Aiven when a search party triggered it.
• Revel told Baltos that the brutal tactics reflected the realities of plane warfare, then proposed gathering food in small legions and rationing it to everyone.

Richard’s Annihilation Bombs devastated the White Wizard Legion as it attacked his resource point, prompting the Dean of Frost Wizard Academy to end the war and order all apprentices out of the secret realm. Richard vanished with the Dean’s vast will.

• Richard prepared Annihilation Bombs and told Anderson and Aldo to defend their own resource points as the Dark Wizard squads returned from failed ambushes.
• In the fifth month, Revel led the White Wizard Legion toward Confidant Academy’s resource point, while Richard rallied the Dark Wizards with a call to survive.
• Richard’s concealed Alchemy School apprentices triggered forest traps, but Revel ordered a fireball barrage that cleared the way to the resource point.
• Richard had his apprentices fire dummy rounds and then bombard the advancing White Wizard Legion with Annihilation Bombs, killing and wounding many apprentices despite their magic barriers.
• The Dean of Frost Wizard Academy, Great Wizard Clear Frost, froze the battlefield, gathered the shells, ended the war, and ordered every apprentice transported from the secret realm in three minutes.

Richard defended his Annihilation Bomb design before the six Academy Deans and received a Darkwater Rune and a Wizard Scroll, bringing him closer to advancing as a Wizard. Back at the Academy, he reflected on his future, and after the Apprentice War ended, he reunited with Ellie, who had missed out on a reward after being badly injured.

• Great Wizard Black Tower questioned Richard under a spell about his Annihilation Bomb, and Richard explained how he designed its two chambers to trigger an annihilation reaction.
• Great Wizard Clear Frost accepted Richard’s explanation and gave him a Crystal Ball containing the Darkwater Rune, while Black Tower’s side won the disputed match.
• Great Wizard Black Tower returned Richard to the Academy with a Wizard Scroll for Gerald, who explained that Richard could use it to advance at the Tower of Truth once his spiritual power was sufficient.
• Richard returned to his room and felt relieved but uncertain about his future after achieving his long-pursued goal of becoming a Wizard.
• After the Apprentice War ended, Richard learned that Black Wizards had won another region, while Ellie explained that injuries from her battle with an advanced White Wizard Apprentice had kept her from earning a Wizard Scroll.
• Ellie joined Richard in his room and asked him to keep her company after their six-month separation.

After years of travel changed his outlook, Richard returned to the Academy ready to advance to wizard and departed with Gerald for the Tower of Truth. Along the way, he discovered a fantastical wizard city and learned that promotion required the Wizard World Origin, found only at the Tower of Truth.

• Richard traveled among the archipelago, across the far sea, and through cities under the Academy's jurisdiction, learning to enjoy exploration and observing the Wizard Merchant Guild's influence.
• Richard returned to the Academy with his mental power at the apprentice limit, told Gerald he was ready to advance, and promised Ellie he would succeed despite the thirty percent failure rate.
• Gerald took Richard aboard an airship, where Richard studied the Darkwater Rune and realized its light-absorbing properties could increase the power of Realm of Annihilation.
• After a month of travel, Richard was amazed by the vast city and Academy of Golden Dragon Wizard Academy, which Gerald showed him during a brief transfer stop.
• Gerald explained that the Tower of Truth held a promotion period from July to September and that the Wizard World Origin was essential for the Promotion Ceremony.

Gerald explained how Wizard qualification let Richard seek recognition from the Wizard World Origin, then took him to meet his old friend Jerar. Richard gained Jerar’s recommendation to join the Golden Dawn Society, and he and Gerald escaped before they could be forced to eat Jerar’s cooking.

• Gerald told Richard that advancing to Wizard required recognition from the World Origin and revealed that Richard’s Wizard qualification was worth a million Magic Stones.
• Gerald flew Richard to Jerar’s Wizard Tower and introduced him to the giant Alchemy School Wizard, who specialized in bloodlines.
• Gerald told Jerar that Richard had won Wizard qualification and created strategic-grade Magic Armor during the Apprentice War, impressing Jerar and prompting him to try to recruit Richard as his student.
• Gerald asked Jerar to recommend Richard for the Golden Dawn Society, and Jerar stamped Richard’s membership scroll.
• Gerald hurried Richard out of the tower to avoid Jerar’s meal, but they boarded the airship pale-faced after being unable to escape the food entirely.

Gerald brought Richard to the Tower of Truth and explained its structure and role in wizard society. After learning about the Tower’s residential, commercial, and work layers, Richard began his wizard promotion trial, leaving Gerald’s warning to persist in mind.

• Gerald showed Richard the spatial distortion at Mount Barto and explained that Spatial Rifts there opened into the Four Elements Territory.
• Gerald brought Richard to the Tower of Truth, explaining that its visible structure was made from five World Trees while its true core lay within the Void.
• Gerald led Richard through the Tower’s residential and commercial layers, describing how free wizards and captured Level One creatures supported Plane Warfare.
• Gerald brought Richard to the Work Layer and arranged his wizard promotion, then warned him that he would face the Darkness of the Soul and must persist.
• Richard accepted Gerald’s advice and vanished into the promotion room in a wash of white light.

Richard advanced to Wizard by receiving the Wizard World’s imprint, then endured the Darkness of the Soul and explored the Sea of Souls as his soul transformed. When his meditation ended, a fading white light entered his body and revealed itself as Ulysses, Lord of Ravens.

• Richard activated the advancement room and received the Wizard World’s imprint as resin from the World Tree encased his body.
• Richard endured the Darkness of the Soul by repeatedly revisiting his memories until he awakened in the Sea of Souls.
• Richard discovered that he had truly entered the Sea of Souls, where he learned to propel himself with spiritual power and examined Wizards’ imprints.
• Richard observed a light snake feeding on dispersed imprints, then explored the Sea of Souls and inferred what its motes’ sizes and colors represented.
• Richard was pulled back toward the surface as a weakening ray of white light flew from the depths and entered his body.
• Ulysses, Lord of Ravens, announced that he had escaped the Abyss before reacting in surprise to his surroundings.

Richard discovered that Ulysses, the Lord of Ravens, had entered his Soul Space and forced him to sign a Fate Contract to serve for ten thousand years. After learning about the Pantheon, the Abyss, and their power levels, Richard returned from his advancement and was welcomed as a wizard by the Tower of Truth.

• Ulysses revealed his identity and offered to serve Richard after the Miracle Furnace trapped him in the Soul Space.
• Richard used the Miracle Furnace to pressure Ulysses into signing a Fate Contract obligating him to serve for ten thousand years.
• Ulysses explained that the Pantheon and Abyss were civilizations ruling separate World Clusters and described the Gods Civilization's strength hierarchy.
• Richard learned that the Pantheon had three God Kings and concluded that the Wizard Civilization, with five Truth Wizards, would hold the advantage.
• Richard broke free of the amber seal and returned to the Steel Hall, where the staff wizard said his advancement had taken twelve years.
• The staff wizard gave Richard the Tower of Truth's benefits for newly advanced wizards and welcomed him to the world of wizards.