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Spoiler-Safe Glossary
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Scorio
CharacterBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
The protagonist, reborn in Hell without his memories as a Great Soul. Betrayed and sentenced to die for crimes he cannot recall, he claws his way back and survives the Final Gauntlet. Enemies fear him for reasons he does not yet know.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Great Souls
RealmBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
Legendary defenders of the ancient city of Bastion. Scorio is one, and must regain his lost powers at the Academy. Our sources give no formal rank or class ladder for them.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Bastion
LocationBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
The ancient city Great Souls are meant to defend. By Book 2 it is in unrest, with riots and factions hunting Scorio's group.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →The Academy
FactionBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
The elite institution where Great Souls are trained. Scorio expects privilege there, is sentenced there, and by the end of Book 1 chooses not to return.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →The Final Gauntlet
LocationBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
The Academy climax that Scorio wins, per Goodreads reviews and the Book 2 blurb. The exact scene order is unverified.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Chancellor Praximar
CharacterBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
The Academy figure whose treachery Scorio survives. Reviews describe him humiliated at the end of Book 1, and he returns in Book 2.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteGoodreads reviews say Praximar dies in the Book 2 finale; the Escapist review is unclear, so treat his death as review-reported.
Read Book 1 Primer →Naomi
CharacterBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
Flees the Academy with Scorio. In Book 2 she is sentenced to execution and escapes, then advances using silver mana in the Chasm and reunites with Scorio. A confirmed romance is not established in our sources.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Leonis
CharacterBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
A companion in the group that leaves the Academy together. Reviews say he and Lianshi are killed in Book 2 and later reborn, reaching the Tomb Spark stage.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteDeath and rebirth are review-sourced.
Read Book 1 Primer →Lianshi
CharacterBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
Companion of Leonis in the group that leaves the Academy. Her fate in Book 2 mirrors his: killed, then reborn (reviews).
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteDeath and rebirth are review-sourced.
Read Book 1 Primer →Jova
CharacterBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
One of the group that has fled the Academy at the start of Book 2. Reviews have her betray Scorio and side with Dameon, then rejoin him and help free him; reviews disagree on the order of events.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteReview-sourced; sequencing is unverified.
Read Book 2 Primer →Rascor Plains
LocationBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
The dangerous region governed by mysterious forces where Scorio is cast out in Book 2. Training in the Chasm there turns to betrayal.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →House Hydra
FactionBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
Named in the Book 2 blurb, alongside the Fiery Shoals, as part of the intrigue that draws Scorio in. Its stance toward him is not verified.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →The Manticore group
FactionBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
The party Scorio travels to the Rascor Plains with. They betray him, and he later returns to Bastion and takes revenge on its members, including Dread Blaze (reviews).
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteBetrayal and revenge are review-sourced.
Read Book 2 Primer →Flame Vault
RealmBastion (The Immortal Great Souls)
A rank-like stage Scorio reaches after funnelling gold mana in the gold crucible, gaining wings (Goodreads reviews). Reviews also name Tomb Spark, Dread Blaze and Pyre Lady as stages. The full ladder is unverified, and the Iron/Copper/Bronze/Silver ranks are not confirmed.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteReview-sourced; mechanics are not defined in our sources.
Read Book 2 Primer →Jin Rou
CharacterBeware of Chicken
A cultivator who died and was replaced by a transmigrator from another world. He walks away from cultivation to farm, helped by a body with the strength of ten men.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Big D (Fa Bi De)
CharacterBeware of Chicken
Jin's pet rooster. After eating Spirit Herbs he awakens his Qi and becomes the first animal on the farm to cultivate. The wiki gives his first appearance as Volume 1, Chapter 1.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteIn Book 3 he finds an ancient crystal 'containing portents of doom'; what the crystal means is unresolved by the end of Book 3.
Read Book 1 Primer →Hong Meiling
CharacterBeware of Chicken
The village girl Jin teases in Book 1, daughter of the chief of Hong Yaowu. She is clever, has medical training and is Jin's wife by the end of Volume 1 per the fan wiki. The exact chapter of the wedding is unverified.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteThe Book 1 blurb does not name her; her marriage to Jin is a wiki-sourced event.
Read Book 1 Primer →Xong Gou Ren
CharacterBeware of Chicken
A villager who asks to help on the farm in Volume 1, Chapter 25 and moves in (fan wiki). In Book 3 the Shrouded Mountain Sect abducts him along with his brothers and Tigu.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Rou Tigu
CharacterBeware of Chicken
The cat given to Jin 'because every farm needs one'. In Book 3 she leaves for a martial arts tournament, fights in human form, is abducted and freed, and draws three suitors.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Shen Yu
CharacterBeware of Chicken
A powerful elder who took in the original Jin Rou. He first appears in Volume 1, Chapter 16 (fan wiki). His allegiance is unverified.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteUnverified. Our sources do not say what he wants from Jin.
Read Book 1 Primer →Fa Ram
LocationBeware of Chicken
Jin's farm, named by the fan wiki. It starts as a field and a half-built house and by Book 3 has friends among the junior cultivators of the Azure Hills and a standing grudge against the Shrouded Mountain Sect.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Azure Hills
LocationBeware of Chicken
The region around Fa Ram, including the village of Hong Yaowu. The Wicked Blade, a Reaper Wolf spirit animal, plagued it for 300 years before Jin killed it with a shovel (fan wiki, Chapter 4).
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Spirit Herbs
TechniqueBeware of Chicken
Herbs Jin feeds his rooster. They awaken Big D's Qi and start the series' animals-as-cultivators premise, and by Book 2 the farm's animals talk and fight as Spirit Beasts.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Break the Rocks
TechniqueBeware of Chicken
A fist technique Jin uses to kill Lu Ban in the Dueling Peaks incident (fan wiki).
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Cloudy Sword Sect
FactionBeware of Chicken
Sect of Elder Xiao Ge and Elder Ran, who first appear in Volume 2 per the fan wiki. Their stance toward Jin is unverified.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Verdant Blade Sect
FactionBeware of Chicken
Sect of Cai Xiulan, its Young Mistress, who helps free Tigu and is wounded by Lu Ban. Her cultivation is damaged but carries a golden mark where the Earth Spirit protected it (fan wiki).
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Shrouded Mountain Sect
FactionBeware of Chicken
A sect of the Howling Fang Mountains that abducts Tigu and the Xong brothers under the influence of Lu Ban, a demon wearing the corpse of the cultivator Zang Li. It is exposed in Book 3 but not destroyed.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteLu Ban dies to Jin's Break the Rocks, and the official story becomes 'a brawl'.
Read Book 3 Primer →Dueling Peaks
LocationBeware of Chicken
The tournament in the Grass Sea hosted by the imperial official Bai Huizong. Tigu competes, and the Shrouded Mountain Sect's attack turns it into the Dueling Peaks incident. The wiki's Volume 2 tag is a web-serial number; the print book is Book 3.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Lindon
CharacterCradle
Born Unsouled into Sacred Valley's Wei clan, unable to practice the sacred arts. The series follows him as he fights for a path anyway.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Yerin
CharacterCradle
Disciple of the murdered Sword Sage, hunted by the Heaven's Glory school. She leaves Sacred Valley with Lindon and becomes his partner.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Eithan Aurelius
CharacterCradle
A charismatic, unpredictable Underlord and heir to the Aurelius family, who adopts Lindon and Yerin into it.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Orthos
CharacterCradle
A turtle of the Blackflame Path who soul-bonds with Lindon in Serpent's Grave.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Heaven's Glory
FactionCradle
The Sacred Valley school that killed the Sword Sage and hunts Yerin and Lindon.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Sacred Arts
TechniqueCradle
The way of gathering and cycling madra in one's core to grow stronger, advancing through stages such as Iron and Gold. Lindon is born unable to practice it.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Empty Palm
TechniqueCradle
Lindon's first technique: pushing pure madra into an opponent's core.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Soulsmithing
TechniqueCradle
A craft Lindon begins learning under Fisher Gesha.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Path of the Blackflame
TechniqueCradle
The path Lindon takes in Book 3, starting with its Enforcer and Striker techniques such as Burning Cloak.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Sacred Valley
LocationCradle
The remote valley home of the Wei clan, where Lindon grows up and Book 1 begins.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Akura Mercy
CharacterCradle
An Akura daughter placed in the Skysworn to sink or swim. She joins Lindon and Yerin, and her Book of Eternal Night path is revealed in Book 5.
First Appears: Book 4Read Book 4 Primer →Ghostwater
LocationCradle
A world-sized facility built by the Monarch Northstrider, which the Skysworn send Lindon into. It collapses at the end of Book 5.
First Appears: Book 5Read Book 5 Primer →Dross
CharacterCradle
A sentient construct Lindon finds inside Ghostwater. He merges with Lindon's spirit and lives on as an inner presence.
First Appears: Book 5Read Book 5 Primer →Northstrider
CharacterCradle
The Monarch who built Ghostwater. In Books 7 and 8 he takes an interest in Lindon and asks who Dross is.
First Appears: Book 5Read Book 5 Primer →Akura Charity
CharacterCradle
Sage of the Silver Heart in the Akura clan. She runs the selection of the Underlords who compete in the Uncrowned King Tournament, and later tutors Mercy.
First Appears: Book 6Read Book 6 Primer →Underlord
RealmCradle
The realm above Gold. Lindon and Yerin both advance to it during the Night Wheel Valley selection in Book 6.
First Appears: Book 6Read Book 6 Primer →Uncrowned King Tournament
FactionCradle
The tournament the Akura clan stages for the Blackflame Empire and Seishen Kingdom to field Underlords. It takes place at Ninecloud Court in Book 7.
First Appears: Book 6Read Book 6 Primer →Penance
TechniqueCradle
The tournament prize announced by the Abidan: a weapon that can kill any one being without error.
First Appears: Book 7Read Book 7 Primer →Overlord
RealmCradle
A realm above Underlord. Yerin reaches it in Book 8 and merges with her Blood Shadow.
First Appears: Book 8Read Book 8 Primer →Archlord
RealmCradle
A realm above Overlord. Eithan Aurelius advances to it in Book 8.
First Appears: Book 8Read Book 8 Primer →Fury
CharacterCradle
Source of the bounty system on the Dreadgod battlefield, where Lindon earns points toward Diamond Veins in Book 8. Beyond that role, nothing about Fury is verified in our primers.
First Appears: Book 8Read Book 8 Primer →Void Icon
TechniqueCradle
The Icon Lindon fully manifests on the Dreadgod battlefield, making him the Sage of Twin Stars while still an Underlord.
First Appears: Book 8Read Book 8 Primer →Zac Atwood
CharacterDefiance of the Fall
A mortal alone in a forest when the System integrates Earth. He picks the Hatchetman class and is a Defier, a mortal on the cultivation path.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Ogras Azh'Rezak
CharacterDefiance of the Fall
A Torrid Demon general whose clan sent the Incursion. He betrays his clan rival Rydel and makes a deal with Zac, becoming his closest partner.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Alea Azh'Rezak
CharacterDefiance of the Fall
Ogras's poison-class general, who openly pursues Zac.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteNothing romantic is formalized by the end of Book 3.
Read Book 1 Primer →Abby (Veth-Abarak)
CharacterDefiance of the Fall
The Star Gazer administrator the System assigns to Zac's territory.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →The System
RealmDefiance of the Fall
The force that integrates Earth, assigns classes, titles and quests, and sets the contribution Ladders that rank Zac.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Incursion
RealmDefiance of the Fall
A hostile invasion zone on a planet. Zac's first quest chain tasks him with killing its leaders, and closing one earns rewards.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Hatchetman
TechniqueDefiance of the Fall
The Rare class Zac picks at level 25, with skill quests for Axe Mastery, Chop and Forester's Constitution.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Dao Seeds
TechniqueDefiance of the Fall
Early insights into a Dao. Zac gains Heaviness, Trees and Sharpness in Book 1.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Port Atwood
LocationDefiance of the Fall
The settlement Zac founds after closing his first Incursion, with a shipyard and a Nexus Crystal mine beneath the island.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Horde
RealmDefiance of the Fall
A timed wave of monsters sent against a Lord's territory. Port Atwood faces two Hordes in Book 1.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Draugr body (Duplicity Core)
TechniqueDefiance of the Fall
A hidden Duplicity Core activates when Zac is stabbed, giving him a second body, a level 1 Draugr, and a second class, Undying Bulwark.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Hannah
CharacterDefiance of the Fall
Zac's ex-girlfriend, manipulated into stabbing him by David, an agent of the Church of Everlasting Dao.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Kenzie
CharacterDefiance of the Fall
Zac's sister, rescued in Book 2. A mage-class Dao talent with an AI companion.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Eastern Trigram Treasure Hunt
LocationDefiance of the Fall
A 30-day contest on a merged pair of warring planets, Berum and Medhin, where Zac finishes first overall.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Salvation (Gabriel)
CharacterDefiance of the Fall
A prophet of the Great Redeemer who turns people into silver soldiers; he is killed at the Cradle of God in Book 3.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteDeath is a Book 3 spoiler.
Read Book 3 Primer →Carl
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
A former Coast Guard member who is dropped into the dungeon in his boxers when Earth is destroyed, with his ex-girlfriend's cat. He fights barefoot and becomes a viral celebrity on Floor 2.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Princess Donut
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
The cat of Carl's ex-girlfriend Beatrice. She evolves into a talking, spell-casting cat and is vain, bossy and increasingly powerful.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Mordecai
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
A rat-like NPC guide who explains the dungeon's rules to Carl and Donut.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Mongo
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
Donut's pet egg, revealed in the Book 1 epilogue as a velociraptor.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteOnly the hatching is covered; later development is not described here.
Read Book 1 Primer →Borant Corporation
FactionDungeon Crawler Carl
The company that runs the dungeon as a galactic reality show.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Odette and Zev
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
Galactic hosts and administrators of the show; Odette's interview on Floor 2 makes Carl famous.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Maestro
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
A royal of the Skull Empire who runs the Death Watch Extreme show. Carl insults him on Floor 2 and he vows revenge.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Frank Q and Maggie
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
Player-killer crawlers who become recurring antagonists.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Team Meadow Lark
FactionDungeon Crawler Carl
A group of elderly residents and their caretakers, led by Brandon, whom Carl and Donut protect on Floor 1.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Crawlers
FactionDungeon Crawler Carl
The humans who survive Earth's destruction and are forced to descend the dungeon floor by floor for the audience.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Floor 3 permanent choices
TechniqueDungeon Crawler Carl
Races and classes are not chosen at the start; Book 1 ends on the brink of Floor 3, where permanent race and class choices await.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Compensated Anarchist
TechniqueDungeon Crawler Carl
The class Carl chooses on Floor 3, built around explosives, traps and close combat. He takes the Primal race with it.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Former Child Actor
TechniqueDungeon Crawler Carl
Donut's class, which lets her choose a new specialty each floor. It also makes Mordecai her Manager, who can teleport to any safe room.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Katia Grim
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
A shapeshifting doppelganger crawler abandoned by her guide, who joins Carl and Donut on Floor 3.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Over City
LocationDungeon Crawler Carl
Floor 3, a ruined urban simulation inside a volcano, haunted by an undead circus.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Iron Tangle
LocationDungeon Crawler Carl
Floor 4, a knotted subway system built from the transit systems of different worlds.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Hekla
CharacterDungeon Crawler Carl
Second-ranked crawler and leader of Brynhild's Daughters. She is killed by Katia on Floor 4.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteOne summary names only 'one of the top 10 crawlers' as Katia's victim; most agree it is Hekla.
Read Book 3 Primer →Dungeon Anarchist's Cookbook
TechniqueDungeon Crawler Carl
A book of knowledge written by previous crawlers that Carl wins on Floor 4; it holds what he needs to advance.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Jason Asano
CharacterHe Who Fights with Monsters
A former office-supplies store middle manager who wakes in a hedge maze in Pallimustus with a system interface. He becomes an adventurer in Greenstone.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Essences
TechniqueHe Who Fights with Monsters
The power system's core: absorbing essences grants abilities, and awakening stones unlock further ones. Adventurers advance through ranks starting at Iron.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Adventure Society
FactionHe Who Fights with Monsters
The organisation that ranks and contracts adventurers. Jason joins its Greenstone branch and is promoted to three stars.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Iron rank
RealmHe Who Fights with Monsters
The first essence rank, which Jason reaches early in Book 1.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Bronze rank
RealmHe Who Fights with Monsters
The rank above Iron. Jason, Clive and Humphrey reach it inside the Reaper Trials astral space in Book 3.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Rufus Remore
CharacterHe Who Fights with Monsters
An adventurer who leads the team Jason falls in with and offers to train him.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Colin
CharacterHe Who Fights with Monsters
Jason's first familiar. Book 1 describes him as a Sanguine Horror; Book 3 calls him an Apocalypse Beast Leech, and our sources do not reconcile the two.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Clive Standish
CharacterHe Who Fights with Monsters
A Magic Society adjunct with a rune tortoise familiar, Onslow. He joins Jason's contracts and later studies astral magic.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Sophie Wexler
CharacterHe Who Fights with Monsters
The thief robbing Greenstone, who shares Jason's Way of the Reaper fighting style. Jason shields her from the Society and the crime boss's circle.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Shade
CharacterHe Who Fights with Monsters
Invigilator of the Reaper Trials, trapped there for centuries. He lets Jason take the real Reaper's Scythe and becomes his familiar.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Builder cult
FactionHe Who Fights with Monsters
Cultists Jason first meets in Landemere Vane. Their converted soldiers kill Farrah at the end of Book 1.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Reaper Trials
LocationHe Who Fights with Monsters
An astral space once sealed by the Order of the Reaper, used for Emir Bahadir's contest in Book 2 and re-entered by Jason's team in Book 3.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Greenstone
LocationHe Who Fights with Monsters
The city where Jason joins the Adventure Society and builds his team.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Zorian Kazinski
CharacterMother of Learning
A third-year student at the Royal Academy in Cyoria who relives the same month after an invasion of the city. He uses the repeats to study, learn from teachers and probe the invasion.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Zach Noveda
CharacterMother of Learning
A classmate with huge mana reserves who is also stuck in the loop, though his memory of how it started has gaps.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteHis role in the loop is not fully explained by the end of Book 2.
Read Book 1 Primer →Time Loop
TechniqueMother of Learning
The month that resets to the morning of the train to Cyoria, with restarts at about 2 am. Only a few people keep their memories across restarts, and the loop is already years old by the end of Book 1. In Book 2 the Ghost Serpent says it can recur every 400 years and that only a Controller can leave it.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteWho set it up and why is not revealed by the end of Book 2.
Read Book 1 Primer →Cyoria
LocationMother of Learning
The city that hosts the Royal Academy and is the target of the Ibasan invasion at the summer festival dance. A hidden facility beneath it is revealed late in Book 2.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Red Robe
CharacterMother of Learning
The third time traveler, a hostile figure in a blood-red robe with his face hidden. He destroys the aranea's souls at the end of Book 1. In Book 2 he has already left the loop.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteHis real identity is not revealed in Books 1 or 2.
Read Book 1 Primer →Xvim Chao
CharacterMother of Learning
The harsh professor assigned as Zorian's one-on-one mentor. In Book 2 he teaches properly once Zorian tells him about the loop.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Cyorian Aranea
FactionMother of Learning
A colony of intelligent, telepathic spiders living near the Dungeon. Zorian carries their matriarch's memory packets between restarts in exchange for mind-magic lessons, until the Red Robe kills them at the end of Book 1.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Mind Magic
TechniqueMother of Learning
Telepathy and related arts that Zorian learns from the aranea because he is naturally Open. By Book 2 he trains with other aranean webs and becomes a skilled mind mage.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Quatach-Ichl
CharacterMother of Learning
A millennium-old lich and general leading the Ibasan invasion of Cyoria, first seen in chapter 4. Zorian drives him off at the end of Book 1 with a Kael-enchanted coin.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Soul Magic
TechniqueMother of Learning
Magic that acts on the soul. Quatach-Ichl hits Zorian and Zach with a soul spell in Book 1 that Kael tentatively identifies as soul meld. In Book 2 Alanic Zosk teaches Zorian soul awareness.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Dragon Cultists
FactionMother of Learning
Cultists the aranea say are helping the Ibasan invaders free Panaxeth. In Book 2 Sudomir says the cult needs shifters' primordial essence for the release.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Sudomir Kandrei
CharacterMother of Learning
The mayor of Knyazov Dveri and a necromancer with a soul well in Iasku Mansion. He backed the invasion to resurrect his wife and is captured at the end of the arc.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Ghost Serpent
CharacterMother of Learning
A spirit worshipped by the Ghost Serpent Acolytes web. In chapter 53 he explains the loop to Zorian and Zach.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Sovereign Gate
LocationMother of Learning
The exit facility beneath Cyoria that Zorian and Zach infiltrate in chapter 54. Its Guardian of the Threshold says the gate is barred because the Red Robe has already left the loop.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteHow to open it, beyond a Key of five items that may be needed, is not resolved in Book 2.
Read Book 2 Primer →Sunny (Sunless)
CharacterShadow Slave
A boy raised in poverty who is chosen by the Nightmare Spell and becomes one of the Awakened. He is an unlikely anti-hero whose power carries a small but potentially fatal side effect (publisher blurb). The wiki lists the titles Sleeper Sunless and Awakened Sunless.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteSunny's True Name and the nature of his aspect are not covered; our sources do not state them.
Nephis (Changing Star)
CharacterShadow Slave
A fellow Sleeper whose wiki entry gives the True Name 'Changing Star' (also the title of Volume 1, chapter 26). By Volume 2 she and Sunny travel together toward the Dark City, and the blurb has her and Sunny needing to decide whether they can trust each other.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteTrue Name: the wiki states it, so it is spoiler-adjacent. Her Soul Core count and later rank are inconsistent across wiki fields and are left out.
Cassie
CharacterShadow Slave
A companion who reaches the Dark City alongside Sunny and Nephis in Volume 2 (wiki summary of Demon of Change).
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteHer aspect and abilities are not stated in our sources, so they are not described. Her first-appearance volume was not confirmed, only her presence by Volume 2.
Effie
CharacterShadow Slave
Listed on the Dreamer Army roster alongside Sunny, Nephis, Cassie and Kai. Her first-appearance volume and role are not confirmed in our sources; she is gated to Book 2 to avoid leaking earlier.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteUnverified: the volume of her first appearance, her aspect and her history are not covered.
Kai
CharacterShadow Slave
Listed on the Dreamer Army roster, and a peer whose recognition Sunny has earned (character profile). His first-appearance volume and role are not confirmed in our sources; he is gated to Book 2 to avoid leaking earlier.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteUnverified: the volume of his first appearance, his aspect and his history are not covered.
Gunlaug
CharacterShadow Slave
The tyrannical ruler of the Dark City's castle. He wore golden armor from a Transcended Echo and took the throne by killing his rivals. Residents paid a tribute of one soul shard a week for the castle's protection. The two wiki versions disagree on how long he had been in the city (15 years versus 8).
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteHis fate is a Volume 2 spoiler: the wiki says Nephis invoked the Right of Challenge and killed him, which threw the city into chaos.
Nightmare Spell
TechniqueShadow Slave
The supernatural phenomenon that chooses ordinary people, makes them Awakened and sends them into a ruined magical world to fight monsters and other Awakened (publisher blurb).
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteIts origin and purpose are not stated in our sources and are left out.
Sleeper and Awakened (Soul Ranks)
TechniqueShadow Slave
The old wiki lists seven Soul Ranks: Dormant, Awakened, Ascended, Transcendent, Supreme, Sacred and Divine. For humans the first ranks are called Sleeper (Dormant), Awakened and Master (Ascended). A Sleeper becomes Awakened after returning from the Dream Realm for the first time; the Soul Core evolves and the Aspect gains a second Aspect Ability.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteRanks above Master are late-series and not covered here. A separate source lists only three ranks, so the full list is wiki-sourced and unconfirmed against a second reference.
Soul Core and Shadow Core
TechniqueShadow Slave
A Soul Core is the measure of a being's power; its quality sets the Soul Rank. The wiki calls the Shadow Core a special core unique to Sunny because of the special nature of his aspect.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteHow the Shadow Core works and how it differs from a normal core are not detailed in our sources.
Dream Realm
RealmShadow Slave
The realm Sleepers are transported to when the Nightmare Spell takes them, described in a Volume 1 summary as Sunny's first journey and the setting of his First Nightmare.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteIts larger role in the series is not covered.
Forgotten Shore
LocationShadow Slave
The Dream Realm region that holds the Labyrinth, the Dark City and the Crimson Spire at its centre. Volume 2's blurb has Sunny and his companions crossing it to reach the Dark City.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteThe Forgotten Shore name is wiki-sourced; no retailer blurb uses it.
Dark City
LocationShadow Slave
An abandoned, ruined city on the Forgotten Shore that Sunny's group reaches in Volume 2, hoping for refuge. A castle over the city protects Sleepers from monsters, its ruler is a tyrant, and outcasts shelter below its walls.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteThe wiki says the group finds no gateway home there, and that the city's rule changes hands. Both are Volume 2 spoilers.
Crimson Spire
LocationShadow Slave
The central tower of the Labyrinth and the Forgotten Shore, looming over the Dark City in the Volume 2 blurb. The wiki places the gateway home there, guarded by a Fallen Terror.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteThe gateway and guardian are wiki-sourced. What the Spire is built to do (a soul machine feeding an artificial sun) is a late reveal and is not covered.
Dreamer Army
FactionShadow Slave
A force founded by Nephis that fights in the Siege of the Crimson Spire. The wiki lists Sunny, Cassie, Effie, Kai, Caster, Gemma and Seishan among its members.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteThe Siege of the Crimson Spire is the arc Volume 2 leads into. The wiki does not place its exact chapter boundary, so treat the entry as spoiler-heavy.
Jake Thayne
CharacterThe Primal Hunter
An ordinary office worker until the System integrates Earth and drops him into a survival Tutorial, where he hunts alone and takes up alchemy.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →The Malefic Viper
CharacterThe Primal Hunter
Jake's mysterious benefactor, who notices his talent and alchemy in the Tutorial.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteHis intentions are not settled in Book 1; later volumes are not covered here.
Read Book 1 Primer →Bloodline of the Primal Hunter
TechniqueThe Primal Hunter
Jake's Bloodline, gained in the Tutorial. In Book 2 it acts on its own when he is unconscious against the King of the Forest.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →The Tutorial
RealmThe Primal Hunter
The monster-filled survival zone the System places newly integrated humans in, with a beast hierarchy to work through.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Hawkie
CharacterThe Primal Hunter
A sentient hawk Jake befriends early in Book 3, who coaches his flying.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteGrade differs between sources (a fan summary says E-grade at introduction, the wiki lists a later grade); grade omitted.
Read Book 3 Primer →Sylphie
CharacterThe Primal Hunter
Hawkie's offspring, who hatches near Jake's home and forms a strong bond with him.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteSource wiki pages were unreadable, so only the Book 3 hatching is confirmed here; later abilities are deliberately left out.
Read Book 3 Primer →Carmen
CharacterThe Primal Hunter
A friend of Jake's who had an intermission chapter in Book 2 and, in Book 7, travels with him and Sylphie on an Earth road trip to help friends with family issues.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteHer relationship to Jake and her abilities are not stated in our sources.
Read Book 2 Primer →The World Congress
FactionThe Primal Hunter
A System body where leaders of Pylon Cities vote on event opportunities and resources for their planet. Its first meeting brings Earth's leaders together in Book 4.
First Appears: Book 4Read Book 4 Primer →The Sword Saint
CharacterThe Primal Hunter
Named in a reader review as the opponent teased at the close of Book 4.
First Appears: Book 4Spoiler noteUnverified: no wiki or publisher source confirms who the Sword Saint is or that a fight occurs; no plot is stated.
Read Book 4 Primer →Yalsten
RealmThe Primal Hunter
A cursed, forgotten land that was once a peaceful world devoted to its creator Yal and later home to ancient vampires. Earth's factions go there for the first major System event, the Treasure Hunt.
First Appears: Book 5Read Book 5 Primer →The Monarch of Blood
CharacterThe Primal Hunter
A vampire Jake kills during the Treasure Hunt in Yalsten.
First Appears: Book 5Read Book 5 Primer →The Order of the Malefic Viper
FactionThe Primal Hunter
An ancient Order that worships a Primordial snake god. Jake joins it at the end of Book 6 and spends Book 7 navigating its politics while hiding that he is the Chosen.
First Appears: Book 6Spoiler noteIts individual members are unverified.
Read Book 6 Primer →Chosen
TechniqueThe Primal Hunter
A mortal picked by a god as their champion. Jake hides that he is the Malefic Viper's Chosen at the Order in Book 7; an enemy Chosen invades Earth in Book 8.
First Appears: Book 7Spoiler noteBook 7 and 8 sources do not name the enemy Chosen or their patron.
Read Book 7 Primer →C-grade Evolution
TechniqueThe Primal Hunter
Jake's evolution into a C-grade Human at around level 200, with his Bloodline upgrading; the publisher blurb says his 'happy little accidents' send tremors through the multiverse.
First Appears: Book 9Spoiler noteExact skills and stats come from reader highlights, not the text, and are left out.
Read Book 9 Primer →Nevermore
RealmThe Primal Hunter
The World Wonder dungeon Jake prepares to enter at the end of Book 9, where newly evolved C-grades compete on Leaderboards.
First Appears: Book 9Spoiler noteWhat happens inside is deliberately not covered here.
Read Book 9 Primer →Ned Altimer
CharacterThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
A burned-out corporate executive who buys the three-day Head Start for the VRMMO Earthblood Online and logs in for good. When the Head Start ends he becomes the most hunted player in the game. Reviewers describe his build as a caster with horror and snare spells.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteFinal-scene details of each book are not given in our sources.
Read Book 1 Primer →Frank
CharacterThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
A foul-mouthed, ridiculously handsome talking axe who knows the game's deepest secrets 'if he ever feels like sharing them'. The player base hunts Ned to take him. Reviewers say his information is locked behind the wielder's level.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteWhat he really is beyond an AI guide is not stated in our sources.
Read Book 1 Primer →House
CharacterThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
The AI that runs Ned's home, a repurposed home-security system who takes instructions far too literally. Reviewers say she cannot fight in Book 1, works on passing as human in Book 2, and comes into her own in Book 3.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteHer Book 3 finale role is only described as 'steals the show'; specifics are not in our sources.
Read Book 1 Primer →Earthblood Online (EBO)
RealmThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
The VRMMO Ned plays. It launches with a 72-hour Head Start period for a single buyer, after which tens of thousands of players arrive.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteThe game's deeper nature is not covered in our sources.
Read Book 1 Primer →The Ripple System
TechniqueThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
EBO's headline progression mechanic, introduced in the first chapter. Reviewers praise how seriously the books treat experience, stats, percentage damage, cooldowns, cast times, crits and misses.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteIts exact rules are not spelled out in our sources and are left out. Reviewers of Book 2 say the game's creator is surprised players have 'discovered' it.
Read Book 1 Primer →Darling
CharacterThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
The leader of the guild Ned allies with. Reviewers describe a running Ned-and-Darling romance joke that is 'semi-brewing' by Book 3.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteWhether any romance is confirmed is not stated in our sources.
Read Book 1 Primer →Klein
CharacterThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
EBO's creator, named in Book 2 reviews. He is surprised that players are engaging with the Ripple System.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteHis motives are not verified.
Read Book 2 Primer →Tyrann
CharacterThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
The villain of Book 2, leader of a Holy War with tens of thousands of followers, a fast-spreading religion and a god due to step into EBO within days (blurb). Reviewers call him a flat but necessary opponent.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteBook 2's resolution of the Holy War is not given in our sources.
Read Book 2 Primer →Onyx Sands
LocationThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
The zone Ned must flee at the start of Book 2 as the target of the game-wide Holy War.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteWhether Ned's city already exists at the end of Book 2 is not verified.
Read Book 2 Primer →Onyx Delta
LocationThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
The home of Ned's growing city and, in Book 3, the site of EBO's first completed Red Cathedral, which makes it the centre of the virtual world.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Red Cathedral
LocationThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
A raid site in the Onyx Delta that draws the whole player base. Its rewards are called game-changing in the Book 3 blurb, and a race for the Worldbranch Throne begins around it.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteThe Book 4 blurb says its first wing is conquered; that is outside this glossary's scope.
Read Book 3 Primer →Francis
CharacterThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
Ned's persona as an information dealer, according to reviewers. A system-wide notification and a renown rank-up come with it, and it may expose him to Tyrann and a rival called Sleep.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteReviewer-sourced only; whether the identity is exposed is not stated.
Read Book 3 Primer →The Possibility King
FactionThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
The looming invasion force behind the Red Cathedral. Reviewers ask whether he can be beaten and what 'conquered' means.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteHis nature is not detailed in our sources.
Read Book 3 Primer →The Razing Guild
FactionThe Ripple System (Shadeslinger)
A powerful, menacing guild running roughshod over the western continents and razing every city in its path. Ned expects its forces to sail east to burn down what he has built (blurb).
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteIts leader is not named in our sources.
Read Book 3 Primer →Erin Solstice
CharacterThe Wandering Inn
A young woman from our world who is transported to a dangerous fantasy world and becomes an [Innkeeper], opening a small inn under a sign reading 'No killing Goblins.'
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →The Wandering Inn
LocationThe Wandering Inn
The small building Erin runs as an inn, serving pasta with sausage, blue fruit juice and dead acid flies on request. By Book 2 it sits outside the city of Liscor.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Levels and Classes
TechniqueThe Wandering Inn
The world's progression system: people level up and gain classes, with [Innkeeper] the first class seen. Erin's class is the only one named in Book 1's sources.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteSpecific mechanics, skills and levels are not stated in our sources and are left out.
Read Book 1 Primer →Goblins
FactionThe Wandering Inn
Described as 'somewhat evil'. Erin's 'No killing Goblins' sign makes the inn's relationship with them a running theme.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Liscor
LocationThe Wandering Inn
The city near Erin's inn. The inn is described as lying outside it from Book 2, and a Liscor guard is among the first to visit.
First Appears: Book 1Read Book 1 Primer →Relc Grasstongue
CharacterThe Wandering Inn
A Drake Senior Guardsman of Liscor; per the wiki, one of the first two characters to meet Erin at her inn.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteOnly the wiki's Volume 1 summary was reachable; his later role is not covered here.
Read Book 1 Primer →Klbkch
CharacterThe Wandering Inn
An Antinium who is also a Senior Guardsman of Liscor; per the wiki, he visits Erin's inn alongside Relc in Volume 1.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteWhich chapters fall inside Book 1 versus later volumes is unverified, so later events are deliberately left out.
Read Book 1 Primer →The Antinium
FactionThe Wandering Inn
A non-human people whose first seen member is Klbkch, an Antinium serving in Liscor's guard.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteTheir society and Hive are not described in our sources and are left out.
Read Book 1 Primer →Pisces
CharacterThe Wandering Inn
A character Erin saves from being killed by Relc over his crimes, per the wiki's Volume 1 chapter summaries.
First Appears: Book 1Spoiler noteThe wiki and Fandom chapter lists disagree on the exact chapter (1.10 vs 1.11), so only the rescue itself is stated.
Read Book 1 Primer →Ryoka Griffin
CharacterThe Wandering Inn
The City Runner, an Earth-born courier on a dangerous delivery in southern Izril in Book 2.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteIntroduced in Volume 1 per some sources, but this entry follows the Book 2 blurb only.
Read Book 2 Primer →Izril
RealmThe Wandering Inn
The continent where Liscor and Erin's inn lie. Book 2 sends Ryoka south across it, and Book 3 has Laken lost within it.
First Appears: Book 2Read Book 2 Primer →Rags
CharacterThe Wandering Inn
A Goblin [Chieftain] facing her first winter as leader and searching for a place for her tribe, per the author site's Book 2 blurb.
First Appears: Book 2Spoiler noteWhether her arc is on the page of Book 2 comes from the blurb only.
Read Book 2 Primer →Lyonette
CharacterThe Wandering Inn
Described in the Book 3 blurb as 'ill-tempered' and squatting in Erin's inn while Erin is away in Celum.
First Appears: Book 3Read Book 3 Primer →Laken Godart
CharacterThe Wandering Inn
A naturally blind young man, lost in Izril like 'all the others,' who must survive the winter.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteHis class and how his storyline resolves are not stated in our sources.
Read Book 3 Primer →Redfang Tribe
FactionThe Wandering Inn
A Goblin tribe that rallies with the Floodplains tribe against the Goblin Lord, though their Chieftains disagree on crucial matters.
First Appears: Book 3Spoiler noteThe outcome of the Goblin Lord's threat is not stated in our sources.
Read Book 3 Primer →