Ruthless characters

Appears from the start

A powerful Wanderers ritualist, cleric, and builder who is expanding the guild settlement and its magical infrastructure. Joe works with a small ritual coven and is accustomed to solving difficult guild problems himself, even when that habit makes others depend on him.

First appears in chapter 2

The Wanderers commander who directs the guild's strategic response after a public message exposes the settlement and falsely claims it holds unlimited supplies.

First appears in chapter 2

The Wanderers vice guild leader and a practical organizer of settlement construction. Mike coordinates plans, resources, and compensation for guild projects, and looks to Joe and the ritual coven for magical building and defensive work.

First appears in chapter 25

A Wanderers guard whom Joe recognizes during an attack on the settlement. Joe saves Jay from an assassin's opening strike, then heals him while trying to survive the same enemy's poison and pursuit.

Appears from the start

Joe's trusted logistician and a member of his established party. Jess monitors greenhouse production and warns Joe that personally fixing every guild problem encourages dependence while worsening his intimidating reputation.

Appears from the start

A seasoned combatant in Joe's established Wanderers party.

First appears in chapter 12

The experienced adviser in Joe's established party, now safely identified as Jaxon. He fights with living hand-weapons and dispatches durable enemies quickly.

Appears from the start

A musician-combatant in Joe's established party.

Appears from the start

A combatant and poison specialist in Joe's established party.

Appears from the start

A close-range duelist in Joe's established Wanderers party.

Appears from the start

A member of Joe's Ritualist coven who helps construct the black defensive wall around the Wanderers' central buildings.

Appears from the start

A member of Joe's Ritualist coven who contributes to the guild's magical construction work.

Appears from the start

A member of Joe's Ritualist coven who helps build the Wanderers' defensive wall.

Appears from the start

Two distinct but unnamed members of Joe's Ritualist coven who assist with the Wanderers' magical construction. They work beside Hannah, Kirby, and Robert, contributing separate labor and developing skills within the group's shared projects.

First appears in chapter 2

A cleric allied with Joe who recognizes that Joe has never claimed several level-based abilities from his altar.

First appears in chapter 5

The librarian associated with Pathfinder's Hall and a source of practical advancement guidance. Boris explains how professions differ from classes, recommends pairing gathering with production or refinement, and offers to research a specialization route.

First appears in chapter 8

An alchemist who offers to teach Joe the specialized Ritualistic Alchemist profession. Jake makes his support conditional on joining the Wanderers' expansion and receiving a workshop at the guild's future outpost in the next zone.

First appears in chapter 10

An Architects Union representative who negotiates with Joe after his building abilities alarm the organization. Daniela grants controlled access to eligible structures for blueprint study under a short agreement and evaluates the quality of his designs.

First appears in chapter 13

The queen who rewards Joe with Essence Cycle, a magical sense that lets him perceive energy.

First appears in chapter 15

The leader of a rival five-person party seeking the same advancement prize as Joe near an ancient coastal temple. Sam openly treats the expedition as a competition.

First appears in chapter 30

The kingdom's high cleric and a champion of elemental water. Aaron enforces the closure of a temple event site and confronts Joe's party when they find a lawful way through the blockade, treating their entry as defiance of his order.

First appears in chapter 27

A weapon master who opens public polearm training in the Wanderers settlement. Everard pushes Joe into a punishing lesson intended both to teach practical weapon use and to reduce resentment among guild members.

First appears in chapter 28

An unnamed deity associated with fire and wrath who asks Joe to recover the Golden Tome for Crim.

First appears in chapter 39

A neighbor war chief hidden beneath a trial dungeon. Arthur retains his sanity near holy water despite the curse afflicting his people, and offers Joe a path to earn a limited summoning token through a solo combat quest.

First appears in chapter 45

A powerful unknown being released when Bard places a golden idol on an altar. The entity's arrival produces destructive brown fire and follows Bard's request to add a new divine figure to Joe's pantheon for a specialization requirement.

First appears in chapter 46

The being released from Bard's golden idol, now identified as a powerful god linked to music, instruction, and covert political killing. Hansel joins Joe's pantheon, changes Pathfinder's Hall, and grants new benefits to Joe and Bard.

First appears in chapter 58

The human monarch who presides over the judgment following the catastrophic siege plague. King Henry weighs the guild's accounts of the altered ritual, the war's financing, and Joe's acceptance of responsibility.

First appears in chapter 58

A founder of the Wanderers who challenges the guild's leadership after the siege plague. Mr. Banks uses survivors' anger and the absence of members awaiting respawn to organize a no-confidence effort against Aten.

First appears in chapter 47

Joe's mother and an ally outside his immediate guild operations. Brenda helps Joe and Jess purchase large quantities of supplies through proxies and provides reliable market values when those goods are later sold to the Wanderers.

First appears in chapter 3

The unnamed deity who serves as Joe's patron and grants his cleric abilities. The patron supplies several choices Joe failed to claim at earlier levels, though insufficient divine energy leaves one option unavailable.

First appears in chapter 17

An unnamed permanently lethal creature connected to a tightly restricted supply of preserved blood. Joe permits the material to be used only in rituals intended to contain the creature and places it beyond ordinary access.

First appears in chapter 57

The permanently lethal creature now identified as Game Over. Hannah uses its preserved blood to alter the quarantine ritual.