Torith recap

In Torith, Derek Hunt builds alliances with House Gracefall and the Crown Restaurant, gains gold rank in the Adventurer's Guild, and arranges both coffee royalties and valuable void-beast sales. Silvi begins culinary training while Thomas is targeted by Clay Torith and Alicia for his equipment. Derek spares Clay but warns his father, City Lord Malcolm Torith, against retaliation. Malcolm nevertheless has Brandi and Malorie abducted, nearly kills Rayna, and relies on a corrupt overseer whom Derek executes. Derek reaches level 100, gains Time Prison, and pursues Malcolm's fleeing house. Silvi shatters its force, Malcolm reveals Gerald Torith's concealed child-trafficking system, and Derek kills him. Captain Herrett becomes the freed Jacks, while Clay and two later assassins are imprisoned. With Gerald still protected and dangerous, Derek moves his companions through Wilmette to Savannah, while Richard and Delilah remain in their village and plans continue for a secure multitrade enterprise.

Previously: Derek Hunt emerged from prolonged isolation in the Void with formidable abilities and a legendary class. He took responsibility for Thomas, a young spear user, and bonded with the void-rabbit Silvi. Derek also protected survivors from a village threatened by violence and the Undying Dungeon, among them village chief Rayna West, young craftsperson Brandi Fields, and Brandi's mother, Malorie. Brandi's unusual crafting potential made her future especially important, while Thomas continued developing under Derek's guidance. Wallace Gracefall abused the villagers and died by Derek's hand. Captain Bronson helped the survivors and then escorted Derek, Thomas, and Silvi toward Torith.

Derek, Thomas, and Silvi enter the sharply divided city of Torith under Captain Bronson's authority. At the Crown Restaurant, Derek offers a slain void beast for appraisal and proposes recreating coffee. He signs a kingdom-wide royalty agreement for the drink, while the more valuable beast transaction remains under review. Repeated failed attempts by nobles to Identify him earn Derek an achievement that strengthens his resistance to inspection. House Gracefall receives the travelers as honored guests. Bronson privately tells Walter Gracefall that Derek probably killed Wallace and disguised the death as a heroic dungeon sacrifice. Walter chooses to preserve that public account. At a private dinner, Derek confirms that he killed Wallace to stop his violence against villagers. Walter accepts responsibility for failing to control his son, swears not to misuse Derek's secrets, and learns that Derek possesses a legendary class and cleared the Undying Dungeon alone. Their understanding leaves the affected village under Walter's protection and establishes a cautious alliance between Derek and House Gracefall.

Derek and Walter conclude that Brandi's rare crafting potential makes Torith unsafe, since the city lord may use forced contracts to seize useful people. Savannah becomes the leading alternative. Meanwhile, the Crown's owner, Alanah, approves favorable terms for Derek's void-beast business and shows interest in coffee. Derek leaves the Gracefall residence, registers with the Adventurer's Guild, and undergoes a combat assessment that he wins immediately. To complete his gold-rank requirements, he claims credit for an earlier bandit mission and hunts poison fungi near the mountains. There he tests Void Call. The ability draws first a small creature and then an intelligent void beast that warns him he is using the power without understanding it. Derek defeats both but stops calling more after recognizing that the creatures may be sentient. Back in Torith, the Guild verifies his missions and issues his official gold badge. At the same time, Silvi warns that a girl has taken an interest in Thomas's storage ring, giving Derek another reason to watch the young trainee's new social circle.

The Crown's early coffee prototype is promising, and Stella offers Derek gold and membership credit for his void beasts. She explains that Crown membership depends on both contribution and Alanah's personal judgment. A young void beast proves even more valuable when its blood permanently raises vitality, while an intelligent specimen can provide rare stat-enhancing meals and durable materials. Derek meets Alanah through a communication crystal and discovers that her compelling voice cannot control him. Their ability to speak normally becomes the foundation of a confidential alliance. After Alanah swears secrecy, Derek explains the uncertain dangers of Void Call and agrees that future testing should occur only with careful support. They complete a broad contract covering the beasts, materials, meals, payment, and help with Silvi's cooking ambitions. Derek receives Tier 1 Crown membership and private communication access to Alanah. Stella equips Silvi for culinary study, and Silvi is accepted as a kitchen observer despite communicating only through Derek or a crystal.

Silvi gains a storage ring and begins learning the practical skills needed to cook without hands. Derek teaches her Mage Hand and Meditation, while Stella arranges Telekinesis, Cleaning, communication crystals, and access to the Crown kitchen. Silvi progresses from basic tool handling to sustained chopping and chooses to remain with the kitchen staff for further training. Thomas, meanwhile, befriends Alicia, who helps him obtain a provisional Adventurer's Guild badge. Derek secretly follows them and hears Alicia report Thomas's storage ring and spear to a young warrior named Clay. Clay tells her to keep Thomas close while he considers his next move. Derek also helps Walter design a training path for Clare, Walter's twelve-year-old great-niece. Clare shows natural ability in unarmed combat, so they plan to combine knuckles, water cultivation, delayed leveling, and a possible future application to the King's Academy. Walter then identifies Clay as the city lord's son. When Thomas, Alicia, and Clay leave to hunt horned boars, Derek follows unseen, prepared to intervene.

During the hunt, Thomas proves his skill against horned boars, but Clay and Alicia engineer a final fight after his strongest abilities are unavailable. Clay abandons his defensive position, leaving Thomas to be gored, then summons hidden guards and orders Thomas killed for his storage ring. Bradley, one of the guards, recognizes Derek's name and objects. Derek reveals that he has watched the entire trap, frightens the group with void power, and releases them only because Alanah had asked him to avoid killing important people. Thomas chooses a slower, supervised path toward King's Academy eligibility rather than artificial advancement. Bradley reports the failure to City Lord Malcolm Torith and Captain Herrett. Malcolm learns that Derek is both powerful and connected to Alanah, but punishes Bradley for missing Thomas's identity. Derek visits Malcolm's manor, identifies Captain Herrett as its strongest defender, and overwhelms the household with his aura after Malcolm belittles Thomas. He leaves everyone alive but warns that any further harm to his companions will have lethal consequences.

Alanah begins testing Derek's exceptional-class training theory with two orphaned boys under Avery's supervision. Gerald Torith, Malcolm's father, confronts her over Derek's treatment of his family. Alanah demonstrates that she can compel Gerald, rejects his account of Clay's conduct, and publicly treats Derek as a friend. Gerald threatens political action and possible covert retaliation, so Avery warns Derek. Malcolm then acts against the village despite Derek's warning. His men discover Brandi's ability across several crafts, abduct Brandi and Malorie, and leave Rayna mortally wounded after she resists. Derek and Silvi race from Torith. Derek intercepts the carriage and sends Silvi to kill the escorts and free Brandi and Malorie, while he continues to the village. He reaches Rayna moments before death and uses his last resurrection potion to save her. Richard identifies Patricia Collins, the royal-appointed overseer, as complicit in the seizure. Derek learns she accepted payment, withheld Brandi's resurrection scroll even while Rayna was dying, and disregarded the village's protection. After recovering the stolen property, Derek kills Patricia in the village center and declares his intention to dismantle House Torith.

Brandi and Malorie regain their storage rings, and Rayna begins recovering. Derek judges Patricia's three guards according to their conduct. One attacks and dies; another loses his levels and skills after failing a Great System oath and is released. The final guard, Rudy, had negotiated a contract that ended with Patricia's death. His contract-focused class and desire to own a business fit Derek's plans for a protected multitrade enterprise, so the two sign a reciprocal non-harm agreement. Expecting a direct conflict with House Torith, Derek leaves Silvi and Rudy protecting the village while he repeatedly clears the Undying Dungeon alone. He reaches level 100, retains the legendary Legend of the Void class, invests heavily in durability, and gains Void Steps and Time Prison. The prison contains ten cells whose time flow he can alter, although its effects on aging and advancement remain uncertain. After preparing a dungeon strategy guide for the Adventurer's Guild, Derek leaves the dungeon intending to pursue House Torith.

Walter reports the escape route, and Derek and Silvi intercept Malcolm's roughly three-hundred-person force before it reaches Wilmette. Derek offers ordinary soldiers a chance to withdraw if they surrender Malcolm and Clay. Malcolm instead orders an attack. Silvi destroys the armed resistance with void movement, magic, and rapid strikes, while Derek allows those who flee to live. The remaining guards continue fighting, and Captain Herrett spends his full strength on one final blow that wounds Derek but cannot overcome his upgraded body. Malcolm then reveals that Gerald Torith organizes the trafficking of children through other noble houses to keep his own house removed from the transactions. The disclosure breaks Malcolm's oath and strips his abilities. Derek kills him as promised. Clay remains alive, and Derek restores the unconscious Herrett. Gerald's trafficking role is now known to Derek, but the information came from a coerced confession and does not provide independent evidence that can safely be used against Gerald.

Captain Herrett awakens free of the oath and contract that forced him to defend Malcolm. He explains that Gerald engineered the loss of his family to secure his service, renounces his title, and takes the name Jacks. After accepting tentative work with Derek, he swears secrecy and sees Time Prison. Clay becomes its first inmate, serving a twenty-eight-day sentence at reduced time flow. Derek learns that a cell blocks skills and progression, prevents death from hunger or thirst, and cannot release its occupant early. Alanah confirms that Gerald is politically protected and that her suspicions about his crimes are not usable proof. She urges Derek to reach Savannah, where Natalie Savannah firmly opposes forced contracts and illegal trade. Derek gathers Rayna, Brandi, Malorie, Rudy, and Thomas, while Richard and Delilah remain in the village. Stella joins the evacuation. On the road, the assassins Bones and Ogre ambush Derek but spare Stella under their contract. Derek captures both and sentences each to a year in Time Prison. The party conceals Silvi, reaches Wilmette's scheduled teleportation circle, and arrives together in Savannah. Gerald remains alive and able to retaliate.

Derek and Silvi break Malcolm Torith's fleeing force. Malcolm discloses that Gerald Torith arranged child trafficking through subordinate houses, violates his oath by speaking, and is killed by Derek. Captain Herrett survives, is released from House Torith's coercive bindings, and adopts the name Jacks. Clay receives the first sentence in Derek's new Time Prison, while the assassins Bones and Ogre are later captured and imprisoned for a year each. Gerald remains alive, politically protected, and difficult to accuse without independent evidence. Expecting retaliation, Derek evacuates Rayna, Brandi, Malorie, Rudy, Thomas, Silvi, and Stella. Thomas remains committed to supervised training, while Brandi's abilities and the proposed multitrade enterprise still require protection. Richard and Delilah stay in their village. Walter Gracefall continues to provide support, and Alanah remains a confidential Crown ally despite the political limits on acting against Gerald. The travelers conceal Silvi and use Wilmette's scheduled teleportation circle to reach Savannah, where Derek hopes to secure his companions and establish their planned business.