Summary:Unsouled

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This page contains a chapter by chapter summary of Unsouled, the first book in the Cradle series.

Chapter 1

Characters
Plot Summary

Young Lindon undergoes the Spiritual Origin test of Sacred Valley, where young children put their hand into madra to determine whether they are an Enforcer, Striker, Ruler, or Forger. However, the madra does not react to Lindon's hand. As a consequence, the First Elder declares him Unsouled. After two more tests, Lindon receives a wooden badge with a symbol meaning 'empty'. Although Lindon retries the test every half a year, he reaches the age of fifteen without ever causing a reaction.

Chapter 2

Characters
Plot Summary

Lindon inscribes a script into a tree to determine if it is an ancestral tree. He discovers that it is shortly before Teris and two other Coppers ran out of the forest, hunting a snowfox. After Lindon questions the legality of their hunt, Teris accuses him of being disrespectful and spots the script on the tree. To punish Lindon, he punches the tree to ruin the script, releasing the tree's remnant in the process. Teris runs away after taking a blow from the remnant and Lindon finishes a script he uses to lure and trap the remnant. Afterwards, he barely manages to retrieve the remnant of the tree's spirit fruit, using a crystal flask of collected madra in the process.

Later, Lindon's family confers about how to use the restored spirit fruit. They agree to split it in three, but Lindon interjects to ask for his own piece.

Chapter 3

Characters
Plot Summary

As Seisha points out that splitting the fruit into four pieces would make it useless, Kelsa offers Lindon her stipend in exchange for not receiving the fruit. Lindon retorts that Neither Seisha nor Jaran are likely to advance to Jade, and Kelsa is close enough to Iron that she does not need the whole fruit. He also points out that failing in a tournament against children would be very shameful for the family. Kelsa ultimately splits the fruit in half for her and Lindon. After they describe the sensation to Seisha, Teris shows up at their door to bring Lindon to the First Elder. When they reach the First Elder, Teris describes the events in the forest, and the First Elder punishes him for running rather than protecting Lindon. Teris leaves, and the First Elder chastises Lindon for getting in the Coppers' way. As a nominal punishment, he instructs Lindon to feed Elder Whisper, hoping the snowfox could help more.

Lindon climbs Whisper's tower and goes past the heavy door and script keeping Whisper from leaving. Whisper asks Lindon to tell him the story of how he retrieved the spirit fruit.

Chapter 4

Characters
Plot Summary

Lindon tells Whisper about how he got the fruit, and asks advice on how to rise without being permitted to practice sacred arts. Whisper tells Lindon that there is no end to the path towards advancement and that if he cannot find a path, he may have to make his own. Determination sparks in Lindon, and he leaves the tower reflecting on the conversation.

Elder Whisper considers the glimpses of fate he has seen with his dream madra. It is clear to him that a huge threat to Sacred Valley is coming and that Lindon's future is in flux.

The next day, Lindon arrives outside the Hall of Elders for the clan's group cycling and finds most of the clan waiting for Teris' public punishment. Before the First Elder lashed Teris, Teris' father Keth asked that Lindon be punished as well. Although Lindon expected the First Elder to rebuff Keth, Jaran spoke up first. After Jaran and Keth argued, Keth's ten year old daughter Eri challenged Lindon. Lindon accepts the fight, setting it seven days away to surrender. The First Elder whipped Teris.

Lindon worked in the clan archive, collecting possible shortcuts for advancement. After looking through many dead ends, he found a technique requiring no particular aspect called the Heart of Twin Stars.

Chapter 5

Characters
Plot Summary

Lindon read the technique manual for the Heart of Twin Stars. The technique was a method of splitting one's core in two. Although Lindon considered this useless, he adopted the cycling method as it was slightly better than his old, Foundation level one. He went home and Kelsa found him to train. They discussed potential strategies for his fight, and Lindon suggested using the technique which inspired the Heart of Twin Stars. Called the Empty Palm, it was designed to disrupt an opponent's core using pure madra. Kelsa practiced on Lindon until she figured out the theory. Lindon took a break during which Kelsa pointed out how much stronger the spirit fruit had made him. Lindon practiced the Empty Palm on Kelsa.

Four days later, the Wei clan gathered at the Hall of Elders for Lindon's fight. Lindon convinced Keth to fight him instead of Eri with the terms of trading blows, one at a time, until one of them lost their footing. Lindon's Empty Palm landed successfully, but Keth did not move. As a consequence, Lindon had to hit him a second time and conceded the duel as a consequence. Keth was enraged, Jaran further mocked him. When Keth attempted to attack Jaran, the First Elder used a powerful technique to subdue him. Lindon determined that the First Elder's power was what he wanted to gain.

Chapter 6

Characters
Plot Summary

Jaran reprimanded Lindon for risking his life and complimented him on his bravery. He explained to Lindon that the Empty Palm was useless without pure madra, and advised that Lindon follow up on his advantage. After considering several possibilities, he decided to go to the First Elder and ask for a prize of some kind. The elder discussed a scroll from the Heaven's Glory School requesting assistance with recent abduction of students. They changed to discussing the Seven-Year Festival. Lindon pointed out that he would bring honor to the Wei Clan by winning in the exhibition match against a Copper, convincing the First Elder to allow him to study the Path of the White Fox.

Suriel arrived in Cradle, and her Presence suggested several possible purposes. She considered the search for Ozriel and decided to try solving a problem, eventually settling on stopping an ascended sacred artist from taking over Sacred Valley.

Chapter 7

Characters
Plot Summary

Lindon focuses harder on training for the Seven-Year Festival. During one of his training sessions with Kelsa, she begins advancing to Iron. He gets his parents, who run with him to Kelsa. Lindon is struck by madra rippling out from Kelsa and experiences hallucinations. Kelsa confirms that she successfully advanced, and the Wei clan celebrates that night.

Later, Lindon lies his way into the arena for the festival. After examining the arena, he tracks down remnant hornets in the woods. He offers them madra in exchange for waiting to assist him in the festival, which they agree to. Lindon returns to the arena and started to bury the jar of hornets when his mother arrives.

Chapter 8

Characters
Plot Summary

Lindon's mother explains that the arena staff reported his entry. She tells him to finish filling his hole and talks about how the Li clan purchased a fragment of a stone tablet which may be able to perform direct spatial transportation. She also says they may have been hunting remnants with spatial abilities in an attempt to control space using madra, despite this supposedly being impossible. Seisha is concerned that the Li Soulsmiths seem to believe it is possible despite this.

Suriel's Presence provides information on the Seven-Year Festival. Each clan puts forward their best appearances, especially the hosts, who are the Wei clan this year.

Chapter 9

Characters
Plot Summary

The Foundation fights for the Festival were soon to start. Lindon's nerves took over when he realized representatives from each of the Schools were there to watch. Each of Lindon's family members visits to encourage him, and he wins easily despite jeers from the crowd.

Seisha takes one of her assistants to follow Li clan elders who left and sent another to report to the First Elder. She finds Li Irons and Jades using a complicated script. When it finishes, Li Markuth stands in the center and talks with a Li elder. He asks whether the Dreadgods have returned to Sacred Valley before determining they must not have. The Li present Markuth with a gold badge, and he says he is far more advanced than Gold. Markuth decides that he will announce himself immediately. Before Seisha can do anything, Markuth is next to her and she accepts her death.

Chapter 10

Characters
Plot Summary

Lindon wins the Foundation stage competition easily. The Wei Patriarch congratulates him and suggests that he leave without fighting the exhibition match due to complaints from Heaven's Glory. After a brief discussion, Lindon refuses. As a consequence, the Patriarch sets the match to begin immediately against Wei Jin Amon, with Lindon already strained from his previous matches. Kelsa asks him to let her fight in his place, but he refuses. The Patriarch asks him once more to concede, and Lindon refuses again. Before the match begins, Li Markuth arrives, looking for the Wei Patriarch. Everyone falls to their knees in deference to Markuth, who kills the Patriarch as revenge toward the Wei clan's founder. He declares his intention to take Sacred Valley as his territory and invites all who oppose him to attack. Li Markuth deposits two heads from his bag, and Lindon sees the head of his mother. The Jades conferred and Lindon began to wonder if his Empty Palm could affect Markuth. As the Jades approached Markuth, Lindon decided to die with them despite the low chance he accomplishes anything. He lands his Empty Palm which does nothing and lands in the dirt, his legs torn from his torso. He looked at Kelsa, who was crying, and Jaran, who was watching the fight, then died.

Chapter 11

Characters
Plot Summary

Suriel watches the Festival, noticing Lindon and reviewing his history and fate. She saw that he would defeat Amon, study a path, and reach Copper. Many years later he would reach Iron with his wife and children before dying from a Dreadgod attack. When Markuth arrives at the Festival, Suriel prepares to descend when she sees Lindon attacking and dying. Although she had intended to freeze time and retrieve Markuth, this angers her enough that she decides to intimidate him first.

Lindon returns to life and experienced time pausing and reversing, reviving those who died fighting Markuth. Markuth unfreezes, and pleads to be left alone. Suriel appears to Lindon's awe. Markuth asks for a trial, and Suriel's presence informs him that he will be imprisoned until his trial before the Court of Seven. Markuth manages to attack her while being sucked into a portal, which doesn't affect Suriel in the slightest. He is sucked into the portal screaming. Suriel turns to Lindon and has him stand. He does so, noticing he has been completely healed. She explains to him that she has reversed the events of the day and will soon return time to immediately before he arrived. He asks if he could keep his memories, and she says it would be easy. He then asks for her to tell him his destiny, and she shows him the same details she saw before as well as Kelsa becoming Jade and his father committing suicide. He is distraught to realize his home will be destroyed, and asks Suriel how he can prevent that fate. Suriel takes him, invisible, to see the most powerful people in the world, including the Ninecloud Court, Sha Miara, Northstrider, and the Eight-Man Empire. She tells him he has 20 or 30 years before the disaster and that the one thing all the powerful sacred artists have in common is that they are dedicated. He reaffirms his commitment, and she tells him that he will need to leave so he can rise past Gold. She tells him that to leave Sacred Valley he should seek out Yerin at Heaven's Glory. Finally, she asks him once more if he wants to remember or forget his time with Suriel, and he chooses to remember. Time reverses, and Suriel gives Lindon a glass marble as her token. Finally, she leaves and his fight against Amon is about to begin.

Chapter 12

Characters
Plot Summary

Suriel's Presence reports on the four holy peaks in Sacred Valley. The peaks are Yoma Mountain, Mount Venture, Greatfather, and Mount Samara, each of which is home to a different school.

Lindon shouts to Elder Whitehall, asking for another chance to prove himself. He asks to be sent to the school in Amon's place if he wins. Despite Sairus objecting, the Heaven's Glory representative agrees. As the match begins, Lindon runs for his jar of hornets, and frees them when Amon attacks. He disarms Amon and smacks him with the spear. Amon tries to speak, and Lindon pushes him out of the arena. The Patriarch is furious and Whitehall mocks the Wei clan. Although the Patriarch says he will punish Lindon, Whitehall refuses and says they will take him in as long as he can meet the standards of the school.

The rest of the Seven-Year Festival passes, with Kelsa becoming the highest ranking Iron. Lindon muses on how he would not be seeing his family for years and has tearful goodbyes.

Elder Whitehall and two Heaven's Glory disciples wait for Lindon with a carriage, and when he arrived they had him drive to Mount Samara. When they arrived, Whitehall told Lindon and the other disciples that they would have to take a special path up the mountain as a test. Whitehall brought them to the stairs, called the Trial of Glorious Ascension, which had clouds of light obscuring dangerous Remnants. Whitehall offers them to chance to give up their spot and return to their clans, which Lindon ignores. Whitehall then explains that if they reach the top before sundown, they will be allowed to choose a reward from the Lesser Treasure Hall. After Whitehall and the disciples started up the stairs, Lindon left, knowing he would need to find a different way.

Chapter 13

Characters
Plot Summary

Knowing he couldn't make it through the trial, Lindon runs back to the carriage and rolls around in the dirt to look worse. Lindon believes that someone will come down to bring the carriage up shortly. He waits two hours before rising and seeing a Copper Heaven's Glory disciple. He lies about being an herb collector delivering to Heaven's Glory who was attacked and robbed as well as about being a Copper. Lindon tricks the disciple into taking him up the mountain in the carriage.

Whitehall muses on his past before speaking with a disciple. She reports on the death of the Sword Sage and says that Yerin is still in hiding. Whitehall remembers the Sword Sage's skill as a refiner and how he had laughed at them for asking to purchase ingredients. He wants to dispel the Sword Sage's remnant and claim the treasures for himself. As Whitehall wonders how long the disciples would take, Lindon arrives on foot. Whitehall kicks Lindon and accused him of cheating, to which Lindon points out that he was told to climb using all his resources. Whitehall notices watching disciples and gives Lindon a token to the Lesser Treasure Hall.

Chapter 14

Characters
Plot Summary

Lindon had ridden the carriage most of the way before climbing the last hundred yards. A disciple leads him to the Lesser Treasure Hall where he met Elder Rahm. Lindon looks around the hall, looking at several tempting treasures. Eventually Rahm started showing him some standouts until he found a White Fox boundary formation, seven banners with a script that will place enemies in illusions. He takes these, thinking that they will help him from now until after he leaves the valley and remind him of his family. Lindon leaves and sees Kazan Ma Daret, staring at Lindon with rage.

Chapter 15

Characters
Plot Summary

Daret accuses Lindon of dishonoring him, and Rahm asks for an explanation. Lindon slips away and sets up his boundary flags, then comes back to Daret explaining how Shet died on the steps. Lindon challenges Daret to a supervised duel, and runs for the boundary flags once it begins. He manages to trick Daret into entering the boundary, incapacitating him and winning the duel. Rahm disciplines Daret, and Lindon goes to get his stipend of advancement materials, hearing about the dangerous wilds outside Sacred Valley in the process. Daret attacks and steals the materials, and another disciple takes Lindon to the Medicine Hall. He lays down near several patients discussing their fight against Yerin and asks for information.

Chapter 16

Characters
Plot Summary

The injured disciple explains how dangerous Yerin is and where she last was. Lindon is given a pill to help his healing process. Lindon cycles through the night to prepare to find Yerin.

Elder Whitehall meets with the rest of the Heaven's Glory Jades.

Chapter 17

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Chapter 18

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Chapter 19

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Chapter 20

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Epilogue

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