The dark sisters are devasted by the loss of their master and lord, the dark god Nimponin. They find a piece of the dark crystal with several more minor chips. In their dreams, they are told to build a Shakari from the stones lying on the ground where the crystal has struck the planet. They do as they are told, and when it is completed, they send the Shoseyani through it, and they come out as a Shomatani, a dark-skilled warrior. They open a rift in our realm and have their warriors devastate a tribe of people called the Gonakutonan as they look for more dark crystals throughout their land.

Kamiyobo, the Eternal Goddess of our realm, enters the dark realm to save the Shoseyani, and after she decimates the Shomatani, she finds a piece of the dark crystal and takes it with her. As she tries to escape the Kurosagasu, the rift between her realm and the dark realm, she loses it, and it is drawn back into the vacuum of the swirling vortex.

Nova has replaced Bernadette, the commander of her Elite after she failed her three times. Humiliated by her failures, she takes her own life. Jessica, a young Elite, is appointed as her new commander and strives not to fail her High Priestess. Nova continues to search for her Chosen after her first Juliette is killed, saving her from an assassin's arrow.

She finds Victoria as she races back to her hometown to seek revenge on her brother for selling her into slavery. She accepts Nova’s proposal and journeys to the dark realm to be trained by the two sisters, Mia and Mae. Upon her return, Nova sends her to a small town to capture a young girl.

William, Samuel, and Alivia continue to seek out the other three Gifted, and they find a young girl named Brianna who has had her family and friends murdered by the dark forces, and the town she has lived in is destroyed. She manages to escape and is befriended by Alivia, and the two of them vow to get her revenge.

Nova finds Elizabeth, a young girl who has had her family taken from her by greedy men seeking the Thill family fortune. With her family gone, she accepts Nova as her Mistress and journeys to the dark realm to train in the dark arts. When she comes back, Nova has now found two of her Chosen and continues to search for the other two.

William sends Alivia and Brianna on a mission to rescue a young girl from the clutches of dark forces that are going to sacrifice her to the dark gods. They rescue her, and she tells them that her name is Chantelle, and though she is Gifted, she does not commit herself wholly.

As they travel through Sadenkiwa, William comes upon a young girl who can call forth the mana of fire, but she is hateful and vindictive, and William is forced to Still her. The five of them continue to search for the fourth Gifted, and they come across her as they hear rumors of strange beasts attacking the young women in a town. The girl is about to be killed by a creature of the dark realm when the three Gifted rescue her. They introduce her to William and Samuel, and she becomes their fourth Gifted.

William and Samuel take the four of them to Noyarata to train them in the ways of fighting with weapons and the manas. They excel in their training, and the four girls are brought to the Guild of Blades to be rated in their fighting skills. They overcome obstacles from the male students, and each receives their blade rank.

Charlotte, a young woman from the lands of Samuree, which are far to the south, leaves her clan and ventures north. She befriends an old man and is about to be accosted by a vengeful young woman when Nova, Victoria, and Charlotte appear and save her from the young girl. She agrees to become a Chosen and is taken to the dark realm to train and learn.

After she is gone, the three are enjoying a festival when Nova suddenly senses William, Samuel, and the four girls. As they leave the festival, Nova pursues them, and a fight breaks out between Nova and William.

Brianna sees the woman who destroyed her life calling upon her mana and attacking the three of them. She draws too much, and as she releases her wrath upon the three of them, the recoil of drawing too much is too great for her to handle, and she knocks herself to unconsciousness. Severely hurt, Samuel picks her up, though Nova and her two Chosen escape. William calls forth a passageway, and they enter Noyarata, not knowing Brianna's status.

William and Samuel now have their four Gifted but do not know how severely Brianna has hurt herself. William is concerned that she has Stilled herself, and will not recover. Nova has three of her Chosen and needs a fourth. Will she wait to find the fourth, or will she begin moving her army away from the Barrens to devastate the kingdoms to reach the sacred valley?