Chapter Summaries

Rorschach developed a ray spell that combined aether vibration with disintegration, then visited Professor Poincare and Kano. He left with a magic-array design and learned he might soon have to teach basic alchemy, a requirement he had forgotten.

• Rorschach tested different spell traits and found that high-frequency aether vibrations disrupted magic and objects when conducted through a ray.
• Rorschach completed Rorschach's Minor Disintegration, adjusted its mana ratios to shatter a target, and judged that it would struggle against heavily protected enchantments.
• Rorschach left the Practice Room and received a copied magic-array design from Professor Poincare, who praised his talent and his contribution to research on the elf totem.
• Rorschach visited Kano's laboratory and suggested that Kano wear a mask for his spring sneezing, so Kano used an Air Filtration Bubble instead.
• Rorschach showed Kano his device design, but Kano told him to wait for project approval and said High Master Valuana might have him teach basic alchemy by the end of the month.

Rorschach began teaching basic alchemy at Valuana Higher Normal College, using flame-color experiments to show students that impressive transformations did not require magic. The students grew engaged, and the chapter ended with one asking whether alchemy could achieve things magic could not.

• Kano moved up Rorschach’s thesis proposal defense and reminded him to prepare lessons and materials for his alchemy class.
• Rorschach arrived at Valuana Higher Normal College and found Spellcaster Snow and an elderly former soldier auditing his class.
• Rorschach demonstrated flame-color reactions with copper chloride, potassium chloride, and boric acid solutions, but the students initially watched in silence.
• Louis volunteered after explaining that students could not use magic, and he changed the flame’s color with Rorschach’s guidance.
• The students became eager to participate, and Rorschach explained that alchemy could let non-Spellcasters accomplish things comparable to magic.
• A student asked whether alchemy could accomplish things magic could not, while Spellcaster Snow and the elderly auditor listened for Rorschach’s answer.

Rorschach taught a class on alchemy and explained how ordinary workers and mages together made airships possible. After class, Snow revealed that the elderly visitor was General Vilar, a once-famous commander whose struggling Artillery Academy had brought its instructors to seek work.

• Rorschach used an airship diagram to show his students that its lift and propulsion did not rely on magic, while mages helped protect it from danger.
• Snow confirmed that magic could not make twenty tons of material float, and Rorschach urged the students to value the shared achievements of spellcasters and ordinary people.
• Rorschach began his formal lecture on alchemy, then dismissed the class when the clock played its musical bell.
• After the students left, Rorschach asked Snow about the elderly visitor, who identified him as General Vilar, a famed commander under King Charles XIV.
• Snow explained that Vilar had brought instructors from the underfunded Artillery Academy to find work, after the kingdom repeatedly reduced its military forces.

Rorschach took a spring stroll through Valuana and noticed growing poverty and unemployment. He left for a restaurant while Maxim rallied unpaid factory workers and offered to represent them in court.

• Rorschach bought a copy of the Guide to Spending Gold and recognized Thor among its compilers.
• A kiosk owner warned Rorschach that unemployed workers were gathered near a bankrupt factory.
• Maxim urged the workers to seek justice through the courts rather than wait for the factory owner at the site.
• Maxim offered to represent the workers for free and pursue their unpaid wages.
• Rorschach hired a carriage to the Golden Crown Tavern.

Rorschach ate at the Golden Crown Tavern, where he learned about a spring downturn in Valuana’s stock market and the growing number of unemployed laborers. The conversation turned to low labor costs when a partner of the Baldorom Merchant Guild joined the table.

• Rorschach gave a beggar his spare change and a glass bottle outside the Golden Crown Tavern, and the beggar recommended the tavern’s meat sauce aspic.
• Rorschach shared a table with a stock manager, who explained that nobles were withdrawing funds for spring farming and that small companies had collapsed while leading stocks held firm.
• Rorschach ate oysters, foie gras beef paste, roasted turbot, earth apples, and quince tart while discussing the market downturn with the stock manager.
• The stock manager said failed workshops had left many laborers in Valuana and increased the Sans-culottes population on the outskirts.
• A dusty traveler joined the table, identified himself as a mid-level partner of the Baldorom Merchant Guild, and asked about Valuana’s low labor costs.

Rorschach followed Hasse, a Baldorom Merchant Guild partner, into an alley and found him being beaten by thugs. Rorschach used magic to disable the attackers and seal off the alley, leaving their fate unclear.

• Rorschach waited for the trench-coated merchant guild man to leave the restaurant, then followed him and two burly men into an alley.
• Rorschach overpaid for his tea before chasing the group and hearing Hasse being robbed and beaten.
• Hasse regretted being sent away from the guild’s important business and tried to endure the beating without provoking the thugs.
• Rorschach emerged from a strange mist and dislocated the limbs of the thugs who attacked Hasse.
• Rorschach trapped the fleeing thug in the ground and raised walls at both ends of the alley.

Rorschach rescued Hassan from four thugs, questioned them about their drugs and the Rat King, then buried them in the alley. He healed Hassan and prepared to pursue the Rat King’s drug trade, while Hassan mistakenly treated the rescue as a chance to scold his bodyguards on Rorschach’s behalf.

• Rorschach searched the four subdued thugs and learned they carried anesthetic headcloths and powder bought from Old Red, the Rat King, through a bar contact.
• Rorschach questioned the thugs, and one offered to guide him to Old Red in exchange for being released.
• Rorschach introduced himself to Hassan, healed him, and learned the thugs had beaten a beggar with a soda bottle before dumping him in the Sene River.
• Rorschach buried the four thugs, collected their drugs and supplies, and told Hassan to wake his bodyguards.
• Hassan explained the incident to his bodyguards, scolded them, and asked Rorschach whether he was satisfied, leaving Rorschach confused.

Rorschach brought suspicious drugs to Kano, who agreed to have them analyzed and report the findings if they pointed to the Mother Earth cult. He then met Hasse, learned where Bart was stationed and what political role he sought, and agreed to help Hasse pursue a business opportunity with Valuana's Alchemy Department.

• Rorschach gave the Powdered Medicine and the "Charming Scarf" to the Alchemy Department and told Kano about the attack and the substances he had found.
• Rorschach suspected the "Rat King" might be connected to the Mother Earth cult, and Kano arranged for the Alchemy Department to analyze the powder and liquid.
• Kano told Rorschach that his thesis defense was scheduled for nine in the morning on the first day of next month.
• Hasse gave Rorschach Bavarian tableware and said Bart was stationed in Würzburg, where he planned to run for a Duma Alliance representative seat.
• Rorschach learned that Hasse wanted to import Purple Soda and other products made with the Alchemy Department's involvement, and he offered to introduce him to its mages.

Rorschach guided Hasse of the Baldorom Merchant Guild through the Hercules beverage factory and helped arrange a letter of intent to build soda factories in the Empire. As Rorschach considered his future beyond the Tower of Stars, he began writing to Bart, while a group in star-marked cloaks surrounded Old Red's tavern.

• Rorschach brought Hasse to the Purple Soda factory, where Pierre Neussingen welcomed them and showed him the operation.
• Rorschach, Pierre, and Hasse agreed on a letter of intent for joint-venture soda factories in the Empire, with Rorschach receiving shares and consulting fees.
• Rorschach reflected on leaving the Tower of Stars and considered eventually building a Magic Tower of his own with the Baldorom Merchant Guild as a possible partner.
• Rorschach began writing a letter to Bart after learning from Hasse where Bart was stationed.
• More than ten people in dark cloaks surrounded Old Red's tavern, while one of them restrained a thug nearby.

The Mage Guild and Order Church raided the bar to capture those behind the hallucinogenic medicine, while Old Red prepared to bless his latest batch through the Rat King. When the intruders exposed themselves, Old Red leapt into the well and unleashed the creatures below.

• The Mage Guild, Order Church, and Security Team coordinated an operation against the bar, with the Guild and Church leading the raid.
• The infiltrators disabled the bar's alarms and split into teams to search the cellar and second floor.
• Old Red prepared his medicine and poured sweet wine into a chained well to quiet the creature inside.
• After sensing intruders, Old Red recognized them as mages or Church agents and dodged their sudden attack.
• Old Red jumped into the well, and multiple Rotten Hands climbed out as his voice joined their roar.

The church, Mages, and armored warriors fought the Rat King in Old Red’s ruined bar while its poison turned people across the streets into attackers. The Clock of Order ended the battle, and the Alchemy Department revealed that the armored warriors were controlled test units as Snow prepared to test a magical cavalry version.

• The Mages and Grey Robe Knights attacked the Rat King, but its poisonous green fog weakened Odysseus and threatened the team.
• Two Star Robe warriors in concealed full plate armor rescued Odysseus and fought the monster while the team contained its fog.
• A priest used a Holy Relic to wound the Rat King, but the monster defiled its light and summoned more flesh worms.
• The Rat King's roar drove drug users and other victims into attacks across the streets until the Clock of Order rang out, dispersing the fog and breaking its influence.
• The armored warriors cut through the Rat King as a pillar of white light destroyed it, and Joseph stopped the Clock of Order at the tower.
• At the Starlight Torch Tower, Snow learned that the Alchemy Department's controlled Unit Two had performed well and ordered the Star Robe Unit to retrieve the test units before testing Unit Three.

Rorschach assembled and tested his Transmutation Dust Collector, using a new Lagging Spell array to slow and contain the dust. The prototype worked without an explosion, and he discovered tiny blue crystals in the residue.

• Rorschach prepared the laboratory and worked with Snow and the Alchemy Department to install the collector's brass shell, ceramic linings, and Alchemical Ink system.
• Rorschach arranged protective and Lagging Spell arrays in the collector, then sealed the device and activated it.
• The Transmutation Dust emitted for three seconds and fell through the collector, decaying without causing an explosion after seventeen seconds.
• Rorschach examined the residue and found blue particles that crumbled into powder and released aether.

Rorschach defended his proposal to develop a device that converted Transmutation Dust into aether, but the panel became far more interested in the Blue Light Shield he demonstrated. He left unsure how the defense had gone, and Kano mistakenly thought Rorschach had strayed from the prepared presentation.

• Kano reassured Rorschach before the proposal defense and reminded him that the main goal was securing more funding.
• Rorschach presented his plan to develop a safer way to use Transmutation Dust as a powerful source of aether.
• Rorschach explained that his protective array could resist the mixed divine power in Transmutation Dust and demonstrated it with a hand shield.
• Ina attacked the shield with her seventh-circle Crown of Stars, and it absorbed all seven motes without harming Rorschach.
• The panel focused its remaining questions on the Blue Light Shield, and one mage invited Rorschach to publish a separate paper about it.
• Rorschach told Kano that the panel had focused on the wrong thing, while Kano worried that he had gone off-script.

Rorschach continued developing passivated Transmutation Dust and a mass-producible defensive shield while the research group discussed equipment and funding. After the meeting, Kano asked Rorschach and Paulina about their future plans.

• Rorschach found stable blue crystals that released aether when destroyed and considered whether they were passivated Transmutation Dust.
• Pascal arrived as a newly promoted junior mage, and Rorschach teased him into agreeing to treat the research group to a meal.
• Kano opened the group meeting, and the researchers discussed purchasing aether-measuring instruments and obtaining mithril for new equipment.
• Rorschach presented his Blue Light Shield core, which he planned to license for mass production, and Kano offered him the chance to mentor two apprentices.
• After the meeting, Kano kept Rorschach and Paulina behind and asked about their plans for the future.

Kano warned Rorschach that the Empire and Holy Kingdom might eventually go to war, and urged him to consider where he would live and establish a Magic Tower. The chapter ended with the Mage Guild secretly preparing to support southern Mages and Kano wondering whose war was coming.

• Paulina asked Kano to remain at the Tower of Stars as a teacher, and he recommended that she work for the Mage Guild instead.
• Kano told Rorschach that the Mage Guild believed the Empire was preparing for war with the Holy Kingdom, explaining how imperial expansion and internal tensions could drive the Empire south.
• Rorschach said he would leave the Holy Kingdom if war broke out, while Kano proposed Guild support for establishing his own Magic Tower in a southern state.
• Rorschach said he hoped to remain independent of the Empire and its emperor, and Kano agreed that he was a Mage first.
• Kano recalled a secret Arcane Council meeting where several Magic Towers backed support for southern autonomy and for promising young Mages such as Rorschach.

Rorschach taught his students about conservation of matter through a White Phosphorus experiment and corrected their unsafe laboratory practices. After class, Instructor Druo stopped him with several matters to discuss.

• Rorschach had his students weigh a closed system before and after burning White Phosphorus to demonstrate that its total mass remained unchanged.
• Batis accidentally ignited White Phosphorus with rough paper and reached for water to extinguish the fire, but Rorschach stopped him and put it out with a frost spell.
• Rorschach assigned the class lab reports and fire-safety questions, giving Batis extra work for his dangerous mistake and Andre a reminder about using the balance.
• Rorschach considered teaching conservation of energy and imagined how aether-powered industrial magic could let people without magic power operate or design magic arrays.
• Instructor Druo stopped Rorschach after class and said he had several things to tell him.

Rorschach was summoned to answer questions about his student Andre, who had accidentally set a textbook on fire and awakened magical ability. After rejecting the School Directors’ demand to change his lessons, Rorschach learned Kano would support him in building his own Magic Tower and recruiting apprentices.

• Druo told Rorschach to prepare a midterm exam paper and collect two months of unpaid salary before sending him to a meeting about a student.
• The School Directors questioned Rorschach about Andre, who had set a Grammar Class textbook on fire and appeared to have awakened magical talent.
• Rorschach refused the School Directors’ order to revise his lesson plans and left after they demanded a review.
• Rorschach visited Kano, who explained that the Guild would frighten Andre away from pursuing magic but would let Rorschach continue teaching as before.
• Kano encouraged Rorschach to build his own Magic Tower and promised the Guild’s full support for recruiting apprentices, even those without magical talent.

Rorschach investigated how Blue Light Barrier sections affected his Transmutation Dust experiments and decided to redesign the Stasis Magic Circle. After a long evening in the laboratory, he received an ornate letter from Bart announcing his wedding.

• Kano urged Rorschach to consider building a Magic Tower in the Empire's south, but Rorschach said he would finish his current work and inspect potential locations first.
• Rorschach's experiments showed that adding a fifth Blue Light Barrier section reduced conversion efficiency because the Transmutation Dust spent less time in the tower.
• Rorschach decided to improve the Stasis Magic Circle and considered researching how Energy Deprivation and other spells might guide or absorb aether.
• An Alchemy Department worker reminded Rorschach that the Steam Engine was due for maintenance, so Rorschach packed up and returned to the Tower of Stars.
• Rorschach received an ornate letter from Bart, who announced that he was getting married on the first day of May.

Rorschach learned that Bart was marrying Bavaria’s fifteen-year-old princess and planned to attend the May wedding while scouting sites for a Magic Tower. Richard received the same invitation, but his Chief Mage forbade him from contacting Bart or attending, and burned the letters as Richard watched.

• Rorschach read Bart’s letter announcing his engagement to the youngest princess of Bavaria and inviting him to the May wedding.
• Bart offered to have the merchant guild cooperate with the Hercules beverage factory, and Rorschach decided to use the trip to scout locations for a Magic Tower.
• Richard completed a strenuous swimming exercise and went to his teacher’s office, where the Chief Mage gave him Bart’s invitation and a letter from his father.
• Richard said he wanted to attend Bart’s wedding, but the Chief Mage ordered him to cut contact with Bart and burned both letters.
• Richard accepted the order and agreed to focus on training and studying toward becoming an Intermediate Mage.

Rorschach searched the archive for magic related to Energy Deprivation, found useful research on defensive spells, and discovered that restricted materials required an Archmage’s permission. He approached Professor Poincaré after class to ask for help.

• Rorschach searched the archive and borrowed a thesis on optimizing Force Wall deployment, finding ideas he could apply to his own magic.
• Rorschach examined the archive’s older publications and reflected on how spell research had shifted toward more specialized and defensive magic.
• Rorschach tried to handle a book in the restricted section, but its runes inflicted a burning sensation on his mind.
• The tower spirit warned Rorschach that access to the seventh-circle-and-above materials required permission from an Archmage.
• Rorschach checked the class schedule, found Professor Poincaré teaching, and waited until class ended to ask if he had time.