Future Arrangements

Fran arrived at the upper level of the Mage Tower, at Iris's room. As soon as she pushed open the door, she saw Iris sitting at a table, then extending her hand to Fran.

"Come in, please have a seat."

Fran shook her head, feeling that Iris seemed to know when she appeared outside the door, but she didn't think about it too much, since it was normal for a High-Order Mage to have this skill.

Fran strode over to the chair, and as soon as she sat down, she saw a silver trophy on the table.

It was a wide-mouthed cup facing upwards, Fran could even see some silvery liquid inside, though the liquid seemed unable to leave the cup.

Beneath the cup, Fran saw her name, ' Lai, ' written on the Magic Element Exchange Platform.

"So this is the Silver Alchemy Award trophy I received, but why is it only my 'name' on it? Where is the mage Philip who led the project?"

On the day that the mage Philip said he might be able to win the Silver Alchemy Award for this achievement, Fran went back and carefully looked up the details of the award.

This is an award within the Alchemy School, recognizing all achievements of Alchemy School below the third rank.

The Society President of the Northern Lands Society is a sorcerer of the Alchemy School, so it is normal for Alchemy School content to appear in the School she founded. Therefore, it is normal for her achievement to qualify for the Silver Alchemy Award.

Furthermore, Fran's achievement fully met all the requirements for winning the Silver Alchemy Award. Later, Philip told me that her achievement was the strongest contender for this year's Silver Alchemy Award, and that other achievements paled in comparison.

The only situation where Fran didn't receive the award was if the judges went mad and refused to award it to the mages of the Northern Lands Society...

But later Philip said he would contact someone to resolve the issue, so Fran didn't need to worry. Fran didn't need to worry either; she was just a First Order Mage, where would she get the power to influence the judges' choices?

So Fran didn't pay much attention to this matter after that. If she got it, great; she heard there were some rewards too. If not, so be it.

Fran was definitely happy when she saw the trophy, after all, she had heard that the reward for winning this award was very high.

What puzzled Fran was why Philip's name wasn't on the trophy; from what she knew, both names should have been written on it in this situation.

"Um, why isn't Master Philip's name on it?" Fran asked directly.

After hearing Fran speak, Iris didn't answer immediately. Instead, she paused in her seat for a moment, then asked in return:

What's wrong with your voice?

Iris keenly noticed the change in Fran's voice; as Fourth Order Mage, she was very sensitive to any shifts in Fran's voice.

Although the voice was still the same, it now possessed a unique quality.

When Fran faced Iris's probing gaze, she chose to tell the truth.

"I used the Battle Merit from the last mission to exchange for the ' Song of the Deep Sea ' modification sequence from the Transmutation School at the Battle Mage Corps."

Iris suddenly realized and said:

"I see, but you just exchanged your Battle Merit like that..." Iris paused, then said:

"It seems you really want to learn magic from other School; this idea isn't just a lie..."

Then Iris turned around and began to answer Fran's question.

"Your Paper on Refining White Star Sand didn't win the Silver Alchemy Award," Iris said, a hint of unease in her voice. "The Silver Alchemy Award went to your paper on the Fireball Paper."

Upon hearing the news, Fran was stunned for a moment; she truly hadn't expected that another of her Paper would win the award.

Although she had heard that Alchemy School were also researching mathematical subjects, she never imagined that it would be another Paper of hers that won the award.

In addition, the current situation seemed a bit strange to her, as it was somewhat unbelievable that one of her achievements had replaced another award that she thought she would win.

"This is your reward for receiving this award," Iris suddenly said, interrupting Fran's thoughts as she was lost in Fran.

"What is this?" Fran looked at the silver object in her hand. It was covered with dense alchemical procedures written in very small characters, which Fran had to strain her eyes to read.

"This is a reward I secured for you. Don't you like the unique knowledge and spells of other School?"

"I specially secured for you a secret Arts within the Alchemy School, a Arts that even I don't know."

Iris spoke slowly, explaining that she had indeed specifically sought out this second-tier Arts for Fran, a Arts called [Heart of Quicksand].

To cast this spell, one must first go through the special alchemical process described above to extract the corresponding alchemical product. Then, this product can be used in conjunction with the appropriate spell to release [Heart of Quicksand].

After casting this spell, everything around will be covered by a sticky quicksand that can bind enemies in one place, preventing them from moving, or even suffocate them directly through the quicksand.

This Arts is quite ancient, but in the present day, it is not considered outdated magic.

"Thank you Society President." Fran expressed her gratitude first. This second-tier spell was indeed what she needed right now, as she didn't have many second-tier spells on her at the moment.

She originally planned to go to the Battle Mage Corps, find Zane first, and ask him to allow her to exchange for second-tier spells. Then she would use her Battle Merit to exchange for a few more second-tier spells.

This second-tier spell not only relieved Fran's immediate crisis, but just by looking at the alchemical process described above, Fran felt that the reward she had received was considerable.

Fran reached for the trophy, placed it in front of her, and then heard Iris say:

"There's one more thing I need to tell you."

Fran nodded and looked at Iris, Iris then spoke.

"Here's the thing: the Silver Alchemy Award has an award ceremony, but I declined on your behalf because you can't show your face in public right now."

It wasn't that Iris had a problem with the Paper for which Fran won the award; rather, she wouldn't allow Fran to accept the award regardless of which Paper won.

The situation is far too sensitive right now. If Fran were to go to the Alchemy School now, she worries whether Fran would ever come back.

This doesn't even take into account Fran Harbor's status as a disciple; just considering the current situation at the Northern Academy, she felt that Fran might not be able to handle it.

"It's good that you refused; I didn't really want to go anyway."

Fran had no objection to this. Putting aside the fact that she'd already received the reward, why would she bother going to claim it?

Besides, it's not just the sensitive issue of her current status; she's also very busy right now and simply can't find the time to accept an award in this world with its underdeveloped transportation.

She estimated that the round trip would take at least a month, during which time she could accomplish many things, even mastering a second-tier spell.

Then, as if she had hesitated for a long time, Iris rubbed her hands on the table for a while before speaking.

"In six months, there will be a Gold Alchemy Award selection. If your Paper is selected, I will personally take you there."

Fran's eyes widened, and she didn't react for a moment before quickly asking.

"Is it really necessary to attend this Gold Alchemy Award?"

Although the Gold Alchemy Award sounds impressive—after all, alchemy is a discipline in itself, and adding "golden" before it suggests that this award is a very prestigious one within the Alchemy School— it's certainly a prestigious award.

However, Fran's first reaction upon hearing this was reluctance to go. She was still somewhat confused and didn't quite understand the Alchemy School's attitude towards her paper, "Mathematical Analysis of Fireball."

And in that time, Fran could also get a lot of things done; she still had her sights set on that territory in the Antir Region.

"If you're really nominated, you absolutely have to go." Iris's attitude was very firm; no one knew better than her the prestige of this award within the Alchemy School.

The previous silver alchemy was just a small-scale operation, and its influence was limited to the Alchemy School of mages of the third rank and below.

However, the Gold Alchemy Award is different; it's an award that all alchemists from Alchemy School pay attention to.

It can be said that as long as you win this award, you will be able to establish yourself among all Alchemy School, and even people in Alchemist groups outside the Alliance will know who you are.

Even Iris herself has never won this award. She has been nominated several times, but she has always been a runner-up and has not won anything.

One reason for this is that Iris's Talent for research is slightly less than her Talent for magic.

After learning that Fran had a chance of winning the Gold Alchemy Award, her feelings were extremely complicated.

Subjectively speaking, she didn't quite agree with Fran's theory of studying magic, but the facts proved that many mages agreed with Fran's theory.

This put her in a somewhat awkward position, but in the end she chose to take it in stride and not think about whether Fran would receive the Gold Alchemy Award.

Moreover, if Fran actually wins this award, it will be of great benefit to the entire Northern Lands Society.

When Fran saw the unyielding expression on Iris's face, she knew that Iris had no choice in this matter.

"Okay, I'll go with you then."