A Special Scene
After Fran submits her application, she will have to wait for a while to get a reply, and there is even a possibility that there is a problem with her materials and she will have to take them back to rewrite.
But all of this needs time to prove itself, and Fran is using this time to make final preparations for her trip to Antir.
First of all, she hasn't interfered much with the Lord of Radiance's request for her to develop her Sect.
She has instructed Aila and the others to conduct their missionary work within the Snow Bear Territory and not to disturb the territories of other lords.
Although all those lords combined might not be enough for her to fight alone, she has no time to absorb those people in the Northern Territory.
She only wanted these people from the Northern Territory as her initial personnel, and then she would take them to Antir Region, which was Fran's envisioned missionary location.
To reiterate, the land in the Northern Territory is in a terrible state; compared to that, the land in Antir Region is far more valuable.
However, this matter will have to wait until the Alliance issues its approval notice, and she will have to wait for some time no matter what.
During this time, Fran began to do something she had planned to do since returning from the Spirit Realm.
That means pushing the level of Runology up another level.
In the Spirit Realm, she encountered many Proxy of the Deity. Although when those Proxy used the Deity ' Divine Power, she did not see the face of the Goddess of Ocean Currents like she did when she met Heather.
However, she can actively use Star Gazing Art to see the full appearance of those Deity.
This was a feeling she had after encountering so many Proxy of the Deity.
This put her plan to find those Deity and Divine Statue on hold; she no longer needed to look for Divine Statue.
Fran arrived at the warehouse she had rented, which had become her designated location for conducting magical experiments.
She took out the materials specifically for engraving runes that she had purchased from within the Northern Lands Society and placed them on the table.
Instead of immediately using her Star Gazing Art to examine the appearances of the Deity, she remembered something else.
That was about the Sun Domain. She knew that the Gods all hated the sun, otherwise they wouldn't have gone to such great lengths to destroy the Sun Domain.
The sun, so feared by the Gods, is like a being without self-awareness, even though Zali and some Sunflame Knight can obtain power similar to the sun.
Even her Panel has a trait called "Protection of the Sun," which is enough to show that the sun is at least on par with the Gods.
But for some reason, it seems that the sun itself doesn't care about the Spirit Realm and Material Realm; the fact that only one Sunflame Knight like her has been born every few hundred years is proof of this.
This piqued Fran's curiosity, and she thought of her own Star Gazing Art.
If I could see the image of the Goddess of Ocean Currents through Heather, could she then use her Star Gazing Art to see things about the sun?
Fran looked at her Star Gazing Art proficiency level on her Panel.
[Star Gazing Art (Mastered) (874/1000)]
She is now close to mastering Star Gazing Art, and she remembers that when she last saw the appearance of the Goddess of Ocean Currents, her Star Gazing Art proficiency increased by 100 points.
"I'll first level up my Star Gazing Art, then try using it to Star Gazing Art things related to the sun..."
Fran was well aware that using Star Gazing Art on the sun could be dangerous, but as a mage, she was very curious about it, especially now that she could try it.
She understood the dangers involved, so she specifically chose a place in the Material Realm protected by the Spirit Realm, planning to wait until her Star Gazing Art skills improved before making any moves...
"Let's observe what those Deity look like first."
Fran doesn't intend to observe all the appearances of these Deity; she plans to stop First Order of proficiency in Runology.
The first Deity she wanted to see was probably the Sky Dragon.
The ability to fly and possessing exceptional physical abilities were the defining characteristics of that Proxy.
She knew that the Sky Dragon was also a Deity with a large following on the continent.
It's just that the Sect that worship the Sky Dragon are also very far from the Alliance.
She chose to depict the Deity's image in order to obtain a piece of equipment that would allow her to fly, which is one of her few remaining flaws—she can't fly.
Fran understood that at the third tier, it was basically an air-to-air battle, and whoever was on the ground would be at a disadvantage.
This is a change brought about by an elevation in one's level of life.
By that time, it would be quite normal for Profession to jump 50 or 60 meters high, so fighting in the air would be a characteristic of Profession at the third tier and above.
Just as a second-tier Profession can be overwhelmed by First Order Profession, the problem with third-tier Profession is not simply a matter of numbers.
The agility and mobility gained upon reaching the third tier alone are enough to leave Second Order Profession User helpless.
Not to mention that Third Order Professional also have the most fundamental issue of life level. If second-tier Profession have no means to deal with it, then even if the physical body of Third Order Professional is shattered, it will not be able to kill the Third Order Professional.
Of course, flight ability also has levels among Third Order Professional. Some are like having wings, able to fly using the physical hardware of wings.
They are more agile than those Profession who can only glide through the air.
There are also Arts for leaping upwards through some means, but these flying abilities are actually inferior to those of Dragonkin.
For many Dragonkin, their wings are merely decorative; they actually use their own flight capabilities to fly.
This ability to fly allows Dragonkin to move in any direction in the air without any apparent reason, much like how you can fly by pressing up, down, left, or right in a video game.
As the most powerful flying creature among Dragonkin, the Sky Dragon's flight ability naturally surpasses all second-tier flying techniques...
Without hesitation, Fran conjured up an image of Harrison, the Proxy of the Sky Dragon, in her mind, and her Star Gazing Art guided her to look at Harrison's wings...
Then, she saw this scene.
A pure white Wyvern soared through the clouds, its terrifying speed causing the clouds to dissipate quite some time after it passed.
As the Wyvern continued to fly forward, Fran saw something very familiar in the clouds ahead.
It was an island floating in the sky, but it wasn't the Floating Isle of the Cult of the Sky Dragon Sect Fran had seen when she introduced it.
Below the island, blue inscriptions shone, layer upon layer, as if supporting the entire Floating Isle.
On the island, houses made of some kind of material are densely packed together.
In the center of the island stands a towering tower, resembling a sword thrust into the earth, with a small staff icon atop it—the symbol of the Alliance...
Fran recognized the island's origin almost instantly: the Alliance's Floating City.
But why did the Alliance's Floating City appear when she used her Star Gazing Art to observe the Sky Dragon?
Then, she saw the Sky Dragon pause slightly. In the end, it gave up rushing straight at him and continued flying to the right.
Just as the Sky Dragon moved to the right, Fran saw the tower on the Alliance's Floating City emitting a red light.
After that, the scene went dark, and Fran's consciousness returned to reality.
[You used the Star Gazing Art to observe the movements of a Deity. Star Gazing Art proficiency +100]
Fran sat in her chair, tapping lightly on the table, deep in thought about the scene she had just witnessed.
First of all, there is absolutely no mention of the Alliance's Floating City among all the related images of the Sky Dragon. If it did exist, she would have known about it.
Furthermore, the Sky Dragon is, after all, Deity from the Astral Realm; how could it possibly be associated with the Alliance?
Based on this, Fran made a very bold guess.
"The Sky Dragon has acquired a physical body in the Material Realm..."
The scene Fran just witnessed was actually seen in the Material Realm, specifically when the Sky Dragon passed by one of the Alliance's Floating City...
Fran sat in her chair and calmed herself down for a while. Although she knew the shocking news, all she could do now was know; she hadn't yet figured out what to do.
"Let's look at the appearances of the other Deity first."
Next, Fran selectively observed the appearances of the two Deity, the Elephant of Mountains and the Lord of Shadows.
She saw the former lying among the densely wooded mountains, blending into the landscape. It took Fran a while to finally see the shape of the Elephant of Mountains.
The latter was in a completely black palace with mirrored floors and walls, where she saw a black mass wandering around as if searching for something.
It has no specific shape; this black mass seems to be able to change at will.
Fran saw no further information in the images of the two Deity.
[Star Gazing Art (Mastery) (174/10000): You can now see some deeper things through this Arts.]
Fran glanced at the new description that appeared after mastering Star Gazing Art, then turned her gaze away.
"Now we can begin drawing the runes."
Fran took out a very soft piece of leather from the package on the table.
This was the leather from the body of a Second Order Demonic Beast in the Northern Territory, which Fran bought for only three Gold Coin.
Because this is a scrap of material used for crafting equipment, there's only such a small piece, it's not enough to make any equipment. Even a full set of First Order materials is much better than this piece.
Fran bought it to inscribe runes on it. When she tried to draw the runes for the Goddess of Ocean Currents before, she failed because the material was not strong enough.
So she specifically bought this piece of leather to carve the Deity runes she had acquired.
The Deity images Fran saw could definitely be used to create second-tier runes.
She took her Rune Pen and drew an arc on the leather.
[You've tried the same Ancient Rune again, this time avoiding material limitations. Runology Proficiency +10000]