Future Predicaments

[Profession: Transmutation Mage (Two Stars)...]

[Attributes: Constitution 40.7, Spirit 57.6]

[Arts:...]

[Trait: Transmutation Reflux (A portion of the Mental Power you use to maintain Modified Organ will be available for spellcasting; the exact percentage depends on the type of organ.)]

...]

Fran finally raised her Transmutation School mage Order to the second tier.

This is a unique advancement method belonging to the Transmutation School. By simply installing organs of the Order through various modification sequences, one's Order can also be raised.

Even so, this method of advancement is extremely difficult; only someone like Fran, with ample Mental Power, could advance so smoothly.

Otherwise, a normal First Order Transmutation School mage who wants to advance in this way would first need to consider how to gather enough Mental Power to successfully activate the transplanted organ.

"My constitution attribute only increased by this little bit. I thought equipping the Murloc's organs would at least increase it by one point... But it's alright."

As expected, the increase in mental attribute was reduced again. Fran estimated that if she were to add another second-tier mental attribute Profession, she would probably be able to reach her current normal Mental Power of 60 points.

Next, Fran saw the trait panel, the newly added spot.

"This is the only useless trait I acquired; of course, it might be a decent boost for mages from other Transmutation School."

Fran judged that this trait was completely useless to her.

This doesn't seem like [Mysterious Power], a trait that this Rune Warrior possesses, and the description above made her cautious and she hadn't used it.

Unlike the spell specializations Fran received when she advanced to the First Order Mage of various School of School, this was different; at least it slightly enhanced the effectiveness of Fran's spells.

The newly acquired [Transmutation Reflux] is an absolutely useless skill for Fran. She has [Blurry Shell], so as long as she waits for a while, her Mental Power will no longer be attached to her organs for maintenance.

Of course, if Fran were a newly promoted Second Order Mage who discovered that a portion of the Mental Power she used to maintain her organs could be used to cast spells, that would definitely be her reaction.

"Why didn't you come when you were in the First Order?"

The Transmutation School can cultivate and plunder the organs of those Magic Creature, inserting them into their own bodies to gain power.

However, maintaining each organ requires a portion of one's Mental Power, which is a real drawback.

Without Mental Power to sustain myself, I would die of organ failure in no time.

In the hands of some Transmutation School mages who lack organ planning, an extreme situation sometimes arises.

That is, a First Order Mage, after having many organs implanted, suddenly discovered that his Mental Power had been squeezed to the point that he was even weaker than an apprentice mage, and he couldn't even cast a single spell.

Although various organs can grant mages spell-like abilities, there isn't a large enough variety of spells to deal with different situations.

This can even affect the use of spell scrolls.

Many monks, once they reach this stage, find it difficult to do anything they want, because they may not be able to maintain their original organs properly. Even the organs of ordinary people require a small amount of Mental Power to maintain.

Will repeated organ replacement lead to organ deactivation? How can we ensure that ordinary organs with low consumption remain active in an environment already filled with extraordinary conditions?

These are all extremely difficult problems, so having the ability to use a portion of one's Mental Power, which is essential for maintaining organ function, in order to solve these problems is essentially a solution.

No matter what you do, you always have a certain amount of Mental Power to protect you, which is a very useful trait for mages of the Transmutation School.

But this was clearly of no use to Fran.

"It seems I don't have any Tier 2 Profession that I can get right away right now."

After resolving the matter, Fran discovered a very serious problem.

She has almost no Profession left to prepare.

It's not that there are no more available Profession, but rather that there are no more Profession that could help her advance.

The only thing that can upgrade her now is a second-tier Profession. First Order Profession is useless to her unless it can give her an extremely powerful trait.

The problem now is that she can hardly find any second-tier Profession to advance to.

"Second-tier Profession are considered very valuable knowledge on the continent."

Even the Adventurers Guild, a small branch of which could come up with over a dozen Promotion Method Profession (although the methods were so difficult that Fran didn't even use many of them).

The Adventurers Guild also offers a method for Adventurer to exchange for Tier 2 Promotion Method, but unlike First Order, which only requires hunting a First Order Magic Creature, this method is not feasible.

The conditions for exchanging for a Tier 2 Profession at the Adventurers Guild are:

"Recommended by three Tier 2 Adventurer."

"The current Adventurer has been with the Association for at least ten years and has a record of hunting three Tier First Order Magic Creature per year."

"After becoming a Tier 2 adventurer, you must complete at least fifty Tier 2 quests before you can choose to leave your Adventurer status (a professional contract is available here)."

"The applicant had no prior record of violations."

To advance to the second tier through the Adventurers Guild, one is practically tied to the identity of Adventurer.

This demonstrates the importance of second-tier Profession on the continent; no faction would be willing to disclose its second-tier advancement methods.

The most promising way to obtain Fran now is actually to go to the Floating City and see if any mage has collected the acquisition methods for these Profession.

"No matter what, we have to go check out the Floating City."

Even without the Gold Alchemy Award, Fran would probably be planning a trip to the Floating City by now.

"And I also need to consider where to obtain the Promotion Method to the third tier..."

Fran's only promising way to obtain the third tier is through Harbos. Although she finds the Promotion Method of obtaining the third tier advancement in the Floating City somewhat difficult, she still wants to give it a try.

After all, if she can't find any other Promotion Method in her Profession, then she can only improve within the existing system.

Currently, the only system she can clearly upgrade is the Mage Order of the Transmutation School. Once she completes the Song of the Deep Sea sequence, she can raise its Order to Tier 3.

The Order of the Radiant Priest depends on the efforts of the Lord of Radiance and Fran herself. If there is enough faith, it is a matter of minutes, but expanding faith in the Material Realm is full of dangers.

Fran has already confirmed the Order of the Sunflame Knight with Zali of the Sun Domain. If she really can't find Promotion Method, then she can go there.

If Zali was welcoming of the second-tier Sunflame Knight, then when it came to the third tier, Zali attitude became one of resistance.

Zali didn't seem to want Fran to become a Tier 3 through that method, although he knew Fran didn't seem to be forced to take this path because she couldn't find other ways to advance in her Profession.

There's also the Territory Mage Profession. Now, Fran can either shorten the time required for advancement by spending more time or by continuing to occupy neighboring territories. In any case, barring any unforeseen circumstances, advancement is a sure thing.

Finally, there's Harbos. Once she can demonstrate second-tier level, she can obtain the Promotion Method to third tier from him, or at least gain some experience.

If Fran were an ordinary Second Order Mage, she would probably be overjoyed to discover that she had so many paths to choose from.

But for Fran, this was actually diminishing her advantage, and if reaching the third tier was already this difficult, she couldn't even find many paths to advance.

Then, in the later Fourth Order, her options become even fewer.

"We'll have to wait until we reach the Floating City..."

Fran could only sigh and put the matter aside for a moment. Difficulties were for the future; thinking about them now would only add to her worries.

However, with the thought of the Floating City in mind, Fran had a new idea.

"The Alliance wouldn't easily hand over methods for mage advancement; this is extremely valuable knowledge. Even among the Paper published by the Northern Lands Society, there are very few Paper discuss advancement to the third rank."

"However, knowledge is precious, but it must be put to use to truly be considered knowledge. The Alliance will also share this knowledge of advancement with the mages."

"How does the Alliance select which mages are qualified for the Promotion Method?"

Fran lowered her head and looked at the manuscript paper on the edge of her desk.

That was Paper she had written for the Territory Mage, and she was hoping Paper would win her a big award, which would then bring her more resources.

"Aren't the achievements of a monk the best indicator of their qualifications?"

Fran looked much more relaxed; she was quite adept at this kind of thing.

Fran stayed in the lab after that, waiting for the possible negotiations.

Three days later, Brian hurriedly knocked on the door to inform her that the sorcerer Sean was already waiting on the other side.

Fran entered the prepared negotiation area. There was a long wooden table in the room, Sean was already sitting on the right side of the table.

The room was well-decorated, with an exquisite black wooden cabinet placed under the spacious window, and the light pink walls on both sides were spotless with simple patterns.

At the far end of the room hung a long, silver sword pointing vertically to the ground, its straight, gleaming blade pointing at the greyish-red wool carpet that covered the entire room.

Fran sat down opposite Sean, a table laden with bright red flowers. Her gaze swept over the Astrology School symbol on Sean's chest.

After Fran sat down, Brian went outside, left the door ajar, and leaned against the wall next to it.

Fran got straight to the point.

"Tell me about the prophecy you received, Master Sean."

Sean frowned slightly; he felt that Fran was being somewhat disrespectful to him.

But he concealed it well, not revealing his emotions any further, and then he spoke.