Overt Second Order Identity

In the Northern Lands Society, on the top floor of the Mage Tower, in Iris's room.

"Fran, why are you back?"

Iris looked at Fran, who had returned to her original appearance, and asked with some curiosity.

"According to the schedule, there's still a month and a half until our agreed-upon date."

Fran didn't reveal her purpose immediately; instead, she looked at Nora beside her, the Yobner Society mage who had been trying to recruit her into the Elemental School.

Fran's timing was a bit coincidental; for some reason, Nora was also here.

Nora had grown her hair long by now, with blonde hair falling over her shoulder; if she let it down, it would probably reach her waist.

She was holding a thick stack of documents in her hand, and seemed to want to see Iris about something.

She turned her head and looked at Fran, her expression showing some impatience, presumably annoyed at being interrupted.

But when she saw that the person who came was Fran, all that remained in her eyes was curiosity.

Fran's appearance hadn't changed; she still wore the standard mage robes of the Northern Lands Society every day, holding only a thin piece of paper in her hand.

Fran has been missing for over four months. What has she been doing?

Fran winked slightly at this old acquaintance, then hesitated for a moment.

She originally intended to come here directly to ask Iris what procedures the Alliance should follow when Investigator the occupied territories.

Fran was overwhelmed by the various sub-departments of the Alliance. She asked around for a long time but couldn't find any specific procedures. In the end, she had no choice but to return to the Northern Lands Society to find Iris.

You can also submit your new Paper while you're at it.

This Paper is of great importance, and using the Alliance's messengers would be too risky. It was only at Elan's insistence that Fran made this trip.

If Nora were present, it wouldn't be convenient for her to say the two things she wanted to say; these matters needed to be kept secret until the Paper was uploaded to the Mana Communication System.

Fran gave Nora a wink, signaling Nora to finish her own business first, since it was first come, first served.

But Nora was acting strangely at this moment. If it were Fran, she would definitely finish her own business first.

It's clear that Nora has strong interpersonal skills, and in another situation, she would definitely make Fran feel friendly.

Nora held up the thick stack of documents in her hand, gently sliding her right hand along the side of the pages to emphasize how much she had.

Then she winked at Fran, as if to say:

"I have something to do that takes a long time, why don't you go first?"

If this happened in Fran's previous life at a bank or service hall, and someone holding a large stack of documents said this to her, Fran would definitely think that person was very friendly.

But Fran's current goal is to find a time when no one else is around to tell Iris a secret.

Nora's behavior put Fran at a loss. She looked at Nora and felt that it would be impolite to ask her to leave at this moment.

Fran sighed softly; at this point, she could only reveal things that would be revealed soon.

I'll have to tell Iris about this sooner or later anyway.

She adjusted the Aether around her, changing it to the mental fluctuation pattern of Specialized Mage, then pursed her lips and stepped forward.

"Society President, I've become Second Order Mage."

Iris had initially found the exchange of glances between the two somewhat amusing, but upon hearing these words, her expression froze instantly.

Nora, standing to the side, only reacted two seconds later, her face full of disbelief. But then she realized that this was in front of the Society President, and lying would be the worst thing she could do.

She turned her whole body around, her eyes filled with complex emotions.

Iris opened her lips slightly, but it took her a long time to manage to utter a single sentence.

"Not bad... your promotion speed... is a bit too fast..."

It was more than just fast; in Iris's opinion, it was far too fast. She had never seen a mage reach the second tier in such a short time.

To be honest, if she hadn't known Fran and knew that Fran had no reason to lie, her first reaction would have been that this was fake.

Other Profession may be able to advance from First Order to Tier 2 in a short period of time, but it is very difficult for Profession to do so, at least for now.

If Territory Knight has both good luck and outstanding personal strength, they can easily reach the second tier by gaining Battle Merit in a major battle and acquiring several territories.

Furthermore, the Priest Profession can be easily achieved at the third tier with divine assistance, but that's limited to the third tier.

However, mages absolutely cannot do that. In the current spell advancement system, each mage is required to spend a long time learning the corresponding spells after reaching a new Order, and only after reaching a certain level can they choose to advance.

This means that the mage Profession can never be fast.

Just then, Fran's adjusted mental fluctuations were detected by Iris.

It took her a long time to confirm that this was clearly the mental fluctuation of Specialized Mage.

"You completed that spell that incorporated knowledge of School so quickly?"

Iris blinked, finding it somewhat absurd.

Even if a new spell is created, casting it will be different from the theoretical creation.

In many situations, those skilled in casting spells can maximize the coverage of their Mental Power onto the spell model, which is also the foundation for advancing to the next level Specialized Mage.

Creating something doesn't mean you can actually do it.

Of course, more details will have to wait for Iris and Fran to confirm later, since there are outsiders around right now.

Fran had already given up her place and moved behind Nora.

She gently nudged Nora's shoulder, indicating that it was Nora's turn.

Nora was still reeling from the shock she had just experienced. As she approached, she was distracted, her mind preoccupied with Fran's words.

This made her hesitate for a while before she finally revealed her request to come here.

It's not complicated; Nora simply wants to apply to the Northern Lands Society for a small plot of land outside the city as a testing ground.

The experiment she was going to conduct required a large space, and there were basically no such places in the city.

The reason so many documents are needed is that, just recently, the Northern Lands Society has brought the civilians outside the city under its jurisdiction.

At this point, applications from mages are generally not accepted, so Nora had to go to Iris to seek a special application.

Iris flipped through the pages quickly, and after a moment's thought, she nodded.

"Can."

The instant she uttered the word, a signature appeared out of thin air on the document where a signature was required; it was Iris's name.

Nora stared at the signatures for a moment, then quickly tidied up her documents, picked them up, and walked back.

She looked at Fran, her eyes clearly asking if they wanted to go back together.

This time, Fran skipped the eye contact and said directly:

"You go back first, I have something to discuss with the Society President."

Nora could only nod again and walk towards the door.

After Nora left, Iris spoke with a melancholy tone:

"I remember, Fran, you're only ten now?"

Fran nodded, knowing that at her age, she was somewhat out of place as Second Order Mage.

At her age, even the most Talent children from the Mage Family had only just reached the First Order Mage.

Among ordinary people, many only become Formal Mage at the age of nineteen or twenty.

As for Second Order Mage? Fran knew very well that there probably wasn't anyone in the Alliance whose age started with "first" who could become Second Order Mage.

Of course, this excludes those whose age is three digits or higher.

"At least in my memory, the youngest Second Order Mage is currently twenty years old; he became First Order Mage at fifteen."

"As I said before, mages from newly established School like Fran will have to wait three or four years before they can be promoted."

"I misspoke at the time. This record was made by experienced mages who have been immersed in their current rank for many years."

"Many of them have already reached the promotion threshold, but they switched School because the new path would make their promotion easier. Even so, it will still take them three or four years."

"Normally, it should take at least ten years, or even longer, for a newly established School to become a master..."

Iris's meaning was clear and direct: Fran's current advancement speed was truly frightening, completely exceeding the norm.

"Aren't there any mages who have advanced to the second tier in just over a year?"

Fran knew this too. In the past, she might have considered this and waited four or five years. While that would be quite surprising, it wouldn't sound absurd to others.

Fran's current promotion speed is completely beyond reason, and everyone's first reaction is that this is definitely fake.

But Fran has to do this now. Only by reaching the second tier and having a legitimate second-tier status can she begin to plan her Promotion Method the third tier within the Alliance.

The first prophecy about the Spirit Realm mentioned that it should be completed before reaching the Fourth Order. She didn't want to deal with this in her second-rank state, so she had to immediately explain that she had reached the second rank.

Even if she doesn't say it now, she will after the Floating City ends, all for the sake of getting the Promotion Method to the third tier from Harbos.

"Indeed, there are. I remember one mage who spent nearly a year planning ahead and using a lot of precious resources to reach the second tier in such a short time."

"But others spent fifteen years in the apprenticeship stage, and they were also family members with excellent learning environments."

"And you, Fran, it's been almost a year since you last recorded your First Order advancement, but you only have three years of recorded time studying magic. In your first year, your basic magic theory grade was just passing."

"You're also a mage from a newly established School, which makes advancement even more difficult."

Hearing Iris's words, even though the previous sentence wasn't directed at Fran at this moment, Fran still felt somewhat embarrassed.