Harbos

Biodata

Feature	Details
Name	Harbos Roins (哈博斯)
Alias(es)	Archmage Harbos Roins 610
Gender	Male
Affiliation	Forge School (founder and chief); formerly of the Elemental School 52 53
Occupation/Role	Fourth Order Mage, master weaponsmith, Forge School instructor, Fran's mentor 52 63 66
Status	Active 611
First Appearance	Chapter 52

Power Progression

Stage / Realm / Level	Chapter	Notes
Third Order Mage	532	Advanced through the forging method that became the basis of his elemental-weapon research; he wrote The Forging of Elemental Weapons shortly after reaching Third Order. 532
Fourth Order Mage	52	Had reached Fourth Order by the time he began recruiting for the Forge School and teaching in the City of Apprentices. 52 53

Background / History

Harbos was originally a member of the Elemental School. After leaving it to establish the Forge School, he based the new school on his own high-order research in weapon forging, special materials, and elemental magic. This created an immediate educational problem: his available spells and techniques required knowledge far beyond the apprentice level, while the school lacked a practical low-level curriculum. 53

While teaching Weapon Forging in the City of Apprentices, Harbos sought unusually gifted apprentices capable of understanding or helping develop foundational Forge School knowledge. He recognized Fran's concealed comprehension during his lecture and later discovered her exceptional mechanical aptitude when she used a steam-engine concept to cast Tool Enchantment. Her design inspired him to reconsider mechanical elemental conversion. 54 65

Harbos's elemental-weapon research later earned him the Master of Elements Award. The award was granted for his paper The Forging of Elemental Weapons, rather than his more controversial work on Elemental Storm and the perpetual conversion of fire elements into wind elements. 263 281 532

Appearance

Harbos appears considerably younger than Elan expected, with a mature face but no visible signs of age. 52

• Often wears black clothing. 531
• Has worn red gemstone rings on his right hand. 531
• Carries himself with the composure and authority expected of a Fourth Order Mage. 63

Personality

Harbos values talent, creativity, and practical understanding more than institutional connections or large numbers of recruits. He rejected Elan's offer of priority access to Cuilan Academy students after identifying Fran as a more valuable prospect. 54

As a teacher, he is patient with Fran's questions and willing to repeatedly explain his own experiences, even when he cannot fully articulate the principles behind his Energy-Forging Method. 532 533 541 He is also protective of his disciple, bringing her along as his assistant during dangerous Alliance assignments rather than allowing her to remain exposed. 533 534

Harbos is politically cautious. He refuses to return to the Elemental School for a lecture because he believes doing so could invite an assassination attempt, and he conceals Fran's activities from Arthur and Aolain. 611

Abilities & Skills

Weapon Forging and Enchantment

Harbos is a master weaponsmith whose research focuses on improving weapon power through material processing, forging techniques, inscriptions, and spell support.

• Teaches advanced staff-forging methods that optimize a staff's performance beyond ordinary inscription and gem-setting practices. 301
• Created the Rite of Weapon Forging, which strengthens a newly forged weapon using the caster's mental power and supporting materials. 301
• The rite can give a weapon elemental-weapon-like properties, allowing a user with elemental affinity to channel elements through it in battle. 301
• His rite does not accommodate conventional rune-based reinforcement methods. 301

Elemental Weapons and Energy-Forging Method

Harbos pioneered an unconventional forging method that shapes energy bodies—particularly elemental energy—into weapons.

• Can directly gather and manipulate fire elements with his physical hand before applying mental power and forging motions to shape them. 532
• Demonstrated the method by forging fire elements into a dagger-sized crimson elemental weapon. 532
• His own elemental weapons use extracted, purified, and modified elements, giving them far greater quality than Fran's early attempts. 542
• The technique is exceptionally difficult to reproduce; colleagues who attempted to advance through it all failed to master it. 532
• Harbos himself cannot fully explain how the method is learned or why it works for him. 533

Elemental Conversion Research

Fran's steam-engine design gave Harbos a new approach to elemental conversion: mechanically converting fire-element energy into usable power and then, with spell support, into other elements. 65

• Published research on the perpetual conversion of fire elements into wind elements. 263 267
• Developed insights toward modifying the legendary spell Elemental Storm. 281 532
• Created Hand of the Furnace, a Second Order production spell for assisting weapon forging. 267

Promotion Methods and Instruction

Harbos develops advancement paths for the Forge School despite its lack of established lower-order knowledge.

• Explained the traditional Formal Mage promotion requirements: surpassing a mental-power threshold, creating or modifying a spell, and demonstrating spell proficiency. 70
• Adapted the Forge School's First Order method by substituting machinery knowledge for the mental-power requirement and requiring a spell based on the Steam Engine. 70
• Provided Fran with the Forge School's Third Order Promotion Method, founded on his lost forging method and elemental weapons. 531 532

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Elemental weapon — An irregular, luminous blue spear-like weapon that emits endless arcs of electricity. 531
• Blood of the Furnace Spell Ring — One of Harbos's masterpieces, given to Fran upon her entry into the Forge School; it contains the powerful Blood of the Furnace spell. 65 66 68
• Specially commissioned staff — A staff forged for an Alliance operation to capture a suspected Spirit Realm Mage alive; it amplifies spells and possesses additional concealed effects. 611

Relationships

• Fran — Disciple and recognized mechanical genius. Harbos recruited her into the Forge School, taught her Tool Enchantment and the Energy-Forging Method, and remains protective of her despite frustration that her greatest achievements often occur independently of his guidance. 65 66 533 611
• Elan — Negotiating partner and Cuilan Academy headmaster. Elan attempted to secure Harbos's support by offering priority access to academy students, but Harbos favored Fran's individual talent over the proposal. 54 69
• Iris — Old friend and president of the Northern Lands Society. Harbos entrusted Fran to Iris's care and worked alongside her amid the political fallout from his research. 187 281
• Arthur Carter — Elemental School Fifth Seat who seeks to restore Harbos's ties to the Elemental School; Harbos remains wary of Arthur's political motives. 610 611
• Aolain — Arthur's disciple. Harbos discusses Aolain's potential Fourth Order advancement with him but refuses to expose Fran's identity or research activities. 611

Story Role / Major Arcs

• Forge School recruitment — Arrives in the City of Apprentices to personally teach Weapon Forging and recruit talented apprentices for his newly founded school. 52 53
• Discovery of Fran — Identifies Fran as the only apprentice who truly grasped his lessons, then recruits her after witnessing her steam-engine-based Tool Enchantment. 54 65 66
• Forge School development — Uses Fran's mechanical knowledge and advancement work to build the school’s low-level curriculum and promotion path. 69 349
• Elemental recognition — Receives the Master of Elements Award for elemental weapon forging while continuing research and teaching rather than openly lobbying for the honor. 263 281
• Third Order instruction — Gives Fran his Third Order Promotion Method and personally teaches her the Energy-Forging Method. 531 533
• Alliance operations — Takes Fran as his assistant for a Fourth Order assignment and later forges a covertly commissioned staff intended for the capture of a suspected Spirit Realm Mage. 533 535 611

Trivia

• Harbos's initial Forge School lessons were so advanced that even Elan, already a Formal Mage, could not understand them. 53
• He considers mechanics outside his original specialty and has used spells to forcibly keep his experimental machinery running when its mechanisms failed. 65 125
• Although he founded the Forge School, he was unable to explain the Energy-Forging Method in a way that allowed other mages to replicate his success. 532 533