Recaps

Fran advanced to Second Order in the Transmutation School but found few suitable Profession paths for further advancement, so she decided to seek Promotion Methods in the Floating City. Three days later, she met Mage Sean to hear about his prophecy.

• Fran reached Second Order as a Transmutation School mage and gained the [Transmutation Reflux] trait, which she considered useless to her.
• Fran reviewed the scarce and demanding routes to Second Order and Third Order Professions and resolved to investigate Promotion Methods in the Floating City.
• Fran considered using her Territory Mage research paper to demonstrate her achievements and qualify for valuable promotion knowledge from the Alliance.
• Three days later, Brian told Fran that Mage Sean had arrived, and Fran asked Sean to explain the prophecy he had received.

Fran learned that Sean’s prophecy linked what he sought to Connor and to the Priests under her command, and she decided that killing Sean was the only way to protect her secrets. She concealed her intentions by asking what else the Lorenbu Family could offer, leaving the negotiation unresolved.

• Sean explained that his prophecy suggested the thing he sought was in or near Lorinvik and connected to his son Connor.
• Fran challenged Sean for not searching for Connor’s killer, and Sean said that lead was no longer useful after the deaths in Antir.
• Sean offered payment for information about the Priests, but Fran feared he might exploit the Lord of Radiance’s name or claim credit for her work.
• Fran decided to kill Sean rather than bargain or reveal the Priests’ origins.
• Sean offered Fran a family ring, a residence in the Twenty-Ninth Floating City, or Gold Coins, and Fran asked for something else.

Fran negotiated with Sean for Astrology School spells instead of material rewards, then planned to kill him with one of the spells and disguise the death as a school dispute. She sent Sean to Lorinvik and resolved to finish preparing Antir before carrying out her plan.

• Fran rejected Sean's offers of a ring, a Floating City house, or gold, and asked for Astrology School spells in exchange for information about her experiment.
• Sean agreed to give Fran three First Order spells and two Second Order spells, and she promised to tell him about the believers after half a month in Lorinvik near Horn Pass.
• Sean gave Fran [Stellar Shield] and [Falling Star Spear] as a deposit, then left the Royal Capital for Lorinvik.
• Fran considered using [Falling Star Spear] to kill Sean while the stars were low, then making his death appear to be the work of another Astrology School mage.
• Fran decided to publish the territory mage's paper after Sean's death and told herself to have Anna and the others complete preparations across Antir.

Fran prepared to kill Sean, a Third Order mage, because he threatened the Lord of Radiance and the Radiant Sect. After securing the Lord of Radiance’s Divine Descent as a last resort, she occupied all of Antir and began setting her trap for Sean at Horn Pass.

• Fran told the Lord of Radiance that she planned to kill Sean and explained her spell-based strategy and estimated chance of success.
• The Lord of Radiance offered to descend into Fran’s body, warning that prolonged possession would transform her and eventually cast her into the Spirit Realm.
• Fran chose to try her own methods first and learned how to request Divine Descent as a contingency.
• Three days after Fran’s believers occupied all of Antir, she prepared to complete her final undertaking before applying for an Alliance inspection.
• Fran stood on Horn Pass’s wall, sent a believer to lure Sean to a designated location, and took out half the Mackerel corpse’s arm.

Sean was lured to a remote ridge by a black-robed man and trapped in a deadly ambush by a powerful Elemental School mage. As fire, earth, and wind magic overwhelmed his defenses, Sean realized his attacker could perform multiple Elemental Conversions and intended to kill him.

• Lorinvik guards discussed the mage at their checkpoint until their captain warned them to open the gate immediately if Sean returned.
• The black-robed man led Sean through the rain to an isolated ridge, then fled as the ground beneath Sean turned to mud.
• Sean used defensive scrolls and spells to resist the trap, but an unseen attacker struck him with fire magic and broke his Shield Spell.
• Sean recognized that the attacker had performed a second Elemental Conversion and suspected the mage was connected to the Yobner Society.
• Wind elements surrounded Sean and bound him as his Truecolor Star Sand continued to drain, confirming that a powerful Elemental School mage wanted him dead.

Fran defeated Sean with a violent cycle of elemental conversions, then used [Smelting Blood] and [Falling Star Spear] to finish him and make his death appear to have another cause. Sean’s final realization was that prophecy had been biased against him, while Fran ended the chapter with her mental power nearly exhausted and Sean’s body restored.

• Sean struggled to maintain his shields as the wind elements intensified, and his Truecolor Star Sand dwindled before mysteriously returning.
• The elements repeatedly reversed their conversions, destroying Sean’s shields and leaving him as a trapped mental body.
• Fran reached Sean’s location and activated [Smelting Blood] after he realized prophecy had never warned him of her attack.
• Sean’s mental body recalled that prophecy could bias its targets toward disastrous outcomes, then lost consciousness as Fran killed him.
• Fran twisted Sean’s scorched mental matter and converted it back into a distorted form, believing he was dead.
• Fran used the Lord of Radiance’s Divine Power and [Falling Star Spear] to restore Sean’s physical body and give it the appearance of a fatal attack.

Fran concealed Sean’s killing by using her song to erase the soldiers’ memories and burying his corpse, then returned to Antir to prepare for the consequences. The Count later woke with no memory of the storm and decided to report the destruction as a Devil Creature attack.

• Fran used her song to make the soldiers at Lorinvik’s checkpoint forget the day’s events and fall unconscious.
• Fran buried Sean’s corpse twenty meters underground and planned for The Alliance’s investigation to eventually point toward Antir.
• Fran underestimated how long The Alliance would take to notice Sean’s disappearance because he had requested a two-year experimental period.
• The Count woke in the tower with a splitting headache and found the checkpoint flooded and most of his soldiers unconscious or missing.
• The Count concluded that a Devil Creature had destroyed the pass and chose to report it that way, despite suspecting The Alliance might be blamed.

Fran returned to Antir with valuables recovered from Sean’s flooded storage case and told Elan that their Territory Resonance research lacked a way to use the Territory Blessing. She asked him to change his Profession to Territory Mage, leaving him with her instructions and the first step to follow.

• Fran salvaged ten patterned Magic Scrolls, Truecolor Star Sand, gold, and gemstones from Sean’s damaged belongings, then burned the rest.
• Fran visited Elan in the surviving building on the former Royal Palace grounds and explained that the paper could not be submitted until they solved one remaining problem.
• Fran pointed out that their research showed how to obtain the Territory Blessing but not how to use it, as Territory Knights did through their Profession.
• Fran asked Elan to change his mage Profession to Territory Mage so they could demonstrate that the Profession was attainable by others.
• Elan accepted and read Fran’s document outlining the new Profession and its steps; he called Fran “My liege,” but nothing happened.

Fran returned to the Northern Lands Society and revealed to Iris that she had become a Second Order mage, shocking Iris and Nora with her unprecedented advancement speed. After Nora left, Fran discussed the rarity of her achievement with Iris and explained why she needed to establish her Second Order status.

• Fran returned to Iris's room and revealed that she had become a Second Order mage, which Iris confirmed from her mental fluctuations.
• Nora requested a plot of land outside the city for an experiment, and Iris approved the application.
• After Nora left, Iris said Fran was only ten and that her rise to Second Order was far faster than any normal mage's.
• Fran explained that she needed a public Second Order identity so she could plan her Promotion Method to Third Order before facing the Spirit Realm prophecy.
• Iris recalled one mage who had advanced to Second Order in about a year, but noted that he had spent fifteen years as an apprentice and had a Mage family's support.

Fran asked Iris to arrange The Alliance’s inspection of Antir, claiming she had met the requirements for complete occupation. She also showed Iris a paper documenting how territory mages could use their territories to strengthen mental power, and Iris approved its publication and planned to bring it to the Floating City.

• Iris examined Fran’s abilities and was impressed by the strength of [Steam Concerto].
• Fran told Iris that she had occupied all of Antir and asked The Alliance to inspect it.
• Iris explained the requirements for complete occupation, and Fran insisted that Antir had no Second Order Professionals except one knight who should be acceptable.
• Iris directed Fran to find Mage Philip to prepare the submission materials.
• Fran gave Iris her paper on using territories to strengthen mental power, and [Drops of True Knowledge] confirmed its experimental data was true.
• Iris told Fran to arrange a seven-day occupation verification and said the paper would be published in half a month and taken to the Floating City.

The Transmutation School announced Ruge Felistin as the winner of its All-Forms Mage Award for his groundbreaking Winged Dragon transmutation. Xiya envied Ruge and considered whether her own research could win at a future ceremony, though she doubted she could compete with a project called the Skull of the Believer.

• The Transmutation School filled its underwater hall with mages from across the Alliance for the All-Forms Mage Award ceremony.
• Vernon asked Xiya to explain the likely winner to Elijah, and she identified Ruge Felistin’s work grafting two pairs of Winged Dragon wings onto himself.
• Ruge displayed his immense wings onstage and accidentally cracked the hall wall with their feathers.
• Xiya explained that Ruge won because his work overcame a longstanding challenge and was more original than the school’s Fourth Order organ transplants.
• Elijah offered to recommend Xiya for an Alliance Council seat if she won the award, and she politely declined the premature offer.
• Xiya watched Ruge receive his wreath and worried that her research could not compete with her friend’s idea, the Skull of the Believer.

At the All-Forms Mage Award ceremony, Vernon and Elijah discussed the Alliance’s plans to confront the Church of the Goddess of Ocean Currents and debated strategies for taking control of its territories. Elijah was then urgently summoned over a paper connected to the Northern Lands Society that might transform the Law School and force the Amber Law Award to be renamed.

• Mages crowded the streets outside the ceremony to trade information and resources as the Alliance shifted its focus toward the ocean.
• Elijah told Vernon that many mages opposed seizing the Goddess of Ocean Currents’ main island because it could alter the Church’s sphere of control.
• Elijah explained that the Alliance planned to convert the Nineteenth and Twenty-Fifth Floating Cities into combat-type floating cities, and Vernon did not object.
• Elijah asked whether Vernon supported an aggressive campaign against the Church or a strategy of encircling and infiltrating its towns, but Vernon withheld his position and criticized the aggressive strategy.
• Elijah received an emergency communication about the Northern Lands Society and learned that a newly published paper might change the Law School’s future and require renaming the Amber Law Award.

While Iris kept Fran safe at the Mage Tower, Fran reviewed the Alliance report, studied her advancing Arcane Mage Profession, and waited to leave for the Floating City. Iris then arrived to take her there.

• Fran read the Alliance report praising the Antir Region and the new Territory Mage Profession, then learned from Elan's letter that he was safe under a third-rank mage's protection.
• Fran found the Mana Communication System overwhelmed by the influx of mages and considered improvements for its next version.
• Fran read that her paper was expected to win the Amber Law Award and wondered whether her Arcane Mage Profession existed within The Alliance.
• Fran examined her Panel, discovered the Arcane Sensitivity trait increased the casting speed of extensively modified spells, and tested it by altering her spells.
• Iris called Fran out and said she was taking her to the Floating City.

Fran arrived with Iris at Number Nine Floating City and learned that she had to live publicly as Lai for three months, until the Amber Law Award ceremony. She left the journey concerned that the Star Gazing Art had shown her a future in which the Sky Dragon would pass the city, and Iris prepared her to navigate the attention surrounding her.

• Fran traveled with Iris to Number Nine Floating City and recognized it as the city she had seen in a vision of the Sky Dragon.
• Fran wondered whether the Star Gazing Art had shown her the future and whether the Sky Dragon would trigger the city's alarm as she had foreseen.
• Iris explained that the Alchemy School headquarters and Gold Alchemy Award ceremony were in the city, while the Amber Law Award ceremony would take place there in three months.
• Iris told Fran to maintain the identity of Lai, make a public impression in the Alchemy School, and attend social events rather than hide in a laboratory.
• Iris warned Fran about marriage proposals, recruitment efforts, and possible attacks, and told her they would return to the Northern Lands Society after she received the award.

Fran prepared for a banquet in Number Nine Floating City and arrived at Silver-Scale Manor, where Calista explained that Iris had sent her as a guide. Fran learned that the event was a fundraising banquet and that guests were expected to bring money.

• Fran chose her Northern Lands Society robe, jewelry, and Purple Shortsword, then concealed the Goddess of Ocean Currents' rune on the blade.
• Fran flew toward Mercury Avenue, accidentally blinded other flying Mages with an overly bright Light Prayer, and then adjusted its brightness.
• Fran reached Silver-Scale Manor and met Calista, a Second Order Alchemy School Mage sent by Iris to look after her.
• Calista explained that banquet guests received different arrival times according to status and led Fran inside before eight.
• Calista asked whether Fran had brought more than five hundred gold coins and told her that the banquet was intended to raise money.

At a Floating City fundraising banquet, Calista discovered that mages were watching her because the Northern Lands Society had produced the influential Territory Mage paper. She introduced Fran, who was using the name Lai, to Camilla of the Felistin Family, leaving Camilla convinced that Lai was a promising alchemist rather than Fran.

• A mage pitched Calista on selling advancement opportunities through a proposed Territory Mage project in Chex Bay, though the paper had not established whether territories could advance apprentices.
• Calista brought Fran to the banquet, where mages repeatedly approached Calista while Fran drew little attention.
• Camilla told Calista that the Territory Mage paper came from the Northern Lands Society, and Calista realized the crowd was interested in her connection to the Society.
• Calista identified her companion as Lai and confirmed that she had received the Silver Alchemy Award.
• Camilla concluded that Lai was a promising alchemy candidate for the Felistin Family and dismissed the possibility that she was Fran.

Fran examined the banquet’s funding projects, dismissed most as unpromising, and offered thirty thousand Gold Coins to support Asher’s mentor’s Mana Communication System security work in exchange for access to its knowledge. As she left the displays, Harvey Wosher challenged her to a Magic Duel.

• Fran found that many neglected alchemy projects copied ideas from her papers, then stopped to hear Asher’s pitch for improving the Mana Communication System’s security.
• Fran questioned Asher about his plan, learned that he and his mentor had no workable strategy, and offered thirty thousand Gold Coins without asking for a share of future profits.
• Fran told Asher to have his mentor contact her on Grey Gold Lane because she hoped the investment would help her learn about the system and the Construct School’s field of knowledge.
• After finding no other projects she wanted to fund, Fran met Harvey Wosher, who introduced himself as the 493rd-ranked Champion Mage and challenged her to a Magic Duel.

Fran learned that winning the Champion Mage Challenge could advance a Second Order mage to the Third Order, and decided to pursue the title despite needing a new Alliance-recognized identity. She arranged to attend a Felistin Family banquet, then asked Calista whether Number Nine Floating City had ever sounded its highest alert.

• Fran declined Harvey's Magic Duel and learned that the Champion Mage Challenge would take place in six months, with its champion advancing to the Third Order.
• Fran discovered that Champion Mage was a three-star profession and decided to enter, but realized she needed an Alliance-recognized identity that would not alert Iris.
• Fran questioned Camilla about whether Number Nine Floating City had ever sounded its highest-level alert, then thanked her and agreed to attend the Felistin Family banquet.
• Fran left the fundraising banquet with Calista and asked whether Number Nine Floating City had ever sounded its highest alert; Calista said it had not.

Iris met with Roderick in the Aether Palace, where he tried to recruit her back into the Alchemy School and offer her a committee seat. She refused to separate herself from the Northern Lands Society, and Roderick warned her to keep Lai away from the Felistin Family.

• Roderick asked Iris why she had come to the floating city and applied for a long-term laboratory, and she said she wanted to wait there while avoiding watchful eyes and had brought a junior who might win the Gold Alchemy Award.
• Iris discussed the Gold Alchemy Award candidates and said none had a clear advantage, while Roderick offered her a place on the committee as the Alchemy School's Fifth Seat.
• Roderick proposed that Iris return to the Alchemy School, eventually take a higher seat, and help secure another seat for Lai, but Iris asked what would happen to the Northern Lands Society.
• Iris declined the offer, saying she would wait for Roderick's seat or for the Alchemy School to change its position on the Northern Lands Society.
• Roderick warned Iris to keep Lai away from the Felistin Family because the family had attracted suspicion after a member won the All-Forms Mage Award and a Territory Mage became a major topic.

Fran offered Forrest Sharp thirty thousand gold coins to invest in the Mana Communication System in exchange for learning its principles and materials. Forrest agreed to explain the relevant technology, then recognized Fran as Lai, the author of Mathematical Analysis of Fireball.

• Forrest Sharp and his apprentice Asher discussed Fran's offer and decided to visit her on Grey Gold Lane.
• Fran showed Forrest thirty thousand gold coins and said she wanted to learn how the Mana Communication System worked and what materials it required.
• Forrest worried that sharing the Construct School's developments might violate school rules, but Fran clarified that she wanted only the relevant principles and material-making process.
• Forrest agreed to explain the system's mana generation and control, and Fran prepared an All-Spirit Contract for them to sign.
• Forrest introduced himself, Fran gave her name as Lai, and he recognized her as the author of Mathematical Analysis of Fireball.

Fran sought a mage identity she could use for less than a year to enter the Champion Mage Challenge, and Iris advised her to impersonate a mage whose details she could learn. Fran went to a crowded banquet at the Felistin residence to gather information and was introduced to Camilla’s younger sister, Feli Felix.

• Fran asked Iris how her friend could obtain an Alliance identity, and Iris explained that impersonating another mage could work for travel and similar purposes.
• Fran decided to find a suitable mage to impersonate so she could enter the Champion Mage Challenge before its Preliminaries ended.
• Iris watched Fran leave and dismissed the risk, unaware that Fran planned to act at the Challenge’s registration office.
• Fran arrived early at the Felistin Family’s crowded banquet on Mercury Avenue, despite Iris’s warning to avoid dealing with the family.
• Camilla greeted Fran and introduced her younger sister, Feli Felix, who admired Fran’s work.

Fran decided to mentor Philly and use her identity to enter and win the Champion Mage Challenge. She arranged to take Philly away for up to a year, leaving the Felistin Family to believe the arrangement was for instruction.

• Philly asked Fran about one of her mathematics papers, and Fran explained the topic and directed her to the Northern Lands Society's mathematics research group.
• Camilla left the room to hear reports that mages were departing, revenue-sharing terms had been rejected, and three prospective marriage partners had refused the Felistin Family.
• Philly asked Fran to let her stay nearby and learn from her, and Fran learned that Philly was twenty, a First Order Mage, and a member of the Yobner Society.
• Fran decided Philly could serve as her identity for the Champion Mage Challenge and considered ways to hide Philly and avoid suspicion.
• Camilla returned, and Fran asked to take Philly away for instruction; Camilla agreed, while Philly accepted the family duty despite her brief reluctance.

Fran borrowed Philly’s identity and appearance, then discovered she needed to qualify for the Champion Mage Challenge Preliminaries through a minor competition. She chose the Alchemy School Hourglass Cup and began preparing papers with Philly as second author, leaving Philly confused and exhausted.

• After keeping Philly awake for days, Fran put her to sleep, copied her facial features with an alchemical substance, and took her Alliance identification documents.
• Fran learned that entrants had to place in the top eight of a minor competition before entering the Preliminaries, which had sixty-nine days left.
• Fran chose the Alchemy School Hourglass Cup Youth Competition, aiming for Gold Hourglass rank with papers on the conservation of energy and Aether.
• Fran resumed experiments with the waking Philly and had her record and analyze spell fluctuations for a paper, then left to submit the papers with Philly named second author.
• Philly wondered how an Elemental School mage could publish an Alchemy School paper, then gave in to exhaustion and went back to sleep.

Fran visited Forrest to inspect the Mana Communication System and found that its main obstacle was the difficulty of generating enough energy. She proposed practical improvements to the system’s input and encryption, then assigned Philly and Asher the tedious work of checking and debugging it.

• Fran brought Philly to Forrest’s workshop and introduced her as an assistant she would teach about research.
• Forrest explained that the Mana Communication System relied on a mental power generator, and Fran identified energy production as its greatest obstacle.
• Fran proposed replacing handwriting recognition with mechanical keys, which she said could be mass-produced in the Antir Region.
• Fran presented a new encoding scheme that reduced mana use and made the system’s information harder to access, though not impossible to breach.
• Fran suggested building a separate network for mages in University Associations and left the idea for the future.
• Fran assigned Philly and Asher to debug the new system and check its character table.

As the Alliance tightened pressure on the Felistin Family, Camilla and Oliver discussed Fran’s refusal to accept the family’s favors while keeping Philly as her student. At the Sandglass Cup committee, Gregory directed judges to target the family’s allies, and Rost discovered that a late, three-gold-mark paper bore a name that threatened to stir controversy.

• Camilla told Oliver that Fran repeatedly refused invitations and material support but praised Philly’s work and kept teaching her.
• Oliver decided the family would neither pressure Fran nor offer assistance, and Philly could remain with her.
• Gregory ordered the committee to identify papers linked to the Felistin Family and remove Aitesas from the list after he severed ties with the family.
• Rost received two late manuscripts and found that one had earned three gold marks in blind review.
• Rost saw the author’s name on the highly rated paper and realized it would cause a storm because it bore the Felistin surname.