Recaps

Fran reviewed special metals and discovered that the Adventurers Guild sold methods for more than twenty obscure Professions, though many had extreme requirements. She found two potentially attainable options but had not yet chosen or exchanged for either.

• Fran selected several special metals from the Guild catalog and paid for them using the proceeds from the Earth Dragon materials.
• Fran noticed the Guild's First Order Profession Promotion Methods and learned that exchanging for one required proof of defeating a First Order Devil Creature.
• The receptionist handed Fran a list of Profession methods, and her Panel detected the new Professions described in it.
• Fran read the requirements for Professions such as Demon Warrior and Druid and judged them too difficult to pursue.
• Fran searched the list again and found two Professions with less outrageous requirements.

Fran exchanged for the Gale Swordsman and Sunflame Knight Professions, then upgraded her longsword with Bluefire Steel and Highland Silver. She left the weapon bearing the concealed Elephant of Mountains rune and the revealed Lord of Radiance rune.

• Fran chose to exchange for Gale Swordsman and Sunflame Knight, and the receptionist charged her 40 gold after confirming her hunting permit.
• Fran read the Sunflame Knight notes but found no information about the Trial of the Sun or its mount requirement.
• Fran completed the Guild’s security procedure, collected the techniques in a black box, and left.
• Fran heated Bluefire Steel and used it to replace the low-grade metal in her longsword, preserving its runes.
• Fran coated the blade with Highland Silver, concealed the Elephant of Mountains rune, and revealed Lord of Radiance.

Connor’s knights reached Northern Territory Pass and waited for the Mage they were pursuing, while Fran used Divination Art to glimpse a future battle against a Second Order enemy. The vision ended with Fran facing a wounded black-armored man amid the remains of their companions, leaving her time to prepare for the coming fight.

• Connor’s group reached the canyon entrance and confirmed with the Tracking Bug that the Mage had not entered the Northern Territory.
• Connor ordered the knights to rest and keep watch, explaining that they would wait for the Mage rather than risk exhausting the Tracking Bug or their horses.
• Fran cast Divination Art and learned that the foreseen encounter would occur more than a month later.
• Fran saw a future battle in which she stood amid fallen fighters, facing a wounded man in black armor who threatened to kill her.

Fran realized the glowing token Caleb had given her had drawn the attackers, then learned that Zeno Harper had died and the Alliance had sent Investigator Dante to investigate. Dante faced pressure from both the Laurenbu Mage Family and Professor Elliot, whose device had identified the Blood Wolf Mercenary Corps commander's weapon as the murder weapon.

• Fran examined the glowing token Caleb had given her and decided to strengthen herself before investigating its origins and Caleb's intentions.
• A receptionist told Fran that the Alliance had sent an Investigator to examine the lodging records of the deceased Mage Zeno Harper.
• Dante reviewed Zeno's records and concluded that he had died after traveling to the Antir Region.
• Dante received a letter from the Laurenbu Mage Family asking him to look after the Blood Wolf Mercenary Corps commander.
• Professor Elliot pressured Dante to find evidence about Zeno's death, and his Spell device reported that Zeno had been beheaded with the commander's Frost Direwolf-bone greatsword.

Dante struggled to close the investigation into Zeno’s death while satisfying pressure from powerful Mages and finding someone suitable to blame. At the Alliance reception office, Fran introduced herself and presented a letter from her Fourth Order Mage mentor, making Dante realize he had badly misjudged her.

• Dante read a letter from a Third Order Mage urging him to resolve the case quickly because Mage Daphne’s application to join a mage order could be jeopardized.
• Dante worried that he could not accuse the Blood Wolf Knights’ commander and needed a plausible scapegoat who would confess to killing Zeno.
• Dante went to the Alliance mage reception office to verify the registered leads.
• Fran stopped Dante and offered information about Zeno’s death, explaining that she had met Zeno at a banquet in Gede Town.
• Fran showed Dante a letter from her mentor, and Dante sensed it carried the magical signature of a Fourth Order Mage.
• Dante apologized for his interrogative manner and realized he had underestimated Fran’s influence.

Fran accused Caleb of arranging Zeno’s murder and urged Dante to investigate, giving him a possible way to reconcile the factions’ demands. Caleb kept Zeno’s decaying head hidden in his basement, but Investigators arrived to search his house.

• Fran told Dante that Caleb had given her a token that Blood Wolf Knights later seized, and accused Caleb of betraying Zeno.
• Dante considered changing the investigation records to blame Caleb, hoping the plan would satisfy the Alliance’s competing interests.
• Caleb visited the hidden head of Zeno in his basement and mocked him as a supposed genius.
• Investigators announced they had come to search Caleb’s residence.

Investigator Dante searched administrator Caleb’s residence after Fran accused him of participating in Zeno Harper’s murder. Caleb realized the case would expose him and prepared to flee, then attacked Fran with Pyroblast.

• Dante’s enforcers dragged away a maid after a flowerpot struck her during the search of Caleb’s residence.
• Caleb confronted Dante, who told him he was accused of participating in Zeno Harper’s murder and that the search followed procedure.
• Caleb recognized Fran as his accuser and realized he could not evade Spell interrogation with Zeno’s head still hidden in his basement.
• Caleb decided to escape west to the free city-state of Bohan and chose to strike Fran to create an opening.
• Caleb gathered fire elemental energy and shouted “Pyroblast” at Fran.

Caleb’s attempt to kill Fran and Dante failed when their defenses withstood his spells and Fran’s Purple Shortsword struck him with overwhelming ice magic. Dante ordered the frozen Caleb detained and interrogated for plotting murder and attacking Investigators.

• Caleb’s Pyroblast failed to break through Fran’s shields, and a black-mist attack cut his face as he tried to escape.
• Fran and Dante confronted Caleb amid the wreckage, while Dante realized Caleb’s attack confirmed his suspicions.
• Caleb raised a Fire Wall Spell and prepared another Pyroblast, hoping to catch his opponents off guard.
• Fran’s Purple Shortsword pierced Caleb’s chest and encased him in ice, extinguishing the fire wall.
• Dante ordered Caleb Walker detained and subjected to spell interrogation.

After completing her training in Gede Town, Fran formed the First Order Gale Swordsman profession and improved several skills. She tested the Sunflame arts she had learned and found their power astonishing, while wondering why the Adventurers Guild had sold them so cheaply.

• After Caleb was convicted, Fran stayed in Gede Town for ten days to practice skills she had learned from the Adventurers Guild.
• Fran trained Swift Wind Slash and Gale Blade until both reached higher levels, and her wind affinity and attributes increased.
• Fran reviewed her Panel and saw that she had formed the Gale Swordsman profession, raised Swift Wind Breathing Technique to Extraordinary, and advanced Earth Spike Spell and Sword Dance.
• Fran considered the uses and limitations of Earth Uplift, Earth Spike Spell, and Sword Dance, and noted that she had gained the traits Wind Walker and Sun Body.
• Fran practiced the Sunflame Breathing Technique and unleashed a Sunflame Slash that scorched the ground and cut a distant chair in two.
• Fran judged Sunflame more powerful than her Dragon Flame and wondered why the Adventurers Guild sold the art for only thirty gold coins.

Connor kept the Blood Wolf Knights waiting at Northern Territory Pass for Fran, convinced the Territory Token remained in her possession. Fran had already left Gede Town, but learning what the token could do left her unsure how it could help her.

• The Blood Wolf Knights complained about the cold and their wait as Connor used an enhancement potion to test the Tracking Bug, which still pointed toward Gede Town.
• Connor rejected his knight's suggestion to pursue Fran and ordered the Blood Wolf Knights to wait another month before changing their plans.
• Connor recalled his determination to become a knight and reasoned that Fran still had the Territory Token, though he could not explain her delay.
• Fran rode the Black Horse away from Gede Town while holding the Territory Token and considered its power to help a titled noble claim land.
• Fran found that the token offered no apparent use to her, and her Panel gave her no guidance about it.

Fran traveled through war-ravaged White Flower Territory and headed for White Flower City to test whether she could use the Territory Token. Meanwhile, Count Ian announced a knightly duel to determine who would rule the city, leaving its rival claimants preparing to compete.

• Fran found that the Territory Token glowed when she entered White Flower Territory, where villages had been devastated and abandoned amid the fighting.
• Fran and Black Horse killed soldiers who tried to surround them in a recently captured town, then left to avoid further trouble.
• Fran decided to visit White Flower City to investigate the token while avoiding the nearby Northern Territory Pass and the future she had foreseen.
• In White Flower City, Count Ian heard the knights argue over who deserved to rule the territory they had conquered three months earlier.
• Count Ian announced that Duke Theodore had ordered a knightly duel, open to the knights who had participated in the conquest, with each allowed two attendants and a mage assigned to check for prohibited potions.

Fran entered White Flower City disguised as a melee adventurer named Elan and discovered how desperate the city had become. After a soldier tried to steal Black Horse, Fran killed him with a single punch, leaving the surrounding crowd to witness her strength.

• Fran disguised herself in a black robe and mask, took a Voice-Changing Potion, and decided to use Elan's name while traveling through White Flower City.
• Fran paid ten copper coins to enter the city, prompting all seven guards at the gate to fight over the money.
• Fran rode Black Horse into the city and set out to find a place to stay among its many empty houses.
• A soldier threatened Fran with a dagger and demanded that she hand over Black Horse.
• Fran broke the soldier's dagger, lifted him with one hand, and punched him dead in front of the gathered crowd.

Fran killed one of Andrew’s men and defeated Andrew in a duel after he challenged her. As Fran prepared to leave, Knight Eric arrived and asked whether she had beaten his soldiers.

• Fran killed a soldier who provoked her, and Andrew confronted her over the death of his subordinate.
• Andrew challenged Fran to a duel, and his men mocked her while she prepared to fight.
• Fran blocked Andrew’s attacks, then struck him hard enough to break several ribs and send him flying into his soldiers.
• Fran turned to leave, but Knight Eric arrived in armor and asked if she had beaten his men.

Fran faced Knight Eric after defeating his subordinate, but Finley intervened and stopped the confrontation. Finley asked Fran to serve as his attendant in White Flower Territory’s upcoming lord’s duel, and she agreed to consider it in exchange for a reward.

• Knight Eric prepared to attack Fran, but Finley arrived and identified her as one of his people.
• Knight Eric left after warning Finley that he hoped to win the duel and become lord of White Flower Territory.
• Fran thanked Finley, then followed him to his house to discuss why he had intervened.
• Finley explained that he needed Fran as an attendant for the duel because he had few capable soldiers.
• Fran agreed to take part if they could discuss her reward, leaving Finley visibly embarrassed.

Fran agreed to help Finley become the lord of White Flower Territory, hoping to use their connection to explore her Territory Token and pursue her own plans. Meanwhile, Eric and Cliff learned that they, Finley, and one other knight had been placed together in a group for the duel.

• Finley offered Fran a knightly title and other rewards if he became lord, or some of his skills if he failed.
• Fran agreed to help Finley win the lordship and introduced herself as Elan.
• Eric told Cliff that Finley had entered the duel with a skilled passerby as a retainer.
• Eric and Cliff discussed their plan to work together in the duel and use armored retainers to hinder their opponents.
• A soldier brought Eric the groupings, and Eric discovered that he, Cliff, and Finley were in the same group of four.

Fran convinced Finley and his soldiers that she was a former adventurer by describing an Earth Dragon hunt and joined them in complaining about mages. When Finley learned the knightly duel group assignments, he found himself grouped with Eric and Cliff and began looking for an ally.

• Stefan asked Fran about powerful monsters, and Fran told the soldiers an embellished story about helping an adventurer party hunt an Earth Dragon.
• Fran claimed she received no Earth Dragon materials because the mage who posted the request demanded them all, prompting the soldiers and Finley to complain about mages.
• A soldier brought Finley the duel group assignments, and Finley discovered that he, Eric, and Cliff were in the same group.
• Finley worried Eric and Cliff might team up against him and decided to find another knight to join forces with, while Fran smiled at hearing Eric's name.

Maeve inspected the knights and their equipment before the upcoming duel, rejecting clear violations while allowing several questionable cases through loopholes. The inspection ended with Fran’s transmuted Black Horse, which Maeve recognized as a magical creature but had to approve because the rules did not forbid it.

• Maeve found a poisoned dagger, demon-material armor, and attendants overusing enhancement potions, and she rejected the offenders.
• Maeve allowed Knight Cliff’s specially treated transmuted humans to pass because they fell into a loophole in the inspection rules.
• Maeve inspected Knight Eric’s heavily armed team and let them pass because their costly equipment violated no restrictions.
• Finley worried that his poorly equipped team had little chance of winning, but Fran refused to put his Black Horse aside.
• Maeve recognized Fran’s Black Horse as a heavily transmuted magical creature and allowed it to enter the duel because it was not prohibited.

Maeve inspected Finley’s team and recognized Fran’s sword as an exceptionally valuable enchanted weapon, then predicted that Finley would win the duel. She hinted to Count Ian that one of Finley’s companions could decide the match, and the duel was about to begin.

• Maeve examined Fran’s Highland Silver longsword and suspected Fran was connected to a Mage Family from the Floating Isle.
• Maeve approved Finley’s team and Finley led Fran and Stefan to the dueling grounds.
• Count Ian and the minor nobles discussed who would win, with one noble favoring Knight Eric because of his armor.
• Count Ian asked Maeve for her prediction, and she chose Finley, saying one of his companions might determine the battle.
• Count Ian announced that the time had come for the knightly duel to begin.

The battle began, and Finley used his speed to draw three knights into a chase while Fran charged the crossbow-wielding squires. Fran’s Sunflame sword incapacitated one squire, leaving the fight still underway.

• Count Ian threw a stone to signal the start of the battle, and Eric, Cliff, and the other knight charged toward Finley.
• Finley told Fran and Stefan to deal with the enemy squires, then rode around the arena while the three knights pursued him.
• Stefan suggested lying down and playing dead, while Fran assessed the enemy and charged the two squires aiming crossbows.
• The squires fired at Black Horse, but its stiff coat deflected both bolts without injury.
• Fran used the Sunflame Breathing Technique to cut through one squire’s armored shoulder and incapacitate him.

Fran used Sunflame and her horse’s agility to disrupt the battle, striking enemy soldiers and throwing Knight Eric’s pursuit into chaos. She then charged into another skirmish, where she knocked a soldier from his horse despite his side’s temporary alliance with hers.

• Fran cut a heavy infantryman’s arm with Sunflame, then took his firebomb and threw it at Knight Eric.
• Eric endured the flames, injected his horse with a stimulant, and charged after Finley as the audience cheered the flaming knight.
• Count Ian recognized Fran’s attack as a version of a technique sold by the Adventurers Guild and wondered how she could use it so powerfully under the clouds.
• Fran rode Black Horse into a fight between two modified humans and their handlers and kicked one modified human’s horse aside.
• Fran elbowed a soldier who had assumed she had come to help him, knocking him from his horse.

Fran cut down the modified men and their attendants, drawing Knight Eric and Knight Cliff’s attention. Cliff charged at Fran, but her Sunflame Slash severed his Volcanic Scrap Iron lance, leaving him afraid of facing her attack directly.

• Fran rode down a mounted modified man and stabbed him in the back of the neck.
• Eric found his armored attendants incapacitated, then joined Knight Cliff and sent him after Fran while he held off the other two.
• Cliff charged Fran on his grassland warhorse as spectators expected her to be defeated.
• Fran met Cliff’s attack with [Sunflame Slash], and her Black Horse kicked his mount off balance.
• Fran’s slash cut Cliff’s lance in half, and Cliff feared that the same attack could cut through his armor and body.

Cliff surrendered and left the arena, abandoning Eric to face Finley and the other knights. Fran caught up and struck Eric down with Elven Swordsmanship, leaving the contest’s survivors to continue without him.

• Finley and another knight attacked Eric’s horse while Cliff was occupied.
• Cliff removed his helmet, dropped his weapon, and left the arena rather than risk fighting Fran.
• Maeve suggested Cliff had surrendered because he doubted he could win and feared Eric would soon fall.
• Fran rode the Black Horse after Eric as his horse neared collapse, and Eric leaped onto Finley’s horse to escape.
• Fran used Elven Swordsmanship to slash through Eric’s armor and nearly sever his spine, sending him tumbling from his horse.

Fran and Finley defeated the remaining knight in the duel, securing Finley’s chance to become the new lord of White Flower City. Count Ian offered Fran a place in Duke Theodore’s order of knights, but she declined and said she was heading to the Northern Territory.

• Fran knocked Eric off his horse, and the remaining knight used an enhancement potion on his mount but still failed to catch her black horse.
• Finley caught up to the knight and attacked him while Fran slowed down to join the fight; together, Fran and Finley defeated him.
• The crowd cheered for Finley’s victory, while many nobles who had backed Eric and Cliff reacted with dismay.
• Count Ian warned the nobles that objections to the duel’s outcome should be taken to Duke Theodore, then approached the victors.
• Count Ian invited Fran to join Duke Theodore’s order of knights, but Fran declined because she had to travel to the Northern Territory.
• Count Ian announced that Finley needed one more victory to become lord of White Flower City, and Finley vowed to win as the minor nobles glared at him.

Fran visited Finley to learn how knights were promoted and discovered that advancement and the use of a knight's Formal Rank power depended on a territory or knight order. She also realized why the Alliance had little interest in borderland lords, whose land-based advancement offered limited potential.

• Fran visited Finley and asked him to explain how knights were promoted.
• Finley explained that knights needed a title and support from a territory-backed knight order or a lord to advance.
• Fran declined Finley's offer of a promotion slot and asked whether promoted knights could keep their power after leaving their order or territory.
• Finley explained that knights who lost territorial support could barely use their Formal Rank power without risking their lives.
• Fran concluded that knighthood was fundamentally tied to land and understood that the Alliance sought ways for mages to benefit from territories without being bound to lordship.

The nobles tried to weaken Fran by muddying the arena and using Rain Prayer scrolls to block the sun before her duel with Ryan. Stefan’s iron tube felled Ryan’s attendants, and Fran’s Sunflame Arts blazed despite the clouds, leaving the nobles stunned as the battle began.

• The nobles backed Ryan and had the arena covered in mud to force Finley and Fran to fight on foot.
• Ryan’s allies activated Rain Prayer scrolls to weaken Fran’s Sunflame Arts by hiding the sun.
• Count Ian questioned the arena’s condition, but an official claimed the duel rules prevented them from cleaning it.
• Stefan fired his strange iron tube and dropped the two attendants behind Ryan.
• Fran’s sword blazed red despite the dark sky, shocking Ryan and causing several nobles to faint.