Recaps

Fran left White Flower City and rode toward the Northern Territory, while Connor’s Blood Wolf Knights continued searching travelers at the pass for a particular item. As Fran approached, Connor was beginning to doubt his resolve after a month of guarding the pass and seeing a recent rise in mages traveling north.

• Fran wished Finley luck, declined to reveal where she had obtained her custom spear, and rode toward the Northern Territory.
• The Blood Wolf Knights endured a monotonous, bitterly cold month guarding the Northern Territory Pass and grew resentful of Connor.
• Connor’s knights searched Dorian Sloan, but the Tracking Bug showed he was not carrying the item they sought.
• Dorian threatened to have the Battle Mage Corps deal with the knights and then hurried into the canyon.
• Connor wondered whether his decision to stay at the pass had been wrong as a black-robed rider on a black horse approached.

Fran confronted Connor Rolenbu and the knights who had been waiting to seize her Territory Token, but she used a Flame Trap to destroy her decoy and reveal her strength. She approached the remaining knights alone, calculating that defeating all eleven could bring her to Second Order.

• Fran pretended not to know why Connor and his knights had stopped her, then offered to hand over the Territory Token and warned them about her mentor.
• Connor rejected Fran’s warnings and demanded the Territory Token, giving her twenty seconds before ordering the knights to attack.
• The knights struck Fran’s decoy, which exploded in a Flame Trap and left three of them severely injured.
• Connor recognized the power of Dragon Flame as Fran signaled her Black Horse to safety and walked toward him.
• Fran counted the eleven remaining knights and silently calculated that defeating them could bring her to Second Order.

Fran used a homunculus and Dragon Flame to kill three Blood Wolf Knights, then unleashed Earth Uplift when Connor recognized her Prophecy Spell. After Fran killed a knight who attacked her, Connor stopped the others and decided to face her himself.

• Fran revealed that the apparent version of herself had been a homunculus made from a corpse, and her trap and Dragon Flame killed three knights.
• Connor recognized Fran's Prophecy Spell and feared she had prepared a trap for the Blood Wolf Knights.
• Fran cast Earth Uplift, transforming the valley and weighing down the knights with earth and sand.
• A silver-armored knight charged Fran, but she blocked his greatsword with Sword Dance and killed him with a strike to the head.
• Connor stopped the knights from attacking and announced that he would face Fran himself.

Fran fought Connor and his knights in the canyon, using Sunflame to damage Connor’s weapon and cut down three knights before Connor wounded her. The chapter left Fran preparing to cast [Howling Gale] and [Earth Uplift] as Connor and the remaining knights faced her.

• Connor used his Second Order strength to shatter Fran’s Shield Spell Rings, but Fran’s Sunflame damaged his greatsword in their clashes.
• Connor struck Fran’s Hardened Scale Rock, while Fran leaped into the knights behind him using Elven Swordsmanship.
• Fran killed three knights with Swift Wind Slash and Sunflame, leaving seven surrounding her.
• Connor struck Fran with his greatsword and inflicted a vicious wound, but [Light in Blood] began healing her.
• Fran activated the Spell Rings for [Howling Gale] and [Earth Uplift] and began gathering magic.

Fran used powerful earth and wind magic to overwhelm Connor’s knights, leaving Connor as the only opponent still able to fight. She then struck through Connor with her glowing longsword, killing the final knight he had been protecting.

• Fran raised an earthen spike beneath three knights, then crushed them inside a mound of compacted earth.
• Fran’s gale stripped the armor from two knights and wounded them, while she evaded Connor’s aerial sword slash and kicked him.
• Two knights fled; Fran froze one with the Purple Shortsword, and Connor shielded the last behind himself.
• Fran declared that the last knight was hers and unleashed a brilliant attack with her longsword, leaving Connor wounded and the knight behind him dead.

Fran faced Connor after exhausting her runes and considered how Divination Art differed from Star Gazing Art. As Connor moved in to kill her, he sensed an overwhelming Spell and realized her mentor might truly be a Fourth Order Mage, then revealed a way to disable the transmitter that would alert his father.

• Fran prepared to use Blood of the Furnace if Connor attacked, while Connor calmly approached, believing her weapon had entered a cooldown.
• Fran reflected that Divination Art showed future information without the guiding force she experienced with Star Gazing Art, making her wary of the latter’s prophecies.
• Connor walked toward Fran with an iron sword, provoked by her reminder that he could have taken the token and left.
• Connor sensed a Spell fluctuation far beyond his expectations and reconsidered Fran’s claim that her mentor was a Fourth Order Mage.
• As he neared death, Connor told Fran that a transmitter beside a black package in his tent could be destroyed within ten minutes, so his father would not track him.

Fran defeated Connor, destroyed the transmitter he had mentioned, and cleared the battlefield for valuable spoils. After releasing the captured horses, she rode her Black Horse toward the Northern Territory.

• Fran recalled Connor’s body after transmuting him into red liquid and realized high-order professionals could resist her Blood of the Furnace.
• Fran used Telekinetic Hand to remove the black package from the tent and destroyed it with Dragon Flame to eliminate the transmitter.
• Fran searched the battlefield, collecting geographical information, Combat Techniques, a mysterious silver token, special metals, and about 23 gold coins.
• Fran released the Blood Wolf Knights’ horses because she could not take care of them on the journey north.
• Fran rode her Black Horse along the damaged road toward the Northern Territory.

Fran arrived in Snowfang Town and found its newly opened mage reception office, where she met Dorian, a mage traveling to the Northern Lands Society. Dorian explained that he had come after his former society rejected his paper, but Fran still did not know why the Northern Lands Society had become famous.

• Fran entered Snowfang Town and discovered that a mage reception office had opened three days earlier.
• Fran ordered hot food and sat down while the receptionist prepared a room.
• Dorian joined Fran and complained that knights had blocked the road while searching for an item.
• Dorian said his former society had rejected his paper for including material from another school, so he was going to the Northern Lands Society.
• Fran asked Dorian what had recently happened at the Northern Lands Society, and he was surprised she did not know.

Fran read a newspaper article about the Northern Lands Society publishing a method for perpetual conversion of Fire Element into Wind Element, which the article compared to part of the Legendary spell Elemental Storm. She learned that the method’s author was Harbos Roins, and realized she had already made a name for herself at the Northern Lands Society.

• Dorian showed Fran a Roden Weekly article announcing the Northern Lands Society’s new method for perpetual elemental conversion.
• Dorian explained that the method had caused a stir across the Alliance and drawn mages to the Northern Lands Society.
• Fran read about Elemental Conversion, and Dorian described how converting elements could change the properties of a spell.
• Dorian said the newly published method used mechanical assistance rather than pure spell structures to convert Wind Element.
• Fran discovered that Harbos Roins, a Fourth Order mage who had recently founded his own school, developed the method.

Fran and Dorian traveled through the Northern Territory to the Northern Lands Society’s headquarters, where a great furnace kept the city warm. At the gate, the guards reacted with surprise when Fran gave her name.

• Fran rode Black Horse through the snow while Dorian struggled to keep up on foot.
• Fran told Dorian that a Transmutation School mage had modified Black Horse to handle cold environments.
• Dorian pointed out the Northern Lands Society’s furnace and explained how it warmed the headquarters and the crowded settlement outside its walls.
• Dorian explained that the society had begun recruiting commoners after few Alliance mages came north.
• Dorian presented his documents at the city gate and was allowed through.
• The guards exclaimed in surprise when Fran handed over her documents and gave her name.

After arriving at the Northern Lands Society, Fran was recognized and escorted to meet its Society President amid the uproar over Harbos's paper. She followed the mages to the Mage Tower and considered its history and purpose as a place for magical research.

• Several mages recognized Fran and hurried to escort her to the Society President, leaving Dorian shocked.
• Fran realized Harbos's paper had provoked the Alliance schools and that she, Elan, and the Forge School apprentices might be caught up in the backlash.
• The mages led Fran through the red-housed streets to the Mage Tower, where she saw the Alchemy School and Northern Lands Society emblems.
• A mage explained that newcomers unable to get space inside the Mage Tower conducted experiments in temporary structures on the plaza.
• Fran reflected that Mage Towers had lost their former educational and defensive roles and now mainly provided places for mages to explore magic.

Fran entered the Northern Lands Society’s Mage Tower and met its Society President, Iris, who had been asked by Harbos to look after her. Iris considered Fran’s unusual interests and achievements as she thought about how to arrange her studies.

• Fran saw the Mage Tower’s Mana Communication System and learned that the Society President had acquired it fifteen years earlier.
• Fran climbed more than ten floors with her guides and entered the Society President’s lavishly decorated office.
• Iris introduced herself to Fran as the Society President of the Northern Lands Society.
• Iris recalled Harbos’s letter describing Fran’s interest in other Schools, her mechanical talent, and the spells and advancement system she had created.
• Iris assessed Fran’s abilities and considered how to organize her studies in Formal Mage spells.

Fran explained why she wanted to study spells from every School, and Iris described how the Northern Lands Society exchanged knowledge through Contribution Points. Iris offered to guide Fran through research by assigning her to a project and warned her to use a false name when registering for the Mana Communication System.

• Fran said she wanted to learn spells from every School, explaining that studying multiple Schools raised her Spirit and that the Northern Lands Society let her conceal where her spells came from.
• Iris told Fran that knowledge in the society required Contribution Points, which members earned through major projects or papers.
• Iris offered Fran a project to teach her standardized research methods and how to write up findings as a paper.
• Fran accepted Iris's offer, recognizing that she needed to learn the society's paper-submission process.
• Iris warned Fran to use an invented name when registering for the Mana Communication System, and Fran agreed.

Dylan introduced Fran to the Mana Communication System and helped her register an account under the name Lai. He explained that she would join a confidential project overseen by Mage Philip in three days, leaving Fran to explore the system on her own.

• Dylan introduced himself to Fran and said he was also part of the confidential project she would join under Mage Philip.
• Dylan led Fran to the first-floor registration window and obtained a Mana Receiving Board for her.
• Dylan explained where the Mana Communication System could be used and how Fran could operate the board.
• Fran struggled with the handwriting input but registered under the name Lai, which would be used for her future papers.
• Dylan showed Fran how to search for a paper by number and told her that the project group would meet in three days.

Fran explored the Northern Lands Society’s clumsy Mana Communication System and learned how mages cataloged and sold research papers. Seeking the Second-Order Mage Promotion Method, she decided to publish mathematics to earn Contribution Points and begin building a mathematical system in this world.

• Fran used the Mana Communication System to read Iris’s paper on forging precious metals, but the system’s text glitches and Contribution Point restrictions frustrated her.
• A mage explained that catalogs and paid collections helped scholars find papers, then sold Fran a selection of books and periodicals.
• Fran reviewed her purchases and learned that the Society relied on manual cataloging because Iris lacked experienced staff.
• Fran saw that a valuable paper on Second-Circle Mage advancement cost fifty Contribution Points and considered how to earn enough.
• Fran decided to start with mathematics, since her scientific knowledge depended on a mathematical foundation that this world lacked.

Lyle received the Lord of Radiance’s command to lead battle-ready believers in conquering a dark realm, while the Lord reassured him that Fran would return to Monsa later. In the Astral Realm, the Lord worried that Lai had made no progress building a following in the Material Realm, but assumed she was working hard.

• The Lord of Radiance ordered Lyle to take the battle-ready believers and conquer the dark realm, granting them control over their draconic powers.
• Lyle asked whether the Lord’s former Proxy would return, explaining that believers questioned why he had received the Lord’s favor.
• The Lord told Lyle to ignore the doubts and said Fran was carrying out a more important task before she returned to lead the believers to Radiant Heaven.
• The Lord of Radiance wondered why Lai had not developed believers in the Material Realm, despite sensing that she was alive and growing stronger.
• The Lord optimistically decided that preaching in the Material Realm must be difficult and that Lai was taking her time.

Fran abandoned her plan to publish pure mathematical analysis after learning that the Northern Lands Society accepted only research connected to magic. She used calculus to analyze Fireball and finished a paper, leaving her eager to investigate other spells after submitting it.

• Fran learned from Snowflake Weekly that the Northern Lands Society rejected papers without a connection to magic, so she changed her approach.
• Fran chose Fireball as her subject and set out to determine how to produce the largest fireball with the least mana.
• Fran struggled to define a standard amount of mana and instead defined a unit based on the mana consumed by a fully channeled Fireball.
• Fran repeatedly cast Fireball with varying amounts of mana, measured the fireballs, and derived a formula relating input mental power to volume.
• Fran completed her paper after working all night, then received a notification that her Fireball proficiency had increased by 11000.

Philip introduced his White Star Sand project to eight newly assigned mages and explained that it aimed to increase the yield of an apprentice-operated refining device. He left the mages to experiment with old devices, allowing them to modify the equipment at their own risk.

• Philip faced eight mages and three apprentices assigned to his project after the Northern Lands Society drew a rush of new arrivals.
• Philip explained that his project sought to improve the low yield of devices that let apprentices refine White Star Sand.
• Philip decided to use the mages' experiments to teach them about Alchemy School materials rather than involve them in his main research.
• Philip distributed eight damaged refining devices and invited the mages to compete for the greatest yield.
• Fran asked whether the mages could modify the devices, and Philip allowed it as long as he would not have to replace anything they broke.

Fran examined a device for extracting White Star Sand from Grey Ghost Iron and devised an experiment to discover why it produced such a low yield. As she sealed the device against escaping gas and set up a spell to detect spiritual matter, someone wearing the Yobner Society emblem watched her.

• Fran told Dylan she did not know Alchemy School techniques, and he decided to study the device himself and teach her once he understood it.
• Fran learned that the device produced far less White Star Sand than the traditional method and wondered whether the missing material became gas or spirits.
• Fran put some Grey Ghost Iron into the device and spread wind element over its cracks and lid to keep gas from escaping.
• Fran adapted the Soul Creation spell to alert her if spiritual matter passed the device, while a mage wearing the Yobner Society emblem watched her.

Fran tested a magical device with Grey Ghost Iron, but almost all the material vanished, prompting her to suspect the gas had escaped. Nora, a member of the Yobner Society, tried to recruit Fran into the Elemental School after noticing her elemental talent, while Leo dismissed their talk of becoming a Third Order Mage.

• Fran ran the device and found that less than 0.1 grams remained from the thirty grams of Grey Ghost Iron she had put inside.
• Nora suggested Fran had not powered the device enough and explained that alchemical creations could lose key components into the air, but Fran suspected the device's gaps had let the gas escape.
• Fran told Nora she was not with the Elemental School and that she had advanced in Loderis, the City of Apprentices in Grey Soil Province.
• Nora asked Fran to transfer to the Elemental School, saying she had talent for elemental spells and could probably become a Third Order Mage.
• Leo overheard them and scorned their discussion, thinking that reaching the Third Order was extremely difficult.

Fran modified the White Star Sand refining device by coating it with Soul-Repelling Copper, then began a new test with Grey Ghost Iron. Nora recognized Fran’s unusual fire magic and considered recruiting her into the Elemental School, while Leo doubted the purpose of Fran’s work.

• Fran asked Philip for permission to buy materials, and he agreed while expecting the visiting wizards to accomplish little.
• Fran returned with Soul-Repelling Copper and heated it with unusually powerful flames as Nora watched.
• Nora sensed a dragon’s magic in Fran’s flames and considered recruiting her into the Elemental School.
• Fran melted the Soul-Repelling Copper and shaped it into a complete coating over the refining device, sealing its openings.
• Fran put thirty grams of Grey Ghost Iron into the modified device, while Leo recognized the copper and scorned her experiment.

Fran used Grey Ghost Iron to modify the magical device and successfully extracted more White Star Sand than the Alchemy School’s traditional method. Nora was astonished by the result, while Fran planned further experiments to confirm the law of conservation of energy.

• Leo dismissed Fran’s use of Soul-Repelling Copper as foolish and turned his attention to testing the magical device.
• Nora watched Fran work without interrupting, though she could not understand why the metal would affect the result.
• Fran ran the device, held its lid down with Telekinetic Hand as pressure built inside, and stopped it once the force subsided.
• Fran separated and weighed the output, finding about five grams of purified White Star Sand alongside other particles.
• Fran concluded that the device’s yield exceeded the traditional method and planned another experiment, while Nora marveled at the improvement.

On the first day of the project, Philip taught the mages how to analyze and operate unfamiliar magic devices after his attempt to increase their power failed. Fran then revealed that her metal-coated device had produced over fifty grams of White Star Sand, and Philip began testing it himself.

• Philip's attempt to raise a device's power limit failed to improve its White Star Sand yield.
• Philip summoned the mages, measured Dylan's yield at 2.9 grams, and taught everyone how to analyze devices and keep experimental records.
• Philip asked the mages to hand over their extracted White Star Sand and any unprocessed Grey Ghost Iron.
• Fran presented over fifty grams of White Star Sand and said she had extracted it with her modified device.
• Philip loaded one hundred grams of Grey Ghost Iron into Fran's device and activated it, sensing an unfamiliar magical fluctuation.

Fran’s use of Soul-Repelling Copper dramatically increased the White Star Sand apparatus’s output and revealed possible spirits in Grey Ghost Iron. Philip credited Fran with the breakthrough, which could win the Silver Alchemy Award, while Dylan decided to pursue combat training instead of magical research.

• Philip opened the apparatus and measured its unusually large output of White Star Sand and by-products.
• Philip asked Fran why she had used Soul-Repelling Copper, and Fran explained that sensing spirits with her Necromancy School spells had led her to the idea.
• Leo realized that he had sensed the spirits too but had failed to recognize them, and he regretted missing the discovery.
• Philip promised to put Fran’s name first on the results and said the achievement could win the Silver Alchemy Award.
• Fran and Philip discussed writing a paper, while the mages and Philip’s apprentices celebrated the project’s success.
• Dylan admired Fran’s research talent and decided to ask his mentor about joining the Northern Lands Society’s Battle Mage Corps.

Fran submitted a solo paper to the Northern Lands Society, where reviewer Alaric began screening a growing pile of papers from newly admitted mages. He opened Fran’s paper, titled “Mathematical Analysis of Fireball,” and expected it to be worthless, but had to read it before deciding.

• Fran submitted her manuscript and was told to return in three days to check the review result.
• A staff member placed Fran’s paper in the review queue and worried that the Mana Communication System might not cope with the Society’s growing number of mages.
• Alaric found eleven papers waiting for review and complained that many recent submissions from Alliance mages were poor.
• Alaric picked up Fran’s paper, saw its title, “Mathematical Analysis of Fireball,” and began reading despite his doubts.