Chapter Summaries

Iris reviewed the award results with Philip and learned that Harbos had won the Master of Elements Award, though not for the work she had hoped. When Philip said his paper had lost the Silver Alchemy Award, Iris discovered that another Northern Lands Society paper, Mathematical Analysis of Fireball, had won and might contend for the Gold Alchemy Award.

• Philip brought Iris the Alliance award materials and reported that the committee was still searching for Preston, who might have died near the Abyss Mouth.
• Iris reviewed the Arcane Mage Award comments and concluded that Harbos's supporters and opponents remained deadlocked.
• Philip reported that Harbos had won the Master of Elements Award for The Forging of Elemental Weapons, and Iris planned to publicize the result to sway neutral mages.
• Philip told Iris that his paper on Refining White Star Sand had not won the Silver Alchemy Award, so Iris contacted her mentor to challenge the decision.
• Iris's mentor revealed that Mathematical Analysis of Fireball had won the Silver Alchemy Award and might receive the Gold Alchemy Award six months later.

Fran used mathematical analysis to raise her Fireball proficiency and discovered that her new Master of Fireball Trait gave her exceptional control over fire spells and elemental fire. Unable to search for Divine Statues without Spirit Realm guides, she decided to prepare to help the Lord of Radiance gain followers and go find Anna.

• Fran finished a mathematical paper on Fireball and raised its proficiency to 53690/100000.
• Fran discovered the Master of Fireball Trait and tested its effects by casting and maneuvering Fireball with extraordinary speed and precision.
• Fran controlled a Greater Fireball and shaped fire element directly, realizing the Trait could help her master other fire spells.
• Fran considered searching the Spirit Realm for Divine Statues but lacked guides to the relevant domains.
• Fran decided to seek guides at a new market with Nora next week and, for now, prepare to help the Lord of Radiance gain followers by finding Anna.

Blake accepted Fran’s request to transfer three villages in Snow Bear Territory to her for an experiment on territorial boundaries. Fran and Nora entered the Spirit Realm at Heart Lake Market, where Fran gathered Spirit Crystals and bought materials before an alarm sent the market’s visitors fleeing.

• Blake recognized Fran’s black-haired companion Anna and answered her questions about how lords sensed territorial boundaries.
• Anna told Blake to transfer ownership of three villages to Fran and withdraw all appointments there, and Blake agreed.
• Fran entered the Spirit Realm with Nora at Heart Lake Market, then left Nora to visit Monsa City and collect Spirit Crystals.
• Fran used some Spirit Crystals to buy materials for the Song of the Deep Sea modification sequence and went to browse Spirit Realm Guides.
• Someone shouted that the yellow-robed people had arrived, prompting people to run.

Fran recognized the yellow-robed men as members of an organized group that plundered Spirit Realm Travelers, and noticed a Guide hanging from one man's waist. Malcolm, a core member leading a team meant to distract the market Security Team, was surprised when Fran approached him and asked to trade for it.

• Market vendors fled as yellow-robed men entered, while Fran stayed to watch and recognized their plundering Guides.
• Fran recalled that the yellow-robed organization recruited members, supplied them with plundering Guides, and protected them from revenge.
• Fran noticed an unusual item at one yellow-robed man's waist and walked over to him.
• Malcolm reflected on the mental-energy cost of tracking down someone who had robbed him and explained that his team was distracting the Security Team while the main force targeted valuable goods.
• Fran asked Malcolm whether he would trade the Guide at his waist, stunning him and the surrounding onlookers.

Fran traded 100 grams of Spirit Crystal with Malcolm for a Spirit Realm Guide, but Malcolm refused to hand it over and ordered his Yellow-Robed Men to attack her. He planned to use a subordinate’s special ability to steal the Guide and more Spirit Crystal from Fran.

• Malcolm explained that the Yellow-Robed Men kept the Heart Lake Market raid secret to prevent rival groups from sharing the loot.
• Fran asked to buy Malcolm’s Spirit Realm Guide, and Malcolm offered it for 100 grams of Spirit Crystal.
• Fran completed the exchange ritual, binding the Spirit Realm Guide to herself and the Spirit Crystal to Malcolm.
• Malcolm refused to hand Fran the Guide and told her that Yellow-Robed Men could kill people after a trade to steal from them again.
• Malcolm’s men surrounded Fran, and he challenged her to see whether his subordinate’s special ability would make the Guide drop from her.

Fran used her power to defeat Malcolm and the yellow-robed thugs at Heart Lake Market, then recovered her Spirit Crystals and the Guide of the Spirit Realm. Back in the Material Realm, she told Nora she still needed to learn basic Transmutation Surgery before pursuing the rare Second Order Murloc materials.

• Malcolm ordered his men to attack Fran, but a strange mass swallowed them and began consuming him as well.
• Fran picked up the fiery-red Guide of the Spirit Realm and said goodbye to Malcolm, who collapsed and lost consciousness.
• A Security Team member explained that Heart Lake Market’s protection ritual let them reverse transactions and seize the dead thugs’ assets for Fran.
• Nora told Fran that the yellow-robed men had tried to rob Heart Lake Market after hearing about the Lord of Radiance’s raid on Emerald Market.
• Fran told Nora she had bought basic materials and requested First Order materials, but the Adventurers Guild could not provide Second Order Murlocs from the deep sea.
• Fran said she would practice basic Transmutation Surgery before deciding whether to seek the Murlocs herself.

Aila saw Anna take control of her village and remove the corrupt steward, then went to gather firewood. At the Northern Lands Society, Fran prepared to travel to Snow Bear Territory to test whether institutions could let a mage obtain a territory’s blessing without the drawbacks of becoming a Territory Knight.

• Aila watched Anna present the lord’s order, take over the village, and choose the steward’s house for her plans.
• Anna’s companion took the steward away while Aila left to chop firewood in the mountains.
• Fran reviewed research on territorial blessings and concluded that most mages’ attempts had failed because their Professions could not accommodate a territory.
• Fran rejected becoming a Territory Knight because its power depended on the territory’s prosperity and would require her to govern it.
• Fran decided to investigate whether establishing institutions based on Law School knowledge could help her gain a territory’s blessing.

Fran planned to use the Law School’s Self-Establishment Decree to gain a Territory Blessing by creating practical rules suited to the people’s needs. In a village in Snow Bear Territory, Anna learned from Brian that monsters were nearby and immediately went out to deal with them.

• Fran studied how Law School decrees depended on local beliefs and considered using the Self-Establishment Decree to earn a Territory Blessing.
• Fran concluded that effective rules should address the villagers’ survival and disputes, and that she first needed to make them obey her.
• Brian worried about the steward’s removal and the threats posed by monsters and bandits, then went to ask Anna what would happen to the village.
• Anna told Brian that Fran had been given the territory and was still on her way.
• Brian mentioned seeing a monster near the village, and Anna grabbed her pack and headed out to deal with it.

Fran arrived in the village and reunited with Anna, who had been preparing a church for Fran’s experiment. Their plans were interrupted when they found Aila badly poisoned by a monster bite, and Fran offered to treat her with a strange potion.

• Fran entered the village, where Brian mistook her for its new lord and directed her to Anna.
• Fran inspected the unfinished church and told Anna she might need to stay for a week or as long as three months for the experiment.
• Fran and Anna went to a commotion and found Aila with a poisoned bite on her left arm.
• The village doctor said Aila’s hand needed amputation but admitted he was unsure he could perform the surgery successfully.
• Fran offered to try treating Aila in two minutes, holding a bottle of shimmering liquid.

Fran used a Life Replenishment Potion blessed by Lord of Radiance to heal Aila’s poisoned arm, then presented the healing as a Deity’s gift. Aila and the watching villagers began to believe, while Brian suspected Fran had intended to win followers.

• The doctor reluctantly let Fran treat Aila after seeing Anna nearby and receiving Brian’s signal.
• Fran poured the Life Replenishment Potion onto Aila’s injured arm, and its blackness and wound disappeared as she regained control of her hand and stood.
• Fran told Aila to thank the Deity, and Aila repeated the words, developing a little faith as Fran’s book glowed and warmed.
• Fran left with Anna, while the doctor confirmed Aila’s arm was healed and the villagers gathered to ask about the Deity.
• Brian watched the crowd’s growing interest and suspected Fran had used the miracle to gain followers.

Fran repaired the church with the villagers, carved a Divine Statue in a short time, and opened the church that night. When Aila and other villagers entered, they were captivated by the statue, and the church’s surroundings began to brighten and thaw.

• The villagers helped finish the church repairs in three days, and Anna carried a stone pillar inside for the Divine Statue.
• Fran lifted the pillar onto the platform and carved a lifelike Divine Statue while Anna watched in amazement.
• Fran told Anna to invite everyone to the church’s opening that night, before sunset.
• Aila and several villagers entered the church at night and found themselves drawn to the statue despite the cold and dim candlelight.
• Fran called the villagers forward, while the church’s dark corners brightened and snow nearby began to melt.

After Fran established a church in a snowbound village, the townspeople’s faith awakened supernatural power and began changing Aila. Fran explained that the Sect would need more believers for Aila to reach Formal Rank, then left Anna to manage the church and its new rules while she handled other matters.

• Brian woke to find the snow melting around the house, the villagers feeling warm, and the ground beneath his feet beginning to thaw.
• Anna watched the townspeople pray at the Divine Statue and sensed supernatural power forming in Aila, whose injured arm had healed.
• Fran told Anna that Aila needed more believers to advance to Formal Rank and planned to spread the Sect through Snow Bear Territory.
• Fran showed Anna the Believers' Rules, a simple system for protecting believers’ property and deciding punishments through discussion and trial.
• Fran said she had to leave for a few days, so Anna agreed to oversee the church and its rules.

Fran felt the land's resonance but received no Territory Blessing, then left Anna to manage the villages while she explored the Sun Domain. She discovered that the domain's heat rose when she stood still and ran toward its enormous orb, where a dark figure appeared and warned her to stop.

• Fran sensed the land's resonance and judged that her small territory could only grant a weak blessing if she managed to earn one.
• Fran left Anna in charge of the villages, rode Black Horse to a cave, and entered the Spirit Realm through the Sun Domain Guide.
• Fran found herself on a scorching plain and discovered that walking kept the surrounding temperature from rising.
• Fran found a mirrored surface that revealed new guide orbs and kept the heat from rising while she stood still.
• Fran ran toward the enormous orb, and a dark figure appeared beside her and warned her not to go farther.

Fran found Zali, the Domain Lord of the Sun Domain, and learned that the Gods were using the Spirit Realm’s advancement trial to prevent anyone from becoming a Sunflame Knight. Despite the danger posed by the Gods’ Proxies, Fran chose to attempt the Trial of the Sun, and Zali began explaining how she would enter it.

• Fran followed the rusted armored man back across the red soil, and he introduced himself as Zali, the Domain Lord who held the Trial of the Sun.
• Zali warned Fran that the trial was difficult and that outside interference had prevented a Sunflame Knight from appearing for hundreds of years.
• Zali explained that the Gods’ Proxies would hunt non-Proxy participants during the trial and could track and kill them afterward if they failed.
• Fran considered whether her status as a Proxy of the Lord of Radiance could help her, then decided to take the trial.
• Zali told Fran she needed to report to the Spirit Realm a week before the trial began.

Fran searched for materials to upgrade her Black Horse before the Sun Trial, then asked the Lord of Radiance for dragon materials and advice about facing the other Gods’ Proxies. She left for Monsa’s dragon remains and planned to prepare for the trial and seek help from Zali, while the Lord of Radiance wondered why she was participating despite already having the Mage Profession.

• Fran asked the Adventurers Guild for highly fire-resistant materials but learned none were in stock, then remembered the dragon killed during the Spirit Realm Trial.
• Fran visited the Lord of Radiance in Monsa and received permission to take Dragon Blood from the dragon’s remains.
• Fran told the Lord of Radiance that Gods’ Proxies would oppose the Sun Trial and asked to join them, but the Lord of Radiance said its enemies would prevent that.
• The Lord of Radiance advised Fran to reveal herself as its Proxy during the trial, warning that some hostile Proxies might attack her.
• Fran resolved to strengthen herself within seven days and reach Zali early to ask for help, while the Lord of Radiance questioned why she wanted to enter the trial.

Fran used Transmutation Surgery to strengthen Black Horse with Dragon Blood and a dragon's heart, raising him to a First Order magical beast. With Black Horse's new power and resistance to flames, Fran rode toward the village, though his heated body made the ride uncomfortable.

• Fran put Black Horse under with [Disorderly Touch], used [Form Maintenance], and replaced part of his blood with Dragon Blood.
• Fran waited for her Transmutation Studies to level up, then cut out Black Horse's strengthened heart and replaced it with the dragon's heart.
• Black Horse's body began to fail, so Fran poured more Dragon Blood over him, helping him adapt as scales formed beneath his coat.
• Fran's Panel announced that Black Horse had become a First Order magical beast, and he awoke with greater weight and strength.
• Fran rode Black Horse toward the village, noting that he was stronger and now suited to her planned Sunflame Knight Profession, but his body radiated heat.

Heather learned that the Goddess of Ocean Currents wanted her to enter a Spirit Realm trial and prevent ordinary participants from passing, while Valerie assured her that other Gods' Proxies would cooperate. Back at the church, Fran discovered that more than five hundred followers had registered, including newcomers drawn by the church's warmer surroundings, and realized the village needed new rules and more help.

• Heather told Valerie that the Proxy they had encountered was likely hidden in a sealed realm and that the Church probably could not find them.
• Valerie explained that Heather's trial task was to eliminate non-Proxy participants, while other Gods' Proxies would work alongside her.
• Fran returned to the church and found a large crowd gathered outside the Divine Statue.
• Anna told Fran that more than five hundred followers had registered and that she was overwhelmed arranging lodging and guards for newcomers.
• Fran realized people from Snow Bear Territory had likely come to the villages and decided they needed to change the rules and get more help.

Fran received Blake’s report that he had lost control of three villages and planned to halt the influx of people while sending believers out to expand the faith. She assigned Anna to oversee the believers and remain at the church while Fran returned to the Northern Lands Society to prepare for the Trial of the Sun.

• A knight delivered Fran a letter from Blake stating that he had lost awareness of three villages in his territory.
• Fran told Anna she would work with the lord’s people to stop newcomers and establish a small church where believers could prove their devotion before coming to the village.
• Fran decided to send the village’s registered believers out to spread the faith and planned to ask the Lord of Radiance for grants of power to help deserving believers become Professionals.
• Fran assigned Anna to determine which believers qualified to become Professionals.
• Fran wrote a reply to Blake and told Anna she would return to the Northern Lands Society the next day, leaving Anna in charge; Anna accepted after Fran promised to return in about ten days.

Fran traveled to the Northern Lands Society and began the Song of the Deep Sea modification sequence on herself, using enhancement solutions and monster organs. She completed its four modifications, including replacing her vocal cords with a young Siren’s, but had not yet tested their full effects.

• Fran rode the Black Horse at a gallop to the Northern Lands Society, then went to her alchemical house to begin modifying herself.
• Fran drank a solution that reinforced her skin and lungs and granted her limited underwater breathing.
• Fran used a Silver Skin Fish pearl to gain the ability to sense ocean currents.
• Fran implanted a Water Arrow Fish’s pectoral fin in her left hand and tested its Water Arrow ability.
• Fran cut open her throat, replaced her vocal cords with a young Siren’s, and discovered that her new voice sounded beautiful.

After completing Sequence Four transmutation surgery, Fran gained aquatic survival and a beguiling voice, then fashioned a temporary weapon from the dragon materials she had salvaged. She left with a Radiance-enhanced Dragon Bone club designed to strengthen her divine spells before the Trial of the Sun.

• Fran discovered that her new vocal cords gave her voice a powerful warmth and gained the Aquatic Creature and Voice of the Siren traits.
• Fran decided to make a temporary weapon from the Dragon Blood and Dragon Bone she had brought back from the Spirit Realm.
• Fran weighed making a staff or melee weapon against crafting a weapon suited to her role as a Proxy of the Lord of Radiance.
• Fran shaped a large piece of Dragon Bone into a club and used Radiance to cover it with golden patterns that enhanced divine spells.