Chapter Summaries

Warren tried to defeat Fran with a layered defensive strategy, but Fran used rapid Elemental Conversion to overwhelm his protections. Warren survived her Pyroblast, yet Fran’s next Greater Fireball left him unable to keep up.

• Warren cast [Steel Skin] and used Shield Spell rings to endure Fran’s enhanced Greater Fireball while channeling [Mithril Body].
• Warren completed [Mithril Body] and drank [Metal Essence], believing his strengthened defenses would secure his victory.
• Fran recognized Warren’s defensive plan and chose to use Elemental Conversion rather than reveal her skill at breaking shields through repeated spells.
• Fran rapidly converted the elements twice and launched Pyroblast, whose blast interrupted Warren’s attempt to cast another shield.
• Warren’s mithril barrier survived the Pyroblast, but Fran’s next Greater Fireball flew toward him, leaving him unable to defend himself in time.

After Fran defeated Warren, she learned that more than two hundred ranked duelists in Number Nine Floating City could provide her with opponents, and she booked another duel. Warren told his friends how decisively she had beaten him, prompting two of them to rush to challenge her.

• A staff member assessed the damage Fran's Pyroblast had done to the arena and told her she had reached 100 preliminary points.
• Fran learned that she was likely ranked in the 3,900s and that Number Nine Floating City had over two hundred ranked duelists accepting challenges.
• Fran booked a duel for the following afternoon.
• Warren told his friends that Fran had beaten him three-nil, describing her exceptional casting speed, accuracy, and mental strength.
• Warren's friends discussed why a Yobner Society mage had entered the Champion Mage Challenge and realized Fran had won ten matches in a row without losing a round.
• Two mages hurried to the front desk to challenge Fran and try to end her winning streak.

Iris brought Fran to the Floating City's power department, where Fran used her knowledge of Magic Inscriptions to force the mages to begin inspections. After reading Iris's secret mission details, Fran learned the city was being prepared for a possible clash with the Cult of the Sky Dragon, while Iris planned to leave afterward; Iris then ordered the exhausted mages to work faster and inspect the external engines.

• Iris found Fran confronting the power department mages over their neglected inspection work, and Fran made them begin inspecting the walls.
• Iris discovered Fran had written an analysis of Magic Inscriptions and recognized that her expertise had persuaded the mages to cooperate.
• Fran read the confidential mission details, learning that the Floating City had to reach and sustain high speeds in preparation for a possible encounter with the Cult of the Sky Dragon.
• Iris told Fran she would leave the city after the deadline and expected powerful Alchemy School mages to handle any confrontation, while Fran privately wondered whether they knew the Sky Dragon might appear.
• Iris set a thirty-five-minute limit for inspecting each section and ordered two mages to accompany her to inspect the external engines.

Fran advanced into the Elemental Scout profession and found its bonuses and reconnaissance trait unimpressive, then considered the difficult requirements for Passionate Warrior and Sword Saint. She planned to seek out obscure sword arts and eventually challenge a Sword Saint to claim a path to the Third Order.

• Fran used elemental power with her combat techniques and advanced into the Two-Star Elemental Scout profession, gaining the Elemental Reconnaissance trait.
• Fran dismissed Elemental Scout as a poor profession and decided to find Anna a Ranger variant instead.
• Fran considered how to gather twenty mastered combat techniques for Passionate Warrior, starting with opportunities on the Alliance's Floating City before turning to the Adventurers Guild.
• Fran examined the Sword Saint requirements and concluded she needed to collect obscure sword arts and raise one to the Extraordinary level.
• Fran planned to learn a Third Order Sword Saint's sword art, kill its strongest practitioner, and use her Panel to master sword arts that others could not fully learn.

Fran attended Silver-Scale Manor’s Silver Dragon Dinner, where mages sought information from her because of her connection to the Territory Mage thesis. She traded details about Antir for sword arts and combat techniques, while keeping the truth about Antir’s vanished throne to herself.

• Fran arrived at the Silver Dragon Dinner and was escorted to the third floor, where Kieran Burns greeted her and introduced her Sandglass Cup achievements to the assembled mages.
• Fran asked Kieran Burns to find combat techniques and copies of the Broken Wing Sword Art or Blood Law Sword Art.
• A woman in red offered Fran silver sheets in exchange for information about Antir and its status as territory of The Alliance.
• Fran told the gathered mages that Antir had once had a throne, but its lords could no longer sense it after her colleagues occupied the region.
• Kilan returned with silver sheets and discussed Antir’s throne with Fran, who withheld that it had been replaced by The Alliance’s regional administrator position.

Fran left Silver-Scale Manor exhausted but satisfied after obtaining Anna’s Ranger Promotion Method, two sword arts, and more than twenty combat techniques. Meanwhile, Roderick struggled to find a way to suppress the Felistin Family’s popular new communication terminal as the Alliance Council debated the rise of Territory Mages.

• Fran left the banquet with the combat techniques and advancement method she needed, while resolving to avoid future banquets for a while.
• Fran examined the Sharpshooter class requirements and realized Anna would need to improve her Physique, possibly with a Body Promotion Potion.
• Aunrich and other important mages gathered for a meeting at the Aether Palace, while Roderick considered the political concerns surrounding Territory Mages and mage families.
• Roderick found that the Alliance could not quietly suppress the Felistin Family’s communication terminal because its infrastructure had already been approved.
• A mage praised the terminal’s communication quality and explained how the Mana Communication System project had developed it, leaving Roderick to put aside his concerns for the moment.

Oinrich returned to lead a secret operation, announcing that Number Nine Floating City would attack the Cult of the Sky Dragon’s floating islands. He also conveyed a new Alliance policy placing Territory Mage matters under the Battle Mage Corps Commanders’ Council, leaving Roderick relieved that Felistin’s ambitions could be contained.

• Oinrich told the mages that the operation had never been approved by the Alliance Council and revealed plans to attack the Cult of the Sky Dragon’s floating islands using Number Nine Floating City.
• The mages questioned the danger of risking the Floating City, while Oinrich said the attack had to proceed because he believed the Cult of the Sky Dragon posed a serious threat.
• Lexi outlined the secret mission’s identifying features and instructed the mages on how to respond to tasks connected with it.
• Oinrich announced a resolution regulating Territory Mage projects and giving the Battle Mage Corps Commanders’ Council the highest authority over them.
• Roderick concluded that the policy would let the Alliance put Felistin’s matters on hold and prevent its Territory Mages from gaining influence.

Fran extended her Magic Duel winning streak to fourteen consecutive 3:0 victories, drawing the attention of Lynn and his uncle Caleb as she approached his father's Preliminaries record. Caleb investigated Fran's abilities to prepare Lynn for a possible match, but found her reported skills almost impossible to believe.

• Lexi told Oinrich that the Deity-detecting sensors were finished and that a Fourth Order Mage had been assigned to the Propulsion Department.
• Fran won her fourteenth Magic Duel 3:0 and resolved to vary her fighting style and prepare new rune-carved boots.
• Caleb brought Lynn the record of Fran's fourteen straight 3:0 victories, and Lynn hoped to face her before she could challenge his father's sixteen-win record.
• Caleb investigated Fran's duel history and struggled to believe reports that she could cast faster than Shield Spell, fly exceptionally well, and use Elemental Conversion twice without scrolls.
• Caleb tore up his notes, fearing that if the reports were true, Lynn might not win even a single round against Fran.

Iris defended Fran’s place on the secret mission while Owen failed to have her removed. Owen then planned to sabotage the airgate device and frame Fran during its upcoming test.

• Owen questioned Iris about Fran’s knowledge of Magic Inscription and threatened to report her, but Iris refused to explain and warned him to focus on his work.
• Iris resolved to protect Fran, relying on the official Alchemy School identity and records she had arranged for her.
• Owen returned to the Power Department mages and declared they had to stop Fran from investigating further.
• Owen proposed secretly altering the airgate device’s inscription array so it would burn out during testing and Fran could be blamed.
• When a mage worried Fran might spot the trap, Owen dismissed the concern and cited an earlier scheme involving Henry.

Fran reached Mastery in Magic Inscription and discovered a concealed circuit in the Floating City's power department that could destroy its arrays. Unable to identify the saboteurs through her current knowledge, she persuaded Iris to order a new comprehensive inspection and planned to use her authority to investigate further.

• Fran reached Mastery in Magic Inscription and recognized that a pair of shifted inscriptions formed an unfamiliar system.
• Henry hinted that the abnormal inscriptions could affect the array, then left after Fran dismissed him.
• Fran realized the circuit could burn out the device and suspected someone in the power department was sabotaging the work or hiding something.
• Fran found that the inspection records showed no abnormalities and concluded she lacked the time to locate them through technical knowledge alone.
• Fran asked Iris to require every mage to inspect the entire rune array again after the functional tests, so their results could be compared with the existing records.
• Fran asked Iris to intervene if she came into conflict with the mages during the investigation.

Fran confronted Owen’s group over their attempt to obstruct functional testing, then exposed their tampered air-channel inscription and accused three mages of lacking Magic Inscription skills. She ordered the Mage Tower’s internal security department to investigate them, leaving Owen’s scheme uncovered and the accused mages facing compulsory measures.

• Fran ordered the exhausted mages to test the air-duct device, but one of Owen’s associates objected that it could only be activated alongside the entire apparatus.
• Fran dismissed the objection, while Owen prompted another mage to support the claim and a third core-group mage eventually joined them.
• Fran activated the air-channel device herself, and its wind-element current circulated through the Floating City without triggering the trap.
• Fran forced the first objecting mage to activate the inscription, which flashed and damaged its activation module before she performed an emergency cancellation.
• Fran accused the mage and two others of serious Magic Inscription deficiencies and demanded that Mage Tower internal security investigate their technical proficiency.

Fran and Iris moved against Mage Owen, whose attempt to obstruct their investigation left him isolated and forced to return to work. At Felistin Manor, Kieran Burns approached Oliver to discuss the magic essence communication system after the ban on Territory Mages left their families with losses.

• Fran told Iris about Owen's obstruction, and Iris ordered the Mage Tower guard unit to take away the accused mages.
• Owen stayed silent as the guards removed three members of his clique, then resolved to seek new allies and distance himself from the investigation.
• Iris stopped Owen from leaving the Power Department and ordered him back to his post.
• Kieran Burns told Oliver that the Territory Mage ban had cost mage families money and left them with little to show for their investments.
• Kieran revealed that he had come to talk with Oliver about the magic essence communication system.

Kiran proposed that Oliver’s family build a live-broadcast Mana Telecommunications System for the Champion Mage Challenge, while Caleb searched for information about Fran and learned that she had entered the Mage Tower. Oliver left the proposal for the main branch and project team to consider, and Caleb found that Fran’s movements were impossible to investigate safely.

• Kiran urged Oliver to help build a Mana Telecommunications System for broadcasting the Champion Mage Challenge in Number Three Floating City, promising profit and favor from The Alliance.
• Oliver agreed to consult the main branch and the project team, and Kiran set a deadline tied to the tournament venue plans.
• Caleb visited a second-tier thief in Number Nine Floating City and asked him to gather information about Fran.
• The thief told Caleb that his apprentices had lost track of Fran when she entered the Floating City Mage Tower, making it too dangerous to follow her.

Lynn learned that his opponent Fran had won fifteen consecutive duels without dropping a round, while Caleb could find no reliable information about her fighting style. Fran then returned to the Mana Telecommunications System project and found Philly working with a lighter workload.

• Caleb told Lynn that he had arranged his duel with Fran for the following afternoon and urged him to aim for one round.
• Lynn learned that Fran had won all fifteen duels 3–0, and he and Caleb discussed the suspiciously unreliable reports about her matches.
• Caleb said that people saw Fran enter the Mage Tower after her duels, which had discouraged apprentices from investigating her.
• Fran returned to the Mana Telecommunications System project after confirming that apprentices were no longer following her.
• Fran found that the project had sold nearly two thousand terminals and that Philly's workload had eased, then knocked on Philly's desk to get her attention.

Fran told Philly that she would begin teaching her while involving her in a major project after the Gold Alchemy Award, and assigned her more experimental data to organize. Fran also promised Philly a promising Elemental School research direction, leaving Philly eager to hear it.

• Fran told Philly that she planned to take her along to a major project after the Gold Alchemy Award and teach her during the work.
• Fran asked Philly to organize experimental data for her current research, and Philly agreed despite realizing the task would add to her existing workload.
• Fran promised Philly a gift related to papers, and Philly worried that Fran would again put her name on an Alchemy School paper.
• Fran said she would instead offer Philly a useful Elemental School research direction, and Philly eagerly looked forward to it.
• Fran considered offering Philly research on Elemental Storm, Elite Mage advancement methods, or mathematical proofs demonstrated through spells.

Fran faced Lynn in the Number Nine Floating City dueling arena, where Lynn’s anxious preparations contrasted with Fran’s calm, last-minute arrival. Fran won the opening exchange with a new shield-and-bind strategy, leaving Lynn stunned at the end of the first round.

• Lynn arrived three hours early but became increasingly unnerved when Fran showed up less than a minute before the duel, interpreting her appearance and timing as psychological tactics.
• Fran prepared to use the Alchemy School’s Second Order protective Spell [Mithril Body], which she had obtained using Lai’s identity and her award certificates.
• When the duel began, Fran cast [Mithril Body] while Lynn raised the Sword Chant School’s [Active Trigger Shield].
• Fran quickly trapped Lynn with [Heart of Quicksand], then used [Elemental Radiance] to bombard him with five Greater Fireballs and destroy his shield.
• At the end of the first round, Fran wondered why Lynn had not used a First Order Shield Spell ring.

After Fran defeated Lynn 3–0, Caleb and Lynn discussed her extraordinary abilities and why she was unlikely to be a Third Order Mage. Fran returned home and considered what Alchemy School research to submit for the Gold Alchemy Award, settling on ideas involving energy and electricity.

• Fran defeated Lynn 3–0, and Caleb pulled him away from reporters asking about his loss.
• Lynn told Caleb that Fran’s casting speed and other rumored abilities were real, leaving Caleb astonished by her strength.
• Caleb explained why a Third Order Mage would have little reason to enter the Champion Mage Challenge, and Lynn dropped that theory about Fran.
• Fran flew away without stopping for the gathered mages, then returned to her house on Ashgold Path.
• Fran considered proving Aether’s existence and recalled ideas from her past life, including thermodynamics and generating electricity with low-cost thermal power.

Roderick and Alva inspected three departments as part of a secret mission to prepare the Floating City for an attack on the Cult of the Sky Dragon. At the Propulsion Department, Roderick spotted Iris and Lai and was shocked to find them there.

• Roderick used a modified Felistin communication device to exchange messages with the Finance Department, while Alva warned him that it risked leaking information.
• Roderick and Alva surrendered their communication devices at the Mage Tower entrance and discussed their inspection of the Defense and Early Warning, External Attack, and Propulsion Departments.
• Roderick and Alva inspected the first two departments and found no problems before heading to the Propulsion Department.
• Alva read that Propulsion Department mages had resisted their new workload and considered dealing with those who had openly opposed it.
• Roderick searched the busy Propulsion Department for its assigned Fourth Order Mage, then recognized Iris and Lai at a worksite.

Fran struggled to find evidence of wrongdoing in the Propulsion Department’s manipulated inspection data, while Iris considered asking higher authorities for help. Roderick arrived, accepted that Iris would remain in charge, and Iris requested technical assistance and a deeper personnel investigation.

• Fran reviewed the reports and found that the mages had concealed the problematic data among ordinary and deliberately misleading figures.
• Iris suggested reporting the matter to higher authorities, but Fran had not found evidence and Iris worried about losing authority.
• Roderick arrived with Alva and learned that Iris was temporarily in charge of the Propulsion Department.
• Roderick decided Iris should continue handling the investigation rather than be replaced.
• Iris reported the department’s resistance and personnel concerns to Roderick and requested technical assistance.

Fran used Drops of True Knowledge to expose Owen and other mages for falsifying Propulsion Department data, and they were arrested. She then tried to practice swordsmanship at home but found that both sword arts required targets unavailable on the Floating City, so she set out for the Sword Chant School's training room.

• Alva ordered a thorough search of the Propulsion Department and supplied Fran with a vat of Drops of True Knowledge to test the inspection reports.
• Fran tested the reports, summoned Owen and his associates, and had Security arrest them on suspicion of falsifying data.
• Fran practiced Whirlwind Slash at home, but her greatsword repeatedly destroyed the flimsy straw-man target.
• Fran discovered that the Broken Wing Sword Art required small flying targets and the Blood Law Sword Art required fresh Demonic Beast blood, neither of which was practical on the Floating City.
• Fran abandoned her home practice and headed for the Sword Chant School's training room.