Chapter Summaries

Philly reviewed Fran's data for a paper on replacing mental power with electricity, then read newspaper reports about the Alliance's Territory Mage ban and a mysterious duelist's winning streak. The duelist's description reminded Philly of herself, but she dismissed the resemblance as coincidence.

• Philly outlined the data Fran needed for her paper and decided to take a break before finishing it within three days.
• Philly borrowed the Number Nine Floating City Daily and the Alchemy Times from Asher and read about the success of a communication-device project she had helped with.
• Philly learned that the Alliance had banned Territory Mage projects outside the Battle Mage Corps, and she hoped the decision would ease pressure on the Felistin Family.
• Philly read that a Champion Mage had won seventeen consecutive preliminary matches and that reporters could not identify the duelist.
• Philly noticed the duelist was described as a woman with purplish-red hair, but decided the resemblance to herself was only a coincidence.

Fran briefed the Construct School technicians inspecting the Propulsion Department while keeping her knowledge of Magic Inscriptions hidden. After hearing Alva’s warning that no Battle Mage Corps was preparing to fight the Cult of the Sky Dragon, Fran suspected Legendary Oinrich had another goal, perhaps the Sky Dragon itself.

• Masked Construct School technicians entered the Propulsion Department with special approval, and one of them spoke privately with Henry.
• Fran explained the investigation’s findings to the technicians but refused to answer questions that could reveal practical knowledge of Magic Inscriptions.
• The technicians divided the inspection work, leaving Fran aside while she relied on Iris’s authority to retain access to the mission.
• Fran learned that Legendary Oinrich had issued the secret mission without clear approval from The Alliance’s other Schools.
• Alva warned Iris that no Battle Mage Corps was being prepared for the coming conflict, suggesting the mission was not truly aimed at seizing the Cult of the Sky Dragon’s Floating Isle.
• Iris declined to state whether she would withdraw, and Fran wondered whether Legendary Oinrich’s real target was the Sky Dragon itself.

Fran reasoned that Number Nine Floating City was being prepared to attack the Sky Dragon’s body in the Material Realm, likely soon after the Gold Alchemy Award ceremony and before the Amber Law Award ceremony. She realized her Star Gazing Art showed the Sky Dragon would notice the approaching city and flee, leaving her worried that the Alchemy School might not be ready to stop it.

• Fran ruled out the northern regions and the Floating Isles as Number Nine Floating City’s destination, concluding that the Alchemy School intended to target the Sky Dragon’s body in the Material Realm.
• Fran inferred that the Alchemy School planned to use Number Nine Floating City, Fourth Order Mages, and her deity-detecting device to attack the Sky Dragon soon.
• Fran estimated the attack would begin after the Gold Alchemy Award ceremony but before the Amber Law Award ceremony, and realized she would remain on Number Nine Floating City with Iris.
• Fran recalled that her Star Gazing Art showed the Sky Dragon would notice the Floating City and escape, possibly toward the ocean.
• Fran worried that the Alchemy School might fail to catch the fleeing Sky Dragon, though she hoped it had planned a pursuit or an ambush.

Mage Oguate visited Alva to learn how the Gold Alchemy Award committee viewed Mage Lai’s candidacy. He learned that Lai remained the frontrunner but had lost support, and revealed he had secretly prepared a new paper to challenge her for the award.

• Oguate visited Alva at the Aether Palace and asked how the committee’s deliberations on Mage Lai were going.
• Alva explained that Lai’s two valuable papers gave her an advantage, but her inclusion of the same Felistin Family member on both author lists had raised suspicions and weakened her support.
• Alva told Oguate that Lai would receive the award if no other candidate presented stronger grounds, though Legendary Aunrich might still intervene.
• Oguate told Alva that he had secretly researched an accidental discovery and prepared a paper for this year’s award.
• Oguate said the other nominated candidates were unlikely to challenge Lai, leaving her as his only serious opponent.

Fran trained in the Broken Wing Sword Art while considering how to leave Number Nine Floating City with Philly. She registered for an alchemy exchange expedition to Bohan, where she hoped to disappear from the city and possibly find a Sword Saint.

• Fran practiced the Broken Wing Sword Art by striking miniature flying devices and gained one point of proficiency.
• Rosa explained that obscure sword arts could help Professionals meet advancement requirements, then told her Apprentice she would be away on an Alchemy School expedition.
• Fran asked the Mage Project Recruitment Office about long-term projects leaving the Floating City and learned of an alchemy exchange trip to Bohan departing in thirty-three days.
• Fran decided the expedition could help her and Philly leave the city, then registered the name 'Lai' for the trip.

Fran won her twenty-fifth consecutive Magic Duel and learned that her three papers had been published at the top of the Alchemy School's journal. The publication made the mages suspect that Lai had already secured the Gold Alchemy Award, while Fran returned home.

• Fran used a Shield Spell Ring and wind-enhanced Howling Gale to defeat her opponent, then won the next two matches for a 3–0 victory.
• Fran's opponent told reporters he had not expected her to have a shield and predicted she had enough time to qualify for the Main Tournament.
• Fran flew to the Aether Palace disguised as Lai and bought the latest issue of the Alchemy School's journal.
• Fran found her papers on electrical energy and thermodynamics occupying the journal's top three spots, then returned home.
• Mages noticed Lai's three top-ranked papers and speculated that she would win the Gold Alchemy Award, leaving Oguate's paper in fourth place.

Iris learned that corruption in the Propulsion Department had compromised equipment and called for a wider audit, but Roderick brought urgent news that Fran, under the name Mage 'Lai', had published three papers and was expected to win the Gold Alchemy Award. At the Gold Alchemy Award committee room, Alva told Oguate that his paper ranked fourth, with only one mage's name ahead of it.

• Iris read the technicians' report, which found obsolete and defective Propulsion Department supplies, and called for an audit of the Mage Tower's administrative departments.
• Roderick told Iris that the corruption had lasted more than a decade and asked whether she had personally guided Mage 'Lai' as a research assistant.
• Roderick revealed that Mage 'Lai' had published three papers in the Alchemy School's journal and that a Legendary wanted to meet her.
• Roderick estimated that Mage 'Lai' was about to win the Gold Alchemy Award, leaving Iris confused about the urgency.
• Alva told Oguate that he had failed to win the Gold Alchemy Award and that his paper ranked fourth, with only one mage's name ahead of his.

Wyatt Field, a top-ranked duelist, sought information about Fran and considered how to stop her from qualifying for the Main Tournament. After Lynn and Caleb described Fran’s extraordinary casting speed, Wyatt agreed to help test her for a weakness in their duel the next day.

• Wyatt asked Lynn to recount his duel with Fran, hoping to learn how she fought and find a way to keep her out of the Main Tournament.
• Lynn described Fran’s rapid casting and decisive victory, but Wyatt initially dismissed his account as unbelievable.
• Caleb urged Wyatt to take Lynn’s report seriously and explained that Fran had continued winning every duel 3–0.
• Caleb showed Wyatt research suggesting that Fran’s reported casting speed exceeded the known limits for Second Order Mages and proposed that it came at a cost.
• Wyatt agreed to use Caleb’s methods to investigate Fran during their first two rounds the next day, then give their third round everything he had.

Fran met Oinrich, a Legendary mage, and learned that her research achievements could qualify her for the Arcane Mage Award, which might let her advance directly from the Second Order to the Fourth Order. Although political disputes could delay the award for years, Oinrich offered to teach her his untested Promotion Method, and Fran accepted.

• Iris brought Fran to meet Oinrich and Roderick at Aether Palace, where Oinrich remarked on Fran’s youth and asked about advancing to the Third Order.
• Fran avoided revealing that she lacked a Third Order mage Promotion Method by saying that she was focused on the Gold Alchemy Award.
• Oinrich explained that the Arcane Mage Award could grant Fran an Arcane Mage conversion method and potentially qualify her for the Fourth Order, but warned that political disputes might delay the award for ten years or more.
• Iris realized that Fran’s research achievements could eventually secure her the award, while Roderick questioned whether Fran followed the branch of Miracle Alchemy.
• Oinrich offered to teach Fran his Promotion Method, which no mage had successfully used, and Fran immediately agreed to try it.

Ruge took control of the Felistin Family branch in Number Nine Floating City because the main family wanted to secure its promising Magic-Essence Communication Device project. He struggled to resolve the stalled agreement with Fran, and Camilla began offering information as the meeting grew tense.

• The Felistin Family members gathered to hear Ruge, while Oliver sat below the platform after Ruge took over the branch’s administration.
• Ruge asked why the family had not finalized an agreement with Fran for the new Champion Mage Challenge project.
• Oliver explained that Fran had refused to agree even when the family offered to fund the entire publicity campaign, with the Burns Family deadline only days away.
• Ruge realized the Mana Communication System held the project’s technology and negotiating leverage, while changing the profit split could anger the branch members.
• Camilla stood and told Ruge she had information for him, prompting Oliver and others to question her judgment.

Camilla argued that the Felistin Family needed to offer Lai a more secure contract, using Philly’s situation as leverage, or risk losing control of the Mana Telecommunications System and suffering a financial collapse. Ruge rejected her proposal and ordered the family to continue with its original plan, leaving the dispute unresolved.

• Camilla told the family that Lai might separate Philly from them and then use the family’s questionable profits from the Magic-Essence Communication Device project against them.
• Several family members disputed Camilla’s theory, unwilling to surrender profits or renegotiate the contract with Lai.
• Camilla appealed to Ruge, the only Felistin Family member on Number Nine Floating City with authority to decide, while Oliver continued to reject her speculation.
• Ruge weighed the risk of the project collapsing against the danger of losing authority within the family and chose a cautious course.
• Ruge ordered the family to send someone to discuss the Champion Mage Challenge again, making clear that full funding was their bottom line.
• Ruge moved the meeting on to discuss the circumstances of family members holding important positions.

Fran fought Wyatt in her thirty-first duel, with a victory needed to qualify for the main tournament. Wyatt endured her devastating converted fire Spell and prepared to test whether she could keep fighting, as smoke obscured Fran’s next move.

• Reporters anticipated Fran’s match and speculated about the headlines that would follow a win, a narrow victory, or a loss.
• Fran slipped through the packed crowd and entered the arena, where she faced Wyatt, a Sword Chant School mage dressed like an adventurer.
• Fran quickly cast [Mithril Body] and began casting faster than Wyatt, who raised an [Anti-Elemental Shield] and then cast [Spell-Repelling Sword].
• Wyatt chose to defend and stack shields rather than close in, hoping to discover whether Fran’s speed came at the cost of endurance.
• Fran struck Wyatt with a twofold-converted [Pyroblast], leaving him with only a thin shield while he continued channeling.
• As another heatwave rolled through the smoke, Wyatt realized Fran was using a second Elemental Conversion and nearly abandoned his Spell.

Wyatt tried to find a weakness in Fran's defenses during their second duel, but his unconventional tactics failed to interrupt her casting. Fran's fire attack swept over him, leaving him with no way to force her into using another shield.

• Fran defeated Wyatt in their first battle with a third Elemental Conversion-enhanced Pyroblast, and a staff member remarked that Wyatt had lasted unusually long.
• Wyatt began the second battle by attacking Fran with Life-Hating Ray, but her Mithril Body absorbed it without breaking.
• Wyatt approached Fran and used Enhanced Fixed-Point Undead Shriek to slow her casting and flight, but Fran kept guiding Greater Fireball and flew out of reach.
• Wyatt realized his shield device was at its limit and that he could not force Fran to use another shield before her heat wave struck.

Wyatt lost all three duels against Fran and came away convinced he had no way to defeat her, despite learning that neither her endurance nor her defense had revealed a weakness. He told Caleb about Fran’s extraordinary casting, then gave up on Caleb’s promise to help him win the championship.

• Wyatt realized Fran’s raw power and rapid casting made his usual tactics useless, and he lost the third duel without raising a second shield.
• Fran left the arena after asking staff to arrange another duel, while reporters waited outside for her opponent to emerge.
• Wyatt stumbled out, refused the reporters’ questions, and escaped to the premium lounge, where Caleb was waiting.
• Wyatt told Caleb that Fran had cast three Elemental Conversion-enhanced Pyroblasts in one round, using advanced three-element conversion each time.
• Wyatt told Caleb he had no chance of winning the championship because he did not know how to beat Fran.

Fran attended the Gold Alchemy Award ceremony as Lai while worrying that Elijah might connect her to Fran before the upcoming Amber Law Award. After speaking with Harvey, she was called by Iris to prepare for the presentation.

• Fran entered the Aether Palace with Iris and noticed Elijah, who would oversee the upcoming Amber Law Award ceremony.
• Elijah spoke with Iris about the Amber Law Award and gave Fran a lingering glance before leaving with Iris.
• Fran reflected on how mages suspected Lai might be Fran, while Elijah envied Iris's success with the Northern Lands Society.
• Fran met Harvey, who said he was ranked 387th in the Champion Mage Preliminary Tournament and regretted his limited progress.
• Iris called Fran to the second floor to get ready for the Gold Alchemy Award presentation.

Fran received the 882nd Gold Alchemy Award at the ceremony, and the award slightly strengthened her Arcane Mage Profession without advancing her to Third Order. She began her acceptance speech with formal thanks, surprising the mages who had expected to hear about her research.

• Fran worried that she might not receive the award, and Iris explained that The Alliance would intervene if the committee changed its approved decision.
• Oinrich conducted the ceremony, and Fran's outfit glowed when she was announced as the winner.
• Fran accepted her nameplate, which transformed into a trophy engraved with her name and the 882nd Gold Alchemy Award.
• Fran raised the trophy onstage, gained a small amount of spiritual power, and saw her Arcane Mage Profession rise to two-and-a-half stars.
• Fran began her prepared speech by thanking The Alliance and the Northern Lands Society, leaving the audience puzzled because they expected her to discuss her research.

After winning the Gold Alchemy Award, Fran prepared to leave the Floating City and pursue a clone ability while considering how to strengthen herself. She examined the vague Third Order Time Traveler promotion requirements and Oinrich’s time-related devices, but had not yet found a path to promotion.

• Fran decided that Lai would quietly disappear after receiving the Gold Alchemy Award, while she prepared to appear under her own identity.
• Fran planned to use [Blurry Shell] to gain a clone ability, though she worried her Constitution might not support further ability expansion.
• Fran discovered that her new Golden Alchemy trait let her spend Gold Coins to temporarily strengthen alchemical products, and she tested it on the Heart of Quicksand construct.
• Fran considered learning archery to qualify for the Sharpshooter Profession and planned to visit the Alchemy School for Third Order spells.
• Fran read Oinrich’s Third Order Time Traveler promotion method, found its requirements unclear, and decided to study the time-related alchemical constructs he had provided.

Fran obtained a Second Order Illusion Beast corpse and used its material to gain the ability to create a clone. She tested the ability and discovered that both bodies could act independently while sharing the same attributes and Divine Power.

• Fran visited a black-market trader in the Floating City's northwestern district and bought genuine Illusion Beast material for three thousand Gold Coins.
• Fran used the Illusion Beast's organs to adapt her body, losing at least seven points of physique in the process.
• Fran activated a new ability and created a second body, which initially lay unconscious on the floor.
• After the clone awakened, Fran found that both bodies could use her abilities, while sharing one pool of Divine Power and matching the Panel's displayed physical attributes.

Fran split her possessions between her two bodies and discovered that they could train simultaneously, increasing her proficiency gains, though distance caused mental-image latency. Lai prepared to take Philly to Bohan for an Alchemy School project, while Forrest learned that Lai would leave the Mana Telecommunications System project in his hands.

• Fran assigned equipment to her two bodies, kept the Sky Dragon Rune armor and flight ability in the Floating City, and sent the Lord of Shadows' boots and club-sword with Lai to Bohan.
• Fran tested practicing Combat Techniques with both bodies and found that their shared mind gained proficiency at the same rate, effectively doubling her training efficiency.
• Fran noticed that the images relayed from Lai grew increasingly choppy with distance and expected the latency to worsen when Lai reached Bohan.
• Lai told Forrest she would be away from the Mana Telecommunications System project for a long time and authorized him to recruit Construct School Mages to maintain it.
• Lai told Philly they would leave for Bohan in about five days to take part in an Alchemy School project and an academic exchange with a local Alchemist organization.

Fran reluctantly agreed to remain on the Floating City until the Amber Law Award ceremony, despite wanting to avoid the Alchemy School’s impending move against the Cult of the Sky Dragon. Iris then encountered Ruge, who proposed negotiating with Lai and the Mana Telecommunications System on the Felistin Family’s behalf, including an offer concerning Philly.

• Iris told Fran that the top-secret mission was over and that Fran did not need to return to the Mage Tower.
• Fran argued that she should leave the Floating City before the Alchemy School’s operation, but Iris insisted they stay for the Amber Law Award ceremony.
• Iris warned Fran to prepare quickly for something that might happen and told her to stop handling matters on Lai’s side.
• Iris met Ruge at the Alchemical Supplies Registration Office, where he was seeking supplies for potential conflicts.
• Ruge told Iris that the Felistin Family wanted to negotiate a new contract with Lai over the Mana Telecommunications System and offer choices regarding Philly, including letting her leave the family.