Chapter Summaries

Caleb interrogated the captured Kalai Kingdom spies and revealed that he had identified their target as a Territory Token. He offered Duke Theodore a deal: kill Zeno Harper, who was carrying the token to Antir Region, and Caleb would provide information about him.

• Caleb questioned Breden and explained how he had deduced that the spies were after the Territory Token.
• Caleb said the token could grant land to someone with the proper noble bloodline, making it useless to him as a Mage.
• Caleb freed the captured spies and told Breden he wanted to make a deal with Duke Theodore.
• Caleb offered information about Zeno Harper in exchange for his death, and Curtis asked why Caleb wanted him killed.
• Caleb said simply that he wanted Zeno Harper dead, showing a complicated expression.

Fran engraved an Ancient Rune depicting the Lord of Radiance on her longsword, gaining a powerful weapon and the Ancient Rune Warrior Profession. She planned a route out of Gede Town to hunt three monsters and use their parts to upgrade her Black Horse.

• Fran engraved the Lord of Radiance’s likeness on her longsword and discovered that its rune greatly enhanced the blade and could charge a powerful burst.
• Fran checked her Panel and saw that the Ancient Rune Warrior Profession had raised her Physique to 6.4 and granted her the Mysterious Power trait.
• Fran planned to hunt three monsters to advance her Monster Hunter Profession and collect materials for Transmutation Surgery on her Black Horse.
• Fran decided to seek a Forest Sprite in the valley woods, a Gale Rabbit in the grasslands, and an Earth Dragon on a mountaintop.
• Fran planned to use the monsters’ essence, bones, heart, and blood to improve her Black Horse’s movement, speed, and durability.

As Antir’s Royal Capital came under siege, Connor received orders from Duke Theodore to help secure the Territory Token needed to encircle the city. Connor learned that the token’s holder was a Mage and agreed to kill two Mages to discover their whereabouts.

• Antir’s defenders used falling objects and burning liquid to repel soldiers climbing the Royal Capital’s walls.
• Connor received a letter from Duke Theodore and learned that the Kalai Kingdom’s spies had discovered the Territory Token north of the Royal Capital.
• Connor explained that securing the token would let Duke Theodore’s allies encircle the capital and weaken its new heir.
• Connor learned that a Mage in the Antir Region held the token and that the task required killing two Mages.
• Connor accepted the mission to kill a Mage collecting corpses on another battlefield, while his knight worried about the risks.

Fran modified her Black Horse using a Forest Sprite’s substance and fragments of a Gale Rabbit’s bones, improving its footing and speed. After testing the changes, she set off to find an earth dragon for the next modification.

• A Forest Sprite dodged Fran’s Magic Missiles, but invisible currents cut it into pieces and killed it.
• Fran mixed the Forest Sprite’s remains into a solution, knocked out the Black Horse, and applied the liquid through small cuts before healing it.
• The Black Horse woke with improved balance and moved more easily through the forest.
• Fran chased a Gale Rabbit until it collapsed, killed it, and implanted fragments of its bones in the Black Horse’s limbs.
• The Black Horse recovered with faster movement, and Fran said the earth dragon was next.

Oliver’s team found the Earth Dragon and prepared to hunt it despite Flynn’s objections, since they had bought a special scroll for the task. Fran arrived on the Black Horse and claimed the Earth Dragon was registered with the Adventurers Guild, prompting Oliver to accuse her of stealing their target.

• Oliver led his team through the mountains and found the Earth Dragon across a stretch of cliffs.
• Oliver decided to hunt the Earth Dragon, rejecting Flynn’s suggestion that they negotiate with the team that had registered it.
• Flynn warned that hunting it could create a conflict, but Oliver insisted they had to use the scroll they had bought for the Earth Dragon.
• As Oliver’s team prepared a probing attack, the Black Horse climbed the cliff and brought Fran to them.
• Fran asked whether they planned to hunt the Earth Dragon and said she had registered it with the Adventurers Guild, so Oliver accused her of stealing it.

Fran disputed Oliver’s claim that his team had reserved the Earth Dragon, insisting she had followed Adventurers Guild regulations. They agreed that Fran would have one chance to hunt it within seven days before Oliver’s team took over.

• Oliver explained that adventurers commonly warned others off a Demonic Beast they planned to hunt, and said his team had claimed the Earth Dragon.
• Fran argued that she had registered properly with the Adventurers Guild and had the right to hunt the Earth Dragon within a month.
• Oliver warned that Fran lacked the preparations to stop the Earth Dragon from burrowing and pointed out his team’s enhanced Vine Entanglement scroll.
• Fran rejected Oliver’s objections and proposed that she try one hunt, then leave if she failed.
• Oliver and his teammates agreed on the condition that Fran hunt the Earth Dragon within seven days, and Fran accepted.

Fran drove the adventurers away so she could fight the Earth Dragon alone, then combined several spells through her rune-inscribed longsword to bring the beast down. The dragon lay mortally wounded, while Fran's sword was cracked and its runes would need days to recover.

• Fran sent the adventurers away and approached the Earth Dragon on Black Horse.
• The Earth Dragon charged Fran, stirring earth magic as Black Horse fled to safety.
• Fran used Tool Enchantment and Tool Overload to empower her rune-inscribed longsword.
• Fran added Holy Strike and released the sword's power in a slash that cut the Earth Dragon deeply.
• The Earth Dragon crashed to a stop, and Fran saw that the attack had drained half her mental strength and cracked her sword.

Oliver's team carried a heavy spell scroll down the mountain while he explained why they had to avoid offending Mages and Flynn described his failed attempt to join the Blood Wolf Knights. Oliver and Flynn insisted that a Mage could not hunt the Earth Dragon, but a sudden tremor and darkening sky suggested the hunt had begun.

• Oliver's teammates complained about carrying the four-hundred-kilogram scroll and asked why they had to wait three more days.
• Oliver explained that the Alliance made it dangerous to harm Mages, with the Blood Wolf Knights as a rare exception.
• Flynn told the team how he had failed to advance as a trainee member of the Blood Wolf Knights and later learned skills from an old Ranger.
• Oliver and Flynn assured the team that the Mage would fail to hunt the Earth Dragon, lifting their spirits.
• The ground began to tremble, and Oliver looked up as the sky seemed to darken.

Caleb gave Connor Fran’s records and a Tracking Bug to help the Blood Wolf Knights pursue and kill her. Connor headed for the Northern Territory Pass to intercept Fran, who was riding into Gede Town from the opposite direction.

• Caleb celebrated Zeno’s death and handed Connor Fran’s records and a Tracking Bug.
• Connor learned Fran was heading toward the Northern Lands Society and criticized Caleb for relying on a short-range Tracking Bug.
• Caleb explained he could not afford a concealed tracking spell and had given Fran the token after she won the duel.
• Connor fed enhancement materials to the Tracking Bug and hurried with his men toward the Northern Territory Pass.
• Fran rode into Gede Town on Black Horse, heading for the Adventurers Guild while Connor pursued her from the opposite direction.

Fran sold the remaining Earth Dragon remains and registered her kills at the Gede Town Adventurers Guild, gaining the Monster Hunter Profession and its growth trait. After checking her improved abilities, she asked for the guild’s exchange catalog to find material for her longsword.

• Fran sold the remaining Earth Dragon remains for Gold Coins after using its heart and Dragon Blood to strengthen the Black Horse and gaining Earth Dragon Breath.
• Fran registered proof of her Forest Sprite and Gale Rabbit kills with the Adventurers Guild receptionist.
• Fran gained the Monster Hunter Profession, raising her constitution and spirit and giving her medals for four kinds of monsters.
• Fran summoned an attendant and asked for the exchange catalog to find material that could withstand her longsword’s runes.

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 Demonic Beast.
• 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.