Chapter Summaries

Carniel visited the Lainer World, found its low costs and mage-friendly benefits far better than life back home, and decided to stay and work there. Roland reviewed the recruitment results and wondered how the growing number of young mages could best be used, before leaving the future transition to Rowan and the school's successors.

• Carniel hired a guide, explored the city, and discovered that mage apprentices qualified for cheap noble residences, servants, and government support.
• Carniel toured a market and realized that the Lainer World’s low prices let mages from wealthier civilizations benefit from the labor and resources of its people.
• After visiting the Capel Magic Cards Company and the Jonis Mercenary Corps, Carniel considered a job at Capel and planned to build his career in Terry City.
• Carniel wrote home about his plans and received his family’s support for staying in the Lainer World.
• Roland received a report showing that businesses and militia organizations had recruited many young mages, then decided their future was Rowan’s and the school's successors’ responsibility.

Rowan studied the widening class gap in Lainer World and the political challenges his father’s policies created. After his teacher criticized his essay for ignoring practical realities, Rowan began planning to build relationships across social groups and cultivate a broader circle of supporters.

• Rowan’s teacher explained that mages and magic-skilled workers were growing wealthy while many ordinary workers and rural people remained poor or became displaced.
• The teacher argued that commoner mages would inevitably emerge and that the state needed academies and Mage Towers to offer ways across class boundaries while balancing social groups.
• Rowan submitted an essay comparing the imperial examinations and the Nine-Rank System, but his teacher gave it a failing score because it focused on the text instead of Lainer World’s political realities.
• Rowan realized that a ruler would need to coordinate nobles, immigrants, mages, the Church, and commoners so no faction could dominate.
• Rowan decided to visit the Mage Tower and immigrant communities more often and make friends beyond his existing circle, including talented commoners.

Roland continued directing the Seris School’s research and supported Luo Guang’s training with the Holy Judgment Knights despite Atali’s worries. After Professor Anglando’s team uncovered the Greater Prophecy Spell’s connection to Wish, the Apotheosis Spell, and divine power, Roland prepared to begin practical spellcasting experiments.

• Roland discussed the pressures of leading the latecomer Seris School with Atali and said advancing to legendary rank would free him from mundane affairs.
• Roland supported Luo Guang’s training with the Holy Judgment Knights, and Atali reluctantly agreed despite fearing the dangers of a knight’s path.
• Roland learned Rowan had inspected the Capel Company and the Jonis Mercenary Corps in Terry City and reflected on the importance of second- and third-tier talent.
• After another year, Professor Anglando’s team found a basic prototype for the Greater Prophecy Spell and identified its connection to Wish, the Apotheosis Spell, and divine power.
• Roland and Professor Anglando planned further experiments, and Roland prepared to test actual spellcasting using the divine radiance he had already uncovered.

Roland and Professor Anglando prepared to experiment with the dangerous Greater Prophecy Spell, deciding to seek a remote site and involve Atrelin for support. Antonia approved Tronia World as the test site, and Professor Anglando traveled there to survey it.

• Professor Anglando hesitated about starting the experiment, but agreed to follow Roland’s judgment.
• Roland and Professor Anglando decided not to experiment in Lainer World or Sinvira because of the spell’s dangers.
• Roland persuaded Professor Anglando to open-source the project to Atrelin while keeping its key technology in their hands.
• Roland submitted an experiment application to the Arcane Committee, and Antonia approved Tronia World as the test site despite the enormous cost.
• Professor Anglando began selecting personnel and preparations, then traveled to Tronia World at Roland’s request to survey the site.

Professor Anglando inspected Tronia as the site for a major arcane experiment, while Roland considered how to use the project’s funding to develop the world. The chapter left Roland preparing long-term plans to benefit Lainer World as well as Atrelin.

• Professor Anglando reached a remote forest in Tronia and ordered a mage to install a positioning anchor for the Triangular Formation.
• Professor Anglando grew more confident that Tronia was the right site, though he and Roland planned to reserve extra funds to limit harm to local residents.
• Atrelin announced the experimental project and construction work in Tronia, drawing a flood of applications and requests to Roland.
• Roland considered using the project to bring talented people to Tronia and make its ordinary resources useful to Lainer World.
• Roland sent personally reviewed documents to the Pearl and Shell Palace, and Rosa understood that he intended to fund a long-term development plan for Lainer World.

Roland coordinated interconnected magical research projects and preparations in Tronia, hoping to use a peaceful stretch in Atrelin to advance them. A suspected leak turned out to involve subcontracting that exposed how much lower-tier mages could accomplish.

• Roland sent senior mages and Joint Research Association members to survey Tronia while related projects advanced in parallel.
• A survey team reported progress establishing a forward base in Uzel Forest, and Professor Anglando praised Atrelin’s efficiency.
• Roland asked Anna about her divination, and she said three to five years of peace seemed likely.
• Roland halted a proposed broad investigation into leaked project documents until his staff learned what had happened.
• The investigation found that work had passed through several layers of subcontractors before local lower-tier mages leaked documents publicly.
• Roland suggested that lower-tier mages’ capabilities might be underestimated as Arcana advanced.

Carniel was recruited to help develop and commercialize portable base blocks for large magic arrays, a project arranged by Roland and Rosa through Capel Company and the Mage Tower. As the venture took shape, Roland prepared to travel to Tronia to inspect the experiment site.

• Carniel was assigned to review Capel Company's magical technology against new standards from the Mage Tower.
• Carniel learned that the company would produce portable Rune Circuit Patches, or Restriction Blocks, for building large magic arrays.
• At a salon hosted by Crown Prince Rowan, Carniel was offered a role leading commercial development for Roland's new research project.
• Roland and Rosa arranged for the Mage Tower to commission Arcana research from Capel Company, with research, production, and sales coordinated commercially.
• Professor Anglando was astonished by Roland's approach to securing funding, while Roland prepared to travel to Tronia to inspect the experiment site.

Roland oversaw preparations in Tronia’s Uzel Forest for an immense magic array intended to draw on nature’s power and advance his spells. After relocating most of the forest’s intelligent inhabitants, his team burned and cleared the site, then began laying out the array’s intricate design.

• Roland’s mages activated Mass Fear over the forest to encourage its creatures to relocate, and Roland explained that he wanted to avoid provoking nature’s resistance.
• Roland planned to use the Seris Runes and the power of the world’s will to support experiments involving the Apotheosis Spell, Greater Prophecy Spell, and Dream Spell.
• Over the following month, mages and workers cut firebreaks while most intelligent creatures fled the marked hundred-mile area.
• Roland ordered mages to wither the vegetation with potions and set controlled fires that reduced the area to scorched earth.
• Mages used artificial rain and alchemists’ solutions to extinguish the fires and prevent vegetation from returning for years.
• Construction engineers began marking coordinates and laying out the immense array’s concentric circles, runes, and patterns.

Roland advanced his plan to build a large magic array in Tronia by manufacturing separate base blocks in Lainer World and assembling them on site. As he turned fifty-one and reflected on aging, research and funding continued to grow, and the first shipment of blocks arrived in Tronia for installation.

• Roland planned to manufacture magic array base blocks in Lainer World and transport them to Tronia for assembly.
• Roland returned from Tronia at age fifty-one, recognized that he and his wives were aging, and considered ways to extend his lifespan.
• Rosa gave Roland an itinerary to inspect the engineering and research projects.
• Nobles and merchants invested in Lainer World's projects as magic array base blocks began improving estates and agricultural production.
• In January of year 10057, the first batch of blocks, code-named "Porcelain Tiles," was transported to Tronia, where local recruits mocked the plan to cover the forest with tiles.

Months into construction of the great array in Uzel Forest, Roland and Professor Anglando discussed geological risks and the world’s response to the project. Roland then received news from Mr. Skord that vector font technology had been developed, potentially overcoming material limits and greatly reducing the array’s construction time and cost.

• Native workers paved the cleared land with numbered stone slabs, while a Farodia Empire spy secretly recorded his observations after spending three months working at the site.
• Roland and Professor Anglando studied earth-vein anomalies on a map and discussed the risk of earthquakes and the world will reacting to the construction.
• Professor Anglando praised Roland’s gentler approach to nature and said he would follow Roland’s example in future projects.
• Roland received a transmission from Mr. Skord, who reported that his team had developed vector font technology for runology-based magic arrays.
• Roland welcomed the news because the technology could address material limits and sharply reduce the great array’s construction time and expenses.

Roland developed a new approach to constructing large magic arrays, and Tians Construction Company later introduced an array base platform based on his research. Meanwhile, Rain learned that his phylactery was guarded in Nevis City and enlisted a devil’s help to create a replacement Lich Core.

• Roland reviewed Skord’s vector-graphics material and ordered research to adapt it for large magic arrays.
• After nearly half a year of experiments, Roland sent the refined plans to Lainer World, where Carniel and others developed the array base platform.
• Tians Construction Company applied the new technology, while Carniel coordinated resources for the Greater Prophecy Spell project.
• Rain met a pig-headed devil, who reported that Rain’s phylactery was inside the heavily guarded Mage Tower in Nevis City.
• Rain asked the devil to help him transfer his soul core and cultivate a new Lich Core, promising to provide what the devil wanted in return.

Rain arranged for a Devil to deliver a Soul Pearl to Gallo, a disgraced Battle Mage whose resentment toward Roland and the Seris School had left him desperate for power. The Devil offered Rain’s help as a path to becoming a Grand Mage, but Gallo erupted in fury when told Rain sympathized with him.

• Rain told the Devil that Gallo’s grievances and isolation made him a suitable surrogate, then gave him a Soul Pearl to deliver.
• The Devil carried the Soul Pearl to Gallo, who brooded over his ruined career and his lack of prospects in arcane circles.
• The Devil appeared in Gallo’s cabin and claimed the item could help him become a Grand Mage.
• Gallo suspected the Devil had ulterior motives and prepared to summon the guards.
• The Devil revealed that Rain had sent him, and Gallo angrily seized at the phantom after hearing Rain claimed to share his plight.

Gallo received a Soul Pearl from the lich Rain and suspected it was a trap, while Rain admitted to the devil that he had hidden tricks inside it. Meanwhile, Roland learned that Atrelin suspected Rain of exploiting the war to gather corpses, but the leadership was reluctant to act against him while relying on his undead army.

• Gallo discovered that the Soul Pearl Rain had left contained hundreds of tormented souls, and he weighed its promise of greater power against the risk of a trap.
• Rain told the devil that he had planted tricks in the Soul Pearl, while the devil warned that Gallo was skilled enough to notice them.
• Roland and Professor Anglando oversaw the installation of Array Base Platforms at the Tronia World construction site, speeding up the great array project.
• Roland received an interplanar communication from Antonia reporting that Atrelin suspected Rain of gathering corpses after several towns were slaughtered.
• Roland concluded that Atrelin’s leadership would likely overlook Rain’s suspected crimes for now because it depended on his undead army.

Roland and Professor Anglando inspected the completed framework of the great array and planned to begin testing. Meanwhile, Rain used the magic calamity to carry out attacks across the Doran Kingdom, prompting Antonia to decide that the lich had to be killed.

• Roland inspected the finished array framework with Professor Anglando, who hoped they could soon begin testing and cast the spell in early July.
• Gallo used the Soul Pearl to absorb spiritual power, while Rain secretly linked part of his soul to Gallo so that Gallo would share the damage if Atrelin destroyed Rain's phylactery.
• Rain sacrificed civilians and buried their remains to establish a secret magic array, then sent undead creatures and corpse poison into frontier towns.
• The Mages' Guild reported necromancer attacks spreading from the Doran Kingdom's border, and Antonia suspected Rain was responsible.
• A new plane tide revealed a suspected demon nest, and Antonia summoned the commissioners on duty and declared that Rain must not be allowed to live.

Antonia and the Rotating Commissioners decided to eliminate Rain, and Antonia destroyed Rain's Phylactery while Rain fought the demons. Rain collapsed on the battlefield, but news arrived that Gallo had fallen and the southwestern defensive line had collapsed.

• Antonia persuaded the Rotating Commissioners to remove Rain and arranged to take control of his battlefront.
• As the Magic Calamity began, Antonia waited until Rain's undead army was engaged with the demons before using Mage's Disjunction on his Phylactery.
• A guard smashed the Phylactery, releasing the radiance within it.
• Rain collapsed on the battlefield as pale blue flames consumed his skeletal remains, and a Grand Mage took control of the situation.
• A message reported that Gallo had collapsed while casting, leaving the southwestern army in chaos and its defensive line broken.

Gallo resisted Rain’s assault on his soul by using a mechanized self-awareness, then revealed that he had multiplied himself into a swarm of genuine soul entities. The Gallos engulfed Rain, leaving the outcome of their battle unresolved.

• Gallo realized Rain’s attack had trapped his consciousness in a mental space and encountered Rain there in the form of a Hollow Corpse Monster.
• Gallo explained that his mechanized mind let him abandon his psychic spirit, but Rain attacked him with Death’s Fangs and shattered him.
• Another Gallo appeared after Rain destroyed the first, and Rain soon faced a growing crowd of identical selves.
• Gallo revealed that he had turned himself into an aggregate of collective consciousness by giving souls his own self-awareness and intelligence.
• The swarm of Gallos closed in on Rain and engulfed him.

Roland completed the great array project on Tronia and prepared for its final test, while the Doran Kingdom and neighboring regions descended into chaos after Rain’s death. Gallo was pronounced dead, but his corpse awakened in a hidden forest hideout, suggesting Rain’s escape plan had taken effect.

• Roland approved the completed array project and chose to conduct its final test quietly, inviting trusted mages and guards rather than Atrelin’s senior leadership.
• Roland used his Decision Theory spell to select June 6, 10058, Luo Guang’s thirteenth birthday, for the experiment and ordered security tightened around Tronia.
• Rain’s death and the demon army’s invasion left surviving necromancers free to seize undead legions and spread chaos through the Doran Kingdom and other regions.
• A priest announced Gallo’s death to his friends and family, and Grand Mage Watson left with Minx.
• A corpse in Rain’s hidden forest hideout sat up and wondered whether the Possession Spell had succeeded and whether Rain’s resurrection plan had brought him there.

Roland completed the Grand Array and began the ascension ritual, using the Star of Lainer and Grand Vow to channel vast natural energy. The ritual’s spellcasting started as the assembled mages joined his chant.

• Swein, Anna, and the others visited Roland and praised him for completing the Grand Array ahead of schedule.
• Swein told Roland that Magic Calamities in the Doran Kingdom were worsening and that complaints had arisen over aid sent to Sinvira.
• Roland and Swein discussed how the Sinvira Battlefield helped shield Atrelin from a far greater demon invasion.
• Roland reached the auspicious date, ascended the altar at the Grand Array’s center, and planted the Star of Lainer.
• Roland began chanting in aria mode, and the assembled mages repeated his incantation to help gather Natural Force and awaken mana resonance.

Roland completed the Greater Prophecy Spell, communed with the Dao, and saw the River of Time and its countless lives and futures. He declared that he had attained the legendary realm and spoke the Grand Prophecy before withdrawing from the transcendent state, while the witnesses celebrated his success.

• Roland continued chanting as the grand array drew in natural force and awed the people of Tronia.
• Swein judged that Roland's design was sound and that success depended on the array's construction and Roland's mental strength and mana.
• After several days of channeling, Roland sensed a majestic power and named it the Dao.
• Roland's spirit took the form of a Golden Giant, saw the River of Time, and glimpsed the past, present, and future of countless beings.
• Roland looked upon his future self, declared that he had attained the legendary realm, and spoke the Grand Prophecy.
• Swein, Anna, Trina, Professor Anglando, and the assembled mages celebrated Roland's success.

Roland successfully ascended to become a Legendary Mage, gaining a law-transformed body and new command of magic. He warned Swein that Atrelin faced invasions by demons and the undead, while the committee prepared to announce Roland’s ascension to the public.

• Roland completed his ascension, transformed into a Legendary Mage, and recorded the Greater Prophecy Spell in the Book of Wisdom.
• Roland recalled a vision of Atrelin facing a spreading Magic Calamity and rampant undead, and he told Swein what he had seen.
• Swein agreed the prophecy could not be ignored and urged Roland to report it to the committee so they could reduce the coming losses.
• Antonia received news of Roland’s ascension and the warning about Atrelin, but kept the prophecy within the committee and urged its Grand Mages to address hidden threats.
• Antonia ordered a public announcement of Roland’s ascension, and news of it began spreading that night before official reports appeared the next day.