Thops

Biodata

Power Progression

Thops’s documented progress concerns defensive-sorcery development rather than named cultivation realms or levels.

Background / History

Thops is an ordinary academy student who pursues protective magic despite struggling to learn many existing sorceries. He saves a month’s worth of food expenses to purchase research materials, only for other students to mock his failures and attempt to take those materials. His aim is to develop a spell that protects casters from both sorceries and Incantations 27 29.

He keeps a secluded wooden house near the edge of town as a “secret base,” considering it safer than the academy. Its workbench and piles of discarded glintstone and ruined materials reflect his repeated experiments. Despite the harassment, he has no intention of leaving the academy 30.

Appearance

Thops is a youthful man with some hair remaining and no beard when Zhao Si meets him 29.

• Clothing: Wears a thick sorcerer’s robe 33.
• No Glintstone Crown: Unlike academy-recognized sorcerers, he lacks the crown that symbolizes wisdom and enhances intelligence. Its absence contributes to his low standing among his peers 29 33.

Personality

Thops is timid, self-doubting, and easily discouraged by failed experiments. Even while being bullied, he thanks Zhao Si for intervening and asks him not to risk trouble on his behalf. He nevertheless accepts responsibility for handling any consequences rather than blaming his rescuer 29 30.

His persistence rests on respect for knowledge. He regards the exploration of glintstone as a lifelong discipline, following the sages with an almost ascetic devotion. This outlook lets him treat hardship as temporary rather than a reason to abandon his studies 37.

Although conflict-averse, Thops can be firm when someone needs help. He challenges Zhao Si’s arrogance, defends Helena from his accusations, and physically pulls him away before he can continue hurting her. During the academy siege, he tries to reassure Shrimp-Meat Boy despite his own fear 35 45 46.

Abilities & Skills

Barrier Magic

• Research principle: Proposes that sorceries share properties through glintstone that might allow their effects to cancel one another 30.
• Practical application: Produces protective films capable of deflecting Glintstone Pebble with suitable shield movement 31 34.
• Accessibility: His shield’s barrier can be activated through directed intent by Zhao Si, who knows no sorcery 30.
• Limits: Early films provide inadequate protection against direct impacts. Successful deflection still damages the shield 30 31 34.
• Unfinished design: Zhao Si proposes a wearable accessory that automatically detects and deflects incoming spells, but Thops cannot implement it at the time 32 34.
• Unverified scope: Protection against Incantations is an intended goal; the documented tests use only Glintstone Pebble 29 34.

Glintstone Sorcery

• Casts Glintstone Pebble from a staff for their defensive-magic tests 30 31.
• His casting is substantially slower and less forceful than Sellen’s 34.
• Struggles with the mental visualization required for conventional sorcery, but can readily imagine a protective film 34.

Research and Technical Knowledge

• Supplies solid foundational theory while Zhao Si drafts plans for new glintstone devices 31.
• Identifies the firearm project’s practical obstacles: expensive materials, precision manufacture, and enabling untrained users to cast spells 31.
• Successfully test-fires the Glintstone Firearm prototype and later teaches Zhao Si how to use it 44 47.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Sorcerer’s staff — Used to cast Glintstone Pebble during experiments 30 31.
• Glintstone-fitted shields — Builds multiple protective-film prototypes rather than a single shield 30 34.
• Research notes and blueprints — Jointly develops plans with Zhao Si for modified staves, a Glintstone Firearm, and other devices 31 33 34.
• Glintstone Firearm prototype — Tests a model that fires Glintstone Pebble using etched, polished glintstone ammunition; delivers it and spare ammunition to Zhao Si 44 47.

Relationships

• Zhao Si — Rescuer, friend, research sponsor, and equal collaborator. Zhao Si offers funding and protection, supplies new design ideas, and insists that Thops receive an equal ownership share 29 30 34.
• Sellen — Respected senior and later mentor. Her patient instruction advances his Barrier Magic; Thops also cautions that her neutrality cannot guarantee complete impartiality toward her masters 31 37 44.
• Azur and Lusat — Senior researchers and contractual partners. Thops admires their expertise but warns Zhao Si that their interest in his ideas provides no reliable protection against them 31 34 35.
• Helena — Guest at his cabin and someone whose concern for Zhao Si he recognizes as familial. He intervenes when Zhao Si verbally attacks her 30 35 37.
• Shrimp-Meat Boy — Friend and regular conversation partner. They shelter together during the siege and later leave together with the Executioner’s Sword 44 45 47.
• Academy establishment — A source of ridicule and withheld guidance. Sellen attributes his stagnation to the establishment’s refusal to help rather than an absence of talent 29 44.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Partnership and Recognition

After Zhao Si knocks eight bullying sorcerers unconscious, Thops guides him and Helena through town to escape pursuing Cuckoo soldiers. Their resulting partnership connects Thops’s defensive research with Zhao Si’s effort to make magic usable by people without conventional sorcery training 30 31.

Thops then brings Zhao Si into the academy and introduces him to Sellen, Azur, and Lusat. When Sellen doubts Zhao Si’s proposals, Thops finds the courage to present his shield as tangible evidence. The demonstration leads to negotiations and a signed contract giving Thops, Zhao Si, Azur, and Lusat equal ownership of their new technologies, with Sellen serving as mediator 32 33 34 35.

Checking Zhao Si’s Arrogance

Thops warns that the contract does not give Zhao Si real leverage over the masters. After Zhao Si lashes out at Helena, Thops takes him into the wetlands to calm down. Following Zhao Si’s recovery, Thops accepts his apology and helps him recognize both Helena’s affection and the dangers of his own overconfidence 35 37.

Academy Siege and Delivery

During Shabriri’s assault, Thops shelters with Shrimp-Meat Boy and expresses his wish that people could seek knowledge together instead of fighting. He hopes Zhao Si—the man who treated him as an equal and opened the way to Sellen’s instruction—can resolve the crisis 45 46.

After the siege, Thops delivers the firearm prototype to Zhao Si. He then accepts the task of returning the Executioner’s Sword to Mare Mare at the Shaded Castle, though Shrimp-Meat Boy must carry it because Thops cannot lift it 47.

Notable Quotes

“Respect for knowledge. If you always hold the unknown in reverence and hunger for knowledge, then all the hardships you endure are merely passing clouds.” 37

“Wouldn’t it be wonderful if everyone could just sit down, talk things through, and seek knowledge together?” 45