Over the next two weeks, Sciona works almost entirely with Thomil because the other highmages have frozen her out. She focuses first on building the strongest possible energy-sourcing spellweb for the barrier expansion, knowing her hybrid mapping method is clearer than Cleon Renthorn’s but her web composition is weaker. Sciona sorts 1,500 non-Reserve sourcing zones into yield tiers and designs a three-hundred-branch web that can escalate through fallback zones before drawing on the Reserve, a dangerous last resort that could damage Tiran if overused.

Because Sciona distrusts other mages’ energy projections, she repeatedly revises her calculations, slowing the work. Before she can finish, an explosion rocks the building and shatters windows in her laboratory. Thomil urges Sciona to check on the others, and she reluctantly follows him to Halaros’s destroyed lab. There, while Tanrel and others fuss over the injured Halaros, Sciona and Renthorn both go straight to the spellograph and discover that the spell on it was only a standard Kaedor mapping spell, making the explosion unusually hard to explain.

Outside, the building manager announces that Renthorn’s lab is usable, while Sciona’s, Tanrel’s, Mordra’s, and Halaros’s spaces are damaged. Renthorn immediately invites Tanrel, Mordra, Halaros, and Sciona to work in his laboratory. Sciona refuses and leaves with Thomil, pretending she is replacing broken equipment. As they walk, Sciona explains that the explosion is bad news because Renthorn now has a reason to consolidate his rivals into his own workspace. She then reasons through the evidence: Halaros used a rare Maclan Splendor 55 spellograph normally associated with Archmage Bringham’s labs, a model Renthorn would know well; a properly written spell should not have failed that way unless the machine was broken or cursed; and the blast’s location would damage the neighboring labs enough to push Tanrel and Halaros into Renthorn’s orbit. Sciona does not accuse Renthorn outright, but she clearly suspects deliberate sabotage.

Thomil questions why Sciona refuses cooperation if the barrier expansion matters so much, and Sciona answers with her deeper motive. She says brilliant men in Tiran are freely credited while women must fight for every opportunity and are often robbed of recognition by husbands, bosses, or male peers. Sciona admits that she wants not just fairness but glory, and she reveals that her drive is tied to her father’s rejection and her belief that women gain nothing from being dutiful and accommodating. Thomil argues that her pride is justified if she can truly surpass the others alone, which unexpectedly comforts her.

Sciona leads Thomil to Trethellyn Hall, intending to ask Archmage Bringham for proper facilities instead of accepting Faene’s Hall or Renthorn’s offer. Near the end of the walk, Thomil offers to retrieve her papers, but Sciona says the spellweb is nearly done and that a more urgent task comes first. Realizing she must delegate if she is to outmatch her rivals, Sciona decides to stop treating Thomil as a mere helper and begins preparing to train him to perform magic.