Now thirteen years old, Arcus crushes the entrance exam for the Royal Institute of Magic, and he soon begins his new life as a student. Disowned for his supposed lack of ability, he makes waves both good and bad when he quickly outstrips his distinguished peers, rising to the top of his class. His success does not escape the notice of Claudia Saifice, granddaughter of the Institute’s headmaster. What exactly does she have in store for him?

The Raythefts are an old, minor noble house defined by magical talent and martial service. When six-year-old Arcus Raytheft, firstborn son to the family, proves disappointingly inept at magic, he is stripped of his inheritance and written off by his parents. His adoptive sister Lecia still adores him, but as the new heir, she is forbidden to interact with anyone who might drag her down. But when one inheritance is lost, fate arranges another: Arcus remembers another life, in a world where science prevails and magic belongs to the realm of fiction. Suddenly endowed with the life experience of a grown man and pressed to find a purpose as his family turns against him, Arcus resolves to find a way to break the laws of magic and Raytheft tradition over his knee!

Cursed with a naturally low supply of aether, Arcus Raytheft is disinherited and shunned by his family. Things start to change when he experiences another man’s life through a dream—a dream that shows him marvelous technological wonders that don’t exist in his world. Armed with this new knowledge, Arcus sets about showing his parents that they were wrong about him. Surely an arsenal of mind-blowing spells will be enough to convince them you don’t need aether to succeed?

After a war of twists and turns and a brief convalescence, Arcus is finally ready to return to Lainur’s capital. There he’ll meet Ceylan’s father, King Crosellode, and be rewarded for his valiant efforts—although he’s not the only one due for an audience with the king. While rumors about Arcus continue to spread, the Empire evaluates its own part in the war. Will the nation remain a sleeping lion, or begin plotting its next move? And what of the cryptic quest to seek out an emerald on Chain’s behalf, which Arcus received in a dream? Without any clues as to what it might mean, he hardly knows where to begin. But one thing’s for sure: he’s going to be busy for a long while yet.

Arcus’s aethometer is making waves in Lainur as it enables a revolutionary leap forward in the kingdom’s grasp of magic. But, out of nowhere, the supply of Sorcerer’s Silver essential to the device’s manufacture dries up. Unable to meet demand without it, he and his companions travel to the silver-rich western territory of Rustinell. What friends and foes lie ahead? What greater machinations are at work behind this unprecedented upset? And as the consequences of his actions ripple out far beyond his reach, can Arcus still hold his own?