Joshua begins his day strapping Robert Taldenson to a custom-built metal meshed padded table designed to hold a strong person comfortably while giving access to their back. He slices the skin, applies purified salt, and drives red hot needles into the flesh above the young man's buttocks to raise his Pain Tolerance stat. As Robert enters a berserker rage filled with negative emotions, Joshua triggers a magical discharge of electricity to knock him unconscious before injecting healing potions to reset his health. This cycle repeats until Robert's skill reaches Tier 2, granting him control over the rage instead of being enslaved by it. Once the client leaves, Joshua removes his mask and heavy padding, shuffling out to play the part of a stuttering apprentice to satisfy the town gossip. He visits the local bakery and then meets Master Clerk Bridlewood, who reveals the Baron wants to hire him. Joshua accepts a magical contract that names him officially, ending his ability to hide behind Carten. This milestone forces Joshua to abandon his safe cover and commit to working openly under noble protection, inviting scrutiny from every guild that hates his profession. The unresolved thread is the growing hostility from the Mage Guild, who have already begun sending assassins.

At the hunting manor, Joshua analyzes Alexis's fighting style and discovers she lacks the Swordsmanship skill despite years of private training by Ashen-Arm-of-the-Mountain. He examines her enchanted greatsword and finds the runes intentionally unbalance the blade, forcing her to rely on brute strength rather than technique. To fix this, Joshua glues two wooden blocks onto the blade to create makeshift handles further down the shaft. During sparring, Alexis uses these handles to hook the opponent's shield and leverage her Monstrous Strength to slam the weapon into Private Smith's brow. This unconventional usage unlocks the Improvised Weaponry skill at Tier 1, allowing her to wield anything as a weapon with innate defense and offense bonuses. The emotional gut-punch comes when Alexis realizes her former trainer and the tribal chief deliberately crippled her growth to punish her mother. She screams in rage and beats the wall with the cursed sword, finally accepting Joshua's help to break her limitations. This reversal transforms her from a broken victim into a capable warrior who can adapt to any tool, setting the stage for her future claim to the barony.

While traveling in the carriage toward the capital, Joshua decides to experiment with manipulating the mana crystals inside his soul using his Meditation skill. He attempts to reshape his Alchemy crystal to improve its effects but pushes too hard, causing the crystal to shatter in a violent explosion of power. The shock nearly kills him, leaving him comatose for nine days while Snowy and Abby feed him potions and water to survive. Upon waking, he realizes he can reform the crystal but must do so slowly to avoid another catastrophic failure. He discovers that by shifting mana between active and passive effects, he can modify skills into forms resembling mage spells. For instance, he changes Alchemy's cutting speed from a passive buff to an active attack effect called Savage Cut. This revelation proves that Mages do not use different magic but simply modify Skills into narrow, high-power Active Effects. The risk is immense as he learns that repeated use drains his soul's stability, trading long-term cognitive capability for immediate power.

At Duke Fenstall's Spring Ball, Joshua and Alexis encounter Earl Mirsdeget, a Master Magician who attacks their minds with an affable diplomacy Skill. The Earl overwhelms Joshua with forced happiness and friendship, making him want to comply with any request. Abigail resists the mental pressure by fluttering her eyelashes and acting air-headed, which disrupts the Earl's focus enough for Joshua to break free. They flee the party immediately, shaken by how close they came to losing autonomy. Later, Snowy reveals a critical detail: the Earl had no heartbeat. This implies the Mages know about Snowy's Arcanum of the Blood skill, which detects pulses, and developed a countermeasure. The betrayal confirms that the Mage Guild is actively monitoring the group and preparing specific counters to their abilities. This cliffhanger escalates the conflict from general guild opposition to targeted assassination and psychological warfare, forcing Joshua to prepare escape routes and defensive modifications for his own skills.