The good-looking teenager in shiny robes scanned the crowd, looking around. Finally, his eyes landed on Sophie, and he was surprised to see such a beautiful girl among the ordinary people. He decided that he wanted her to be his woman. Pretending not to notice her at first, he announced, "Okay, because I'm a nice person, I'll choose someone to chat with me and reward them generously." The crowd went crazy upon hearing that Young Master Gustav was going to personally talk to one of them. Girls swooned and screamed, while men also vied for the reward Gustav offered.
Pointing towards Sophie, Gustav said, "You there, would you like to chat with me inside the inn where I'm staying?" He looked at Sophie confidently. "Alright," said Sophie. "Great! Come sit with me in the carriage before we reach the inn." Sophie walked towards Gustav's carriage, and everyone gasped at her beauty. They marveled at her and discussed how lucky she was to capture Gustav's attention. Meanwhile, inside the carriage, Gustav asked Sophie some questions. "Who are your parents?" Sophie replied, "I don't know because I was found by some guards while they were on patrol, and then I was adopted." "Oh, interesting. So you're adopted. How old are you?" Gustav inquired. Sophie responded, "Hmmph, it's not nice to ask a lady about her age, you know?" "Oh, I'm sorry. I just thought you couldn't possibly be as young as you look..." Gustav and Sophie continued their conversation in the carriage until it stopped.
"We have arrived, Young Master Gustav," announced a servant. "Alright, let's get off," said Gustav, inviting Sophie to go down first. They both got off the carriage and found themselves in front of the biggest inn in town, the Golden Fish Inn. After checking in, Gustav led Sophie to his room. He closed the door and locked it from the inside, which made Sophie tremble in fear. Strangely, her body didn't tremble at all. "Wait, what are you doing?" Sophie asked in a trembling voice. Gustav laughed maliciously and said, "Oh, nothing. Although it would be nice if you sat on my lap, wouldn't it?" Just as Gustav was about to approach Sophie, her eyes turned blood red. Gustav suddenly stopped and stood there, as if he were hypnotized, staring straight into Sophie's red eyes. "Haha, finally, my clone has found a talented Blood Mage who can easily gather negative energy from people. Now, you, little boy, will become my tool to collect tremendous amounts of energy for my Originator. Now let's find someone close to this girl who can provide more concentrated negative energy." Saying this, "Sophie" stood still, her red eyes flickering as she made sounds like "hmm" and "interesting." "So, I see that this girl likes a boy named Matthew, who failed to awaken his mana stone? Interesting. I will start with him and make him generate lots of concentrated negative energy, which I will store using this girl's body and advance her stage. When she becomes a Supreme Mage, I'll drain her mana planet completely. Then, I'll gather enough negative energy within her and transfer it back to myself. But wait, there's something more important I need to do. I'll leave a thread of my consciousness to manipulate this girl for now." Afterward, "Sophie's" red eyes gradually subsided, although they remained red. "Gustav" and "Sophie" then moved and secretly walked toward Matthew's house.
Meanwhile, Matthew was sitting at his doorstep, thinking about his failure to awaken his elemental powers and his useless mana stone. Suddenly, he saw "Sophie" holding hands with another handsome young man in golden robes. In confusion, Matthew asked, "Wait, Sophie, why are you holding hands with that person?" "Ha, you worthless piece of trash! Since you're useless, I'm breaking up with you and now I'm going to be with Young Master Gustav, a genius at the Apprentice Tier 2 Mage level and the son of the Duke of Bovia," Sophie replied coldly. Overwhelmed with betrayal, tears streamed down Matthew's face. "How could you betray me?" he sobbed. Sophie taunted him, saying, "Ha, you're weak and pathetic, crying because you're a worthless piece of trash who got dumped by your childhood friend?" Heartbroken, Matthew ran away, wanting to be anywhere except where Sophie was. "Ha, now it's time to gather negative energy from everyone," Sophie declared. She went on a rampage, insulting her adoptive family, random people on the street, and even her admirers . After a few days, Sophie returned to the inn with "Gustav" and started meditating. Red energy emanated from the walls and primarily from within Sophie as she absorbed and converted it into mana energy, storing it in her mana stone. The flickering mana stone grew larger and purer. After a week of continuous absorption, Sophie opened her eyes. Every time she released a tiny amount of impurities from her mana, her mana stone emitted a blood-red glow. In outer space, her mana stone transformed into a blood-red mana gem, attracting blood-red energy globes. "Alright," she said to the exhausted Gustav, who had been keeping watch for a week. Although Mages could go without eating or sleeping for two weeks, it still took a toll on the body. After Gustav rested, and Sophie meditated some more, they left the inn and boarded a carriage heading towards the Capital. "Gustav, when we arrive, I want you to help me enroll as an inner court disciple in the Royal Academy since I'm already an Official Mage, alright?" Sophie instructed. "Yes, Mrs. Sophie," replied Gustav flatly. "Excellent. Now, the Royal Academy and the Capital will be thrown into chaos when I use them to quickly gather negative energy for the Originator," Sophie declared. They sat and waited for the carriage to take them to the Capital.
Meanwhile, a week ago, at a remote river:
Matthew stared at the river, contemplating his useless gray mana stone. Thoughts of worthlessness and loneliness consumed him, pushing him closer to the edge. He felt that ending his life was the only way to stop being a burden, as he believed he was just a piece of trash that nobody cared about, not even Sophie. With his last flicker of hope extinguished, Matthew made up his mind. In one swift movement, he jumped.