It was already 6:00 p.m. when Rena finally arrived in New York after an extremely long journey. She checked her phone and realized that the auction for the artifact known as the Oraculum Guard would only take place on Friday.
Because of this, Rena ordered two of her subordinates,
"Find me a hotel to stay in first. I need to go to the mall and buy some new equipment."
Since two of her men were sent away, the remaining three accompanied her to the mall to protect her.
However, Rena soon began to feel irritated. Her subordinates kept following her closely, which prevented her from enjoying her time at the mall.
She looked at the three of them and said,
"Can you stay a little farther away from me and let me enjoy myself alone for a while?"
With no other choice, her subordinates obeyed. When Rena saw that her father's men followed her orders without complaint, she felt satisfied.
Rena immediately headed to a jewelry shop when she noticed that the system had issued her a new task: she needed to purchase a piece of jewelry containing red mana.
Upon arriving at the jewelry shop, Rena noticed a diamond necklace that was faintly glowing red.
What surprised her was that no one else seemed to notice the glowing jewelry, so she immediately bought it.
She then learned that the necklace cost 10,000 dollars.
"Miss, that jewelry originated from the war between the Byzantine and Sassanid Empires, so it can be considered an ancient necklace," the shop employee explained.
However, since Rena was not interested in ancient history, she ignored the explanation and purchased the necklace without hesitation.
After acquiring it, two Americans approached her. Rena looked at them carefully.
She saw a well-dressed man and woman, both wearing outfits with the word 'Arkeyd' printed on them.
The woman spoke,
"Uhm, miss, would you be willing to sell that necklace to us for 100,000 dollars?"
Hearing this, Rena became interested, but suddenly—
Ding.
System:
"A mana user has been detected nearby."
Rena looked at the two people more carefully and noticed that their bodies were glowing blue, similar to Aether's.
"100,000 dollars?" Rena said. "I only bought this jewelry for 10,000 dollars, so why are you willing to pay ten times its price? Hmm… there must be something special about this item."
The two froze.
The man wearing the Arkeyd uniform quickly made up an excuse.
"Uhm, miss… we heard from the seller that it came from ancient times, and we work as artifact collectors."
When Rena noticed the man's expression, clearly forcing an excuse, she smiled.
"What if I don't want to sell it to you?"
The two were stunned.
Rena then noticed that the woman's eyes suddenly sharpened, and the mana within her body slowly intensified.
Rena immediately prepared herself and slowly released the mana granted by the system—but then she stopped.
"Uhm, we apologize, miss. If you don't want to sell it to us, we'll take our leave," the man said hurriedly as he pulled the woman away.
Once they were far from Rena, the woman exploded in anger.
"Ethan! Why did you pull me away? That necklace contains SSS-rank mana! The company needs it!"
Ethan was still trembling.
"Lila, be careful with your words. Didn't you notice something about her?"
Lila frowned.
"What are you talking about? She's just a normal person. If we used our power, we could have taken the artifact easily."
Ethan shook his head.
"Lila… I felt it. Her mana was nearly endless. When you tried to release your mana, I saw that she could perceive it—and what I saw within her was black mana. That means she possesses SSS-rank mana."
Lila froze.
"Ethan, don't joke around. That's impossible. Black mana only comes from monsters beneath the sea. They were ancient monsters—and all of them are long dead. A human having black mana would cause their body to explode."
Seeing that Lila didn't believe him, Ethan activated his mana detector.
Crack.
The device shattered.
The mana detector displayed errors, and when they opened it, they found a small crystal inside—now tainted with black mana absorbed from Rena.
"Ethan… we need to report this to the company," Lila said.
Meanwhile, Rena was already calling her subordinates.
"Hurry up and pick me up."
Rena sat on a bench, eating a hamburger while waiting for her car, her thoughts lingering on the two people the system identified as mana users.
She then thought of Aether.
"Wait… the blue glow I saw around Aether—is that mana? If so, does that mean Aether is also a mana user? And he probably has abilities as well."
Rena suddenly heard a voice beside her.
"Hi, miss. You seem deep in thought."
She looked at the man but ignored him.
"My name is Lucas Pale," the man said. "You're far too beautiful to look lonely sitting here alone."
Rena grew irritated.
"I'm not lonely. Can you please be quiet? You're incredibly rude for talking to me like this."
Lucas simply smiled.
"Wow, you're pretty feisty. I'm just trying to talk to you. Besides, being grumpy doesn't suit someone as beautiful as you."
Rena continued to ignore him. A few minutes later, she felt relieved when she saw her car approaching.
Lucas was surprised when Rena stood up.
"O—Oh! Miss, are you leaving? At least tell me your name!"
Rena, now extremely annoyed, headed straight for her car. Lucas followed her—until two men dressed in black blocked his path.
Lucas froze.
He realized that Rena came from a wealthy family and that those men were her bodyguards.
With no choice, Lucas stopped following her as he watched Rena enter her luxury vehicle.
However, Lucas was determined. He quickly returned to his own car and followed hers.
He soon saw Rena's car stop in front of a five-star hotel.
Lucas could only watch as she entered the hotel.
He was completely captivated by Rena—her Asian-European features, her elegance, and her cold, sharp personality.
Several hours later…
Rena was sitting inside her hotel room. Exhausted, she removed her high heels and lay down on the bed.
Suddenly—
Ding.
New Task.
System:
"Manipulate Lucas's emotions and turn him into a loyal follower—like a slave."
Reward: 7 Coins.
Rena was shocked.
"So his name was Lucas…"
Ding.
Task Complete.
System:
"You have successfully obtained the necklace containing red mana. You may now absorb it to increase your strength."
Reward: 6 Coins.
Rena picked up the necklace, examining its diamond-like appearance.
However, she froze—she didn't know how to absorb mana.
She opened the system and discovered that every question required coins, depending on the information requested.
She asked how to absorb mana.
Ding.
System:
"This question costs 2 Coins."
Rena paid immediately.
After receiving the information, she sat down and began sensing the red mana from the necklace.
She slowly absorbed it—but stopped.
Her body was already overflowing with seemingly endless mana.
Instead, she merged the red mana into her existing mana.
She felt an overwhelming presence as the red mana was gradually consumed by her black mana.
When the two finally fused, Rena opened her eyes.
She felt immense power coursing through her body.
Looking into the mirror, she saw herself even more beautiful than before—and her eyes had turned crimson red.
Meanwhile…
Aether finally arrived at the land of Veylorian.
He was completely astonished to see people using mammoths as transportation and for carrying heavy loads.
It was hard for him to believe they were merely a tribe.
From a distance, Veylorian looked more like a massive empire.