[Mana Devour]
[Quality: S]
[Type: Growth Type Talent]
[Current Stage: Initial]
[Effect One: Unclaimed mana released after a target’s death will automatically be captured by the Host.]
[Effect Two: The Host may permanently absorb up to 100 Mana per day.]
[Effect Three: When absorbing high quality mana, there is an extremely low probability of strengthening the Host’s elemental affinity.]
[Hint: Defeating targets whose level exceeds the Host’s will greatly increase absorption efficiency.]
Victor stared at the final notification.
One hundred points per day did not sound particularly outrageous.
But one had to understand that this was a permanent increase as long as he reached the daily limit every day...
Ten days meant one thousand.
One hundred days meant ten thousand.
Furthermore, the system had deliberately marked it as the "Current Stage."
That meant this talent itself still possessed room for growth.
Victor slowly clenched his fist.
The flame in his palm extinguished with it.
His very first investment had already given him a growth type S Rank talent.
If he screened all twelve of his subordinates tomorrow, even if he only found another two A Rank or even S Rank investment targets among them, the returns would be astonishing.
Thinking of this, he suddenly looked toward the system interface.
"System."
"Can I directly inspect everyone nearby who meets the investment conditions?"
[Yes.]
[Basic Area Scan Function has not yet been unlocked.]
[Unlock Requirement: Complete a total of three effective investments.]
Victor was still short by two but by tomorrow that would be fixed.
Just as he was preparing to close the system, a new message suddenly appeared on his academy identification card.
[You have received an internal academy invitation.]
[Sender: Cecilia Saint Laurent.]
Victor’s movements instantly stopped.
Cecilia?
He had only just discovered this SS Rank investment target.
And she had already taken the initiative to approach him?
Victor opened the message.
[Tomorrow afternoon at four. Seventh floor of the White Tower.]
[I want to speak with you.]
She didn’t ask any questions or exchange any pleasantries. There was not even an explanation. That certainly did sound like the tone an imperial princess would use.
Victor stared at the invitation, a trace of interest gradually appearing in his eyes.
In the original plot, Cecilia had never taken the initiative to approach Victor at this point in time.
Therefore, there was only one possibility.
What had happened at the Discipline Department today had attracted her attention.
Or rather, his actions had already truly begun affecting the original storyline.
The next moment, a system notification slowly appeared.
[SS Rank investment target has actively established contact with the Host.]
[Special Investment Event generated.]
[Event: The Princess’s Predicament.]
[Hint: The target currently lacks neither gold coins, ordinary equipment, nor conventional cultivation resources.]
[A truly effective investment must resolve the target’s most urgent current problem.]
[Upon completion of this special investment, minimum return multiplier: 100×.]
Victor’s gaze instantly sharpened.
’Minimum... One hundred times?’
But the system notification was not finished.
A second line of crimson text immediately appeared.
[Warning.]
[Due to the target’s exceptionally high Destiny Rank, forcibly interfering with her fate may cause major deviations from the original storyline.]
[Do you wish to continue contact?]
Victor stared at it for several seconds before a smile spread across his face.
The original storyline???
If he truly planned to follow the original storyline, then one year from now, he was supposed to die.
In that case, what was there left to worry about?
"Continue."
[Confirmation successful.]
[SS Rank Special Investment Event locked.]
[Remaining Time: 72 hours.]
Victor closed the interface.
However, at that exact same moment, several kilometers away from the academy, at the top of an ancient bell tower shrouded in darkness...
A man wearing a gray robe slowly withdrew his gaze from Starlight Royal Academy.
Floating before him was a crystal covered in black cracks.
And within that crystal, Cecilia’s face was clearly reflected.
The man remained silent for a moment before speaking in a low voice.
"The Third Princess has taken notice of the Alves Family’s heir."
From within the shadows, another voice slowly answered.
"Do we need to deal with him?"
The gray robed man shook his head.
"No."
"He’s merely a wastrel destined to die at Ryan Carter’s hands. There’s no need to waste our strength. The one who truly matters is the princess."
As he spoke, the image inside the crystal suddenly changed.
At the position of Cecilia’s heart, a black pattern, almost impossible to detect with the naked eye, was slowly spreading.
The corner of the man’s mouth gradually curved upward.
"The time she has left is running out."
..
The next morning, Starlight Royal Academy, Third Training Ground.
When Victor arrived, there were still ten minutes left before the agreed time of eight o’clock.
The morning mist had yet to completely disperse. Large patches of white fog drifted slowly across the grass surrounding the training ground, while twelve figures already stood neatly in formation on the enormous obsidian paved field at its center.
Victor’s footsteps paused slightly when he saw the faces.
Twelve?
His gaze quickly fell toward the front of the group.
Bruno was standing there.
His right arm, which had hung at an unnatural angle yesterday, had already been properly reset. A layer of faint silver healing bandages wrapped around it. Although his complexion was still somewhat pale, he was at least able to move normally again.
The moment he saw Victor approaching, Bruno immediately straightened his back.
"Young Master."
The regular followers had remained with him simply because the original owner had helped them in the past.
At the end of the day, although the former Victor had possessed a terrible personality, he had not been stupid enough to surround himself with absolutely no one useful.
He had simply never truly cultivated any of them.
Whenever there was a fight, he called them over.
Whenever he needed errands handled, he ordered them around.
When he happened to be in a good mood, he occasionally tossed them some gold coins.
Other than that, there had been nothing.
In the original storyline, very few of these twelve people ended well.
Some died inside academy secret realms.
Some chose to leave on their own.
Some fled to other nations after House Alves was destroyed.
Several did not even receive a proper ending. Once Ryan truly rose to prominence, they simply disappeared from the story altogether.
But now Victor looked at them with completely different eyes.
What kind of lackeys were these?
In his eyes, they were a line of investment targets capable of generating returns on their own.
"Where’s the information?" Victor asked.
Karl, standing beside him, immediately stepped forward and handed over a thin magic crystal tablet.
"I organized everything according to your instructions. Their levels, professions, primary skills, commonly used equipment, and the resources they currently lack the most are all included."
Victor accepted the crystal tablet.
He did not immediately look through it because, as his gaze passed across each of the twelve people, one system panel after another, visible only to him, began appearing before his eyes.