Henie blinked, somewhat confused.

Hadn't she encountered a similar situation before?

As she was pondering, a white-bearded old mage with snow-white hair walked up to her.

The old mage looked very kind and nodded slightly to Henie.

Henie immediately recognized this mage as a regular customer of the shop.

"The same as last time."

The mage pointed to the blue potions on the counter, indicating for Henie to get him two bottles.

A heavy bag of Geo was placed on the counter, and he slowly left with the potions.

Henie weighed the money bag, then turned to put it in the cash box inside the store.

The rule of a maximum of two bottles per mage per day was actually quite good, at least for some mages.

They didn't have to worry about not being able to buy any because some rich person went on a buying spree.

After the initial frenzy, the daily limit of fifty bottles had resulted in a more reasonable customer flow.

After all, the price of one thousand per bottle wasn't something an ordinary mage could casually afford.

The customer flow hadn't increased explosively, but there were also never times when it was completely empty.

Strictly speaking, this kind of magic potion was, after all, a consumable item. Even if its effect was extremely powerful, it wouldn't be used frequently.

Most mages bought a few days' worth of potions to keep on hand, just in case they encountered a crisis, so they wouldn't have to worry about magical exhaustion.

After their regular training and dealing with trivial matters, they naturally wouldn't waste the precious potion, relying on natural mana recovery was enough.

After the customer left, Henie came to her senses.

The red impurity on the blue potion bottle had disappeared, but now, a red, wriggling thing was constantly approaching her.

It looked like a red jelly.

It seemed to have no physical form, and looked very strange.

To Henie, it felt like...

It didn't seem very smart.

"Hey, hey, hey? That's strange, can't you hear me talking?"

The red jelly was trying hard to stretch its body, attempting to attract Henie's attention.

A small jelly hand extended from its body, waving at Henie.

But strangely, Henie just kept looking at it, giving it no response at all.

The red jelly retracted its small hand, quieted down for a moment, and deflated a bit.

"Damn it! Say something, will you!"

Wow! Mr. Jelly got angry!?

Henie, seeing the jelly shaking with anger, felt a slight shock in her heart and hurriedly apologized:

"I'm sorry."

Hearing Henie's apology, the red jelly seemed very satisfied. It squeezed out two things like snail antennae from its round body, slowly waving them in front of Henie.

It seemed to be sizing up Henie, waving its antennae while asking:

"There are few humans who can satisfy me. Tell me, who are we going to beat up?"

Henie tilted her head, staring at this red jelly, thinking for a good while.

"Then... can you tell me your name?"

"Huh?"

......

The afternoon in the shop was quiet, leisurely time flew by, and night fell.

Henie returned to the mansion, walking to the front door.

Before she could reach out, the door was already opened by a servant.

"Miss Henie."

Henie was startled.

She had always been living here as a guest, and hearing someone suddenly greet her, Henie felt a bit guilty and shivered.

Looking up, she saw it was a familiar servant who had opened the mansion's main door for her.

Henie immediately felt relieved.

But soon, a cold wind blew past Henie's back, and she felt someone standing behind her.

That person's voice was utterly cold:

"Henie?"

The hair on Henie's body stood on end, and she slowly turned around to look at the newcomer.

It was Professor Viktor.

As usual, a jet-black crow was perched on his shoulder.

Somehow, the crow's eyes seemed to have become much more frightening.

Henie felt a bit excited at first:

"Professor! You're back..."

"What did you bring back?"

Henie was startled by Viktor's question, trembling and shrinking her head, not daring to make a sound.

Viktor glanced at the shaking Henie and dropped a sentence:

"Come to my study."

Henie could only obediently follow behind Viktor, looking quite pitiful.

They quickly arrived at the study, and Viktor waved his hand, turning on the desk lamp.

A warm yellow light shone on the desk. Viktor stood in front of the desk, while Henie stood at the door, head lowered like someone who had done something wrong and was being scolded.

Their shadows wavered on the wall behind them.

"Don't you have anything to tell me?"

"Professor, I wanted to tell you when you came back..."

Stolen story; please report.

Henie stretched out her hand, and a red, gel-like liquid appeared on Henie's arm, plopping onto the desk.

The light from the desk lamp shone on its small body, but its shadow wasn't reflected on the wall.

It began to shape itself like jelly, constantly changing, and finally settled into a very small... crocodile shape.

The crocodile hadn't yet realized what was happening, looked around, and then stared at Viktor, whose face was frighteningly cold.

Sensing Viktor's malicious gaze, the little crocodile suddenly stretched out a small paw, slapping the desktop with a 'pa' sound.

"What are you looking at?"

It seems to be a not very intelligent demon, it apparently hadn't yet grasped the current situation.

Viktor narrowed his eyes.

In the game, the spawning of primal demons had always been a mysterious thing.

In the first chapter's plot, the seven primal demons gathered in the Carencia Empire, with Greed leading the occupation of the imperial capital, and the remaining six demons in different cities.

Until Greed was killed by the players, the remaining six demons seemed to receive an order and quickly disappeared within the empire's borders.

But in future plot chapters, players could find these primal demons in many places.

And the little crocodile in front of him was obviously the Wrath demon.

Leighton.

That's right, Viktor knew all seven demons' true names, so these demons posed no threat to him at all.

After all, his current identity was different from the game.

In the game, players couldn't interact with NPCs, and in the eyes of NPCs, players were more like "mute," "emotionless" machines.

This meant that even if players could see the demon's name in combat status, they couldn't use the true name to restrict the demon.

Henie, seeing the demon turn into a crocodile, was slightly startled.

How did Mr. Jelly turn into a little crocodile in just one day?

"Primal demons absorb the emotions of their hosts to grow stronger. If the corresponding emotions and magic power are sufficient, they can grow to a state that even armies can't handle in just one day."

Vega explained to Viktor on the side.

In fact, the reason Viktor could directly notice the 'demon' on Henie was because Vega had sensed it in advance.

As an evil god, Vega was very sensitive to things like demons that transcended biological beings.

The atmosphere in the study became a bit peculiar due to the silence. Viktor waved to Henie, indicating for her to leave first.

Henie covered her eyes, nodded with a "wuwu" sound, and left the study feeling wronged.

She thought she had done something wrong.

It wasn't until she left the study that Viktor looked back at the crocodile and slowly said:

"Tell me, what deal did you make with her?"

The crocodile obviously knew Viktor was asking it a question, but it wasn't afraid of the mysterious man in front of it. It grinded its teeth a bit angrily while saying:

"Deal? What deal!"

"She just asked me what my name was, how could I make a deal?"

"..."

At least now he could be assured that Henie hadn't been bewitched by the demon.

The crocodile in front of him was still very weak, as if it had just been born.

Viktor narrowed his eyes, Vega giggled on his shoulder, and only Viktor's voice sounded in its ear:

"Interesting."

"First it was Greed, now it's Wrath."

"The demons clearly had better hosts to choose from, but they all chose this little succubus without exception."

Each demon's abilities manifested differently.

The Greed demon could stimulate people's desires, expanding their desires several times through constant gifts until they finally couldn't repay.

The Wrath demon would magnify the anger of the possessed person a hundredfold, causing them to overexert their strength and die of exhaustion in endless fury.

Similarly, for demons like Lust...

Viktor didn't want to think about it further.

But if Henie could attract different demons, then the remaining ones might also show themselves in the future.

Whether this was good or bad remained to be seen, but Viktor could plan ahead.

"Now then."

Viktor narrowed his eyes at the little crocodile in front of him.

The red crocodile shuddered, a sense of unease creeping over its body.

"Getting angry randomly isn't a good thing."

"I'll teach you how to control your anger well, Leighton."

Hearing Viktor's words, the little crocodile felt as if its limbs were locked by a shackle in its heart, unable to move.

As if unwillingly, a line connected between it and Viktor.

"Contract established."

......

Early the next morning, Henie was feeling a bit gloomy.

She felt like she had done something wrong, making Professor Viktor unhappy, which had made her too afraid to approach Viktor until now.

Just as she was thinking of going to the garden to clear her mind, a maid hurriedly ran over and said to Henie:

"Miss Henie, the master is calling you to his study."

Henie was a bit confused, but her steps still headed towards the study.

She was anxious, constantly reassuring herself on the way that nothing was wrong.

Pushing open the door to Viktor's study, Henie saw Viktor sitting at his desk as usual, hands crossed.

Two papers were placed on the desk, which Henie didn't pay attention to.

"Pro... Professor, you called for me."

Viktor nodded, his eyes indicating for her to come to the desk.

Henie obediently walked forward, staring at the two papers in front of her, her hands finding no place to rest, seeming particularly uneasy.

Viktor spoke first:

"In front of you are two contracts. The first is an invitation from the Royal Academy."

"Sign this contract, and you will become an honorary associate professor at the Royal Magic Academy, with treatment equivalent to that of a professor, including a house of your own."

Henie listened, slightly dazed.

"Asso... Associate Professor?"

It felt as dreamy as if a long-cherished dream had become reality.

A warmth suddenly surged in her heart, spreading throughout Henie's body.

Her breathing involuntarily became a bit rapid.

Viktor, however, continued unhurriedly:

"The contract on the right is what I had Lia draft yesterday."

"Sign this contract, and you'll be a retainer of the Kravina family. You can choose a job within the family, or continue living here."

"Of course, the treatment will be equally good."

Henie was stunned again.

One was a nomination for associate professor, the other was to be a retainer of the Kravina family.

If she chose the second one, she would be... part of the Kravina family?

But the position of associate professor...

Ah ah.

Life is full of choices, Henie's teacher had once taught her.

Before Henie, two choices were laid out.

One was her long-cherished dream.

It was the reward for her years of hard work and study.

The other was the aspiration she wanted to follow for life.

Finally, Henie looked at Viktor.

She knew that everything she had now didn't come easily.

Therefore, Henie never thought her dream could compare to the aspiration before her eyes.

So, she made her choice.

"Professor, I want to choose..."

"Wait."

Viktor's sudden words interrupted her.

Under Henie's somewhat dazed gaze, Viktor tapped the desk.

A gentle breeze blew, sending both contracts to Henie at the same time.

Henie was a bit confused and puzzled, but Viktor's voice seemed to soothe her unease, sounding in her ears.

"I never said this was a single-choice question."

"..."

Henie stared blankly at Viktor.

Somehow, a faint moisture seemed to well up in the corners of her eyes, as if a layer of mist obscured her vision.

But it wasn't because of sadness, Henie knew very well.

When happiness surged through her entire body, it was as if a faint light had redeemed her entire world.

"Professor."

At this moment, she was infinitely grateful for her life.

The contempt, mockery, and abuse she had once endured.

It seemed to be resolved as if bitterness had turned to sweetness.

Henie's hand was on her chest, her voice slightly choked.

"Meeting you... really."

"It's so wonderful."

......

Henie, lv9 → lv10.

First-tier mage.