Sovereign Beyond Creation

Chapter 5

The sun rose over Bourbon Academy, but the light did not feel warm to Adam Cook. He woke up on the thin, straw mattress in his tiny servant’s room. The room was barely a closet, tucked away in the basement of the boys' dormitory. It smelled of damp stone and old dust.

Usually, Adam woke up with a heavy heart, thinking about the chores he had to do. But today was different.

When he opened his eyes, the world was not just gray and brown.

Floating in front of his face was a glowing purple screen.

[Time Remaining: 68 Hours, 12 Minutes.]

[Health: 45/100 (Recovering)]

[Status: Void Vessel Initialized.]

Adam sat up. He looked at his hands. They weren't shaking anymore. Last night, he had been a broken boy in a dark alley. Now, he felt like he was plugged into a lightning bolt.

He looked at the wooden door of his room. To his normal eyes, it was just old wood. But as he focused, a layer of shimmering light appeared over his vision. He saw thin, glowing blue lines running through the door.

[Object: Door (Oak)]

[Mana Reinforcement: 2% (Weak)]

"I can see it," Adam whispered. "I can see the magic."

In this world, magic—or "mana"—was everywhere. It was in the air, the water, and the bodies of the lucky people born with Spirit Veins. Normally, a Null like Adam was blind to it. It was like living in a world of music but being born deaf.

But now, the System had given him "The Eyes of the Sovereign."

He stood up and walked out into the hallway. It was early, and the elite students were starting to head to breakfast. As Adam walked toward the Great Hall, he saw them.

A group of second-year students walked past. To a regular person, they just looked like wealthy kids in silver-trimmed robes. To Adam, they looked like glowing lanterns.

He saw a girl with a faint orange flame dancing in her chest.

[Target: Human Female. Tier 1 Fire Mage. Mana Flow: Stable.]

He saw a tall boy with green swirls of energy around his feet.

[Target: Human Male. Tier 1 Wind Mage. Mana Flow: Low Quality.]

"Low quality," Adam muttered with a small, dark smile. These people had spent their whole lives calling him trash, but the System saw them as "weak" and "low quality."

He reached the main courtyard of the campus. The white marble floors sparkled in the morning sun. In the center of the courtyard was a massive statue of the first Headmaster.

Suddenly, Adam felt a chill. Not just a cold breeze, but a wave of ice that seemed to turn his blood into slush.

He turned his head toward the North Tower.

Far above, on a balcony, a figure was standing. It was Catherine Cook. Even from this distance, Adam’s new eyes could see her clearly.

She was looking out over the Academy. To everyone else, she looked like a queen—cold, beautiful, and perfect. But through the System’s lens, Adam saw the truth.

Catherine was surrounded by a storm of jagged, icy blue mana. It was beautiful, but it was wrong. The blue lines weren't flowing like a river; they were snapping like broken glass.

And in the center of her chest, right where her Mana Core should be, there was a crack.

It looked like a black wound. Dark, smoky energy was leaking out of the crack, fighting against her blue ice magic. Every time the black smoke touched the blue ice, Adam could see her flinch.

[Analysis: Cracked Mana Core (Critical State)]

[Condition: Soul-Frost Corruption.]

[Fact: The target is using 90% of her power just to keep her heart from freezing solid.]

Adam gasped. "She’s not just the Ice Witch. She’s a prisoner of her own power."

The "Ice Witch" wasn't cold because she was mean. She was cold because if she let her temperature rise even one degree, the corruption in her core would explode and kill everyone in the building.

This is it, Adam thought. This is my way in.

The system pinged in his mind.

[Mission Update: The Heart of the Frost.]

[Warning: The target is currently in the Great Library. Favorable Impression is still -90.]

Adam knew the Great Library. It was a massive, circular building with millions of books. The upper floors were restricted. Only high-level mages and professors were allowed there. Nulls were strictly forbidden from even stepping past the front desk.

Adam didn't care. He walked toward the library.

When he reached the giant bronze doors, two guards stopped him. They were wearing the heavy armor of the Academy Guard. They carried spears that glowed with yellow electrical sparks.

"Halt, Null," the guard on the left said. He looked at Adam’s cheap, wrinkled clothes and sneered. "The library is for students who actually have brains and mana. Go back to the kitchens."

"I have business with Professor Catherine," Adam said. His voice was calm. Usually, he would have looked at the ground. Today, he looked the guard right in the eye.

The guards laughed. "Business? What, are you her new footstool? Get out of here before I use this spear to give you a permanent tan."