Mom is a mage【1】

Chapter 1

Seoul was a thriving eastern city in Korea, the nation’s second-largest port. Massive cargo traffic kept its economy and technology at the absolute top of the country.

The infrastructure was flawless. Skyscrapers packed every skyline, screaming wealth and power from every angle.

The city split cleanly into five zones: central residential, southern entertainment, eastern port and sea-city pleasure district, western business core, and the northern Canglan Mountains that stayed wrapped in permanent mist.

The underground maglev network was the real convenience. It linked all five zones so tightly that the longest trip anywhere still clocked under ten minutes.

On the northern edge of the central residential zone sat a quiet, high-end villa district.

Morning sun poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows of a three-story detached villa and spilled across the master bedroom.

Tony had just turned eighteen today. He jerked awake on the wide, soft bed.

The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, but sleep was impossible. He’d tossed all night. Today wasn’t only his eighteenth birthday—it was the day he had to take the mandatory Magic Element Compatibility Test. National law and the World Government both hammered the same iron rule: the second you hit eighteen, you got tested.

Tony pulled a loose white T-shirt and black shorts from the seamless black-walnut wardrobe. June heat and the city’s coastal humidity made anything heavier unbearable.

He stepped into the en-suite bathroom. Gray marble-veined tiles underfoot. He washed up fast, pushed the door open, and headed into the hallway.

His room was on the third floor. The whole villa mixed minimalist modern with new Chinese style perfectly. The living-room ceiling soared nearly seven meters; a massive crystal chandelier hung from it, catching the light in soft flares. Walls were mostly blank white broken by warm wood panels. The staircase railing was brushed metal and raw timber. Thick Italian hand-woven wool carpet swallowed every footstep.

Tony came down the stairs into the first-floor hall and stopped dead. His eyes locked on the woman by the dining table.

Emma.

Mom wore a tight, bare-pink yoga top. Those L-cup tits stretched the fabric to the breaking point. Every tiny shift of the plates made Mom’s huge, soft breasts roll and bounce hard under the thin material—like two silk water balloons filled to bursting, heavy fat dragging down while pure elasticity yanked them back up, pushing out two outrageous round outlines. The deep cleavage swallowed the neckline, flashing reddened, tender skin. No bra. Mom’s thick, stiff nipples stabbed clearly through the cloth, tracing little circles with every breath.

Below, dark-gray seamless yoga pants. Mom’s fat ass stretched the fabric almost transparent, pale skin ghosting underneath. Those two round, heavy cheeks sat high and proud like a massive ripe peach. When Mom bent slightly for the milk, gravity yanked both cheeks back; the center seam disappeared deep into Mom’s ass crack, clamped tight by soft flesh. The thick meat of Mom’s inner thighs dug deep grooves into the leg openings.

What really dried Tony’s throat were Mom’s bare feet. No slippers. Pale, perfectly shaped feet planted straight on the cool wood floor. High arches curved clean. Ten toes round and glossy like peeled lychees. A thin clear coat of nail oil caught the light. Fresh from morning yoga, the soles glowed pink with post-workout heat, tiny beads of sweat making every step produce a soft, sticky *schlick* against the wood. Every time Mom shifted weight, those toes curled instinctively—pure mature-woman seduction.

Mom’s long black hair was twisted into one thick braid hanging down her back. Loose strands stuck to the fine sweat on Mom’s pale neck.

She looked up at the sound of the stairs. That flawless face with the single teardrop mole at the corner of her eye curved into a gentle smile.

“Tony, come eat. After breakfast Mom will drive you to the hospital.”

Tony jogged to the golden-nanmu table, pulled out a chair, and sat.

The second his ass hit the seat his nose twitched hard.

The air was thick with hot, dizzying scent. Mature-woman sweat rolling off Mom right after exercise, mixed with that light, head-clearing body fragrance that was pure Mom. Stronger still was the faint sour foot-sweat rising from under the table—Mom’s bare soles padding back and forth across the floor, pumping out that light acidic tang layered over rich meat-smell.

The combined scent shoved into Tony’s nose like solid tentacles. Heat coiled low in his belly, thick and ugly.

He’d asked Mom once if she was one of those legendary mages. The net claimed Lust Element left every mage with a unique body scent that could scramble a man’s head, different for each one.

Mom had only stroked his hair, smiled, and denied it. Said it was just a new treatment from her high-end salon that kept a woman’s body smelling like that for weeks.

But the scent wasn’t the only thing that made Tony suspicious.

Three years ago monsters had erupted worldwide. Humanity’s proud modern armies could barely hold the line. The monsters appeared too randomly; no force could cover every outbreak. Collapse was hours away.

Then the world’s top medical-tech corporation—Sun Group—dropped their research on every government at once: Magic Elements.

Sun Group’s CEO, Rhysand, personally brought a woman into the highest-level summit. Whatever happened in the second half of that meeting was locked under top-secret classification. All the public ever learned was the new word that rewrote the planet—Mage.

After that, Sun Group handed Magic Elements to every government free of charge. The only price: twenty-five percent absolute controlling interest in every future Magic-related facility and device worldwide.

From that day the world changed.

Governments under the UN framework built a Global Government that sat above every nation. The U.S. led the American Union Government, folding both Americas and Japan inside it. Europe formed the European Union State. Russia and the old Soviet republics rebuilt the Soviet regime. The Middle East welded itself into the Arab United Regime. East and Southeast Asia fell under Korea’s hard leadership and became the Korean Alliance.

Then the Global Government issued the iron decree: every female aged eighteen to forty had to take the physical aptitude test. The ones who matched Magic Elements were pulled out.

And those goddess-level mages—shining like Valkyries—started appearing on every screen on earth.

They were all devastatingly beautiful, bodies exaggerated to the point of making men spit blood. According to the research reports Sun Group later declassified, a mage’s power came from something extremely private—shame, sexual desire, and innate magical talent.

To force stronger magic out of them in battle, the Magic Department designed combat uniforms that were almost pure erotica—barely covering anything. Officially no one was forced; every mage could choose her own style. But the truth was simple: the more skin a mage showed, the harder her power hit.

With mages on the front lines the military load dropped fast. Governments everywhere started cutting conventional forces and pouring every research dollar into Magic Elements and mage development.

Then they found the fatal flaw. Every time a mage burned large amounts of power, her body inevitably produced a byproduct called Lust Element.

For the mage herself, Lust Element was both the fiercest aphrodisiac and a lethal poison. It multiplied her sexual hunger until her mind fogged. Cross the critical threshold and the mage lost all reason, becoming a mindless fuck-and-kill monster worse than any demon—Demon.

The irony was that the energy locked inside that deadly Lust Element was perfect for technology and daily life. The core power source of every maglev train, every new-generation engine, was refined Lust Element.

So under Global Government orders a massive official organization was born—the Sex Department. It answered to the Magic Management Department. Its only job: recruit men to drain mages who were about to break, either with raw cock or with toys, milk the excess lust out of them, and harvest the priceless Lust Element at the same time.

It was right after that first global test that Tony noticed the change in Mom.

Mom’s already beautiful face and carefully maintained skin turned even more radiant—porcelain-smooth, not a single pore visible. Worse, Mom’s body went through a second, violent puberty.

Those already full tits inflated like someone had pumped them full of air, swelling more than a full cup size in plain sight until they hit a terrifying L-cup. Years of hard yoga kept Mom’s waist a slim water-snake and her fat ass high and tight; if anything they only got firmer, springier, locking into a blood-boiling devil’s hourglass.

And that mysterious light fragrance began clinging to Mom’s skin and never left.

What truly made Tony’s heart hammer was the nights. Passing Mom’s door late, he would hear it through the wood—stifled, pain-edged whimpers and moans, thick with nasal heat. The raw hunger in those sounds was nothing a normal single mother should ever make.

It had never happened before. Of course it was only Tony’s guess; he had zero hard proof.

Tony pulled his thoughts back, grabbed the whole-wheat toast and the perfectly golden fried eggs, and shoved them down fast.

Mom rested both cheeks in her hands, elbows on the table. The pose shoved those already enormous tits hard against the wood, crushing them upward until the deep cleavage almost swallowed the entire view.

Mom just watched her son across the table with soft eyes and a satisfied little smile.

Inside she thought: Tony’s so handsome… I hope these quiet days never end. If today he only tests as the lowest potential, or better yet a complete ordinary with no special constitution at all, that would be perfect. Then he wouldn’t have to touch any of those filthy, dangerous things. Mom could keep him right here beside her, keep him forever…

Breakfast finished, Tony took his ID and followed Mom out of the villa.

Before they left, Mom deliberately changed into an oversized beige casual set. The baggy hoodie and wide-leg pants were clearly meant to hide that over-the-top fuck-me body. Even so, every step still forced those shocking full curves to push two heart-stopping arcs into the loose fabric.

The walk from the high-end villa district to the nearest underground station was only eight hundred meters.

Those eight hundred meters still drew more than a dozen self-proclaimed playboys like sharks smelling blood. Some slowed luxury cars and dropped the window. Some pretended to ask directions just to get a number. A few straight-up flashed bank accounts and offered breakfast.

Mom answered every one with perfect polite gentleness and a soft smile. Each time she refused, Mom naturally reached out those jade-white arms, locked them tight around Tony’s, and pressed those proud heavy tits straight against her son’s arm while saying in a soft voice, “Sorry, my boyfriend gets jealous.”

Anyone with eyes could see the excuse was pure bullshit.

They boarded the silver cyberpunk-style maglev. The carriage air-conditioning was cranked high.

Tony and Mom didn’t bother fighting for seats—the ride to Seoul City Hospital was only one minute.

Tony quietly scanned the car. Morning traffic was light. A few boys and girls around his age sat scattered around, faces ranging from nervous finger-twisting to forced casual hologram-scrolling. He figured they were all headed to the same Magic Element Compatibility Test.

Then his eyes snagged on a figure in the corner.

A girl he knew—Amelia. Same year, different class.

Amelia stood a full one-seventy. She wore a pure-white hoodie deliberately bought one size too big and black hot pants so short they barely existed. Even in the freezing carriage she hadn’t bothered with pants or stockings, just left those snow-white, ruler-straight, dizzyingly long legs completely bare. The skin reflected light, not a gram of extra flesh, tight muscle lines sharp under the cold LEDs—cold, bone-deep beauty. Small round kneecaps, slim calves vanishing into white chunky sneakers. Those legs were the ultimate late-night fantasy of every guy in school, including half the male teachers.

Her face was pure fairy descended from heaven—every feature flawless. But the expression on that face stayed frozen-ice cold, radiating pure stay-the-fuck-away distance. The oversized hoodie hid her cup size completely, yet Tony had secretly watched her enough times. From the rare moments wind lifted the fabric he was certain something more than modest was packed underneath.

She seemed to feel that aggressive stare. Amelia turned her head slightly. When she caught Tony locked dead on her thighs, those pretty willow-leaf brows snapped together. Disgust flashed through her cold eyes and she glared at him hard.

Caught red-handed, Tony rubbed his nose in awkward silence and yanked his gaze away.

That whole short exchange, though, landed straight in Mom’s eyes.

Mom narrowed those seductive eyes a fraction, let her gaze travel slowly over Amelia’s long white legs, then without a word pressed those full heavy tits even harder against Tony’s arm. She leaned in until her hot breath—thick with Mom’s body scent—brushed his ear and whispered, “Tony… you know that girl?”

The mix of heat and female fragrance against his ear made half his body go soft. He cleared his throat, eyes drifting. “Cough… classmate.”

Then he shut his mouth and said nothing else.

Mom watched her son squirm and a sly light flickered in her eyes. She put on a perfect “I understand everything” look, pressed those soft red lips right against Tony’s ear, and giggled low, “Mom gets it~ Men can’t help staring at a girl’s thighs, can they…”

Tony’s face burned crimson under Mom’s blunt teasing. To hide it he snapped his eyes to the holographic news looping across the carriage windows.

Today’s broadcast kept replaying the Fire Goddess cutting down monsters on the border line.

Fire Goddess—Tony’s deepest, most fevered fantasy. The mage he worshipped hardest.

On screen the Fire Goddess stood wrapped in violent scarlet flames like a war goddess reborn from fire. She dragged a massive burning sword in one hand; every swing turned the charging monsters into charcoal.

The modified red flowing immortal skirt woven from pure Lust Element thread pushed half-covered eroticism to the absolute limit. The top was a tight red tube so tiny it looked ready to split under those terrifyingly huge tits; the entire lower half of both snow-white breasts and the bottomless cleavage hung completely bare. The skirt slit ran straight to the waist. Every sharp combat move flashed those long legs wrapped only in sheer fire-red gauze. The gauze didn’t hide a damn thing—it worked like a pure aphrodisiac filter, painting the thick meat of her inner thighs and the tight muscle lines in the most filthy light. Every flip of the fabric felt like a silent middle finger to every cock watching the screen.

That combat uniform dancing on the edge of full exposure made Tony’s throat go dry every single time.

“Ooh-hoo~” Mom’s laughing voice slid into his ear again, thick with amusement. “Isn’t that our Tony’s favorite Fire Goddess? Still obsessed, huh?”

Tony’s eyes reflected the hologram light. He nodded hard, excitement leaking through. “After today’s test I’ll finally be allowed into the Fire Goddess offline fan meeting! Wonder when the next Handshake Event is…”

Mom’s face stayed calm, but the smile at the corners of her mouth froze for a fraction of a second.

She reached out a pale finger and gave Tony’s forehead a light poke, voice half-scolding, half-sour. “Aiya, what’s so fun about those offline events? Just a bunch of men drooling around one woman… Besides, Fire Goddess wears that thick veil—you can’t even see her face.”

Tony didn’t answer. In this world plenty of mages hid their real faces behind masks, mouth covers, or thin magic veils just to stop crazed fans and assassins. Fire Goddess’s trademark was the ancient red gauze veil across her face. It only made her more untouchable, more deadly-mysterious.

Ding-dong—

The clear electronic chime cut his thoughts.

“Seoul City Hospital Station. Arriving.”

Bodies poured out the open doors.

The platform sat directly under the hospital on B3. The dedicated Magic Element testing zone was on B1.

Tony and Mom followed the crowd into the transparent observation elevator. As it rose, the full B1 lobby slowly opened in front of them.

The moment the doors parted, two rows of hostesses in modified tight pink nurse uniforms stepped forward. Every one of them was beautiful, buttons stretched tight across their chests, long legs wrapped in sheer nude stockings under short skirts. Professional yet sweet smiles guided the solo kids into the proper queues while families like Tony and Mom were steered to the waiting area for number calls.

The underground lobby was shockingly huge—thousands of square meters. The floor was high-polymer memory material glowing cold blue. The dome was a massive holographic sky currently showing cloudless clear weather. The air mixed light medical disinfectant with some unknown floral scent. Rows of streamlined silver-alloy waiting chairs filled the center. Giant data screens on the walls scrolled test rules and department slogans. No usual hospital noise or sickness smell—only the cold, absolute order of Sun Group technology.

This entire floor held zero regular medical departments. It was built solely as the Magic Element testing center for eighteen-year-old boys and girls.

Ten rooms lined the long corridor. Besides the ones marked Testing Room, three special offices stood out: one black-alloy plaque reading 【Sun Group Office】, one white-and-gold 【Korean Magic Academy Admissions】, and one simply 【Rest Room】.

On the most prominent leather lounge chairs in the lobby two women lay sprawled in lazy ease.

Both wore oversized black tactical sunglasses and camo-pattern tight combat suits. The fabric was clearly loaded with high-concentration Lust Element fiber, painting every tall, front-heavy, ass-heavy curve in perfect detail. One of them even had both long legs in combat boots crossed and propped on the coffee table, chewing gum with pure unfiltered wildness.

Tony only needed one glance at the dark-silver crossed-swords-and-skull shoulder patch and his heart clenched hard.

That was the mark of the government’s highest combat force—the Assassin Department.

The iron-blood unit built specifically to put down Demons or mages about to fall into Demons. Everyone inside ranked A+ or higher.

Mom reached out a soft warm hand, gently stroked Tony’s head, and pulled him down onto an alloy chair in the waiting area. Her voice stayed gentle. “Don’t be nervous, Tony. Those two Assassin Department killers are here to protect you new kids. Monsters have slipped into testing rooms before and tried to devour the best newly awakened bodies.”

Tony nodded obediently. Mom worked in a government department; of course she knew the internal secrets ordinary people never heard.

He sat bored in the chair, eyes drifting again toward Amelia waiting for her number not far away.

Amelia had her eyes closed. One slender white hand gently stroked the chest still hidden under the oversized hoodie, trying to steady her breathing and calm the nerves.

All around the lobby the other kids waiting—especially the hormone-raging boys—kept their stares glued to Amelia’s eye-catching snow-white long legs and Mom’s fully ripe, over-the-top body. Greed and pure awe filled every pair of eyes.

Tony had grown used to those almost physical eye-fucks since he was little. A married woman like Mom, pure and extreme slutty at the same time, really was walking disaster.

What left him a little helpless was that Mom Emma didn’t seem to mind the greedy stares at all. She almost seemed to enjoy them in secret.

She would casually straighten her back so those terrifying L-cups pushed an even more towering, oppressive round outline under the loose hoodie. Or she would tilt her head slightly, lift a pale finger, and tuck the loose strands behind her ear, deliberately exposing that swan-white, fragile, inviting neck—drawing a chorus of muffled swallows from every direction.

“Number 087, Tony, please proceed to Testing Room 3.”

The cold mechanical female voice echoed through the lobby.

“Your turn.” Mom patted Tony’s shoulder and gave him an encouraging smile. “Go on. Don’t be nervous. Mom will be right here waiting.”

Tony stood, drew a deep breath, and pressed his palm to the heavy metal handle of Room 3.

“Beep—fingerprint verified.”

A soft hiss of equalizing air, then the thick alloy doors slid open. Tony stepped inside.

The air-conditioning in the testing room ran several degrees colder than outside—almost chilly.

Behind a wide circular desk sat a beautiful doctor around thirty. Silver-rimmed glasses rested on her nose.

Under the white coat she wore a dark-purple low-cut knit so tight the fabric fibers gaped open across those terrifying huge tits; the lace edge of her bra was almost visible. The size was simply too much—most of those heavy round masses couldn’t even stay inside the clothes and rested bare on the cold metal desktop without a shred of shame. Every time her fingers hit the keyboard the two piles of fat on the desk rippled like startled slime, sending dizzying waves of flesh. The deep cleavage under the cold lights gave off a thick mature-woman scent of milk and pure lust.

If the room hadn’t been freezing like a freezer, dressing like that in June heat would have given her heat rash for sure.

She was flipping through Tony’s personal file on the holographic screen. At the sound of the door she turned, pushed the glasses up her nose, and gave him a friendly smile. “Tony, right? Come sit.”

Tony swallowed hard, forced his eyes off the massive tits resting on the desk, and sat in the metal chair opposite her.

“Relax. Don’t be tense.” The beautiful doctor pointed to a precision half-oval device glowing pale blue on the desk. “Put your right arm into the groove. It’ll be quick.”

Tony did as told.

Her long fingers flew across the virtual keyboard.

A soft click, then the metal lid slowly lowered and sealed his forearm perfectly.

A moment later a tiny sting pricked the inside of his arm—like an ant bite.

“Trace Magic Element injection complete. Initiating gene sequence and mana-circuit resonance test… please wait for results.” The device’s cold synthetic voice announced.

The doctor had been watching the screen half-heartedly. Only a few seconds later her delicately made-up face twisted into pure shock.

She jerked upright so hard the huge tits lost their support and dropped heavily back onto her chest with a deep, muffled *slap*, bouncing hard under the knit.

Tony looked at the screen too, curious.

The giant letter representing constitution rank was jumping wildly.

From ordinary mortal 【D】 it shot past C, B, A and slammed straight into a blinding red 【SS】—the absolute peak of legendary special constitutions.

Before the doctor could even cry out, the red light flickered once, the letter dropped to 【S】, then settled firmly on a glowing golden 【A】 and stopped.

“Hah… scared the shit out of me!”

The doctor exhaled a long breath of relief and patted her still-heaving chest.

“I thought I’d just hit a one-in-a-billion SS monster constitution today! Still, even stabilizing at A is insanely rare. Registered A-rank male constitutions worldwide only number about a hundred thousand. Once this kid enters a magic academy the sex-starved female mages are going to fight over him like starving wolves!”

“Beep—”

The device chimed again. “Test complete. Target assessment: A-rank special constitution—【Masculine body】.”

Why, after Magic Elements were revealed, did the world only call the women “mages” and never the men?

The reason was brutal.

Magic Elements had near-perfect compatibility with female genes—almost one hundred percent. Even the most ordinary girl could awaken at least C-rank talent after injection and gain the ability to control mana.

Men were different. Over ninety percent of male genes rejected Magic Elements completely; they stayed D-rank mortals who could never sense mana their whole lives. Of the remaining ten percent, half could awaken C-rank talent but their control was so pathetic they were useless in real combat.

Yet deep research by Sun Group and the Global Government uncovered a mad exception: a tiny handful of males couldn’t control elements like mages, but they were born with a genetic mutation called “special constitution.”

These special-constitution males were heaven’s perfect “catalyst” for female mages. Through the most primitive physical contact—or through toys and mana contact—they could guide a mage’s mana circuits, strengthen her body, and, most valuable of all, efficiently absorb and purify the deadly Lust Element and sexual hunger that piled up from battle.

The moment any male tested positive for such a special constitution and successfully awakened, he instantly became the hottest rare treasure in the eyes of every Magic Department, magic academy, and private conglomerate. They almost never had to face the frontline monsters. Their best use was staying in absolute safety in the rear, using their ability to soothe, enhance, clear, and restore the female mages.

A-rank constitution!

The moment the device announced it, Tony’s heart felt like it had been smashed by a heavy hammer. Pure wild joy erupted in his chest like a volcano.

“I’m actually A-rank! Masculine body! Doesn’t that mean I qualify to walk straight into the legendary highest academy that gathers the world’s top beauties—the Magic Academy?!”

Just imagining spending every day and night with countless mages in those exposed combat uniforms, bodies so hot they burned the eyes… and even doing those unspeakable “deep exchanges”… Tony felt every drop of blood in his body surge straight downward. His breathing turned heavy.

“A perfect result. A-rank constitution.” The beautiful doctor quickly wiped the shock from her face and put on an extremely serious expression.

She crossed her hands on the desk, crushing those proud full breasts into another heart-stopping shape.

“Tony, as an A-rank special constitution holder, once you enter the Magic Academy I guarantee the female mages will fight over you like animals. But the premise is—you yourself are willing to accept the invitation.”

She locked eyes with him, voice carrying official weight. “I now formally ask on behalf of the Korean Alliance Government and Seoul Magic Academy: are you willing to join the Magic Academy and become one of us?”

Tony sat bolt upright and answered without a single second of hesitation. “I am!”

At that answer the doctor’s tight face instantly bloomed into a soft, spring-thaw smile.

She pulled a black business card with gold-edged borders and a faint perfume from her white-coat pocket and held it out to Tony.

“My name is Chihiro. Here I’m the testing doctor; at Seoul Magic Academy I’m the exclusive health teacher.” Chihiro winked, a strange light flashing behind the lenses. “Then… see you at school.”

Tony took the card with both hands, carefully slipped it into his pocket, and nodded hard. “See you at school, Teacher Chihiro!”

“All right, you can go. Detailed enrollment procedures and the official acceptance letter will be delivered to your home within three days through the highest confidentiality channels.” Chihiro smiled and waved.

Tony stood up, heart still racing with excitement, and turned to pull the metal door open.

Bang!

The heavy alloy door of the testing room was suddenly shoved open from outside with brutal force!

A man and a woman strode in.

The man in front wore an exquisitely tailored, custom pure-black suit, hair slicked back with gel until it shone. His frame was extremely tall and powerful—easily over one-ninety. Standing in front of him, Tony’s one-seventy-eight height forced him to tilt his head up just to see that cold, arrogant face.

Behind the man walked a short-haired woman in tight black leather, eyes cold as a venomous snake.

The second she saw the two uninvited guests, Chihiro’s smile vanished completely. She shot to her feet, white coat cutting a sharp arc through the air, and planted her tall, full body squarely in front of Tony without giving an inch.

“Jackson? This is a publicly established government testing room. Barging in like this—what exactly do you want?” Chihiro’s voice was ice, hostility naked in her eyes.

The man called Jackson didn’t even glance at her question. Those hawk-sharp eyes locked past Chihiro’s shoulder and pinned Tony like he was appraising an extremely expensive piece of merchandise.

“Advice isn’t necessary.” Jackson’s mouth curved into an arrogant cold smile, voice low and heavy with pressure. “This man—Sun Group is taking him.”

“Heh…” Chihiro laughed from pure anger. She crossed her arms, crushing those I-cup tits even more obscenely under the pressure. “Jackson, aren’t you a little late? One second before you kicked the door open, Tony already accepted our Magic Academy invitation out loud. According to the Talent Allocation Regulations signed between the Global Government and Sun Group, once he has made his choice, your Sun Group must unconditionally back off!”

Jackson’s expression didn’t change at all. The government regulations Chihiro cited might as well have been toilet paper in his eyes.

He didn’t bother with a single extra word. He simply raised his right hand and snapped his fingers with a sharp, clean crack.

Snap!

The instant the sound landed, the leather-clad woman who had been trailing him like a ghost moved.

Her speed wasn’t human. Only a black afterimage remained in the air as she slipped past Chihiro’s block like a phantom.

Tony’s vision blurred for a split second. A black tactical-gloved hand colder than iron clamped onto his arm like a vise. Unstoppable brute strength yanked him forward. He didn’t even have room to struggle before the woman dragged him out from behind Chihiro like a chick and flung him behind Jackson.

Chihiro didn’t even have time to react!

She was a mage who had awakened mana, but her talent was pure medical and support. Against a Sun Group combatant trained purely for killing and fighting, she was completely crushed in both speed and power.

“Jackson!” Chihiro’s face turned iron-blue. She backed up fast to create distance while her hand shot toward the hidden red emergency button under the desk. “This is open provocation of the Global Government’s bottom line! Forcibly kidnapping a registered A-rank constitution holder inside a testing center—don’t you think you’ve gone too far?!”

“I’m only executing an order from Sun Group’s highest board of directors.” Jackson slowly adjusted his suit cuffs, eyes full of pure contempt. “In this world, Sun Group’s will is the rule. If you have any objections, feel free to file a complaint with the Group’s legal department. We’re leaving.”

With that, Jackson turned, ready to force Tony and the leather woman out.

The moment he turned—

Boom!!!

The heavy alloy door of the testing room was kicked open from outside with such violence that the metal joints of the frame screeched and tore.

The two Assassin Department mages who had been lounging on the sofas in the lobby now stood like twin gods of slaughter, blocking the doorway completely.

They had clearly received Chihiro’s emergency alert the second she pressed it and arrived in time to read the situation at a glance.

“Stay.”

The Assassin mage on the left—dark-red short hair, nearly one-eighty tall—spoke in a voice colder than ice. Her eyes behind the tactical sunglasses locked dead on Jackson. A terrifying, almost physical killing intent flooded the entire testing room.

Jackson’s pupils shrank hard. The arrogance that had stayed fixed on his face finally cracked into an ugly, heavy seriousness.

“Fuck! The secret order from above to seize the A-rank was way too rushed!”

He hadn’t had nearly enough time to mobilize the Group’s high-level combat power. Today he only brought the single A-rank personal bodyguard at his side. Handling a support type like Chihiro was easy, but going head-to-head with two genuine A+ Assassin Department killers who had crawled out of piles of corpses?

That was pure fantasy. If they forced a fight today, those two crazy women would tear them into scraps on the spot—they wouldn’t even make it out the door.

But if he just handed the kid over and walked away with his tail between his legs… the consequences of failing the mission… the moment Jackson thought of Sun Group’s brutal punishment system, a layer of cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

Just as the standoff locked solid and the mana fluctuations in the air began to spike, a high-level mage bloodbath about to explode—

Slow, unhurried footsteps of leather shoes echoed from the corridor outside.

A man in a gray trench coat and frameless glasses parted the crowd and walked over. His frame was tall, but compared to Jackson’s oppressive bulk he still looked a touch scholarly.

The second he appeared, the two Assassin Department mages who had been ready to kill actually shifted aside a fraction and opened a path for him.

“Well, if it isn’t the famous Jackson of Sun Group?” The gray-coated man adjusted his glasses; a sharp light flashed behind the lenses. He glanced at Tony still clamped in the leather woman’s grip, then at Jackson’s iron-blue face, and curved his lips into a completely cold fake smile. “Why the huge temper? Over a brand-new kid like this? Hurting the harmony between Sun Group and our Magic Management Department wouldn’t be smart. How about… we move this to my Magic Academy office and sit down for a proper talk?”

Jackson stared at the gray-coated man, teeth grinding hard enough to creak.

He knew it—today this kid was not leaving with him. Now that the Magic Academy’s upper ranks had personally stepped in, pushing any harder would turn into an all-out war between the two giants that could never be smoothed over.

“Hmph!”

Jackson forced a cold snort through his nose, face so dark it looked ready to drip water. He didn’t glance at Tony again. He simply strode past the two Assassin Department mages and headed straight for the office at the far end of the corridor.

The instant Jackson turned, Chihiro and the two Assassin mages moved with perfect coordination.

In the split second the leather woman was distracted by Jackson’s departure, the red-haired mage exploded forward like a leopard. One hand chopped down in a razor-sharp knife-hand strike, landing with surgical precision on the leather woman’s wrist joint.

Crack!

A sickening sound of bone dislocation. The leather woman grunted; the hand gripping Tony sprang open on pure reflex.

Chihiro’s eyes and hands were faster. She yanked Tony straight back to her side and locked him firmly behind her.

The leather woman clutched her dislocated wrist, shot the three of them a venomous glare, knew the situation was lost, and could only grit her teeth and hurry after Jackson.

The whole heart-stopping snatch attempt was crushed in the space of a few lightning-fast breaths.

“Hah…” Chihiro let out a long breath. She turned, looked at the still-shaken Tony, and gently patted his shoulder. “It’s over, Tony. The rest of the negotiation is for the higher-ups. You’re safe now. You can go straight home. Be careful on the way.”

Tony nodded and gave them a grateful look. “Thank you.”

He walked out of the testing room, hurried down the long corridor, and stepped back into the wide testing lobby.

He scanned the crowd, searching for that familiar figure. But Mom Emma, who should have been sitting in the waiting chairs for him, was nowhere in sight.

“Weird… where did Mom go?”

While he was still puzzled, the holographic phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

He pulled it out. A message from Mom had popped up, complete with a hands-together, teary-eyed apology sticker at the front.

【Son, I’m so sorry~ Something extremely urgent suddenly came up at work and Mom has to rush back right now to handle it. If you’re done with the test and want to go play, go ahead and play. If you’re tired, just head home first. Once Mom finishes this rush, tonight I’ll definitely make it up to you properly—treat you to a super big dinner! Love you~ ❤】

Right after the message came a massive ten-thousand-yuan transfer red packet.

“Sigh…”

Tony stared at the transfer amount on the screen, sighed helplessly, and tapped 【Accept】.

Mom worked in a government logistics department. She usually looked pretty free, but getting called back for emergencies every now and then was normal.

Still, watching the sudden extra ten thousand land in his account instantly brightened the mood that the earlier conflict had left a little heavy.

He skillfully swiped open the phone screen and opened a specialized app.

In the search bar he typed 【Magician Married Women Group】. The screen instantly flooded with dazzling posters and event announcements.

Tony’s eyes locked onto one titled 【Magician Married Women Group — Private “Handshake Event”】. On the poster the Fire Goddess still wore that maximally exposed red flowing immortal skirt; those long legs wrapped in red gauze looked ready to kick straight out of the screen, pure lethal temptation.

He tapped the 【Purchase】 button without a second of hesitation.

【Payment successful. Amount deducted: 6666 yuan.】

Staring at the electronic ticket QR code that popped up, Tony was so excited he nearly jumped on the spot.

Ever since the special group called mages had appeared, the government needed a way to cover their astronomical uniform R&D, equipment manufacturing, and high salary costs. They came up with a brilliant money-making plan.

They borrowed the successful early model of Japanese and Korean idol industries and packaged those drop-dead gorgeous, body-scorching mages into untouchable idol groups or nationwide personal stars.

The move was an unprecedented, absolute success.

Soon, under official permission and guidance, countless sharp-nosed private media companies and record giants poured in. They waved huge stacks of cash, signed the mages who performed best on the battlefield, custom-built packaging routes for each one, and pushed commercial promotion into pure madness.

Even though the Global Government slapped a terrifying thirty-percent heavy tax on every commercial activity of this special group, it still couldn’t stop the industry from becoming the most profitable, most insane cash machine on the entire planet.

And the Magician Married Women Group was hands-down one of the greatest commercial miracles in Seoul—hell, in the entire Korean Alliance.

This idol super-group that exploded onto the scene two years ago was made up of five mages who each controlled one of the five elemental forces: Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth.

Completely different from the usual “youth,” “pretty,” “energetic” girl-group formula, every single one of these five members was a fully ripe “married woman” radiating pure mature aura.

No teenage greenness or restraint. Instead they had those overripe, juice-dripping peach bodies that could stop hearts; that maternal presence that turned a man’s bones soft with every small movement; and, most of all, that bold, borderline-dirty seduction they unleashed at offline events that drove countless fans completely insane.

Riding that dimensional-gap sex appeal they rocketed straight into Seoul’s top-three idol teams. And Tony’s day-and-night fantasy, the Fire Goddess, was the absolute core who controlled the Fire element.

“Hehe… finally get to see the Fire Goddess with my own eyes…”

Tony happily shoved the phone back into his pocket, hands buried in his shorts pockets, and walked toward the lobby exit with light steps. In his head he was already deciding which familiar seafood restaurant to hit for a big lunch, then waiting for Mom to come home tonight so he could tell her this earth-shaking good news face-to-face.

Just as he was about to reach the passage leading to the subway station—

A clear, cold voice that still carried a faint, hard-to-notice tremor suddenly called from the corridor corner behind him.

“Tony.”

Tony’s feet locked.

He turned around. Amelia—the same girl he had seen in the waiting area—stood only a few steps away, looking quietly pretty.

For some reason that face which had always been frozen ice, keeping everyone a thousand miles away, now carried an extremely rare, faint flush of pink. Those eyes that usually stayed calm as an ancient well were locked on him without blinking; the cold mask was gone, replaced by a suppressed, secret joy and hunger.

At the same time Tony’s nose caught that special fragrance again.

Not hospital disinfectant—something like plum blossoms blooming alone in extreme ice and snow. The scent was pure cold, yet it carried a faint, bone-deep teasing that slid straight into a man’s marrow.

Amelia lightly pressed those soft pink lips together, as if fighting some emotion. Her gaze stayed fixed on Tony, voice so soft it seemed afraid of disturbing something. “Your test result… how was it?”

Tony’s heart jumped hard.

He scratched the back of his head, a little lost. Apart from Mom, he had almost never spoken alone with a girl this beautiful. At school his pathetic social experience stopped at borrowing an eraser or copying homework from the deskmate.

“I… uh…” Tony’s mouth went dry, heartbeat racing out of control. “The… the machine said I’m… A-rank constitution.”

The moment the words “A-rank” left his mouth, a bright light exploded in Amelia’s pretty eyes that she couldn’t hide at all.

She didn’t even try to mas