Ever since middle school, that genius of hers has quickly outshone everyone; the teachers failed to impart anything meaningful to her, and those kids who tried and failed to keep up lost the right to deem themselves her equal. Praise was easily given, rewards collected, respect given as freely as water flows. Then she met her, this thing called Mara, an anomaly in the script, an obstacle she couldn't predict or overcome.
"Look at her, dear, she's channeling mana now!" My obnoxious mother squealed, like I didn't know this, now I was working on smoothing out the flow.
"Your flow is sluggish and sloppy. Fix it." My father folks, a hard ass of few words and even fewer emotions to those that don't or can't earn his recognition.
No matter, this talent of mine will have you on your knees one day, old man, keep judging like you've seen the top. Everyone at the higher levels knows the truth, got sent back to your pond by someone half your age. Now you're pinning your hopes on me, freaking loser.
"A Few Years Later"
Then high school came, and she was still on top, still outclassing her in every way, from pure intellect to physical talent. Hell, she was somehow more attractive than her and claimed she doesn't use makeup. I befriended her, hoping to find the chinks in her armor, an achilles heel, but what I found was that this monster wasn't just perfect; she came from a legacy that dwarfed most nobles.
"Congratulations, Miss Suzuya. Another perfect potion, such impressive talent for one so young." The teachers praised her as if she did something impressive, but I knew what she was really hiding from everyone. After all, these were apprentice-level potions; she was already capable of brewing at the Archmage level.
"Miss Suzuya, full marks for the Grade Two Protection enchantment." Little by little, she was proving to be a problem. How do you advance so quickly, and why is it so accurate for her age? We are just kids, and yet she's casually outclassing adults.
"Six Years Later"
The closer I was to her, the more infuriated I was; all of this was supposed to be mine, and all I could think about for years. The talent, the respect, the resources, all of it, and she squandered it by helping the weak and the poor, as if it would make a difference in their lives. The mere thought of it sickened me to my core, that with all that power and ability, she would rather roll in the mud with the less fortunate.
"Here ya go, Tim. Just had a few broken runes and some bad channels." She said with a big dopey grin on her face, I don't understand why she even bothered to help him. The man is homeless and can't pay.
"Thank you, Mara, you're a blessing." Jim, or whatever his name was, offered his empty platitudes, and Mara acted like this made her day. " By the way, the boys tracked down those herbs you were hunting for." The old man continued, judging by her expression, she was depending on these herbs. "I'll check it out later, Tim, see ya around."
"And now she's dragging me off to god knows where, one can only hope she gets tired soon." I thought as she barreled through the crowd
No matter. College is almost over, and she and that weirdo seem to be getting along well. I'll strike when they least expect it, take it all, and show her why the powerless have no rights. Or so I thought. Here I am months later, holding my godson while they dropped out of college as disgraces. I got back some of the things I wanted most in the world, but I didn't earn any of it; that bitch gave up and decided to live a quiet life.
"Eva, come look at little Kenneth, he's taking his first steps!" Mara screamed in my ear, excitedly, while her brat kept trying to stand up and walk around. Wait a minute, he's only four months old, how the fuck is he able to attempt this already? "Deprehendre." What the fuck, he barely has any mana? So how is he doing this?
"Is something wrong with him, Eva?" She asks me worriedly, looks like I failed to keep a straight face, let's not set her off. " Yeah, but it's a small issue, your kid has such thin mana that I doubt he's going to be a mage when he's older." The news left them both devastated. I was furious. Did you not see your four-month-old start walking, or did you want the whole damn lottery?
No matter, she was researching something that would help purify mana and increase the growth rate for mages thousands of times over. She's still looking into it, and once it's complete, I'll make my move and take everything. But the problems never end, my moron of a husband, who couldn't help but experiment on the kid, damaged his mana core. Now he barely has enough mana to survive, and the doctor estimates he has eight years before his core fails and he dies. Poor Mara was devastated, and I was furious that the dumbass ruined my plans. After punishing him, I had no choice but to wait till the kid recovered.
"Great, she's on high alert, has increased security, and has locked out anyone not in her immediate circle!" I couldn't help but think, years of planning are almost gone, all because he got too fucking curious. I hope spending some time with those mercenaries teaches him a lesson.
"She won't be letting her guard down for a while, so I'll have to work on my relationship with her. Maybe a tattoo with a tracking seal?" I quickly thought about reworking my plans so that when the day came, she would finally be gone.
[TWO YEARS LATER]
Either out of spite or luck, the kid survived, made it to two years old, but since I don't believe in luck, I paid someone to check the kid out. And what I learned shocked me, the kid was passively refining mana. This was a skill most struggled with today, hell, to go to the end, you needed to have mastered. And here was her brat doing so passively and unconsciously, which means she must have finished her research, which explains why she's been so withdrawn.
"You've been avoiding me, Mara," I state the fact so she doesn't try to retreat, but I'll have to be careful at the moment, pushing her could be dangerous. "Eva, you know why I stepped back from everything. Someone tried to kill my son." She countered. Honestly, I understand, yeah, no, not really, but I needed her out of her cave for my plan to work. " Then move in with me, it's not like anyone is suicidal enough to attack my home." After all, she helped with some of the security measures.
"You have a point, but I need some time to think about it." She sighed and looked at the brat who was trying his best to run. "It's not just me I have to take care of anymore." I looked at her when she finished and made up my mind then and there. "Fine, but my door is always open for you." I said with all the false sincerity I could muster.
"I know Eva, I know." Sadly, that was the only response I got. Better leave for now and try again later, after all, I'm still a good ten steps ahead of her.
Good thing I wasn't just wasting time, already prepped a plan, and now I have the perfect moment since her husband isn't here anymore. Poor bastard became another sacrifice to the end, and without him, this will be much easier with no one to heal her. Now I need a place to ambush her, one with casualties so she can't just run recklessly if I miss the first shot. Now that I think about it, there was always that city she went to for herbs and rare materials, a place filled with nothing but trash weaklings who couldn't help her fight back, perfect.
[SIX MONTHS LATER]
Not perfect, so not perfect, a major trading hub destroyed with thousands in casualties, and the only good news is that there was no one left alive to identify me. Bad news, even after we tore her body and memories apart, there was nothing for us other than re-engineering some of her physical techniques she used to enhance said body. Everything else she had was gone in the wind, and we had no clue where to look. Bright side, at least my husband had a new test subject to experiment with when it came time to enhance our kids later. As for the brat, he didn't cry or react much to his surroundings; it felt like he was a statue just lying there in his crib observing us.
"From energetic to subdued, your mother's research and treasure gone in the wind, and all we have to show for it is a brat with a strange seal on his neck." Continuing to observe the child as if he held immense secrets. Sadly, from all the spelling and artificer tools we found, nothing was impressive; if anything, it was all disappointing
Well, no use dwelling on it, covered up the incident and claimed a meteor shower, now I have a call to make. " Alphonse. It's me. Get ready to move the test subjects, the SAINT squad is moving again, they're digging into that mess we made in Africa."