The Genius Evolution Store

”I don’t know anything. The moment I know we’re getting into something dangerous, I just close my ears and refuse to listen further. You know? The less you know, the safer you are.” Auric shrugged.

The middle-aged detective looked Auric in the eye before saying, ”All right. You can go.”

Auric smiled and walked out of the ’interview’ room, finding that everyone was already waiting outside.

”You done?” Ellia asked.

”Yep.” Auric stretched his arms. ”This is going to be messy, though.”

”Yeah, I’m sure.” Ellia glanced to the side. ”A set of unfortunate circumstances.”

”Indeed.” Auric nodded. ”So, what are we going to do now?”

”We’ll try to handle this matter. If we’re fortunate, we can keep them busy to the point that they can no longer chase us.” Ellia crossed her arms. ”I have made a call, but we’ll see.”

Maxwell stood up and came to Auric before extending his hand. ”Hey. Thank you again for treating me.”

Auric smiled.

...

A few hours earlier.

Auric checked his leg, thinking, ’I wonder if I can use a new method to break this down.’

”A new method?” Lindwurm looked concerned. ”What kind of new method? If it’s something I don’t approve of, you shouldn’t try it. After all, you’re playing with your patient’s life at that point.”

’I know. That’s why I have an explanation for you. I’m thinking about using the chaos element to break this poison down. I know I haven’t learned any chaos element’s battle techniques, but I’m just taking advantage of the properties of the chaos element.’

”It might work, but if something unintended happens, you are to cease your treatment and go back to the usual treatment immediately. Besides, this guy will see your gray energy. What will you do then?”

’Don’t worry. We’re just going to do this the usual way,’ Auric said with a smile to Maxwell. ”Fortunately, it looks like your condition is much better. The poison hasn’t been there for a long time, so we can treat it quickly. First, lie down on the floor. I hope that the concrete floor is not too hard for you.”

”It’s fine.” Maxwell shrugged as Auric was pulling his legs, trying to make him stretch them out.

Auric continued, ”Now, I need you to close your eyes and focus. Follow my instructions. I’m going to break it down, and on my signal, you pour your energy into your foot and expel it out of your body. Do you understand?”

”Yeah.” Maxwell closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

Now that he had closed his eyes, there was no way Maxwell could see the color of his energy. He wasn’t an evolution master, so he didn’t recognize the different sensations of energy either.

Besides, Auric intended to use the plant element and the water element instead of the plant element and the wind element, like he said to Maxwell.

Still, he first channeled his energy into the foot. It was plant energy, but this energy was just a way to distract Maxwell.

After all, he poured in another type of energy, but this time it was the chaos energy. He released only a small portion of the energy.

Auric was watching how the chaos energy made contact with the energy inside the poison.

As Auric expected, the chaos energy caused the particles in the poison to go berserk.

”Mhmmm?!” Maxwell let out a groan, feeling a surge of discomfort.

Auric moved the energy to the center of the poison, which surprisingly caused the energy within the poison to be released in all directions.

Auric narrowed his eyes, saying inwardly, ’I see. This is the chaos element. It’s so fascinating. The chaos energy is like the bane of all energy. It’s trying to make them disorganize and expel them.’

He actually created a thin layer of screen with the chaos energy and started sweeping everything from the top part of his shin all the way to the sole of his foot.

This screen completely swept all the energy, including Maxwell’s light energy.

He might be able to use this element’s properties to do a lot of things.

’As expected from a unique element...’ Auric smiled.

Maxwell’s complexion improved drastically. ”Hello... When should I start channeling my energy? I feel better already.”

”Ah. You are in luck. I’ve already taken care of everything myself. Back then, I used an eruption of energy from Axel’s evolution to wash it away, so I thought I would need your help to push the bad energy, but...”

”You didn’t need to use my energy.” Maxwell lifted his body up. ”Thank you.”

”You’re welcome. However, I just need to make sure that you’re not injured, so if you don’t mind, can you use a battle technique? If possible, use a battle technique with power equal to a baby-form avatar.”

”You mean a rank 1 battle technique?”

”Rank 1?”

”Do you not pay attention in class? To simplify everything, we just use rank. If the beast is equal to someone with a juvenile-form avatar, we call that beast a rank 2 beast. That also means the person themselves has a rank 2 avatar. So, this battle technique is called a rank 2 battle technique.”

”I only entered the introduction class for the element in the first month. By the time I returned to class, the topic was already quite advanced.” Auric shrugged.

”You’re rather good in one area and particularly bad in another area. No offense, though.” Maxwell chuckled. ”So, I just have to use my rank 1 battle technique?”

”Yes. Rank 2 as well if you don’t mind.”

”Why do you want me to use battle techniques? I have never done anything like this after being treated by evolution masters a couple of times.” Maxwell asked while channeling his energy into his fingertip, shooting a laser.

”The circulation of energy within the battle technique is much more profound and easier to feel. It’s also circulating around your body, even if it’s focusing on just one part of your body. By using a battle technique, it allows me to figure out the condition of your body.” Auric smiled.

He wasn’t exactly wrong, but with his eyes, he could figure out Maxwell’s condition with one glance. Auric wanted him to use the battle technique so that he could copy the element.

”So, what can you find from this?”

Auric smiled and grabbed his right hand. ”I know that you’ve been using your right arm to form your bullet. Looking at your left hand, it’s clear that you must have used your left hand as well. But judging by your condition, either you used your left hand only recently or you are currently resting your left hand and concentrating your bullet creation to your right arm.”

”Wow. You know all that just from my battle technique?” Maxwell gasped.

”Am I right?”

”Yes. It’s quite painful to use my right hand to form bullets, so I’m currently using my left hand. Because of this, I modified the chamber so that I could open it from both sides.” Maxwell nodded. ”Do you have a solution for that?”

”I’m sure you know about it already. Just stop using that technique, and the energy will gradually be expelled from your body. What you’re doing is correct, but if you have a resting period, both of them will gradually recover. The only other option is to modify the battle technique, but that won’t give you the power you want from your bullet.”

”That’s a shame.” Maxwell let out a long sigh. ”So, do you want me to use my rank 2 battle technique?”

”Sure. I just want to make sure.”

Maxwell then released his energy as Auric looked up and down. ”It looks like I’ve gotten rid of everything. There is no lingering energy stuck in your body.”

”Great. Thank you, Auric. Your skill as an evolution master is more marvelous than any other evolution master I’ve seen.”

”Thank you for the praise, but I’m sure there are a lot of evolution masters more amazing than me.” Auric smiled. ”Anyway, we’re done with the treatment here, so I guess we should regroup with everyone.”

...

Maxwell shook Auric’s hand firmly. ”Thanks. I owe you one. If you need some help, just call me. This is my number.”

”I hope I never take you up on that. You never know.” Auric smiled.

Maxwell then walked back to his group. This time, Vera came to him.

”Can we talk... privately?” Vera glanced at Ellia, signaling that she didn’t want their conversation to be heard by her.

”Sure.” Auric extended his hand, gesturing that he would follow her.

Once they were far enough, Vera said, ”Thank you. I’ve heard about the situation from Maxwell. Thanks to you, we don’t have to worry about his injury anymore.

”According to the police, this poison is particularly vicious. It focuses on one specific element and renders it useless. Even if they possess an element that is not the target, it will bring them a lot of pain.

”However, the biggest problem will be how difficult it is to remove it. I have agreed with your captain that no one is going to say anything about you healing Maxwell. I believe that this is the solution to avoid you being targeted.

”After all, if the person behind this poison knows that you are able to take care of this poison, you will become the first target.

”The evidence for the dagger has also been taken care of, so you don’t have to worry about that. Still, the situation doesn’t look good. Too many traces to be erased, so we’re doing this in a normal way. The police will take care of it, but we’ve reached an agreement.

”My family will also be pushing it. Once the authorities are pushed by some high-ranking people, the pressure on law enforcement will increase. As a result, they will bring in ’big guns’ to take care of this matter. Hopefully, this will be enough to make them focus on the police rather than us.

”If you still don’t feel protected, you can go to Kallarnos University. With your skill, I don’t think anyone will have any qualms about you entering Kallarnos University.”

”I see. It’s good that the matter has been taken care of. While I’m flattered that you think so highly of me, I’m just a unique-element user. There’s no need for me to join Kallarnos University.” Auric shook his head.

”Still, you’ve helped this mission greatly. If something had happened to any of us, the mission would have been considered a failure. Do you want anything else as an extra reward?”

”I don’t need anything. I’m merely fulfilling my role.” Auric shook his head.

”I see...” Vera sighed.

Seeing this reaction, Auric got an idea and immediately suggested, ”How about showing your rank 1 battle technique?”

”Rank 1 battle technique?”

”Yes. I’ve said the same thing to Maxwell. A battle technique can do a lot of things, and I also have my own fascination with battle techniques. That will be enough as compensation.”

”You sure you only want that? You can get more than that.” Vera looked at him with a strange gaze.

”I just think this is more valuable to me.” Auric shrugged.

Vera thought Auric was just saying this to get rid of her guilt. ”Well...”

In the end, she raised her palm and formed a small wind pillar. ”This is the same technique I used to create my wind blade. By concentrating multiple winds into one and creating a single structure, it can split again and again.”

”Wow, that’s cool.” Auric nodded. With this, he managed to gain everyone’s elements.

”Is that all?”

”Yes?”

Vera smiled wryly. ”Why not leave Ellia and just go to Kallarnos University?”

”I have replied to the second part, but what do you mean by the first part?”

”You two are not a couple?”

”No.”

”That is great then. People like us often become tools for our own families. Our parents or grandparents are usually the ones who choose our spouse, and we have no way out of it. It’s good that you two are not a couple because her family might be coming for you.”

Auric shrugged. He didn’t care about any family. He still had his ultimate trump card, which was the identity of a unique-element evolution master.

He just made friends with everyone he wanted, and if anyone was going to mess with him, he would deal with them accordingly. That was his principle.

”You win some, you lose some. But I prefer to overturn the board and win everything. Either way, no, we’re just friends.” Auric shrugged.

”Okay then.” Vera nodded before whispering, ”You should have told me that you’re a couple and I will enjoy myself by stealing you away from her.”

”...”