The Genius Evolution Store

”Are you still alive?” Ellia and the others suddenly entered the tent, finding Auric half-dead.

”How do I look to you?” Auric asked. His eyes were having trouble focusing. His energy was completely exhausted. This was probably the first time he had used up more than four of his elements.

He had no other choice but to do it if he wanted to save those students. It was a thankless job, but it was something that he had to do.

”That’s why I have brought this.” Ellia took out a cold sports drink and some chocolate bars.

”Since when did you...” Arina widened her eyes.

Milinda’s eyebrows twitched. She thought they were together most of the time, yet Ellia had actually managed to sneak in a few things.

Ellia shrugged as if it wasn’t something important.

”Thanks.” Auric nodded.

”I guess we’re done here. It’s already dark and people are packing up. I can call another car if you want.”

”No, it’s fine. I can still walk. Better go back together.” Auric stood up and put the chocolate bar in his mouth.

”So, what did you do earlier? What was that necklace? Your unique element? Have you been holding back your power this whole time?” Eric couldn’t contain his curiosity.

”I want to ask all those questions as well.” Auric chuckled.

Ellia paused for a moment before explaining, ”The necklace should be called a magic item. In the human pursuit of knowledge, we have tried to recreate an artifact.

”However, we haven’t been able to recreate any artifacts yet, but we’ve created a magic item. Embedding one’s power into an item.

”The thing you see in the gravity room in our academy? It is created by the same concept. A powerful space element user embeds their power into the room, which can be activated by supplying energy to it.”

After getting the answer, Eric fell silent. Auric, on the other hand, was confused. His mother had given him this necklace. All this time, his mother had been clueless about his father.

Was she truly clueless? Or did she hide something from him? Or was she really clueless, and his father was just planning the whole thing?

Auric couldn’t really think about it. After evolving his element, he checked on his mother. The energy in her body only amounted to that of a rank 3 human.

Both of his parents used to hunt beasts in the past, which was why his father was knowledgeable about materials. So, he could somehow understand if his mother was clueless about his father.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t see his father because he was on a business trip. He couldn’t check the energy in his father’s body, which might dispel his doubt once and for all.

That was why he wanted to ask the same questions. Lindwurm refused to provide any answers, so he had no choice but to ask his mother later.

”Anyway, we should go.” Auric nodded. ”I’m tired.”

”Let’s go.” Ellia waved her hand, gesturing for them to hurry.

”By the way, does the enemy organization really have something to do with this?” Milinda asked.

”That’s what I am going to explain.” Another voice echoed inside the tent.

Auric tilted his head and saw Maya. ”Teacher!”

”I’ve come to check on you. It looks like you’re doing well.”

”I’m dead tired.” Auric sighed.

”Sure? Do you want me to carry you?” Maya shrugged. She had already changed her clothes, so Auric didn’t know what kind of battle she had gone through.

Auric chuckled and shifted the topic back. ”So, the organization made a mess this time? Did they achieve their goals?”

”The enemy might have had three goals this time.” Maya raised three fingers. ”You guys, a large-scale experiment on the poison, and the city. Those are their goals.”

”I understand about us, but they’re truly going crazy with the poison experiment. Won’t this make law enforcement focus more on them?”

”This organization is quite huge and secretive. Apparently, they had a judge on their payroll. When a certain person checked on that judge, they had already killed him to cover their tracks.”

”This situation doesn’t look very good for us.” Ellia looked down, contemplating. ”This organization sounds formidable. They even sent assassins to kill us if the beasts didn’t do the job.”

”They sent assassins?”

”Yeah. Four of them.” Ellia nodded and pointed to Auric. ”You can ask for the details.”

She didn’t say anything about Auric’s necklace, thinking that Auric should make the decision whether he wanted to reveal it or not.

Maya crossed her arms. ”In any case, the original beast wave itself is not a fake. The city found a potential beast wave. It was reported, so the recon team had to check on this beast wave to see what the city was going to do with it.”

”So, only the smaller one was in their plan?” Ellia asked.

”Not exactly. The beast wave of this size and the potential of a rank 6 beast were more than enough to change the status from investigation to action. In other words, if the report indicated the existence of a rank 6 beast, the city would immediately request high-rank experts for the subjugation.”

”!!!” Ellia understood what this meant.

”In that case, why did the city send a recon team? Wasn’t the information enough?” Milinda asked this time.

”Yes. The data should have been enough, but it was made not enough by a certain guy. Right now, he should have been taken care of. Because this information was hidden, the city sent a recon team, which ended up provoking the rank 6 beast, which ultimately resulted in the beast wave.”

”Now I understand why Ellia said this organization is formidable.”

”They knew that the beast wave would form, the recon team would sacrifice themselves to divert the beast wave, and the fact that this beast wave wouldn’t be led away easily. As a result, they expected a smaller portion of the beasts to split from the main group.”

Eric nodded in understanding. ”And this smaller portion created a smaller beast wave. They led it here. They must have expected the students would be dispatched here, which would be perfect for the experiment.”

”Indeed.” Maya simply didn’t expect that the enemy could make such an elaborate plan in such a short time. ”They seemed to have a backup plan for everything. The assassins were sent to take care of the job of killing you. On the other hand, they sent another team to open the city gates so that the beasts would enter.”

”A rank 6 beast was not enough?” Eric gasped.

”My point exactly.” Maya nodded in understanding. ”Last but not least, they sent two people to inspect the ruins.”

”Did you fight them, Teacher?” Auric asked.

Maya looked at Auric, pausing for a moment. The others were a bit confused by the sudden silence.

”Teacher?”

Maya suddenly gave a smug smile. ”Who do you think I am? I killed both of them.”

Auric chuckled. ”Of course.”

”Anyway, that’s the gist of the situation.” Maya snapped her fingers. ”Anyway, we’re done here. Let’s go back. The truck is going to leave soon.”

”Yes.” Auric nodded in agreement.

When Auric returned to the city, he could see the true terror of a beast wave. He had seen a smaller case in the student camp, but after reaching the city, he knew it was just a smaller portion.

Many bodies had been laid down at the bottom of the wall. All of them were heroes who had fallen in battle.

There were more than a hundred of them, including the students. Their families could only weep.

Many people were injured. Some might have to retire early because they had lost a limb. On the one hand, they were happy that their loved ones had survived. On the other hand, they wouldn’t know how their lives would be after this incident.

”There will be a parade to honor the fallen heroes tomorrow, but for now, go home and get some rest. Since the transportation system is still being restored, I can drive you all home.” Maya took out her car key, leading them to her car.

One by one, she dropped them off, with Auric being the last person.

”Your mother should have gone home already. She must be waiting for you, worried.” Maya smiled. ”Thank you for your hard work. In three days, we will be visiting the laboratory with Arnie.

”Yes, you too, Teacher. Be careful on the way.” Auric smiled.

Maya looked at Auric’s back for a while before letting out a sigh.

Auric didn’t know what she was thinking, as he didn’t see her anymore. Once he entered the house, his mother was already waiting by the door.

”Welcome back.” She immediately hugged him.

Auric wanted to ask about the necklace, but he chose to wait and just hugged her back. ”I’m back.”

”Have you eaten yet?”

”I haven’t.”

”In that case, take off your clothes. The bath should be ready by now. After that, let’s eat.”

”Yes.” Auric smiled. He just followed what she wanted and relaxed in the bath.

While soaking in the tub, Auric asked, ”Lindwurm, you really don’t want to tell me anything about the necklace?”

Lindwurm shook his head. ”You already know about the necklace. The explanation is just as Ellia said. It’s a magic item.”

”Why can’t I even see the energy inside it? Or am I the one supplying the energy?” Auric asked, furrowing his brow.

”I had to draw on your energy to activate God Mode.”

”Right? And I couldn’t see through that ability. What’s the element behind it? You must have camouflaged it again.”

”As I said back then, letting you learn this element is not an option right now.”

”Right? You said I was a mistake, and this element had something to do with my body not awakening any elements...”

”That’s all I can say for now.”

”...” Auric frowned. On the one hand, it sounded like a mistake. On the other hand, this body was much more talented than any other body in the world. They might have an affinity, but he could learn elements as much as he liked.

However, he noticed something. The reason he could do this was Lindwurm. Lindwurm was the one allowing him to create a gathering technique.

Normally, someone like him shouldn’t be able to make such a technique. In a way, he shouldn’t be able to create a gathering technique yet.

However, his father might not have expected that his eyes were special. He could see the particles within the energy, which just made his talent go beyond anyone could imagine.

It was only because his eyes were special that Auric didn’t feel this was a mistake.

He was confident in his comprehension. Lindwurm, his eyes, and his comprehension were the keys to this success. If he lacked even one of them, Auric wouldn’t be able to develop this quickly.

In fact, he might still be asking Lindwurm to create a gathering technique for him. Instead, Auric had even created artificial heart methods himself.

So, his father calling him a mistake might be correct in his eyes. He might intend to leave Lindwurm so that Lindwurm could teach him how to create a gathering technique in one or two years. This way, even if Lindwurm somehow disappeared in the future, Auric could be self-sufficient.

”Still, why don’t you absorb all the materials from earlier? We killed so many beasts earlier.” Auric asked another question.

”I already told you from the beginning. Eating damaged material would mess with my system. After all, I’m not your avatar.”

”Yeah, yeah. I know, I have no avatar.”

”That’s not what I mean.”

”I know.” Auric fell silent. This might change in the future. They might have access to perfect materials because it was much easier to hunt down lower-rank beasts. Once they reached a certain level, perfect materials would be scarce. At that time, he might not be able to feed Lindwurm anymore.

In a way, he had predicted that he and Lindwurm might have to part ways one day.

Auric closed his eyes while muttering, ”Night and day I wonder when all of you are going to be honest with me. I definitely won’t take ’curiosity kill the cat’ or ’possessing this knowledge will mean nothing but a distraction’ as an excuse. If that’s the case, all of you just have so little trust in me.”