The Genius Evolution Store

”Dear me! I know some instructors are going to find me, but to think that among the students, there is actually one who could find me.” The old woman smiled.

Katarina narrowed her eyes. ”So, that’s the woman who is the head organizer of this event.”

”Do you know her?” Auric asked in a low voice.

”I will tell you later.” Katarina nodded, gesturing for Auric to wait until later.

The old woman continued, ”Don’t you worry, everyone. I have come here in peace. I am not going to provoke you by making an hour-long speech.

”I don’t know if you already know me or not, but allow me to introduce myself. I am Vanessa Seleretta. I have the honor of becoming the head organizer of this Europe Training Program.

”I want to welcome all of you to Dermania. I hope you will have a pleasant time in this place. For the instructors, please work everything out as adults. We are here in the name of the people and peace.

”Students... I hope you understand the lesson and complete your training. Although I hate to admit it, competition is what drives us forward.

”Do you know one of the biggest leaps in technology occurred during the fiercest competition between the former United States and the former Soviet Union? We know it as the Cold War.

”To be better than the others, you work as hard as you can. However, you need to work smart as well. Understand your goal and make progress with a thorough plan.

”Make sure you have healthy competition. There are 125 instructors, 160 support staff, and 500 students. I hope I will be able to see the same number during the closing ceremony.

”All right. This old woman has taken three minutes of your time, so I will end it here.

”You must have known your schedules from your respective instructors. Please do your best during your training and tell the world that humanity will be fine with all of you around.

”May good fortune bless you with its presence. Thank you.” The old woman nodded, smiled, and walked off the stage.

People gave her a round of applause, as some students whispered to each other.

”One student actually noticed her?”

”Who?!”

”I don’t know.”

Katarina already knew who had found her, especially with the last action Auric took before the old woman appeared.

Instead, she explained her identity to Auric. ”She was better known as the Ghost. During her service, she could be said to be the greatest woman in espionage and assassination.

”In a way, even your teacher’s grandfather, Sir Mathias, would say that she’s his equal.

”However, no one actually knew her true name. Even the name she used to introduce herself was a fake one. All her profiles I had searched were fake. No wonder it didn’t look suspicious to me previously.

”She had long since laid down her weapon, so a lot of her deeds had been known. Still, there were a lot of things buried in secret.

”Yet, even with what was already known, she was already considered one of the best. You can imagine the rest.”

”It’s alright to put someone like that in charge?” Auric asked, pointing at himself.

”Don’t be paranoid. It’s true that you can be one of the targets, but others can be too. Each country has its representatives, so you won’t be the only one. I doubt she’s going to make a move either.”

”Why?” Auric asked. He thought this would be a great time.

”Politics. Other countries won’t look kindly if their representatives are kidnapped. It might lead to war. Besides, the instructors are here to make sure of that.” Katarina nodded. ”For now, just keep a trump card or two hidden and do your usual stuff.”

”Got it!” Auric added inwardly, ’Lindwurm, she didn’t enter your radar, right?’

Lindwurm shook his head. ”No. I should be able to sense her. It’s true that she’s good, but I am better at this.”

’I see. Keep vigilant then.’

”I know.”

”Okay, thank you.” Auric nodded and handed her his plate.

”Ehm?” Katarina was confused as to why Auric suddenly gave her his plate, thinking it was an empty plate. When she looked down, she found out that it was actually a second plate filled with a brownie.

She had actually filled her previous plate with a brownie, and she was thinking about getting another plate after the speech was over. That was why she ate all of them before the speech ended so that no one would know how much she had eaten in the darkness.

However, Katarina was surprised when Auric smoothly disappeared into the darkness and returned with another plate filled with what she wanted to eat.

Katarina grabbed the new plate, while Auric took her empty plate and put it on the passing staff’s tray.

She had a small smile on her face and looked away as she continued to enjoy the brownie.

Auric whispered to Ellia. ”Sorry, I couldn’t find any tea.”

”I don’t always drink tea.” Ellia shook her head helplessly. ”I appreciate the thought.”

”Do we have any other schedules after this?” Auric asked.

”There should be none. This banquet is just for meeting each other. I don’t think there will be another announcement after this. You can go around if you want.” Ellia nodded. ”Do you want me to accompany you? I don’t have anything to do.”

”No, it’s fine.” Auric smiled. He looked around, wondering if he could find anyone to talk to.

However, his eyes suddenly stopped on one spot.

Ellia and Katarina froze. They were used to Auric’s weirdness. Whenever Auric stared at something for a few seconds, something was about to begin.

”Auric?” Katarina waved down her hands, trying to stop him. He wasn’t looking at the stage, so it was clearly not just an announcement or someone else coming to give a speech.

”I may really do something stupid this time.” Auric gulped. ”You might want to inform the others, especially my teacher.”

Katarina and Ellia looked at each other. Katarina immediately said, ”You’d better be with him,” while rushing toward Maya and the other instructors.

Ellia nodded, but Auric was already gone.

”...” Ellia sighed and rushed to Auric, changing the way she held her fork.

There were a lot of girls who wanted to get to know him, but Auric just smiled without shifting his gaze.

He continued toward the food table and stopped in front of one section that had just been refilled.

”Hello, are you done refilling the food?” Auric asked with a smile.

The staff was startled. ”Yes. Please enjoy the food.”

Ellia was confused. Why would Auric suddenly come to this place? He even talked to the staff.

”I see.” Unexpectedly, Auric stopped for a second before he closed the lid and grabbed the guy’s arm to pull him down on the ground.

*Thud!*

Since there were a lot of girls who wanted to talk to Auric, they were the first ones to witness what was going on.

Auric skillfully pulled him down, sat on him to pin him down, and pointed his fork at the guy’s eye.

”!!!” Ellia widened her eyes, not understanding why Auric pinned him down like this.

”Kyaaa!”

”What?!”

”What is going on?”

The girls were confused. Their reactions caused everyone in the room to stop for a moment to see what was going on, only to find Auric assaulting a member of the staff team.

”!!!” A lot of instructors rushed toward Auric.

”What is going on?!” Of course, the first one to shout was the head instructor of Dermania. He was a middle-aged man with a long beard. He glared at Auric with hostility, especially with the fact that Auric assaulted a Dermania’s citizen.

Supervisor Jacob and Maya had also arrived with Katarina.

”Jacob Heyes. This is embarrassing. What the hell are you doing?!” The middle-aged man gritted his teeth. ”Assaulting a hotel staff? Are you insane? How have you been teaching the students? Does he not know any basic courtesy?”

Supervisor Jacob raised his hand, gesturing for him to stop. ”I don’t know what’s going on either, but I know for a fact that this kid doesn’t do anything without a reason.”

”What are you saying? Just look at him.” The middle-aged man glared at Auric. ”Release him, or I will make you release him!”

”Okay, I will release him on one condition.” Auric smiled before pointing at the container that he had closed earlier. ”Have one of your students eat this one.”

”!!!” Ellia also saw him closing the lid. She was confused earlier, but she suddenly remembered what Auric was good at.

”You... I’ve had enough of your bullshit!” The middle-aged man clenched his fists.

Maya seemed to have realized what was going on too. She walked toward the container and opened the lid. ”Poison?”

This one word shocked everyone.

Katarina facepalmed while thinking, ’Yeah. I’m definitely going to blame Gloria for jinxing this. The training program hasn’t even begun, yet something like this has already happened.’

The middle-aged man’s expression darkened. ”Poison? All our staff have been checked. This place has been thoroughly cleaned. Are you kidding me?! You’re going to pay for making that accusation!”

”Indeed. In that case, have one of your students eat this food, and if nothing happens, I’m going to pay for that accusation. If not, then I don’t mind having one less Dermanian student to worry about.” Auric shrugged.

”Okay, okay! Let me handle this.” Supervisor Jacob tried to stop him because Auric’s words were just going to make the situation worse.

”Why don’t you have it checked first? He’s not someone who does things without a reason. If there is poison, then it’s a serious problem.” Supervisor Jacob looked at the middle-aged man.

All eyes were on Auric, who had caused this commotion. They never expected Auric to do such a thing. At the same time, they were curious about Auric’s true ability. If he were telling the truth, this meant Auric could actually detect poison much better than any of them, including the instructors.

Maya guarded the evidence carefully, making sure no one tried to destroy it. Dermania, for sure, would want to hide its blunder.

Supervisor Jacob asked, ”By the way, what kind of poison do you suspect, Auric?”

”Two-elemental poison. Basically, an odorless and tasteless poison that can enter your system. It’s potent enough to affect Rank 3 humans, not only to lock them from being able to evolve, but also to use their element entirely.

”Once it enters your system, you will have no choice but to find at least two evolution masters who can perform the elemental fusion to erase the two-elemental poison while stabilizing the person’s element at the same time.

”Well, I can probably just stay around and secretly take care of our own people, while letting the students from other countries suffer, since I have no obligation to save them.

”The problem is, if I do that, the event has to be canceled... and it might create an international conflict. So, yeah.” Auric shrugged.

*Thud!*