The Genius Evolution Store

Chapter 189: Unexpected Attack from Auric

Obviously, Katarina noticed his glance and said, "In this university, power is everything. This power doesn’t necessarily mean pure strength.

"It’s true that pure strength is one way to defeat your opponent, but there are other strengths as well, such as connection, family background, and other things.

"At the same time, looks might become one’s downfall. People here have a high desire to dominate or conquer others.

"If you are handsome or beautiful, without strength, someone will probably get you or ruin you.

"That maid over there, her name is Silvia. Her family has served another family for the last two decades. That’s why she dresses that way, but her strength can’t be underestimated.

"Even with that strength, she doesn’t have a good family background, which is why she ends up serving someone.

"If you don’t want people to look down on you, you will need all kinds of strength, not only your own personal power but also your other strengths."

Auric understood why she didn’t have much reaction to him. A bronze-grade evolution master might make him very talented, but he didn’t have a good family background.

However, he also noticed that Katarina didn’t seem to have the latest information about him.

Nevertheless, he had arrived here.

Auric nodded in understanding. "I see. That sounds understandable. I guess they’re just wilder here."

"Wilder?" Katarina scoffed. "I guess you can say that."

"It’s much wilder than you can possibly imagine." Arina raised one finger, warning Auric. "If you underestimate them, you might end up falling for their schemes. This is a place where you must devour others if you don’t want to get devoured. In a way, as long as the price is right, you can own that person."

"Understood. I’ll be careful." Auric nodded in understanding.

Eric just rolled his eyes. Devoured before being devoured? Eric already knew Auric’s schemes.

He was still hiding the fact that his strength had far surpassed that of any freshman. In addition, there was still one thing they didn’t know. Auric was also the creator of the gathering techniques.

If he hadn’t known Auric that much, he wouldn’t have known about this fact. However, Auric was still hiding something else.

At the very least, Eric had gotten a glimpse of the power Auric had been hiding during the beast wave. That power, which made it seem as though he could see the future, was terrifying.

He knew Auric wouldn’t be devoured by them. In fact, Auric was the one who was ready to devour these students.

Katarina introduced them to all of their facilities. The most interesting place to Auric was the main building where they attended classes. He wanted to know what kind of lessons they gave here.

However, there were three places he wanted to keep in mind. The first one was the arena. He could watch people fight. Unlike when he was at Grand Magica College, he could definitely copy a few elements from the people here.

After all, their elements should be stronger than the national average.

His targets would mostly be juvenile-form avatars. From all nine elements, he had more than enough elements to reach 100% for fire, light, dark, and unique elements.

Of course, he had evolved lightning and plant elements.

That meant he only needed water, earth, and wind elements to reach 100%. Fortunately, only the earth element would require him to copy two more elements. The rest only needed one.

That was why he should be able to get all the elements he needed to evolve all his elements in the next two weeks.

Hence, the arena would probably be one of the few places he could gather the remaining elements.

The second place would be the Commission Center. This was similar to the Exchange Center at Grand Magica College. They could trade equipment or accept a mission. If Auric wanted to create a store, he would have to go there.

The last place would be the library. Unlike Grand Magica College, the library here seemed to be integrated. He would like to see what kind of books were available here.

From what he heard, the collection of books couldn’t be compared to Grand Magica College.

"That is all for the tour. This is not a normal school, so an introduction won’t be necessary." Katarina took out five student cards. "If you would like to attend a class, you should go to the website and use the student cards to register there. All you have to do is attend. Everything you need, you can find on the website."

Auric asked, "What about becoming an evolution master here? Does that mean anything here?"

Katarina shook her head. "No. It’s true that for freshmen, you aren’t supposed to become an evolution master yet. However, there are a few dozen bronze-grade evolution masters here. The competition is very fierce."

"How about silver-grade evolution masters?" Auric asked casually.

Katarina frowned. She stared at him for a few seconds before answering, "They are uncommon, but not that rare."

Auric nodded in understanding. "But they must be more popular here. After all, the average strength in this place is higher. More people are evolving their avatars into the adult form."

"Yes and no. While it’s true more people are evolving, there won’t be many customers on a daily basis. There is a limit to how many students can evolve at any given time after all. Most of the time, the evolution masters are invited to the club so that the club can advertise them."

"So, it’s basically saying, ’Hey, come to this place. You can evolve free of charge?’ or something along those lines?"

"Indeed. That’s why silver-grade evolution masters are usually in the clubs. They enjoy some benefits, which in turn serve as promotional material."

"You are going to set up your store here?" Milinda asked. "I can work as your assistant here."

"I’m still contemplating. I guess setting up the shop in the city is much more profitable, but I might end up opening a shop here as well during the weekdays." Auric nodded.

"Did you not hear me? There are many bronze-grade evolution masters here." Katarina frowned.

"I’m just selling something different. I don’t plan to sell my evolution service. Instead, I will be handling injuries or other problems." Auric shrugged.

"Injuries or other problems?" Katarina squinted her eyes.

"Indeed. For example, you."

"Me? I don’t have any problem...?"

"Really? I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but your movement has become a little stiff recently.

"I don’t..." Katarina suddenly fell silent. It might not be that noticeable, but she couldn’t help but realize that her movement had become stiffer over the past two months.

"It looks like you’ve noticed it." Auric shrugged. "Well, that’s the kind of service I’m going to offer."

Auric could see the energy in Katarina’s body. It looked like her energy was moving slower than normal.

Upon a brief inspection, Auric noticed some obstructions scattered all over her body.

And these obstructions looked quite similar to those caused by a barrier.

It didn’t take too long for him to realize the reason behind the obstruction.

"Let’s see... From the looks of it, you must have gone to the ruins recently. Maybe staying for too long?"

Auric knew that staying too long inside the ruins would cause the dense energy within the ruins to seep into their bodies. However, unlike the barrier, where it would flood the bodies from one direction, the ruins would enter from all over their bodies.

The amount of energy inside was not high enough for normal people to notice. Evolution masters might notice this, but the problem could be washed away by evolution, so it wasn’t exactly a problem.

However, Auric could remove all the obstructions right away, allowing her to regain full access to her original power.

"Do you mean you can sense my problem and know how to treat it?" Katarina asked. Her poker face began to break.

Ellia and Milinda just looked at each other. They knew it had started again.

Auric was trying to extend his reach, starting from the vice president of the student council.

Then again, Auric was the only one who could do something like this.

Ellia wondered what would happen if Auric’s Moon Store became popular as well. If they knew what Auric was truly capable of, they would definitely go crazy.

Auric shrugged. "Believe it or not. It’s up to you."

"What is the price to get treated?" Katarina asked. She had met a lot of people, including the students who had become silver-grade evolution masters. However, none of them said anything about her condition.

This meant Auric was skilled enough to spot what others couldn’t even find.

"I don’t know. I haven’t even opened my store yet." Auric shook his head. "Besides, you can ask other evolution masters to check your condition. Once you receive a full inspection, they will probably find out the problem as well."

"That’s..." Katarina opened her mouth, but the words stuck in her throat. She had been saying that he wasn’t as important as he thought. This might be a little payback for that.

"So, when are you going to open the store?" Milinda asked.

"I don’t know... next week, probably? I will need to adjust myself here before opening my store. Besides, it will last until I return to Grand Magica College. I’m not exactly in a hurry."

"Fair point. You used to treat eighty people a day on average, so a store at this university might not really be that enticing for you." Milinda chuckled. "I guess we will open the store in the city during the weekends?"

"Most likely." Auric nodded.

Ellia frowned. This didn’t sound like Auric’s way of solving a matter. Normally, Auric would simply offer his help in exchange for the points needed to open the store.

Katarina would surely accept the offer right away. It looked like Auric was trying to do something else.

’Equivalent exchange...’ Ellia frowned before realizing what Auric was trying to do. ’Is he going to elevate the value of his skills further?’

Ellia knew what would happen at that time. She secretly smiled. ’This is going to be quite interesting.’

"I guess this is all." Auric looked around. He could see some judging eyes, but he wasn’t too bothered by them.

"Yes. It’s over now." Katarina nodded. "Either way, thanks to you, I know that there is a problem with my body. While you are here, you can ask me to stop someone from bothering you."

Katarina turned to Ellia. "Since you are now back in the capital, you should watch yourself. There are plenty of people looking for you, both suitors and foes. I think you are already aware of that, but you still need to watch out. You know these people won’t stop until they get what they want."

Ellia’s expression turned solemn. Of course, she knew. She also knew that these people might come after Auric and the others just to get her.

That was why she had been a mess all this time. "Thanks for the warning. I’ll be careful."

"Very well, good day to you all." Katarina immediately walked away after fulfilling her duty.

"So, we’re free now? Do we have anything else to do other than registering for the classes?" Eric asked.

"I will have to visit a shop." Auric smiled wryly. "If not, someone will get angry with me."

"A shop? Your shop? Do you have a store already?" Milinda asked.

"The Relesha family took care of me a lot." Auric smiled. "They’re lending me a building, so I want to take a look at it first. Well, they also told me to get some clothes... I don’t even know why."

Auric looked down. He thought he had already dressed well enough.

"Oh? That’s something I can’t ignore. Did they tell you to go to Van & El?"

"Yes?"

"In that case, let’s go. I will bring you there." Ellia smiled.

"I’m going to check the new store, so I will tag along." Milinda wasn’t losing the initiative.

"Do you want to go somewhere else?" Arina asked Eric. She was slightly worried that Eric would become a target here. As someone with more experience living in this city, she thought she had to help him.