The Genius Evolution Store

Chapter 84: The First Night

Auric couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. Just being able to control the sword strike to such a degree was already terrifying, but she even used the Sword Seal to not only cut down the beasts coming to stop her but also to cut down the leader.

In the last exchange, she moved smoothly, cutting down the two paws before slicing through the beast with no resistance.

If Auric had to fight her, he didn’t know how long he would even last. After all, she would probably just cut his ability in one way or another.

Lindwurm couldn’t help but say, "It’s no wonder she is known to be the strongest among her peers. With a combat sense like that, she can definitely defeat her peers. In a way, her combat sense may be at the same level as your sensitivity."

’That high?’ Auric was a bit surprised by Lindwurm’s assessment. Although this chubby dragon often said useless things, his assessment was usually accurate.

"Yes. The only limit she has—no, she had—was her evolution. However, with your existence, it’s already gone. In a way, you’re her only hope to continue advancing. That’s why she’s going all in supporting you."

Once Lindwurm had explained everything, Auric could finally understand the whole situation. At the same time, this was what an evolution master was all about.

"Observe her movement as well as her flow of energy. It may benefit you."

Auric acknowledged the instructions. He could see Ellia covering her blade with her energy, not only to sharpen the sword but also to avoid blood sticking to it.

So, she simply waved her blade while releasing the energy that coated it to brush away the blood.

Arina smiled, knowing Ellia would win easily. She told Auric she was Ellia’s limiter because she knew she would be a burden. In a way, Ellia was considerate enough for her that it would become a limiter for Ellia, preventing her from doing something even crazier that might cost her her life.

"Miss. Thank you for your hard work." Arina waved while walking to her.

Ellia sheathed her sword and looked around. "It seems you guys have finished as well. I guess there are no more beasts around here."

"Yes." Arina pointed forward. "But this place is also blocked by the energy, right? I can’t fully sense it, but I know it’s there."

Auric confirmed, "There is indeed a barrier over there, covering about a third of the parking lot as well as the mall entrance from the parking lot. So, we can’t get in from here."

"Well, that’s because the entrance is on the surface." Arina pointed up.

"In that case, there is nothing to see anymore. Let’s go up. We need to secure the area and set up the camp before dark."

"Should we like burn these guys? It’s the fire element, so it doesn’t produce smoke or burn oxygen," Auric suggested.

Ellia considered it carefully before agreeing. "Maybe we should. If it’s in the wild, the beasts will just eat the corpses, but in an enclosed space like this, it will probably decompose. And we have to enter the building later, so it’s better not to leave anything behind."

That was the same reason Auric suggested it in the first place. Since there were no objections, he just sent forth his fire, burning the corpses to make sure the stench wouldn’t be so bad later.

Once he was done, the group headed up and started circling the area, killing any beasts they could find along the way.

There was another big group of beasts, but with such a wide space, Auric and Arina controlled them pretty accurately, allowing Ellia to wreak havoc.

It took them quite a while to ensure that there wouldn’t be any beasts messing with them, but they managed to do it before dark.

"We will set up the camp here." Ellia pointed down. They were standing in front of the entrance. She took out the tents from the Space Storage.

"Are we not going somewhere else, maybe a little safer?"

"It doesn’t make much of a difference. Since we have cleared this area, there should be nothing to worry about. The blood smell might attract some beasts, but we’ve got rid of those near us. So, they shouldn’t come this way."

"All right then." Auric nodded and turned around. He had been practicing for this, so it was time to do it.

Auric used the Plant General but with his wood element. This way, polished wood came out of the ground. Then, he activated the Earth Wall, but with the same wood element.

Lastly, Auric used the roots to cover the roof, making a small hut.

"What are you doing?" Ellia asked.

"Preparing a place to stay." Auric answered innocently.

"What?" Ellia was dumbfounded. She hurriedly said, "Don’t do that. You will end up using all your energy! You have to maintain that hut with your energy, you know?"

Auric tilted his head in confusion. "Yes?"

"Yes?" Ellia was thoroughly confused. They should conserve their energy whenever possible. So, resting during the night was definitely necessary. They would do whatever they could to recover their energy, not to spend it.

So, Auric’s actions looked like a foolish decision in Ellia’s eyes.

Arina explained, "Auric. You should focus on recovering your energy so that you can go all out tomorrow. Any energy you have left should be saved. If you end up using your energy to maintain this hut, your energy reserve will be empty when it matters most."

Lindwurm couldn’t help but laugh. "Right? I should have remembered common sense. It must be because I was with you the whole time."

Auric couldn’t say anything to Lindwurm, but he was indeed right.

Auric raised three fingers. "I have three reasons. You may think I’m wasting my energy, but my body is a bit special. I do spend my energy right now, but my body is absorbing much more energy than I am currently using.

"The second reason is that I have multiple elements. Even if I can’t use my plant element, I can still use other elements."

The first reason shocked them. They would have a difficult time recovering their energy. Their bodies naturally absorbed the energy in the air, but the rate was low. So, they had to focus on recovering their energy.

Auric, on the other hand, didn’t have an affinity. His heart was a vacuum. Thanks to this vacuum, energy was rushing into his heart, refilling his energy much quicker than any other human.

And as Auric said, he had several elements. He could use the rest of his elements, while the plant element naturally recovered in his body.

Auric didn’t admit one thing, but the plant element was actually the weakest element in his possession.

These two reasons alone were more than enough for Auric to justify his actions. Besides, the hut was only as big as a tent.

There should be no problem maintaining it.

Still, Auric had one more reason. He was giving them the selfish yet reasonable justification. "I want to sleep a bit more comfortably. We are supposed to recover, maintain vigilance, and trust the lookout, right? We are here not to suffer from back pain by sleeping on hard rocks."

Arina’s mouth was wide open. Ellia also opened her mouth, but she didn’t know how to refute him.

If Auric’s claims were true, there was definitely no problem for him in maintaining this hut.

Instead of giving whatever reason just to make her right, Ellia simply tossed the tent back to the Space Storage and took out a fluffy mattress instead.

"Move!" Ellia rushed to the hut and fit in the mattress before taking out two pillows. "Perfect now."

"..." Auric’s eyebrows twitched. "You’re not going to argue with me anymore?"

"Why not? I don’t know your body’s condition, so I just have to trust you. Besides, your second reason is more than enough for me. Just don’t complain about not being able to use your element later, but I don’t think you lied earlier, so why should I argue with you?"

Ellia pointed at the mattress. "Rather than arguing, it’s better to just relax comfortably. It’s something rare to have outside here. So, good work. What is your favorite food?"

"I don’t mind anything. Does that even matter?" Auric pointed at the hut. "This is supposed to be my hut."

"Ours!" Ellia corrected him right away.

"What? I’m going to sleep here. You brought your tents, so..."

"I am going to sleep there as well for your protection!" Ellia rolled her eyes.

"Miss. You’re going to sleep with him?" Arina simply couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

"What? Worried about a scandal? No one is here to see anything. Besides, this guy doesn’t have a girlfriend, not now, not in high school. Why should I worry? Anyway, I should cook."

"..." Auric’s eyebrows twitched.

"A gentleman will offer the hut to the girl and sleep somewhere else." Lindwurm whispered. "However, the line between a pushover and a gentleman is kind of thin these days. So, pick your poison. Just know that if you touch her, she will probably use it as a reason to get you to become her personal evolution master."

Auric sighed inwardly, his eyes shifting to Ellia, who was already taking out the cooking utensils from her Space Storage.

Arina looked at Auric before shaking her head helplessly. She didn’t say anything about Ellia’s decision this time.

Auric, on the other hand, just couldn’t care less anymore. He considered another option, which was to create another hut for himself. But when he thought about it, the amount of energy he used to maintain two huts exceeded the amount he could recover, so he couldn’t afford another one.

And he wasn’t planning to back down from his comfortable sleep.

’Whatever. I will just sleep.’ Auric shrugged.

Lindwurm added, "Also, don’t do this when you are going with anyone else or a large group. These two might be fine and flexible, but if you put up a hut like this when you go with a large group, there will be jealousy. Even if you can ignore their gazes, the group’s coordination might become a mess."

’I understand that. Well, it’s not like I can argue further. There’s no point either. I might as well take a look at the entrance this time.’

"That is true. This place contains all elements, so it might not be so simple." Lindwurm nodded.

"Where are you going?" Ellia asked while chopping some vegetables.

"Checking the entrance. I will be back shortly." Auric waved as he continued to the entrance.

Now that he was right in front of it, he could see the opening. There was indeed a difference of density.

’Lindwurm. What if I put my hand into this wall?’ Auric asked.

"Ellia should have explained it to you already. The sudden increase in density will make your hand think it’s drowning. The energy will stick to your body.

"Normally, the ruins will have one to three elements. Do you remember the test for the support ability in the Training Hall?"

’I do. I need to fix the entangled strands.’

"That’s what will probably happen to you. And the amount of strands you have to fix depends on how many elements are condensed here. Since there are nine elements here, you will have to fix all nine strands. If you pass this dense energy, your body will be ruined. Of course, with your skill, you can probably fix it. Do you want to try it?"

’I kind of want to try it, but it’s better to find another place with only one or two elements. This one is a bit too dangerous to try.’ Auric crossed his arms. ’Still, now that you explain it to me, I can’t help but think of a possibility...’

"What possibility?"

’The artificial heart project we’re currently working on needs a way to get the element, right? What if we create this artificial heart like an artifact? It will be exposed to one’s energy and gradually it will stick. Once the artificial heart is created, your affinity will increase. Could that work?’

Lindwurm was a bit surprised, but when he considered it, it actually sounded plausible. "There are three big problems though. First, you need to understand how the elements are moving, but I don’t think it’s a problem for you since you are adept at creating the gathering technique now."

’Yes. How about the other two?’

"The second problem is the medium. You need a medium to create the artificial heart. This medium shouldn’t be made from things you can gather from this world, but rather from your own energy. This is the only way to make sure the energy for the artificial heart matches your own energy."

’Fair point. However, I can also consider the organs to be the medium as well. After all, we will be creating an artificial artifact inside a body using their own energy. In a way, it sounds like creating the ruins in your heart. But with this, I think we have come closer to our objective.’

"Indeed. Then, you need to solve the third problem. You need living test subjects for this experiment. In the end, this method will be unverified."

’Test subjects. There should be various people who are desperate enough, but I actually have a candidate in my mind...’ Auric glanced at Ellia.