The Genius Evolution Store

Chapter 97: Poison

Now that they had come to an agreement, Maya finally raised three fingers. "Anyway, let’s shift back to the topic. Currently, there are three options for you.

"Because you are my student, you can obviously fight against other academies. This includes all kinds of competitions or personal duels. I personally recommend competitions to gradually build up your name. If possible, it doesn’t have to be limited to fighting competitions."

"Do you mean you want me to join a competition for evolution masters?" Auric frowned.

"That might not be a bad idea either. It’s true that you can be considered a genius for becoming an evolution master at your age. To establish your reputation even more firmly, you’ll need to defeat other people above your age."

Auric thought for a moment. "I will consider it. Still, not a competition within the city, right?"

"Yes. Evolution masters in this city already know you. In addition, if you enter this kind of competition, you’ll have a higher chance of encountering interesting elements for free."

Auric nodded in agreement. "I understand that."

"Still, it will be quite hard to find competitions right now, so you can focus on your studies for the time being. That leaves us with two other options." Maya paused. "The second option is to take on missions."

"Will that be useful?"

"Yes. People know you as an evolution master, but they don’t know much about you other than that. By establishing your skill here, you don’t have to compete with the people here to establish your prestige."

Auric contemplated. On the one hand, he wasn’t necessarily planning to compete with them. On the other hand, he might have to do it whether he wanted to or not.

"The third option is to challenge other students here. You can establish yourself directly, but your presence in other cities will fade."

Auric tilted his head in confusion. "Teacher, why do I feel like you’re trying to make me more well-known in other cities?"

"To protect you. Right now, you have fooled everyone by convincing them that you possess a unique element. However, we both know that it’s not true. If you establish yourself in other cities, more and more people will know about you, and other people will think twice before approaching you, especially those shady ones."

"But they can still kidnap me."

"Indeed. I just want to lower that chance. After all, I won’t be with you 24/7."

Auric ultimately agreed. "I will consider the first and second options."

"Good." Maya crossed her arms. "We’re done here. Do you have anything you want to ask?"

"No." Auric shook his head. He just wanted to go home and show his mother that he was all right.

"In that case, you are dismissed."

Auric then stood up and politely nodded to her.

There were still a lot of things he wanted to do. The research on the artifacts would definitely take quite a while.

Once he returned home, his mother didn’t say much since he looked all right.

As soon as he was inside his room, he took out a few artifacts to figure out what he could do with each of them.

"As expected, they’re mesmerizing." Auric smiled. "The energy on these artifacts is sticking to the surface. Is it even going inside them?"

Auric took a few peeks and even opened an artifact that could be opened. "It’s inside, but it’s only sticking to the surface of the object."

Lindwurm explained, "Are you going to absorb them?"

"Not yet. We can absorb the artifact’s energy, right? However, if we want to create an artificial heart, we need to somehow make it permanent. We can’t have it be absorbed by other people, or it will cause massive chaos."

"True. People will start hunting other people to absorb their energy. How about using the artificial heart as a channel?"

"A channel?" Auric looked up before shaking his head. "I don’t think it will work. At most, we will create a layer on top of the actual heart. However, I will take note of it for now. I may be wrong, and you may be right."

Lindwurm agreed. "No one knows who is right and who is wrong at this time."

Auric crossed his arms. "Still, I’m curious about one thing. The energy from the ruins... what is actually arranging it?"

"Why do you ask?"

"The energy is so beautifully arranged according to their own categories. They’re concentrated to the point it’s blinding, but it’s not exactly overwhelming."

"I still don’t understand what you’re talking about."

Auric paused, thinking about his choice of words. He explained from the beginning. "If I use my energy, the flow is turbulent. It generates energy and other things, but when I look at the ruins, their flows are laminar. They’re flowing, but their flow is so smooth and neat that it’s pleasant to look at.

"As a result, it produces a kind of barrier that is somehow troublesome for living beings. If I look at it this way, won’t this kind of power become a form of powerful poison?"

"A powerful poison?!" Lindwurm gasped. "Humans naturally release their power that way. Can you even do something like that?"

"That’s..." Auric looked up, thinking. "I may be able to do it."

"!!!" Lindwurm was shocked this time. "Are you serious?"

Auric nodded. He could see the flow of the particles. If he had enough control, he might be able to create that laminar flow.

He could use the technique that Maya taught him before and use laminar flow to create a poison in one’s body.

He could imagine that thin energy line being stuck in someone’s body. With enough energy, the poison would be quite deadly. If it happened during a fight, he could weaken the opponent’s energy significantly.

If someone wanted to be treated, they would need to go to an evolution master.

If he somehow used multiple elements, it would create the same problem as the one that Axel faced.

In other words, he could use a poison that not many could use. There were no limitations either. He could form a barrier to use that trick, making it similar to the barrier of the ruins.

It would make him dangerous, so he had to be careful about it as well. After all, people might also come for his life because of this power.

Nevertheless, Auric got a better grasp on handling the artificial heart.

He started sketching a flowchart of the artificial heart.

"Right now, we have five big factors that will play a role in the creation of the artificial heart. The first one is the gathering technique. It’s going to supplement the foundation, but the gathering technique has to be dismantled further.

"The second factor is the ruins. Exposing something to dense energy is going to be hard, but if it can work, this concept itself will be the skeleton of the artificial heart.

"The third factor is the artifact. There are two options for the artifact—with or without an item. We can’t plant an item in someone’s heart easily, so that means we’re leaning toward the latter. It’s an artificial artifact made purely from energy. We don’t know how to create it yet, but the connection to the real heart must be there.

"The fourth factor is the permanent factor. It can’t be absorbed by other people, but I’m still wondering if it should be removable.

"The fifth factor is the energy itself. It has to be made from one’s own energy. I’ve got a suspicion about the conversion system. For example, if one has an element with a rating of 3.4, he or she could absorb energy with a rating between 2.9 and 3.9.

"For now, only the first factor has been solved. As long as I can solve the remaining four, the artificial heart will be completed."

Lindwurm didn’t argue with him. In fact, he was intrigued, wondering if Auric could actually find an answer.

Nevertheless, he would be there to assist him in any way he could.

Auric sighed and said, "Either way, it’s time to focus on studying the artifacts. Hopefully, they will give me enough insight to maybe get an understanding of the second and third factors."

Auric spent the rest of his day studying all the artifacts. He took a lot of notes, but he couldn’t find anything concrete yet. Nevertheless, it would be worth studying them. He just had to supplement his studies with actual textbooks or research papers.

The next morning, Auric had to go to his store again. He might be curious about artifacts and other things, but he was more concerned about his store. After all, the artificial heart was just a technique used to make his store even more popular.

So, going to the store was still his favorite thing to do.

However, the trip to the store was different this time.

Auric was casually walking along the same path, but for some reason, he got a bad feeling about it.

It might be because he had just come back from the ruins that the beasts had instilled a sense of wariness, causing him to be more paranoid. Or his instinct might have changed slightly after being refined by his experience.

Nevertheless, Auric couldn’t shake that bad feeling. He kept furrowing his eyebrows, causing Lindwurm, who usually talked about a lot of things, to fall silent.

"What’s—" Lindwurm wanted to check on him, but he soon noticed something. He suddenly stopped and turned his head back, as he realized something. "Auric."

’Yeah?’ Auric replied inwardly.

"Listen to me carefully, but don’t look back, okay?"

’Sure. What’s going on?’ Auric’s heart beat faster.

"You’re being followed. There is no hostility yet, but it’s rather suspicious. It doesn’t seem he has good intentions." Lindwurm could clearly see the one following him. The other party couldn’t see Lindwurm, so it didn’t notice that Auric was already aware of his presence.

Auric was obviously shocked. He didn’t expect there would be people following him.

’I haven’t done anything that would make people want to follow me like this, right?’

"You haven’t even gone to school for quite some time, so I don’t think so. There is a possibility of a stalker, but confronting this guy head-on may not be a good idea."

’Why?’

"Because his power is not low. I’m assuming he’s stronger than Ellia. His energy doesn’t seem to be equal to someone whose avatar has evolved to the adult form, but he’s very close. If you fight him, there’s a big chance that you will lose even if you reveal everything."

Auric was stunned. On the one hand, he hid his strength for situations like this. On the other hand, if he couldn’t win, why should he reveal everything yet? There were still a few possible solutions in his mind.

Ellia would probably tell him to just attack him first and talk later. Auric, on the other hand, came up with three other possible solutions.

The first would be escaping. He had clones and even Void Step. By going through narrow alleys, he could probably lose him.

If that person still followed him later, it meant his suspicion was correct.

The second option was to attack him with what he had already shown to draw out a big fight so that other people would notice. As long as he could drag the battle out for long enough, the situation would be turned around.

The third option was Mr. Popo. Considering Mr. Popo’s usual schedule, he should have reached his store by this time. The store was not that far anymore, so he could lead this guy to his store and let Mr. Popo catch him.

Auric took a deep breath before asking for Lindwurm’s help. ’Please keep an eye on this suspicious person. Also, can you fly up for a bit? Scan the area and see if there are accomplices.’

"Do you have a plan?"

’The results will allow me to make the decision.’

After hearing that answer, Lindwurm flew up and took a look at their surroundings. "Well, it looks like you are in a much more troublesome position. From what I can see, there are two more people monitoring you. There may be more, but I can’t fly farther than this."

Auric’s expression turned cold. He knew what he had to do.