The Genius Evolution Store

”Allow me to register you first.” The soldier stopped them and swept their cards into the machine. ”You’ve been registered. Thank you.”

Ellia nodded and received the cards before redistributing them. Then, they finally left the city.

The outside of the city was different from the inside. The road was cracked and filled with many potholes. The trees almost took over the environment.

Any buildings they could see were covered in some sort of plants. There were piles of rubble along the way.

Auric couldn’t help but ask, ”Why are they registering our cards at the gate?”

”Ah, right? This is your first time leaving the city.” Arina raised two fingers. ”There are two reasons. First, it’s for the logs. They will need to know the people who are inside their city. If there are simply too many people leaving the city, the town needs to worry, right?”

”Fair point.” Auric nodded.

”The second reason is to record our absence. We’ve registered for leave for five days. This means if you haven’t returned seven days past the registered period, you are considered a missing person. If you haven’t returned a month past the registered period, you are considered dead.”

Auric thought for a moment. ”But isn’t it possible to survive outside for so long?”

”Indeed. If you find a water supply, you can stay for a long time. After all, there are beasts everywhere. We do eat beast meat, after all.”

”So, they’re still considered dead as well?”

”Yes. You can simply change your status once you return. Well, it’s mostly for our families. If they know you’re gone for that long, it’s better to get some closure.”

”I see.” Auric looked down, contemplating.

”Are you guys done? We should speed up soon.” Ellia asked.

”We’re done, I think.” Arina glanced at Auric.

”Yeah.”

”Good. Let’s go.” Ellia started running, using her energy to boost her speed.

Auric kept up with her easily. Then again, they were only running twice the average human running speed, so it was not hard to keep up with them as long as he had enough energy.

The scenery gradually changed. The farther they were from the city, the more untouched the area looked. At the same time, the traces of the beasts became even more apparent.

Many vehicle wrecks had been pushed to the side of the road. Although the road’s condition was bad, they could still use it.

It looked like many people had been using their vehicles to some extent, but there were even more people who traveled on foot.

Ellia raised her gaze. ”I can see the first checkpoint. Let’s go.”

Auric understood the route, but he realized he didn’t know the reason Ellia picked this route. ”By the way, why are we using this checkpoint? If we want to, shouldn’t we continue running along this route for a bit longer? It will be faster.”

”No. You can’t do that.” Ellia was the one who replied this time. ”Sometimes humans are worse than beasts.”

Auric’s expression turned ugly. ”Killing us?”

”Even worse. Some people kill from time to time, but other people are not so lucky, like us. There is a chance we will have to experience something worse than death. You too.” Ellia pointed at him. ”A guy with your face is also a target.”

”Jeez.” Auric shook his head helplessly.

”The first checkpoint is a place I usually use to cover our tracks. It used to be a small neighborhood. We can lose our tracks there by using the complex path and then head straight to our destination.”

”So, that means we are also free to kill people?”

”Self-defense comes second. If they look hostile, attack them first. You don’t need to be cautious with the dead, after all.”

Ellia might sound cold, but Auric understood her concern. There would be people who could easily kill them out here.

”There are other reasons.” Arina raised two fingers. ”They are for your safety, not from humans but from beasts, and they can also provide you with a roof over your head.”

”What do you mean?”

”The housing complex can cover the beasts’ vision, meaning we will have a lower probability of encountering beasts there. Meanwhile, if we continue on this route, the beasts from our right or left can easily spot us and come after us. There are no buildings we can use as terrain either.”

Auric nodded in understanding. ”Sorry, I asked a lot of questions.”

”It’s fine. It’s good that you ask a lot of questions. Sometimes, you can’t apply your common sense in this place. There are no rules outside the city, so you can only fend for yourself. Of course, if you can just run away to the city, they will probably not chase after you.”

Ellia added, ”That applies to you too. If you let your enemies run to the city, they can frame you. So, be careful.”

”Got it.”

Lindwurm added, ”You need to reprogram your brain. Your attitude in the city won’t let you survive here.”

’I know now.’

It looked like what Ellia and Arina had been saying had become a reality.

”Watch out! There is a group of beasts.” Ellia halted her steps, her hand already reaching for her weapon. ”Get ready!”

”Miss, how about we let Auric handle them? This will be a good experience.” Arina asked.

Ellia glanced at Auric, as if asking whether he wanted the chance or not.

”Sure. I think this will be a good time to test it.” Auric agreed without hesitation. He had seen beasts before, but this was probably the first time he would be fighting them.

Auric stepped forward while checking the incoming beasts.

”Do you want me to take one and let me stop the rest?”

Auric saw five beasts. The beasts looked like rats. They had brown fur and bloodshot eyes. Their bodies seemed to be covered in stones, like armor. If they stood up, they could be as tall as an average human.

In that instant, he recognized the beasts he was dealing with.

”Stone Rat.” Auric’s expression turned solemn. It was perfect for him because he wanted to try using his plant and wind elements first before mixing other elements.

”Let me handle them.” Auric chose to go alone this time.

He poured his energy into the ground, summoning the roots with the Plant General.

Arina’s eyebrows twitched when she saw Auric’s choice.

It looked like she already understood what would happen if Auric used the Plant General on these rats.

When the roots were about to reach the rats, they suddenly scattered, avoiding the roots.

”...” Auric frowned. He tried to chase after them, but targeting all five of them was quite difficult.

Since there were six roots and five rats, Auric controlled the roots so that each rat would get one root. Meanwhile, the last rat would be targeted by two roots. This was Auric’s target.

He managed to grab the first rat. The rat used its energy to harden its skin like that of a rock to save itself.

Unfortunately, the root wrapped around the rat’s body. Auric channeled his energy first to weaken the rock before squeezing the rat so hard that it spurted blood.

”Scree!” The rat wailed in pain.

Still, even if he managed to catch one, four other rats were closing in.

Auric might be able to catch one or two more, but the rest would definitely come and get him.

”Kh.” Arina stepped forward, trying to help Auric. To her surprise, Ellia raised her hand in front of her, stopping Arina. ”Miss?”

Ellia had flicked her blade so that she could swing it before anything bad happened. However, Ellia also hadn’t made her move, believing Auric wouldn’t be going down this easily.

Auric maintained his focus, trying to capture the rats one by one.

As Ellia and Arina predicted, Auric only managed to catch two more of the rats. The other two rats had finally closed the distance and lunged toward Auric.

Ellia grabbed her blade’s handle, but before she made a move, Auric used another ability.

Suddenly, the roots on the ground grew, forming trunks. These trunks encircled the rats’ bodies and locked them inside.

”Scree?!” The rats were shocked to find themselves trapped. They used their abilities to harden themselves, but it was useless.

Auric sent forth the Plant General to crush them one by one. ”Huuu...”

Lindwurm crossed his arms, observing the battle with a stern look. Even though Auric managed to take them down, Lindwurm couldn’t bring himself to praise Auric this time.

And Auric definitely recognized his mistakes. He really underestimated these beasts. If he had used the Plant Outburst first to startle them, he could have easily caught a few of them at the beginning. He wouldn’t have encountered such a situation.

Nevertheless, Auric managed to kill all five of them by himself. It was quite an accomplishment.

If Auric hadn’t participated in that tournament, Ellia would have helped him.

It was true that Ellia would try to guarantee his survival, but he wouldn’t be protected forever. If he relied too much on others, he would be in a dangerous spot pretty soon.

”Sorry.” Auric smiled wryly, recognizing his mistake.

”It looks like you have noticed it.” Ellia nodded in understanding and sheathed her blade. ”You must have experienced fighting against people. However, there are differences between beasts and people.

”Most people fight with their minds. Using mind tricks will definitely work on them. However, the beasts rely on their instincts. If they sense danger or something amiss, they will move to avoid it. In addition, most of them are nimbler than humans, so you have to take that into account.

”At the same time, if you understand how the beasts move, they are much simpler to deal with compared to humans.”

Auric could understand this. When he was in the air, he saw people overpowering the beasts with their firepower.

This kind of fighting style was useful against the beasts. First, the beasts would stick together to form a barrier. If they couldn’t, they would scatter, but that meant people could focus on one or two beasts at a time, which made them an easier target.

If Auric had spread his Plant General a bit more and let the beasts continue on their path while he blocked their sides, he could probably kill them all in a single attack.

There were simply too many new things he had encountered outside the city. And Auric had to adjust accordingly.

Auric sighed. ”So, are we going to recover their beast essence or their hide?”

”I don’t know how to process the hide. As for the beast essence...” Ellia walked to one of the rats. She drew her blade, using a bit of energy to split the beast in half.

The two parts were pushed away with a small eruption of energy, showing what was inside the beast.

Auric squinted his eyes. He had realized what he had just done. By crushing them, he had damaged the beast essence quite severely.

It was so damaged that it wasn’t even worth selling anymore.

”You don’t have to be sad about it. This is basically what happens to most materials. There are groups that specialize in materials extraction. Had you accepted my offer in the past, I would have formed that group myself.”

”Well...” Auric couldn’t say anything back. He didn’t have the skill to kill beasts without damaging their essence.

Usually, the fighters need to be much stronger than the beasts, and the specialists would be there to ensure no damage was done.

”Anyway, we should keep going.” Ellia pointed behind her with her thumb.

”Got it.” Auric nodded in agreement.

On their way, they encountered beasts from time to time. As Ellia had briefed him, there were no rank 2 beasts in sight since they were not far from the city.

People from the city came out regularly to kill many beasts around the city, causing their population to decline.

However, if they continued to travel further, they would encounter even more beasts, including many high-ranking ones.

Still, these beasts were more than enough for Auric to gain valuable combat experience.

After a few hours of running, they finally saw the mall in the distance.