The Genius Evolution Store

”Sir! Our labs are getting attacked. Four out of five labs have been taken down.”

”...” The mysterious man, who refused to turn his chair around despite such a report, remained silent. ”It looks like they are onto us. How do they know where to look?”

”I’m afraid that there is something to do with the adjudicator who is chasing after us.”

”Who?”

”Arnie Restold.”

The mysterious man fell silent. Another person, who was doing the video call, couldn’t help but say, ”That might be troublesome. Arnie Restold is not your usual adjudicator. His strength is one thing, but he is relentless, sharp, and quick.”

”What do you know about this guy?”

”There are three chief adjudicators in our country. Do you know how many cases they have solved? Two of them have solved an average of 250 cases. Arnie Restold has solved 600 cases by himself.”

When the mysterious man heard the number, he finally understood why Arnie was a troublesome man.

”His way of dealing with things is not ordinary. However, people turn a blind eye to it simply because he gets results.”

The mysterious man raised his head, looking at the ceiling. ”It looks like this time, the hunting dog is quite troublesome. Can’t you do anything about it?”

”No. This time, there are simply too many people asking for it. Stopping it means having a target on my back, and the result will remain the same.”

”...” The mysterious man’s expression turned solemn. ”What about the group that exposed us?”

”We’ve failed to take care of them. We’re assuming that all of them are dead. Even the beast wave has been repelled. In addition, the poison has been cured.”

”The poison... has been cured?”

”Yes, sir. According to the information, Principal Fernandes of Grand Magica College has a connection to this evolution master. Arnie Restold brought him over to the city to help them while he personally stopped the beast wave.”

The mysterious man crossed his arms. The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned colder.

”How about I deal with the students while you handle the rest?” One man raised his hand while smirking.

”You?” The mysterious man shifted his gaze to the left, showing such a cold stare.

The man felt a chill down his spine. ”Yes. I can do that. Rather than wasting too much time on the students, it’s best to focus on stopping Arnie Restold.”

”You can kill everyone. I don’t care, but there is one person I want you to capture alive.”

”One person?”

”Yes, Auric Elfe. I want him alive.”

”...” The man fell silent. ”Why?”

”Do I need to tell you that?” Killing intent started to leak out of his eyes.

The man gulped. ”No. I will take care of it.”

”It’s time to get rid of the adjudicators.”

...

Because of Auric’s lead, Arnie was able to increase the pressure. However, Arnie knew that the closer he was to the source, the stronger the resistance.

That was why he had to be careful and start slowing down the pace. While he was waiting for the right moment, he was making some adjustments to the plan and preparing the treatment for the patients he had identified.

Meanwhile, Auric was peacefully eating his breakfast at home.

Auric looked at his mother. ”Mom, can I ask you something?”

”Of course, my dear. What do you want to ask?”

Auric asked, ”When you were working with Dad, you were... a rank 3, right?”

”Indeed.”

Auric hesitated for a moment. All this time, the light and dark elements were rare, but there was one person with the light element in his house.

The only reason he hadn’t asked about it was that Natalia’s element rating was 1.2 out of 5. It was an extremely weak element in terms of rating.

However, after becoming confused about all this mystery around his father, Auric felt something was wrong and chose to ask it. ”I wonder if you can use your battle technique? I have always meant to ask this, but I have never seen your cool side, Mom.”

”Is that so? I am not exactly the cool type. I just support your father.”

Auric smiled. ”Well, if that’s not a problem for you, I want to see it.”

”Do you know my avatar?”

”Now that I think about it, I have never asked you about it.” Auric looked up, not recalling a single memory about it.

”This is my avatar.” Natalia summoned her avatar, which turned out to be a blond girl with six pairs of white wings.

”An angel?”

”The exact name is Holy Angel. However, do you know that avatars are born through our legends?”

”Yes.”

”Even though my avatar is called Holy Angel, it’s often referred to as a Seraphim. Now that I think about it, you are an evolution master. Can you see your mom’s element rating?”

”Yes, I can. Your element rating is 1.2.”

”And you don’t think something’s wrong with that?”

Auric thought for a moment before shaking his head. ”No? Is there something wrong about it?”

”That must mean you don’t know that the strength of your avatar is often related to the legend behind it. For example, a goblin might possess an element, but their element ratings will be low. However, a goblin mage can possess a much higher element rating.”

Auric looked down, recalling the information he had.

Once she mentioned it, he realized that Maya’s avatar resembled the Goddess of the Night, Nyx. That was why her element rating was 4.9.

Meanwhile, his mother had a seraphim. It was supposed to be known as the highest rank of angel, so its element shouldn’t be that low. At the very least, her element rating should be 3.5, which puts it in the extreme category.

”Does that mean you are extraordinary, Mom?” Auric asked.

”Extraordinary? Your way of speaking is really smooth.” Natalia smiled. ”No. Back then, people called me a failure. Don’t you think so too? Even though my avatar is strong, my element is not.”

Auric shook his head. ”I don’t think so. This world is fair and unfair at the same time. Your talent is based on the grade of your affinity. The lower it is, the harder it is for you to get stronger.

”At the same time, there is also another category that will differentiate your talent. That is element rating. If your affinity has a low grade, you will benefit from a low element rating. That element rating allows you to speed up your progress, which makes you more talented than you imagine.

”Even if you have a high element rating, which makes it hard to find the beasts that have this kind of element, you will benefit from the strength of your element.

”Of course, people with higher-grade affinity might have some advantages, but the advantages don’t exactly determine everything. So, I don’t think you are a failure, Mom. Not at all...”

Natalia smiled and touched Auric’s nose. ”If you said something like that to me 25 years ago, I might end up with you instead of your dad.”

Auric smiled wryly.

”You are not wrong, but you are not entirely correct either.”

Auric tilted his head in confusion. ”What do you mean?”

”Whether you have a weak element or a strong element, you have your own advantages and disadvantages. For example, my weak element has given me a very big advantage.”

Auric frowned. ”And that’s not something I’ve mentioned earlier.”

”No.” Natalia raised one finger. ”I am actually glad that I have this element. Do you know why?”

Auric shook his head.

”Because if my element rating is high, it will make it harder for me to help people.”

”Help people? What do you mean?”

Natalia raised her thumb. Then, she used her index finger’s nail to cut her thumb.

”Mom?!” Auric stood up, panicking.

”Relax.” Natalia didn’t even twitch when she cut herself. Then, a light soon glowed in her hand.

The cut she had made earlier closed instantly.

”You can heal people?” Auric widened his eyes.

”I do.” Natalia smiled. ”What do you think will happen if I use my healing ability on others? I heal them, right? But what if my element has a high rating?”

Auric looked down, contemplating.

”It will overwhelm their own power. This won’t benefit anyone. For example, if we are fighting in a group and I want to heal someone’s injury, I will use my healing ability. If my element has a high rating, this will suppress their element. As a result, they won’t be able to use their power in the meantime.

”However, because my element rating is very low, it won’t overwhelm them. As a result, I can heal people while they are still fighting.”

”Oh?!” Auric hadn’t considered this before.

”This applies to all support abilities. For example, if you have a powerful wind element and want to help someone with their speed. If your element rating is high, that wind will suppress the other person’s element. That person might move faster, but they won’t be able to use the energy around their feet immediately. On the other hand...”

Auric nodded in understanding and continued her words. ”...if your element has a low rating, it might not provide as much of a boost, but it’s more flexible.”

”Correct. In this society, people are used to judging others based on their individual power. The stronger your element is, the more powerful you are. Your dad didn’t judge me like that back then.” Natalia put her thumb in her mouth to clean off the blood on it before smiling.

Auric looked down, contemplating. This knowledge was quite important in his mind. Although he couldn’t form the basics yet, this knowledge might actually help him adjust the gathering techniques or the artificial heart methods, or it could help him create a new technique.

”I have never heard of this before...” Auric shook his head helplessly.

”Of course. It is not exactly common knowledge, even among people who focus on support abilities. It is good that you don’t have prejudice against elements.”

”Thank you for telling me that, Mom.”

”Of course. So, do you still want to see my power?”

”If you don’t mind... I’m rather curious about this healing ability. I heard it’s rare. Even among doctors, there are not many who can cure wounds like you.”

”Our lives have become much more convenient thanks to the existence of avatars. People use the fire element to cook, the plant element to help with gardening or farming, and so on. While I could become a doctor back then, my goal has always been the same.”

”What is that?”

”Isn’t it obvious? A housewife.” Natalia crossed her fingers.

Auric scratched the back of his head. ”You’re the best.”

”So, what do you want to see?”

”I already saw it.” Auric smiled. ”Thank you, Mom.”

It might be because the wound was just a small one, but she used a rank 1 battle technique.

He could easily see through her element. Thanks to his eyes, he got all the information required to create a gathering technique for this element.

In a way, Lindwurm might have been telling him the same thing.

Lindwurm had been asking him to at least get one element with a rating of 2.0 or lower. Auric didn’t think much of it, but after listening to her explanation, he finally understood the reason behind Lindwurm’s request.

It was to ensure that Auric had an element that would allow him to remain versatile.

”You’re welcome.” Natalia smiled. ”Oh my, you’ve finished your breakfast. I shouldn’t keep you any longer.”

She hurriedly stood up and grabbed the plates before he could even help her.

”In that case, I’ll get going. By the way, I’m going to another city for a week soon, so I won’t be around.”

”Don’t worry. Please take care of yourself.”

Auric nodded and prepared to leave. Once he was done, he immediately exited the house, thinking of one thing.

His mother actually possessed such profound knowledge. It just made her look more and more suspicious.

He wondered if she actually knew about his father’s secret or Lindwurm. All this time, Lindwurm had remained silent, not wanting to say anything unimportant in case Auric tricked him again into revealing a secret.

In the end, he had to figure out the truth about his father on his own and carefully.