The Genius Evolution Store

”W-What?!”

No one understood what was going on. If they passed the barrier, they would suffer from the density of the energy. Their bodies would have been flooded by the water and wind energies within this barrier.

The fact that Ellia didn’t suffer anything like that meant there was no barrier.

”W-What did you do?” Katarina asked, as she couldn’t believe what she had just heard.

Auric just smiled. ”I just did a little experiment, and it looked like I managed to succeed. It could only work in a barrier as weak as this one, though. At least, that was what I could do right now. As for the specifics, well, I might need to write another paper about it in the future.”

Katarina gasped. They had seen many evolution masters doing their best to open the gate to the ruins.

However, this was the first time they had seen someone removing the ’wall’ of the ruins.

This kind of ability was even more terrifying because this knowledge could advance their understanding of the ruins.

Auric simply pointed to the barrier. ”Anyway, who wants to go next?”

”Me, me, me!” Eva raised her hand excitedly, wanting to try it as well. She originally expected to take the service of an evolution master to recover from such an injury, so she was curious about this power.

Eva looked at the barrier, but she couldn’t find anything wrong with it. Of course, the layer of energy that Auric made didn’t look anything special.

But the moment Auric gave her a signal, the barrier disappeared for a second.

She took that opportunity to come out of the ruins.

”This... really works.”

Eva couldn’t believe it, but she had just passed the barrier without any incident.

She checked her body again, but there was definitely no sign of discomfort. She couldn’t determine whether there was a speck of energy in her body or not, but if this method worked, Auric would become a terrifying person.

In a way, he could escape from anywhere.

The reason the ruins were dangerous was due to the existence of the gate. The ruins’ barrier managed to lock them up, so the only way to escape was through the gate.

However, if they were in danger and wanted to retreat, they needed to pass through this gate. Most likely, they would have to pass through the gate while being chased by the beasts.

As a result, a lot of people ended up dying because they touched the barrier.

But with Auric, they could escape from everywhere. After fighting alongside him for a while, she also determined that Auric had the ability to be the captain, not to mention his fighting prowess as well as the ability to find artifacts.

Inside the ruins, Auric’s ability was godlike. It stemmed from his talent as an evolution master. It was no wonder that a lot of people wanted someone like Auric.

However, would people believe if someone told them that Auric could do something about the barrier? They probably wouldn’t believe it.

Once the method had been proven, the others passed through the barrier one by one.

Auric squinted his eyes, making sure that no one was injured. After that, they headed toward the wind temple.

”Hmm? So, that’s the wind temple?” Auric looked up. There was nothing in front of him other than the woods, but he could see the barrier far in the distance.

”Where?” Eric raised his vision, wondering what he was talking about.

”We’re still about six hundred meters away.” Vera was also confused.

Ellia and Katarina didn’t say anything, while Eva couldn’t help but think, ’So, his sense can extend that far? This sensitivity is not something that anyone has ever seen. It’s no wonder why he’s able to sense all those artifacts.’

Auric didn’t say anything else. Instead, he observed the barrier.

It contained a powerful wind element, and because of how thick that energy was, he couldn’t see how many elements had been infused into the barrier.

All he knew was that the result was a wind element with a rating of 4.2. It was something Vera could benefit from.

”Should we camp here before entering the wind temple? Or should we go to the military facility? There should be a room for us, right?” Vera asked. The sun was about to set, so it was good to get some rest. They shouldn’t overdo it and risk their own lives.

”Should we use the facility? Isn’t it better than camping outside?” Auric asked. ”We just have to pay with points, right? In the end, we can always submit the artifacts if we need more points.”

”That’s true.” Katarina nodded. She was the one who wanted to finish at the top, but she originally thought the only way to do it was to kill as many beasts as possible.

It turned out she was wrong. With Auric’s ability, they didn’t need to worry about the top spot.

”In that case, let’s treat this as a picnic.” Auric grinned.

Auric was probably the only person who could treat this hunting event like a picnic.

However, there was a reason he wanted to let them stay in top condition. There was a chance that the mysterious organization intended to attack this place, considering it was full of students.

There might come a time when they would have to face those organizations or numerous beasts, so they should be able to relax as much as possible until that time.

Since Auric had made a decision, they immediately headed to the military facility right outside the temple.

”So, there’s a facility like this...” Auric looked quite surprised. There were a few buildings in the area, such as small barracks for the soldiers and a few stacked containers. It looked like they used these containers to create a room for anyone who was willing to spend points.

”Welcome.” A military staff greeted them at the counter.

”We would like to use a room for a night,” Katarina asked.

”Do you want a suite or a normal room?”

”What’s the difference?”

”The normal room only has the bedroom. If you would like to take a shower or do other things, you have to go to the public restroom.”

”What about the price?”

”For the normal room, you only need 10 points per night. For the suite, you need 40 points per night.”

Katarina turned to Auric. ”Which one?”

”Should we split up the room as well?” Auric asked. It was quite expensive. Their team was able to get about 170 points from killing beasts in a day. Yet, a room cost more than 5% of their haul.

This was just for a room. There were also other ways to spend their points.

So, most people definitely wanted to stay outside.

Still, there was one thing that this military facility offered. If they stayed here, they wouldn’t need to stay late to watch out for beasts. The soldiers would be the ones doing it for them.

”Should we get two suites? One for the boys, one for the girls? What’s the size of the rooms, though?” Auric asked.

”Each room has six single beds. The normal room offers bunk beds, but the suite offers individual beds.”

”Oi, you spendthrift.” Vera hurriedly stopped him. ”There is no need to spend that many points.”

”Why? We earn money to spend it.” Auric smiled.

”No, no. Listen to me.” Vera tried to stop him.

”We will have one normal room.” Katarina spoke to the staff.

”Oi. At least get the suite!”

”...” Katarina’s lip twitched. In the end, she changed her decision. ”We’ll get one suite then.”

”Certainly.”

Vera was completely speechless. ”Oi, Ellia. Did you give him so much money that his sense of spending had gotten this distorted?”

Ellia said, ”He earns far more than that. Why do you care?”

”See?” Auric smiled.

”So, you’re the problem!” Vera glared at Ellia. ”You spoiled him too much!”

”He’s just making his own decision. Who am I to stop him?” Ellia shrugged.

”You... Argh!” Vera gritted her teeth.

”You are just too poor. Even though your family is rich, you don’t even have a lot of pocket money. I guess that’s a military family for you. You’re too strict.” Ellia shrugged.

Katarina suddenly returned and shook the key. ”All right, guys. We already got it. This is fine with you, right, Eva?”

”Yes. When you work in this field, you basically don’t care who you’re sleeping with. Just make sure they’re trustworthy enough not to do anything while you’re asleep. Whether boys or girls, it doesn’t matter.” Eva nodded.

”Good. Let’s go.” Katarina chuckled as she headed to the room.

”...” Vera looked at them, speechless. She was just trying to save points for them. There was no need to go for luxury, especially at a time like this.

”No need to think that much.” While everyone had already walked toward the room, Eric came to the stunned Vera. ”Auric is a rather modest guy. He doesn’t spend money if it’s not necessary.”

”But luxury is not necessary.” Vera shook her head helplessly.

”What I mean is that the fact that he spends on the room means it’s necessary. Why would it be necessary? I don’t know as well. There might be something we don’t know about this place.”

”Hmm?” Vera narrowed her eyes. ”Is that all there’s to it?”

”Who knows? All I know is his character. As for the reason, he might tell us later.”

Vera scratched the back of her head. ”Fine, I’ll just enjoy the luxury this time.”

Eric nodded and walked alongside her.

Even though they said it was a suite, it was practically three containers that had been joined together. There was a small kitchen and a bathroom with a shower, but everything else was quite limited.

But it looked like they had taken the needs of mixed-gender teams into consideration. They had two rooms, so they could split the sleeping arrangements this way.

While everyone was enjoying their time in the room, Auric walked outside, his eyes focusing on the barrier.

’I guess I can’t use the same trick in this place. The barrier is too thick, so my current power won’t be enough.’

”Just the fact that you can do something about the barrier alone is already impressive.” Lindwurm sighed.

’I just hope that this place won’t turn into a bloodbath.’

”Feeling restless?”

”!!!” Auric was startled because the one who asked wasn’t Lindwurm. He glanced back, finding Ellia coming. ”I’m fine. You’re not going to take a shower?”

”I’ll wash myself later.” Ellia nodded. ”Actually, I came here because I have a request. I came here to get stronger, so I want to evolve just like Vera. I bet that’s why she approached you earlier during the day, right?”

”Yeah.”

”I plan to evolve as well. Originally, I intended to just hunt around here and return to Thunderer City after getting what I’m after. But now I’m wondering what I should do now.”

Auric opened his mouth, but Lindwurm suddenly warned him. ”Ssshhh. Someone is trying to listen to your conversation.”

”!!!”