The Genius Evolution Store

”Is this good already?” Auric asked while looking at himself in the mirror.

”You should wear this more often.” Vera chuckled.

Auric shrugged. ”It’s stuffy. As long as it’s polite enough, isn’t that fine? Also, you look beautiful tonight.”

”Thank you. Though, I want to say that you need to wear a suit or something all the time. I bet there will be more people stopping to talk to you.” Vera grinned.

”Yep, you’re done.” Ellia nodded, satisfied with her own creation. ”You look much better now.”

”Thank you. You are beautiful too.” Auric smiled.

Katarina smirked, teasing Auric. ”You need to come up with more than that, you know?”

Auric looked surprised but still followed her advice. ”You are beautiful like a flower in full bloom at a snowy peak that could be admired but remain untouchable. The blue dress suits you extremely well, like a snowy field under the moonlight. It’s perfect.”

”...” Ellia was startled by the sudden switch in Auric’s speech.

”Now, I’m a bit jealous. Shouldn’t you say something about me as well?” Katarina grinned.

Auric smiled. ”I’m not done, of course. You are beautiful as well. If I have to describe you, your white dress and even your white hair give me the feeling of an angel that has just landed on Earth.

”I wish I could show you what my eyes truly see, because you won’t believe me if I tell you that you two are more amazing than I can describe.”

Auric wasn’t lying. His eyes could see the magical energy particles. They sparkled around them, making them look even prettier. For Ellia’s gray energy, it really looked like snow gracefully falling around her.

On the other hand, Katarina’s brown energy made it look like she had just landed on Earth, with dust gracefully kicking up around her, giving her a rather magical landing.

Seeing the two look stupefied, Vera chuckled. ”Then, should I ask for a compliment for me as well?”

”You? Someone else is more suitable to do it for you, and I don’t think I have to mention his name.” Auric winked playfully. ”Want me to send him a picture?”

”You guys are really having fun teasing me.” Vera pouted while rolling her eyes.

Auric just chuckled. ”Shall we go, ladies?”

...

In the ballroom, most of the students and instructors had entered.

The instructors were much deeper in the room so that they didn’t bother the students while they continued to monitor them. They didn’t want any conflicts before the training program, after all.

Most students talked to the people of their country, but a few took their chances to talk with students from other countries.

Fortunately, the situation seemed to be peaceful. After all, there were a few cameras covering the event.

”Hmm...” One student couldn’t help but point toward a pair of guys. ”Hey, guys. Look at them. Aren’t they...?”

”That’s definitely Antonio Sastre and Timothy Wellington.”

”Aren’t they drunk already?”

”I heard that Timothy Wellington was a guy who frequently visited nightclubs. Antonio drank alcohol like he drank water.”

”But isn’t it fine? Those two seem to be hitting it off.”

Considering Antonio was from Dermania while Timothy came from the UK, they couldn’t help but agree.

”Then, the guy who had been eyeing the food...” One of them pointed to another guy.

”That’s definitely the so-called Alexander the Great. I heard he was claiming to be a descendant of Vikings and had inherited the will of the great conqueror.”

”What can I say? He’s really acting like one.”

”I know, right?”

Suddenly, the camera turned around as they found another person. Some students couldn’t help but follow the camera, trying to see who was coming.

There were two people. The first one had long red hair that was tied into a ponytail. She wore a tight dress with a long slit in the skirt. The second person was a rather gloomy person with big dark bags under his eyes as though he hadn’t slept for days.

”Oh?! Is that... is that the tomboy Theressa Lee?”

”Idiot. You need to call her Sunny. She prefers that nickname.”

”Besides her is actually the youngest gold-grade evolution master. There are competitions for bronze-grade and silver-grade evolution masters, but there is no competition for gold-grade evolution masters because he’s the only one who has reached that level among the students.”

”That’s cool, actually. Doesn’t that mean no one is going to challenge him either?”

”Definitely. Challenging him is just asking for humiliation.”

”Even that so-called new genius, Auric Elfe from Esfrata?”

”Hell yeah.”

”Whoa? It looks like the big shots are arriving now.” The student pointed to the entrance.

The cameras kept turning as though they kept spotting new people.

The next person to come into the room was a green-haired woman, who had her hair tied back and let it gracefully rest in front, making her look even more mature and gentle.

She wore a black dress to enhance her mature charm.

As soon as she arrived, the eyes of many students lit up.

”Oh?!”

”Isn’t that Lady Selena Bellegarde?”

”You mean Mommy?”

”That’s not appropriate to be said here. I’m restraining myself.”

”I heard her healing ability is so powerful that it can reattach a severed limb.”

”Dude! Don’t make me imagine it, or I won’t be able to eat later!”

However, their attention soon shifted as the next group came in.

It was a group of three girls. Yes, Ellia, Katarina, and Vera had just entered the ballroom.

A lot of students couldn’t help but fall silent. In a way, the three of them were no less impressive than Selena.

They each possessed different charms. Katarina had her playful yet mature charm, Vera had a gallant and serious aura, while Ellia had a cool, untouchable atmosphere around her.

They didn’t expect that they would come at the same time.

However, the atmosphere changed all of a sudden because some girls couldn’t contain their screams.

”Kyaaaa!”

”Is that... seriously?!”

”No way! Why isn’t he from our country?”

Auric had just entered the room with a smile on his face. Noticing their gazes, Auric innocently waved his hand.

”He’s waving at me!”

”No, he’s waving at me!”

”You two are dreaming! It’s me, obviously!”

Some were fighting, while some were just admiring in silence.

Then again, Auric could also sense some hostility. Even Lindwurm was enjoying it as he teased Auric. ”By the way, Auric. For your information, there are some hostilities directed toward you. For example, the group of boys over there. They’re glaring daggers at you!”

’Well, thanks.’ Auric wanted to roll his eyes at Lindwurm’s obvious statement, but he held back.

When he was about to follow Ellia and the others, he heard a voice calling him from behind.

”Isn’t this Auric? Long time no see.”

Auric recognized this voice and immediately turned around. ”Gloria, hi.”

It turned out to be Gloria Schaff, the person who joined his party to spy on him during the hunting event.

Gloria had helped him, and they parted ways on good terms, so he didn’t have any prejudice against her, especially with the fact that he intended to recruit her.

”Hello, handsome. Are you perhaps alone tonight?” Gloria winked playfully.

”You’re not even bothering to hide it anymore.” Auric chuckled.

Before Gloria could respond, Katarina and Ellia stepped between her and Auric.

”Well, isn’t this Gloria?” Katarina smiled. ”You’re still doing your job here today?”

”Hasn’t she been kicked out? Maybe you were discharged from the army.” Ellia nodded calmly.

”What? It’s Eva? What do you mean Gloria? Isn’t she Eva? Wait. You are from Dermania? No, wait...” Vera stopped for a few seconds, processing everything in her head before realizing she was actually a spy. ”Wait, you guys actually knew about this all along?”

”You are probably the only one who hasn’t figured it out. Even Eric knew about it.” Katarina just gave her a side glance.

”...” Vera gasped. ”What? Don’t you need to keep me in the loop?”

”The less you know, the better.”

”Haven’t seen you for a few months. How are you, Vera?” Gloria waved her hand with a big smile. Since she didn’t have a mission to spy on Auric anymore, she could finally act like herself outside of the missions or training.

”I’m hurt now.” Vera hung her head low.

”Hahaha. I’m not going to apologize for that since I was just doing my job.” Gloria shook her head. ”However, I can say I did enjoy our time back then.”

”Well, you can enjoy it more if you come to Esfrata... like permanently.” Katarina winked playfully.

”Whoa! Whoa! I have to stop you right there!” Gloria waved down her hands, asking her to slow down.

Katarina just chuckled, while Auric asked, ”How about we move to a different spot, not right in front of the entrance? Maybe grab something to eat if you want.”

”Sure!” Gloria nodded.

Auric just escorted them, but he couldn’t help but hear a lot of complaints around.

”What the hell? It’s not one, not two, not even three. It’s four freaking flowers around him!”

”I’m not jealous... I’m not jealous... I’m not jealous. I just want him to die. Call me a psychopath instead.”

”Indeed. That guy is truly unfair. I mean... I’m not bad myself, but...”

Lindwurm was laughing as he flew around, listening to their curses against Auric.

Auric just pretended as if he couldn’t hear anything and focused on grabbing some food.

While spinning her fork, Gloria couldn’t help but say, ”Still, Auric, you are always the same. Why does it seem like trouble always follows you around?”

”What do you mean? I’m not a troublemaker.” Auric shook his head.

”Really? I heard that you almost had a big conflict with Clarice Estella.”

”That’s the first time I’ve heard this.” Ellia looked at Auric. She wanted to challenge Clarice, but she didn’t come down earlier since she was taking care of the hotel room so that they could live there smoothly for the next thirty days.

”That was my fault.” Vera admitted her mistake. ”I shouldn’t have done that. It’s just... I feel like punching that woman’s face.”

Auric sighed. ”Well, it’s nothing big. We said things and then it just escalated like that. Maybe people should just stop jumping to their own conclusions and escalating the situation further.”

Gloria was definitely amused by Auric. She believed that Auric wasn’t a troublemaker, but there were definitely a lot of unexpected problems around Auric.

Gloria sighed. ”Still, the instructors are nearby, so there shouldn’t be any problems. At least, the instructors will notice if something is going on and immediately put a stop to it.”

”...” Ellia rolled her eyes, while Katarina tried her best to contain her laugh. ”That’s definitely a jinx. You just jinxed us.”

”I mean... what will happen in this room? There are around 18 Rank 6 humans in this room, not to mention tens of Rank 5 humans. What are they going to do? Fight here? They would be beaten to the ground first. The place has been swept, and it’s currently one of the most guarded places, so there should be no problems.” Gloria shrugged. ”Jinx only happens if you’re not prepared for it.”

Gloria sounded as if she was proud of all the preparations. She hailed from this country, after all.

Auric nodded in understanding. ”Well, let’s leave it at that. I just want to say that if we meet each other in the competition, I don’t plan to pull my punches.”

”Aren’t you a gentleman?” Gloria winked playfully.

”I’m trying to be one. It’s just a bit too hard when it comes to my enemies.” Auric shrugged.

”Fair enough. Still, I hope you have a pleasant time in this country. I need to meet some other guests here.”

”Sure.” Auric waved his hand. ”Have fun.”

”You too!”

As Gloria walked away, Auric suddenly raised his head. Katarina and Ellia noticed his reaction, while Vera just tilted her head in confusion as she had just put a cake in her mouth.

Auric then turned his head to the stand as the room suddenly turned dark.

A few seconds later, a light turned on, illuminating the center of the stage.

An old woman dressed in black smiled at them.