Chapter 309: Distraction
"Huuu..." Vera was holding her blade with both hands, channeling her energy into it. She was trying her hardest to compress her energy further, but because of her lack of control, the energy kept breaking apart.
Ellia was meditating in the middle of the field. If one looked at her, they would notice the space around her getting distorted.
Katarina was probably the one having the easiest time. While it was true that her goal was quite hard, Katarina didn’t have a hard time progressing.
Her elemental manipulation was the talent she had always been proud of.
Even though it had only been five hours since she started her training, Katarina had already lifted ten bottles at the same time.
It looked like she was the only one who would be able to accomplish the objective that Mr. Green had set within a day.
Mr. Green had been nodding all this time while watching over them. ’It looks like the Schneider family won’t have any problem choosing their successor. With that kind of talent, Vera Schneider won’t have any problem reaching Rank 6.
’However, from what I heard, the Schneider family is planning to arrange a marriage for her. If she is going to marry into another family, it might deal a huge blow to the family in the future.
’It’s better to let her stay in the family and have the groom marry into the Schneider family. Well, I don’t know what they’re thinking. Even though there’s a rumor about marriage candidates, nothing has been set in stone yet.
’As for Ellia Stroph Astler, it’s no wonder she is known as the biggest genius that the Astler family has so far.
’Unfortunately, her element is unique. If she had other elements, she might be one of the candidates to become Rank 7. I used to be someone like this in the past. I had the chance to become Rank 7, but I failed due to its difficulty.
’The injuries I suffered every time made it not worth the effort. But with her element, she might only be able to reach Rank 5 at most. She will be stuck after that because she won’t be able to find any artifacts to help her evolve.
’If she had another element, her path would be smooth. After all, there is a new store that might lessen the burden on all of us.
’If the Sun Store starts selling Rank 6 gathering techniques, there might be some old monsters who could reach Rank 7 in the future. Rank 7 humans might not be humanity’s limit anymore.
’But that also means that Rank 7 humans will have a higher chance of advancing to Rank 8 because of this change.
’Maybe in the future, humanity’s limit will reach Rank 9 or even higher. The Sun Store will bring the first change.
’On the other hand, the beasts are getting stronger as well. It’s true that there are also Rank 7 beasts scattered all over the world, but the terrifying ones are the mutated beasts. They are mutating because of the poisons that humanity spread all over the world in the past, such as pollution, chemicals, or even nuclear radiation.
’Dealing with those mutated beasts would require the cooperation of a few Rank 7 humans, or countries would be destroyed. If not for the fact that those beasts aren’t close to us, there’s no way we could make a stronghold like this.
’Still, the closest one is on the eastern side of what was formerly Ukraine. Fortunately, it doesn’t seem to have anything to do with the recent movements.
’These students need to work hard and get stronger fast.’
Mr. Green sighed inwardly. He couldn’t feel at ease knowing that there was such a terrifying beast not too far from their current location.
’Still, Katarina Vasilyevna. Her talent is similar to Ellia Stroph Astler and Vera Schneider, but her talent emphasizes elemental manipulation.
’In a way, her main talent might even surpass mine. From what I’ve heard, she is good at management as well. She has been improving that talent both within her family and at school.
’Once she takes over her family, she might be able to grow her family further. Those spies... they’re annoying like flies, but they are necessary existences.
’Last but definitely not least, Auric Elfe. I can say the three girls are peerless geniuses, but this guy is a freaking monster.
’This is the first time I’ve seen someone with such monstrous magical sensitivity. It is as if he can see through the true nature of the magical energy.
’In addition, I heard his skill as an evolution master has allowed him to reach silver grade at such a young age. Next year, he’ll be able to become a gold-grade evolution master, and he has multiple elements, unlike that Nicholas.
’We can’t let other countries have a chance to kill him. Even the president has specifically told Jacob to take care of him. The other countries might try to ruin him so that he can’t grow to his full potential. After all, if the others have the chance to become Rank 7 humans, this guy might even surpass them. He might become the first Rank 8 human in history.’
Mr. Green felt a chill run down his spine. If such an existence were to be born, all the countries would fear him. After all, he would become an absolute powerhouse.
Most of Auric’s information had been restricted by the Evolution Association, but Mr. Green had briefly read his basic information. Auric’s avatar was classified as ’Unknown.’ It was a secretive type with multiple elements, but there was still no accurate information yet, as Auric didn’t provide anything about it. It was better this way, so Auric had a trump card to use in the future.
’The other students in this place are doing great as well. They’re the geniuses of the country, but this is going to be a fierce competition. Other countries are not pushovers either.’
Mr. Green walked toward Auric. "Good work. It looks like you managed to form the tenth image. However, you may want to pick up the pace. Honestly, I expected you to have formed your twentieth image by now. You should be able to do it."
"Ah, I apologize. I was distracted." Auric scratched the back of his head.
"Distracted? Why would a young man like you be so distracted?" Mr. Green bent his knees, trying to see from his perspective. "Don’t tell me you are distracted because of those three girls. Well, I’d say they’re all excellent. You want advice from me? Marry one person in this country and marry another one in another country. That’s how wealthy men and women cheat the system."
Auric chuckled. "What are you talking about? I’m not thinking about any relationship right now."
"Well, it’s good to have a goal, you know? When you are an old man like me, a new wife is like a new life goal." Mr. Green shrugged.
"You are joking, right?" Auric shook his head helplessly.
"Do you think I’m joking with you right now?" Mr. Green looked at him with a poker face.
"You... are not?"
Mr. Green suddenly laughed. "Of course, I’m joking. I am a very loyal man. My wife knew that, which was why I felt a bit indebted to her. Whenever I got injured after hunting a Rank 6 beast, she would visit me in the hospital while asking me to get a new wife and making a joke like that. A new wife, a new life goal. It was supposed to make me feel more enthusiastic to recover, she said."
"If you know how to joke, you will be happy for the rest of your life." Auric smiled.
Mr. Green smiled and patted Auric’s shoulder. "So, what was distracting you?"
"Oh! It’s not exactly what you’re thinking. Actually, I’m doing this in my mind..." Auric raised his hand.
He first poured out yellow energy, signifying the lightning element, to create the template for a fish.
He gradually formed the scales and other details.
"That’s very good." Mr. Green nodded. The details were enough to get a satisfactory nod from him.
However, Auric actually went one step further.
He first used the plant element to create a dark green energy to act like seaweed. Then, he added the light green energy from the wind element to make it look like the fish was riding a wave.
After that, he added the earth element to create shading. In fact, Auric went one step further by combining two elements to create different shades and colors, making it more lively.
The reason Auric was slow was not that he couldn’t complete the training. Instead, it was because he expanded the training in his own way, increasing the difficulty of the training not by one, but by two whole levels.
’This fucking monster!’ Mr. Green felt like smacking Auric on the back of the head. He thought Auric was distracted because of women or some other problem, but it turned out he was just making things more difficult for himself.
If that were the case, he wouldn’t even bother to make small talk to help him feel at ease.
"Oh!" Mr. Green was completely speechless. What could he actually say when he himself didn’t even know how to do something like this?
Mr. Green looked at the stacks of papers. "Well, you may continue doing that. It will be a good challenge for you. Looking at the number of images you need to recreate, it will probably take you over a week to complete them.
"You can still learn from other mentors in the meantime, but I hope that you can complete my training within a month."
"Yes, sir!" Auric nodded firmly. He understood the assignment as that was indeed what he intended to do.
"Keep up the good work." Mr. Green patted him again before standing up to take a look at the other students.
In reality, he just wanted to get away from Auric, or else this little monster was going to make him realize how lacking he was.
’It’s no wonder he’s a troublemaker. Too great a talent will draw jealousy. People won’t leave this guy alone, and he will have no choice but to deal with them all. Because he has no background, there’s no way to keep his situation quiet.
’At least, the previous generation had Joker, and this generation has Auric Elfe. At least, this country will be a good place to retire since your safety is guaranteed.
’Still, no one has ever wanted to take him as a disciple? Looking at his talents, a lot of old foxes should want to make him their disciple.’
Mr. Green himself wanted to take Auric as his disciple, but his eyes soon turned toward Maya.
’Well, he’s that girl’s disciple, the most precious girl in the Relesha family, who is said to surpass the hero who protected the country from the shadows, Mathias Relesha.
’I guess a storm is brewing over the next ten to twenty years.’ Mr. Green smiled. ’I’m looking forward to it.’