Chapter 261: Unexpected Finding
In another part of the ruins, Jackson sat on a boulder as he took a break after hunting down a lot of beasts.
"Hmph." Jackson harrumphed, looking at his information.
Silver Wing - 1,057 points Guardian Angel - 881 points Zeroth - 852 points
"It looks like we are going to win. You are so pathetic, Katarina Vasilyevna. You couldn’t even get into the top three. Ellia Stroph Astler, you will understand how useless you are after rejecting me." Jackson smirked.
He could imagine the despair on their faces once they knew there was an insurmountable gap between them.
"Last night, they should have had around 300 points. What is their ranking today?" Jackson was about to scroll down, searching for the Night and Day group.
However, he didn’t have to scroll down far because it was right underneath them.
Night and Day - 838 points
"What?" Jackson was dumbfounded. "What is going on? The last time I checked, they only had about 300 points or so. Since when did their points become this high?"
Jackson didn’t realize what the Night and Day group had accomplished a moment ago.
They had killed two rank 4 beasts, which gave them 200 points. The snake also brought close to a hundred beasts, while the ape had brought another hundred and twenty beasts.
Although most of them were rank 1 beasts, which weren’t worth a lot of points, the number was more than enough to bring them so high.
Jackson couldn’t help but panic. If they could make another leap, his position would be in danger.
He stood up and shouted, "Rest is done. We need to continue the hunt!"
"Eh?"
"But it’s only been three minutes."
"Shut up. We need to start hunting again right now!"
Meanwhile, Auric and the others were exhausted.
"To think we would be facing these two terrifying opponents." Katarina shook her head helplessly. "Sorry, but recovering my energy will take quite some time. We may need to slow down our expedition."
"Me too." Vera sighed. "We fought a little too hard. If we continue to deplete our energy, we will empty it pretty soon."
Eric didn’t say anything, but he raised his hand, showing his agreement.
"Well, we should be fine. I am also exhausted, but Auric and Eva should have plenty of energy left, right?" Ellia glanced at Eva.
"..." Eva scratched the back of her head. "Yes. I am your guardian, so I’ve been conserving my power. I still have about 50% of my magical energy reserve."
All of them then looked at Auric.
"Hmm? I’m fine. I diversified my abilities, so my energy for each element is still pretty high. I should be able to recover completely in two to three hours."
"..." They were dumbfounded. Ellia was the only one smiling, knowing Auric’s condition.
"What do you mean you’re fine? So, each element has its own energy reserve? Doesn’t that mean you can exhaust one energy reserve and be fine because you can use other elements?" Katarina gasped.
"Yeah, but it will also take me more time to evolve." Auric shrugged.
"It doesn’t matter. This is not a sprint. It’s a marathon. You can grow at your own pace and you will be fine. You can defeat others simply because you have more energy." Katarina covered her mouth in shock.
She realized Auric could become an inexhaustible cannon. He could use one element for one or two hours, then rotate it to all his elements. By the time he emptied the last one, his fire element might have recovered.
Auric waved his hand. "You’re exaggerating."
"I’m not..."
"Anyway, I’m hungry. Why don’t we have something to eat?" Auric looked at Ellia, trying to change the subject.
"Right? Let’s eat." Ellia took out the stove again.
"..." Katarina sighed. She backed off, knowing that she shouldn’t talk too much about it.
Eric walked over to Vera, as if asking whether they should go find something edible. Vera nodded and walked away quietly.
Once Katarina and Eva left, Auric gave a thumbs-up to Ellia. "Thanks."
"No problem. You don’t have the intention to hide that information, but it’s annoying to be questioned about it, right?" Ellia chuckled.
"No, it’s not annoying. It’s annoying when I have to reveal it to a third party."
"You mean Eva?"
"Yeah. For now, we are fine, but we will see." Auric nodded.
"Fine. I should evolve as quickly as possible. This will make our party safer."
"Agreed."
"Auric." To his surprise, Lindwurm called him.
’What’s wrong?’ Auric asked inwardly.
"Let’s have a deal. I’ve noted everything down."
’Noted what down?’ Auric didn’t understand what he wanted to say.
"I’m talking about artifacts. We passed through about four kilometers to kill those two rank 4 beasts, you know? I could find six artifacts in our path."
’For real?’
"Yes. Besides, I have another surprise. However, you need to listen to my demands."
’Another surprise? Well, that depends on what kind of surprise you’re talking about.’
"I’m sure you’re not going to be disappointed. My demand is simple. I want an eight-day buffet. Every day, you are going to spend five million credits to buy each element material, one element for each day."
’You are asking me to buy you forty million credits’ worth of materials?’ Auric was stunned. ’Those six artifacts are far from enough.’
"I know. What if I tell you the military hasn’t found a ruin in this area?"
’What?’ Auric froze.
"Hehehe. You must not have noticed it yet. The ruins are made of things that are abundant there, right? In that case, shouldn’t the Earth element here need to be abundant? Yet, the Alps only contain water and wind elements. Don’t you find it odd?"
’Well, I do find it odd.’ Auric agreed with this fact, but he didn’t have an explanation for it yet.
"What if I tell you about the undiscovered ruins? Judging from its location as well as other factors, I believe that the ruins contain a very strong earth element. No, it might even be considered an absolute earth element.
"This is the only way to explain why there is no earth element in the Alps. This place must have sucked everything out. In addition, due to the location, I believe it also has a dark element."
Auric was taken aback by this information. ’Do you seriously mean it?’
Auric fell into deep thought. The explanation was quite reasonable. If it were an earth element with a rating close to 5.0 or even 5.0, it might absorb the earth element from these massive ruins.
It explained why the Alps only contained water and wind elements.
After all, if he took a look at the Wind Temple and the Chilling Lake, he knew this was true.
If one of these ruins possessed absolute water or absolute wind elements, they might suck the elements from the Alps ruins.
However, he could only imagine one scenario where the dark element would be abundant. It would be underground.
’An underground cave system?’ Auric was taken aback by his realization.
"Correct. You won’t be able to find it without me." Lindwurm grinned.
If Lindwurm had indeed found such ruins, there was no reason not to give him forty million’s worth of materials. In fact, it might be a bargain.
Auric could find a lot of artifacts in it, so he could get more money. In addition, this might also be an opportunity for Katarina.
Katarina’s element had a rating of 4.8 out of 5. She might be able to evolve if he found the ruins.
It meant that not only would they be safer against Eva, but they would also have the ability to prepare for what the organization had prepared for them.
It was an opportunity he couldn’t reject.
Auric realized his eyes were not strong enough to see through such a deep layer of soil. Since it was buried underground, the energy might not leak, so no one had found it yet.
In the first place, the military opened this place for students. Even if they invited evolution masters, they would be for students, so their grades shouldn’t be too high.
So, they could only find ruins on the surface.
They wouldn’t be able to find something that not only had a complex pathway to reach it but also properly sealed.
Auric’s expression turned solemn. "Fine. I promise an eight-day buffet, no, a nine-day buffet. But the energy from the materials..."
"Of course, I’m going to spend it on something else." Lindwurm smirked. "Isn’t it a buffet for a reason?"
He thought that even if he bought him materials, Lindwurm would convert them into the energy for the store.
Then again, it might be fine to treat Lindwurm from time to time. After all, Lindwurm had played a huge role in his improvement.
After considering everything, Auric answered, ’Okay. I’ll prepare it once we’re back. I’m not sure if our city has it, but I can ask Ellia or my teacher to get the materials for me. I’m sure that the Relesha family will be fine if I tell them I will sell the artifacts to them.’
"They will probably agree even if you don’t give anything."
’I’m not someone who likes to be in debt.’
Lindwurm shrugged. "Fine. Which one do you want to hear first? The six artifacts or the ruins?"
Auric smiled.
...
An hour later.
Once everyone had finished their meals, Auric gathered them. "Sorry, Ellia..."
"Hmm?" Ellia tilted her head in confusion while she was washing the dishes. "What’s wrong? Why apologize?"
"I might have to change the plan slightly."
"We’re not going to the Unique Valley?"
"We’ll still go there, but there might be another stop before that."
"I don’t really mind, but where are we going first?"
Auric smiled and turned to Katarina. "Katarina, if you were presented with the chance to evolve right now, would you take it?"
"Me?" Katarina was dumbfounded. "I would. My element has reached 76%. My original plan was to train the fusion method to a certain level of proficiency before increasing my element to 100%. So, it should take me two more months before evolving, but if such an opportunity presents itself to me, I will take it."
"In that case, we will make another stop." Auric smiled. "We will go to another place not far from here to get an artifact that will help you evolve. The energy should match your element, so I don’t think you will have any problems evolving.
"The only problem is whether you are willing to take this opportunity. First of all, we will soon encounter something even more dangerous, so having stronger allies is always welcome.
"In addition, the place where we’re going has practically been untouched for a long time, so the danger is also very high, not to mention that it will be an environment you aren’t prepared for. Of course, we can also return first to get a bunch of equipment, but what do you think?"
Everyone was dumbfounded. Auric was practically saying only one thing.
Vera gasped. "Did you find... undiscovered ruins?"