The Genius Evolution Store

The next day.

"Welcome to the training camp!" Supervisor Jacob smiled, as he stood with all twelve instructors who would be helping him for the next seven days. "Today is the start of the training camp. Each instructor will be taking care of two groups at once, but this will only last for one day.

"Tomorrow, it will be rotated. You may still ask for their insight, but they will focus on other groups.

"If you see on your right side, there are signs about the type of lesson they’re going to teach. Since it’s first come, first served, you may take a look first and see which person you want to learn from.

"You don’t have to worry about their competence. Even though the assistant instructors are only Rank 5, their expertise is extremely high.

"Pick one that benefits your group the most, rather than picking someone just because you want to adore them or make a connection.

"Also, from Monday to Wednesday, the teachers will teach you whatever you want for the whole day. They’re reserved for your groups. From Thursday to Sunday, you will have free training time. You may do whatever you want during that time, and the teachers will be standing by.

"You can show your progress to them and ask their advice at that time, but you may not monopolize them during those four days.

"That’s all from me. Since there are twenty-five groups here, the leftover group will be with me." Supervisor Jacob smiled.

When they heard it, they couldn’t help but think of the benefit of being the leftover. After all, Supervisor Jacob was the best, so people would be lining up for him.

Still, the training lasted for four weeks, which meant twenty-eight days. There were only twenty-five groups, so even if he only took on one group a day, everyone would get their turn.

Maya had advised them to have their lesson with Supervisor Jacob’s lesson on the last day, so their target was clear.

Auric muttered, "I think we should choose Mr. Green. Controlling an element is hard, so we probably want to get it as quickly as possible. While they’re still focusing on Supervisor Jacob, we should choose him."

"I don’t particularly mind, since that’s very beneficial for me as well," Katarina agreed.

"I’m quite curious whether he can give me advice. I’m using a sword after all." Vera smiled excitedly.

"Sure." Ellia simply nodded in agreement.

Supervisor Jacob announced, "In that case, instructors, please go to your respective spots."

All of them immediately walked toward their own flags as people looked around. A lot of them were hesitating, as they wanted to receive Supervisor Jacob’s teaching. He was the most knowledgeable, after all.

But Auric’s group remained firm in their choice.

The one they visited was Mr. Green, the old man with a perfect handlebar mustache. He smiled while stroking his mustache.

"Oh my. I never thought that I would be so popular that you would show no hesitation in coming to me." Mr. Green recognized everyone on the team.

"We’d like to learn how to use elements if you don’t mind." Auric nodded gracefully.

"You’re welcome to learn from me. You can call me Mr. Green."

"We are—" Auric wanted to introduce themselves, but Mr. Green stopped him. "You don’t have to introduce yourself. I recognize all of you. Auric Elfe, Ellia Stroph Astler, Vera Schneider, and Katarina Vasilyevna, right?"

"Y-Yes. We’re flattered that you know of someone like us." Auric politely nodded.

"Very well. While we’re waiting for the second group, how about you give me a demonstration first? Attack me." Mr. Green smiled. "Use whatever you’re comfortable with."

"We understand." Auric turned to the others. "So, who will go first?"

"I can’t contain my curiosity, so I will go first." Vera raised her hand.

"Very well. Attack me at your discretion, young lady."

"Yes, sir!" Vera pulled out her sword and coated it with her element. This was Vera’s signature technique. By using the strong wind to bounce off a surface, her movement would be more flexible and elastic.

Vera took a deep breath before leaping toward Mr. Green. She raised her sword and struck him from above.

Mr. Green raised one finger and concentrated his energy at his fingertip.

He actually put his finger in the sword’s path.

The two energies collided immediately.

"!!!" Auric widened his eyes. "His energy... is overwhelming Vera’s energy?"

"I’m not done yet!" Vera bit her lip and used the powerful wind to disrupt the flow so that the sword bounced to the side. Vera’s sword changed its trajectory and headed toward Mr. Green’s neck this time.

"A clever trick, but it’s still a trick." Mr. Green smiled. His fingertip shifted its direction, shooting the energy toward Vera’s sword.

The clash was brief because the lightning energy actually knocked Vera’s sword to the ground. Then, Mr. Green put his foot on top of her blade, making sure she couldn’t pull it out.

"!!!" Vera widened her eyes. She had reached Rank 3. It was true that Mr. Green was Rank 6, but he only used a fraction of his power. She thought she could somehow force him to go a bit further, but she realized the gap between them was extremely wide.

Mr. Green turned to Ellia. "Young lady, may I borrow your sword for a moment?"

Ellia handed over her sword without hesitation.

Mr. Green then shifted back to Vera. "Your control over your energy will continue to be more refined in the future, but right now, rather than refining that control, you need to change the shape of your power."

Mr. Green pulled out Ellia’s sword and placed his three fingers on the root of her blade.

"You put too much unrefined power around your sword, so even when you’re bouncing, your sharpness decreases significantly. What you need is a shape that allows you to maintain the bounce and sharpness at the same time." Mr. Green slid his fingers along the blade.

A yellow energy coated the blade as though there were another thin layer of blade. However, everyone could see that the amount of energy on that blade was actually the same as the one on Vera’s blade earlier.

Mr. Green nodded to Vera. "Then, young lady, how about you strike me again with the same amount of energy?"

Vera grew solemn and tried to match the amount of energy before she swung her sword again.

To her surprise, the moment their blades clashed, Vera found her energy breaking apart in an instant as Mr. Green’s energy remained stable.

"What?" Vera widened her eyes.

"Concentration, huh? No, it’s probably more like condensation." Auric narrowed his eyes.

"It looks like our friend here is able to see it." Mr. Green confirmed Auric’s answer. "That’s right. What you’re doing is just stacking your element onto your blade. It may give you a lot of power, but you look like you’re swinging a bat rather than a blade."

"!!!" Vera’s body shook.

"By changing the shape of your refinement, you will be able to enhance its sharpness and the durability of your energy. I will teach you how to do it after I check your friends’ situations first. Will that be all right?"

Vera was surprised by his advice. She had to admit that she had underestimated him. Since her mentor was her uncle, who focused on using his overwhelming element rather than weapons, she never received a lesson like this.

Without hesitation, Vera bowed deeply. "Yes, sir. Thank you for your lesson."

Mr. Green waved his hand before handing Ellia her sword back. "Then, how about you next?"

"Understood." Ellia agreed without hesitation. She took a deep breath and used her Second Cataclysm to surprise him, but Mr. Green simply shook his head.

"Ah, this... Your problem is not actually in your technique. Your refinement is good, but your problem is in your fundamentals."

In a single glance, Mr. Green identified Ellia’s problem. "You must have been praised too much for your swordsmanship. What do you think is a good balance for a swordsman?

"Your current condition is that you utilize 80% of your potential in sword, while only utilizing 10% of your potential in element.

"A master swordsman utilizes 100% of both potentials instead of only focusing on his sword. However, a grandmaster will go one step further to refine the talent they’re best suited for. In your case, it will be utilizing 120% of your potential in sword.

"In your current condition, rather than increasing your potential in sword by another 20%, it’s better to increase your potential in element by 50%. This will be a shortcut for you to get stronger as well as stabilizing your fighting style.

"With good elemental manipulation, even I can make use of a sword." Mr. Green raised his two fingers, using his energy to create a blade as an extension of his fingertips. He then released a powerful sword wave that Ellia could only dream of blocking.

"!!!" Ellia was startled. She usually used her element to teleport herself or in her attack, but she never really thought of using it for other things. She nodded. "Thank you for your advice."

Other students, who were hesitating in choosing their teachers, couldn’t help but see Mr. Green’s performance.

They never thought that Mr. Green could easily see through the weakness of each member of the group. If they could really get this kind of insight from each instructor, there was no need to hesitate any longer.

"I want to apply there!"

"Me first!"

"Oi!"

They were scrambling for their respective instructors. Even Maya ended up receiving two groups of students this time.

Auric glanced to the side as the second group arrived. Mr. Green just smiled at them and said, "Please wait until I finish their assessment, understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

Mr. Green then continued, "In that case, next should be..."

"Me." Katarina stepped forward.

"Oh my, you’re going first? I thought the young lad would come first."

"You have to save the best for last." Katarina smirked.

"Very well."

Katarina raised both hands and formed two spheres of different intensity. It was the ability that had defeated countless opponents.

Seeing her power, Mr. Green smiled. "You are a very talented person. Rather than teaching you something new, it’s best to focus on refining your power further."

"In that case, here I come!" Katarina smiled and released her attacks at the same time. If Mr. Green had used his usual barrier, he would have had to focus on one type of bullet at a time.

Katarina was confident that Mr. Green would have a hard time.

However, Mr. Green simply snapped his fingers. Barriers appeared around him, but this barrier was different. It wasn’t a single sphere barrier that completely isolated him.

Instead, he made countless smaller barriers that were just enough to stop the bullets. For the bigger bullets, he put forward thicker barriers. For the smaller bullets, he stopped them with the normal barriers.

Mr. Green controlled his power perfectly so that not a single bullet could touch him, no matter how much Katarina controlled it.

"This..." Katarina scratched the back of her head.

"Your control is already excellent, and I particularly have nothing but praise for it. However, it’s not the end of your path. Your current process is to summon those spheres, split them into bullets, shoot them, and control them.

"However, you can take one step further. Remove the first step and summon the bullets immediately. If it were me..." Mr. Green snapped his fingers.

Suddenly, bullets, similar to the ones Katarina summoned, formed around him, orbiting his body. He shot three of them upward, but the number of bullets orbiting his body didn’t decrease. It was as if the bullets regenerated as soon as one was fired.

"Can you see that? You need to train your ability to multitask, so you can do multiple things at once such as gathering energy, creating your bullets, and even controlling your bullets."

"I understand. Thank you very much, Mr. Green."

Mr. Green smiled and turned to Auric. "Well, the young lady here has heaped such high praise on you. Can I expect something more from the ’best,’ young lad?"

"You overestimate me. I will simply do my best. I don’t know whether that will be enough to surprise you."