The Genius Evolution Store

"Did you find... undiscovered ruins?"

They couldn’t believe what they were hearing. But if this were true, everything would change.

Auric was already insane enough that he could find artifacts where no one could. Yet he actually found something even bigger.

"Wait a minute. There are ways to find ruins without searching for them. The best method is to wait until there’s a beast outbreak, which will indicate the presence of the ruins... It’s normally hard to spot in the wilderness, but this area has been populated. So, if such ruins haven’t been discovered for so long, there should be one or two beast outbreaks already," explained Vera.

"Well, this place is probably hard to enter, and it’s also sealed properly, so no one can sense the trace of energy from it. So, the number of beasts staying inside might not be that high, but they’ll surely be powerful." Auric raised one finger, explaining it as if it wasn’t a big deal.

"This..." Vera gulped.

"I wonder if they will give us a bonus point for the ruins discovery," Eric muttered in a low voice.

All of them turned to Eric. They suddenly figured out why Eric and Auric were friends.

"You two are birds of one feather."

Out of everything he was curious about, Eric was most curious about the points.

Katarina contemplated. On the one hand, it was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up. On the other hand, would it be alright to receive something like this?

Even Auric couldn’t find it. He had to rely on Lindwurm to find something like this.

"I..." Katarina hesitated, but ultimately, she accepted it. "I will go. If that makes the group safer, then all the more reason to go."

Auric then turned to everyone else.

Eric just shrugged, showing no objection. Ellia nodded in agreement. "If you go, I go."

"Since it’s for Katarina, then yes. Let’s go. I still have a lot of questions, though." Vera sighed.

’This might be an opportunity to assess Auric’s true talent. If he found such ruins, it would mean that his sensitivity was beyond anything the world had seen so far.’ Eva also agreed. "Let’s go then."

Auric smiled. "Since it has been decided, we shall head there after this. Of course, after the new ruins, we will get back here and return to the original ravine. There are still a few artifacts that we’ve missed because we were fleeing from the beasts."

"..." Vera’s eyebrows twitched.

The fact that he was so nonchalant about it was unbearable.

He had just entered the ruins once and found so much treasure, not to mention another treasure chest awaited them.

"By the way, what are you doing, Eric?" Auric asked, looking at Eric, who was clasping his hands as though he were praying.

"Can’t you see? I’m praying to the God of Fortune, you. You better bless me with luck and prosperity."

"I’m not Go—" Auric almost fell for it. "Did you learn that bad thing from Tommi’s?"

"That’s a good thing, not a bad thing, especially if that can mess with that confident smile of yours. Heh." Eric scoffed before running away. "Bye."

"You..." Auric’s eyebrows twitched. "In any case, no one has any objections, right? In that case, let’s clean up here and head in that direction."

They didn’t really have an objection. They were simply surprised with the fact that this place still had unexplored ruins.

They first left the Alps ruins, since no ruins could exist inside each other.

The spot that Lindwurm was talking about was located one kilometer south of the Alps ruins’ entrance.

Then again, the Alps ruins only covered 70% of the Alps. There were still some mountains on the northeast and the southwest that weren’t covered by the barrier.

That was why it wouldn’t be weird for them to find something here.

After reaching this place, Lindwurm couldn’t help but confirm his findings.

"Stop." Lindwurm warned Auric.

Auric halted his steps, confusing the rest of the group.

"What’s wrong?"

Auric looked down and said, "The ruins are underneath us. The problem is the entrance. We will have to split into three groups and find the entrance leading to the underground place. There should be a massive opening for the ruins."

"An underground cave system? No, since we’re on the mountain, I guess it should be a cave system within the mountain range? But it’s sealed, so maybe it’s further down." Eva looked up, thinking about possibilities.

"Most likely." Auric agreed. "For now, let’s split into three groups and focus on searching for the entrances. If you find anything that leads to a cave system, immediately report it."

There were no objections. The group split into three pairs like usual. Since it was a mountain range, they needed to be careful when searching around.

Ellia asked, "Are you sure about revealing the ruins like this? Your ability will be assessed by Eva, you know?"

"I’m willing to reveal this much. It’s not a problem for now." Auric smiled. "I know you’re worried about me, but I’m preparing for what’s about to come."

"And that is..."

"Of course, go international."

"Oh. Well, just be careful. There’s a chance that the situation will become a bit dangerous for you."

"I know." Auric nodded while taking a peek down the ravine. "Should we go down?"

"It’s quite deep for me. Maybe we should use your power."

Auric first wrote his Edict before extending his hand to Ellia. Ellia held his hand without hesitation as Auric activated the space ability.

As soon as they reached the bottom of the ravine, they looked around, wondering if there was a cave or something along those lines nearby. Unfortunately, even with Lindwurm, they couldn’t find anything.

"Nothing." Lindwurm shook his head.

Unexpectedly, Katarina’s voice echoed in their communications.

"Ehm... You might want to come here, guys. There is a cave, but it’s too deep, so I don’t dare to push forward. However, I feel something weird. My instinct feels like it’s telling me that if I continue forward, it wants me to kneel."

"!!!" Auric’s eyes brightened. "That’s what you call absolute elemental suppression. Well, didn’t I tell you that the ruins this time possess an absolute earth element?"

"..." Katarina was speechless. "You didn’t!"

Auric chuckled. "Anyway, we need a location."

"Eva will fly." Katarina let out a long sigh. "Seriously, I’m not going to complain, but this is a bit ridiculous. Do you know how hard it is to increase your element if your element’s rating is above 4.7?

"It’s extremely hard. My element rating is 4.8. Most of the materials I’ve absorbed are at 4.2 to 4.3.

"Look at Tommi, for example. Eric could easily surpass him, and he is stuck at his current level because he’s searching for a beast with an element that has a rating of 4.5 or above.

"And this time, not only will I be able to evolve, but I will absorb energy from an absolute earth element?"

Auric chuckled. "Isn’t it good? Hahaha."

Katarina could only facepalm after hearing Auric’s nonchalant attitude.

It didn’t take too long for them to gather. The cave entrance was quite hard to reach. First, it was surrounded by thick woods. Second, the entrance was hidden behind some trees and rock formations. Unless someone intentionally came here, they would never find this cave.

"So, this is the cave." Auric smiled. "It’s dark, isn’t it? There should be a dark element in the ruins as well."

"You didn’t tell us that." Vera pointed at Eric. "You need to control your best friend."

"We are not best friends." Eric snorted.

Auric just laughed it off before asking, "Anyway, we will need light."

"Don’t worry. I will use my power here." Eva raised her hands, forming multiple spheres that emitted quite powerful light. She waved her hand as the spheres flew into the cave, brightening it. "Still, shouldn’t we camp here first? We need to recover our energy first before challenging the unknown."

"I’m planning to find the entrance first and figure out how to enter the ruins. Then, we will set up camp before challenging this place tomorrow."

"Well..." They had no objections to his decision, so they followed him inside the cave.

The cave system was extremely deep. The tunnel itself wasn’t huge. It would be quite hard for Vera and Ellia to swing their weapons in this place.

Still, they definitely felt that they were descending. Gradually but surely, they reached underground.

Eventually, they stopped.

"Hmm? It splits into three." Katarina narrowed her eyes. "Are we going to split up again?"

Auric didn’t answer immediately. After all, Lindwurm looked like he was sniffing around.

He also squinted his eyes, trying to see the energy.

There was one thing he was sure of. He still couldn’t see the energy, so the place itself was still quite far. They needed to descend for another thirty meters, which was the current limit of his vision.

Lindwurm suddenly stopped at one entrance. "This is the place. Go this way."

Auric immediately walked toward the one Lindwurm chose while saying, "It’s this way. Let’s go."

They didn’t know how Auric was able to figure it out, but one thing was clear. It looked like Auric could really find the ruins.

They continued to walk past several obstacles. The oxygen had become quite thin, but their bodies could still take it.

Fortunately, there was no water inside, or else they would have to worry about an underwater entrance or the possibility of drowning.

After a descent that lasted for one and a half hours, they finally stopped in front of the ruins.

They were sure that the ruins were here because when Eva used her power to light up the cave, she put one of her spheres too far, which caused it to fly past the barrier.

The dark element overpowered the light element and engulfed it completely.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Here I present to you, the Mysterious Cave ruins." Auric smiled.

"There’s really one?" They were dumbfounded. It wasn’t that they didn’t believe Auric. It was just too ridiculous to be true.

After all, the Alps ruins had already been there for several decades.

Then again, no one would ever reach this place unless they were trying to explore a deep cave, but in this era, cave exploration wasn’t exactly a priority.

Auric said, "This is a barrier..."

Auric walked closer to inspect it. "The dark element has a rating of 4.4, while the earth element has a rating of 5.0."

Auric looked down, following the trace of energy. He could see a portion of the cave system that was included in the ruins.

First, Auric released his own energy to see if he could neutralize the barrier.

"Still, the ruins have a dark element, so how are we supposed to open it? We don’t have anyone that has a dark..." Eva suddenly stopped, forgetting there was a chance that the man before her might have that element.

And he opened it.

"Yep. It looks like we can enter this place. Let’s set up camp first. We need to go back and focus on recovering before we enter the ruins. This is going to be quite an interesting exploration."