Hiss!
It was already shocking enough to see Auric using two elements. This time, Auric took out the badge of an evolution master.
"You are… an evolution master?" Principal Denis gasped in horror.
He could understand why Auric was able to beat all his students. However, he simply couldn't believe Auric was already an evolution master.
He was supposed to have awakened not too long ago. So, if he had become an evolution master, he should have taken the test two days after his awakening.
What kind of monster had Maya taken as her disciple?
Eirin opened her mouth wide. She had never thought Auric would be an evolution master.
Obviously, his action was noticed, and Principal Denis' voice was heard by the students. They were dumbfounded.
"What?"
"An evolution master?"
"He is an evolution master?"
"Look at that badge. He has three stars?"
"Two elements are already annoying to deal with, but he's an evolution master to boot?"
"Do you mean not only is he a bronze-grade evolution master, but he is also able to treat an extreme element?"
"How is it possible? Did he skip a year?"
"There should be no way a first-year like us could become an evolution master, not in the first half of the semester."
"Impossible!"
The crowd couldn't contain their shock anymore. They might go crazy at this rate.
Some people had already fallen.
"Kyaaa! Not only is he a master of battle, but he is also an evolution master!"
"Master Auric. Do you need a wife? My goal is to become a housewife!"
"I am first!"
"…" Auric smiled wryly. He immediately took the badge off and stored it in his pocket before someone could record him with the badge.
He stood up. "Anyway, that's how it is. Whether you take my suggestion or not is your problem."
There was another reason Auric took out the badge. It wasn't that he wanted to show off.
His energy was running low. Currently, his energy reserve for the plant element was about to run out. He could still fight with his wind element, but that was it.
By showing the badge, he could stop many people from fighting him. There was no way they would dare face an evolution master, especially after he had fought five people in a row.
They would rather not bear the consequences of provoking an evolution master. So, even if people were going to fight, Auric assumed only one or two more people would come.
He could somehow take care of them with his wind element.
From the looks of it, Patrick and Eirin were the students Principal Denis was proud of. So, the next challengers would be weaker than them.
Of course, there was another reason. He merely advertised himself as an evolution master. There might be customers from this city in the future, so he just had to advertise himself.
These students would most likely spread the news, but without any video, it would sound like rumors that people would find it hard to believe, which would create a sense of mystery around him.
Besides, Auric had gotten several elements, just not the one he was aiming for.
Even ignoring Jason's element, he had received four elements. The first one was the orange fire from Silvia with a rating of 3.2/5.
The second element was the shadow element Raven possessed. It had a rating of 3.4/5, almost an extreme element.
The third element was the purple lightning element with an intensity rating of 4.2/5.
The last element was the most powerful—the ice element from Eirin. It had a rating of 4.5/5. Although ice is a water element variant, it normally has an intensity rating of 2.5 to 3.5. In conclusion, Eirin's element might be more special than normal ice elements.
Currently, there were only two elements for which he had two variants. They were the earth element and the unique element.
With this battle, his fire, water, lightning, and dark elements would each have two variants, making him one step closer to his target.
Still, it was a bit unfortunate that he couldn't find any challengers with the light element. He could probably announce it, but he didn't know if the rating would be high enough.
In the worst-case scenario, Auric could always ask Ellia for a person with a light element.
So, for the time being, he was fine with ending the tournament.
"Should we end this tournament here, Principal Denis? I don't think any of your students really want to fight him anymore. Well, maybe some challengers…" Maya chuckled. "I guess you can ask, though I doubt there will be many who are willing to do it."
"…" Principal Denis bit his lip. Even so, he couldn't exactly end the tournament, as it would be unfair to the other students.
So, he asked if there was anyone who still wanted to participate in the tournament.
As Auric predicted, only one person came up. Auric fought her with his wind element but then tricked her with the plant element, allowing him to have an easy victory.
Unfortunately, he could no longer use his plant element after this battle, so it would have been quite hard if people had wanted to continue.
Fortunately, no one challenged him anymore, which meant Auric won the tournament.
Auric didn't copy the last challenger's element because it was a normal element.
"It looks like I've won, Principal Denis." Maya grinned. "In that case, you need to follow the bet."
Principal Denis was frustrated, but he couldn't really say anything else. To maintain his integrity, he had no choice but to comply. "Fine."
"Since there are no more challengers, the tournament is now over. You may go back!"
People were obviously much more curious about Auric, but they couldn't catch up to him as Principal Denis brought him away.
Auric simply looked at his teacher, demanding a full explanation.
Maya shrugged. "Well, we made an agreement to create a small tournament for the first-year students. In other words, you had to face them by yourself.
"Still, it would be unfair for you to fight all of them, so we had to limit the number of participants. And that was by adding an entrance fee.
"If his students defeated you, I had to give the S-grade resources to that student as well as equipment for the winning student. However, if you won, he would give me three battle techniques and a piece of equipment."
Auric was stupefied. He could somehow have guessed why Maya set these terms.
By adding an entrance fee and camouflaging it as a way to limit the participants, it would hide the true reason for this tournament. After all, it was Auric who required the battle techniques.
That also meant the three battle techniques that would be given as a bonus reward might be related to him as well.
Auric had told Maya that he planned to leave the city with Ellia. Maya might appear nonchalant about it, but he believed the piece of equipment would be for him.
It was just her way of protecting him.
"Here you go. The library. Just take three books. Don't steal anything else. I'm going to bring the piece of equipment."
"Hey, I never steal. Why would I steal anything?" Maya made a nonchalant remark. Once he had left, Maya explained, "He should be bringing a piece of clothing for you. This clothing is made similarly to chain mail, meaning you can also hide it underneath your clothes.
"It is light and won't hinder your movement. You will still feel the pain, but a direct attack might not kill you.
"Even though I have the money to buy you good equipment, this is different from providing transportation.
"Eventually, you have to earn everything by yourself, just like you've been earning money as an evolution master. This time, you've earned your equipment. I can assure you it's of a better quality than the one you can find in the Exchange Center."
It looked like he had predicted everything correctly. Maya definitely set everything up for him. Although it irritated him that she hid it, he couldn't really get mad at her.
"Thanks, Teacher." Auric politely bowed.
"No problem. Just make sure you don't die out there. Besides, you still have one more week before you can leave. How are you going to prepare?"
"I will open the shop every weekend. As for the rest, I will stay on campus. Maybe training everything I have right now is more important than anything else. Right now, I'm pretty sure I am like an elemental thrower. I have yet to master all my powers."
Maya nodded, satisfied. "It looks like I don't need to teach you anything else. It's unfortunate that we couldn't find your goal here."
"That's fine. I still have one way or another of finding what I want."
"All right, then. If you still need something else, tell me about it."
"Yes. Thank you, Teacher." Auric had the feeling that Maya was actually using him as an excuse to go to other places because she was bored staying in a single city during her punishment.
The call with her grandfather was the biggest clue he had. Well, she had taken care of him, so relieving a bit of her boredom was the least he could do.
"Anyway, you should head inside. Just take whatever you want."
"Yes." Auric nodded politely before entering the library.
Auric didn't plan to spend a lot of time learning other books. He first checked the unique element sections.
There were two other unique elements he found here, but he hadn't seen anyone with such elements yet, so it would be useless if he brought them back with him.
So, Auric changed his target to the techniques he would probably use a lot in his current state.
In the end, he grabbed three books. They were Explosion, Ice Wave, and Forest Manifestation.
From the tournament, there were three battle techniques that piqued his interest. They were Lightning Blade, Ice Spike, and Shadow Clones.
The Lightning Blade from Patrick might look useless because he didn't use a sword, but if he put that power at the tip of his roots just like what he did but with the wind element, the Lightning Blade would still be quite deadly.
In addition, the Ice Spike could be used with a steel element after he adjusted it. Throwing the heavy and tough steel would definitely be quite a hassle for his opponent.
Lastly, the Shadow Clones were meant as a survival ability. He already had another clone from Maya. The dream element could also produce a clone.
It might look redundant, but if he used all of them at the same time, the enemies would have a hard time finding him. His survival was nonetheless his top priority.
There was no such thing as having enough battle techniques to escape.
It was a bit unfortunate that he also couldn't get any plant or earth elements, considering he used them the most.
Although he didn't achieve his goal, he could definitely say that the trip was worth it.
Auric exited the library thirty minutes later and found that Principal Denis had already returned.
"Teacher, I'm done selecting the books. Principal Denis, please check." Auric showed the three books.
"I've confirmed the books." Principal Denis nodded. He then handed over a piece of clothing. "This is what your teacher wants to give you. You can treat it as an undershirt. Just don't wash it too forcefully."
"Understood. Thank you very much!" Auric's eyes brightened.
Looking at the sincere happiness on his face, Principal Denis fell silent before asking an absurd but predictable question. "Say, Student Auric. How about transferring to this university?"
"Oi! I warned you earlier." Maya interjected immediately as she glared at him.
"Hoho." Principal Denis acted as if he couldn't hear her. He continued, "If you transfer to our university, I will give you more equipment to ensure your safety. You can also access the library. You can get all the battle techniques you want. I'll make sure that happens. I won't be stingy."
"You old fox. Don't you think it's low for you to snatch my student right before my eyes?" Maya's energy started to flare out of her body.
Principal Denis wasn't scared of her. "I'm just saying I can take care of him better than you. You should let him go if you want the best for him!"
"He wants me to be his teacher." Maya snorted.
"Then stop answering for him. He can speak for himself!"
Maya glared at Auric as if she were demanding that he speak for her.
Auric just smiled. "I appreciate the offer, Principal Denis. However, I'd like to stick with my current teacher."
"What? Look, I can get you whatever you want. I can also be your teacher." Principal Denis looked at Maya for a second and added, "I know a boy like you definitely has an interest in women. You are at that age, so I understand.
"If you don't like an old man like me, I can assign you a beautiful female teacher that won't lose to her. Besides, our students are also top-notch. They have big…"
Before he could finish speaking, Maya had already grabbed Auric and dragged him away. "We're leaving."
"Oi! I'm not done yet!"