Chapter 218: A Threat?
Seeing the news explode, Trevor couldn’t help but grit his teeth. "Aaaarggghhhh!"
His parents started to look worried. The situation wasn’t in their favor anymore. They needed to do something to handle this problem.
Of course, the only way to do it was to change everyone’s opinion.
[Auric Elfe possesses a unique element. He won’t be able to evolve in the future. His achievement will be capped soon.]
[Failing to awaken his avatar during the awakening ceremony? Is this the true nature of the so-called genius?]
[Beating his fellow student excessively?]
[Receiving a special privilege? Nepotism confirmed.]
When the articles came out, more and more people started to hate Auric.
[Miura6969: So, is Auric good or bad? If he has a unique element, doesn’t that mean he will encounter the problem that all unique-element users have?]
[ICare: But he failed to awaken his avatar, right? If that was the case, shouldn’t that mean he didn’t have any talent?]
[SuperHeor: That was true. Even Professor Schad mentioned Auric receiving a special privilege. This is unfair to everyone who is working hard to become an evolution master.]
[Matthewewewe: That’s true. Can we even call him a student? He’s a monster. He continued to beat the guy who was already defeated. Just look at history, he used to have a conflict with another person, but that guy died.]
[Conflicted: This is embarrassing. This kind of person shouldn’t be treated as a student. He should be treated as a criminal.]
With so many articles coming out, the debate about Auric heated up even further, not only inside the campus but also outside.
The people throughout the capital city were wondering what the truth was.
Seeing the situation, Trevor couldn’t help but smile, muttering inwardly, ’Very good. People’s opinions are divided again. You may be able to do something with that interview, but this is the capital city. A country bumpkin like you won’t be able to manipulate the media as well as my family. Even the Relesha family can’t. After all, my family owns two media companies. There’s no way others will support Auric.’
However, that media battle was instantly over the moment Chief Lucas brought the media to the Evolution Association headquarters.
Chief Lucas stood in front of the reporters. There were reporters who supported Trevor’s family, but there were still some reporters who were tasked to find the truth. They wanted to know the situation first before publishing any articles.
It showed how much the situation had heated up. Even the people who should have been Trevor’s allies had to think twice.
It was especially true when Chief Lucas decided to speak about it himself.
"Chief Lucas, what do you think about the recent topics regarding the genius student, Auric Elfe?" One reporter asked.
Chief Lucas paused for a few seconds. "What do I think about it? I can’t say for sure. All I know is that a genius has appeared in our country, so I think it’s a good thing."
"Chief Lucas, can you confirm Auric Elfe’s authenticity as a silver-grade evolution master?" Another reporter asked a question.
"After this matter was brought to my attention, I went to check his credibility. And now, I can confirm to all of you that Auric Elfe is a silver-grade evolution master. His abilities are genuine to the point where I think that if he’s not limited by his power, he can easily become a gold-grade evolution master."
"!!!" The reporters were stunned. A 17-year-old gold-grade evolution master? Becoming a silver-grade evolution master alone was hard, yet Auric was said to have the ability to surpass that. It was simply unbelievable.
However, the person who said it was the Supreme Chief of the Evolution Association.
"Chief Lucas, are you intending to bring him to the Evolution Association?"
Chief Lucas shook his head. "I don’t intend to bring him to the Evolution Association. However, I do wish to meet this young man because I appreciate his talent."
"Chief Lucas, what is your stance on Kallarnos University?"
Chief Lucas thought for a moment before giving a perfect answer. "All this time, within the university, Kallarnos University has always been impartial. The agreement was clearly stated, and they’ve done as promised to protect their integrity.
"However, the fact that Student Trevor, despite the written agreement, is still in the university means that Kallarnos University’s integrity is becoming questionable.
"I could see many articles stating that Kallarnos University is protecting one of its own. Because Student Auric is not a student of Kallarnos University, some claim that the contract is not valid.
"If that’s the case, my stance is clear. If Kallarnos University is protecting one of its own, then I, as the Supreme Chief of the Evolution Association, shall protect one of my own too.
"Hence, I shall declare that if Kallarnos University doesn’t intend to uphold its integrity as it has been for the last 80 years, all admissions for the evolution masters from Kallarnos University shall be revoked during this period."
This statement felt like thunder reverberating in their ears. The Evolution Association was famous for protecting its own people. So, it wasn’t weird for them to band together to punish someone.
But this time, the statement came directly from the highest decision-maker within the association. This meant that if the situation wasn’t resolved, there wouldn’t be any students who could continue their path as evolution masters from Kallarnos University.
A lot of reporters immediately asked a follow-up question, but Chief Lucas heard another interesting question that wasn’t related to his stance.
"Chief Lucas, what are your thoughts about Student Auric’s character?"
"You must be talking about the battle video. I don’t know if it’s related or not, but his fellow student, who is also in the exchange program, was in the hospital a few days ago. If that incident is related, it’ll be a different matter. So, I will investigate the situation first before giving further comments."
"Chief Lucas, does Student Auric receive special privileges within the association?"
Chief Lucas nodded. "There is no nepotism involved in this matter. And I hereby declare that Student Auric, due to his unique circumstances, will receive the privilege to be tested outside the usual schedule. However, his test will be harder. I will publish the difference in a video at a later date. In exchange for this difficulty, Student Auric can update his information as an evolution master at any time. I’m looking forward to having an evolution master who is equivalent to multiple evolution masters of the same rank."
"Chief Lucas, isn’t this too much to give such a privilege to a student who possesses a unique element? Won’t he be stuck soon because he can’t evolve anymore? Or does he really have no avatar? What are your thoughts about this?"
Chief Lucas wanted to tell everyone that Auric’s master might be a unique-element evolution master and his identity was Sunlight.
But it would just cause even more problems. To protect Auric, Chief Lucas had prepared an answer in advance.
Chief Lucas smiled. "Which one is he? A unique-element user or someone without an avatar? For me, it’s easier to believe that he possesses a unique element that can control other elements than the latter. After all, our knowledge about unique elements is limited.
"I have seen two battle videos that are spreading on the internet. So far, Student Auric has only shown energy with colors other than gray, which is the symbol of a unique element.
"I can’t say for sure because I don’t know about his secret. From what I can currently see, wouldn’t it be reasonable to believe that he can evolve his elements by absorbing materials corresponding to those elements? In other words, he might not be restrained by the limitation of a unique element."
"!!!" The reporters were stunned. When they thought about it, his explanation was quite reasonable.
They didn’t know about Auric’s secret, and it didn’t seem Auric planned to reveal that secret as well.
"Does that mean Auric Elfe is going to become an adamantine-grade evolution master in the future?"
Chief Lucas smiled. "I believe he will become at least an adamantine-grade evolution master. Maybe he can reach the level that all evolution masters hope to reach."
All the words that Chief Lucas had uttered completely crushed any opposition.
[A genuine 17-year-old silver-grade evolution master.]
[The ultimatum to Kallarnos University.]
[Kallarnos University’s quality is finally falling? The integrity is questioned.]
[Tommiseus: Eric, my friend, almost died because Trevor tricked him into the wilderness and left him behind in the middle of a siege of over 60 beasts. Without his talent, he would have died.]
[Student Auric’s resolve to get justice for his student stopped because Kallarnos University’s integrity is waning?]
[Confirmed by another genius who has the potential to become one of the strongest in the world.]
[A multi-element evolution master has appeared. Not restricted by the unique element?]
[A potential to become an evolution master beyond the adamantine grade?]
When the news spread, the situation became uncontrollable.
The students couldn’t help but start protesting. "What is going on? Student Council President, you need to head to the vice principal directly! Are you trying to cut off our path as an evolution master?!"
Not only the evolution masters but also the clubs that supported them began protesting to the student council president.
Of course, Katarina received the complaint as well, but she felt relaxed. No one could say anything because everyone knew that Katarina had been helping Auric’s store all this time.
In other words, Katarina had seen Auric’s potential and supported him, but given that the student council didn’t participate in this matter, they couldn’t help but think there was a conflict between Katarina and the student council president, ultimately questioning his judgment.
The vice principal looked down, feeling troubled. He might not have followed what Trevor’s family wanted, which was expelling Auric, but he also didn’t uphold integrity by expelling Trevor either.
"Khh..." The vice principal gritted his teeth.
Suddenly, a loud bang shocked him. The principal stormed into the room. "What a mess you’ve given me. I thought I could handle my own affairs because I could entrust you with the university."
"Principal..."
"Enough. Get out of your office. Your qualifications are going to be reviewed."
"Principal, please listen to me!"
"I don’t need to hear anything!" The principal gritted his teeth. "We have been maintaining our integrity this whole time. We might not control everything outside the university, but this place is supposed to assure the students. Even His Excellency is already warning me. If not, I wouldn’t have taken the fastest plane back here! Out!"
Kallarnos University became chaotic, but it wasn’t as chaotic as Trevor’s family.
"What? Mr. Carl, how can you just terminate our deal like that?"
"Miss Jane, we can definitely handle this. Please trust us."
"..." Trevor, who was panicking because of the counterattack, rushed back home to ask his parents to help him handle the situation. He could walk, but he couldn’t run. In addition, his face was still covered in bandages.
Yet he could see that both of his parents were focused on their phones, learning that the deals or contracts in their companies were being canceled. They were trying their best to explain the situation, but it didn’t look like they could do anything about it.
’How can this happen? He’s just a country bumpkin...’ Trevor clenched his fists. ’I need to fix this myself.’
Trevor gritted his teeth and ran away.
...
"At this rate, we’ll have a new student council president soon." Katarina chuckled. "Senior Rose is supporting me, but I have yet to become the strongest, so I can’t do it yet. My life has become crazier after meeting you. Surely, you’re not holding a grudge about how I first treated you, right?"
Katarina glanced at Auric. "Right?"
Auric’s silence caused her heart to skip a beat.
In the end, he couldn’t contain his laugh anymore. "Hahaha. Don’t worry. My motto is ’equivalent exchange.’ Hasn’t everything been equalized?"
"That’s..." Katarina thought for a moment before letting out a sigh of relief.
However, the peace of the store was interrupted when a man covered in bandages rushed into the store.
"Trevor?!" Katarina rushed to the front, trying to stop him from fighting Auric. She thought, ’Is he going to beg Auric to stop all this? It’s too late, isn’t it?"
Trevor did something far beyond Katarina’s imagination.
Instead of asking for forgiveness, Trevor actually threatened Auric. "Stop all this right now and apologize to me immediately. If you don’t, you won’t be able to meet your mother anymore!
"Don’t you think your mother is beautiful? I bet my men have captured her already. If you don’t stop all this right at this instant, I don’t know what my men will do to your mother."
