As Auric reached the counter, he saw something different from what he remembered. "Hmm?"
There was a plaque behind the counter. 'Elfe's Material Store' should have been written on it.
Yet, the words written were actually "Night and Day Evolution Store."
"Did Dad plan to change the shop? Did this change have anything to do with his business partner?" Auric tilted his head in confusion.
Unfortunately, he couldn't get an answer to that question, not because he couldn't find the answer, but because he heard the bell ring.
It was the bell attached to the door to alert the owner of a customer. Auric instinctively responded by turning around. "Welcome."
"Umm… Is this place a material shop?" It was a girl. She had long, flowing blond hair and deep green eyes, which enhanced her beauty even further.
Auric wanted to speak, but a voice suddenly rang directly in his mind. "Follow my words."
"Huh?!" Auric felt goosebumps as he looked at the woman. The previous voice was clearly a male voice, while the one in front of him was a girl.
There was no way the girl was the one who had spoken to him earlier. That was what he wanted to believe, but he couldn't see any other people in the store.
However, Auric's confusion made the girl suspicious of him. "Huh—what? Is this not a material shop? Who are you? Are you a thief?"
The girl stepped back, her body exuding some energy. An avatar gradually formed on her back.
This time, it was an elf avatar. Her appearance was similar to the girl's, except for the long, pointy ears.
Simultaneously, Auric noticed the same phenomenon manifesting in the girl's energy. There were particles sparkling within it.
"I know you have many questions in your mind, but you can ask them after we're done with this girl."
The voice spoke once again.
Auric felt weird. The place was a store left behind by his father. He shouldn't be trying to harm him. That was what he believed, if not for all the weird things happening around him.
After a brief hesitation, Auric decided to follow the voice's instructions. "Yes, this place is an evolution store. If you wish to get stronger, you are in the right store. I have just inherited this store from my father."
The girl came to a realization. She glanced left and right and finally understood why shelves were empty.
Since it had just been inherited, it was natural for the shelves to be empty.
"An evolution store? Isn't this just a material store?"
She wasn't the only one who was confused. Even Auric didn't expect this was an evolution store.
An evolution store. It was a type of store highly respected in the world.
Avatars lent their power to humans, and humans would use their power to get stronger. However, avatars could evolve to higher beings, which allowed the humans to utilize even more power.
In this world, all humans made a contract with a being of the lowest rank to accommodate their weaker human bodies.
In Eric's case, his avatar was a vampire, but it would be more accurate to say it was a vampire baron.
If he wanted to get stronger, he needed to evolve his vampire baron to the next rank, such as a vampire count, or even higher, like a vampire marquis.
Auric had read a lot of articles on the Internet. According to one, an elf could first evolve to an elder elf, then to a high elf, and so on.
The higher their rank, the stronger the power they could wield.
All living beings, including beasts, had an element in their bodies. To upgrade their power and ultimately evolve, they needed to consume elemental energy from various sources, such as beasts, plants, and other things.
Most people consumed beast essence to increase their elemental power, which allowed them to meet the requirements for evolving to the next rank.
That was why the empty store couldn't be called an evolution store. He could offer her nothing. He couldn't even sell her beast essence to increase her elemental power.
As he was about to explain, a voice rang in his mind.
"Look at her body."
'Huh?' Auric suspected that this voice was trying to screw him over.
As he expected, the girl reacted strongly to his weird behavior. "You…"
While he was worried about the elf avatar, Auric was more surprised by what he found from her.
The particles flowing out of her body looked different from those of Eric's. In Eric's case, the flow was quite random. Some flowed out, some moved up and down and disrupted other flows, and some even entered his body.
Meanwhile, the energy of the girl flowed outward as if she were releasing it in all directions.
Her energy felt like a flowing river… except in one place—her right arm.
The particles around her right arm were the only ones moving inward, while the rest flowed outward as normal. He wondered whether this flow was intended to be different.
The voice realized Auric had identified the problem.
"It looks like you've sensed something. How about following my instructions again?"
Auric hesitated for a second. Still, the voice seemed to know more than him.
Once again, he chose to trust the voice. "Miss. I'm not lying about the evolution part. It looks like you already have the qualification to evolve your avatar to an elder elf, but you feel as if there is a wall stopping you from evolving her."
"!!!" The girl widened her eyes. "You… How do you know?"
"Because there is a problem with your battle technique."
This was another term that Auric didn't expect he would mention. A battle technique was a universal term for all the abilities that an avatar possessed. The battle technique could mean element manipulation, magic, or even close-combat skills.
They shared one similarity. It was the fact that they used magical energy.
It was basically an energy utilization technique, so it shouldn't be related to evolution.
"My battle technique?" The girl became even more suspicious.
"Yes. There are two ways for you to evolve your avatar. How about this? Since I have just inherited this store from my father and haven't stocked up on anything, how about I give you a free service as my first customer?"
"Customer?" The girl hesitated, thinking, 'Before coming to this store, I visited an evolution store. I just wanted to get my material to evolve from this store. If he's a fraud, I will report him to the police or complain.'
"Alright then." The girl ultimately nodded.
"The first one is to find something that can produce a high amount of plant energy once consumed. As long as you absorb a high amount of energy related to your plant element, you can fix your problem and evolve."
"!!!" The girl couldn't help but acknowledge the young man's ability. 'This person is saying the same thing the evolution master said… However, he looks very young. He might be handsome, but he's no one to me…'
Auric didn't know what was on her mind, so he continued, "The second method is to fix the battle technique itself. You can either stop using this battle technique or let me fix it for you."
"My battle technique?"
Auric added inwardly, hoping to communicate with the voice in his mind. 'What are you talking about? It's true that an evolution master is treated like a doctor. They have to keep the patient's condition a secret. But we're talking about a battle technique. It's a secret not many people are willing to disclose.'
A battle technique was precious. The reason people were willing to join powerful organizations was that they offered high-level battle techniques. So, how could it be disclosed easily?
It looked like he could communicate with the mysterious voice, which actually gave instructions similar to what he had found.
"Yes. There is a problem with your technique. The issue is located from your right shoulder all the way to your upper arm. However, I can only identify the problem, not understand it, without knowledge about your battle technique."
The girl squinted her eyes. She hesitated for a moment but ultimately accepted. "Fine. This is my battle technique."
Even Auric didn't expect her to give the battle technique.
Noticing his shocked face, the girl frowned. "Why are you surprised? You ask, I agree. This is a battle technique I found while exploring the ruins, so it has no attachment to my workplace. I had been practicing this technique because of its powerful combat ability."
"Ah!" Auric nodded in understanding, receiving a note consisting of four pages.
Little did he know, the pair of eyes had been staring at him from the ceiling the whole time. He whispered directly into Auric's mind. "Take a look at the battle technique and see what the problem is!"
The mysterious figure was smiling while thinking, 'Hehehe. You must not know anything about it yet. You will now revere me as your master. I'm going to let you taste defeat first and humble yourself so that you will listen to my teaching.'
Contrary to his expectation, Auric actually explained, "Miss. Please look at this part. This part says you have to channel the energy from your heart to your arm at high speed."
"Is there a problem?"
"Of course. The problem is in your right arm. If you take a look at the instructions on the left arm, you will find that the flow is slower because it is using the shoulder as an anchor point."
"That's true."
"From what I can see, this technique allows you to manipulate plants at high speed while maintaining the power output. Sadly, it causes instability and harms your right arm in the process."
The girl dropped her jaw, unable to reply.
Even the mysterious figure couldn't believe it. "You… You… How do you know all that? Have you learned about it before?"
Auric nonchalantly replied in his mind, 'No. I haven't. This battle technique teaches me everything. It's divided into three parts: the way to circulate it in one's body, the method to channel it outside, and the power manifestation.'
The mysterious figure was speechless. "What—?!"
He couldn't believe Auric was correct in everything.
The mysterious figure bit his lip. Still, he didn't plan to let the matter go just like that. "Do you have a solution?"
'It's not difficult to find the solution,' answered Auric, as the solution was rather logical from his perspective.
Auric continued to the girl. "As long as you use your right shoulder as an anchor point, the problem should gradually be resolved. Because of the fast flow, the energy absorbed by your body is carried by the current toward your right hand. As a result, your body will perceive that area as still lacking energy.
"Oh!" The girl nodded furiously.
"That's why when you release your energy earlier, your right arm continues to absorb more energy. This causes an accumulation of energy, which results in a disruption in your energy flow."
"So, that's my problem!" The girl didn't even receive this much detail from the evolution master she had previously met.
"Due to the counterflow, that energy is being accumulated in your arm. Using the solution I gave earlier, the energy in your body will gradually balance out, and your avatar will evolve."
"So, that's why you also suggest ingesting a large amount of energy. It can forcefully expel the accumulated energy, right?"
"The more appropriate word will be 'flush.' You will use that energy to flush the energy that is stuck in your right arm. It's up to you which solution you would like to choose."
"Thank you very much, esteemed evolution master." The girl bowed gratefully. Now that she understood everything, her attitude changed drastically. "My name is Arina Teneresa."
"I am Auric Elfe. I'm glad you found it helpful." Auric smiled.
Arina became flustered as she let go of her suspicion and respected Auric, especially with that sudden smile on his face.
"Sir… Sir… You are so handsome. Do you have a girlfriend?"
"Ahaha. I'm flattered." Auric waved his hand, neither denying nor confirming.
Arina was slightly disappointed she couldn't get the answer, but she still politely offered him a business card. "I'll take my leave then. If you don't mind, please take it."
Arina Teneresa. Golden Weapon Corporation. 654xxxx.
After seeing Arina leave, Auric couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. "Ha…"
He was overwhelmed by all the things he had just learned.
"To think you would be able to handle the first customer by yourself. I'm impressed."
Auric had almost forgotten about this voice. He looked around while asking, "Who are you? I have a lot of questions."
"Hmph... Be honest with me. Have you learned anything about Evolution Master?"
"An evolution master? If you are talking about whether I know a thing or two, then yes. I've read about it on the Internet from time to time. The school had covered some of the basic topics, but there was no mention of a battle technique that can stop someone from evolving."
"That's because humans rely too much on their avatars. They won't be able to sense it."
"Well…" Auric understood a bit, but he didn't know whether he could agree or not.
"Are you interested in becoming an evolution master?" Suddenly, the voice stopped coming directly into his head. Instead, it originated from behind him.
Auric hurriedly turned around and saw a creature on top of the table. It looked like a lizard, but its body was round like a basketball. Still, it had a pair of wings.
When Auric took a step back to get a better look, he realized what the ball-like creature in front of him was.
"A chubby dragon?!"
"There's no need for the first part!"