"Huuu..." Auric remained focused. He had to continue to the next step, which was the circulation.

To shape the shield, strengthen it, and pour enough energy into it took him ten seconds. It might have created a strong barrier, but he would probably die before he could erect the barrier.

That was why he needed to increase the speed of activation, pour enough power to create a strong barrier, and shape it to a shield in one go.

Auric could think of one solution. At that time, Lindwurm taught him how to concentrate the energy in his heart and released it in one go. It produced a stronger Night Arrow, but he could actually use it defensively.

In fact, he could combine it with the other advanced technique Lindwurm had taught him.

Auric tried to concentrate the chaos energy in one spot and let this lump of energy flow into his hand. Then, he discharged all of it in one go.

In just a split second, he had to strengthen the outer layer of the barrier so that it could contain a massive amount of energy. In addition, he had to shape it in the basic rectangular form.

Soon, a rectangular screen appeared in front of Auric’s hand, but a hole immediately formed, which caused the barrier to become brittle. Then, cracks formed all over the barrier. "Khh..."

"Very good. You have successfully created a new technique." Maya nodded, satisfied.

"I failed, though."

"As I said, creating a battle technique is easy. If you just tone it down slightly, you can probably produce quite a sturdy barrier at a slower pace. The hard part is to create a strong and versatile battle technique, like what you’re currently attempting." Maya shook her head.

"That’s..." Auric couldn’t deny it. It indeed looked like what she was saying. Auric wanted the shield creation to be fast and the shield to be sturdy. So, that was the hard part. He either had to adjust the sequence slightly or master this technique as originally intended.

Lindwurm added, "I don’t think I need to tell you this, but you now have to adjust the way you let the energy flow. Don’t think about mastering this kind of technique."

"!!!" Auric didn’t expect this advice from Lindwurm. ’Why?’

Lindwurm raised one claw. "A good battle technique might be strong and versatile. The best battle technique possesses one more quality. It is easy to use. If you think you can’t use it easily, you need to adjust it so that it’s easier for you to use."

"What? Do you notice something, Auric?" Maya tilted her head in confusion, noticing Auric’s slightly surprised expression.

"Ah, yes..." Auric thought for a moment before concentrating his energy in two spots. They moved at the same time, but the first one was ahead of the second one.

The moment he discharged the first lump of energy, it formed a rectangle and strengthened the outer layer, especially the front part. It wasn’t just because this was a barrier and the attack would hit the front part. Auric also wanted to strengthen it so that it could withstand the massive amount of energy from the second lump of energy.

This way, the hole from the previous attempt wouldn’t appear again in this attempt.

The barrier appeared in front of his hand, and the hole didn’t appear. However, he noticed the cracks in the barrier. After the second lump of energy filled the shield, it spread so fast that it weakened the barrier.

In other words, he was wrong on one part. He might have to adjust the amount of energy he released.

By increasing the size of the first ball and decreasing the size of the second ball of energy, he might be able to fully unleash this shield.

Maya smiled when she saw Auric completely focusing on trial and error.

"This is how a battle technique is created. You use humanity’s unlimited imagination to know how to manifest that power. Then, think of a solution that can allow us to manifest the imagination in our head.

"The rest is just trial and error to create a sustainable system, programming it so that the ability can manifest the way we intend it."

Auric released the barrier again, and this time, he succeeded.

Yes, the Chaos Shield had fully manifested. This was a barrier technique like his Earth Wall, but the way he circulated his power was different, making this barrier even sturdier and faster to use. In addition, it could disrupt the flow of attacks that touched the barrier and disperse it due to the chaos element’s property.

"Now that I think about it, I can actually strengthen it by combining this element with my Diamond Element, right?" Auric muttered. If he used the diamond element to create the outer layer, it could make a sturdier shell but still carry the chaos property.

"What do you intend to do with this shield?"

Auric smiled and said, "Try to attack me."

"Okay..." Maya was a bit unsure, but she chose to shoot a Night Arrow at him after seeing the smug smile on his face.

This was still the pure Chaos Shield. So, the moment the Night Arrow hit the shield, it cracked the front part, since Maya unleashed as much power as was allowed for this battle technique.

If it were just a normal barrier with his diamond element, this barrier would have already been destroyed. Maya would have to retract her power so as not to hurt him.

But it was quite surprising that this shield was able to withstand her power.

"Interesting. I strengthened the arrow tip with more energy, making it sturdier and containing a lot more power. However, I could see that the tip was destroyed... no, I think it’s more accurate to say it was dispersed."

"Yes." Auric nodded. "This is the Chaos Shield. By using the chaos element’s property, I can disrupt the flow of your energy. In other words, the energy that you used to strengthen the tip will become chaotic and unstable. So, it will break first, and the rest of the energy and momentum will help it disperse that power. Still, can’t you hold back on your own student?"

Auric pointed at the crack on the shield.

"If you were a normal student, I would have. But you were not. I believed you had the ability to stop it. Besides, I could retract my power at the last moment to avoid you getting hurt."

"You sure you are not just angry or frustrated at me because of... something?" Auric narrowed his eyes.

"Of course not. You are my beloved student." Maya crossed her fingers and smiled sweetly.

Auric just kept staring at her, and Maya shrugged. "Anyway, do you want to get some snacks outside?"

Auric sighed. He couldn’t really blame her, since he could think of several reasons for her to get angry or frustrated. Besides, as Maya said, she was strong enough to retract her power at the last moment to avoid a mishap. She probably only wanted to play around by scaring him a bit.

Auric continued, "Anyway, if I combine this element with the diamond element, I can probably create a sturdier outer shell, which will stop your Night Arrow completely."

"That’s good. But won’t the chaos element’s property make it hard for you to combine it with the diamond element?"

"Definitely. That’s why the unique elements are called unique. However, it’s just another challenge to overcome. Once I solve the problem, I can create a sturdy shield that is also effective in dispersing the power. An ultimate shield that can’t be destroyed easily."

"About that..." Maya raised a finger. "I think you should focus on the elements you have revealed first. I won’t stop you from creating battle techniques with other elements, but you can’t publicly use them. So, I think you should focus on creating a battle technique with your wind, plant, lightning, and maybe... earth element."

Auric thought for a moment. It was true that he might use his earth element soon, judging by the situation.

But he might go one step further during this creation process. He might combine all his wind elements into one. Then, he would do the same for his plant elements. After that, he would create a battle technique that contained the wind and plant elements.

If he managed to create something like this, he might be able to create a much more powerful battle technique. It might be a battle technique that transcends people’s imagination.

The thought alone excited him. Besides, with the investigation going on, he would probably have to spend his time on campus or in the villa.

There was plenty of time to actually learn and create battle techniques while absorbing the elements.

"It looks like I know what to do for the next couple of weeks." Auric smirked. Once these few weeks passed, he could also produce the higher-rank gathering techniques and open the Moon Store.

It was a perfect schedule for laying low while progressing his strength.

And that was what he did. After his class, he would spend his time creating a battle technique. It would usually last for one or two hours, regardless of the result.

After all, Auric still had to train his body so that it could move the way he wanted. After dinner, Auric would focus on increasing the amount of energy in his body, specifically for his wind and plant elements.

He focused on his progress so much that he didn’t even have much time to talk to others. Every Friday, he would also go to the Evolution Association to take care of the patients as a silver-grade evolution master.

Of course, he also headed to other evolution masters, not just asking for advice but also observing their patients.

This way, Auric didn’t just gather information about higher-rank water and wind elements. He also gathered other elements.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t demand their battle techniques to help form the gathering techniques.

Nevertheless, it was the first step. After all, understanding their energy flow would also help him create the artificial heart methods.

Of course, Auric always asked his patients to release their battle techniques. He would first create the higher-rank water element and wind element gathering techniques and list them on the Sun Store to once again shock the country.

He had a lot of things to do in two weeks, after all.

However, it looked like he had to postpone things a bit.

14 km northwest of the city, a group of people panicked, staring at the beasts in front of them. All these beasts were charging at them, but the number continued to increase as time passed.

"We need to run!"

"How many are they?"

"I don’t know. It started with a hundred beasts, but now... I speculate there are at least a few hundred, if not already reaching a thousand. At this rate, it might continue further..."

"This doesn’t look good."

They were running away, but the beasts continued to chase after them.

"Aaaahhhh!" One of the beasts pounced on one of them and slammed him to the ground before tearing off his arm with its sharp teeth.

"Sammy?!"

"We need to go, Shawn! We can’t help Sammy!" The leader grabbed him, reminding him that going back was just suicide.

Besides, Sammy’s figure had already disappeared in the crowd as his voice gradually died down.

He could only grit his teeth and continue running. At the same time, he noticed that more and more beasts were gathering. "This... might not just be a normal group. There are many other species."

"Yes. They’re creating a single pack." The leader frowned. "I’m afraid this group will grow larger and larger."

"There might be a strong beast among them. It acts like an overlord and commands all these beasts."

"Don’t tell me... a beast outbreak?"

They sucked in a cold breath. On the one hand, they were thinking about whether they should lead the outbreak elsewhere to avoid the city. On the other hand, they knew they had to report it first.

The leader gulped and took out a long-range radio. "David! David! Are you there?"

A second later, a voice replied, "Yeah, yeah. What’s up?"

"There is a beast outbreak 14 km northwest of the city. The scale is a thousand right now, but it may grow to a few thousand, if not more."

"!!!"