Katarina placed the coffee down before taking her seat in front of Auric.

Auric’s expression remained calm even though such a famous person was coming to him.

"So..." Auric crossed his arms.

Katarina had a lot of thoughts in her mind. Her pride was one thing, but apologizing after talking big yesterday was very embarrassing.

Still, she knew what would happen if she didn’t fix the problem. She intended to evolve as quickly as possible. Her goal was actually to become the student council president before the current president graduated. This way, she could say that this position belonged to her, not that it was handed over to her.

That was why it was necessary for her to remove the obstacles. She didn’t want to add any variables that might jeopardize her plan.

Katarina took a deep breath before saying, "I was wrong yesterday. Please help me."

"What kind of help exactly?"

It was obvious Auric knew what kind of help she needed. But she had to explain it to him because of what happened the previous day.

Katarina asked, "I would like you to help me with my problem. I can pay you."

"Well, you can come to my store next week, maybe? If I decide to open the store anyway."

Katarina bit her lip. "Look. I understand that I may have used harsh words yesterday, so I apologize for that. I really need to fix my problem."

Katarina knew that if Auric played dumb here, he might not even accept her as his patient. She could try to threaten him, but after what happened, she had reinvestigated Auric.

It turned out Auric had the backing of the Relesha family. Her family was big, but it couldn’t be compared to the Relesha family.

That was why her only option was to make that request.

Katarina took a deep breath. "All right. I am willing to pay for anything as long as it’s within my means."

"Even if you do, what makes you think I am capable of treating you?" Auric shook his head.

"If you can identify it, you can solve it. Besides, you have multiple elements, and the problem in my body is caused by multiple elements. If you tell me you can’t treat me, I won’t believe it."

Auric closed his eyes for a moment. He didn’t understand the desperation that Katarina possessed.

He originally intended to set this plan in motion to get a greater benefit, but it looked like he was able to get much more than he had expected.

How far should he push her? If he asked something big, Katarina might not even hesitate to agree to the request. But that also meant he had just made the student council’s vice president his enemy.

Auric contemplated for a moment before saying, "I can indeed fix your problem."

Katarina’s expression turned grim. "I can give you a lot of things. I can help you get rid of a person in this school. I at least have enough connections to make them drop out. The only people I can’t touch are the student council members."

"That doesn’t really interest me." Auric shook his head. "How about you set up a store for me during my stay here? And how about working for me for the next two weeks?"

"What?!" Katarina stood up in disbelief. "Do you understand what you’re saying?"

"I understand exactly what I’m saying. You won’t have any trouble setting up a store for me, but I’m just a country bumpkin... I’m afraid that people are going to pick on me."

"I can arrange for people to help you."

Auric just looked at her as if telling her that he wanted her.

"..." Katarina gritted her teeth.

She originally intended to evolve in three months to four months. Meanwhile, the elements stuck in her body would remain for six months.

If she hadn’t solved her problem before that, she might have to wait until the elements were naturally removed from her body, or she might encounter an accident during her evolution.

An accident might ruin her entire plan, so she had to get it removed.

However, if she took Auric’s offer, people would see her working for Auric. He even called himself to be a country bumpkin. If they saw her like that, they might think she had been taken down by a country bumpkin. Her reputation might take a hit.

However, the student council wasn’t exactly based on reputation. If she had strong enough power, she could get what she wanted.

In other words, Auric was forcing her to choose between her pride and her goal.

She bit her lip, but she had no other choice but to say, "I understand. I will do it."

"Don’t make it sound that bad. After all, you are working for a silver-grade evolution master." Auric took out his silver badge.

"!!!" Katarina widened her eyes in shock. Even her most talented friend only possessed two stars on his silver badge, yet a man who had just evolved a few months ago had three stars on his silver badge? She didn’t want to believe it, but there was no reason for Auric to lie about this.

After all, she might try to hurt him just to get back at him for the humiliation if it turned out he was lying. In fact, she could report Auric to the association.

If Auric was this talented, there should be no reason for her to even hesitate. In fact, Auric might actually become an influential evolution master in the future. It was a connection that she might even need.

’Possessing a silver badge means you have evolved your avatar once. It may not be a mandatory requirement, as there are ways for them to help someone beyond their means by relying on artifacts or materials, but I know it’s extremely hard.

’So, it’s either I believe that he possesses a talent to do those extreme challenges or I believe that he has evolved his avatar. Regardless of what I choose, the fact that he can do that a few months after his first awakening is beyond anyone’s imagination.’

She never thought Auric was much more monstrous than what had been reported. ’Why is someone like this not scouted by the university yet? Does Kallarnos University not have the funds to entice someone like him?’

There were a lot of questions in her mind, but there was one thing she wanted to say. "You should have shown this to me from the beginning. I..."

"I... what?" Auric shook his head. "I’m just trying to see how desperate you are. Well, if you set up the store tomorrow, I will fix your condition right away."

"You are not afraid that I will renege on my promise?"

"I know I can hurt you more than you can hurt me." Auric tapped his badge. With his status as a silver-grade evolution master, he definitely had that power. "Besides, how many badges do I possess right now?"

Katarina froze. She almost forgot about his other elements. Since he possessed multiple elements, he definitely registered all those elements in the Evolution Association.

Fighting Auric would be the same as fighting multiple evolution masters at the same time.

Besides, the fact that Auric had hidden his silver badge meant he could just as easily hide elements other than plant, wind, and lightning elements that he had shown publicly.

Katarina didn’t even fear the student council’s president, but this was the first time she saw someone so big sitting in front of her.

It was no wonder the Relesha family was taking care of him. Even her family would be eager to get their hands on him.

Katarina took a deep breath before taking out her phone. "Give me your number. I’m going to contact you once I have established the store. Do you need anything else?"

"No. I’ll take care of the rest. Just tell me the store before the end of today’s classes. I want to inspect the place first."

"All right." Katarina nodded.

"In that case, I will take my leave. I have a class in five minutes. Thanks for the coffee." Auric smiled sweetly as if nothing had happened earlier.

"..." Katarina clenched her fists. She was sweating down her back.

She had encountered many people hiding their fangs. In fact, she also had a few cards up her sleeve.

However, she had never encountered a person with fangs as sharp as his. Besides, this was just what he told her. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’Someone who can play a mind game like this should have even bigger trump cards to play.’ Katarina loosened her grip. ’I guess... I completely lost this time. I guess he has just reminded me that there is always someone higher than you.’

Katarina could only shake her head. What would happen next depended on what she was willing to do.

On the other hand, Auric was pretty happy with the conclusion. He ended up getting more than he had expected.

He originally wanted to obtain her element, which was why he suggested she come to the store. All Auric needed to do was ask her to perform her battle technique. After all, her element had a rating of 4.8.

Auric only needed to ask her to perform her battle technique by using his usual excuse.

Of course, he intended to push things further by asking for a guardian to protect the store if the conditions allowed it.

But after seeing how desperate she was, Auric changed his condition from having her lend some people to protect the store to having her personally protect the store.

This way, he didn’t have to worry about his store anymore. Besides, he might get more than that depending on what he did during the next two weeks.

Since they had reached an agreement, Auric’s focus returned to his class. He was wondering what kind of class he would have here, considering this was an academy for the elite.

As he expected, he couldn’t help but grab the class’s attention the moment he entered. Fortunately, Eric and Tommi actually reserved a seat in the middle for him. This way, he wouldn’t have to be bothered by any of them.

Or that was what he thought until Eric and Tommi started to introduce themselves and sell him out.

Fortunately, he didn’t have to stop them because he was almost late.

That meant the teacher came into the classroom not long after him.

"All right, kids! I’ve heard that there are exchange students joining my class today. I just want to warn you that I won’t change the class to suit you, so keep up or ask someone to fill you in."

The teacher looked like someone in his late twenties. He had a gentle expression but a strict manner.

Auric couldn’t care less about his appearance, but he never thought that attending this class would end up changing his plan at this university.