Chapter 374: Vicious Poison

It was justified for Auric to be suspicious. After so many attempts to get him, the organization didn’t seem to have given up on him.

What started as an attempt to kill them because they had witnessed something they shouldn’t turned into a kidnapping because of his ability.

He didn’t know what the organization wanted, but one thing was clear. He didn’t intend to take this lying down.

"Let’s begin!" the referee announced.

Nicholas walked toward the volunteer and asked, "Excuse me. Can you release your energy for me?"

The guy hesitated for a moment. "That’s actually the problem, sir. If I release my energy, I will be in excruciating pain."

"I have to understand your condition. The best way is to learn it through your energy. I know that it might be hard for you, but please endure it so that I will have the chance to learn about your situation."

The guy bit his lip before nodding with a grim expression. He released his energy as requested, but the guy suddenly clutched the right side of his stomach and fell to his knees.

"Aaaahhhhh!" His body convulsed terribly as he dropped to the ground, unable to withstand the pain. It was so painful that it broke through the guy’s stern expression. Tears were welling up.

The people who watched the situation couldn’t help but widen their eyes. They didn’t know what was going on, but it was clear that the situation was much more severe than what could be seen on the surface.

Nicholas hurriedly helped him and said, "Thank you."

"Can I be treated?" the guy asked. He was trying to hold on to some hope. He didn’t have time to wait for the Evolution Association to hold another test because they had just finished the test a few weeks ago.

This time, he was quite lucky because there was a chance to treat his condition. By participating as a volunteer, he would have a chance to be treated. Even if the students knew nothing about it, there were a lot of excellent instructors. They might know about his condition and offer to treat him.

"We’ll see. Please answer a few questions." Nicholas inhaled deeply. "How did you end up like this? When did you start feeling the pain?"

"I was fighting a beast one week ago and got injured in this place." The guy pointed to the wound. "Thankfully, I was saved by my comrades, so I didn’t die. However, after receiving that injury, whenever I used my energy, I would end up in excruciating pain. I couldn’t use my power anymore, and I don’t even know what will happen to me after this.

"Please, sir... Please treat me. I beg you." The guy grabbed his legs, desperately pleading with him.

When everyone heard about the patient’s condition, they were confused at first. Some of them suddenly remembered what happened two weeks ago.

Back then, Auric was warning them about poison, and it was a poison that was so vicious that they couldn’t believe what they were hearing. But this time, they heard it directly from a patient.

All of them looked at each other. So, the poison was real.

Many couldn’t help but turn pale. If they ended up ingesting that poison, they wondered what would happen to them?

Auric said he was the only one who could solve that poison. If Auric decided to refuse their treatment, would they still be called a genius?

"This..." Nicholas crossed his arms. He had asked a few more questions. The questions were standard, such as his name, age, and so on, just to get a clearer picture.

However, no matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t think of any other possibilities. The poison Auric mentioned was the only one that fit the criteria.

"I understand. Please allow me to try to heal your body." Nicholas nodded politely as he extended his hand toward the volunteer’s stomach. He released his own energy and let it flow into the volunteer’s body.

This was the moment everything Auric mentioned before became true.

As soon as Nicholas’s dark energy flowed into the volunteer’s body, the volunteer’s light element flared up. It was a normal rejection since the light and dark elements were suppressing each other.

However, the problem came right after. Because the volunteer’s light element flared up, the poison’s dark energy erupted as a reaction, causing the volunteer’s light element to become unstable. The poison was trying to suppress the user’s element.

It looked normal at first. Nicholas thought he could use his dark energy to counter it, but the poison didn’t stop there.

The poison’s dark energy triggered its light energy. As a result, this poison erupted and tried to suppress Nicholas’s dark energy.

Whenever the teachers were explaining the nine elements, they would create an oval diagram with the light and dark elements at the tip. There would be arrows that showed them fighting each other.

However, the poison’s existence had just created a complicated mess.

If he wanted to make a diagram, he would create a rectangle first and put ’light-dark-light-dark’ in each corner. People would understand because it meant these four elements suppressed each other. After that, he would add a diagonal line that would show that the dark elements would amplify each other. The same applied to the light element.

However, he had to add another circle around it to show that each of them was interconnected. This meant the poison had created an entirely new system in the volunteer’s body. The moment Nicholas added his element into the equation, it would be activated.

The same applied to the volunteer. If he didn’t do anything, the diagram would just be an oval with light and dark, but it came from the poison. If the volunteer used his power, it would add his element to the equation, creating an imbalance.

If it were Auric, he would first isolate the volunteer’s element. Then, he would isolate the poison and separate it. His light element would suppress the poison’s dark element, while his dark element would suppress the light element poison.

He had to do it simultaneously so that they couldn’t do anything to the volunteer’s body.

However, he hadn’t revealed his light element and didn’t plan to do so in this competition.

That meant he might have to use his chaos element to get rid of it. The chaos element would look mysterious to them. If he used it fast enough, they wouldn’t be able to see through it.

So, he thought this solution was better than revealing his light element.

"Aaaahhhh!" The guy’s body was shaking violently as he couldn’t withstand the pain.

Nicholas panicked and retracted his energy right away. The balance would soon be restored, and the pain would gradually subside.

"Sir..." The guy looked at Nicholas, pleading with him through his expression. It looked as if he was pinning his last hope, which might disappear at any moment.

"This is..." The referee couldn’t help but take a closer look.

Unexpectedly, the other evolution masters among the instructors also rushed onto the stage.

"This is..."

"I have never seen a poison like this."

"It causes a complicated situation. Judging from everything I’ve seen so far, the solution might be that one."

"The poison incident..."

The instructors felt a chill down their spines. They couldn’t help but imagine what would have happened to their students if Auric hadn’t prevented the poison incident.

"Can you treat him?"

"I don’t think so. When Nicholas channeled his power, the poison flared up, creating a complex array in which the elements kept interfering with each other."

"That’s true. If we want to heal him, there’s only one method. We will have no choice but to ask two evolution masters who can actually use elemental fusion."

"But they are extremely rare... no, do they even exist? Evolution masters are kind of self-centered, so it’s rare to find two people with a connection strong enough to perform elemental fusion."

"So, doesn’t that mean there’s no hope for this guy?"

"Other than the one who claimed to have treated this condition before... no."

The instructors’ words were broadcast live to everyone.

The people on the internet were completely astounded.

[What a vicious poison! How did you get poisoned? We need to know how to avoid this kind of poison. Please, someone!]

[So, Auric Elfe prevented this kind of poison from spreading to our geniuses? He single-handedly saved our asses without us knowing it.]

[Where were the people scorning him before? Now that someone afflicted by that poison has appeared, can you still say the same thing?]

They were raging. This poison caused everyone to want to hide in their homes and avoid going outside.

On the other hand, the volunteer heard what the instructors were saying. He grabbed their legs while begging in tears. "Someone who could treat me? Where is he? Please. I don’t know what to do anymore. Please help me! I’m willing to do anything!"

The instructors looked helpless. Only those from Esfrata could feel a bit proud, even though they still felt helpless.

One of the instructors turned to Auric.

Auric smiled gently and walked toward them.

As soon as they saw him approaching, they instinctively stepped aside.

The volunteer instinctively knew that Auric might be the person they were talking about. He begged Auric with a shaking voice. "Sir... please. I am willing to do anything as long as you cure me."

Auric patted his shoulder and tried to help him stand. "It’s all right. It’s all right. You don’t have to beg me like this. Let’s have you stand up with dignity."

"I can even kneel as much as you want, sir. Just please... please help me."

"Of course, I will help people. However, you are not acting like yourself right now. So, please stand up. I don’t want to see you humiliate yourself. You have the right to be treated with dignity." Auric smiled.

The volunteer felt moved. He never thought Auric would be this gentle. He was prepared for everything, but Auric treated him with dignity. He didn’t want him to continue disgracing himself just for the sake of treatment.

"Thank you. Thank you." The man stood up, struggling to hold back his tears.

"It’s okay." Auric then turned to the others. "Ehm. Can you guys step back?"

The instructors looked at each other and took a few steps back.

Auric first turned to Nicholas and the referee. "Am I allowed to treat him?"

"Y-Yes. Of course." The referee replied awkwardly, while Nicholas nodded, feeling ashamed.

Auric moved behind the volunteer and put his left hand on the right side of the volunteer’s back. Then, he raised his right hand, covering it with his dark energy.

"You must have suffered a lot. So, please treat yourself with dignity next time. You have that right." Auric gently tapped the volunteer’s right shoulder, then moved to the left shoulder before slapping his back. "With this, I’ll take away your suffering."