Auric spent his weekends taking care of the patients and training his fusion. Even though he wanted to spend his entire weekend just training his new techniques, he dismissed the idea right away.

He didn’t want to become lazy enough that he would close the store unless there was a matter that he couldn’t skip.

After all, the moment he stopped once, he might stop opening the store again and again, thinking that he could accept the consequences.

He dropped all thoughts of fusion and focused on the patients. In fact, he asked Lindwurm to remind him if he had any thoughts about the fusion and was being careless with the patients.

Fortunately, he managed to do everything as he intended.

Once they had returned to the academy, Ellia set up a meeting. This time, the meeting would be held in Auric’s store. Auric didn’t really mind as he asked Lindwurm to modify the office into a meeting room.

Lindwurm could easily do it with a single wave of his hand, so everyone finally gathered in one room.

"Here you go." Ellia placed down cups of tea for each of them.

Eric remained calm even though there were Ellia and Milinda present. He could see a spark between them, but he acted as if nothing had happened, considering he wasn’t the problem.

Arina started the briefing. "This time, we will have a joint operation with Kallarnos University. I’m sure you know about this, but Kallarnos University is the best university in this country. They’re said to produce many elites. Many strong people in our country come from this university.

"It’s said that being able to graduate from here will make people come to recruit you. Still, it doesn’t matter because they’re not absolute. They might be strong, but I don’t think we’re going to lose to them.

"So, just ignore them and think that we’re equal. Don’t ever lose your confidence against them. More importantly, don’t lose your temper because they’re an annoying bunch of people."

"It doesn’t matter where they come from." Eric shook his head. "The thing that matters is who has the last laugh."

"I don’t care whether they’re the best or the worst." Milinda agreed with Eric.

"Good. In that case, let’s talk about the mission." Arina raised one finger. "The official mission requires us to take down a group of scavengers called the Bone Table.

"Their group consists of many criminals who are trying to escape arrest by staying outside. The army has just found their location and given this opportunity to the students to gain experience.

"According to the information, there are about 10 people who have evolved their avatars to the juvenile form. There are approximately 30 members who have baby-form avatars. However, expect something worse."

Auric and the others turned solemn. They knew that if they made a mistake here, they might die.

So, they weren’t planning to be careless about it.

"So, before we begin, I want to ask you. Killing people. Have you done it, or are you troubled with the thought of killing people?"

"I have." Auric nodded.

"I have gone on a mission like this at my previous university before." Milinda agreed.

"I haven’t, but I think I will be fine." Eric raised his hand.

"Okay. I will take care of Eric for the time being. I want to trust you, but I also need to verify it, so no offense." Arina smiled.

"Yes, I understand." Eric nodded calmly.

"Good. In that case, we will continue with the briefing. We will head to Tierna City for this mission. We will meet up with the people from Kallarnos University there and discuss the plan.

"However, I will tell you the basic plan we have in mind. This is the basic plan that people usually use for this kind of mission.

"First, they usually have people patrolling the area to check whether there are beasts or police trying to raid them. So, we will kill the patrols and lower their numbers.

"Then, we will launch a surprise attack that will kill more members, possibly lowering their numbers to what we can handle.

"After that, we will just overwhelm them. This much is simple, right? The problem is how we’re going to cooperate with each other. That’s why we will have our own roles. Do you have a role you prefer?"

Eric thought for a moment before shaking his head. Milinda, on the other hand, raised her hand. "I’m confident in my control, so I can be the balancer."

"In that case, I will also support you in that position, but my main role will be a scout." Arina nodded in agreement.

"I will be the vanguard," stated Ellia. "I suppose Eric will go with me as a vanguard. But because you are also learning element manipulation, we should position you slightly behind me. This way, not only can I protect you, but you can also gain experience as both the vanguard and the attacker whenever an opportunity presents itself."

Eric didn’t have any objections. Ellia had worded it in a way that she thought was the best for him, so Eric couldn’t really demand that he take the vanguard role.

"I guess I should remain as an attacker and a support." Auric smiled. "I will just remain at the back and ’pew-pew’ at the enemies."

"That’s good." Ellia nodded.

The biggest reason Auric wanted to remain in the back was not because he was confident with his firepower. Instead, he wanted to test the power of his fusion.

If he stood in front, he would have a hard time producing it because he had to fully focus on the enemies in front of him.

"Anyway, we should know what everyone can do with their power and what we can expect from each of you." Arina raised her finger. "For example, I’m good at element manipulation. I can form many roots and control the terrain or the enemies this way. As for Ellia, you’ve probably seen her fight against Abel."

"I just shoot my elements." Auric didn’t intend to reveal all his elements this time, unless his life was truly in danger. He thought the fusion was enough to handle this mission, so he would rely on it.

Eric nodded. "I’m sure you’ve seen my performance in the battle against Simon, but I’ve grown stronger now, so you can expect more than what you’ve already seen."

Milinda thought for a moment before raising her hand. She formed a spear out of nowhere. "I can create anything with my power as long as I can imagine it. If you want to cover yourselves, I can create a blanket. If you want to hide within a wall, I can create the wall itself. At the same time, I’m also confident with my spear techniques, as this is my main weapon."

Arina clapped her hands. "All right. That should be enough for now. On the way there, we will probably encounter a beast or two, so we will adjust our team coordination during that time. It’s true that we’re competing with Kallarnos University, but they’re also our allies. Focus on the team’s survival rather than the competition. Understood?"

Since no one had any objections, Ellia then stood up. "That’s all. I will send you the details of the information to your email, so you should check it there and see if you have any problems. You can ask me here.

"We will board the plane at 1 p.m. and reach our destination by 5 p.m. The accommodation has been covered as well. All you need to do is prepare yourself for the mission. Sleep well, eat well, and beat them well... I mean, treat them well."

"Too late to correct yourself there." Milinda rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, I will take charge of this team. No matter what you think of me, I need your trust."

In the end, all of them read the information Ellia had gathered.

Without anyone raising an objection, the meeting ended smoothly. Of course, this was the first time Eric went on a mission, so Arina had to pay more attention to him.

She also made sure to explain everything to Eric. Considering Auric’s position, it was more relaxing to ask Arina instead of Ellia and Milinda.

Arina might have expected it, so she just made sure Eric understood everything before the mission.

Fortunately, Eric might be the second strongest person in his grade, but he had no arrogance. Then again, Eric had no arrogance because he was chasing after Auric all this time.

If he let arrogance cloud his mind, Auric would instantly leave him behind.

Nevertheless, the moment they had been waiting for had arrived.

Auric walked across the airport while checking his phone. He received a message from Tommi, saying, "I’ll meet you soon."

Auric just shook his head helplessly before walking to their meeting point.

"Afternoon, everyone. Since you guys are already here, let’s go." Auric smiled.

"Tardiness." Eric rolled his eyes.

"What are you talking about? I’m fifteen minutes early."

"A proper adult comes thirty minutes early."

"If that’s what it takes to be a proper adult, I don’t mind being a kid." Auric harrumphed.

"Anyway, where’s our ticket?" Eric extended his hand, demanding the ticket. Auric told them that he was the one handling their transport, so he wanted to hold his ticket.

"Ticket? What ticket?" Auric tilted his head as if he couldn’t understand what Eric was saying.

"Oi! Also, where are we? The gate is over there..." Eric pointed to the left, completely acting like Auric did before.

Auric chuckled. "Don’t worry. I’m just messing with you. Anyway..."

Auric stepped to the front and showed the black card to the employees. The moment they saw the black card, the employees bowed to him as one of them immediately guided the entire team to the plane.

Eric was rather speechless. "What? Are we being sponsored by the academy?"

"No. My teacher sponsored the transport this time." Auric smiled.

Eric’s eyebrows twitched. "Aren’t you too comfortable being a kept boy? People will mistake you for a gigolo in the future."

"Hey, now. That’s not nice. There’s a more proper word for it. Connection!" Auric shrugged.

"Actually, that’s not entirely a bad idea. I can afford to keep you." Ellia chuckled.

"..." Auric’s eyebrows twitched.

"What the hell?" Milinda glared at Ellia.

Arina just looked away while trying to hold her laughter. Eric shrugged as though he had won.

Auric sighed. "Anyway, let’s just go."

No one could afford to keep a unique-element evolution master, but he didn’t say anything more to avoid any suspicion from Eric. The other three already knew about it, but it wasn’t time to tell Eric about it yet.

He doubted Eric would spread it, but he didn’t want to give the weapon to other people without getting any benefits.

Nevertheless, the group boarded the plane and flew to their destination.

"We’re supposed to meet the group from Kallarnos University at the airport. I wonder where they are." Arina looked around. "Ah, I think I found them."

Arina waved to the group, motioning for them to follow her. However, the closer they were, the more she realized that this group was a bad idea.

"This..."

"What’s wrong?" Auric asked.

Arina took a deep breath. As the information stated, there were five people. The first one was Tommi. He noticed Auric and waved his hand, which caused other people to turn around.

There was a girl who looked younger than the rest, indicating that she was the other first-year student. She had an elegant aura about her. She politely bowed to them upon meeting them.

There were two other guys. The first man had his bangs covering one eye, his eyes were sharp, as though he were constantly observing others, and his presence was quite thin.

The second man had spiky blue hair. His eyes were brimming with energy. When Auric squinted his eyes, he could see the fierce flow in his body, making him believe that this person was similar to both him and Tommi.

Last but not least, there was a woman with blond hair tied into twintails. She was holding a long wooden box that contained her sword.

She crossed her arms. With a smug smile, she said, "Well, isn’t this the lost child, Ellia Stroph Astler? Tired of running away? Wait, you didn’t run away. You were kicked out."