Auric was sitting next to Eric, who was lying unconscious on the bed.

Bandages covered his entire body.

Auric’s face turned dark as he clenched his fists.

Ellia and, surprisingly, Vera were also in the hospital room.

In fact, Vera was the one who found Eric.

Ellia said, "According to the doctor, ten of his bones were broken. He almost died. If Vera hadn’t found him back then, there would have been no telling what would have happened to him.

Vera looked at Auric’s expression, which continued to darken. She couldn’t help but recall how she met Eric.

...

A few hours ago.

She was returning from her mission with her group.

"Hahaha. We can finally go back home. Besides, do you know that Auric and his team have gone to Kallarnos University as exchange students?" Vera asked.

"Really?" Maxwell raised his eyebrows. "I definitely need to buy him a drink... I don’t know if he drinks or not. If not, I will definitely treat him! I owe him quite a lot."

"Well, isn’t it good? Their level is not average." Christopher nodded. There were two other people following them, but they didn’t know who these three were talking about.

After all, they were going on that mission with Ruka and Tommi at that time.

However, Christopher suddenly said, "Wait. I can feel someone’s presence."

"We’re just going to pass by, so let’s maintain the distance. Just in case, monitor that person so that if he notices us, tell him that we just want to go back to the city."

"Got it." Christopher acknowledged the order and sped up.

To Vera’s surprise, Christopher reported a few seconds later. "Vera, you may want to come here. Right now!"

Vera was baffled by the sudden urgency. Still, Christopher was skilled enough not to give a wrong assessment, so she led the rest of the team to Christopher.

That was when she was shocked.

A man was standing in the middle of numerous corpses. She didn’t know the exact number, but it was clear that there were at least sixty beasts in this place.

The man was covered in injuries as well as blood to the point where he almost became unrecognizable.

But it was impossible for Vera, Christopher, and Maxwell not to recognize this person, especially after he made such an impression.

"Eric Dabood?!" Vera widened her eyes in shock.

"Is he the one doing all this?" Maxwell gasped. He had seen a lot of talented people. The most talented among them might be Auric, but this was the first time he had seen someone able to battle all these beasts by himself.

Even when his legs were shaking and his eyes were blurry, the man still stood strong as though he were ready for another opponent. He pointed his blood blade forward, waiting for another beast to come.

If Eric was truly the one who did this by himself, his willpower alone might actually be stronger than that of Auric.

"Eric!" Vera shouted.

Eric’s body shook. He turned, but he still pointed his blade at Vera. At this point, she realized Eric only moved on instinct.

Vera rushed toward Eric. The latter tried to attack her, but Vera used her wind to disperse the blood, knocked his arm back, and pushed his body down. "It’s okay. It’s okay. You’re safe. Calm down. It’s okay..."

Vera tried to calm Eric down.

The killing intent in his eyes gradually subsided as he closed his eyes.

"First aid! Hurry!" Vera waved her hand.

Her team immediately tried to help Eric before rushing back to the city and bringing him to the hospital.

Vera never thought that she would actually encounter such a situation while she was returning to the city. However, the fierceness in Eric’s eyes was etched deeply in her mind.

Despite the hopeless situation, Eric actually managed to win. He wouldn’t go down easily.

Back then, Vera had told Auric that a daughter in a wealthy family like hers had no hope of living as she pleased. They had to think about the family’s interests.

Vera personally gave up and understood her fate. Yet, Eric’s figure just struck her. It was as if he were telling her that she hadn’t truly done her best yet.

If she did her best, she might still have the chance to overturn her fate.

...

Vera couldn’t help but sigh. She didn’t know what Auric was thinking.

Auric asked, "What happened to him?"

"I don’t know..." Vera shook her head. "All I know is that he might have faced about 60 beasts by himself. They were rank 1 beasts, but it should have been impossible for someone like Eric to defeat them. Or that was what I thought. I hadn’t gone back to the scene, but as I recalled, there was no other mark that indicated other people had been fighting there.

"The doctors tried their best, but he’s still in critical condition..." Vera lowered her gaze. In a way, she couldn’t help but admire Eric.

What he had accomplished was something she didn’t think she could have accomplished if she were at his level.

"It was my fault..." Auric gritted his teeth.

"It wasn’t your fault." Vera shook her head.

"I didn’t pay attention to him. I heard he took a mission, but I didn’t hear anything because I was too busy with other things. I should have gone with him..."

"It wasn’t your fault. If he took on a mission, he should have been with other students."

"Auric..." Ellia placed her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down. She soon noticed his expression as she leaned closer.

In that instant, she felt a chill down her spine.

"Ellia... can you try to investigate this matter?" Auric asked. His voice was quite weak, but Ellia knew what was going to happen if she said no.

This was the first time she had seen such an expression.

"I understand." Ellia nodded. She didn’t care about her family anymore. At this rate, Auric might be much more dangerous than her family.

She knew if Auric truly went on a rampage, the situation would become uncontrollable.

Auric might try to fight them, but he still had a few trump cards. The Sun Store had been established. Auric had asked her to set up a few more shell companies, so she assumed there was another store. It might sell the artificial heart method.

In addition, Auric was the world’s first unique-element evolution master.

If he ever wanted to, he could use these three identities to pressure a country into doing something he wanted.

At this point, she had to think about Auric’s interest as well. If she let Auric reveal his trump cards in this matter, he might regret it in the future.

So, she couldn’t care less about her family’s pressure anymore. If they wanted to come, she would confront them head-on.

"I will make sure to investigate it. Give me time, okay?" Ellia tried to stroke his back.

Because of her words, Auric took a few deep breaths before closing his eyes. His expression returned to normal. "Thank you."

Ellia smiled, feeling relieved that Auric had returned to normal.

"Can you leave me alone for a while?"

"I’m going to get some drinks. I’ll return later, okay?"

"Yeah."

Arina had been Ellia’s limiter. Without Arina, Ellia might have done so many bad things. She would become uncontrollable and do everything she could to achieve her goal.

Ellia understood the feeling as well. She had to become Auric’s limiter in this situation, or else he would regret it in the future.

Ellia straightened her back and nodded to Vera, asking her to leave with her.

Vera just walked with Ellia.

Only after they were outside did Vera ask, "Are you sure about this? I heard your family situation doesn’t look that good. If you do this, I’m afraid that it’ll give them justification."

"I’m just trying to stop a nuke from blowing up..." Ellia shook her head. "As for whether I do it to stop a man or to stop a country from being destroyed, I don’t know anymore."

Vera just tilted her head in confusion. "You’re crazy. A nuke? I can’t understand you anymore. No, wait. I don’t even understand you in the first place. Hmph."

Inside the room, Auric stared at Eric, who was still lying unconscious on the bed.

Lindwurm was worried. "Auric..." 𝐟𝗿𝐞𝚎𝚠𝐞𝚋𝕟𝐨𝚟𝐞𝕝.𝕔𝕠𝚖

’It’s okay, Lindwurm. Thanks to Ellia, I’m calmer now...’

Lindwurm looked at Eric. "Fortunately, he’s okay. Despite facing such a situation, Eric did three marvelous jobs.

"First, he managed to kill all the beasts and survive. Second, he avoided any brain injury. Last but not least, he didn’t suffer injuries in a way that would force him to retire. If he lost a limb or two, it would hinder his future.

"Right now, I want to ask you. Do you want to help your friend?"

’Can I?’ Auric raised his head.

"You can. Don’t forget that you have copied your mother’s element!"

’But I still haven’t learned any healing abilities. I should go back to the academy right away and find a healing ability in the library.’

"No. That won’t be enough. Instead, I will give you another healing ability. Your mother used this ability to help your father a lot in the past." Lindwurm snapped his fingers.

A gray energy appeared in front of Auric. A book then formed, showing a technique called Major Healing.

"Right now, you don’t have the ability to use this power to its limit. However, you have a way to compensate for it."

’How?’

"Have you forgotten about your other elements as well as the thing you learned at Kallarnos University?"

"!!!" Auric widened his eyes. That was right. He still had a card to play.

He had a blood element, which would be compatible with Eric’s element. He could add this power to enhance his mother’s element.

Elemental fusion wouldn’t cut it. He should apply the fusion so that it will gather enough power to do it.

However, Auric might have achieved the fusion of passive and active energy, but this was probably the first time he had to add elemental fusion into the mix.

And to gather enough power, he had to use his ’Edict’ to the very limit.

The difficulty would be insane, but he had to do it.

"I will do it!" Auric stood up, steeling his resolve. He read the technique. For him, learning one technique was easy. The hard part was mastering it.

Still, he just wanted to use the concept of this technique and reapply it through his ’Edict.’

This was how his ’Edict’ originally worked.

"I will observe you. When you’re about to fail, I’m going to stop you. You don’t want that amount of power to burst in front of your friend, don’t you?"

Auric nodded. ’I’m counting on you, Lindwurm.’

Lindwurm smiled, noticing that Auric had finally returned to normal. Ellia might have calmed him down, but Lindwurm had reignited the flame in his heart.

Lindwurm looked at Auric before thinking, ’Have you forgotten the fact that you’re still a 17-year-old boy who has just undergone the awakening ceremony?

’No matter how hard you’re trying to act mature or calculative, you are still a young man.

’It is my job to ensure that you can continue to grow in the right path. Your parents don’t want you to misuse the power you have.

’I hope this situation will allow you to grow wiser, so you may become a kind man in the future.’

Auric learned the technique quickly and closed his eyes for a while. He was calculating his power in his mind. He tried to simulate how he should fuse his power and even manage the ’Edict.’

If he could succeed, he might be able to heal Eric’s wounds. As Lindwurm said, Eric managed to do a wonderful job of avoiding any injuries that might hinder his future.

A part of him thought that everything was his fault. Auric already knew that he was targeted, so Eric might look like an easier target.

That was why he had to succeed.

Auric gradually opened his eyes as he raised his finger.

"Write!"