The previous day.

"Hmm...? Is this a scam?" Robert frowned. He was browsing the internet just a moment ago, before he received the email.

[Hello, Mr. Robert Hagenson. Congratulations. You have been chosen to be part of the unique evolution project. You have been stuck at your current progress for almost a year, so I’m sure you’re in the period where you’re considering dropping out of the South Eastomple University.]

Robert was startled. "Has the scam evolved these days? They steal my personal information..."

However, instead of closing the email and deleting it, Robert continued to read it.

[We’ll provide you with the opportunity to evolve your avatar.]

"!!!" Robert was shocked. "Yeah. This is definitely a scam. There is no unique evolution master in this world..."

[You must be thinking it’s a scam by now. It’s only natural to think so. We don’t plan to force you to accept this invitation, but you are not the only lucky person. There are a few others. Unfortunately, if you reject this invitation, you are also missing out on future evolutions.]

"Huh?" Robert was dumbfounded. The email was worded so carefully that it matched what he was thinking, as though the email had been written after seeing his expression.

[That’s right. If you choose to join the project, you will be given the opportunity to work together with us again in the future and evolve your avatar for the second time. Who knows? You might be lucky enough to receive another guidance once again for the third evolution.]

"..." Robert fell silent. He had been mocked by all the people around him because of his element.

At first, his time element reigned supreme. But once he was stuck at this stage, his peers began to defeat him.

If this project could really help him, everything would change. After all, this project offered the second evolution, meaning he could still evolve his avatar to the adult form in the future.

Robert couldn’t help but let out a hollow laugh. "This is ridiculous. To think that I’ve been so desperate that I’m thinking about falling for this scam..."

Robert fell silent for a few minutes. Although his mind was telling him not to pay any attention to this mail, his body was already reaching for the keyboard to reply to it.

...

Robert could still remember how he ended up getting hooked on this scam that he really came to another city just for this.

The moment he started replying to the email, he became more and more invested. At this rate, he might end up getting kidnapped.

Yet when he arrived and picked up this earpiece, he couldn’t help but think, ’What if this is not a scam? What if a unique element evolution master exists? The reason they’re not known is because of how shocking it is or maybe their questionable methods.’

But if the method worked, there was no need to say anything else.

"Y-Yes?!" Robert was taken aback. The voice sounded like a man in his forties. It was deep to the point where Robert thought the guy used a voice changer.

Robert’s expression turned solemn. "Who is this?"

"You don’t need to know who I am, Mr. Robert. You only need to know that I can help you evolve."

Robert’s heart skipped a beat. "What do you want me to do?"

Robert stopped asking so many questions and tried to see where this would lead.

"Underneath the bench, you will find a device."

Robert bent his knees and took a look under the bench. There was a tablet attached to it, so he picked it up and opened it.

It led him to an application that shared the screen with another device.

[1. Release your avatar and activate your most confident battle technique and your most explosive battle technique.]

The instruction was clear, but it was definitely not the standard procedure of an evolution master.

It wasn’t weird for this person to ask such a thing. He might not reveal himself because of this weird step.

However, Robert didn’t think there would be anything wrong just by demonstrating his battle techniques.

So, after a brief hesitation, he released two battle techniques according to the instructions.

The first battle technique was Accel. It allowed him to accelerate his body’s speed by two times. This battle technique was versatile, so it was definitely the technique he used a lot, showing his full confidence in it.

The second battle technique he demonstrated was Time Glitch. He concentrated his power into his body to make the body glitch and avoid an attack by shifting it one or two meters to the side. It was a very good escape technique. It required an eruption of the time element, so it was clear this technique was the most explosive battle technique he possessed.

Once it had reached this phase, the gathering technique could finally be created. However, it required time to change it.

Hence, this was made into the first step.

There was another instruction on the screen to stall for that time.

[2. You must have brought the copies of your battle techniques. There is a trash can next to the bench. Put the copies of your battle techniques inside.]

"..." Robert gritted his teeth. Battle techniques were supposed to be kept secret because the opponent could study their movement. However, unique-element battle techniques couldn’t be copied or used by other people. It was hard to find someone with the same element as him.

So, there was no need for Robert to worry about another person using his battle technique. Even if they learned it, it would be useless if he couldn’t evolve.

Robert ultimately took off his backpack and put the copies inside.

[3. You are to promise to never divulge this technique to others nor mention anything about a unique-element evolution master. The moment you reveal this, you will be removed from the project. In case someone asks you about your evolution, tell them you’ve gotten an artifact to help you evolve.]

Robert gulped. He understood the reason why this person wanted to keep it a secret.

If he had to pick whether to divulge this secret and be cut from the future evolution opportunity or keep it a secret and continue to evolve, he would undoubtedly pick the latter.

As long as he could continue to evolve, his life would become better. A lot of his peers couldn’t look down on him anymore.

There was also a certain prestige attached to a unique-element user who evolved multiple times.

"Still, this kind of thing can’t be kept a secret forever."

[That’s not your problem. However, if you divulge this secret, we’ll impose a penalty on you.]

He took a deep breath before nodding. "Understood. I promise not to divulge this secret to anyone else, including my parents."

As soon as he gave his promise, the next instruction was given. This time, the instruction was about how to channel his energy in his body.

It felt like a part of a battle technique, but there was no manifestation part.

It was confusing, but the instructions were clear.

[It’s an easy instruction. Have you remembered it?]

"Yes."

[Very good. You need to try it now to let me know whether you can do it or not.]

He felt a bit skeptical about this instruction. The technique was unproven, but he had gone this far. There was no way Robert would just stop here and call it a day.

Even though this technique was something he had never seen before, there didn’t seem to be anything suspicious about it. It was just a technique to circulate his energy. 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

After thinking about it, he chose to trust this person. ’I’ve gone this far, so I might as well go all the way.’

He closed his eyes, following the instructions carefully.

The energy around his body started to flow at first, gradually entering his body. Then, he began circulating it according to what had been written.

It was a simple set of instructions, so there was no need for practice. Even without practice, he could succeed easily.

He just did it slowly so that he wouldn’t make a mistake.

He felt that something had changed in his body for a split second. It was minuscule, but because he was trying to be extra careful, that small detail didn’t escape his senses.

He was wondering if he had succeeded or not, but more importantly, this technique worked. The small change showed that it worked.

[Very good. You’ve succeeded. Continue doing this for a day or two, and you will be able to evolve. Continue to observe your progress by checking it with your wristband every hour of practice. Soon, you will find your element gradually increasing. Once you reach 100%, don’t hesitate to evolve. This is the normal process of evolution. If you miss this time window, even gods won’t be able to help you evolve.]

This wasn’t an empty warning. Auric could help people increase their element gradually with his gathering techniques. What he couldn’t do was lower someone’s element once they surpassed 100%.

This was the only downside of the current method.

Of course, if they surpassed 100% because of a flawed battle technique, he could simply remove the accumulation of energy to lower their energy. Otherwise, there was nothing he could do.

He was thinking that the chaos element could help him break down this element and somehow lower their element. But it was just a theory, so he couldn’t do anything without proving his theory.

[Now that you’ve done as instructed, you can try it once you return. Throw the tablet and the earpiece into the trash can.]

Once he realized it somehow worked, he didn’t hesitate to continue following the rest of the instructions.

He was a bit excited. If it were truly proceeding as this mysterious evolution master claimed, he really could evolve.

He thought going back directly would be wasting time, so he thought about going to a hotel nearby.

Since the other party told him that an open space would help with his improvement, he planned to continue practicing for a few more hours.

He was also curious who this mysterious person was. If he stayed here, would that person grab the battle techniques he had put in the trash can earlier?

He might not be poor, but he definitely didn’t have enough power to investigate the mysterious person.

Rather than thinking too hard about it, the man simply walked to the other side of the park and started practicing there.

He occasionally glanced at the trash can, but he couldn’t see anyone coming to pick it up.

Curious, Robert walked back to the trash can, only to be surprised by the fact that everything inside was already gone.

"What?"

There was no way Robert could see the shadow that entered the trash can and emptied out everything in the trash can.

Maya was there to pick the items while making sure that Robert didn’t try anything excessive. Of course, she was there to observe how Auric became a unique-element evolution master.

She’d definitely never seen such a method before. Auric might be the one inventing this method.

It was no wonder that he wanted to hide it.

After retrieving the items and ensuring that Robert didn’t do anything funny, Maya returned.

On the other hand, Auric was watching nearby. The only way to produce the gathering technique was by observing Robert’s energy.

Once he was done, he made the gathering technique and gave it to Robert. He had done something similar to Ellia, even though he later gave her the written battle technique.

Nevertheless, his plan worked. This time, he managed to gain the time element.

Maya first came to get Auric before they left the area unnoticed. Before anyone noticed anything suspicious, Auric and Maya had reached their room.

"Thank you for your hard work." Auric politely nodded to Maya.

"So, it’s done?"

"Yes. We just need to wait a few days. He will realize his element has increased by 1%. After a few days, he will evolve."

"..." Maya shook her head helplessly. "Once your identity is known, it will cause a big mess."

"I know. Anyway, what about the other guy?"

"He’s already hooked. He will surely come tomorrow."

"All right. In that case, I should go back to my room and evolve."

"What is your progress, though?"

"It’s already at 95%. In a few minutes, I’ll be able to evolve."

"Oh. Good luck then."