Affinity:Chaos



Grey and the Old man started searching for where Arthel and his group could possibly be. After almost one hour, they finally found them. 

The group was resting in a safe area. The battle with the beast left most of them injured and they didn't dare to continue their exploration in that state. If any of them were killed, the rest would find it more difficult to continue. 

When they saw Grey, the facial expressions of the few who had an encounter with him changed. They were all extorted by Grey when they were unable to defeat him. Although it didn't look like it, they were a bit vexed by what happened. 

There were a few others who didn't have any encounters with Grey, and there were six, with three being in the Late stages of the Elemental Venerable Plane. 

When Grey and the Old man appeared, the six looked at them with an odd look. At the time this place appeared, they asked the Old man if he was willing to come with them, but he refused. 

"Father, you're here." Arthel stood up to receive his father. 

He was one of the few people who were injured from the fight. His injuries weren't light as well. 

"Yes, we came for you." The Old man nodded. 

Arthel already understood why his father came when he saw Grey. He was meant to leave with Grey. In all honesty, he didn't think Grey would come back for him. He felt Grey only agreed to take him so he could leave there at the time. Seeing Grey come back for him was a shocking sight. 

The others came over to greet the Old man. It was clear that he was well respected even if he was amongst the weakest. 

The six who didn't have any knowledge of Grey stared at him, a little warily. 

"He's not an enemy." The Old man reassured them. 

They nodded, but still kept their vigilance. 

"What happened?" The Old man asked. 

"We encountered a Beast's lamb, and killed it..." Arthel explained. 

When they got to the waterfall area, they saw the goat-like Beast's lamb while exploring the cave and without even thinking, they killed it, wanting its core and body. Unfortunately, after they killed it, its parent turned out to be a powerful beast. Even with their high numbers, they could barely contest with an enraged Beast that was close to the Peak. 

The Beast fought them with its life on the line, prepared to die as long as it took them down with it. 

The battle lasted a long time, and they were only able to survive with these injuries. The beast fought without regard for its life, so it was not unexpected that it managed to cause such damage to their group which consisted of twelve people. 

Grey had seen the beast and knew just how powerful it was, so he wasn't too surprised. Against these people that the strongest was only in the Seventh stage, their chances of defeating it were almost nonexistent, unless they sacrificed a few people. 

They came here to rest and hadn't come out since leaving that place. 

"This is a safe area. But not for long. Something will come out soon, I don't think you would want to stay here in the next day or so." Grey remarked. 

"How are you so sure?" One of those in the Seventh stage asked. 

He couldn't sense why Grey said this. Also, if there was something coming, then they wouldn't mind seeing it. It might be a treasure they've wanted for a long time. 

The time they've spent here has been short, but they have gotten massive rewards. This is the reason most of them had recovered considerably from their injuries. They've managed to acquire some items that help quicken the healing process of an Elementalist. 

"Intuition. I don't know how dangerous it would be, and I'm not all that interested in finding out." Grey replied in a calm manner. 

The man in the Seventh stage was about to blow off, but after exchanging glances with one of the few people Grey extorted and seeing him shake his head, he paused and kept mute. 

They were all prideful people, since these guys are holding back from speaking against Grey, it meant that there was something he didn't. He transmitted his voice over to them and when he heard the news of how Grey killed the Space Elementalist, he thanked the person that stopped him from provoking Grey. 

The Space Elementalist was a respected expert in the City. He was very powerful, and given his methods, it would be difficult for someone in the Ninth stage to even kill him. Yet, he was killed by the young man standing before them. 

"We should get going then." The man urged. 

Grey didn't have issues with that, his only problem was that he had zero plans of exploring this place with them. 

"Keep this, you can contact me whenever you're ready to leave or in any danger." He passed an item over to Arthel and turned to look at the Old man. 

"Let's go, we've confirmed he's still alive." He said to the Old man. 

He didn't want to travel with them, but he needed the Old man's knowledge at the moment. The Old man knew a lot of treasures here, and he didn't want to miss anything. 

"I can contact you with this?" Arthel looked at the plaque oddly, this was the first time he was seeing something like this. 

Grey explained the method of using it and left with the Old man. He marked the plaque, so as long as it was with Arthel, he could locate him anytime he wanted. 

The reason he gave him this was to reassure the Old man. 

"We're not traveling with them?" The Old man asked as they left. 

"I don't like moving with a crowd, especially in dangerous places. As much as I'd like to protect those close to me, I still prefer when I travel alone. It makes things easier." Grey explained. 

The Old man saw reason with Grey's words, but most people, himself included preferred safety in numbers.