Affinity:Chaos

Martha returned after a while, taking a glance at the dumbstruck expressions of Klaus and Grey. She nodded her head slightly, her aim had been achieved. She didn't want Grey to only look up to his father, of course she knew she's not on the same level as her husband, that's why she bullies him, to show everyone who's boss.

"That's impressive Aunt!" Klaus was the first to speak as he rushed forward, "Do you have any thoughts of having another son? Slightly more handsome than that one you have there, and also more charismatic!"

"Oh, I'm also a pure Water Elementalist, which means unlike that freak of nature, I can focus fully on the water element, bringing out its glory."

"What do you say?"

Martha was slightly stunned by Klaus' words, but more from amusement. She's had a few encounters with Klaus and knew he was an energetic person to be around. She has done her research on him and knows he's a pain in the butt, for those he doesn't like, while he's extra sweet for those he likes.

"Actually, I wouldn't mind teaching you a thing or two." She laughed.

"Alright, congratulations, you automatically have a son since I've become your student. Isn't that nice?" Klaus reached out to shake her hand, even though she was confused at how Klaus' thought process worked, she shook his hand.

Klaus turned to Grey and said, "You better start showing me respect, I'm your elder brother now."

Grey's eyes twitched when he heard Klaus' words.

"Don't you have shame?" He asked with a sigh.

"Shame is for the weak." Klaus' reply defeated Grey.

Martha laughed as she watched Grey and Klaus go at each other.

"If that's all, I'll be leaving. I have some things to attend to with Cori." She chuckled and said to Klaus, "I'll see you when I get back to the Dawson manor."

"Yes ma'am!" Klaus replied enthusiastically.

"If there's anything else like this, don't hesitate to contact me." She added before leaving.

Grey smiled as he saw Klaus' excitement.

'I don't think this guy knows how strict mom is with her training.' He looked at Klaus with pity.

Klaus saw Grey's gaze, but felt it was more of envy than anything else.

"Come on, let's go check it out." He took to the air and flew to the hideout.

Grey followed Klaus, and when they entered the place, they were flabbergasted. Grey was already prepared for this, but seeing it with his own eyes was breathtaking. He didn't even expect it would look like this.

He touched the snowmen, and to his shock, the figures crumbled after applying some force to it.

"Amazing…" His voice trailed for a while, but then noticed something odd, even the spatial rings were turned to snow.

"Damn!" He felt his heart ache.

It's clear his mother didn't think there would be anything of value to her in their storage rings, but to Grey and Klaus, these were very important for them. They needed it to have a vast amount of resources.

With the heart aches, Grey studied the place and then walked over to the portal, and his gaze turned serious. He didn't speak but tried to inspect it. His consciousness entered and exited in a flash.

There was someone standing guard, but the person wasn't a Sovereign, which helped keep him safe.

"If another troop comes in through this place, wouldn't they notice all this?" Klaus asked.

"From what I've gathered, I don't think another would come through this place." Grey explained, "They don't want too many people here so their presence wouldn't be noticed."

"As much as it's hard for us to sense Gnomes, once there's a large number of them, the unfamiliar aura is bound to attract attention from the top experts."

"Understandable." Klaus replied.

"So on to the next hideout?"

"Sure, there's still nothing to do."

The duo ensured that the place was thoroughly inspected so as to ensure nothing was missed. Grey didn't think his mother would miss something, but he wanted to be sure.

Since they still haven't been noticed, that meant they could still wipe out more hideouts.

They've destroyed most of the ones the man knew of, and there were currently only four left. The one with the Fourth stage Sovereign was among them. Grey didn't know how the battle with that one would look like, but he didn't worry about it at the moment, when the time comes, he'd sort it out.

….

Some days later.

Grey and Klaus arrived at the second hideout after Grey's mother's appearance. They've wiped one, and this was the next one.

Grey and Klaus were still investigating the place when Grey noticed a group ahead of them.

This group wasn't Necromancers, but from their attire, he could tell they were most likely from a Faction in this region. They had a Second stage Sovereign leading them. And they were about to charge into the hideout.

"They're going to ruin the fun." Klaus frowned.

"That guy wouldn't be able to stop it." Grey also frowned.

"Why would one person come here with a bunch of Venerables thinking he can wipe out a Necromancer's hideout?" Grey was a little suspicious.

Locating these hideouts was very difficult. If anyone accidentally finds one, charging here with one Second stage Sovereign and a bunch of Venerables wasn't a wise idea.

"Should we stop them?" Klaus asked.

"What if there's something else going on?" Grey asked.

"Then it'll be a little bad if we don't find out since it'll leave a hidden danger." Klaus replied

Grey nodded, "Exactly."

"But what if you're just overthinking?" Klaus asked.

Grey fell in thought and felt it was best to see what unfolds. He could always sweep in to save these guys.

For some reason, he felt maybe someone from the group would betray this group. There are Necromancers hiding in most of the Factions, if this is a case like that, then he wanted to root out the Necromancers.