Affinity:Chaos

Chris was happily eating the bunny he asked Grey to prepare for him. 'Having a student who knows how to make good meals really has its perks' Chris regretted not having a student sooner. If he had known, he would have just accepted Grey as a student the moment he came to the Academy.

Although he was interested in Grey, it was just from the fact that he felt it was quite amazing to experience both of Grey's tests. He started having thoughts of taking Grey as a student after he tasted Grey's cooking. This was the only way he could think of to get Grey to cook for him frequently.

After he was done eating, "Do you know about arrays?" asked Chris.

When Grey heard him mention arrays, he was suddenly reminded of the books he had read regarding arrays. Although there wasn't much information about them, this was not the first he heard about it.

"A little" replied Grey.

Chris stood up and went into the cabin behind him. After some time, he came back out with a bunch of scrolls. He tossed them at Grey, "This contains the basics of arrays. After reading this, you should have a good idea about it".

Grey caught the scrolls before sitting down not too far from Chris and started reading the scrolls. After reading the introductions, Grey understood why Chris asked him to release his spiritual energy. Without strong spiritual energy, it was almost impossible to make arrays. The stronger your spiritual energy, the easier it is for you to make them.

Grey didn't expect Chris was an array master, talk less of taking him as a student. He felt he was extremely lucky for Chris to choose him. If only he knew what made Chris take him as a student, he might probably faint from exasperation.

While Grey was still reading the scrolls, Chris suddenly asked.

"Have you heard of Inscribers?"

Grey thought for a while before shaking his head, "No".

Chris didn't seem surprised with Grey's reply, he only asked just to confirm. Although a lot of people knew about arrays, only a few knew about inscribers.

"Let me show you something," said Chris.

He suddenly stretched out his and some fire arrows suddenly formed and struck the lake close to them.

After that attack died down, a symbol suddenly appeared in the sky about two meters in diameter. Fire arrows suddenly rained down from the symbol.

"What is the difference between both attacks?" Chris asked while looking at Grey.

Grey thought for a while before responding, "The second attack is faster and stronger than the first".

Chris nodded, "What I just did was air inscription. Although it's not very effective in a one-on-one fight since it takes time to inscribe the symbol, it's terrifying when it comes to attacking groups. You can make the range of the attack wider, and it also has a longer range" Chris explained.

"This is like a branch of arrays. Without in-depth knowledge of arrays, you won't be able to inscribe" Chris continued.

"I'll tell you more about it tomorrow, take these scrolls home and study them. Come tomorrow at the same time" Chris made a shooing gesture indicating for Grey to leave.

Grey didn't stay any further and bid his farewell to his teacher before turning to head out. When he was about to walk past the passageway, he suddenly remembered something and turned back inside.

"What else?" Chris asked on seeing Grey coming back.

"I don't know how to get past the rock if I want to come back tomorrow," Grey said.

"Oh that!, it's easy, just hit the spot which has a spiral shape on the lower left of the rock," Chris said.

"But I saw Instructor Blake making weird hand seals" Grey voiced his confusion. He remembered how Instructor Blake made complicated-looking hand seals before striking the rock.

"Haha, that's just to confuse people who try to sneak in here. Although anyone who is successful regrets it, hehehe" Chris laughed. From the looks of it, someone might have been successful in entering the place but met misfortune afterwards.

"Okay, you can leave now. Don't disturb me" Chris chased Grey out after telling him how to get through the rock.

Grey left the valley, after heading out, he searched for the spiral symbol on the lower left of the rock. Where it was located wasn't too low, it was located around the height of his chest. He carefully examined the rock and found there were different symbols on it.

After examining the rock, he left intrigued by how this rock was the doorway to a valley. The rock was stuck in a mountain. Grey walked to the other side of the mountain but was unable to find the valley, it was fascinating to him. When he was in the valley, he could clearly see the sky.

After contemplating for a while without being able to deduce a convincing method, he decided to let it be and head back to the Academy.

He headed towards Klaus' place after entering the Academy since he knew Klaus would be back by now.

"Hey buddy," Grey yelled from outside as he barged in without knocking. He was very free with Klaus since they kinda connected when he just arrived at the Academy.

When Klaus heard someone barging into his house without knocking, he was about to fly off the handle. But when he heard the voice, his anger suddenly turned to joy as he hadn't seen his friend for two weeks now.

"Haha, I was just thinking of when you'd return" Klaus laughed happily as he got up to welcome his friend. They fist-bumped before Grey went to take a sit.

"I came to your place after I returned, but you weren't at home, I guessed you must have gone to the city," said Grey.

"You know me too well," Klaus said with a laugh.

Grey noticed his friend was in a happier mood than usual, "Did something good happen?" He couldn't help but ask.

"Haha, yes of course" Klaus laughed again. Grey chuckled when he saw his friend laughing.

"Do you remember Leanne?" Klaus asked with a smile.

"That girl we met at the city gate?" Grey asked to confirm if it was who Klaus was talking about.

"Yes" replied Klaus.

"What's up with her?" Grey asked since he didn't know why his friend brought up her name.

"She's now my girlfriend" Klaus proudly declared.

Grey stared wide-eyed at his friend, "What about Danielle?".

"Dani" Klaus sighed, "We just weren't meant to be" He added.

"But you said you felt something special from her?" Grey said. Clearly confused about this whole relationship thing.

"I thought I did. But I suddenly felt she wasn't the one" Klaus said sadly. "I was lost in the darkness of my little world, and then Leanne came in, she lit up my entire world" Klaus's sad face immediately turned into a smiling one.

"This was exactly what you said after breaking up with Trista and hooking up with Danielle," said Grey in exasperation.

"I know, but the feeling I get from Leanne penetrates deep into my very core," Klaus said still grinning.

"The last time you said the feeling you got from Danielle penetrates deep into your skin. Now, the one you get from Leanne goes deep into your core" Grey felt a headache when he looked at his buddy who was grinning like an idiot.

In one year, Klaus had already broken up with nine different girls. Grey didn't know how their relationships even worked in the first place. He decided to just let it be, since talking more about wouldn't make a difference.

After they fooled around for some time.

"Hey Grey" Klaus suddenly said.

"Hrm" Grey raised his head to look at his friend.

"Do you know about the competition held among the Academies every five years?" asked Klaus.

"No, I haven't heard about that" Grey shook his head.

Klaus went on to tell Grey about the competition. The competition was held at Capital City, the city where the Emperor resides. It would be a contest among the students of each Academy, the winners always receive some amazing rewards from the Emperor.

People say the Emperor did this competition, so he would be able to know all the young talents in the empire and build a solid relationship with them. No one truly knows the reason, but the competition is something that was always anticipated by the citizens since it was the only time the gates of the Capital City would be opened to all.

"There's still three months before the competition, I should be able to break through before then," Grey said confidently.