Affinity:Chaos

Grey held the man on the shirt, but other than the scared expression on the man's face, he couldn't get a reply. 

'Hmm, this thing works on elemental essence, but other than that, I have no idea how it's made.' He thought to himself while releasing the man back into the ice monster. 

More than half of the ice monster had been blown off, three of the people could be seen sprawling on the ground, not able to stand up. 

Grey retreated a few steps backward, he wanted them to recover so he could continue studying them. But unfortunately, the three people were unable to join the ice monster once again. 

The aura of that monster quickly started dwindling, and before long, it got to the Mid stages of the Origin Plane. It didn't stop there, it continued falling until it almost got to the Early stages. 

Grey felt a little more and it would truly fall to the Early stages. 

"Such a shame. Hey Klaus, come on, let's change opponents," He said while walking towards him. 

"Go away! I'm having fun here," Klaus refused, not even giving Grey any time to speak up again. 

"Sheesh! Come on, just a little bit, I want to study something," Grey begged. 

Klaus looked at the ice monster which could barely recover anymore, and with a shake of his head, he retreated. Since Grey said he wanted to study something, then he couldn't say no. 

'I'll go smash the other one,' He consoled himself. 

The man who was by the side was stunned. He couldn't believe that Grey and Klaus were changing opponents mid-battle. Who even does that?! 

'I can't sit by anymore.' 

Resolve shone on his eyes before he took a step forward. 

"You two are very powerful, I'll give you that…" 

"Well, thank you," Klaus interrupted him, claiming the praise with a smile. 

"But, your journey ends here," The man continued, after being rudely interrupted by Klaus. 

"Come on out, it's time to end these boys," He said while looking around the field. 

Five old men walked out from behind the trees around the field. 

"Huh? There's more of you?" Klaus asked with a surprised expression. 

He was obviously acting, Grey had told him even before the battle started that there were five people hiding on the side. And it was just as Grey said, all of them were in the Late stages of the Origin Plane. 

Although not at the Peak, if they're allowed to form this ice monster, it's strength would be unimaginable. 

Grey naturally wanted this, Klaus on the other hand, not really. 

The old men didn't say anything, they casually walked over to where the other ten people were sitting, some were lying on the ground, exhausted. A look of disappointment washing over their faces. 

"We'll take it from here," The man with a mustache said. 

"Elders, we failed. Punish us," One of the men said. 

"You'll receive your punishments after we've taken care of these twats. Formation!" The man said, moving his gaze from the men. 

He joined the five men, making them six. They formed two groups, three people in each group. 

And they started making the same weird hand seals again, while also channeling their elemental essence in a strange pattern. 

'Oh, so there's a drawback to using this technique,' Grey thought while looking at the ten men behind the old men. 

They were currently exhausted, and not even a single ounce of elemental essence could be sensed from them. It was like they had been completely drained. They would probably need about two to four weeks before they could start absorbing elemental essence once again, and would need around two to three months to recover to their original strength. 

Now he understood why the town chief didn't want to use this technique. If they were to be weak for so long, then there's a chance that their enemies might capitalize on it to attack them. 

'I'll study it, just in case. It's not bad having an extra ace up my sleeve.' He thought. 

Watching the process once again, he gained a small knowledge of how they were doing it. Although he didn't completely get it, he believed once he gets free time to reflect on it, then he would be able to get something. 

"Hey bud, remember when you asked if I could give you my opponent so you can study something?" Klaus suddenly asked, retreating. 

"I didn't ask for your opponent, I only asked if we could switch," Grey corrected. 

"It's the same thing. I'm gifting this one to you too, make sure to do your research properly, I'll watch from this side," Klaus darted away from where the battle would take place.

"Where are you running to?" Grey asked with a sour expression.

He couldn't believe Klaus was trying to leave him alone with both ice monsters. Couldn't he at least have a little shame? 

With a wave of his hand, Grey turned the ground which Klaus was about to step into to muddy ground. 

Plop! 

Klaus immediately sank almost to his knee, "Fuck! Quick, let me go,"

Grey didn't even bother to answer him. 

"Since you're going to run away, why don't I just trap you so they can step on your head?" He said with a sneer. 

"How can you act like this? I'm your friend for fucks sake!" Klaus said. 

"I don't think the Principal would mind you being stepped on, he might even reward me," Grey joked.

Klaus continued struggling while the ice monster was close to completion, its intimidating aura continued increasing. 

The reason he couldn't escape from the mud was that Grey also use the earth element to seal his legs below it. So there was no way for him to get out of there, and since he couldn't properly attack it, he had no other choice but to beg. 

"Hey, Grey, how about you let me go, I promise to say you're the most handsome, how about that?" Klaus asked. 

"No, stay there for a while. It's not like they can kill you, they'll only smash your face," Grey continued. 

He rarely got opportunities to play tricks on Klaus, so he was enjoying himself.