Affinity:Chaos

Everyone watched on as the silhouette of a man could be seen walking in the direction of the pavilion from the right. The figure walked softly and elegantly, his steady steps resonated across the quiet pavilion.

Grey stared intently as the figure soon came into view, in front of him stood a man who looked to be in his fifties, broad-shouldered, and stood around six foot two. From his facial appearance, he looked only to be older than Klaus' father by a few years or at most ten years. The only thing that truly showed his old age was his grey hair and beard.

'Is he really over eight hundred years old?' He couldn't help but ask himself.

'Be careful, he's an Overlord Plane expert, above the mid-stages.' Void warned Grey as soon as the man walked in.

Even though he knew the man didn't have anything against Grey and would most likely not even speak to him, he felt he should at least warn him.

'Oh, I didn't think he would be in the late stages.' Grey said before reassuring Void, 'Don't worry, I'm not here to cause trouble. If anyone needs to be careful, then it's you.'

'Hmph! I'm not that stupid to cause a problem here,' Void snorted coldly.

'Oh really? If I remember correctly, you stole the treasure of a dragon that I think is over five hundred years old without even thinking. I think when you see anything shiny that catches your eye, your brain turns off.' Grey replied with a sneer.

There's no way he would believe Void would sit still if he sees something shiny, luckily he was here. And besides, if he couldn't stop him, it's not his problem since they weren't together.

"That's old man Gerald, he's the owner of this pavilion. He's not affiliated with any of the big families here, rather, he's the regional leader of the Lenz's organization. Even the head of the big families shows him maximum respect." Aldreda explained to Grey as the old man took his seat.

"You said regional leader, does that mean there are other regional leaders?" Grey asked, a little perplexed.

If the regional leader of the organization could be this powerful, then how powerful is the leader?

"Yes, actually, the Lenz's conglomerate has a long history, it's even older than the Qilin empire. According to the history books, they started when the continent was still united, since they're a merchant organization, they don't get involved with the battles for power. They currently have branches in each of the empires." Elda chimed in on the conversation to tell Grey what she knew about the organization.

Aldreda glared at her sister for stealing her opportunity to impress Grey with this information. Elda smiled before staring at Grey. She shook her head softly when she saw how his attention was currently on Gerald.

"Wow! That old? They should have powerful figures since they can perfectly operate in each empire without being controlled by any." Grey exclaimed softly as he shifted his attention back to Gerald.

Given the tension between the empires right now, Grey found it amazing that an organization could perfectly operate, moving things and personnel between them without being interrupted by either of the empires.

Clink! Clink! Clink!

"Welcome everyone, this old one is Gerald Lenz, I'm grateful to see so many of you coming here for my birthday celebration once again. It only felt like yesterday when I celebrated my eight hundredth birthday, but now, it's already been ten years…" Gerald spoke slowly and cooly while appreciating his audience.

He didn't say much, after greeting his audience, he quickly started the birthday party off before taking a seat.

'Wow! Eight hundred and ten, now that's old! Grey, what's the lifespan of humans in the Overlord Plane?' Void asked.

'Around one thousand to one thousand two hundred years,' Grey replied after a while.

The birthday ceremony went on with Grey mostly speaking with the Earl sisters. He asked about the city and the relationship between the Lenz organization and the big families. He noticed Sasha would give him the occasional glance, but he tried not to look in her direction.

The ceremony continued for about two hours, entertainment was going on from the people who were playing the instruments. Some moments ago, a few ladies approached Grey asking him for a dance, actually, they weren't the first. This caused him to draw attention from most of the young men in the big families since even some of the ladies they liked were all looking at Grey with heated eyes.

After one lady summoned the courage to ask him for a dance, it was almost like the others took it as a challenge upon themselves to make sure he danced with at least one of them.

On the front table.

This was the table Gerald Lenz was sitting at. Five people were seated at this table, Gerald himself, and four others. One young lady who looked to be in her late twenties, an older looking lady who had the same features as the young lady, and two old men.

"Who is that young man?' Gerald couldn't help but ask.

Seeing the attention Grey was drawing to himself amused him, hence he felt curious about him.

"His name's Zeke Hoover, he came with the Earl family. I think he's a friend of the youngsters." A young lady by his right replied.

"Hoover, I don't think I've heard of that family name before, do you know of it?" Gerald asked while rubbing his beard.

"No, I don't think he's from this city," The young lady shook her head.

"Hmm, well, he's going to have a hell of a time when 'that' segment starts,' The older lady said gently.

"It should be about time now, I think," The young lady said before giving Grey a pitiful glance.

Ten more minutes went by and a middle-aged man walked forward, he announced that it was time for presenting gifts to Gerald Lenz.

'Crap! I forgot about this,' Grey's face twitched a little.

This was the first time he was attending a birthday ceremony of this caliber. He had followed Klaus to one of the ones he forced him to at Lunar City, but it was for a young man, and he didn't stay long.

He immediately started going through his spatial ring if he could find anything good to offer to Gerald as a birthday gift. After going through his storage ring, he decided against it. The only thing he had in abundance was elemental weapons, but those weren't something someone of Gerald's status would see any value in since he could get them at any time.

Other than that, he had some extremely valuable treasure, like the liquid extracted from the blooming viper which had amazing healing capabilities, but bringing out any of such treasures would instantly put him in danger since he wasn't from any of the big families here.

Grey stayed in his seat while the Earl girls went over to offer their gifts, even Randel brought a gift. After drawing so much attention previously, most people stared at him, waiting for him to stand up, but to their surprise, he didn't move an inch.