Affinity:Chaos

"Okay, thank you," Grey bowed, showing his gratitude.

"No problem. Just another reminder, there's also a possibility that he might heal without it. But the chances of that are very slim," Gerald added before walking out.

After Gerald left the room, Grey created a wall to block the space where the door used to be.

'Hmm, I didn't expect it would take me that long,' He thought, feeling remorseful.

He looked at Void with a sad smile, he had finally comprehended the space element, but at what cost?

"*Sigh* I was too rash, I should've come out when I noticed how difficult it was. Maybe he would've been fine if I came out sooner," He muttered while caressing Void's fur.

While he was inside, he knew the longer he stayed in the tunnel, the harder it was for Void to keep it up. But he couldn't help it, the space element was just at his fingertips, he couldn't lose it. He didn't want to lose it.

'Will the tonic be able to help him? I recalled he said it could heal someone that was on death's door,' He suddenly recalled about the healing tonic he got from the blooming vipers.

Without wasting any time, he quickly took out one of the bottles from his spatial ring, before feeding it to Void.

He waited patiently as the tonic went through Void's mouth, into his body.

After five minutes, there were no reactions from Void.

From the looks of it, it seems like it only works on the physical body, and not the consciousness. The consciousness of any creature is a very complex entity. Although he felt the chances of the tonic helping were slim, he did feel a little hopeful when he recalled how it helped him the last time.

"I need to start moving, the sooner I head to the Magical beast forest, the better," He muttered before standing up.

With Void injured, he didn't have the time to sit around and mope. The best thing to do now is to find a way to heal him.

His current plan remains like before, only this time, he was in a hurry.

Grey picked up the robe from the side of the bed before putting it on. He came out of the secret room and headed straight to Gerald's office.

On getting there, Gerald was still discussing with the people who came, but when he noticed Grey's presence outside, he excused himself from the office.

"Thank you for your help throughout the time I was here, I'll be leaving now," Grey bowed to him as soon as he saw him.

"You're leaving?" Gerald asked to confirm.

"Yes, I need to head to the Magical beast forest as soon as possible," Grey didn't hide the motive of him leaving.

"Going there alone is dangerous, but it would help you advance quicker," Gerald didn't try to stop him.

Grey threw the communication device he got from him back, before turning around.

"Here, you should keep it. If you're in any location where there's a merchant organization, I might be able to help," Gerald gave the device back to him.

"Thank you," Grey took it and started walking away again.

He would go visit Alice, before heading to give Reynolds one of the communication devices. Klaus would be the last of them to get the device, but before leaving, he wanted to make an array close to Frost City.

According to the disc, if he wanted to meet Klaus after giving Reynolds the device, then he would need to pass through Frost City again. Either that or he had to go around, and he didn't have that time.

Grey left the Lens villa and hurried over to where the Reiss family villa was located. He had gotten the information of how to sneak into the secret room from Void, so he wasn't too bothered.

After getting to the Reiss villa's wall, his body flashed twice before he disappeared.

The next moment, he appeared on the other side of the wall, silently.

'So, this is the feeling,' Grey stared at his hand.

This was his first time moving through a space tunnel he created. Not just that, it was completely different from the array they used. The time frame in moving from one location to another was faster, this could be attributed to the fact that where he was going was closer.

He looked around, 'There, there, and there,'

Void had studied the movements and locations of each guard, which he later told Grey.

Grey easily moved through the villa like it was his backyard thanks to Void's detailed explanation.

Ten minutes later.

In a secret room inside the Reiss villa.

Alice could be seen lying on the bed leisurely with her legs hanging out of the end of the bed. She was wearing a casual knee-length shirt with white pair of pants.

"Hmm, will he be done by now?" She said with her finger on her lips.

"Huh?"

Buzz!

She stood up and attacked the left side of the room with a lightning bolt.

"Is this how you welcome a friend?" Grey asked after opening a space tunnel to dismiss the lightning strike.

"I knew it was you, I just wanted to see how fast your reaction was," Alice giggled while looking at Grey.

"You, you've comprehended it?" Alice asked with a shocked expression.

"Yeah," Grey said with a sad expression.

"What's with that face? You should be celebrating?" Alice scolded with her hands on her hips.

"I really want to," Grey said with a wry smile, "But you see, I can't,"

He brought out Void from his storage ring where he was keeping him, showing him to Alice.

"Gasps! What happened?" Alice asked with a gasp as she took Void from him.

Grey went on to tell Alice about what happened, and why Void was hurt.

"Why didn't you exit it sooner? He told you he couldn't keep it up for long!" Alice scolded him when she heard the story.

"I… I… I could feel it. Heh! I guess I was greedy," Grey said with a self-deprecating laugh.

"You… *Sigh* What are you going to do now?" Alice wanted to scold him, but seeing his guilty expression, she couldn't.

"I'll be heading to the Magical beast forest, I only wanted to see you before I leave," Grey told her his plan.

"Okay," Alice nodded.

"Oh, I'll need essence stones. A lot of them," Grey said.

"There's some in my father's room," Alice replied instantly.

She didn't even ask him what he wanted to use them for. Since Grey said he needed it, then it's okay.

"Is it okay, taking them?" Grey asked.

"Of course, my dad has no use for them," Alice waved it off.

Grey looked at her suspiciously, but since he needed it, he couldn't say no. Besides, he had a small grudge against him when he came here the last time. Even though he had apologized, it wasn't that bad to steal a thing or two from him.

"What do you need them for?" Alice asked after telling him where the location of the essence stones was.

"I want to make a teleportation array like the one we used in entering the trial land," Grey explained to her.

He would create the array close by, then connect it with the one he was going to make wherever Reynolds was located. That way, he could easily travel here from that side without bothering about the time he would need.

"Oh, how convenient," Alice exclaimed in awe.

"Yeah, I'm sorry I can't stay long. I'll visit when I come back," Grey said with a smile.

"Okay," Alice nodded.

Grey hugged her before vanishing from the room.

He followed Alice's directions and quickly made his way into her father's room. The essence stones were kept under his bed, but it wasn't too difficult for him to collect them.

After keeping them, he snuck out of the villa.

'Crap! The consumption is outrageous!' He almost screamed out after leaving the villa.

Now he understood why Void didn't use it all the time. He didn't use the space element for too long, but he was already feeling tired from it. After experiencing this, he felt even more guilt when he recalled how he made Void open the tunnel for a long time.

He slowly headed towards the exit of the city. There was a stable close to the city gate, so he went to buy one horse since he couldn't walk to where Reynolds was located.

He didn't know if Reynolds was in Eternal City, or if he had left the city since he was currently hiding.

After getting the horse, he rode to the forest close to Frost City, searching for a secret place where he could make the array.

He found a hidden cave after a while and immediately got to work.

When they used the array to get into the trial land the last time, he picked up a few things from the array when it lit up.

Now with his expanded knowledge of arrays, he was trying to make one by himself.