Affinity:Chaos

"Senior, what's the plan now?" Blake asked after they finished their meals. 

Now, Grey and his friends were in no danger, so they were free to do whatever they wanted. The main issue though was that the Emperors of all four empires were dead, and with no one to rule the Continent, it would naturally fall into chaos since different families would start fighting over who would rule each empire. Some would even go as far as thinking they have a shot at unifying the continent. 

When the Emperors were alive, it was nothing but a pipe dream, but now, it was a whole different story. Each large family that had a single Sage Plane Elementalist or even two would feel like they have a shot at it. 

"That's not my problem," Chris waved it off. He had zero interest in being involved with these things. Whoever wanted to rule should rule, it had nothing to do with him. 

"I know it has nothing to do with you, but more people will most likely die this way. In the tussle for power, so long as they feel there's a chance, only a few people would give it up," Oliver said. 

"Old man," Chris said mockingly. 

Chris' words almost made Oliver spit out a mouthful of blood. He was around the same age as Chris, he was even younger by two years, yet because Chris miraculously looked younger he called him an old man. 

Delia was barely able to contain her laughter, now she clearly understood why Klaus acts this way. Chris was almost exactly the same as Klaus. Growing up with such a troublesome and powerful uncle, Delia couldn't help but imagine just how much of a troublemaker Klaus was when he was younger. 

"Anyway, Gerald should be able to deal with it. You should know I'm not good with these things. This is one of the reasons I spoke with him before leaving, that way, those people who would want to fight for power would think twice," Chris said after getting a glare from Oliver. 

"Uncle," Klaus' voice was lower than usual, and compared to his usual self, he had a somewhat downcast expression.

"Yes," Chris turned to Klaus. 

"What about father, will he be okay?" Klaus clenched his fists, afraid of knowing the answer. He knew that his father must have done some damage to himself when he was about to burn his life essence, and judging from Chris' expression when he brought him back, he knew it was serious. 

"Don't worry about it, I'll be fine," Oliver placed his hand on Klaus' head as a warm smile broke out on his face. 

He didn't really care about many things, but Klaus was his reason for living. As long as Klaus was okay, he was fine, even if it meant that he would lose his strength or be unable to advance later in his cultivation. 

"Don't worry kid, I may not be able to help him, but I think I know someone who can," Chris ruffled Klaus' hair before turning to look at his friend. 

Oliver smiled but didn't say anything. He knew the extent of his injury, and it would be almost impossible if not even impossible for him to recover again. His cultivation may not depreciate, but his strength will. He will gradually lose strength, but he will be unable to gain any. 

This means that he might be in the Sage Plane, but his strength would slowly fall to the Overlord Plane, and as time goes on, it would fall lower. 

The group stayed together for that day. Later that night, Chris started to teach Grey what he learned about arrays from the old man. Grey also showed him all he had learned as well. Chris was intrigued mainly with the array that used multiple elements to strengthen it. 

They stayed all through the night, speaking about arrays. It was only when Klaus and the others came did they realize it was already dawn. 

"Your knowledge of arrays is amazing, I was right to teach you about it," Chris sighed, satisfied with his student. 

Grey bowed to show his respect to his Teacher. While they were still speaking, Grey received a message from old man Gerald. 

The message stated that he wanted to meet up with Chris. Grey didn't find this unexpected. With the state of the Continent, even though old man Gerald knew that all the decisions lay in his hands right now, he still wanted to get approval from Chris before going on with any plans. 

While Grey was preparing to go to welcome Old man Gerald, Alice told the group she would be leaving to meet up with her family. She knew where they were hiding, so it wouldn't be difficult for her to locate them. 

Reynolds also said the same thing, he had been running for a while now, so he wanted to go and check up on his parents and younger brother. 

They knew once they came back from this journey, they would be traveling to a new continent, starting a new journey. They didn't know what the future held, so every moment with their families naturally counted. 

Grey accompanied them outside the valley, after saying their goodbyes, he went over to the Academy to bring Old man Gerald and Diluc over. To his surprise, there was a third person with them, it was none other than the Second Prince. This was Grey's second time meeting him personally. 

He recalled that old man Gerald introduced him to the Second Prince in an effort to get him to support him later when he was fighting for the throne with the Crown Prince. 

Seeing the Second Prince, Grey was able to discern old man Gerald's reason for meeting up with his Teacher. It was clear that he wanted to make this person the new Emperor, but he needed the approval of Chris. 

A few minutes later. 

"You can do whatever you like, I have no objections to your choice. Even if you want to unify the continent, it's entirely up to you," Chris replied when he heard old man Gerald's reason for coming. 

His nonchalant behavior surprised the Second Prince.