Affinity:Chaos

"Nice fight, but you should've beaten him sooner." Klaus commented when Reynolds walked closer to them. 

"I'd like to see how you would fair." Reynolds replied, his tone implying the obvious. 

'Let's see what you will be able to do against these monsters while holding back.' 

"To be honest, I'd do just fine. Unlike you two, I need to make a grand scene." Klaus chuckled. 

Kyle shook his head, still baffled by the fact that Klaus still hasn't given up the idea of joining this all-girls Faction. No matter how one looked at it, it seemed pretty much like Klaus wanting to join was mainly because he found out that it was an all-girls Faction. 

Grey didn't have any issues with hiding his strength, it wasn't like he was going all-out in the first place whenever he fought in competitions like this. Having eight elements and using only four meant that he couldn't fight to his full potential. 

"My opponent isn't bad." Alice said. 

"Yeah, but you would take her out if you went all-out." Kyle said. 

Alice smiled without replying. She knew Kyle was right. With the Seelie on her side, she wouldn't have any problems. It was just like Grey's inscriptions, she gained another means of attacking. 

She could either merge with the Seelie and be in control of all the elements, or she could let it out and it would attack independently. The best way to utilize this is to battle with it frequently, to improve their synergy together. 

Luckily, since getting the Seelie, she had been sparring with the group while they were traveling, so they had a good understanding of each other. 

The group continued speaking as they watched the others battles. The number of people was too much so one more round took place. 

After this round was completed, the remaining participants had to draw lots before fighting. Overall, in the Mid stages competition, there were around four hundred people left. Whoever manages to get into the top two hundred would get a chance of challenging anyone from the Factions they wanted to join. While getting to the top one hundred would guarantee joining a Faction, only the top ten had the best chances of joining whichever Faction they wished. 

There have been cases where some Factions fight over a genius. It rarely happens, but said genius must be extremely talented before they could get these people to make a move. 

By the end of the day, they were done with the brawl and it was time for the draw lots. Reynolds and Alice had opponents in the Sixth stage of the Overlord Plane. Alice didn't have an issue with dealing with someone in the Sixth stage, but without Reynolds' Elemental Warrior, then he was as good as eliminated. 

"What are you going to do now?" Klaus asked. 

"Show off, of course." Reynolds said with a smile. 

"Going all out now would mean that the Faction will know of your strength and send someone who can deal with you." Kyle warned. 

"Don't worry, I have a plan to deal with them." Reynolds reassured. 

Grey didn't have any fears for his friends. He had complete confidence in them. 

"We should rest tonight, tomorrow is a big day for you two. Advancing means you can join whichever Faction you want to." Grey said to the group. 

They all agreed with Grey and left the arena, heading home. 

Time went by and the next day came. 

The group went to the arena. Reynolds and Alice prepared themselves for the competition of the day. 

When they got there, they had to wait an hour before it got to their turn. 

Reynolds was the first person called up. His opponent was an Earth Elementalist in the Sixth stage of the Overlord Plane. 

When Reynolds stepped on stage, he drew a few attention. 

After confirming from both participants that they were ready, the man in charge of their platform called for the start of the battle. 

"You should just leave, I saw your battle with that guy, you're not my opponent." The Earth Elementalist said. 

"You don't need to bother about that, we'll see when the battle starts." Reynolds replied. 

"Hmph! Better not waste my time." The Earth Elementalist said. 

From their short conversation, Reynolds knew he was a proud person. Defeating people like this gave him some sort of satisfaction. 

"Hehe, I won't." Reynolds laughed in response.

The Earth Elementalist didn't waste any time and attacked immediately. Being an Earth Elementalist meant lesser speed but higher attack power. 

Reynolds dodged the attack coming his way before rushing to counter. The Earth Elementalist already knew Reynolds would take advantage of any mistakes, so he didn't even try to make any. 

With his earth element, he made sure his attack was effective and his defense was even better. 

Boom! 

Reynolds blocked his attack before countering his attack. The speed of his attack was above that of this opponent, but unfortunately, his opponent was already prepared for it which made it ineffective.

Boom! Bang! 

The battle was intense, and no matter how Reynolds tried, he was unable to break the defense of the Earth Elementalist. 

The Earth Elementalist however didn't have any problems with his attacks. The strength of his attacks was on a level above Reynolds, while he only attacked when he knew it was necessary. 

Grey and the others watching the match knew that if things continued in this fashion, then it meant that Reynolds would be eliminated. But they knew he had a trump card which could keep him safe in this competition. 

If he summoned his Elemental Warrior, then he wouldn't have any issues with defeating those in the Mid stages of the Overlord Plane without any issues. 

"When do you think he would call out his Elemental Warrior?" Klaus asked, patiently waiting for Reynolds to show off. 

"When he knows there's no way for him to defeat his opponent without it." Grey replied, before adding, "If I were him, I'd do the same."

Alice and Kyle agreed with Grey's reasoning. They too would want to keep their trump card for when it was needed. Using it willfully wasn't really a good thing for them. 

"You think so? Why don't he just blow his opponent away, that would be showing off!" Klaus said. Reynolds spoke of showing off, so he naturally wanted that. 

"Give him some time, and he will." Kyle said. 

"Okay." Klaus nodded while focusing on the battle once again. 

The Earth Elementalist Reynolds was fighting against didn't give him any chance to take advantage, slowly increasing the advantage he had. 

Reynolds had the advantage in speed, but his opponent still had the upper hand. The Earth Elementalist had been able to send him flying a few times, luckily, he had been able to keep himself on the platform without being eliminated. 

The Earth Elementalist didn't seem to be worried about this, making sure he hid all the chances Reynolds would get to attack him. 

"Just give up, you're only wasting our time." The Earth Elementalist said when he saw that Reynolds refused to give up after being sent flying for the fifth time. At this rate, it was only a matter of time before Reynolds was sent out of the platform. 

"You think so?" Reynolds asked. 

The Earth Elementalist nodded his head when he heard this. He didn't really mean this in an undermining manner, but the truth was that the present Reynolds wasn't his opponent. 

"I have one surprise for you, if you can block this surprise, then I have no problems with giving up." Reynolds said with a smile.

"Alright, be fast with it." The Earth Elementalist said. 

"Here I come." Reynolds said and rushed towards the Earth Elementalist. 

Seeing Reynolds coming at him, he raised an earth wall. 

While waiting for Reynolds' attack. 

Boom! 

The earth wall shook vigorously. His expression changed. He knew Reynolds' attack wasn't as powerful as this. 

The Earth Elementalist was stunned. Just when he was thinking about what was making the wall shake so much, he saw it vibrate again. 

Boom! Boom! 

Something powerful continued hitting it, and in the matter of a few seconds, it shattered into pieces. 

With the destruction of the wall, he saw something that shook him visibly. 

'A Summoner!' He exclaimed internally. 

This wasn't his first time seeing a Summoner, but he didn't think Reynolds was one since he didn't use it the last time. 

The thing in front of the Earth Elementalist was made entirely of lightning, but it was different from Reynolds' usual Elemental Warrior. This summon was like a normal summon. 

It was Reynolds secret weapon. 

Keeping his trump card would be useless if he doesn't even qualify. Being a high grade summoner gave him an advantage. There's something few people knew about high grade summoners, and that is they could lower the grade of their Elemental Warrior at will. This means that Reynolds could actually call out a normal low grade summon. 

High grade summoners rarely do this because what's the need of doing so. This is the reason most people don't know that there's such a skill. 

Even Reynolds' friends are unaware of this because Reynolds forgot to tell them.