Affinity:Chaos

The Elders continued speaking about them and they decided to do some research on their identities when they got back to their Factions. These were geniuses they would want to groom to be pillars of their Factions, so they naturally had to make sure they were people who would take them seriously as well. 

During the time they were speaking, Klaus had forced the Dual Elementalist into a difficult situation. Even with his superior speed, he still couldn't break through Klaus' defense, while Klaus had no issues with doing the same to him. 

The Dual Elementalist was also slowly getting frustrated as the battle went on. He vowed to never fight against Klaus again, or if he wanted to, then he would have to ensure for the time period, he would block his ears at all cost. 

As if Klaus could hear what he was thinking, he flashed a brilliant smile at him which infuriated him even more. 

Grey and the others were certain the Dual Elementalist would have nightmares whenever he thought about this day. 

The battle was slowly coming to a conclusion, and after the young man exploded with a terrifying attack that he used to push Klaus back, he was unable to take advantage thanks to Klaus' impeccable defense. 

Klaus took the initiative back and switched entirely to the heavy water. When the heavy water came into play, the Dual Elementalist could barely defend against it. Klaus' strength had increased since his breakthrough, so he was not the same as before. 

The Dual Elementalist was finally eliminated after almost ten minutes of fighting. Klaus stood on the platform, he was officially the last person to make up the top ten spots. 

The audience all sucked in a cold breath when they realized Klaus was able to make it into the top ten. When he eliminated the Earth Elementalist, they felt he would be able to get into the top ten, but seeing it actually happen still shocked them. 

Against all odds, Klaus qualified thanks to his wits. 

The man in charge of the platform declared Klaus the winner of the three-way battle. 

The other nine participants were called up to the platform. And of the people who successfully got into a Faction during the time of challenging members of the Factions, only Klaus and a young man were left. The others in the top ten were people who were unsuccessful. Two of them didn't even try challenging anyone, and they were Grey and a young lady. 

The man asked them if they would choose their Factions now or later. The ones who were unsuccessful with their challenges picked their Factions, even the young lady did the same as well. 

Everyone turned to look at Grey and he still had the same indifferent expression. They all knew he probably didn't want to pick a Faction yet.

They were told to draw lots, and since Klaus just finished fighting, they were given one hour to rest. 

Klaus' opponent was the young lady who recently just picked a Faction after getting into the top ten. Grey's opponent was a young man who was unsuccessful in his first attempt to get into a Faction.

Grey and Klaus went back to their seats, and the group congratulated Klaus for his stunning victory. 

"Rey, you see, winning with style." Klaus started to brag. 

"You cheated." Reynolds retorted. 

"Look, my friend, I've said this, and I'll say it again, all is fair in love and war. Did you think I would win this easily if I didn't use my brains?" Klaus didn't think too much about Reynolds' words. 

"Definitely not." Reynolds replied. 

"You see, but I won anyway. And I didn't even get to fight two people, one of them willingly left the platform." Klaus chuckled. 

"I didn't even sense the attack, how did you do it?" Grey was curious about this, so he asked. 

"You see, it's like this…" Klaus explained it to them. 

Initially, his plan was to defeat the Dual Elementalist before fighting against the Earth Elementalist as agreed. But when he saw the Earth Elementalist stupidly standing on the edge of the platform, the thought of eliminating him crossed his mind. It was a difficult move because if they sensed it, then the duo would know he was only tricking them, so he was extra careful. Luckily, he was successful in his attempt. 

In a battle against the Dual Elementalist, he was at least over sixty percent confident in defeating him with his new strength. 

"All in all, I guess I was lucky to get opponents Rey is even smarter than." Klaus used the opportunity to bicker with Reynolds. 

Reynolds naturally wouldn't let him have the advantage. 

Kyle looked at Reynolds and shook his head. Since he had been traveling with the group, no one has been able to defeat Klaus in a war of words. The only time Grey and Reynolds had been able to do so was when they had something to use against him, but with nothing, they were simply asking for it. 

Just as expected, Klaus won the war of words once again. It was not even a challenge. Klaus was naturally gifted when it came to sarcasm, so it was easy for him to always have a greater comeback whenever Reynolds said something to him. 

Time went on and the one hour soon elapsed. Grey was the first to fight once again, and he didn't even give his opponent any chances. 

He had shown his four elements as well as his inscriptions, so he used everything to quickly deal with the young man. He was victorious in less than five minutes. 

Klaus' battle was a little longer, but in the end, he won just as everyone expected. Now, both Grey and Klaus have made it into the top five, just like their friends did during the last round. 

The other three who made it to the top five were two young ladies and a young man. Klaus almost wanted to advise them to give up even before the battle, but Grey closed his mouth when he saw that he was about to speak to them. 

He didn't even need to know what he wanted to say, but he was one hundred percent certain that it was nothing good.