Affinity:Chaos

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Somewhere in the Azure empire…

In a mountain range, a large compound was situated in the depth of it.

Inside a study room in the compound…

"Lord, they are ready"

A man stood in front of a refined-looking man who sat on the chair behind the desk, reading a book. There was a desk at the side of the study room and books could be seen arranged in an orderly fashion on a book rack.

The man who was reading shifted his attention to the man standing. This was the butler of the compound, he hadn't stayed with the family for too long though.

"Hmm, okay. Have you given them the map?"

The butler nodded,

"Yes lord, they should have no problem with locating it this time"

The man replied,

"Good. Make sure to remind them there is no room for failure, you should know how long it took us to create that map, and how many lives were lost because of it"

The butler was aware of this since he had stayed with the family for some time now.

"Yes my lord, they know acquiring it is their main objective. They have promised to return with it, but we still don't know if there might be any unforeseen events yet"

The man replied before shifting his gaze back to the book he was reading.

"As long as they are careful, they should be able to acquire it"

The butler was about to leave when he suddenly paused, after gathering the courage, he said,

"My lord"

The man continued reading his book when he answered,

"Speak"

The butler asked with a shaky voice,

"What is this thing they're going to acquire anyway"

The man looked at the butler while squinting his eyes. The butler immediately regretted his decision and quickly knelt on the ground,

Thud!

"Forgive me for intruding my lord"

The man seemed satisfied with the butler's reaction, after some thoughts, he said,

"Don't worry it's okay, you've been with me for over ten years, and I'm very pleased with your work so far. I don't think there's any use hiding it from you, and besides, I trust you"

"The truth is, I don't know what they will acquire, but according to my ancestor, it's a great treasure in the land of trial that can increase our strength drastically. He found a record in a room which said a great treasure is located in a specific region. He searched for it throughout the time he was in the place but couldn't find it due to how vast the place was"

"He made a map of the place he had explored, and every time the place opens, he would send someone inside to continue the search from where he ended. The map is modified after every opening since the people who go in, explores new places"

"Even I have entered, but we've still not been able to find it. But from the map, we have been able to search most of the region said in the records. The place left is all they have to explore, and they will most likely find it. With it, we will be able to get back what my family lost for so long, the throne. I will not only rule the Azure empire, but I will unite the entire continent as well and be the only ruler"

The man said with eyes sparkling. He truly was a man with big dreams. His gaze then went cold,

"If those bastards didn't betray us and claimed the throne, our family would have been the one ruling the Qilin empire. There would have been only two empires and not four, because of the Gale's family betrayal, those other old folks who refused to die took the opportunity to create their empires as well. The Gale family will pay for what they did"

The butler looked at the man in shock, although he had been in the family for a while now, he didn't know much about the history. He couldn't help but ask,

"My lord, I thought it was Constantine Gale who led the rebellion?"

The man scoffed, before saying through gritted teeth,

"That fool, what could he do, it was my ancestor who made the plan for everything. He was even the one who started the fight at the castle, but who would have thought Constantine would backstab him at the end. And those stupid families also joined hands with him"

The butler was startled by this discovery, this was the first time he heard the story of the great rebellion differently. Usually, it was Constantine Gale who would get all the praise, but now, there seems to be some hidden information about the entire issue. If it was as his lord said, then Constantine Gale was not the hero.

The butler suddenly asked a question puzzling him,

"My lord, what if there is a chance others have already acquired the treasure?"

"It's impossible, only we have the method of getting it. Others might have gone to the place, but they will not be able to open it"

The man said confidently.

The butler left after clearing this up.

The man stood up from his seat and walked towards the book rack, he pushed a book, and a secret door opened up in the study room, he quickly disappeared into the stairway before the secret door closed shut.

**************

The border of the Magical Beasts Forest

Two days later…

The group from the Qilin empire just got to the borders of the Magical Beasts Forest where they met up with some experts from the empire who were already there waiting for them. This was Grey's first time coming to this place, and he was awed by it, the view while they were still in the sky was simply breathtaking. All he saw was a never-ending view of trees, and when he got to the ground, the trees towered into the sky like they wanted to peek into the heavens.

There were different camps already set up in the place, they were taken to the camp which was designated for the Qilin empire. On their way to the camp,

"Hmph! You people are always late"

A cold voice rang out from the camp nearby.

Grey looked in the direction of the voice and noticed the speaker was a man whose hair had started turning gray with deep eyes and an obese build.

"You people are always too eager"

The man who was in charge of the group from the Qilin empire retorted in contempt. The man who just spoke was a member of the Azure empire.

The man snorted coldly before turning his gaze to the other camps.

"Since everyone is here, we shouldn't waste any more time"

The members of the other camps all agreed, the quicker the youths get into the place, the better it was for them. The leaders of each group all walked out.

"Are we going to enter the place now?"

Klaus asked as the leader of their camp walked towards the others.

"Seems like it"

Grey nodded.

"But, we just got here. Shouldn't they at least give us some time to rest?"

Klaus complained.

"Seems not"

Grey replied. Although the journey was tiring, since they wanted them to head in now, he had no problem with it.

He curiously stared in the direction the leaders all gathered, and he could see them placing some stones on the floor in a specific pattern. Looking closely, one could see the lines which formed up a huge array on the floor.

'Essence stones'

Grey searched his memory for the information about them. These stones are formed in places where there are high concentrations of elemental essence. It usually takes a long time before they are formed, and they are divided into three grades; low, mid, and high grade.

These stones are great resources used for cultivating since they have pure elemental essence inside them, but they can only be used after one breaks through to the Origin Plane

After the stones were placed in their required spots, the array lit up. The stones were what was used in activating the array, Grey hasn't gotten to this level yet, but he already knows of it.

"Step into the array, you will all be transported into…"

The leaders all told each group entering the land of trial about some of the dangers they knew about. They also reminded them to keep track of time, and they should always be wary of those from the other empires.

The youths all nodded enthusiastically before slowly stepping into the light shining off the array and disappearing. It soon got to Grey and his friends' turn, he stilled his mind and stepped into the array. The light shone on them, and just like the others, they too disappeared.

After all the youths entered the place, the leaders all went back to their camp. They will spend the next six months here, waiting for those who would be lucky enough to come back out of the place. Sometimes, the number of people who make it out is higher, while on other times, not even up to thirty percent will make it back. The only thing which has never changed was the fact that over ninety percent of the people who came out would have already broken through to the Origin Plane.

At the camp of the Qilin empire

"How many do you think will make it?"

"I have no idea, but if more than half of the youths from our empire make it out, I'll be content"

They weren't the only ones wishing for this, the other empires also hoped at least half of the youths they sent into the place makes it out.

************

Grey felt like his body was being dragged by an unknown force after the light covered his entire body, he was unable to keep his eyes open and shut them tight. The feeling didn't last long before he felt a cool breeze on his face, he slowly opened his eyes…