Affinity:Chaos

The group slowly walked towards the boxes. On getting there, Klaus hurriedly opened the box he initially wanted. He was quite curious about what was inside. He wasn't the only curious one, Grey, Reynolds, and Alice all looked towards it curiously. Even the spectating trio did the same.

When he opened it, he saw a smaller box carefully placed in the middle.

'Who puts boxes in boxes?'

Klaus asked himself.

He picked the wooden box which was roughly twelve inches long and eight inches wide. It had a height of ten inches. The box seemed to be made from an unknown wood, if one didn't look at it closely, they would think it was jade. He slowly opened the box.

On opening it, a bone-chilling coldness enveloped the entire room and Klaus who was closest to it felt like he was about to freeze. But that was not the only thing he felt, he sensed a terrifying amount of water energy from the box. He looked inside and saw a transparent blue tear-shaped crystal the size of an orange. But the crystal wasn't exactly 'solid' because its surface slightly rippled like a teardrop.

"What is that?"

Reynolds asked while shivering from the cold.

"It's an Ice river source"

Alice replied.

She was quite surprised seeing something like this was part of the rewards for passing the trial. She had only read about them in books before.

"Ice river source?"

The others all asked at the same time, among the spectating trio, only one of them didn't look confused, seems like he also knew of it.

On seeing the confused look on the faces of the others, Alice told them what she knew about it. Acquiring an ice river source was very hard since they only formed in the deepest parts of some mysterious rivers with temperatures below freezing point, yet they don't form any ice. These rivers could easily freeze Elementalists in the peak stage of the Origin Plane if they go within thirty meters of where the 'source' is formed.

Only powerhouses in the Overlord Plane could acquire them, and even then, it is a very difficult task to contain the energy. It is very beneficial to Water Elementalist due to the pure water essence it contains.

After hearing what Alice said, Klaus couldn't help but ask,

"If it could easily freeze those in the peak stage of the Origin Plane, how come we're all perfectly fine apart from the chilling cold?"

Given the fact that this was something so strong according to Alice's explanation, it was surprising they were all still okay.

"I don't know, but it seems like the energy inside was controlled, or tamed to the extent that it could be used by those in the Arcane Plane. If you could refine this, there's a high chance that you will break through to the Origin Plane within a month"

Alice smiled as she said.

Usually, due to the freezing cold, only Water Elementalists at the Overlord Plane could use it. But now, given the sudden gentler nature, Klaus could refine it without fear of anything happening.

The others all sucked in a cold breath when they heard this.

"A month, that's unbelievable"

Reynolds replied in shock.

Klaus was still in the Sixth stage of the Arcane Plane. It would usually take at least eight months or one year before he should be able to break through to the Origin Plane. Given that they're in this place with much more abundant essence, it should take four months or so. But now Alice was saying all he needed was one month, it was shocking, to say the least.

"It's not unbelievable, that's just the minimum. Given the amount of essence in the source, he shouldn't have a problem with getting to the Second stage, or even the Third stage of the Origin Plane if he was lucky"

Alice added.

They all looked at Klaus with envy, it seems the reward was made especially for him, and the surprising fact was that Klaus told them to get that one initially.

"How did you know what was inside was beneficial to you?"

Reynolds couldn't help but ask. He was quite surprised that the box Klaus told them to get had something this good, and it was totally beneficial to himself.

"A gut feeling, haha"

Klaus answered with a light laugh. He didn't think it would contain something this precious. The thought of breaking through to the Origin Plane excited him also. He carefully closed the box before turning his gaze to the other two boxes. Now he was quite expectant towards what was inside the other two boxes.

Seeing the first reward, the others all looked at the two boxes with excitement. They all prayed it was beneficial to them all, unfortunately, their expectations were shattered when they opened the first box. Inside the first box, laid an odd-looking silver ring.

"That's it?"

Reynolds asked in disappointment.

He looked inside to confirm if there was anything else, but he couldn't find any.

"Why would a ring be placed in one of the boxes?"

He asked again in frustration, he had high hopes for the boxes, but on seeing what was inside the first one, his hopes were crushed. Now all could do was pray the last box had something good.

The others were also disappointed by the outcome, they all expected something good. But seeing the ring, they were all crestfallen, except for Grey. He felt a weird energy around the ring, so he collected it since no one else wanted it.

They moved their attention towards the last box, with hopes not too high, Alice opened it. And just like the last box, what was inside wasn't anything precious, only this was something they could actually use.

The last box contained a tonic, from what they knew, it was used for healing. None of them were injured, so it was also basically useless for now.

Grey looked in the direction of the injured youth who was by the side before throwing it towards him since they weren't injured now, it was best they have it to the youth. Although they didn't know them, it didn't hurt to do some good sometimes.

The youth caught the tonic with a surprised expression, he didn't expect they would hand him the tonic. This was something that would be helpful during the time they would spend here since they didn't know when they might get injured. Although his injuries were severe, he should be able to recover within the next two or three months. It's just his chances of advancing in this trial would be shortened, and he might also die if faced with a dangerous situation.

"Thank you"

He tried to bow towards the group, but he couldn't due to his injuries.

His friend also showed his thanks.

"It's nothing. It would be bad if he stays in this state"

Grey replied with a small smile.

"Now that we're done with this, we should get going"

Klaus looked in the direction of the door. They still didn't know what awaited them there. But if he was given a chance, he would find a secluded place and immediately start refining the ice river source.

Grey and the others looked at the door before walking towards it.

"We'll be leaving now"

Grey said to the trio before they disappeared past the door. What awaited them was still unknown.

"Thank you"

The injured youth mumbled under his breath while looking at the tonic in his hands. This was a lifesaving grace he didn't know if he could repay. But he had already placed Grey and his friends in his heart, he will forever remember this kindness…