Affinity:Chaos

In a manor in the City.

Grey was invited inside the building in a respectful manner. When he saw the Old man sitting there and casually drinking tea by the garden, he sensed the serenity of the place.

"Forgive my manners, I couldn't approach you myself, hence I sent my son. Hope you're not offended?" The Old man stood up to greet Grey.

Strength reigned above everything else, seeing Grey's strength, he knew he was below him and had to act accordingly.

"No worries." Grey smiled and looked around, "I suppose you have something to tell me."

The Old man nodded, "Yes, I called you here for a reason."

Grey's attention turned back to the Old man when he heard him speak.

"What might that be?" His curiosity was piqued.

"I want my son to follow you." The Old man said.

The eyes of Arthel changed slightly when he heard this, "Father…"

The Old man raised his hand to stop Arthel from speaking and kept his gaze on Grey, waiting for his response.

"Why would you want your son to follow me? You don't even know me." Grey said coolly.

He was quite astonished by the request of the Old man. When coming here, he thought the Old man wanted to propose an offer for him for an expedition. He felt maybe they were not strong enough to get the treasure so he wanted to ask for his help to get the treasure. The Old man's words were completely out of expectations.

"I know. But I'm a good judge of character. If my son follows you, he will grow stronger. There's nothing here for him, but I believe in your world, he would be able to become a true powerhouse. He's a genius, even amongst those his age." The Old man explained.

To be honest, after seeing Grey, he was interested in him. From Grey's strength, to his demeanor, he was different from the other foreigners he had encountered. The decision to let his son follow Grey came after he saw how Grey dealt with the trio who stepped back from the battle. He kept to his promise and even returned a few of their items.

Grey contemplated the matter and said, "I can't take him with me. I know nothing about him, nor do I know your purpose. What if this is all a ploy to kill me?"

The Old man laughed when he heard Grey's words, not disappointed with him rejecting his request, "Haha, this is why I requested this from you. I've seen a few who would've been willing to take him with them, but none of them is like you."

"There's something unique I can sense around you. Anything close to you will succeed. I want that for my son too." The Old man added.

Grey looked at the Old man, a bit surprised. He had also noticed there was something odd about his friend group. Take for instance, when he first knew Keith while trying to get into the Pyrmond Faction, he wasn't that fast when it came to advancing in cultivation stage. But after getting to know him, he started improving rapidly.

From the start of his cultivation journey, while he was still a new to cultivation, Klaus, Alice, and Reynolds were all in the Arcane Plane, while he hadn't even entered the Collection Plane. However, after catching up with them, Klaus, Alice, and Reynolds started advancing at a pace they didn't imagine.

To be honest, he looked at the others in the Academy at that time and noticed other than himself and his friends, no one else was advancing this fast. He didn't think too much about it, only now that the Old man mentioned it did he recall about that thought that had been thrown to the back of his head.

"Hmm, I'm still a little worried about taking someone I don't know with me." He said.

He had every right to be worried, after all, this was an Elemental Venerable. Even if he could suppress him, he didn't want to take any chances.

"I can offer you a technique you can use to seal his core. With a thought, you can easily kill him." The Old man suggested.

Grey raised a brow and took a glance at Arthel, wanting to see his reaction to his father's words. To his surprise, Arthel didn't show any reactions at all, he stood there mute. If not for the fact that Grey knew he was human, he would've even thought he was a statue.

"What do you say?" The Old man asked when he saw Grey hesitating.

"Wait, let me consult my companions." Grey said and turned to Cori, Void, and the bunny leader who were behind him.

"What do you think?" He asked with a nonchalant expression.

Cori looked at Arthel, "This Uncle doesn't seem to be a bad person. I don't mind traveling with him."

Void accessed Arthel and replied, "He has a few shiny things. And can protect me too. I'm good with him."

Just as the bunny leader was about to speak, Void spoke up, "You don't need to talk. I've spoken for us."

Grey laughed when he saw this.

The Old man and Arthel exchanged glances, shocked that Grey was referring to a small black cat, a white bunny, and a little girl who didn't look to be older than ten their opinion on the matter.

The Old man chuckled and whispered to Arthel, "He takes relationships very seriously. As long as you don't betray him, you will enjoy him."

Arthel looked at his father, he didn't know what to say, but nodded. Since this was the case, why bother. He would do whatever his father wanted. The reason he grew this powerful was all due to his father's advice he took. He always did as told and grew at a very fast rate.

Of all the Elemental Venerables in the City, he was the only one below a hundred years. In fact, he was sixty-five to be precise.

"Your companions seem to have agreed to him joining you." The Old man spoke, drawing Grey's attention back to him, "What do you say?"