Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 2184: The Upoya Region

In a mountain range somewhere in the Upoya Region, a deep boom rolled across the peaks.

A section of the mountainside erupted outward in a shower of shattered rock and dust. From the collapsing debris came a string of furious curses.

"Damn it!"

"Fuck you, Grey! Do you want to kill me?!"

"It was an accident!"

"What kind of crazy accident is this?! You’ve clearly gone insane!"

"I’m sorry!"

Reynolds forced his way out of the rubble, covered in dust, with arcs of residual lightning still flickering around his body. When he looked up and saw Grey standing a short distance away, completely unscathed, his anger flared even higher. A bolt of lightning shot from his hand straight toward Grey.

Grey had already expected the reaction. He vanished the moment the lightning left Reynolds’s palm, reappearing several meters to the side through a short spatial blink. The bolt slammed into the rock where he had been standing and carved a deep scorched groove into the stone.

"Fuck!" Reynolds snarled.

"Void, hold him! Let’s beat him up!"

Void, who had been watching the entire scene from a safe distance with clear amusement, tilted his head and considered the request.

"I can stop him from teleporting," the black cat offered.

"That’s enough!"

Reynolds shot forward the instant the words left Void’s mouth. Grey tried to blink again, only to feel the familiar spatial pathways lock up under Void’s interference. The short-range teleport failed.

Reynolds closed the distance rapidly, lightning already gathering, forming a spear in his hand. Seeing that escape by blinking was no longer possible, Grey unfolded his space domain. The air around them warped. To Reynolds it suddenly felt as if Grey stood hundreds of meters away and was still receding further with every attempt he made to close the gap.

Reynolds’s eyes flared with pure lightning. His entire body lit up as he forced his way through the distorted space. The sensation of distance collapsed almost as quickly as it had formed. Grey, who had only needed a single beat of slowed movement, stepped in, caught Reynolds by the wrist, and used the man’s own momentum to hurl him back into the broken rocks.

Bam!

Reynolds hit the ground hard enough to send fresh cracks racing outward from the impact. He pushed himself up, cursing under his breath.

"Fuck..."

"I’m sorry. I didn’t expect it to explode like that." Grey’s voice was calm. Soft particles of light elemental energy were already drifting across Reynolds’s body, soothing the worst of the bruises and scrapes. "Stay still for a moment. I’ll heal you."

Reynolds still felt irritated, but the rational part of his mind knew Grey would never intentionally try to harm him. He had simply wanted to vent. The short exchange had also reminded him, once again, of the gap that now existed between them. Even with Void cutting off the spatial blinks Grey relied on so heavily, he had still been handled with almost casual ease. For a brief moment Reynolds understood exactly how most of Grey’s enemies must feel when they traded blows with him. The thought of Lucas Dawson being able to suppress even this version of Grey left him quietly wondering just what kind of monster Grey’s father truly was.

He pushed the thought aside and exhaled.

"What were you even experimenting on this time?"

Over the course of their journey Reynolds had grown used to Grey occasionally stopping for a day or two to research or cultivate. He never minded the pauses; constant high-speed flight grew tiring for anyone. Explosions had happened before during these experiments. This one had simply been the most violent so far.

Grey’s expression brightened at the question, the earlier apology already forgotten.

"Remember the shell the bunny leader found on the way to Emberlyn City? The one from the harvested treasure. I’ve been trying to use it to reinforce the storage crystals for my fusion orbs. If the process works properly, I might even be able to store a fully fused inscription attack inside a crystal." He was clearly ready to launch into a detailed explanation of the energy pathways and resonance patterns he had been testing.

Before he could continue, his head turned sharply toward the northern sky. An approaching aura had entered the range of his spiritual sense.

Reynolds noticed the change in Grey’s attention and brushed the last of the dust from his clothes while following the same direction with his eyes.

"Who is that?"

"A relative, if I’m not mistaken." Grey waited another second, then nodded with certainty. "It’s Conor. You remember him?"

Reynolds thought for a moment and then nodded. He had visited the Dawson manor in the past and had met Conor on more than one occasion. The young man was straightforward and lacked the usual arrogance common among youths from powerful families. Reynolds’s impression of him had been consistently good.

Conor’s figure soon became visible against the sky. When he drew close enough to see the partially destroyed mountainside and the two people hovering above it, surprise flashed across his face.

"Enemy attack?" he asked quickly, spiritual sense already sweeping the surrounding peaks.

Grey shook his head. "No. Just an accident."

Conor visibly relaxed. "That’s good." He took a longer look at Grey, a faint smile appearing. "I figured you would come visit once news of your actions in the Pyre Region started spreading."

Grey gave a small, slightly bitter smile. "Looks like I can’t keep a low profile here anymore."

He had hoped to remain unnoticed for a while longer and continue thinning the ranks of Peak Sovereign Gnomes across other regions. Yet in the two weeks since they left the Pyre Region they had not encountered a single Gnome or Necromancer. Part of that could be explained by the fact that not every area suffered the same intensity of attacks, but the complete absence still felt unnatural.

"The entire continent has heard what happened in the Pyre Region," Conor said. "Some forces have already sent envoys to Grandfather asking for your help in their own territories. But since you were not here Grandfather sent them all away."

Grey shrugged. "It was fun while it lasted, I suppose. Let’s head to the manor."

The three of them turned and flew toward the Dawson family grounds. The damaged mountain fell away behind them as they crossed the remaining distance, the peaks growing smaller in the afternoon light.