Affinity: Chaos

The Lyttelton Family Hall.

"The Gnomes are already preparing for war. From what I know, there has been chaos in their world, and some Princes who were fighting for the position of the next Emperor were killed. If we can take advantage of this, it might give us some momentum." An old voice said.

"Since they're preparing for war, it means they don't care about the dead Princes. Using those dead Princes against them wouldn't do much good."

"They've been using our dead against us since we met them, what's wrong with doing the same?"

"We can't control their dead like they do to us, it's completely different."

The Lyttelton Family were in the midst of a conversation when the door to the Hall was knocked by the Elder. After the Elder was given an audience, he told them about Grey who was waiting outside for them. The moment they heard Grey's name, they all stood up, Martha particularly walking with the Elder out as they went to get Grey. Grey and Martha walked back into the Hall, and everyone's gaze landed on Grey's body, they stared at him as if wanting to see through him. This wasn't the first time Grey was in a position like this, so he wasn't phased by their gazes, he bowed his head to greet them. Only Grey's grandfather was present here, his grandmother was nowhere to be seen. The Elders all looked at Grey, before giving the Family Head a questioning look, they were all waiting for the same thing; what did Grey get from the secret realm.

"What was your experience in the secret realm?" Grey's grandfather asked with a calm expression.

Grey was taken aback, not expecting them to ask him about his time in the secret realm. Normally, they'd just see if he grew in his cultivation and then not bother about him again, but in this case, they were questioning him about it.

'It's most likely because of how difficult it was for me to enter.' This was the thought in Grey's head. He knew that his grandfather would question him, but he didn't expect it to come in the presence of so many Elders.

"I didn't get anything there even after exploring the place for days." Grey replied honestly. He didn't get anything of value, Void was the one who got something nice. All he did was fight some Magical Beasts and search for treasures which he unfortunately didn't find. The Elders didn't expect Grey to reply in such a bland manner. According to what they saw, there was an anomaly with the portal into the secret realm. If something like that usually happens to someone, it means there's something special waiting for them. Grey saying he didn't get anything was unbelievable to those present, even to his mother as well, but she didn't have a surprised expression on since she taught him to always keep his cards close to himself. Given the number of people present, she wouldn't advise him to tell them of the treasure he acquired. Unbeknownst to Martha, Grey indeed didn't get anything from the expedition which was also shocking to Grey himself given how difficult it was for him to enter. Originally, he thought he would've been able to get an inheritance or something due to the commotion when he wanted to enter. However, it just seems like the portal didn't want him to enter.

"What do you mean you didn't get anything?" An Elder asked with a calm tone, he raised a brow and added, "All three portals merged when you were entering, there's no way you'll not get anything there." Grey let out a soft 'oh', surprised at the news of all three portals merging. He didn't see it when he was heading in, nor did he see it when he came out, so he didn't have any idea something like that happened.

"I didn't have any idea something like that happened. But in all honesty, I didn't get anything. Everything I saw there was of no value to me, I didn't even bother to take them." He explained. Grey's words sounded arrogant to the ears of most of the Elders present. Even Grey's grandfather couldn't believe Grey would say something like that. From his perspective, he felt maybe Grey didn't want to give up the treasure or whatever inheritance he got from the secret realm, and he didn't really have any issues with that, of course he would like to know what it was, but he didn't mind Grey being the one who has it, after all, he is his grandson. The Elders exchanged glances at Grey's words, and given the relationship between Grey and the Lyttelton Family, a few of the Elders didn't have a good impression of him, so the moment those Elders heard this, one of them asked coldly as his aura spread out. This was a Ninth stage Sovereign, someone close to the very peak of the cultivation world in the Aurora Continent, other than the few people in the Half God Plane, the number of people who could defeat him in the entire Continent isn't up to fifteen. His aura came upon Grey as he tried to pressure him with it, "What do you mean by that? Are you saying we don't know what we're talking about?" And in the same unperturbed manner as before, Grey replied, "I didn't say that. I only said I didn't take anything of value from the secret realm. I saw some things, but they weren't useful to me. I've grown past the stage where I'll take whatever I see." The fact that Grey could speak in such a calm tone even when he was being pressured by someone in the Ninth stage of the Sovereign Plane shocked the entire room, with the exception of Grey's mother, for some reason, she believed he could achieve anything, so she wasn't caught off-guard by this.

'He's actually able to stay so relaxed under his pressure?'

This was the question in the heads of everyone present, the Elder who brought Grey here was beyond shocked. He has been in Grey's position a few times, and even with his cultivation stage, he can't handle it so nonchalantly. 'Could it be that he's faking it?' Some thought this was the case, but then when they thought about how easy it was for Grey to speak, they thought against it. 'Maybe he didn't go all out.'

The minds of everyone were thinking about multiple reasons as to why Grey didn't feel the pressure. Grey's grandfather spoke up when he noticed the Elder who previously unleashed his aura about to act once more, "Kid, I accept that you might not want to show us what you got from the secret realm which is quite understandable. But you should also understand that this secret realm is quite vital to the Family, we have no intention of taking whatever you got in there from you, we just want to see it."

"This is something that has never happened, so you see why it's hard for anyone to accept that you didn't take anything out of there?"

Hearing his grandfather's words, Grey completely understood them, but the truth was that he didn't get anything of value. The only person who got something good was Void, and he didn't want these people to inspect Void. Void is a one of a kind cat, and he was also sleeping at the moment, he didn't want to disturb him for something these people didn't even have any use for. Grey sighed at his grandfather's words, before replying, "Grandfather, I understand what you're saying, but I didn't get anything from there. I stayed for so long because I too believed there might've been something there for me. After searching for so long, I gave up and left." Martha looked at Grey's expression, and it started to click with her that it might indeed be true that he didn't get anything from there. She could clearly see the slight frustration in his voice when he spoke about giving up and leaving the secret realm.

She not having any issues with Grey's words doesn't mean the others were the same. The Elder who tried to pressure Grey the first time stood up, this time visibly upset.

"Kid, everyone here are all old-timers, except for you. Do you think you can trick us?" The Elder asked coldly. Most of them didn't see Grey as a member of the Lyttelton Family, so they didn't think they needed to go easy on him. Grey's grandfather looked at the situation with some concern on his face. He didn't expect things to turn out like this.

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