Affinity: Chaos

Beneath the lightning tree, Grey, Reynolds, and Void sat in cultivation. Grey and Reynolds remained cross-legged with their eyes closed, while Void lay stretched on the ground. Lightning arcs circled their bodies as they drew in the pure essence around them.

Two days had already passed. In that time they had barely left the area beneath the canopy. After the short flight that brought them here, they had remained seated, focused entirely on training.

Grey’s eyes opened. A thoughtful look crossed his face as he glanced at Reynolds and Void. Both were still deep in their own cultivation, so he chose not to disturb them. He rose quietly and flew up onto one of the lower branches of the lightning tree.

The moment his feet settled on the living lightning, he felt the steady pulse running through it. The energy moved like blood through veins, and beneath that current was something else: a clear, unmistakable aura of life. The tree was not simply a mass of condensed lightning. It felt alive in the same way an ordinary tree did.

Grey stood still, letting that feeling settle.

Trees had life. Plants had life. Vines, flowers, and herbs all carried that same quiet vitality. Most other elements did not. Fire could burn with terrifying force, yet it was never alive. Wind could howl, water could rage, earth could stand unyielding, but none of them possessed that living presence. Wood was different. Everything connected to it carried the mark of life.

He remembered the conversations with Hugh. Again and again Hugh had said the wood element felt alive. At the time the words had been abstract. Grey had understood them only as theory. Standing on this tree, feeling the life aura wrapped inside pure lightning, the meaning finally became clear.

His eyes brightened with enlightenment.

He had come here hoping to refine his lightning skills and temper his body. After two days his lightning comprehension had stalled, and the dense essence could not push his cultivation higher yet. He had not expected the tree itself to become the key to his wood element instead.

Inside his Chaos Space, change erupted.

Grey’s attention snapped inward. The Wood Space, which until now had been little more than a sparse, half-formed region with thin strands of essence, was transforming. Seeds of light took root across the empty ground. In seconds they sprouted. Grass spread first, then shrubs, then trees that shot upward at a speed visible to the eye. Trunks thickened, branches stretched out, and leaves unfurled in cascading waves. Flowers bloomed in clusters of different colors. Vines climbed the new trunks. The entire space filled with the rich, layered scent of living plants.

He did not merely watch the growth. He felt each plant come into existence, as if a quiet connection had formed between him and every new root and leaf. The sensation was difficult to describe, but it left him calm and deeply settled. For more than thirty minutes the Wood Space continued to expand and densify. Only when the growth finally slowed and the new forest stood complete did Grey pull his consciousness back to the outside world.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed small patches of green grass sprouting around his feet on the lightning branch. The blades were fresh and bright. A moment later they began to absorb the surrounding lightning essence. Their color shifted, and they slowly merged into the tree itself, as if the lightning structure refused to allow ordinary plant life to remain separate for long.

Grey looked at his hand and let out a quiet breath. ”Damn it. I can’t leave yet.”

Every instinct told him to find a real forest and continue deepening this new understanding of the wood element. At the same time, the lightning here was still tempering his body in a way few places could match. Opportunities like this did not appear often. He decided to stay, continue the physical tempering, and use the living forest inside his Chaos Space to keep refining his comprehension until he left.

Reynolds and Void remained unaware of the breakthrough. Both were fully absorbed in their own cultivation.

....

Across the Inner Court, the situation had stabilized. The Thunderbirds had driven the Gnomes from their territory. Not every enemy had been killed, some Gnomes and Necromancers had escaped, but the losses on the enemy side were heavy, especially among the weaker ranks and a significant number of higher experts.

The Magical Beast Clans were now moving with unusual coordination. Materials for the teleportation arrays were being gathered according to the agreement. Grey would construct fifteen arrays in total, each placed in a strategic location that would allow the major Clans to support one another quickly. Every Clan that would host an array was responsible for selecting a suitable site and preparing the required resources.

For the first time in a long while, the Inner Court felt relatively calm. The shared threat of the Gnomes had pushed old rivalries aside. Many of the Clans had seen how close the Thunderbirds came to suffering far greater losses. Without Sir Astarot’s rapid involvement, and without Grey’s later arrival, the outcome would have been much worse.

Far beyond the Magical Beasts’ Forest, the Aurora Continent was experiencing a similar pause. Grey’s repeated appearances in different regions, and the destruction of several major Gnome camps, had forced the enemy to become more cautious. Open attacks had decreased. In some places entire camps had been abandoned even before human forces arrived.

...

Somewhere in a remote mountain range on the Aurora Continent, a large, well-built compound sat hidden among the peaks. Lights glowed faintly behind shuttered windows.

Inside one of the darker rooms, three figures sat around a low table.

The one in the center spoke first, voice quiet and cold. ”The boy is growing bolder. He cannot be allowed to interfere with the plan again. Deal with him soon.”

The other two rose. Both were slender, with deep black eyes that reflected little light. One of them bowed, speaking in a soft, grating voice.

”Do not worry, Master. The moment he leaves the Magical Beasts’ Forest, he will die.”

The seated figure’s tone did not change. ”Do not return without his head. If you fail, I will take yours instead.”