Affinity:Chaos

Grey stood outside the cave, after pondering for a while, he decided to walk inside as well.

The cave was that big, but there was another passageway that led deeper into the cave.

As soon as Grey walked in, he could sense a murderous aura, but it surprisingly wasn't from the group who came in with Ellis, rather, it's from the cave itself.

'An array? Most likely a trap array. But, if it is, how did they escape from it?' He thought while looking at the group.

He got his answer after staring around the cave, there were two dead bodies lying on the ground with blood all over them. It's clear to see that those two were sacrificed so that the group could escape.

Now Grey understood why these guys were pushing Ellis forward, since he's always lucky and is able to dodge all those deadly attacks by a hair's breadth, then there's a chance that he might be able to do the same here.

The traps in the array will only go off when one steps on it, without a quick reaction, there's no way these people could dodge it. And since they don't know where to step on, they can't advance.

This array wasn't like Grey initially thought it was. An array like this gives one the chance of retreating, but advancing is extremely difficult.

'Looks like whoever stayed here is a kindhearted person. Whoever it is gives the people who would come in here a way out, making sure their cave is not a death ground for many. Only those who are greedy would want to advance no matter what.' thought Grey.

"What are you doing here?" The middle-aged man looked at Grey viciously.

"Do you own this place?" Grey asked, apathetically.

"Yes," The middle-aged man nodded since he knew what Grey wanted to do.

"Oh, is that so? Why don't you lead the way then?" Grey asked with a smirk.

"Captain, should we deal with this guy before advancing?" One of the men in the group asked the middle-aged man while staring at Grey with a vicious gaze.

"Let him be," The captain of the group said before turning around.

None of the others knew why he didn't order them to attack, but since he had decided, they didn't question him.

Grey scoffed with speaking any further, while Ellis wiped off his sweat. He thought the duo was about to start fighting.

He had been traveling with Grey for a few hours, so he wasn't really too bothered about him. He was more concerned about the well-being of the group since the chances of Grey killing them were quite high, according to his hypothesis.

"Move," The captain shoved Ellis in the back, making him move forward due to the momentum.

The passageway was around five meters wide, and from what Grey could tell, there was at least a trap every two feet. This would make advancing extremely difficult.

After being shoved forward, Ellis entered the passageway, and the ground he stepped on lit up.

'Crap!' Grey cursed out cause he knew that Ellis just triggered the array.

Boom!

"Ah!"

An explosion, followed by Ellis' scared scream rang out almost simultaneously.

'Impossible, he shouldn't be able to dodge it,' Grey looked at Ellis with doubt starting to grow in his mind.

Given his speed, even he would have a difficult time dodging that. Yet, Ellis dodged it so effortlessly. Although he made it seem like he was only barely able to, Grey was no fool.

'He's definitely hiding something.'

This was the only conclusion Grey could come to, and what Ellis is hiding is most likely his true strength. Grey wasn't a hundred percent sure, but he was at least forty percent sure about it.

If he were the one who was told to pass through this place, then he would have to rely on his knowledge of arrays to pass through it, either that or he would use his space element to move past it entirely.

"Haha, I don't know how you managed to dodge it, but you'll be our guide forward. Keep moving, before the array restores its powers," The captain of the group laughed happily before ordering Ellis to continue moving.

Grey studied the array, and it was just like the captain said, it was already slowly restoring its strength. If the group didn't move quickly, then they might be caught up by it.

"But… but…"

"But what? You better start moving or those attacks would be the last of your worries," The captain cut Ellis off while giving him a threatening look.

Ellis gulped in fear, before taking a step forward. On dropping his foot, he hastily retreated, but to his surprise, an attack didn't go off.

"Move," The captain took a step forward, making Ellis run into him when he retreated.

"Sir, this… I'll die," Ellis tried explaining.

"No, you won't. I don't know how you keep doing it, but I'm at least more confident in you passing through this place compared to any of us here," The captain said.

"Now, move," He later added while tapping Ellis on the shoulder as if encouraging him.

Ellis staggered forward, after clenching his fists with gritted teeth, he advanced forward.

Whoosh! Boom! Bam! Bang!

The array kept lighting up and sending out attacks, but just like the first time, Ellis managed to dodge them, all by a tiny margin.

Grey, who still hadn't taken a step forward, was staring at Ellis with sharp eyes.

'There's no denying it, he's definitely more powerful than what he shows.' He thought inside.

After thinking up to this point, he thought of retreating since he didn't like being involved with people like this. Since Ellis was hiding his strength, then he naturally had an ulterior motive.

Grey wasn't one hundred percent sure about his conjectures, but he felt it was better safe than sorry. Since he had the space element, then escaping from here wouldn't be a problem.

'It's not worth it.'

His curiously urged him to follow them, but thinking about it properly, he felt taking such risks wasn't worth it.