Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 1798 Jacob Vaergahl

Inside the hill.

Grey didnʼt need to worry about being harmed by the array. With his proficiency in arrays, the chances of him being trapped or harmed here is almost zero. Adding the fact that he is aware of how to safely pass through the seal, he didnʼt have anything to fear.

He followed the hidden array lines, using his vast mental energy to sense the presence of the invisible line containing energy that gave this place the mysteriousness it currently had.

From the day Grey was introduced into the world of array formations, he fell in love with it and had done everything he could to learn any new array formations before him. The current array formation he was exploring was different from what he knew. Despite the differences, he could still sense the familiarity with it and some of the old arrays he had studied. Most of the old array formations Grey had studied were generally hidden in secret worlds like these.

Time moved slowly as Grey sank into the study of this formation. His eyes glowed with excitement as if a new door had been opened to him. He would occasionally laugh after studying a part of the formation for some time, and then frown after studying others.

His emotions mixed between joy, surprise, confusion, excitement, doubt, and a lot more.

Half a day went by in the blink of an eye. Grey didnʼt even know that he had spent over half a day studying this formation. He woke up from his state of trance, looking around, he couldnʼt help but shake his head with a wry smile. The half a day he spent studying this formation was only for the periphery of the hill. If he wanted to fully study this array formation, then he would spend at least a few weeks. This hill was around two hundred meters tall, and he covered only a few meters after spending half a day.

Getting his bearings, he decided to leave the matter of the array formation for later. He wanted to study it, unfortunately his top priority at the moment was growing stronger. Without hesitation, he rushed his ascent.

Twenty minutes went by before Grey got to a place in the hill that had a large dead tree. The tree had been cut, however its roots still firmly sank into the ground. Looking at the sides of the tree, Grey noticed that there were two paths before him. Recalling Sir Astarot words, he picked the path on the right and continued forward.

Five minutes later, Grey was standing before an entrance to a cave. He didnʼt need anyoneʼs reminder to know that this was the resting place of the genius from the Vaergahl Family.

Grey didnʼt rush into the cave abode, rather, he decided to inspect the area, while also searching for any dangers. This was a place that had been here for thousands of years. Sir Astarot told him about the traps placed here. Other than traps, Sir Astarot told him that there was also a test. The genius from the Vaergahl Family made sure to pass on all the information on the traps here to Sir Astarot. Information on the test was a different story as nothing was said about them.

After confirming that there was no danger, Grey took a step into the cave. The second he walked into the cave, he was enveloped by cold air. An old somewhat ancient smell filled the air. Looking around, Grey noticed that he was standing on a pathway that was around five meters wide. The pathway was dimly lit and moist.

Grey didnʼt waste any time and rushed inside. All the dangers of this place were in the seal. Well, at least that was the information passed onto Sir Astarot. Before entering this place, Grey tried to sense the space element and noticed that although it was restrained, it was only by the world principles here. This meant that the formation the genius from the Vaergahl Family laid here didnʼt seal the space around the area.

Knowing that he could use his space element filled Grey with the confidence of at least escaping if anything went wrong.

The pathway wasnʼt long, around a few tens of meters. After only a few seconds, Grey arrived at the end of the pathway.

”Eh?”

A surprised exclamation came out of Greyʼs mouth as he looked at the open space before him. Standing at the end of the pathway, an open space appeared before him. What surprised him wasnʼt the open space, rather, the depth of it. The hill is originally about two hundred meters high or so. Getting to the location of the cave abode, Grey figured he transcended at least a hundred and twenty meters. However, right in front of him was a pit that was around three hundred meters deep.

He checked for dangers, using the wind element, he slowly descended after not sensing any. As he descended, he still didnʼt drop his guard, to make sure he was conscious of everything that entered within a few meters of him, he made use of his space domain.

He didnʼt fully utilize it since he didnʼt want to alert any potential opponent that might be at the ground.

His feet touched the ground, and the first thing he caught sight of was another opening. This opening led deeper into the underground cave. He looked around this opening and after ensuring that there was nothing here, he followed the path deeper into the underground cave.

A few minutes later, Grey came to a stop. In front of him was an opening. The opening was around a hundred meters large, and around the center of the opening was a small lake. The lake was around seven meters in radius. What caught Greyʼs attention wasnʼt the lake, but the figure at the center of the lake. Right in front of Grey was a humanoid figure. Taking a closer look, Grey noticed that it was the dead genius from the Vaergahl Family. He died while in a meditative state.

To have the willpower needed to achieve something like this was shocking. Grey felt a hint of respect towards this genius who unfortunately lost his life under the attacks of a few people. Grey couldnʼt help but wonder how powerful this genius wouldʼve been if he didnʼt die in this secret world. To think that the Vaergahl Family didnʼt even know that he died in such a place.

Other than the lake, there was a small cabin by the side. Thinking about it, Grey decided to examine the cabin first. The skeleton was still clothed, albeit the clothes werenʼt in any proper state.

Walking into the cabin, the first things that caught Greyʼs eyes were the items placed on the table. Without any hesitation, Grey walked over to the table and took a look. There were three books quietly placed there. He tried to pick up one of them and his face turned black. The book turned to dust the second Greyʼs hands made contact with it. If one of them was like this, it was easy to guess what the conditions of the other two were. Just as Grey expected, the two books turned to dust the second his hands touched it.

ʼDamn it!ʼ He felt a hint of frustration. These were books from a few thousand years ago, they might even contain earthshaking secrets, yet theyʼve turned to dust!

Turning his attention to the rest of the room, he didnʼt find anything else of value. He was about to lose his temper when he recalled that the genius from the Vaergahl Family still had his spatial ring on him. Exiting the cabin, Grey walked towards the genius from the Vaergahl Family. Standing before him, he didnʼt rashly touch his body, rather, he checked for any hidden dangers.

Confirming his safety, he bowed to the skeleton to show his respect for the older generation before unceremoniously taking the ring on the side of the skeleton.

As soon as the ring touched his hand, he felt his blood boil and before he could even react, he noticed that his blood was flowing into the ring. He didnʼt panic as he heard from Sir Astarot that he would face something like this. The ring sucked a bit of his blood, and after a second or two, a cracking sound rang out.

It was the seal on the ring being broken. Without the seal, Grey could access the content of the space ring. As soon as Grey sent his mental energy into the space ring to inspect it, he felt a powerful mental energy force its way into his head. He panicked and tried to retreat, but it was too late. His face turned sour at the sudden development. This wasnʼt stated in the information passed unto him. So either Sir Astarot hid something, or the genius from the Vaergahl Family wasnʼt genuine with his words.

The name Jacob Vaergahl sounded in his head.