Affinity:Chaos

Grey stepped into the cave while keeping his guard up, he didn't know what to expect here, and there's also the possibility of the people who had gone in attacking him.

On getting inside, he saw the groups all standing cautiously, staring at the path that led deep into the cave. He tried to sense it with his earth element.

'Hmm, it's not like that one, but just don't think it's any less dangerous.' He thought inside.

Unlike the previous one that connected to a valley, this one had a series of underground tunnels that led deeper into the cave.

Grey wasn't the only one who had noticed this, the others have as well. Now, it was all a matter of who went first, not just that, but which tunnel they would choose later on.

The first group, which was led by an old man with white beard and hair snorted before taking the first step, followed closely behind by his companions.

The first path in the cave led to three more paths that separated once again. The paths kept increasing, while there's also empty spaces in some paths.

Grey guessed if there was anything in the paths, they would be located in these spaces.

After the first group took the lead, the others followed right behind them.

Grey didn't go in hurriedly, rather, he waited till all the groups had gone in before sitting down. He closed his eyes, and then spread out his spiritual senses. He wanted to see which of the tunnels was less crowded before picking which one to take.

After almost a minute, he realized the one which was chosen by the first group was the one that was less crowded. The reason for that was very simple, the others who weren't strong enough didn't want to offend them.

Grey smiled and went into the tunnel, on getting to the path where it was separated, he instantly picked the one in the middle. Before long, he had gotten to the end of that path which had five paths. Just like what he did before, he picked the same path the first group did.

Some of the groups which followed the first group had started to pick a different path since there wasn't any use in following the first group when there were opportunities in the other paths as well.

Grey didn't change paths yet, he continued following the first group. He felt compared to the others, the first group seemed to have a clear cut goal in front of them. They didn't take time when choosing a path, as soon as they got to a path, they would immediately take one of them.

….

After almost twenty minutes, Grey was the only one left who was following the same path as the first group. The others have all taken other paths.

"Sir, that guy in a robe is still following us," One of the ladies in the first group walked closer to the old man and whispered.

"Let him come, he'll die even if he doesn't follow us," The old man said nonchalantly.

"Okay, sir," The lady bowed before retreating.

The expressions of the others in the group changed when they heard what the old man said. His statement meant that whatever path the others took, they would die in the end.

"Sir, what are in the other paths?" One man asked.

"Heh! Death," The old man smirked as he replied.

"What about this path?" Someone asked curiously.

"Without me? Death. With me? Treasures," The old man said confidently.

The others looked at each other nervously, but after clenching their fists, they decided to follow him. It wasn't like they had an option anyway.

After walking for ten more minutes, the group stopped, not taking a step further.

Grey who was behind them knew what they wanted to do but didn't think about it too much. He couldn't stop since that might induce the group to attack him.

'Heh! Since they want to play, then we will play.' He thought inside.

On the way here, he had noticed some things in this place, and what he guessed was that this place was nothing more than a deathtrap. Luckily, this group was ahead of him making the journey easy.

It didn't take long before he appeared in front of the group.

"Hello," He waved at the group.

"Can I ask why you're following us?" The old man asked.

"Following you?" Grey feigned ignorance.

"Hmph! Stop playing dumb, you wouldn't have a second chance," One of the men in the group snorted.

"I'm not following you people, there are paths to choose from, and I'm picking the one I feel is safer," Grey said casually.

"If that's the case, then why don't you go ahead?" The old man showed Grey the way while opening a path for him.

"Okay, I see no reason why you're being fussy about it," Grey nodded and moved forward nonchalantly.

The old man and the group behind him were slightly taken aback given how quickly he agreed to it. They almost wanted to believe that he truly wasn't following them, well, almost.

Grey went forward, a smirk on his face. But his expression soon changed when he walked almost six meters away from where the group were standing.

He vanished, appearing two meters backward.

Boom!

The place where he stood blew up, lava sprouting out of the ground.

The group behind him burst out laughing when they saw this.

Grey looked at the lava, unperturbed by it. He walked forward and quickly walked past the side where the lava was coming out from.

After getting past it, he soon disappeared from their view.

"Come on, let's go. He'll help us clear some of the obstacles, but don't be in a hurry in case he accidentally evades some," The old man ordered.

The others nodded and followed behind Grey. They were the ones doing the dirty work all these while, now, they wanted Grey to do it.

….

'Just as I guessed, this place is a death trap. These people definitely know how to go through it, if I lead the way, I might get hurt,' Grey thought after dodging another round of attacks.

After thinking about it was better for him to find a way and get to the back of this group again. Staying at the front wouldn't do him any good. What made things worse was that there doesn't seem to be another path that divided.

He continued walking a little further before getting to the place that was spacious. This is usually the place he believed there might be treasures, because he had been following the group from behind, he hadn't really been able to see anything in the spaces whenever he got there.

'Okay, I'll take a look first before going to their back.' He thought.

His curiosity towards what he might get here got the better of him. He quickly started searching before the group would get to where he was located. If there's a treasure here, then the group would try to take it as soon as they came in.

The place was around fifty meters wide, given Grey's speed, it didn't take long before he completely swept the area. There were multiple herbs in the area, as well as some rocks. He didn't really look at them and kept them all in his storage ring.

After sweeping the place, he started to wait for the group.

A minute later, the group arrived.

The expression on their faces was one of surprise as well as shock when they didn't find anything there. They had gotten some rewards from the previous ones, so they felt expectant as to what would be here.

"You, where are the treasures?" One of the men pointed at Grey.

"Treasures? Which treasures?" Grey asked.

"What do you mean what treasures?! There are supposed to be treasures in here!" The man said.

"Well, do you see anything in here?" Grey asked with hands spread out wide.

"You… you… you must have them," The man pointed at him.

"Where would I put them?" Grey asked, while staring at the man as if he was an idiot.

"Stop speaking," The old man said.

The man kept quiet before retreating.

"What are you waiting for then?" The old man asked.

"I'm resting, I've almost died countless times," Grey replied, before asking, "Also, why are you people following me?"

The old man was stunned by Grey's question. This was the same question they asked Grey, now, he was asking them the question.

"This is the only path, why would you think we are following you?" The old man tried to defend his group.

"You're following me, I don't like it, it's either you go through, or you take another path," Grey gave them an ultimatum.

"You seem to be very confident, move or ydie," A man from the group said.

They were tired of the old man's calm way of doing things.