Affinity: Chaos

Chapter 11: Pressure

It’s been a week since Grey started trying to comprehend the Lightning element, and so far, well, he hasn’t made any progress yet. But he didn’t feel down though. Every day, he tries harder than the previous day.

He really wants to comprehend it badly, if he could make a little progress, it will definitely increase his talent. Although he didn’t know what grade it will get to, but he knew it wouldn’t stay at the Pink grade.

Also, having a little bit of understanding, will pave the way for him for his future comprehension. It’s like building a house, once you get the foundation done, it becomes easier. Well, so he thought.

Grey didn’t rush things and took it slowly, he knew since it was with him, he will definitely succeed someday.

Since he hadn’t made any progress, he decided to head out and train since it has been quite some time he did.

The next day, Grey prepared and went over to the forest to train as usual.

Midday while he was still training, it suddenly started raining. Grey immediately went over to a cave close to where he usually trains. He found this one day when it was about to rain, he couldn’t head home, so he found somewhere to wait it out.

It quickly started raining heavily.

*RUMBLE*

The sound of thunder immediately reverberated in the sky.

*BOOM*

Grey suddenly couldn’t hear anything, his ear was ringing continuously. He immediately ran out of the cave and stood outside in the rain. When he looked at his left, he saw some part of the ground was scorched black.

It was hit by lightning.

That was what entered his mind when he saw it.

*RUMBLE*

Grey once again heard the sound of thunder and looked up, he saw lightning flashing in the sky like it was doing a dance.

*CRASH*

The lightning struck a place far from Grey, but he saw everything clearly.

Grey stood completely still, not moving even after 10 minutes. He was in a trance, when he saw the display of the lightning and how it struck, he suddenly had an epiphany.

The scene kept on playing in his head, from the fast movement to its destructive power. Everything kept repeating itself. After some time, it stopped.

“What a pity, if I can have this feeling once more, I will definitely be able to improve my talent to Purple grade” Grey said sadly.

This wasn’t a total waste though, he learned some things from witnessing it himself. Although the chaos space is amazing, it wasn’t the real deal. So there is a major difference with how you feel both.

But with this as reference, he can finally start making progress in his understanding of the Lightning element.

After it stopped raining, Grey decided to stop training. Besides, he had trained for some time already.

He was also eager to see if this little progress of his will make any changes to his talent.

On his way back to the city, he noticed the gate was crowded. He curiously walked over to see what was going on. When he got there, he couldn’t see anything as the crowd was just too much.

“Good day mister, please can you tell me what is going on?” Grey asked a man on the scene.

The man looked at Grey before shifting his gaze away, not evening bothering to answer him. The man didn’t know Grey, but he just didn’t care.

‘Well, what a scum’ Grey cursed angrily before walking to search for someone else to tell him what was going on.

After asking around, he found out Jonas returned from the Academy. This was the first time he had come back to the city since joining the Starlight Academy.

Grey still had an impression of Jonas. I mean, who wouldn’t have an impression of someone with a Purple talent.

Grey remembered the envious look he gave Jonas when he saw how all the Academies were fighting over him.

He also found out Jonas would be staying until the test, ‘Why did he come at this time, couldn’t he come after the test’ Grey suddenly felt pressured.

If it were before, even if he had an Orange talent, he wouldn’t care since he can improve it with time. But now, Jonas came. The only person who has ever had a Purple talent in the history of the city.

(Just to be clear, Martha isn’t from the city)

He currently lorded over all in this little city, even in the big cities, he was still someone with a high status.

No one likes being in the shadow of anyone. Had Jonas not appeared, Grey would have been satisfied with an Orange talent. But now, he wanted more. He had to get his talent up to Purple, no matter what.

Grey went home with new conviction and the fire in his heart was burning fervently. He immediately wanted to see how far his bit of comprehension took him.

After getting home, he went straight to his room and sat in a meditative position, after calming his racing heart filled with expectation, he entered the chaos space.

He went over to check if his grade improved. After placing his hand on the stone, he waited for it to do what it usually does. The energy circled his body before returning to the stone.

When Grey looked at the result, his face fell. He still had Pink grade talent. Although he came with expectations, he also knew it wouldn’t be that easy after trying to comprehend it for so long. One moment of epiphany couldn’t do the trick. Well, unless he stayed in the state for long.

While this was happening to Grey at home, the city was abuzz with discussions. And the name mentioned the most was Jonas. Jonas was not the only name mentioned, Grey’s name was also in the mouth of many because he was going to retake the test.

With the arrival of Jonas, everyone remembered they both took the test on the same day. With one being fought over by the Academies, and the other most likely not remembering how he even left the arena.

Jonas got word of the fact that Grey was going to retake the test. He clearly remembered that lonely figure who stood at the platform stunned.

“Interesting”

Initially, Jonas had no plans of attending the test even if he was around. He had better things to do, if not for wanting to meet his parents, he wouldn’t have come to this low classes city. He also enjoyed the feeling of being adored by the people here, and idolized by the kids.