Grey didn't dilly-dally and straight out started hunting down any Gnome he could sense. He needed life force to erase the mark from Elaris' body. Luckily, the mark wasn't as powerful as his own. Now he understood why her Teacher was able to seal it from the sense of most necromancers and Gnomes.
If the mark on her body were reinforced by a Gnome just like his own, then the probability of sealing it would reduce drastically.
They soon found the first Gnome, a first stage Elemental Venerable.
Grey brought out the bunny leader and said, "Don't you have some Early stage Rank Seven bunnies under you?"
The bunny leader nodded after looking around carefully.
"Let them deal with this guy, and they should be fast. You can train them this way." Grey suggested.
The bunny leader's army is technically his own, and the stronger they were, the better it is for him. If he had an army of top Magical Beasts under him, it would be amazing. Just the thought of it was already thrilling.
The bunny leader thought about it and found some truth in Grey's words. The other thing it thought was that Grey was too lazy to deal with this Gnome.
In no time, the bunnies made short work of the Gnome. Just as they were about to end the Gnome, Grey arrived and sucked out the life force of the Gnome using the darkness element. But he coated it with his arrays to make it seem like he wasn't using the darkness element.
This was also part of the reason he didn't want to help out. Very few people knew about his darkness element, and he didn't want more people to find out, at least not until he was strong enough to protect himself from any potential danger that might come with his secret being exposed.
The life force taken from this Gnome wouldn't be enough to wipe off the entire mark, but they wouldn't need as much as the one Grey used for his own, so he predicted that getting a few more would be enough.
He got to work immediately and used the life force he had with him on the mark. Elaris was keeping tabs on the mark; it didn't take long for her to notice the reduction in it. With Grey wiping off part of the mark, the seal her Teacher placed on it was even more effective now, and unless those top experts among necromancers or Gnomes were close to her, they wouldn't be able to sense the mark at all.
The impression she had of Grey was beyond what she could comprehend. In her eyes, Grey was a mysterious youth who knew everything. He was talented, handsome, and didn't give a shit about her beauty. For a bit, her heart skipped a beat. This was the first time she was feeling this way about someone, and it was strange.
Of everyone present, only Klaus noticed the change in the eyes of Elaris. Even though it was only for a brief moment, he still caught it. He had been observing her actions while Grey was working on the mark, and this was all he needed to affirm that she was starting to feel something for Grey.
'It's only in the early stages, but if I try to act as a mediator, it should work out. But alas…' When he looked at his ignorant friend, he gave up on the thought of even trying to get them together. If he attempted to do that, Grey would definitely flip out.
Knowing Grey, he knew he didn't have a single atom of feeling for Elaris.
'There's no hope for him.'
He didn't speak about anything and followed behind Grey as they continued hunting down Gnomes.
The next day.
Klaus and the others realized why Grey didn't want to help out. After only finding just two Gnomes and extracting their life force to clean the mark, they noticed Grey's pale appearance. His eyes were hazy, which was a sign of tiredness.
"How long do you think it will take?" Klaus asked.
"With the rate we're finding Gnomes, four to five days." Grey answered while caressing his head.
Seeing Grey's appearance, Elaris felt a little sense of guilt. She was the one who asked Grey for help, she didn't expect him to be reduced to such a state after just doing the procedure two times.
The toll it was taking on Grey was stronger than what they imagined.
Grey, on the other hand, wasn't bothered with his pale complexion. He was more worried about finding more Gnomes and getting this over with.
"Bud, you okay?" Reynolds was forced to ask.
"Sure, I'm good."
Grey didn't show any signs of weakness and was hurrying to locate the next Gnome, so the others stopped worrying about him and focused on finding the Gnomes. Once Grey was done with the procedure, he would be able to rest.
Two more days went by in the blink of an eye.
"One more and you're good."
Grey's complexion was paler than the previous day, and in all honesty, everyone had begged him to stop, but he didn't listen. According to him, the sooner he cleared the mark, the sooner he would leave this place.
"You can stop now, it's barely noticeable now." Elaris didn't want him to continue.
"Don't worry, I can sense the location of the last Gnome needed." Grey went in the direction of the Gnome he was sensing.
The others could only shake their heads and follow him.
Grey located the last Gnome, and it was someone in the Eighth stage.
"Alice, wanna deal with this guy?" He turned to Alice.
The bunny leader had been training the bunnies all this while, it was time for Alice to test out her new strength.
Alice nodded and walked toward the Gnome while the others were in a secluded location.
The battle between the duo started instantly, and before long, Alice started to overpower the Gnome. The Gnome brought out his puppet, but Alice's Seelie held it at bay.
