"You decided to follow me, I presume?" Grey asked the man with his hands behind his back as the duo stood on top of a cliff.
The man hung his head low and nodded, "Yes, you might not be of a God's descent, but you're still unique, nevertheless."
"I see. You are following me purely for your selfish desires." Grey turned to look at the face of the man.
"Yes. I won't hide it, I didn't decide to follow you because of the fear of death, I had already given up when you created a hole in the universe, but then my curiosity kicked in and I want to know more about the individual who could do something like this. How better to know if not following?" The man didn't hide his intentions, he was genuinely curious about Grey and what other abilities he possessed.
This was a genius who could quickly learn a few things just from looking at them. Seeing Grey, it was like a box of surprises waiting to be opened to him. He wanted to spend time with Grey so he could see to what extent he could learn.
The attack Grey used to destroy the sky intrigued him too.
"Selfish, good, very good." Grey nodded, he paused and said, "I can't leave you out of a way to control you, so even if you want to follow me, your life and death will be in my hands."
The man didn't argue, "I'm aware of this. I'll be dead if you didn't agree for me to follow you, so do as you may."
Grey was pleased with the man, he didn't stress him which was something he expected, but to his surprise, the man was already aware of what was coming and had embraced it with open arms.
Grey didn't delay and created a fusion orb, while also making a fusion inscription, before sealing them with his array. He made sure to leave them in an unstable state, this way, the second the array formation was touched by outside force other than him, it would explode.
"You see this, the moment I die, so do you." Grey didn't hide that part of the information.
The man didn't argue, "What do you want me to do as my first task?"
"First off, I would like to get the name of the person who is working with you from the Phoenix Faction, and some information about any potential necromancers camp lying around. I have some hatred for Gnomes and Necromancers, and want to wipe them off the surface of this world. Maybe not all the Gnomes, but Necromancers have to go." Grey said calmly.
"I see, there are two hideouts in this region. You probably wouldn't be able to do anything to one of them since they have a Sovereign, but the other one is within your abilities. There are six Peak Venerables and one Pseudo-Sovereign, you and your friends will be able to deal with him." The man said, then he looked at Grey and said, "Also, as for the person in the Phoenix Faction, he's pretty high ranked, but he's still in the Venerable Plane, so it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with him. When you're ready I'll fix a meeting with him."
Grey was impressed at the man's words and nodded, "You can return to whatever you're doing. Stop killing people, I don't like it when innocents die. You can kill those who are enemies and do whatever you want with them. But those who are not shall not be tolerated. One wrong move and it'll be the end of you."
"Yes, young master." The man bowed.
"I don't really like formalities, you can call me Grey." Grey waved his hand.
"Grey…" The man fell silent when he heard the name, it sounded familiar to him.
His eyes suddenly widened and he asked, "You're Grey Dawson?"
"Oh, I'm that famous?" Grey raised a brow. He knew all the Necromancers knew of him, but he wanted to play it cool. Even the entire Gnome race knew of him, why wouldn't the Necromancers?
Almost every top Family and Faction in the Aurora Continent has heard of the name Grey Dawson due to the kill order placed on his head. There are a few people who were hoping to cash in on his head with the Gnomes.
"I get why you're such a wonder now." The man commented.
Grey laughed and looked away, "I'll be leaving now. Just keep doing you, without killing innocent people and youths from top Factions. I don't want any dirt on my name. As you can see, it's quite prestigious."
The man didn't say anything and watched on as Grey disappeared from view.
"Such a strange boy. How can I contact him?" The man muttered, but to his surprise, a small plaque appeared on his hands, and he heard Grey's voice from the void, "I'll be reaching you through this. If you have anything good for me, you can tell me. Other than business, don't randomly reach out, I'm a very busy person."
The man held the plaque and it was a communication device he had never seen before. He sensed it and was intrigued.
"There's a mark on this, he can use this to track me whenever he wants to. Is there a way I can override this to also get his location?"
The man started fickling with the array on the plaque and a smile appeared on his face, "It's a one way away. Such a smart figure. There's no way I can track him, but he can track me as long as I have this item."
The man kept it in his spatial ring and then a dull look appeared on his face, all his puppets had been destroyed, and even the one of his daughter was taken forcibly by Grey. If he had known he was fighting with the famous Grey, he would never have dared to bring out the puppet of his daughter. It was like showing a thief the location of one's wealth, especially when you can't protect it.
He sighed, "Forget it, forget it."
There's no way he's getting that back from Grey. At most he'll still continue his research, but not kill innocents. Luckily, there are quite a good number of bad guys in the world of Elementalists. All he has to do is find one and he'll be able to continue his research.
He looked around, "I need to heal up. I'm out of good items for healing. Guess I'll have to take my time."
The man left to search for a good hiding spot where he could safely recuperate from his injuries. He could tell his injuries were quite severe, but since he can't feel the pain after cutting his pain receptors, he didn't mind. Since he was still alive, he could heal himself.
….
Two more days went by.
Grey was still in the Phoenix Faction, deciphering the array formation with the Faction Leader while his friends were still out.
The array was too complex, and even with all the time spent, they've still not broken much of the array. At this rate, Grey knew the only way he could get this was by staying indoors with the Faction Leader for at least a year, maybe even two or five. He didn't have that time, and with no other choice, he gave up. There's no point in trying to decipher it right now, it wasn't like he needed to use it right away.
The Phoenix Faction Leader was tempted to keep him in the Faction so they could decipher the array formation, he has been trying for so long, and a little kid coming helped him out with his insightfulness, he didn't want to stop it, but he knew he couldn't keep Grey in the Faction.
"It has been wonderful working with you on the array." The Faction Leader said with a smile.
"The honor is mine." Grey bowed to show his respect, he was about to leave when he recalled something and turned to the Faction Leader, "Oh, I have some information that one of your top Faction members, still in the Venerable Plane is working with the Necromancers."
He hadn't told the Faction Leader of the reason he left earlier, only telling him now that he wants to leave.
"The rat has finally exposed himself, I see. Do you know him?" The Faction Leader asked, clearly, he was aware of a rat in the Faction, he just didn't know who.
"I'll need a week. Until then, I'll go hang out with my friends." Grey replied, he then added, "Once he has been caught, Aries will bring him to you."
The Faction Leader nodded, he knew of Grey being someone the Gnomes loathed, which means the same goes for Necromancers. As long as Grey was willing to help take out this rat, he didn't have any problems with it.
Grey nodded and left. He was also contemplating if he should divulge the location of the Necromancers hideout with the Sovereign in it to the Faction Leader.
