"A long story." Grey scratched the back of his head with an awkward chuckle, but when he saw his Teacher's look, he coughed lightly and explained, "I have a way to make them almost useless…"
Grey went on to tell Chris about his first encounter with a Necromancer and how he managed to figure out a way to remove the mark from his body.
Chris listened intently, he never thought something like this would happen to Grey, but to be honest, he didn't think it was out of the ordinary. When he recalled what happened when Grey entered the trial lands for the first time, he knew Grey was a magnet for trouble.
"Haha, such a good student of mine. Now, come here, tell me how it works." Chris laughed before moving closer to Grey, placing one hand across his shoulder.
"Well, it's not entirely something anyone else can do. There's no point in telling you since there's no way you can use it." Grey replied.
Chris looked at him then threw a glance at Klaus who gave a nod of approval. Seeing Klaus' nod, Chris dropped his head. He knew about the Gnomes and was interested in being able to weaken them just as much as his student, but seeing that there was no way for Grey to teach it to anyone else, he didn't speak about it anymore.
"You two seem to be doing well." Chris said while properly looking at them. He could sense the insane amount of vitality in the bodies of the duo.
"Uncle, why do you look younger?" Klaus asked with a smile.
"What do you mean look younger? I've always looked like this." Chris retorted shamelessly.
"If I recall, at the time I saw you in Red City, you looked a little old." Grey commented.
"You're my student, you're supposed to be on my side." Chris glared at Grey before continuing, "Also, I've always looked this young. I was just keeping a facade so I won't be disturbed by ladies."
The trio spoke for a while before Void and the bunny leader appeared.
When Chris saw the bunny leader, his reaction was one of anger, and he was prepared to attack.
"You know this guy?" Grey asked when he saw his Teacher's reaction.
"That stupid rabbit tricked me into its area and had me beaten by some bigger ones. I had to force it to escape after growing stronger." Chris pointed at the bunny leader.
Grey threw a glance at the bunny leader who dropped its head, pretending it didn't hear Chris' statement.
"Well, looks like I wasn't the only one it tormented." Grey laughed.
Chris stared at it, then at Void before saying with an evil smile, "Want to make me bunny soup? It's been a while since I ate it. And as we have it, we have a good one here."
The bunny leader disappeared the second it heard Chris' words. There was no way he would stay here any longer. Chris seemed to still hold a grudge against it and he didn't want to forgive it even though it was with Grey.
Grey laughed when he saw the bunny leader's reaction before answering his Teacher, "I can search for another bunny here. It won't take long."
"Get to it then, I'll speak with my nephew." Chris waved his hand and moved closer to Klaus.
Even though Grey was his student, he had a better relationship with Klaus since he saw Klaus grow up.
Klaus was also very comfortable with Chris and the duo started to talk about their journeys.
Chris hadn't been doing anything dangerous for some time now. He had been sent on multiple missions by the Old man who was training him, but none of the missions were dangerous. He was sent to locate some Factions that were dormant just like the Old man's Faction.
With a special token, he could locate and even enter these places before communicating with the guardians there. He had been to a total of eight and would be heading to another one after he was done with the boys.
It didn't long for Grey to return with a dead bunny in his hand. The bunny leader was very efficient and found one very quickly.
Grey prepared bunny soup for the group and they all ate, with the exception of the bunny leader who was seemingly sad at the demise of the bunny. It felt that bunny would've been good for his army, it was already at the Peak of the Sage Plane and would be getting to the Venerable Plane in a short time. Yet it was taken down with a single attack by Grey.
The bunny leader didn't speak much while the others ate. During the entire period it was there, Chris was giving it menacing looks and it shuddered at the thought of Chris attacking.
Chris was a Sovereign, not a Venerable he could easily escape from. If Chris wanted to attack, it would be dead. But from the relationship between Grey and him, it was obvious Chris was restraining himself.
To be fair, it indeed terrorized Chris. Tricking him to believe it was defenseless while taking him to his area where the other bunnies ganged up on him. In the end, Chris was only able to escape after sustaining some injuries. But who could be blamed, Chris wanted to take some of the items from its garden. It didn't like sharing those things.
Grey didn't know the details of what happened between them, and when he asked his Teacher for more details, his Teacher sent him flying.
This casual strike from his Teacher showed him the massive gap between a Venerable and a Sovereign. He didn't even have time to react before he was sent flying. His Teacher was lenient, making sure the attack wasn't harmful. He just wanted to make sure Grey was sent flying for asking such questions. And when Grey came back, his soup mysteriously vanished. Well, the plate was still there, but it's contents had mysteriously disappeared.
Grey looked at both Klaus and his Teacher, but both of them had the same expression as they did before he was sent flying. It was as if nothing happened.
'Damn it! Now I know where he got his character.'
The more he looked at Klaus, the more he understood the reason he was acting so shamelessly. Growing up with someone like his Teacher by his side, even though the Principal was decent, there was no way Klaus would be decent having someone like that by his side.
Chris was eccentric and did whatever he wanted without fearing what the consequences may be. He was very smart, but his strength made him a somewhat reckless figure who did whatever he wanted. Growing up with someone like that meant the young Klaus would learn from him more than his father since he was the fun one.
Now as Klaus grew older and stronger, he was showing the same attributes of Chris. However, although Chris did whatever he wanted, he was also very smart not to overstep his boundaries. A smart yet reckless individual.
Grey was forced to watch the duo eat, and other than him and the bunny leader, the others were busy munching on bunny meat, while slurping on the soup, Void included.
Grey sat next to the bunny leader and they both entered a silent state, it was almost as if the duo were mourning the dead bunny while the others were enjoying it after its death.
Time passed slowly and after they were done eating, they stayed together a little longer before Chris told them he was leaving for his mission.
After bidding him farewell, it was time for the duo to head back to where they came from. Klaus was going back to the Moonlight Faction to try to break through to the Sovereign Plane, while Grey would head to the Dawson Family first before heading for the Pyrmond Faction. His intention was the same as Klaus', breaking through to the Sovereign Plane.
"Bud, break through as soon as you can. I need to make sure the Gnome world is destroyed by me." Klaus said.
"You don't entirely have the means or strength of doing that." Grey commented.
"Don't underestimate what I'm capable of doing. Once I get to the Sovereign Plane, my ice abilities will see a greater boost. Even you will show me respect then."
"Good luck with that."
Seeing that there was no way to get through to Grey, Klaus grumpily gave up and said, "I'm being serious, break through soon. The war is closer than we think."
He had a long conversation with Chris so he was privy to some things Grey didn't know about. Chris didn't have the intention of telling Grey.
"I can tell." Grey nodded and looked in the direction his Teacher faced.
He knew the reason Klaus made this statement was because of something his Teacher told him.
The duo didn't speak any longer, after a handshake, the duo went their separate ways.