AFFINITY: CHAOS

"What? Why are you all staring at me like that?" Ellis asked after being stared at for almost a minute.

It was an uncomfortable feeling.

"You're the one who brought the bandit leader back, since the ring isn't on him, where is it?" Claude questioned.

"I don't know. I barely managed to survive fighting against so many people, do you think I would be worried about a damn ring?" Ellis asked, raising his voice slightly towards the end of his question.

"It did take you a single day to deal with the bandits, I presume you must've gone through a lot," Claude said.

"Oh, how did you defeat the bandits anyway?" The old man with dark hair asked.

"I fought," Ellis' reply was simple, but everyone knew it had a lot in it.

"I must commend your effort, but you see what we're searching for, we'll obtain it no matter what. If the storage ring is with you, I'd advise you to give it back now," The old man with dark hair said.

"I'm sorry, but I didn't see any storage rings. There were a lot of bandits, and some of them escaped when they realized they couldn't beat me," Ellis explained.

"Alright. We should get going," The old man with dark hair turned to the others from the Vaergahl family.

The O'Brien family weren't people they could oppress with their strength, so staying here any further wouldn't change anything. Since Ellis said he didn't have it they had to leave.

Leaving didn't mean they would let the matter rest though. The Dragon's blood they acquired took them through hell, they were not going to let it go that easily.

One of the reasons why the old man let Ellis go was that he had secretly made a hand seal that would identify if Ellis had been in contact with the blood, and the answer was no.

The only thing was that Ellis could pass the blood to someone else without being aware of what it was, he may not even touch it. All in all, Ellis was the only person they could think of who had the bandit leader's storage ring.

….

The Vaergahl family left soon after not being able to get anything from Ellis or Claude.

Back at the O'Brien family hall.

"Where is it?" Claude placed his hand on Ellis' shoulder.

"Where's what?" asked Ellis.

"Stop playing dumb, the ring. I know others might think you're speaking the truth, but I know for a fact that you're lying when you said you didn't have it," Claude walked away from Ellis' position, heading in the direction of the middle chair.

"Honestly, I don't. As I said, there were more important things to focus on, like staying alive. You sent me to my end, luckily I survived," Ellis said coldly.

"I sent you out to train, nothing more. You can take it however you see it, but without enough pressure, you will not be able to grow to the top. I'm just making sure this pressure is constant," Claude rubbed his hands together as he spoke.

Ellis stared at him but didn't speak anymore. He turned around and left the room, walking steadily towards his room.

….

Mortar City. In a tavern.

The Vaergahl family were still in the city, not willing to leave so easily.

"Find out what you can about the boy, also, I want people who saw him returning to describe how he was when he came back," The old man with dark hair commanded.

The middle-aged men in the group nodded before vanishing.

"*Sigh* This is really becoming a bother. Why did the O'Brien family send out their Young Lord to fight against those bandits on his own? Given their numbers, and the strength of the leader, the kid shouldn't have been able to survive it," The old man with white hair said his thoughts of the current situation.

"Also, if I remember correctly, the kid said some bandits escaped. Find them and question them," The old man with white hair said.

"Yes, grandfather," A young man amongst the group said before leaving the room.

"Alright, now all we have to do is wait for reports," The old man with dark hair said.

….

O'Brien mansion.

'Grey, what's the situation?' Ellis was unable to hold back anymore, so he contacted Grey first.

Unfortunately, he didn't get a reply.

"Damn it! Come on, Grey, answer me,"

….

Ellis' Father's room.

After Grey closed the door, he placed his back on the door as he stared around.

The room was huge, with a large bed on the end of the room. He could sense an eerie aura across the room, an aura that made him feel uncomfortable.

"Looks like he's bedridden," He muttered to himself before slowly approaching the bed.

He could see a figure on the bed, one he assumed was Ellis' father, an obvious assumption.

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"Who are you, and why are you sneaking about in my room?" A raspy voice asked softly.

Grey knew the source of the voice, hearing how weak it was, he was almost certain that Ellis' father wouldn't be able to live for long if this persisted.

"Hello Sir, I'm a friend of your son," He bowed.

Even though Ellis' father was still lying on the bed, he still had to show some respect. After all, this was once the powerful family head of the O'Brien family.

"Ellis' friend?" Thoma asked, his voice still raspy.

"Yes, he told me of your situation and I came to see if I can help," Grey explained.

"Haha, foolish boy, even the Elders and the best physicians in the Continent can't help me," Thoma laughed out lightly but coughed soon after.

Grey knew he was referring to Ellis when he was speaking.

"Thank you for willing to assist that foolish son of mine, but I don't think there's anything you can do. Also, how is he?" Thoma continued speaking after his cough subsided.

"Honestly, not good, he's the same as you, only still walking," Grey said.

"*Sigh* I knew it would come to this, this is why I told him to leave the family if anything happens to me," Thoma sighed, he understood perfectly what Grey meant by his words.