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nGrey, Klaus, and Void stared at the mini forest, dumbfounded by the fact that someone would actually create something like this in their house. They didn’t stay that way for too long since they had to follow behind Hugh.

n‘Is this guy normal?’ asked a stunned Void.

n‘Probably,’ Grey replied with uncertainty. He was just as shocked as Void so he couldn’t really conclude if Hugh was normal or not.

nHugh took them to the middle of the small forest while explaining, “I shattered my prized trees all over the forest, there are only two in the middle.”

nGrey didn’t say anything and followed behind without saying anything, Klaus had always felt Hugh was obsessed with trees, but he didn’t think it was up to this point.

nThey stopped in front of a tree that had dark red color, its leaves were almost identical to that of a teak tree.

n“This is the tree where you can get the Spiracotanue wood, but I personally feel you could use the other woods since you know, they’re better.” Hugh pointed at the tree before them before saying.

n“I’m still learning, there’s no need to waste your precious woods.” Grey refused the idea of using any other wood.

nIt was not that he didn’t trust Hugh or anything, but he’s learning with an already made item. Maybe after he had modified it, he would come back for a better wood.

n“Okay, young master.” Hugh didn’t hassle over it.

nHe gently cut out an almost one-meter branch for Grey, “This should be enough for you to make at least twenty of those things.”

n“Yes, thank you.” Grey nodded while taking the tree branch.

nHe studied it properly and was left amazed by the neat straight open spaces in it. It was almost like a creature opened it in it, but according to research and Hugh, it was naturally made.

nGrey asked for a sample of the three other trees Hugh said was better than the Spiracotanue, which Hugh gladly obliged to. After getting them, they left the small forest and went back to the house.

nJust as Grey and Klaus were about to leave, “Why do you study trees?”

nSeeing Hugh’s small forest made Grey all the more curious as to why he loved trees this much.

n“I believe trees are just like all other elements, something Elementalists can control at will.” Hugh explained.

nGrey let out a small ‘Oh!’ sound but didn’t ask any further, Hugh’s reply was more than enough for him to understand. Hugh was trying to find or probably create a wood element or something like that. Although, he felt it was something impossible since trees were something that was actually living, unlike the other elements.

nHe wished him good luck in his endeavors before he left the house along with Klaus. If someday Hugh was able to fulfill his dream, he would feel honored to get to know someone who created a new style.

n‘Hey, what are the probabilities of there already being a wood element?’ Void asked Grey as they headed out of this part of the city.

n‘I have no idea, but I’m not sure there is.’ Grey replied.

n‘You were also not aware of the space element until meeting me, so there’s a chance of there being a wood element,’ said Void after speculating for some time.

nGrey looked back at the side they were coming from, trying to etch the route to his head. He felt maybe he might come back to have a conversation with Hugh about his theories.

nThey went back to the Academy and Grey headed straight for his house, since he already had the material, he wanted to start his experiments immediately.

nKlaus headed over to meet up with Reynolds and Alice, accompanied by Void who Grey asked him to take along. That day came to an end.

nThe next day.

nThis was the fifth day in a row that Grey hadn’t slept, but he was still very much active. Over the night, he tried creating the arrays in the wood but failed on all his tries. With each failure, he learned something new that increased the chances of successfully forming it the next time. The sun had already risen, but Grey didn’t go for his usual morning physical training, he felt he was already very close to making the array.

nTwo hours later, he was able to successfully replicate one of the arrays drawn in one of the wooden objects, and as soon as he drew the last line, the other one he used in drawing it lit up. This was the first time Grey saw the wooden object having this type of reaction.

n‘Hmm, why are they glowing?’ He asked himself curiously.

nHe got his answer a few seconds later, the two wooden objects flew closer to each other and connected. Then, it started releasing an intense heatwave that scared the hell out of Grey.

n‘Shit! No wonder none of them has the same array drawn on it.’ Grey cursed out before using his earth element to create a sphere that covered up the two wooden objects which had already started to merge mid-air. This managed to seal the heatwave as well as the energy it was releasing.

nHe sighed when he noticed this, but his pupils dilated and his expression changed once again when he noticed the strength of the wooden objects was on the rise, if it continued at this rate, then it would blow up his house.

n“Oh no.” Grey pointed in the direction of the forest, but he knew the chances of it reaching the Academy walls was fleeting, much less going over to the forest.

nHe ran in the other direction while the earth sphere was sent in another direction. When he opened his door, he saw Klaus, Alice, and Reynolds walking into the compound.

nThe trio was stunned when they saw Grey running out of his house with a panicked expression, but being friends with him, Klaus was the first to immediately turn around to make a break for it, Reynolds and Alice were a few seconds late.

nJust as Grey got to the small gate that led out of the compound.

nBOOM!

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