Lightning Is The Only Way

Gravis didn't need long to tell his story. Even though he told it with a lot of details, he hadn't had as many extraordinary things happening to him as Orthar. When Gravis compared his story to Orthar, he felt like his story was boring.

He had only had some fights, some children, and in the remaining time, he had been mostly comprehending Laws. His story didn't have political intrigue or grand plans that spanned over many years. All this excitement of having a long-standing plan succeed was absent from Gravis' story.

"If I had been in your position, I would have long died," Orthar said.

Gravis was a bit surprised when he heard that. "Why? There were no times when I needed to use some grand plan to guarantee my survival, while you had to constantly rely on your planning to survive."

"That's because of your power, Gravis," Orthar said. "You don't need scheming and planning to survive. If I had been in your position, the very first battle after we parted ways would have resulted in my death. All my planning would have become irrelevant and meaningless when two Lords, two levels higher than me, had been ordered by their King to kill me."

Gravis thought about Orthar's words, and he quickly realized that Orthar might be right. Orthar would have died in Gravis' position. "Okay, that might be true," Gravis said, "but I would have also had problems in your position, Orthar."

"I don't think so," Orthar answered, surprising Gravis again.

"But I can't scheme like you due to my closeness to the lightning element," Gravis said.

"That doesn't matter," Orthar said. "You don't need to rely on scheming if you have enough power. If you had met the association in my place, you wouldn't have needed to employ any schemes. You could have just run in and kill all of them and easily become a level five Lord. I hadn't had that power, which was why I had to resort to scheming."

"But what about the Kings that had chased you? Even my power wouldn't have been enough to battle a level three King as a level five Lord," Gravis said.

"Irrelevant," Orthar said. "Just because you don't use schemes doesn't mean that you are dumb. You are smart, Gravis. If I were able to see the approaching danger, you would have also been able to see it coming and act accordingly."

"Don't forget that you managed to survive years while the most powerful being in your lower world wanted to kill you. Scheming only helps marginally against an omniscient being that knows your exact power and whereabouts," Orthar said.

The things that Orthar said made sense to Gravis, but his feelings disagreed. All these things sounded incredible when spoken out loud, but to him, these things only appeared natural. Of course, Gravis tended to believe his head more than his emotions.

"I guess you're right, Orthar," Gravis said with a sigh. "Even though my story might not appear as exciting as yours, my path was not without danger."

After that, Orthar and Gravis talked for a couple more hours about what they went through and what they had learned. Surprisingly, Gravis didn't learn much at all. It was almost like he already knew every concept that Orthar told him. This felt incredibly weird to Gravis.

Gravis had never gone through any grand plans of scheming, but all the careful plans that Orthar described appeared logical to Gravis.

"Do you know why I've told you all about these plans in detail, Gravis?" Orthar asked.

Gravis scratched the back of his neck in confusion. "Don't you just want to share your experiences with someone else?" he asked.

"Irrelevant," Orthar said directly. "Momentary emotional relief isn't conducive to my goal. I had a specific goal in mind."

"Okay," Gravis said in uncertainty. "Then, why did you tell me?"

"To make you realize that it is all your knowledge that allowed me to reach my current standing," Orthar said.

"Wait a second," Gravis said. "You are you, and you learned a lot of concepts yourself. You're not just some accessory of mine."

"Have I?" Orthar asked, but he obviously didn't ask this question in seriousness. "Have you learned any new concepts while I told you my experiences? Have you been surprised by a development?"

Gravis stayed silent for some seconds. "Honestly, no," Gravis said.

"That was my goal in telling you my experiences," Orthar said. "My plans are beyond the comprehension of nearly every beast in this world. Every beast that would hear my story would become shocked and intrigued by the advanced concepts shown to them. Yet, everything appears natural to you."

"My goal in telling you my experiences is to confirm something and then show it to you if it turned out to be true," Orthar said.

"What did you find out?" Gravis asked, honestly curious.

"Your intelligence and wisdom are terrifying, Gravis," Orthar said. "When I had been a Spirit Beast, I felt like your words were constantly opening a new world to me. Even now, when you explained the relations between different Laws, I felt like my eyes have been opened."

Gravis felt a bit uncomfortable due to Orthar's high praises.

"I am unsure if your vast knowledge about beings and warfare is normal for humans or not, but this human knowledge is very powerful in this world. Yet, that is not what I wanted to confirm since I have already known that," Orthar said.

"Then, tell me," Gravis said with interest.

"I wanted to confirm if you have realized the power of the knowledge that you have," Orthar said.

Gravis was a bit surprised, not because he hadn't expected that, but because it was evident that his knowledge was powerful. "I know that," Gravis said.

"Yet, you don't realize the true extent," Orthar said. "You need to realize the true effect that your knowledge has on the world. Without you, the Inferno Emperor would still be the Red King. Without you, I would have died. Without you, this Ferris would die a level one Emperor. Without you, the Grand Elder of the Icy Pride Empire would take a lot longer to become more powerful."

"Every beast that comes into contact with you for an extended period of time has their destiny changed significantly, and the most terrifying aspect about this is that the Realm of the beast doesn't matter," Orthar said.

"I think you're overreacting," Gravis said. "Ferris has had over 3,000 years of accumulation. You had been smart ever since I met you, which was my main reason why I chose you as my guide back then. It wasn't my sole contact with the beasts that made them rise in power."

"That is true to some extent, Gravis," Orthar said, "but the hardest part is always the last step. Accumulation can only bring you to the step, but it can't bring you over that step. Taking the last step of understanding a new Law is always the hardest. Your knowledge allows beasts to take this step."

Gravis wanted to deny Orthar's statement, but he just couldn't find an argument. This made Gravis hesitate for nearly a full minute as he simply thought about what Orthar had said. Was it true? Did Gravis truly have such an effect?

"Do my words truly have such an impact on the world?" Gravis asked.

"You, giving off a casual comment, has resulted in the death of three Ultimates," Orthar said evenly.

Gravis couldn't argue against that.

"Why do you want me to realize this?" Gravis asked, finally having accepted Orthar's words.

"Repayment," Orthar said. "You have saved my life thrice now and have opened my eyes to the true way of the world. Making you realize the power that you have is just a small form of repayment."

Gravis chuckled a bit. "That's all?" he asked.

"That's all," Orthar said. "You are the only being that I consider a companion, Gravis. I don't have any experience with companions, but repaying your companion's help with your own help is only natural, isn't it?"

Gravis chuckled a bit more. Orthar truly had no experience with that. Yet, when he heard Orthar refer to Gravis as his only companion, Gravis got reminded of something.

"Do you know what happened to Silva?" Gravis asked. He still remembered the viper that had been the Commander of the land beast camp inside the River Tribe. He wondered how he was.

"Silva created a peaceful Tribe at the edges of the continent. After around 50 years, a Kingdom noticed the outstanding Battle-Strength of this Tribe and forcefully recruited the members of the Tribe."

"Silva and his Tribe died in the frontlines between the land and sea beast war. His dream of living peacefully died with him."