Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis knew exactly what Heaven had planned. It forced him into a life of isolation and showed him what he was missing out on by continuing to cultivate. Sarah, Anthony, the whole Hunting Guild, Joyce, her teacher, and even the bandits were all nice people. A vast majority of the people that he met were kind people with good hearts.

Was this coincidence? Of course not! In a cruel world, where everyone desired higher power, there were bound to be many selfish people. Yet, Gravis had met too many good ones on his journey. They all showed kindness to him, even when he acted cold and distant. They tried to include him in their circles, yet he always had to reject them.

Weak enemies and friendly people. Heaven really tried everything to destroy his motivation. Gravis knew what Heaven wanted! Yet, it was so hard to resist. It was slowly grinding down his drive.

The only things that kept Gravis going were his family and his eventual return to his homeworld. He only had to grow powerful enough, and then, he wouldn't be alone anymore. He had to keep going! If he stopped now, what would Stella say? What would his father say? Well, his father would probably say that it was alright, but Gravis was sure that his father would still sigh in sadness.

His father surely hoped for one of his children to grow to his level. Gravis was sure that his father had a good reason to fight against Heaven. His father had probably lived for a very long time, with no one but Heaven standing on his level. In some weird way, he was perhaps also feeling alone, even if he had a family.

Gravis gritted his teeth. He couldn't stop now! He wanted to go back to his family! He wanted to make his father proud! He wanted freedom! He wanted to take revenge on Heaven! Heaven was constantly emotionally torturing him. Instead of losing his drive, Gravis' hatred toward Heaven only increased.

Gravis looked upward at the sky, with hate-filled eyes. He transformed all his loneliness into hatred and rage. At some point in the future, Gravis would make Heaven pay!

With newfound motivation, he quickly looked around the clearing. There had to be a reason for a low- grade demonic beast to stay here. After searching, Gravis promptly found out. In the middle of the clearing, behind the spot where the badger had been sleeping, he saw a lone melon. When Gravis saw it, he immediately realized several things.

There was no vegetation in the clearing because this plant had absorbed all the life force in its surroundings. Due to all the theoretical lessons in his homeworld, Gravis also knew what this plant was.

"An Origin Melon," he sneered.

An Origin Melon was called as such because it symbolized the start of cultivation. Yet, what was generally considered the start of cultivation in this lower world? It was skin tempering. One melon would completely temper one's skin, no matter what. It didn't matter if the person required one or ten Skin-Pills. One melon would fully temper their skin.

Gravis had been looking forward to what he would find by killing the low-grade demonic beast. Yet, he had completely forgotten about his 'karmic luck'. If he had had this Origin Melon before, all his difficulties in tempering his skin wouldn't have happened. Yet, he found one just when he had tempered his skin. Heaven really was cruel.

"Well, it should be worth at least something," Gravis said as he pocketed the Origin Melon. Now that all his sadness and curiosity was gone, Gravis remembered that he was hungry. He dissected the corpse of the badger and cooked it.

After a satisfying meal, he went back to the street and continued on his way.

Surprisingly, Gravis had not seen any bandits after traveling for several hours. It seemed like they had all been warned. Like this, Gravis traveled without any interruptions.

That was until he grew close to Body City. Just a couple of kilometers away from Body City, Gravis saw a big bunch of bandits standing behind an imposing man. The man was nearly two meters tall and carried a humongous sword made of bone on his back. He stood imposingly in the middle of the road, and it seemed like nothing could shake him.

Gravis had a prediction, who the man was, based on all the context clues.

"A bandit with tempered muscles," he concluded. This would be interesting.

Gravis stopped about 20 meters away from the bandit and looked him in the eyes.

"So, you are the demonic beast in human form," he harrumphed. "You don't seem that impressive,"

"I'm not a demonic beast. I'm here for the entrance exams of the Elemental Guilds," Gravis stated. He didn't want to entertain any misunderstandings anymore. Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

"Bullshit! We couldn't even pierce your skin with a full-powered spear strike! No human can have that hard of a skin!" the first bandit shouted.

Gravis furrowed his brows. "My skin is just very hard. It took me 20 Skin-Pills to temper it. Of course, it's hard!"

The bandits looked shocked, but the first bandit continued. "20 Skin-Pills? As if! Where would you even get enough money to buy all those!"

Gravis sighed. "I cleared all the missions of the local Hunting Guild of Wilderness Town. It took me a while, but I managed to get enough money." Gravis didn't want to tell them about the middle-grade demonic beast. They would not believe him, and he would look even more like a liar.

Some of the bandits started talking with each other. Some of them lived near Wilderness Town, and something like that couldn't be kept secret. After a while of discussing, one of them walked forward.

"I've heard that the Demon from the Hunting Guild was able to release a frightening aura. We don't feel any of that from you," he said.

"Oh, do you mean this?" Gravis asked as he released his Will-Aura. The surrounding temperature plummeted, and the bandits felt an immense pressure coming down on them. They had trouble breathing, and cold sweat was running down their bodies.

Yet, just as quickly as the pressure appeared, it vanished again, and the bandits looked around in shock. They were not sure what just happened. At one point, it felt like death itself was coming to get them, and then everything returned to normal. What was happening?

Even the bandit with tempered muscles had felt terrified for a short while. He took a deep breath to calm down, and his expression of disdain vanished into one of interest. "What is this aura?" he asked.

"If you go through enough life and death battles, your will increases, and if it reaches a certain threshold, you can manifest it. That's called a Will-Aura," Gravis explained.

The bandits looked around, unsure about the truthfulness of it. This seemed too magical. Something illusory like the will can manifest itself?

The bandit with tempered muscles, on the other hand, seemed very interested. He went through some life and death battles in his life, and he kind of had a feeling for the enemy's will. Yet, only after he heard Gravis' explanation was he able to connect those two. The difference between his prior enemy's will and Gravis' was like Heaven and Earth.

"Interesting," he shouted. "I believe you!"

Everyone looked at the bandit, but their fear slowly vanished. He was the strongest bandit on this long street, and he had seen many things. If he believed Gravis, then it was probably true.

Gravis nodded and continued walking forward.

SHINK!

Yet, the bandit unsheathed his giant sword. "How about we spar a little?" he asked. "Of course, we'll stop when it gets too dangerous."

'Now, this is interesting. I wonder if I can take on someone with tempered muscles,' Gravis thought.

Gravis nodded. "Alright!"