Lightning Is the Only Way

"It's not mine. It's from that woman," Gravis answered nonchalantly. He was also bored, and he wanted to get some information from Flern. Maybe that guy would know how long the Formation Array would hold.

"Escura?" he asked.

"Don't know her name. The woman in the sixth stage," he explained.

"That's Escura. Where is she, by the way?" he asked.

"Killed her," answered Gravis.

"What?" Flern's eyes widened. "You killed Escura?"

"Yep. That's her Formation Array," Gravis plainly answered.

"Wow, that's really impressive," said Flern with excitement and respect. "I can feel that you are only at the third level, and you killed someone at the sixth. If I hadn't seen you fight with my own eyes, I would never believe that. Man, you're really powerful."

Gravis lifted an eyebrow. Flern's behavior didn't make much sense in his eyes. "I killed all your brothers. Shouldn't you hate me?" Gravis asked, confusedly.

Flern spat to the side. "If they died in battle, they were too weak. The Fire Guild only accepts strong people, and if they died, it proved that they were not up to standard! I could even say that you helped us weed out the weaklings," Flern explained nonchalantly.

Gravis furrowed his brows. "This makes no sense. Didn't you care about them? Don't you want to avenge them? Is there really no grief in your heart?" he asked. Flern's whole personality didn't make sense in Gravis' eyes.

"No, not the slightest bit," Flern smiled and looked to the sky. "We all want to reach the peak, and in order to reach it, we need to temper ourselves in life and death battles. If we die in a battle, then it was never our destiny to reach the peak. I might also soon die, and I will join my brothers in the afterlife. Then, we can all drink to our uselessness," he explained with a laugh.

"So, you don't believe in free will and in changing your own destiny?" Gravis asked.

Flern laughed bitterly. "How can there be free will under Heaven? If it wants to kill us, it can send a peak Magic Beast, and we would all die. Everything is up to Heaven. If Heaven disapproves of us, we will die. If it does approve of us, we will be able to ascend at some point. I trust in Heaven's plan for me."

It didn't matter how much Gravis thought about it. He couldn't understand Flern's thought process. Flern acted like life didn't matter to him, and that death was not a failure or the end. "Are all people in the Fire Guild like you?" Gravis asked.

"Most of them," explained Flern. "Though we have some people who fear death. Tch," he spat to the side. "If they fear death, how can they put their life on the line in a real fight? Those are the thoughts of a weakling!"

Gravis sighed. "I don't agree with you on that," he said. "I fear for my life when I fight. If I die, I won't be able to see my family again, and I would disappoint all the people who sacrificed their time and wealth on me. If I didn't fear death, I wouldn't be able to bring out my full potential in a fight. If I fight for nothing, losing wouldn't be an issue, which would lower my will and battle intent. The fear of losing something pushes me forward in a fight, and I can surpass myself."

Now, it was Flern's turn to be confused. "But if you fear losing your life, then why are you cultivating? If you value your life, why don't you just stop and live with your family?" he asked.

Gravis looked to the horizon and watched as dusk was coming. From this height, the sundown looked very beautiful. The layer of clouds was close to Gravis, and the different angle made the whole forest glow in a different light. Gravis could see a mixture of long shadows and light hitting the trees.

"Because I want to be free," Gravis said after a while. "If I don't become strong, I will always be below Heaven's hand. It has used me before, and I never want this to happen again. I can only live a life without regrets if I become stronger than Heaven. Well, I guess living a life without regrets is already impossible for me since I have done something that I deeply regret," Gravis said with a helpless sigh.

Flern raised an eyebrow. "You want to become stronger than Heaven? Aren't you a Heavenborn?" Flern asked with genuine confusion.

Gravis shook his head. "I have a family, and Heaven is my enemy. I am not a Heavenborn," he confessed.

Flern looked at the sky. "Heaven is your enemy, huh? I've never thought about becoming stronger than Heaven or even fighting it. That is a lofty goal. I admire you for that." Flern was silent for a couple of seconds. "By the way, what exactly happened to get you in this situation?"

Gravis had to wait for the Formation Array to wait anyway, so he told Flern what had happened in the Lightning Guild. When he told Flern about Jaimy, Gravis grew incredibly angry and narrated everything through clenched teeth. When he told Flern about how he had killed Gorn, tears nearly appeared in Gravis' eyes. He tried to keep the grief suppressed, but talking about it opened the old wound again.

Of course, Gravis didn't tell him about his unique lightning, his Will-Aura, or his Elemental Synchronicity. Those were secrets that he couldn't tell anyone. Any one of those secrets could make him the enemy of the Heaven Sect, and he couldn't become their enemy, yet. He first had to get enough strength.

Flern sighed. "Man, that's really fucked up. I couldn't even imagine the guilt I would feel if I killed someone so close to me, even if it was only on accident. You're really in a tough spot. Killing people of the Lightning Guild would only make you feel more guilty, while at the same time, you can't give up your life. In my eyes, it doesn't matter what you do. It will be bitter and tragic either way."

Flern sighed again. "Man, even though you have a never before seen talent and can kill people three minor realms above you, I wouldn't want to be you."

Gravis put his arms on his knees and looked at the horizon, where he could only see the last rays of the day. "I know," Gravis muttered. "I don't see any good way out of this situation. I can only repay the Lightning Sect when I reach power on par with them. Yet, in my way to get there, I would have to kill more disciples."

Gravis looked up into the dark sky. "At least, I have a goal. The way to the goal will be full of regret and pain, but I can resolve everything when I finally reach it. I can give the Lightning Sect everything they need, and I can make it the strongest sect in this world. I can only repay Gorn and all the dead disciples by making the Lightning Sect the strongest sect in history."

Flern also sighed. "That is a lofty goal and probably the only thing you can do to resolve part of your guilt," Flern sighed again bitterly. "But I don't think it will resolve all your guilt. Some of it will probably stay forever with you. Man, I really don't want to be you."

Gravis felt a lot better after he shared his burdens with Flern, yet, did he look at Flern like a friend? Definitely not! Without the Formation Array, Gravis would probably be dead already. Flern would have killed him, and this whole situation wouldn't have happened. Gravis couldn't forgive someone for trying to kill him, just because they had a pleasant conversation. His life was too important for that.

But Gravis also decided against killing him directly. Gravis looked at Flern. All the karmic luck had already left Flern when Gravis started sharing his burdens with him. If Flern believed in Heaven so much, he might as well die to it.

"How long will this Formation Array hold?" asked Gravis.

"That should be the Protection Formation Array in case of an eventual calamity. I have one too! It holds for twelve hours, so it should vanish in six more hours," Flern explained.

Gravis and Flern talked more for some hours until…

SWOOOOSH!

Suddenly, an absolutely apocalyptic wind arrived out of nowhere and tore Flern into multiple pieces. Gravis wasn't surprised and looked up at the sky. There, he could see a gargantuan bird with a wingspan of nearly 100 meters. Gravis was sure that this was a high-grade Energy Beast.

Gravis could also see the wind bird from before flying around it. The two birds had the same build and the same kind of feathers. The big bird was probably the small bird's parent.

The big bird looked at Gravis with hatred, and Gravis looked back.