Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis narrated everything that happened to him after arriving in this lower world. He also told them about his abilities and strength when he had just arrived. All of this was in the past, and everyone important already knew everything important about him, after all.

When he told them that he managed to slay a low-grade Demonic Beast while not having tempered skin, they nodded in praise. "That's at about the level that a genius from the Core-Continent would have," Old Man Lightning said.

Gravis nodded. "I thought so too. I might have had the advantage of a Will-Aura, but I hadn't supplemented my fighting style with Martial Arts. On top of that, they probably know more about their targets than me," Gravis agreed.

Gravis knew that he had been, relatively speaking, pretty strong back then, but it wasn't anywhere as ridiculous as now. He had already thought that there surely were geniuses in this lower world that had been more powerful than him, back then. Of course, Gravis based his judgment on the fact that he and his opponent would have the same Realm.

When Gravis came to the part where he met Joyce, he stopped. "Do you know who this Joyce is? She said that she would help me out for a favor from me. She also said that I would know who she is when I reach the Core-Continent."

Old Man Lightning scratched his beard with furrowed brows. He wasn't really in contact with the outside world much, so he didn't know.

"You say her name is Joyce and that she came from the Core-Continent? You also said that an old man in the Spirit Forming Realm followed her?" Lasar asked.

Gravis nodded.

"I think you've met Joyce Freya. That's her full name. When you met her, she was one of the heirs to the Freya Clan, but she has become the main-heir by now," Lasar explained.

"Oh right, that girl," Old Man Lightning said. "I think I've seen her once."

"Joyce Freya, heir to the Freya Clan," Gravis muttered to himself. Finally, he knew who she was. Her debt had been the first serious one that he had taken on since coming to this lower world. Without her, he might not have had enough money to temper his skin in time, and without that, he wouldn't have been able to join the Lightning Guild this quickly. He had not forgotten that debt, and he wouldn't renege on it.

Yet, there now was an additional question on his mind. "You said Freya Clan? The same Freya as in Freya's Birch?" Gravis pointed to the exit of the hall with his thumb towards the direction of the tree.

Lasar nodded. "The same one. The Freya Clan has the only other Freya's Birch in this world. That's why it's called Freya's Birch."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "So if they were able to cultivate such a powerful tree that can only be grown with Life Lightning probably means that they cultivate Life Lightning, right?" Gravis asked.

Lasar was a little impressed by Gravis' quick wits while Old Man Lightning just harumphed. "Yeah, obviously," he said. "You remember when I said that creating a healing business would be impossible? That's exactly the reason. The Freya clan is very close and filled with Life Lightning cultivators. Since they also cultivate a kind of lightning, our Lightning Sect and their Clan are rather close."

"There are probably more of those clans, right? How powerful are they in comparison to the Sects?" Gravis asked.

"The patriarch or matriarch of a Clan is generally at the Sapling Stage. You could say, the Clans are one stage lower than the Sects," Lasar explained. "Though, they are basically all affiliated with one of the Elemental Sects."

Gravis sighed in relief. "So, since the Freya Clan is affiliated with the Lightning Sect, paying Joyce back won't go against your goals? After all, I also have an open debt towards the Lightning Sect."

Old Man Lightning and Lasar looked at each other with seriousness. They both started thinking about something, and their serious expressions slowly morphed to uncomfortable grimaces. After that, they broke eye contact and looked with discomfort in different directions.

Gravis, of course, noticed this exchange. His brows furrowed. "So there is a problem," he said.

Lasar sighed. "Yeah, there is. We know what the girl would want from you as repayment when you arrive. Your help would be basically perfect for her. You could call it, a kind of struggle for resources that every major power takes part in. Of course, that includes the Lightning Sect. So, you would be our opponent in this struggle when you help her."

Now, Gravis mimicked the uncomfortable expressions of the other two. This might not make them enemies, but they would become rivals. It surely won't drive a wedge between Gravis and the Lightning Sect, but it wasn't a nice feeling either. After all, Gravis had to repay Joyce and the Lightning Sect.

"I mean, you have lots of elders and even yourself, Sect Master. I think this could become interesting," Gravis said, trying to lift the mood.

Lasar laughed bitterly. "It would be if it weren't for the fact that no one above the Seed Stage is allowed to take part."

Gravis' brows shot up. "Oh…" he said, trailing off. Yeah, that would explain their expressions. Gravis was already nearly unkillable by Seed Stage cultivators.

When he had first entered the Core-Continent, Seed-Stage cultivators were still a threat to him. Then he had gotten the Rakshasa Saber, the Lightning Crescent, the Lightning Bomb, some more body tempering, some more Spirit tempering, and his lightning storage had more than tripled.

Seed Stage cultivators were no enemies anymore. So, if he were to take part in this struggle, the Lightning Sect would suffer, though probably not as much as other powers.

"When is this 'struggle'?" Gravis asked after a while.

"About a year and a half from now," Lasar said. "Try to remain inside the Seed-Stage until it starts. As soon as you enter, you can advance to the Sapling Stage."

Even though Lasar was basically on an opposing side regarding this struggle, he still gave Gravis some helpful information.

Gravis thought about the time and frowned a little. "One and a half years. I'll be 19 by then. This is really a heavy debt," he said.

WACK!

Old Man Lightning's cane hit Gravis on the head. "Argh! Listening to you infuriates me! Do you know how many people would kill their family for your ridiculous cultivation speed!? Yet, you act like advancing two full stages in the Spirit Forming Realm in less than two years is a bother! Cultivation takes longer the higher you go! Get that into your thick head!" Old Man Lightning shouted in frustration.

Gravis rubbed his head. Though, after thinking over the matter for a while, he agreed. How old were all these cultivators in his homeworld? They were probably all thousands of years old, at least. Taking some years for a full major Realm was probably still pretty fast. After all, at some point, the cultivation would slow down.

'Just thinking about longevity already shows the speed of cultivation. A normal human lives to about 80 years of age if nothing major goes wrong. A fully tempered body increases that to like 120 years. Energy Gathering is 200 years, while the initial Stage of the Spirit Forming Realm is 300 years. In relative terms to a mortal human, I would be 17 right now. Yet, when I set the longevity of a Spirit Forming Realm expert to that of a mortal, I could only be considered to be about five years old. That's pretty young.'

"Yeah, you're probably right," Gravis said. "I should probably get used to my cultivation slowing down."

WACK!

Another hit with the cane. "You've really got a talent for making me angry!" Old Man Lightning shouted in fury. "Your cultivation isn't slowing down at all. In actuality, it's even speeding up! Going from the bottom of Body Tempering to Spirit Forming in one year is ridiculously fast, but it's not nearly as ridiculous as taking only two years to advance to the Sapling Stage from the initial stage!"

"it is?" Gravis asked while rubbing his head.

Old Man Lightning spat to the side in disdain as Lasar only smiled bitterly. "Just continue your story!" Old Man Lightning grumbled.

Gravis rolled his eyes but complied. "So, after I've got the Formation Array, I went to hunt my first middle-grade Demonic Beast…"