Lightning Is the Only Way

The group told Gravis what they went through in their first trial. They had to defend themselves from an army of beasts that grew more and more numerous as time went by, without any pause. Gravis immediately saw the similarity between that trial and his mad dash for power back in his homeworld. Back then, he had willingly put himself in a similar situation.

That mad dash for power had helped him in condensing his initial Will-Aura. After all, it was good tempering, and it gave a lot of combat experience. The group had to adapt to waves of beasts that continually got stronger to survive.

This confirmed Gravis' thought that Heaven was putting the group through the perfect trials for them. After all, they had three people that went through the tenth level of Energy Gathering. They were probably more valuable to Heaven than all the other groups combined. In total, their trial had been going on for one month.

Then, it was Gravis' turn to tell of his first trial. He told them of the priest that he had met and how outclassed he was. When he told them how prepared the priest was for him, their disbelief only increased. How could he have possibly gotten out of that situation alive? In their minds, it had been impossible for him to win.

When he came to the point where he told them about his guesses on how the Jade Tokens worked, they realized that there really was a chance. It actually sounded really logical! Yet, even if that solution appeared logical to them now, they doubted that they would have been able to see it in such a situation.

Emotions could be a liability in a fight. If one feared the enemy too much, they would think less about a way to survive and more about the horror they were experiencing themselves. Only by keeping a cool head in a stressful situation would one be able to make the best decisions.

When Gravis came to the point where the fight ended, the reactions of the group were mixed. Joyce looked with disgust at Gravis. Claude, the lightning disciple, looked a little uncomfortable. Manuel just laughed. After all, he had done similar things in the past. The darkness disciple looked with motivation and admiration at Gravis. Gravis had used all his weapons, no matter how despicable, to win the fight. That perfectly fit the temperament of darkness cultivators.

"And that's where I got that spear," Gravis said as he pointed at the spear that Manuel was holding. He wanted to familiarize himself with his weapon, so he carried it around.

Yet, admiration was the last thing on the group's mind right now. Of course, Gravis' performance was more than praiseworthy, but the fact that Gravis went through such an insane first trial made them nervous and afraid of their future trials. This obviously didn't conform to the rules of the inheritance. Also, how was it possible that a priest was inside this trial? Hadn't a previous ascendent created this trial?

"Will we be able to survive?" Joyce asked the group with worry, but they also weren't sure. This showed a precedence of something way too powerful appearing. If something like this happened to them, they could only die. Should they stop and wait until they reached the Self Stage? After all, there was no time limit.

"Something like this won't happen to you," Gravis said, eliciting unsure glances from the group. They knew that Gravis knew a lot, but they couldn't bet their lives on that. After all, Gravis could be mistaken.

Gravis saw that and rubbed his chin in thought. "Hey, wait here for a minute, okay?" he said. Then, he went back into the corridor he came from. The door to the first trial was closed again, but not the door to the corridor that led to the first trial. The group looked at the retreating Gravis in confusion. What was he doing? Did he need to take a shit?

After running for about two kilometers, so that he was outside their Spirit's range, he stopped and looked at the ceiling. "You three are probably having a grand ol' time watching this. Two are probably watching in interest, while the last one is watching in frustration," he said with a smirk.

The three beings he was referring to were the lower Heaven, highest Heaven, and his father. "Anyway, so you've seen how unsure they are after they heard what happened to me in the first trial. They might decide to completely follow me from now on or to just wait here for 40 years or so. I guess highest Heaven isn't a big fan of that. After all, you want powerful cultivators and also people close to me so that you can take them hostage in the future."

Of course, no one answered.

Gravis only smirked. "I am pretty close to Joyce and Manuel, and you know that. So, how about this? I tell them about the Heaven's Trial and how it works so that they can continue tempering themselves. When they know the background, they can temper themselves without any worries. We all want that, right? So, that alright with you?"

"The old bastard said ok," the voice of Gravis' father appeared in his mind.

Gravis nodded. "Alrighty then."

Even though he hadn't shown any outward emotional reaction to his father's voice, Gravis was still happy and relieved that his father was watching him. This showed that his father was interested in and supportive of Gravis' progress. This also reminded him that he still had a family waiting for him. He hadn't talked to his mother in years, and he was also missing her.

After that, Gravis walked back to the group, who was still discussing and gathered their attention. "Alright, I just got the OK to tell you the truth about this inheritance," he said, eliciting even more confused expressions.

Gravis explained to them the worth of a cultivator and the different standings in the middle world. That was to tell them their importance to Heaven. Then, he told them about the concept of a Heaven's Trial.

After he was finished, a lot more things made sense. The appearance of a priest in the first trial, the splitting off from the other groups, the incomprehensible amount of wealth in this "inheritance", the continually changing trials, it all made sense now!

"So anyways," Gravis said, "that's why you don't have to be worried. Your group is more valuable than every other group combined. Heaven will send trials at you that will push you to your limit, but it won't send something so strong that only death is left."

Then, Gravis looked solemnly at them. "Of course, you can't take it lightly. You will still be in mortal danger. It might even make the next trial extra hard just to prove that you can't lose focus. Going through the tenth Stage of Energy Gathering is nice, but if you can't even get through something like that, what's the point of letting you ascend?"

All this information came as a shock to the group. Heaven had always been an elusive concept, something beyond time and comprehension. Yet, the way Gravis explained Heaven, it seemed almost human. On one point, they felt they understood Heaven better, but on another point, this kind of took some of the exciting mysticism and magic out of the world. After all, the force that governed the entire world was basically nothing more than an administrator of some area.

"But if that is true, why did it send a priest at you?" Manuel asked.

Gravis rolled his eyes. "Duh, because it wants to kill me. My goal is to kill this garbage lower Heaven, and I am pretty fucking close to having that strength. It is backed into a corner. Any beast that is backed into a corner will try its very best to defend itself."

Manuel was a little surprised by the logical and mundane explanation. Again, Heaven appeared like just some dude in his eyes. This really overturned all his previous feelings for Heaven and the rules of the world. It was just too logical and calculating, just like a human.

"How many Magic Stones do you have, Manuel?" Claude asked suddenly.

Manuel turned to the person with confusion, but then his face warped into a smirk. "Good decision! I have enough for you. I'll lend them to you for the time being, but you better repay me, okay?"

Claude sighed and nodded. "Thank you. I won't forget this debt."

BANG!

His Spirit shattered, and he fell back into the Energy Gathering Stage. Joyce and the darkness disciple were pleasantly surprised while Gravis smirked. "That's the right decision," he said.

With this, the whole group would consist of people that went through the tenth Stage of Energy Gathering. For everyone else, this Heaven's Trial was a nearly sure death sentence, but for this group, it was the best tempering experience in the entire world. Not everyone had the luxury of having Heaven choose appropriate tempering for them.

"Anyway, you go on and continue," Gravis said as he walked to the second trial. Just like before, there was one door with a '1' and one door with a '4'. "I'll be the first to finish the second trial. See you in a couple of months!" he said with a wave as he pushed open the door.

The group was a little surprised by the sudden departure, but they all gave their farewells. This time, it would be them who would enter their trials later.

BANG!

The door closed behind Gravis, and he sighed. "Even though the second trial probably won't be nearly as hard as the first one, I am actually more apprehensive about this one. Judging by this petty-ass Heaven's personality, I will probably have to do some disgusting things."

And with that, Gravis walked along the corridor to his second trial.