Lightning Is the Only Way

Was Gravis angry at Ferris? No.

Was Gravis annoyed by Ferris? A little bit.

Was Gravis envious of Ferris? Hell yes!

This guy managed to comprehend three entire Laws in just a bit more than a year. Was this normal for an Emperor? Was this what the Empress and the Grand Elder meant with that Emperors had way more experience with understanding Laws? Was the gulf between Gravis and an Emperor truly that vast?

Gravis had been delighted with his progress, but when compared to Ferris, his progress was laughable. This guy picked up Laws like they were some coins lying on the road.

"How are you comprehending so many Laws, Ferris?" Gravis asked helplessly.

"I don't know," Ferris said with a heartfelt smile of excitement, his tail wagging. "I just look at everything and realize that I have seen similar things in the past. Then, everything comes just naturally, and I know what I should pay attention to."

Gravis felt helpless when he heard that and sighed again. "It sounds like you have experienced a lot of things, Ferris," Gravis said.

Ferris fell into thought. "I guess I did," he said. "I've been a level one Emperor for over 3,000 years by now. I guess it's normal for me to have seen a lot of things."

Gravis nearly dropped the stone he was holding. "You've been a level one Emperor for over 3,000 years?" he asked in shock.

Ferris nodded. "Yep," he said with a smile. "I've fully committed myself to fire for the past 3,000 years and have not comprehended many other Laws. Man, in just the last year, I managed to comprehend more Laws than in the past 500 years. My talk with you has helped me immensely!"

'500 years with only one or two Laws,' Gravis thought with sympathy. 'This must've been hard for Ferris. No wonder he's so excited. So, all the Laws he has understood in the past year were due to an accumulation for nearly 3,000 years.'

Gravis looked at the sky with a forlorn expression. 'I can't even imagine not comprehending a single Law for over a hundred years. This must be horrible.'

Ferris noticed Gravis' forlorn expression and cocked his head to the side. "Why are you looking at the sky so heartbroken?" he asked innocently.

Gravis sighed again when he heard Ferris. "To be honest with you, I imagined myself in your shoes. Not understanding a single Law for a hundred years sounds terrifying. It would be like my path forward was cut off."

"Psh," Ferris made a sound like thinking about something like that was idiotic. "How is that terrifying? It's normal! Well, maybe not that long, but long times are normal. Emperors want to become more powerful, so they try to understand the relevant Laws to their Battle-Strength. Learning one thing deeply is harder than learning the basics of new things," Ferris commented.

"I'm not so sure about that, Ferris," Gravis answered.

"What do you mean?" Ferris asked with curiosity.

"Didn't you say that you learned something about fire by understanding another Law?" Gravis asked. "Isn't learning a deeper Law just more knowledge? Some of the knowledge is probably harder to decipher, but that may only be so because some of the knowledge is less prevalent in the category associated with it."

Ferris furrowed his brows in thought. "Could you explain?" he asked without thinking for long.

"Take this rock, for example," Gravis said as he showed one of the rocks in his hands. "It's made up of over four different materials. I can try to understand the rock, but it's harder for me to learn everything about this rock when I only look at it in its pure form. Wouldn't it be easier to learn the workings of the materials that make it up and then try to understand the rock?"

"Oh, you meant that," Ferris said. "Yeah, I mean, that's how Laws work. A level two Law needs level one Laws."

Gravis nodded. "Yes, but what if this rock represents a level one Law?"

Now, Ferris was confused again.

Gravis saw Ferris' confused expression and continued his explanation. "Think about the Law of Steam. It's a level one Law, right?" Gravis asked.

Ferris nodded with enthusiasm.

"It should be part of the Laws of Water, but it requires fire to create steam. Therefore, to understand the Law of Steam, you need to understand the fire and water components, just like this rock is made up of different components. If you only look at steam from the standpoint of water, you miss the parts that require fire."

BOOOOOOOM!

Ferris' eyes widened as fire suddenly widely burst out of his body. Gravis was thrown into the distance as parts of his scales melted down, burning his flesh. If Ferris had directed that power directly towards Gravis, he would be dead right now.

"HAHAHA!" a powerful and exhilarated laughter came from the middle of the gigantic fire pillar. "I understand! I finally understand!" Ferris shouted into the horizons.

Gravis had been thrown away a couple of kilometers as he created a crater in the mountain. Yet, instead of dealing with his situation, he looked towards Ferris in the middle of the imposing fire pillar.

At first, Gravis had been confused, but then he understood that Ferris must have comprehended an important Law. Had his words made Ferris realize a new Law? He could do that?

After half a minute, the fire pillar vanished, and Ferris arrived in front of Gravis with an even more excited smirk.

"Wow!" Ferris shouted with excitement. "Man, you're really a lifesaver, Gravis!"

Gravis smiled bitterly. "I guess you've understood another Law?"

Ferris nodded excitedly. "Yes, and not just any Law! I've been at this Law for the past 2,500 years! This was exactly the Law that has stumped me for such a long time," Ferris said.

"Is it a level two Law?" Gravis asked.

Ferris nodded again. "Exactly! I've wanted to understand another level two Law before I try to become a level two Emperor. After all, if I had advanced without understanding another one, I would have become a bit below average in terms of Battle-Strength. The Emperor of my old Empire says that's a bad thing, so I followed his orders and didn't advance."

"What Law is it?" Gravis asked with interest. Level two Laws were something special!

"I tried to upgrade my fire manipulation for a long time," Ferris said. "Having fire just shoot out in a straight line seems too predictable. Additionally, controlling fire takes a lot of Energy. In my harder fights, I've never had an issue with offense or with speed but with Energy. I run out of Energy way too fast, which always forces me to retreat."

"So, I thought that there might be a method to make fire manipulate itself without me needing to control it," Ferris said.

"Making your element control itself?" Gravis asked. "How would that even work?"

"That's exactly the thing!" Ferris shouted. "How would that even work? I tried a lot of things, and I've understood some Laws that increased my control, but that was not what I was going for. I had no idea what I should do."

"Then," Ferris said, his excitement back as he smiled at Gravis, "you said your words, and boom, I immediately knew what I had to do! And it just so happened that the Law I've understood just before that was the key!"

"Oh right," Gravis said. "I haven't asked about which Law you managed to comprehend."

  "Oh," Ferris uttered. "Right, you don't know. Some weeks ago, I just started looking at everything with interest, and one thing has interested me specifically. What makes things dead and alive?"

'Wasn't that exactly what I was thinking about previously?' Gravis thought.

"So, then I started looking at living stuff. These plants are a huge help. Additionally, I looked at some weaker beasts. Then, at some time, BAM, I found the answer."

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise. "You found the answer to why things are alive or dead?"

Ferris nodded. "Yep! It's the soul!"

"The soul?" Gravis asked as he furrowed his brows. "How did you come to that conclusion?"

Ferris scratched himself behind one ear with one of his legs. "Well, I've been pretty bored the last 3,000 years. So, I might have had some offspring. Nearly all my offspring are dead by now, but who cares? I can always just make more," he said casually.

Gravis was still a bit uncomfortable with how beasts viewed their children.

"I have often asked myself what makes life and what makes death. Today wasn't the first time. Yet, with your words, I managed to look at it from a different perspective. So, I managed to comprehend a Law regarding the Soul. I don't think I've ever heard of this Law, but I would call it the Law of Soul Infusion or something," Ferris said in thought.

"Soul Infusion?" Gravis asked with furrowed brows.

'This doesn't seem to be a simple Law. Such an ethereal concept like the soul shouldn't be that easy to understand. It seems more similar to my Law of Suppression.'

Then, Gravis looked at the excited Ferris. 'But it has to be a level one Law. After all, he has obviously combined this Law with the Law of Fire Manipulation. So, I guess he managed to infuse his fire with a soul. Like that, his fire would become alive, would have its own will, and would, therefore, also control itself. That's an ingenious idea.'

"So, you comprehended something along the lines of the Law of Living Fire?" Gravis asked.

Ferris grimaced when he heard that. "It's no fun if you guess it," he grumbled.

Gravis laughed when he saw the grumbling Ferris. Ferris also quickly got back his positive spirit and laughed too.

"So, anyway, what is the other level two Law that you know?" Gravis asked.

"You mean the one I comprehended before I became an Emperor?" Ferris asked.

Gravis nodded.

"I already told you. It's the Law of Fire Manipulation," he said.

Suddenly, Gravis stopped laughing at looked at Ferris with confusion. "But you said you tried to comprehend that for the past years."

"Yeah, but I already knew it," Ferris said. "I've already understood it, but I wanted to make it even better."

"Wow, wow, wow," Gravis said with raised arms as he took some steps back. "Wait a second here."

"What?" Ferris asked.

"Is it even possible to combine a level one Law with a level two Law?" Gravis asked.

Ferris furrowed his brows in thought. "I don't think so. That wouldn't really make much sense."

"And you combined your level two Law of Fire Manipulation with the Law of Soul Infusion?" Gravis asked with nervousness.

"Huh," Ferris said as he suddenly stopped moving. "Now that you mention it, this does sound weird."

"Doesn't something as ethereal as Soul Infusion sound too powerful for a level one Law?" Gravis asked.

Ferris scratched himself again. "I guess so."

"So, it could be that the Law of Soul Infusion is a level two Law, right?" Gravis asked with urgency.

Now, Ferris also stopped moving as he realized something. "It does feel quite powerful, actually," Ferris said quietly.

"So, when you combined two level two Laws into one Law, what would that make?" Gravis asked, agitated.

Now, Ferris looked with widened eyes at the horizon. "This can't be real, can it?" Ferris asked no one in particular.

"Ferris," Gravis said, making Ferris look at him.

"I think you managed to comprehend a level three Law."