Lightning Is the Only Way

As Gravis became more powerful, he noticed that his direction had changed. In the lower world and at the beginning of the middle world, he had chased after a very explosive and fast fighting style. His goal had been to boost his speed and offense to a level where the enemy would die without being able to fight back.

Yet, as he fought more and more opponents, he realized that this fighting style wasn't always the best choice. Metal and earth beasts had been his nemesis since their defenses were so high that it became nearly impossible to kill them immediately. Then, Gravis would run out of Energy, and the fight would become perilous.

Ironically enough, with his new fighting style, earth beasts were now the weakest against him. Now, the most troublesome opponents would be beasts without any elemental affinity. Their superior body would pose a massive issue to him. The other problem was that he wouldn't be able to counter their offense with his Elemental Composition Laws since they had no elemental affinity.

The more complex and varied his opponent's fighting style was, the better for Gravis. One could argue that Gravis' direction was not power-oriented. After all, his weapons became more and more situational. Yet, if he had situational weapons that covered every situation, would his strength still be situational?

'Pure power only carries me so far,' Gravis thought. 'If I only concentrate on the three basic aspects of offense, defense, and speed, I would never be able to fight four levels above myself. I need to find specific counters to my opponents to bridge the gap.'

Gravis glanced at the remaining eggs beside Sary and then at the Lightning Ultimate. 'Should I choose something that I can understand very quickly that would shoot my strength upward, or should I concentrate on something nearly useless that I can't get anywhere else?'

Gravis sighed. 'Honestly, that's not even a choice. I've been putting off understanding more about lightning forever, but I can take a look at lightning whenever I want. My survival is guaranteed, which gives me time to understand everything. This means that I have the luxury to waste time.'

After thinking that, Gravis made his choice. Back then, the sheer number of level one Laws required for the Middle-Tier Material Composition Law had thrown him into despair. Yet, without even noticing, Gravis had nearly completed the entire base.

He knew the relevant Pure Laws and even the Hard Complex Law. He knew all the Elemental Composition Laws. He knew the Body Composition Laws, and he also knew the Plant Composition Laws. There was only one thing remaining.

'Let's take a look at these microorganisms,' Gravis thought. 'I have never truly come into contact with them, but some Laws should be able to cross into their territory.'

Gravis looked at the single egg that demonstrated the creation of microorganisms, which made Gravis frown. According to his logic, there should be at least three different kinds of Composition Laws associated with microorganisms. Yet, there was only one egg.

"Sary, have you not comprehended the entire Composition of Microorganisms, or why is there only one egg?" Gravis asked.

Sary chuckled a bit. "Oh, I understand it. It's all there," she said with a voice that suggested that she knew something that Gravis didn't. "I think your understanding about their usage and purpose is faulty. Otherwise, you wouldn't have asked for more eggs."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought. "That might be possible," Gravis said. "I haven't come into contact with them yet, so I don't truly know their purpose and effect."

Sary giggled some more. "Take a look, and you will find out, but you will probably need a long time to understand them. They're very different, and if you don't have a powerful base, you won't be able to understand them at all. I would suggest looking at the Composition of Plants first."

Gravis grinned. "I already understand all five Composition Laws of Plants and all five Composition Laws of Bodies. Is that enough?" Gravis asked.

Sary was shocked when she heard Gravis' words. She wasn't surprised about the number of Laws that Gravis had comprehended but about the fact that he had "wasted" time to look at plants while still being a King. The Laws of Plants were about as far as one could go in regards to understanding Laws that have no impact on Battle-Strength. These kinds of Laws were basically useless.

Only Emperors that had no idea what to do anymore would consider looking at plants. Gravis could become more powerful without any problems, but he had already comprehended plants. Sary couldn't understand him at all.

"Well, okay," Sary said. "Then you can try to comprehend them. However, it will probably still take quite some time, but if you actually manage to comprehend them, you will reap a ton of rewards."

Gravis nodded as he continued to scratch his chin. "Would you say it would be worth it to invest all my remaining time here to understand microorganisms?" he asked.

"Yes," Sary answered immediately. "If you manage to comprehend them, it will be worth it."

"Alright," Gravis said as he walked closer to the egg. "Then I will trust you," he said.

"Aw, shucks, that sounds lovely, Gravis," Sary said with an embarrassed voice. "Take your time," she said.

Gravis looked with detail at the microorganisms for the first time. He had seen them here and there, but he had never paid any true attention to them. They had never shown any impact on anything.

After some minutes, Gravis found something that was quite fascinating. 'Interesting. The microorganisms are alive, move around, and consume food, but they don't have a will, and therefore also no soul.'

'Ferris said that the soul is the difference between dead and living things. These microorganisms don't have a soul, which would throw them into the dead-category. Yet, they exhibit a multitude of attributes that only living beings have. This is very contradictory,' Gravis thought.

Five years passed. 23 years until the time was up.

The more Gravis looked at the microorganisms, the more confused he became. By now, he would have comprehended, at least, another Composition Law if there actually were another one. Yet, the microorganisms completely stumped him.

The concepts behind these microorganisms went against a lot of Laws and comprehensions Gravis had achieved in the past. Yet, his past comprehensions had to be correct. Otherwise, they wouldn't have transformed into Laws.

Gravis narrowed his eyes. 'I think I understand why Sary said that it would be worth it. The fact that my previous knowledge has transformed into Laws shows that my previous knowledge is correct. Yet, the microorganisms in front of me are real, which means they also follow a specific Law.'

'This means that there is an entire facet of knowledge that I haven't interacted with yet, which means I should look at them as if I haven't comprehended anything else. I shouldn't try to find outside concepts that make sense in relation to these microorganisms but see them as their own thing. No wonder Sary said that it will take a long time. It's like I'm trying to understand a new Law while having no prior experience,' Gravis thought.

'Yet, she also said that it would be worth it. Let's see…' Gravis thought as he continued looking at them.

Eight years passed. 15 years until the time was up.

By now, Gravis was looking at the microorganisms with intensity. His eyes had become bloodshot, and his mind was going wild. It was like he was trying to understand something that was just too complex to understand.

Gravis saw more and more facets about the microorganisms that stumped him. A lot of the stuff they did made no sense at all! They were, obviously, comprised of Energy, just like everything else. Yet, they absorbed and gave off Energy voluntarily without any outside manipulation.

This was especially strange since that didn't fit living nor dead things. Living things hoarded more and more Energy and wouldn't give off as much as they absorbed, while dead things neither absorbed Energy nor dispersed it. Yet, these microorganisms absorbed Energy and gave off the same amount later. It made no sense!

Five more years passed. Ten years until the time was up.

Gravis sighed as he looked at his surroundings. He needed a break. It was like he was constantly fighting an uphill battle, just trying to survive. Yet, no matter how much concentration he put into comprehension, it was like he just had no chance.

"Sary, is the Composition Law of Microorganisms a level two or level three Law?" Gravis asked.

"No, it's a level one Law," Sary answered.

"Then why is it so hard to understand?" Gravis asked helplessly. He had never felt so overwhelmed with a level one Law. How was this Law so complex but only had the power of a level one Law?

Sary giggled a bit. "Let me show you something interesting," she said.

Gravis looked back at the egg. Then, a lot of the microorganisms gathered together. At once, all of them started absorbing Energy. As more time passed, they pressed harder and harder into each other until…

WHOOOP!

Gravis' eyes nearly fell out. The microorganisms broke down and fused with each other! Now, there was only one thing in front of him, and Gravis almost couldn't believe it.

"A heart," Gravis involuntarily said.

Gravis looked at the heart intensely. He was absolutely sure that a heart was not comprised of microorganisms. Gravis understood the Composition Law of Organs, and he knew that an organ was one thing that was made out of Energy. Gravis' senses were easily powerful enough to perceive microorganisms, but no matter how closely he looked at the newly created heart, he saw no microorganisms in it.

It was like the microorganisms had completely vanished and had become one new thing. Additionally, this thing was now living as it absorbed more Energy than it gave off. On top of that, Gravis also felt a very faint will on it.

Something dead had transformed into something alive right in front of him!