Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis appeared in Arc's clearing.

THUNK! SPLAT!

However, Gravis immediately walked against a hard wall. 

Gravis' eyes involuntarily closed as he rubbed his nose with teary eyes. Yes, even Immortal Kings weren't immune from tearing up when their nose was punched. It just happened.

'Wait, why is my hand wet?' Gravis thought as he looked at his hand.

Red and brown juice and mush.

Gravis' eyes widened in horror.

He had carried one of his fruits in his hands to ask Arc about them, but he had just been teleported in front of a wall. 

His fruit had been smashed!

Gravis' mind was going wild as his Will-Aura involuntarily activated due to stress. Then, he quickly looked around the clearing.

He saw Arc with a smirk on his face and a red-brown fruit in his hands.

Gravis became confused again and looked at the remains of his fruit in his hand.

There was no Life Energy inside them.

Gravis gritted his teeth. "Fuck you, Arc! That's not funny!" he shouted as he pointed at Arc aggressively.

And then, Arc broke down in laughter. 

Gravis had just thought that he had lost one of his fruits! He had paid a lot for them, and they had been his gateway to his first level five Law. They were really important to him!

And then, this asshole played a prank on him and switched the fruit, making Gravis think that he had lost one of them! 

Gravis only glared at Arc for several seconds, but Arc continued laughing.

"Stop laughing!" Gravis shouted. 

That only made Arc laugh harder. 

Splash!

Suddenly, Gravis felt a wet hand wiping something onto his clothes. Gravis immediately turned to his left and realized that the wall he had run into wasn't a wall.

A tall, blonde man had wiped off the fruit juice from his robes and had cleaned his dirty hand on Gravis' robes. The man had no expression. It was just like he was mindlessly cleaning his hand.

"Oh, sorry," Gravis said as he realized that he had run into another guy and not a wall.

"No problem," the guy answered. "You should get used to teacher's weird sense of humor."

While Arc continued laughing, Gravis looked at the man some more. "Hey, weren't you the guy that invited me to this place?" Gravis asked.

Yes, this was the same person that had stopped the time around Gravis outside the Unrestrained Sect to hand him Arc's emblem.

The man nodded. "I also remember you," he said. "Your particular personality, Laws, and body left quite an impression in my mind."

Gravis glanced at Arc for a second and scoffed. Then, he turned back to the man as he grabbed his fruit from Arc's hand. 

"Would you be so kind as to answer two questions of mine regarding this fruit?" Gravis asked. 

Arc stopped laughing as he looked at Gravis with furrowed brows. Meanwhile, Gravis only smirked at Arc. 'You want to play a prank on me, huh? Well, seems like we won't be talking this time. Shoulda thought about that before deciding to screw me over.'

The man looked at the fruit and also at Gravis with a side-eye. He was a bit surprised that Gravis seemed completely calm. One had to know that he was the eldest disciple of Arc and one of the world's most powerful beings.

If any other person or beast had run into him and dirtied his robes with fruit juice, they would be apologetic beyond comparison. Meanwhile, Gravis just waved it off and also asked him some questions.

This interested the blonde man, and he nodded.

Gravis' smirk intensified when he saw that the blonde guy agreed. 

"How long does it take until the effect of the fruit vanishes, and is it damaging to my future if I take them?" Gravis asked.

Both of these things were important to know. The first part was important since it decided if Gravis ate the fruits before or after his tempering. The second question was important for his future. After all, if something showed a Law with too much clarity, it would make it far harder to comprehend Laws with normal Law Comprehension Areas in the future.

The guy looked at the fruit. "You met Narcissus?" he asked.

Gravis was a bit confused, but the small tree in the center of the Law Comprehension Areas appeared in his mind. "That small tree in the middle of the Law Comprehension Areas?" he asked.

The blonde guy furrowed his brows. "You're lucky you're still alive," he said.

"Why?" Gravis asked in surprise.

"Narcissus knows several Soul Laws, and he can easily tell humans from beasts," he said. 

When Gravis heard that, he felt like his heart was gripped by terror. 

Didn't that mean that the tree knew that Gravis was a human?

Then, how was he still alive?

"How am I still alive?" Gravis asked the blonde man in shock.

"Narcissus is my second brother," the man said. "He is also part of this clearing, and he probably felt teacher's emblem on you. He knew that you were part of our clearing and didn't kill you."

Gravis had totally forgotten that sufficiently advanced Soul Laws could be used to check one's Spirit. However, he couldn't be blamed for that. These level five and level six Soul Laws were supremely rare. The chances were tiny of someone knowing them. 

However, as soon as Gravis thought about that, the root network came back into his mind.

"What about that root network that surrounds the beast territory?" Gravis asked.

"That's also Narcissus," the man answered. "His main body resides in the Law Comprehension Area you visited while his roots surround the beast territory."

This shocked Gravis quite a bit. That gigantic root network and that tiny tree were the same being? 

So, Gravis had actually never fooled Narcissus. Narcissus had known from the very beginning that Gravis was a human. 

This terrified Gravis.

He had believed that he managed to sneak past the mighty, sleeping lion, but the lion had actually noticed him the whole time. The lion simply didn't attack him.

This meant that Gravis' life hadn't been in his hands but in the hands of someone else.

'Why does this keep happening!?' Gravis thought with gritted teeth. 'I keep underestimating the powers in every fucking world! I always believe that I am in control, but I'm not! How often have I made this mistake by now!?'

'I just never fucking learn!' Gravis thought aggressively to himself. 

"Chill out, Gravis," Arc said from the side with an eye roll. "Someone needs to know the level six Law of the Soul to see that you have a Will-Aura. No sane person would think that there would be anyone in this world that knows this Law. After all, if someone knew a level six Law, they would have already left the world, right?"

The man also looked at Gravis with a complex expression. Did Gravis actually blame himself for that? No one could have seen something like this coming. 

Did this guy have control issues? Does he try to take control over forces that are far beyond his reach? It was impossible to foresee something like this.

Gravis realized that the words of the two of them made sense, but he somehow still blamed himself. Anything that wasn't in Gravis' control was a danger to him. Freedom meant having control over oneself, and if one didn't have control over oneself, one didn't have freedom.

So, to attain true freedom, Gravis needed control over his life, which was also the main reason why Gravis continued cultivating. Sure, freedom was also a feeling, but that was only perceived reality. Gravis also wanted freedom in physical reality.

'It's still too early to control everything,' Gravis thought. 'However, it still frustrates the shit out of me!'

SHING!

Gravis' fruit vanished again as it reappeared on Arc's finger. The fruit rotated on Arc's finger like a ball. "Anyway, you wanted to know more about-"

PACK!

And the fruit was gone as Gravis grabbed it again, leaving behind a surprised Arc.

Gravis looked at the man. "So, can you please answer my questions?"

Arc grimaced but sighed. 'This guy! Is he still mad about my prank?'

The man looked at the fruit again. "This is a Life Fruit for the level five Law of Magma. Eating one of them will show the entire Law for 20 years."

Gravis' eyes shone. 'Only 20 years? So, I can ingest the fruits before the tempering.'

"Do you know more than 20 level four Laws?" the man asked.

Gravis nodded.

The man also nodded. "Do you know a level five Law?"

"No," Gravis answered.

"Then, I would suggest eating one. After that, think about what you have learned for 50 years. If you have a second one, do the same thing again. If you have a third one, only ingest it when you are about to enter tempering. The fruit will help you in comprehending the Law of Magma during your fight."

Gravis nodded solemnly. This was important information!

"What about their effect on my future Law Comprehension?" Gravis asked. 

"With a ratio of one to five, you are still in the clear," the man said. "If you use these fruits to comprehend a level five Law, try to comprehend the next five level five Laws without their help. After that, you can use the fruits again. Like this, your Law Comprehension won't be affected."

Gravis nodded and bowed politely. "Thank you for your help, senior," he said.

Then, Gravis took out Arc's emblem and smirked at Arc again.

Arc only sighed.

CRACK!

And Gravis was gone. 

BANG!

Suddenly, the stump below Arc shot forward as he landed on his butt. 

Then, Arc only started laughing.

Behind him stood Gravis with a smirk. He had broken a different emblem and teleported behind Arc. After that, he had kicked Arc's chair away. 

"Ya think I'll let you go just like that?" Gravis asked with a laugh.

Meanwhile, the blonde guy just turned around and left without an expression. 

He just couldn't deal with Arc's humor.