Lightning Is the Only Way

Everyone looked at Gravis as he opened the door and walked in. All the chatter that was just going on instantly stopped. The young people in the room never expected someone like him to come here. This place was not a location where nobles would frequent. This was a classroom. Specifically, a classroom for the preparation for a job that only 'low born' people normally took. Was the prince actually intending to become a research assistant?

A research assistant was an occupation that allowed people with a poor background to make it big if they survived. Family's with an, at least, average standing would not need to send their children to this death camp, where only a tiny portion of attendees survived. There was no reason for the prince to become a research assistant. A single fart of the Opposer could make anyone become a God.

Gravis felt a little embarrassed when everyone looked at him like that. Keeping his head low, he dodged the shocked youngsters and quickly found an empty chair and sat down. He kept his head low, not wanting to meet the eyes of the others.

"Damn, everyone looks at you like you just killed a guy. What did you do?" Gravis heard a voice from his right. He looked at the youngster that just talked to him. He was an about 15-year-old boy with brown hair and brown eyes. Even though he looked clean, one could see his family's financial situation by the cheap clothing he wore. His hands were rugged and filled with calluses.

"Hey, you deaf? I'm talking to you." The boy continued with an annoyed tone, seeing that Gravis had not reacted yet after a couple of seconds.

Gravis quickly perked up. "Oh, sorry, sorry! I was just not used to people speaking to me like that." Gravis rubbed his neck in embarrassment.

"You mean speaking like a normal guy? You're a weird one." The boy said while boringly looking at Gravis. "Well, if you want to keep secrets, go ahead."

Gravis wasn't used to talking like this. "No, it's nothing like that. It's just, where I'm from, people always talk indirectly and very formal. So..." Gravis nervously twiddled his thumbs. "I'm not sure how to talk with... normal people." Gravis dodged his eyes.

"Man, what's up with you? Are you a stale soup without any backbone? A man needs to be like a good soup. He needs to have a backbone, lots of meat and has to be refined to perfection. Speak up, will ya?" The boy shouted.

The other people in the classroom looked at the guy with pale faces, while Gravis was just confused by his strange metaphor. "A man... needs to be like soup?" He asked.

loudly. "Yeah, like a well-made soup. Strong, flavorful, hot, well prepared!

sound more confident. "Yes. You're right!" Gravis looked

laughed and heartily patted Gravis on the shoulder. "That's it! That's how a man should be." He then extended his hand to Gravis. "Hey, I'm Ballor. I like to befriend all hot-blooded men. Hot-blooded men don't need to know each other to

"Yes!" He slammed his hand into Ballor's and gave him a firm handshake.

you maybe

go of Ballor's hand. Ballor

did you eat? Your grip is

"Oh, I'm so-"

still glancing at Gravis from time to time. Gravis looked quietly at the front, but after he saw Ballor sitting with a straight back, muscles puffed out, he remembered the talk they just had. Gravis also sat up straight and crossed his

assigned to guide you for the next year, so that you will be well prepared and, hopefully, survive." Forneus looked around

task is to research the cultivation techniques of these worlds. Even though the people might be weak, their techniques might not be. Every

reason why we only accept people who either have not cultivated at all or have only tempered their organs and blood. If you already used a cultivation technique, then what's

and thought for a while. Then, he continued. "For those of you who have no idea about cultivation, let me just briefly summarize the first four cultivation realms and what

forbidden to talk about the specifics of cultivation around him. He never even heard the name of any realms. His father made sure of that. Finally, he got to know

says, you need to temper your whole body, one piece at a time. It has five stages: Organ tempering, blood tempering, bone tempering, skin tempering, and muscle tempering. It is important to note that you can theoretically temper your body in any

if you temper your muscles first, what would happen?"

in the class raised her hand, and Forneus nodded. "You will explode when you use all your power because your skin and bones are not strong enough to support your muscles." The

allow the tempering of the muscles to go as far as your skin, bones,

Forneus stopped speaking when he

death-glare did not deter Ballor. "How do we know that your method is the best? My father said that you first need a strong skin to survive and strong muscles to win. If you can't survive, what's the meaning in