Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis went out of the forest, still thinking about the whole thing. Logically, he knew that he couldn't have changed anything about the situation. He had to keep up his disguise, and he also needed power. Her willingness to die actually only had positives from a result-oriented standpoint. Yet, logic and feelings rarely agreed with each other. Even though he knew, logically, that he couldn't do anything about it, his feelings were still screaming at him.

As Gravis continued walking, he looked up into the sky through the leaves of the trees. "Is this the only way to acquire strength and freedom?" he asked himself. "Am I required to act like this to become truly free? Do I want to crush the hopes and dreams of countless other people just so I can realize mine?"

Gravis knew that he had already killed many people and that he already crushed a lot of dreams. Yet, enemies were enemies, and companions were companions. If someone tried to kill you, you wouldn't feel as bad about killing them as if you killed a companion. The emotions would grow distant, and one wouldn't think much about what they had done. Yet, the current situation was gnawing at him. To him, it felt like he had betrayed someone to gain more power, even though he knew that that wasn't true.

After a while, Gravis met the three guards, and when they saw him coming out of the forest, they sighed. The fact that Gravis was casually walking out of the woods meant that his mission was complete. They felt bad for their junior sister, but there was nothing they could do.

"Let's go," said Gravis to them, and one of them turned around to lead the way, while the other two went inside the forest to retrieve the body. The guard and Gravis quickly reached the guild again, and Gravis stopped in front of its gates. Initially, he had intended to stay here for a while so Skye could talk more with its parent, but with Wendy's father being a Vice-Guild Master and with this whole emotional situation, his mood changed.

Gravis looked at the gigantic tree where the two birds currently stood and whistled. Skye turned its head to him and then back to its parent. The parent looked a little sad for a second, but then roughly shoved Skye away with a serious caw. Skye gave one last rub to its parent, which promptly shoved it again.

Skye said its goodbyes, picked up Gravis, and then flew away into the horizon. There was no sense in saying goodbye to the Wind Guild. It was not Gravis' home, and even though he liked it here, he couldn't remain. Short goodbyes were easier for everyone.

Skye flew for a couple of days, and Gravis used the time to think more about his eventual, reckless plan. It was incredibly dangerous, but if it worked, he could get a unique advantage. This might be the only chance he would have to actually become strong enough to damage Heaven, later down the line. He had to prepare early for his eventual showdown with this lower Heaven.

told me that we can steal the karmic luck of others. Let them get their chances and then just take them away. Although this couldn't be considered stealing, Wendy getting her inheritance was probably due to karmic luck. So, all in all, I benefited

work hard to meet him. If others didn't want to give up their luck, then it would be difficult for Gravis to get it since Heaven was constantly up

cultivation while Skye continued flying into the direction of the Heaven Sect. Like this, a couple of

Some days later.

Energy Stones. When he finished, he nodded. "Looks good. Well done," he said as he put the bag away. He then looked at the jade token, which had the Formation

as he stretched himself. "Everyone in the Heaven Sect has at least one. I just

smiled bitterly and put the jade token away, but didn't leave. Aion

incredibly stupid, but it should work,' thought Gravis as

started. "We can't exchange Magic-Stones for Mission

lifted a brow. "Yes?" he confirmed, not sure what Gravis'

where someone has to exchange the gold

"Yeees?" confirmed Aion.

Mission Points does the exchange of

trying to think about what Gravis was up to. "One exchanged Magic-Stone is ten Mission Points," Aion

"So, when I switch jobs for a minute and then exchange my

more he thought about the situation, the stupider it seemed. It was impossible to exchange Energy Stones for Mission Points, but it was possible to exchange Energy Stones for Mission Points and gold? What's