Lightning Is the Only Way

"Interesting," said an imposing voice as the disciples parted for someone new. All the disciples cupped their hands at the new arrival, calling him "elder". The new person was a middle-aged man with a wild red beard and long red hair. People in the Energy Gathering Realm could live for about 200 years, and someone who looked middle-aged, at that level, would probably be around 100 years old.

Gravis looked at the person with narrowed eyes, and his insides shivered. 'Supremely powerful,' he judged. He felt that the new arrival was very close to having a Will-Aura. The person probably only needed one more proper fight to condense his Will-Aura, yet that was not what made Gravis nervous.

This new arrival was also on the ninth level of Energy Gathering, but the feeling that he gave Gravis was like Heaven and Earth compared to the last opponent. Gravis was very good at judging the strength of his opponents, and this person felt close to sure-death to him. He guessed that if this elder and the last disciple fought, the last one wouldn't be able to hold out for long. 'He might actually be one of the most powerful people in existence in the Energy Gathering Realm.'

The elder slowly walked forward and looked deep into Gravis' eyes. "You can actually kill people three levels higher than you," he said in seriousness. "I am quite impressed. You might prove to be a slight challenge to me."

Gravis' eyes looked into the eyes of the elder. His instincts were screaming at him not to fight this person, but that couldn't stop him. Maybe, it was similar to the earlier person with the Will-Aura at the seventh level. That disciple had also fought Gravis with inferior strength. Gravis had called that disciple stupid, but he felt the same feeling as that disciple right now. Gravis wanted to fight that elder, even if it meant death.

'Just like the last guy, this one is at the ninth level of Energy Gathering, yet their pressure is on a completely different level, even though he doesn't have Will-Aura, yet,' Gravis thought. 'This probably means that this person has way more combat experience than the last one, and he probably also has a supremely powerful body. No Will-Aura, yet I still feel so much danger? His body is probably at the ninth level.'

Someone at the ninth level of Energy Gathering with an equally powerful body meant that the person could fight high-rank Energy Beasts solo. On paper, the elder was way above him in everything, except Will-Aura and fighting experience. Gravis felt like he was looking at a high-rank Energy Beast. 'Can I win with my current Realm?' Gravis asked himself.

"Master, I want to fight him first," said another new arrival. This one was a thin youngster with piercing eyes. The youngster stepped forward and pulled out an incredibly long sword. The sword was nearly two meters long, which surprised Gravis since that weapon looked incredibly unwieldy.

Yet, when Gravis looked into the eyes of the new arrival, he felt his strength. 'Eighth level of Energy Gathering and a Will-Aura,' he concluded. 'He might also be stronger than the last one.'

The elder looked at the young arrival. "Are you sure you can take him, Crimson?" the elder asked his disciple, Crimson, in seriousness.

Without looking at his master, the disciple took out his sword. "No," he commented coldly, but with thick battle-intent shining from his eyes.

can you reach the top!" he shouted proudly. The elder

WHOOSH PACK!

over a pill bottle, and Gravis accepted it. After looking at the pill, Gravis' eyes widened. This pill was the most expensive

SHING!

earth. Just like Gravis, the disciple had taken advantage of his opponent's lack of focus. Of course, Gravis never relaxed in front of an enemy. He had always kept watch

had dodged the attack, but his eyes only narrowed further. He knew that there was a significant chance of him dying in this fight. Without hesitation, Crimson

It seems like there are more people tempering their bodies than I had thought,' Gravis thought as he

death tempering was hard to find, and those people still wanted to progress. The only thing they could

CLANK!

one fluid motion, Crimson slammed

an issue, but he also readied an attack with his other hand. If Gravis attacked, that fireball would explode on his body. Crimson was at the eighth level of Energy Gathering, which meant that his fire could

Clank BOOM!

from below, and it shot upwards. Because of that, the sword blocked the fireball and made it explode. The disciple hadn't expected that, and his body got thrown back.

CLANK!

the other, and Gravis had thought what he would do if he were Crimson. Crimson had the advantage of a longer weapon, and he would probably try to hit Gravis inside the explosion with his ridiculously long

the time to use an attack with both hands since the other one went out of control due to the shockwave, so he could only have used his right hand, which still held the sword. Therefore, the attack could only come from the left! Gravis used his full power in that swing while Crimson only used one hand, and

them. Yet, he had a Will-Aura, and his will would not be impacted by this! His other hand

BOOM!

exploded meant that he had hit Gravis since his fireball would only explode if it hit something. With this explosion, Gravis would be pushed back. He readied his sword and slashed the smoke in front of him