Lightning Is the Only Way

Aion started narrating. "Gravis first appeared in public when he completed several missions for a Hunting Hall in some town in the Outer-Continent. According to several sources, he had killed low-grade Demonic Beasts when he only had tempered organs and blood. Apparently, he had killed several of those one-on-one."

"Oh?" uttered the High Priest in interest. "That is very impressive. I guess he already had his Will-Aura at that point. You did say that you experienced his Will-Aura, yes?"

Aion nodded.

"So, it is not wrong to assume that he already had his Will-Aura ever since appearing in that Hunting Hall. That seems nearly impossible," the High Priest narrowed his eyes in thought. "How could someone condense a Will-Aura while only having two tempered parts of his body? He would have needed to kill so many strong enemies. Normally, you gain your enemy's wealth when you kill them, so how would he need to earn money in a Hunting Hall if he had already killed so many enemies?"

Aion continued narrating. "Apparently, he had needed a lot of money. He wanted to take part in the Proxy-Elemental Guilds entrance exams, so he needed to temper his skin. Yet, the amount of money he made in that Hunting Hall was incredible, relatively speaking. He made enough money to buy about 30 Skin Pills before he left the town."

"That's a lot of money for someone at that level," commented the High Priest.

"Yes, though the biggest part of the money came in one particular mission, where he had to kill a middle-grade Demonic Beast. If we take everything into account, we can come to the conclusion that Gravis needed anything from 15 to 20 Skin Pills to temper his skin."

Now, the eyes of the High Priest widened. "Wait," he said. "How old is this Gravis?"

Aion thought for a bit. He had never asked about Gravis' age. "He should be between 17 and 19."

When the High Priest heard that, he did some calculations in his head and came to a terrifying conclusion. "He would have needed to remain in the tempered organ and blood stage for over 15 years to require so many pills. How is that possible if he isn't a Heavenborn?"

Aion's eyes widened too. He had still subconsciously thought about Gravis as a Heavenborn, so he had ignored that aspect. Heavenborn were born with tempered organs and blood, so it was nothing unusual to need so many pills to temper their bodies. Yet, if Gravis weren't a Heavenborn, how was that possible? One more riddle was added to the pile.

"Continue," commanded the High Priest.

"In the entrance exams, it came to light that Gravis had a Will-Aura. Of course, everyone knows that we would execute someone with a Will-Aura in the Body Tempering Realm, so they thought he was a Heavenborn. Then came the incident in the Basin of Nature."

Aion paused after saying that. In his head, he went through the incident. When he had thought that Gravis was a Heavenborn, this incident only looked like Heaven had tempered Gravis, but with Aion's new knowledge, he started coming to several terrifying conclusions.

"What incident? Speak!" said the High Priest with narrowed eyes. He was really invested in this situation.

"Apologies, High Priest. The last exam was held in a basin in some forest. The Guild Leaders put several treasures on low-grade- and middle-grade Demonic Beasts. The participants only had to get one treasure to succeed. On the second or third day, Gravis had tempered his bones. He charged through the whole basin with his newfound power, searching for some middle-grade Demonic Beast spider."

The High Priest nodded. If someone had tempered their bones and skin after remaining in the organ and blood tempering realm for so long, their strength would be incredibly powerful. It was understandable that Gravis wanted some supreme treasure.

Aion took a deep breath. "Apparently," he said slowly and carefully, "Gravis shouted and insulted Heaven while doing that."

BANG!

His smile was long

Demonic Beasts. After he insulted Heaven, dark clouds and lightning appeared in the sky. Yet, however unbelievable it is, the lightning never directly struck him. Instead, all beasts in the basin charged at him madly. They all wanted

by sheer confusion and frustration. What was happening? This all made no sense! If anyone dared insult Heaven, the person would die. There was no way that they would be spared! Nothing was stopping Heaven

the High Priest as he walked to the window again. "I

continued kneeling while the High Priest

after some seconds,

silence, and the eyes of the High Priest shifted from rage to shock. After nearly

asked Aion

High Priest recovered his state of mind somewhat after that. "Father,"

took a deep breath in shock. Why

High Priest. His amusing interest had vanished, and only seriousness remained. He remained silent for

he started again. "Where is this Gravis

There came no answer.

are the

No answer.

"Father, does Gravis exist?"

No answer.

how many members does the south-eastern

Eleven.

of the south-eastern branch,

No answer.

eleventh member

No answer.

a person in this world that you

No answer.

came to several conclusions due to these questions. Every question that directly involved Gravis wouldn't be answered. Then, he

be a person that you do not

Yes.

The High-Priest's eyes narrowed.

hypothetically speaking, what would stop you from

Their background.

background that could stop Heaven from acting? After thinking for some seconds, the