Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis had to talk to Orthar for a long time. Luckily, this couldn't be considered as a waste of time since Gravis just decided to eat the mid-rank Spirit Beast he still had. Like this, he remained as efficient as possible.

After finishing the beast, Gravis stopped his conversation with Orthar. His questions seemed endless, and the conversation wouldn't stop otherwise. Luckily, or unluckily depending on the viewpoint, Gravis' thinking was rather logical, and he knew a lot, so he could answer most of Orthar's questions.

Orthar was a bit annoyed that the conversation ended, but he knew that they should continue. So, Orthar led Gravis to the next beast with a small body he knew about. He didn't know of another high-rank Spirit Beast, which was why he had thought that he had reached the peak.

Orthar also asked why he hadn't met any other beasts on his level, and Gravis' answer was straightforward and logical. "Because you are at the outer fringes of the world. No high-rank Spirit Beast wants to remain in an area with such a low Energy density."

Orthar hadn't known that there were areas with a higher Energy density. He might have traveled a lot, but not in one direction. He mainly swam around the surrounding areas of his territories.

As they traveled, Gravis also noticed something else. In order to keep up with Orthar, Gravis had to use more Spirit than he was regenerating. His body's weight was becoming heavier and heavier. By now, Gravis would have to use a lot of his Spirit even to fly.

Gravis expected that when his body reached the mid-rank Spirit Beast level, it would be more effective to just swim instead of using his Spirit. This would be his slowest possible state.

After around an hour, they found Gravis' next target. It was a 30-meter-long swordfish. It was a bit big for Gravis' taste, but it was challenging to find small beasts at this level. So, the swordfish had to do.

Gravis engaged it directly with his body to test it. The swordfish had charged at him with speed equal to Orthar, which was quite incredible for a mid-rank Spirit Beast. Its pike hit Gravis' upper left arm and penetrated it. Gravis wanted to test his scales more, so he let himself get hit.

The powerful charge of the swordfish might have penetrated Gravis' arm, but that was it. It wasn't able to tear the arm off or ruin it further. The surrounding scales kept everything together. Like this, the swordfish got stuck in Gravis' arm.

Gravis rotated on the swordfish's pike until he sat on it, his tail coiling around the pike. Then, he tore his arm free, severing half of it. Yet, with a quick heal, Gravis was in his peak condition again. After that, he used his arms to tear the pike off. The lever principle was powerful.

which obviously hadn't been torn off. Then, Gravis used the pike and stabbed the swordfish through the eyes, right into its brain.

is powerful and deadly," Orthar said after the fight. "I didn't think that it was possible to kill a being a full rank above you. When you reach the mid-rank, you will probably be even more

already put the corpse away. "Because you followed your instincts. Your body isn't as deadly as it could be," he

high-rank Spirit Beasts. This meant that they had to

now, it was useful to gain battle-experience with his body. It was already similar enough to his

two days, but something surprising happened that made him

didn't increase," Gravis said as he looked at his body with narrowed eyes. "My math has worked out up to now, but it doesn't anymore. Spirit Beasts also don't require

they probably need more food than normal." Then, Gravis turned to Orthar. "Orthar, lead me to the rest of the relatively small beasts that

interested in your conundrum," Orthar said.

40-meter-long moray eel. Gravis decided to try his true fighting style

new hands were too powerful and massive. He wasn't able

thought as he charged at the moray eel. The moray eel also charged at him, and Gravis easily evaded the attack.

Puchi!

use such a tiny saber. All his previous fighting techniques couldn't be used anymore

Gravis thought as he put his saber away. Then, he summoned the severed pike from the dead swordfish. 'This is

into its brain. Gravis could already confidently kill these beasts without a weapon. The

his body still didn't increase in rank. So, Orthar led

his fourth mid-rank Spirit Beast, Gravis' body

'Now, even the pike is barely usable. On top of that, I can't even forge these beast parts into fitting weapons. They are only as powerful as my own body. I need to keep a lookout for materials in the

to leave this place. Orthar didn't know of other high-rank Spirit Beasts. So, they had to travel to

"It's time," Gravis said.