Lightning Is the Only Way

The Matriarch continued laying on the ground for over 20 seconds. She required a lot of time to process what had just happened, and Gravis gave her that time. Meanwhile, Orthar floated over to Gravis with a sigh.

"I've underestimated your power," Orthar admitted. "I apologize."

Gravis just waved him off. "It doesn't matter. It's normal that you wouldn't believe something like this without seeing it yourself. After all, if you believed everything you heard, you would only be naive."

"What was that?" the Matriarch asked in shock as she regained some control over her mind. The only thing on her mind right now was to understand what had just happened.

"That's a third of my power, Matriarch," Gravis said, shocking her again. "I currently have a technique active that lowers my power to a third of its peak, but I can deactivate it whenever I want. When I'm at my peak, I'm even confident in killing level three Lords."

First, the Matriarch didn't believe that. After all, the concept that a level one Lord could kill a level three Lord didn't even exist in legends. Something like that just seemed impossible.

Yet, as she remembered the frightening pressure and the powerful lightning, she started believing him. Gravis could probably also kill a level two Lord with these two things, and that was considering the power he had shown just now. If he were able to triple his power, it wouldn't be impossible that he could kill a level three Lord. It would not be easy but possible.

The Matriarch sighed. "I don't deserve to be called Matriarch by you, Leader," the Matriarch said in a conceding tone. "Please call me Liza, Leader."

Gravis nodded. The fact that she called him Leader meant that she had accepted to join the River Tribe. Even though one could say that Gravis was the reason why 90% of her children had died, he never doubted her word. Beasts were different from humans.

If a human killed the children of another human, the other human would never rest until the first human was dead. Yet, for beasts, it was different. Skye had also accepted her parent's death without any problem. As long as beasts strived for power, it was normal for them to die. All beasts accepted that and didn't hold a grudge. In this sense, beasts had a simpler mindset than humans.

"What is your goal?" Gravis asked.

"Excuse me?" Liza asked in confusion. What did he mean with goal?

"Do you want to reach supreme power? Do you want to take revenge? Do you want authority? Do you want a powerful family? I'm asking you what your reason for becoming stronger is," Gravis asked.

Liza sighed as she thought about her past. "My main reason is revenge, but I also dream about becoming the strongest. Yet, my revenge takes precedence right now."

Gravis nodded. "I have expected something like that. Your approach to power didn't have a long-term goal in mind. I expected that you noticed that but chose that approach anyway."

"Yes. I want to become a level three Lord. Only then will I be able

you don't mind, could you tell me

think that the risk of offending such a power was worse than what she brought to the table. In

say it. "I was part of a Tribe with a level three Lord as a leader. When I was young, I wasn't outstanding at all.

managed to win three fights, I would be able to rejoin the Tribe. My first fight came immediately after the demotion, and, if I'm honest, I only won by luck. After that, I fled the Tribe and never returned. Ever since then, I have fought many dangerous battles and managed to achieve my

Clap!

searching for powerful enemies to increase mine and the Tribe's power.

a bit of confusion, but then, she remembered Gravis' previous words. He had said that his Tribe wasn't about becoming bigger but about becoming more

Liza sighed again. She had been worried over nothing. "What will

councilors. I have three different positions in mind, but to find the best position for you, I need to know more about you. Tell me, are you

better. Yet, I don't want to die before I can take my revenge. Right now, revenge takes priority over

"If the Tribe were

responsible for my demotion. As long as

eyebrow. "Then why didn't you return

was a bit taken aback by that question. Had Gravis never been part of a Tribe? That question just seemed stupid in her mind. Yet, she decided to answer anyway. "Because I can't just kill someone in that position. If I did that, the whole Tribe would kill me.

a skeptical look on his face. Then, he looked at Orthar. "Is that true? Are other Tribes like that?"

and Morn had way more experience in these sorts of things. "Yes. Normally, it's not allowed for Tribesmen to fight each other. That's because it would reduce the power of the Tribe

by that answer. "But

know,"

was different? Then, how did it work? Seeing Liza's confused expression, Gravis let Orthar explain the rules and mindset of the River Tribe. It wasn't that Gravis felt that it was beneath him to explain that, but that Orthar had much more experience in explaining the Tribe's

her face. "Wait. That means that I can just directly challenge another Lord in the

suck to find a new Commander, Elder, or Oracle, but

looked at Orthar. "So, I could directly challenge and kill him, and you would

closest friend, but no one will stop or go against you if you decide to do that. Yet,

have accepted them. If I die by them,

but he had created these rules, and he couldn't play favorites. If Orthar

Tribe to kill his closest companion. She had never seen a Lord that was this neutral and