Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis only smirked at Silva's question. "Do I really need to answer that?" he asked. "Think of what she would do in this situation. You should be able to guess what and where she would be right now."

Silva went back into thinking and then snorted. "She is probably 90% sure that we all have died. So, to not get killed by the two powerful level three Lords, she should have left the Tribe."

Gravis nodded. "But that's not all, is it?" he asked.

Silva snorted again. "Of course, she would also plan for the fact that we actually survived. In that case, she would need to go through a hell of tempering to not fall behind. So, she probably went to the territories of the level two Lords and wouldn't return until she is confident enough in her power."

Gravis nodded. "Exactly. I'm pretty sure Shira is currently tempering herself against some other powerful Tribes."

Silva only sneered. "It doesn't matter. I felt the difference between fighting many equal opponents and fighting a more powerful one. I am pretty confident that I can kill her without dying when she returns." Then, Silva's eyes became icy. "As soon as she returns, I will kill her."

Gravis only smiled and nodded. "Sure, you can. Nobody will stop you if you decide to do that, but don't you think that killing her now would be a waste?"

Silva looked with skepticism at Gravis. "What do you mean?" he asked.

"Think about it," Gravis said. "Without her constant threat, would you or your Land Camp be as powerful as you or they are now? Didn't the constant pressure push you further than you would have ever thought?"

Silva became a bit frustrated but continued thinking.

Seeing that Silva remained quiet, Gravis continued. "Less than a month ago, you were a Spirit Beast. Now, you have killed a level three Lord with your companions. Without Shira, you wouldn't be a level two Lord now, and you certainly wouldn't be such a powerful one."

saying that I should be thankful to her?"

She is your enemy, and killing one's enemies is as normal as

"You say I should keep her

threat to me again. Only with her pressure would I be able to grow to my true potential. Without pressure, my growth will become way slower. So, as long as she still has

way more powerful than her, I would

you say I should use her to become more powerful, and only when she is no threat anymore should I kill her?"

Gravis nodded. "Yep."

more powerful

there weren't a risk of her killing you, what tempering and pressure would she be able to give you? When you're tempering yourself, you're always playing with fire.

when she returns. In the end, it's your decision. I only told you what I would do in your case. You

"Thank you for your guidance, Leader, but I think I will kill her as soon as she returns. She has killed too many of my companions,

then go

nodded

this, the Tribe went back to its old ways. The Lords went back to temper themselves. Yet, as the weeks passed, the urgency that they had had before vanished. Shira was no longer here, which

that, the Lords didn't temper themselves nearly every day anymore but actually took several breaks. After all, without Shira, they were not under as much pressure to

and he didn't like to acknowledge that one bit. By now, he started doubting himself. Should

took nearly two entire weeks until another level two Lord

shifted many times by now. There was no reason anymore for Gravis to wait at

during this time. The reason for that was that the River Tribe had infringed on territories of Tribes that paid allegiance

his fight against the shark. The main reason for that was

him a bit sad. Yet, there was nothing he could do about it. It was not possible for him to artificially make himself weaker. After all, he could always return to his previous peak whenever he wanted. This would not put more