Lightning Is the Only Way

The four of them flew for a while. Gravis had to drag them behind him in the sky since they couldn't fly by themselves since they first needed to become Lords. This would take a while since they had to travel for a very great distance to continue their tempering.

The Empire had a lot of tempering programs for all levels of strength. Right now, the three of them were still too weak to partake in an invasion. That would have to wait until they became level three Lords. Until then, they would take part in another program.

Subsidiary Tribes was the name of the program.

Level one to level three Lords would be sent to the edges of the continent where they would create a Tribe to help the Empire get more members. Starting at the Lord Realm, beasts were able to contribute to the Empire. Due to that, none of the tempering for these beasts would take part inside the Empire.

The Empire might be able to bear the cost of sacrificing and refining their beasts up to the Lord Realm, but if they continued that practice to the King Realm, they would use up way too many of their own members. Additionally, these Kings wouldn't have seen the outside world yet, decreasing their quality.

By sending the new Lords to the edges of the continent to make a Tribe, they could recruit a lot more Spirit Beasts. If those Spirit Beasts then became Lords, they would be introduced to the Empire and continue their own tempering. Every couple of months, a King would appear in the Subsidiary Tribes to collect the new recruits. With that, the three of them would be able to contribute to the Empire that had raised them.

But first, Gravis wanted to make a stop somewhere else.

The four of them arrived at the foot of the Mountain of Pride. Just like Gravis, his three kids were impressed by the imposingness of the mountain. They all fell into thought as they simply took the mountain in. Aris, specifically, seemed to have quite an affinity for the Law of Pride.

Pride was like a double-edged sword. If used incorrectly, it might blind someone to growth, but if used correctly, it gave people confidence in their own power when things looked bleak. Due to Aris' personality, he had had a lot of dealings with pride in the past. Now, it was up to him to understand and use it correctly.

of them to meet their mother for the first time, but just when he wanted to climb the mountain, the

three of them are not qualified enough to see the Empress," the Grand Elder

was only around one-and-a-half meters tall, and they felt no power from him. To them, he felt

argue, he first needed to introduce his children to him. Otherwise, one of them might say something

two Emperor and the

of them widened in shock. They were standing in front of a level two Emperor? This was one of the most powerful beasts

looked at the

WHOOOOM!

three of them felt like they stood before the world itself. In their minds, the harmless white ape had transformed into a godlike existence. They had never felt

you see, Gravis?" the Grand Elder said as he turned to him. "They have had no experiences in the outside world, which makes them unable to truly appreciate and notice power. Their eyes have shown skepticism and even a little bit of hidden disdain towards me. If they

In his eagerness to introduce his children to their mother, he had forgotten how beasts looked at their offspring. To the Empress, these three were not even worth as much as a common

noticed that the Grand Elder said "your children" and not "the Empress' children". The Empress wouldn't mind their deaths. In her mind, since they weren't able to notice power, they should

Elder," Gravis said. Most humans would have acted in a hostile manner if someone so powerful displayed their power on their children like this, but not Gravis. Even though he had made a

all, there was a difference between hearing something

Grand Elder nodded and then transmitted a map to Gravis. "This is where the level one Lords need to gather. The next escort will depart from there in 23 days. You can tell her everything regarding their future.

said and then