Lightning Is the Only Way

"Are you saying that I'm weak?" Joyce asked with a cold voice.

"No, your Battle-Strength is pretty high," Gravis said. "However, as a person, you are in denial about several things."

"Denial!? What? Because I'm not as weak-willed as you?" Joyce asked with disdain.

Gravis looked into Joyce's eyes, and Joyce felt like Gravis could see through her.

"Joyce, I know the Law of Sentience," Gravis said with a calm tone. "I can see your personality and everything that makes you, you. I know your personality better than you know it yourself."

Joyce gritted her teeth.

"Joyce, you are not as cold as you believe yourself to be. In actuality, you are very similar to the me of the lower world. My influence and actions might have thrown you into emotional turmoil, but at some point, you have to look at yourself and ask yourself if your actions truly reflect yourself."

"You emulated my personality from the lower world. You saw my power, and it influenced you."

"However, you must remember that you emulated the mindset of a 19-year-old."

"I was a child back then," Gravis finished. "My past mindset is not the best mindset for the path to power."

Gravis' words shook Joyce's insides, but she quickly suppressed the negative feelings that welled up inside her.

Then, Joyce only snorted in disdain. "You're projecting your own weak mindset on me. You are afraid of committing actions you might regret in the future. Yet, on the path to power, It's sometimes necessary to do things we don't want."

"Is it?" Gravis asked. "Then, if your mindset is the right one, how come that several people in the Myriad Sect are more powerful than you?"

Joyce's anger exploded.

This was Joyce's biggest conflict.

She thought that all her emotionless actions in the past were the reason why she had managed to become so powerful. After all, she had done so many things she didn't want in order to further her own power.

Joyce didn't accept it, but she was basically in an emotional version of the sunk-cost fallacy.

What was the sunk-cost fallacy?

A good example would be a gambler. A gambler that lost a lot of money on bets was less likely to stop exactly due to that.

Why?

Because they had invested so much already that stopping now would mean that all their previous losses were for nothing.

They had invested so much already! If they stopped now, what had been the point of investing so much!?

Joyce had been a very empathetic human, but to follow in Gravis' footsteps, she changed her mindset into a cruel one. She would kill people that had treasures on them, even if they had never angered her, for example.

Joyce believed that she had to do these things to become powerful.

Yet, deep inside, she abhorred these actions.

She didn't want to be this cruel.

This was Joyce's biggest problem.

She had already done so many things she regretted that she couldn't accept that all her past, emotional sacrifices were basically meaningless.

"I can only give you a single piece of advice," Gravis said.

Joyce narrowed her eyes.

a crossroads, talk to someone you trust," Gravis said. "Back then, Manuel opened my eyes to my own

my eyes out in my mother's arms. Others might believe that this is embarrassing

to do this

reached

SHING!

away before she did or said something

often lost her control, and she had even killed people

Dorian gave Joyce

somewhere else! If you ever kill

Manuel's words

and she knew that Manuel

day, Joyce hadn't killed anyone of their own

why Joyce had

the atmosphere turned

Ferris, you want to be first?" Gravis asked with

atmosphere lessened

"Yes, please!" Ferris shouted.

took out his

under Samsara without

on how to survive Samsara would be useless to Ferris. It was better to directly send

quickly lost himself in Samsara again as he entered a sleep-like

was looking with interest at

look at

This was awesome!

how the entirety of

watched himself with interest and

was

Ferris was a good

Ferris would be a good

Ferris was good!

thoughts as he went

He looked around the room

asked. "But it was just getting interesting!"

"But how can you know that it will get interesting when these things haven't happened

interesting!" Ferris said

Gravis chuckled.

Ferris really was special.

you manage to comprehend any Laws?" Gravis

nodded several times. "Yes,

Ferris.

Gravis nodded.

"And look-"

"Stop!" Gravis interrupted Ferris.

as he looked at Gravis

the second Law a secret. It's better to not know about the existence of

said, disappointed. He wanted

Law had Ferris

six Law of

Was it surprising?

No.

in true freedom without

perfectly suited for the Law of Freedom,

the Law of Suppression or Control,' Gravis thought. 'Ferris' mind is too simple for

looked at how easy it had been for Ferris to get through

it wasn't