Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis wasn't sure how he should feel right now.

Joyce had definitely become someone that couldn't be saved anymore, and her actions were more than enough to kill her.

Yet, Gravis just couldn't forget the young girl he had met back then.

Joyce had traveled the lower world to hand out gifts for eventual repayment.

When Gravis had met Joyce again in her Clan, their start had been rough, but Joyce had even managed to convince Gravis somewhat that he was running away from his emotions.

Joyce had been a very kind girl back then, and she even had issues accepting when anyone died in front of her. She saw these deaths as unnecessary.

However, this was exactly one of the things that had drawn Gravis to her.

Gravis had been in a dark place back then, and he had acted like a cynical teenager. He had constantly told everyone how difficult he had it and how many bad things had happened to him.

In a sense, Joyce had been a pure and innocent light in a world of oppressive darkness for Gravis. Joyce had had something that Gravis had lost.

They had even promised each other that they would be together when they reached the highest world.

Sadly, they had both changed severely, and they were no longer compatible.

Mortis shared these same memories, and maybe that was also one of the reasons why he was even attracted to Joyce.

If Joyce and Mortis hadn't met each other before, they might not have ended up together. They weren't even truly that compatible.

'Maybe her extreme purity back then resulted in her becoming the other extreme,' Gravis thought with a sigh. 'Her innocence couldn't possibly have survived until now, even if she tried to preserve it.'

Joyce's death made Gravis think, but he didn't have any great emotional reaction to her death.

It was like Gravis had long accepted that Joyce would eventually die like this.

Because of that, Gravis' mind quickly went back to the deaths of his other friends.

Liam, Styr, Sary, Skye, Yi Lu, Siral.

of them

said from beside Gravis. "They made their choice, and they

looking at Joyce's corpse in the distance. "Everyone believes that they won't die. After all, it hasn't happened before. We know in our minds

so many close brushes with death that it has become normal. Being close to death is so normal that it doesn't feel as dangerous anymore. We've gone through it numerous times, and we have always managed

they knew

Aris didn't answer.

main priority is survival and power," Gravis added. "I have no problems with risking my life for any of you, but if I had to sacrifice my life, I don't know if I could do that for anyone,

Gravis looked at Aris.

me, would you sacrifice your life for

and

some reason, Aris felt guilty

noticed and put his hand on Aris' shoulder. "Don't feel guilty. We are Cultivators, and we chase power so that we can survive. I don't want you to

so much pain and have lived for so long that we can't give up now. The more we survive, the more we have invested. Surviving has reached an unfathomable level of

are the ones that have given up on the path to power,"

words, and his

feel guilty for feeling exactly like everyone

which Aris

come, even though our age difference is negligible by now, you are still able

slightly. "Teaching isn't necessarily a superior instructing someone inferior. A Forger can teach an Alchemist about forging, and an Alchemist can teach a Forger about

lives, and they learned different lessons. In our case, I just know a

lightning?" Aris asked with

ability to just directly absorb Heavenly Lightning, you would know more about lightning than me. After all, you even have a level seven Battle-Law for lightning.

surprised when he heard that, but he quickly realized that

always been far superior to his. He still remembered how Gravis had shown Aris how to use lightning properly, and even now, Gravis knew the

that ability, Aris would be superior

sense, Aris had overtaken Gravis in

that he had truly grown

overtaken his father in one of his

knew that this wasn't actually worth that much. In the end, Battle-Strength was the most important thing,

asked, changing the topic. "Liam died. Do you have a new

Walker," he said. "Broad Walker is still more powerful than me since he knows two level seven Laws, and he's the

"Makes sense," Gravis commented.