Lightning Is The Only Way

Gravis and the Grand Elder talked a bit more during the journey. The Grand Elder had a lot of experience, and he told Gravis about some other Laws that lightning had that Gravis didn't know yet.

Apparently, there were Laws associated with every facet of lightning. There were Laws about its destruction, its life, its speed, and more mysterious ones like its accumulation and presence.

Gravis still remembered that, back in the Red Kingdom, he had no idea on which Laws to focus on, except Life. Yet, just by talking a little bit, the Grand Elder gave him more than enough directions.

Gravis had always thought that he already knew all the facets of his own lightning since he already managed to understand the Law of Punishment Lightning. Yet, Punishment Lightning was only a kind of lightning. He knew its specifics but didn't know anything about the more general workings of all kinds of lightning.

It often happened that someone couldn't see the forest due to all the trees blocking their vision. Oftentimes, the answer stared someone right in the face without them knowing.

"Then, why did you say that I wouldn't be able to learn anything in the Law Comprehension Area for Punishment Lightning?" Gravis asked.

By now, the Grand Elder appeared much more open towards Gravis. "Because you can transform into lightning. Why would you need to go to a specific area if you can just look at yourself?" The Grand Elder asked with a smile.

Gravis remained silent for a bit as he looked at the rapidly passing surroundings. "I guess you're right," he said. He had always only transformed into lightning, but he hadn't really looked closely at himself. He simply thought that he was lightning, and that was it.

After some minutes, they arrived. Gravis was a bit surprised about the distance. The Grand Elder had moved with insane speeds for several minutes, and according to Gravis' guess, they had long left the borders of the Icy Pride Empire.

As soon as they stopped, Gravis' attention was immediately claimed by the area in front of them. Tall but thin mountains pierced the dark clouds in the sky as powerful lightning rumbled throughout the horizons.

BANG! BANG!

Swathes of Punishment Lightning hit the mountains. Yet, surprisingly, the mountains weren't destroyed or broken by the Punishment Lightning. Gravis noticed that these mountains were made out of a lightning-resistant material in the Law Comprehension Rank.

Such a terrifyingly powerful mountain range would provoke world wars in middle worlds with humans present. Just one of these mountains would equip an entire Sect for a lifetime.

Yet, in this natural world, nearly no one cared about such ore. Usually, only beasts with metal and earth affinities would care about these mountains. But the difference between these beasts and humans was that the beasts wouldn't want to change or take the mountain range. They would simply just lay beside it.

Of course, no earth or metal beast rested near these mountains. Punishment Lightning was incredibly destructive in nature, and if they wanted to stay near these mountains, they would need to continually resist the avalanche of lightning assaulting them.

By now, the mountain range was within Gravis' Spirit Sense, and he furrowed his brows. "There are other beasts present," Gravis said.

"Of course," the Grand Elder said. "Most of our Emperors are not within the Icy Pride Empire all the time. We keep a set amount of them on standby, but all the others are free to go to these areas and understand the Laws. The more powerful our beasts, the better."

"Grand Elder, back so soon?" a silver snake said as it flew closer to them. It wasn't big since it hadn't revealed its true size yet, but Gravis wasn't able to feel its power. This meant that this snake was an Emperor.

The Grand Elder looked at the snake, and his demeanor returned to his usual calm. "Yes. I will try to understand more about Punishment Lightning," he said.

"Then, good luck," the snake said as it flew back. It didn't pay any attention to Gravis since he came together with the Grand Elder.

Gravis looked at the retreating snake with a glint in his eyes.

"Well," the Grand Elder said to Gravis, "you can find any free mountain and sit upon it. With me present, no one will be able to sneak up on you, so you can fully focus on what you need to do."

Gravis remained silent for a bit, which elicited a raised eyebrow from the Grand Elder. Gravis' demeanor had changed as soon as they had arrived. However, that was to be expected. After all, Gravis had some serious reason to come here, and now that they have arrived, his mindset was probably fully focused on that.

The Grand Elder turned away from Gravis after some seconds and flew towards the mountain range.

"Grand Elder."

Or, at least he tried to, but Gravis stopped him.

"Yes?" the Grand Elder asked as he turned around.

"I have two things to show you," Gravis said slowly with an even voice.

The Grand Elder felt a bit suspicious because of Gravis' new tone. "Yes? I'm listening," he answered.

"First of all, please look at this," Gravis said as he raised one of his hands.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BZZZZZZ!

Over 20 bolts of Punishment Lightning shot out of the clouds and gathered above Gravis' hand. The air around them started to warp due to all the power present.

The Grand Elder took a deep breath through his teeth due to shock and terror. Such a compressed ball of Punishment Lightning would even be able to injure him severely!

"I have absolutely full control over all kinds of lightning," Gravis explained with the lightning ball still present over his hands. "No matter how powerful the lightning or what kind, it doesn't matter in front of me. I control all lightning."

Gravis' sudden change in demeanor, together with the deadly lightning ball in his hands, made the Grand Elder nervous.

BZZZZ!

All the lightning on Gravis' hand scattered and returned to the clouds. "I did this to demonstrate to you the control I have over lightning," Gravis said.

The Grand Elder was unsure what Gravis was trying to say.

"Now, please don't get nervous, but I will demonstrate my control over the lightning in your body for a second. Don't worry, nothing bad will happen," Gravis said.

The Grand Elder was a bit taken aback and felt nervous. Yet, he realized that if Gravis wanted to do something to him, he could have already killed him with his control over the Punishment Lightning in the surroundings.

"Alright, go on," the Grand Elder said with furrowed brows.

Gravis slightly extended his hand towards the Grand Elder. Immediately, the Grand Elder felt the lightning inside his body go wild and circulate around his body without his will. Yet, it stopped very quickly again.

The Grand Elder had heard the Red King talk about the fact that Gravis could control all the lightning inside beasts with lightning affinity, but it was something entirely different when he felt it performed on himself.

"I have just shown you my trust in you, Grand Elder," Gravis said. "Many beasts would immediately attack me if they knew what you know about me. If you decide to kill me due to a spontaneous reaction, I would be dead right now. I hope you understand the display of trust I have just shown you."

The Grand Elder breathed heavily due to shock, but he understood everything Gravis said.

"Now," Gravis continued. "I have a question."

When the Grand Elder heard that, he looked at Gravis intensely. "Yes?" he asked. He was pretty sure that Gravis would now tell him the reason for his demonstration.

"Are only beasts with a lightning affinity allowed in here?" Gravis asked.

"Yes," the elder answered. "Sending beasts with other affinities here would be pointless and a waste of time."

Gravis' eyes narrowed. "Well, then I have another question."

"Go on," the Grand Elder urged.

"Why is that snake here?" Gravis asked.

The Grand Elder was unsure what he should make of Gravis' question. "Because he is an Emperor with a lightning affinity that is affiliated with our Icy Pride Empire."

Gravis nodded. "The reason why I demonstrated my power to you right now is to show you that I have no reason to attack anyone in our Empire right now. Additionally, you would obviously be a more valuable target than any other Emperor, except the Empress."

"Another reason was to show you that there is no doubt in my abilities regarding lightning."

"I have shown my trust in you by demonstrating my power in front of you without keeping the deadly lightning ball in my hand. So, please reciprocate that trust when I tell you that…"

"This snake has absolutely no lightning inside of it."

The Grand Elder's eyes widened.