Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis and Skye flew for multiple days. Even though Skye flew very fast, even creating a sonic boom at the start of their flight, the Middle-Continent was just too big. The Core-Continent was a circle, while the Middle-Continent encompassed the Core-Continent in a bigger circle. The Outer-Continent did the same with the Middle-Continent.

Gravis and Skye were currently south of the Core-Continent, and they were flying to the south-east of the Middle-Continent. Every major guild had one of their headquarters in the north, east, south, and west of the Middle-Continent, while the Heaven Sect only had two. One was in the south-east of the Middle-Continent, while the other was in the north-west.

In comparison to the whole lower world, this distance was not significant, but for Gravis and Skye, it was still a distance of over 100,000 kilometers. Without Skye, Gravis would have taken over two weeks to get there. Yet, with the help of Skye, they only would've needed three days, if they hadn't taken a break for a full day.

After four days of traveling, they finally closed in on the Heaven Sect. "Skye, this can get really dangerous," Gravis cautioned. "I doubt that they already know about the death of their hit-squad, but they will maybe still have some people in the ninth level of Energy Gathering."

Skye released a quiet affirmative caw. Gravis had been talking a lot with Skye in the last couple of days, and it started to understand more words that Gravis spoke. Gravis especially taught it about the power system of humans in their one-day break.

He had shot a weak lightning bolt with the power of someone on the first level of Energy Gathering at Skye and told it: "First Level of Energy Gathering." Skye was confused initially, but then Gravis shot a stronger one and said that it was from the second level. He did that until the fourth level, where Skye started feeling some pain from the lightning bolts.

After that, Gravis used nearly all his power to produce one lightning bolt on the fifth level, which he shot at a tree, which was pulverized very quickly. Then, Gravis started saying one level after another until it reached the ninth level. Skye didn't get it at first, but it finally understood when Gravis managed to get it to remember the numbers from one to ten.

Getting Skye to remember numbers took over an hour, and then Gravis used his lightning again to demonstrate the power system of humans. Remembering how the numbers sounded, Skye started to get the concept. It then started demonstrating the whole thing with its wind and then pointing at the corresponding written number on the floor.

Gravis grew ecstatic when Skye understood, and he then started to give Skye more context in regards to the levels. Gravis made Skye remember Escura and pointed at the six. Then he made Skye remember Silvio and pointed at the seven. He also made Skye remember about the others and pointed at the eight.

Skye was not stupid and could guess the power of those levels. It guessed that it could take on one person on the seventh level, but it would be difficult. It also saw the two stronger levels and understood that those people were more powerful than it.

Gravis had, by now, created a whole spreadsheet with stick figures and their levels beneath them. Gravis then also drew a small bird and a big bird. Skye quickly realized that those two drawings represented its parent and itself.

Gravis then drew a lot of example match-ups involving Skye and its parent. He painted a number of figures opposite of the bird paintings with the corresponding level beneath them. After that, he would violently cross out the side who would die.

Gravis showed that Skye's parent could kill one person on the ninth level. When he had drawn two on that level, Gravis demonstrated his uncertainty and didn't cross out any side immediately. Surprisingly,

Skye grabbed a stick in its beak and crossed out the human side. It completely trusted in its parent strength.

When Gravis drew three people on the ninth level, he stopped Skye from doing anything and crossed out the big bird. Skye screeched angrily, but Gravis managed to calm it down. Gravis continued doing examples, and Skye was never happy when his parent lost in a fight.

Yet, slowly, Skye started understanding the power of someone on the ninth level of Energy Gathering, when Gravis showed that if Gravis and Skye fought together against one, they would die. Skye understood then how powerful someone at the ninth level of Energy Gathering was.

At the end of their learning session, Gravis made a new drawing of a person, which was bigger than all other drawings. He wrote "Spirit Forming" beneath the person and repeated the word multiple times. It was imperative that Skye understood this word. Skye was unsure of the significance of this person since it had never seen the associated words before.

Gravis painted the big person again, on the opposing side of the entire meter-long spreadsheet of fights and examples. Gravis pointed at the person, and then at everything else. He always did that when he had drawn an example fight.

BOOM!

Gravis threw a violent lightning bolt at the whole spreadsheet that destroyed everything but that one drawing of the person in the Spirit Forming Realm. Skye shivered, and its eyes widened. It had never come in contact with anyone with such power. Gravis pointed one last time at the big person and repeated "Spirit Forming".

Skye remembered the word very clearly, and it would never forget this word. This was a genuine danger to its life. Gravis had invested hours into his teaching of Skye because Skye needed to know

which fight it could win, and which fight was assured death. Beasts attacked any human they saw, regardless of the human's strength. Only something like a Will-Aura could deter a beast.

Getting back to Gravis and Skye as they were closing in on the Heaven Sect, Skye completely understood the danger that someone at the ninth level of Energy Gathering possessed. Due to all the information that it had learned, it knew that they couldn't fight someone on that level. They could only flee.

"Fly higher, Skye," said Gravis, while shooting a small lightning bolt into the sky. Skye understood and climbed as high as it could, which was about five kilometers. When they reached that height, they started closing in on the Heaven Sect, which was, by now, visible on the horizon. Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Gravis didn't know that close to the Heaven Sect, in a tent, a stone lighted up when Gravis shot his lightning bolt into the air. A person looked at the stone, and his Spirit started encompassing everything in a ten-kilometer radius. He quickly saw Skye, and his Spirit also saw Gravis.

"The betrayer has arrived!" the person shouted loudly, increasing the volume of his shout with his Spirit, so it went to each corner of the camp. "He is riding on top of a Hurricane Hawk at an altitude of five kilometers. Shoot him down!"

Gravis felt it when the person's Spirit washed over him. It felt like death-itself was looking at him, and Gravis clenched his teeth. "Spirit Forming," he said to Skye, and Skye shuddered slightly. Gravis went close to its head and pointed at the person on the ground.

Skye and Gravis both knew that this would not be easy.