Ch. 31..40

Chapter 31

The door of the Hunting Guild burst open. "We're back!" shouted a man at the front of a big hunting party. He had multiple scars on his face and showed a victorious smile. Behind him, a gigantic two- handed sword hung, thoroughly drenched in blood. Seven people with different weapons stood behind him.

Most people in the Hunting Guild released a loud "Heeeeeyyy!" in unison and lifted their jugs of ale. The group walked in, triumphantly. The leader of the group noticed that things were a little different. Usually, everyone would stand up and cheer, but many kept quiet this time. The leader furrowed his brows.

He walked to one of the guys he knew. "Did something happen? The cheer this time seems more… subdued," he asked. The guy he asked was the same person that called Gravis a newbie on his first day.

The person smiled bitterly. "Well, something happened when you were gone, but that's not important right now. So, I take it you succeeded?" He asked with a grin.

The leader smiled again and nodded. "Yeah! The Earth Salamander has been slain!" He sat down at the table and took a swig from the man's beer. "Man, that took forever! It put up one hell of a fight. Only when it bit and devoured Mensk, did we finally have a chance to injure it majorly. It fled, and we had to track it for nearly two weeks. Sadly, Jacob got ambushed by a ferocious beast snake and died too. Someone always dies in a hunt for low-grade demonic beasts." The leader sighed.

The man in front of him also sighed. "They were good men." He took another swig of his mug, but it was empty. "Hey, you drank all my booze, Anthony!" he shouted and stood up.

The leader, Anthony, just laughed loudly and ordered more beer. "Calm down! The next one's on me. We made it big this time. The corpse is pretty complete, and we should all make a couple of gold off of it. With this, I should have enough money to buy a Skin-Pill for my son." Anthony leaned back and

looked out of one of the windows. "If he can get into the Elemental Guilds, he will get much further in life than his father."

The man in front of him lifted his new mug. "Cheers to that," and he took a swig.

Anthony looked at the man and felt like something was wrong. "So, what happened? You all seem kind of downtrodden," Anthony asked the man.

The man just bitterly smiled. "Well, we have a new guy," he said as he took another swig.

"So?" Anthony asked, confused. "That sounds more like a good thing."

The man sighed. "Why don't you look at the mission board. Then you'll know."

Anthony furrowed his brows, stood up, and walked to the mission board. When he arrived, he gasped. It was empty. Why was it empty? There always were tens of missions up for grabs. Anthony walked back to the man. "Did the new guy do all this?" he asked, concerned.

The man just nodded and took another mouthful of beer. "Not only that. When everyone realized that the missions for ferocious beasts have grown sparse, a group formed to hunt a low-grade demonic beast. Guess what happened."

Anthony furrowed his brows further. "What?"

The man laughed bitterly. "That guy had finished all the low-grade demonic beasts before he finished the ferocious beasts."

"Impossible!" Anthony shouted at the man and stood up. "No one can hunt that many low-grade demonic beasts in such a short amount of time, especially when they hunt them solo. Even someone with tempered muscles only has a 50/50 chance of winning. Even less if they wanted to kill it!"

The man just laughed bitterly again. "It's true. If you don't believe me, ask Simone." The man gestured to the lady behind the counter.

Anthony didn't believe him and walked over to Simone, who just sat on a chair behind the counter and read a book. "Hey, Simone. Could you please show me the missions for low-grade demonic beasts?" he asked her politely.

The lady just waved her hand nonchalantly. "All gone," she said as she continued reading.

Anthony's face whitened. "But, it's only been two weeks!" he shouted.

Simone looked at Anthony with a frown. "Don't shout at me! It's not my fault. The Demon cleared all of them."

"The Demon?" Anthony asked with a raised eyebrow.

Simone sighed. "Yes, that's his nickname. At least, that's what we call him." She gestured toward the tables, where all the hunters sat. "Look around! Everyone's just waiting for new missions to come. It's even harder to find any ferocious beasts in the surroundings since the Demon also kills them. What else would you call someone that basically destroys a whole Hunting Guild while keeping to the rules?"

Anthony nearly couldn't believe it. He was gone for just two weeks, and now, everything had turned upside down. He walked back to his drinking buddy and sat down. He clenched his fist and hit the table. A loud boom echoed, and the hunters looked at Anthony, startled.

"Why did no one do anything about this?" He shouted at the whole guild. Everyone looked away from his eyes. When Anthony saw this, his teeth clenched. "Look at you! One guy is taking all the meat for himself, not even leaving us any soup, and you all take it like some abused kids! Does the guild not have any men left?" he shouted in rage.

Anthony's drinking buddy just smiled bitterly again. "We would if we could. You haven't seen the guy." He took another swig from his beer, emptying it. "We can only wait until he leaves. Someone like him won't be staying here for long."

Anthony sat back down with fury in his eyes. "When I'll see him, I'll-"

BANG!

The doors of the Hunting Guild opened loudly, and the whole atmosphere changed. Every hunter looked deeply into their mugs, uncomfortably. Silence descended across the entire guild, and only light footsteps could be heard coming from the man that just entered the hall.

Gravis was pissed! The deadline for the Elemental Guilds' entrance exam was coming closer, and he still needed more pills. He had finished every mission he could find, but only made around 90 gold in total. He was still missing around 50 gold! That was an equivalent of approximately three low-grade demonic beasts with missions.

He had killed four low-grade demonic beasts since joining the Hunting Guild. The first one was the tiger. The second one was a boar. The third one was a snake, and the fourth one was a wolf.

The fight with the boar was the easiest since it made its habitat near a river. Gravis could fully utilize his elemental synchronicity in the battle. The boar had to continually fight against the water that was trying to pull it down, so it had no time to evade Gravis' attacks. The fight was over in a couple of minutes.

The snake was an issue since its attacks were fast and venomous. After a long fight, Gravis decided to risk it all. He let the snake bite him in exchange for his saber to penetrate the inside of its mouth, right into its brain. Even with tempered organs and blood, he would have died to the venom. Luckily, he had a plan. He had spoken with Orpheus about it when he was still in his world, and Orpheus said that it would work.

Gravis had quickly made a fire and jumped into it. He let the heat of the fire course through his veins, changing the liquid venom into gas. The composition of the venom changed, making it less effective. He still felt enormous pain for many hours, but he had survived.

The last demonic beast, the wolf, didn't even have a mission. Gravis just saw it while hunting a ferocious beast. Wolves were faster than tigers and lions, but they mainly used their bite as an attack. Gravis got injured and nearly lost his arm, but he was able to sever a tendon of the wolf's front paw. The fight then completely went into his favor, and he had slain it after a while.

In the past couple of days, he was just running around the wilderness, trying to find any beast, even if it didn't have a mission. He still needed 50 gold, which equated to around 100 ferocious beasts. This constant searching around made him cranky.

Gravis walked to the mission board and didn't see any missions. Then he walked to the lady behind the counter. Without him even needing to say anything, the lady just shook her head. "Tch," Gravis spat and walked to the entrance, but about seven people blocked his path when he arrived.

"We need to talk!" said Anthony.

Gravis narrowed his eyes.

 

Chapter 32

A young girl and an old man were walking around the town. The old man looked friendly and kind with simple robes adorning his body. He used a cane as support because of his crooked back. Long grey hair and a long grey beard showed his experience.

The girl was around 16 years old and had long purple hair bound into a ponytail. She smiled happily as she walked around the town. She was dressed in similar purple robes and was carrying a long wooden staff with a purple jewel, on her back. Everyone was stunned by the beauty she radiated, but they didn't dare get closer for some reason. The people didn't know why they didn't dare. They just didn't.

"It seemed like we found a good seedling in this town, miss. Who would have thought?" the old man commented with a polite smile.

The girl's smile brightened. "I know, right? That Jonathan had a nice heart and motivation. Maybe he'll manage to repay us in the future. So, what do you think of my idea, teacher?" she asked as she turned to the old man.

The old man laughed slightly. "It's a good idea," he nodded. "Though, they can only be of help if they grow up quickly. That Jonathan should be able to get into the Proxy-Elemental Guilds, and with some luck, he should be able to repay you." The old man smiled.

Her smile brightened further. "Alright, so let's quickly go to the next town." The girl ran excitedly to the exit of the town, and the old man followed helplessly. Even though he seemed to just be walking, he somehow kept up with the young girl.

Just when they left the town gate, the old man stopped, with shocked eyes. "Miss, wait!" he shouted. The girl stopped and looked back at her teacher, confused. Her teacher looked towards the east of the town, and the girl could see shock and excitement in his eyes.

She gasped in shock. Her teacher never grew excited or shocked, and he always acted stable and friendly. Yet, in this backwater town, he found something that excited him. The girl's emotions riled up in anticipation. This would be fun! "What is it, teacher?" she asked impatiently.

The old man continued looking to the east. After a while, he turned to the girl with a smile. "I feel a strong Will-Aura from the east," he explained.

The girl gasped in shock. "A Will-Aura? Here? Is someone from the central continent here?" she asked in shock.

The old man shook his head. "I don't think so. Judging by the power of the Will-Aura, the person should be in the Body Tempering Realm. Yet, they have a Will-Aura. Even more so, their Will-Aura seems stable. This means they have not condensed it just recently," the old man continued to explain. "Do you want to take a look, miss?"

The girl excitedly nodded. The man nodded back and began to walk towards the east, right towards the Hunting Guild. The girl eagerly followed.

Gravis initially didn't care about the hunters blocking his way. He simply continued walking like they were not there. But when they pulled out their weapons, his eyes narrowed, and he released his Will- Aura.

The whole Hunting Guild fell silent, and everyone felt an ominous, cold wind blowing lightly. They felt like a wild beast was stalking them. The hunters in front of Gravis had it even worse. They fell back, and breathing became increasingly more difficult. Cold sweat was pouring down from their whole bodies, and their hands shivered. Due to the shivering, their weapons released a continuous rattling noise.

"Move!" Gravis ordered.

All the hunters moved to the side, except Anthony. He was just as scared as the others, but he stood his ground with courage. Courage didn't mean that one was not afraid, but that one was able to persist even when they felt fear. By withstanding Gravis' Will-Aura, he showed great courage.

"E-Everyone nee-needs missions to-to survive," he managed to say through chattering teeth.

Gravis narrowed his eyes, and Anthony felt even more pressure. This continued for some seconds until Gravis sighed, and the atmosphere returned to normal. "I know," he said with a sigh. "I know that I am using up all your work. I know that you all need this money to survive. I feel ashamed by not leaving you all anything," Gravis clenched his teeth. "But I need money!"

Silence descended on the hall again, but this time, for a different reason. Gravis was no longer releasing his Will-Aura. For the first time, the hunters found something on Gravis that they could empathize with, even if it were only one thing. Just like them, he needed money. Gravis had also shown shame about what he had done, which made some hunters sigh in bitterness. Everyone needed money.

"How much do you need?" asked Anthony now more relaxed. He felt like he could understand the young man. Why was Anthony hunting low-grade demonic beasts, even though it always endangered his life? It was because he needed money for his son. Just like him, Gravis also only needed money. Maybe in all their bitterness, the hunters forgot that Gravis was a human, like them.

Gravis smiled bitterly. This was the first time the guild has seen any kind of smile from Gravis. "About 50 Gold," he stated.

A collective gasp of shock echoed throughout the guild. Why did he need so much money?

Anthony's mouth opened wide. He thought about pooling together some resources to lend Gravis some money to get this whole fiasco over, but 50 gold was impossible. Gravis had already made tens of gold by finishing all missions, yet he needed about the same amount again. This was ridiculous.

"Why do you need so much money?" asked Anthony.

Gravis sighed. Just because he was always acting coldly to other people didn't mean that he didn't feel alone. He always felt alone, but he couldn't get close to others. He might be able to survive having no karmic luck, but others won't. Yet, even though he knew that, Gravis' loneliness overpowered him, and he opened up a little today. "I need seven more Skin-Pills to temper my skin," he confessed.

Another gasp echoed throughout the guildhall, this time, for multiple reasons. First of all, Gravis was hunting low-grade demonic beasts without tempered skin. Without tempered skin, one couldn't temper their muscles. So how did he actually kill all those beasts? The other reason was the crazy amount of Skin-Pills he needed. One pill was generally enough to temper the skin. Maybe, someone would need two, but that could be replaced with some months of training.

Anthony was just as shocked, but he started to rub his chin in thought. "Hm, maybe we can do something about that," he muttered but continued thinking. After a while, he nodded and turned to Gravis. "I think we can help you, but only if you stop hunting for a while. We are a lot of people," Anthony gestured to the whole guild. "If we put our minds together, we may find a way for someone of your strength to earn some money."

Anthony smiled and offered his hand. "What do you say? Friends?" he smiled at Gravis.

For the first time in this lower world, Gravis felt a brotherly warmth. He had taken the living of tens of people, yet, Anthony was offering to help him. Anthony could have been stubborn and could've said that this had nothing to do with him. Gravis probably wouldn't be able to be so cold-blooded that he would continue. He already felt enormous shame because of his actions.

Gravis felt warmth, and his insides were shaking a little. He felt his eyes producing some tears but suppressed it. Finally, He took Anthony's hand and shook it.

BANG!

The door behind Anthony opened and smacked him in the back. He stumbled forward, but Gravis quickly supported him so he wouldn't fall.

A young girl and an old man were looking at Gravis with interest.

"This is him," the girl heard her teacher's voice appearing in her head.

"Hello, I'm here to offer you a trade," the girl said to Gravis with a smile.

 

Chapter 33

The girl was surprised when her teacher brought her to a local Hunting Guild. No one from the central continent would go there, so it was very likely that the person with the Will-Aura was local. 'This is great!' she thought as she excitedly kicked open the door.

BANG!

She hit a person standing behind the door in the back, but she didn't care. She hadn't used much strength, so they wouldn't be injured. Instead, she looked through the Hunting Guild, inspecting every person.

"That's him," she heard her teacher's voice inside her mind. Together with the voice, her attention was drawn to a youngster with black hair and black eyes. She smiled excitedly, but inside she was shocked. Someone of her age had already cultivated a Will-Aura? On top of that, the person was only in the Body Tempering Realm. Someone in the Body Tempering Realm with a Will-Aura was unheard of, even in the central continent.

Building a Will-Aura did not require talent, but required one to go through many life and death battles. How could anyone find so many equal enemies to defeat while not rising in their realm? It's not like one can just search for enemies and never meet anything out of their league that would just, straight up, kill them. Mishaps always happen.

She was very interested in the youngster, and her eyes sparkled. "Hello, I am here to offer you a trade!" she spoke loudly with an excited smile.

Gravis, who had returned to his cold self by now, looked at the girl. The girl looked beautiful, but he had seen lots of immortal beauties in his hometown, so he was not struck dumb. How could mortals compare to Gods? Yet, he felt something different this time. All the immortal fairies in the past were like stars in the sky, completely untouchable. This girl, however, was in the lower world and looking at him. It felt more real and less illusory.

"What trade?" Gravis asked evenly.

The girl heard his distant voice and looked into his cold eyes. Gravis did not release his Will-Aura, but the girl was already in the Energy Gathering Realm, so she could still feel a slight inkling. The hidden killing intent excited her. The stronger he was, the higher the chances of him helping her in the future. She had struck gold!

The girl threw a short glance at her teacher, and he immediately sent a sound transmission to her mind. "The boy has a very strong body for his age. His organs and blood are tempered, and by the feel of his body, he has been in that realm for multiple years. Only rich clans can afford to temper the organs and blood first, yet the boy has condensed a Will-Aura and is in this backwater town." Her teacher's voice sounded like he was in deep thought.

"This is very peculiar. No clan would risk losing all their invested resources by getting their heirs to fight that many life and death battles. Only when death is a genuine possibility can one build a Will-Aura. Also, his skin is about 60% tempered, yet he is not currently training. Instead, he is in a Hunting Guild." The old man furrowed his brows, but he slowly got an inkling about what was happening.

"He is probably desperately trying to get enough money to temper his skin for the yearly entrance exams for the Proxy-Elemental Guilds." The old man sighed bitterly in his mind. "But because of his strong body, his skin needs around 20 Skin-Pills for a full tempering. One Hunting Guild can't spit out that much money." Slowly, a sly smile was forming on the old man's face. "I think we arrived at the perfect time."

All of the old man's ramblings reached the girl in the span of five seconds. The hall was silent, everyone looking at the old man's face contorting into different emotions in the span over five seconds. Did the old man have dementia?

If Gravis knew that the old man basically found out everything about him in just five seconds, he would be shocked beyond belief. Just seeing through his cultivation required a spirit that would be able to leave one's body. This would mean that the old man had, at least, reached the third major realm, the Spirit Accumulation Realm. This person would be one of the most powerful people in the lower world.

The girl grew even more excited inside. Paying for around eight Skin-Pills was a little much, but she could handle it. This guy went through the most dangerous part on the journey to becoming an expert, condensing a Will-Aura. Now, the young man would only need resources to get to the higher realm.

"Let me introduce myself," she chirped. "My name is Joyce, and I am collecting favors!" she announced with pride. The hunters looked a little confused. How can one collect favors?

Gravis narrowed his eyes in uncertainty. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Joyce just continued smiling cheerfully. "Simple! I am traveling from town to town, searching for talented young people in trouble. I solve their trouble, but they need to repay me if they ever reach a similar strength to me." Joyce nodded in confidence. This was her great idea! Just spent some change to get a potential favor. She was practically sending coal to people in winter.

Gravis was surprised. Joyce was very direct and honest. She didn't try to sneak her way into him owing a favor but directly announced it. Gravis liked honesty and directness. It was uncomplicated, and it was easier to trust such people. Gravis felt refreshed. The world had greedy bastards like the bandits or that one youngster at the waterfall, but it also had honest and friendly people like Joyce or Anthony. People really came in all colors and forms.

"So, in exchange for something I need, you want me to help you with something when I reach sufficient strength?" Gravis asked for confirmation.

Joyce nodded. "Yep!"

"How strong would I have to be to repay the favor?" Gravis asked.

Joyce continued smiling. "When you reach the central continent by your own strength, you should have enough strength," she explained.

Gravis was not even sure where he currently was in the lower world. It probably was not the central continent. Just by the word "central", he could guess that it probably was the core of the lower world. That meant that he probably needed to be around the Spirit Accumulation Realm. This was far away from him.

Seeing that Gravis was silent for a while, Joyce continued. "So, what do you need?" she asked eagerly.

Gravis gritted his teeth. "Around 50 gold," he said. He knew that it was a lot of money, but she probably had enough money.

Joyce released a sly grin. "Alright," she took out a sack of gold, and everyone in the hall gasped in shock. The girl took out 50 gold like it was just some change. She offered it to Gravis.

He looked at the gold with excitement and stretched his hand toward it, but suddenly stopped. Joyce looked confused. Gravis gritted his teeth as he remembered something.

Just when Gravis had gotten close to Anthony, he was smacked by the door. It was not dangerous, just bad luck. But exactly that was the issue! Others might think it was just a coincidence, but Gravis thought otherwise. Heaven was probably warning him that he should keep away from others.

Heaven could reclaim all the karmic luck of others, but then it would throw away resources in the form of cultivators. Gravis heard from his father that Heaven was collecting energy with cultivators as a medium. His father did not elaborate further, but he told Gravis that this was the reason why he killed

so many people back then. In his own words, he was basically destroying unripe crops from Heaven's farm.

If Gravis accepted the money, Heaven would probably steal all the karmic luck of Joyce and the old man. This helping hand was just too strong. Gravis gritted his teeth furiously. Someone came here to help him, and Heaven was threatening him with his savior's life. This was beyond despicable!

Gravis furiously clenched his fist and retracted his eyes.

"I can't accept this," he spat through clenched teeth.

 

Chapter 34

Joyce was confused. First, Gravis seemed very happy to accept, but then he became angry and declined. This didn't make any sense! The old man also furrowed his brows. Despite all his experience, he still couldn't think of a reason for the sudden change in attitude.

"Why not?" Joyce asked.

Gravis was still gritting his teeth. He couldn't possibly explain the concept of karmic luck. It was not because the concept was too complex, but because if they knew how karmic luck worked, they would know some of Heaven's inner workings. Heaven wouldn't allow that and would do everything to keep its workings secret.

"I can only accept an opportunity, not direct help," he said after mulling over his words for a while. If he earned the money fairly, everything would be alright. "Of course, I would treat this opportunity the same as if you helped me directly. I will still engrave this favor in my heart."

Joyce grew even more confused by his words. Was this his pride getting in the way of benefits? That seemed idiotic.

The old man also didn't know why Gravis said what he said, but the old man had a feeling that this was the best way. He didn't know why, but he somehow felt like the youngster was helping them, and not the other way around. 'but that's impossible,' the old man thought. The youngster didn't even have tempered skin, so how could he possibly help them?

On top of that, they were not even in danger. The old man was trusting in his gut feeling, but this seemed entirely contradictory to logic. His instinct had mostly proven true in the past, but it was never this contradictory to common sense. What was going on? In the end, the old man fell into deep thought.

The girl, on the other hand, didn't agree. "Are you serious? This is an equal trade! I give you gold, and you give me your help in the future. What opportunity? Forget your pride! Let's just finish the trade, andnoveldrama

you can repay me in the future!" she shouted in anger. Was that young man trying to downplay the favor he owed by getting her money "fairly"? She had never seen someone as shameless as him!

Gravis gritted his teeth even more. "I am really sorry, but I can't accept the money like this. I can't tell you why! Just trust me on this!" he urged.

Joyce's anger rose, but before she could say anything further, she heard her teacher's voice in her head. "Wait a second. I don't know why, but I think we should believe him. I don't feel any falsehood from him. I see only bitterness, helplessness, and fury. Someone on his level can't fool my eyes. I am pretty sure that, what he is saying, is the truth."

Joyce's anger lessened again, but her confusion grew. "But why?" she asked in her mind.

The old man shook his head. "I don't know why, but I trust my instinct." The more the old man believed his feeling, the stronger it grew. He felt like something beyond his control was happening. It felt like something very profound was taking place. It also felt like he had evaded a calamity. The old man never felt this way before, and slowly, he lost himself in the sensation. The hunters looked at the old man like he was crazy. His expression was changing by the second.

Joyce slowly took back the money and furrowed her brows. How could she exchange 50 gold fairly? She started looking around the Hall. Suddenly, she got an idea. "This is a Hunting Guild, right?" she asked Gravis.

Gravis nodded.

Joyce began to smile slightly. "How much is a low-grade demonic beast worth?" she asked Gravis.

Gravis realized what she planned. "The carcass is between eight and ten gold, while a mission is a further ten gold," he explained.

Joyce frowned a little. In order to give him 50 gold, she would need to request three missions for low- grade demonic beasts. The money wasn't the problem. The problem was that she didn't know of any low-grade demonic beasts in the area. She knew of one demonic beast, but…

The old man suddenly perked up and looked at Gravis with intense eyes. Gravis felt like he couldn't move. That wasn't the pressure of a Will-Aura, but the pressure of absolute power. He didn't know how he had offended the old man.

The old man noticed that he had accidentally lost control of himself and returned to his smiling self. The pressure on Gravis immediately lifted, and he sighed in relief. That old man was powerful. Gravis felt like a helpless chicken in front of him.

"Miss," Joyce heard the voice of her teacher in her mind. "I think I have an idea. It might be more expensive than we initially believed, but if he can grasp this opportunity, his will will grow even firmer."

Joyce listened to the plan of her teacher and furrowed her brows again. Could the young man do that? Even with their help and his Will-Aura, it still seemed impossible. After deliberating about the decision for a couple of seconds, she decided to risk it and nodded.

Her teacher took something out of thin air and gave it to Joyce. Joyce took it and looked at Gravis. "Okay, I trust you, but in return, you must trust me," she said with intense eyes.

Gravis already felt trust towards her and nodded without hesitation.

Joyce showed the thing in her hands. It was a jade token. When Gravis saw this, his body seized up in shock. He knew what that was! He learned about them in his theoretical lessons. That was an instantly- deployable Formation Array!

"First, you need to buy this for five gold," Joyce said.

Five gold was about all of Gravis' money. He gritted his teeth but accepted the trade.

"This formation array can restrict a mid-grade demonic beast for about two hours. It will be very difficult for it to move its body in that time, but don't underestimate such a beast! Their defense is even sturdier than a low-grade demonic beast's, and they are much faster," Joyce said and then walked to the counter.

Simone, the counter lady, had been watching for a while but perked up when Joyce walked toward her.

"I want to submit a mission for a mid-grade demonic beast."

 

Chapter 35

The Hunting Guild first fell silent, and then erupted in an uproar. A middle-grade demonic beast! They usually didn't accept such missions since killing such a monster required multiple people with tempered muscles, at least. Its defense was nearly impenetrable, and its speed would be monstrous.

When one tempered their muscles, their attacking power, as well as their speed, would increase. The speed increase was the main reason why people with tempered muscles reigned supreme. Even with a Formation Array, an attack from a middle-grade demonic beast would still be incredibly fast.

Simone was just as shocked and didn't know how to process this request. She had never received such a mission. Who would send a request for such a monster to a small Hunting Guild of a town? One could only find success with Hunting Guilds in cities. Only they had enough people with tempered muscles for such a task.

"Don't mind it," said Joyce, placing down a sack full of gold. "According to the standard of missions, 100 gold will be the reward," she said as she turned to Gravis. "Are you up to the task?"

Gravis furrowed his brows. Even if he could ignore the beast's speed, he was not sure if he could manage to hit any weak spots. Joyce said that the Formation Array would restrict its movements, but it could surely still manage to release some attacks. He needed a plan for that.

Joyce grinned a little. "Scared?" she asked mockingly.

Gravis looked up and into her eyes. "I am thinking about how I should handle this," he explained.

Joyce's grin transformed into a smile. "Good! You have courage. I hope my gold will not be wasted. I don't want my money to remain in this small Hunting Guild forever." Then Joyce started explaining all the details to Simone, who wrote everything down on a notice. Simone felt like this was unreal, but she also felt pride in filling out a mission for a medium-grade demonic beast.

After Simone noted everything down, she took the money and stashed it below the counter. Then, she walked to the mission board and put the notice up.

Everyone was looking at the notice, but even with the hefty reward, no one dared to take it.

Gravis continued thinking, and after a while, his eyes shined. Everyone watched as Gravis walked up to the notice and took it down. He went to Simone and placed the notice, as well as his emblem, down on the table. Then he frowned because he realized that he didn't have the contract fee.

Simone sighed and waved her hand in dismissal. "No one else will take this mission, and it has been placed specifically for you. You can ignore the contract fee," she said.

Gravis felt thankful and took the notice back. He had a mission. He had his weapons. He had a plan. Now, only the execution remained. He turned to Joyce and the old man and bowed deeply. "I will never forget what you have done for me today," he solemnly swore.

The old man waved his hand, and Gravis felt his upper body being lifted until he stood straight again. "As long as you help the young miss when the time is right, everything will be repaid," the old man smiled. "Also, the money is not yours yet. You have to earn it with your own strength."

Gravis felt sincere gratitude and would remember this favor. He had to repay it, no matter what! Like this, another reason was added for him to become stronger. He turned to Joyce. "How can I find you in the central continent?"

Joyce smiled. "You will learn of my family when you arrive, and you will probably also hear my name. Then, you will know where I am." She then remembered something. "Right, what's your name?"

The hunters in the hall, who listened to the whole exchange, also noticed that they didn't know Gravis' name. No one had asked him that before. Some of them felt ashamed for not asking a fellow hunter for their name.

Gravis looked shocked and then rubbed his neck in embarrassment. He just realized that he had never introduced himself to anyone in the lower world. He had completely forgotten about that. "I'm Gravis," he said shyly.

The hunters felt bewildered. Was this shy youngster still the person they had called, the Demon? Right now, he looked like a shy country boy who didn't know how the world worked. The contrast was immense.

Joyce smiled happily. "Gravis, I will remember that." Then she turned around and walked to the exit, her teacher following her. Before she left, she turned around and winked at Gravis. "Until we meet again, Gravis." Then, she quickly left.

Gravis felt like he was in a dream. No girl had ever winked at him before. People in his hometown either kept away from him or acted deferentially. This was the first time where someone of the opposite gender made his heart flutter. He didn't know how to react to those unknown emotions he was feeling. In the end, he just stood there dumbly.

"Hahaha! Was that your first contact with a girl?" Gravis felt an arm wrapping around his shoulder. "Man, if I hadn't seen you acting all cold before, I would never believe you to be the rumored Demon," Anthony said with a laugh.

Gravis acted flustered. "Demon? What are you talking about?" he asked.

Anthony just laughed, and slowly, more people joined in. "You don't know? That's your nickname," he said while laughing.

Gravis felt weird. In his mind, he was just doing missions and tried to limit his contact with others. What was demon-like about him? He couldn't find anything on him that resembled any demon.

Anthony then pulled Gravis by the shoulder to a table. "Come on! We never got to know you, Gravis. Let's drink together!" he shouted.

Gravis felt a deep warmth inside, but he stopped halfway to the table. He clenched his fist in bitterness. If he grew too close, there would be a high chance that Heaven would forsake them. The friendlier people were to him, the more it hurt to push them away. He couldn't accept their friendship because the end result was their death.

"I'm sorry," he quietly muttered.

Anthony looked surprised. "What?"

"I'm really sorry," Gravis shouted, and ran out of the Hunting Guild. Before anyone could react, Gravis was already gone. They didn't know what had happened.

"Hey, wait!" Anthony shouted as he raced out of the guild, but he couldn't see Gravis anymore. He was already gone. After a while, Anthony sighed and went back into the guild.

Gravis, meanwhile, ran to the direction of his mission. The feeling of isolation he felt was overpowering. He cursed Heaven, and he cursed his luck!

After a while, he clenched his teeth again. The only way out of this situation was strength. He could not falter now and wallow in self-pity. If he gave up now, he would be suppressed by Heaven, forever.

Gravis took out the notice, new motivation shining in his eyes.

Target: The Demon (middle-grade demonic beast)

 

Chapter 36

Some hours after Gravis left the Hunting Guild, he arrived at a destroyed village. All the wooden huts were broken into pieces and piled into a hill. This was The Demon's lair. No one could afford to place a bounty for a medium-grade demonic beast around these parts. So, most of the villagers had fled the village, while only the old, stubborn villagers remained. Sadly, by the looks of the destroyed village, their end was not peaceful.

The Demon had made its nest out of the remains of the village to demonstrate its dominance. Humans had exclusive living space and were the overlords of this world. Only in the wilderness, could beasts thrive. By occupying an exclusive living space of the humans, The Demon was demonstrating its dominance.

Gravis spotted parts of The Demon poking out from beneath the rubble. The Demon was a gigantic centipede, about 30 meters in length. Hooked legs grew from the centipede's segmented body, which they could use to stab and grip their prey. Their relatively small front, together with their many legs, made them incredibly fast. On top of that, every section of its body was encased in thick armor. Their bite was also incredibly venomous.

Speed, defense, power, and venom. All of this made The Demon a fearsome opponent. It was probably very powerful, even for a medium-grade demonic beast. All parts of its body were made to kill. At the start of their lives, centipedes were small and weak, which meant that this specimen had to work hard to get to its current strength. So, its will would also be very robust.

Under normal circumstances, Gravis couldn't even hope to scratch the centipede. It would outspeed him and surround him with all its legs. At that point, only death would await him. There were only two things he could rely on: His Formation Array, and his Elemental Synchronicity.

Gravis quickly retreated to the nearby forest and began his preparations.

About an hour later, he came back to the village. He could not win against The Demon in a fair one-on- one fight. This time, he had to use his smarts.

Gravis slowly entered the village's vicinity. When he felt that he was close enough, he instantly released his Will-Aura and ran away as fast as possible. His Will-Aura would provoke The Demon into attacking him since he had so arrogantly displayed his killing intent in its nest.

Just as he had thought, the mound in the village grew restless, and a big head with two humongous mandibles rose. The Demon felt the direction the Will-Aura was coming from, and sprinted to it, not making a single noise.

Gravis ran with all of his power, but The Demon was about three times as fast as him. If it caught him before he reached the forest, he would die. Gravis felt The Demon coming closer, and cold sweat came rushing down his back. He hadn't been this afraid since his fight with the tortoise, and he felt like he would die soon.

When Gravis went past the forest's edge, The Demon was only 20 meters behind him, and it was gaining ground, fast! Gravis continued sprinting into the forest, and soon, the Demon entered as well.

It quickly reached Gravis and tried to bite him.

"This is it!" Gravis shouted and jumped upward with all his strength. The bite barely missed him, and the centipede quickly surrounded the landing spot of Gravis, its legs ready to strike. "Let's hope this works!" Gravis shouted and threw the jade token with all his strength in the middle of the surrounded area.

The jade token exploded, and many lines and drawings encompassed the surroundings in a ten-meter diameter. The centipede was completely boxed in since it had curled itself into a ring while surrounding Gravis.

The centipede felt something was wrong, and a shrill screech left its mouth. Gravis quickly took the chance, while the centipede was confused, and jumped through a gap between two of its legs. One leg completely bisected his left triceps, while the other one tore a massive gash into Gravis' other side.

Gravis was badly hurt and couldn't release his full power anymore, but that didn't matter now. The deed was done, and the remainder of his plan would not require his combat power.

Gravis quickly ran around the forest and cut down tree after tree. Then, he threw every tree into the Formation Array. The Demon was busy trying to break through the Formation Array and ignored the wood. Over a couple of minutes, Gravis filled nearly the whole restriction with wood.

After he had filled the restriction, he cut some more trees and laid them beside the formation. That took him another couple of minutes.

After a while, he had created multiple "streets" of trees that led to the Formation Array. Now, all preparations were finished. Gravis looked around and saw that a couple of trees had started burning already. In the hour, where he had retreated after initially seeing the village, he had created multiple campfires in the forest. After all this time, some trees had started to ignite. Now, it was showtime!

Gravis quickly controlled the flames and made them burn more ferociously. He expedited their fire, which made the flames grow hotter and bigger. He willed the flames to start burning the "streets" of trees he had created, and slowly, the fire crept to the Formation Array.

It took a little over a minute until the roaring flames started igniting the wood inside the Formation Array. The centipede grew frantic as the heat increased, and started thrashing around its body to throw away all the burning wood. It had some success, but somehow, the fires were still angled towards the Formation Array, even if the wood remained outside.

Just beyond the range of the Formation Array, lots of burning wood was placed, with their flames angled towards the Formation Array, like they were in an intense storm. The Demon tried everything to

throw those logs of burning wood away, but it couldn't touch them since they were beyond the Formation Array's boundary. After a while, it compressed its body into a tight ball and remained in the middle of the Formation Array.

Gravis saw this, and his brows furrowed. The centipede might survive like this. He did not know how effective the surrounding heat was, but the centipede did not touch the flames directly. This could be problematic.

Gravis quickly got another idea and started digging up the dirt around the Formation Array. Just as he had thought, the Formation Array was enclosing the centipede not in a dome, but in a ball. The Formation Array included the top and the bottom.

Using his Elemental Synchronicity, he broke the hard soil and began to move it away in vast swaths. Even with his Elemental Synchronicity and his incredible strength, it still took him about an hour to remove the soil completely. Now, the Formation Array looked like a flying ball. Half of the ball was filled with dirt, and the other half had the centipede.

Gravis quickly willed for the dirt to leave the Formation Array. He had control of the Formation Array, and he could decide what could leave. His newly dug hole was nearly full of dirt again, but now, the centipede was the only thing left in the ball.

Gravis cleared the dirt away again, but this time, it only took some minutes. He had already broken down the earth on the underside, and it was not hard to push the dirt up the slope again. Gravis grew more frantic, as he only had about 30 minutes left until the Formation Array would stop working.

The fire still raged, and Gravis threw more wood into the empty "pot" of earth. When he had finally filled the pot, only 20 minutes remained on the Formation Array. Gravis was breathing heavily. He had used all his strength for over 1.5 hours, but finally, it was done.

Gravis sat down and willed the flames to burn the wood under the centipede. It didn't take long until an absolutely furious pillar of flames was created under the centipede.

The Demon was madly twitching and moving around, but it could not grip or stab the Formation Array, so it could not climb it. This scene continued for multiple minutes.

Finally, after 15 minutes, the centipede lost its strength, and it fully collapsed into the flames. Gravis didn't want to take any chances, so he continued burning the centipede until the Formation Array collapsed.

Five minutes later, the Formation Array collapsed, and The Demon fell onto the burning wood. Gravis watched it, and only when it didn't move for another minute, did he go closer.

Gravis was immune to the flames, so he simply waltzed through them. He took a closer look at the centipede, and saw that its insides broke through its shell on multiple places. The shell couldn't withstand the increasing pressure of its insides and had exploded. The whole body was black and burned everywhere.

The Demon was definitely dead.

Gravis sighed in relief and sat down in the bonfire. He didn't mind the heat. It felt relaxing, actually.

The corpse couldn't be used for anything. Everything was burned beyond recognition and would soon turn to ash. Its head was still relatively intact since it was the last thing that fell to the flames. Gravis quickly cut off its head, by sawing through the weakened armor on its body, and carried it out of the fire. He had to prove that he had completed the mission, after all.

With this, he could finally temper his skin.

 

Chapter 37

Gravis quickly carried the head back to the Hunting Guild. When he dropped the head on the table, it received some cracks due to the head's hardness. The hunters in the bounty hall were shocked and excited. They had never come into contact with the corpse, or head, of a middle-grade demonic beast. Luckily, the bounty list was the same for every Hunting Guild, so it included middle, as well as high- grade demonic beasts.

There was not much they could salvage, yet luckily, the beast's Core was located in its head. A Beast Core was the center of a beast's power, but the Core wouldn't gain any relevancy until the beast evolved into an energy beast. All demonic beasts only used their bodies as weapons. A middle-grade demonic beast was a middle-grade demonic beast because its body was strong enough to create a Core.

The Core would stay empty and grow for a long time. When the Core reached its maturity, the middle- grade demonic beast would rise to high-grade. Then, it would start gathering Energy until the Core was completely filled. When the Core was full, the high-grade demonic beast would evolve into an energy beast.

The hunters tried everything, but they couldn't get to the Core. The head's flesh and the shell were just too hard. With red faces, they asked Gravis to retrieve the Core. Gravis also had issues getting to the Core, but he managed due to his high strength. The Core looked like a round crystal and had the size of Gravis' fist.

The hunters inspected it and followed the guidelines in their rulebook. After a while, they shockingly concluded that the Core was around 75% of the size of a fully evolved Core. This meant that the centipede was easily in the stronger half of middle-grade demonic beasts. They all looked at Gravis with astonishment. How had he killed such a monster?

They quickly figured out the price of the Core, and one of the hunters left to get more money from the guild bank. They didn't have such an amount readily available. After a while, the hunter returned with many more hunters following him. They heard about the head and wanted to see it. The hunters quickly crowded around the head and voiced their astonishment.

Gravis also quickly received his money. Beast Cores were used in the crafting of equipment, and thus, they were worth a lot. Gravis received 60 gold for the Core, which surprised him. That was way more than he had thought. The guild had to use up nearly all its savings to pay him, but they would make their money back by selling the Core.

Gravis left the bounty hall and went through the main entrance of the Hunting Guild.

"Heeey!" a loud synchronized cheer went through the hall when the hunters saw him. Gravis' expression grew cold, but inside, he was smiling bitterly. He couldn't grow close to any of them, so he released a slight amount of his Will-Aura to deter any contact. Any hunter that tried to interact with him felt nervous and retreated. They felt like Gravis was in a bad mood and that he probably didn't want to talk to anyone.

Sadly, Gravis wanted to talk with them more than anything right now, but he couldn't. With that, his frustration grew again. He quickly walked over to Simone and retrieved his gold. Before she could say anything, Gravis had already turned around and left the guild. Everyone in the guild felt confused. In their eyes, Gravis was too strange.

At one moment, he acted like a shy country boy, and at other moments, he radiated coldness and killing intent. They grew interested in his personality, but sadly, the hunters didn't know that this would be the last time they saw him.

When Gravis left the guild, he sprinted towards the town. His loneliness hurt every time he walked into the guild, yet he enjoyed the contact with others. He felt both happy and sad that he would not return to

the Hunting Guild.

He bought the remaining eight Skin-Pills he needed, and, unexpectedly, he still had around 110 gold left. The remaining eight Skin-Pills had cost him 56 Gold. The Core was worth 60 by itself, and together with the 100 gold reward, he reached his current, crazy amount of money.

After he bought the Skin-Pills, he rushed to the waterfall, where he had trained previously.

Suddenly, three bandits jumped out of the bushes. "Give us your money or-!"

BANG!

Gravis ran the shouting man over before any of them could react. Multiple bones in his body broke since he didn't have tempered skin. The bandits looked shocked at Gravis, who simply continued rushing away. They've never been in this situation before.

"Ugh, that dick didn't even let me finish my sentence," the one broken man spoke weakly, as he lay in the bushes. One of the others quickly walked towards him to lift him, but the man immediately screamed. "AAAHH, it hurts! Stop pulling, you bastard!"

Gravis ignored all this. If he vented his frustration on weaker enemies, he would stray into dangerous territory. As soon as he would feel a feeling of superiority, his will would weaken. The strength of his will had just increased by fighting the centipede, and he wouldn't risk weakening it.

After some time, he reached the waterfall. This time, a young woman was sitting under the waterfall. She looked beautiful, with glistening skin, and a smile of tranquility adorned her face. Yet, Gravis quickly ignored her. Sex didn't matter to him since he couldn't grow close to anyone. He threw everything about others out of his mind.

Gravis jumped to the waterfall and sat beneath it. The young woman had noticed him, and when she saw Gravis taking out a Skin-Pill, she grew excited. She stood up and walked over to him seductively. "Hey, how come you're here? I've never seen you before," she spoke with a husk in her voice.

Gravis looked at her coldly, consumed the pill, and ignored her.

The young woman furrowed her brows. She felt a little insulted that Gravis didn't even show a slight reaction to her beauty. Still, she walked closer to Gravis. "Hey, don't ignore me like that. I'm just here to talk," she said.

SWOOOSH!

The woman was swept away by a sudden tide of water and fell into the pond below the waterfall. Gravis could see a dagger in her hand. She wanted to use her beauty to lower his guard and then kill him for his wealth. Thanks to his Elemental Synchronicity, Gravis could see everything near the water, including the dagger.

The young woman tried to swim to the surface, but the currents of the pond kept her underwater. She started struggling and fighting for her life, but nothing seemed to help.

Gravis watched coldly as she drew her last breath and joined the other skeletons at the bottom of the pond.

The last youngster had hesitated for a long while, and Gravis had seen him trying to keep himself under control. The youngster hadn't been used to killing and still seemed to have some good in him. That was why Gravis had spared him before. But this woman immediately acted upon seeing his Skin- Pill. There was no hesitation in her actions.

The bandits were, at least, open and honest about their robbery. They probably would've also spared his life if he surrendered his wealth. The more people there were in a town, the more money they could get. Yet, this woman wanted to kill him in cold blood.

Gravis looked coldly at the pond for a while and then continued tempering his skin.

 

Chapter 38

Gravis sat under the waterfall for many hours. Since the Skin-Pills nutrients also allowed him to skip meals, he never left in all that time. Some people arrived in those hours and also tempered their skins. Most of them just sat under the waterfall, and when they saw Gravis taking out a Skin-Pill, they just looked at him in envy. Yet, they didn't do anything.

Unfortunately, even though most of the new arrivals ignored him, the pond's skeleton count had been increased by another two. One guy tried to attack him directly. The other guy offered him some poisoned food. Gravis didn't like deceit or people trying to kill him, so he had no scruples killing the two. Heaven was continually sending him weak enemies, and Gravis was starting to get annoyed.

Finally, after many hours, he had successfully tempered his skin. It had taken so much to get here. He had killed a mid-grade demonic beast, four low-grade demonic beasts, and countless ferocious beasts. He had been hunting non-stop for basically two whole weeks. If his body were like any others, he would only need to kill a few ferocious beasts to temper his skin. That would have been so much easier.

Yet, Gravis also suspected that his skin was probably harder than the average tempered skin. He had taken 20 Skin-Pills, after all. The nutrients had to go somewhere. His skin had probably been tempered to the best possible state. He had begun with tempered organs and blood, which gave him a far sturdier foundation than others. He grew a little excited when he thought about his muscles' power in the future.

Gravis left the waterfall and walked into the forest. The pressure of the entrance exams' deadline for the Elemental Guilds had made him rush around everywhere. Finally, he could relax a little. When no one was around, Gravis took out his saber and slashed his left arm.

CLANK!

Gravis had used a lot of strength, but the saber didn't break the skin. He had used quite some force, and the slash would, at least, draw some blood from people with tempered skin. Yet, his skin seemed

fine. He could only see a faint white mark. He attacked again, this time, using all the force he could muster with only one hand.

CRSH!

The saber drew some blood, but it was only superficial, like someone scraping their arm on the corner of a table. With some cloth, the little blood could easily be wiped away. A normal person wouldn't even bother to use anything to cover the scratch.

Gravis was quite surprised since that slash would have buried his saber around half-way into someone's arm if they had tempered skin. It seemed like taking so many Skin-Pills didn't only have downsides. With this, someone without tempered muscles wouldn't even be able to break his skin. They could only injure him if they landed an attack on one of his orifices. Of course, he wouldn't allow that. He never wanted to be the victim of one of his own ass-stabbings.

Gravis felt happy and relieved. The time-pressure was wholly gone, and he still had around 70 days until the entrance exams. On top of that, he also had a lot of money. He felt like a knot had loosened inside him, and with a smile, he lay on the ground and watched the sky.

It was night-time by now, and Gravis was looking at the unfamiliar starscape. This was the first time where he could watch the stars in leisure while being in the lower world, and his mind wandered. He had been in the lower world for a little over three weeks, by now. With the time dilation, only around half an hour would have passed in his homeworld. This felt so bizarre to him.

Orpheus would have only drunk around two cups of his coffee in that time. Forneus wouldn't even have finished a lesson. The contrast between the worlds was immense. When immortals and Gods in his homeworld cultivated, many years would go by. Gravis couldn't imagine how much a low world would change in that time.

Empires would rise and fall. Generations of families would sink into oblivion. Maybe even new kinds of beasts would evolve. Mortals would rise to immortality, and immortals may even ascend into Gods. Yet, all this changed nothing in his homeworld. The lower worlds could exist for as long as they wanted. His homeworld wouldn't care.

In Gravis' surroundings, he heard some animals walking around. Not every animal was a ferocious beast. There were still all kinds of variety and life in the wilderness. If one looked at the world, as a whole, ferocious beasts were actually very rare. In multiple kilometers around, there may only be one or two, and that was considering that he was in the middle of a lively forest.

As he lay in the grass, Gravis lifted his hand to the sky and gripped, like he wanted to catch a star. "Someday," he muttered to himself. "For the first time in my life, my realm has increased. I've been fighting so much. The practical tests, the bandits, the beasts. I went through so much, just to take my first step towards strength."

Then, Gravis smiled sheepishly. "Well, I have a Will-Aura, and I have incredible amounts of fighting experience. I've also had tempered organs and blood for around 16 years, by now. I'm not sure if there is anyone who has such a solid foundation like me. Just like Orpheus always told me: the sturdier the foundation, the easier the path."

Gravis continued talking to himself. Maybe because of the lack of social contact, he started seeking social contact with himself. He started talking and narrating his experiences like someone stood beside him and listened. Some may think he was crazy, but others would understand him and empathize with his plight. He wanted companionship. He wanted friends, brothers, sisters, uncles, his mother, his father, and maybe, even a relationship. Yet, in this lower world, he was alone.

Completely alone.

 

Chapter 39

The next day, Gravis asked for directions to Body City. This was the city where the yearly entrance exams for the Elemental Guilds were being held. Gravis didn't have to search for long since Body City was the biggest city for thousands of kilometers. Nearly everyone knew where Body City was located.

Body City was located about a thousand kilometers to the north. That was quite the distance. If he normally walked, he would take forever to get there. Luckily, he had quite a strong body and good stamina. Gravis could run for around three hours before he needed a break. If he took a one-hour break after three hours of running, he would reach the city in about 26 hours, if he didn't sleep. Luckily, Gravis still had a lot of time, so he wouldn't need to rush.

Gravis started his journey on the same day. There was nothing in Wilderness Town that kept him there. Maybe, he could also find some exciting things in the city. It was, after all, the center of cultivation for the surrounding thousands of kilometers. Gravis grew excited at the prospect of exploring such an important city.

Gravis left the city and began his journey to Body City. Yet, of course…

"Pay a toll to-"

BANG!

Gravis ran the poor bandit over, and multiple bones in the bandit broke, even though the bandit had tempered skin. If it were before Gravis had tempered his skin, the bandit wouldn't be this injured. Yet, with the added hardness of Gravis' new skin, the impact was harder.

The bandit flew for over five meters into a nearby tree and hit it, leaving a huge dent in it.

"Ahhh," Gravis could only hear a small whimper of pain from the bandit's voice.

"Dick!" Gravis heard the bandit shout. With that, he stopped and turned around. He quickly ran back to the bandit, who was lying weakly before the tree.

"You try to rob me, and you call me a dick?" Gravis asked with a sneer. Spite filled his voice. How shameless could a person be?

The bandit weakly sat up, leaning on the tree. "You didn't even give me the courtesy to finish my phrase." The bandit weakly rubbed the back of his neck and groaned in pain.

"What does it matter?" Gravis asked flatly.

"Oh, come on, man! That's how things work. I jump out and say 'pay a toll to pass or face death', and the other side either pays the toll or not. If not, we talk to each other and exchange our ideologies. Then, we fight. If I win, I'll take a bigger toll, and if they win, they either just walk past me or take some of my stuff. It's normal, dude."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "That sounds nice, but that does not change the fact that you're trying to rob me."

The bandit groaned in pain. "You just don't get it, man. Isn't this also some kind of training? We get to fight and train, and the loser has to pay up. I mean, nobody dies, so it's alright."

Now Gravis grew a little confused. "But you said that your phrase was 'pay a toll or face death'. You are kind of saying that you would kill them if they don't pay."

The bandit groaned again. This time, in exasperation. "Dude, that's just posturing! It's to sound cool. Everyone knows that bandits normally don't kill. We just fight, and that's that."

Gravis raised an eyebrow. "Actually, I've seen some bandits attacking a nearby village. They tried to kill the people and **** the women. So, I kind of don't believe you."

The bandit spat in disgust. "Those fuckers are the reason why the life of a bandit grows harder these days. They're not bandits. They're murderers, or raiders if you want. Those sacks of shit don't understand how the world works. If they start raiding and killing, the cities and towns will send out guards with killing orders. Then what?"

Now, Gravis was surprised. "So, if you encounter a guard, you don't get killed?"

The bandit sneered at Gravis. "Did you live your whole life under a rock or something? No, we don't get killed. They just kind of… bully us."

"Bully you?" Gravis looked astonished.

"Yeah, you know, like, slapping us around and taunting us. Sometimes, they even take our stuff. Oh, look at me. I'm a guard. I'm so safe in my own house and in my walls. I'm better than everyone else," the bandit taunted in mock sarcasm. "Tch, fucking arrogant-ass, shitty-ass tin cans."

Gravis ignored the vulgar language. "I really don't understand. Wouldn't stealing from the traveling merchants discourage them from traveling? Why would anyone important let that happen?"

The bandit groaned again in exasperation. "Dude, you really are the textbook definition of an innocent village boy from the mountains, are ya? You've probably even never visited a city before, right?" The bandit looked at Gravis, who didn't react.

The bandit spat to the side. "Man, just my luck running into you." Suddenly, the bandit looked surprised as he got an idea. "Or, you running into me, HA HA haha," he laughed wildly.

Gravis just looked at him in indifference.

"Oh, come on! It's a fucking joke, asshole! Don't just fucking look at me with that deadpan-ass, corpse- ass stare of yours."

Gravis did not comply.

The bandit grew increasingly annoyed. "What? Say something!" he shouted.

Instead, Gravis just lifted his right hand to his chin in thought and continued watching. Gravis had a particular feeling right now, which concerned him.

He kind of liked the guy.

Even though the bandit was continuously insulting and disrespecting him, it bizarrely made Gravis feel like they were growing closer. This was so strange. No one had ever talked to him like this before. This was a completely new experience for him. Gravis looked up into the sky, in thought.

"What? You estimating how far you can throw that stick in your ass? Shit's gonna pierce the Heaven's probably, by how hard and stiff it looks," the bandit continued.

Gravis just continued thinking. The bandit spoke without restraint. He spoke without social norms, and without any care of what others might think. In Gravis' eyes, the bandit was following his own emotions and desires without restraint. Wasn't that precisely what Gravis wished? Didn't Gravis wish for a free life, without restraints?

"Hey! Did that stick pierce your brain too? Or did your parents not find-"

Suddenly, Gravis felt incredible fear. He didn't understand why, but it felt like, if he remained here, he would die. Without hesitation, Gravis sprinted as far away as possible.

"-a toilet to shit in, so-"

BOOOOOOM!

Gravis was already 30 meters away from the bandit, yet a gigantic shockwave hit him in the back and threw him away for over a hundred meters. His insides churned, and the world turned white. Incredible heat was melting the surroundings, while the shockwave threw everything far away into the distance.

Gravis hit the ground and slid for a while until he finally stopped. For the most part, his skin was fine, and his bones and muscles only hurt a little. If he didn't have tempered skin, he would have been heavily injured.

Gravis slowly got up and looked at the spot where the bandit was. His eyes grew wide at what he saw.

"What the hell?"

 

Chapter 40

Gravis saw a round crater with a diameter of nearly 100 meters. Everything had been swept away, and the still-standing trees at the crater's border were burning fiercely. In the middle of the crater was a round rock, around one meter high. The rock sat at the exact position where the bandit used to be.

"A meteorite," Gravis concluded.

Out of nowhere, a meteorite had struck the bandit. When the bandit and Gravis were initially speaking, they stood at a distance of a couple of meters. What were the chances that a random meteor just suddenly struck the exact position of the bandit? This was no mere "bad luck". This was a deliberate action.

On top of that, Gravis had felt an unimaginable fear before it happened. Gravis wasn't delusional. He knew that he didn't have any kind of secret, highly advanced sense of danger. Such a sense would take forever to develop, and his cultivation realm was way too low for that. This sense of fear was a deliberate warning.

A sudden meteorite and an unexplainable feeling of fear.

Only Heaven could do something like this. For some reason, Heaven wanted to kill this bandit immediately and not implicate him. Gravis also understood why Heaven warned him, even though it really didn't like him.

If Heaven could just kill him like it pleased, with a meteor or a lightning strike, for example, then there was no fair chance for him. Heaven had only stolen his karmic luck and used soft tactics up until now. There were surely rules that it needed to follow. Also, if Heaven could just straight up kill him, Gravis' father would have never allowed him to cultivate.

As Gravis thought more about it, he got another idea. Maybe, it wasn't the rules stopping Heaven from killing him. It had killed the poor bandit just fine. Maybe, it was because of Gravis' father. Heaven could

bend its own rules however it pleased with others, but if it bent the rules with Gravis, his father would probably grow furious.

Gravis had heard from Orpheus that not every world had the same Heaven. Heaven in his homeworld was its own entity and only cared about its own earth. Heaven of his homeworld was the strongest Heaven of all, and every other Heaven was below it. This meant Heaven of this lower world was not the same Heaven as his homeworld.

On top of that, it was obviously way weaker than Heaven in his homeworld. Since Gravis' father was as strong as the highest Heaven, this Heaven in the lower world was obviously much weaker. If Heaven of the lower world pissed his father off…

"So, that's the reason…"

Gravis remembered that the bandit wanted to insult his parents. Insulting his parents? Gravis felt like he understood how Heaven felt.

It was like a situation, where two young kids stood beside a sleeping tiger, and one of the two watched the other one taking out a stick to poke it. The first kid immediately grew panicked and used everything to stop the other from poking the tiger. "You can die if you want, but don't pull me into this!" was probably what this lower Heaven thought.

As his time in the lower world progressed, Gravis began to understand Heaven more and more. First, the luck. Then, the soft tactics. Now, the direct interference. Gravis' father ensured that Heaven would keep by its own rules. Heaven could only interfere to a certain degree regarding Gravis.

Without his father, Gravis would have long died. Though, on the other hand, if Gravis didn't have his father, he would be way luckier than now. What an interesting contrast. So, there actually was a certain degree of contrast and balance. Everything had its advantages and disadvantages.

"If that is true, is Heaven actually fair?" Gravis muttered to himself. Slowly, he began to feel like something in him brightened lightly. It felt mysterious. It felt like something that he never had, suddenly appeared. He felt a slight warmth coming from within.

"Is this karmic luck?" he asked himself. As if it answered him, he felt it slowly vibrate. Heaven heard everything. Maybe, this was Heaven's method to try to get him over to its side. If he accepted Heaven, he wouldn't be this unlucky anymore. He would probably stumble upon great opportunities, and together with his Elemental Synchronicity, he would soar through the cultivation path.

Yet, if he accepted Heaven, he would forever be under its rule. Heaven would never allow anyone else to grow as strong as itself again. If he followed Heaven, he would always remain beneath it. On top of that, he would betray his whole family. If Gravis' father decided to offer peace with Heaven, it would probably accept happily. His father obviously had not, though. This meant there was a deeper reason.

Gravis turned to look at the meteorite. Heaven is fair? If Heaven truly were fair, it would not break its own rules to protect its own hide. On top of that, if the bandit actually managed to utter, what he wanted to say, Gravis' father probably wouldn't care. Why would the Opposer care about the ramblings of an ant? Yet, Heaven, even if the possibility was incredibly small, decided to ignore its own rules. It was only fair when it wanted to be.

Gravis sneered. "Fuck off."

Immediately, he felt the warm feeling inside of him vanish, and he heard a loud thunder coming from the sky. There were no clouds or even lightning. It was just a loud thunder.

Gravis grinned. It seemed like Heaven was angry that it didn't succeed.

Gravis had never been on the same path as everyone else. Everyone else lived their life in karmic luck. They were all trying to grow closer to Heaven. Heaven was the supreme ruler of everything on earth, innoveldrama

their heart. Trying to understand Heaven's rules? Trying to grow closer to Heaven? Trying to leave their life at Heaven's mercy?

Gravis was different. Gravis' family were the only ones, who fought against Heaven. They were the only enemies of Heaven. Everything under Heaven was under its mercy, except Gravis' family. That was because they had his father. They were destined to never walk the same path as Heaven. They would remain enemies as long as one side was still alive.

That was why his father was called the Opposer.