Ch. 51..60

Chapter 51

Ever since that day, Gravis started training in Martial Arts. In that time, Gravis had learned a lot from William. William even considered Gravis as one of his students, but whenever William tried to close the distance between them, Gravis blocked. Gravis also had never accepted any Martial Art for free, except those he had earned himself.

Sparring for free Martial Arts was different than William just giving them to him. As long as everything went down like a reasonable trade, Heaven was fine with it, but as soon as William tried to close the distance between them, Gravis felt like he had seen Heaven's shadow behind William. If Gravis accepted, Heaven would not spare William.

In the beginning, it was tough for Gravis to reject William. His frustration towards Heaven soared, and his bitterness ate him up inside, yet after multiple days, he started getting used to it. Now, it was not so hard anymore to decline William. He had grown used to it by now.

Jeros had also visited from time to time and wanted to spar with Gravis, yet Gravis always declined. He had to keep his Will-Aura sharp, and sparring would only dull it. If someone sparred too much, they would get 'fighting experience' in sparring, which was an issue because spars were never fought to the death.

If Gravis sparred more, he would get too used to his enemies, and he would also get used to using non-lethal attacks. Maybe he would even start doing risky maneuvers because he knew that he was not in danger. If he got too used to this, he might make those mistakes in a real battle.

Another person also frequented the garden where Gravis was training. It was the young man who had gotten angry at him before. He was, apparently, William's sole student. Gravis also got to know that all the other workers at the Martial Hall were just employees and didn't take Martial Arts that seriously. They just knew some of them and how to sell them.

On the other hand, the young man had trained under William for multiple years and had soaked up nearly all of William's knowledge. Gravis also got to know that the young man was going to attend the entrance exams as well.

When Gravis started training there, the young man was avoiding him like the plague. He still could not accept that the Martial Styles, he had learned, could be useless. Yet, even if he didn't recognize that fact, he still stopped practicing Martial Styles and concentrated on Martial Arts.

Every time the young man wanted to practice a Martial Style, he involuntarily thought back to Gravis' spar with his master. He also thought back to the explanation Gravis gave, and every time he thought of that, it felt like a pit was in his stomach.

By following Gravis' explanation and logic, the young man started seeing weaknesses in his Martial Styles. This had frustrated him more, and he grew even angrier.

The young man had confronted Gravis once when he was alone. He had challenged Gravis to a fight, but Gravis declined. Gravis wanted to spar as little as possible. The young man then announced that he would attack either way and that Gravis had no choice but to fight.

The young man had slashed at Gravis, who just continued sitting, and the young man's sword bounced off of Gravis' skin. The young man didn't have tempered muscles, so he had no way to penetrate Gravis' skin. He tried a couple more times, but nothing worked.

Gravis had then said: "What's the point of Martial Arts when your enemy outclasses you greatly with their body? What's the point of Martial Styles, if your enemy sees through its weakness easily?"

Usually, the young man would grow angry, but in this case, he couldn't. He had used everything he got, but couldn't even penetrate Gravis' skin. The young man retreated and apologized to Gravis, not sure what to think. This had been a big blow to him.

The young man appeared again after a full week, and the first thing he did was apologize to Gravis for his disrespect. He had cast away his pure faith in Martial Arts and Martial Styles and saw it for what they were.

They were tools to increase someone's strengths at the cost of some disadvantages. Martial Arts and Styles were no longer divine things in the young man's eyes.

He had also politely given his name to Gravis, which was Vasil. Vasil had thrown away all his preconceived notions of power and started to watch Gravis, Jeros, and William earnestly. When Jeros and William sparred, he paid extra attention. Jeros was not using any particular style, but multiple Martial Arts could be seen by the movements he made.

Surprisingly, William had also started changing the way he fought. He could not change a life full of experience, but he could start mixing his different styles. Slowly, William was becoming stronger, and Jeros started having trouble suppressing him.

In a surprising twist, Vasil had asked Jeros to teach him some things. When William had seen that, he didn't grow jealous, but proud instead. His student was finally free from the shackles that had bound him to Martial Styles and started learning from others as well. People were able to change, even if they seemed hopeless at first glance.

At some point, Gravis had shown his Will-Aura to William, whose face had promptly whitened. William had also seen that Vasil and Jeros were impacted by the Will-Aura as well, even though they were several meters away. This gave William a crazy idea.

"What if you can concentrate your aura onto a single person?" he asked.

Gravis' eyes had quickly widened, and he started thinking about all kinds of possibilities. Starting that day, Gravis was ingraining Martial Arts into his movements by day, and trying to control his Will-Aura by

night. He had a lot to do, and for the first time in his life, Gravis was actually training.

He had only learned theoretical knowledge together with life and death fights in his homeworld. In this world, he had only fought and also never trained. Yet, what was the job of a Research Assistant? Wasn't it to learn and collect the cultivation method of the lower worlds? Gravis was finally doing his job.

After 70 days, Gravis had learned a lot of Martial Arts who could replace specific movements of his body. He had also started making progress on his Will-Aura. He could still release it in all of his surroundings, but he also managed to stop his Will-Aura from affecting the area behind him. Like this, the remaining Will-Aura increased in density, and thus, in effectiveness.

Gravis had also taken the 13 Bone-Pills, and just as he had thought, he needed 20. At some point, Gravis walked to the local Hunting Guild but returned in frustration. Apparently, there was not a single mission.

Starting about a week before Gravis arrived in Body City, all the beasts had started vanishing. It looked like they stayed clear of Body City's surroundings. Heaven was really motivated to stop Gravis, even if the whole of Body City was collateral.

So, sadly, Gravis was not able to temper his bones fully.

And just like that, 70 days passed and the entrance exams drew near.

 

Chapter 52

The day had finally arrived.

Finally, Gravis' goal was in reach. Did he not chose an elemental lower world just to practice in elemental cultivation? Finally, after all these fights and Heaven's schemes, Lightning was in Gravis' reach. Soon, he would take his first true step towards opposing Heaven.

Outside of Body City was a humongous arena, nearly a full kilometer across. The floor of the arena rose nearly five meters above the ground, and there were no seats for an eventual audience. Apparently, the Elemental Guilds didn't care about onlookers. In the middle of every side of the arena were luxurious white stairs leading to the arena with several guards placed at each one.

Those guards were no ordinary guards judging by their outfits. Instead of wearing the usual armor and weapon of regular guards, they were wearing different colored robes. Some of them wore fiery red colored robes, while others wore robes as blue as the deep sea. Gravis could guess that those guards were not from the city, but probably from the Elemental Guilds.

It was still early in the morning, and not many people had arrived, and Gravis was one of the first participants who came. He walked to one of the stairs, which had four guards and stopped some meters before them. "I am here to register for the entrance exams," he announced.

The guards all smiled at him friendly, which seemed unusual in Gravis' eyes. Why would guards care about participants? Yet, what Gravis didn't know was that the guards were instructed to act very friendly. Every participant was a potential new asset to one of their guilds, and a good first impression may push a participant to join their specific guild.

"Welcome!" a guard with earthen-yellow robes walked forward and welcomed Gravis. "First of all, we must test if you are eligible to participate." Then, he pointed at a stone table beside the arena. "Please put your hand on the table. It will verify if you are in the eligible age range," he explained patiently.

"Thank you," Gravis said plainly and walked over to the table. The table was gray and made out of stone, but Gravis could see some signs of a Formation Array. Before the guards could tell him what he should do, Gravis placed his hand on a round stone in the middle of the table.

The table shuddered slightly, but that was not due to Gravis using too much strength, but due to the mechanisms and Formation Arrays doing their work. After some seconds, the table shone in a green light. Gravis retrieved his hand and looked at the guards.

The guards nodded at him. "Alright, next, we need to test if you have tempered skin." A guard in fiery red robes walked forward and unsheathed his sword. "Let me warn you. We don't have an easy way to verify this, so we are using a basic attack. If you have tempered skin, everything will be fine, but if you don't, your arm will be severed. Are you ready?" he warned and asked.

Gravis simply lifted his right arm so the guard could strike him, without a comment. The guard readied himself and chopped at Gravis' arm.

CLANK!

The sword bounced back with cracks in its blade, and the guards looked shocked. They were using quite some strength when testing the participants. Usually, someone with a tempered skin would receive a slight cut, yet the sword bounced when it hit Gravis' skin and even cracked a little.

Suddenly, the guards all started laughing. "Serves you right for using your own weapon. This is exactly why we have the testing blades," shouted one with a white robe.

The guard in fiery robes could only sigh bitterly. He looked at his sword in dismay. "My Fire Blade," he whimpered in agony. That sword had cost him a lot of money.

Gravis didn't console him. Stupidity had its price. Maybe the guy could learn something from this experience, so Gravis just looked at the other guards. "So, can I go up now?" he asked.

The others smiled friendly and nodded. "Welcome to the Elemental Guilds' entrance exams," they all said in unison and made way for him.

'This is a nice procession,' Gravis thought as he jumped up to the arena, skipping the stairs.

Suddenly, the guards below looked grim. "He jumped the stairs," one said to the others, and they nodded. "He might have tempered muscles," another one said. "Should we revoke his participation? We all know that it is forbidden for people with tempered muscles to sign up for the entrance exam."

Another one shook his head. "That is not our task. We are only here to judge the participants on their age and their skin. If he truly has tempered muscles, the Guild Masters will throw him out. Let's just continue doing our work," he said. The others agreed and continued doing what they were doing before.

Gravis saw multiple people already standing in the arena. Most of them seemed to be around 16 years old, and they had all gathered in small groups and talked with each other. Gravis ignored them, walked to a corner, and sat down. He had only registered, so he only had to wait now.

Gravis took advantage of the time and started concentrating on his Will-Aura. He released it and tried to shrink the affected space further. His practice in Martial Arts had already finished, and only actual fights could further his mastery in those. Right now, concentrating on his Will-Aura was the only thing he could do.

The other participants looked at the newcomer, but before they could greet him, he had already turned away and sat at a corner. After they saw that, most of them ignored him, but some tried to strike up a conversation with Gravis. Yet, when they got closer to Gravis, they started feeling nervous for no particular reason.

The closer they got, the more the nervousness transformed into fear, and all of them stopped at different distances and retreated. They shot a look at Gravis, not knowing what was happening, but

they all started giving Gravis a wide berth and continued talking with each other.

Gravis continued training his Will-Aura, and as time passed, more people gathered at the arena. When the time had reached noon, one half of the arena was packed with around 5,000 youngsters, but strangely, no one stood in the surrounding 30 meters of Gravis. From above, he looked like a lone tree outside of a forest. He was an outsider.

Suddenly, multiple people jumped up to the arena from the furthest side of Body City. They were men and women with ostentatious robes. Their aura, body, and bearing were similar to their elements.

One young-looking woman was small and emanated a friendly, calm aura, like a deep lake. Her robes were, of course, deep blue.

One middle-aged man was over two meters tall with bulging muscles bursting out from the ripped-off sleeves of his earthen-yellow robe.

One younger-looking man had spiky hair, and a long sword hung on his back. With his fiery-red robes, he looked like a volcano ready to burst.

In total, there were seven different people in different colored robes. They all represented their elements and stood beside each other.

"The entrance exam will now begin!" they all shouted in unison, and Gravis opened his eyes.

Motivation and greed for power was burning in his eyes.

 

Chapter 53

All participants looked up from what they were doing. Everyone saw the seven people of the Elemental Guilds, and the more knowledgeable ones knew that those seven people were the Guild Masters. These seven were the most powerful people in the Elemental Guilds, and all of them were in the Energy Gathering stage.

Gravis also stood up, yet before he could concentrate on the Guild Masters, Gravis noticed something else.

At the sides of the arena, Gravis could see the heads of some people looking over the edge of the arena to look at what was going on. They had grabbed the side of the arena with their hands and held themselves there to watch.

The people behind them, who didn't have any space to grab the edge of the arena, jumped up continuously to look. They looked like dogs who had ventured too far into high grass and jumped over it to see where they were going. Gravis thought that this looked really bizarre. 'Do they have no shame?' Gravis had also seen Jeros' head appearing for a short time.

Suddenly, one man, who had been able to grab the ledge of the arena, got pulled down, and Gravis could hear a scuffle. Shortly after, Jeros' head had replaced the man's at the edge of the arena. Jeros simply winked at Gravis.

Gravis smiled a little, feeling some embarrassment for the spectator's actions. Then, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and looked back at the Guild Masters.

"Alright, everyone gather at one side of the arena!" shouted an old man with blackish-blue robes.

When everyone had gathered at one side of the arena, the young woman with deep-blue robes took out a crystal ball. The crystal ball looked grey and lifeless. She walked to the middle of the arena and

then gestured for the youngsters to come. "Please walk past this crystal ball one at a time," she kindly asked.

Many of the youngsters didn't know what this was about, but one of them walked forward, and when he passed the crystal ball, nothing happened. The Guild Master of Water didn't seem to mind and just gestured for the next person to come.

Slowly, one person after another just walked past the crystal ball, and it never reacted. The crowd of youngsters grew denser at the crystal ball, and now more than one youngster passed at a time. The Guild Master of Water didn't seem to mind. When the line got too wide, she told them to pass again, but closer.

The speed of the line had also increased, and the youngsters were practically passing the crystal ball with a sprint. From above, the whole scene looked like a vat of water had suddenly received a hole, and water was furiously rushing out.

"Oh?" the Guild Master of Water released a slight sound of surprise, as the crystal started glowing slightly. It wasn't very bright, and not very many people noticed it, but the glow was slowly increasing. The Guild Master of Water grew more interested in the participants and started watching those who haven't passed yet, with more interest.

As time progressed, the glow increased even more, and it was shining now like a little star. The gazes of the Guild Masters' increased in intensity, and they started to concentrate on the youngsters, who had not passed yet.

Suddenly, the glow increased exponentially, and the Guild Master of Water's gaze focused on a couple of youngsters. 'They're coming!' she shouted in her mind. She felt the crystal ball and how it was close to its breaking point due to its released energy, and she knew, the person she was waiting for would be the next one.

The greed in all the Guild Masters' eyes increased, and they all focused on a black-haired youngster, carrying a black saber. The youngster ran to the crystal ball, which started shuddering, and ultimately exploded when he arrived beside it.

"It's you!" the Guild Master of Water excitedly shouted and tried to grab the youngster.

WHOOOM!

It felt like a massive wave of death and killing intent was released, and many of the surrounding participants were affected so strongly, that they even flew back like a shockwave had struck them. The Guild Master of Water also felt the Will-Aura and blanched. She didn't expect it to be this strong. She froze momentarily as a saber chop came down on her head with unimaginable killing intent.

The youngster was, of course, Gravis. When he had seen how the crystal ball lighted up when he got closer, he anticipated that this was probably a device to check for something. He also had the inkling that this device would likely react to him. When he realized that, he started watching the Guild Masters' closely.

The more the crystal ball shone, the more the greed in their eyes increased. They looked like they were going to go mad with desire. Gravis was not sure what they were after, but being greedily eyed by more powerful people couldn't be something good. At this point, Gravis had decided to flee.

Yet, if he just ran away suddenly, the Guild Masters could single him out and use any kind of excuse to chase after him. Then, he would have to deal with all of them at once. So, Gravis decided to catch them by surprise and kill one of them immediately. This was better than getting chased by all of them. He had concentrated his Will-Aura as much as possible on the Guild Master of Water, and it had worked. The Wind Splitting Chop would split her head.

CLANK!

Suddenly, a bolt of lighting from the side hit his saber to make the attack deviate, yet Gravis' saber was made out of Void-Stone. This was the first attack made out of Energy that Gravis had received in his life, and the Void-Stone absorbed the energy without issue. The old man in blackish-blue robes blanched when he saw that.

CRRRRRRK!

A wall of stone appeared before Gravis, and his saber cut through most of it but had been stopped in the end. The surprise attack was a failure, so Gravis quickly retrieved his saber and ran away with all his power. Those people were all stronger than him, and he couldn't possibly win against them.

Suddenly, Gravis saw the imposing-looking Guild Master of Earth landing before him, blocking his way. All the others, except the Guild Master of Water, appeared around him, staring at Gravis with intense eyes of greed and astonishment, and Gravis felt like death was as close as never before.

 

Chapter 54

Gravis was nervous. He had realized already that those Guild Masters were in the Energy Gathering stage. He knew that without a surprise attack, he couldn't even injure one of them. This was the biggest crisis Gravis faced ever since he arrived in the lower world.

"What an explosive temperament," said the Guild Master of Fire. "He is perfect for our Fire Guild," he announced with excitement.

"Fool! He hasn't even shown a slight inkling before he attacked. He is better suited for our Darkness Guild!" said an old, decrepit looking man in pure black robes. He looked so thin and weak that one would think he could die at any moment.

"You are both wrong!" shouted the old man in blackish-blue robes. "He was calm until he suddenly struck. This is the temperament of Lightning!" he shouted.

The Guild Masters of Earth, Light, and Wind didn't say anything. They had seen Gravis' temperament, and it did not fit their elements. They could only sigh in regret. Yet, no one cared about the slightly traumatized Guild Master of Water.

By now, Gravis had realized that he might've misjudged the situation. None of the Guild Masters made any moves on him and, instead, seemed very interested in him joining their respective Guilds. Yet, Gravis did not lower his vigilance.

"You asshole!" everyone heard the Guild Master of Water shout from the distance. She did not look calm anymore, and she now looked more like a tsunami that was about to devastate the land. "Why did you attack me?" she asked in rage and charged at Gravis. "If I don't teach you respect for your elders today, I won't call myself human anymore!"

An incredible wave of water appeared and shot at Gravis. He quickly readied himself, but he knew that he couldn't block this attack. He promptly used another Wind Splitting Chop to reduce the incoming

water as much as possible, but it actually never reached him.

A big wall of earth appeared before Gravis and blocked the wave. "Fuck off, Hammer! That brat nearly killed me, so I have to teach him a lesson!" the Guild Master of Water screeched in absolute mad fury.

"Calm down, Sine," the Guild Master of Earth bellowed. "You have tried to grab him, and if I were in his place, I would have also attacked."

"I don't care! Let me at him!" she continued screaming in rage, yet the other Guild Masters blocked her. Judging by their faces, they were used to this scene. Apparently, the temper of the Guild Master of Water wasn't as calm as everyone initially believed.

The other participants looked at this scene in shock. First of all, many of them got thrown away by a wave of killing intent, and then suddenly, a big battle had broken out, and one of the Guild Masters nearly died. They didn't know how to take this situation.

A kind old man in warm light-yellow robes walked closer to Gravis, who also had calmed down by now. "Young man, tell us, why did you decide to attack the Guild Master of Water with the intent to kill?" he asked calmly.

Gravis felt bad. Obviously, the Guild Masters did not intend him any harm, but he had attacked one with the intent to kill. Yet, Gravis still felt like he would do it again since he couldn't entrust his life to others. "I've seen the greed in your eyes, and I've felt threatened," he explained defensively.

A look of understanding appeared in the Guild Masters' eyes, and some of them laughed bitterly. "Yeah, I can see how you can interpret that the wrong way," a young woman with floating green hair and green robes said. "There are many greedy people in the world, so being careful of others is a necessity for survival." She smiled bitterly.

"But, you have attacked without completely understanding the situation, and you even used all your power to kill Sine. This does not conform with the nature of wind, so I can't accept you into my Guild."

Gravis didn't really care since he wasn't interested in the wind element in the first place. Instead, he looked around the other Guild Masters and still saw the greed in their eyes. Yet, he knew now that it wasn't greed for any of his treasures, but for him directly. For some reason, they all wanted to have him in their Guild, badly.

Gravis also turned to the Guild Master of Water, who had calmed down a little by now. "I'm sorry," he said.

"You think an apology is enough for nearly killing me?!" And like that, she exploded again and tried to get through the immovable wall of other Guild Masters, unsuccessfully of course. She tried everything to get to Gravis. She even summoned loads and loads of waves and water beams as attacks, but the Guild Master of Earth and the Guild Master of Fire didn't even let a drop pass.

Gravis felt a little bad for her, but he had already apologized. What else did she want? He wouldn't let himself get beaten up just so that she could alleviate her fury. He turned back to the Guild Masters. "So, why are you so interested in me, and what was that crystal for?" he asked.

"The crystal senses Heavenly Pressure. When we saw it shine, we knew that a Heavenborn was attending the entrance exams, and so we grew excited. We don't get a Heavenborn in every entrance exam, and when our Guild manages to raise one, we will be rewarded by the Heaven Sect, handsomely," the old man in blackish-blue robes, the Guild Master of Lightning, explained.

Now, Gravis was even more confused. What was a Heavenborn, and why did the crystal think that he was one? Yet, Gravis was not sure how he should proceed. Apparently, by being a so-called Heavenborn, he received some special status, yet he was convinced that he was no Heavenborn. The only thing connecting Gravis to Heaven was pure enmity.

"Let me ask you something," said the Guild Master of Fire, not turning to Gravis and still keeping the Guild Master of Water at bay. "Where did you come from?"

Gravis was not sure how he should answer that question. He couldn't possibly tell them that he came from a higher world since descending from a higher world was impossible. Only the peak world had enough understanding about the world to do such a thing, and no one in the lower world would know of the peak world.

On top of that, even if they believed him, they would either grow fearful of his background or greedy for his potential secrets. It was risky.

Yet, he could also not tell them that he came from some village or city. The Elemental Guilds had a lot of power, and they would surely check his background. If they didn't find any, they would grow suspicious. So, in the end, he could only give one answer.

"I came from the wilds," he explained cautiously.

In contrast to his expectations, the Guild Masters all smirked like they had expected this answer. "A Heavenborn, just like we thought," said the Guild Master of Lightning.

Gravis wasn't sure, but he felt like he dodged a bullet here. "What's a Heavenborn?" he asked the Guild Masters.

The kind Guild Master of Light smiled at him. "A Heavenborn is someone that was created by Heaven and Earth. They are bestowed incredible karmic luck, as well as an innate Heavenly Pressure. Heavenly Pressure is the aura you have released earlier. Heavenborns will live in the wilderness until they grow strong enough to travel the world. They are the favorite children of Heaven and Earth."

 

Chapter 55

Gravis sneered inside. Now, he was 100% sure that he was no Heavenborn. Heavenly Pressure granted by the Heavens? That was simply his Will-Aura that he had trained by surviving multiple life and death fights. Incredibly high Karmic luck? That was even more of a joke. If Gravis said that he was the second unluckiest person under Heaven, no rational person would say that they were the unluckiest.

Gravis felt disgusted and offended that someone would attribute his own hard work to Heaven. It was like they had said that he had received everything from Heaven and that he had not worked for his success.

Had he not fought many low-grade demonic beasts, even though it should have been impossible to beat them with his realm? He never relied on Heaven nor on luck to survive. Heaven tried to kill him with the Volcano, yet it failed because Gravis had seen through the patterns of his bad luck. Heaven had wanted to isolate him and grind down his will, yet he had persevered.

It was an incredible pain each day to stay alone. It was an incredible pain to not accept the friendship of multiple people. It was an incredible pain, seeing Heaven's blade on the neck of a potential new friend. Saying that Heaven bestowed him everything, was the worst thing anyone could say to him.

Involuntarily, Gravis released his Will-Aura, and his eyes narrowed at the Guild Master of Light. "Do. Not. Attribute. My. Strength. To. Heaven," he slowly said in anger through clenched teeth. The Guild Masters could feel his Will-Aura clearly now, and they were surprised by its density. They also thought that it was slightly different from Heavenly Pressure.

Some of them narrowed their eyes in thought. Others felt surprised by the sensation. The Guild Master of Light only smiled bitterly. "That was never my intention. I apologize if you took it that way," he politely apologized.

Gravis sighed and retrieved his Will-Aura. Maybe, the Guild Master of Light really didn't mean it like that. He felt a little apologetic, but that comment had touched a wound. Heaven was the thing he hated the most, and attributing his success to Heaven was the ultimate insult to him. Gravis thought that he should also take note of his situation right now. The Guild Masters were nice and friendly until now, but that could change.

"Anyway," said the Guild Master of Earth as he walked to Gravis. Apparently, the Guild Master of Water has calmed down and was no longer raging around. "We have something that we need to discuss," he said as he looked at Gravis with a stern gaze.

"What?" Gravis asked flatly.

"Your slash has nearly gone through my whole earth-wall, earlier. That is something only people with tempered muscles can do. Mind explaining that?" he asked as he looked at Gravis.

When the other Guild Masters heard that, they also looked at Gravis with serious looks. This could potentially ruin every chance they had about getting him into their guilds. It was forbidden for people with tempered muscles to join the Elemental Guilds.

Only by tempering the muscles with their respective elements was it possible to create a body that resonated with the elements. If the muscles were already tempered, it was nearly impossible for the person to build a connection with an element.

"I don't have tempered muscles," Gravis said without a change in expression. He was still mad about the earlier comments, and he was not acting deferential at all.

"Then how do you explain your physical strength?" asked the Guild Master of Earth again.

"I have had tempered organs and blood for a long time, so my muscles are very strong. On top of that, I had used a Martial Art that focused on pure attacking power," he explained.

The Guild Masters looked at each other in relief and a slight amount of shock. Tempering the Organs and the blood was, by far, the most expensive. The reason why those people were so rare in cities was that it cost a lot of money to temper those.

Only some isolated rich paragons could afford to temper one person fully by spending a lot of money. Of course, the Elemental Guilds also had enough money for that. They received the resources from the middle-continent, where those resources were not as rare.

"We have to test if that is true," said the Guild Master of Fire. "Though we do not have an easy method for that. If what you are saying is not true, you will die. Are you prepared for that?" he said with an intense gaze.

Gravis narrowed his eyes at him. "I didn't lie," he said evenly. Sparks seemed to fly out between their colliding looks, yet the Guild Master of Fire only smiled.

"I like your temperament, kid," he said with a grin. Then, he jumped down from the arena, retrieved something, and came back. He held a peculiar looking spear in his hand. It was rather long, and it ended in two long tips. It kind of looked like a fork with only two tips.

"I will stab through the middle of your torso with this spear, which will puncture both halves of your lung. If you have tempered organs and blood, your lung will regenerate without issue from such a small puncture wound. Yet, if you don't, you will suffocate," he explained gravely.

Gravis narrowed his eyes. Of course, he was not looking forward to being stabbed, but he was ready to make that sacrifice if it meant coming closer to lightning. "Okay, go ahead," he took off his black shirt, which was surprisingly still in one piece after all these fights, and showed his muscular upper body. "But don't miss," he remarked with a severe look.

"Heh, I won't," said the Guild Master of Fire and threw the spear. The attack came so fast that Gravis had no time to react. Energy Gathering experts were really something different.

The spear stabbed into his chest, and its tips reappeared from Gravis' back. Gravis had to take a step back due to the hit's strength and puked a mouthful of blood. He took hold of the spear and pulled it out of his chest, throwing it to the side. Gravis tried to take deep breaths, but he somehow couldn't.

He started coughing violently, and he fell to his knees in this process. The Guild Masters looked on in intensity, while the participants looked on in shock and fear. This was really too barbaric in their eyes.

After several seconds, Gravis let out one more blood filled cough and then took a deep breath. With that breath, the Guild Masters looked at him with excitement. He really only had tempered organs and blood! If Gravis had tempered organs and blood, as well as tempered muscles, his earlier attack would've killed the Guild Master of Water. So, they could be sure that he didn't have tempered muscles.

"Sine, heal him!" said the Guild Master of Fire.

"Fuck no!" shouted the Guild Master of Water back.

The Guild Master of Light only sighed, walked to Gravis, and started healing him with his light. There were multiple elements with the ability to heal others, yet, water was mostly seen as the best one since it transferred life energy from the user to the patient. Light, on the other hand, stimulated the remaining life energy of the patient themselves.

After some seconds, Gravis stood back up again, looking with intensity at the Guild Master of Fire. "You only said you would puncture my lung, not puncture my whole torso," he said with gritted teeth.

The Guild Master of Fire only smirked. "You nearly killed Sine, so take this as your just punishment," he turned to the Guild Master of Water. "Can you let the kid off now?" he asked.

The Guild Master of Water just huffed and looked away like a little girl throwing a tantrum, yet she seemed to have calmed down. If it was his intention or not, the Guild Master of Fire had helped Gravis

deal with his enmity with the Guild Master of Water.

"Alright!" shouted the Guild Master of Earth as he stomped on the ground heavily. Everyone grew silent as they listened to him. "We have postponed the entrance exam for too long. We should start."

Gravis eyes grew fiery, and he walked back to the other participants.

"Wait!" Gravis heard the Guild Master of Lightning shout and turned around. "I think I have a special job for you," he said with a sly grin.

'What now?'

 

Chapter 56

Gravis looked at the Guild Master of Lightning. "What is it?" he asked, a little friendlier than with the other Guild Masters.

The Guild Master of Lightning noticed and combed his long beard with his fingers in pleasantness. "The first test of the entrance exams are a test of willpower. We normally use Fire Torture Pills for that. Fire Torture Pills inflict suffering on the user, and the possibility of death is very real with those."

"Just spit it out, already. Your mock-calm is disgusting," said the Guild Master of Darkness from the side to the Guild Master of Lightning.

The Guild Master of Lightning didn't seem to take the comment to heart. "Would you be fine with using your Heavenly Pressure as a test regarding will?" he asked directly. The other Guild Masters now had a light of recognition in their eyes. After a while, they all nodded to each other. That was a good idea.

Like this, they wouldn't traumatize some of the participants. On top of that, they wouldn't need to waste 5,000 pills for a test. That was a lot of money, after all.

Gravis thought this idea was interesting, yet, he wouldn't do it for free. "I want Bone-Pills," he said directly.

The Guild Master of Lightning smirked. Gravis did not want to take a loss just to please the Guild Masters. This temperament was very much to his liking. "Don't worry. After the exam, we'll give you all the Bone-Pills you need to temper your bones," he said with confidence.

Gravis felt relieved. The next step of tempering was secure now. "Alright," said Gravis simply. Then, he walked to the middle of the arena, the participants giving him a wide berth. When he arrived in the middle, he sat down, closed his eyes, and released his Will-Aura.

Participants that were closer to him immediately jumped back, and again, the image of the lonely island appeared. No one else stood in a radius of 30 meters around Gravis.

"Alright," came a shout from the sky. The participants looked over and saw the Guild Masters sitting on some kind of wooden bench on a wooden tower. The wooden tower was around ten meters tall, and all seven Guild Masters needed to squeeze together to fit on the tower bench.

The participants had no idea where that wooden tower bench came from, but apparently, the Guild Masters were prepared for every eventuality. The participants fell quiet and looked at the Guild Masters, waiting for instructions. Yet, the Guild Masters were silent for a while. This only increased the tension the participants felt.

What the participants didn't know…

"Hammer! You're taking up nearly half the bench. Try to make yourself a little smaller," whispered the Guild Master of Fire to the Guild Master of Earth with annoyance in his voice.

"Earth does not give," said the Guild Master of Earth. Yet, he had already made himself as small as possible. If he didn't have a skin as thick as earth itself, one would be able to see his face change color to red. He was just too big.

"Argh, this is infuriating!" whispered the Guild Master of Water, squeezed between Hammer and the Guild Master of Darkness.

Suddenly, they heard a slight giggle coming from the young woman with green flowing hair, the Guild Master of Wind. She showed a playful smile and jumped to Hammer. She landed gracefully on his lap and sat down, smiling playfully. Now, there was more space on the bench.

The participants' mouths opened wide in surprise. Were the Guild Master of Earth and Wind in a relationship?

No, they were not.

The Guild Master of Earth sat as stiffly as a rock. He didn't dare to move. Any kind of movement could be interpreted as an advance from him, and he felt really uncomfortable right now. He showed that his title of Guild Master of Earth was not just for show, and perfectly imitated a rock.

The others gloated at him. Serves him right for hogging all that space. The Guild Master of Wind just sat in the Guild Master of Earth's lap and dangled her feet down playfully from his knees. She looked like a girl, playfully letting her legs dangle from the edge of a cliff.

"Protection disciples, assemble!" shouted the Guild Master of Fire. Suddenly, from every side of the arena, seven people each, shot up the stairs, looking at the wooden tower bench with different gazes. The earth disciples looked with envy and pride at their Guild Master, while the wind disciples laughed slightly.

One courageous earth disciple even showed a covert thumbs-up to his guild master.

'Just wait till I sort you out,' thought the Guild Master of Earth in frustration.

"Every protection disciple is to get as close as possible to this guy," the Guild Master of Lightning pointed at Gravis. The Guild Masters first, had to test how far their own disciples could go, so they could judge what the cut-off point for the participants would be.

The 28 protection disciples nodded firmly to their Guild Masters and started closing in on Gravis, but when they reached a distance of 30 meters, they started getting nervous for no reason. The closer they got, the more afraid they grew, but they had to follow their Guild Masters' orders.

When they had reached a distance of 20 meters, their nervousness completely transformed into fear, and cold sweat ran down their bodies. Yet, they all continued and reached the 15-meter mark. By now, their teeth were chattering in terror, and the first person stopped, while the others continued.

Over 50% of the protection disciples couldn't reach the ten-meter mark, and only two managed to reach the five-meter mark. They were a stalwart disciple of earth and a, normally, calm disciple of water, who looked everything but calm, right now. The disciple of earth was a man, while the disciple of water was a woman.

They both looked at each other with a look of competition in their eyes. This was not the first time they went up against each other. They were some of the geniuses of the Elemental Guilds that had a future in the middle-continent, and their will was exceptional.

Their speed slowed to a crawl as they entered the five-meter distance, and they used all their power to reach Gravis. A look of madness had replaced their looks of competition. It was like Gravis was their goal in life, and they used everything in their power to reach it.

Four meters!

Three meters!

Two meters!

One meter!

With incredible courage, they both opened their hands and reached for Gravis. Gravis opened his eyes suddenly and concentrated his Will-Aura on those two. Before, he had only released his Will-Aura passively in the surroundings.

Their faces whitened, and they jumped back several meters. Their breathing quickened, and they looked at Gravis in terror.

"Don't touch me," Gravis said evenly and closed his eyes again.

The other protection disciples managed to go further, and the most distant one was at a distance of twelve meters.

"Alright! Everyone, stop!" shouted the Guild Master of Fire. "You can go back to your posts," he said.

The protection disciples felt relieved and quickly ran back down to their posts.

"Participants!" shouted the Guild Master of Lightning, and the participants looked up. "You each have five minutes to get as close to the young man as possible. One hundred participants will go at a time. Now, form some lines!" he ordered.

The participants started running around, forming different lines. After a while, they all settled down again.

"Good! The first hundred can go in," he commanded.

"But, we won't tell you how far you have to go in order to pass," he said with a sadistic grin.

 

Chapter 57

The participants were very confused. From their distance, they felt nothing special. Why did the protection disciples act this weirdly as soon as they started closing in on Gravis? They really were not sure. The area around Gravis looked like any other.

"Before we begin, please state your name one at a time," shouted the Guild Master of Lightning. The participants quickly started listing off names, and every Guild Master noted some of them down in a book.

The Guild Masters of Fire, Water, Wind, Lightning, and Darkness noted down 20 names each. One took the first 20, another the next 20, and so on. In the first wave, they had decided to let 100 participants attempt the exam due to the limited space around Gravis. Also, it was easier to keep track of them if there weren't too many at once. "Alright, you can start now."

The first people started closing in, and for no particular reason, the participants started feeling nervous. As they came closer, their fear intensified, and they started feeling like they were walking to their deaths. It took all of their will and courage to continue.

The first people already stopped at the 25-meter mark. They were too afraid to continue. When the Guild Masters saw them, they frowned. Why would people with such weak wills even participate in the entrance exams? The will to move forward was the most important thing. If someone were not ready to put their life on the line, then how could they ever reach even a satisfactory height?

The youngsters who had stopped looked like their fear had paralyzed them. They were unable to even move their bodies. This showed their inexperience. If any of them acted like this in an actual fight, they would die immediately. Stiffening up out of fear was the worst thing anyone could do in a fight.

Only 30 of the 100 participants reached the 20-meter-mark, and they looked like they were nearly dying from fear. In the end, only two people managed to reach the 15-meter mark, and no one reached 14 meters. Now, every participant was staying still, breathing heavily.

Many of the participants thought the protection disciples had put up an act earlier. They saw nothing happening around Gravis, yet, also, their fellow participants couldn't reach Gravis. They didn't know what was happening to the participants, who currently were inside of Gravis' Will-Aura, but they slowly grew nervous and serious.

In the next five minutes, some participants managed to gain some additional meters. Now, there were five people at the 15-meter mark, and the first two had reached the 14- and 13-meter mark, respectively.

"Time's up," shouted the Guild Master of Wind, and Gravis retrieved his Will-Aura. How could the participants, frozen in fear, move, when Gravis kept releasing his Will-Aura? Every participant took a deep breath, shot one last fearful look at Gravis, and left.

"Everyone who just participated, move over to this side of the arena and stay together," ordered the Guild Master of Fire while pointing at a corner of the arena.

The Guild Masters listed off some names to the Guild Master of Light, and he scribbled the results down. His book only recorded the winners, and they were not many. Of course, the Guild Masters didn't publicly announce the winners, so the others wouldn't know the criteria for winning.

"Alright, next," ordered the Guild Master of Fire. The next participants stepped forward and announced their names. The same thing repeated, and they started closing in on Gravis.

This time, only two people reached the 15-meter mark, and no one came further. The others tried their best to get as far as possible in those five minutes. A lot of time passed like this, and evening was slowly approaching.

While the test itself only took five minutes, the announcing and jotting down of the names took another five. Only one group of Participants could be judged every ten minutes.

When the last group of participants was finished, over eight hours had already passed, and the sun was slowly setting on the horizon. The best participant had reached a distance of five meters from Gravis, while the worst one only managed 25.

"I will now read out the names of the people who qualified," announced the Guild Maser of Light and started listing them off. The named participants felt shocked and ecstatic. Some of them also felt confused, because they didn't manage to get very far in the test.

After roughly 250 names were read, the Guild Master of Light stopped, and the faces of the remaining participants started whitening. Did the Elemental Guilds actually disqualify 95% of the participants in the first round? This was insane!

"I think you've made an error," shouted one participant from the losers-bracket. "I was in front of that guy," he shouted as he pointed at one of the winners. "How can he win when he was behind me?" he complained.

"Actually," said the Guild Master of Wind as she jumped down from her 'bench' and landed gracefully on the floor. The Guild Master of Earth released a deep breath and slumped on the bench, drawing complaints from the other Guild Masters who've got squished by him.

"Our criteria were two-fold," she said as she walked closer to the participant, who shouted earlier. "You would pass by fulfilling any of those two criteria. First," she held up one finger. "You reach the 15-meter mark."

The participants were shocked. Reaching the 15-meter mark was insanely difficult. On average, only one or two people managed that, in each batch. No wonder there were so few people passing.

"The other criteria," the Guild Master of Wind said while lifting another finger. "Is advancing another five meters after you have initially stopped," she explained with patience, as she walked closer.

"That's bullshit! If I would've known that, I would have tried harder!" shouted another youngster.

"Yeah, why didn't you tell us?" shouted another one.

Being encouraged by each other, the losers started complaining louder. The Guild Masters on top of the bench furrowed their brows. This situation could get out of hand quickly.

"I hope Wendy doesn't kill anyone," said the Guild Master of Light, and the others nodded.

The Guild Master of Wind didn't seem to mind and came closer. A chorus had been created, continually shouting, "Let us in!"

The Guild Master of Wind stopped walking, and her kind smile transformed into a sneer. "Let you in?" she asked. "Then I'll huff, and I'll puff, and I'll blow your heads in!" she shouted as a storm picked up in the surroundings.

A colossal tornado appeared, and before the participants could even react, they all started flying. The tornado was absolutely ferocious, and the 4750 People in the air slammed into each other constantly. The people spat blood and screams of pain replaced the earlier chorus of "let us in".

The Guild Master of Wind lifted her right arm, and the tornado transformed into a single wave of wind that carried all people. Without a comment, the wind-wave circulated once around the arena and then shot off into the distance with all the participants in the losers' bracket.

Gravis heard the screams growing distant, and decided that he should be friendlier with the Guild Masters. They were Energy Gathering experts, after all.

The Guild Master of Wind looked into the distance, where she had thrown the participants to, and sneered.

"This should take the wind out of your sails."

 

Chapter 58

The remaining participants looked at the scene in terror. The Elemental Guilds really did not care about their image. They had attacked 4,750 of the most talented youngsters in the surrounding thousands of kilometers. Were they not afraid that their families and organizations would take revenge?

The Guild Master of Wind just nodded in satisfaction like she had finally cleared a mountain of trash, and walked back to the other Guild Masters. The other Guild Masters had, by now, put away the tower bench and stood beside each other. They no longer needed to look from above to judge the participants.

"Did you kill them?" asked the Guild Master of Earth, unsure.

"I don't know," said the Guild Master of Wind back. "I didn't really pay that much attention to them. I just threw them away," she spoke in a giggly voice. "I have no idea if they are alive or not."

The other Guild Masters could only smile bitterly, but there was nothing they could do. The Guild Master of Wind was, by far, the strongest of them.

The participants looked on in awe. Earlier, they had known about the Guild Masters' illustrious status, but only after the Guild Master of Wind acted, did they properly see the Guild Masters' power. Their will to join the Elemental Guilds was higher than ever before.

"I am amazed that you were able to keep up your Heavenly Pressure for this long," said the Guild Master of Lightning as he walked over to Gravis, who had just stood up. "Keeping the Heavenly Pressure up for this long must be very exhausting to you. Do you require a break?"

Gravis narrowed his eyes. 'Another difference between a Heavenborn and me,' he thought to himself. Apparently, using Heavenly Pressure required the use of stamina or energy. Keeping up a Will-Aura, on the other hand, came as natural as breathing.

The Will-Aura is only releasing the inner self to the outside world. One might think Gravis's state without his Will-Aura activated is his normal state, but that was wrong. Suppressing his Will-Aura took more energy than letting it flow out. When Gravis tested the participants, he wasn't even concentrating. He was just resting.

"No, I don't need a break. I need my reward!" Gravis said evenly.

The Guild Master of Lightning laughed. "No worries! You'll get all the Bone-Pills you need after we're finished with the tests," he said with a smile.

"Why not now?" asked Gravis again. He was walking on dangerous territory with that question, and he knew that, but he had to be sure that they would keep their words.

The Guild Master of Lightning narrowed his eyes and looked into Gravis' eyes. Sparks seemed to appear between their eyes, and they didn't stop. Gravis couldn't feel the Guild Master of Lightning's will, but he could feel his strength. The Guild Master was definitely stronger than him, yet Gravis did not trust him, yet.

The stare continued, and slowly, the Guild Master of Lightning realized that he couldn't suppress Gravis. After a while, he sighed, moved closer, and whispered in Gravis' ear. "Because we don't have any with us," he said in embarrassment. "They're all back in our guilds."

Gravis didn't want to stop now. He needed more power, and he was not ready to trust the Guild Masters, yet. "Then go buy some," he whispered back in annoyance.

"What?" said the Guild Master of Lightning loudly, and everyone turned to him. Quickly, he went back to whispering. "Why would we buy the pills from Body City? The prices there are ridiculous!"

Gravis couldn't let up. He had seen through some of the Guild Master of Lightning's personality. He obviously was rather righteous and honest. If he weren't, he wouldn't have told him openly that he

didn't have the pills with him. That was an embarrassment for someone of his status.

"Because you promised!" Gravis said.

Suddenly, the Guild Master of Lightning grew angry and slight amounts of lightning came out of his body. He gnashed his teeth in frustration and clenched his fists. The participants looked at him in fear, while the other Guild Masters gloated. It seemed like the old "calm" man had kicked a steel plate.

The Guild Master of Lightning was wrestling with himself, and he hadn't answered yet.

"If it is any consolation, I wanted to join the Lightning Guild in the first place," Gravis whispered. "I don't care about the other elements. So, why not give a good example, and show that my decision was correct?" Gravis' whisper was like the voice of a devil.

The Guild Master of Lightning released a sigh and calmed down. "You win," he whispered. "Do you know how many pills you need?" he asked.

"I only need seven more," Gravis said, also relieved.

When the Guild Master of Lightning heard the number, his face whitened. "What do you mean, only seven? That's a ridiculous number!" he whispered angrily.

Gravis looked unhappily at him. "I've already bought 13, so don't complain!" he whispered back in annoyance.

The Guild Master of Lightning's jaw dropped. "Are you actually trying to tell me that you need 20 whole pills to temper a part of your body? Where would you even get so much money?" he asked in shock.

"Lots and lots of hunting," Gravis explained.

The Guild Master of Lightning looked at Gravis with renewed fervor. If Gravis managed to get so much money from hunting at such an early age, he had to have hunted more than just ferocious beasts. The Guild Master of Lightning got another idea.

"Have you ever hunted a medium-grade demonic beast?" he asked with hope in his eyes.

Gravis nodded. "I killed one before, but that was mostly thanks to a Formation Array that I had bought. The Formation Array kept it inside of a cage for two hours," Gravis explained in a whisper.

The Guild Master of Lightning noticed the word 'mostly'. He realized that Gravis had a lot of fighting experience. The Guild Master of Lightning knew which kind of Formation Array Gravis was talking about, and he knew that it only helped, nothing more. The Formation Array alone couldn't kill a middle- grade demonic beast.

'Wait,' the Guild Master of Lightning suddenly had a thought. 'He has been fighting lots and lots of strong enemies for a long while, enough to earn over 200 gold. Now, there is only one question left…'

"Do you mostly hunt alone or in a team?" he asked Gravis in a whisper again.

"I don't hunt with others," Gravis said clearly.

The Guild Master of Lightning looked excited and also sly. "So," he whispered. "You don't have Heavenly Pressure, but actually a Will-Aura, right?"

Gravis narrowed his eyes. This could be dangerous. Gravis was not sure how the Guild Master of Lightning would react if Gravis confirmed.

"Now that I think about it," the Guild Master of Lightning whispered. "That would also explain how you could keep up the 'Heavenly Pressure' for so long."

As he thought more about it, more and more puzzle pieces were falling into place. "That also explains your angry reaction about what Ferns had said. Wow," he looked at Gravis with fiery greed. "A Will- Aura in the Body Tempering Stage. No one would believe me if I told them."

"Are you two done, yet?" came the shout of the Guild Master of Fire. They were all waiting for those two to finish. They had first seen the Guild Master of Lightning getting angry, and then being happy. This was suspicious.

"Shut up, Kord! I'm busy!" shouted the Guild Master of Lightning, and turned back to Gravis. "You don't have to worry. I will keep your secret. If I told the others, they would fight for you even more, and if they realized you wanted to join me, from the start, who knows what they would do?" he continued whispering.

Gravis felt relieved. "So, what now?" he asked.

The Guild Master of Lightning grinned. "I'll get you your pills. When the next test begins, you should find a secluded place and temper your bones. When you're done, search for a middle-grade demonic beast. We have placed some nice treasures in their territories. If you manage to kill it, you might become rich!"

Gravis first felt astounded and then grinned. "That sounds good," he whispered back.

"Yeah, just try not to die. If you succeed, the others will look on in envy towards me, when you inevitably join the Lightning Guild," The Guild Master of Lightning started laughing.

"I think I will have a good time in the Lightning Guild," said Gravis, and they both started shaking hands, laughing quietly and slyly.

An agreement was formed.

 

Chapter 59

The others looked at the two laughing idiots with different emotions. The participants felt envious and impressed. They also wished that they could build up a connection with one of the Guild Masters. The other Guild Masters looked on with narrowed eyes. Nothing good could come from this. They wanted Gravis in their own guilds, and the chances were shrinking by the second.

"Enough whispering!" shouted the Guild Master of Earth and stomped the ground heavily. The arena trembled, and the participants lost their balance. The Guild Masters and Gravis didn't seem to mind. "We need to continue!"

Gravis and the Guild Master of Lightning looked at the Guild Master of Earth together, turned back to each other, and nodded. Then the Guild Master of Lightning walked back to the others with a frown on his face. Gravis walked back to the participants.

"Hold up!" shouted the Guild Master of Water at Gravis, a sly grin on her face. Gravis stopped and turned to the Guild Master of Water with a frown. Why did they always have to single him out?

"Everyone's will has been tested," she said, and then pointed at Gravis. "Except yours! We can't proceed without testing you," she explained.

Gravis' frown didn't leave his face, but he also kind of understood what she meant. The other Guild Masters didn't know that he was not a Heavenborn. So, testing him was only natural. Gravis nodded. "Alright, how?" he asked simply.

The smirk on the Guild Master of Water's face only increased. "Since we can't test you with Heavenly Pressure, we can only use the traditional method." With that, she threw a pill over to Gravis, who quickly caught it.

"This is a Fire Torture Pill. When you eat it, you will undergo a lot of pain for the next ten minutes. If you give up, we can give you the antidote immediately, but you will be disqualified. You only have to get

through the pain, and you will be qualified," she explained.

The other Guild Masters looked at Gravis like this was only natural. Being a Heavenborn had nothing to do with willpower. He still had to be tested, and all the Guild Masters looked at Gravis with interest. The Guild Master of Lightning also showed the same expression, but inside, he was gloating. Testing his willpower, even though Gravis had a Will-Aura? Was there anything more senseless than that?

Gravis ingested the pill without hesitation. Immediately, he felt like his insides were on fire, and the pain was circulating throughout his whole body. It could be described as the most painful thing he ever went through, but not by much. He had fought with several broken bones before, without issue. The pain of the Fire Torture Pill was greater than that, but not by much. Gravis simply had to grit his teeth a little.

Seeing no reaction from Gravis, the Guild Masters' faces slowly changed to shock. 'You idiot!' shouted the Guild Master of Lightning in his mind. He quickly gestured covertly for Gravis to act like he was in pain.

When Gravis saw that, he realized what the Guild Master of Lightning was trying to tell him, and Gravis complied. He suddenly keeled over, all four limbs on the ground, and started breathing heavily. He also managed to release sweat with the control of his body.

The other Guild Masters sighed. Apparently, the pill had taken some time to show its effect. The Guild Master of Lightning also sighed, but for a different reason. 'well done!' he thought to himself.

"But he is really impressive. He has not even screamed yet. This takes exceptional willpower," commented the Guild Master of Darkness. The others nodded. "Seems like our worries were for nothing. We should trust in the will of Heaven and Earth. They wouldn't have sent him here if he wasn't ready," he said with reverence.

The others nodded, but the Guild Master of Lightning was skeptical. 'The will of Heaven and Earth?' he was not sure why, but he kind of doubted that statement. He had heard how many beasts Gravis

hunted, and this didn't sound like the will of Heaven and Earth, at all.

Gravis continued acting for ten full minutes, and then he slowly got up again. With a deep breath, he calmed down. Acting was more exhausting than he had initially thought. He stood up and walked to the other participants without a comment. They still gave him his own free space, but it was only three meters, this time.

The Guild Masters nodded approvingly, and the Guild Master of Light moved forward. He looked at the sun, who could barely be seen at the horizon. They were good on time. "The next test will also be the last test," he announced loudly with his friendly voice.

The participants grew excited. Only one more test and their future would be set. "This test is a test about fighting strength and luck. You can pass by either having enough strength or by being blessed by karmic luck. Please, follow us," said the Guild Master of Light as he turned around and jumped down the arena, together with the other Guild Masters.

The participants were slightly confused about the luck portion of the test, but they still followed. The Guild Masters started walking in one direction, yet they moved rather quickly. It looked like they were walking, but in reality, every one of them used their elements to move faster.

The Guild Master of Water rode on some slight waves. The Guild Master of Fire had some fire on his heels that pushed him forward. The earth below the Guild Master of Earth moved forward with every step. Everyone was using their elements to move slightly faster.

The participants had to sprint with their full power to keep up, except for Gravis. His muscles were stronger than the other participants, so he was naturally faster. He only needed to jog casually.

After two hours, the Guild Masters stopped, and the participants fell on their butts in exhaustion. Running for two hours was difficult. By now, it was deep into the night, and only the stars and the moon illuminated the surroundings slightly.

The Guild Master of Light created a small ball of light and threw it into the night.

WHOOSH!

The ball exploded and illuminated the surroundings. The participants could finally see where they were. In front of them was a cliff, and a thick forest could be seen stretching into the horizon. The forest seemed eerily calm.

"This is the Basin of Nature. You can't see the other side from here, but, just like the name implies, this is a huge basin. It stretches for nearly 50 kilometers, and a wall of cliffs surrounds it. Inside, you will find ferocious beasts, low-grade demonic beasts, and even middle-grade demonic beasts," he explained with patience.

The participants blanched when they heard that there were even demonic beasts inside the basin. If they met a low-grade demonic beast, they could still fight, at least, if they were in a group. Yet, if they met a middle-grade demonic beast, their deaths were guaranteed, no matter their number.

"Every beast inside the basin protects a treasure. The stronger the beast, the better the treasure. If you manage to retrieve one treasure, no matter how much it is worth, you will pass and join our guilds," the Guild Master of Light continued.

Now, the participants felt the pressure. This could potentially end with their deaths.

"When you get a treasure, just return to this cliff. We will remain here for seven days. After seven days, we will take the winners to our guilds, no matter how many of you still remain in the Basin of Nature," he explained the cold fact with warmth in his voice. "Of course, we will also retrieve every treasure that still hasn't been collected."

"But let me warn you," he said with a more serious voice. "There may be enough treasures inside the basin for every one of you to pass, but there are only 100 ferocious beasts. All the remaining treasures are in the claws of demonic beasts. That is why this test is to test not only your strength, but also your luck. You need luck to run into a ferocious beast."

Gravis was ready. The Guild Master of Lightning had sent a protection disciple to get the Bone-Pills, while Gravis was undergoing his will-test, and had given them to him on the way to the basin. Gravis only needed to find a secluded space to temper his bones.

"The test starts now," said the Guild Master of Wind, and the participants started climbing down the cliff one by one. Gravis completely skipped the cliff and just jumped down. His body could deal with a fall from ten meters. He smoothly landed and ran to the right.

"Time to break through!"

 

Chapter 60

Gravis sprinted in one direction, trying to get to the surrounding cliffs as quickly as possible. At the cliff, he would be able to find a cave, and there he would temper his bones. With tempered bones, he could survive at least one hit from a medium-grade demonic beast.

Gravis continued running, and after a while, he noticed that he couldn't see any animals. Typically, such a forest should be filled with different animals, yet, he couldn't see or hear any. Gravis narrowed his eyes as he knew what that probably meant.

'This is the territory of a demonic beast,' he concluded, yet he continued running. 'There shouldn't be many middle-grade demonic beasts in here. The chances of me running into one are…' When Gravis thought that, his eyes widened, and he immediately stopped.

Gravis was angry at himself. How could he forget his incredible luck? Of course, this would be the territory of a middle-grade demonic beast. With his luck, there was no doubt about that. He immediately took out his saber and concentrated on his surroundings, silently. He had been running in here for a while. There was a high chance that the beast had already noticed him.

'So, what's your plan, Heaven? Will you send a strong creature with a valuable treasure or a weak creature with a worthless treasure?' Gravis sneered. 'You are probably not sure if I would die to a middle-grade demonic beast. So, what will you do? Will you bet big and send a strong one, or will you bet small, and send a weak one?'

Gravis slowly turned and kept watch everywhere, even above himself. The fact that he did not notice any movement in this large area, meant that the beast was an ambush predator. What if there was no beast? Impossible! Gravis wouldn't believe that for a second. If there were nothing, that would be the best case for him, which never happened.

Gravis relaxed and lowered his saber, and then immediately released all of his Will-Aura.

SCREEE!

He heard coming from above and behind him, and he immediately jumped to the side. He evaded not a second too early because a long, thin, spiky leg stabbed into the position where he stood previously. The beast had attacked when Gravis showed his relaxation, and it got startled when it suddenly felt the pressure of the Will-Aura. That's why it had screeched.

Gravis could see the beast now. It was a giant spider, the same color as the night. While standing normally, its body reached 1.5 meters height, and its legs were incredibly long and thin, with little barbs coming out of them. The legs were nearly ten meters long, each, and its four red eyes looked neutrally at Gravis. They were emotionless, soulless eyes that only saw prey. When Gravis saw it, his mood grew severe.

'Big bet it is," he thought to himself. To him, the beast felt like it was just as powerful as the centipede. He could guess that this beast was in the later stages of a middle-grade demonic beast. This was definitely one of the absolute apex predators in this basin!

Gravis couldn't watch it for long, as it immediately lunged forward with incredible speed. Gravis was back in a real life and death battle, and one single mistake would doom him. Just like in his early fights with low-grade demonic beasts, Gravis was utterly outmatched in speed, power, defense, and stamina. He had to predict the enemy's movements again because he had no time to react to the enemy's actions.

Gravis had already seen how the spider attacked earlier, and when he saw it's long, agile, thin legs with barbs, he was pretty sure that those were its primary weapons. Its legs ended in a thin, long, sharp spike. Every step stabbed its legs into the earth, and it was using that increased foothold as a quick way to jump around. Its movements seemed less like walking, and more like climbing.

Just like he thought, the spider stabbed its leg forward like a spear, as it would not use a slash from this distance. Gravis had already prepared himself, and used the Vanishing Shadow Art, to sidestep. The Vanishing Shadow Art was that sidestep that William had shown him. It moved him quickly beside the leg, as it flew past him.

Gravis had already started gathering his strength while sidestepping and immediately released a Splitting Wind Chop onto its leg.

CRCK!

The chop broke the carapace, but it did not sever the leg. 'Medium grade demonic beasts are powerful,' Gravis thought to himself. He immediately did a little jump and firmly held his saber. If everything worked as planned, he could gain some ground with that.

The spider screeched and quickly threw its leg to the side, where Gravis previously stood. Just like he expected, the spider was too shocked to mount an actual attack, and just wanted to shove him away. If he had remained on the ground, he would have lost his balance and would have fallen over. Yet, in the air, he got pushed away, and when the swing of its leg reached sufficient power, his saber dislodged, and Gravis flew away in a curve.

He flew for several tens of meters until he rolled on the ground and continued running. There were several reasons why he decided to get thrown away. First of all, he would gain a lot of ground like that, but that was not the main reason. The main reason was something else.

As Gravis looked back, his assumption got proven, as he saw the spider climb over a seemingly invisible three-meter-high wall. As an experienced ambush predator, and a spider at that, it had surely already spun a net around this place. Why else would it wait for so long to attack him? If he blindly ran into one direction, he would have been caught in the net.

Gravis had a lot of knowledge and experience with fighting beasts. He wouldn't forget something as basic as a spider being able to create a web. He was sure that the spider wouldn't make the web too high, since it had to create it quickly.

Gravis could already see that he was coming closer to the cliffs. He couldn't see that well in the night, but he could see stars vanishing from the horizon, which meant that they were being blocked by something. That's how he could judge that he was closing in on the cliffs.

If he managed to reach the cliff, he would have many more options for fleeing. One would think that transitioning from a 2D arena to a 3D arena would only benefit the spider, but actually, the opposite was true.

It was true that the spider would be able to climb the cliffs faster, but it wasn't able to jump very well. It's long legs, stiff carapace, and great weight made it harder to survive a fall from a great height. So, if Gravis quickly jumped up for multiple meters on the cliffs, and then jumped off the cliff, the spider risked losing its hold and falling on its back if it tried following or attacking him.

Also, a cliff was the essence of the earth element. With his Elemental Synchronicity, he might not be able to merge with it or make it move in an attack, but he could do lots of other things. Gravis looked back again and saw the spider gaining ground. It was pretty fast.

Gravis reached the cliff and could see no cave. 'Tch,' Gravis spat and decided to go for plan B. He quickly jumped to the cliff and started crawling upward like a lizard. He quickly reached a height of nearly ten meters, and he could see how the spider tried to reach him with one of his long legs. Luckily, he had climbed fast enough.

Gravis quickly reached the top of the cliff, stood up, and looked down at the spider. Realizing that it couldn't reach him, it started contemplating.

Should it climb and leave the basin for its meal, or should it give up?