Lightning Is the Only Way

Aion turned to Gravis with a grin. "I have decided!" he said proudly. "It is now allowed to exchange Magic-Stones for Mission Points," he said, and Gravis released a sigh of relief. With this, he could buy several of those expensive pills that strengthened the body. With that, his body would no longer be useless in an actual fight.

"But," said Aion loudly. "I need to be fair to Cerb. He is working hard to exchange the gold for Magic-Stones, so I need to give others some kind of restriction. So, I have decided that you are required to regain your wealth by yourself."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

Aion put his hands on his hips with pride. "Simple! If you exchange 1,000 Magic-Stones for Mission Points, you need to regain those 1,000 Magic-Stones by yourself. After the exchange, you are required to reach the same amount of wealth three months later and show it to me! If you don't manage, you will lose half of your Mission Points!"

Gravis raised an eyebrow. "Why, though? Are you sure that this is a good way?" he asked confusedly. In Gravis' mind, this rule made absolutely no sense. To him, it seemed like the rule only existed to make the lives of the exchangers harder. What was even the point of that?

"Shut up! I decided, and that's how it is now," said Aion as he pointed at Gravis. "I am the branch manager, and you need to follow what I say!"

Gravis could only sigh and roll his eyes. The rule seemed senseless, and Aion, apparently, didn't accept any counterarguments. 'Well, it doesn't matter. Heaven probably won't allow me to stay in the Heaven Sect for much longer.' In three months, Gravis would probably already be fleeing all around the Middle-Continent. Not only from other guilds but also from the Heaven Sect. This restriction might as well not exist for him.

"Alright. I want to exchange these Magic-Stones," Gravis said, as he handed the sack of Energy Stones, which he had gotten from Wendy, to Aion.

Aion looked through the sack, and his eyes widened. "Man, that's a lot of Magic-Stones," he said in surprise. "Are you sure you can regain that in three months?"

Gravis nodded. "Heaven won't let me fail. I trust in Heaven! It will surely give me an opportunity to regain all this," Gravis said. Obviously, he was lying through his teeth. Heaven wouldn't even throw any leftovers at him.

Aion smiled and nodded. "You're right. Heaven always has our back, and we shouldn't be afraid of taking risks. As long as we believe in Heaven, everything will turn out fine. Alright, let me count the stones," said Aion as the sack of Magic-Stones disappeared.

"Alright, that's 1,628 Magic-Stones, which comes to 16,280 Mission Points. Together with the reward for your mission and your leftover Mission Points, you have something like 19,500 Mission Points. Damn, that's a lot of Mission Points, but what else could I expect from a fellow Heavenborn?" Aion said with a laugh.

When Gravis heard the exact number of Energy Stones, he sighed. He had decided to trade all of them, but it was still hard for him to give away something that could increase his Realm several times over.

Gravis calculated how much his strength would increase if he were to absorb all of those and concluded that he would nearly reach the ninth level of Energy Gathering. He would only be missing about 20% of the Energy requirement. If Gravis reached the ninth level of Energy Gathering, he would be invincible in the Middle-Continent with the exception of Spirit Forming expert.

He still felt a slight sting when he thought about the strength he had just lost, even though he knew that it was for the best. He could never allow for his battle strength advantage to be lost! His goal was not survival, but the peak. The firmer every step, the higher his chance of achieving his goal!

"Can I take a look at the exchange list?" asked Gravis.

Aion shrugged and then put a small booklet on the table. "Knock yourself out," he said as he walked to his balcony. He sat back down in his chair and continued relaxing. Meanwhile, Gravis took a look through the exchange list. He had to find the best way to increase his physical strength.

Gravis looked at the pills and quickly found the pills for body strengthening. Some pills increased the strength of specific organs. Some pills increased physical strength overall. Some pills expedited the training of the body.

Cultivators in the Energy Gathering Realm could still train their bodies, but the growth of the body's power was dozens of times slower than the growth of the Energy's power. That was why no one cared about training the body anymore. Resources for body strengthening were way rarer and more expensive than pure Energy Stones.

For example, if someone wanted to get their physical power to the same level as the Energy on the third level of Energy Gathering, they would probably have to spend around 150 Energy Stones. That might sound not as over the top as one thought, but one shouldn't forget about how few Energy Stones one needed to get to the third level of Energy Gathering. Going from the first level to the third level only needed 8+16 Energy Stones. That was about a sixth of the cost.

Gravis compiled a list of pills over the next couple of minutes until he noticed something.

Body Ascension Pill – 20,000 Mission Points

Gravis had subconsciously ignored the pill since the price was so high, but now, he was very close to being able to afford it. He read through the description, and his eyes sparkled with motivation. This was perfect for him!

The pill sharply increased the ability of the body to strengthen while healing. One first needed to tear down their old body to create a newer, stronger one. The description was simple, but the simple description showed the pill's power when it was paired with the price.

Gravis turned his head to Aion, who was still relaxing in his chair. "Hey, Aion," he said.

"What is it?" asked Aion, not turning towards him.

"Shouldn't I get a reward for pointing out the flaw in your mission system?" Gravis asked.

Aion craned his body so he could look at Gravis with furrowed brows. Then, he used his Spirit to take a look at the exchange list and noticed that the booklet had been opened to the page of the Body Ascension Pill. He then looked back up to Gravis and smiled.

"Fine."

WHOOSH PACK!

Aion threw a bottle at Gravis, who quickly caught it. He looked at it and could see a pill shining through the bottle, which was about as big as a plum. "But consider all your Mission Points used up," said Aion as he turned back to relax on his chair.

Gravis smiled in excitement. "Thank you, branch manager!" he said. With this, his body would be able to become much stronger, though he needed a way to break his body. If he really concentrated, he might be able to break his own body with his lightning, but not for very long. The pill would hold for an entire week, and Gravis' lightning would probably become useless at around the second day already. He needed a way to consistently damage his body.

Gravis' eyes turned to the relaxing Aion and shone.

Aion's body slightly shivered. Over a long period of time, Aion had managed to train this reaction towards something specific. He knew precisely what the shivering meant! Aion turned to Gravis and watched him with an apprehensive look.

His body always shivered before he had to work.