Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis and Yersi were still in shock for some hours. They had not seen this turn of events coming at all. The trio that had been together for around 200 years suddenly split up. Now, only the two of them lived together in this apartment.

Gravis was not sure how he should feel about Orthar leaving. On one hand, Orthar was his closest friend, and he had just left. This made Gravis feel a feeling of loss and abandonment.

Yet, on the other hand, Orthar found something out about his being. So, wasn't this a good thing for him? Gravis' father told him that Orthar was still himself and that he was safe. Wasn't that everything that Gravis needed to know?

Was this any different from all the other times Gravis split off from his friends?

When Orthar left, Gravis started thinking about his other friends again. He thought about them occasionally, but there was nothing he could do, which was why he hadn't asked about them. 

'I think this is the perfect opportunity to ask how many of my friends are actually still alive,' Gravis thought. 'Additionally, Aris and Cera have already spent 2,000 years in the higher worlds. They are probably still Immortals, but I hope they are well.'

"Yersi, I'm going to ask father about Aris, Cera, and some of my old friends," Gravis said.

Yersi released a sigh. Now, for the first time, she was feeling the same feeling that Gravis had felt whenever he asked his father about the wellbeing of his friends. She felt the uncertainty. What if Aris and Cera were already dead? What then?

"Do you want to come with me?" Gravis asked.

Yersi waited for some seconds.

"No, I don't think I want to," she said. "Just tell me about it later."

Gravis could understand that decision and nodded. "Sure."

SHING!

And Gravis teleported to his father.

Gravis looked around his father's room, but he couldn't see the Black Magnate anywhere.

"He left," the Opposer said.

"How come?" Gravis asked.

"He can't always remain here with me and decided that he wanted to re-experience the world. A lot of things have changed, and he wants to see if he can find other, like-minded individuals," the Opposer said.

Gravis nodded and sat down in front of his father.

Whoop!

A cup of coffee appeared in front of Gravis, who quickly accepted it. "This reminds me," he said. "You said you would talk with me about a way to grow and make my own coffee."

The Opposer also got some coffee for himself. "Yes," he said. "Usually, you would only need to rent a garden and grow your own plant. This would involve changing its Composition to perfectly suit your needs."

Gravis drank a mouthful of coffee, and the taste immediately carried him away into nostalgia. "Usually?" Gravis asked. "This probably has something to do with my unique body, right?"

The Opposer nodded. "Coffee is a plant of the earth and wood attribute. You need coffee made of the lightning element, which is impossible for you. Unraveling the makeup of a being is not difficult, but transforming it into something completely different while still retaining its being encroaches on the territories of the Law of the Living World."

"If you want to make your own coffee, you need to comprehend the Life Law first. After that, you need to fuse it with the Law of the Dead World to create the Law of the Living World," the Opposer said.

Gravis snorted. "So, in short, I need to comprehend a Law even more powerful and advanced than the Law of the Dead World just to make some coffee?" he asked.

The Opposer nodded.

"Alright, forget it then," Gravis said. "That's a bit overkill for just some coffee."

Some silence returned.

"Father," Gravis said. "Many years have passed, and I would like to know how my friends are."

"Which ones? You have far too many beings that you call friends," the Opposer said.

This was the moment of truth, but Gravis wanted to start with the relatively distant and unimportant ones, his friends from the lower world. So much time had passed, and they probably had all changed considerably. 

For his friends from the lower world, over 22,000 years had already passed. This is over twice as long as the longevity of someone in the Law Comprehension Realm.

This meant that his friends were either already in the higher world or dead.

There was no in-between.

Gravis still remembered that Lasar had already died. This left Nero, Joyce, Manuel, Old Man Lightning, Skye, and Aion. 

"What about Nero?" Gravis asked.

"Who was that again?" the Opposer asked.

"The darkness Cultivator I met in the Heaven's Trial, the one who said that darkness can also protect others," Gravis said.

The Opposer thought back and remembered the quiet kid. Even though he didn't pay attention to Nero, the Opposer's memory and perception were still nearly unparalleled. Because of that, he remembered the unimportant darkness disciple.

He quickly checked through space and time and watched Nero's entire life in a single second.

"He found a home in a mixed elemental Sect. After nearly dying in a tempering experience, he decided to slowly comprehend Laws and raise his Realm. He reached the late Nascent Nourishing Realm and realized that his Will-Aura was too weak. Because of that, he abandoned cultivation and took up a position as an elder in the Sect."

"He remained in that position until his 3,000 years of longevity ran out. That was around 20,000 years ago," the Opposer said.

Gravis had already accepted that his old friends would drift apart from him, but he still felt a pit in his stomach when he heard that Nero died. Gravis didn't grieve for the dead Nero but for the death of his old acquaintance. He grieved for the memory of Nero. They would never reconnect again.

In the end, Gravis wished that he had spent a bit more time with him. They had never really gotten to know each other.

Gravis sighed and nodded. 

"What about Aion?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer looked at Gravis evenly.

"You know," Gravis said. "That one Heavenborn that helped me, the lazy one."

The Opposer inspected the timestream of the middle world again.

"He was content with having achieved the Unity Realm, something that he had never thought would be possible. In the middle world, he was no longer being hunted by everyone, and he settled down. In the end, he became a merchant, fathered a ton of children, and died a rich man."

Gravis sighed again.

Another one of his friends had died. He still remembered when he had spared Aion's life and how his relationship with Heaven had changed. 

He would never see the lazy Aion again, simply drinking a smoothy while sunbathing.

Up to now, the record of his friends was pretty devastating. Lasar, Aion, and Nero were dead. 

"What about Manuel?" Gravis asked.

"I remember that kid," the Opposer said as he checked the middle world again.

Gravis waited until his father spoke again.

"He managed to reach the higher world but stopped cultivating. He found a wife and is currently living with his family. He has around 45,000 years of soft longevity left," the Opposer said.

Gravis sighed in relief. At least one of them was still alive. Additionally, Manuel had a ton of longevity left. This meant that he had probably reached the higher world after only 2,000 years or so.

"He stopped cultivating, and his Realm is no longer increasing, just like Orpheus?" Gravis asked.

The Opposer nodded.

"This means that he will probably die in less than 5,000 years in highest world time, right?" Gravis asked.

"No," the Opposer said.

"No?" Gravis asked.

"Starting at the Immortal Realm, you have soft longevity. Manuel's Battle-Strength is powerful enough to fend off his first tribulation. He will only start having problems at the second one. The earliest possible time of death for him would be in around 9,500 years," the Opposer said.

"That's quite impressive," Gravis said. "The tribulations are probably not trivial, right?"

The Opposer nodded. "The first tribulation is always against someone one level above yourself. Your friend won't have an issue against such an opponent."

Gravis had to smile when he heard that. Even after so much time, Manuel was still impressive. At least he would have a long and happy life. Gravis was happy for him and wished him all the best.

"What about Old Man Lightning?" Gravis asked.

This marked the cutoff point. From here on out, Gravis would ask about the really important beings to him.