Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis sighed. He knew that Arc wasn't lying when he said that the reason why he helped Gravis was simply that he wanted to. Yet, it still felt a bit lackluster to him.

"You could have just let me go on without this Law," Gravis said. "I already had no animosity with you."

Arc only chuckled slightly. "Does it really matter?" he asked.

"Doesn't it?" Gravis asked. "This concerns your life."

"It does, yes," Arc answered. "Yet, when you are standing before an opponent that you can beat but isn't a danger to your life, do you not wish for that opponent to be a bit more powerful?"

"You mean tempering?" Gravis asked. "You don't need tempering."

"No, I don't," Arc said, "but I want to. I haven't fought someone in billions of years. I almost forgot what it feels like. The thrill of feeling one's death to be only a single mistake away. I haven't had this feeling since I went through my specialized will tempering."

"We are destined to fight, Gravis," Arc said. "I don't want to fight you since I have no reason to fight you. Actually, I like you, Gravis. You're a person that's very similar to me, and I respect your mindset."

"I can decide not to fight you, Gravis," Arc continued but then sighed. "However, you need to defeat me to gain freedom. No matter how much you don't want to, you will still decide to fight me as long as you chase freedom. This is unavoidable."

"I know that you also don't want to fight me, Gravis. However, you have no other choice. You might have the choice to not fight me, but that choice might as well not exist. The death of one being won't deter you from grasping true freedom."

"So, when you inevitably fight me, I want this fight to be memorable, no matter who comes out victoriously."

"Gravis," Arc said heavily and with sadness as he looked into Gravis' eyes. "Promise me that you won't challenge me until you know the Law of Sentience. Otherwise, even in my weakened state, you will not be an opponent to me."

Gravis also took a deep breath as he listened to Arc. Gravis knew that Arc wasn't lying. Arc was unfathomably powerful, and even in an incredibly weakened state, he was still so overwhelmingly powerful. If Arc were allowed to use all his power, Gravis couldn't win, no matter what he did. Gravis' longevity would have long passed over a million years, which meant that powerful Star Gods would already attack him.

"I presume the Law of Sentience is the fusion of the Law of Perceived Reality and the Law of Emotions?" Gravis asked.

Arc nodded. "Correct. I will be restricted to using the Law of the Living World, and you need an equally powerful Law to counteract that. Additionally, you need this Law as your Avatar, and since you chose freedom as your Avatar, you need to get the Law of Sentience."

Gravis sighed. "I don't know if I can comprehend that Law," he said. "I now have all the components for the Law of Perceived Reality, but I only know a single emotional Law, the Law of Apathy. I haven't comprehended any of the other Emotional Laws, and I don't even know how to comprehend them."

Arc nodded. "Your issue with your lightning is at fault."

Gravis perked up. "It is?" he asked.

"Yes," Arc confirmed. "Comprehending the Emotional Laws means getting lost in the emotion. However, your two sides are similar in behavior and decision, but polar opposites in emotions."

Gravis furrowed his brows as he looked down. "I think I know what you mean. My lightning and I often do the same things, but for different reasons. I'm honest because I don't want to flee from the truth, but my lightning is honest out of fairness."

"Close, but not entirely," Arc said. "It's more about how you feel in a given situation. When someone many times weaker than you attacks you, you often find it amusing or feel pity while your lightning feels disrespect and rage."

"When someone gives you a present, you might feel delighted and happy, while your lightning feels suppressed."

"Suppressed?" Gravis asked in surprise.

Arc nodded. "Lightning is fair, and when someone helps it, it needs to help back. This puts a restriction on it. In short, you want to feel close to others, but your lightning wants to be distant from others."

"Lightning has a great affinity for the Laws of Rage, Apathy, and Pride. Meanwhile, you have a great affinity for the Laws of Calm, Empathy, and Humility. When someone attacks you, your lightning becomes angry, but you become calm so that you can deal with the issue as logically and efficiently as possible. In both cases, you kill the enemy, but you feel different emotions."

"The time you learned your one and only Emotional Law was when you summoned the mindset of your lightning without interfering. Sadly, this is no longer possible due to the animosity between the two of you now," Arc explained.

"Because of that, comprehending the Emotional Laws will become nearly impossible. Frankly, the only way you can understand Emotional Laws in this state is by sheer luck, and you obviously don't have that."

Gravis sighed again. "So, as long as the problem with my lightning persists, I will have no chance of comprehending the Emotional Laws."

"Correct," Arc said with a nod. "There are some solutions to your issue, but all of them have different prices. Obviously, I can't tell you since that is something that you need to find out and decide by yourself. Every solution has a major disadvantage for either one or both of you."

Gravis looked at the lake absentmindedly as the weight on his shoulders returned.

Gravis had comprehended the level two Law of Safety, but that didn't change anything. If it were only Gravis involved, he would have no issues in feeling calm, safe, and free due to his different Laws of Perceived Reality. Yet, in this circumstance, Gravis felt like he would be running away from his responsibility.

His lightning was constantly being suppressed by Gravis, and if Gravis decided to feel great now, it would only draw even more animosity from his lightning. Gravis' lightning was not his enemy but his friend. Sadly, as soon as Gravis decided to prioritize freedom, his friend felt betrayed by him.

'How am I supposed to split myself in two?' Gravis thought. 'The obvious solution would be to create a completely new body for my lightning to free it. However, there are several problems with that.'

'First of all, I would lose access to all my lightning powers. Second of all, I would need to know the Law of True Life. Lastly, I would need to, at least, become an Ancestral or Divine God. I don't have that long.'

'I can't share the control over my being with it. After all, when critical decisions come, we will fight with each other until one suppresses the other again.'

'Completely changing myself is also bad since I would be the suppressed one after that. My lightning has the right to freedom, but so do I.'

'Lightning Fork also doesn't work. That only creates a new body, but my Spirit is still only one thing. When something important happens, we would still clash heads with each other.'

'All paths have issues.'

Gravis suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to Arc.

"When you are close to death, you will find a solution," Arc said. "The question is what your price is going to be. Right now, you don't know what you want. When you are close to death, you know what you truly want."

BANG!

Arc shoved Gravis until he fell over and grinned.

"Until then, forget all of this," he said. "Instead, let's talk about something else."

Arc's rough shove pulled Gravis out of his worried mindset. After sitting up again, Gravis sighed again. 

"So, what do you want to talk about?" Gravis asked, still a bit absentminded.

"Well, there are three reasons I wanted you here," Arc said. "The first one was simply talking to you. The second one was to teach you the Law of Safety."

"And the third one is to give you an actually useful explanation about Weapon Cultivation."

Arc laughed a bit. "You have absolutely no affinity with the Synchronization Comprehension method. That's why I knew that you won't be able to learn Weapon Cultivation in the Unrestrained Sect."

"Synchronization Comprehension method?" Gravis asked.