Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis moved to the next Law Comprehension Area, but before he could get there, he was intercepted by a message.

"I comprehended the level five Law of Lightning's Supreme Speed," Mortis sent him.

Gravis was pleasantly surprised. "Oh right, it has already been a couple of years since we last talked. Nice."

"Have you comprehended something of relevance during this time?" Mortis asked.

Gravis chuckled a bit. "I learned a few Laws," he said.

Then, Gravis told Mortis about all the Laws that he had comprehended.

"The Law of the Living World, huh?" Mortis asked. His voice sounded thoughtful like he was trying to taste the words. "Then, we truly need to comprehend the Law of Sentience before we can fight Arc in the future. Otherwise, from what you've told me, we would be helpless in front of him."

Gravis nodded. "I agree. I'm not sure what power the Law of Sentience has, but it has to have the ability to resist the Law of the Living World since it's on the same level, and it might even be more powerful. After all, the Law of Perceived Reality is a level five Law, while the Law of the Dead World is only a level four Law. Additionally, the Law of Perceived Reality should be by far the hardest to comprehend under normal circumstances."

Mortis also nodded. However, his brows furrowed quickly. "However, there is an issue with the Body Battle Laws you have comprehended."

Gravis already knew the Law, which meant that he knew exactly what Mortis was referring to.

"You can't use them, right?" Gravis asked.

"Correct," Mortis answered. "In order to fuse the Body Battle Laws into a body, one needs a body made up of a force that can easily mix with other things. My body is made of Divine Lightning, which makes it impossible for me to fuse the forces together in such a way."

"Advantages and disadvantages, eh?" Gravis commented. "You can split your body apart, and your body can't be dissolved with the level five Law of Body Composition. However, you can't use some of the Laws of the body because of that. I guess it might actually be better that I have my Void Lightning."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that," Mortis answered. "After all, I don't have to convert my Energy into Divine Lightning first, which means that I don't lose anything due to the conversion. My storage of Divine Lightning is many times larger than yours. I'm fine with what I currently have."

Gravis nodded again. "You can see it like that. To each their own," Gravis said. "So, what's next on the agenda?"

"More level five Lightning Battle Laws," Mortis answered. "I still want three more level five Battle Laws for Lightning. With all of them combined, I should have the ability to push my Divine Lightning close to the power of a level seven Law. By using these Laws with a Lightning Crescent, I should be able to unleash an attack a little bit more powerful than a level seven Law."

"At that point, even if I fight someone that has a level six Law as their Avatar, I wouldn't be on a disadvantage."

"Alright," Gravis answered. "I will finish the Major Law of Defense first. After that, I will look at the level five Laws. From what I can see, these Laws work similarly to the Law of Temperature. I think that the three Major Laws of Strength, Defense, and Speed will fuse together into one Law."

Mortis furrowed his brows as he thought about Gravis' words for a few seconds. Mortis also knew the Law, and he was in no way less intelligent than Gravis, which meant that he also quickly found the answer.

"You can't use them simultaneously," Mortis said.

Gravis nodded. "Correct. I'm pretty sure there is a way to use them simultaneously, but it feels even more complex than learning a single one of them. I'm pretty sure that's a level five Law I'm looking at."

"Makes sense," Mortis answered. "By the way, don't forget that we have comprehended six level five Laws in total now. Your first one was the Law of Magma, which you comprehended with a Law Comprehension Life Fruit. By now, we should have comprehended enough level five Laws that we can consume more Life Fruits."

Gravis' eyes widened. "Has it really already been five Laws?" Gravis asked. Then, he counted in his head. 

The Law of Magma was the first one.

Then, the Law of Perceived Reality came.

After that came Lightning Manipulation.

Then came the Laws of Body Growth and Body Composition.

And now, Mortis comprehended the Law of Lightning's Speed.

"Huh, it has really been five Laws," Gravis said. "What do you think I should eat? After all, I have Law Comprehension Life Fruits for basically anything."

"I would advise getting something that would be troublesome to comprehend," Mortis said. "We can find Law Comprehension Areas for all the Mixed Elements with ease. We don't need to look into the Life Laws since you already comprehended the most important ones. The beasts shouldn't have access to the Laws of Emotions and Perceived Reality."

"You can get the Law of Temperatures from Stella, and level five Battle Laws should also not be that hard to find."

"We can find Law Comprehension Areas for nearly everything. However, there is one set of Law that's always troublesome to comprehend, not because it's harder than the others, but that finding a place to comprehend it is tedious," Mortis explained.

Gravis' eyes shone. "The Complex Materials Laws!"

Mortis nodded. "We can comprehend the Soft Complex Material Law pretty easily after we have all the Mixed Elements. Soft Materials aren't very powerful, and creating them doesn't cost much Energy. The same thing should also be true for the Medium Complex Material Law."

"That leaves the Hard Complex Law," Gravis interjected. "All these materials need a ton of Energy to be created, which means that most of our time is spent regenerating our Energy. So, you think I should consume Life Fruits for the Hard Complex Material Law?"

"I think that would be best," Mortis answered.

Gravis nodded. "Luckily, I have a set of these fruits. The beasts probably didn't want to give me the good Laws like the Mixed Elemental Laws, fearing that they would fall into the hand of humans. The Hard Complex Law is only useful while fighting against humans, but not while fighting beasts, at least not as long as the beast is fighting naked."

"Luck, huh?" Mortis answered without amusement.

"Kind of," Gravis said with a complex expression. 

"Hmph, doesn't matter," Mortis answered. "I don't have time to think about that stuff."

With that said, Mortis cut off the connection, and Gravis only smiled bitterly. 'Always so blunt and direct.'

After talking with Mortis, Gravis went on to comprehend the Major Law of Defense.

Comprehending that Law wasn't anything more special than the last few Law Comprehension Areas. There was only a black tortoise in a clearing that attacked Gravis. Gravis was supposed to fight back with enough force to injure the tortoise but not kill it.

The tortoise gave an impressive performance with its defenses, even surprising Gravis. 

It really wasn't easy to injure that tortoise without using Laws and using an actual weapon. 

It took Gravis 200 years until he comprehended the Law, and when he did so, he nodded to the tortoise and left.

Mortis noticed that Gravis was done based on what Gravis' feelings were telling him, and he directly contacted Gravis.

"Gravis, I need you to eat the Law Comprehension Life Fruits of the Hard Complex Material Law right now," Mortis said.

Gravis blinked a couple of times in surprise.

Mortis' choice of words was a bit unusual. On top of that, Mortis wouldn't really care that much in which order Gravis comprehended Laws. 

"What's up?" Gravis asked.

"You need to consume the fruits right now and comprehend the Law," Mortis answered. "After that, I need you to come to me."

Gravis furrowed his brows.

Gravis knew Mortis, and he immediately had an inkling about what was happening.

"Are you in trouble?" Gravis asked.

"No," Mortis answered. "I found tempering."

Gravis narrowed his eyes. "And how come you are asking me to come to you?"

"Because I'm too weak to win on my own."

Gravis' eyebrows shot up. He was certain that Mortis had the confidence to kill someone five levels above himself. 

However, he asked for help.

"Did you challenge someone six levels above yourself?" Gravis asked worriedly. He believed that six levels were still too much, even with the two of them fighting together.

"No," Mortis said.

Gravis sighed in relief. "Then why do you need me?"

"It's a Black Demon."

Gravis took a deep breath.

That explained it.

"I already challenged him, and our fight will commence in 200 years. He carries weapons made with the Hard Complex Law. It's probable that the beasts have already managed to create some forgers, who are equipping the Black Demons first. If we fight him directly, our weapons will only end up being destroyed."

Gravis scratched his chin in thought. "What brought this fight on?"

"He saw my token and told me that I am supposed to find power on my own and not rely on someone else's goodwill. His eyes spoke of disregard, and I very clearly told him that I earned this token myself."

"That's when he tried to suppress me with his superior power, telling me that he's helping me out of his own goodwill and that I'm supposed to respect my superiors," Mortis answered.

Gravis sighed.

Would Gravis have acted the same way?

Probably.

"Alright, give me 150 years."