Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis joined the Red-White Kingdom as a general, and he followed every order of the king.

After a while, the king even trusted Gravis enough that he wanted to learn combat from him, and Gravis complied, teaching the king as much about combat as he knew.

The king's power soared, and in the next couple of years, he unified all the other Kingdoms. He didn't do it via war but by inspiring them to follow him. His power was unequaled, except for Gravis, and all the Kingdoms knew of the personality of the Red-White King.

In the end, the land was unified, and the Red-White Kingdom transformed into the Red-White Empire.

After that, the Red-White Empire tried to search for a way to get past the deadly wilderness surrounding their Empire.

Sadly, before they could make any headway, the marauders invaded their land.

The Red-White Empire confronted the marauders.

The Red-White Empire had two Early Unity Realm Cultivators and eight Initial Unity Realm Cultivators.

With Gravis' Battle-Strength, he now had the power to destroy the marauders, thanks to all his companions.

He could finally overcome the group that had killed him time and time again!

'Well, in for a penny, in for a pound,' Gravis thought.

Yet, Gravis had decided to be a pushover, and he wouldn't stop now. It had helped him up to now, and even though it was beyond stupid in his opinion to not kill the enemy right now, Gravis simply continued acting like a pushover.

So, when the battle happened, Gravis only fought an Initial Unity Realm Cultivator without deadly force, merely putting on a show.

Gravis had already informed his opponent about his intentions, and his opponent played along.

The king and his two generals looked at Gravis with hate as they realized that he wasn't fighting with his full power.

Sadly, there was nothing they could do.

The five Early Unity Realm marauders killed the king, the only other Early Unity Realm Cultivator.

Then, they killed the Initial Unity Realm Cultivators as Gravis simply stood on the ground, watching with a kind smile.

In the end, the fifteen marauders surrounded Gravis.

"And why should we keep you alive?" the leader asked with a cold voice.

"Because I'm not a danger, and I'm willing to do whatever you want."

"Humph! A mere traitor," the leader said, but then a malicious smirk appeared on his face. "However, I'm willing to entertain your standpoint for a bit. Open your Spirit Space to me, and I might let you live."

"Certainly," Gravis said with a warm smile.

The leader was a bit surprised and entered Gravis' Spirit Space.

When he saw the size of it, his eyes narrowed.

Originally, he had wanted to just kill this useless Initial Unity Realm Cultivator. 

Yet, this was not an Initial Unity Realm Cultivator but an Early Unity Realm Cultivator.

The leader also quickly realized that he hadn't been able to see through Gravis' power whatsoever, which shocked him beyond belief.

So, the leader left Gravis' Spirit Space without killing him and looked deeply at him.

"What allows you to keep your Realm hidden?" he asked coldly.

"The Law of Humility," Gravis answered. 

"Law of Humility?" the leader said with a bit of disgust and confusion. "I've never heard of that. What's the use?"

"Keeping my Realm and being hidden from others," Gravis answered with a warm smile. "I can appear like a mortal if I want to. Potential enemies don't know of my power, giving me a free shot on anyone that underestimates me."

The leader had taken the Law of Humility lightly, but after Gravis explained its uses, he realized that this Law was actually terrifying.

It was a silent blade that could kill someone.

After a while, the leader looked at Gravis with severe eyes. However, the coldness that had been present previously had vanished.

"You have not fought us, even though you had the power. If you had unleashed your power, at least one of my companions would have died. For that, I am willing to allow you to follow us," he said.

Gravis bowed with a warm smile. "I will follow you."

"Good," the leader said. 

On this day, Gravis joined the marauders, and as he followed the group, he had to think back on what his decisions had brought.

'In the beginning, I was the only Unity Realm Cultivator. Then, I joined a group with three other Unity Realm Cultivators. This group managed to increase its power until there were ten Unity Realm Cultivators, and now, I'm part of a group so powerful that I can't even fight them on my own.'

'Humility, huh?'

The group of marauders pocketed all the wealth in the Empire and left it afterward.

Apparently, there was a hidden cave that allowed humans to pass through the dangerous wilderness. This cave was also the way this group had managed to come to the Empire.

Gravis followed the group for the next couple of years, earning quite a lot of resources for himself.

In the end, Gravis reached the Mid Unity Realm without many problems.

Then, the group was attacked by the striking force from a Sect and annihilated.

Just like the last time, Gravis didn't put up a fight.

The Sect put Gravis into custody and brought him back. After that, they interrogated him thoroughly and checked with several witnesses.

Gravis had never killed anyone.

He had always only bought some time for the marauders.

In the end, the Sect decided that Gravis wasn't deserving of death. 

Instead, he was put to work for 200 years to right his wrongs.

After 200 years, Gravis was allowed to join the Sect. 

Whenever Gravis thought about what his decisions had brought, he felt like he lived in a fantasy world.

'By not killing anyone, by not fighting anyone, and by always keeping my power hidden, I have left the weak land of Kingdoms and became a disciple in a powerful Sect. My Realm has increased, and it will continue to increase,' Gravis thought with complex feelings.

'I would never act like this in reality, but in here, it has allowed me to become far more powerful.'

'Is this a facet of Humility?' Gravis thought as he looked at his own courtyard in the Sect.

'I thought Humility meant staying hidden and striking at the best opportunity.'

'Yet, by not striking at all and keeping my power hidden forever, I have achieved far more than by striking. Passiveness has become more useful than activeness.'

Gravis looked at the sky with a thoughtful expression.

'In one case, I was using Humility to kill my enemies. This could be seen as an apathetic usage of the Law.'

'Yet, by never striking, I allowed everyone to live, which also meant that I was able to survive. This could be called an empathetic usage of Humility.'

'One kills my opponents and might endanger my own life.'

'The other kills no one, and I can survive without problems.'

'Apathy and Empathy, huh?'

'That's just like the Laws of Calm and Rage. They can also be used with Apathy and Empathy.'

'So that's what I was missing.'

BOOOOM!

Gravis smiled warmly, but he became shocked a moment later.

Gravis had comprehended the Law of Humility.

However, the thing that shocked Gravis was that he had comprehended the level five Law of Humility!

Wasn't he supposed to comprehend a weaker one!?

Suddenly, the world turned into nothingness as Gravis was transported into a cave.

He was back in his old body, and he felt his true power return.

"1,254 years," a voice said from Gravis' front. "That's really fast!"

Gravis looked over and smirked. "Surprised?"

"A bit," Arc said with a bitter laugh. "I'm a bit envious, you know?"

"By the way, you can say thanks now," Arc said with a smirk.

Gravis was a bit confused. "What do you mean?"

Arc laughed a bit. "You actually comprehended the level three Law of Humility on your first try!"

Gravis' eyes widened. "What? No, I didn't!"

"Yes, you did," Arc said with a laugh. "The level three Law of Humility only requires either the Apathy part of the Law of Humility or the Empathy part."

"You perfectly used the Apathy part of the Law of Humility on your very first try, always staying hidden and striking whenever you want."

"However, I thought I'd give you a helping hand. So, I modified the trial and included that band of marauders. I wanted you to comprehend both parts."

"Originally, the trial would end after someone took out all the other Kingdoms with the required method, but you did that on your first try. I put the marauders in there to force you into the Empathy part of the Law of Humility."

"And well, here you are, knowing the level five Law of Humility," Arc said with a wide smile. 

"You're only missing the Law of Pride now, eh?"

Gravis was surprised, but he relaxed quickly and smiled warmly.

"Thanks, Arc."