Lightning Is the Only Way

The room fell into silence for a while.

"You can just call me Arc," Arc said with a smile. "No reason to be so nervous. I'm a Cultivator, just like anyone else now. You're acting familiar and friendly with Gravis, even though his Battle-Strength is immeasurable. I'm just a bit more powerful than Gravis. So, there shouldn't be much of a difference."

Arc was very good with placating feelings of nervousness, but it was still hard to placate feelings of disconnection due to such a massive gap in power.

"Hi, Arc! I'm Ferris!" Ferris shouted as he arrived in front of Arc with an excited smile. "You smell like a good guy! I like you!"

Of course it would be Ferris that took the first step.

"You can smell that I'm a good guy?" Arc asked with a slight chuckle.

"Yeah," Ferris said.

"That's quite an interesting power. It has probably served you well on your journey," Arc said with a smile.

Ferris nodded several times. "Friends are nice!"

Styr, Azure, and Sary looked at Ferris with complex expressions.

Ferris was genuine and excited whenever he was with someone he liked.

However, his image horrifyingly shifted whenever he talked with someone he didn't like.

As soon as Ferris met someone he didn't like the smell of, his eyes were constantly narrowed, and he spoke with a terrifyingly cold disposition.

It was even worse when he actually fought. Whenever Ferris fought, he basically transformed into a terrifying, blood-thirsty monstrosity. He appeared like a hegemon of fire that burned everything and everyone that dared to go against him.

He even knew the Laws of Rage, Pride, and Calm.

As soon as he unleashed his powers, the sky would turn red with the power of blind rage and unsurpassed pride. Everyone would be suppressed by him, and his attacks had an insane intensity to them.

Yet, right now, Ferris only smiled widely in excitement and happiness as he met a new friend.

Ferris was outstanding, even amongst this group of outstanding beings.

One had to remember one simple fact when thinking about Gravis' friends.

Were they powerful because they were Gravis' friends, or were they Gravis' friends because they were powerful?

No friend of Gravis was simple.

Manuel had had an astonishing maturity for his age back then, and he had been a terrifyingly powerful Cultivator.

Joyce had had a Unity Will before she had even entered the Heaven's Trial.

Skye had managed to comprehend the Law of Freedom on her own.

Azure had comprehended one of the Emotional Laws in the middle world.

Styr was very smart, and he managed to comprehend a level three Law in the Early Law Comprehension Realm.

Sary had been ancient in the middle world, and she had managed to fight three Ultimates at the same time.

All of Gravis' friends were monsters in their own right, and as long as they didn't meet with terrifyingly bad luck, it would only be natural for them to become this powerful.

Yet, even among this group of monsters, Ferris stood out.

"You're quite powerful, Ferris," Arc said with a smile. It was not difficult for him to see through all of Ferris' Laws. After all, Arc knew the Law of the True World. This meant that he could know everything about everyone under the Star God Realm.

Arc could even see what Ferris would do several years in advance, assuming Arc had access to all the information of Ferris' surroundings all the time. Something like this would have been possible if they were still in Arc's world, but that was obviously no longer possible.

"No, everyone else is way stronger than me," Ferris said with an excited smile, pointing at the group.

Arc chuckled a bit when he heard that.

He knew why Ferris said that.

Did Ferris lie?

No.

Ferris truly believed that he was the weakest of the group.

Why?

Because he had the worst placing out of everyone present in the tournament.

Why?

Because Ferris didn't see anyone in the group as his enemy.

He didn't activate his Law of Pride since he wasn't prideful in front of his friends.

He didn't activate the Law of Rage since he wasn't angry.

He didn't use the Law of Calm since he was excited to spend time with his friends.

He didn't even truly attack them since he was afraid of hurting them.

Because of that, Ferris got a horrible placing in the tournament of Gravis' friends.

Azure snorted when she heard Ferris' words.

She found these words ridiculous.

She knew exactly that, if Ferris went all out, he could have achieved third place in the tournament.

Arc wanted to get to know Gravis' friends more, which was why he continued talking to Ferris. "Ferris, you're basing your power on the tournament you guys had, right? Tell me, how did the tournament go?"

The group had mixed reactions to that question.

Some of them smiled with pride, while others looked away.

"I came in second-to-last!" Ferris shouted with excitement. "Everyone else is so powerful!"

Gravis was also interested in the results.

How powerful had his friends become?

He only had Liam as a reference since he knew how powerful Liam was.

He wondered what rank Liam achieved.

"Didn't you say you were the weakest?" Arc asked. "Who's the last place then?"

Surprisingly, Ferris frowned.

"It's a beast I don't like," he said. "She was surprisingly weak. She couldn't even resist me for a second, even though everyone else won against me."

Gravis' eyebrows rose with interest, but he also found it a bit funny.

If Ferris didn't like someone, he could use all his power.

It was understandable that his opponent would lose against him.

However, one shouldn't forget that this beast had also lost against everyone else.

"Who was it?" Gravis asked with interest.

"She's called Cera," Ferris said with an excited grin as he looked at Gravis. "I think she's your daughter."

Gravis cringed.

Gravis knew Cera very well, and he knew that Cera was very prideful.

Coming in last probably hurt her pride immensely.

He had to talk with her later and check up on her.

However, it was still surprising that Cera came in last, but when Gravis looked at the group, he could accept that Cera came in last.

Every single one of them was powerful.

There was not even a single weakling among them.

"Who came next?" Arc asked.

"Me!" Ferris said.

"I know," Arc said with a laugh. "I mean above you."

"Oh!" Ferris said as he seemingly remembered something. "It was Manuel!"

Gravis looked at Manuel, who only smiled slightly.

'Did Manuel truly go all out?' Gravis thought.

Gravis inspected Manuel closer, and his eyes shone.

'He knows the level five Law of Humility,' Gravis thought. 'No one else can tell his true power just by looking at him.'

Gravis hadn't inspected everyone closely, which was why he had not noticed Manuel's hidden power.

'He definitely didn't go all out.'

'If he went all out, none of their group can resist him.'

Why was Gravis so certain of Manuel's power?

Because Manuel knew four of the five Laws of Perceived Reality.

He was only missing the Law of Freedom.

He also had two Emotional Laws.

"Don't tell them," Manuel transmitted to Gravis. He had noticed Gravis' eyes light up when he had looked at him. "Let them have their fun. It's better that way."

Gravis nodded slightly.

Arc also noticed Manuel's hidden power, and he smirked a bit.

'What a nice guy,' Arc thought.

"Who's next?" Arc asked Ferris.

"Grandpa Styr!" Ferris said with excitement.

Gravis looked at Styr, who only smiled embarrassingly.

"Young people are quite powerful nowadays," he said.

Gravis laughed when he heard Styr's words.

"Next is Big Sister Sary!" Ferris said.

"I just don't want to ruin my image as the big sister," Sary said with a sexy grin.

Gravis' body shook a bit.

'I'm not attracted to snakes!' he thought.

"Dorian came in seventh," Ferris said.

Dorian coughed awkwardly. "I just wanted to let the juniors have some of the spotlight. The time of us old men has passed."

Gravis only smirked at Dorian.

Sure, Dorian was uniquely powerful, but he wasn't the strongest in a direct confrontation without retreat.

Dorian's strengths lay somewhere else.

Also, every single person above him was a monster.

"Sixth was Joyce," Ferris said with a smile.

"Oh?" Gravis uttered in surprise.

Joyce was already pretty powerful, and she only came in sixth place?

Sure enough, there were some terrifying monsters in that group.

"The next places are a bit weird," Ferris said, scratching the side of his head. "We had a three-way-tie. We basically have three third spots."

"How did that happen?" Gravis asked.

"Well, Big Sister Azure fought Liam and lost. Liam's Will-Aura suppressed Azure too much," Ferris explained.

"Then, Big Sister Azure fought Big Sister Skye and won."

"But when Big Sister Skye fought Liam, she won!" Ferris said with wonder. "Big Sister Skye knows some kind of Law that makes her immune to Liam's Will-Aura!"

Gravis nodded. 'It's basically rock-paper-scissors. Skye suppresses Liam with her Law of Freedom. Liam suppresses Azure with his Will-Aura. Azure suppresses Skye with her Battle-Strength and Emotional Laws.'

Skye showed a victory sign to Gravis with a proud smirk.

Azure also smirked at Gravis with pride.

Being at the same level of power as Liam was already impressive.

After all, Liam was very powerful, even for the standards of the most powerful higher world.

Gravis went through the remaining two contestants and became quite surprised.

"So, since Stella is in the first place, Aris came in second?" Gravis asked with surprise.

Ferris nodded. "Aris is super powerful! His Will-Aura alone is insanely powerful!"

Gravis' eyes shot open in shock.

"Will-Aura!?" Gravis asked in shock.

What Will-Aura?

Aris was a beast!

He couldn't have a Will-Aura!