Lightning Is the Only Way

Cerb turned to Gravis with wide eyes. "You can do that?" he asked in disbelief.

Gravis simply nodded. He was not surprised that Aion knew about his battle strength. Aion had already proven how good the information network of the Heaven Sect was. Gravis could also infer that Aion didn't fully grasp his battle strength yet, or else he would know that Gravis had already killed someone at the seventh level of Energy Gathering.

Gravis never had a comparison in the Energy Gathering Realm. He didn't know if there were other people in the Energy Gathering Realm who could jump ranks to fight stronger people. Apparently, that was pretty rare. Gravis guessed that all Heavenborn could probably jump one rank due to their Heavenly Pressure. Though, jumping two ranks seemed to be rare.

"Gravis," said Aion, as Gravis turned to him. "We have three regular jobs that we have to do. The first one," said Aion as he pointed at Cerb with his thumb. "Is exchanging gold for Magic-Stones. Our headquarter in the Core-Continent doesn't need gold, but Magic-Stones are useful. Cerb is our only person right now whose job it is to exchange gold for Magic-Stones."

Cerb was proud that he was the sole person responsible for that. "Though he is not particularly good at it," Aion shot him down, and Cerb didn't seem as happy anymore.

"What about the other two jobs?" Gravis asked.

"Another job is the scouting of new Heavenborn," Aion continued. "New Heavenborn don't know that they are Heavenborn and also don't know about our guild. Most of the time, Heaven tells our High Priest about a new Heavenborn that is ready to join us, though not always. You were one of those exceptions. Heaven has not told us about you, previously."

Gravis nodded. Why would Heaven tell them about him being a Heavenborn, when he clearly wasn't. Gravis was happy that Heaven seemed to be sloppy at times. If he were the only "Heavenborn" that had not been announced previously, it would have been way harder for Gravis to worm his way into the Heaven Sect.

"So, those scouts get sent to the locations to retrieve our junior brothers and sisters?" asked Gravis.

Aion nodded. "Exactly. We are responsible for the south and the east of the Middle and Outer-Continent," Aion explained. "As you already know, the distances are far, and it takes a long time to go to their locations, find them, and bring them back. We have two sisters who are responsible for scouting, and they are very rarely here."

"I guess the last job is the job of an executioner?" asked Gravis.

Aion nodded again, but before he continued, he kicked some gold coins into Cerb's face. "Why are you still here? Go, do your job!" he shouted while pointing at the door. Cerb was listening at the side, but when he heard Aion shouting and felt the gold hitting his face, he quickly scrambled to collect the gold. Shortly after, he waved to Gravis and went out of the door.

Aion gestured with his head that Gravis should follow and also went out of the door. They walked down a hallway, and Aion continued his explanation. "We need to gather fighting experience, and we also need to do our jobs, which is to hunt the people who go against Heaven. An executioner's job is to hunt those criminals down and to kill them."

Gravis walked beside Aion and looked at him. "How do we judge someone to be a criminal?" asked Gravis.

"Either Heaven directly tells our headquarter and they inform us or a branch manager decides it," Aion pointed at himself and smiled. "I am the branch manager of this area of the Heaven Sect, by the way."

Gravis nodded. He had already guessed as much. Aion had already shown his incredible power in front of Gravis, and Gravis guessed that there was probably nearly no one in the Spirit Forming Realm in this branch of the Heaven Sect. Suddenly, Gravis had a thought.

"Hey, senior brother," he said as they continued walking. "How come you came to find me and not someone else? Isn't that the job of the scouts?" Gravis asked.

Aion smiled. "Funnily enough, I heard about you in the guild meeting of the Middle-Continent. Every four years, the Elemental Guilds in the Middle-Continent gather and let their juniors battle for glory and money, of course, that excludes us. The Guild Master of the Lightning Guild in the south told me about you. By the way, if you didn't know, there are four guilds of each element in the middle continent, while there two for us."

Aion laughed. "I didn't remember your name in the dossiers about new Heavenborn, so I grew interested and suspicious. Going to that Proxy-Lightning Guild on the way home didn't take much time." Aion smiled and looked at the ceiling. "I am sure that Heaven has guided me to you."

'Yeah, I'm also sure of that,' thought Gravis. This was one of the ploys of Heaven to kill him, yet, in the end, it had benefitted Gravis. If Heaven hadn't sent Aion to kill him, then Gravis wouldn't have gotten into the Heaven Sect that easily. If Heaven hadn't sent Aion to Gravis, Aion might not have defended Gravis from the expert of the Lightning Guild. Aion might have decided that if Heaven wanted Gravis to live, he would have survived the encounter by himself.

"Then I am happy to be under Heaven's guidance," said Gravis with a smile. 'Yeah, as if.'

Aion nodded. They had been walking for a while and had also climbed multiple stairs. Yet, Gravis had not seen another person, except Cerb, so far. The Heaven Sect seemed luxurious but very empty. "How many people are in the Heaven Sect?" Gravis asked.

"Including you, we are eleven now," Aion said. "I am the branch manager. One disciple is responsible for the exchanges. Two disciples are responsible for scouting, and seven disciples, including you, are responsible for executions." Aion looked like he remembered something. "We should get back to the topic, actually. We got sidetracked."

They stopped walking at the end of a hallway on the highest floor of the castle. "So, your job as an executioner is to kill criminals one level higher than you, but in your case, it is two levels higher. The reason for that is that you can't get any meaningful combat experience otherwise. On top of that, with the Heaven's Balance Cultivation Technique, you can also increase your Realm like that. Though remember, the criminals put up a fight and can redeem themselves by killing you," explained Aion.

Gravis furrowed his brows. "They can redeem themselves by killing me? But haven't they been branded as criminals? How would that redeem them?" Gravis asked.

Aion smiled. "If the criminal manages to win against a Heavenborn, someone who has the highest karmic luck and Heavenly Pressure, then Heaven obviously doesn't want that person to die. We can't read the thoughts of Heaven, so we can only find out via this method. Heaven only talks to our High Priest, after all," Aion explained with patience.

Gravis nodded. "That makes sense," he agreed.

Aion also nodded. "We were missing someone to hunt the criminals at the sixth level of Magic Gathering, so you came at the perfect time. But before you can begin," suddenly, the door at the end of the corridor and another one in the middle of the corridor opened. "You first need to learn the Heaven's Balance Cultivation Technique."

Aion pointed to the door at the end of the hallway. "This is my office and living room. I am always available," Aion said and then pointed at the other opened door. "This is your room. First, learn the Heaven's Balance Cultivation Technique. That should take some days. One week later, come to my office, and you can start working."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "It shouldn't take that long to learn it."

Aion groaned. "You are new here," he said. "You don't need to stress yourself out. Just learn it and when you're done, go and talk to your senior brothers and senior sisters. You can also go out and play with your Hurricane Hawk, for all I care. Just relax for a week, and then we can start."

Gravis was a little surprised when he heard that. Aion seemed a little too frustrated with Gravis wanting to start earlier. He had also seemed a little too frustrated by Cerb bringing in more gold. Gravis wondered if this was due to his water element or due to Heavenborn not strengthening their will. 'He is acting kind of similar to that one Guild Master from the Proxy-Water Guild.'

"No problem. Thank you, senior brother," Gravis said.

Aion nodded and went into his office. Gravis also walked into his room, and he felt like he should be surprised about his room, even though he wasn't. Just like the rest of the Heaven Sect, this room was incredibly lavish and full of decorations. His bed was gigantic, and probably over ten people could comfortably sleep on it.

Gravis couldn't wrap his head around the fact that this was now his room. Even back in his homeworld, his room was rather spartan. As he thought about it, his father's room was actually also rather empty. Gravis wondered if this was so that cultivators didn't get enchanted by worldly wealth. If Gravis would have grown up in such a luxurious room with several servants, he might not have desired strength that much.

Gravis looked around the room and sighed.

"I'm not used to this."