Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis and Skye flew for around twelve hours. Luckily, the Darkness Guild was not that far away. Gravis had set off a day before the Heaven Sect went to the Core-Continent, so his way to the Fire Guild had not been included in the six days Gravis had before the Heaven Sect returned.

With the additional day of traveling to the Earth Guild and the twelve hours of traveling to the Darkness Guild, Gravis only had around four and a half more days to increase his power. He had to become powerful enough to withstand Aion.

Surprisingly, even after twelve hours had passed, Gravis' annoyance with the Earth Guild hadn't decreased but had actually increased. He wondered why that was and quickly found the answer. 'They have encroached upon my territory, and retreating is not according to lightning's disposition. Yet, for now, I have to bear with this annoyance. Annoying me is not reason enough to kill multiple people of their guild. I'll pay them back later.'

Gravis and Skye reached the Darkness Guild without any interference along the way. When Gravis saw the Darkness Guild at the horizon, he could only sigh. "Why is everyone building their guild around mountains?" he muttered to himself.

Several thick and close mountains enclosed the Darkness Guild. It could already be described as a ring of mountains. Gravis actually didn't directly see the Darkness Guild, but the map said it was right there, so the Darkness Guild had to be inside those mountains. That was probably similar to the Earth Guild in make-up.

Gravis saw an open path between two mountains and also saw some people with black robes and black masks standing in front of it. It was evening right now, so it had been quite hard to spot them. Gravis made Skye descend in front of the path and jumped off. After that, he walked down the path.

"Why are you here, Heavenborn?" came an aggressive shout from the front.

Gravis looked up to the shouting guard but didn't bat an eye. "I'm not here, officially. I am only here for a visit to look around," Gravis explained patiently.

"Tch," the guard spat to the side, showing his displeasure. The mask didn't block the mouth. "Don't you know it's rude to visit people this early in the morning? Didn't your parents teach you any common decency… oh wait, I forgot," said the guard with a mocking voice, acting like he had forgotten that Gravis, as a Heavenborn, wouldn't have any direct parents.

Gravis narrowed his eyes in annoyance but didn't jump to conclusions. "What do you mean, morning? It's evening!" he said.

The other guard laughed mockingly. "That's true for you, but not for us," he explained in disdain. "We live in the night and sleep during the day. For us, it's early in the morning. How can you not even know something this common?"

Gravis furrowed his brows but still remained patient. "Alright, then sorry for coming this early in the morning. Can I enter?" He asked.

A third guard came forward. When Gravis saw him, he noticed that he was more powerful than the earlier two guards. He was probably their leader. "What are you two doing? Don't you see the illustrious status of the visitor? Control yourself!" he shouted imposingly.

Gravis sighed. Finally, someone normal. This should make it easier.

"You are speaking to a Heaven-blessed Heavenborn! You maggots should drop to your knees and kowtow to your superiors. You are not even worthy of licking his boots! Look at him," shouted the guard while gesturing to Gravis. "Heaven gives him everything he needs, and he doesn't need to do anything on his path to the peak! Someone this pamper- eh, this spoil- eh, this… Someone with such status shouldn't be insulted by your words!"

Gravis' eyes narrowed again. 'So, the leader of the guards is also mocking me. Seems like I found my target.'

Gravis actually didn't grow as angry as when he had been in the Earth Guild. The Earth Guild was filled with, kind of, nice people who only disliked him because they thought he was a Heavenborn. Being hated by someone one deemed worthy of respect was totally different from being hated by an enemy.

In the beginning, Gravis had been annoyed by the guards of the Darkness Guild, but that had quickly been replaced by cold indifference. There was no reason to get angry with an enemy.

"So, can I enter or not?" asked Gravis neutrally.

They saw how Gravis didn't get angry, and this only increased their drive to insult him. Gravis was obviously a pushover. They were not like the people from the Fire Guild, who only wanted to confront strong people. They liked trampling on those who couldn't defend themselves.

"I'm sorry, 'illustrious' Heavenborn, but we are currently renovating,' explained the leader, placing a mocking pronunciation on the word 'illustrious'. "I guess you have to go where you came from." With that, he obviously meant that Gravis should die since, as a Heavenborn, he came directly from Heaven.

"Aha, so, you won't let me enter. Is that it?" he asked with a neutral voice.

The guards laughed. "Yeah, we won't. This is our home, and you can't enter without being on official business. Can't you understand what we're saying, or is Heaven protecting you from our bad language? Be a nice little sport and return home, you hear? Daddy Heaven is worried about its treasure going somewhere dangerous," the leader continued mocking.

Instead of growing angry, Gravis continued looking neutrally at the guard. "Well, alright. Might as well do it out here," he said nonchalantly. Then, he turned around and jumped on Skye's back. Skye flew up, and Gravis readied his banner again. He had retrieved it when they left the Fire Guild.

The guards sneered as they saw Gravis retreating. It felt great to insult a Heavenborn. A Heavenborn was the favorite child of Heaven and would have a painless life. Even though Heavenborn were stronger than the people from the Darkness Guild, they weren't worthy of respect. How could a Heavenborn understand the hardships of normal people?

BANG!

A giant banner hit the ground and vibrated for a while. The guards looked over in shock. What was the Heavenborn doing?

"Darkness Guild!" came an imposing shout from Gravis. His body and Energy had grown stronger, which made his voice travel even further. "Today, I give you a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! I will wait 20 kilometers to the north of here for your strongest disciples! I offer a genuine life and death tempering!"

The guards looked at Gravis with shock, but also with confusion. What was this all about?

"What nonsense are you speaking?" came an imposing shout from the Darkness Guild. That was one of their upper echelons.

"Simple! I placed a banner in front of your entrance with a list of body tempering pills! Your disciples only have to throw one of these pills to me, each. After I have received them, we will fight to the death! If your disciples die, they won't mind losing their wealth, and if I die, you can have everything I own! There is no drawback!"

The voice remained silent for some seconds. "Does this come from the Heaven Sect?" it asked.

Gravis smirked disdainfully. "This has nothing to do with the Heaven Sect. If I die, no retaliation will occur! The only two conditions are that only disciples in the Magic Gathering Realm are allowed to participate and that I have to receive the pill beforehand. Everything else goes!"

After saying this, Gravis flew away with Skye. This should've piqued their interest. They flew for around 20 kilometers until they saw a land barren with life and landed. The only thing in the surroundings were some big boulders. In this place, he could release his Will-Aura without destroying anything important.

He had also decided on the distance of 20 kilometers so that they were outside the range of the Guild Master's and Vice-Guild Masters' Spirits. Who knew what those guys would do if they witnessed countless of their disciples getting slaughtered? Gravis was sure that they probably wouldn't involve themselves, yet he wanted to be sure. Maybe there was just one guy in charge that just waited to do something like that.

Gravis only smirked as he waited. He would thoroughly enjoy himself!