Lightning Is the Only Way

Gravis sneered inside. Now, he was 100% sure that he was no Heavenborn. Heavenly Pressure granted by the Heavens? That was simply his Will-Aura that he had trained by surviving multiple life and death fights. Incredibly high Karmic luck? That was even more of a joke. If Gravis said that he was the second unluckiest person under Heaven, no rational person would say that they were the unluckiest.

Gravis felt disgusted and offended that someone would attribute his own hard work to Heaven. It was like they had said that he had received everything from Heaven and that he had not worked for his success.

Had he not fought many low-grade demonic beasts, even though it should have been impossible to beat them with his realm? He never relied on Heaven nor on luck to survive. Heaven tried to kill him with the Volcano, yet it failed because Gravis had seen through the patterns of his bad luck. Heaven had wanted to isolate him and grind down his will, yet he had persevered.

It was an incredible pain each day to stay alone. It was an incredible pain to not accept the friendship of multiple people. It was an incredible pain, seeing Heaven's blade on the neck of a potential new friend. Saying that Heaven bestowed him everything, was the worst thing anyone could say to him.

Involuntarily, Gravis released his Will-Aura, and his eyes narrowed at the Guild Master of Light. "Do. Not. Attribute. My. Strength. To. Heaven," he slowly said in anger through clenched teeth. The Guild Masters could feel his Will-Aura clearly now, and they were surprised by its density. They also thought that it was slightly different from Heavenly Pressure.

Some of them narrowed their eyes in thought. Others felt surprised by the sensation. The Guild Master of Light only smiled bitterly. "That was never my intention. I apologize if you took it that way," he politely apologized.

Gravis sighed and retrieved his Will-Aura. Maybe, the Guild Master of Light really didn't mean it like that. He felt a little apologetic, but that comment had touched a wound. Heaven was the thing he hated the most, and attributing his success to Heaven was the ultimate insult to him. Gravis thought that he should also take note of his situation right now. The Guild Masters were nice and friendly until now, but that could change.

"Anyway," said the Guild Master of Earth as he walked to Gravis. Apparently, the Guild Master of Water has calmed down and was no longer raging around. "We have something that we need to discuss," he said as he looked at Gravis with a stern gaze.

"What?" Gravis asked flatly.

"Your slash has nearly gone through my whole earth-wall, earlier. That is something only people with tempered muscles can do. Mind explaining that?" he asked as he looked at Gravis.

When the other Guild Masters heard that, they also looked at Gravis with serious looks. This could potentially ruin every chance they had about getting him into their guilds. It was forbidden for people with tempered muscles to join the Elemental Guilds.

Only by tempering the muscles with their respective elements was it possible to create a body that resonated with the elements. If the muscles were already tempered, it was nearly impossible for the person to build a connection with an element.

"I don't have tempered muscles," Gravis said without a change in expression. He was still mad about the earlier comments, and he was not acting deferential at all.

"Then how do you explain your physical strength?" asked the Guild Master of Earth again.

"I have had tempered organs and blood for a long time, so my muscles are very strong. On top of that, I had used a Martial Art that focused on pure attacking power," he explained.

The Guild Masters looked at each other in relief and a slight amount of shock. Tempering the Organs and the blood was, by far, the most expensive. The reason why those people were so rare in cities was that it cost a lot of money to temper those.

Only some isolated rich paragons could afford to temper one person fully by spending a lot of money. Of course, the Elemental Guilds also had enough money for that. They received the resources from the middle-continent, where those resources were not as rare.

"We have to test if that is true," said the Guild Master of Fire. "Though we do not have an easy method for that. If what you are saying is not true, you will die. Are you prepared for that?" he said with an intense gaze.

Gravis narrowed his eyes at him. "I didn't lie," he said evenly. Sparks seemed to fly out between their colliding looks, yet the Guild Master of Fire only smiled.

"I like your temperament, kid," he said with a grin. Then, he jumped down from the arena, retrieved something, and came back. He held a peculiar looking spear in his hand. It was rather long, and it ended in two long tips. It kind of looked like a fork with only two tips.

"I will stab through the middle of your torso with this spear, which will puncture both halves of your lung. If you have tempered organs and blood, your lung will regenerate without issue from such a small puncture wound. Yet, if you don't, you will suffocate," he explained gravely.

Gravis narrowed his eyes. Of course, he was not looking forward to being stabbed, but he was ready to make that sacrifice if it meant coming closer to lightning. "Okay, go ahead," he took off his black shirt, which was surprisingly still in one piece after all these fights, and showed his muscular upper body. "But don't miss," he remarked with a severe look.

"Heh, I won't," said the Guild Master of Fire and threw the spear. The attack came so fast that Gravis had no time to react. Energy Gathering experts were really something different.

The spear stabbed into his chest, and its tips reappeared from Gravis' back. Gravis had to take a step back due to the hit's strength and puked a mouthful of blood. He took hold of the spear and pulled it out of his chest, throwing it to the side. Gravis tried to take deep breaths, but he somehow couldn't.

He started coughing violently, and he fell to his knees in this process. The Guild Masters looked on in intensity, while the participants looked on in shock and fear. This was really too barbaric in their eyes.

After several seconds, Gravis let out one more blood filled cough and then took a deep breath. With that breath, the Guild Masters looked at him with excitement. He really only had tempered organs and blood! If Gravis had tempered organs and blood, as well as tempered muscles, his earlier attack would've killed the Guild Master of Water. So, they could be sure that he didn't have tempered muscles.

"Sine, heal him!" said the Guild Master of Fire.

"Fuck no!" shouted the Guild Master of Water back.

The Guild Master of Light only sighed, walked to Gravis, and started healing him with his light. There were multiple elements with the ability to heal others, yet, water was mostly seen as the best one since it transferred life energy from the user to the patient. Light, on the other hand, stimulated the remaining life energy of the patient themselves.

After some seconds, Gravis stood back up again, looking with intensity at the Guild Master of Fire. "You only said you would puncture my lung, not puncture my whole torso," he said with gritted teeth.

The Guild Master of Fire only smirked. "You nearly killed Sine, so take this as your just punishment," he turned to the Guild Master of Water. "Can you let the kid off now?" he asked.

The Guild Master of Water just huffed and looked away like a little girl throwing a tantrum, yet she seemed to have calmed down. If it was his intention or not, the Guild Master of Fire had helped Gravis deal with his enmity with the Guild Master of Water.

"Alright!" shouted the Guild Master of Earth as he stomped on the ground heavily. Everyone grew silent as they listened to him. "We have postponed the entrance exam for too long. We should start."

Gravis eyes grew fiery, and he walked back to the other participants.

"Wait!" Gravis heard the Guild Master of Lightning shout and turned around. "I think I have a special job for you," he said with a sly grin.

'What now?'