Lightning Is the Only Way

Whenever the young woman in the Lightning Tower came to the third level, she could hear a loud scream from above her. In the beginning, it only sounded painful, but as time progressed, the scream of pain slowly transformed into mad laughter.

Every time she heard it, a chill ran down her back. That man on the fourth level was definitely insane. No human could scream like this while still being rational, and she never dared to enter the fourth level again. She was afraid of that man and wanted to stay as far away as possible.

"Increase the output!" she heard suddenly from above her. She blanched. Was the man speaking to her? What did he mean with "increase the output"? What was he saying?

"Increase the output!" she heard again, and a shiver ran down her spine. She quickly ran out of the Lightning Tower and informed Gorn. Gorn quickly arrived and went to the fourth floor.

"Gravis, the seven days of allotted time will end in some hours. You can't continue," he shouted through the door.

Some time passed until "I need more power! Give me more power!" Gorn heard through the door. Gorn narrowed his eyes and opened the door. When he looked inside, he saw Gravis, fully healed. Gravis' eyes gleamed with madness and rage, and Gorn looked deeply into his eyes.

"I require more power!" Gravis shouted in rage as he looked Gorn in the eyes. Gorn saw the emotions in Gravis' eyes and watched for a while. He lowered his head in thought, and after a while, he looked at Gravis with resolution.

"Okay!" he said and left the room. Gorn walked to the core of the tower, where he could see multiple Formation Arrays and some shining stones. These were Magic- (Energy) Stones. They were named like that because they harbored the Magic (Energy) in the air. They were currency and also functioned as the power output of the Lightning Tower.

Magic-Stones didn't exist in the Outer-Continent, and the guild could only get them by trading with their parent-guild. They needed to send gold, while the parent-guild sent the Magic-Stones. Gorn pulled out several more of those stones and placed them on the Formation Array, which was responsible for the fourth level.

Gorn then changed the settings of the Formation Array and doubled its strength. The woman from the Lightning Tower followed him, and when she saw what he was doing, she grew nervous.

"Guild Master, this is way above our allowance," she said in nervousness. "A stronger output might also damage the Lightning Tower."

Gorn narrowed his eyes. "We always have some remaining stones when someone doesn't need the full seven days. We have a lot of them in storage," he said.

"But Guild Master, those Magic-Stones are there in case of a crisis. We can't waste them!" she implored.

Gorn turned around with a furious expression. "Waste them? One of my disciples went through hell, and he needs all the support we can give him. He has a goal in mind, and I trust him. I know that he won't forget this kindness. I am willing to bet everything on him," he explained.

The woman still looked nervous, but she could only watch. He was the Guild Master, and he decided everything. She couldn't change his mind, and she only hoped that this was the right decision.

No one realized that all karmic luck had left Gorn when he decided to bet everything on Gravis.

Meanwhile, Gravis was furiously destroying his body again. The lightning's output had grown too weak before, and it hadn't been able to damage his body anymore. Gravis needed to make his body harder. When he would use his own lightning in the future, the output would definitely be stronger than the tower. His body wouldn't have the necessary resistance.

When Gravis' Lightning Seed had reached a purity of 90%, it started to climb up by itself. The Destruction Energy was overwhelming the Life Energy in the Lightning Seed and had started destroying it. Gravis knew that his Lightning Seed wouldn't stop until it destroyed every last bit of Life Energy in it.

Gravis couldn't stop his Lightning Seed anymore. It would reach 100% Destruction Energy, even if he wanted to stop it. The Destruction Energy had grown too domineering and wouldn't allow anything else around it. So, Gravis was forced to continue destroying and reforging his body.

With the new output of the Lightning Tower, he could destroy his body again. He continued madly destroying and recreating his body, and the insane increase in power drowned him in a sea of greed and hatred.

After an unknown amount of time, the lightning grew too weak again. "More power!" He shouted as loud as he could. "Give me more power!"

Gorn stood before Gravis' door and exhaled in nervousness. "Gravis, if I increase the power further, it will be as strong as an attack from a Magic Gathering Expert. Don't overdo it!" he shouted.

"I need more power!" Gravis shouted even louder.

Gorn wasn't sure if he should increase the output. He gritted his teeth and ran to the control room again. He had decided to bet everything on Gravis, and he would go through with it. He threw every last stone he still possessed into the Formation Array, and it started growing unstable.

Gorn looked at the Formation Array with anxiety while cold sweat ran down his body. He was risking it all! If the Lightning Tower got damaged, the foundation of the Lightning Guild would grow unstable. He was betting everything on Gravis.

The new intensity of the lightning violently destroyed Gravis' body again, and the volume of his mad laughter only increased. Pain signified tempering, and tempering signified strength. The more pain he felt, the stronger he would get. He started loving the pain because it symbolized that he was moving closer to power.

"More, pain! More, power!" he shouted in madness. His body started adapting faster and faster, and after an even shorter time than before, the lightning grew too weak again. "I need more power! Give me more power!" he shouted with all his strength.

Cold sweat ran down Gorn's whole body, and he made his decision. He kicked open the door and looked at Gravis. He saw that Gravis wasn't injured and that an insatiable greed filled his eyes. Gorn walked forward and rolled up his sleeves.

"The Lightning Tower can't produce more." He then held out his hands. "But I can!" he said as he shot lightning at Gravis.

Gravis' body only received a small scorch mark, and Gorn grew shocked. This lightning resistance was insane! Gorn narrowed his eyes further and increased the output until he started using all his strength. Gorn was in the third level of the Energy Gathering Realm, and he could put out a considerable amount of power.

Gravis body got destroyed everywhere, and he continued laughing in madness. Gorn looked at Gravis with a mixture of fear and madness in his eyes. He was afraid of what Gravis would become, but he also had a mad curiosity about how far Gravis' strength could increase. Gorn had decided to go All-In, and he wanted to see the result.

After a while, Gorn saw that the injuries on Gravis' body stopped increasing and actually started to heal. Gorn was shocked again. The speed at which Gravis' body increased its lightning resistance was insane! After a while, Gorn grew exhausted and stopped. It didn't matter, because his lightning lost the ability to hurt Gravis' body anyway.

"I need more power!" shouted Gravis in madness.

Gorn only watched him neutrally. "There is nothing more. I have used every Magic-Stone I could find, and I am the strongest person around here," Gorn explained with a sigh. "There is no way to increase your power anymore."

Gravis grew infuriated when he heard that, but his rational mind was able to suppress his fury, for now. He started looking around and realized that there was really no way to increase the strength of his body anymore.

Gravis looked at Gorn with narrowed eyes.

BOOM!

An explosion happened inside Gravis' dantian as he immediately broke into the Energy Gathering Realm. It was not hard for him to manipulate the Energy. He broke through like it wasn't harder than breathing.

Gorn smiled madly and threw Gravis' Energy Saber to him. He had carried it with him to give to Gravis, as soon as he broke through. Gravis took up the saber that he had received from the spider.

Gravis moved the Energy in his dantian through the Lightning Seed and his body. His body received some minor injuries, but that wasn't an issue. Its lightning resistance would only increase as he continued to use his lightning.

He guided the purely destructive lightning into the saber, and the Formation Array lines on its surface started glowing with electricity. Finally, he could use this saber. Gravis looked at Gorn with hatred.

"Where is he?" Gravis asked.