Chapter 104 - 104 – Nature
The big bird looked at Gravis with hatred and tried its best to destroy the Formation Array, yet nothing it did seemed to damage the Formation Array. The Formation Array would still remain for around two more hours, and Gravis would not be in danger for that duration.
A high-grade Energy Beast was unkillable for him, and Gravis was thinking hard about a way to get out of this situation alive. He could only hope to fall to the ground quickly and maybe hide in some hole.
"Scree!" The smaller bird shouted at the bigger one to stop. Gravis had helped it defend their nest, and it was thankful for it. Beasts were not as vengeful as humans, and they looked at people and other beasts in a simple way. If you were weaker, you were food. If you were stronger, you were a predator. Yet, beasts could also band together to defend something. The bird had fought together with the tree, after all.
The big bird threw a glance at the complaining smaller bird but still looked at Gravis with hate. It understood its child, but for some reason, it really hated Gravis. It wasn’t even sure why. It just hated him and wanted to destroy him with everything.
It continued attacking the Formation Array, ignoring the smaller bird. The smaller bird grew angrier and jumped on the back of the big bird. The big bird ignored the smaller one and only concentrated on destroying Gravis.
PLUCK!
The smaller bird pulled out a feather from the bigger one, and it immediately screeched aggressively. It threw the smaller one away and looked at it. The smaller bird continued screeching about, and the bigger one started paying more attention to it.
Gravis kept watching, and he thought that maybe for once, he wouldn’t need to fight his way out. Maybe, they wouldn’t try to kill him. He only had aggressive encounters with beasts up until now, and this situation was something entirely new for him.
Gravis also got some time to think about the earlier situation and the fight. If the bird had such a strong parent, then where had it been during the fight? Gravis also remembered how the bird screeched from time to time while fighting. That was probably not a screech to attack or intimidate the fighters, but a shout for backup.
Yet, backup had never arrived. Gravis narrowed his eyes as he realized that this was probably Heaven’s doing. If such a strong beast were flying around, the guilds would have never attacked Gravis. On top of that, the bird might have completely ignored Gravis since their strengths were just too far apart.
The smaller bird had left the battlefield about nine hours ago, screeching wildly. It took nine hours for it to find its parent, which was incredibly long for its speed. Would such a fast and strong bird keep its child alone for so long under normal circumstances? Gravis doubted that. Heaven had done something to make the bird leave the area.
Heaven’s first plan of getting Gravis killed by the guilds had failed, and now it used its backup plan to use the bigger bird to kill him. Gravis was already fully healed, thanks to the pills, and his Energy had also fully recovered by now. Even though Gravis was nearly in his top-condition, this was actually the closest that Heaven ever was to killing him.
Jaimy might have hurt him severely, but Gravis had survived in the end. Yet, if this bird decided to attack Gravis, it would be over. Gravis expected that he would die with a certainty of over 95% if it attacked.
The birds continued communicating, and after a while, the bigger bird looked at Gravis again. It was still filled with hatred, but there was no more killing intent in its eyes. It landed on top of the Formation Array and looked at Gravis, aggressively and imposingly. It was warning him not to do anything stupid.
Gravis only continued sitting and looked the big bird in its eyes. Many beasts would see that as a provocation, but Gravis wanted to show his sincerity. Gravis tried to show that he only wanted peace and didn’t want to fight anymore, reflecting his true feelings.
After a while, the bird started grooming its feathers, which showed that it was calmer than before. No bird would keep their eyes away from an enemy. After a while, the big bird left for the tree and perched atop its crown. It looked around at the barren tree and moved some wood around.
Judging by the branches’ positions in the tree’s crown, Gravis could guess that the bigger bird’s nest was around that part. Of course, that nest had already burned down. The big bird couldn’t possibly fit into the hole where the smaller bird had its nest.
"Caw!" The smaller bird circled around the Formation Array containing Gravis, constantly making noise. Gravis guessed that it was probably asking if he needed help.
"I don’t need help," Gravis said. "It should disappear in some hours."
Gravis was not sure if the bird understood him, but it could probably glean some emotions out of his voice. It heard that Gravis wasn’t desperate, angry, or fearful. That probably meant that everything was alright. Even though it knew that Gravis was stronger than it, in a fight, it showed no fear anymore. Probably because of its parent looking over from time to time.
The smaller bird was excitedly flying around Gravis and the bigger bird. It was happy about the exhilarating fight that it fought previously. It usually only looked for prey, and prey wouldn’t be able to give a good fight. It was not in a beast’s nature to fight opponents that could kill it. The bird victoriously flew around, proclaiming its dominance to the surroundings.
The tree also started regrowing some branches and leaves. Gravis was astounded by the tree’s healing speed since it had only been nine hours since its near-death. Gravis continued watching the birds and the tree, and he felt peaceful inside.
There were cruel sides to nature and calm sides. In nature, when two opponents met, they would fight to the death, but if there were no opponents, everything could live in harmony.
Of course, that was only true for the strong ones. Below Gravis, lots of beasts and animals would still fear and fight for their lives. Only the apex predators of an area could do what they want. Only the apex predators could live in peace.
Gravis’ motivation to become stronger increased again. He was still regretting everything about killing Gorn, but his motivation to become strong increased again. Only with strength, could he live like the birds. Only with enough strength could he be free and do whatever he wanted. He never wanted to be under anyone’s rule again, yet that dream was still distant.
Looking at the two birds living together in harmony with the tree, Gravis got reminded of his family. Everything in the world was against them, but due to his father, Gravis wouldn’t need to fear anything in his homeworld. It was similar to the two birds on the tree.
Gravis looked up at the sky. "Father, I am not sure if you can hear me, but I will do my best to return. I will not give in to Heaven, and I will become strong!"
Nothing happened in the sky, but Gravis felt like his father heard him.
"I will return!" Gravis said with determination.