Chapter 197 - 197 – Testing
Gravis looked at the two people with a smile. He waited for them to do something, but they didn’t move. The only thing they did was glare at him. Gravis waited for ten seconds, and still, nothing happened.
"So, you gonna do something anytime soon?" asked Gravis, bored.
"Didn’t you want to fight? Come on, attack!" shouted the Guild Master.
Gravis raised an eyebrow. "You were the one saying that if it weren’t for damaging the Earth Guild, you would attack me."
The Guild Master remained silent and stoic, just keeping his shield and weapon ready. To him, there was no sense in speaking any further. He only had to wait for Gravis to attack, then he would show him!
"You know," said Gravis. "It would be really easy for me to return to the Earth Guild right now and do what I want to do. You wouldn’t even be able to catch up," he stated.
"You wouldn’t!" shouted the Guild Master. "You are cultivating lightning, and you said you would fight us. You won’t go back on your word. No one who cultivates lightning does."
Gravis was a little surprised but understood what the Guild Master meant. That was actually true. Basically, everyone that cultivated lightning would go through with what they said, and Gravis was no exception. Though, there was one thing...
"You’re right," he said, "but I didn’t specify the order, you know."
The two experts remained stoic, but Gravis saw some hesitation in the Guild Master’s eyes. The Guild Master realized that he could not stop Gravis if he wanted to go to the Earth Guild. This had been a significant oversight.
"Are you a coward!? Would you actually flee from a fight that you provoked? I don’t think so. You are a Spirit Forming Realm cultivator, so I know that you will honor your words!" shouted the Guild Master in a bit to keep Gravis here.
Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "Now, the funny thing is, I know you’re playing me," then Gravis smirked, "but you’re right! I won’t leave as long as you two can still move."
The expression of the two people remained the same, but inside, they sighed in relief. Their biggest worry had vanished. Now, they only had to wait for Gravis to attack. They were best at defending, and their fighting style relied on counterattacks. Gravis attacking them was the best-case scenario, to them.
"You two are pretty good targets," Gravis said and jumped back a little so that around 50 meters were between them. "So, I hope you don’t mind me testing my attacks on you. Don’t crumble too quickly, alright?"
BANG BANG BANG!
Lightning appeared all around the two Spirit Forming experts from the Earth Guild. Explosive thunders rumbled throughout the surroundings, but they kept up their stoic appearance. Yet, inside, they were sneering at him. Gravis was wasting his Spirit and Energy by summoning all this lightning. The more he wasted, the better. As soon as his Energy reserves fell to 20%, they would attack him.
BZZZZZZZZZ!
All the lightning in the surroundings angled towards them and unloaded itself into their shields. Gravis was a little surprised when he saw a dome-shaped barrier appearing around the two people. He also noticed that the gigantic shield of the Guild Master shone with many Formation Arrays. This was probably one of the functions of the shield.
The lightning violently circled them while unloading all its power into the shield. Yet, the dome held firm. Gravis watched this for some seconds but then stopped. Uncoordinated attacks like that only wasted Energy. Of course, Gravis had wanted to test their defense first.
One shouldn’t forget that Gravis had Destruction Lightning. His Lightning was over twice as powerful as the lightning of ordinary lightning cultivators. Such an uncoordinated attack from him, which only used Energy and only a small bit of Spirit, was already as strong as a concentrated attack from another lightning cultivator. Gravis was actually happy when he saw their defenses hold.
Yet, the Guild Master and Vice-Guild Master were shocked. "This lightning is strange," transmitted the Guild Master to the Vice-Guild Master. "Just blocking this small bit has cost me 5% of my Energy."
The Vice-Guild Master took a hidden, deep breath. It would be understandable if the lightning had been concentrated, but he had noticed that there wasn’t much control involved. Now, they both started taking Gravis seriously.
"Don’t panic," transmitted the Guild Master. "I doubt that he can produce such powerful lightning without end. He must have used some compression method. Methods like these waste a lot of Spirit. He is probably only putting up a front. I’m betting, inside, he is actually nervous. Just be patient and stalwart! Like this, we will win!"
The Vice-Guild Master sent an affirmative answer back. He shouldn’t have lost his cool like that. At some point, Gravis would need to attack them in melee range. Elemental attacks were not enough to breach their defense!
BZZZZZZ!
Lightning appeared around Gravis, but this time, it didn’t attack them. Instead, it started being compressed into a long spear. Gravis wanted to test their defense gradually. If he wanted to win, he would only need to release his Will-Aura. They wouldn’t even be able to move under its influence. Yet, winning wasn’t his priority. He wanted to test his attacks.
He would fight against other Spirit Forming experts in the Core-Continent, so this was a perfect moment to see how powerful their defenses were. In the Core-Continent, if he were to use an attack that didn’t breach his enemy’s defense, he would unnecessarily waste Energy. Yet, if he used an incredibly powerful attack, even though a medium one would’ve been powerful enough, he would also waste Energy and Spirit. He had to find the right balance.
After around two seconds, the lightning spear was successfully created. Wild lightning aggressively charged around its inside and outside, creating multiple peals of thunder each second. All the beasts in the surroundings had already left the vicinity. The intensity of the thunders announced Gravis’ power to the surrounding kilometers.
The two experts from the Earth Guild also felt nervous now. They felt the danger inside the spear and felt that this spear might break their barrier. They had to release their trump cards.
WHOOM!
They both activated their Will-Auras, stacking them on top of Gravis. Gravis felt a pressure pressing into him, yet he stopped himself from activating his own Will-Aura. The two wills made it hard for Gravis to move. If he wanted, he would only need to release his Will-Aura to suppress them completely, but what was the point of that? He was here to test his attacks.
The lightning spear was also suppressed, its lightning moving slower. On top of that, Gravis noticed that keeping the lightning spear condensed required him to continue compressing it. Usually, after the lightning spear finished condensing, he wouldn’t need to invest anything to uphold its structure. Yet, the addition of the two Will-Auras required him to use more Spirit. If he stopped giving Spirit to the lightning spear, it would scatter and unload into the surroundings.
’Interesting,’ Gravis thought. ’I didn’t know about that. I also remember that I had been able to break the will on attacks. Right now, I am carrying the lightning spear in my hand, therefore connecting it with my will. I wonder what would happen if I let it go.’
Gravis threw the lightning spear into the air, checking what would happen to it. As soon as it left his hands, it started getting weaker, and he lost control over it. Before it could land back into Gravis’ hand, it exploded.
BOOOM!
Violent streaks of lightning shot out like shrapnel, bursting through multiple trees and piercing the ground. Many of them also hit Gravis and the two experts, but they didn’t achieve much. The streaks of lightning that hit Gravis were just absorbed while the ones hitting the defensive dome didn’t damage it in the slightest. The only thing that was destroyed was the surrounding one hundred meters. Loud sounds of exploding and falling trees filled the air.
’Interesting,’ Gravis thought. ’The attacks that that one lightning disciple had used when I tried to get to the Heaven Sect were not compressed, so they hadn’t dissipated into the surroundings. Compressing lightning makes it more volatile. It makes sense that it would also be more violent if control over it had been lost. Aion’s ice probably doesn’t have this issue since ice is not as volatile as lightning.’
The two experts were dumbfounded by what Gravis had done. First, he had created a mighty lightning spear and then just tossed it into the air, wasting it. Why was he wasting his Spirit and Energy like this?
Meanwhile, Gravis was still thinking. ’A passive activation of a Will-Aura won’t stun the will inside an element. Yet, the will inside my spear immediately got disrupted as soon as it left my hand,’ Gravis thought as he turned his gaze to the two people. ’Are they deactivating and activating their Will-Auras in rapid succession? That would actually work. Truly interesting.’
The two experts had, by now, stopped understanding what Gravis wanted. Why was he wasting his Spirit and Energy like this? Why didn’t he activate his Will-Aura? Why was he just standing there, doing nothing? Was he actually treating them as testing dummies?
The anger in both of them increased as they received that thought. Gravis was treating them like they didn’t exist! They had never felt such total disregard!
When Gravis’ Energy ran out, they would show him!