Gravis was concentrating on his Will-Aura and never took notice of anything happening over at the tournament. The tournament was held in the middle of the arena, and Gravis sat in a corner. That was a distance of over 500 meters.
"Hey!"
Gravis was trying to compress his Will-Aura. His will had increased again after the massacre of the Basin of Nature, so he wanted to gain further mastery in it. By now, he managed to compress his Will-Aura to a 30-meter cone in front of him. It was no longer affecting all his surroundings, but everything in front of him in a 180° half circle.
"Hey!"
His Will-Aura was now twice as concentrated and also twice as powerful. He judged that his Will-Aura would make a medium-grade demonic beast freeze in fear. He had managed to do that with low-grade demonic beasts in the past, but now he could also do that with medium-grade demonic beasts. He might even be able to surprise a high-grade demonic beast.
"Stop ignoring me!"
This time, the shout came from right beside him, and Gravis got startled and turned to the source. With Gravis’ turning, his Will-Aura also shifted, and the Guild Master of Water, who had just shouted at him, received the full brunt.
She blanched and stopped breathing, but only for two seconds. Then, she shook her head and looked at Gravis in fury. "You asshole!" she shouted as she blasted a concentrated beam of water at him. Gravis almost couldn’t react to the beam.
Almost.
He was barely able to lift his saber to block the attack. Luckily, he had used the Void-Stone saber, and it absorbed the water. Gravis looked at her in confusion and anger. "Why did you attack me?" he said in anger.
"You bitch!" She shouted in rage. "You killed some beasts, and now you think you can suppress me with your Heavenly Pressure? I’ll show you!" She immediately summoned a colossal wave that crashed towards Gravis.
Gravis split the wave in two with his saber. His Void-Saber had its advantages and disadvantages. While he couldn’t use it in the Energy Gathering Realm, he could still use it now.
And right now, the Energy absorption qualities of the saber worked against the Guild Master of Water. If he used his other saber, he wouldn’t be able to block any of those attacks.
Gravis quickly jumped away. "What’s your problem? I didn’t use it on purpose! You just startled me!" shouted Gravis while running to the middle of the arena.
The Guild Master of Water seethed in rage again and angrily watched Gravis leave, yet she didn’t chase. Instead, she sighed to calm down. Gravis’ Will-Aura was way stronger than last time. Last time, it was only effective on her because she hadn’t been prepared.
Even though she also wasn’t prepared this time, she still felt the difference. Even if she were prepared, the Will-Aura would still reduce her battle strength. She had been so shocked that her fighting instincts kicked in, and she attacked.
’He is terrifying,’ she concluded. Gravis was still in the Body Tempering Realm. What if he broke into the Energy Gathering Realm?
The other participants only looked on in amusement. To them, it looked like the Guild Master of Water was only shooing him away. If she were serious, Gravis would probably be splattered across the arena.
The other Guild Masters knew the truth and looked at Gravis’ saber with intense interest. They had realized that it was thanks to this saber that Gravis could block the two attacks. What was this weapon, that it allowed a Body Tempering Realm user to block an attack from someone in the Energy Gathering Realm?
Gravis quickly arrived by the other Guild Masters and looked warily at the Guild Master of Water. Though, that was unnecessary since she had calmed down already.
"Hey, can I take a look at your weapon?" asked the Guild Master of Lightning quietly.
Gravis turned to him and slyly smirked. He threw his saber to him, and the Guild Master of Lightning caught it in glee. He wanted to know what the deal with this weapon was.
Immediately, the Guild Master of Lightning’s face whitened, and he gasped after he had caught the saber. Without hesitation, he dropped it to the ground and took multiple steps back. The other Guild Masters looked at him in shock, while Gravis simply took his saber back.
"Do you understand now?" Gravis asked with a shit-eating grin.
The Guild Master of Lightning breathed heavily for some seconds, glared at Gravis, but then sighed with a bitter smile. Yeah, that was probably his own fault. Yet, when he thought back to the saber, he felt a cold shudder.
The saber had started absorbing his Energy like crazy, and the whole Energy in his body started flowing towards it. Worst of all, he couldn’t even stop his Energy.
It completely went out of control and left his body. Luckily, he had only carried the saber for a second. If he had actually carried it for more seconds, his realm might even drop. The saber’s hunger was insatiable.
The saber was made of Void-Stone, and Void-Stone came from the highest world. The amount that the saber needed to get saturated was terrifying. It could probably absorb the whole Energy in the lower world and still not be full.
Yet, it was useless for everyone in the Energy Gathering Realm and upwards. A perfect, unexploitable weapon for a newbie. Not even Gravis’ homeworld was able to make Void-Stone into a useable weapon for people in higher Realms.
"Let me try," said the Guild Master of Earth as he stretched his hand towards the saber.
"Stop!" shouted the Guild Master of Lightning immediately, and the Guild Master of Earth stopped. The mood of the others changed too. They thought that the saber might hurt them a little and nothing more. If it were just that, the Guild Master of Lightning would smirk at them and tell them to go ahead.
Yet, the Guild Master of Lightning had shouted ’stop’ in an absolutely severe tone. This meant that touching this saber was dangerous, and would go beyond a mere practical joke. The other Guild Masters realized that and looked at the saber seriously. "What does it do?" asked the Guild Master of Darkness.
"It absorbs Magic," said the Guild Master of Lightning. Gravis had already realized that this lower world referred to Energy with the word ’magic’, probably because they mainly used elements. As he thought further, he saw the similarities between the look of elemental attacks and the mythical concept of a ’magical spell’.
"That’s all?" asked the Guild Master of Darkness, skepticism shining from his eyes.
The Guild Master of Lightning laughed bitterly. "Let me rephrase that. If you carry this saber in your hand for ten seconds, I will give you everything I own if you still remain in the Magic Gathering Realm after that."
The other Guild Masters gasped in shock. Now they understood why he stopped them from touching it. One careless moment and their foundation would be severely injured. They also looked at Gravis in annoyance. This was no longer a practical joke.
Gravis simply smiled back. "Don’t covet other people’s treasures," he simply said.
They gritted their fists but sighed. He was right. Greed had gotten the better of them, and that was unbecoming of a Guild Master. They calmed down and even looked at Gravis with slight apologetic looks. Though they still had to keep up their image, so they didn’t publicly apologize.
Gravis had already realized that they were all good people. Even though he was disrespectful a couple of times, and also was at fault for costing them a fortune in treasures, they never even scolded him. So, Gravis didn’t mind that slight slip-up.
"So," he turned to the Guild Master of Water. "What’s the matter?" he asked.
The Guild Master of Water harrumphed. "The other participants are not happy about you skipping the tournament. The winner of the tournament has challenged you to a duel." She pointed at Sigur.
Gravis didn’t even turn around. "Not interested."