Gravis continued walking down the road until he arrived at the plaza. There were around 40 people present, most of them standing around the different notice boards. The other 60 were probably already on missions or in their houses.
Many people turned towards him. Everyone knew each other, and they hadn’t seen Gravis’ face before. Some of them had guessed who he was since the others from the entrance exams were more sociable than Gravis. Of course, they had talked about Gravis before. When the other disciples saw the black saber on Gravis’ back, they all realized who he was.
Gravis had left his other saber in his house. The whole reason why he went through all this drama to get that particular house was so that Gorn could keep watch. Gorn wouldn’t covet Gravis’ saber since he already had his own weapon and didn’t need another one. This whole thing was more for protecting the saber against other people.
Gravis saw a cart selling noodles and meat. That was probably where most people bought their food. He went over and bought some smoked meat, which he placed in some of his sacks, and some noodles, which he ate immediately. Compared to a city, the food price here was extreme. The price was written in silver.
Yet, no one batted an eye since everyone in the guild counted their money in gold. The insane prices were probably the only reason the guy even sold his wares in such a small ’village’. Gravis got his noodles in a small box so he could walk around while eating.
Gravis didn’t want to waste more time and started walking to the Lightning Tower. He still had around 80 gold from selling his treasures from the Basin of Nature. He wondered what the prices were in the Lightning Tower.
When he was about to enter the tower, two burly men started blocking the entrance into the tower. They both wore spears and armor, and Gravis thought that this was weird. Gorn said there were no guards in this guild, yet those two looked precisely like guards.
Gravis finished a mouthful of noodles. "What do you want?" he asked and then took another mouthful of noodles.
The guard on the right stepped forward imposingly and puffed out his chest. "It’s one gold as an entrance fee."
Gravis slurped his noodles and looked at the guard. The guards waited for Gravis to say something, but Gravis first finished his mouthful of noodles. Talking with a full mouth was impolite. "The Guild Master said nothing of an entrance fee."
The other guard stepped forward and looked aggressively at Gravis. "It is one gold as an entrance fee. I don’t care-"
SLUUUURP!
Gravis was slurping his noodles and looked the guard in the eyes. For some reason, the guard got really angry when he saw Gravis’ dismissal. Was he not taking the situation seriously?
The guard waited for Gravis to finish his mouthful. "It is one-"
SLUUUURP!
Gravis slurped again and watched the guard. He knew that those guys were up to no good. If the Lightning Tower needed an entrance fee, Gorn would have told him. They were probably more powerful disciples trying to extort money from weaker disciples.
The other guard pushed the first one to the side and stepped forward and leaned his face close to Gravis. He, obviously, was trying to intimidate Gravis. He closed in and spoke in a deep and intimidating voice: "It seems like you-"
SLUUURP!
Sauce splashed onto the guard’s face. Slurping noodles was a messy affair. The guard finally exploded and lifted his spear.
BANG!
Gravis’ leg lifted and hit the guard between the legs, while he still ate his noodles. He didn’t have a free hand right now, so this should do. The guard froze and then fell to the floor in pain. All other disciples watched because they wanted to see a stimulating scene of the seniors beating up a new junior. They also went through the same when they first arrived.
Yet, they now only looked in shock at the guard screeching on the floor in pain. This was not how this was supposed to go.
"Bastard! I’ll tear-"
BANG THUMP!
Gravis kicked the floored guard into the other guard, and they both slammed into the Lightning Tower’s wall. Gravis’ kick was strong, and their injuries were not light.
SLUUURP!
Gravis slurped another mouthful of noodles while watching the guards. After some seconds, he got bored and entered the Lightning Tower.
The inside of the Lightning Tower looked simpler than its outside. It looked like the entrance to some public hall with a reception. Sitting at the reception desk, Gravis saw a young woman reading a book. She was the first female disciple that Gravis had seen inside the guild.
Lightning was a pretty aggressive element, and not many women had an appropriate disposition for it. Gravis finished the noodles and put the box into one of his sacks. Then, Gravis walked over to the counter.
"What do you need?" the woman said without looking up from her book.
"What are the prices for the Lightning Tower?" he asked.
"First level, one gold an hour. Second level, ten gold an hour. Third level, a hundred gold an hour. The fourth level is off-limits," narrated the woman with practiced ease while turning the page of her book.
Gravis was shocked. The first level was cheaper than he had thought, and the third more expensive. There was surely a reason for those enormous price differences. "What’s the level of Destruction Energy and Life Energy on the different levels?" he asked.
After hearing this, the woman put her book down and looked at Gravis in surprise. Every time new disciples joined the guild, the first thing they did was inquire about the Lightning Tower. It was the center of the guild, after all. She had thought that this was just another new disciple, yet, Gravis had spoken of Destruction and Life Energy.
"Interesting," she said with a smirk. "You’ve already read the Lightning Codex?" she asked with interest.
Gravis just nodded.
The woman looked surprised. "I haven’t seen you before. That means you should be one of the new guys. How come you already read the Lightning Codex?" she asked in interest.
"I have tempered everything but my muscles. Creating the Lightning Seed is my next step," Gravis explained neutrally.
"Oooh," the woman cooed in surprise. "You must be the special new guy everyone is talking about. What’s your name?" she asked.
"Gravis," Gravis said with his usual neutral look. "So, about those levels..."
The woman felt a little angry that Gravis just changed the topic like that. She was obviously showing her interest in him, yet he didn’t seem to care. She felt a little insulted. She thought that her charm was better than this.
"First level is 20/80. Second one is 30/70. Third one is 40/60. Fourth one is natural lightning," she explained, back in her bored manner while reading her book again. Gravis didn’t seem interested, and she didn’t want to prolong the conversation anymore. She could take a hint.
Gravis now understood why it was so expensive. Natural lightning was the highest lightning anyone could create without an absurd amount of money. Even 40% Destruction Energy was a lot. If he managed to get a Lightning Seed with 50% Destruction Energy, he would receive the same tempering as the most supreme geniuses in the Core Continent. That was a place where Spirit Forming experts lived.
Gravis had read that it would take a long time to create a Lighting Seed, so he took out 20 gold and placed them on the counter. "20 hours, first floor," he said.
The woman stood up, took a key, and threw it to Gravis. "Room 16. Wish you luck," she said nonchalantly, still reading her book.
Gravis took the key and walked deeper into the Lightning Tower.
Today, he would condense his Lightning Seed!