Lightning Is The Only Way

The Tribe remained silent for several seconds. Had the Sea Commander died just like that?

"YEEEAAAHH!" and then, the whole Tribe cheered, including the Sea Camp. Everyone hated Shira. She was dangerous to the Land Camp and just as dangerous to the Sea Camp.

If it had been two months ago, the Sea Camp would have felt devastated. After all, back then, they had believed that the Land Camp wanted to eradicate the Sea Camp. Yet, in these two months, with Shira's absence, they had come more into contact with the Land Beasts.

Over these two months, the Sea Camp realized that they weren't the Land Camp's enemy. The real enemy of the Land Camp was Shira. With Shira's death, the Land Camp and Sea Camp would no longer be enemies.

During this time, the Sea Camp and Land Camp got to know each other better. By now, they had acknowledged the other side's power, and with power came respect. With Shira's death, the enmity between the Camps would also die.

While all of this was going on, Gravis started growing. He had absorbed Shira's full power, and, finally, he had enough to reach the Early Unity Realm. His body shook, and in just one minute, he grew to be around six meters tall.

When Gravis' breakthrough was over, he only sighed. 'The internal pressure of the Tribe has lessened with Shira's death. Also, I need to forge new weapons for my new size. Well, I have enough ore for that, at least,' Gravis thought.

Gravis had a humongous amount and variety of ores inside his Spirit Space. After all, he and the fungus had regularly searched for ores. By now, he had also developed a feeling regarding the different kinds of ores. He only needed to smelt a new ore twice to immediately know how it worked.

"So, Shira's dead," Silva commented from the side.

Gravis nodded. "I wanted to keep her alive for you, but she decided to attack me. Sorry about that," Gravis said.

"Don't mention it," Silva said with a sigh. "It just feels kind of… empty to me. She had been my goal, and suddenly, my goal is just gone."

Gravis only lightly hit Silva's side. "She was just a temporary goal anyway. Isn't becoming stronger and protecting your companions the purest goal? Just strive for that instead," Gravis said with a smirk.

Silva sighed again. "I guess I could do that, but it feels different."

"That's because there is not as much pressure anymore. You've grown used to the benefits that constant pressure gives you. Now, the survival of the Land Camp is secure, even without you. Wasn't Shira's threat the only reason why you even decided to stay inside the River Tribe?" Gravis asked.

Silva thought back to the day when he had decided to join the River Tribe. Gravis was right. Silva had only joined the River Tribe because he couldn't watch as all his companions would die to her. He had been completely against the philosophy of the River Tribe back then.

"So, you can leave if you want," Gravis said with a smirk.

Yet, Silva only sighed. "Don't play games with me," he silently said. "You know exactly that I can't return to my previous self after seeing my incredible growth in the last couple of months."

Gravis only laughed loudly. "I know, I know," he said. "So, now you have to do the same thing I've been doing for the past couple of months."

Silva looked with interest at Gravis. "Which is?" he asked.

"Try to create pressure for yourself. After all, Shira had been right. This was exactly what I wanted her to do. With a greedy and sneaky snake constantly at your back, you can't relax. Thanks to that, the River Tribe managed to grow with insane speeds."

Silva listened to Gravis and sighed. "Did you know that something like this would happen from the very beginning?" he asked.

Gravis scratched his chin in thought. "Not entirely," he said. "I was about 80% sure that she would betray me when she thought she had enough power to kill me, but there was also the chance that she would genuinely change." Then, Gravis shrugged. "Sadly, she wasn't able to correctly estimate my power."

Silva sighed again. "Honestly, I'm not sure what I should do right now. I don't even know how I can put myself under more pressure," he said.

Gravis only smirked and laughed a little. "Oh, you don't need to worry about that. I have that aspect covered," he said.

Silva looked with surprise at Gravis again. "How?"

"Simple," Gravis said with a smirk. "Our Tribe has been constantly attacking and killing other Tribes. We have probably already decimated several Tribes associated with powerful Tribes or Kingdoms. In the coming weeks, more and more powerful Lords will arrive."

Then, Gravis narrowed his eyes while maintaining his smirk. "So, in order to protect the River Tribe, you need to fight those intruders. You haven't realized it yet, but Shira's internal pressure has been converted into external pressure. Now, you don't need to fear her anymore, but our actual enemies."

Gravis laughed a bit more. "After all, we're arriving at the territories of the level three Lords."

Silva took a deep breath. Like this, all the pressure had returned.

"Additionally," Gravis said, "I won't get involved when level three Lords attack. They don't pose any threat to me anymore. So, if two level three Lords attack, you have to deal with them. If you can't, I will just watch how the entire Tribe gets annihilated."

Silva was shocked when he heard that. "You would do that? You would just watch as the entire River Tribe was killed?" This was utterly new to Silva. He had expected that Gravis would step in to protect the Tribe. Wasn't this one of the Leader's jobs?

Gravis nodded. "Yes. Orthar should have told you our goal in creating this Tribe. The whole Tribe is there to create pressure for us. I have never put any kind of rule on any beast that forbade them from leaving. If you want, you can tell it to the whole Tribe. Whoever wants to leave can leave."

Silva released a shaky breath. Then, his body shook in frustration. "You know exactly that most beasts won't leave with me after seeing their own power increase like that. Aren't you doing the same thing that Shira has done?" he asked in anger.

Gravis shook his head. "No. I don't target the Tribe specifically. I just let everything take its course. Either the Tribe is powerful enough to rule the world, or it will die trying. I don't know if the Tribe has that capability unless I let it take its course. Either you follow me on this path, or you abandon it and take a new one. It's your decision."

Then, Gravis smiled. "Of course, I will consider you a friend either way," he said.

Silva was still angry, but some of his anger had vanished as he listened to Gravis' words. Gravis gave the beasts every freedom. The members of the River Tribe were powerful enough to create their own Tribe. On top of that, they were way above average in Battle-Strength.

If the beasts wanted to create their own Tribes, no one would stop them. They could become the hegemons of their own Tribe and rise to power. Yet, nearly no beast inside the River Tribe wanted that.

Silva sighed again. "Why do you give the beasts of the Tribe so much freedom? Are you not afraid that they will just leave after hearing your stance?"

"Because freedom is the most important thing to me, and if I don't grant others that freedom, I don't deserve it myself. Suppressing others while being totally free is hypocritical in my opinion," Gravis answered.

Silva listened to Gravis and sighed again. Yet, this time, he didn't sigh out of helplessness but because he had made a decision. "Then I will use that freedom to convince as many beasts to leave the River Tribe. At the rate we're going, we will sooner or later anger an opponent that we can't fight against."

"I don't want my companions to walk to their deaths. If they decide to stay, I will let them stay. After all, they are their own beasts with their own decisions. Yet, I want them to realize the whole picture and what could happen in the future. I'm sorry," Silva said.

Gravis only smiled. "Don't be. If I were angry about the beasts using their freedom, then it couldn't be considered true freedom. Go ahead and do whatever you want. If you believe your path is better, then follow it to the end. Who knows, maybe your path truly is better?" Gravis said.

Silva only felt worse when he heard Gravis' words. He already felt guilty that he was basically going against Gravis with this decision, and he would have preferred an angry Gravis. Yet, Gravis' kind words only made him feel even more guilt.

"I'm sorry," Silva said. Then, he left the Spire.

"You're fine with this?" Orthar asked as he came closer to Gravis.

Gravis nodded. "It's okay. I knew that true freedom wouldn't keep beasts and people united. After all, there are infinite paths in these worlds," Gravis said with a heartfelt smile as he looked at the River Tribe. "They can all follow their own paths. The more paths you know, the surer you can be about your own."

"Silva had only known one path when he joined us. That is not freedom. Yet, by staying with us, he has seen my path, Shira's path, Liza's path, and your path. Back then, he didn't have a choice, but now, he does. It's a good thing that he decided to follow his own path now, and I'm genuinely happy for him."

Orthar remained silent a bit. "I don't know. If I were you, I would have killed Silva when he said that. After all, by acting against us, he stopped being a friend and became a hindrance. But you're our leader, and I won't get involved."

Gravis only laughed a bit. "That's your path, not mine. You can follow your path just like Silva can follow his."

Orthar started looking into the direction where Silva went. "So, if I wanted to, I could kill Silva?"

Gravis scratched his chin. "If you want, sure, but don't forget that he is no longer part of the River Tribe. This means that the rules no longer count for him. If you try to stop him, all his followers might unite against you. I want to give you freedom, but I don't want you to commit suicide, you know."

Orthar listened to Gravis, but then, his eyes began to shine. "Then that goes both ways, right?"

"It's your decision," Gravis said. "If you die, I won't save you. You can let him leave peacefully if you want, or you could attack him. Honestly, I see both of you as my friends, and I wouldn't want to see you guys fighting. Yet, if that's your decision, I won't stop you."

Orthar remained silent for a bit more. Then, he released a breath as he made his decision. "Then, I have to disappoint you," Orthar said as he shot away.

Gravis only looked at the leaving Orthar and sighed.

"Morn and Shira have died. By allowing them total freedom, Orthar and Silva are about to enter a life and death fight. At least one of them will die, maybe both."

Then, Gravis released a shaky sigh. "They are both my friends, and I don't want either of them to leave me. Yet, what can I do? I want to give them total freedom, but this freedom also makes them kill each other. I either force my principles on them or watch as they kill each other," Gravis muttered to himself.

Then, Gravis looked in melancholy at the sky. "Father, I wonder, is this how you feel with all your children? You grant them freedom, but they grow apart from each other and might even start killing each other. Is this also what you feel?"

Of course, no one answered Gravis.

After looking for a couple more minutes into the sky, Gravis sighed again. "I think I can understand why you grew so emotionally distant. It's not easy to watch your companions kill each other."

Then, Gravis slowly left the Spire to watch what was going on.

The Tribe was about to fight itself.