The time was up!

Gravis' Realm-Stop was over!

Gravis threw one last glance at the Law Comprehension Area and then left towards the Icy Pride Empire with Ferris. It was time to meet the Empress again!

Yet, Gravis felt nervous. One hundred years had passed since he had last seen his children. There was a genuine chance that one or all of them could have died during that time. Tempering was dangerous, and a lot of his friends had passed while tempering themselves, even though they all had an incredible amount of Karmic Luck.

They were on their way to the Mountain of Pride, but before they could reach the mountain, they were interrupted.

"Aris! You disrespected and killed my comrade! Today, no one will be able to save you!" a violent shout suddenly came from the side.

Gravis grew excited when he heard that. Aris was here? Gravis looked around but couldn't find him anywhere. He found the source of the voice, which was a long, green snake. Surprisingly, that green snake was a level five King.

Even more surprising was the fact that the green snake was looking at Gravis with hatred.

Gravis blinked a couple of times in confusion as the snake charged towards him. Then, he pointed at himself. "Me?" he asked.

"Don't play dumb, Aris! Today, I will put you in your place! Your arrogant strutting around has come to an end!" the green snake shouted violently. "It doesn't matter that you have already become a level three King! You might be able to fight a level above yourself, but two levels are between us!"

'Apparently, Aris has caused some trouble,' Gravis thought. He wasn't sure if he was annoyed or proud of Aris at the moment.

"Hey, you got the wrong guy," Gravis said. "Aris is my son."

These words seemed to take the winds out of the green snake's sails, and it stopped in shock for a second. But then, it only sneered in disdain. "How weak! You see that you can't deal with me and try to fool me! Your father wouldn't have remained a level three King for such a long time!"

Gravis scratched his cheek in confusion. Yet, he could understand the green snake. Staying 100 years as a level five King or level five Lord was normal, but generally, beasts shot rather quickly through the levels in-between.

Gravis groaned. "Ferris, could you resolve this misunderstanding?" he asked.

"Huh?" Ferris asked like he hadn't paid any attention. "Oh, yeah, right!" Then, Ferris turned to the green snake. "This is Gravis, not Aris," he said directly.

The green snake became even more shocked. Wait, this wasn't Aris? Was this truly the elusive Gravis that nearly no one had seen in forever?

"Then, please show me proof," the green snake said, now much politer.

BZZZZ!

Gravis summoned some Punishment Lightning on his hand. "This should be proof enough."

The green snake looked with shock at the lightning. It had never felt any element even remotely as deadly as this one! Even it felt a great danger coming from this element, even though the snake was two levels higher than Gravis.

Suddenly, the green snake became fearful as it felt like a death God stood before it. Aris? That shouldn't be a problem for the snake, but Gravis was something entirely different. Gravis had killed an Inquisitor as a level two King! An Inquisitor was more powerful than the green snake, and on top of that, Gravis was a level three King now!

If it had decided to attack immediately, it wouldn't have known how it died! Yes, geniuses like Aris were terrifying, but Gravis' Battle-Strength was unreal. Gravis was probably the most powerful King in existence! There was a gigantic gulf between the first place and someone that was just very good.

"Okay, you're not Aris," the green snake said politely. "I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."

"Eh, it's alright," Gravis said as he waved the snake off. "So, you have news about my son? What has he been up to in the last century?"

The green snake released a nervous breath it had been holding for a while now. "Your son, Aris, has been going around challenging every genius he could find. He never targets average beasts but always only goes for the most powerful ones."

"Some years ago, Aris has convinced one of my companions to a life and death duel and then killed him. If this had been a normal duel, I wouldn't care. Yet, Aris has used the mindset of my companion to his advantage and convinced him to accept the duel. This is not true tempering," the green snake said.

Gravis scratched his chin. "Hm, but if a mindset is exploitable, isn't it a weakness? If Aris was able to convince someone into fighting him when they obviously had no chance of victory, wouldn't that fit the style of the world? A weakness is a weakness, after all."

The green snake took a deep breath. "That may be true, but it is still my choice to avenge my companion. I have lost one of my companions, and, in my opinion, I'm entitled to retribution. Of course, only as long as I'm powerful enough."

Gravis continued scratching his chin. "Sure, why not?" Gravis said with a shrug, surprising the green snake a bit. "Enmities are enmities. There is no right and wrong in this world. If you want to do something, do it. Yet, keep in mind that just because you can do something doesn't mean that you can do it without any possible retribution."

The green snake nodded. "I know the danger," it said.

Gravis also nodded. "Alright. Thank you for telling me about Aris," Gravis said with a smile as he waved. "I'll be going now. Bye!"

The green snake was confused about Gravis thanking it. Why was Gravis thanking it?

"One more thing," the green snake said suddenly.

"Hm?" Gravis uttered as he looked at the green snake again.

"If you see your son, could you please tell him that he should return to the Icy Pride Empire so that I may properly stab him with my fangs?" the green snake asked.

Gravis nodded. "Sure, will do."

With that said, Ferris and Gravis continued traveling towards the Mountain of Pride.

While they were flying, Gravis smirked. 'Oh, Aris. I wonder, have you created this enmity on accident or on purpose? I don't know how powerful you are now, but a level five King should still be incredibly dangerous towards you. Has your blind arrogance returned, or have you done this on purpose to put yourself under more pressure?' Gravis thought.

'If you've really done this on purpose, I disagree with your methods. Killing someone weaker than you just to create a more powerful enemy is something I would never do.'

Yet, contrary to what Gravis was thinking right now, he smiled.

'However, you are you, and I am I. You don't need to act like me, and you don't need to share my morals. There is no right and wrong. So, if you want to become a monster that mindlessly slaughters the innocents, go ahead. Yet, I want you to accept any potential repercussions coming your way.'

Gravis' eyes shone a bit. 'My children are now over double as old as I have been when I had fathered them. They are old enough to decide their own course of actions and morals. However you want to live your life, you can do so. Yet, if your bad decisions ever come back to bite you in the ass, I won't protect you,' Gravis thought.

Gravis felt horrible when he thought these things. In truth, he actually wanted to protect his children no matter what they did. Yet, that wouldn't be true to his own path and morals.

If one of his children died, Gravis' heart would break into pieces. If, by some scheme, one of them died without even being able to fight back, he would not rest until the offending party would die.

Yet, if they died during regular tempering or due to the repercussions of their earlier choices, he would only watch as one of his children died. This was Gravis' bottom line.

If such a situation ever occurred, Gravis wouldn't know if he could ever recover from the pain and guilt. However, his life was not all about his children. He also had to follow his own path, and this was the best compromise he could find.

'I hope they're all still alive,' Gravis thought with worry as he saw the Mountain of Pride in the distance.