"Interesting," said an imposing voice as the disciples parted for someone new. All the disciples cupped their hands at the new arrival, calling him "elder". The new person was a middle-aged man with a wild red beard and long red hair. People in the Energy Gathering Realm could live for about 200 years, and someone who looked middle-aged, at that level, would probably be around 100 years old.
Gravis looked at the person with narrowed eyes, and his insides shivered. 'Supremely powerful,' he judged. He felt that the new arrival was very close to having a Will-Aura. The person probably only needed one more proper fight to condense his Will-Aura, yet that was not what made Gravis nervous.
This new arrival was also on the ninth level of Energy Gathering, but the feeling that he gave Gravis was like Heaven and Earth compared to the last opponent. Gravis was very good at judging the strength of his opponents, and this person felt close to sure-death to him. He guessed that if this elder and the last disciple fought, the last one wouldn't be able to hold out for long. 'He might actually be one of the most powerful people in existence in the Energy Gathering Realm.'
The elder slowly walked forward and looked deep into Gravis' eyes. "You can actually kill people three levels higher than you," he said in seriousness. "I am quite impressed. You might prove to be a slight challenge to me."
Gravis' eyes looked into the eyes of the elder. His instincts were screaming at him not to fight this person, but that couldn't stop him. Maybe, it was similar to the earlier person with the Will-Aura at the seventh level. That disciple had also fought Gravis with inferior strength. Gravis had called that disciple stupid, but he felt the same feeling as that disciple right now. Gravis wanted to fight that elder, even if it meant death.
'Just like the last guy, this one is at the ninth level of Energy Gathering, yet their pressure is on a completely different level, even though he doesn't have Will-Aura, yet,' Gravis thought. 'This probably means that this person has way more combat experience than the last one, and he probably also has a supremely powerful body. No Will-Aura, yet I still feel so much danger? His body is probably at the ninth level.'
Someone at the ninth level of Energy Gathering with an equally powerful body meant that the person could fight high-rank Energy Beasts solo. On paper, the elder was way above him in everything, except Will-Aura and fighting experience. Gravis felt like he was looking at a high-rank Energy Beast. 'Can I win with my current Realm?' Gravis asked himself.
"Master, I want to fight him first," said another new arrival. This one was a thin youngster with piercing eyes. The youngster stepped forward and pulled out an incredibly long sword. The sword was nearly two meters long, which surprised Gravis since that weapon looked incredibly unwieldy.
Yet, when Gravis looked into the eyes of the new arrival, he felt his strength. 'Eighth level of Energy Gathering and a Will-Aura,' he concluded. 'He might also be stronger than the last one.'
The elder looked at the young arrival. "Are you sure you can take him, Crimson?" the elder asked his disciple, Crimson, in seriousness.
Without looking at his master, the disciple took out his sword. "No," he commented coldly, but with thick battle-intent shining from his eyes.
Instead of growing apprehensive for his disciple, the elder only nodded. "Good! Only with an attitude like this can you reach the top!" he shouted proudly. The elder took some steps back to leave room for their fight. "I hope you survive!"
WHOOSH PACK!
The disciple threw over a pill bottle, and Gravis accepted it. After looking at the pill, Gravis' eyes widened. This pill was the most expensive body tempering pill, except for the Body Ascension Pill. Yet, instead of nodding, Gravis jumped to the side.
SHING!
A sword swung through Gravis' previous location, cleanly bisecting the earth. Just like Gravis, the disciple had taken advantage of his opponent's lack of focus. Of course, Gravis never relaxed in front of an enemy. He had always kept watch over his opponent from the corner of his eyes. Gravis' saber quickly appeared in his hand.
Crimson looked surprised that Gravis had dodged the attack, but his eyes only narrowed further. He knew that there was a significant chance of him dying in this fight. Without hesitation, Crimson shot towards Gravis again, fire shooting out of his whole back to increase his speed. He lifted his sword and slashed at Gravis horizontally.
'Judging by this speed, he should have a physical body about equal to my own. It seems like there are more people tempering their bodies than I had thought,' Gravis thought as he lifted his sword to block.
Gravis was actually mistaken about that part. A tempered body was only usual on people at the ninth level of Energy Gathering without a Will-Aura. Life and death tempering was hard to find, and those people still wanted to progress. The only thing they could do at that time was to temper their bodies. Only the supreme geniuses under the ninth level of Energy Gathering had the resources to temper their body. The whole Fire Guild had less than five of those.
CLANK!
Gravis made it appear like he wanted to block the attack, but he actually jumped a little. Due to that, he got pushed to the side and flew around Crimson. In one fluid motion, Crimson slammed the tip of his sword into the ground and lifted his hand for a diagonal block. His other hand left the handle of his sword and readied a fireball.
Originally, Gravis wanted to overwhelm his opponent with a barrage of attacks and force him into a passive state, but he decided against that. If Crimson had only blocked, it wouldn't be an issue, but he also readied an attack with his other hand. If Gravis attacked, that fireball would explode on his body. Crimson was at the eighth level of Energy Gathering, which meant that his fire could damage Gravis. 'He's very experienced!'
Clank BOOM!
Gravis kicked the side of the sword from below, and it shot upwards. Because of that, the sword blocked the fireball and made it explode. The disciple hadn't expected that, and his body got thrown back. Gravis ignored the fire as he walked through the explosion, burning his whole body. 'Time to make a gamble!'
CLANK!
Gravis swung his saber to the left and, sure enough, hit something metallic. Due to the explosion and the resulting smokescreen, none of the combatants could see the other, and Gravis had thought what he would do if he were Crimson. Crimson had the advantage of a longer weapon, and he would probably try to hit Gravis inside the explosion with his ridiculously long sword.
Crimson didn't have the time to use an attack with both hands since the other one went out of control due to the shockwave, so he could only have used his right hand, which still held the sword. Therefore, the attack could only come from the left! Gravis used his full power in that swing while Crimson only used one hand, and the sword wildly flew away.
The Crimson's eyes widened in shock, and a slight amount of panic appeared in them. Yet, he had a Will-Aura, and his will would not be impacted by this! His other hand quickly formed another fireball, and he threw it in front of him.
BOOM!
Crimson couldn't see what his fireball hit, but the fact that it exploded meant that he had hit Gravis since his fireball would only explode if it hit something. With this explosion, Gravis would be pushed back. He readied his sword and slashed the smoke in front of him again with an overhead swing.
CLANK!
He hit something, but it was not at the spot he had expected. He felt the resistance and sound coming from very close to him and very close to the ground. He looked down and saw Gravis blocking with his saber on the ground, directly in front of him. The last remainder of the slash had hit him and stopped his slide forwards. Crimson's eyes widened in shock.
What had happened? After Gravis had blocked the side-swing inside the smokescreen, he had started sliding low to the ground. The thrown fireball went above him, and Gravis had used his lightning to detonate it. Like this, Crimson would think that Gravis was thrown back when in reality, he was very close to him. Of course, with Gravis' luck, the last part of his opponent's swing just so happened to be an overhead swing instead of a horizontal one. 'Tch, lucky bastard,' Gravis thought from the ground.
Gravis quickly stood up while sliding his saber along the sword. They were still inside the smokescreen, but they could see each other since they were so close. Crimson's eyes focused, and he pulled his sword back, readying it for another swing. At the same time, a mighty pressure appeared around Gravis.
"Goodbye," said Crimson, readying his sword for another slash. He had not used his Will-Aura all this time so that he could take Gravis by surprise. Gravis' saber was not ready for a block, and with his Will-Aura's sudden appearance, Gravis could not manage a block. The fight was over.
WHOOM!
Suddenly, a tremendous pressure pressed into Crimson, and his breathing stopped for a moment. His brain stopped working for a second, and that second spelled his doom.
SHING!
Gravis beheaded Crimson, who still held his sword above him. Gravis had used his Will-Aura for the first time today and, just like Crimson, used it to surprise and stun his opponent. If Crimson had been at the ninth level of Energy Gathering, their Will-Auras would have canceled each other out due to the Realm difference, but Crimson had only been at the eighth level. Like this, Gravis' condensed Will-Aura overpowered Crimson's.
Gravis took a deep breath. His whole upper body was injured, and he felt immense pain all over his body. Of course, that pain was nothing compared to the constant headache he had due to the Energy in his mind. Some of his organs were also damaged due to the multiple shockwaves of the explosions, and Gravis had to regenerate. He took out the healing pill and swallowed it. It would only take about three minutes to heal.
Like this, Gravis waited inside the smokescreen.