"Let me introduce everyone," said the elder. "My name is Byron." Then he gestured to one of the others. The youngster walked forward and stood beside Byron. "This is Drake. He was once part of the Fire Guild in the Middle-Continent. He fled the Fire Guild when he killed one of his disciple brothers. I won't go into the details since it's personal, but he had a good reason to do that, and I won't fault him for that."
Gravis looked at Drake, and they shook hands. Drake had red hair, yet his eyes seemed sinister. Gravis didn't judge people based on their looks, so he didn't really care.
"Hello, Gravis. I've heard much about you from Elder Byron," Drake said with a cold face, which didn't match his words. "I know that you will be a tremendous help to us."
"Likewise, Drake," Gravis said with a smile.
By now, Gravis was not worried about his Karmic Luck infecting others. Byron came from a different world, and they were here with Heaven's permission. On top of that, the other Heaven surely also kept watch. If this Heaven reduced the Karmic Luck of a member of the Greys, the other Heaven would most likely protest.
As Gravis thought about it, he was actually quite happy. Due to the circumstances, this was probably the first organization where he didn't have to keep his distance from everyone. Finally, he could truly work together with others and build some companionship.
Elder Byron then gestured for another person, who also stepped forward. "This is Creed. He was born in the Core-Continent but never managed to join any Elemental Sect. Sadly, this talent bloomed after he was already too old to join. He has managed to reach the power of average cultivators of Elemental Sects without having ever cultivated an element. Of course, with my Battle Techniques, his strength only increased even more."
Gravis was astonished by this. Battle Techniques that didn't involve elements were supremely rare in this world. Creed had to basically create a whole new fighting style without any guidance. This was really impressive!
"That's really astonishing, Creed. How did you do that?" asked Gravis as he shook Creed's hand.
Creed had normal black hair and an average body. Nothing on him looked exceptional. This reminded Gravis of his own looks before they had changed. His looks could have been described with the same adjectives.
Creed rubbed the back of his neck as his face went slightly red in embarrassment. "Hello, Brother Gravis. It's nothing special. I just continued fighting, and everything appeared by itself. I didn't do anything to create my Battle Techniques," he spoke quietly.
Gravis looked at him and couldn't conclude what fighting style Creed used. "What weapons do you use?"
Creed smiled and retrieved his weapons. Two black daggers appeared in his hands. "Please don't look down on me, but in the beginning, I couldn't win against other cultivators in a head-on fight, so I mainly focused on the daggers. I know that ambushing people is not the true way to power, but it was the only way I had to grow in power," Creed said, shame showing on his face.
Gravis laughed. "There is no wrong way to power! The only wrong way is completely relying on others!" Gravis said, patting Creed on the shoulders. He also meant what he said. A fight was a fight. It didn't matter how one won, as long as they accomplished it with their own power. Power was power, after all.
When Creed heard Gravis, he smiled and stepped back a little. Elder Byron then gestured to the last two people. Those two people were two women, and now Gravis noticed that they looked identical to each other. 'Identical twins?' Gravis thought. Their faces looked the same, and they both had long blue hair. The only difference was that the hair of each one fell down at a different side.
"These are Lory and Lena," Elder Byron introduced. "They had been in the Water Guild of the Middle-Continent, and they left their guild because of ideology conflicts. You need to ask them yourself if you want to know more."
Both women bowed slightly at the same time. "Welcome, Gravis," they said simultaneously.
Gravis felt a little embarrassed from that. He hadn't had much contact with the opposite sex, so he didn't know exactly how to talk to them. His Unity Will didn't change anything about that. "Thank you, Lory and Lena."
One of the two spoke up. "We don't mind you knowing about our background. You actually need to know it so that we can fight together."
Gravis was surprised that they were so open with sharing their secrets. "Thank you," he said.
The other woman spoke up. "We actually never intended to join the Proxy-Water Guild in the Outer-Continent. Our family was killed when we were young, so we desired battle-strength instead of support. As you know, water is not cut out for that. Sadly, the Water Guild had been the only one that was willing to accept us."
She then spat to the side, while the other one sighed. "It was probably because we were women," the other one spoke up. "You might not know this, but most women are inside the Water and Light Guild. Those two guilds take up over 80% of all female cultivators, while the Wind Guild has another 15%. They probably thought that we were tame and abhorred violence, like most other women."
Now, the first one spoke up again. "As we increased our Realm, we got less and less opportunities to temper our battle-strength. When we went out to temper ourselves, we even got punished for that. Remaining inside the Water Guild, healing patients, and cultivating plants was not why we started cultivating. When it was too much, we left, and we swore that we would never use our water element to heal someone again. We only want battle strength!"
Gravis was a little surprised about the reason, but he could understand it. Gravis also wouldn't want to only heal people and cultivate plants. He wanted freedom, and freedom only came with power. If the same thing happened to him, he would have probably also left the guild.
Gravis smiled and nodded. "I understand. I would have probably done the same in your case. You don't need to worry. I won't force you to use your Water Element to heal me in a fight. I respect your decision, and I also trust that you have enough power to contribute. You probably wouldn't be part of the Greys if you didn't."
The two women smiled. "Thank you for understanding, Big Brother Gravis," they said at the same time, and Gravis rubbed the back of his neck when he heard them calling him big brother. This was the first time anyone called him big brother, which made him feel a little shy.
The two women saw his reaction and giggled. "When I first saw you, you looked cold and arrogant," said one of them. "Who knew that the famed Gravis would have such a cute side."
Gravis laughed nervously. The last time he had any non-aggressive interaction with a woman was back in the Proxy-Lightning Guild. At that time, he had been to busy with finally getting his lightning, so he hadn't cared much. The whole thing with Stella had also been some years ago, and the personalities of youngsters quickly changed in puberty. The thing with Wendy would have also ended with Gravis killing her, so that also didn't count.
When someone was an enemy, Gravis wouldn't flinch even if that enemy was a peerlessly beautiful fairy, but it was different if they were his comrades. Gravis had many incredible attributes that made him exceptional in many viewpoints, but he had no experience with women. Sadly, Gravis wasn't perfect.
"Alright, alright," said Elder Byron as he went between them. "Enough flirting. You can do that in your spare time."
"I didn't-"Gravis wanted to say, but stopped when he saw the two women giggle slightly. 'Wait, were they actually flirting? I'm not sure! How do I find out if they were flirting or not? How does flirting even work? Should I just directly ask them about it? I'm not sure if that is a good idea. That would probably be weird.' Gravis thought in nervousness.
"Anyway," said Elder Byron with a smile. He retrieved something and threw it towards Gravis, who quickly caught it. "This is your welcome present. Any future Battle Techniques or resources need to be exchanged for Contribution Points."
Gravis looked at what he had caught and saw that it was a thin booklet. On the cover were violently written, red words that spelled "Rakshasa Saber".
"Learn it," said Elder Byron. "In a week, I'll put you to the test!"
Gravis bowed slightly. "Thank you, Elder Byron."