The group traveled for a couple of minutes before they arrived at the fourth trial. The area of this fourth trial looked different than all the previous ones. Before this, Gravis had only seen big arenas or just small rooms, but this one was a fusion of the two.
A one-kilometer wide, lowered arena was in the middle of the trial ground. Around the edges were benches, low-quality weapons, and even training dummies. The arena took up 90% of the area, surprising Gravis a little. Why wouldn't the arena just take up all of the trial ground? What was the point of this side area?
"Oh, cool," Joyce said with a smile. "It's just like the earlier trials."
Gravis looked at her with a lifted brow. "This is how your earlier trial grounds looked?" he asked.
Joyce looked at him with a questioning look. "Yeah, did your trial grounds look different?"
Gravis nodded. "Yes. The second trial was a small hall, while the other two were just an open area. There wasn't a specific area dedicated to fighting."
"Well, it wouldn't make sense to create a dedicated arena for only one person, would it?" Manuel interjected as he stepped forward. "How did you think we decided who would fight which enemy? In these kinds of trials, enemies will appear one after the other inside the arena while we wait outside. As soon as the enemies spawn, a sign appears that tells us which cultivator should fight."
BANG!
In the middle of the arena, a stele appeared. The group looked at it and read the inscription. "The four cultivators at the initial Stage of Spirit Forming will temper themselves against the appearing enemies. The cultivator at the Tree Stage will act as a guide and teacher for fighting," Joyce read aloud.
She smiled and turned to Gravis. "So that's why we are together in this trial. Gravis, you will teach us how to fight! Isn't that great?" she shouted with a smile while waving at him from beside the stele.
Gravis rubbed his chin in thought. "Is there really no trap here?" he mused to himself. "Am I really only supposed to teach them?"
Gravis narrowed his eyes and looked at the ceiling. "Did you actually learn from your mistakes? Did this really just happen?" he asked with genuine surprise. "Have you realized that you can't suppress me anymore? Are you actually intending on not making it hard on me in this trial?"
No answer came.
Whoom!
After a couple of seconds, the stele vanished. In its place appeared a small sign. "The cultivator at the Tree Stage will give a one-time demonstration of his skills. One enemy at the Self Stage will appear with an equally strong dantian and body. In order to demonstrate his Battle-Strength properly, the cultivator will not use his Will-Aura, Lightning Crescent, or Lightning Bomb. The enemy will have a body that surpasses the Self Stage," Joyce read.
Gravis lifted an eyebrow while the others furrowed their brows. The enemies that they had fought in their previous trials had also been a Stage higher than them. If one only looked at the two opponents, one wouldn't see any difference compared to their trials.
Yet, Gravis was not allowed to use his Will-Aura. One had to know that the Will-Aura was the main reason why the group could fight above their Stage. Without it, they would be weaker in everything. The cultivators thought about how a fight against such an enemy would go, and they all concluded that they would have no chance. Even Manuel was sure that he wouldn't be able to win.
Gravis sighed. "Wow," he said with surprise, eliciting worried gazes from the group. "Heaven actually learned from its mistakes. Color me surprised," he said. Before the group could react, Gravis walked forward.
Bang!
Gravis jumped into the arena, and a Formation Array appeared around him. Gravis looked at it and was pretty sure that it was only there to block the shockwaves from exiting the arena. Joyce looked with worry at Gravis as she still stood inside the arena. She was worried that this fight might be too hard for him.
Gravis gestured to the outside of the arena with his head. "Leave. This is not a problem for me," he said.
Joyce was still worried, but she nodded and jumped out. The Formation Array didn't stop her.
Whoom!
A puppet appeared a couple of hundred meters away from Gravis. It had the form of a middle-aged man, utterly grey in color. His whole body was grey, including clothes, skin, hair, and eyes. He carried a large saber that looked less like a saber and more like a knife. It was over two meters long and nearly half a meter wide.
BANG!
The person shot forward while readying the humongous saber in one hand. His other hand was close to his body and pointed at Gravis. When Gravis saw that, he immediately realized the opponent's element.
BANG!
Gravis exploded forward as lightning exploded beneath his feet. Gravis' ridiculously fast acceleration made the puppet nearly unable to react. The huge saber immediately slashed down while an incredibly powerful fireball appeared in the puppet's free hand.
The saber came closer and closer to Gravis' head, but he didn't even look at it.
BZZZ BANG!
A Lightning Spear shot out of Gravis' right hand, and it quickly hit the fireball inside the puppet's hand before it could fire off. The fireball exploded, destroying the puppet's hand in the process. Gravis had noticed that the fireball had been compressed with Spirit, which made it dangerous even to the user.
The shockwave also washed over Gravis, but most of its power had been stopped by the puppet's hand and the Lightning Spear. Yet, the explosion was still powerful, and heavy burns appeared all over Gravis' body.
BANG!
While the puppet had been thrown back by the sudden explosion, Gravis, who had already expected the shockwave, used another lightning explosion to accelerate through the shockwave. He quickly reached the puppet, lifted his saber high, and slashed down with both hands.
CRK!
The saber struck the puppet's head but didn't kill it. Instead, it stuck out of the head of the puppet, its edge barely inside.
BZZZ!
Gravis used the saber to infuse the puppet with lightning, shocking and paralyzing it in the process. Due to the required realism, the puppets worked the same way as humans. Gravis' lightning might not have been powerful enough to shock the puppet under normal circumstances, but it was different when the lightning had a direct way into the puppet's head.
Gravis pulled down, still holding the hilt of his saber, pulling the puppet's head down with it.
BANG! BOOM!
Lightning exploded under Gravis' foot. The explosion created an incredible force that propelled Gravis' leg upwards, and his knee exploded into the puppet's chin. Gravis' knee wasn't able to handle such an impact, and his leg was reduced into bloody chunks.
SHING!
Gravis kept the puppet in place with his saber and then pulled it back. The saber left the puppet's head, and Gravis readied it. Due to the massive impact on its chin, the puppet's brain was scrambled and shaken, making it unable to move.
SHING!
Gravis lowered himself and stabbed through the puppet's chin, right into its brain. The skull had stopped his attack before, showing that he wasn't strong enough to break through the bones' defenses. Yet, there were no bones between the underside of the chin and the brain.
BZZZZ!
One more infusion of lightning right into the brain sealed the deal. Even if it had survived the previous attack, it was definitely dead now.
BZZZ!
Gravis used around 20% of his Life Lightning to get back to his peak condition. After that, he pulled his saber out of the puppet's head. Something like this couldn't even be considered tempering. He had been in full control ever since the fight had started.
Gravis cracked his neck and then turned to the group.