BANG!
"But I'm telling you, I'm Gravis!" Gravis shouted as he punched the desk in front of him, but the desk wasn't damaged in any way. By now, the clerk and Gravis had been at this topic for over ten minutes, and they had moved to the clerk's office.
"And I'm telling you that there is only one person named Gravis working as a Research Assistant. You don't look like him, you don't feel like him, and you don't have the Obsidian Ring on you," the clerk said back with annoyance. "I don't know what you're trying to accomplish, but it's not going to work!"
"Like I said, my cultivation has changed my look, and I lost the ring!" Gravis shouted back. This whole conversation was grating on his nerves. He hated it when people told him that he was lying. Gravis was pretty sure that he knew his own fucking name!
The clerk snorted. "Even if that were the case, Gravis has left only two days ago, which would be equal to about six years. How would you have reached the Unity Realm in only six years? On top of that, look at your ridiculously overtrained Will-Aura. How would you even do that in six years?"
"You're telling me that there is no way to reach the Unity Realm in such a short amount of time? Also, I went through a lot of tempering to get that Will-Aura, and it took me only six years! If I can achieve this Will-Aura in only six years, you can't tell me that there is no way to reach the Unity Realm in six years!" Gravis shouted back.
"Sure, there are ways to reach the Unity Realm in a short amount of time," the clerk said, "but all the lower worlds available to Research Assistants follow the Will-Forging Path. The fastest way to progress in that path is to remain at least ten years in the Spirit Forming Realm. Even with the help of pills, your Spirit still needs to adapt!"
Gravis clenched his fists in frustration. "Then how about I just tell you how I achieved it? You should be able to verify if that is possible or not!" Gravis shouted back.
The clerk shrugged. "Sure. Telling us everything you learned about cultivation is your job either way," the clerk said as he summoned a Jade Token, which floated over to Gravis. "Put it against your forehead and make your Spirit enter it for about five seconds. It automatically records everything you know about cultivation."
Gravis grabbed the Jade Token out of the air. Many people wanted to keep their cultivation a secret, but that was impossible for Gravis. After all, it was literally his job to gather and deliver the knowledge of a lower world.
Whoom!
Gravis put the Jade Token at his forehead and made his Spirit enter it. He felt his Spirit being filtered by the Jade Token, and after five seconds, it pushed his Spirit away. "There! Go check it for yourself!" Gravis shouted with annoyance as he threw the Jade Token back.
Pack!
A hand caught the Jade Token, but it was neither Gravis' nor the clerk's hand.
"There are things in here that no one should know," the Opposer said as he crushed the Jade Token.
Gravis looked with pleasant surprise at his father. "Father, long time no see," he said.
The Opposer looked at Gravis with a smile and nodded. "We'll talk later." Then, he turned to the clerk, who was sitting there in terror and with widely opened eyes. Did the most powerful being of the world just arrive right in front of him? He couldn't even process what was happening.
Another Jade Token appeared, as well as four shining, white stones. "This includes all cultivation techniques for this lower world, and these are the four Immortal Energy Stones that my son owes you," he said.
The clerk accepted both things with shock and reverence. "Th-Thank you, your exalted majesty," he said quietly.
And suddenly, the Opposer wasn't there anymore. It was like he had never been here in the first place.
Gravis looked with a smug grin at the clerk. "Convinced now?" he asked.
The clerk released a nervous sigh. "Yeah, okay. Sorry," he whispered as he started filling out the form. "Apparently, it really is possible. Who would've thought?" he muttered to himself. He wouldn't doubt the Opposer's words.
After some seconds, the clerk put the Jade Token on his forehead. A second later, he put it away again and frowned. "Eh, three outta ten. Pretty bad. But the information is very comprehensive and very detailed. Of course, that's to be expected from his exalted majesty," he commented.
Gravis furrowed his brows. "What do you mean with that?" Gravis asked.
The clerk seemed to be back in his usual, carefree, and boring mood. "We rate the cultivation techniques of the worlds on a scale of one to ten. We take the strength, ease of use, adaptability, speed, and potential into account."
"The strength of the cultivation techniques of that lower world is a little bit above average, but it's not easy to use. First, you have to create a separate Elemental Seed, and you also need to have a fitting temperament. This makes it nearly impossible for one person to cultivate more than one element. On top of that, the temperaments would clash."
Gravis' eyebrows rose in surprise. "Does that mean that the temperament restriction isn't an issue in other elemental cultivation methods?"
"Nope," the clerk said. "Many of them just suppress and use the element, while others make the element completely yours. That's a way more effective method to use the elements."
Gravis was a little surprised about that. "What about the other three criteria?" he asked.
"Adaptability refers to the possibility to change, modify, or remove the cultivation technique with the least amount of backlash as possible. It's also around average in that regard. Could be better, could be worse," the clerk narrated as he played with the Jade Token in his hand.
"Speed refers to the speed of progress in cultivation. Some cultivation techniques hinder progress, while others hasten it. Same like the previous criteria, it could be considered as average."
Gravis frowned. "So, everything up to now is average or slightly above average, with one thing being worse than average. Until now, it sounds like a five out of ten for me. I guess the bad factor is the last criteria?" Gravis asked.
The clerk nodded. "Exactly. With these Elemental Seeds, you create something new inside of you that still remains its own thing. Your power comes from this seed, but the seed isn't completely yours. After all, if it were yours, it wouldn't have a restriction on your temperament, would it? Having another arm doesn't force you to grab more stuff, does it?"
Gravis thought about this. He hadn't seen it like that before, but it made sense. "I'm guessing this will be a problem later down the line?"
The clerk nodded again. "In the Immortal Realm, you need to create a body that can resonate and harmonize with your Laws. Having something foreign inside you makes that pretty difficult. Yet, at that point, the Elemental Seed has already been part of you for a long time. Changing it will make it difficult and time-consuming," the clerk explained.
Gravis was confused. "Laws? What's that?" he asked.
"The understanding of the world. Water goes down. Hot air goes up. Lightning goes boom. All simple rules of the world, but the more complex mechanics are called Laws. If you understand and feel them, you can use them to become more powerful and grow. But that's not something you need to care about right now. Give it another two Realms," the clerk explained.
Gravis wanted to ask more, but he decided to ask his father instead of the clerk later. His father would probably explain it in a more comprehensive manner.
Seeing that Gravis had no more questions, the clerk put the clipboard away. Then, he summoned an emblem. "Here's your Research Adept emblem. Don't lose it, or you will be thrown out of the city for trespassing," he said as the emblem floated over to Gravis.
Gravis put the emblem onto his black shirt and nodded at the clerk. Then, he left the hall.
Meanwhile, the clerk released a nervous sigh as he slumped back into his chair. 'Man, I'm lucky that I don't do the round-up. If I did that, I would probably be dead right now,' the clerk thought with lingering fear.
When someone came back from the lower world and used a service that cost money, some of his colleagues would round up the sum. Like this, Gravis' four Immortal Energy Stones would have become five. Four would go to the company, while one would be pocketed.
Luckily for the clerk, he was one of the few honest clerks.
Scamming the Opposer's son?
That was an all-exclusive high-end express delivery to the afterlife.