The Matriarch continued laying on the ground for over 20 seconds. She required a lot of time to process what had just happened, and Gravis gave her that time. Meanwhile, Orthar floated over to Gravis with a sigh.
"I've underestimated your power," Orthar admitted. "I apologize."
Gravis just waved him off. "It doesn't matter. It's normal that you wouldn't believe something like this without seeing it yourself. After all, if you believed everything you heard, you would only be naive."
"What was that?" the Matriarch asked in shock as she regained some control over her mind. The only thing on her mind right now was to understand what had just happened.
"That's a third of my power, Matriarch," Gravis said, shocking her again. "I currently have a technique active that lowers my power to a third of its peak, but I can deactivate it whenever I want. When I'm at my peak, I'm even confident in killing level three Lords."
First, the Matriarch didn't believe that. After all, the concept that a level one Lord could kill a level three Lord didn't even exist in legends. Something like that just seemed impossible.
Yet, as she remembered the frightening pressure and the powerful lightning, she started believing him. Gravis could probably also kill a level two Lord with these two things, and that was considering the power he had shown just now. If he were able to triple his power, it wouldn't be impossible that he could kill a level three Lord. It would not be easy but possible.
The Matriarch sighed. "I don't deserve to be called Matriarch by you, Leader," the Matriarch said in a conceding tone. "Please call me Liza, Leader."
Gravis nodded. The fact that she called him Leader meant that she had accepted to join the River Tribe. Even though one could say that Gravis was the reason why 90% of her children had died, he never doubted her word. Beasts were different from humans.
If a human killed the children of another human, the other human would never rest until the first human was dead. Yet, for beasts, it was different. Skye had also accepted her parent's death without any problem. As long as beasts strived for power, it was normal for them to die. All beasts accepted that and didn't hold a grudge. In this sense, beasts had a simpler mindset than humans.
"What is your goal?" Gravis asked.
"Excuse me?" Liza asked in confusion. What did he mean with goal?
"Do you want to reach supreme power? Do you want to take revenge? Do you want authority? Do you want a powerful family? I'm asking you what your reason for becoming stronger is," Gravis asked.
Liza sighed as she thought about her past. "My main reason is revenge, but I also dream about becoming the strongest. Yet, my revenge takes precedence right now."
Gravis nodded. "I have expected something like that. Your approach to power didn't have a long-term goal in mind. I expected that you noticed that but chose that approach anyway."
Liza nodded. "Yes. I want to become a level three Lord. Only then will I be able to take my revenge," she said.
Gravis scratched his chin. "If you don't mind, could you tell me more about that?" Gravis asked.
Liza thought about this for a while. If she told him who her enemy was, Gravis might think that the risk of offending such a power was worse than what she brought to the table. In that case, he might decide to just eat her directly.
Yet, in the end, she decided to just say it. "I was part of a Tribe with a level three Lord as a leader. When I was young, I wasn't outstanding at all. My combat power was below average, and the Tribe demoted me to become Prey."
"If I managed to win three fights, I would be able to rejoin the Tribe. My first fight came immediately after the demotion, and, if I'm honest, I only won by luck. After that, I fled the Tribe and never returned. Ever since then, I have fought many dangerous battles and managed to achieve my current power."
Clap!
Gravis clapped into his hands once. "Great! I've been searching for powerful enemies to increase mine and the Tribe's power. This comes just at the right time!" Gravis said with an excited smirk.
Liza looked at Gravis with a bit of confusion, but then, she remembered Gravis' previous words. He had said that his Tribe wasn't about becoming bigger but about becoming more powerful. If that were truly his goal, such a powerful enemy would help a lot.
Her nervousness vanished as Liza sighed again. She had been worried over nothing. "What will you have me do?" she asked.
Gravis only looked at her with a smirk. "I already have two very capable commanders. I also have two powerful councilors. I have three different positions in mind, but to find the best position for you, I need to know more about you. Tell me, are you interested in dangerous life and death battles?"
Liza directly nodded. "Yes. The stronger I become, the better. Yet, I don't want to die before I can take my revenge. Right now, revenge takes priority over becoming supremely powerful."
Gravis scratched his chin in thought. "If the Tribe were to annihilate your hated enemy without you, would you mind?"
Liza thought about this for a bit. "No, I don't think so. I can already kill the officer that was responsible for my demotion. As long as I can see her die, I'm fine with not being part of the slaughter of the Tribe."
Gravis lifted an eyebrow. "Then why didn't you return to kill that officer?" Gravis asked.
Liza was a bit taken aback by that question. Had Gravis never been part of a Tribe? That question just seemed stupid in her mind. Yet, she decided to answer anyway. "Because I can't just kill someone in that position. If I did that, the whole Tribe would kill me. My revenge is important to me, but not more important than my life."
Gravis had a skeptical look on his face. Then, he looked at Orthar. "Is that true? Are other Tribes like that?" he asked.
Orthar had talked a lot with Morn, and Morn had way more experience in these sorts of things. "Yes. Normally, it's not allowed for Tribesmen to fight each other. That's because it would reduce the power of the Tribe and bring unrest to the members."
Gravis was a bit surprised by that answer. "But that's so stupid!" he said.
"Yes, I know," Orthar answered evenly.
Liza was surprised by their exchange. Did that mean that the River Tribe was different? Then, how did it work? Seeing Liza's confused expression, Gravis let Orthar explain the rules and mindset of the River Tribe. It wasn't that Gravis felt that it was beneath him to explain that, but that Orthar had much more experience in explaining the Tribe's rules. After all, he had explained them to nearly all new sea recruits.
Liza had a shocked look on her face. "Wait. That means that I can just directly challenge another Lord in the Tribe, and you would let me kill them?"
Gravis shrugged. "Sure. It would suck to find a new Commander, Elder, or Oracle, but nothing speaks against it."
Then, Liza looked at Orthar. "So, I could directly challenge and kill him, and you would do nothing?"
Gravis felt his insides ache when he heard that. Orthar was his closest friend in this world. Yet, Gravis sighed. "Orthar is my closest friend, but no one will stop or go against you if you decide to do that. Yet, you would need to fight him in an equally advantageous terrain to both of you. Water doesn't make much difference at your levels, but, at least, his chances of victory are a bit higher."
"Don't feel bad, Gravis. These are the rules, and I have accepted them. If I die by them, I won't regret it," Orthar said.
Gravis sighed again. He really didn't like this, but he had created these rules, and he couldn't play favorites. If Orthar died to them, there would be nothing wrong with that.
Instead, Liza was taken aback a little. Gravis would even allow someone from his own Tribe to kill his closest companion. She had never seen a Lord that was this neutral and fair.
Then, Liza laughed a bit. "Don't worry," she said. "Why would I kill someone from my Tribe when there are a lot of Lords in the neighboring territories? Also," she said with a smirk as she looked at Orthar. "A whole Tribe would probably be a bigger challenge than him."
Nearly every other beast would become angry when faced with such disregard. Yet, Orthar had himself entirely under control. He knew that she could kill him without much trouble. So, what was the problem with her showing disregard towards him? Orthar only needed to become more powerful than her. Power was the only truth.
Gravis released a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he said. "I might allow it, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't hurt when my closest companion dies."
Liza smiled back at him. "You don't need to thank me. After all, we're part of the same Tribe now," she said and then turned around. "Anyway…"
Gravis looked with surprise at her. "Where are you going?" he asked.
Liza released a heartfelt smile. "I only need one more Lord to become a level two Lord. Since I see the death of my enemy approaching on the claws of the River Tribe, there's no reason for me to stay complacent."
The River Tribe was to the west of the hyena's territory, but she looked towards the east. "I'll go deal with the neighboring Tribe, east from here. I'll eat the Lord and send the interested members to the River Tribe as Prey. Most of them will be ecstatic when they hear that they only need to win one fight to join your Tribe."
Then, she looked back at Gravis. "I'll be back in a day or so, and then, I'll be a level two Lord. Meanwhile, think of a position that I should assume. I will take up that position as soon as I return."
Gravis nodded with a smile. "No problem. I'll inform the Tribe about you and our future recruits. Have fun!"
Liza only smiled sweetly. "Thanks. See you later," she said, and then, she was off.
Gravis rubbed the back of his head a bit. "She sounded way more casual at the end."
"She has probably missed talking to equal beasts," Orthar said.
"Could be," Gravis said. "Anyway, let's inform the Tribe."
Orthar agreed, and then, they flew back to their Tribe.
Today, their Tribe became much more powerful.