Shira's eyes narrowed again as she looked at Gravis. "I don't believe that."
Gravis only smirked. "Silva puts the success and survival of his Camp over his own life. This means that he didn't only aim to become a Lord. Instead of finding food, he used these hunting-opportunities as a method to get rid of the most powerful beasts in the Sea Camp."
"Your fights had been easy, but his fights had been difficult. This has increased his Battle-Strength more than he realizes. As soon as he realizes that he is more powerful than you, he won't hesitate to challenge you directly. At that time, your life will likely come to an end."
Shira's frustration increased when she heard Gravis. She didn't want to believe him, but deep inside, she realized that he was right. There might really be a possibility that the viper was already more powerful than her. Yet, her pride made it difficult to accept that.
After some seconds, Gravis continued speaking. "To go back to my original point. You said that appearing strong is what makes a Leader. Yet, I say that being strong is what makes a Leader. As long as you have supreme power, it doesn't matter what others think of you. They might look down on you, but they can't do anything against you."
"And I am also pretty sure that I know why you have been complacent," Gravis said. "You are too happy with what you already have. You don't dare to risk your life to increase your Battle-Strength. Yet, you also want to become more powerful."
"Shira, you need to realize that you can't have both. Either you take it easy and forever remain at this power, or you take risks to become more powerful. There is no in-between. It's either the one or the other."
Then Gravis turned away from her and looked at the wall. "I've helped Silva once when he had come to ask me for guidance. I have given him this guidance, but I have also told him that, to remain fair, I would give you the same opportunity if you ever came to ask for guidance."
Then, he turned back to her. "Back then, I didn't expect you to ever come to me for help, but, as I said, I was wrong. I have incorrectly assessed your personality. So, right now, I will tell you what you have to do to get out of this mess."
Shira remained silent.
"Back then, Silva was on the verge of death, just like you. Back then, I have told him that his weakness was that he placed the survival of his Camp above its power. I told him that he needed to let his members go crazy. Like this, many will die, but many others will become powerful."
"He followed that advice, and now, a single beast of his Camp can annihilate your whole Sea Camp. Yet, that was advice that was specifically tailored to him. The advice I will give you will be slightly different."
Shira still didn't say anything.
"Silva has the advantage over you that his Camp trusts in him. Because of that, he doesn't need to fear that his underlings become more powerful than him. At least, not until they are one or two levels higher than him."
"In your case, that is different. You do not have the ability to instill trust in your Camp. Therefore, the only way to remain in power is to be the most powerful beast inside your Camp without question. Yet, being the most powerful beast is also a powerful advantage in and of itself."
"Therefore, your only remaining choice is to risk your life in life and death battles. Tomorrow, I will make an announcement to the Tribe about a new program. My help to you is to allow you to start on that program one day early. Of course, it's up to you if you accept it or not."
Shira still remained silent as she listened to Gravis.
"The Tribe has become too powerful for our current lands. All our neighboring lands only have one Lord, but we have over ten. Using Spirit Beasts for an invasion is a waste of resources. I don't want more Lords. I want more level two Lords. Therefore, starting tomorrow, I will allow the Lords in our Tribe to kill the Lords of any Tribe they can find."
Shira narrowed her eyes.
"Yet, they are only allowed to go alone. Their Battle-Strength is above average. This means that a one-on-one battle with a Lord from another Tribe wouldn't increase their Battle-Strength by much. Only when they battle such a Lord with the whole Tribe attacking them at the same time will they truly be challenged."
Gravis looked back into Shira's eyes. "Fighting a whole Tribe by yourself is easier than fighting the members of the Land Camp. Yet, it will still be dangerous. My advice to you is that you should fight and kill three Lords alone. If you manage to survive, your Battle-Strength will be even more powerful than Silva's current Battle-Strength. You would probably be even more powerful than Orthar then."
"When you're finished with that task, you should kill five of the strongest beasts of the Land Camp. This will weaken the Land Camp significantly while making you more powerful. Of course, I won't tell Silva about what we have talked about today. I will only tell him that we talked, but not the contents of the conversation."
"If he realizes that you will become more powerful in a very short time, he will be forced to become more powerful himself. If he doesn't realize it, you would just directly kill him before becoming a level two Lord. After all, you would already be more powerful than him at that point. So, in the end, it depends on him if he survives against you."
"And as soon as you become a level two Lord, it doesn't matter what Silva does. He might be able to eradicate the whole Sea Camp, but he won't be able to kill you. As long as he can't kill you, the Sea Camp will just become more and more powerful. This is just like your current situation. You have more beasts inside your Sea Camp, but you can't do anything about the overwhelming power of the Land Camp. This will be switched in the future."
Gravis looked deep into Shira's eyes. "The only way to realize your ambition is to become truly powerful. If you're not powerful, no one will follow you. Why would a level three Lord follow you if they realize that they can annihilate you with a casual smack?"
Gravis stopped talking, and Shira fell into thought. She realized that this was truly the only way left for her to realize her ambition. Without becoming more powerful, she wouldn't be able to control stronger beasts. Was she happy with forever remaining at her current standing? Of course not!
After half a minute, Shira sighed and decided to go through with it. An hour ago, she had seen no path forward, but now, she had one. This path was dangerous, but it had a possibility for success. The motivation to become powerful returned in full. She hadn't always been this complacent. This had only started after becoming part of the River Tribe.
One shouldn't forget that Shira had had an outstanding Battle-Strength when she had been a Spirit Beast. Such a powerful Battle-Strength didn't come from playing it safe. The undying greed from back then had returned.
When she had joined the River Tribe, the greed had taken a back-seat. Before joining the River Tribe, it was like she had been hungry constantly. Yet, as soon as she joined, it was like she had eaten her fill, but now, it returned even more powerful than before.
Gravis saw Shira's mindset change and smirked. 'Now, it all depends on you, Silva,' Gravis thought. 'Your enemy has gone through a rebirth. Either you become more powerful, or you will die. I won't save you a second time. If you die to Shira, it just shows that you are too weak to rise to power. I'm fine with either outcome.'
Suddenly, Shira smirked as she looked at Gravis. "You know, I never asked for your help. You gave me this advice of your own volition. So, that means that I still-"
WHOOOOOM!
An apocalyptic pressure appeared and pressed into Shira. Before she could even process that, a mighty hand clasped around each of her throats. Gravis' body felt way more powerful than before. Yet, what was even weirder was that the pressure seemingly didn't originate from Gravis. This powerful pressure felt like it came from outside, shocking her to no end. What was happening?
Gravis pressed down hard on her throats and pulled the heads towards him. Bones were breaking, and flesh was tearing as his grip strengthened. Then, he looked deep into the eyes of Shira's heads with a severe expression.
"Don't play this political game with me!" he said with a severe tone.
Shira felt like she was about to die. Fear was gripping her minds as she panicked.
"I have told you about this, and if you didn't want my help, you could have left. There are very few things that I hate more than dishonesty. Don't forget that I can kill you whenever I feel like it. Never forget that I am in the same Rank as you. I don't even need to break the rules to break your necks," Gravis said brutally.
"I can drag you into an arena right now and tear you apart." Then, Gravis sneered. "And sure, if you still don't accept the fact that I helped you, then listen. Right now, I am offering you my help. That help is that I won't kill you right now. Do you accept?" he asked.
"Y-yes… I-I accept," Shira transmitted meekly.
Gravis' sneer transformed into a smirk. "Good."
CRRRRRRRK!
Shira fell away from Gravis and screamed in pain. Gravis had torn one of her heads off. Very few beings had the privilege to feel the pain of losing an entire head. Most of them just died.
"Fuck off, and don't you dare appear in front of me in the next week," Gravis said as he looked at her writhing body coldly.
"Yes, I'm sorry," she quickly and quietly transmitted. Then, she slithered away with fear as panic still gripped her remaining mind.
Gravis huffed again and went back to sit in the middle of the room.
'With over ten Lords destroying all other Lords, we should be able to reach the territories of a level two or three Lord in no time. When that time comes, I can finally increase my power again. I haven't gone through any tempering since entering this world. Oh, how long I've waited for this.'
Gravis chuckled a bit as he went back to doing whatever he was doing all day.