"Gravis, it's time," the Empress said from her throne.
Gravis nodded. "I know. They should come out of their eggs soon," he said.
"We need to split them up. They can't be born near each other," the Empress said.
Gravis' eyes widened as he heard that. Separating the siblings at birth? Why would the Empress suggest something like that?
Gravis looked with cold eyes at the Empress. "Why?" he asked evenly.
The Empress had already expected such a reaction from Gravis. "Think about who their parents are," the Empress said. "I'm a powerful Emperor, and you have an incredibly powerful body and fighting instinct."
"As you know, when beasts are born, they can't even realize their own existence. In the beginning, they are nothing but a powerful body guided by pure instinct. Due to that, the first thing they will do after exiting their eggs is to try to eat the closest thing on their level, which are the other eggs."
"So, as soon as the first one breaks through their shell, they will try to kill their siblings and eat them while they're still not born yet," the Empress explained.
Gravis' heart shook as he heard that. Just imagining the picture of one of his children eating the others felt horrifying! They were his children! Why would they try to kill each other!?
Of course, Gravis' will was powerful enough to stay rational. He always tried his best not to let his emotions dictate his actions. Too many mistakes would appear if one always trusted their feelings to make the decisions for them.
"You have more experience in that. I will trust you on this matter," Gravis said after taking a deep breath to calm down.
The Empress nodded.
Whoosh!
"Empress," an Elder said deferentially as he appeared before the Empress. Gravis hadn't even been able to keep track of the Elder due to his power.
"Area A 1, Area A 6, Area A 11," the Empress said to the Elder.
The Elder nodded and went to the eggs. Then, some wind appeared that made the eggs levitate gently.
"Wait a second," Gravis said, making the Elder look at him neutrally. "I want to follow and keep watch."
The Elder furrowed his brows.
BZZZZ!
A lightning bolt suddenly shot up the Mountain of Pride and entered Gravis. This was the Gravis that had kept watching the CMO during all these years.
BZZZ!
Then, Gravis split into three. He easily had enough power to create three bodies. He had so much lightning inside of him that every single body was even stronger than Gravis when he had newly reached the power of a level five Lord.
The Elder's eyes nearly fell out of their sockets as he watched Gravis multiply.
"Let him follow," the Empress commanded. Then, she looked at Gravis with cold eyes. "Don't involve yourself in their development, Gravis. Let nature take its course," she said.
The Gravises sighed. "I understand," he answered.
The Elder was still stunned by Gravis' performance, but the orders of the Empress took priority. "Follow me," he said.
The Gravises nodded and followed the Elder as they flew towards the west.
"What's with these weird phrases that the Empress has said?" one of the Gravises asked the Elder after some seconds.
"All offspring of our members are assigned to safe areas when they are born," the Elder answered without looking at him. "The area-code tells us where the offspring is assigned to."
"Areas having the A-code are only open to the Empress, a select few powerful elders, and the offspring of Fodders," the Elder answered.
"Fodders?" Gravis asked with a raised eyebrow.
The Elder nodded. "Fodders are weak Lords that earn contributions for the Empire by birthing children. Since these Lords have weak powers, their offspring will also be weak. Due to that, their offspring will provide some training and food for our more powerful offspring."
Gravis' stomach churned when he heard that. Some beasts had children just for these children to act as food? This sounded horrible to Gravis.
"Why would they do this?" Gravis asked.
"Since these areas are only accessible by so few powerful Emperors, the number of Divine Beasts is very low. Over 99% of the offspring in these areas will never meet a Divine Beast. This means that there are very few more powerful beasts residing in these areas, making the fights fairer and winnable."
"The Fodders are betting on their luck. With good or average luck, their offspring will never meet an offspring of an Emperor. Only the beasts with the worst luck will come across a Divine Beast."
"These areas have an incredible assortment of natural treasures, resources, Energy, and an abundance of other beasts with similar strengths. It's the best place for the Fodders' offspring to grow," the Elder explained.
Gravis thought about this for a while and had to agree. Over 99% of the beasts there had a below-average Battle Strength for their Realm. This gave their offspring the best shot for surviving. Yet, Gravis had another question.
"But doesn't that hamper the growth of our offspring's Battle-Strength? After all, they will only fight weak beasts," Gravis asked.
"You should know that the areas are divided by major ranks," the Elder answered. "All beasts inside the first major Realm reside in these areas until they become powerful enough. This means that a Divine Beast can meet a beast with a weaker Battle Strength but with a more advanced Realm. Fighting above your level is great tempering."
Gravis knew that the first major Realm the Elder referred to was the Realm of a Demonic Beast. This meant that his newborn children could come across a High-Rank Demonic Beast shortly after their birth. A Low-Rank Demonic Beast being able to kill a High-Rank Demonic Beast could be considered a miracle.
"Divine Beasts also need more nourishment in the beginning," the Elder continued explaining, "and they also have an inherently stronger drive to reach supreme power. It's only a matter of time until a Divine Beast attacks a beast one or two levels above themselves. Due to that mindset, their Battle-Strength will increase."
Gravis nodded. "What about the numbers in the area-code?" he asked.
"Those reflect the place of the areas," the Elder answered. "1 to 5 are in the west, 6 to 10 are in the north, 11 to 15 are in the east, and 16 to 20 are in the south. Only the Empress has access to the first area of each direction. That's why she has assigned your offspring to areas A 1, A 6, and A 11. There are no other Divine Beasts in these areas."
Gravis nodded again. At least, his children would have the best start in life.
"What about the time when they reach the second major Realm?" Gravis asked.
"They will be placed into area D," the Elder said.
"What's with areas B and C?" Gravis asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Area A is only for the strongest and weakest of offspring. Area B is for the second strongest and second weakest. Area C is a free-for-all that everyone can use. Areas D and E are for the second major Realm."
"Area D has all the beasts of area A and half the beasts of area C. Area E has all the beasts of area B and the other half of area C. Area F is the only area for the third major Realm, and all areas congregate there," the Elder explained.
Gravis thought about this and realized that this made sense. His offspring would have the weakest of opponents initially, which allowed them to gain enough experience with their bodies to be ready for future battles.
As soon as his children became Energy Beasts, they would be transported into an area with a wide variety of beasts. These beasts would probably be average and slightly above average. After all, if someone were able to create powerful offspring, they would choose area A or B. Only the beasts that didn't fulfill the power requirements of areas A and B would place their offspring in area C.
Then, when his offspring became Spirit Beasts, they would be placed into an area that reflected the real world. They would be able to meet the weakest and strongest of beasts. This was quite an effective and efficient system.
"Would the beasts from different area As meet each other in area D?" Gravis asked.
"No," the Elder answered. "Area C is by far the biggest, and it has enough beasts to allow us to split the beasts from area A into another five areas. They will only meet each other in area F."
Gravis nodded. He had thought as much.
After all of Gravis' questions had been answered, they continued flying in silence. Gravis was already quite fast, and Demonic Beasts didn't need to be that far apart.
After some minutes, they arrived at their destination. A gigantic forest stretched as far as the eye could see, but directly below Gravis was something different.
A barren wasteland with a lot of circular walls could be seen below Gravis. All of these circular walls enclosed a tiny space each, and looking at it from above, Gravis got reminded of a honey-comb. He saw many empty "cells", but the ones that were occupied only had one egg inside them or a newborn baby of a mammalian beast.
"It's impossible to break the walls from the outside," the Elder explained before Gravis could even ask. "The cells can only be broken from the inside, and only if the offspring is powerful enough to actually destroy the walls. This gives the offspring enough time to grow and stabilize themselves before their first battle."
Whoosh!
One of the eggs entered one of the "cells", and one of the Gravises flew to the sky above it. Gravis would stay several kilometers above ground to not get noticed by the beasts. With this, he would be able to keep watch.
Gravis had already noticed a vast number and variety of Demonic Beasts roaming around the forest and fighting each other. One could say that the forest was packed with life.
"Let's continue," the Elder said.
Then, the Elder flew towards the north-east while two of the Gravises flew after him.