Cera and Yersi believed their father to be very powerful, but was he so powerful that he could truly win against Aris with a two-level disadvantage? This seemed impossible to them.
BANG!
Aris exploded forward with impressive speed as lightning exploded out of his feet. He immediately unleashed a punch. A beast with such a weak body wouldn't be able to dodge something like that!
Whoop!
Yet, even though Gravis moved very slowly in Aris' perception, he somehow managed to barely dodge the attack.
Shing!
A saber appeared in Gravis' hands, and Aris couldn't stop himself. His forward momentum made the saber stab into one of his eyes. Gravis didn't enjoy this, but he needed to show Aris his fatal weakness.
Yet, Gravis quickly jumped away again.
"If I had put any amount of strength into my saber, it would have entered your brain," Gravis said with a smirk from a distance.
Cera and Yersi's eyes widened. Where did this sharp stick come from? Additionally, what was this sharp stick? They had never seen anything like it.
Aris felt pain, and his mind went wild. This was just like the time when he had fought Yersi!
"You were so confident in your attack that you didn't anticipate that your opponent might be able to evade," Gravis said. "This left you open to a fatal strike."
Aris was still stunned as he stood there. Then, he shook his head in rage. "Where did that sharp stick come from!? Is your pride in your own body so weak that you must use external things to help you win!?" Aris shouted.
Gravis shook his head. "I am the creator of mine and your bodies. There was no beast looking like us before I have arrived. The body you have has been designed with my combat style in mind," Gravis explained.
The three of them were surprised when they heard that. It was one thing to be granted such a body, but it was a different thing to create it.
"This is a saber," Gravis said as he held his saber forward. "It is made of the hard stone in the earth, which we call metal. Our natural weapons have a limit in terms of what they can do. "
Gravis walked around a bit. "You are right to question the possibility that something with such a weak body would be able to win against you. After all, my claws wouldn't have been able to reach your brain. Then, why would I use them against you?"
"Think of your past fights. You should have realized that the weapons you have are not enough to penetrate the enemy's defense. So, why not create a weapon that can do this? Don't think about what you have, but what you don't have," Gravis said with a smirk.
Aris still wasn't convinced. This defeat felt unfair! It was one thing to lose to Yersi, who was at the same level as him, but to lose to someone two levels below him? He couldn't accept something like that.
Yet, before Aris could say anything, Gravis smirked at him. "I know that you are still not convinced. Even though you would have just died if this were a real fight, you still don't accept it. Your pride makes you blind to- "
"Shut up!" Aris shouted as he charged at Gravis again with an explosion. He couldn't accept his loss. This time, he wouldn't use such an easily avoidable attack.
Whoooom!
Suddenly, the air turned cold as it became difficult for everyone to breathe. Gravis had just activated his Will-Aura. Yet, true to his promise, Gravis tweaked it to have the same power as when he had been at the Tree-Stage. After all, he had said that he would only use the Battle-Strength that he had when he had been at their level.
Yet, how powerful was Gravis' Will-Aura? Back in the Tree-Stage, he had already killed the priest and strengthened his Will-Aura with the Tree-Stage training.
A beast at his same level would lose its consciousness. A beast one level above him would barely be able to move, and a beast two levels above him would be slowed by nearly 50%.
All three of them felt like a massive pressure was pressing into them. In their eyes, this weak Gravis had transformed into a beast that appeared just as powerful as a King! Of course, this was only an illusion brought on by Gravis' Will-Aura.
Aris had wanted to attack, but the sudden pressure had made him hesitate. Gravis wasn't someone that let such an opportunity slip by him. With Aris being slowed, Gravis jumped forward and buried his saber in Aris' other eye. Now, Aris was blind.
BANG!
Then, Aris heard an explosion of lightning and felt a powerful hit to his stomach, which threw him into the distance. Sadly, he wasn't able to discern much without eyes.
Cera and Yersi had seen what had happened. Gravis had used some lightning and kicked Aris in the stomach with another lightning explosion. The resulting power reduced Gravis' legs to chunks but threw Aris into the distance.
"You have just died a second time, Aris," Gravis transmitted from a distance.
Aris' mind was in a panic as his survival instincts kicked in. He jumped around in an effort to dodge other attacks, but no attacks came.
Meanwhile, Cera and Yersi saw Aris jumping around while Gravis just stood there, not doing anything.
"I'm not attacking you right now. Stop it with this stupid dance," Gravis said.
When Aris heard that, he stopped. Sadly, he was still unable to see.
"Have you all felt it?" Gravis asked. "This was an aura unique to myself in this world. It transforms my will into physical pressure. My aura had already been at this level when I was at your level."
Aris could only hear right now, but for the first time, he truly listened to what his father was saying.
"Our legs are fast and allow for instantaneous acceleration, but as you all know, it drains a lot of our Energy," Gravis explained.
BZZZZ!
Some thin tendrils of lightning appeared around Gravis as he shot forward with incredible speed. It wasn't as fast as the lightning explosion, but it was definitely much faster than normal. After all, Gravis was using the power of lightning together with his physical power to move that quickly.
This was the Lightning Movement. Gravis hadn't used that technique in forever.
Cera and Yersi felt like this method of movement was ingenious! Would they have ever thought about something like this?
Of course, they couldn't be faulted. Humans had a long history, and what allowed such a technique to be so widely spread was an essential advantage humans had over beasts.
Writing.
One smart beast might develop a mighty technique, but this technique would be lost if that beast died. Yet, if a human wrote down this technique and sold it, it would spread. Beasts had no idea what some beasts millions of years ago managed to create, but, due to writing, humans could know the distant past.
"You have accepted your current speed, and you haven't thought about how to improve it. You have accepted your speed as your total, unchangeable truth. This is the same thing that has happened to your perception of your weapons. You haven't thought about creating a more powerful weapon than the ones you already have," Gravis explained.
Aris was confused by Gravis' words since he hadn't been able to see the lightning movement.
Meanwhile, Cera and Yersi were listening with bated breaths. It was like their father was showing them the essential truths of combat. A whole new world of combat had opened before their eyes.
"Is there more, father?" Cera asked curiously.
Gravis smiled warmly as he heard Cera call him father. "Yersi has managed to step outside this boundary with something she has developed. Do you know what it is, Yersi?" Gravis asked.
By now, Gravis felt completely different to Cera and Yersi. In the beginning, they had doubted his power, but now, it was like Gravis was at a completely different level. He had shown them a path to elevate their attack and speed. Was there also something in regards to defense, utility, flexibility, and evasion?
Yersi was a bit confused when Gravis called her out, but then, she realized the answer. "Do you mean the early dodging?" she asked.
Gravis nodded with a smile. "This was also a technique I had developed in the past, but you managed to invent it yourself. When you managed to perform it for the first time, I felt very proud of you."
For some reason, Yersi felt warm when she heard Gravis' words. She didn't know why, but his approval just made her happy.
"This was the same technique I have used against Aris in our first fight," Gravis said. These words also interested the confused and bitter Aris. "What is the most obvious and most powerful attack your opponent can perform? By looking at their personality, conduct, body, and general feeling, you can determine that."
"Of course, using this technique comes with a risk. If you judge incorrectly only once, you will be hit by a devastating attack. Yet, when fighting against someone that is so fast that you can't react, it is your only way to win. Having a 50% chance of dying is better than having a 100% chance of dying."
Now, Aris realized how Yersi had been able to evade his attack. She had anticipated how Aris would attack and dodged before he even attacked himself. This transformed something instinctual, like dodging, into something deliberately planned. To Aris and Cera, this concept felt bizarre and wrong.
"Aris," Gravis said, making Aris' insides shake. By being blind, he felt helpless. Additionally, Gravis had given him a beating without him even being able to defend. Was Aris truly so weak?
"Y-Yes?" Aris tried to answer with confidence, which was ruined by his nervous stutter.
"Your pride in your power blinds you to the possibility of failure," Gravis explained. "Your attacks have always worked in the past. So you think that you will always triumph. You have developed a domineering and powerful combat style. One could say, your combat style is as offensive and domineering as it gets."
Aris was a bit confused. Why was Gravis praising him?
"The problem with that style is that it relies on your opponent having a similar combat style to yours," Gravis explained. "If they fight you openly and directly, you have a very high chance of winning. Yet, if they fight indirectly, your combat style falls flat."
"You can continue with this combat style, but as soon as you find someone that specializes in evasion and devastating counterattacks, you will have huge issues. A combat style that requires a specific opponent is only useful when fighting that opponent."
"Yersi is exactly such an opponent," Gravis said as he smirked at Yersi. "The difference between you and her are your goals. Your goal in a fight is to win. Her goal is to kill. She is willing to use everything in her power to kill her opponent. You're not."
Gravis looked at Aris. "Forget your senseless pride. Accept that there are a lot of opponents out there that are more powerful than you. Talent only brings you so far. Don't aim to win. Aim to kill."
Everyone looked at Aris.
How would he react?