The hug continued for several seconds.
"Father, this is getting embarrassing," Yersi said.
"Oh, sure," Gravis said as he let them go. "Sorry, I just missed you so much. Seeing the way that you acted made me fear for your life, and I just wanted to hug you."
"It's okay, father," Yersi said again. "It also felt… nice? To me, I mean," Yersi said, though she felt a bit uncomfortable saying it.
Aris wrestled with himself. He felt like he should also say that it felt nice, but he just felt too embarrassed to say it. Meanwhile, Cera appeared unsure.
Gravis noticed all of their reactions. 'Interesting. Yersi and Aris seem quite susceptible to human emotions, but Cera isn't. Maybe the beast part in her is more dominant than the human part. Well, I can't force her to feel like a human. It's her decision.'
"Now, tell me, how have you been?" Gravis asked with a smile.
"Father, we first need to return to the defensive line," Cera said. "We can't remain here for long. After all, we're Sub-Commanders."
"Oh? Sub-Commanders, eh?" Gravis said with pride. "That's quite surprising. None of you three are the Commanders of this defensive line, even though you are all level five Kings? The Commander must be powerful!"
"Yes, she is definitely more powerful than us," Aris said with a serious look. "If she wanted, she could become an Inquisitor."
"That sounds cool. Introduce me then," Gravis said with a smirk.
The three kids felt a bit embarrassed by their father's conduct, but what could they do? Fathers were often embarrassing to their children, and Gravis was no different.
All four of them returned to the defensive line, and Gravis was quite surprised at what he saw. There were over 200 level four Kings stationed here. There were also five level five Kings in total. One of these level five Kings was probably another Sub-Commander while another one was the Commander.
This defensive line was way more powerful than all the other ones Gravis had seen. However, as Gravis thought about the map he had received from Azure, he could guess why. This defensive line was rather close to the core of the continent. The power of the defensive lines probably increased the closer they got to the core of the continent.
Gravis enthusiastically greeted every beast he saw on his way, surprising and shocking quite a few of them. The ones that didn't recognize him were confused that this level three King was here, while the ones that did recognize him felt shocked that someone of Gravis' caliber was saying hello to them.
In Gravis' mind, these were all the colleagues of his children, so he needed to appear friendly. He only meant well, but his three kids were still embarrassed by his friendly and forthcoming attitude. Couldn't he act appropriately for his status and power?
After some flying and a lot of greetings, Gravis stood before the Commander. Surprisingly, she looked quite similar to another beast Gravis had seen in the past. She was a cheetah with an incredibly long tail. Additionally, with Gravis' new knowledge about the elements, he could feel the Wind Energy deep inside her.
Gravis thought back to the invasion he had taken part in when he had been a level four Lord. The King that had led the invasion back then had looked just like this Commander. Sadly, she had died to the moray eel.
The Commander saw Gravis and stood up from her lying position. "You are Gravis, correct?"
Gravis nodded with a smile. "Greetings, Commander. Yes, I'm Gravis."
"It's an honor to meet you," the Commander said politely, surprising Gravis' three children. Their powerful Commander was so nice to Gravis? Their Commander was normally so incredibly strict! She only acted like this towards visiting Emperors.
"Relax, Commander," Gravis said. "I hope my three children have not caused you any issues."
The Commander relaxed a bit and threw a cold glance at her three Sub-Commanders. "Their work is impeccable and their Battle-Strength powerful. It's just that they seem to take some enemies too lightly."
The three of them felt nervous when they heard that. This was their boss, and their boss could take all three of them solo. By now, their Commander had put a lot of discipline and respect into their heads, which made them respect the Commander very much.
"I know, but I think I managed to show them the error of their ways after they wanted me to prove my power," Gravis said.
The Commander's face morphed into a grimace of disgust as she looked at her three Sub-Commanders. "They wanted you to prove your power?" she asked.
Gravis waved his hand nonchalantly. "Yes, but that's understandable. After all, they haven't seen me in a century."
"Arrogant and pathetic," the Commander commented as she glared at her three Sub-Commanders. "Have all my words fallen on deaf ears?"
The three of them felt a bit fearful and ashamed in front of their Commander.
Then, the Commander turned back to Gravis. "Gravis, I have a small request," she asked.
"Yes?" Gravis asked.
"I haven't felt danger in a long while. I miss the feeling of danger, and I feel like I need to remember it. Otherwise, I might get overwhelmed in a fight. I have comprehended the Law of Danger, and I would request you to trigger it," the Commander said respectfully again.
BANG!
Gravis exploded at the Commander with his full speed and summoned a saber that had a fully pre-loaded Lightning Crescent in it. Then, he swung it.
The Commander's eyes widened in shock, and an explosion of wind appeared between Gravis and her, shooting them both away from each other. Then, Gravis only stopped and smiled. "Happy?" he asked.
The Commander breathed heavily with shocked eyes. She hadn't expected Gravis to attack immediately, and she hadn't been prepared for such an attack.
Yet, wasn't this exactly what she had requested? Right now, her Law of Danger had screamed at her that she would die if she didn't do something. It felt like her life was about to end. She hadn't felt that feeling in forever.
Gravis' three children had been shocked when their father suddenly burst forward like this. Additionally, they became even more shocked when they saw fear appear for a split-second in their Commander's eyes. Their exalted Commander had shown fear in front of their father.
The Commander slowly relaxed from her battle-stance and took a deep breath with closed eyes. "Oh, I've missed this feeling. This is the feeling of becoming more powerful," the Commander said slowly as she savored the remaining feeling of fear. "When will I ever feel this feeling again? I miss it," she said in melancholy.
"I don't get it," Gravis said.
"Well, you haven't lived as long as me. You are still going forward while I'm remaining at this level," the Commander said.
"No, that's not what I meant," Gravis said. "I can understand the feeling of missing danger, but I don't get what you mean with wanting to feel this feeling again but not being able to."
Now, it was the turn of the Commander to become confused. "What do you mean?" she asked.
"You have a defensive line right here, and the enemy also has a defensive line," Gravis explained. "You want to feel danger, right? Why don't you just attack the enemy's defensive line?"
"We don't know the power of the enemy's defensive line," the Commander said. "By attacking, we could be running into a force way more powerful than us. Then, there would be nothing but death."
"Yeah, but isn't that normal?" Gravis asked. "If you only take fights that you're sure of you can win, how could that be considered tempering? Sure, if you know for certain that you can't win, you shouldn't fight, but you don't know that, do you? It's an unknown."
The Commander remained silent as she wrestled with herself. Gravis' words went against everything she had done in the past centuries, but they also made a lot of sense. When she had become powerful, had she always only taken the fights she was sure she could win? Of course not!
"So, it wasn't the world that didn't allow me to temper myself, but myself," the Commander said with a melancholic voice. "I have wasted years of my life."
"No, you didn't," Gravis said, surprising the Commander. "I have a friend called Ferris. He was an Elder of the Icy Pride Empire, and he had been a level one Emperor for over 3,000 years. According to your logic, these 3,000 years were wasted time."
"Yet," Gravis said. "Just recently, he managed to comprehend two level two Laws and a level three Law as a level one Emperor. For 3,000 years, he had only been a slight bit above average. Yet, in just one century, he became probably the most powerful level one Emperor in this world."
"3,000 years of experiences have exploded forward, making him incredibly powerful. Just because you didn't manage to increase your Realm doesn't mean that you haven't learned a lot during that time. Look at me! I'm still a level three King. Yet, has my power stopped progressing? No, definitely not! All of this waiting is accumulation ready to explode forward in a fight!" Gravis said with an encouraging voice.
The Commander took a deep breath. "You're right!" she said as her eyes became steely. "I have not wasted my time, and I have a lot of Laws ready to comprehend! Today is the day I rise! We will attack the enemy's defensive line, and if I manage to survive, I will become an Emperor to seek more tempering."
"Your words have opened my eyes, Gravis," she said respectfully while Gravis only smiled.
Then, the Commander turned to her defensive line.
"Ready yourself! We will attack in five minutes!" she proclaimed to the defensive line.