Gravis changed his goal from the Soft Complex Law to the Mixed Elemental Laws. The Soft Complex Law took parts of different elements and was a level two Law. If he managed to understand the Mixed Elemental Laws, understanding the Soft Complex Law would surely become even easier.
'Understanding level one Laws is far easier than a level two Law. So, let's check them out,' Gravis thought as he thought about how to procure different elements to experiment with. 'I have enough metal. I have enough earth. I also have enough lightning. That already covers three of the six elements I need.'
'Air and wind shouldn't be a problem. I also have a ton of water in the Grand Lake. As for fire, I just need to split up the magma to create a powerful fire. Let's check out steam first since it seems to be the easiest one to create.'
Thus, Gravis returned underground and retrieved a ton of magma into his Spirit Space. Inside his Spirit Space, he split the magma apart into fire and stone. Gravis had complete control over his Spirit Space, which allowed him to preserve the materials as they were.
Then, Gravis summoned some fire and threw it into the Grand Lake.
SSSSSSSS!
Immediately, an explosion of steam appeared, and Gravis looked intently at the process.
He spent the next year like this.
'This is truly fascinating!' Gravis thought. 'I've always thought that the heat of the fire would simply transform water into steam, but the fire actually fuses with the water to become steam. This goes completely against common sense!'
Gravis spent another four years trying to understand steam until…
BOOOOM!
'Got it!' Gravis thought with excitement. 'Sure enough, understanding a level one Law is far easier than understanding a level two Law. If I wouldn't have such a crazy amount of experience with different kinds of Laws, understanding this Law would have taken me many decades, maybe even a full century. After all, it has absolutely no affinity with me.'
Gravis was happy that he managed to take another step into the Mixed Elemental Laws.
Yet, what he didn't know was that his constant experimentation with steam created powerful rainstorms around the world since he had created an unreal amount of steam. Lots of mortal plants and animals drowned in these storms.
But even if Gravis knew that he was responsible for it, he wouldn't stop. He had accepted that his efforts in trying to understand more Laws would have tremendous effects on the weaker beings. There was no way around it, and he prioritized his own power over the wellbeing of mortal beings.
By now, the Grand Lake was constantly raining. It hadn't stopped raining for the entire five years Gravis had been here.
When he had been in the lower world, Gravis could have never imagined that he would grow so apathetic towards life. Yet, as one grew older and became more powerful, one also got used to these kinds of things.
'Next Law, mud!' Gravis thought.
Gravis grabbed a ton of dry earth and threw it into the Grand Lake. Luckily, since the Grand Lake was full of sea beasts, no mortal fish were there.
The waters in front of Gravis turned muddy as he retrieved several tons of mud to look at them.
Another five years passed. Gravis had been in seclusion for 30 years in total.
BOOOOM!
'Got it!' he thought with a smirk, the water in front of him being beyond muddy. Of course, Gravis was smart enough to clean the water of the earth periodically. He still remembered that the Striders were not big fans of their water being stolen. Gravis was not powerful enough to contest with a Strider yet.
Gravis split the mud apart, threw the water back into the Grand Lake, and created a mountain of dirt beside him. The terrain around him had been altered significantly.
Without knowing it, Gravis was exhibiting a very human trait. Nearly all beasts didn't change their environment when they comprehended Laws. They simply looked at something and tried to understand it without changing its Composition or actual position in the world.
Ores would remain where they were. Fire would only be created very localized. If beasts wanted to comprehend water, they would simply go to a lake or the ocean instead of creating it.
Gravis was a human, and he wanted to see how things worked and interacted. Instead of simply looking at things, he destroyed them, fused them, and split them apart. This violently affected the terrain around him.
Yet, this destructive behavior towards the environment also was a much more effective way to comprehend Laws. This aspect was one of the reasons why humans were better at understanding Laws than beasts or plants.
'Next Law, water and metal!' Gravis thought as he summoned some metal.
Yet, as he looked at the metal and the water, he grew uncertain. 'How am I supposed to fuse these two things?' he thought in confusion.
'I have neither control over metal nor over water. I'm also unsure what would come out of this,' Gravis thought as he scratched his chin. 'Fuck it! I'll just use force!'
Then, Gravis used his Spirit and pressed the metal and water together as hard as he could. Gravis had to use an insane amount of concentration and Spirit, but after a while, he was able to see a very subtle change.
'I can't see it with my eyes, but I can feel the changes of the water and the metal thanks to my relevant Composition Laws. The water and the metal are becoming lighter. It's like parts of them are vanishing.'
After around an hour, Gravis managed to see the change with his eyes, and he became shocked and frustrated.
'Am I stupid? How have I not seen this coming!?' Gravis thought in frustration.
Using brute force had worked, and Gravis successfully created the element that came out of a fusion between water and metal.
It was liquid metal.
'The thing I have been searching for was just something that I could have created myself,' Gravis thought with a bitter chuckle.
'Anyway, let's get to it, but this Law will probably take longer than the others since it takes quite some force to create this material.'
And with this, Gravis spent a long time on this Law.
In fact, he spent a total of 30 years on it. By now, he had been in seclusion for 60 years.
BOOOOM!
But, he managed to comprehend the Law.
'Finally!' Gravis thought as he slapped his thigh in excitement. 'That took forever!'
BOOOOM!
Gravis' eyes widened as he comprehended something else.
'Well, that came out of nowhere,' he thought.
'I've just comprehended the Soft Complex Material Law. Huh, I thought I would need to dedicate some time specifically for that. Yet, it also makes sense that I understand it now.'
'I know the water component. I know the air component. I know the liquid metal component, and, surprisingly, even steam is part of the Soft Complex Law.'
Gravis scratched his chin. 'Wow, it took me forever to get to the level two Laws, but now, I already know six of them.'
'Wait, I now know the Hard Complex and Soft Complex Material Laws. Additionally, I know about mud and magma now. The Pure Elemental Composition Laws are also all there. On top of that, I also know the Composition Law of Bark. Scales and skin are part of the Body Composition Law. Shouldn't that cover all of the…'
BOOOOM!
Gravis smirked.
'Medium Complex Law done. Now, I know seven level two Laws. Additionally, my defense should be taken care of now. That only leaves speed.'
Gravis looked at his surroundings and his smirk intensified. 'But fuck that. I already committed to spending a lot of time here, and I will use all of it. First, I'll finish the Mixed Elemental Laws. After that, I'll try my hands on the level two Laws of the Pure Elemental and Mixed Elemental Laws.'
'I'm not even halfway done, but that's good. The harder it is to understand these Laws, the less other beings know them. Right now, all these Mixed Elemental Laws seem useless, but if I can fuse them together with the other Composition Laws in the future, I can make a level four Law!'
Gravis chuckled a bit. 'You all only want to comprehend a level three Law. Yet, I have my eyes on a level four Law.'
'Let's get right on it!'