Everyone watched as Gravis was thrown around in the embrace of his mother. Gravis felt quite embarrassed, but what could he do? He also missed his mom, and he decided to just let her have her fun, even if she planned to embarrass him in front of his children.
"You deserve that," Cera said. "Now you know how we feel."
Aris and Yersi nodded solemnly.
"Gravis!" his mom shouted with excitement. "You've become so heavy! Oh, my boy is an adult now!"
His mom was throwing him around in her embrace like he was nothing more than a pillow. One had to remember that Gravis' body was incomprehensibly heavy. Yet, that didn't matter to his mother.
After a while, she put him down, put her hands on his shoulders, and inspected him. "Blue looks good on you," she said with a smirk. "You have become a real looker! Don't start bringing home one girlfriend after the other, okay?"
Gravis groaned. "Mom, I have better things to do than to go into a relationship."
His mother glanced at the three children. "Doesn't look like it," she commented.
Gravis wanted to explain, but she just giggled. "I already know," she said. Then she turned to the others and performed a polite and graceful bow. "Hello everyone. I'm Gravis' mother. I hope you can ignore my direct greeting towards my son. I've just missed him so much."
In comparison to the Opposer, his wife naturally felt very mysterious, beautiful, and powerful. The present beasts didn't doubt her power for a second, especially since they had seen her ability to throw the body of an Immortal around like they were nothing more than a pillow.
The three kids, as well as Orthar, greeted her politely.
WHOOOP!
Then, a table appeared in the middle of the room while everyone was teleported onto some chairs. The four beasts hadn't even known that it was possible to teleport someone against their will. The Opposer also sat on a chair at the table. Apparently, he didn't resist his wife's forceful teleportation.
Gravis felt that it was a bit funny that his father had been moved against his will. His glowering and serious face was still visible for everyone to see. It was like nothing had happened.
"Storytime!" Gravis' mother shouted. "We should all get to know each other by telling something about ourselves. I'll start!"
The four beasts felt somewhat awkward in the current situation. Talking just like this at a table felt weird to them. Stories were usually only shared when they were relevant and then only to companions that they trusted. After all, if an enemy learned of their stories, they might come into danger.
Gravis decided to not intervene. It was already hard for him to break the ice between his friend, his three kids, and his parents. His father, obviously, also wasn't the most sociable person. The arrival of his mother and her taking charge was actually the best-case scenario.
His mother was absolutely incredible in story-telling. Additionally, she included others as well by asking them what they would have done in her situation. Instead of story-telling, she was actually using her own experiences as a tool for teaching.
Orthar was very accepting of the current situation. He had already heard a lot about humans from Gravis, and he had also already prepared himself to walk and talk among humans. This meant that he wanted to learn as much about humans as possible. The grand tales of Gravis' mother counted as valuable knowledge about the human worlds.
Orthar had heard a lot about humans from Gravis, but Gravis had only been in contact with humans for around 24 years. Additionally, he could only talk about his own experiences and some general assumptions. The stories of an ancient being like Gravis' mother were leagues above Gravis' stories in a matter of wisdom.
Gravis' three children felt differently about the current situation. They felt like they were in a dream. Not only had they seen unimaginable power today, but they had also seen the personalities of these powerful beings.
The personality of the Opposer was very fitting for his power, but the personality of his wife baffled the three of them. She was so incredibly powerful, but she acted and talked like a naïve girl that only wanted to have some fun. Weren't powerful beings supposed to be prideful in their power? Instead, she acted like she was on their level. There was no hidden pressure or anything when she spoke.
The fact that such a powerful being only wanted to talk and get to know them without considering them as beneath her was astonishing to them. Was this how a human was?
Of course, this was not how a typical human was. Among mortals, one would find a lot of these kinds of people, but the more powerful one became, the rarer such a pure mindset became. One should also remember that Gravis' mother had been born with this power. She never had to fight for her life, even once.
Several hours passed until Gravis' mother was finished. By now, everyone felt rather comfortable with the current situation. In the beginning, they had still thrown some nervous glances at the Opposer, but his wife quickly managed to destroy the veil of mystery around him.
"Don't worry! He always looks this grumpy. Maybe you have seen Gravis' thinking face before. It should look very similar to my husband's standard expression. If you don't have any questions for him, just act like he isn't there. Just think of him as a horribly sculpted bust that glowers into the middle of the table," she said with a chuckle.
Everyone looked at him, and sure enough, he looked like an angry bust.
The Opposer turned his head and looked at his wife, who only smirked at him victoriously. After some seconds, he looked back into the middle of the table, which only increased the width of his wife's grin.
Gravis had to laugh when he saw that.
Yet, thanks to these words, the atmosphere became very relaxed.
After Gravis' mother was done, it was Gravis' turn. Everyone already knew of his story, so Gravis decided that this would be a good opportunity to tell his kids and friend about what had happened while they had been in the Life Ring.
When they heard about Heaven's power, they gasped in shock. A level five Law? How had their father survived!?
As Gravis continued his tale, they finally realized how they had survived.
Gravis had handed them over to Heaven.
Yet, instead of feeling betrayed or angry, they realized the deeper meaning behind this. If Gravis had refused, all of them would have been forced to remain in the Life Ring for hundreds of years. Just these 57 years had already felt far too long.
They had only been able to look at the CMO. Every other Law had been cut off inside the Life Ring. They couldn't progress in their Realm, and they couldn't comprehend more Laws. Staying inside the Life Ring had been like a prison to them.
Handing them over to Heaven had been the best option due to the time dilation of the worlds. Instead, it was Gravis who was hurt the most. Being forced to hand over his loved one's fate into the hands of his most hated enemy must have felt horrible.
Gravis could have refused, believing that only he was allowed to protect his children. Yet, they would have been forced into a horrible confinement for hundreds of years because of this. Why? Because of Gravis' unwillingness to sacrifice his pride and illusion of control for their wellbeing.
Fortunately, Gravis had made the correct decision, even if it had hurt him immensely. This short moment had probably been the most painful moment in his entire life.
Because of this action, Aris and Yersi now had a different impression of Gravis. Teaching them something was different from sacrificing something for them. It felt unreal to the two of them that someone would be willing to go to such lengths for merely their offspring, but Gravis had shown it. There was no gain to be had by doing this.
Meanwhile, Cera had no idea how she should feel about this. On one hand, seeing someone sacrifice themselves to this degree for her felt insulting to her pride. Yet, on the other hand, her father had still helped her immensely with this.
Was she supposed to repay him for that?
Orthar knew Gravis better than his three children. Yet, he was still impressed with his decision-making. He, himself, would definitely not have done this. Why should he sacrifice himself for someone else?
Yet, Gravis had managed to comprehend the level four Law of Suppression and the level four Law of Freedom because of these actions. This seemingly foolish decision had granted Gravis an incredible boost in power.
Everyone had their own opinions regarding Gravis' actions, but in total, the opinions were on the positive side.
When Gravis told them about his 700-year-long fight against Heaven, they almost couldn't believe it. 57 years had passed for them, but 750 years had passed for Gravis? How was it possible that so much more time could pass for one person?
Time had always been a constant in their lives, and they never had to deal with these absurd time dilations. Accepting such a situation was difficult.
When Gravis told them about his victory over Heaven and about his decisions, the reactions were mixed. On the one hand, Gravis managed to get one over the highest Heaven, but on the other hand, he had thrown away the best tempering opportunity possible.
Rapidly getting Laws punched into someone with the constant threat of death was the ultimate tempering. Was it worth it to waste such an opportunity just so Gravis could do what he wanted?
The opinions were very split on that.
After Gravis finished his tale, it was time for his family to tell their tale.
Well, not immediately.
First, it was Orthar's turn.