Twenty years passed.
Gravis spent all of his time in incredible pain as he pushed his Will-Aura as far as it could go. Styr sat on his throne while Gravis stood beside him with Styr's hand on his shoulder.
As the days passed by, more and more reports from the defensive lines reached Styr. Just as expected, the sea beasts were going wild. After all, it was far easier for them to take more territories than for the land beasts.
But weren't there more land beasts? Why was it easier for the sea beasts to claim more territory?
The reason for that was their smaller territory. The most powerful beasts in the sea beast camp lived much closer to each other than the land beasts. If a level four Emperor of the land beasts arrived to claim a territory, another level four Emperor from the sea beasts would also quickly arrive, and with them, probably several others as well.
Emperors were wise and experienced, and the land beast Emperors knew that such a situation would occur, which was why they followed a different tactic. Instead of taking the initiative to attack the sea beasts, they kept a lot of their powerful forces hidden behind the defensive lines to catch a valuable opponent off-guard.
Sadly, there was a problem.
The sea beasts had Orthar.
Under Orthar's command, the sea beasts seemingly only attacked the defensive lines that had no powerful backing, and if they attacked such a defensive line, the sea beast would have an even more powerful backing following them.
More than one level four Emperor had already died from the land beasts' camp while only a single one died for the sea beasts. The sea beasts were definitely winning the war.
Gravis was mostly busy trying not to die, but he could still pay some attention to the reports of others. When Gravis heard the devastating news of the war, he asked Styr where his children currently were.
Styr told him that his children were currently inside some Law Comprehension Areas since they had earned enough contribution points. For the next 70 years, they wouldn't join the frontlines.
After Gravis heard that, he released a sigh of relief. His cultivation was important, but his children were just as important to him. As Kings, fighting in such a chaotic war would be incredibly dangerous.
Tempering was one thing, but the biggest battles were between powerful Emperors. Any of his three kids could die without having a chance to even fight back. This would not be a good death for a Cultivator or beast.
Yet, Gravis was actually worrying over nothing because there was something he didn't know about.
This thing was also Orthar.
Orthar had already ordered every sea beast that if they saw any of Gravis' three children, they were not allowed to attack them as long as the sea beast was three or more levels above them. If one of Gravis' children died in tempering, there would be no problem, but if they died without being able to fight back, there would be issues.
The first reason was that Gravis was Orthar's friend. Orthar didn't care much for others, but he cared for Gravis, and he also knew Gravis' personality. Just because Orthar didn't care about his offspring didn't mean that Gravis also didn't. If Orthar was responsible for the death of one of Gravis' children, their relationship would sour. There was even a possibility that Gravis might kill Orthar.
The second reason was Gravis himself. Orthar was sure that Gravis could accept it if one of his children died in tempering, but if he judged a death to be unfair, the sea beasts would have a massive problem on their hands.
Gravis had continually informed Orthar about everything that was happening, including his plans of fighting a beast four levels above himself. Right now, Gravis had a slight chance against a level three Emperor.
That, by itself, wouldn't be so bad. Yet, Orthar knew that Gravis could simply hunt down a random level two Emperor and become an Emperor himself. At that point, Gravis could annihilate any level four Emperor with but a mere thought.
At that point, Gravis would become the most powerful beast allowed to participate in the war. Gravis would probably kill the killer of his children and even the Commander above them that gave the order.
In the end, it would be like exchanging the life of an enemy King for one of their level four Emperors. Not even an idiot would accept such a trade. So, even if Orthar weren't Gravis' friend, he would still give the same order. Angering Gravis would cost them far too much.
Killing Gravis would also be stupid. The sea beasts would need to send, at least, a level four Emperor to ensure success, and if they succeeded, what then? Their level four Emperor would have gone so far into enemy territory that they likely wouldn't return alive.
In the end, the sea beasts would have sacrificed the life of a level four Emperor for the life of someone that didn't even involve himself in the war. They would gain literally nothing.
Gravis no longer counted as a King. Right now, Gravis counted as a level two Emperor Ascender. "Give him some food and wait for him to go." That was the policy that the beasts had towards Ascenders.
Lastly, Gravis was also good friends with Meadow. Meadow likely wouldn't involve herself if Gravis died, but one never knew. Even a 1% chance was already far too high. Angering Meadow would be the worst thing the sea beasts could do.
Because of all these reasons, Gravis actually didn't have to worry about his children. They were safer than any Emperor or King in the world.
Of course, they could still die to tempering, but that was normal.
Some years after Gravis started his will-tempering, he heard the news from some spies that one of their medium-tier defensive lines would be attacked soon. Such defensive lines were generally protected by level four and level five Kings.
Yet, when Gravis heard that, he got an idea. He knew Orthar, and he was sure that the land beasts had been fed this piece of intelligence on purpose. Either absolutely no one would attack, or an Emperor would attack.
So, Gravis ordered Morus to help the defensive line.
Gravis didn't do that because of his allegiance to the land beasts but because of Morus. Morus was Gravis' servant, and the more powerful Morus was, the better. In the best-case scenario, Morus would be an Immortal when Gravis returned to his homeworld.
Gravis already had several plans for his return, and a servant would do wonders.
Morus quickly left to help the defensive line, and after some months, he returned.
Morus was still a level one Emperor, but he had managed to comprehend an additional level two Law. Morus hadn't been in the middle of the Ultimate's Meet, but since he had been Gravis' servant, he had been allowed to watch from a distance, together with the level four Emperors.
During that time, he had accumulated a lot of knowledge, which broke through after an intense fight against two level one Emperors.
Yes, the sea beasts had sent not one but two Emperors. If Morus hadn't managed to comprehend his new level two Law, he wouldn't have returned.
The same scenario repeated itself a couple more times in the years, and sooner than later, Morus had become a level two Emperor. Right now, with Morus having comprehended two level two Laws, he was above-average for a level two Emperor. He was still not as powerful as Gravis, but he was close behind him, as it should be.
The rewards for the victories went to the Icy Pride Empire. After all, it was the Icy Pride Empire that had sent an Emperor and managed to win the battles. This gave the Icy Pride Empire some advantages, and Styr was happy with the development.
"See? Even now, helping you has already helped our Empire," Styr said, giving Gravis another example of how Styr's seemingly selfless help had ended up helping him as well.
As Gravis stayed at the Mountain of Pride, he learned a lot about leadership. Styr was a brilliant ruler and managed to keep the Icy Pride Empire afloat in such chaotic times where one Empire after the other fell to the sea beasts.
As other Empires fell, the Icy Pride Empire received more powerful refugees and territories. In just 20 years, the number of elders had shot up by 50%!
After twenty years, Gravis stopped his will-tempering.
'Right now, my Will-Aura should be as powerful as the one of an Immortal. Yet, I haven't felt a barrier. This probably means that my current Will-Aura won't have a significant change until it reaches the power of an Immortal King.'
Gravis sighed. 'Sadly, I have reached the end of my easy will-tempering. Styr won't become a level four Emperor for a long while, and I have also reached the maximum I can achieve with my current Realm. Even my next tempering experience won't increase my will as long as I don't increase my Realm first.'
"Thank you for your help, Styr," Gravis said politely.
"Don't worry about it, Gravis," Styr said with a chuckle, amused at Gravis' weird conduct. "You should follow your path and comprehend as many Laws as you can. When you are done, visit us. Maybe, when you return, the world will have changed immensely."
Gravis also smiled. "I will," he said.
Then, Gravis floated upwards and looked one last time at Styr and Azure. "Take care, you two. I don't know when I will return to the outside world, but I hope that both of you are still alive then."
Azure nodded. "I will also temper myself. Your mindset has infected me, and I'm willing to risk my life to become more powerful. Maybe, before you return to the outside world, Styr and I have already become Ascenders. If that happens, we will pay you a visit before we leave."
Gravis smiled and nodded too. "I wish you the best."
"Take care," Azure said.
After that, Gravis left towards the core of the world. He would remain at the very core, where only the Ultimates and Meadow lived. No other beast was worthy of staying there, but Gravis had proven his worth.
And if the Lightning Ultimate disagreed?
Well, then Gravis would just kill him.
