Gravis left the world behind as he flew into the center of the world, the area where the Grand Lake was located.
As he continued flying, he looked at everything around him. He passed over several Empires as he saw the beasts getting ready for war. The entire feeling of the world had changed.
Before the Ultimate's Meet, the world emanated a feeling of opportunity. It felt like a lot of beasts tried to reach for supreme power as they all wanted to increase their power. Additionally, there had been no urgency in regards to the sea beasts before the Ultimate's Meet.
Now, the feeling had changed to one of nervousness and uncertainty. The goal of most beasts had shifted from reaching supreme power to trying to survive. The land beasts had never been under a real threat from the sea beasts. Lords might not have known that, but most Kings knew about the truth.
But now, everyone knew that they could actually die. A lot of the land beasts, which hadn't been willing to fight on the front lines, felt overwhelmed with fear and stress. They had intended to become powerful by doing odd jobs, like escorting weaker beasts, breeding powerful offspring, teaching battle tactics, or just wanting to stay alive.
They never had to fear the sea beasts since the sea beasts would never be able to extend their reach that far into the land beasts' territory. Yet, everything had changed. Now, even these beasts needed to fear for their lives.
Gravis noticed all of these subtle things with his Spirit and shook his head.
Was it fair? Was it fair that someone that didn't want to fight had to fight to survive?
No.
Yet, what could one do about it?
If it was fair or not didn't matter. The truth was the truth. Sometimes, the truth was very unfair and cold. If these beasts from the lower worlds had remained in the lower worlds, most of them could have lived their lives out in peace. After all, the lower world didn't have as many beasts willing to sacrifice nearly everything for their own power.
In comparison to the beasts from the lower worlds, the beasts that had been born into this middle world had it worse. They never even had a chance to choose. The Kings and the Emperors wanted to become more powerful, and to achieve their goal, they needed other, just as powerful beasts, and to get these beasts, there had to be war.
The only way to distance oneself from this uncertain conflict was to flee to the vast ocean. Yet, in the vast ocean, the Lords and Kings wouldn't find any other beasts they could talk to or mate with. Sure, a powerful Lord could get all the mates they wanted there, but mating with Spirit Beasts felt beneath them. After all, most Spirit Beasts couldn't even transmit concepts with clarity.
Even though, from a human standpoint, beasts would appear to be the same thing as animals, this actually couldn't be further from the truth. Starting at the Unity Realm, all beasts were smart enough to plan, share concepts, share experiences, and learn from each other.
Because of the absence of this ability for weaker beasts, every Lord or more powerful looked at these beasts like they were animals. Just like a normal human had no intention to mate with a dog, a Lord or more powerful also had no intention to mate with a Spirit beast or weaker.
So, as everyone was confronted with their choice, nearly all of them had decided to remain. It was either a lonely life of solitude or an uncertain life in company. The feeling of company came together with intellect since a being learned by exchanging concepts with other intelligent beings. If one were not in contact with other intelligent beings, one wouldn't be able to learn much. It was basically a survival instinct.
The fact that the whole world was filled to the brim with Tribes, Kingdoms, and Empires showed how much beasts valued company and a place they could call home.
Gravis noticed all of these changes and mindsets and felt bitter. It wasn't that he felt for these beasts, but that he felt like he had to say goodbye to the world that he knew. Gravis had no idea how long he would stay in the core of the world. It could be a hundred years or several hundred years.
Right now, the world was on the cusp of changing. Territories would shift, Empires would fall, new Empires would rise, and the mindset of the land beasts would change.
If nothing of this happened, Gravis wouldn't have felt so forlorn. The world would remain the same.
Yet, being absent for the most significant change and not being there to witness it, felt like this was the last time Gravis would see the world he had been part of for hundreds of years.
By now, Gravis was around 220 years old, and he had come to this world when he had been just 23. This meant that he had been in this world for nearly 90% of his entire life.
Gravis knew that the world he would return to would not be the same world he had left behind. Only the core of the world would remain the same.
The Ultimates would not fight, and the Grand Lake wouldn't undergo any changes. After all, this was the territory of the Ultimates. Not being allowed to interfere in the war didn't mean that they had to keel over and die if someone attacked their property.
Gravis arrived at the Grand Lake and looked around.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Every beast was used to the constant background noise of weaker beasts fighting. Every Tribe, Kingdom, and Empire had an insane amount of weaker beasts living in their territories. The Lords and more powerful simply didn't interact with these beasts.
Just like a human didn't consciously take note of ants along a walkway, the Lords, Kings, and Empires didn't take note of the weaker beasts. They simply existed in their territories and did their thing. These weaker beasts lived in the same space as the more powerful beasts, but they didn't live in the same world, metaphorically speaking.
The absence of the constant noise of weaker beasts scuttling around, fighting, mating, shouting, roaring, and all other stuff, elicited a weird feeling of alienation from Gravis. The last time he had been here, everything had been filled with Kings and Emperors that wanted to comprehend Laws.
Now, there was silence.
This was the first time Gravis had been truly alone in about 200 years. The last time this had happened was when he had disbanded the River Tribe. After that, he had stayed with the Red King, Azure, Styr, Ferris, Meadow, and his children. There had always been at least one being Gravis knew and could talk with, even if one of them couldn't be considered a friend.
Gravis took a deep breath as he took in the feeling of the silent atmosphere.
"This is a living world. Yet, this feels like a dead world," Gravis said to himself.
Seconds in silence passed as Gravis lingered on his words.
There was no response.
Only silence.
