After thinking about the future Battle Styles Gravis would encounter for a while longer, he decided to get back to understanding more about the Law. He had found the Law of Heat, and he wanted to comprehend it now. The fact that it was a level two Law only meant that it would take more time to learn, and, right now, Gravis had nothing but time.
15 more years passed. By now, a total of 95 years had passed since Gravis had entered seclusion.
Gravis had spent a total of 30 years on the level two Law of Heat but still didn't manage to comprehend it. The Law of Heat didn't have any level one Laws as prerequisites to understand it, making it much harder to learn. After all, he had to understand everything at once without any kind of checkpoints along the way.
Yet, on this day, something happened.
No, Gravis didn't manage to comprehend the Laws, but someone came to visit him.
Gravis was taken out of his experiments as he felt two beasts nearing him. Both of these beasts, surprisingly, were level five Emperors. On top of that, the two of them were not sea beasts but land beasts.
"Styr, Azure," Gravis transmitted to them as he saw them getting closer.
Styr and Azure quickly arrived in front of Gravis as they looked at him. Gravis seemingly had not changed a single bit. However, his Battle-Strength seemed to have elevated a little bit. It wasn't much, but there was a difference that they could feel.
Yet, just this small bit of Battle-Strength increase already surprised them. Gravis already had the most powerful Battle-Strength the two of them had ever seen, but he still managed to push himself even further.
Increasing such a ridiculously high Battle-Strength even more was beyond difficult. Gravis had already known several level two Laws and one level three Law. Any level one Law wouldn't be able to increase his Battle-Strength at all. After all, when one understood so many level two and three Laws, a level one Law wouldn't really be a help.
Yet, Gravis' Battle-Strength had increased even in this circumstance. This meant that he probably learned, at least, one more level two Law, which was crazy. Gravis was only around 300 years old by now. Even understanding a single level two Law in 300 years was absolutely crazy.
"Sure enough, you didn't disappoint," Azure said neutrally.
Gravis knew that they could feel his Battle-Strength. "I should be the one that said that," Gravis said with a smile. "You already managed to comprehend a level three Law?" he asked.
The fact that both of them were level five Emperors meant that they were ready to ascend. This could only mean that Azure also managed to learn a level three Law.
Azure nodded. "I managed to upgrade my level two Law of Pride to the level three Law of Higher Pride," Azure said.
Gravis was a bit taken aback. "That's possible?" he asked.
"Of course it is," Azure answered like it was apparent.
"You also didn't know," Styr commented from the side with a smirk, making Azure furrow her brows. Additionally, Styr winked at Gravis.
Gravis had to chuckle a bit but immediately went back to the topic. "So, it's possible to upgrade some Laws without having to understand new Laws?" Gravis asked.
"Not all of them, but there are some," Azure answered like she hadn't just been found out. "I've thought that my Law of Pride already encompassed all facets of Pride, but that was not the case. There are more facets to the Law of Pride, which I hadn't been able to see until I felt my Pride being shattered."
Gravis narrowed his eyes. "What happened?"
Azure was a bit confused by Gravis' reaction. "Nothing really."
Now, it was Gravis' time to be confused. "But you just said that your Pride has been shattered. So, how did that happen?" he asked.
Surprisingly, Azure got a bit angry when Gravis asked that. "Isn't it obvious?" she asked with a cold voice, not wanting to say the reason.
"No," Gravis said. "It's not."
Azure furrowed her brows, but Styr only chuckled a bit. Apparently, since he no longer had to play the role of the Grand Elder or the Emperor of the Icy Pride Empire, he seemed much more relaxed and open.
"She means you, Gravis," Styr said.
Gravis blinked a bit in confusion. "What? Why?" he asked.
Azure only looked to the side with a pout.
Seeing that she didn't answer, Styr took it upon himself to answer Gravis' question. "Your arrival has changed the world, and your influence has made Emperors rise to become Ascenders. Ferris, someone much older than both Azure and I, managed to become an Ascender."
"Normally, that wouldn't be a huge shock, but he managed to comprehend a level three Law after only having been with you for five years. Do you still remember the time you came back for the first time after starting your Realm-Stop? Ferris had left as a normal Elder and returned as an Ascender after only being in contact with you for around five years or so."
Gravis scratched the back of his neck in confusion. "Yeah, sure, but Ferris already had a terrifying amount of comprehension hidden inside of him."
Instead of reacting to Gravis' comment, Styr continued talking. "Then came the Inferno Emperor, someone who had only spent five years with you. He is younger than both Azure and I, yet managed to rapidly overtake us."
"Then, came your one octopus friend," Styr said with a smirk.
"Orthar?" Gravis asked in shock. "How do you know about him?"
"We did our research of your past, but we didn't know that this incredible leader of the sea beasts was your friend until you returned him to the sea Ultimates after the Ultimate's Meet. Yet, as soon as we knew that he was your friend, we realized how incredible his accomplishments were," Styr explained.
"You should know that the mates to the Empress back then were not chosen lightly. We also needed to check if you were a spy or not, which was why it was required of the King that brought the mate to tell us everything they know about the potential mate. So, in short, the Inferno Emperor gave us all the information of your River Tribe."
"Back to the original topic," Styr said. "Your friend has become the leader of the sea beasts in just a hundred years or so, which was even more incredible than the earlier two examples. Yet, how much time has he spent with you? Maybe a few years?"
Gravis thought back. "It might not even have been a single year. Honestly, I'm not so sure."
Styr nodded. "Then came the Life Ultimate, which had managed to comprehend a level three Law after only having talked for you for a bit."
"Okay, the first examples, I get, but Sary has nothing to do with me," Gravis said with a frown. "Also, I still don't get your point. What do you want to say?"
Styr chuckled a bit. "What I'm trying to say is that you should look at this from Azure's point of view. Additionally, I'm also a good example."
Gravis frowned a bit more. However, slowly, he realized what Styr was referring to.
Who was the beast that Gravis had talked to the most over the years? Honestly, it was probably Azure. Ever since Gravis was a level three Lord, he had gone and talked to Azure time and time again. He often came to visit her and shared all his experiences.
Sure, one could say that Gravis had spent more time with Ferris, but most of the time, Gravis had only been silently comprehending Laws alongside Ferris. He didn't nearly talk as much with Ferris as with Azure.
So, from Azure's point of view, every surrounding beast that came into contact with Gravis overtook her in power, while she, the one that spent the most time with him, didn't manage to learn a level three Law. It was understandable how one could doubt themselves in such a situation.
"I mean, I get your position, but you have this whole thing backward," Gravis said. "It's not me that's making all these beasts learn about Laws and become powerful. It's mostly my mindset that influences their mindsets, resulting in them getting more powerful by themselves. You are giving me far too much credit."
Instead of looking at Styr, Gravis looked at Azure.
Azure didn't look back.
"I know that now…" she said quietly like she didn't want to say that.
Gravis massages the bridge of his nose in frustration. "Really?" he asked without amusement. "You've attributed the success of my friends solely to me and simply waited for my influence to infect you without you having to do anything?"
Suddenly, the air turned cold. "Be careful how you speak to me, King," Azure said with quite some amount of pride.
Gravis sneered. "Oh fuck off. That doesn't work on me," he said.
Azure glared at Gravis for some more seconds, but when she saw that Gravis didn't falter, she pouted again and looked to the side, the air returning to normal.
Such a display would have never happened when Azure had still been the Empress. She was really a different beast, now that she no longer had to act like a ruler. Gravis still remembered how she had tortured him with all her complaining back then.
Most of the time, Azure seemed to remain taciturn, but when she felt like it, she could also act like a seemingly normal beast without all this pride nonsense.
Silence reigned for some seconds.
"How are my children?" Gravis suddenly asked.
Of course that question had to come.
