Gravis listened to their story with interest.
He learned a lot about how to manage a Sect from Manuel, and he had to laugh a lot when Dorian told of his exploits. Gravis could very well imagine the headache Manuel had while trying to handle someone like Dorian.
After they were done telling their story, over a day had passed.
Mortis had returned a couple of hours after Manuel started telling his story, and he simply sat at the table like everyone else.
"So? How did it go?" Gravis asked Mortis.
"It will take a while to close the gap, but she's definitely interested, even if she didn't immediately admit it," Mortis said.
Gravis nodded.
He had expected something like that. After all, Mortis was exactly the person that Joyce had been searching for. Even if Gravis wanted to chase Joyce, she would still choose Mortis over him.
After Manuel and Dorian were done retelling their story, it was Skye's turn.
Apparently, Skye had quickly become a pretty powerful beast, and she established her own Tribe.
She lorded over the Tribe for a long time, but at some point, Kingdoms became interested.
Yet, instead of simply joining a Kingdom, Skye wanted to fight a war.
It wasn't even a battle.
Skye very quickly lost, and she was forcefully enslaved as food.
She was used as a training partner for weaker beasts, but she was always stopped as soon as she tried to kill them.
Skye was attacked by beasts on her level for years without being allowed to really retaliate.
This had gone on for over 20 years, but Skye never gave up. She knew that her chance would come, eventually.
And eventually, it did.
Skye managed to comprehend the level two Law of Suppression, which she used to kill the beasts overseeing her captivity.
After that, she ran away.
Sadly, the Kingdoms were rather united in that part of the world, making it impossible for her to find refuge anywhere.
She felt like a wild animal that was hunted by a group of humans. No matter where she went, she would be quickly found and attacked.
Skye was on the run for a long time, and eventually, she managed to comprehend the level two Law of Freedom.
With the Law of Freedom and Law of Suppression combined, Skye managed to turn the tables somewhat.
The Law of Suppression increased her Battle-Strength, and the Law of Freedom allowed her to ignore the pressure of beasts above her Realm. This gave her the ability to fight with her full power against more powerful beasts.
Her story, at this point, became very similar to Dorian's story when he had just arrived in the middle world. Skye went through a lot of fights and, eventually, a lot of other beasts were willing to follow her.
From that point onward, she was mostly in control of her life. She was always able to carve out a place for herself in the world with quite a big following.
However, in comparison to most other beasts, Skye didn't manage her beasts in any form.
Skye felt that responsibilities restricted her freedom, and she didn't want to have any responsibilities. The beasts were free to follow her or not. It was their decision.
Yet, most of the beasts still followed her, which eventually led to an impromptu nomadic Empire of Beasts.
Skye and her beasts traveled throughout the world, killing the strongest beasts they could find. However, they would never claim any land. They would simply kill the strong beasts, occupy their land for some years to check out the Law Comprehension Areas, and then leave again.
Surprisingly, the other Empires didn't attack Skye's nomadic Empire.
Why?
Because they knew that the Empire would quickly move on, which would mean that the territory of an old Empire would become unoccupied. This meant that the Empires could expand their borders without sacrificing any power.
On top of that, no one wanted to attack Skye's Empire. Battling them meant using a lot of resources, which could very well result in them dying to a third Empire.
So, they bribed Skye's Empire. They paid Skye resources so that Skye would choose a different Empire.
Similar things happened in the higher world, but Skye had to regain all her lost respect since no one in the higher world knew her.
Yet, even in the higher world, Skye eventually just walked around, battling beasts.
She had truly lived as free as it could get. She battled whomever she wanted. She went wherever she wanted. She did whatever she wanted.
When Gravis heard Skye's story, he smiled warmly.
He and Skye truly had similar mindsets.
Skye valued freedom highly, just like Gravis.
The only difference was that Skye was truly free, while Gravis had responsibilities.
Gravis had to care for Stella, Liam, and Mortis.
Yet, that was the difference between a beast and a human.
Gravis could be just as free as Skye.
He only had to cut off his feelings for everyone close to him.
Yet, as a human, Gravis couldn't do that. His friends and Stella were more important to Gravis than living this free, at least for now.
Gravis knew that, eventually, he would become powerful enough to have both.
He simply had to grow more powerful.
Then, it was time for Azure, Styr, Ferris, and Sary to tell their story.
The four of them had quickly met in the higher world, and they created a Tribe.
Their story was very similar to Manuel's story, but with more direct war and fewer schemes.
Styr was the one that assumed the leadership.
In a way, Styr and Manuel were very similar.
Manuel was a mysterious, kind, and intelligent Sect Master.
Styr was an experienced, powerful, and awe-inspiring leader.
Manuel managed to gain the support of his Sect by being kind to the Sect, bringing more resources to the Sect, and being fair to everyone.
Styr managed to gain the support of his Tribe by impressing all the beasts with his bearing, experience, and power.
If one had to paint a picture of the two of them, Manuel would seem like a Heaven-chosen talent, illuminating his surroundings with light. Styr would be a middle-aged king with a thriving kingdom.
Manuel would be associated with the color white.
Styr would be associated with a regal purple.
Azure took up a similar position to the position Joyce had taken up in Manuel's Sect. Azure was the most powerful fighting force in the Tribe, at least openly.
Ferris was mostly busy helping beasts he liked or comprehending Laws, but most of the time, he was only looking at Laws.
Sary managed the beasts in the Tribe, and she personally populated the Tribe with impressive results.
Eventually, Sary found Meadow, and she quickly led her to the Tribe.
Meadow was the most powerful being in the Tribe for a time, but her slow growth meant that she was quickly overtaken.
In the end, Meadow basically only sat in the Tribe, doing absolutely nothing.
Sadly, not everything was smooth sailing.
One time, a Kingdom attacked their Tribe.
The battle between the two forces was incredible, but the Kingdom had made a devastating oversight.
Styr wasn't stupid.
He knew that they would be attacked at some point, and he had prepared for that occasion since the very beginning.
Ferris.
Ferris had only been looking at Laws all this time. Sometimes, he was also tempering himself, but that was the extent of what he was contributing to the Sect.
This meant that Ferris had completely focused on becoming more powerful, and when the Kingdom attacked their Tribe, Ferris unveiled his fangs.
Ferris won the war on his own!
After that, Ferris went back to comprehending Laws with excitement as the Tribe continued.
The Tribe became a Kingdom and eventually an Empire.
That was when things started to slow down.
It took a really long time to comprehend level six Laws for any beast at this stage, which meant that the power of their Empire was growing only very slowly.
They hadn't made much progress in 100,000 years.
And then, everything changed.
The hidden weapon of the Empire was finally finished!
Meadow had been far behind everyone in power, but as the Law Comprehension of other beasts stagnated, Meadow's Law Comprehension remained steady.
Meadow had comprehended several powerful level five Battle-Laws for her body, and she also comprehended the level six Law of Supreme Speed.
The ruler had returned!
As soon as Meadow comprehended the level six Law, the Empire funneled an unreal amount of resources into her, allowing her to become a Peak Immortal Emperor.
Meadow became unrivaled.
There were only two other beasts in the entire world that knew a level six Law, but they were helpless in front of Meadow.
Meadow had been protected by the Empire for a long time, but now, she was paying them back.
The world was theirs!
Gravis smiled as he listened to everything, but he also noticed some things.
'Only two beasts that know level six Laws?' Gravis thought. 'That's really different from Arc's world.'
In Arc's world, there were probably 10 – 20 humans that knew a level six Law, and there were probably just as many beasts.
This meant that Arc's world probably had around 40 beings that knew level six Laws.
On top of that, the average Battle-Strength of an Immortal Emperor in Arc's world was already one level higher than the average Battle-Strength of another world.
Meadow might have been able to reign supreme in her world, but in Arc's world, she would maybe not even have entered the top ten.
The difference was striking.
All the stories of Gravis' friends were finished.
Now, it was time for Gravis to share his story.
