This time, no one else at the seventh level spoke up. Who was Gravis kidding? That guy with the Will-Aura was already one of the top people at the seventh level of Energy Gathering in the Fire Guild. That guy was already able to fight people at the eighth stage, yet Gravis just killed that guy with a single attack.
They all sighed. Gravis hadn't been kidding when he said that only supreme geniuses at the eighth level of Energy Gathering and people at the ninth could fight him. Someone at the eighth level of Energy Gathering would similarly get stomped into the ground if they didn't have a Will-Aura.
The disciples at the eighth stage also breathed heavily. None of them had a Will-Aura. Why would someone at the eighth stage with a Will-Aura fight someone at the sixth stage? Gravis sure wouldn't. It was only natural to think that there was nothing for them to gain in such a fight.
"Argh! I'll go!" shouted a disciple at the eighth level of Energy Gathering. "You cowards won't dare to fight someone at the sixth level? Why are you all even part of the Fire Guild!?" he shouted at the crowd.
The other disciples first wanted to stop him from going. This was suicide! Yet, when he called them cowards, their concern vanished and got replaced by disdain. Fighting a battle that one couldn't win is not bravery but stupidity. There, at least, had to be some chance of victory. That stupid idiot called them cowards? Fuck that guy!
Gravis was quite surprised that someone at the eighth level of Energy Gathering still wanted to fight him. 'Well, in over a thousand people, there has to be at least one idiot, I guess,' he thought. Everyone around the disciple knew that he couldn't win because they were actually somewhat rational people. 'Well, more Energy and money for me,' Gravis thought.
The disciple threw a pill over, and Gravis looked at it. This time, Gravis' eyes furrowed. "This is not one of the accepted pills," Gravis said as he threw it back. The others looked in shock at Gravis and the pill. Sure enough, it was not one of the pills on the banner.
"What? You won't accept this pill? Are you a coward?!" the disciple shouted, but the others didn't buy it. Their disdain increased even further. The guy wanted to act tough but never intended on actually fighting.
"Senior brother, please accept this humble gift from your junior," said one guy at the seventh level of Energy gathering to him. He quickly handed over a pill bottle with a body strengthening pill. The disciple wore an obvious, fake smile on his face.
Without thinking much, the disciple at the eighth level actually accepted the pill bottle, and his brain stopped working. He didn't see that one coming. He only accepted it by reflex!
"Yep, that's one of the acceptable pills," said Gravis from a distance and extended his open hand. "Come on, throw it over! We can fight then," he said.
The brain of the disciple completely stopped, and he started breathing heavily through his mouth in panic. This was not how all this was supposed to go!
KICK!
The guy got kicked to the front, towards Gravis. He hadn't seen the kick coming in his panic and could only look back at his disciple brothers and sisters in shock. He now stood in the front, away from all other disciples. "Come on, you can do it, senior brother!" shouted one disciple, and the others quickly followed.
Soon, over a hundred disciples were cheering him on. The disciple looked at his disciple brothers and sisters, but in his mind, they all looked like bloodthirsty beasts who just wanted to see him die. His panic and fear heightened, and cold sweat appeared all over his body. If he retreated now, he would lose all his status and honor. Everyone would look down on him. Yet, if he fought, he would most likely die.
He quickly looked from the crowd to Gravis and then at the crowd again. In his panicked mind, there was only one thing he could do.
WHOOSH PACK!
He threw the pill to Gravis, who caught it with a smirk. The disciples quietened down and looked at the guy with shock. He actually went through with it! With this, he had regained all his previous glory, and then some. In their eyes, he went from a hypocrite to a hero!
Instead, Gravis sneered at all of the disciples. 'The fact that he accepted the fight doesn't show the strength of his will, but its weakness. It is obvious that he will die, yet his will is so weak that he can't handle the pressure from his disciple brothers. If I were in his shoes, I would just flee. Who cares what others think about me?'
The breathing of the guy finally calmed down a bit. The decision had been made, and there was no turning back now! He closed his eyes and took a deep breath to ready himself for the most challenging fight he would ever have in his life. If he managed to get through this, he would manage to get through every other obstacle as well. This was a chance for him! He only had to win! Slowly, he opened his eyes again, furious battle-intent raging in his eyes.
BANG!
His head exploded as a lightning bolt hit it. Gravis sneered from the other side of the arena. 'Why do people close their eyes in front of an enemy? Are they stupid?' he thought in disdain.
The reason why people often closed their eyes before a fight was to get ready for the battle. Most battles they had fought previously were just spars. They sparred with their disciple brothers and sisters and in tournaments. In such spars, it was forbidden to attack the opponent when they were not ready yet. Even if that were allowed, why would they do that? The actual fight in a spar was more important than winning or losing. If the opponent hadn't readied themselves, they couldn't get everything out of the spar.
Gravis came from a different part of the world. Here, the disciples mostly sparred to get stronger. Real life and death battles mainly happened with beasts. Together with the karmic luck of humans, over 90% of all encounters with beasts were initiated by humans in an ambush. It was really rare for beasts to ambush humans. So, even in an actual life and death battle, humans could still ready themselves because they initiated the fight.
What about Gravis? Many times, he would be the receiver of an ambush, and he never had any time to ready himself for a battle. The battles nearly always came out of nowhere. He also only fought for tempering, survival, and resources. There was no friendly sparring in his book. The only exceptions had been back in Body City.
Gravis leisurely walked over to the corpse and took the few Energy Stones and the other pill that Gravis didn't accept previously. The pill was actually for healing injuries. 'That might come in handy at some point,' Gravis thought. Of course, he didn't forget to absorb the Energy from the body. With this, he would only need 20% more to reach the seventh level.
Of course, Gravis didn't intend to break into the next level right now. He wanted genuine tempering, and only people at the ninth level of Energy Gathering could offer that to him. If he broke into the seventh level, nearly no one in the Energy Gathering Realm would be able to truly force him into a life and death battle. Probably only some supreme geniuses at the ninth level of Energy Gathering could have a chance of killing him.
Though, the problem with that was that supreme geniuses at the ninth level of Energy Gathering would just break into the Spirit Forming Realm. Such geniuses already had a Will-Aura, and nothing was stopping them from breaking into the next level. So, all in all, Gravis wanted to remain at the sixth level for a while longer.
Gravis threw the corpse to Skye, who promptly swallowed it. Skye was quite happy with the current situation. It was getting some delicious free food.
Gravis stood up and looked at the disciples. "If there is no one among you who is strong enough to fight me, then go get someone who is!"
The disciples gnashed their teeth in helplessness, and some of them ran back to the Fire Guild. Gravis watched at all this with a smirk and narrowed eyes.
'Now, it will get interesting!'
