Chapter 95 – Test of Strength

Gravis readied his saber and ran along the surface of the tree. His feet might not be able to keep him to the tree, but his lightning easily kept him there. Gravis was careful not to use too much power in his lightning since that could injure the tree, and it might decide to attack him again. He didn't want to fight two beasts at the same time.

It took nearly half a minute to reach the branch where the wind bird landed. When Gravis reached it, he circled around it and stepped on top. The branch itself had a thickness of a little over ten meters, and the walkable area on top of it was around five meters wide. A little tight, but Gravis could manage.

Gravis looked at the tree and saw a big hole inside of it. Due to the clouds and the light's angle, Gravis couldn't see much in the hole, but he was sure that the wind bird was inside. Gravis grinned.

"Come out and play," he shouted as he shot a weak lightning bolt into the hole. Gravis quickly heard some shuffling and some angry cawing. Directly after that, the bird came out of the hole, looking at Gravis in rage. How dare this insect disturb it?

It shot a wind wave at Gravis to push him off the tree, but Gravis stuck to the branch by using his lightning movement to push against the wind. Gravis readied another lightning bolt, this one stronger than the previous one, and shot it at the bird.

BANG!

The head of the bird shot back, and some blood came out. It quickly recovered, and Gravis could now see rage in its eyes. Finally, it was taking him seriously. He didn't specifically want to kill it, but only test his strength. If it was too weak, he could just go again. There was no reason in killing something just for sport. He wouldn't even know how to sell the corpse due to him being wanted.

The bird screeched and shot forward with incredible speed. Gravis was already prepared and lifted his saber.

BOOM!

The bird's talons hit the saber, and Gravis got pushed back. His blood jumped around in his body, and Gravis felt some pain in his arms. He had wanted to test the physical strength of the beast in comparison to his own.

'The bird shouldn't feel any better than me. Our physical strength should be about equal since it has used its wind as a boost. I'm pretty sure that it's a low-grade Energy Beast,' he concluded. Gravis had a lot of experience in fighting against demonic beasts, but Energy Beasts were something new for him. He still couldn't properly assess their strength. He could make some guesses, but they couldn't always be accurate.

The bird was shocked by the strength of the insect in front of it. It quickly changed its strategy and jumped up into the sky, and it started circling Gravis as it increased its speed. Its speed was incredible, and Gravis could barely keep up.

Suddenly, the bird seemed to move sideways out of nowhere and shot a talon at him. At the same time, Gravis also felt a strong wind pushing him to the bird. Gravis didn't expect the wind, and he got thrown at the bird.

CLANK!

Gravis parried the talon and pushed it downward while using the counterforce to jump higher. Gravis readied his saber to hit the wing of the bird with the saber's blunt side. He didn't want to cripple the poor thing. Yet, the bird pushed itself back with its wind and left his attacking range.

'What a cunning bird,' he thought as he started falling down the tree. Gravis threw his saber at the tree, and it quickly stabbed into its bark. Gravis then connected his saber and his body with a thick strand of lightning, which he then used as a rope to swing back to the branch.

Using his lightning movement would take too much Energy. The further the user was away from something solid, the more Energy it needed. Additionally, the increase of consumption of Energy in relation to the distance wasn't proportional but exponential. From this distance, Gravis would need to waste his entire Energy to get back, if he did that.

Luckily, Energy Weapons could build some kind of connection with the user. This made it way easier to move the elements to and from the weapon. The Formation Arrays on good Energy Weapons made the weapon act the same as the user's body.

When Gravis nearly reached the branch, he suddenly felt like he lost his hold. The smart bird had hit the saber with its talon and broke it off of the tree. Gravis wanted to applaud the bird for its smart move.

"Scree!"

Sadly, the lightning also hit the bird when it touched the saber, and it seized in the air for a bit. Gravis simply pulled his saber to himself and threw it at the branch again. Since he had fallen a bit, the saber hit the branch's underside this time, and he easily pulled himself up.

The bird also fell for some seconds until it finally managed to regain its stability and flew up again. Gravis stuck to the underside of the branch and looked at its attack. This time, it violently shot its beak at him.

BANG!

Gravis easily sidestepped with the help of his lightning, and the bird's beak got stuck in the bark of the tree. Gravis grinned, "Let me help you," and kicked the bird's head. The bird got shot to the side, its beak leaving the tree, as its body rotated in the air.

'It seems like I can fight against low-grade Energy Beasts without using my Destruction Lightning as an attack or my Will-Aura. If I use both of those things, I might even be able to fight a middle-grade Energy Beast. Though, that bird is brilliant. I wonder if all Energy Beasts are as smart as this bird,' he pondered as he watched the bird regain its balance.

Gravis waited for the bird to attack again. The bird used its element in ingenious ways, and Gravis had already learned some stuff from it.

BZZZT!

Gravis heard the sound of lightning from the tree and turned his head. His eyes narrowed as he saw twenty people in blackish-blue robes climbing the tree the same way he did. He sighed as he watched them. 'I wanted to be nice and maybe believe in those disciples I have spared. I guess this situation is my own fault for sparing them,' he thought.

Gravis also realized something else, and he grew angry. He didn't grow angry at Heaven or the disciples but at himself. 'The only Energy Beast I find has a nest in the most noticeable place for kilometers around. I should have realized that Heaven sent it so that I would run into the Lightning Disciples again.'

Gravis always thought about Heaven's schemes, and he really tried not to fall for them, but Heaven's schemes were incredibly sinister. It was always a step ahead of him, and no matter what he planned, it would easily find a hole. What was he supposed to do? Never fight any beast again because they could have all been sent by Heaven? He had to take some risks. If he were cautious the whole time, then he had to evade every single beast he met. How was he supposed to temper himself like that? It was inevitable that he would fall for some schemes.

It had lured him with an opportunity to test his strength, and he had taken the bait like a stupid fish. 'Seems like I need to grow even more paranoid about Heaven,' he thought as he saw the disciples reaching the branch. 'But if I don't take any risks, how will I ever increase my strength?'

'This won't be pretty.'