Chapter 228 - 228 – Manuel

"I guess I have some new opponents?" Gravis asked with motivation. Others might dread the appearance of a dangerous enemy, but Gravis welcomed it. His goal was the peak, and he couldn't allow himself to lose his advantage. As soon as he would stop tempering his will, his will would become weaker in comparison to cultivators in the same realm. It wouldn't directly become weaker, but his will would grow slower than his opponents' will, and at some point, they would be equal.

Yet, instead of smiling or growing excited, Elder Byron looked unsure. Gravis guessed that the opponents this time were more powerful than the last ones. "Who are the opponents?" Gravis asked.

Elder Byron still looked at his ring in contemplation. "One person at the Sapling Stage and one at the Seed Stage," he said.

Gravis lifted an eyebrow, unsure why Elder Byron was acting like this if the opponent was even weaker than the last time. One shouldn't forget that Gravis' will had become more powerful after the last time, and his body had also grown quite significantly. It wasn't on the level of a body similar to the Seed Stage, but it was still more powerful than before.

"Is there something unusual about those two?" Gravis asked.

Elder Byron nodded. "The Sapling Stage cultivator is only average, but the issue is the Seed Stage cultivator."

Gravis furrowed his brows. "In what sense?" he asked.

"This isn't just a normal cultivator at the Seed Stage. That person is the heir to the leader of the Greens, Manuel." Elder Byron looked up and into Gravis' eyes. "He is one of the few people that can fight above their level. Back in my homeworld, Manuel had already managed to defeat someone at the Sapling Stage. This was a couple of years ago, and he is probably also pretty close to reaching the Sapling Stage himself by now. He might be even stronger than the person beside him."

Gravis was quite surprised about that. He hadn't met such a genius before in this lower world. Fighting one level above oneself in the Spirit Forming Realm was like fighting two levels above oneself in the Energy Gathering Realm. 'So, this is one of those heavenly geniuses of the Core-Continent, huh? That's pretty impressive.'

"I know that you don't fear Manuel in a one-on-one fight, but it's different if there is another person at the Sapling Stage there. Let me tell you, the only thing that Manuel needs to reach the Tree Stage is time. His Will-Aura has already reached the level necessary to reach the Tree Stage. This is a person that has a realistic chance of ascending to a higher world in the future. We call those people Ascender's Talents," Elder Byron explained seriously.

Gravis narrowed his eyes again. 'Then, that means that this group is even more powerful than the last one. Maybe even more than just a little bit. I can't underestimate the battle experience of such a genius.'

Elder Byron looked at Gravis, who remained silent while thinking. After some seconds, Elder Byron spoke up again. "You don't need to go. This might be above your limit."

Gravis perked up like he had been awoken from a dream. "Oh, no. I'm just thinking about my strategy for the fight."

Elder Byron was a little surprised by Gravis' attitude. Apparently, Gravis hadn't even thought about declining and was already making plans for the fight. Elder Byron sighed. 'That's an impressive mindset,' he thought and then looked up into the sky. 'Do all people from a higher world think like this?'

Gravis remained silent for over a minute until he stood up. "Can I exchange for some things?" Gravis asked.

----

Gravis looked at his new saber as he rode on his Lightning Board. His old saber had been destroyed in his last fight, and this would be its first fight, although, probably also its last one. This saber was just as good, or bad, as the previous two. If he had to use his Lightning Crescent, it wouldn't survive the day. Sadly, Elder Byron couldn't get a better saber this easily. Such high-level gear was nearly exclusive to only the Elemental Sects.

Of course, Gravis had gotten this saber already over a month ago. He wouldn't walk around without a weapon. Instead, he had exchanged some of his gold for some other items, which would help him in his upcoming fight.

Gravis traveled for a total of two hours until he stopped. In comparison to last time, he wasn't chasing the group but waiting for them. Surprisingly enough, this new spot wasn't far away from the previous fighting spot. But in comparison to last time, his opponents didn't travel to but actually came from Storm City.

Gravis didn't meet Creed along the way since there was no reason for Creed to show Gravis the way. Creed had already retreated since this was not a fight that he could get involved in. If Creed involved himself in this fight, he would only be a hindrance to Gravis.

Gravis was standing in the middle of a vast road in the middle of the night. Some hills with some nearly-dead trees were in the surroundings, but no humans could be seen. The animals were also very sparsely populated since there was a lack of living vegetation. This was one of the reasons why Gravis waited at this spot. If he could choose his fighting spot, he wouldn't choose an area full of life.

Gravis wouldn't mind some collateral damage, but if he could avoid it without impacting his performance, he would. His grey cloak covered his whole body, including his head and face, while he carried his new, black saber in his right hand. The full moon was behind him, making Gravis cast a long shadow even though it was in the middle of the night. Like this, Gravis waited for his opponents.

It didn't take long for his opponents to enter Gravis' Spirit. Of course, they weren't able to sense him due to his ring. If Gravis hadn't activated his ring, his opponents might avoid him, and that was not what he wanted. He wanted a fight!

Gravis observed the two people. They both wore green cloaks, which didn't cover their faces. They were both flying around three meters above the ground, riding on some broadswords. Gravis was sure that those broadswords weren't their main-weapons since the last group had all fought with speed and finesse. They were all from the same organization, so they should have similar fighting styles.

One of the two was a greying, middle-aged man with a missing eye. His black hair was very short, emanating the aura of a veteran. If one didn't know any better, one would confuse this person with a drill sergeant.

The other person was a young man, seemingly being in his late teens or early twenties. His hair was dark green and very long, even passing his waist. His eyes and face radiated a feeling of heroism, and his appearance was the textbook definition of the look of a heavenly genius from legends. He had a penetrating gaze, oozing confidence but not arrogance. Yet, if one looked closely, one would feel that the feeling behind those eyes reminded one of someone else. Those eyes felt similar to Gravis' eyes.

'He's powerful,' Gravis thought. 'I'm pretty confident that I would win against him, but it wouldn't be easy. But with the addition of the other person, this will be an incredibly dangerous fight. This fight might actually come close to the fight against Red in terms of relative power.'

The two people came closer, and just when Gravis wanted to activate his Spirit to gain their attention, they both stopped by themselves. Manuel was holding a hand before his companion to stop him from moving forward, looking down at Gravis with a severe look. Gravis was similarly looking up at Manuel, and their eyes met.

Manuel had already noticed the danger of Gravis before he even released his Spirit.