Gravis continued racing towards the Spirit Forming Realm. Only ten more minutes remained until he would reach it. If he managed to get there, he could defeat Aion and any other Heavenborn at the Spirit Forming Realm's initial stage.
As time flew by, Gravis grew more excited, but also more anxious. Heaven had managed to outsmart him so many times. Gravis had learned that Heaven was clever the hard way. He refused to believe that all of Heaven's plans fell flat just because Gravis had changed his route and managed to convince Saron not to attack him. The Heaven he knew wouldn't have only this small weapon for such a big moment.
The minutes ticked by, and just when only five minutes remained…
WHOOOSH!
Gravis' face whitened in anxiety and fear. He knew that Spirit. He had felt that Spirit every day for multiple months.
It was Aion.
Aion was currently coming from the Middle-Continent and running straight for Gravis. Gravis quickly checked his Energy storage and the Energy in his mind. He did some quick calculations and concluded that, if he used all his remaining Energy and pushed it into his mind, he would only reach about 98% of the saturation required to reach the Spirit Forming Realm. 98%! So close!
Gravis gnashed his teeth and jumped into the Wind Wall. He knew exactly how powerful Aion was. Gravis could barely win against Saron inside the Wind Wall. In comparison, Aion had reached the tenth level of Energy Gathering before reaching the Spirit Forming Realm and also had his Heavenly Pressure, which was many times stronger than a normal Will-Aura. Gravis couldn't win this fight. He could only try to survive.
"Gravis, Gravis, Gravis," said Aion's voice in Gravis' head. "You have really played us all for a fool. I even gave you a weapon and also helped you temper your body, yet you were never a part of us."
Gravis used his full power to move inside the Wind Wall. He flew along it in a bit to outspeed Aion.
CRK!
A one-meter long icicle appeared in front of Gravis out of nowhere. Gravis had to use all of his power to react on time. He quickly unsheathed his saber and struck the icicle.
BANG!
Surprisingly, the icicle wasn't destroyed, and instead, it just got knocked into the distance. The wind picked it up, and the icicle violently flew around in the Wind Wall.
"You know, I always was a little skeptical about your 'special' treatment by Heaven," Aion's voice continued. "I thought that Heaven wanted to temper you, for some reason, but who knew that you actually came from a higher world?"
CRK BANG!
Another icicle appeared in front of Gravis, and he smashed this one away too. Yet, in the time when the second icicle flew away, the first one made a U-turn and shot at Gravis again. In the nick of time, Gravis managed to deflect it again.
Gravis had no time to think about how Aion found out about him being from a higher world. These icicles were dangerous and were very close to killing him.
CRK BANG!
A third one appeared, and Gravis managed it again to deflect this one. The first and second icicles then came flying back at the same time.
WHOOSH!
Gravis activated his Will-Aura, and the will inside the icicles was disrupted. They barely missed Gravis, which gave him some time to relax.
"Wow, you actually managed to condense a Unity Will in the Magic Gathering Stage. No one has ever achieved that before. You truly are a talent worthy of coming from a higher world," Aion continued speaking in Gravis' mind.
Gravis was moving with insane speeds inside the Wind Wall, but for some reason, he never left Aion's Spirit. This could only mean that Aion was chasing with just as much speed. Gravis hadn't expected Aion to be this fast.
"Well," Aion's voice continued, "a Unity Will might make this a little harder, but it still won't be a problem."
CRK CRK CRK CRK CRK!
Five icicles appeared 500 meters away from Gravis. Gravis' Will-Aura only had a radius of 300 meters, so he couldn't disrupt the will of those icicles. After they appeared, they all turned to Gravis and shot at him. On top of that, the other three icicles from before also shot at Gravis from different directions. Gravis didn't have a formed Spirit, so he couldn't keep watch over all of his surroundings.
BANG BANG BANG BZ BZ!
Gravis deflected three of the icicles with his weapon, but he didn't have the time to block the other two, so he had to use his lightning. Surprisingly, where his body had failed, his Energy succeeded. The icicles hit by his lightning exploded.
PUCHI!
One of the earlier icicles penetrated Gravis' lower left arm. There had been too many. Luckily, Gravis still had his Will-Aura activated, making it impossible for Aion to manipulate this icicle. Gravis immediately exploded the icicle in his arm with his lightning. He couldn't take any chances.
Yet, even though Gravis managed to destroy some icicles, he had already lost. He had wanted to gain some time to condense his Spirit, but by using his Energy to attack, he was actually using it up, which increased the distance to the Spirit Forming Realm. The only thing he could do was run away from Aion. He had to bank on his Elemental Synchronicity! Aion couldn't be as fast as Gravis inside this Wind Wall.
CRK CRK CRK CRK!
Four more icicles appeared and shot at Gravis, joining the earlier ones. Whenever Gravis deflected one icicle, it would fly until it left the area of his Will-Aura. As soon as it left that area, Aion would retake control of it and shoot it at Gravis again. Aion was basically aiming at Gravis from all directions from a distance of over 300 meters, and Gravis thought that Aion was very good at aiming!
"You know what's actually funny?" Aion continued speaking in Gravis' mind. "I don't even have to aim at you. Due to you being an enemy of Heaven, your karmic luck is at rock bottom, while mine is at the top. The wind just randomly moves so that the icicles hit you."
More and more icicles appeared around Gravis, and he had to use his lightning even more than before.
PUCHI PUCHI!
Two icicles pierced his abdomen, barely missing his dantian. Gravis immediately made those explode too, but…
PUCHI PUCHI PUCHI!
Three more icicles stabbed through multiple parts of his body due to Gravis losing his concentration. Gravis' eyes narrowed, and he stopped taking care of those icicles inside his body. He couldn't lose his focus.
"Do you know what I am especially surprised about?" Aion asked in Gravis' mind. "Why are you actually able to synchronize with the elements? If you couldn't do that, you wouldn't be able to fly with this much control in this Wind Wall."
Gravis was a little surprised that Aion said the word "synchronized" since that was part of the name of his Elemental Synchronicity. Was it accidental?
As the time passed, Gravis realized that Aion was only playing with him. Aion hadn't even used his Heavenly Pressure. Hell, he didn't even use those rings that he always carried with him. Just with his Spirit and his element, Aion was able to play Gravis to death.
Gravis lost more and more Energy, and it didn't take long until he also had to use the Energy inside his mind. The more time passed, the further Gravis moved away from the Spirit Forming Realm.
"You know," Aion's voice continued, "when you started synchronizing with the Wind Wall, I was quite surprised about that. Does everyone have that in the higher worlds? Because…"
Aion's voice made a pause as he appeared in front of Gravis. No element was surrounding him as he simply and casually swam through the air, just like Gravis.
"Only Heavenborn have Elemental Synchronicity."
