"What problem?" Gravis asked.
"As we've expected, this is a horde, and they are here to assault the land," Orthar explained. "The problem I'm referring to is the fact that we are now also part of the horde."
Gravis narrowed his eyes. "I don't remember joining," he said.
"That's the problem," Orthar said, "none of them joined voluntarily. Apparently, a chieftain of a larger group is staying here, forcing every passing Spirit Beast to join her cause, which is to attack the land. If any beast tries to leave the area, they will be attacked by him."
Gravis' eyes shone a bit. "And I'm guessing that she is at the Unity Rank. Otherwise, I doubt that she would be able to keep all these Spirit Beasts under control."
"The beasts don't know the specific strength of the chieftain, but she's more powerful than them by far," Orthar said. "So, what do you plan on doing?"
Gravis smirked. "Isn't it obvious? I've been drafted to fight against my will. I'm not a huge fan of that. On top of that, I didn't vote for her. I think I should talk with that chieftain," Gravis said with a smirk.
"Are you sure about that?" Orthar asked. "Apparently, she's very powerful."
"Don't worry. My Will-Aura can stop anyone at the Initial Unity Rank. I doubt that they would send more powerful beasts than that. After all, you said that she is from a more powerful organization."
"But won't that create enmity with the more powerful organization?" Orthar asked.
"More enemies and food for us. I've explained the concept of a Will-Aura to you. I need tempering, and for that, I need pressure and enemies. You can still back out if you want. I won't mind," Gravis said.
Orthar remained silent for a bit. This was a serious situation, and it might end in his death. He had to think carefully about this.
"No," Orthar said. "Ever since I met you, I felt my hot-bloodedness return. So what if I die? I accepted my death a long time ago!"
Gravis smirked. "Good! Then, let's go, but stay behind me."
"Okay," Orthar said. "The chieftain is at the very front, away from everyone else."
Gravis nodded and swam in that direction. He had to shove the beasts in his way to the side, eliciting some complaints. Sadly, the beasts were too afraid of the chieftain to attack. Like this, Gravis made his way to the chieftain.
After some minutes, Gravis was at the front of the group and saw the chieftain. It was a mantis shrimp, about 15-meters-long. Her claws seemed incredibly hard and powerful.
When Gravis saw her, his eyes shone. 'Mantis Shrimps have a powerful defense and attack. On top of that, her legs are longer than normal. This probably allows her to fight very well on land. That's an effective body.'
The chieftain noticed the new arrival and narrowed her eyes. She had been bugged by many of these beasts before. All the beasts living here knew how devastating it was to invade the continent. Nearly all of them would die. Because of that, the beasts had come and begged for their lives. This was not the first time where she took part in such a raid.
BANG!
She punched with her claws, creating a powerful shockwave that traveled right to Gravis. No mid-rank Spirit Beast would be able to evade that. The meddling beast would die without much fanfare.
Ssshhhh!
The shockwave slowly vanished while it traveled to Gravis until it was gone entirely. The attack had been casual, and it was performed from over two kilometers away. This distance gave Gravis easily enough time to eat away at the shockwave with his Spirit.
Whooooom!
An incredible pressure pressed into the chieftain. She felt herself unable to move and continued looking forward with shock. She hadn't even deigned to look at Gravis before. Now, she couldn't look at him, even if she wanted to.
"That's all I needed to know," Gravis transmitted with a smirk as he swam closer.
"Stop!" she transmitted in panic. "I'm a chieftain from the Stone Tribe!"
"Interesting," Gravis transmitted as he swam around her and looked into her eyes. His long tail was coiling around her as only his upper body peeked into her vision. "And where is that tribe?" he asked with a sinister grin.
The chieftain looked at Gravis with confused and fearful eyes. She felt that he was only at the level of a mid-rank Spirit Beast, which was obviously way weaker than herself. Yet, she somehow knew that this incredible pressure came from him.
"I have been tasked with invading the land and reconquering it for the sea," she said, dodging the question.
Of course, Gravis noticed that. "Quite loyal," he commented. "What do you get out of such a raid?"
The chieftain was a bit confused that Gravis didn't know such basics, but she had no choice but to play along. "When we conquer a territory, our Water Makers reclaims it for the sea. The land will drown, and the new territory will be part of our tribe."
"Hmm," Gravis transmitted. "And what do you get out of such a territory?"
By now, the chieftain realized that Gravis wasn't from here. Otherwise, he would know such basics. Maybe she could get out of this. "It's a territory with lots of natural essence. Others will flock there, and we can hunt them. This will increase our power," she explained.
'Natural Essence is probably their word for Energy,' Gravis thought. 'So, by reclaiming territory, they get more prey that they can hunt. That's a bit similar to humans, but also very beast-like.'
"Our Stone Tribe is powerful," the chieftain said. "Leader Stone is a level four Lord. If you kill me, you won't know how you died."
Gravis' eyes shone a bit. "What's this level four Lord thing?" Gravis asked.
The chieftain gained more hope as she realized that Gravis didn't even know that. He probably came from the boundless ocean, away from the continent.
"It refers to our power," she said. "I am a level one Lord. You might be stronger than me, but you're not stronger than Leader Stone. Don't make a mistake and become our enemy!"
'So, a Lord is a Unity Beast. Level one should refer to initial, level two to early, level three to mid, level four to late, and level five to peak Unity Realm. This means that this Leader Stone is a late Unity Beast. Even if I reach the Unity Realm again, I won't be able to win,' Gravis thought with narrowed eyes.
The chieftain saw that Gravis remained silent for a while and finally felt some hope. She waited for around a minute where Gravis was just thinking about things until she spoke up again.
"I can lead you to- "
"Oh, right," Gravis interrupted her. "I forgot about you. Sorry, let me just send you on your way."
BZZZZZ!
A small hole was burned in Gravis' torso as a thin strand of lightning came out of it. "This will hurt just for a second," he transmitted.
Fear returned to the chieftain and evolved into terror. The lightning transformed into a thin and long needle. Then, it stabbed into a soft part of her head and unloaded itself from the tip.
Her brain was immediately fried, killing her quickly. Gravis knew that he wouldn't be able to tear her brain apart with his Spirit. His Spirit was only at the Initial Unity Realm, and it wasn't so strong that it could do anything to such a powerful beast. So, he needed to use his lightning.
Gravis looked at his lightning and noticed that it was slowly absorbing the Energy in the atmosphere. This made him sigh. 'I feared that my lightning wouldn't be able to regenerate without my control, but that worry was obviously unfounded.'
Bzzz!
The lightning returned through the hole it had burned until it was gone again. About half of the lightning had vanished when Gravis had used it to attack the chieftain.
Whoop!
The body vanished as Gravis absorbed it into his Spirit Space. 'I should be able to eat the body in two sittings. A Unity Beast should be enough to get me halfway to the Unity Realm. After all, a Realm increase could be counted as two Stages.'
"Guess what. The Stone Tribe probably hates us now," Gravis transmitted to Orthar.
"At least I know our enemy now," Orthar transmitted back. "I feel fear for my life, but strangely, I also feel more alive. I don't know if it was the right decision to follow you, but right now, I don't regret it."
Gravis smirked. "The more pressure, the better. You're also not the only one. After over a year, I also feel alive again. The nervousness, fear, excitement, and pressure is what I've been longing for. This is not the first time that I have a way more powerful enemy, and it won't be the last time."
Gravis' eyes narrowed as he looked in the direction of the continent, with eyes burning with motivation.
"I'm back in action!"
