The Land Camp waited for a full day, but nothing happened. No attack was coming, and Silva had to concede the fact that he had committed a mistake. He shouldn't have trusted the black general like this.
What was going on? Ever since Shira appeared, he had continuously been suppressed by her. The River Tribe had only existed for a week, but in that short week, Shira had already increased the power of her camp to be about double the power of the Land Camp.
Silva grew incredibly frustrated because of this. He had never been suppressed like this, and it felt horrible. He was sure that Shira wasn't smarter than him. In actuality, judging by some stuff she had done, she actually appeared not as competent as him.
Yet, why was he being suppressed like this? He had outsmarted her when she had tried to find enemies from the Land Camp to increase her power, but as soon as an external force got involved, she had dealt him a vicious blow. To Silva, the world looked dark and oppressive right now.
After a long time, he had finally made his decision.
"Ten beasts of the Land Camp will keep watch over the border. The rest of you can scatter. I will call on you when it's time for the battle," Silva said.
Shira only laughed loudly, but Silva didn't pay her any attention. There was something he had to do, and Shira could wait. Like this, Silva traveled back to the Spire. He needed to talk to someone.
He quickly climbed the Spire and went into the hole connecting the peak of the Spire and the Abyss. When he reached the ground level, he took a deep breath and opened the door. Silva knew that Gravis could feel him, and Gravis had also said that they could just enter if they wanted.
He saw Gravis sitting in the middle of the cave, seemingly doing nothing. No one but Orthar knew what Gravis was doing all day. In their eyes, it just looked like Gravis was doing nothing, but they were smart enough to realize that he wasn't that simple.
"I would have expected you to come later," Gravis said as he opened his eyes to look at Silva, "but I can understand that after the heavy blow that Shira dealt you, you would want to come earlier."
Silva was a bit surprised. How did Gravis know about what had happened? His senses shouldn't be able to stretch that far, and he always only stayed in his cave. Gravis started to become more mysterious in his eyes.
"If you have expected me, you probably also know why I'm here?" Silva asked.
"Yes," Gravis said. "You want to know why Shira has been so successful in suppressing you, even though you have more unity in your camp and are just as smart. In your eyes, it doesn't make any sense."
Silva narrowed his eyes. Gravis was spot-on. "Yes. I can't find the answer myself, and I'm interested in what you think about this situation."
"I have told you all the reason why I have given Shira such a powerful position," Gravis told you. "The reason is pressure. Without pressure, you won't be able to see your own shortcomings that easily. Only when you see that the situation is slipping out of your control will you truly start reflecting on yourself."
Gravis stood up and used his Spirit to create twelve stone statues. Two of them had the appearance of Shira and Silva, while the rest were slightly smaller than these two. Half of the remaining statues depicted some sea beasts, while the other depicted some land beasts. The beasts stood behind their respective commanders as they were facing off.
Silva was impressed by Gravis' strange powers. Something like this wasn't possible for Lords.
"You and Shira are both brilliant and capable strategists. Yet, you both have different strengths and weaknesses. In total, one could say that your strengths and weaknesses have a similar weight, making you about equal."
Silva looked at Gravis deeply. "And what are these strengths and weaknesses?" he asked.
"Your combat power is about equal, and your intelligence is also about equal. So, it all depends on how you make use of your strengths and weaknesses," Gravis said as he walked between the statues representing Shira and Silva.
"Shira is ready to sacrifice her assets for the greater good, which, in her case, represents the increase of her own power. This allows her to do this…"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three statues exploded. One of them was a sea beast, while two of them were land beasts. "She sacrifices one part of her assets to take out two parts of your assets. You don't have this strength since you don't want to see meaningless death."
Gravis saw that Silva wanted to say something but lifted his hand to stop him from speaking. "I know that this goes against the greater good of the Tribe. I also know that morals are on your side here. By not sacrificing your assets, you keep them loyal and trusting towards you. This, obviously, is a good thing."
Silva seemed to calm down again as he watched Gravis. By now, he was ready to listen to him. He had gone against the concept that the River Tribe is based on for a whole week, thinking that his way was better.
Yet, that thinking had changed. There was a difference between arguing about eventualities and actually seeing the results. Silva had already realized that if his way were better, he wouldn't be this suppressed. So, he was ready to listen to Gravis now.
"This loyalty of your camp increases the fighting strength. If we fight against external enemies, your Land Camp would be superior to the Sea Camp as long as you have a similar amount of assets. Yet, this loyalty and teamwork won't be effective while fighting inside the River Tribe."
"So, Shira can do this again…"
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Another sea beast and two land beasts were destroyed. Now, there was only one land beast behind Silva, while there were three sea beasts behind Shira. "If it reaches this point…"
CRRRR!
The three sea beasts surrounded Silva and the last land beast. "Shira can end the game, and you lose. With only this bit of assets left, the increased loyalty won't save you or your camp. So, in this scenario, how did you and Shira use your strengths?" Gravis asked.
Silva looked at the figures with narrowed eyes. Obviously, he wasn't happy. "Shira has used her advantage of sacrificing her assets to win the game. Yet, such a representation of reality is unfair. I haven't gotten the chance to use my advantage."
CLAP!
Gravis clapped once in his hand. "And exactly that is the problem," Gravis said. "You say it is an unfair representation of reality, yet isn't this exactly how the reality currently looks? You only have around 65 to 70 beasts, while Shira has over 100. Currently, you have three figures, while Shira has five. You say it's unfair, yet it represents the reality very well."
Silva frowned but kept silent for a while as he looked at the statues. He determined that they really represented the current reality. Was Gravis right?
"What about our weaknesses?" Silva asked.
Gravis walked to the statue of Shira and leaned on it. "Before this whole invasion started, what did Shira do?" he asked.
"She tried to reach the power of a Lord as quickly as possible," Silva answered.
Gravis nodded. "Exactly. Yet, why didn't you also do that?" he asked.
"Because, if Shira isn't the most powerful beast in her camp, she will be ruthlessly suppressed by her own camp. I don't have that… problem…" Silva said as he trailed off at the end. Then, he fell into thought.
Gravis only smirked. "Exactly. Her weakness is that she can increase the power of her camp faster than you. Yet, the drawback is that she must remain the most powerful beast in the camp. You can't gain power as quickly due to your nice nature. But on the other hand, you don't have to fear a mutiny."
"Shira's path is risky, while your path is steady. She uses a high-risk, high-reward approach while you take a low-risk, low-reward approach. In a safe place, your approach would show more effect. Yet, in a dangerous place, Shira's approach is the only one that gives her a chance of survival."
Silva thought about Gravis' words for a bit. "And since the River Tribe is a dangerous place, her approach is more effective than mine," he said.
Gravis sighed and shook his head. "You still don't get it, do you?"
Silva furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"
"The place I'm referring to is not the River Tribe, but this world," Gravis said. "In a peaceful world with fair rules for battle, your approach would be better. Yet, you are not residing in such a peaceful world."
Gravis stepped away from Shira's statue. "Why did Orthar and Morn accept my philosophy for the River Tribe with such enthusiasm? That was because it's a good representation of this world."
"Think back to the Sand Tribe. You have been continually suppressed until you could only hold a territory at the edges of the continent. Why was that? Were the methods of your enemy unfair? Were your enemies crueler than you? Maybe they banded together to fight you."
"You look down on these tactics and are proud that you are not as heartless as them. Yet, when you get suppressed like this, you and your camp will die. What will you think then? Will you be happy and have no regrets, or will you think about what you could have done better?"
Gravis chuckled a bit. "You might still be proud of your philosophy when death arrives. Yet, from an outsider's perspective, they will only see a stronger beast killing a weaker one. You might be proud. Yet, your corpse will be ruthlessly kicked by the feet of your enemy and then eaten."
Gravis looked at the statue representing Silva.
"I don't see any pride in that."
