Shira quickly reached Gravis' cave and entered it without hesitation. She had a nearly manic look on her face, which came from a mixture of frustration, anger, motivation, and several other emotions. As soon as she entered, Gravis opened his eyes and looked into hers.
After looking a Shira for a second, Gravis scratched his chin in interest. "Huh," he said casually, "seems like I was wrong."
Shira hadn't expected these words to leave Gravis' mouth. In actuality, she was quite surprised. Didn't Gravis realize that admitting a mistake made him appear weaker to the beasts in his Tribe? Admitting when he was wrong would create doubt in the lower members. If that happened more than once, some might even think that he was weak. Gravis couldn't possibly be serious.
"Are you joking?" she asked unamused.
Gravis only grinned as he stood up. Then, he slightly shook his head. "No, I'm not joking. I was genuinely wrong. I've expected you to be a beast that would hold onto her philosophy until her death would come. The fact that you appeared here means that I have made an error."
Shira still wasn't convinced. "Stop playing with me," she said with annoyance. "You know exactly that admitting a mistake would make you appear weaker in the eyes of others. They would think that you are not as intelligent as you appear and will lose respect in you."
Gravis only continued grinning. He was actually enjoying it when he was wrong. Whenever he was wrong, it meant that he had another opportunity to grow.
"So?" Gravis asked with a smirk.
And again, Shira was perplexed by his answer. "What do you mean with So? Appearing strong is what allows you to keep firm control over the Tribe. At some point, a member might think that you're weak and then attack you."
Gravis only continued smirking and shook his head again. "That's the difference between you and I. Your words have shown that you have this whole concept of power backwards. That is also the reason why you are currently in such a dangerous situation."
Shira only huffed in disdain. "Then please enlighten me," she said sarcastically.
Gravis didn't mind her tone. "Hypothetically, if I were a stupid beast, would you be able to overthrow me?" he asked.
Shira wanted to answer directly but stopped herself. She remembered how Gravis had even managed to subdue Liza, a powerful level two Lord. This meant that his strength was, at least, above-average for level two Lords.
When Gravis saw her hesitate, he continued speaking. "Assume that you have total control over the entire Tribe. Everyone, including Liza, Orthar, Morn, and the Land Camp, would follow your every command. Now, let's assume that all of them are ready to throw their lives away to overthrow me. Would you succeed?" he asked.
Shira thought about this. Yet, by what she had seen, Gravis could probably kill the whole Tribe. It actually didn't matter how many beasts of the Tribe attacked him. As she realized this, Shira's frustration grew. She couldn't find any way to kill Gravis with only these assets.
Gravis saw Shira's frustration and kept grinning. "Craftiness and intelligence help you in fighting against opponents that are slightly more powerful than you. Yet, as soon as the power gap widens, it becomes nearly useless."
"So, tell me," Gravis said as he looked at her. "As long as my power is so much stronger than everyone else's, how would it be possible to overthrow me?"
Shira remained silent, but she quickly found an answer. "Power doesn't remain static. Beasts die, and other beasts become more powerful. At one point, their power will be enough to kill you," she said.
Gravis only shook his head. Shira hated it when Gravis shook his head like that. He acted like everything was in his control. "Raising more powerful beasts requires time. Other beasts become more powerful, but so will I. My Rank is a whole level lower than Liza's. Yet, my Battle-Strength is so powerful that she would need to rise another level to become a threat."
"Rising to a level three Lord requires a level two Lord to eat about eight other level two Lords. That's a lot of resources. I require more food than others but only double the amount. Normally, I would need to eat 16 level one Lords to become a level two Lord."
"Yet, with my Battle-Strength, why would I need to eat level one Lords? I could just eat four level two Lords to become a level two Lord. At that point, Liza would need to become a level four Lord, meaning she would need to hunt eight level three Lords, while I only need four."
"Resources are limited, Shira. Even if I were to only take half of the resources of Liza, she would never be able to become a threat to me. In extension, by always fighting more powerful Lords, my Battle-Strength won't decline. To be frank with you, I'm not even interested in fighting level two Lords. I only want to fight level three Lords right now," Gravis said.
Shira narrowed her eyes. "Why would you do that? Didn't you say that level three Lords could be a danger to you? Why would you put yourself into unnecessary danger?"
Gravis noticed that Shira grew more interested in the conversation. "Where do you think my Battle-Strength came from? Do you think this was handed to me?"
Shira didn't answer.
"When I started my journey, I had a Battle-Strength that was equal to the Battle-Strength of a Low Rank Spirit Beast. With my power, I would have easily been able to reach that level by taking the safe route."
"Yet, what then? As soon as I would reach that level, my Battle-Strength would only be average. I wouldn't be different from any of our soldiers. So, I went through an incredible amount of genuine life and death battles."
"Two of my battles stand out as the hardest. I'll convert the power of my opponents to standards you know. My first powerful opponent was someone that had the power of a High-Rank Energy Beast. Back then, I could only be counted as a Mid-Rank Energy Beast. My chances of survival were lower than 10%."
Then, Gravis smirked again. "Yet, it wasn't him that attacked me. If I wanted to, I could have left without him chasing me. Instead, I went into the battle, knowing fully well that I would most likely die. Yet, I survived. By winning this battle, my Battle-Strength increased significantly."
"My second extremely perilous battle was against someone that was more powerful than a High-Rank Spirit Beast, but not as powerful as a Lord. Back then, I was at the upper border of a Low-Rank Spirit Beast. This was a jump of two entire Ranks."
"By winning this fight, I had become even more powerful. These were the two most dangerous battles in my life. Yet, by risking it and winning, I have managed to increase my Battle-Strength to such a level."
Shira listened intently. She didn't know anything about Gravis' past. Orthar didn't really keep it a secret, but Shira didn't talk to him much. Morn, for example, knew most of what had happened to Gravis since he talked more with Orthar.
"When you look at the end result, I just appear like a monstrous freak that can't be judged by normal standards. Yet, if you hear my whole story, you will realize that my Battle-Strength simply increased faster than my opponents'. Of course, all of this is only temporary."
Shira wasn't sure what Gravis meant. She estimated that Gravis' Battle-Strength would probably even be powerful when he became a King, the Rank above a Lord. How could something like that be temporary?
Gravis saw Shira's expression and guessed what she thought. "My Battle-Strength would probably also be good among Kings, but what about Emperors? What about the level after that? If I become complacent now, I would have already given up on my goal to become an Emperor. By staying complacent, I would have put a border on my potential."
Then, Gravis looked into Shira's eyes with a smirk. "And that's exactly what's happening to you now."
Shira had a skeptical look on her face.
"When you took part in the invasion, you have decided to attack the strongest beast in the enemy's army. Back then, you directly attacked Silva. Tell me, were you assured of your victory?"
Shira remained silent for two seconds. "No, but I had to take the risk. I saw how his army almost worshiped that viper. If I allowed him to live, he would become a powerful enemy."
Gravis nodded. "Exactly. You took the risk. You weren't able to win, but your Battle-Strength should have become more powerful after the fight. Yet, what about all your fights following those?"
Shira remembered the fights, and she noticed that every single fight had been easy, except for her latest one against one of three Lords that had appeared inside her camp. That one had been the only difficult one.
"You have taken the easy road. The only fight that managed to increase your Battle-Strength was your newest one. All other fights before that only increased your Realm. When you had been a Spirit Beast, your Battle-Strength had been outstanding. Yet, what about now?"
Shira fell into thought.
"Think back to five days ago," Gravis said. "Think of all the members in the Land Camp. How many of them were powerful enough to be a danger to your life?"
"One," Shira said. "It was only the viper."
"And what about now?" Gravis asked.
Shira remained silent for a while, and her expression deteriorated. "Five," she said.
Gravis nodded. "Your Battle-Strength hasn't increased, but your Realm has. This means that, effectively, your Battle-Strength has even decreased in comparison to your new enemies. What about when you become a level two Lord? Wouldn't this trend just continue?"
Shira remained silent, but her face scrunched up in unwillingness. She realized that she couldn't find a counterargument. All the evidence showed that this trend only continued. This made her feel even more nervous about the future.
"Your path has come to an end, Shira," Gravis slowly said. "As long as you don't step onto another one, you will soon die."
"In actuality," Gravis commented as he looked at Shira with a mocking expression. "The only reason you're still alive is that Silva hasn't yet realized that he has already become more powerful than you."
"I keep a close watch over all of you, and I've seen most of your fights. With my experience, I'm pretty good at estimating the power of others. And right now, if Silva were to fight you, you would only have a 30% chance of winning."
