Chapter 400: New Conviction (1/2)

Silva's emotions weren't calm anymore. A lot of the things that Gravis had said rung true inside his mind. On top of that, he was also sure that he would try to think of his errors in this hypothetical scenario and what he could have done better. Slowly, he started becoming more open to Gravis' words.

”What can I do to take advantage of my strength?” Silva asked.

Gravis smirked and laughed a bit. ”You already did without realizing,” he said.

This was not the answer that Silva had expected. ”What do you mean?” he asked.

Gravis laughed some more. ”You have done something that will help you become stronger that Shira won't ever do,” Gravis said as he walked over and now leaned on the statue of Silva. ”You've asked for help.”

Silva wasn't happy with that sentence. ”I asked for guidance, not help,” he said.

”That's the thing,” Gravis said. ”When we refer to help, we don't only refer to the aspect of combat. Guidance is also a form of help. Depending on someone else's strength will be detrimental to you, but asking for guidance is learning, and learning is growing. As long as you fight your battles yourself, this kind of help will only be beneficial to you.”

”Tell me,” Gravis said. ”Is it forbidden for Shira to ask for guidance?”

”No,” Silva said.

”Do you think that if she were to ask for guidance, we wouldn't help her?” Gravis asked.

”No. I'm sure that you would answer her questions too,” Silva answered.

”Yet, why doesn't she ask for guidance?” Gravis asked.

”Because she is too prideful. Asking for help would feel like she has lost against me,” Silva answered.

”And that's her weakness,” Gravis answered. ”She can grow by asking for guidance, but she doesn't. You could sacrifice some of your assets to kill some of hers, but you don't. These are the weaknesses of both of you.”

”Now,” Gravis said as he stepped towards the middle of the room. ”If it weren't for Shira's pressure, would you have realized these truths? If you weren't backed into a corner, would you have learned all of these things?”

Silva remained silent for a bit as he fought with his emotions. It was always hard to concede that someone else was right while you were wrong. This always felt like a loss. After a while, Silva sighed. ”No, I wouldn't.”

Gravis smirked. ”And that's the truth of the world,” Gravis said. ”You can have all the morals, ways, assets, techniques, or whatever else you want. Yet, the end goal is the same for everyone. We all want to become more powerful, and when your way doesn't work, it's not wrong to modify it.”

CRRRR!

Several new statues appeared. They all had the appearances of different beasts, but they were all the same size. ”We all have a few close ones and a countless amount of enemies. There are not infinite resources in this world. Look at these ten statues. Imagine that these statues represent all the beasts in the world.”

Silva nodded.

”All their goals are supreme power. Yet, there are only enough resources for two of them. What would happen?” Gravis asked.

”They would all become enemies while some will form teams of two,” Silva answered.

Gravis nodded. ”That would be true if these spots were permanent. Yet, as soon as someone achieves one of these spots, they will ascend to the next world. At that point, a new spot would open up.”

”Then, we would have a complex mix of sides. Some will stay away and at the sidelines to wait for their chance. Others will form bigger teams and decide on a fixed order of ascension. Some weaker factions will target the one's keeping themselves out of the fight. After all, if they win against the strong factions, the sidelines might get involved and kill them when they are exhausted after the fight,” Gravis explained.

”Your approach is similar to the people staying on the sidelines. You don't want to risk dying and try to take a safe approach. Yet, the strong will never give you a chance, while the weak will first deal with you. By not risking anything, you have already accepted that you will never achieve your goal.”

”Now,” Gravis said as the statues all moved to the same side. Then, another statue appeared. Yet, this one was bigger than all other statues. Another three smaller statues appeared behind the big one.

”These two groups represent Tribes. One group has a Lord and three high-rank Spirit Beasts. The other one has ten high-rank Spirit Beasts but no Lord. What would the second camp need to win against the first camp?” Gravis asked.

Silva thought for a bit. It wasn't that this was a complex solution, but that he didn't like the answer. ”The second camp needs to raise a Lord,” Silva said.

Gravis nodded. ”And if there are no external resources?”

Silva sighed. ”Then they need to battle each other until one becomes a Lord,” Silva said.