Chapter 550: Composition
With this brief intermission over, Gravis returned to understanding more about plants and life in general. Yet, there was one last thing that he had noticed about his situation.
'Heaven can use lightning, and I know for sure that it has a Will-Aura and a Spirit. If it didn't have a Will-Aura, the Heavenly Pressure of the Heavenborn in the lower world wouldn't have worked. This means that my fight against Heaven might actually be more dangerous than I had initially thought,' Gravis thought.
'I need to increase my Will-Aura to a point where Heaven can't weaken me anymore. Otherwise, I might die in our fight. Yet, that's a problem for when I increase my Realm again. Right now, I need to concentrate on the Laws in front of me,' Gravis thought as he looked at the forest.
Gravis threw everything else out of his mind and only looked at the plants in front of him.
Six years passed.
Right now, Gravis had been at his current level for about twelve years, but it didn't feel like it. Sure, the beginning of trying to understand a new Law always felt long, but the more he concentrated on something, the faster the time passed. During these six years, Ferris managed to comprehend another Law.
By now, Gravis knew a lot more about plants than before. Now, he was also sure what Laws were part of the plant-body. Roots, flowers, wood, leaves, and the "organs" were what made plants. The organ part referred to the water canals that moved nutritions and water from point A to point B. They also served as a storage for the wood element and Energy.
These five parts should each have a Law of Composition associated with them in addition to some other Laws that Gravis wasn't interested in currently.
Gravis looked at the forest again, noticing that he had barely seen 10% of its total. There were 90% more to go! The variety and size of this forest were insane!
Eight years passed.
By now, Gravis had been in this forest for 16 years in total, and he had seen about 25% of it. His progress was becoming faster as he managed to understand more.
Another eight years passed.
After 24 years in total, Gravis managed to understand about 50% of the plants in this forest. Ferris had also understood another Law during this time. Of course, obviously, his progress had slowed.
'Just wait, Ferris!' Gravis thought with burning eyes.
Another eight years passed.
After 32 years total, Gravis understood around 96% of all the plants in this forest. By now, he felt like he was about to understand several Laws. The feeling of being on the cusp of understanding another Law was as powerful as never before. Gravis was feeling it. He was so INCREDIBLY close to understanding all the underlying principles!
Yet, Gravis didn't concentrate on trying to understand the Laws. First, he wanted to understand every single plant in this forest. Theoretically, he might be able to force a comprehension with his current knowledge, but he wanted to know as much as possible before doing it. This way was safer.
Another two years passed.
It had been 34 years since Gravis had got here. This had been his longest session of comprehension he had ever done. Inside this forest, it almost felt like time wasn't passing. No beasts came, and no one was fighting. It was like this forest was completely cut off from the outside world.
Gravis put down the last flower he hadn't seen yet and closed his eyes. Then, he went through everything he knew about these plants over the next hour. Inside his mind, he was listing the attributes and workings of all the plants one by one. Even with his incredibly fast Spirit, he still required a full hour to do that.
After Gravis was done, his head felt like it was about to explode. It wanted to think about the connections of the different components so badly!
Now, it was finally time!
Gravis opened his eyes and looked at the forest as a whole.
His eyes darted over all the plants and also looked at how they were connected to each other. Some of the plants were in a symbiotic relationship with others. With his new knowledge, he knew exactly how these symbiotic relationships worked.
BOOOOM!
Suddenly, Gravis felt his mind go wild as all his scattered understanding about the "organs" of plants fused together into a single concept.
'This is not the end!' Gravis thought as he looked at the roots with his Spirit. He saw how they all absorbed water and how they acted upon the surrounding earth. He saw how some more powerful roots were able to absorb water from weaker roots. Beneath the calm surface, a great war for resources was taking place.
BOOOOM!
Gravis understood another Law as the scattered knowledge about the roots fused together into a single concept.
Next, Gravis looked at the leaves of the trees and flowers and noted how the provided nutrients by the roots and "organs" got transformed into Energy. Plants were not only absorbing Energy from the surroundings but were also converting water and nutrients into Energy. Beasts and humans weren't able to do that.
BOOOOM!
The Law of Leaf Composition appeared in Gravis' mind.
Then, Gravis looked at the flowers and fruits growing on the trees. He saw the exact workings of how a flower slowly transformed into a fruit. Yet, not all the flowers transformed into fruit. Some flowers worked similarly to leaves, but instead of producing Energy, they produced the wood element. If the plant needed to fight, the saved-up wood element and Energy would fuse to become an attack.
BOOOOM!
Gravis understood the Law of Flower Composition. This was his fourth Law that he managed to understand in only a couple of minutes. His long time of preparation had not gone to waste!
Now, it was time for the hardest part!
Wood was special since it crossed over into a different Element. The other components of plants were purely physical, while the wood crossed over into the elemental category of Laws. Just understanding the wood on a plant wasn't enough.
Gravis looked at how the saved-up wood element inside the trees fused with the Energy to increase the power of their barks. The Composition of the bark was partly made-up of nutrients and the Composition of the Wood Element.
BOOOOM!
Gravis understood something, but it was different than what he had thought.
This was not the Composition of the Wood Element, but the Composition of the Bark!
The bark of the trees was not the same as the Composition of the Wood Element! This surprised Gravis since he had thought that it would be the same.
'Sure enough, the Composition of an Element is different from the Composition of a physical material,' Gravis thought.
'I can't stop now! I need to use my momentum to get the Composition of the Wood Element too!' Gravis thought with burning eyes.
Gravis fully concentrated on how the wood element acted when it transformed into physical wood. Gravis also thought back to the time when the High Priest had invaded his Spirit Space. The soul was also part of the wood element! He had to keep that in mind!
'No wonder Ferris managed to understand the Composition of the Wood Element that quickly. He already has managed to comprehend the Law of Soul Infusion,' Gravis thought.
Gravis kept staring at the trees for several hours. By now, his eyes were bloodshot, and he felt an incredible pain in his mind. He was straining his concentration to the breaking point.
CRRRR!
Suddenly, a new tree quickly grew out of the ground. Gravis hadn't seen this kind of tree before, which surprised him. He saw the tree rapidly sucking in an unreal amount of resources and Energy. It produced an incredible amount of wood element and Energy in just a short amount of time.
Then, all the saved-up wood element and Energy seemingly vanished into nothingness. The bark of the tree wasn't growing harder or anything. All the wood element and Energy seemingly simply vanished!
CRRRR!
Gravis noticed that the trees closest to the new tree started growing more bark. Yet, their Energy and wood element expenditure didn't fit the amount of new, powerful bark being produced.
'This tree!' Gravis thought with burning eyes. 'This tree is somehow able to transfer its own wood element to other trees without even touching them. Yet, it doesn't have a Spirit! This shouldn't be possible!'
Gravis' mind was going wild again as he looked at the display before him. What was this connection that allowed the tree to seemingly teleport its own wood element to others!?
'What is this connection!?' Gravis thought. 'This should also be how the High Priest managed to invade my Spirit Space. He forcefully connected his Spirit with my Spirit. Yet, what does this connection have to do with the wood element? I can't see how wood has anything to do with this kind of connection!'
'If I had fought with the High Priest on the outside, I might've been able to see how he summons wood to attack. Yet, I have never seen him summon any wood,' Gravis thought as he tried everything to make the connection.
'Actually, I have seen some plants fight, but they always only fight by manipulating their own bodies to create powerful and flexible appendages. Yet, that is not the element of wood. That's the element of wood transformed into bark. There is a huge difference!'
'So, how would they use the wood element to fight? They can't heal others with the wood element. Additionally, they always combine the wood element inside their bodies with nutrients to create weapons for themselves. Then, they attack physically, but that doesn't mean that they're attacking with the wood element.'
'The only way of attacking I have seen is how the High Priest managed to connect our Spirits. It's almost like the wood element is only this connection,' Gravis thought with frustration.
Yet, suddenly, his eyes opened wide. 'Wait, why not, actually? Maybe the wood element doesn't refer to actual wood but to the ability to connect with something?'
'Yes, that's it!'
BOOOOM!
The wood element had nothing to do with actual wood. Its main usage was to create actual wood, which was why it was named the wood element. Yet, in reality, the wood element wasn't wood at all. The wood element was simply the ability to harmonize and connect with something else.
Gravis realized all of this now, and he managed to comprehend the Composition Law of Elemental Wood.
Gravis took a deep breath, but he felt like he was about to explode with happiness deep inside. He managed to understand the hardest Law that he wanted to understand, except for the level two Law of Plant Composition.
Gravis closed his eyes in peace and reset his mind. 'Now, for the last thing,' he thought.
He thought back to all the materials he understood. Then, the Composition Law of Bark appeared inside his mind, which was more than enough to supplement the wood component of the Medium Pure Material Law.
Gravis smirked.
BOOOOM!
And with that, Gravis also understood the Medium Pure Material Law.
38 years had passed since Gravis had comprehended his previous Law, which had been the Law of Organ Growth.
38 years had passed, and Gravis hadn't understood a single Law during that time.
Now, Gravis had managed to comprehend seven Laws in only a couple of hours.