Lightning Is the Only Way
Chapter 74: Fred and Steve

Gravis stood up, walked to the entrance, and opened it. He saw two young men who were about as big as him, yet looked entirely different. One carried a big axe and had brown, brutish hair, while the other had a sword hanging from his waist and hat blonde hair tied in a ponytail. The man with the axe was muscular, and Gravis could see his muscles through his clothes. The other guy seemed refined and carried a smile.

"Yes?" asked Gravis neutrally. He wanted to get back to reading the Lightning Codex. Gorn told him that he should reread it until he perfectly knew it by heart, and Gravis would follow that advice.

The man with the axe grinned in disdain. "I've heard that a new guy with incredible strength joined our guild," then he laughed loudly. "But you really-"

"What do you want?" Gravis cut him off.

The man with the axe got angry and wanted to say something, but the other one gestured for him to be quiet. "The previous owner of the house is the younger brother of our leader, and he has been living here for-"

"Get to the point," Gravis interrupted again. He didn't want to waste more time here.

The man with the sword took a deep breath to remain calm. "Would you be so kind as to switch houses with-"

"No."

BANG!

The door was slammed shut in their faces, and the wind threw their hair back. Both of them blinked a couple of times at the now-closed door and didn't know what to do. That was not the reaction they anticipated. Weren't new guys supposed to ask and learn about the guild and how it worked around here?

The man with the axe exploded and banged on the door with his fist, multiple times. After some seconds, the door opened again, and Gravis looked at them with annoyance.

"What? I already said no," he said.

The man with the axe couldn't remain civil anymore. "Listen here, you little shit-"

BANG!

The door slammed shut again, and the man was now thoroughly infuriated. He took out his axe and wanted to hack the door down, but the other man quickly tackled him and held him in place.

"Let me go! I will tear his fucking little mouth apart and shit down his throat until all his descendants get mistaken for shit-flies!" he continued shouting like crazy, while the other guy kept him down.

"Calm down, Fred! This house is for Brother Frank, and it's right beside the Guild Master's residence. We can't damage it," the man with the sword tried to calm Fred. "He can't stay in that house forever! He'll have to go on missions at some point. We'll just have to wait on the street."

Fred took some deep breaths and calmed down. "You're right, Steve. We just have to wait for him to come out," then he gritted his teeth. "But then, I will tear him to pieces."

Steve just nodded. "More or less. When he comes out, you can 'spar' with him as much as you want. Come on, let's wait over at the street. We can sit down and keep watch over the entrance."

Fred nodded, and they walked to a bench beside the main-street and sat down, watching Gravis' entrance. "He'll get what's coming," grumbled Fred.

Gravis sat back down on his cushion and continued rereading the Lightning Codex. He had to learn everything by heart. If he started condensing his Lightning Seed and something unexpected happened, he would need to know how to counteract that.

Like this, Gravis spent the next two days reading until he finally memorized the whole thing. As he put the Lightning Codex down, he yawned. All this learning had exhausted him. On top of that, he was also starving. Gravis decided that he would first sleep and get food the next day.

Fred and Steve sat bored on the bench. They were taking shifts in watching the entrance, yet both were bored out of their minds. "Man, doesn't the guy get hungry?" Fred asked.

Steve thought about it. "What if he has rations in the house?" asked Steve back with a helpless tone.

Fred only groaned and stood up. "This is so frustrating," he said while kicking the ground in boredom. "We could've made some serious buck in the last couple of days, yet we're only standing here watching a fucking door." He sat back down again. "What am I doing with my life?" he asked himself.

Steve rolled his eyes. "Come on. It's for Boss. You know how Boss always supports us without ever asking for something back. Think about what Boss did for you," he said to Fred. "Don't you want to repay him?"

Fred sighed. "You're right," he conceded. "It's for Boss, and this is the least I could do for him. It's not nearly enough repayment for what he's done for us, but it's a start." Like this, they continued twiddling their thumbs, and kicking pebbles around until finally…

Creak!

Their eyes quickly snapped to the entrance, and they finally saw Gravis coming out from his house. Just as expected, Gravis started coming to the main street, probably on his way to the plaza. They both quickly stood up and blocked the middle of the road, waiting for him.

Gravis was hungry and wanted to eat something. He wasn't even sure where he could get any food, but there surely was a place that sold some. Maybe he could find some in the Exchange Hall.

Gravis saw the two people from a couple of days ago blocking the middle of the road and just tried to pass them at the side.

Shuffle shuffle shuffle…

Gravis' front was blocked again as the two guys shuffled to the side to block him. Gravis couldn't bother with them and walked to the middle now.

Shuffle shuffle shuffle…

They blocked his path again, and Gravis finally grew annoyed. He looked into their eyes. "You sure you want to do this?" he asked plainly.

Fred simply smiled in arrogance. "Can't hide in your little house anymore, eh? You finally read-"

BANG!

Fred keeled over as Gravis punched him in the gut. Steve's jaw dropped, and he couldn't believe his eyes. That attack had been way too fast! He hadn't even seen Gravis moving before Fred already bent forward in pain. Fred's mouth opened wide in a silent scream, and Steve couldn't hear him breathing.

Fred fell forwards on his knees and hands, still being unable to breathe. Gravis simply stepped forward and walked over him, continuing on his way to get some food.

Steve looked to Gravis, then back to Fred, back to Gravis, and back to Fred again. He didn't know how to proceed. Should he stop him? Should he tell Boss?

What was he supposed to do?