"Ways to use Elemental Power?" Ronava softly repeated. "I don't... quite understand."
"The effects of Elemental Power differ from person to person," Tang Wang explained. "For example, Linaya's Elemental Power mainly strengthens others and heals injuries."
"She can heal most kinds of injuries, and she can strengthen Lumi so it can attack more powerfully, but she has no direct means of attacking herself."
"Yes." Linaya nodded. "The Adventurers' Guild broadly divides the use of Elemental Power into four categories."
"Combat, survival, enhancement, and special."
As an adviser to the Adventurers' Guild, Linaya was clearly very good at giving this sort of instruction. Her explanation made it easy for even Ronava to understand what she meant.
"Combat uses of Elemental Power are easy to understand. Anything that deals direct damage to monsters falls under combat."
"Survival uses refer to forming shields to block damage or using elements to heal. In short, they help your teammates fight more safely."
"Enhancement uses provide buffs to yourself or your teammates. My own elemental abilities have some enhancement effects."
Tang Wang agreed with that description. After all, in the game, Linaya could reduce enemy units' Geo resistance by thirty percent.
"Lastly, there are special effects." Linaya seemed to think for a moment about how to explain this category.
"It refers to highly unusual effects, such as drawing enemy attacks, creating wind currents or Geo constructs, and forming a special domain... and so on."
"These effects are really hard to quantify, but they can be combined with the first three categories."
"I think I understand now," Danika said thoughtfully. "My elemental effects should be better suited to combat and enhancement."
"As for Miss Ronava..." Her expression was hard to describe. "I'm afraid even she doesn't know what effects her Elemental Power has, does she?"
"Mm." Ronava agreed.
"So that's what we need to find out now." As he spoke, Tang Wang set up a batch of training dummies at great speed. "Ronava, try calling on your Elemental Power and attacking these dummies."
"All right." With that, deep crimson tentacles and eyes appeared near the dummies.
After a brief fight, Linaya, who had been watching closely, gave her conclusion:
"Ronava, your Elemental Power doesn't seem to be especially suited to combat." She chose her words carefully. "But that's not because of the nature of your Elemental Power. It's because you lack... the will to fight."
"Ronava, have you ever had a desperate desire to kill something?"
Startled by the sudden question, Ronava froze for a moment.
Even after spending some time among humans, she had not completely changed her outlook on life and death. To her, death was still just a job that was bound to happen, nothing more.
"No," she answered honestly.
"I mean," Linaya said, choosing her words again, "have you ever felt pure, blazing rage?"
"Without any reason or deliberation mixed in, just a simple desire to destroy everything."
"The feeling... of destroying everything?" At those words, Ronava finally began to understand. She remembered using that thing to destroy the Skyfrost Nail at the end of her memories.
Before that, she had suffered a series of humiliations: having her Authority of Death reclaimed, and being gravely wounded by The Jester with the Eye of the Fatui. Above all, there were the words about the weight of life that The Jester had shouted before gravely wounding her.
After listening to everything Tang Wang had said and experiencing how humans viewed life and death, she now fully understood his assessment.
Of the people present at the time, many had the right to say that to her. Whether it was the researcher who loved making trouble for her, the seelie commander, or Khaenri'ah's Sword of the Last Light...
But the one person who had no right to say it was "The Jester," who wielded the Eye of the Fatui, had personally incurred countless blood debts in many places, and treated his own kind as expendable resources.
"..." In the silence, Ronava suddenly raised her right arm. Pyro Elemental Power surged and gathered, finally taking the shape of several intertwined feathers with open eyes.
She then swept her hand forward, sending the feathers flying. The instant they struck the training dummies, flames burst forth, and countless arms reached out from the point of the initial explosion, burning the surrounding dummies as well.
Yet that was only the initial attack. After the countless crimson arms emerged, Ronava gently closed her hand.
The dark red arms intertwined, forming a tremendous tornado. The aura of death swept outward from its eye.
But it still was not over. Ronava raised her arm again, and a scarlet crow with its wings spread plummeted toward the ground.
"Bird of death," she said, her tone finally rising and falling distinctly, "spread your wings!"
"Boom!" The strike slammed down, sending sand and stones flying. Her attack brutally blasted the once-sturdy training ground apart.
"Cough..." After that strike, however, Ronava's body began to sway uncontrollably. Before she could fall, Tang Wang rushed over as fast as he could and caught her.
"Linaya, please repair the grounds first." With that, Tang Wang scooped Ronava up and carried her away from the training ground.
"Lumi, time to get to work!" She swung her book bag, and the little golden Frost Spirit, which had been asleep just moments ago, flew out.
Under the fearful or despairing gazes of the other Knights of Favonius, Linaya restored the entire training ground at an incredible speed. Aside from the wooden training dummies, nothing showed any sign of what had happened.
"...Miss Linaya, you seem quite accomplished at using Elemental Power," Danika said curiously, coming over.
"Mm. After all, my Elemental Power specializes in healing." She smiled and nodded. "The essence of healing is repairing life. So, if you think of it the other way around, it can also repair other, lifeless things related to Geo."
"It seems I still have a great deal to learn."
Meanwhile, as Tang Wang held the unconscious Ronava, something suddenly occurred to him. He instinctively regulated his breathing and gathered his Gang Qi, then let golden light flow from his arm into Ronava's body.
Something miraculous happened. Just as it had with Linaya, Tang Wang's Gang Qi flowed into Ronava's body and restored her own power to her.
After a while, her beautiful golden eyes slowly opened.
"Are you all right, Ronava?" Tang Wang asked. "Your attack just now was really powerful. It looks like the plan to deal with the Cryo Abyss Herald has more room for error now."
"...Can I help you now?" After looking into Tang Wang's shining black eyes for a while, Ronava asked the question.
"Of course you can. You always could." Tang Wang nodded firmly. "You've always been a very important part of our group."
Later, while Tang Wang was guiding Danika's training, Linaya examined Ronava's injuries. She reached an alarming conclusion:
"You're very weak right now, and it's a weakness that can't be healed. You have very, very serious hidden injuries, Ronava. What on earth have you been through?"
Linaya's eyes were full of heartache. In her words, Ronava was now like a broken cup. It might once have held a liter of water or even more, but now only a few dozen milliliters remained, barely held in the fragments at the bottom.
If that water ran dry, Ronava would become weak like she had just now. In other words, even though her power had diminished by who knew how many times, she still could not use it freely.
"No, it's all right." Ronava shook her head. "I'm human now. And if I'm human, I should use a human's will and grow stronger through training, right?"
And so, the emergency extra training came to an end.