The group looked with questioning gazes at Gravis. What was he talking about? Someone with Life Lightning wouldn't be able to use their element offensively. This gave them a severe disadvantage over their opponents. Someone like that could be the strongest fighter? How would that even work?
Joyce waved her hands defensively. "No, no, no!" she said quickly. "How would I be able to win against the others? Their elements suppress me, and I would be on the defensive the whole time!"
Gravis smirked while rubbing his chin. "Let me explain," he said. "First of all, why didn't you upgrade your body to the Seed Stage already?"
The group got even more confused as they furrowed their brows. What's it with this stupid, obvious question?
Joyce also furrowed her brows. "Because my own body would hinder my element, and if I wanted to release it, I would probably spend over double the cost. My element would be weakened significantly like this."
Gravis nodded. "Yes, but that is only a disadvantage if you wanted to release it to fight, right?"
"That also counts if I want to heal someone else. If I don't use my Life Lightning to heal others, what would be the point of having it in the first place?" Joyce asked with skepticism.
Gravis wasn't deterred by her question and only chuckled a little. "But can't you still heal yourself?"
Joyce scratched her neck. "I mean, sure. The healing of my own body wouldn't be hindered. I would only need to use more Life Lightning to heal it since a stronger body requires more Life Energy."
Gravis continued smirking. "Right. Now, let's think logically about this. You can probably heal yourself to your peak condition from a near-death state about 20 times, right?"
Joyce nodded.
"With a body at the Seed Stage, you would still be able to heal yourself around ten times, right?"
Joyce nodded again.
"Alright. So, if you fight as you are now, you can probably take down one enemy one Stage above yourself thanks to your Will-Aura, right?" Gravis asked.
Joyce nodded.
"Then, how many enemies at the Seed Stage would you be able to take down with a body at the Seed Stage?" Gravis asked with a smirk.
Joyce thought about this, and her eyes widened. "A lot," she said slowly.
Gravis nodded. "Right! The other elements can't increase their body above their current Stage because of their element's detriment, but your case is different. After all, you don't fight with your element, do you?"
Joyce fell into thought. "I guess not," she said after a while. Her mind was going crazy right now.
"Now," Gravis continued. "Think about fighting someone at the Sapling Stage. Your Will-Aura would be able to bridge the gap of two Stages. Both of your Will-Auras would get canceled out, leaving you both with your base strengths. Everything besides your body would be two Stages lower. Yet, with only your body, you would still be able to, at least, injure that enemy, right?"
Joyce was still in thought. "Yes, but I would only be able to injure my enemy once before I would die to them."
Gravis shook his head. "Wrong. Try to change your goal from not getting injured to not dying. You would be able to stab the enemy's body once, but the counterattack would be swift. Yet, thanks to your Life Lightning, you only need to protect your head and dantian. As long as one of these two things isn't destroyed, you can immediately heal yourself to your peak stage."
Joyce was growing agitated and excited as Gravis continued explaining. "Yes, I would," she said.
Gravis' smirk changed into a sly smile. "And since you can heal yourself ten times, you can stab your enemy ten times, right? Wouldn't that kill them?" he asked.
Joyce nearly couldn't believe it. This was too unreal. Fighting one Stage above herself was already like a dream to someone with Life Lightning. Yet, Gravis was saying that she could fight two Stages above herself?
But the more Joyce thought about it, the more logical it seemed. The others also started realizing the implication of this.
"Though," Manuel started saying while in thought. "A loaded wind blade from me could sever the connection between her mind and her dantian since it would bisect her." Without noticing, Manuel wasn't looking at Joyce as a weak girl anymore, but as an actual opponent.
Earlier, he wouldn't even need to think about how he would fight her. Yet, now, he needed to actually plan on how to win. The revelation of this possibility completely changed his perception of Joyce. She would transform from a weak enemy into a dangerous one if they weren't friends.
Gravis nodded. "Yes. That's why having the element isn't enough. Only by knowing the weapons of the enemy would she be able to counter them. If you two were to fight, she would need to keep herself as low to the ground as possible. Like this, a horizontal slash would be more difficult for you to perform."
Manuel thought about this. "Yes, and an enemy that doesn't know how she fights would, instead, use a vertical slash. Normally, to evade a vertical slash, a cultivator needs to move their body around a meter to the side. But in Joyce's case, she only needs to move a couple of centimeters. As long as it doesn't hit her head or dantian, the connection won't be severed. This also lowers the speed requirement to dodge an attack."
Gravis nodded. "And after the slash, the opponent would be open to a counterattack. Imagine yourself in the enemy's shoes. You just used your most powerful attack, but your enemy wasn't even injured. You would have wasted your most powerful attack for basically nothing. Like this, without her even doing anything, she would have robbed you of your most powerful attack."
"Wait a second!" Joyce interjected. "Don't talk like I'm not here! Yes, that way of fighting sounds very impressive, but one mistake and I would lose my life! I would need to fight perfectly."
Gravis turned to her with even eyes. "Isn't that already the case? One hit to your dantian or head, and you would die. I see no difference."
Joyce wanted to refute that, but she couldn't.
Seeing that Joyce remained quiet, Gravis walked closer and put a hand on her shoulder. "If you want to reach the top, you need to unearth all your potential. You need to get comfortable with injuring yourself to slay the enemy. If you can't even do that, then your dream of reaching the top would only remain a dream."
Joyce clenched her fists while looking at the floor. Gravis' words hurt her, but she realized that he was right. If she couldn't even beat the people around her, how would she be able to reach the top?
"Joyce," Gravis said as he shook her shoulder gently. She looked into Gravis' eyes as he looked back. "You have the perfect element to become incredibly powerful, but in order to truly use that potential, you need to completely change the outlook for your temperament."
Joyce looked with unsure eyes into Gravis' eyes. "But, my temperament is defined by my element. I can't change my temperament as easily as this."
"That's why I said you need to change the outlook of your temperament, not your temperament itself," Gravis said. "Life Lightning is compassionate, but against an enemy, it isn't compassionate. With a more powerful body, you will still be able to heal others, just not as good as now."
"Yet, as long as you remain compassionate to yourself, I see no problem. You will still use your Life Lightning to heal, but instead of focusing on healing others, you are focusing on healing yourself. You can heal injuries without any problem, so what's so bad about receiving them? Wouldn't absorbing the injuries meant for your companions be even more compassionate than healing them?"
Joyce absorbed every word coming out of Gravis' mouth. It was like he was opening a new door for her future. Her worries about the future seemed so distant now. Even though she hadn't talked about it, she had been anxious about the time when she would ascend.
When she ascended, she wouldn't have any friends or family anymore. Together with her weak element, wouldn't she just be wild prey? All her security from this world would vanish, leaving her alone to fend for herself.
Yet, Gravis' words had made these worries unimportant. If others were able to get through their lives alone, why wouldn't she be able to? She had a powerful Will-Aura and an incredible element.
Joyce closed her eyes for a short moment and then reopened them. Yet, instead of uncertainty, they shone with battle-intent. "You're right!" she shouted. "I need to depend on myself! Additionally, if I absorb all the injuries, my close ones won't suffer anymore! I can take the injuries, so why not take the initiative!?"
The group smiled at Joyce. This was how a cultivator should be! Strong and able to fend for themselves! Having companions was great, but it was not a necessity. Even without them, a cultivator could still reach the top!
Gravis smiled a warm smile when he heard that. Meanwhile, Joyce's face became a bit red, and she retreated a little from Gravis.
"Great!" Gravis shouted. "That's what I want to hear! Now, we only need to get you comfortable with injuries!"
Joyce nodded. "Yes! I need to jump over my shadow!"
Gravis nodded. "Good! Then get ready!"
"What?"
BANG!
Gravis threw her into the arena, eliciting shocked looks from the group.
"Heaven! Send her an enemy one Stage above her, including Energy and body!" Gravis shouted.
"Joyce," Gravis shouted. "You are not allowed to kill your enemy until you've received, at least, five injuries that would kill a mortal! If you ignore my words, I will use my Will-Aura to stop you from moving, and whatever happens, happens!"
Whoom!
A grey figure appeared in the arena, looking at Joyce evenly.
Joyce was in panic, but the figure didn't wait for her to get her bearings before charging at her.
"FIGHT!" Gravis transmitted aggressively into Joyce's mind, waking her from her shock. Her instincts took over, and she evaded the attack.
Right now, her feelings could only be described as complicated. She was happy and excited about how Gravis encouraged her, but she also felt a bit hurt and sad that he was "helping" her this directly without any kindness.
Nevertheless, Joyce regained her bearings and entered battle-mode. She needed to jump over her fear of getting injured!
Meanwhile, Gravis looked at the others with an icy gaze. "Oh, you will wish that this trial didn't include me. Prepare to go through hell!"
The group shivered.
