Once again, Moby opened his eyes to find himself in the spawn location, the arena around him looking just as damaged as before. And, just like earlier, it slowly regenerated back into place.

"Well… It seems like this arena is indestructible or something… Or… Maybe if I put in even mor—"

"NOO! Avilia! It's quite fine! It's indestructible! You don't need to try more! Why are you ac—" Moby stopped his words early before he finished them.

"Huh? Why am I what?"

"Eh, nothing, don't worry about it. This must be a special moment for you and all so I've got no room to complain… I couldn't imagine being in your situation… Locked up with nothing to do and a spirit for a body… If you want to blow this place up again then go for it. Sorry about earlier." Moby looked at the ground, and was unable to see Avilia's face as he took a deep breath.

That was when he felt a tough, strangling feeling wrap all around him that slowly turned into something more soft and gentle.

"Thanks for that, it really means a lot… You know, I've never felt the touch of another person for thousands of years. It feels so weird but at the same time, it feels so familiar. The same goes for my powers… Blowing my enemies to pieces was one of my favourite sensations but it just doesn't feel the same. We've been through a lot together but this is the first time I could be free and truly express myself…"

Moby was dumbfounded. Avilia was hugging him!? The demon lord in his head always stayed calm and collected no matter what. He was so flustered that he didn't know what to say. His brain spun in high gear coming up with any response to make sense of what was happening such as. 'Express yourself? You're expressing yourself with a hug… Does that mean you like me!?'

But, not too long after he calmed himself down and took low breathes. He tried to put himself in her shoes and experiences that even he could not fathom… She just must have been truly lonely and holding it in the entire time as she watched silently in his mind as he had a normal life.

"It's okay Avilia… I get it..." He hugged her back.

It was a moment of odd calmness and warmth. Unbeknownst to both of them, they stayed like that for almost a minute before they snapped back to their senses when Avilia let go of him.

"Just so you know! D-don't get the wrong idea from that! I ju—"

"No need to explain yourself. I can't really say I know the hardships of your life… But, I feel like I get what you feel…" Moby's face bore no smugness or child-like remarks… He was being serious which made Avilia's face brighten up.

"Well… I'm glad you understand… You're just the only person I could ever make contact with... It's really weird talking to you like this… For the longest time I could always read your mind but now there's nothing… It's almost like meeting a new version of you…"

"Yeah, I could imagine," Moby chuckled.

"..."

"ANYWAYS! Enough of this waste of time! Let's get to work!" As if Avilia changed her attitude completely, she took a deep breath and spoke, moving on from what was happening prior. "But, before I train you more, I need to test out a few things!"

She closed her eyes and focused her energy, a marvellous purple aura surrounding her as Moby watched.

'Seems like she's back to normal…' Moby internally smirked.

"Okay, from what I can find, long-range teleportation magic outside of this dome is prohibited, extreme time magic is prohibited as well, so I won't be able to extend our training time,"

"So, what are you teaching me today?"

Avilia smiled softly to his question. "Today, I will be teaching you how to control all four basic elements!"

"HUH!?" Moby's shock was clear on his face. "How!?"

"With demon magic of course!" She slightly chuckled. "We demons are able to control many elements, but first I'll teach you the very basic ones."

"Wait wait wait! Why didn't you tell me this earlier!? Did I waste my ability on getting ice!? I could have just gotten it using magic!?"

"Well, not exactly… Most demons specialize themselves in 1 or 2 elements and neglect the rest or simply have low mastery of them. Luckily for you, I've mastered all of them! And so will you! The ability you possess is still good! It will most likely greatly boost your mastery in that area. Plus, it uses a different energy source so combining them may be possible!"

"Wait! I just realized… Are you teaching me this because of my new sword!?"

"Bingo! That's definitely part of the reason! I think focusing on this is the way to go! You would be able to infuse all the new elements you learn into your sword!"

A large smile of excitement was seen on Moby's face imagining how that would be like.

"I'm ready! Teach me how to do this!"

That was when Avilia's tone became more serious. "Okay… But, I have to warn you… This is much harder than you think it is… Demons have trained for thousands of years in the nether realm and some don't even get to master a single element… I won't be really able to help you by implanting knowledge in your mind since the process for this has unique factors for each person."

"I fully understand… But, I've always been a fast learner and with you as my teacher, I'm sure I'll get the hang of it soon…" Moby seemed completely confident, which also made Avilia look slightly more optimistic.

"Well, there isn't much for me to teach you but okay!" She laughed before continuing. "First, let's start with this. This is the agi symbol, the symbol for fire." She lifted her arm and with her right hand, put up her middle and index fingers straight and bent the ring and pinky hovering over the bottom of her palm, her thumb out wide. And then, in that same hand was a bright orange, slightly red ball of fire, crackling like it was alive… It was something he would have only expected to see from a fire ability.

"Next is the symbol for garu, the wind element." With that same hand, she dispersed the fire. With her thumb still out, she raised up all four other fingers and bent them like an inclined staircase, a slight separation between the index and middle finger. And, as she did that, currents of visible green wind were seen dancing all around her like a gentle tornado, making her hair flutter in the air.

"After that is aqua, the water element and it's like this," She dispersed all the wind. And, with her same hand, she tucked her thumb in and placed her index on top of it while keeping all other fingers firmly pointed up. And, just like the fireball, there in her hand was a ball of pure water like something found in the expansive oceans of the earth.

"And last but not least is the earth element, ragna," The water fell and splashed on the ground. She tucked her thumb in on her right hand and rigidly bent her other fingers down to their second joins, a very stiff position for the hand. And, as a display of the element, a chair made out of the metal of the Arena sprung out of the ground under her as she casually sat on it.

"Well, that's all I've got to teach you! From here on you're on your own," She casually sat on her chair-like throne and leaned back.

"WHATT!? That's it!? That's all you've got to teach me!?"

"Well yeah… I already told you, it's all about inner energy control and something like this can't be taught. It's all different for each person and comes from personal experience and practice."

"B-b-but! Can't you give me any hint!? Anything?"

"Nope! You're on your own now! I would suggest focusing on a single element for now. If you want me to give you another demonstration just let me know and I'll do it for you… Show me that great talent of yours!"

Moby was left absolutely speechless… But that didn't last for long. He took a deep breath and calmed his mind. Other people were in the same boat as he was… It was a good lesson for him to do more on his own instead of depending on Avilia and her advice for everything. It was time for him to prove himself and show how much more he could accomplish on his own!

He remembered exactly what all the symbols looked like, they were extremely simple compared to what he was used to. And, after not a lot of thinking, he decided on the fire element. He was confident, pumped to see what he was able to accomplish since it looked fairly simple.

He once again took a deep breath and calmed his mind, focusing his energy into his right palm, bearing the symbol on it and making it explode!

'FIRE! COME FORTH!'

"..."

"..."

But, his moment of excitement and ecstasy was cut short when absolutely nothing happened other than making himself look like an idiot.

"Oh! Wow! They have a video game prop in this VR space in the options menu! A video game in a video game! I've never actually played one of these! Seems fun from what I've seen you play! What game do you recommend that's good for passing the time?"

***********

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