"No wonder it never worked right." Reading the manual about combinations, Clifford understood why imitating Randall's attack failed. Since the attack mobilized a combination, single elements couldn't imitate it because the main component that kept the beam's form stable was absent. As such, only the earth element could be used singly with minimal effort, while the other elements with changing forms were much harder to control naturally.
Knowing the gist and avoiding the permanent element combinations, Clifford didn't dwell further and checked out the six combat techniques he had. Starting with the four that didn't involve combinations, Clifford slowly comprehended them, thinking about ways to merge their strengths and discard their flaws, finally coming up with something unique to him.
