"Rui is unsure," she replied, her voice calm despite the chaos around them.
"But what Rui knows is that Sister Xi, like always, is already fighting the monster lord to prevent it from causing more harm." Rui then continued to use cold winds to block the cursed monsters coming toward them.
There were already five icy thistle blooms behind her, generating cold energy, wherever these cold winds passed, all the monsters in the range became frozen, followed by her skill 'Frosted Barrage.'
Ram watched in awe as the monsters shattered like ice sculptures under Rui's relentless assault.
Yet, frustration gnawed at him, that he couldn't do anything to help. Every time he tried touching these monsters, he ended up getting infected in return.
He knew he needed a better strategy to fight these creatures.
He clenched his fists, frustration burning in his gut.
When he first heard about cursed monsters from Ling Xi, he felt confident that with his recent increase in strength by combining with Groot, he could help Ling Xi and other wood spirits protect the village.
But now, he felt helpless.
"What troubles you, brother Ram?" Rui's voice, laced with concern, broke through his spiraling thoughts.
He looked at her, her emerald eyes shimmering with genuine care. Shame washed over him. Here he was, a grown man, moping while a far younger being fought valiantly.
"It's nothing," he mumbled, forcing a smile.
But Rui wasn't convinced. She cocked her head, her brow furrowed in confusion. "But your actions say otherwise. You stand idle while the others fight. Are you planning on using any big moves?"
"Puff...ha-ha," he laughed loudly at her question. "What a silly girl. Can't you see that your brother is helpless against these monsters? I wasn't able to cause much damage to them with my current attack methods."
"Is it just that? Rui thought that brother was waiting to make big moves," Rui smiled sweetly. "However, if it's just that, then Rui thinks Rui has the ability to help brother fight the monsters."
"Oh? Do you have any way to help me?" He questioned back again, eager to find the method to fight back.
"Yes, it's very simple. Brother just need to use your spiritual power or life energy to protect the vines or your body from being infected by the curse power," Rui explained. "I've seen Sister Xi and many others do it."
"Hey, how can it be that simple? I'm just a Tier 2 awakener. Only Tier 4 and above awakeners can protect their bodies using their spiritual power," Ram sighed, but a thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
"That's it," he exclaimed, knocking the back of his head with his hand. "Why am I so stupid?"
"How did I forget that others might not be able to do it but could use excess life energy or spiritual power? Similar to advanced professionals, although it might not be as effective as those above Tier 4, it's worth a try."
"Ha ha haa... thanks, Rui," he thanked Rui, who was beside him. He tried to concentrate the excess spiritual power from his spiritual realm to cover his hand, but soon he found that he couldn't.
So far, he had only ever tried to concentrate spiritual power or life energy into his hands to infuse it into other spiritual plants or wood spirits but never tried or thought to spread it around his body before.
As he wrestled with how to spread the energy around his body, a wave of memories and knowledge suddenly flooded his mind.
These weren't just instructions but vivid recollections of how to manipulate spiritual power, almost like muscle memory.
It was as if he had been doing this all his life, making it as simple as breathing.
He soon found the source of the incoming memories. It was the Heartwood Tree, using the shared consciousness to share memories.
"Holy fu*k, is this how shared consciousness works?" Ram cursed with excitement, his mind running at high speed, processing the information from all the memories that appeared.
Drawing on this newfound understanding, Ram concentrated on the flow of spiritual power within him.
He visualized it enveloping his right hand, and soon, he felt a warm, tingling sensation spreading from his hand.
Light blue flames of spiritual energy flickered around his hand and continued extending toward the vines he created.
Trying to test his new technique, Ram cautiously reached out to a nearby cursed monster.
This time, when his vines covered in light blue, flame-like spiritual power made contact with the dark mass, they remained unaffected by the curse.
Instead, the spiritual flames, like a cleansing fire, danced across the creature's body, burning away the curse power and its body, more like purifying it.
He was puzzled by his spiritual power's ability to purify the cursed monsters, yet he was encouraged by this newfound method.
Ram unleashed his vines with newfound confidence infusing more Spiritual power. The vines wrapped around the monster, squeezing with enhanced strength.
Affected by the Spiritual power, the cursed energy dissipated easily, unable to taint his vines, and the monster soon turned to ash.
"Rui, it's working!" Ram exclaimed, a triumphant grin splitting his face. However, he noticed that maintaining the spiritual power required constant focus and energy input.
He also found that the Spiritual power dissipated slowly when exposed outside, much like when he first experimented with his talent after awakening.
This phenomenon is typical among low-level awakeners; it is only upon reaching Tier 4 that the spiritual power within their bodies begins to liquefy.
This results in a purer and more concentrated form of spiritual power, capable of being projected outside the body, creating a potent spiritual pressure that enhances their attacks and defense against enemies.
The greater the concentration and quantity of spiritual power within an individual, the more intense the spiritual pressure of awakeners or monsters becomes.
It is also widely recognized among awakeners that those with lower levels of spiritual pressure are less likely to inflict significant damage on professionals with higher levels of spiritual pressure, even if they are of the same Tier.
This is when the disparity in the quality of Professions truly becomes apparent.
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