After Catty finished her story, Rian began to piece things together. When he had begged Goddess Bodas for a miracle in the final moments of Catty's first life, the goddess had tried to answer his plea. Though it took a long time, his prayer was eventually granted. He also knew that if Catty hadn't wanted to return, she wouldn't have.
He realized then just how much Catty cared for him, more than anything. And he felt the same way. A thought began to form in his mind: how could he reduce the chances of ever losing her again? The answer was simple. He had to make her strong enough to protect herself when he wasn't by her side. He was, after all, only human, with his own set of limitations, even if he was much improved from before.
"Catty, I want you to become stronger. Will you train with me?" Rian asked, his voice serious.
"Of course, Rian. I will," she answered firmly. "I want to protect you with my own strength, too."
"Okay," Rian said, taking her hand. He guided her to make a fist, then extend her index finger. "Let's find out which magic suits you best."
"Take a deep breath. Let it out slowly," he instructed. "Do that again and again. Make yourself as calm as possible."
Catty followed his directions, her breathing becoming slow and steady.
"Now, imagine the warm energy flowing through your body, and picture a basic element coming out of your fingertip," Rian explained. "We'll start with fire, then water, wind, earth, healing, and darkness. We'll test them one by one. Repeat the incantation after me. When you're ready, just say 'ready'."
"I'm ready," Catty said a moment later. "I can feel the warm flow in my hand, all the way to my fingertip."
"Good. Imagine the element of fire, and then recite the incantation: 'Cingciripit saha anu kajepit jadi... FIRE.'"
Catty followed his instructions perfectly. A moment of silence passed, but nothing happened. No magic emerged from her finger. Rian then demonstrated the spell himself, and a small flame immediately danced to life on his own fingertip.
"With this, we can confirm you have no affinity for fire magic," Rian concluded. "I'm sure I remembered the basic incantation correctly."
"Next, the water element. 'Cai herang cai ngucuprak... WATER SHOOT.'"
The result was the same. Again, Rian was able to perform the spell successfully, confirming that Catty had no affinity for water, either.
"Okay, now for the wind element. 'Anu ngagelebug anu hibeur... WIND SHOOT.'"
This time, as soon as Catty finished the incantation, a small, gentle blast of wind shot from her fingertip. It was harmless, but it was undeniably magic.
"Congratulations," Rian said with a smile. "You have an affinity for wind."
A bright smile spread across Catty's face. She remembered being able to use a little wind magic in her previous animal body, though it had never been strong enough for combat.
"Let's try the other elements, just to be sure, okay?"
"Okay, Rian," Catty replied eagerly.
"Same method. For the earth element, the incantation is: 'Rek jadi taneuh rek jadi batu naon we... EARTH SHOOT.'"
She followed his instructions, but nothing happened. Another clear sign of no affinity.
"Alright, no match there. Now let's try Heal. The incantation is: 'Jampe jampe harupat, geura gede geura lumpat... HEAL.'" Rian demonstrated, and a soft green glow appeared at his fingertip.
Catty mimicked him perfectly, but again, there was no result.
"Last one," Rian said. "This is the dark element. The incantation is like this: 'Mun katempo hade oge mun teu nya kajeun... DARK SHOOT.'" As he spoke, a pellet of black aura shot upwards from his finger like a bullet.
Catty's eyes lit up. The spell looked far more interesting than the others; she liked it. Filled with hope, she took a deep breath.
As she finished the chant, a wisp of black mist coiled at her fingertip. It condensed into a solid pellet and shot upwards, not as fast as Rian's, but it was there. Her eyes sparkled, her hope fulfilled.
"Congratulations, the dark element suits you too," Rian said.
"Yay!" she cheered, jumping for joy. Her tail wagged furiously, the pure sign of a happy cat.
"Shhh, don't be so loud, you'll wake people up," Rian whispered, putting a finger to his lips.
"Sorry, Rian, I'm just so happy I can use two elements!" she whispered back excitedly.
"That's probably enough training for tonight," Rian said. "Tomorrow, we'll train with Livi. I need to find out what kind of magic he can use, too."
"Yup," Catty nodded.
From the window of his house, unseen by the two in the yard, the Chieftain watched them. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Rian demonstrate every single basic element. A human who had an affinity for all of them.
"That man," he muttered, pulling the curtain shut. "He is incredibly dangerous."