He thought about the question while shaking his head from side to side. Eventually he said, "Both of them have their advantages and disadvantages."
He first stated the disadvantages of weapons: "Weapons are more expensive than spells, and one can only use a limited amount of weapons. Weapons also have limited use. They are rigid in function and purpose."
Then he spoke about the advantages of weapons: "But weapons are easy to use. They can also be used without internal energy, depending on their function, and their power might be reduced. Spells require a long time to learn and always need both mental and internal energy to use."
She nodded and said, "You are right. Weapons and spells have their disadvantages and advantages. Those on the path of body refining rely more on weapons, while those on the path of energy refining rely more on spells."
"While those on the path of energy refining can also use weapons, they won't gain any advantage in using them. The same is true for body refiners and spells. They might even fall behind in terms of power output because both sides are not familiar with the opposite tool."
"The Divine Lightning Armament is a tool that fixes that problem. It is a combination of a spell and a weapon artifact, so it has the advantages of a weapon and that of a spell."
"In fact, the Divine Lightning Armament is better than weapons and spells in that it is able to show greater power by combining the power of the pathway of body refining and the pathway of energy refining."
Arthur's eyes lit up. He said, "That sounds great."
She sighed and said, "It is great, but it comes with its own set of disadvantages. For one, it requires cultivating both the path of energy refining and body refining."
"Secondly, it has a high talent requirement. Not many people have the mana affinity for lightning, so not many people could use it."
"This talent requirement was reduced when the Divine Lightning Armament was modified into the All Element Armament. This reduced its power, but it made it possible for everyone to use."
"Even so, activating the technique still required a strong body and a strong mind. Even if someone manages to cultivate it, they might not be able to use it effectively."
She took out a sheet of paper from her ring. The paper had some depictions on it. She used these depictions to show him why the Armament technique was so powerful and so difficult to cultivate.
The paper had four circles drawn on the four corners of the sheet of paper. The two circles at the top of the paper were black and white. They were also labeled with body and mind, respectively.
Beneath the top two circles were two more circles. These two were colored red and blue. They were also labeled life energy and internal energy respectively.
There was a line connecting the circles of body and life energy. There was also a line connecting the circles of mind and internal energy together.
These two lines were vertical as they connected the top circles to the circles beneath them. The one connecting the circles of body and life energy was labeled techniques, while the one connecting the circles of mind and internal energy was labeled spell.
She began explaining, "In a normal situation, the pathway of energy refining gains power through the combination of their internal energy with spells. The more powerful the quality of their internal energy and the spell they use, the more power they can display."
"On the side of body refining, the power of techniques is equal to the quality of their life force and their body. Spells use internal energy, while techniques use life energy."
"Both of them need the mind to a certain extent, but the power of the mind doesn't add anything to the power of the armament. The Mind only affects control of the armament. So the more powerful the mind is, the faster a spell will be released and the more skillful the execution of a technique."
"In a normal situation, the two sides don't intersect. But there is something that makes both sides intersect. Do you know that it is?"
Arthur replied, "Cultivation techniques like the Everlasting Wood Art and the Longevity Blood Art."
She nodded. "You're right. The other thing that intersects both pathways is weapons. The power of weapons can be enhanced by Life Force. Yet, the energy that they usually use is internal energy, not life energy."
Arthur said in understanding, "That's right."
Elder Storm Hawk continued without missing a beat, "The intersection of weapons is the foundation of the Divine Lightning Armament and the All Element Art. In essence, these two are the fusion of spells, fighting techniques, and weapons."
"The power of the Divine Lightning Art, for instance, comes from the addition of the power of the body and internal energy multiplied by the level of the divine armament. It is (Quality of internal energy + Quality of Life Force) × Level of Divine Armament."
Arthur exclaimed, "Wow."
She nodded. "Yes, wow. That's just the surface use of its power. Lightning suppresses other elements, so the power of the Divine Lightning Art is better than that. Besides, the armament will also give you other benefits that a single weapon or spell can give you."
"You will see the benefits soon. You will also realize the cost soon. But first, take this."
She took out a blue crystal and threw it at him. He caught it and put it against his head to receive the information within it.
When the information rushed into his head, he was surprised by its content. He was surprised because the content was very short.
It was the shortest technique he had ever seen. He didn't expect such a thing from a technique so powerful, and it showed on his face.
Elder Storm Hawk saw the confused look on his face and smiled as she asked, "Are you surprised?"
He nodded.
She explained, "That's just the instruction on how to use the Divine Lightning Armament. It has nothing to do with how to make your lightning armament."