Two weeks have passed since Ryan's first lesson from his teacher.
He was sitting in the training room with a glass full of hot water in front of him. Ryan touched the glass, and the water began to freeze until the glass was covered with a thin layer of ice.
'It worked, but the ice is thin.'
Ryan knew that the ice would stay for a maximum of one hour and then melt, or he could melt it by drawing negative thermal energy (coldness) from the cup.
The problem is that every time he uses his element, his body gets colder. This means his spark diminishes, and when his spark returns, his body returns to its normal temperature.
'This means if I use my abilities and my spark is zero, I might freeze.'
He got up and began to walk, each step leaving a thin layer of ice; this ability was called the frost trail.
He formed a crystal in his hand, then began to create a very cold layer beneath the crystal, pushing the air upwards.
The crystal began to float for a few seconds, then fell.
'Okay, I can do it, but my spark is dropping too low.'
What he did now wasn't in the book. For the past two weeks, he'd wanted to make a crystal float, and then he figured out a way to do it.
'i need to train to control it; that's better than throwing it with my hands.'
He melted the crystal, and a larger piece of skin formed. Then there was a small explosion, but the piece wasn't destroyed; it shattered into tiny fragments. That's the power of breaking waves. He sighed and said,
"I've finally succeeded."
Then he heard a knock at the door. He walked towards opening it to see his teacher's face.
She smiled at him and went inside.
"You seem to be training hard. It's cold in here."
He looked at her and said,
"I don't want to be a bad student."
Astria laughed, then said sadly,
"Well, I wanted to be your teacher for longer, but this is our last lesson."
Ryan's eyes widened and he said in surprise,
"Why?"
"I have some things to do, but I brought a goodbye gift."
She took a book out of her bag.
"This is a book about Level Two abilities, but you have to promise me you won't use any of your Level Two abilities until you're eight."
Ryan didn't know why he had to promise her something like that, but there was no harm in refusing.
"Okay."
She smiled.
"Okay, let's see how much better I am."
Two hours later, after Ryan showed her what he could do, Astria was amazed.
"Wow, you're so talented"
She clapped her hands.
"Now, have you gathered your energy like I told you?"
He nodded.
"Yes."
"Good. Now that you've gathered it all in one place, you need to circulate it within your body."
"Now close your eyes, concentrate, and try to make that circle in your chest rotate throughout your body."
Ryan did as she said and began to feel energy circulating throughout his body.
"I...I feel it."
"Okay, stop."
Ryan stopped.
"The benefit of this is that circulating energy in your body reduces the spark loss when using abilities."
Ryan was impressed.
"Yes, that's good, but one day you'll hit a bottleneck,"
Ryan wondered.
"And how will I know that?"
The teacher replied,
"You'll see that even though you're recycling energy, the spark's diminishing effect when using abilities is the same."
"And that means you're ready to break through to the next level."
Ryan asked another question.
"And how do I do that?"
The teacher replied enthusiastically,
"You must use up all your sparks in one attack to replenish your energy, then repeat the process for the next level. And of course, the higher the level, the longer the process will take."
Another question was asked:
"So how long does it take to progress from first to second?"
She thought for a moment, then answered:
"For me, it took three years, but your sister, Liara, did it in one year."
'So that'll take me some time.'
Ryan shrugged.
"I don't have anything to do anyway, and I'll probably be faster than my teacher."
She laughed.
"I'm looking forward to it."
Silence filled the room until Astria broke it.
"I've told you everything important. Now it's up to you to work hard. I look forward to our next meeting."
Before she left the door,
"May I ask?"
Astrea asked.
"Do you have another question?"
He shook his head.
"It's a bit personal."
Astria hesitated but agreed.
"Go ahead,"
Ryan asked.
"Will you be joining Yara's band?"
Her eyes widened, but her surprise faded after a moment.
"Did you hear us talking last time?"
He nodded.
"Yes. So, is what we're about to do something dangerous?"
Astria smiled.
"Don't worry, it's just child's play to us."
Then she left without saying anything, and so his first teacher left after two lessons.