Ryan stood in a wide space, and a breeze blew through his black hair.
It was six o'clock in the morning and the weather was cold because it was winter.
Ryan grumbled at Anna for waking him up to start training with her at this hour.
"Do we really have to do this now?"
Anna looked at him with her clear eyes.
"Take off your coat and long-sleeved shirt, and stay in your short-sleeved shirt."
Ryan looked at her in surprise.
"In this weather, are you crazy?"
Anna scratched the back of her head.
"Well, if you don't want to, let's stop here. I don't teach people who don't listen to me."
Ryan looked into her eyes for a moment, then sighed.
"Okay, I'll take it off."
Ryan took off the fur coat his mother had given him on the day he left. It wasn't expensive, but it was precious to him because it was the first gift from his mother after he woke up from a long sleep. Then he took off his long-sleeved shirt, remaining in a short-sleeved white shirt.
After taking off his shirt, he noticed Anna's gaze fixed on his arms, then he remembered:
'Ah'
He looked down at his arms, where there were scars from burns that had not healed.
He fixed his gaze on Anna again.
"Haven't you seen scars before?"
Upon hearing Ryan's voice, Anna snapped out of her reverie.
"I'm sorry, I..."
But before she say anything, so that she don't ask where he got his scars, Ryan spoke.
"So what are we going to do?, and We better hurry because it's cold."
Upon hearing his words, Anna decided not to ask him anything and began to explain what they going to do.
"Okay, first shape anything out of ice, a small block of ice or an arrow."
Ryan did as he was told, raised his right hand, began forming an arrow, and then made it float in the air.
Anna whistled
"Good. If you can make things float, you're at an advanced level."
"Don't stop, keep the arrow floating in the air."
Anna approached him and pointed to his right hand, pinpointing his wrist with her finger.
"Look at the veins in your hand."
Ryan looked at the veins in his hand; they were blue. This was normal, as when he used his element, the veins near the limb that emitted the spark turned blue.
Ryan spoke, unsurprised.
"What's so strange about this? It happens all the time."
Anna shook her head.
"I know that. I mean, our training is all about those blue veins."
"First, stop using your element and try to keep your veins blue; try not to let them return to their natural color."
Ryan did that, but when he stopped consuming his spark, his veins returned to their normal color after a few seconds.
"It seems you haven't succeeded."
Then Anna removed the shield from her wrist.
"Look."
Ryan looked at her wrist, where the veins were pulsating blue. Anna clenched her fist, and then, with unparalleled speed, he found Anna's fist in front of his face.
If she hadn't stopped, she would have punched him right now.
Anna removed her fist from Ryan's face, who looked stunned.
"That's what you need to do in the coming days. Try to do what I just did."
"You must suppress those blue veins and not let them return to their natural color."
"Okay, I'll see your progress tomorrow morning. But on our way today, you can ask about anything you're curious about, except for the thing I asked you to do; you have to accomplish it on your own."
Then Anna turned and started walking, but before she left,
"Oh, I asked about the exam, and it seems they're going to test your endurance."
Ryan wondered,
"Endurance?"
"Yes, they will test the volume of your spark, in other words."
Then she turned and started walking towards her tent, but Ryan quickly followed her and asked,
"Teacher, do you know geography?"
"I think I have enough information."
A small smile appeared on Ryan's face.
"So can we talk about geography on our way today?"
Anna agreed.
"Well, I don't mind."
Then she went to her tent, and Ryan continued his attempts to keep his veins blue for longer, but to no avail.
Until it was time to continue the journey