The mana completely changed it's form as a tiny flame appeared in the girl's hand.
Ron didn't spoke anything during the entire time as he just intently watched on the scene unfolding in front of him.
'Elements of nature.' He remarked internally, thinking about the reason as to why Mana is able to power modern appliances.
After a moment, the flame flickered a bit and got extinguished on it's own.
Aiko took back her hand and looked at Ron with sparkles in her eyes. "Did you see? I have too learned now how to manifest my element and it's my favorite, the fire element!"
The girl exclaimed in joy, jumping up and down.
"Leader, you have come after so long. Will you train me? Also, new year is about to come. Will you please celebr-"
"Aiko."
The girl stop midway in her request as she heard someone calling her in an angry tone.
"Who is i- " She looked back to see who it was that disturbed her but stopped after seeing the individual.
It was a young boy roughly 15 years old with ashen colored hair and amber eyes, and appeared to be rather handsome. He had a serious look on his face as he approached the duo.
"L-L-Liam.. " Aiko stuttered, her face becoming a bit pale. She seemed to be scared of this particular boy.
It was rather confusing and amusing at the same time as she wasn't scared of Ron, the strongest on earth, but was of this boy.
It was the same individual who first called out everyone when they were about to attack Ron.
As he approached, there seemed to be lightning cracking around his body.
"Why are you disturbing Marshall as soon as he has arrived?" He asked Aiko in a strict tone.
"I-I just wanted to report to Marshall about my breakthrough in manifesting my element..." She replied in a weak voice.
"Are you done?"
"Y-Yes"
"Then go back to your training." Liam ordered and Aiko started moving of dejectedly.
"You did well." Seeing her dejected look, Ron praised her for her achievement. And it truly was.
"Ah.. T-Thank you very much, Leader. I will continue to work hard!" Aiko, though surprised, quickly thanked Ron for his praise.
She then moved on with a happy smile.
Liam too watched in astonishment. It was rare for Ron to give compliments like this.
"So you've advanced to Commander Rank huh... Good, you did well too." With Aiko gone, Ron shifted his focus to the ashen haired boy.
"Oh.. T-Thank you, although I still have a long way to go as the invigilator... " Liam replied with his head down, embarrassed. He wasn't expecting a compliment like this.
Since fights can breakout with so many children living in the same building, an invigilator was needed for the times Ron would be absent.
Since the adults here were pathetically weak even when compared to the 10 year olds here, being the strongest, he was made the invigilator of the facility.
"It's fine. I can see you're doing a good job as the invigilator. Don't push yourself too hard and just focus on your training."
Ron advised and Liam nodded in appreciation.
"You guys seem to be doing well in my absence." Ron remarked as he scanned all the children present in the facility. He can see that quite a bit of them had advanced in the time he wasn't here.
"Yes, that's right. In the 2 and a half month Marshall didn't appear, we have continued to train and increase our strength." Liam reported with formality.
He had originally presumed things will be hard with Ron's prolonged absence but everything has turned out for good.
"Should we see others?" He recommended.
"Sure." Although Ron was here to convey the news of the stampede and give them his instructions, it wouldn't hurt to spend a bit more time.
They started moving and soon started coming across various children training and practicing. Some were honing their skills with weapons, while others were practicing their Mana control.
Any children above the age of 5 was indulged in some kind of training.
Wherever Ron would pass by, they will stop whatever they were doing and bow in respect.
As they moved, they saw a particularly interesting scene.
Ron too stopped and looked at the scene with intensity.
Many children near the age of 10 would circle a nearly 14 years old boy.
They would move at the same time and try to catch him as they channeled Mana into their legs. The boy would easily evade their pursuit and whenever was about to be caught, will simply disappear from his original place and appear somewhere solitary while grining from ear to ear.
The scene would continue to unfold like this many times over as the 14 year old boy would just phase and disappear from his place whenever he was about to be caught, leaving others in the dust.
Ron gazed at the scene with narrowed eyes, trying to peer into the cosmic secrets that the spectacle before him contained.
'Spatial powers.'
He thought solemnly.
'I can still understand natural elements, but to think it actually even tapped into the laws of space-time continumm... '
Ron thought in marvel as he continued to spectate the scene in front of him.
He glanced sideways and there he saw the figure of Liam of whose hair was standing on end as lightning erupted from his body. He was looking at the scene ahead with an enraged expression.
"That Mateo... It seems I need to teach him a lesson."
He muttered and in the next moment, lightning started to gather around his feet.
He took a step forward and charged towards the space boy, leaving Ron behind. He could have easily stopped liam but didn't bother to.
Liam skillfully avoided all the children near the boy named Mateo as he charged ahead with his body covered in lightning.
"Ah... W-What are you doing, Liam?" The boy finally realised his situation as he hurriedly created distance between them by disappearing to another location a bit far.
But this only made it more easier for Liam as he no longer needed to consider in the safety of other children.
His speed increased again and became almost doubled to what it was previously, his lightning covered body creating a mesmerizing display of his power.
"Shit." Realizing his mistake, Mateo tried to run away once again, only to realize that there was a wall behind him.
He didn't tried to run away anymore as he decided to dodge the incoming Liam by teleporting to the right.
Liam approached him with calmness as he focused on the surrounding mana around him and Mateo.
'To the left.'
He concured inwardly and channeled even more lightning infused mana in his feet.
BAM!
With the next step, he made a sharp turn to his left, leaving behind a charred footstep on the ground where he stomped his feet on.
Suddenly, Mateo appeared in the same spot he was charging towards.
'What?' Seeing Liam right in front of him, he panicked and immediately launched a mana infused kick towards his neck.
Liam, unbothered, just stopped Mateo's kick with his lightning covered hand.
He pulled him towards himself with his superior strength and elbowed him on the back, pinning him down at the same time.
"Ahh.. " Mateo groaned in pain as lightning sparks assaulted his body, rendering him paralysed.
"It seems my previous warning wasn't enough, Mateo... "
"Just why are you playing around instead of focusing on your training?" Liam opened his mouth to speak while pinning Mateo down.
"I-I wasn't playing around. T-This is training too. That aside, how did you know which direction I will teleport too.. No, first of all, let me go!"
Mateo shouted in protest, gathering the attention of many present near their vicinity.
However, Liam had no attention of letting him go as he spoke. "Your control over mana is still very crude. It was easy figuring it out given the fluctuations in the surroundings." He explained to him the reason for his defeat.
"But the fact that you don't even know that is enough proof that you have been slacking off in your training."
"I gave you a warning last time and this time, it won't go without any consequences."
Liam spoke with a cold tone and in the next instant..
Crack.
He broke his arm.