Lia and Rinzen were at Opparu's workshop, down in its basement, standing before a long table filled with dozens of samples, displaying a wide variety of materials. Looking at them, Lia only knew a handful; the rest was something she was looking up right now through her bracelet, reading about their properties.

"You got some rare ones," Rinzen said, picking up a fist-sized, blue rock that was cool to the touch and flashed once when her fingers got close to it.

"I have connections." Opparu smiled, watching Rinzen from the back, his eyes fixated on another round 'object,' but neither of the girls paid attention to that. "I was once a very famous artificer, you know!"

"You worked for a House?" Rinzen asked, putting the 'rock' down and looking back at him over her shoulder.

“Okay… not THAT good… Tsk… anyway! These are all the materials that can conduct fire or ice very well, and you could put it through heavy strains!"

"But neither of them can work with both…." Lia sighed, lowering her hand and closing the projection as she was reading through her metallurgy books, identifying all of the samples Opparu brought forward for them.

"We will create a mixture," Opparu said quickly, walking up to them. "You need to choose two, and I will help you melt them down and create the perfect alloy for you!"

"You can do that?" Rinzen asked, her eyes flashing, now looking like she was starting to believe Opparu was really as good of an artificer as he claimed to be.

"Yep!" He nodded with a proud grin, "It is not something you could do, just starting out!" He added, watching Lia, who was about to say something, "I know you began to learn the craft, but that is something way more advanced than creating a basic artifact! Leave the creation of the base material to me! After I am done, you can mold it to your liking!"

"Okay!" She nodded as she didn't need much to be persuaded, believing in him fully.

"I think this would do well." Rinzen chimed in again, placing the previously held blue crystal before Lia.

"Good choice!" Opparu nodded, "That is azurite; it is not the first choice of water mages, but the first choice of ice mages! It has the quality of amplifying cold-based spells, and it is rigid and hard, with almost no flexibility."

"Why would that be good?" Lia asked, as what she came up with needed the latter more than anything.

"That is where I come in!" Opparu laughed, "I will create an alloy for you, as I said, so don't worry about it! Think of it this way! When you use your sword as a sword, it will be strong enough so you can clash against another! It won't bend and flip-flap everywhere!"

"And with my other choice," Lia continued, grasping the concept very quickly, "When I switch it up and use it as a whip, it will be flexible!"

"Exactly!" Opparu clapped happily, "Did you choose already?"

"This one!" Lia pointed at a crimson rock that looked like an ember just lifted from the fire.

"I thought so. Dragonspit."

"Eh…" Lia flinched, but Rinzen nodded, crossing her arms.

"It is good. We use it to melt ice when our glacier tries to expand and freeze into the ocean."

"It tries to… expand?" Lia asked, bewildered, and Opparu was also looking at her curiously.

"Um." She continued, "It always did; our Matriarch described it as an unforeseen side-effect of her spell. But we can contain it; it's not quick enough to cause problems."

"Unforeseen side effect…" The two looked at each other, thinking that someone at the 9th Tier would be so nonchalant about her spell, trying to advance towards the endless ocean to freeze it.

"Well… Um," Opparu cleared his throat, picking up the two samples, "These two are polar opposites. But I was already expecting that. I am going to need at least two months. I will leave the Island tomorrow and start collecting!"

"You leaving? Why?" Lia asked, surprised again.

"These are nearly not enough for what you want!" Opparu explained, starting to get ready, shuffling around in his basement, gathering tools, and sinking them into his holding bag. "Making an alloy requires four times the raw materials than making a simple artifact! Plus, I will have to make it in a way, you can handle it afterward, crafting your sword! So, until I return, study the procedure well because I can only bring back enough stuff for two sets! You can only fail once!"

"I won't fail! You will see!" Lia answered seriously, "And I will pay you for it!"

"I know." Opparu smiled at her, "I will send the bill to your House, is that okay?"

"Sure!" She giggled, winking at him, "I can get you my Mom's panties if you want!"

"Er…" Opparu stumbled after hearing her, almost headbutting the cupboard he was about to open. "I'm good, thanks!"

"Weird," Rinzen added, but then, to both of their surprise, she fiddled under her long robe, and when her hands appeared, she was holding her striped panties. "I'll chime in. Gift." She said, watching Lia burst out laughing, holding her stomach while Opparu turned whiter than usual… that was… one of the Six who stood before him. She was now holding her underwear in her hand with a stoic face, offering it to him. This had to be a dream… no, it can't be. Even he wasn't such a man to dream about something like this.

After leaving Opparu, who was now mumbling under his breath while getting ready for his journey to visit old friends and rack in some old promises, the two were heading into town, walking around and enjoying the early autumn's fresh air.

"This feels weird." Lia giggled uncontrollably, strolling the city streets with Rinzen.

"The breeze is nice." She added as the two of them walked, and Lia sometimes fixed her skirt when the wind whistled through between her legs.

"Did anyone sign up for your class yet?"

"Some." She answered, tilting her head, watching as some students passed them, looking at her with awe. "But they are bad."

"Bad?" Lia asked, trying to figure out what she meant.

"Um. Slow. Weak spells. Lady Reyra was way better."

"Ugh, don't compare people to my mother!" Lia moaned, rolling her eyes, nudging Rinzen, "She is a monster; she said so herself!"

"But you were also strong." She countered, looking at Lia, watching her eyes.

"I am still nowhere near my mom's level… Hah, look, don't try to compare everyone to those who are one in a million! Okay? If you are going to be hard on them, they won't like you!"

"..." At that, Rinzen's eyes trembled, nodding a little, taking Lia's words to heart.

"You need to be more open… more friendly! Try smiling a little more!"

"I'll try." She said, forcing a smile onto her face.

"No… not like that. That is more of a sneer! Haaah, okay, you don't need to smile but be less… um, cold! Teach them if they come to you but don't tell them how 'bad' they are! Okay?"

"Okay."

"Good!" Lia grinned happily, "Come to me if you are unsure about something! Now… let's go and eat ice cream and sit down somewhere! I also need new underwear… being out without one feels weird… I don't like it! We can pick something nice together!"

"Okay." Rinzen agreed readily, as this was her first time to have a friend she could spend time with, and even though it did not show on her face, it was the best day of her life so far.

…
….
……

A few days later, when Rinzen was holding her first, real lesson after personally evaluating everyone who signed up, she was surprised to see Lia also appear on the training fields, carrying a wide grin and winking at her. She didn't complain at all and was glad that she was there. It wasn't apparent on her face, but she was really nervous, standing before a group of strangers, trying to speak and teach at the same time.

"You are all studying water magic." She opened her mouth in the end, scanning the diverse group, "And you all are already transformed or started to transform your mana into that of ice. But none of you managed to do it well enough."

"Don't be harsh!" Lia mouthed silently, and Rinzen quickly read her lips, adding her following words before anyone could feel she was berating them.

"Not well enough to be on the Berisons' level. I mean, not good enough… I… um, I will teach you how to do it better!" She said, getting a bit flustered, and it showed up in her tone, finally making some of them realize she was just as nervous as they were.

When she finished, she raised her hands and clapped; coldness rushed out from below her, freezing the ground in a particular pattern. Everyone quickly realized that multiple snowflake-like formations appeared on the ground, releasing bone-chilling coldness that made their bodies shiver.

"These will help you reach even colder temperatures," Rinzen explained. "Chose one and sit down on it while meditating. It will help refine your mana and tune it closer to sub-zero temperatures."

"Yes!" Lia laughed, being the first to hurry forward, looking at the different 'snowflakes' and finally choosing one that felt like it resonated with her. Stepping onto it alone was enough to make her shiver, and her breath instantly became visible to everyone to see. "Cooooooold!"

"Yes," Rinzen answered immediately, watching her sitting down and falling into a meditative trance in a flash without hesitation. The rest, seeing how Lia was already doing it, did not waver and went to work just the same. Being 4th-Year students, they couldn't let the only 3rd-Year one here outshine them.

What they didn't know was that this was not completely new to Lia. When still young, her mother used ice from the Berisons to try and calm down her rampaging, burning mana. She had the experience of accepting it into her body and letting it envelop her flowing energy. Meditating with crossed legs, a sphere of water appeared quickly before her, clear as glass, drawing Rinzen's eyes to her. The ball of water was slowly turning bluer and bluer, and with soft, cracking sounds, a thin layer of ice spread forth on its surface until it stopped flowing, becoming solid in under a minute.

"Frozen on the outside, still flowing and swirling inside," Rinzen murmured, walking closer to Lia, who was now frowning more and more. Her spell was on the verge of exploding again as its two states clashed more violently as she continued meditating. "Not cold enough."

With that ruling, Rinzen stepped onto Lia's formation, letting her powers flow into it and plunging Lia into unexpected coldness. It was as if she experienced the freezing properties of her own flame for the first time. She shivered and almost came out of meditation but stopped at the last moment, forcing herself to continue. The cracks on her ball of ice were visible to the eye, but as time passed and she calmed down, they slowly mended and disappeared as she regained her focus. Now, the mana flowing in her energy channels was as if the icy winds of a blizzard were rampaging inside her body, trying to turn her into an icicle. Her white skin became even paler, with a tinge of blue surfacing alongside her veins, looking painful and dangerous.

"C-cold…" Lia said, shivering, slowly opening her eyes, shaking off the thin layer of ice from her eyelashes. "S-s-step. B-b-back a l-l-little…” She asked, and Rinzen quickly retreated, making Lia sigh in alleviation. A moment later, pale-looking flames sprung up around her, quickly washing over her body, melting the ice, and letting her stand up as she was literally frozen to the ground. She was still holding her 'ball' in her hands while doing so, but it became, once again, filled with cracks. "Brr…"

"Sorry," Rinzen spoke, lowering her head, knowing she was carried away, trying to see if Lia could handle what was normal for her.

"N-no p-problems!" Lia smiled, still shivering, "I made b-b-big progress! Whenever I tried before, it always e-e-exploded!"

"Your mana is not cold enough," Rinzen explained, watching the ice in Lia's hand slowly turn liquid before being reabsorbed into her body.

"I know. I can't really help it." She shrugged, summoning flames around her fingers, making them dance around her body and warm her up, stopping her shiverings. "I am mainly a fire mage. I just want to learn ice-based spells because I want to understand my mixed fire and how it works." She explained in a hushed voice, "If I don't understand it, how am I going to control it?"

"Want to try again"? Rinzen asked after thinking it through. "I'll help... less. But still, help!"

"That is why I am here!" Lia grinned, winking at her, "Thanks!"

"Um." She nodded rapidly, her eyes clearly happy as she added, making Lia's smile much warmer. "That is what friends do. Help."