The Royal Palace dungeon was cold, damp, and hostile… for a common person. But Ren wasn't common. During his two years of confinement, Ren turned the dungeon into a temple of discipline. The space was minimal, the walls rough, damp, with no ventilation or direct light. But Ren didn't see a prison: he saw a chamber of refinement. A furnace that would melt him down and remake him. And he did.
First, you have to "BREAK THE LIMIT AND REFORGE THE IRON"
Ren knew that without a body capable of withstanding the intensity of his own fire, he could never evolve his control. So he designed a brutal regimen, adapted to the cramped space of his cell:
Starting with basic strength
Three times a day, he performed an grueling cycle:
Push-ups to failure, varying styles: explosive diamond-arm one-arm incline wall push-ups.
Jump squats to build explosive power.
Back bridges to withstand the thermal tension of internal fire.
Long-duration planks, obsessively increasing the time until his muscles trembled uncontrollably.
Once the strength training was complete, he moved on to cardiovascular endurance, within a minimal space.
Since there was no room to run, Ren developed a cycle of: jump rope without rope at a fast pace, static running, intensive burpees, rhythmic sequences of alternating circular kicks to maintain the deep, constant respiratory flow required by firebending masters.
To finish, he focused on flexibility and body control.
Fire obeys the body as much as breath. Ren knew this. Every morning and every night, he practiced: dynamic stretches, hip openers, single-leg balance exercises for entire minutes, isolated control of specific muscles to withstand sudden thermal changes.
His body stopped being that of an average human: it became compact, precise, like a weapon made for a single purpose: to contain extreme energy without breaking.
Once his physique had undergone that brutal training, it was time to continue with the elemental training. This is where the true metamorphosis began.
In his first life, he had briefly studied physics, which led him to an interest in the exact sciences, and he also studied: thermodynamics and plasma theory. In this life, he knew the flow of vital energy, the Qi, and the traditional fire dance. In his isolation, he finally united both worlds.
THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMATION: FROM FIRE TO PLASMA WASN'T EASY
First, he would have to properly understand fire. With that in mind, Ren mentally reviewed what he knew: Fire is not an object, but a process, the visible manifestation of rapid oxidation. Its temperature and color change according to energy: orange → yellow → white → blue → plasma.
But that was pure physics. Firebending worked differently: what he manipulated wasn't oxidation, but vital energy converted into elemental combustion.
So he asked the key question: "If I can raise my internal energy, why couldn't I force the fire beyond combustion and bring it to the plasma state?"
And that was the spark.
After compressing and consolidating his knowledge, it was time to break the barriers of fire.
Ren began experimenting from the basics:
Thermal Compression
While firebending masters increase their temperature by expanding the flame, Ren did the opposite: compact and compress the energy to an almost microscopic point before releasing it. This required: extremely slow and deep breathing, absolute control of the diaphragm, synchronization with the heartbeat, subtle but firm internal tension in the abdomen and solar plexus.
At first, he only managed a brighter flame. But it wasn't enough.
The next step was Conscious Ionization
He remembered: "Plasma is gas so energized that its atoms lose electrons." So he experimented with complex visualizations: he imagined the electrons detaching, he visualized heat not as a flame, but as an accelerated vibration of particles, he forced the flow of Qi to generate internal micro-explosions of energy that simulated ionization.
The first attempt ended in a faint. The second, in vomiting and dizziness. The tenth, his hand was numb for three days. But he persisted.
His efforts gradually showed progress, so he continued with Internal Energy Transfer.
Through prolonged breathing, Ren learned to "hold" heat within his body and then transfer it to a focal point, usually his palms or fingers. That unnaturally retained heat began to behave differently: it became stable, heavy, almost solid.
When he achieved that, he felt ecstatic. And finally, it happened: the first white spark.
It took months. One night, exhausted, hungry, desperate, he channeled his energy with more precision than ever: without rage, without tension, without fear. And it happened.
A white flame—small, just a few centimeters—emerged from his index finger. It didn't emit heat, but a faint, buzzing vibration. And when he touched a stone on the floor…
The stone didn't burn: it disintegrated into fine powder, as if it had been erased.
Ren stared at it in silence, completely understanding what he had achieved: His fire was no longer fire. It was matter in its most extreme state. It was plasma.
After resting and recovering a proper mental state, only total mastery remained.
—"THE FLAME THAT DOESN'T BURN"
Over the following months, he perfected the technique: he increased the plasma's stability, learned to generate it without harming his body, refined his concentration to maintain it without losing control, and decreased the internal vibration to prevent the plasma from destroying what it shouldn't.
Finally, he managed to form a white halo around his hand without his skin being injured. He had created something that had never before existed in the Fire Nation...