Now that he thought of it being stronger than he already was had never really been something that crossed his mind much. Like everyone, human and preternatural being alike, there have been times where he did wish he was stronger. Power was a great temptation that was not easily resisted by even the purest of hearts. Even now sometimes he wished he had the power to get his grandfather to listen to him whenever they got into disagreements, that way he wouldnâ€™t end up in the horribly wounded state he had been in a few hours ago.  Before he had the control over his magic that he does now Nikolai has done some strange things with griffin magic. Sometimes it drew attention, and he has learned to be careful. But if he could combine magic, which was a new concept to him, maybe it wouldnâ€™t be a bad thing.<br/><br/>Maybe he would be stronger than his grandfather. He also wondered if some of the older, more powerful mages that were in the clan were aware of such a thing.<br/><br/>Nikolai gazed at his hand, his expression completely focused, relaxed. Fire was possibly one of if not the most essential element in phoenix magic; they were beings of fire after all, despite their rather majestic appearance they were a force to be reckoned with. It has been said that some of the most powerful phoenixes could draw heat from anywhere as long as it was there including their own bodies if need be and he believed that. She did say that he needed to become the fire in a sense in order to manipulate it. And that, in a sense, was similar to griffin magic, which focused on quite a bit of concentrating. So he glanced over towards the fireplace, eyeing it with the same amount of focus, and concentrated on â€˜becoming the fireâ€™.<br/><br/>He subtly began to move his index finger, coaxing the flame to listen to him in a sense. Nothing happened at first, as he had expected, but soon the fire began to dance a bit more. He was the puppeteer, the fire was his marionette, and the fireplace was the stage. She was his audience â€“the judge that would decide if his show was poor or if he was doing well. Nikolai couldnâ€™t completely draw it out but nevertheless this was a small accomplishment. He was still quite proud of himself for not burning anything. A satisfied smile crept on his lips slowly though it was somewhat short lived. He did not want to lose focus and accidentally lose control of the flame. With his exceptional ability of magic control he didnâ€™t worry about that too much but this was his first time manipulating fire.<br/><br/>Fire was a dangerous thing, pretty much goes without saying.<br/><br/>There was also slight hesitation though he did well to keep it completely hidden. He may have been a quick learner but he shouldnâ€™t rush things even if he werenâ€™t wounded. Slow and steady. It was always better to be safe than sorry after all. Finally, he looked to her, â€œSo, do I get an A for effort?â€ He asked with an awkward smile, holding his hand as still as he could while he spoke in case he accidentally lost focus and burned something.