Training with his Flames is always… interesting. At first, the new teachers were focused on ensuring he didn't destroy everything in sight. It wasn't all that difficult. Fon has always kept a tight lid on his reactions. Once the teachers realize he has the control to shut down his Flames, they work on igniting them on command instead of being triggered by outside forces. At first, it seemed the only way to activate them was a threat to Mei. They were called Dying Will Flames for a reason. The only thing in existence that he would protect with his Dying Will was Mei. Not a classmate or Sifu or even himself. Even suffering extreme physical pain, Fon just didn't consider important enough. Learning to tap into that mindset and those emotions was surprisingly easy.
Once he realized it what he was feeling he could reach it reliably, almost like a switch in his head. The teachers had seemed surprised that is was a protect-at-all-costs thing and not a destroy-what-opposes-me thing. Fon would feel insulted if he A) cared and B) had the energy. Using Flames takes a lot out of him, but his stamina increases with practice. Soon, he can use his Storm Flames for hours on end before he collapses.
Eventually he starts playing around with more creative uses for his Flames. In his regular training, he is learning to dodge bullets. The exercise uses what are essentially bb pellets, fired at slowly increasing speeds. While he is not yet skilled enough for a bullet's speed, Fon has made decent progress. He tried to use his Flames during practice once and discovered that he can vaporize any projectiles within five feet of himself, but it is incredibly draining. Incidentally, Fon has found it fairly easy to vaporize projectiles that have hit him and lodged under his skin.
That is what inspires him to try using Flames against poison. It is definitely a bad idea, but Fon has long given up on meals prepared by anyone else. He doesn't know if it is jealousy or fear or something else entirely, but the poisoning attempts didn't stop when his Flames activated. As much as he enjoys cooking, it would be nice to eat something that he didn't have to put work into making. The first few attempts go poorly; the food vaporizes in his mouth. Spitting ash out is both disgusting and undignified. He is glad that he experiments in private; Mei would never let him live this down. After a few – more careful – attempts he thinks he has it down. It is something like a Flame meditation. Fon still avoids most cooking but his own, but he tries out the technique at least once a day. After two months, there is a particularly busy week where he doesn't have time to cook for anyone but Mei. Fainting during his afternoon training is incredibly embarrassing.
Consultation with the doctors determines he is underweight and suffering from malnutrition. Apparently, he didn't just burn the poison out of the food; he burned out the calories and nutrients. It takes a couple days before they let him out of Medical. Sifu looks after Mei during that time, even though she insists she doesn't need it. Once he gets out, Mei and Sifu make certain he eats and keep him from experimenting. It takes a while to convince them to allow him even supervised Flame training. Mostly he meditates.
It is actually the meditation that gives him the breakthrough he needs. One of his meditation techniques consists of sitting and assessing how his body feels. He can tell if his blood sugar is low or if he's dehydrated, if he may catch a cold soon or if he is going to develop bruises from training. It is a meditation he has neglected lately, to his chagrin. Maybe he would have noticed his Flame technique wasn't working properly. He meditates and considers how his body feels. Concentrating on the dietary supplements he was given was interesting. The way they flowed through him and affected him taught him what nutrients should feel like.
Once he had a good sense for it, he applied his Flames to anything that didn't affect him like nutrients should. It was difficult and took a lot of concentration. When he slipped up – it happened less and less as he practiced – he fell back into burning everything out of his system. That had actually become a worrisome reflex. When he was stressed and hadn't made the food, Sifu and Mei had to remind him not to do it. But he had learned to burn away poisons! It took a couple months of (carefully supervised) practice, but he could do it with barely a thought.
