In years to come, Roy Mustang would be noted as one of the most effective alchemists in the military to have when it came to combat. His flame alchemy was a secret only he possessed, and it was swift, powerful and deadly. Very few could go up against the flame alchemist and live to tell the tale.

However, the truth of the matter was, that flame alchemy was the only form of alchemy Roy Mustang had ever been truly successful at.

"You drew the diagram wrong." Berthold Hawkeye sighed, after Roy had continuously pressed his hands on a circle waiting for a reaction.

"What? Where?" Roy exclaimed. He looked at the example his master had drawn for him, and then back at his own version.

Hawkeye knelt down over the circle. "You're missing the seven pointed star in the lines." He explained as he drew over the version correcting the error. Berthold stood up and gave Roy a stern look.

"You need to be able to copy each and every aspect of the circle swiftly and precisely."

Roy flinched at the harshness in his master's tone. "Right, I'll try harder sir."

Hawkeye stared at the boy a moment longer before handing him a stack of papers.

"Practice each of these tonight until you can do all of them by heart in under thirty seconds."

"Yes sir." Roy answered obediently. Internally however, he felt a gloomy darkness descend over him when he thought about memorizing everyone of the circles. It looked like he was going to be coming home late again. He waited until his master left the room to release a heavy sigh.

"Alright let's see…" He grumbled as he picked up the first circle on the sheet. It didn't look overly complicated. It was a pentagon with a few different lines here and there. Roy picked up his pen and began copying it down on his own sheet of paper. His pressed his hands down once he had finished.

"Why isn't anything happening?" He wondered. He picked up the circle and looked again.

"You want lunch?"

Roy's sudden jump was high enough to get himself knocked out of his chair. Riza raised an eyebrow. "Calm down it's just me."

"Hi…" Roy mumbled picking himself off the floor and re-gathering his circles.

"It's getting late, do you want lunch?" Riza asked again.

"No that's ok." Roy sighed. "I need to finish this." Riza watched as Roy placed his hands on the paper and tried to get a reaction.

"Are you an alchemist?" He asked her absentmindedly as he began re-copying the circle.

"No, it's more of my dad's line of work." Riza explained. She watched Roy place his palms on the paper again and try once more.

"Here I think there's a line missing right here." Riza explained. She pointed to Roy's paper.

Roy grabbed the example and looked over it again, then back at the circle. "Oh you're right." He realized. He re-drew the circle and pressed his hands down again.

This time, to Roy's astonishment the circle sparked a little. "I-I think I got a reaction." He stuttered happily, showing Riza his achievement.

"Here try it again." She suggested, pulling out more paper.

This time Roy came up with a strategy to work from the inside out so as not to miss any lines. Riza proof checked his circle to make sure everything was in place.

"Ok here it goes." Roy pressed the circle and a few sparks sputtered up from the paper. It was definitely a reaction, but not a full on transmutation. Roy concentrated as hard as he could and tried to circulate all of his energy into the circle.

Suddenly there was a loud bang that shook the house and caused a couple outside to stop and look for the source of the noise.

"What happened?" Berthold Hawkeye shouted as he came running out of his study. He stopped when he saw a black cloud of smoke emulating from the living room. He narrowed his eyes and heaved a tremendous sigh before heading in. Riza stood there looking very shocked and ash all over her face. Roy looked equally surprised. The sleeves on his shirt were burnt and a few patches of his eyebrows were missing.

"I-I got a reaction master…" He stammered fearfully.

"I can see that Roy."

It was quiet for a moment, as neither Riza nor Roy could find anything adequate to say.

"How about we take a break from the training for today?" Hawkeye suggested flatly.

"Sorry master." Roy squeaked.

A/N: Since it is never specified exactly where Riza lived as a child I decided to put her a few miles outside of central. So it's basically like a smaller closer Risembool you're picturing here. Roy Mustang isn't living there, but he spends must of his time training there. Also if you are wondering, it is an actual fact that Roy really can't do much alchemy besides the flame attacks his master came up with. Which is why everyone says he is useless. XD