Every Phantom, regardless of his talent, was limited in how he could use his abilities.
Unless the ability itself allowed for some freedom of action or multiple options, a Phantom could not significantly alter his ability in any way.
Even when a Phantom learned to freely control his energy, it did not allow him to alter his abilities in any way.
If a Phantom's ability was to create a fireball, the best he could hope for was that if he put more energy into the fireball, it would become larger and more powerful. That's it.
A Phantom could not split his fireball, alter its properties, or transform the fire into another form, such as a spear.
This limitation was strict and remained in place for most of the First Circle, for every Phantom from K0 to K4 Level.
But at the K4 level, when a Phantom began to approach true power and unlocked all the locks, revealing the full power of his Evolution Tree, the situation began to change.
