It makes Ryo is much more powerful as a magician. His control of water and ice is due to understanding the scientific aspects of his element. Magicians normally GENERATE the element from magic. Which is why they are weaker.
Whenever Ryo uses an attack spell for lots of targets, it's always a multiple of two. The way he builds up to 256 mirrors the technique used by Neji Hyuga from Naruto. 1 -> 2 -> 4 -> 8 -> 16 -> 32 -> 64 -> 128 -> 256.
