A couple things, first, good job at getting this tree healthy. Most plants, that make it to the dollar sale point, have been abused beyond possible survival. So you have done well getting it healthy. And you have done well learning the pattern of care that spruce need.
I agree with all the comments of
@ghues - I would do pretty much the same things.
One additional thought. Branches look best if on the outside of curves. Consider removing the branch bender, and move it down so that the lowest hook is just below the first branch. Then reapply pressure, just as you have it above. This will move the bend a bit lower, and make the first branch look more like it is on the outside of a curve. It is what I would consider doing, getting the bend a little lower. Then as suggested above, after the curve has set, move the bender up and create a bend in the opposite direction. Bolt upright, rigidly straight trunk segments are not good except for formal uprights and limited other styles.
Roots. Myself I would have planted the spruce much deeper. I would have planted it so there is no "air gap" under the roots. If you replant it deeper, at the next appropriate for your climate repotting season, the roots might still be young enough that in a few years, new roots will develop and you can create a flat, radial root system. If you keep it as is, the roots will bark up to the point where you will be forever doomed to having a trunk sitting on top of a volcano of irregular, ugly roots. At least that is my sense of aesthetics, when it comes to exposing roots. A radial array of roots, like spokes of a wheel, just barely exposed, so that no more than the top third of a root is visible, is what I like to see. Or I want exaggerated exposed roots where the roots are attractively arranged and the tree is perched some distance above the media on attractive roots. The current potting is too high in my book. The nebari of trees in development should be buried at least 1/2 inch or 1.25 cm for the first 5 to 10 years of development. Exposing the roots is only something done for older, mature, well developed bonsai.
However the "root thing" is my personal taste. There are a vocal group on here that love the "ugly volcano". Though I think the more experienced of these vocal proponents of "root volcanos" are just trying to justify their trees that have aged passed the point of being able to be fixed. They are disappointed by the "meh" acceptance of their "volcano root" trees.
But I really like the "good start" you have, or I would have not taken the time to reply. This trees is nice, and the work suggested above by GHues, will help it move forward.
