He finished preparing the ingredients and placed the pot into his fireplace, giving her a smile. "It’s alright, Seira. You’re doing all you can. By the way, could I get a little help with this fire?"

"Oh, mhm!" She put out her hand, shooting a stream of flames into the opening. "There you go. Nice and hot."

“Perfect. Now, the elixir…” He walked back to his table, picking up the glowing white fluid.

“Yeah! Will it get you to the First Level?”

“Well, it’s not that simple, but that’s the gist of it. Before I use it, though, could you test it out? It should be less volatile than normal fire mana, so you shouldn't have any problems controlling it."

"I'm hearing a lot of shoulds in there," she said with a smirk.

"Yes, well, I'm treading new ground with this elixir. All my research points to the compound being safe, and I've done extensive tests on less potent versions, but I understand if —"

"Kiro, I was just teasing! I trust you." Seira took the vial from him, removing the cork with her teeth. "How much should I drink?"

He grabbed another sheet of parchment and sat down next to her. "Just try a little for now."

"Alright. Here goes!" She tilted the potion, letting a couple drops fall to her tongue. "It's… different from a normal mana elixir. It's weaker, but not like it's diluted. The mana itself is calmer."

He furiously scribbled notes onto the parchment. “Good, good. That’s exactly what it should feel like.”

“Mmm. Circulating it through now.” She closed her eyes, adopting a cultivating position.

A few minutes passed, and they sat in silence as she finished processing the elixir. Finally, she opened her eyes, and he looked at her. “Did it pass through your channels smoothly? Did it do anything weird to your existing mana?”

"Kiro…"

He dropped his notes, grabbing her in a panic. "Seira! Did something go wrong? Are you ok?"

She laughed, hugging him. "No, silly! It's amazing!”

He let out a relieved sigh, poking her in the side. “Heavens, you scared me for a second. How so?”

She lifted the rest of the elixir, letting its glow wash over her. "It's weak, but you don't need anything strong just yet. If you just made a lot of them… Yeah, this will definitely do. And I swear, normal elixirs just don't compare to this one. It’s almost like the mana wants to help me! Can you show me how you did it?"

“Of course. You already know about how the fire releases from the crimson lotus, and how the heat of the burner agitates the dayspore into action, but the real interesting part happens after the frostfrond...”

Suddenly, Seira sat up, looking out the window.

He followed her gaze, taking in the beautiful mix of red and orange that dotted the sky. “Oh, it’s already almost sunset. I think the soup might have boiled over, but —”

“Eek! Sorry Kiro, I gotta go! I totally forgot I have to be somewhere at dusk!”

He turned towards her, but she was already out the door, sprinting away. How strange. The Hong almost never arranged meetings at night.

He chuckled, moving to take his soup off the fire. That was just part of being the clan genius, he supposed.