“Why did you have to go and say that?” Seira whined. “I could have just picked you up and left.”

“Supervisor Ba would have recognized you, and then she would have beat me for disrespecting someone of a higher rank. I know you hate pulling rank on people, but I would rather not have both my arms twisted into corkscrews. Anyways, I actually have a hair regrowth salve I’d like to test on you.”

“Cool! That sounds really advanced. You should tell me the theory behind it while we go through it.”

“I’m flattered. How are you doing though? I’ll need a bit to prepare the elixir, so you can tell me about your week while we wait.”

“Fine, but first you need to tell me about yours.”

“Seira, you know what the harvests are like. Your visit is the most entertainment I’ve had at work all week. How’s the family?”

“Oh, it’s actually funny you mention it. Mom managed to find an untapped source of fire mana. She spent so long inside that we half thought she was dead, but when she came out she was at the 8th Level. I think she’s at her promotion right now, actually.”

“Amazing,” he said in a deadpan voice. Suddenly, the elixir was looking far more interesting.

She hugged him, placing a hand on his shoulder.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to bring her up. Forget I said anything, kay?”

“Sure.”

He shook his head, trying to stop thinking about her. That wasn’t necessarily difficult, considering he hardly remembered a single conversation with her. He had been kicked out of the household for as long as he could remember, and though Seira wanted to bring him back in, she couldn’t contradict her orders.

After all, their mother was still the source of many of her resources. If Seira confronted her, she would lose her best chance at making it to Elder. And as much as it pained him to admit it, her path to Elder was more important than anything he could offer.

While he worked on the salve, Seira told him of the rest of her life. It was mostly mundane, or at least what she considered mundane. Setting a new record on a centuries-old test, besting multiple Warriors in single combat, having a gaggle of mystics twice her age swarming to listen to her teachings, all of that was everyday for her. To him, it was like reading something out of a legend. If he hadn’t been exposed to it since the day of his birth, he might have been in awe. Instead, he just smothered the sparks of jealousy and took the time to appreciate how much effort the Saints must have put into making her.

Yes, se was succeeding in a manner that far outstripped anything he could hope to accomplish, but it wasn’t really fair to compare themselves to each other. They walked two different paths, so to speak. Plus, it wasn’t as if he wasn’t progressing. If nothing went wrong, he’d be able to buy his own place in a few months. His latest experiment was also coming along far faster than he’d expected, and he took great pride in explaining the intricacies to her.

“And despite the opposing aspects, the mana purifies, and actually gets stronger!” he enthused, waving his hands around in an attempt to express the gravity of his discovery.

Seira’s jaw fell.

“I knew it!” She cried, tackling him in a hug. “You can cultivate now, no matter what the clan says!”

“Well, it’s not that simple, but that’s the gist of it.”

“You’ll need to let me see how this happens sometime. That sounds extremely applicable to combat too. When there’s a heavy aura of frost or water nearby, it’s a lot harder to manifest flame because the surrounding mana works to counteract it. If I could somehow use that to my advantage, I could create an entirely new field of study!”

“I’d hope you wouldn’t forget your beloved brother when that happens,” he quipped.

“Of course not. I know you’re joking, but this could be a way for you to be officially promoted to Torch. Not that you’d need it now, after this discovery, but still.”

“Anyways, I’m done with the elixir. Come over here.”

She undid her ponytail, her red and black hair falling over her eyes.

Shaking the still-warm concoction, he gently poured a few drops onto the inflamed area. The bright red fluid was quickly absorbed into the skin, and Seira let out a startled gasp.

“Woah. I can feel the mana in my body working to heal it, even though it’s fire aspected. How did you do that?”

“It’s a similar application to my mana elixir. When I found out that the opposing aspects, when combined right, would leave a net positive, it led me to theorize on the properties of mana as a whole. I’m still not one hundred percent sure how it works, but some interaction between the aspects in the herbs manages to transform your mana. It’s probably not fire aspected anymore, but I think it’s taking advantage of fire’s connection with nourishment.”

“Of course! Our bodies require warmth, and without fire we wouldn’t be able to cook food. I suppose that because of this, fire aspected mana can still be converted to something that can heal, albeit slowly.”

“Exactly! I think that if I could find out more about this sub-aspect of fire, I could try and make a consumable version that doesn’t rely on your mana to heal. When I tried it on myself, it took a lot longer to take effect, probably because of how weak my mana is.

“Wow. Look at you, sir alchemist. That old Torch Meng must really be teaching you things, huh?”

“Yeah. I was actually supposed to go to the gardens with him today. He must be ill, though, because he wasn’t supervising at all.”

“Huh. That’s interesting. You’d think that he’d have some herbs to cure any sickness he might contract.”

They laughed. Suddenly, Seira sat up, looking out the window. The sky shone a beautiful mix of red and orange, the last gifts of the setting sun. Wow. The potion must have taken a lot longer than he’d thought to make, but talking with Seira always made time fly.

“Beautiful sky, isn’t-”

“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 clan never arranged meetings at night. The only people that were even awake were the Elders in the Tower, and even they would take it in shifts so as to get adequate sleep. Whatever. That was just part of being the clan genius, he supposed.