"First, let me grab some materials. I don't want to waste my mana," Ana said.

She crouched under the table, and after a few seconds of clinking glass sounds, she placed an empty bottle on the table. Then, she grabbed a small wooden bowl, inside, a thick, solid piece of wood. Opening her item box, she pulled out a small blue crystal—a Daimoniki core, Mav assumed. She wrapped the core in cloth, placed it on the table, and picked up the thick wood from the bowl. With a swift, practiced motion, she smashed the wrapped core hard, the sharp sound of impact echoing through the room. The core shattered into shards. Without hesitation, she dumped the fragments into the bowl and began grinding them further with the wood. After a few minutes, the once solid crystal was now a fine blue powder.

She reached for a cone-shaped piece of paper and carefully positioned it into the neck of the empty bottle. She poured the powder into the funnel, tapping the paper to make sure none of the dust remained. Then, she grabbed another container filled with clear liquid—water, Mav presumed—and slowly added it to the bottle. As the water and powder mixed, the liquid took on a shimmering blue hue, swirling like juice, though the metallic smell that rose from it was far from appetizing.

"You ready?" Ana asked, her hands hovering over the bottle.

"Yes, go ahead. You can cast your skill, and I'll follow with mine," Mav replied.

"Alright. Here we go—Blue Creation," Ana said.

A soft blue flame flickered to life inside the bottle, its tendrils licking the glass. The flame's glow intensified, refracting through the curved surface of the bottle and casting an ethereal blue light around the room. A low crackling sound filled the air, the kind that reminded Mav of a fire slowly consuming wood. The brightness of the flame captured his attention completely.

He stared in awe, mesmerized by the dance of light. He nearly forgot his own role in the process until Ana gently nudged him with a smile, clearly proud of the effect her skill had on him.

"Dark Ascension," Mav whispered, snapping back to reality.

A surge of darkness enveloped the blue flames, smothering their light in a blanket of shadows. The dark flames twisted and curled around the blue, as if they were embracing one another. As the flames melded together, a notification flashed before Mav's eyes:

Different Flame Type Detected.

Detecting Flame Type...

Blue Flame Detected.

A sense of nostalgia washed over Mav. "How familiar," he thought. But then, a thought crossed his mind, and his eyes widened with surprise. "Wait... could it actually work on someone else?" His heart raced as he glanced at Ana. But his reverie was quickly interrupted by another message.

Error. Unable to Use Dark Ascension.

Maximum Affinity Required For At Least One Flame on Ascension Target.

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Mav's brow furrowed in confusion. "What?" he thought, scanning the message again to make sure he hadn't misread it. The words finally sank in.

"I see... So, for the ascension to work, the flame has to have a maximum affinity," he murmured. "But then why did it work on me when I only had basic affinities?" His mind raced, piecing together the logic. "Wait... my Dark Flame does have maximum affinity. So, maybe one of the flames involved must need to be at maximum for it to succeed?"

"Master, what’s your affinity with the Dark Flame?" Mav asked, glancing at Ana.

"Hmmm, zero, I think?" Ana replied, her hands still hovering over the glowing bottle.

Mav nodded to himself. "I was right, then," he thought. Just as he was about to cancel his skill, another notification popped up.

New Skill: Dark Rewrite Obtained.

Unable to Use Dark Rewrite. Insufficient Level.

Current Level: 191. Required Level: 300.

Mav's eyes widened. "A new skill? Dark Rewrite? Rewrite... But what could it rewrite? Don't tell me... Flame affinities?" His heart raced at the thought. "If that’s true... If I can really manipulate affinities... Then we might actually stand a chance against that monster. But first, I’ll need to reach the required level."

He looked up at Ana and spoke, "I'm sorry, Master, it didn’t work this time."

Ana gave a light shrug. "That’s fine. At least I didn’t waste any mana." She smiled, lifting the newly created mana potion, its faint blue glow still pulsing.

Mav smiled back. "But don’t lose hope. I just need to level up a bit more. Once I do, we might still be able to make it work. Just keep this between us, alright?"

Ana gave him a reassuring nod. "Of course. You can trust me, Mav. I’ve told you that before."

"Yeah, I know." He said, smiling. "By the way, do you know of anyone else, aside from your guild leader, who has maximum affinity with a flame?" he asked.

Ana tapped her chin in thought. "Well, all the guild leaders have maximum affinity with their guild’s flame," she said.

Her lips curled into a playful smile. "You said you’re going to meet with the Red Flame Guild leader, right?"

"Yeah. Why?" Mav asked, sensing something in her tone.

"Ask him to show you his affinities when you meet," Ana said, her smile widening.

Mav raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"You'll see. I don’t want to ruin the surprise," she teased.

"Alright, if you say so." Mav said, deciding to let it go for now.

Ana glanced at the clock, her stomach growling softly. "It’s almost noon. I bet you're hungry by now—I know I am. Why don’t you grab us some grilled meat? My treat."

Mav grinned. "You know, my view of you has really changed today, master. I thought you were just some stingy lady, but turns out you're actually pretty generous."

Ana rolled her eyes and gave him a light punch on the arm. "Oh, shut up before I change my mind."

Mav laughed and pocketed the money she handed him. He bought two portions of grilled meat from a street vendor, remembering with a pang of guilt that he had promised to buy something from this vendor on his second visit to the capital. His guilt didn’t last long, though, as the smell of the grilled meat quickly took over.

When he returned, Ana had already set out plates and utensils. They ate in comfortable silence, and when they finished, Mav offered to wash the dishes. Ana, unsurprisingly, accepted without hesitation, joking about how convenient it was to have an assistant.

As Mav finished drying the last dish, he leaned back against the counter, watching Ana work on potions again. "How often do people come here for healing like they did earlier?" he asked.

Ana didn’t look up from her work as she answered. "Not very often. Maybe once a week. Sometimes people come with minor illnesses, mostly the wealthy ones. I usually refer them to other Blue Flame users with lower affinities—they can handle the smaller issues, and it helps them with their own business. But the serious cases, like the one earlier? Those, I deal with personally."

Mav frowned. "So just hanging out here won’t help me level up my skills faster?"

"Probably not," Ana said with a smirk. "But since you offered to help, I’m not going to say no—it makes my life easier." She paused, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "But... I think I know a place where you could level up faster."

Mav paused his work, his eyes lighting up with excitement. "Where?"