Measured steps carried Valthar through the dimly lit tunnels inside Lamia’s Burrow.

  Although it was already night time one of the maids had confirmed Mikayla’s presence in her office, which was unsurprising since the type of business offered in Lamia’s Burrow tended to get busier as night drew on.

  Soon he stood in front of a dark wood door, on it a large wolf carved right in the middle, imposing in appearance and made of the same silvery metal that seemed to adorn every corner of this city.

  Valthar stood there for a second before knocking on it lightly.

  “Come in.” Mikayla ordered from the other side of the door.

  With a light twist and push the door opened smoothly, its hinges unencumbered by the cold air that filled these tunnels.

  Mikayla sat crosslegged on a mat right in the middle of the room, her face neutral but her silver eyes almost dripped with disdain.

  Valthar walked in and half kneeled, not surprising it still felt very weird for him to be on the commoner side of this social tradition.

  Silence stretched long, before Mikayla's bored voice echoed through the room.

  “Thought you at least take a day before coming to beg for mercy, but go on, beg well enough and I’ll consider not washing your mouth with soap.”

  Valthar frowned a little, he wouldn't fail… and even IF he failed he would rather be punished for his inability than to beg for mercy.

  “I didn't come here for mercy Lady Mikayla, I’m close to figuring it all out I just…” Valthar’s hands squeezed by his side as his tone grew weaker. “I just need your help with a small thing.”

  “My help?.” Mikayla scoffed. "I can't do miracles, that man is a corpse and you’re a cocky dumbass for betting on something before even looking.”

  Mikayla shot him a mocking glance and Valthar gulped in response.

  “I'm serious, I just need a mage with the darkness element to scan Damian’s body and tell me what they saw, with just that I know I can cure him.” Valthar's eyes locked on to hers, his words solid as a stone, even if his actual confidence stood on a pile of sand and assumptions.

  Mikayla’s eyes narrowed, such an ask for her was simpler than Valthar would ever have guessed, yet precisely because of that she doubted his words even more.

  If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

  “Is that really all you need, worm? Just like earlier it was ‘obvious you could cure him’?” A fulltoothed smile bloomed on her lips.

  Valthar’s eyes fell to the ground and a small blush crawled up his neck.

  Miakayla licked her lips, before getting up and walking closer.

  “Aaawn, don’t grow quiet on me now ‘healer’.” She kicked the side of his leg just hard enough to sting. “Don’t be shy and say that again, is that really going to be enough?”

  Valthar's nails dug into his palm as hesitation spread through his system, at the end of the day he doubted himself too.

  “I… I’m not sure.” Valthar said through gritted teeth. “But I know it might be enough, so please help me.”

  “It won’t be enough and you’re a fool for even hoping it does, but I’ll humor your pathetic struggle.” Mikayla looked down at him. “I scanned him already, dark mana has integrated deeply in Damian's blood and bones, so much so that when I tried to forcefully take it out of his system his body started to collapse instead of letting go, he is done and the only reason he lasted till now is thanks to the darkness element knight breathing method he practices.”

  Hearing those words Valthar's eyes grew wide as a sudden connection fired in his brain.

  A knight breathing method was a way for those with weaker elemental affinities to grow physically stronger while also slightly improving their affinity to a specific element.

  It worked by spreading the mana one breathed in from the air throughout the whole the body, a task directly opposite to gathering the mana around the heart like mages normally did.

  Compared to forming a mana ring to become a knight was both slower and more physically consuming, requiring one to constantly push one’s body to its limit before each session of breathing.

  All this to say that normally anyone with a good enough elemental affinity would become a mage before ever cultivating such a method to a significant level...

  There was however one caveat to such a thing, a detail found by ancestors in the Manaborn family while searching for a way to improve the elemental affinities of the future generations.

  When someone with a good affinity to an element cultivates a similarly aspected element breathing method before forming a mana ring their body would change drastically, their body would merge with the element and significantly increase their elemental affinity.

  At first it seemed very promising, but very soon the research found a problem, once the elemental merge was done their path as a mage was cut forever, since any elemental mana that entered their body would be evenly distributed automatically without forming a mana ring.

  Add to that the non-negligible risk of death even with the best healers watching and the whole project became one of the many failed experiments that filled the walls of the family’s magical library, a warning for every young member of the family never to cultivate knight breathing methods too deeply before forming their mana ring.

  After so much thought Valthar was sure, what Damian had wasn’t darkness mana poisoning, but instead a half baked elemental merger stuck just shy of completion.

  A relieved sigh escaped Valthar’s lips, for a moment there he had thought this whole visit would have been just another dead end, who knew this wolf girl would just end up handing him exactly the piece of the puzzle he lacked.

  “Why are you smiling bastard?” Mikayla’s confused voice pulled Valthar out of his reverie.