The winter was once again at the doorstep. Today Sirius did not go to his own lab, but stayed in the church, in his old lab. He was waiting for the arrival of the Inquisitor. he gathered everything he used since he began building his hut and doing his research in seclusion, even bringing some demonstrations to show off a bit, hoping to impress him. Time and time again he walked around the room, checking if there is anything else he could show.

"Are you nervous?" Asked Father Gregor, while reading a book.

"Not really, I upheld my part of the deal, maybe even invented something new. In any case, I don't think I will offend him." He looked around the room and plopped down on a chair. "At least I hope so."

"Really? Care to explain?" Gregor closed the book and leaned forward a bit.

"Well, I might have found another way to cast magic without an astral body."

"And you are saying that now!?"

"Wait, wait! Let me tell you. It takes a great deal of practice to use and needs the user to perceive mana. Therefore, I at least hope to amuse the Inquisitor."

"If you say so..."

"If I will, I'll add another notch on near-death counter."

"On what!?"

The door opened and the Emissary led the Inquisitor inside. Everyone stood up and bowed.

"Greetings, Silver Brother."

"Greetings, Priest Gregor, Pupil Sirius. I see your research was fruitful."

"It is true. Can we begin the demonstration?" Impatiently asked Sirius.

"Sure."

Sirius began with the least interesting in his opinion and began describing his creations and discoveries. He told that he had found out more herbal magic interactions, as well as some of the possible applications. Regrettably, to Sirius they did not seem that much of an importance, like softening the wood, or making the water boil. All this time Inquisitor was silent. When Sirius description of alchemical discoveries came to an end, the Inquisitor spoke.

"You said that the applications impact is minor."

"Right."

"I must correct you. At least the boiling water can be used as a weapon if spilt on a person in rain. Additionally, it can be used in trenches to boil water without fire at times of war. I can imagine much more applications that you have missed, but I will leave that to mages of the Order."

"Thank you for your insight, Your Holiness!" Sirius bowed, truly grateful. "Shall we continue?"

Then, Sirius began listing the more amusing inventions. Levitation diagrams, clay-based permanent diagrams, embedded into the pottery, alembic for quick distillation, everlasting jug, heating and cooling pots for food storage, mana-impervious vials for storing potent herbs. Each invention made the Inquisitor nod a little in approval. The everlasting jug was indeed a noteworthy creation in the eyes of the Inquisitor, since he even praised Sirius for that.

"This is the point when I would like to ask you something, Silver Inquisitor." Seriously said Sirius.

"Ask away."

"The following two discoveries might be a rather important ones. For that reason I am asking to carefully judge the validity of my claims."

"I will." Nodded the Inquisitor. "Show me what you found."

"The first of the two is the healing properties of the World Tree leaves." Sirius brought the jar full of leaves. He took out a small knife and sliced his left palm a little, drawing some blood. Then he took a small leaf and dropped it into the mortar and sprinkled with his blood. "I believe this discovery will make Rivervale a medical centre in the future, meaning the tree itself must be protected. When a leaf is minced into a paste along with some blood of the owner of the wound, it becomes a powerful cure." Sirius poured the paste onto his arm, as it covered the palm in a clear green crystal.

"That I was aware of. The Silver Sister informed me of your interactions with convict Arthur." Said Inquisitor while looking at the healing process through the glassy surface.

"I thought so." Nodded Sirius. "The reason I am telling you all that once again, is I am not aware of the limits of the healing properties. Additionally, I might need to inform you of the source of the Tree." Sirius finished the sentence and removed the crystal from his palm.

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"Tell me." Now Inquisitor was really interested.

"Master Verden, before he became a man of the church, was a druid. They have a tradition of creating a spell they would use at the end of their lives, or when in mortal danger. Since my master was a healer, I believe it became a foundation of his Final Flash. This is the source of the healing properties of the tree."

"That is a valuable intel, Pupil Sirius."

"I am saying that because I believe with enough research, healing magic might be possible."

The room fell silent. Healing was thought to be impossible, or stuff from the legends, so even the sliver of probability that the concept might exist was dangerous.

"For that reason, I would like to ask you not to study the World Tree itself. Not only you could damage it and lose the only link to healing magic, my lab that I built myself relies on the vast amounts of energy the Tree provides. Can you promise me that? In return I will provide the excess of the leaves, reserved for the church's needs."

After a moment of thought, Inquisitor answered. "I promise."

"Thank you, Silver Inquisitor. Now I would like you to promise not to kill me straight away on the next discovery." That phrase made everyone tense.

Sirius did not wait for the answer. Instead he took out two inconspicuous wooden rods with metal caps. He moved a candle on a stand in the middle of the room and took both of the rods in his hands. He focused.

With his mind he felt the mana around him, but he did not touch it, did not control like he would have liked to. Instead he moved his right hand holding the rod with large lead ball at the end. Its heavy movement made the mana in the air move, as it resisted the flow of energy through the metal. With his left hand Sirius moved the wand with silver orb in front of himself and began stirring the air. He continued to stir in circular motion, as his right hand brought more and more mana closer to the rotating clump. When Sirius felt that it was enough, he stopped stirring and gently pushed the clump with his right wand. And... the candle lit up.

"What was that..." Blurted out Gregor, but closed his mouth, when the Emissary turned to him.

"This is another way of spellweaving. To use that you would need a keen sense of mana, a tool, and a knowledge how to use it. And practice, a lot of it." Sirius gave wands to the Inquisitor.

"What are they made of?" Said Inquisitor while inspecting the wands.

"Lead for the wand that resists the mana flow, and silver for the one that accelerates. I believe one is enough, but I was unsuccessful in my attempts. Also, the lead is quite heavy and soft, so it can be replaced with iron."

"How much did you practice?"

"At least half a season, all for lighting up a candle."

Inquisitor sighed.

"A lot of practice, indeed." He waved with one wand in front of him, stirring the thin veil of mana in the air. "It will be hard to convince our mages that this is worthwhile branch of research."

"I know. But for me it is my only way of spellweaving without the diagram. So, if you allow me, I would like to pursue this path."

The Inquisitor was visibly conflicted. He stood in front of the candle, blowing it out and lighting back up using just his mind. However little effort it took him, he knew that without any astral organs it was impossible to achieve. A simple action of gathering enough mana took Sirius almost a minute, and any mage could do that in their sleep.

"Fine. I will allow you. But our deal still stands, you may not become a mage."

"Thank you, Silver Inquisitor. I am really grateful for your benevolence." Sirius bowed.

"Write everything down in a list along with the suitable diagrams. I will depart in the midday. Farewell." With that the Inquisitor left the lab.

"Impressive." Said Emissary.

"You think so?" Asked Sirius. "Was he really not mad at me?"

"You just re-invented the ways of the druids."

"Really?"

"Yes. When your village became a place of your researches, the church expanded its influence to the west. instead of culling any druid they met, they exchanged information and caught a glimpse of their weaving. You just did something very similar."

"Huh... Thank you for the intel." Said Sirius in deep thought.

"At least you are good at negotiations." Added Gregor.

"I have to be. Otherwise i would have been a heretic long time ago. Almost a year ago to be fair. Now I must give the Inquisitor the list."

"Will you have enough time?" Asked Gregor with concern.

"I prepared everything beforehand. I didn't believe he would ask for just a selection."