"Get! Out!" Friend repeated word after word.

"Why?..."

"You ask why? I already told you! The magic is the of the world, not of the body! You are so blinded by your thirst for knowledge, you fail to see reason!"

"Say that to those who track me by those traces!"

"You could avoid leaving your trace!"

"HOW?" Sirius shouted with anger, making the world vibrate. "Let me tell you! Each and every time I stop, I know they are getting closer! I can't sustain the cloaking all day long!"

"Just don't touch the mana with your mind!"

"The mana around me is my senses and my limbs!"

"Then learn to be blind and disabled!"

"I have been disabled long enough. Now I have the power, and I don't intend to lose it."

"Violence is not an option. Nor are the forbidden branches of magic!"

"You don't understand!"

Sirius roared with rage, pulling mana from around him into a stream, that separated like a snake's tongue. Cold mana crawled across the floor towards the Friend's feet, coiling around him, while the hot stream entered a clump, condensing to Sirius' very limit. Yet, nothing happened. Sirius fell to his knees, his mind raged by splitting headache, as he failed to control the mana further. Doing anything felt like punching a wall, and so he gave up, heavily breathing on the floor.

"What am I even doing? You are just a kid, shackled all his life, who knows no better. And here I am, doing all the same." Friend said, watching Sirius tear up on the floor from the pain. With a flowing gesture he took all Sirius' mana and gently neutralised the opposing energies, releasing the remains into the world. "You need guidance, not punishment."

Sirius looked up, his eyes bloodshot and filled with a mix of hate and disbelief.

"I am not the one to teach you, though. From here you must go south, until after a couple of days you will reach the river Vein of the Land. After that go along it eastwards for roughly a month. There you will find The Deepest Lake's residence. She likes teaching those like you. Now go. Your outburst might have attracted the Crusade."

Sirius was at a loss of words. He indeed succumbed to rage in heat of the moment, unable to control the turmoil of emotions. Yet he felt the might of a real mage in that instance. Despite his headstart with all three organs at once, he was powerless before Friend, who took away Sirius' control with just a thought. Grunting and clearing his face, Sirius shakily stood up, his leg still sending pangs of pain across his body. He stood straight, and then deeply bowed to Friend.

"I am guilty, elder. Forgive my rashness, and thank you for your directions."

"Apologies accepted." Friend's cold face softened and revealed a slight smile.

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

"Will you be okay if they will come here? You are considered against their faith too..."

"They know about me. People from the Order tried getting rid of me, but gave up long time ago. I will be surprised if they will continue to pester you."

"They will. I know that." Sirius sighed, and began collecting his stuff. "I am once again sorry for my behaviour. I will no longer burden you with my presence, Friend. Goodbye."

"I would be grateful if you destroyed that crystal."

"One day I will. But for now I will die without its properties. I will try to research it and then I will get rid of it, I promise."

"Fine. Farewell."

Sirius went out of the hut and went directly south. Seth reappeared in the air besides Sirius and looked at him limping along the rocky ground.

"I see you eyeing the crystal, Seth. You don't like it as well?" The snake looked at the crystal and then at Sirius again. "Sorry, I don't understand you. Are you threatened or tempted by it? I guess both. I am too..."

Sirius walked with staff in his right hand and purplish-blue cloudy crystal in left. After climbing up yet another hill, Sirius used his staff to knead some of the mana and raised a small stump from the ground to sit on. Seth floated around him in circles, drawn by the mana residue travelling towards crystal.

Sirius heavily fell on the sitting place, oblivious to Seth's agitation. The leg was killing him, and he hoped he didn't have to walk for too long, or he would get permanent damage that way. He removed the bandage soaked in blood he hastily applied after the battle. The wound was gruesome, scalded around the edges and covered in coagulated blood. From the quick inspection, no major vessels were damaged. Sirius then tried inspecting his leg with mana, releasing some from his Mana Pool into his thigh and observing the resistance.

Pushing mana through his body felt strange. Mainly because he felt physical discomfort around his bone. When compared to his healthy leg, the bone behaviour was the same, hinting that it is untouched. But still, something different from the Crimson Crusade member's bones. Less mana stored inside was expected, since Sirius' Mana pool was underdeveloped and didn't have a lot of time to alter his body. The resistance around the edges was unexpected, though, and so was the crawling mana in the center of the bone marrow. Sirius even double-checked other parts of his body, but found nothing. Out of the interest, he tried pulling at the mana inside the bone on his arm. Unsurprisingly, he felt resistance since the bone was still attached to him. Vibrating the mana inside brought even more discomfort, so he stopped experimenting. Unfortunately, despite all the insight into anatomy, it didn't help him heal the wound. Sirius once again used the nightbloom extract to kill the pain and bandaged it tightly to make the hole close up a little.

This rest was not enough, but he had to move once again. Under the bright sun he dispelled the sitting place, observed the mana being sucked into a crystal, and started climbing down the slope.