Sirius' throat gave up from screaming. He lost track of time in the flood of pain from the depths of his soul. He was in a dark room, tied to the bunk bed, restrained with belts, his trap covered in long shining purple lines. Above him stood Eyes of the Forest, the woman that met him at the doors of elder's hall. Her emerald eyes shined with wild power, reflecting in the jewels hanging from her chestnut hair. She stood still, calmly watching Sirius' suffering. Suddenly the glow of her eyes faded, and she sighed deeply. Instantly the pain retreated, giving Sirius the long-awaited respite.

"Two curses, five astral parasites, wild magic scars of varying severity, an uncountable amount of Foreign Memories and even a Ghosts of the Past attached to your soul." She bemusedly counted, while sitting besides heaving Sirius. "For a fourteen-year-old that is too much conditions at once. What even happened to you?"

"Huh?..." Sirius was slowly regaining, leaving behind only nagging ache of his soul.

"Oh, i should probably release you." She stood up and began removing the belts holding Sirius in one place. "I am actually quite interested what could inflict so much damage to your Spirit. Did you fight an Aberration already?"

"Maybe... What is it?"

"When mage loses control of mana in a powerful spell, the magic turns against him. Usually they leave behind an Anomaly, forever altering the world in that place. In some rare cases the human turns into Aberration, a wild, irrational creature of instincts, following the last directive of a mage."

"Yes, I did then." Sirius sat on the bed, sweat dripping from his forehead.

"Alone?" Eyes of the Forest exclaimed. "How did you manage?"

"The man... He, who attacked me... His body was ripped apart by mana storm." Sirius took a deep breath, memories stinging his mind. "His Spirit was that of a small boy. He was in constant pain..."

"Oh, poor guy..." Eyes of the Forest covered her mouth with genuine compassion.

"He asked me to kill him, and so I did, with an ethereal hunting knife of mine." Sirius flinched when he felt the hand on his shoulder.

"You did the right thing. He was beyond help at that point. Did he pull the leylines? And you were in Astral World when that happened?"

"I think so. There were flowing lines in the sky and below the ground."

"Those are leylines. The circulating flow of mana around the world. Usually mana storm alters their flow, changing the pathways around."

"They began dripping, and nearly connected." Sirius described, making Eyes of the Forest's face turn dead serious.

"You must be dead. Where did the mana in the droplet go?" She held Sirius with both hands by the shoulders. Sirius thought very hard through the numb headache, trying to piece together the clues.

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"I made a spell use up the mana in it..." He said under the breath, making Eyes of the Forest exhale with relief.

"That is the way. You were lucky back then." She began cleaning up the room. "Now I will lead you to the common room. You need to rest before the next procedure."

"Next?..." Sirius' face sunk.

"Oh, yeah. There is no way I could remove so much foreign entities from your Spirit in one go. It needs to heal the wounds, or the healing would just drain you dry. Now, get up and go get a wash."

"How many procedures do I have to undergo?"

"Oh, I dunno. Four more for parasites, a couple for all the curses you collected, one more for foreign entity cleansing... The scar is rather deep as well, and you must have gotten it more than a year ago. Any ideas?"

"More than a year?..." Sirius thought what event could affect him. "Does being in a vicinity of a Final Flash count?"

Eyes of the forest clicked her tongue and shook her head.

"Oh, World, have mercy." She looked at Sirius with exasperation. "Did you have solidified Spirit back then?"

"No... And also I might have touched the leyline almost a year ago as well."

Sirius flinched as Eyes of the Forest smashed at the table with all her might.

"WHY? That would explain Ghosts of the Past and Foreign Memories, though. But still, WHY?" She found it hard to piece words together, so she took a deep breath and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Just... like... don't do that. It is dangerous. Is there anything else you did to nearly kill yourself?"

"Major or minor ones?" Sirius asked awkwardly.

Eyes of the Forest rolled her eyes, unsure how to react.

"Anyways, how do you feel?"

"I don't know how to describe. It is like the breathing is easier than before. What exactly did you do?" Sirius asked, while getting dressed.

"You had the leech around your Manapool. It had the same signature, since it fed on your mana, so you wouldn't notice it by yourself. Your Spirit is quite interesting, though."

"In what way?"

"I think the Deepest Lake was trying to achieve this same Spirit, as you did. Yet she was forced to undergo a ceremony, as per tradition."

"I nearly got the asme treatment by the Church."

"The traditions aren't that bad, actually. They carry the knowledge of the past, even if a bit outdated. It's a shame that they never catch up without a major shake-over."

"Are they frequent even?"

"Believe it or not, the Deepest Lake caused the last major one a couple decades ago. So major in fact, that every tribe adopted the new ways. Usually there are lots of disagreements among Elders, but that time she promised to eradicate whoever went against her."

"I would like to know more, Eyes of the Forest. Do you have library in here?"

"Just call me Eyes. No, the books are quite rare, but I will ask around the city if you want. Now let's go, you must recover."

She opened the door, urging Sirius to follow.