"Get up."

Sirius opened his eyes with great difficulty. Beside his bed stood Eyes of the Forest, her chestnut hair, adorned with jewels, was tied in a ponytail. She wore a cyan robe of a healer, front covered by white apron. In her hands she had a tray. She lifted her eyebrow, making the markings on her face shift.

"I don't have all day."

"Oh... Sorry..." Sirius sleepily sat up in bed, while rubbing his eyes.

"Breakfast for you. Make sure to drink the tea, it strengthens your Spirit's recovery abilities." Eyes put the tray on his lap.

"Thank you..." Sirius looked at the bowl full of grainy porridge, accompanied by sweet amber-coloured crackers and a big bowl of tea.

"All fine?" Eyes asked with a concern. "Are you crying?"

"No... Maybe... I ate only dried meat for the last week."

"Oh, poor kid. Then eat up, and ask if you want more."

"Thank you, Eyes. I am truly grateful."

Sirius took the wooden spoon and began devouring large soft and starchy grains covered by milk. The strange reddish-brown colour reminded him of the crops around the town. Despite looking and smelling unfamiliar, the porridge was sweet and savoury. Crackers were still warm, freshly out of oven, and provided Sirius with boost of energy. In the end he took the tea. Unlike the meal it wasn't sweet or even remotely tasty. Bitter and sour liquid burned Sirius' tongue, almost making him spit. Eyes was bringing trays for other patients, and it is only her stern glance that made Sirius gulp the tea down. Sirius shuddered, taking in the weird taste and contemplating his existence. He shifted his senses to his Astral Body, hoping to distract himself from the disgusting brew, and began gulping it down. As the tea entered his body, the power within began dissolving into his soul, warming him up and accelerating the stirring of mana within. But however interesting the effect was, it was not enough to ignore the mind-numbingly terrible taste that burned his throat and made his stomach clench.

"Oh Gods, what even is this." Sirius muttered, while holding his chest in place.

"Ground dandelion petals, crowbane root, dragon peas, crystal poppy seeds, mana salts, some other herbs."

"Eugh, that tastes awful. Crowbane could easily be replaced with mana-infused dill, and more dandelion petals soaked in water in total darkness."

"Hmm?" That peaked Eyes' interest. "How did you come up with this?"

"Ugh, one moment." Sirius took a deep breath and got out of bed to rummage in his backpack. "I took interest in medicine, eventually deducing alchemy as a branch. Here, look."

"Is that a notebook?" Eyes peeked in a small book in Sirius' hands, various diagrams flashing by, as he searched for a correct page.

"I... Ugh..." Sirius took a deep breath to calm down his rumbling stomach. "I found out the effects on mana of most common plants in the area around my town, including some rarer ones from around the mana-dense area. Some effects were stronger and some were weaker, but from what I felt when drinking that mixture, the liquid was potent in mana, and had a heating and stimulating effect when consumed."

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"Correct, the heating was dragon peas, with crystal poppy consuming the excess of impurities and stabilising the flow."

"Chalk works fine as a stabiliser as well, but tastes even worse. Dragon peas could be replaced with blackleaf root..."

"If only it wasn't poisonous."

"Boiling it together with iron removes poison at the cost of a bit weaker effect."

"Any other theories?"

"I don't know if it is contact with iron or the boiling that removes the poison, but metal was covered in black crystals afterwards. I believe both are important."

"So, and crowbane? How does infusing dill with mana replaces it?"

"Dill has no effect on mana on its own, so are dandelion petals, but together they are able to store more mana than on their own. Here, take a look." Sirius took out a yellow vial. "When I realised that the mixture is on par with copper at storing mana, I began infusing pottery with it instead of gold dust, thus making this vial for mana infusion. Inside is prepared dill-dandelion mixture."

"Can I take it? I want to show this to our herbalist."

"Of course. Both plants are borderline weed, so there is no trouble making more. The only limitation in comparison to metals is the paste's sensitivity to sunlight, hence the soaking and handling in darkness or under candle light."

"Thank you, Friend of a Snake. This might prove quite valuable in the future."

"I am just repaying for your kindness, Eyes." Sirius smiled. "You can take the notebook, it has no use to me at the moment."

"I will put in a good word for you with Elders, it might even affect your future title."

"But..."

"Hmm?"

"I don't want to be known for alchemy only. I also know pottery, metallurgy, and I want to learn every branch of magic."

"Jack of all trades?" Eyes sighed deeply. "I am afraid those who spread to thin aren't the most respectable in our culture. You must pursue one or two branches, no more. And only when you reach a wall in deepening your knowledge can you chose another direction of study."

"That is... Wrong." Sirius plunged into his bed, distraught by the revelation. "All my life I pursued everything at once, circle diagrams gave me a kick in alchemy, giving an insight in metallurgy. Knowing how to use metals helped in making more advanced tools, and so on. I can't just limit myself to one thing."

"And even then, that is the way. Before the Deepest Lake walking down the adjacent path was considered insane and against the nature of magic."

"What is your specialisation, Eyes?"

"Oh, me? I am the Spirit Doctor. I deal with damages on Spirits and mental issues. I had achieved deep spirit perception when I was in the forest, hence my title. Being in a hospital allowed me to dabble in medicine and herbal healing. My senses gave me an edge and I am researching the underlying principles of what Sharp Leaf knows as a herbalist."

"Understood." Sirius nodded.

"Are you done? There is another procedure in order for you."

Sirius winced. "Yes, I am ready."

"This one should be less painful. The Mana Pool parasite was the deepest out of five."