Warm sunlight shone through the windows in a hospital's common ward, making Sirius shuffle in his bed. In his shallow sleep he heard the ethereal singing.

"Hmm-Hmm... Hmm-Hmm...

When you will grow older

And World's tests overcome...

Hmm-Hmm... Hmm-Hmm...

The mighty World Shaper

You may become...

Hmm-Hmm... Hmm-Hmm..."

Sirius has finally unstuck his eyes and turned to the left. Daughter of Whisper was sitting upright and stroking the scaly skin of Seth, who once again occupied the place in her lap. In her thoughts she hummed the song that, like a lullaby, calmed everyone's nerves and dispelled worries. Her voice was more powerful than before, but still accompanied by the invisible vibrations that gave an inhuman, in a good way, timbre. Sirius shuffled once again, attempting to sit up, only to startle Daughter of Whisper from her pondering.

"Good morning." She said with her ringing voice.

"Hello. Feeling better, I see?"

"Yes, I hope I didn't disturb you."

"Not at all. How did your procedure go?"

"Unpleasant as always. What about you?"

"Two more parasites pulled out from... How was that called? Lung mana pathways?"

"Ouch. Had one pulled out, when it got interested in crystals in my lungs."

"The Mana Pool one was much worse..."

"You've got Spirit Core?" Girl acted surprised.

"I thought I told you so... No reason hiding, I have all three initial organs."

"As in... Eyes, Mind and Core?"

"Yes." Sirius began feeling uncomfortable under excited gaze of Daughter of Whisper.

"How did you condense them at this age? You are no older than me, and I have just began preparing for a second one!"

"That is a strange matter, to be fair. I don't know how, but they all manifested all at once about a month ago, I think... It is hard to track time while travelling."

"I would want to travel one day too..." She said with sadness in her eyes.

"Maybe one day when you are cured, you can. Wouldn't say it is so fun, though."

"Eyes says there is no cure. It is a disease she never seen before."

"How it manifests exactly? Maybe I can think of something?"

"You? Don't get me wrong, Eyes of the Forest spent their last decade in this hospital treating people, and Sharp Leaf even more than so. Can you really help?"

"Sharing won't hurt, in any case." Sirius shrugged. "If you are uncomfortable, then no worries."

"No, it's fine. There are mana crystals growing inside my lungs. I try to avoid using magic, but they just grow on their own. The procedure drains most of the structure, but it is impossible to get rid of everything."

"What is a mana crystal?"

"You don't know? Every druid must have one."

"I am no druid, I am a runaway from Kingdom. So what is that?"

Daughter of Whisper looked incredulously at Sirius for a moment and went into the drawer to retrieve the small bluish-purple rock the size of a grape. It had the traces of manual processing, likely retrieved from a larger piece and shaped into a roughly spherical form. It possessed long layered formations, shaped like a basalt, with small grains standing out from common structure. Daughter of Whisper handed the rock to Sirius. After having granted permission to inspect with mana, Sirius concentrated on the rough stone. The crystal was uneven and resisted the manaflow, dancing in Sirius' palm at every push. It could be charged and discharged a little, but overall the capacity was pathetic.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"A strange thing." Sirius said while hading back the rock. "Did you shape it yourself?"

"Yes. I am trying to make a next bead for my Life." She touched the beads hanging from her hair.

"It tells your story?"

"Yes, a tradition of sorts." She took off the band that held the beads and began showing Sirius. "Look, Here is the bead of my birth. Red means it was in summer. Then this branch is my home tribe's colours. Here is the travelling bead, when we moved to the Plain Veins. Then three darker is the death of my grandfather with a shard of metal from his Final Flash. The next is a mana crystal representing the Spirit Eyes I condensed. The next flat bead is my illness that began manifesting after the Spirit solidified. Next should be the bead for Spirit Mind, so I am preparing the bead for that."

"So the illness began manifesting after you got to spellweaving?"

"Spellweaving? Is that how people of Kingdom call Shaping?" She giggled a little. "Yes, almost immediately after."

"I think it is related, but I can't be sure tight now."

"Eyes of the Forest said this is the case as well." Daughter of Whisper sighed and fell silent.

Sirius thought fore a bit about the illness, but the silence became unnerving, so he tried changing the theme.

"What were you singing earlier?"

"Hmm?" Daughter of Whisper was pulled out of thoughts. "Oh, that... It is a song my mother used to sing when I was little. It promises that any kid, if they learn and train, can become a World Shaper one day."

"World Shaper is someone powerful, I believe?"

"Yes. Later I was told that to become World Shaper you need to reach the third circle, at this point you become one with the World and can mould whole regions."

"Wow... Kingdom has no such legends."

"It is no legend. There are multiple World Shapers roaming the Betweenlands at this moment, either living in seclusion or ruling over communities. Calmness of the Storm is World Shaper as well."

"Is he the head of the Elders then?"

"What are you talking about? They are all Elders, why one would be the head?"

"But everyone heeded his word."

"Well, he is considered the wisest, and he is the Elder of Grain tribe. Since it is their city, of course everyone listens to him."

"So each Elder is from a different tribe?"

"Of course... Is the Kingdom different?"

"In Kingdom... There is a town leader who rules together with church head. But I think the church rules over the whole country."

"What do they believe in? Is it the World?"

Sirius hesitated a little, but gave up after seeing the invested look of Daughter of Whisper, and so he began describing what he experienced in the Kingdom.