People were busy dancing around a bonfire and enjoying drinks after the end of a ceremony. Some disgruntled heads of ancient families went home to grumble about the events on holy Rite of the Name. Sirius and Calmness of Storm gathered at the edge of festivities, near the Elders' Hall.

  "A shake up, yes?" asked Sirius, still in daze.

  "Yes, a shake up," shrugged Calmness of Storm with a smile.

  "Was it planned?"

  "Of course. Wish of Nature improvised a bit, but it would happen regardless."

  "But..." Sirius couldn't find the right words, "Who proposed that?"

  "Me, Wish of Nature and Glint of Gold were fine with you becoming a druid. Wish of Nature saw you as the next emissary of the World's will, as he said. Don't know what he meant, to be honest."

  "He seems to have some connection to the World itself."

  "I have no clue. He is very old and mysterious."

  "What about the other Elders? Rain of Fire was really against me when I came here."

  "She was one of the tribes that got harmed by Blasphemer. Imagine what she thought when his disciple sprung up out of nowhere."

  "Harmed? Wasn't he a healer?"

  "My tribe didn't meet him. He seemed to travel from tribe to tribe, staying until his technique got him banished. Whisper of Nature was one of the last, as far as I am aware. After banishing Blasphemer, his tribe moved to Plain Veins."

  "So, I proved my innocence to her?"

  "You did. And others agreed that you pose no harm, and your Path is quite unique. Druids respect that, regardless of the tribe."

  "But... Why Child of the World?"

  "I am not sure as well, it was Wish's idea, once again. He was saying something like 'his Path is the most aligned with the World'. I don't understand that part, but we agreed that you, who has no home nor family, can be considered the child of the whole World," Calmness of Storm smiled. "You are the one who came up with Silver Song?"

  "Uhm... Yes, that was a moniker we used when training."

  "Very suitable. Hears All got very interested in her abilities and wanted to take Silver Song as a disciple. Do you think she will agree?"

  "I... don't know..." Sirius thought for a moment. "She wanted to become an adventurer and roam the World as I did. I said that if she got cured then sure, but... Only she can decide."

  "Nice reasoning. I looked at the pearl you gave me a lot, but I couldn't figure out what it was. Is it a secret?"

  "Heh, that's a funny story actually. Before I got my hand on the natural mana crystals, I took that one from SIlver Song. It is one of the crystals that grew in her lungs. I studied it a little and left in my house, and then I researched other crystals."

  "And the encasement? It is a very transparent material, I didn't see anything similar before... Or did I?"

  "You did, Elder," Sirius tried to seem very nonchalant, but failed miserably.

  "Heh, I knew that," Calmness of Storm scoffed and looked away. "It doesn't have any spell attached, right?"

  "No, of course not!"

  "Then it is fine." The Elder thought for a moment before clarifying, "It was her blood?"

  "What was left on a crystal..."

  "Maybe we need to stop worrying about that branch of magic. Want to organise another shake-up?" he asked with a devious smile.

  "NO," Sirius almost yelled in fear, but manager to keep his voice down.

  "I'm joking. Just don't tell how you made that crystal. Say it is related to your Path's secrets."

  "Sure..."

  The sudden deep bass came from behind them, startling Sirius, "Here you are, little one. I thought you decided to escape our little town."

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  "N-no, sir... Wish of Nature... Elder," Sirius stumbled around his words, causing Elders to laugh a little.

  "I avoided talking about that before, since you were an outsider, but now we can discuss that. That crystal of yours, the one with a spell inside it. Eyes of the Forest told us that it is not dangerous."

  "It is not. If modified that spell can even be used to cure curses."

  "Oh, interesting..." Calmness of Storm commented.

  "Go fetch your creation and come to the alley behind the Iron Fist's tavern. I will wait you there."

  Sirius looked at Calmness of Storm with a surprise. Elder saw the fear in his eyes and reassured, "No need to worry, I'll cover up your absence. Now go, it is a great honour." Sirius frantically nodded and ran towards his home.

  He ran, his mind ablaze with the meaning of all of this. Why would the powerful elder be interested in him? He wanted to hope for the better, but some inkling tainted his excitement. Emissary of the World's will? What does it even mean?

  ___

  Sirius dashed around the corner into a small alley. The towering Elder stood there, patiently waiting. As soon as Sirius appeared near him, Wish of Nature turned his head, making his numerous earrings rattle. His long ears twitched a little, once again causing a rattling.

  "You brought it?" asked Wish of Nature.

  "Yes..." Sirius uncovered the rough cloth and revealed the cloudy crystal.

  "Good." Wish of Nature nodded with a smile and stretched his hand, "Take my hand, we need to travel a little bit."

  Sirius stood in a daze for a moment, before shaking away the surprise. He pulled his hand forward and grabbed the black branch-like hand of the Elder.

  "Don't get lost," slowly said Elder and looked forward.

  Sirius immediately felt the ground disappear from under his feet. He was still in the alleyway, tightly holding onto the Elder's hand, but things were different. He saw breezes of mana drift past his eyes and looked up. The dense network of blinding leylines indicated that he saw the Astral World. Around him he saw the shadows of the material world, as if it was covered by a bedsheet. Then he felt a pull and looked at the Elder. Wish of Nature looked forward, mana blowing over his brightly glowing hair. It seemed to extend endlessly in all directions, disappearing in other dimensions. Wish of Nature felt Sirius' intense gaze and turned towards him. Sirius saw both his real face and a brightly lit Visage overlap in one place, almost pushing each other from the view. Both of the Elder's appearances smiled and turned back forward.

  Sirius lost track of time how long he was in that strange state, with no down or up, with no sense of direction. What he felt was only light breezes of mana blowing past him. Something in these senses was different. Mana felt not one-directional. It had all of those properties Sirius manipulated himself, but it all extended in all directions at once, at higher dimensions than it was physically possible. A myriad of properties, all stemming from the purest form of mana - the neutral state that filled the world. It is the start of every spell, beginning of all beginnings, and the directions one could take it were endless...

  Sirius felt the gravity slowly return, as the shadows of the real world began materialising in his view. He felt extremely dizzy, and the world spun in his eyes, different parts of the surroundings warp into place. Only then did he understand - he was no longer in the alleyway, but in a dense dark forest. And in front of him stood a giant grey stone wall. Sirius looked up, but the end of the wall was nowhere to be seen, only the twinkling of stars gave out the difference between the wall and the sky.

  "We are here," said Wish of Nature and released Sirius' hand.

  "What was that?..." Sirius asked, barely able to stay upright without support.

  "Sorry, I would ask you to close your eyes, but traversing the Spirit Realm will disorient you anyway. And nothing too dangerous to witness dares to approach me, so it is safe."

  "Traversing what? Spirit... Is it Astral World? Where are we?..." Sirius held his head in his arms, trying to stop the spinning view. "The wall... Is it your tribe's land?"

  "Yes, it is," Elder touched the smooth stone, untouched by plants and time. "I had to leave them behind, in safety..."

  Sirius sat on thick root of the nearby tree. "Safety? Is that what you consider safety? Living inside a pen, like a sheep?"

  "You say so. And I think so too. But... They don't need the door to feel free."

  "You can't decide for them. Not every one of them wanted to leave behind when you moved to Plain Veins."

  "Oh, you know so much? Did Eyes of the Forest tell you our story?" Wish of Nature giggled,the deep voice sounding a bit ominous to Sirius, "The thing is, I know that behind these walls there is not a single soul that wants to roam the World."

  "But how? You are outside. Do you travel there?"

  "No, I do not. That would be giving them hope. They still worship my existence. I see that in my dreams and I involuntarily visit their dreams too. No matter what I did to shield them from me, nothing works." Wish of Nature waved a huge arc with his skinny hand, revealing the thick layer of green runes that seemed impossible to exist in reality. Sirius felt his head ablaze, just from looking at multidimensional glowing letters, lines, and shapes. Wish of Nature quickly made the symbols disappear, turned to Sirius and apologised, "Forgive my rashness. Sometimes I forget how fragile human mind is..."

  "They can not be..." Sirius sat in daze with his eyes wide open. Green shapes were ingrained in his mind, giving him a splitting headache. "Why did you?..."

  Wish of Nature knelt in front of Sirius and put his and on Sirius' forehead, instantly stopping the blaze in his mind. "My fault. I thought maybe you could help solve this conundrum."

  "HELP? WITH THAT?"

  "Yes, as a fellow Child of the World, you might have known. Yet I asked too early."

  "Fellow?... Did you too condense the first circle at once?"

  "Yes, I did. Long ago. But later I had to chose one branch. I needed the power."

  "Power to kill your enemies?" asked Sirius, but instantly regretted when Wish of Nature stopped smiling at tilted his head.

  "You could say so."

  "Sorry..."

  "No, you said nothing wrong. That is also true." Wish of Nature stood up and looked at the stone surface, yet his eyes seemed to pierce the thick wall and go past it, into the distance behind. "I used the power to kill the enemies, but the true reason I wanted that power was - to protect my people. And now... My people see me as a god incarnated, as a deity to worship. And while they do... I have no rest."

  "You cannot die?..."

  "While their faith lives, the World holds me."