Around an hour later they got back to the inn a young elf in a cleric vest came to the inn. He went straight to the table where they sit. He smiled them brightly.

"Esnar be with you my brother and sister!"

They didn't really know what to say in this situation so they just murmured something like good day.

"You don't have to be shy. I'm father Dan. Helen sent me to show you the location of the sacred lake. I'm one of the few people who are allowed to go there."

Joseph stood up.

"We are glad that you take time to come for us father Dan."

He looked at him with the same pleasant smile.

"It is my pleasure. Please follow me. I would like to shot it to you as soon as possible."

They followed him outside of the inn. They went outside the village the same way they came in. Then father Dan turned around.

"Without a beliver of Esnar you can't reach the sacred parts of the forest. It is behind a powerfull illusion. That is the reason I came for you."

He took out a medalion which had an eight pointed star with an eye on the middle of it. He held it up into the sky. The same moment everything went blurry for Joseph.

"Please follow close behind. If you stray away from the path, then you'll get lost."

"Alright!"

They followed him forward. Sometimes they took turns to the left and right. It seemed like there was an invisible maze around them, which they didn't see. Catherine was humming while walking around.

"You seemed to have a really good mood."

"Yes. This place reminds me one of the places I lived as a child."

"Was your father the priest of the place?"

"No. But he was a good friend of her. Thankfully for that I got to learn divine and arcane magic as well as a child. Though I had to learn all the other kinds later on. But I always was a good learner. I beat everyone I practiced with. Hahaha!"

She seemed really chatty at the moment. She went on and on about the smaller and bigger practice matches she had with the other puppils. After a while father Dan stopped.

"We are here."

As they stepped next to him everything got clear. They stood next to a chapel which was on the shore of a lake. The chapel was a simple wood building. It was so small that it had only a place for an oltar and one person to pray to the oltar.

"This is the chapel we use to pray to Esnar for good fortune and protection."

They walked next to the lake. It was so clear water that that they saw the bottom of it. Where the trees didn't make shadow over it the light sparkled on the surface of the water. Joseph watchet it with admiration.

"It is beautiful!"

Catherine smiled brightly.

"It is! So much mana at one place!"

Joseph made a funny smile.

'It seems like she sees it differently.'

He used his senses to feel the mana from the surrounding. It was ao much that his vision got blue for a second after he tried to sense it.

"This is so much more then any of the places I where at!"

"Right? The swamp is nothing to this place. It will take no time to get back my power here!"

Father Dan stood next to them.

"There are a few rules. They are written in the book that is on the oltar, on the first page. Please read it. Now I have to go, but I'll come back tomorrow morning. Esnar be with you!"

They turned to him.

"Thank you once again. We will see you later then."

"Goodbye!"

He walked away the same way they came from.

They walked to the oltar and read the rules. The only one that was important was that they shouldn't walk away from the lake, or they'll get lost in he illusion. They returned next to the lake and Joseph sit down to meditate.

"Alright. First we help you with your problem. I'll do most of the job. You just need to absorb more and more mana while I do it."

"Okey!"

She leant forward to touch his back.

"Right. Take down your clothes from your upper body. I need to touch your back for this."

He did as she said and Catherine put her hands on his shoulder blades. He felt a warmth coming from them.

After a few minutes a window appeared in front of him.

Alert!

Some force is attempting to change your mana flow. It is against your natural mana's behaviour. The side effects are really painful and there is a chance you will lose your consciousness.

Just as he read it he felt like his lungs caught on fire. He tried to shout, but he couldn't exhale any air out of his lungs. He leant forward.

"I know it hurts but you have to bare it! Get straight and concentrate or it will get worse!"

He tried to concentrate on his mana core and help her changing it in the way he felt like she wanted.

"Good keep it up!"

Then he felt a new kind of pain. His core started to pulsate. He felt as something came up from his lungs and he spit it out. It was blood and a lot.

"Don't worry about it! It's not relevant! Keep it up!"

'What is not rele...?!"

He felt worse and worse. After a minute his whole body felt like he was thrown into a pit of fire, then suddenly, it was gone. The world went dark and he was floting in the air.

'This seems familiar.'

He saw Silvia's back as she was standing in one place and speaking to a cloaked figure. Then she looked back with a confused look and swiped at Joseph's direction.

He saw a flash of light and then returned back to the lake. He was still sitting on the shore. Catherine was lying behind him sweating profusly.

"It is... done! It wasn't a joyful ride!"

"No it wasn't!"

He tried to stand up, but he just felt down.

"Mind if I lay here for a while?"

She laughed.

"No! Be my guest!"

"Then I'll take a nap."

He slept in, like he did not sleep for years.