:Done in ten minutes unless it's urgent enough to cut the session short: he says in response to her Mindtouch. 

:It's not ten minutes urgent:

She can wait then. 

Ten minutes later Lionwind ushers his patient out, without acknowledging her, and then turns to her. "What's wrong?" 

"Today in class the teacher said people who do blood magic get addicted and turn evil and you would think that would be in any Mindhealing book but it isn't so I thought I'd ask you."

"Huh! ...You know, I had heard that bit of folk wisdom before, when I was a child, and it had never occurred to me that if it were true I ought have been taught about it as a Mindhealer - you really are so clever sometimes! It - hmm. I think it is somewhat complicated, the claim is...not false on the surface but also not straightforward as that implies. And you are right, no Mindhealer has written about it. Have a seat and I can tell you what I know?" 

In she pops to sit down, notebook ready.

"I have never treated someone where their main issue was use of blood-magic and resulting addiction much less - losing the ability to care about human life, or however we might translate what your teacher meant by 'evil'. I have on a few occasions worked to rehabilitate mages - usually teenagers, sometimes younger than that - who were captured when the Tantaran Guard fought bandit groups. Since trying a child for crimes as though they were an adult is - obviously monstrous, especially when many of them were themselves kidnapped, practically slaves - this has been rather concerningly frequent on our border with Predain in recent decades - or in one case raised within the bandit camp from toddlerhood. I think most of my conclusion here is that being put in such a situation is horrifically bad for a child, and use of blood-magic is the least of it, but - that does not make it not a problem, of course." 

"So it is a problem?"

"It is not physically addictive in the way that the most dangerous drugs are, or even to the extent that alcohol is. There are cravings, often, but - I think of a different kind. It looks more similar to the way that some patients crave - bullying weaker people so they can feel powerful and in control, or taking risks for the thrill, or cutting themselves because it gives them relief from emotional pain. It usually helps a great deal when they feel safe, and therefore do not need to be powerful to protect themselves - and in one case the child had an Adept-potential Gift and training her to use nodes made the cravings for blood-power vanish entirely. But often it is the case that these youngsters are not strongly Gifted, and the only way they can ever be powerful in a fight is to use blood-magic, which does not need an Adept-strength Gift to wield. And they crave it in the exact way they might long to keep an especially good weapon, because it makes them strong and they - were raised and shaped in a situation where that is the only thing that mattered." 

...nod nod nod.

"Does that leave you with any further questions?" 

"Why does the teacher teach it wrong? You're right here and you know better."

"Because if they ever learned further details, it was decades ago in a classroom and they have forgotten? Teachers have not learned everything, Aza, and we sometimes forget things we were taught. And - we bring our own prejudices into the classroom, sometimes even when we are trying very hard not to." His mouth quirks a little. "I suppose some of us try harder than others." 

"But she's trying to teach it and should be able to answer questions about it or she's not better than a book! You should come to the next one and tell everybody."

"I think it would be rather overstepping my bounds to show up uninvited in a classroom for mage-students, but you could ask the teacher if she is interested in having me in as a guest lecturer?" 

"I will do that!" Everyone will notice that Lionwind is much better and be jealous of her probably.

"I look forward to it!" He pats her shoulder. "So many things I learn about or remember to consider again because of you, sometimes it feels as though you are the teacher and I am the student." 

She giggles. And hugs him.

He hugs her back. "So, is that all for now? I have another patient in ten minutes." 

"Yes, that's all for now, thank you!" And off she goes to find Ma'ar. He might still be in his room or in the library, she's not sure...:Ma'ar?:

He's still in his room, but calmer now. :- Did you check? What did he say?: 

:I did and he said it's not actually addictive like drugs are and it doesn't actually make people evil, but it's more complicated than that in practice - I have notes, where are you -:

:In my room - can you come explain it so I know whether I should be worried or not -:

She comes and knocks and then sits back down in his desk chair. "He says people get attached to it because they don't, uh. Feel safe without being able to sling around a lot of power, sometimes, and the bandit cases are sometimes basically slaves to their bandit group - you can just read this page if you want -" She passes him her notebook.

He reads through it. 

"That - makes sense." He shudders. "Some bandits tried to do that to me, I think. That's probably what the one who I killed would've done. I - I don't feel like it's worth it to kill people just so I won't be scared! I mean I probably would if I'd literally die otherwise but it seems different if I kill someone who's literally trying to kill me and then also I get blood-magic for it instead of just wasting it." Shrug. "I would be - really really upset, though. I want people to not die. Even if they're bad people. They're still people." He closes his eyes. "Lights in the world."