"I see what you meant! The possibility never crossed my mind until now. How did you even think of something like this?"

Orion was seemingly losing it in front of his companions. He was talking to himself as he moved a finger of his right hand in a circle in his left palm.

He didn't receive an answer, but he could feel 'Ego' being happy that he had found the answer instantly.

By understanding the elements, he was beginning to turn them 'his' magic.

"Ladies, come closer."

He looked at them, making a sign with his left hand.

"For once, I don't want to."

"She's right. I don't want either. The way you're moving your hand is scary."

With perplexed expressions, the two took a step back.

"Why? I'm not doing anything strange. I'm focusing on a new energy. Now come here."

They both looked at each other, sharing their thoughts.

'Isn't he more pushy than usual?'

'What is he going to do to us?'

Even though they were reluctant to do so, they still walked toward him.

Once they were close enough, they stopped and noticed something on the tip of his finger.

"I can feel it forming perfectly, so it should be fine. I'll start with Karteira."

Amelia noticed his gaze on Karteira's injured leg. She couldn't stop herself from asking.

"What are you going to do? You've already healed us, right?"

"I'm trying something besides medicine. Be patient... If it works, it's your turn."

'He found a way to heal us? What?'

While Amelia was having an existential crisis because Orion was breaking her reality, he stopped spinning his hand in a circle motion and focused his senses on the tip of his index finger.

"Karteira, move your leg closer."

"Like this?"

She moved closer to his hand. Once he was ready, the tip of his finger glowed a bright white, and his whole hand got covered with a white aura.

He touched her thigh and caressed gently up and down, as if he were caressing the back of a baby.

'Why does it feel so gentle?'

She closed her eyes and gave in to the feeling. To maintain his posture, Orion gently grabbed her right leg and focused on healing the cut.

After a few minutes, an audible sigh of exhaustion came out of Orion's mouth.

"Fuuuuu~"

"It's terribly exhausting. I won't be able to use it that many times a day. I can probably do it three or five times at this point."

Amelia came back to reality and looked at Karteira. Her reaction took her by surprise.

"Orion, how did you do that?!"

He looked up and realized Karteira's beautiful face was glistening with small tears.

"What do you mean? I've healed your injured leg. Well, I think I did it correctly, at least."

Looking at her leg, he could tell he managed to close the cut, but that wasn't the thing that made her emotional.

The one who noticed first was Amelia.

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"Karteira! Your scar... It's gone!"

Surprised, Orion looked at her right leg.

"Wait, what?"

"You've healed the scar. I thought I would have to see this shameful mark and live with the pain until the day I die, but you've removed it completely. The remaining pain has also left. I can finally move like before."

Orion had an expression of utter disbelief. The potency of his healing wasn't what he was expecting.

'Wait, was she bothered by the remaining pain of the scar? How could I have missed that? Though I wouldn't be able to help at the time, it would have been better to know beforehand.'

Still, thinking back on the matter, he felt ashamed of forcing her to fight in her previous state.

"I understand now why you had a hard time dodging most of the attacks. It's not that you weren't able to, but you simply couldn't. I'm sorry for not realizing before."

He apologized while staring at her teary face.

"I'm sorry too. I never knew you were still suffering from that scar."

Amelia followed his example and apologized along with him, while Karteira wiped her tears away.

"When I felt the cut on my left leg heal, I felt another hand on my right leg doing the same. I never expected something like this to happen. Thank you, Orion."

She crouched and hugged him, her beautiful blue hair hiding everything in his sight.

'I don't remember moving my right hand, though. Did I do it unconsciously? That explains why I was so exhausted then.'

He healed an old injury, one that caused tremendous pain. It was no wonder he felt exhausted.

"Well, you're welcome."

With a smile, he patted the blue-haired fairy, relieved to see her fine.

'At least, I know it works.'

Confirming the actual effectiveness of his newfound discovery, he internally nodded.

"Orion, what did you do again? You keep creating new things that I can't keep up with."

He patted Karteira on the back to allow her to release him, which she did without complaining. He stood up and turned to Amelia a few seconds later.

"I'll explain in a second. Show me your hands first."

"Fine. Here, again."

She extended her hands toward him without asking any more questions. She knew Orion wouldn't answer until she felt better.

"I won't let you have those ruined hands any longer."

He once again focused on his light magic, and like before, a white aura enveloped his hand.

"I've explained before what my elements can do, right? Do you remember?"

She already knew the answer, as she retained all information concerning him.

"Yes, you have the light element that increases the speed of projectiles, and you have the dark element that causes ailments to the one touched by it."

Amelia appeared to pride herself on that knowledge as she puffed her chest up slightly.

"Currently, you are correct on the dark element, but half right on the light element."

In shock, she stared at him.

"Huh? Is the light element not working as an enhancing magic anymore?"

Amelia entered her thinking mode. Karteira on the side was also listening, but a detail caught her attention faster than it did for Amelia.

"You've said 'projectiles', but when he enhances our movement, it's not a projectile, isn't it?"

Amelia acknowledged her statement and nodded.

"Oh, you're right. Does that mean that it acts as a plain increase in speed?"

Orion had a mixed expression.

"You are right, but you are still missing something. Think a bit more."

"We're missing something..."

Karteira was intensely rummaging through her thoughts.

"An increase in speed... An increase in speed?"

Amelia was gradually beginning to understand.

"But to heal with light magic, it has to be using that speed enhancement."

Orion smiled.

'So close!'

He was having fun looking at the two racking their brains to understand him while he was focusing on healing Amelia's hands.

"What did he enhance in that case?"

Amelia looked at Karteira.

"His hand? That doesn't make sense."

"That was most likely the way to use the energy... What we are looking for is what he applied the magic to-"

As Amelia described the process, Karteira pieced everything together.

"Amelia! That's it!"

"Yes, I see now."

Orion finished healing Amelia and released the white aura from his hand. The two spoke at the same time.

"Natural healing!"

The feeling of being understood drew a gentle smile on his face.

"Good thinking. I knew you would get it, Amelia, but I wasn't expecting you too, Karteira. Color me surprised."

Both laughed shyly. He took this chance to explain clearly.

"In the end, it is fairly simple. I focused the ability of the light element, which is the increase in speed of whatever I wish for, on the natural recovery you have."

"Since it is not a fair increase, it still takes some time to do it, so I will only use it outside battles."

Then, Karteira thought of something else related to that power.

"But then, there are so many things you can increase with that type of magic. Are you not going to try them?"

He thought for a second before giving an answer to Karteira.

"No, I won't do that. Unless it is a necessity, I won't increase the quantity of things I have to work on. I already possess the ability to process details and slow my worldview down, so I won't use magic on my brain."

With a serious frown, he explained carefully.

"That could be dangerous too. Who knows what could happen if we overuse that ability? Too much processing can't be a good thing. The same goes for speeding the body."

"You felt it, right? The way your body has a hard time following the speed at which you move, the creaking of your bones, and the cramping of your muscles."

"That is the reality of this ability. It doesn't perfectly increase your speed. It also takes things from you. The only way to avoid those problems would obviously be training, but we'll look at that later."

Karteira was stunned. In a very brief moment, he had already thought of the matter she brought up out of curiosity.

'He thought so clearly about how he uses his abilities. Did I ever think as much about my own abilities? Did I ever try to describe how I feel it, how I want to use it, and its limitations?'

She internally shook her head.

'I've never done that.'

Grateful for the explanation, she smiled.

"You're right. We'll have to look at everything later. Thank you. Without you, I wouldn't have questioned my own strength until now."

"You're welcome, but I didn't do much. When I use the 'Overdrive' state, I have no choice but to be reminded of all of that. I might have incredible increases in speed, control, and strength, but ultimately, I still hurt myself when I use it."

Amelia instantly turned to him, a frown on her face.

"And I can speak for him. There are times when I have to stop him because it takes days for his muscles to stop hurting."

"Worse than that, even when injured, he keeps training. I wish you would think of me having to stop you every time."

Orion laughed dryly at Amelia's comments.

"I'll keep that in mind."

They began exchanging laughs and enjoyed the quick rest obtained after defeating the first 'Corrupted Lord' of the underground.

Now fully healed, all there was left to do was continue their hunt and release Tiohr-nam from her dying fate.

The remaining number of enemies were two legions of corrupt insects and two 'Corrupted Lords'.

The day wasn't over yet.

How much would they be able to advance during the few hours before sunset?