Chapter 29 Magical Healing.

No one loves pain.

But pain shields us from harm.

No one loves sorrow.

But without it, we wouldn't know what happiness is

Amaret, the Great Sinner.

I snatch the cleaver from her hand and measure my arm stub. It looks bad, my skin has black and purple bruises, and the sharp broken bone sticking out of the flesh makes the sight even more grotesque. I simply avoided looking at it. It’s terrifying to acknowledge that this is what's left of my own right hand.

“Kikikikikikiki!! Chicky you're funny! No one can cut their own flesh. Our psyche can't tolerate the pain. You'll hesitate, you’ll hurt yourself more, you better consider that potion yes?”

Don't underestimate my determination! Don't underestimate my ambition! I will learn magic! I will live! And I will find my way back home! I've fought tooth and nail in order to survive! I put my hand in acid a few days ago to survive! I've laid on a road in the middle of a thunderstorm for the sake of my life! I need that money to survive! I need these gems for faster meditation! I won't let you rob me blind for the sake of a painless moment! I won’t sit here coinless and dependent on you for my survival! I won’t give you an easy weakness to use against me in the future! I won’t be manipulated by the likes of you!

This is for my hand! This is for my survival! Watch me you bitch!

And with that, I chop my own arm stub.

For a moment I feel nothing. Then I jolt when the searing pain overwhelms me. I can only see white for two long seconds.

To my horror, I realize I only went halfway through. Crimson blood pools around the blade that is still stuck deep in my flesh. The metallic smell of my blood gives me a sense of nausea. My heart thumps up violently, and the cold sweat gives me an eerie chill.

At least the old witch isn’t cackling anymore. Her golden eyes open widely, staring at me mouth agape. But she doesn’t do anything to help me.

I clench my jaws and pull the cleaver out. Blood gushes out in volumes that terrify me. I have no time to be scared or in pain right now, I scream as I land another strike.

I want to crawl on the floor from the pain, the water in my eyes distorts my vision. I lose control of my breathing. This is so much worse than putting my hand in the acid.

This time the rest of the stub hangs on by a strand of flesh, and the weird table my hand is strapped to soaks in my blood. The old witch watches me with a pair of round unblinking golden eyes.

One day, this cleaver will chop your scrawny neck, you witch! I chop the rest of my stub off with a yelp, my whole body trembling. I throw the cleaver away, panting heavily. “There! I don't need your damn potion! Now heal my hand you bitch!”

She nods quietly. At a motion of her hand, some of my blood flows into a crystalline bottle. I tremble and clench my teeth as I watch her calmly collect my blood instead of healing me right away. This is infuriating, the extreme torment from my hand is only making it worse. But there’s nothing I can do about it.

She picks a large snake's skeleton from one of her cupboards, and chants a long spell in a strange language. Her voice forming a whispery hiss. “Sefius. Rod'e. Si to sha ifarento rod'esud'e, sud'ekal, sha to shixar. Entoxalmish si to xatex rod'esud'e, sus exaful xaxa.”

The blood on the table evaporates and turns into a red cloud. The snake's skeleton in her hand puffs out green smoke. Two strange creatures show up in red and green mists. They both look like fairies from the stories. Small and slender bodies with beautiful faces, and each about half a meter tall. Six dragonfly wings fluttering on their backs.

But that's where the similarity between the two ends.

One is clearly male. He has red liquid-like skin almost as if he is made out of living flowing blood. His red eyes shine brightly and a pair of sharp white fangs can be seen through his open mouth as he snarls. He reminds me of the smaller feminine blood-covered creature I’ve seen hanging around master Rushmia.

The other is female. She has soft pale skin, and the clothes she wears are made out of green leaves and soft branches. She has a long black scorpion tail coming out of her short skirt, and a forked snake tongue that keeps smelling the air.

The hag places her palm on my arm stub and the pair of creatures circle her hand, turning into fist-sized balls of forest green and blood-red lights as they fly around her hand. My bone is regenerating bit by bit. But the pain doesn’t fade. I bite my lips in a whimper, trying to think of anything else but my throbbing arm. But I can’t, and the growing bone adds an unbearable itch into this mix of agonizing pain.

Despite all of that, I let out a sigh of relief. She truly plans to heal my hand, she wasn't lying about that part. Chopping my arm stub and the pain I am going through isn’t in vain. I'd kill her right here and now if it was, or at least try to.

The bones of my elbow forms, then the twin bones of the wrist, and a complex array of bones forms my palm. Still as simple white wet bones. It takes about ten minutes, and this whole time my shoulder throbs in pain. Nothing compared to what I did earlier, but the continuous pain is annoying. Weirdly enough, blood no longer flows out of my arm stub.

Next, the old woman picks a weird bone with some raw flesh on it. Is that mutton rib? Now she chants another spell in another incantation language. Her voice turns unnaturally deep and echoing with the chant, almost masculine. “Tosh mik kush. Biyuk mak mis, kushbak bal mak. Mik mis Kushtosh toshmik bokobama.”

The blooded red male fairy leans down and sucks my blood from the table. A lot of it disappears, drains into his mouth in an instant. The mutton rib in the woman’s hands disappears as well, leaving brown-orange smoke.

The female scorpion sprite disappears in fading green fog. She is replaced by a male one who wears thick bone armor that hides his graceful features. A familiar set of three black runes is etched on his forehead, similar to the creature who showed up after I’ve killed master Rushmia. This one is smaller though. He joins the bloody fairy as a ball of brown light and the two circle my hand again.

Now my muscles and blood vessels are slowly regenerating. The pain nearly disappears after a minute, replaced by an unbearable itch, and a burning sensation at the spot that grows my flesh.

I watch in astonishment as my tendons, flesh, and blood vessels all form under the old woman’s skilled hands. Her brows crease in focus emphasizing the wrinkles on her face. This time it takes longer to fully form my flesh. But compared to everything I went through, it’s bearable.

The last ingredients are a handful of glittering scales and belladonna petals. She dips both of them in my blood and chants a spell in a third incantation language. This language has a pleasant soothing tone to it, the hag’s hoarse voice turns gentler and musical as the strange words roll off her tongue. “fai~ nim~ oue rissu nirissu asuli fenu~ oue nimfai rialuwe~ fainim~ nimakee niar rilaluwe~ akeloki si ril~ asano si aluwe nufilata~”

My blood and the scales she holds - disappear in red and blue smoke. The bone-armored creature disappears, and another female fairy shows up. This one is blue. She is made out of flowing blue liquid that stands as a stark contrast to the male in red. Her translucent hair looks like a tiny flowing waterfall on her back, it even let out a bit of steam.

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With red and blue fist-sized balls of light circling my hand rapidly - my skin grows up covering my hand, slowly but surely. My heart beats loudly in excitement. I am getting my hand back, I am not going to be one-handed for life! I have to learn the spells she used in case I end up losing another limb! I just have to!

It's a good thing I remember most of the words she said, I can try and imitate them if I have to. The materials are blood, snake's skeleton, sheep's rib, and the last one looks like fish's scales and belladonna... I need to know which type of fish that is… I wonder what the patterns for these spells are, I’ll have to research it… but where?! I don't have the tower's library anymore…

After a short time, my hand is as good as new, covered by smooth alabaster skin. If this woman has the ability to form new smooth skin, why doesn't she make herself look younger? Or does she prefer appearing like an old witch? Probably… her whole shop and this cellar are going for the whole 'witchy vibe' maybe she has a thing for it? Maybe she's younger and makes herself seem older… Who knows? I can't imagine someone who'd want to appear old and cranky like her. But she couldn't imagine I'd chop my own flesh like that either. Everyone has their own quirks.

She opens the straps that held my arm in place. I move my arms clenching and opening my fist still astonished at the fact that my hand is just how it used to be. “Should I also heal your back young woman?” She sounds tired.

“My back? What's wrong with my back?”

She points me to a nearby mirror. I move my hair aside and see a tree-like scar covering my skin. It starts from my left shoulder blade going all the way down to my lower back and waist. “How did that happen?!” I ask in astonishment. I’ve never seen scars like that…

The hag cackles. “You got hit by lightning young woman, you are lucky to have survived yes?”

Right! The second mage I've killed... His automatic defenses had probably acted up when I killed him… which explains the pain on my back at the time. “Will healing it cost me?”

“Another year, yeesss.”

“Then leave it like that.” I'll heal it myself as soon as I learn the right magic. It's not like anyone will see it under my clothes… I’m not exactly planning on selling my body anymore…

She nods slowly. “Young woman. You have lost a lot of blood, you should feel very weak once your adrenaline runs out. I shall show you to your room. You shall rest tomorrow, and then it's off to work for you.”

She motions me to follow her. She seems tired, like the spells she cast drained all of her energy. She even stumbles. I can kill her now… will save me the time of working for her or looking for her weaknesses… no, this is wrong and despicable! I am not that heartless and ungrateful. I'll work for the five years I promised. She kept her part of the deal, I will keep mine. However, if she does cross me after five years I'll do my best to kill her…

But if she decides to cross me after five years she'll be ready for it… before five years she won't be… so maybe I'll do it before the five years run out… If she indeed crosses me, I'll pretend to give in and agree to work more for her… Then kill her when she doesn't expect. We'll see… I need to learn what kind of person she is first… I hope I won't regret not killing her now though…

She leads me to a small room upstairs. The place is surprisingly tidy, and unlike the rest of her shop it isn’t covered in dust. The bed is prepared, the small window is open, and the little furniture is simple and sophisticated.

The room is a bit bigger than what I had in the tower, but the ceiling is much lower, hanging slightly above my head. “The room is yours. Take a rest tomorrow, and don't worry about food.” The old woman gestures at the comfortable-looking bed.

“It's not your room is it?”

“Bah! What do you take me for?! My room is on the other side.” She points at the opposite door.

The door she points at is made out of dark mahogany wood, it has a golden knob and silvered decoration of a crane-like bird on it. The door stands out in this dark dusty shop, and the magical blue and green flames from the walls give an even more magical feel to this hallway.

“You're not allowed in there.” The old woman adds. “If I catch you sniffing around that door, I shall chop off your hand and throw you out on the street.”

She walks into my room and looks around it with a frown. “Your room belonged to my former assistant, your predecessor. Like you, I healed his leg. Now no more questions! Off to bed. Yes?”

Shaking my head I enter the bed. I am glad I didn't backstab her, maybe she’s rough around the edges, and greedy to the point of abusive. But she feels like a person who’d honor her deals, and she cares to take care of my need. Even if it was just caring for her ‘work force’, it's nice having someone who cares about me again.

I get left alone in the bed, lifting my new hand and looking at it. The smooth skin, the blood vessels under it, the soft resistance of my flesh as I press my fingers against my hand. The last week feels like a weird dream, a nightmare. My hand is alright, I am alright. I am safe here. This woman won't make a move against me as long as she expects me to work for her. And as long as I live up to these expectations I have nothing to worry about.

She did promise protection from the tower’s hunters. I have no idea how she would provide it, but I’ll have to trust her. She simply wouldn't go to such lengths and tire herself like that to heal my hand if she didn't mean it. And if she has some ulterior motives she hadn’t told me about, I'll find out about them sooner or later.

This feeling of safety is simply amazing. Especially after a long week of feeling like prey. Of having to destroy other people's lives in order to keep my life out of harm's way. Of having not a single moment of respite. This is a lucky streak, just like she said. Five more years and I'm free! Then I'll see about getting home... I do not regret my decision, running away from the city would result in being hunted and more of that feeling, who knows for how long. Five years of my life is a worthy price for my safety and my hand. Regardless of the ulterior motives this old woman must have, regardless of the way she tried to squeeze my money. I am thankful for her deal.

She could’ve robbed me… she could’ve turned me in for my bounty and taken all of my money easily… she still can take my money in my sleep… I am at her mercy…

But I don’t think she will…

Now I feel fatigued. Weak, and cold. I can barely move as the energy leaves my body. My muscles are sore, my bones are tired, and I only want to rest my head on something. Oh yeah, I am already doing that…

Being so tired combined with already being in bed is a very pleasant feeling, and soon enough I doze off into oblivion. Where weird and grotesque creatures are torturing humans and eating them alive using odd methods. They ignore me for some reason, and I am apathetic to these people's suffering. The humans also ignore me, not that they are in a situation they can talk though… And I don’t know them, so they do not matter. It’s more important for me not to get caught by the monsters myself, I am selfish that way.

*~*~*

Power level: 2nd stage apprentice.

Mana pools status:

Crown-knot: Affinity 10:

Neck-Bridge: Affinity 6: formed: max amount of gems drained per day: 66

Abdomen-storage: Affinity 5:

Air: Affinity 4: formed: 18 gems

Fire: Affinity 2: formed: 9 gems

Light: Affinity 3:

Water: Affinity 6:

Earth: Affinity 1:

Wood: Affinity 2:

Gravity: Affinity 9: formed: 41 gems

Cantrip known:

Air: Shavi’s Breeze, Shavi’s Sword.

Fire: Nuriss’ Flame.

Gravity: Lumina’s Kinetic Burst. Tukado’s Repulse. Tukado’s Lesser Shield. Imari’s Minor Telekinesis. Leo’s Pull. Leo’s Grounding. Alino’s Light body. Alino’s Heavy body.

Focus capability: 9 patterns

Social status: An escaped apprentice from the sapphire tower, a wanted criminal.

Wealth: 231 gems.

Items:

Two simple healing potions.

two potions with unknown effects.

An enchanted belt with eight pouches, the enchantment presumably keep the pouches’ content fresh.

Various spell materials.

Companions:

Injuries and scars: Back, lightning scar.