And I was absolutely right.

It was like someone had pierced me throughout with a spear. With barbs. That was covered in salt. Twice.

What the hell was he even doing to her?

At this point, I was not even able to tell.

Sure, the pain was distracting, but that was not the main problem.

Before, he managed to contain the blood in one singular blob that was hanging next to him, but now it has swollen about three times the size before, and was no longer just hanging there.

It was placed right on top of the wound, blocking any vision that wasn’t magical. Sure, I could tell where her body was if I was to look through with my enhanced sight, but I wasn’t really in the mood for that, you know?

That was not the only hurdle that he had in front of him.

To operate on her, because that’s what essentially this was boiling down to, he had to literally lean into the blob of blood and dive in, his whole torso going inside the crimson bubble.

I was wondering if he forgot about breathing, but he was peeking out every now and again, just to absolutely scare the shit out of For: him being completely red from head to waist.

After a minutes of the operation, and what felt like an hour of torture to me, he finally emerged from the bubble and tossed away something that looked very similar to a rib.

-The fuck?

For vocalized my state of mind right now.

I couldn’t really speak, just huddled on the ground next to him, trying to not move and ignore the searing pain that was constantly spiking through my body.

-I am not done. This thing is annoying…

Confirming his words, the “rib” started shifting its shape and, like a snake, wanted to get back to where it came from.

-That is disturbing… - mumbled For, kicking the weird thing away.

It immediately froze and stopped moving.

-Don’t ask - said Kon, anticipating the question. - I have never seen something like this.

-Mrgh.

-Instead of talking, can you get it over with? - I reminded them that there was still work to be done. - I think I can wait, but I am not sure about her.

-She will be fine - assured me Kon. - Between all of us, there is enough mana to repeat this hundred times over.

-Hopefully we won’t need that - commented For.

Kon only nodded and dived back into the bubble.

He was in there for a good ten minutes without a break.

I could hardly tell if he was making progress, because pain was not changing at all. Maybe once or twice I felt a larger sting or two, but that was about it.

When he pulled out his head, I could tell that something was not going right.

Of fucking course.

Why would it be so easy…

-We have a problem… I cannot… remake that piece - he announced.

-Remake… I mean, you can’t heal her?! - yelped Il.

-I can heal, but not that - he started explaining. - Sure, closing wounds or mending bones is not a problem.

-So what’s… - was about to ask For, but he just continued.

-But I cannot regrow a bone. And if I not… well, I mean losing a rib is not a problem, but…

He reached into the bubble and pulled out something that I only can describe as a handful of bone pieces.

-What’s that supposed to be…?

-A piece of her spine.

-A WHAT?!

That one was yelled out loud by every single one of us.

That was… something.

For one, how the hell did he manage to actually get to her spine of all places?!

Second, how quick was that crystallization in her body proceeding, if that was how deep already it was?!

-What the fuck.

-Okay. Okay. That’s… not normal - said Il, trying to keep up her composure. - What are we doing then?

-I have never had something like that happen - he admitted, nervous.

-Why were you doing that in the first place?! - asked absolutely stunned For. - I thought that was just a little bit that was crystalized…

-It wasn’t.

-Well, no wonder why you had such a hard time getting it out… I mean, you were grabbing just the outer layer, the…

-Yeah…

-But what’s the plan, then? We… I don’t think you can just put it back where it was…? - asked Il, knowing very well that it wasn’t possible.

-Even if I could, I’d rather not… touch that thing again.

-Less talking, more thinking - I finally said, reminding them that we were still in an emergency. - Can we focus?!

-Ah! Right! You still are in pain, but I…

-I don’t care about pain. I care about her bleeding out. Or leaking mana. I don’t know how this shit works. You can’t just seal the wound, right? - I asked.

-We do have time, but yeah, we should get a move on - agreed Il.

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

-I mean… I can close the wound, but that would leave her paralyzed from neck down. And that is at best.

-And at worst?

-Either dead or just completely paralyzed, unable to even move her head.

-Fuck.

-For now mana is stabilizing her, but that is not a long-term solution to that.

-Or is it? - I said as something came to my mind.

-Wha…?

-You said you cannot reform what you removed from nothing… but what if you had something?

-Are you trying to be paralyzed yourself? - asked For, curious and terrified of the prospect at once. - Or… you want to use someone else…

-I don’t want to use you - I immediately cut her off. - But…

Even so, that proposition was interesting.

She was still my slave. I could just order her to give in and use Kon to force the procedure on her…

Nah.

Our bodies…, well, most of them, were already made out of crystal. Crystal that was not jumping around and trying to do who the hell knows to us.

What if I used…

-Can you take a piece of me and create something to replace the bones?

-So you do want to sacrifice your own self! Hell no! - protested Il. - I am better for that, my body can…

-Who the hell knows what it can do - I interrupted. - But that’s not the issue, with you we have no idea how to get a piece that would work!

-Work…?

-If Kon was to try something like that, he’d most likely only burn you. Who knows if you wouldn’t just become the same ash that we burned not so long ago?!

-And what, you are better?! You are replacing bad with worse!

-And what’s the difference?! Your body is pretty much the same thing! I at least have a piece ready…

As I said that, I unwrapped my hand and removed it from my wrist.

Who knew that having it detachable would be a boon.

-Take it and use it. Can you? - I said, not really sure if that was going to work.

He took my hand and pondered for a moment.

-I mean… I guess I can try… It is the same thing, really… That is, if we aren’t including the negative bomb that thing had…

-A bomb?! - asked For, confused.

-When I was taking it out, even pulling out a singular piece was hard. And I don’t mean that it was wedged somewhere… Well, it was, but that’s not it. It was just like I was getting bombarded with hostility.

-And yet, you managed to do it… - said Il, not hiding the amazement.

-Well, I had some practice before…

-What?

-Never mind. Back on topic, I think that might actually work. But… I am not sure how it will influence you, Mor.

-And that’s going to happen, because…? - asked For.

-It’s still connected to him. I don’t know how to detach it, really…

-Just shut up and do it. I don’t care. Can’t be that bad.

-I mean, if you are worried about pain…

-That’s the last thing I am concerned about - I groaned, irritated. - Right now I am feeling… a lot of things, and I doubt it can get worse.

-It can - he sadly announced. - But, that’s not what I am worried about. I just worry that I might mess with your own look… after all, I will be transforming your flesh… into something else. Who knows what’s going to happen.

-Hopefully nothing horrible. Get on with it, please.

He hesitated for a second, but I could tell that it was just for show.

He knew that it had to be done, and was just making sure that it was me that proposed that solution.

I bet he knew how to fix her, but just didn’t want to say it, as it involved literally stealing my own flesh.

Well, no matter.

I can still regrow my hand, hopefully. Even if it comes to worst, it’s not the first time I’ve been one-handed.

-Be careful.

Even though it seemed like everyone involved was hesitating, it was just an act.

Well, at least from most of us.

Both me and Il were already pushed to the point where we wouldn’t be moved much by a strange magic, even this type.

Kon on the other hand…

He seemed excited. Even though he was desperately trying to hide it, I could tell. He was happy that he finally was able to use his magic for… well, something good it seems. At least that’s what we hoped.

Truth be told, I understood where he was coming from, and that in itself was making me worry.

Was it because of me?

Or, well, ILMA? That we were that way?

Prone to experiments and wild assumptions just because an idea springs one of our heads and we just go with it without much of a thought?

Without thinking about consequences?

Maybe.

It didn’t matter to me any more, though.

What was important was right in front of me.

Kon grabbed my hand tightly and I realized that I was feeling warm. Then hot. Then absolutely boiling…

The senses that I still had attached to me were screaming in protest, like the fact that I still was feeling piercing pain from the “operation” wasn’t enough.

But soon, the heat ended, and was instead replaced by a feeling that I cannot describe at all…

It was so confusing that I just was looking at him dumbfounded, and even then, when I realized what I was seeing, I still couldn’t fully process it.

In his palms, where just a moment ago he was holding my severed hand, there was now just a pool of strange liquid.

Almost like water, completely clear, but with thicker consistency. Not unlike gel, but somewhere in between.

That was what was remaining out of my flesh…?

Again he leaned towards the patient, but this time, even though he hid inside the bubble, I could clearly tell what was going on.

Or at least where his hands were. The aura of my own self was not going to be blocked so easily.

He leaned on her and poured the liquid crystal right into the wound.

I honestly was expecting pain. I mean, anything that would touch that kind of wound should be an absolute torment, right?

But no.

It was… pleasant…?

The pain was actually subsiding. The thousands of piercing needles that I felt all that time slowly were disappearing, and so was the bubble.

Just as he poured the “crystal water”, the blood that was hanging in the air next to her was also starting to get sucked in.

It was like someone just reversed a recording: everything was moving backwards, and that included the actual wound.

It didn’t even take a minute for it to close completely, and leave her skin absolutely pristine, without even a sign that something that crazy went down literally seconds ago. Even her clothes were clean: the blood from those was gone as well.

Did it go back to the body too? It kind of was worrying me, that couldn’t be very good for her health, but I didn’t have much time to think about that. In the moment everything ended, we finally got hit by a backlash.

Every single one of us staggered, and I felt that absolute ton of mana had left my body in a blink of an eye.

Was it just adrenaline working before? That I wasn’t able to tell that I was drained constantly? Or was it pain that blocked every other sense?

In any case, at least one of us should feel it during the procedure, but it didn’t seem like it was the case.

Sure, we all knew and expected that something like this wouldn’t be as easy as it seemed, but the aftereffects weren’t all that bad. Just being mana drained?

But just as I thought that, I realized that it was pretty bad, because suddenly, For collapsed and fell onto the grass without a hint of consciousness.

I reached towards her, to check if she was still breathing, I couldn’t even see her flame of mana in this environment. It was even being suppressed by the tree next to me, being more powerful than anyone in the vicinity.

Wait. Anyone?

Yeah. It was drained to that point as well.

Only looking at her made me realize how much I just lost.

I grabbed onto the trunk, trying to keep myself stable and maybe drain a bit of mana back, but I wasn’t able to.

I collapsed right next to her.

With the last of my consciousness I pushed myself away from her so I wouldn’t worsen her state and looked towards Kon, who was on his knees, with head slumped on his shoulder, seemingly passed out.

And then, I blacked out, too.