Chaos erupted among the hunters. Their voices overlapped in a mix of fear, confusion, and urgency.

The mage was the first to shout, his voice marked with uncertainty and a hint of guilt from his failed protective spell, "Form up! We need—"

Before he could finish, the hammer guy, his voice cracking with panic, cut in, "Valentina? Valentina? She's—she's hit!"

Amidst the turmoil, the smaller of the hunters, the one who looked indifferent in Lily’s eyes, maintaining his composure but clearly concerned, interjected with a simple but pressing question directed at their leader, "What should we do now?"

Meanwhile, the victim of the attack could only emit muffled, desperate sounds, her situation growing increasingly dire as the mud began to harden around her face.

“Hold your positions!” The archer commanded, her voice cutting through the rising tide of panic. The order instantly quelled the chaos, leaving only the sounds of the swordswoman's distressing thrashes on the ground.

Despite their evident reluctance to leave a comrade suffering, the team, especially the towering figure holding the hammer, focused their attention back on the monsters. The man clenched his weapon tighter, his expression shifting between rage and determination. They could only stay put and trust in their leader.

"Theron," the archer called out decisively, "move Valentina to the mendicar, now!"

Theron, the silent and seemingly most composed member of the group, sprang into action with surprising agility for his small stature. It was as if he was pushed by an unseen force, effortlessly hoisting the struggling Valentina over his shoulder and making a beeline for the carriages. With Valentina now in capable hands, the remaining hunters could finally let go, their resolve to end the mudlings now strengthened by their desire for vengeance.

From her vantage point, Lily watched the unfolding drama, torn between the urge to assist and the need for self-preservation. The witch's ambush had left a deep imprint on her, teaching her the hard lesson of prioritizing her own safety. The decision, fortunately, was taken out of her hands when they brought the patient to her.

Caught in a moment of hesitation, so unlike her recent imponent role as a mendicar, Lily struggled to decide where to administer the emergency care. It felt trivial, almost foolish, to be concerned about the appropriateness of a location when faced with a critical situation. However, despite the urgency, she found herself feeling inadequate to demand that the wealthy couple relinquish their table for the treatment.

"Bring her to your carriage and lay her on the table inside," Valdis's voice boomed, directed at Theron but clearly intended to help Lily. His insight into the situation was unnervingly accurate, almost as if he could read her mind.

Casting aside trivial concerns, Lily dashed towards the indicated carriage, her bag of healing supplies in tow, her mind racing to formulate a plan of action.

While the swordswoman wasn't the most severely injured patient Lily had treated, she certainly presented a unique challenge. The assault had left her face mostly unscathed, save for a few bruises and a slight case of mana poisoning. However, the real issue lay in her compromised breathing. Solidified mud had obstructed her airways, and through her 'health sense,' Lily could see that the substance had not only blocked the woman's nose and mouth but had also hardened inside, creating a dire situation.

Ideally, the mud-like obstruction would dissolve in water or be physically removed, but Lily doubted it was that simple. If it were, the patient's frantic attempts to scratch it away would have already yielded some success. Before even laying a hand on the woman, Lily faced a daunting question: how could she restore the woman's breathing?

She had no firsthand experience treating such severe respiratory obstructions, but she recalled reading about them in one of Orion's texts. Obstructions, swelling of the airway, reactions to mana poisoning, or deliberate actions could all cause breathing interruptions. The text noted a critical survival window without fresh air – two to six minutes, depending on the individual's affinity for air mana. The swordswoman's first minute without air had already passed, narrowing the window of opportunity for her survival.

Lily noticed red tags spreading across the woman's body, a sign that panic was exacerbating her condition. Although not as strong as Augustus, Lily discerned that the woman was aligned with fire mana, a common trait among sword users. While the fire mana emanating from her mana heart fought against the earth poisoning, it also seemed to accelerate her distress, rapidly consuming the scant air she had left.

Upon reaching the carriage, Lily shifted into high gear, entering her 'mendicar' mode. A quick scan revealed an additional member of the hunter team, previously unengaged in the skirmish – the overly excited young man.

"You," she directed, turning to the young man, "boil some water, quickly." The young man, anxious but eager to assist, hurried out of the carriage to execute her command. Then, addressing the silent man who had brought the woman in, she commanded, "You can go back!"

The serious man, who seemed to keep his calm even in such a situation, which likely influenced the archer's decision to entrust him with this task, exhibited a flicker of surprise upon receiving Lily's directive. She could have used his assistance, yet she preferred to conduct the initial stages of her treatment in privacy, away from prying eyes. His momentary hesitation gave way to frustration, evident in the tight clench of his fists and the scowl that darkened his features. However, Lily's unwavering gaze made it clear she would not proceed with her work until he vacated the premises. Reluctantly acknowledging her resolve, he exited, leaving the mendicar to focus on her critical patient in the now quiet space of the carriage.

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With the carriage door closing behind the departing man, Lily immediately turned her attention to the woman, whose condition teetered on the brink of irreversibility. The urgency of the situation demanded immediate action to stabilize her, buying Lily precious moments to devise a plan to address the obstruction in her breathing. Bestowed with secrecy, Lily traced a complex pattern in the air and softly invoked a spell, "clear." A green mist coalesced from her incantation, swirling around the patient's head, seeking entry.

However, Lily encountered an unexpected resistance to the spell – a peculiar sensation she hadn't felt when treating others. She poured additional mana into her efforts, considering the possibility that the swordswoman's own mana was instinctively repelling the intrusion. This anomaly puzzled Lily; it was a reaction she hadn't observed in previous treatments, including those involving mana poisoning. Not even when she cast a spell on the envoy. It was her first time using this spell, though. The reasons for this discrepancy would need exploration, but there was no time for such reflections now.

With renewed focus, Lily intensified her will, breaking through the resistance. The spell took hold, visibly soothing the patient. To complement the spell's efficacy and disguise any tangible spell effects from the still-conscious woman, Lily whispered words of comfort and reassurance. Gradually, the patient's convulsions eased into mere shivers, and the ominous spread of the red tags across her skin slowed, granting them a slight reprieve.

Despite this success, the window of opportunity was narrowly extended by one or two minutes. Lily's initial attempt to cleanse the swordswoman's face with water proved futile, confirming her suspicions that the solution to their predicament would not be found in simple measures.

In the heat of the moment, Lily came up with two potential treatments: one, using the 'clean' spell to purge the respiratory blockages, and the other, employing the mendicar's knife to manually clear the obstruction. The former, while theoretically promising, threatened to deplete her mana reserves significantly, given the anticipated difficulty in cleansing this particular mud compared to the poisons she had previously encountered. The latter option, though seemingly direct, bore the risk of inefficacy or worse, inadvertently harming the patient.

Compelled by the relentless march of time, Lily opted for a hybrid strategy. She commenced with the knife, delicately scraping at the petrified mud encasing the swordswoman's nose. The substance proved stubbornly resistant, not quite as unyielding as stone, but formidable enough to demand careful exertion. Lily's skilled hands navigated the perilous task, avoiding harm while gradually revealing the contours of the nostrils beneath the hardened layer.

Transitioning to the second phase of her plan, Lily didn't pause in her efforts. With 'health sense' actively guiding her, she sketched the pattern for purity in the air and summoned the 'clean' spell. This time, rather than allowing the spell to disperse aimlessly over the mud-encrusted surface, she channeled her will, directing the spell's energy precisely towards the exposed nostrils.

The spell, manifesting as a concentrated green mist, made contact with the obstruction, beginning its work to dissolve the mud. However, the initial relief Lily felt upon observing this interaction was quickly tempered by the realization of how little the spell could clean. Undeterred, she funneled more mana into the effort, intensifying the spell's reach into the nasal passages. Fully clearing the blockage would demand an exorbitant amount of mana.

With her focus sharpened, Lily tried to refine the spell further, aiming to enhance its potency while reducing its breadth to a mere fraction of the nostril's diameter. This exertion brought on a headache, distinct from the depletion of her mana but rather stemming from the sheer intensity of her concentration.

Persisting through the discomfort, she refined the spell's focus, accelerating its progress through the obstruction. Using 'health sense,' Lily guided the spell with precision, accepting the inevitable inefficiencies as the cost of the patient's recovery.

With determination to see it through, she navigated the final hurdle, meticulously creating a narrow passage for air. The moment the obstruction was cleared, a rush of air filled the newly opened channel, causing a significant, albeit precarious, improvement in the swordswoman's condition. However, the victory was shadowed by a new challenge: the passage was too constricted to meet the patient's breathing needs fully, ushering in a fresh wave of panic fueled by an instinctual fear for survival.

Recognizing the fragile balance between relief and distress, Lily momentarily contemplated rendering the patient unconscious to alleviate the panic. However, she ultimately opted for a gentler approach, employing another 'clear' spell to soothe the hunter's fraying nerves. This temporary measure alleviated the immediate crisis, buying Lily precious time to devise a more sustainable solution.

Lily's next step was to prepare a countering concoction tailored to the patient’s needs. The mud's earth alignment required an air-aligned counter, aiming to neutralize the obstructive material's effects. Conscious of the patient's delicate state, the healer avoided stimulating treatments in favor of maintaining calm, despite recognizing the potential benefits of a 'minor vitality' concoction under different circumstances.

One of the reasons mendicars prepared the medicine on the go was to adapt dosages and methods to the patient’s condition. While smoked fire-aligned herbs were typically inhaled due to their aggressive nature, Lily knew that air-aligned treatments also benefited from inhalation, but without the harshness of the smoke. This approach considered the inherent properties of mana alignments: the aggression of fire, the persistence of earth, the pervasive nature of water, and the subtlety of air.

With meticulous care, Lily prepared the liquid base of her concoction, incorporating an air tincture and a detox infusion to directly counter the earth-aligned obstruction. The addition of air-aligned herbs, selected for their fragrant properties, would only need gentle mixing rather than grinding into the concoction. Later, the precise application of hot water would activate the herbs, releasing their beneficial effects into the air.

In the absence of boiled water, Lily positioned the bowl of concoction beneath the patient's nose. The emanating fragrance began to work its magic, subtly combating the earth poisoning and aiding in the recovery process.

The careful handling of the air-aligned medicine proved the delicate balance between efficacy and application in mendicar treatment. The inhaled essence, despite its inefficiencies in delivering all the content to the patient, offered quick effects. Breathed medicines spread through the body faster than any other delivery method. This phenomenon, while not fully understood, played to Lily's advantage as the calming fragrance also spared her the need for additional spellcasting to soothe the swordswoman's agitation.