"What part needs to be cauterized?" Magnus asked. He sat beside a bed in one of the many rooms of the village hall, now repurposed into a makeshift hospital for the injured. Next to him, a doctor gestured to a small but deep puncture wound in an unconscious woman's stomach. Her skin was smeared with dried blood, while fresh crimson steadily oozed from the injury, staining the sheets beneath her despite the clear effort to stitch it shut.

"Here. The wound’s too deep for direct pressure or bandages to stop the bleeding. We need to seal it before we can operate, or she'll die of blood loss first," the doctor explained. Magnus nodded, raising a finger. Sparks of ember flared to life, quickly shaping into a fierce, controlled stream of flames. It looked like a blowtorch but moved with the precision of a scalpel. Carefully, he lowered the flame to the wound and began the cauterization. The tissue around the injury began to burn and melt, slowly sealing the wound shut. Even though she was unconscious, the woman’s body tensed, and a low groan escaped her lips, a clear reaction to the pain.

The doctor motioned to the helpers nearby, and they moved quickly to hold the woman steady. Her sudden movements threatened to disrupt Magnus's work, and an accidental burn was the last thing someone in her condition needed. After a tense moment, the wound was fully closed. Magnus extinguished the flame and leaned back with a sigh.

"Done," he murmured, his voice carrying a trace of fatigue. The spell itself wasn’t overly difficult to visualize, but he wasn’t a surgeon, nor was he accustomed to the pungent stench of burning flesh. The smell alone made him want to grimace.

Thankfully, he had his [Self Body Puppetry] to keep his movements precise and under control. The doctor leaned in to inspect the wound while a nurse standing across from Magnus retrieved a damp cloth from a nearby table. She leaned over and gently wiped the sweat from his brow.

“We can’t thank you enough, Magnus. So many injuries have been beyond our ability to treat since the hospital burned down—and we lost most of our equipment,” the nurse said warmly as she finished dabbing his forehead.

“No problem,” Magnus said with a smile. He reassured the nurse that he was fine and encouraged her that she didn't have to stick around for him. The doctor also commended him on his precision, thanking him again.

Magnus nodded, standing up and stretching. After theorizing about the source of the mana beast that attacked the village and cost Seraline her arm, he had tried to get some rest. But sleep eluded him. With everything that had happened—and was still happening—he felt too restless. He needed to stay busy, so he had come back downstairs to see how he could help. At first, everyone was hesitant to accept his assistance. It wasn’t until Magnus demonstrated his capabilities with elementrix magic that the doctors and nurses began asking for his help here and there.

Over time, they even stopped calling him “Great Mage” to his face—at his insistence, of course.

If someone were to look around the room now, they’d see a mix of ordinary medical tools and glowing mana constructs in use. While the village had a good enough supply of medicine, their equipment was another story; much of it had been lost in the fire. Magnus had stepped in to offer replacements. Normally, spells would disintegrate quickly under the suppression of the spirits once disconnected from their caster. But Magnus’s mastery of [Arcane Matrix] allowed him to fine-tune mana formations to an almost inhuman degree.

By adding complexity to the spells without altering their function, he could extend their lifespan significantly after being detached from him. This allowed the mana constructs to remain stable for half an hour to an hour. Once they broke down, Magnus would simply create new ones—a far better solution than delaying surgeries because a tool was unavailable.

Well, I guess that’s all I can do here for now.

With that thought, Magnus began walking the length of the room. Beds lined the walls, and volunteers, doctors, and nurses moved about, tending to the injured or comforting those who had already been treated. As he headed for the door leading to the grand hall, a nurse waved him down.

“Excuse me, Great- Um, Magnus,” she corrected herself quickly.

“Before you go, could you fill this basin for me?” Magnus glanced at the nearly empty wooden basin in her hands and gave her a nod. With a simple visualization, he conjured water using water elementrix. The process was seamless; mana condensed from nothing, and in an instant, the basin filled with crystal-clear water. Not a single ripple disturbed the surface. The nurse looked down in amazement. She had seen him do this countless times, and so had everyone else, yet it never ceased to astonish her. Though to be fair, it had taken Magnus a while to get used to the sight of magic himself even when surrounded by it.

“The water will vanish in about an hour,” Magnus said.

“Come find me if you need it refilled.”

“Thank you,” she replied with a quick nod before hurrying off to deliver the basin to where it was needed.

As Magnus pushed open the doors, the noise from the room behind him was replaced by the even louder clamor of the grand hall. Despite the chaotic sounds, there was a noticeable shift in the atmosphere compared to when he had first arrived. The worst of the chaos had subsided. Many of the severely injured patients had either succumbed to their wounds or held on long enough for Magnus to get a chance to heal them. He couldn't heal them all; of course, he didn't have enough spell catalysts on him for that. But he did his best for the ones with the most fatal injuries. His presence had also reduced the need for frantic rushing; with his magic, he could solve many problems in moments.

"You’ve really been working hard, haven’t you? Does it really not get tiring, using hundreds of spells at once?" A voice called out from behind. Magnus turned to see Elip approaching with a friendly yet curious smile.

"Hmm, for most mages, probably. But not for me," Magnus replied, matching his smile.

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Not to brag, but I’m a bit special in that regard."

Elip chuckled at the response. "Yeah, I don’t doubt that one bit. Anyway, I’ve got some good news for you."

Magnus raised a brow, his curiosity piqued.

"Really? What is it? Don’t tell me Seraline’s awake." His tone was hopeful, but the way Elip’s expression shifted—an awkward look accompanied by a shake of his head—immediately dimmed it.

"Sadly, no. Sorry. I guess calling it really good news might’ve been an overstatement. Rasan and his team returned while you were busy, though, and they managed to retrieve the maps you were looking for from the Southern Library."

Magnus’s eyes lit up.

"Oh, that is really good news!" Those maps could help him figure out where Mia and the others were, as well as where he needed to go after Seraline was healed.

"Can I see them now?"

Elip nodded.

"Of course. That’s why I came to find you. We’ve laid them out in the council room. The other elders are tied up at the moment, but Elder Rodgir is there."

"Perfect, let’s go. I don’t think there are any spells I’ll need to recast for the next twenty minutes or so." With that, Magnus and Elip started making their way upstairs, walking the staircases that spiraled through and around the massive tree until they reached the fifth floor. The double doors to the council room were slightly ajar, and as they stepped inside, Magnus saw Elder Rodgir and Rasan standing over a table in the center of the room.

Hearing their footsteps, both men looked up.

"Ah, you got here quicker than I expected," Elder Rodgir remarked.

"I heard you were busy helping the doctors and tending to the injured. I thought we might have to wait."

"I just finished up when I ran into Elip," Magnus replied, stepping toward the table. He glanced at Rasan.

"You look good. I’m guessing the mission went smoothly?"

Rasan gave a confident smile and a thumbs-up.

"Of course. We ran into a few monsters along the way, but nothing too serious. I took care of them. Two of my team got injured, but they’ll recover in a few weeks."

"That’s good to hear," Magnus said, turning his attention to the table. Papers were spread out in a slightly haphazard fashion atop the large map of the village that had already been laid on the table beforehand.

"So, these are the maps of the upper northern region of Verdant?"

Rasan nodded but let out a small sigh.

"Yeah..." Magnus caught the hesitation in his voice and shot him a questioning look, mirrored by Elip. Elder Rodgir cleared his throat, drawing their attention.

"These are indeed the maps we need," Rodgir began, "but there’s a small issue. While they’re labeled as maps of the upper northern region, they aren’t marked individually. To see the complete picture, we’ll need to piece them together. Without labels, that’s proving difficult."

Elip frowned at the explanation, while Rasan rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Sorry about that, Magnus. We didn’t check them closely before I sent Elip to get you. But don’t worry, we can—" Magnus interrupted him, already moving his hands over the table, spreading the maps out to examine them each individually.

"It’s fine; I can just piece them together in my head." The room fell silent as all three men blinked at Magnus, confusion etched on their faces. But before anyone could ask what he meant by that, Magnus was already deep in thought. The table held more than ten different maps, each representing a fragment of the upper region of Verdant. None were labeled, making it impossible to tell at a glance which piece connected to which. Even if two maps seemed to align, there was no guarantee they accurately reflected the region’s true layout.

Normally, this kind of puzzle would require hours—or even an entire day—of painstaking trial and error to figure out. Careful comparisons and endless adjustments would be needed to ensure the pieces fit. But Magnus wasn’t like most people.

For him, this was child’s play.

Basker, create a two-dimensional image of the entire Verdant Region in my mind. While you’re at it, generate images of each map fragment and combine them in every possible arrangement.

[Right away, Master.]

Within seconds, Magnus’s commands were carried out. Using the complete map of Verdant he had memorized from Seraline’s map, Basker created a base image. Then, the fragments were layered together in every conceivable combination, forming a mental “puzzle” for Magnus to solve. It was like a mix-and-match game, but entirely within his mind. He compared each potential arrangement against the northern edge of the Verdant Region, narrowing them down until he landed on the one combination that fit perfectly.

Hmm, this looks right to me. What do you think?

[I agree, Master.]

Perfect. Archive that for later; I don’t want to have to redo this process later.

[Already done.]

Great.

From an outsider’s perspective, Magnus had gone completely silent and still for about ten seconds. Then, as if nothing extraordinary had happened, he began moving again. Methodically, he organized the map fragments on the table exactly as he had visualized in his head.

“There we go,” he said, nodding in satisfaction. Elder Rodgir, Elip, and Rasan stared at the completed map in stunned silence. They didn’t know the upper region’s layout well enough to confirm if it was entirely accurate, but they couldn’t deny that Magnus’s arrangement looked correct.

Still, that did little to ease their confusion.

"Magnus, what did you... just do?" Elip asked, his voice laced with disbelief. Magnus glanced at him and the others, his expression calm.

"Oh, I just imagined all the different ways the map could fit together and compared them to the full map in my head to see which one matched." The three of them blinked in unison, processing his explanation.

"In your head?" Rasan asked, trying to make sense of it.

"Yeah." Magnus nodded. A brief silence followed as Magnus’s eyes scanned over the completed map on the table.

Meanwhile, Elip muttered under his breath, "Well... he did say he was a bit special... unless all mages are like this."

The truth was that Magnus was their only point of reference when it came to mages. They had no idea what was more surprising: the possibility that all mages were capable of feats like this or that the young man in front of them was uniquely gifted even among those who wielded magic. Their train of thought was interrupted, however, when Magnus suddenly called out, pointing to a specific spot on the map.

"There it is! Larter Village." All eyes followed his finger, and sure enough, he was right. The small village was marked faintly on the map, easy to overlook at first glance.

"Hmm," Elder Rodgir hummed, stroking his beard as he studied the location.

"It’s not nearly as far as I thought it would be. I didn’t even realize another village existed so close to ours." He was right. Even on foot, Larter Village was only a few days' journey at most. If Magnus pushed himself and traveled at top speed, he could likely reach it within the same day.

Leaning in for a closer look, Rasan pointed out something as well.

"It looks like it's in a bit of a valley, surrounded by some pretty large hills. The Verdant Woods grows better on flat ground, so it doesn't look like it extends as far there—the forest is probably a lot smaller than it is here. That should make it easier to find." Magnus nodded in agreement. If the forest around the village was sparser, spotting it would be simpler. And if he decided to travel through the air, he could find it even quicker. Even if he couldn't exactly fly yet, he could just leap through the sky repeatedly.

"Well, looks like you’ve got your destination now," Elip said, turning to Magnus.

Magnus smiled faintly, though a shadow of melancholy crossed his face.

"Yeah. Now I just need to hope Seraline wakes up soon. I’m on a bit of a time limit, and I don’t want to leave her like this. Worse yet, I don’t want to bring her home in this condition."