Chương 50: Healer

Fenrey looked at him, confused.

"What does that have to do with anything, boy—""I'm going to the Academy," Arien cut in.

"I unlocked the System some time ago. I can use magic." Fenrey stared at him.

"Is this some kind of joke? Because if it is, I swear—" Arien raised one hand and released a thin stream of Life mana. Fenrey fell silent.

"You can sense that, can't you?" The captain nodded slowly.

"Life mana," Arien said.

"I have the Life Aspect."

"By the gods…" Fenrey looked toward Sanrey.

"You're a Healer?"

"Something like that."

"But how?"

"It's a long story. What matters is that I think I can help him."

"You can save his leg?"

"I said I can help." Arien held his gaze.

"I've never treated injuries this severe. I don't know how much I can repair, and I'm not going to promise something I might not be able to deliver." Fenrey's face fell, but Arien continued.

"I'll do everything I can."

"If this is true, I'll pay you whatever you want."

"I don't want your money. Sanrey is my friend." Sanrey gave Arien's hand a weak squeeze. Arien hesitated.

"There is one thing." Fenrey immediately straightened.

"Anything."

"For reasons I'd rather not explain right now, I don't want people knowing what I can do until I'm formally accepted into the Academy. That could take months."

"You have my word."

"I'm not worried about you. Half the crew saw Sanrey's legs. If I heal him enough that he's walking around in a few days, people are going to ask questions." The captain glanced toward the door.

"The crew knows when to keep their mouths shut."

"You're sure?" Fenrey looked almost offended.

"I'm their captain." He hesitated, then added, "Still, I'll take a few extra precautions. If anyone gets a stupid idea into their head, I'll make sure they never get the chance to act on it." Arien decided that would have to be enough."Then I need Miley. I'll need help removing the splinters." He looked down at Sanrey.

"Also, find something that can put him to sleep. This is going to hurt like hell." Fenrey nodded once and headed for the door.

"Father." Sanrey looked at him through half-closed eyes.

"Don't tell anyone." Fenrey's expression softened.

"Not a soul." He left. The cabin fell quiet except for the creaking of the ship.

"Arien…"

"Hmm?"

"Swear this isn't some trick you came up with because I started crying." Arien grinned.

"I'm just a dumb land rat. I couldn't come up with anything that sophisticated." Sanrey stared at him, then gave a weak laugh.

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"Much better." The next few hours were miserable. It took Fenrey and Miley nearly ten minutes to convince Sanrey to drink the small vial Miley brought. Sanrey examined it suspiciously, demanded to know what was inside, and only drank after Miley promised he'd wake up with both legs still attached. Less than a minute later, his eyelids began to droop. His grip loosened around Arien's hand, and soon his breathing settled into a slow, steady rhythm. Only then could they begin.

Miley questioned almost everything Arien did at first, and Arien couldn't blame him. Arien knew how to clean wounds, stitch cuts, and stop bleeding, but an injury like this was beyond anything he had treated before. His Life Aspect made the difference. With one hand resting against Sanrey's thigh, Arien maintained a thin stream of mana, keeping the damaged limb inside his awareness. Blood vessels, muscle, bone, and nerves all stood out clearly. He could feel where the larger vessels ran before Miley made a cut.

He could tell when a fragment had lodged dangerously close to one, and when pulling it from the wrong angle would tear more tissue on the way out.

"Not that one," Arien said. Miley stopped with the forceps already around a long splinter.

"Why?" Arien concentrated. The fragment ran deeper than it appeared, resting against something that pulsed brightly in his magical awareness.

"There's a large vessel behind it. Pull toward me first. Slowly." Miley hesitated.

"Trust me," Arien said. The old sailor grunted and adjusted his grip. The splinter came free with a wet sound. Blood immediately welled into the opening.

"Cloth." Miley pressed it down. Arien sent a careful thread of Life mana into the damaged tissue. The bleeding slowed. Miley stared at him.

"Right," he muttered.

"Magic."

"Very observant." After that, the questions became less frequent. The magic helped, but the work remained slow and dangerous. Some fragments slid free easily. Others had buried themselves deep enough that every movement threatened to tear something else. A few had shattered inside the flesh, forcing them to remove the pieces one by one. Arien divided his attention between Miley's hands, the tools, Sanrey's breathing, and the constantly shifting image of the leg inside his mind.

He used small amounts of Life mana to slow renewed bleeding and keep damaged tissue from deteriorating further, but even those limited interventions drained him faster than he liked. By the time the final dangerous fragment came free, Arien's shoulders burned from leaning over the table. His hands were sticky with blood, his eyes ached from concentration, and his mana reserves had fallen frighteningly low. He finally stepped back.

"Enough." Miley looked at him.

"Enough?"

"For now." Arien leaned against the edge of the table and examined Sanrey through his Life Aspect one last time. His friend was still breathing. The worst fragments were gone, none of the major vessels had been severed, and the bleeding had slowed. His right leg was still a disaster, with broken bones, badly torn muscles, and far more damage than Arien could repair with the mana he had left. But for the first time since the lightning strike, Sanrey was no longer getting worse. Arien withdrew his hand.

"I'm done." Miley stared at Sanrey's leg for several seconds.

"Incredible."

"It doesn't look incredible." Miley snorted. He looked almost as exhausted as Arien felt. His sleeves were rolled above the elbows, his hands and forearms covered in dried blood, and dark circles had formed beneath his eyes.

"I've seen my share of magic," he said, "but nothing like that. No wonder Life Aspect Healers charge what they do. You'll be a very rich man one day."

"There's still a lot of work ahead." Arien rubbed his face and only then realized he'd smeared blood across it.

"And I'm almost completely out of mana. His body needs time to do some of the work itself anyway. I'll clean up and sleep for a few hours." He glanced toward the hammock hanging against the far wall.

"Do you think Fenrey would mind if I stayed here? I'd rather be close if something changes." Miley barked a tired laugh.

"Fenrey would probably give you his own hammock and sleep on the deck if you asked. He may not show it often, but that boy is the apple of his eye." Arien glanced at Sanrey.

"I have a feeling Fenrey isn't the only one." Miley's smile faded.

"I've sailed with his father for nearly thirty years. Watched him go from a greenhorn who barely knew one end of a rope from the other to the man you saw steering us through that storm." He pulled a chair closer and sat heavily.

"Sanrey's just like him. Same damned impatience. Twice the ambition." Miley looked down at the sleeping boy.

"When I saw him fall…"

"The young always think they're immortal." Miley looked at him.

"You know, you say things like that and then wonder why people forget you're a child." Arien shrugged.

"I'm unusually wise for my age."

"You're an unusually strange little bastard for your age."

"That too." Miley shook his head.

"Back in my village, they'd already be arguing over whether to burn you. Just to be safe." Arien placed a hand over his chest.

"And deprive the world of such a fine young man?" Miley snorted.

"Get some sleep, Healer."