"That was intense." Nalrond didn't know whether to laugh or cry at the Lich's antics.
The only thing the Rezar was certain of, was that he needed a long bath to wash away the cold sweat he was drenched into. Even Dawn's minions were nothing compared to such a powerful undead.
"I get that he changed your name with every phrase, but if you're Blorgflux, then who was Bongbat supposed to be?" Tista asked.
"Always me. Zolgrish forgets even the names he makes up if they are too long. By the way, excellent work, Nalrond. We'll split everything 50-10-40, costs included." Lith said.
"I have no money!" The Rezar blurted out realizing the catch.
"I'll lend you the starting capital and you'll return it to me with the first profits." Lith shrugged.
Faluel wanted him to befriend the Rezar before asking for information about the Fringes. Yet Lith had no idea how to build a relationship without enduring life and death situations together or business.
Lith chose the latter option because any plan to endanger Nalrond's life on purpose just to save him could easily backfire.
'You suck with human relationships.' Solus sighed. 'You didn't trust Orion until he gave you the cloaking ring and now you try to bind your Light Mastery teacher with money?'
'I do suck and you know it. Cut me some slack. Progress, not perfection.' Lith replied before Warping the group back to Jambel, where the Sergeant missing his right arm was waiting for them.
'See what I mean? You never bothered asking his name.' Solus thought.
"How do you feel, Sergeant…" According to Lith's calculations, the potions the man had ingested would provide him with all the nutrients needed for the procedure.
"Terl Snowfield, sir. Bloated is the best word to describe my condition." The Sergeant burped and quickly apologized for it.
He was at the third potion and the first one had already been fully assimilated. Terl felt as if someone was stuffing him with food non-stop, to the point that he had been forced to take off his armor because of his bulging belly.
"Excellent." A short chant and random gestures conjured a stone chair out of the dust floating in the air.
Lith forced Terl to sit and used an air blade to rip open the Sergeant's shirt at the shoulder level, leaving everyone flabbergasted.
"You two provide him with the necessary vitality, I'll do the rest. This is how those like us should work." Lith said, referring to all those capable of using true magic.
He didn't know if Nalrond actually needed his guidance with healing magic, but Tista surely did. Also, by using assistants, Lith had a plausible explanation for what was about to happen.
After a bit more gibberish and gestures, Lith touched the Sergeant's forehead with two fingers, activating his tier four healing spell, Bloom.
Terl felt a sudden sting and an itch before the missing parts of his scapula and clavicle popped out of his flesh, reforming the right shoulder. Then, the humerus emerged from the shoulder joint, growing in length and size like a white sprout.
Only once the bone was perfectly formed did Lith make the muscles, nerves, flesh, and circulatory system grow one layer at a time. Thanks to Invigoration, he created a mirror image of the left arm the soldier still had down to the smallest detail.
Unlike fake mages that had to complete the procedure in one go, Lith built one piece at a time. He used the imaging properties of his breathing technique to not just regrow the missing limb, but also to give the new arm the same connections the other had with the spine, so that the mirror limb would retain the muscle memory of the original.
Unlike true mages, his training with Faluel's meditation techniques, allowed Lith to Dominate the light element even when it was coursing through Terl's body, allowing him to not blindly follow the left arm's template and be capable of fixing on the fly any imperfection he found.
The same happened for the radius and ulna. First, they popped out the humerus, and only once they were fully formed did flesh and blood bloom, completing the forearm. Only the hand was now missing, but that required special attention.
It was made of too many small, delicate bones to create all of them at the same time.
"Drink another potion now." Lith ordered and the Sergeant obeyed.
Terl was happy Lith had given him a chair, otherwise he would be with his ass on the ground like most of his colleagues. The shock from seeing such powerful magic in action had brought most of the spectators to their knees.
The Sergeant felt another sting as what looked like a white mist emerged from a hole in his newly formed wrist. The vapor grew and spread before turning solid and resembling a cobweb.
Except it wasn't made out of silk but of bones and cartilage that quickly turned into a perfectly formed hand. The different layers of muscles, nerves, and tendons formed one at a time but in such a quick sequence that the process made Solus think of a gruesome anime transformation sequence.
"It's done. Do…" Lith attempted to say.
"Yes." Terl cut him short while he moved his new arm and flexed his fingers one by one.
"Yes what? Do you feel alright? Does the arm work properly?" Lith asked.
"Yes, you look like a god to me." The Sergeant replied to Lith's earlier sarcastic questions.
During the previous year, Terl had studied the procedure to allow himself to at least daydream about what would happen if he could afford it. Regrowing an arm usually required six mages and about half an hour, yet for all he knew, Lith had done everything by himself and the entire process had taken seconds.
Actually, Tista and Nalrond had provided him with vitality and the procedure had lasted for over five minutes, but no one had noticed the passing of time.
"This is no time for jokes. I used an experimental procedure that should give your right arm and hand the same skill you got with your left. It's not much, but assuming you practiced a lot since losing your arm, it should speed up your physical therapy." Lith said.
"Wait, are you saying that you might have made me ambidextrous?" Terl took two coins out of his pockets, put one on each of his thumbs, and threw them in the air before catching them.
The right arm was slower and clumsier, but he still succeeded.
"Are you left-handed?" Lith had never taken the possibility into account.
"Yes. Is that a problem?"
"Not at all. Don't forget to eat a lot and contact a Healer to follow your recovery. The strain from the procedure will make you feel sluggish for a while, so I advise plenty of rest. Let me know if there are any issues and if you're really ambidextrous now." Lith said.
"How can I repay you?" Terl tried to stand up, but his knees refused to comply. Exhaustion and emotion paralyzed his legs.
"I'm an Archmage and one of the four best Healers in the Kingdom. Jambel has offered me hospitality and many gifts. This is the least I could do." Lith said.
'Once I obtain the mining rights, my friendship with the guards will smooth any mess Zolgrish might make. If his undead have even one fraction of his quirks, accidents might happen while delivering my share of silver.
