The moment Lith collided with the spatial crack, he knew that something horrible would happen. Twisting and turning his body despite the blinding agony, Lith managed to use air magic to avoid crashing head first against it.
But with the little margin he had, and the feeble energy he managed to muster, avoiding the fissure entirely was impossible. His left arm penetrated it up to the head of the humerus, giving him the feeling that someone had thrown a massive boulder from a cliff, but not before gluing his left hand to it.
It was like every single cell in his arm had been put into a blender filled with gasoline and a flint. It stretched endlessly in the deformed space, appearing and disappearing multiple times from different spatial cracks, before they finally closed down under the effect of Linjos' artifact.
The result was that both Lith and his left arm were finally free from the dimensional vise. But while he was still where he had fallen, the arm was about twenty meters (66') away, cleanly cut from the shoulder with inhuman precision.
Lith's world turned red when his mind went beyond the pain and the blood gushing out of the stump, realizing what had happened. No matter how many times he had mentally simulated the event in the past, the shock of the amputation almost overwhelmed him.
Almost.
Emitting an outraged roar rather than a scream of pain, Lith used what energy he had left to stop the bleeding, before his body collapsed due to the accumulated damage.
The group had stopped in its tracks since their friend had been knocked down by a tower shield, ripped off the hands of his owner by the same explosion that turned it into a deadly bullet.
While the others ran to his side, Phloria turned back, sprinting to the severed arm and storing it in her dimensional amulet as fast as she could.
– "According to my father, reattaching a limb is much easier than regrow it. The important thing is to preserve it in the best conditions possible. A dimensional item is the ideal solution, since it will not rot or degrade as long it's in there." –
When Quylla reached him, she thought it was already too late. Despite being only partially healed, the stump bleed too little, and she was unable to feel a pulse.
If Lith was really dead, she would have been forced to attempt a resuscitation manoeuvre (AN: like CPR), even at the risk of further compromising his body's integrity. But if there was even just a spark of life, she knew, or better she firmly believed he would have made it.
– "Damn diagnostic magic! It's too slow!" – She inwardly cursed, taking out a small mirror from her dimensional amulet, and putting it in front of his mouth and nose. The glass fogged up, giving her hope.
"Yurial, you heal him. You have already given him too much energy, we cannot afford anyone passing away. Friya, enhance his life force, I'll keep him stable."
Quylla's task was the hardest. She had to use diagnostic spells to find the most damaged organs, and then alternate healing and energy infusion without compromising the others' work.
Too fast healing would kill him, he was too weak to endure more strain. Too much energy would kill him too. If the heart suddenly started pumping fast, Lith would either bleed out the countless open wounds or die due to organ failure.
But if they acted with too much caution, his body would simply collapse. It was like a game of Jenga with cracked crystal pieces. One wrong move would mean the end, with no chance for a do over.
First, she finished mending the severed shoulder, then she harmonized with her friends' spells, fixing whatever mistake they made in the heat of the moment. Unlike her, they had no real experience as healers.
And to make things worse, their first patient without any Professor's supervision was a close friend. Inwardly, all the three of them just wanted to run away crying from that hellhole.
They were already tired from the dimensional magic lesson and the nightmare born from it. They had been on the edge all the time, believing that every second would be their last. And when finally everything seemed to be over, they had been forced to stare death in the face.
It was still morning, but it felt like a week had passed. The only things that kept them together were rage and stubbornness. Rage coming from the frustration of being constantly swept around by forces beyond their control, and the stubbornness that made them unwilling to yield at any cost.
Alongside them, a silent but invaluable fourth player was fighting with everything she had. Solus had been constantly expending her own energies to keep light fusion active, after Lith had lost consciousness.
When the kids had started their treatment, it had been her using Invigoration to redirect their healing spells where they were needed the most, that had allowed everything to go smoothly.
Three young mages at their wits' end wouldn't be able to handle alone such situation.
Especially since Quylla was tired and short on mana after having closed so many cracks fighting alongside Lith, and Yurial had already passed Lith so much of his life force that it was already a miracle for him to keep standing without help.
When they finished, he didn't smell like barbeque anymore. Most of the burnt skin was replaced by a new one, but the overall impression was still those of an over stewed lobster.
"Excellent job, but he is still in critical conditions. We need to bring him to the academy's hospital as soon as possible." After evacuating the training hall, Linjos had returned to offer his help.
When he bended over Lith, attempting to grab him, Quylla welcomed him with a perfectly aimed punch on the nose, resulting in a clear breaking sound and a nosebleed.
"Are you insane?" She yelled at him with no respect for his seniority nor status.
"We can't move him. He could go into shock from the amputation at any moment. Light magic needs time to take full effect. Have you really studied before becoming a Headmaster or did you just win the title at a raffle?"
Linjos wanted to reprimand her harshly, but after noticing that her fist was still held high, in the optimal position for hitting him in the groin, he took a step back instead.
"Young miss, I can see you are very upset, so I'll overlook your lack of discipline, just this once." His voice was now nasal, until a simple healing spell stopped the bleeding and straightened his nose.
"But for your information, now that all the protections are activated again, we can move him safely with Warp Steps. Besides being an excellent healer myself, I have already alerted the light department. Where in the gods' name is Manohar?"
"Right here." Said the god of healing punching him in the nose too.
"Why did you do that?" Linjos was flabbergasted.
"Because she is right, you are wrong and didn't tell me the patient is one of my own!" Manohar formulated a quick spell that made Lith look human again, even regrowing his hair to a medium length.
"Now it's safe to move him, you two bits healer." He said throwing a mean look at the Headmaster.
"Did someone fetch his arm or is it lost?"
"I did, sir." Phloria showed him her dimensional amulet.
"Great! Thirty points to the flat beanpole for the quick thinking." Phloria didn't know if to laugh or cry at the rude remark.
"Fifty points to each of you for saving a colleague, and another fifty to the scrawny shorty for the well executed punch."
"First, this is not your lesson. Second, awarding points for assaulting a Headmaster is unheard of!" Linjos was fuming with anger.
"Well, you always knew I am an innovator." Manohar shrugged, opening a Warp Steps to the Intensive Care Unit and disappearing through it with Lith's group.
Linjos remained there, with his mouth agape, with a snarky remark still stuck in his throat while the rest of the staff was snickering at his expenses.
