“He is in the critical condition; we need to act fast.”
The instructor said, but Sylvie’s mind was somewhere else.
“Astron.”
As Sylvie mumbled, looking at the scene before her eyes, she couldn’t help but feel the chills down to her spine.
The missing arm, the scars on his body….Everything was so severe and brutal that it was the first time she had felt this way.
She…..
Felt scared….
Like she was in a trance, the visions of that time once again overlapped with the visions of her past.
The boy lying on the ground was changed with another.
It was the same blood, the same fishy smell, the same rough breathing, and the same thinning light connecting the boy.
‘No…..No….Not again…..’
Without her noticing, her breathing got rougher. The world started spinning, and her heart started beating rapidly.
“Haaaah…Haaaaah…”
It was as if the past had collided with the present, and she couldn’t discern between the two.
However, as Sylvie was having a panic attack, the instructor knew they didn’t have much time.
After all, she already had fed a potion to this young boy, but his injuries must have been so deep that even the potion wasn’t working properly, and its effects were nowhere near enough.
And this was one of the reasons why she brought the healer girl with her.
As the instructor turned her head to Sylvie, she immediately recognized Sylvie’s distress and the urgency of the situation.
‘Tch. Why is this girl having a panic attack now.’
She couldn’t help but click her tongue inwardly.
‘If I knew his injuries were this severe, I would have brought the exam overseer with me.’
The boy’s condition was too severe for a student to treat. But it was what it was.
‘We can’t afford to waste any more time.’
Without hesitation, she reached out and, with a swift but gentle motion, delivered a sharp, almost stinging, tap to the back of Sylvie’s head.
THUD!
“Snap out of it!” the instructor commanded, her voice firm. “You can’t afford to freeze up now. This is your moment. You are a healer, and you can save a life.”
She didn’t know this girl’s name, neither did she know her rank. But now, the girl was the healer they had right here, and that was it.
“Ughk-!”
The unexpected physical contact and the instructor’s stern words jolted Sylvie back to the present with a groan.
“I-I am sorry.”
The chaotic whirl of her thoughts began to subside, and guilt started to come again.
“Tch. Girl, I don’t need your apologies, neither does he.”
The instructor approached Sylvie.
“It seems you know his name.” Gesturing towards Astron, she continued. “Astron Natusalune, rank 2450, and known to have a weak body constitution. I heard his reputation wasn’t good, and he was ostracized.”
It wasn’t known how she knew about those things, but it didn’t matter to Sylvie. “Even with all those things,” the instructor continued, “he was still there, trying to prove himself by fighting against the monsters.” She pointed to the defeated creatures surrounding them. “Even though he was probably targeted by Demon Contractors, he is still trying to cling to life. Despite all these injuries, even with all the pain he probably felt, he didn’t give up and is still fighting.”
With those words, the instructor appeared right before Sylvie’s eyes, her hand landing on Sylvie’s shoulder.
“Don’t you think it’s a bit unfair to him that now the only hope he has is actually having a crybaby moment? Do you think you’re the only one who has experienced something heartbreaking in this world? Grow up, girl, and do what you must. I will be waiting for you.”
With one last pat on Sylvie’s shoulder, the instructor walked away, leaving Sylvie alone with the injured young man.
Sylvie, left alone, looked at Astron.
“I, I…”
Words got stuck in her mouth as she looked.
THUMP! THUMP!
Her heart still raced from her earlier attack, but strangely, at that exact second, maybe thanks to the instructor’s words, she remembered a moment.
“You need to get a grip on yourself.”
The words this very boy had spoken to her before. At that time, she felt like he was intruding on her space, and who was he to speak like that without knowing her?
“This level of fear will make you a liability, not just to yourself, but to your future party members. If you can’t control your emotions in a combat situation, you’ll be a burden, and that’s dangerous.”
He probably didn’t say it because he thought he would be her party member. But now, those words started crashing down.
“If you’re not willing to confront your weaknesses head-on, then perhaps you should reconsider being a part of the academy.”
If she wasn’t in the academy right now and if it was another healer right here, wouldn’t they be able to save him?
‘What if I wasn’t here? What if someone else was there, someone better?’
Self-hatred, anger towards the world, responsibility and fragility…..
All of those were in her heart right now.
“Sylvie.”
But the words kept coming to her mind.
“You know, by behaving like this, you can never go anywhere.”
She looked at her hands.
“Grow up, girl. And do what you must.”
As those words sank in, she looked at the boy lying on the ground.
“You are escaping from your past. Don’t you think it is about time you accept this as it is?”
“Accept….” She mumbled.
“If it is you, my sister, you can do it.” As the silhouette of the young boy overlapped with the lying one, she could see a smile on his face.
The smile that knew she could do it.
“You are right.”
And that was it.
“I need to do it.”
Sylvie clenched her fists and bit her lip, forcing herself to look at the scene without fear.
“I won’t run away anymore.”
The restraints she had put on herself, the fear she had.
Her heart was still beating fast from all those things.
TAP!
But she took the first step.
She accepted everything as it was, and at that second, tranquility came into her heart. As if her power was now flowing more smoothly than ever before, she could feel everything more clearly.
The small light that was emanating from him, his vitality.
“Haaaah…..”
Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Sylvie reached Astron, sitting in front of him.
And immediately began to assess Astron’s condition more closely. His breathing was shallow, and his pulse was weak.
The severed arm was a grave concern, and his body bore multiple lacerations and contusions from the battle.
‘Five ribs were broken, internal bleeding on lungs, and he had already lost insane amounts of blood.’
Even for Sylvie, who studied healing, it was unclear how he was still able to preserve his life. With this amount of injuries, he should already have been dead.
But, as she continued her analysis, she found the answer.
‘Huh? What is this?’
Inside his body, a foreign substance was flowing. The blood he had been losing continuously was also being refreshed, as if something was trying to repair his body, but it couldn’t, as the body had already been shattered to pieces.
‘Is this a potion?’
She wondered but immediately discarded the question because this was not the time to ponder about such things.
‘I will start.’
The diagnosis was complete, and it was now time to start the healing.
“Haaaaah…..”
With one long breath, she steadied her resolve and activated her trait.
‘I will save you, no matter what.’
Her green eyes were filled with determination; her whole focus was on the boy before her.
‘First, I need to close Lacerations.’
She thought as she started using her mana to mend multiple lacerations and contusions on Astron’s body.
This step was important because while she was working, she needed to ensure that he didn’t lose any more blood than now.
‘It is moving differently.’
It was a lot different from when she was just healing other people. Her mana and trait, which she lost control was now steady.
‘I can do it.’
With precise and gentle movements, she encouraged the torn flesh to reconnect, closing the wounds.
‘Now, stabilizing the broken ribs.’
Sylvie then turned her attention to the five broken ribs. She used her mana to gently realign the fractured bones. And, because Astron was an Awakened, his ribs were stronger than any average person’s.
But that also made it harder and required a more delicate approach to move the ribs.
It was a delicate process, ensuring that they were in their proper positions to heal correctly. As she worked, she could feel the bones knitting back together.
‘I did it.’
She thought as she finally put all the ribs back together.
‘But, it is still not enough.’
The most dangerous part was still there. The internal bleeding and his internal injuries were the most severe ones.
His inner organs were damaged, and they required immediate action.
Sylvie concentrated her healing energy on the damaged tissues, coaxing them to stop bleeding and promoting the body’s natural healing processes.
At this point, she no longer had any thoughts inside her head, as she moved her mana instinctually by the feeling.
It was the first time she was attending an internal injury, which was something that wouldn’t be expected from a freshman healing student.
In their curriculum, such things were in the second year of the academy; however, right now, for Sylvie, such things didn’t matter.
As if something, someone, was guiding her, she moved her mana hypnotically.
However, at that second, suddenly, the light she could see in Astron disappeared.
“NO!”
It meant he lost his life.
“NO!”
She shouted, her heart feeling like it was squeezed to death.
“NOOOOOOO!”
An agonizing, guttural scream erupted from Sylvie’s soul, echoing throughout the confines of the dungeon.