The dark streak had abruptly stopped in the direwolf's side and left a glowing arrow embedded in its flank. The blow barely shifted the path of the beast, but then an intricate set of glowing lines materialized on the arrow's shaft. As quickly as they appeared, they pulsed in a brilliant, blinding flash of blues, reds, and purples. My ears rang from the thunderclap that followed.

The explosion released neither fire nor heat, but it expelled a wave of force. The shockwave struck me, bowling me over and slamming me backward. However, it struck the direwolf even harder. The moment stretched as the explosion bowed the direwolf's body. Then it erupted in a shower of blood and gore.

The shockwave blew the beast off to the side and slammed my back into the tree. My head hit the tree with a dull thud. My vision spun as I slid to the ground, and the ringing in my ears climbed in volume. I still had enough presence of mind to channel the potion remaining in my system. Despite my other wounds, I focused on my concussion. If I couldn't think, I couldn't use my skills.

It was tricky, to say the least. The potion worked at a fraction of the expected efficiency. I pushed it enough to bring my vision back into focus and remove the tinnitus, but a mild headache still lingered.

I blinked as my vision cleared and found that Esper had also received help. Two arrows stuck out of the broad chest of the alpha direwolf that had been on top of her. Unlike its pack member, its chest did not have a large crater. However, the arrows had hit with enough extra force to drive the direwolf backward. While they had bought her only one to two feet, Esper took advantage of the distraction and space: a single deep red ring marked the beast's lower chest.

The direwolf growled in anger as one of Esper's invisible spears kept its front half suspended in the air. It made a futile swipe at her before a series of deep red circles sprouted along its flank and neck. With each one, it jerked higher into the air. It howled in pain. It spasmed, but only rivulets of dark-red blood escaped the invisible cage. They flowed from the edges down, covering and demarcating the thin, invisible shafts that propped up the dying beast.

She had not taken any chances. She had skewered it with over ten different invisible spears and afflicted it with her aura. The flesh around the wounds began to rot, but a flurry of arrows ended that need. Our saviors followed Esper's lead, riddling the beast with more arrows until it gave a final, large jerk and went limp. When that occurred, Esper released her hold. It crashed onto the forest floor with a loud thump, its corpse in the center of splotchy lines of bright red blood that radiated outward.

A hard way to die, though probably better than my attacker. The explosion had torn the chest cavity wide open. The gaping hole dripped fluids, likely a combination of blood and organs liquefied by the explosion—an explosion that hadn't killed it immediately. It twitched in its final death throes, its threat level not enough to earn a merciful arrow from our rescuers.

I took it all in before doing the only thing I could do. I focused on healing my injuries, which had become significantly easier now that Esper had dropped her [Field of Decay]. Still, one potion would not come close to fixing this damage.

"It's clear," came a voice I recognized.

Bow in hand, arrow nocked, Selene stepped from behind a tree. Her armor bore new scars, though she herself remained whole. Her head swiveled while she approached, taking in the clearing. "This is a mess."

Esper stood, brushing needles and dirt from her clothing. "But at least your timing was impeccable."

I would have added some sarcasm, but Esper, deadly serious as always, didn't. Still, Selene shook her head as she put her foot on the alpha. "No. We were late."

The alpha's legs jerked as she casually flipped the beast onto its side. Whether an autonomic response or the last vestiges of life, Selene didn't take any chances. She knelt beside it, knife drawn. The blade glowed as she slid it across the neck of the monstrous direwolf. Its lifeblood spilled from the wound, and the alpha's twitches faded to nothing.

Selene rose and pulled out the intact arrow shafts. "It won't happen again."

"Do not need to promise what you cannot guarantee. You did what you could against what all the Wild sent."

Selene scowled, but she didn't argue. Her eyes darted between me and Esper, then took in the rest of the scene. "How functional are you?"

I was about to say, "Not very" when it became clear that she was speaking to Esper, not me, which, in hindsight, made complete sense. I wasn't the [Healer].

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Esper rolled her shoulders. "I've had worse." She gestured toward me. "I've also healed far worse."

"That's good because I will need it." I tried to smile at my own joke, but the pain was too much.

Selene's eyes widened in shock when she finally took in my arm. "By the gods, you're speaking coherently?"

"That is what I want to know as well." Esper looked me up and down as she approached. "While not as bad as I expected from your recklessness, you should be screaming in pain."

"Would you have been able to stop both of those attacks?"

She shook her head as if disappointed in my words, but she still gave me an answer. "Yes," but it contained none of her usual arrogance. She didn't elaborate, and I didn't push. I got the gist. She would still have survived, but either with far more severe injuries or after revealing a trump card. I couldn't shake the feeling that the latter was most probable and that I lived because of it.

She knelt next to me. "Your pattern of injury is…interesting." She held her hands close. "I see that you have already started healing with a potion."

"I can use another one. Toxicity isn't something I have to worry about, but I will need your help with the fracture."

"How do you know you don't need to worry about toxicity?" asked Selene.

"Skills."

That answer wasn't good enough for Selene. "I haven't heard of any [Healer] skills at your tier that could do that."

"I am not—"

Esper broke in. "I am curious too."

I shot them a look of disbelief. "Are we really having this discussion now?"

"Better I know how this works. I can heal you, but it will tax me. We attracted attention, and who knows what we might run into. A few healing potions are a good trade if I can keep something in reserve."

I sighed. She made a good point, and delaying my healing another minute did little to change things. I had already taken care of the most pressing injuries with the potion. I wasn't going to die, and the pain was minimal. Esper, of course, knew that. So as annoying as it was, I gave in.

"You know how potions heal all injuries at the same time?" Both nodded. "Well, as far as I can tell, it is the high concentration of the potion in healthy tissue that causes toxicity. I can suppress its effects in areas I don't want it to work on."

Esper took a potion from her satchel. "Let me see."

I took it with my good hand. "How much?"

Esper's lips pursed. "Can you heal all these wounds with it?"

"Mostly. I need your help with the fractures. They are severe enough that I risk fusing them in an improper alignment. And, uh…a few other spots." So far, the dorsal root ganglia had resisted the healing effect of the potions.

Her eyes narrowed, and she gave me a once-over. Her eyes narrowed further. "Let's start with half, then."

I used a third. More was just a waste. The fracture limited what I could do with my arm, leaving my torso and my self-inflicted anesthesia on my chest wall as my only major targets. It took more time and effort than normal. I had abused my Mark, and now I paid for it.

Esper said nothing the entire time I worked, though she knew exactly when I stopped. "You did more than I expected. Your control is phenomenal, especially since your healing is potion-based."

I waited for a critique. However, none came. I let out a long breath of relief. "Thanks."

I didn't have it in me for feedback, not now, at least. This was far from my best work. The potion had been sluggish and more error-prone. It required far more corrections, taxing my already exhausted mind. For most things, it was fine. I had come a long way since gaining [Enhance Medicinal]. Preventing scarring had become trivial, and I could handle muscles, tendons, and vessels without much thought. However, my nerves and channels still required oversight. I couldn't afford failure there because the results weren't pretty.

The nerves had a tendency to regenerate aberrantly. A couple of zings of pain had clued me to the potential failure. Aberrant regeneration could lead to unpleasant residual effects, best seen, in my experience, as residual sequelae of Bell's palsy. I couldn't quite picture the arm equivalent of unintentional eye closure when smiling, but I'd forgo inflicting synkinesis on myself because of sloppiness.

Channels normally took care of themselves for the price of consuming more than their fair share of the healing potion's effects. However, this time, channels had lost their self-regulation. When they went wrong, you had a mess on your hands. Channels would scar—yeah, that was a technical term. I couldn't characterize it any other way. Energy flows became more turbulent. Their effect on skill use was a mystery I'd made sure to avoid.

A small breeze blew through, and the leaves shifted, causing light to hit my face. I squinted as the dim light of the forest became too much. "I think I have overdone it."

"You have."

I leaned my head back against the tree. The throbbing in my head had picked up now that I had no work to distract me. I let out another breath. "Did you notice the difficulty I had with the nerves and channels?"

I hadn't opened my eyes, but given the pause, I chose to believe that Esper raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Yes. As I said, your control is phenomenal."

"Okay, so it should be this hard?"

"Your Marks are fatigued; your Spark, dimmed. Don't worry. I had planned on intervening if you had run into complications."

"How do potions work for people without my skills?"

"You can't expect a [Healer's] work from a potion." She let out a sigh. "You also have to keep things in perspective. At Tier III, people are more resilient. Their bodies know what they need, and they can tolerate the potion of this grade. You've just entered the second tier. You shouldn't be able to use these potions at all. They are more powerful but also more toxic. Yet, you make it work via skills. However, you are fatigued, which limits your Marks' innate guidance and your ability to use your skill to control the potion. Even then, your expectations are too high. With these wounds, the goal should have been survival, not full restoration. That needs a [Healer]."

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