The Sword and The Shadow

Sasha's Ability

"Annie, come take a look!" Leguna looked at her as if she was a messiah.

Annelotte hurried over. She had planned to have a relaxing stroll through campus after dinner, but she heard a commotion from outside the arena. As the principal, she couldn't just ignore it, so she decided to take a look. She had never expected the one who would be fighting would be Innilis!

"What happened to Innie?" She could tell from a glance that Innilis had been injured by a fireball spell. Even though most of the heat had been blocked off by some kind of force, the shockwave still hurt her rather badly.

Annelotte glared at Hoffman and asked Leguna, "Was he the one who did it?"

It wasn't unreasonable for her to think so. Hoffman looked like a magus at first glance. He seemed to be the one dueling Innilis. It was a sensible assumption to make.

"N-no… Innie… after the two of them dueled… his fireball was countered by her, and then a fireball spell formation appeared next to Innie all of a sudden and exploded. I only blocked off the heat, but wasn't able to do much for the shockwave…"

"You said countered?" Annelotte flared with anger immediately. She glared at Leguna and said, "How many times have I told you that Innie's carefree attitude towards magic would endanger her one day? The slightest mistake can cause her to lose her life! Why didn't you look after her properly? What were you thinking?"

"I…" He knew that what had happened was his fault, but Innilis was coughing out blood nonstop, so he wasn't in the mood to admit any wrongdoing. "That's not important right now! Save Innie!"

"Move!" Annelotte pushed him away roughly and used her spells to analyze the situation. A few seconds later, the look on her face changed.

"What is it?" Leguna felt his heart skip a beat at the look of that.

"What the heck?! How could it be?!" Annelotte swore surprisingly for once.

"What's wrong?!" Leguna was being driven insane by his impatience.

"Innie's sternum shattered due to the shock and a piece pierced into her heart…" Annelotte looked rather pale. The heart and brain were the hardest injuries to deal with and could result in death. There was no potion that could heal that kind of wound.

"Take care of her! I'll get Eirinn! Ten minutes!" he said in a panic, knowing that only a good priestess could save Innilis now.

"Go!" Annelotte didn't dally. She knew that Innilis would be far safer if Eirinn was around.

But how should she deal with her blood loss? Innilis's heart was still pumping nonstop but she would lose blood every time it did. Any longer and she would die!

Leguna said he needed ten minutes, but Annelotte's estimate put Innilis's survival highly unlikely beyond five.

As she used the best potion she had on Innilis, she began to consider her options.

Should I really use that? She did have a method she could try, but she was hesitant to do so. She could instantly freeze Innilis's whole body with the strongest output of Glacial Domain. That way, her biological functions would be suspended. If she was thawed in an instant, she could return to normal.

But that was far too risky. She had only theorized the method but had never done any practical tests. There could be countless unpredictable side effects.

Not to mention, as human bodies had lots of water, if they were frozen without proper pre-treatment, her cells would be damaged from the sudden solidification of the water!

Darn… What should I do… What should I do? Annelotte was feeling true panic for the first time. If freezing wouldn't work, she could try using a limited wishing spell to sustain Innilis's life. Whether it would work, however, was hard to say!

"Since that's the case…"

She grit her teeth and began preparing her formation. She would do whatever she could!

"Uwaaaaah… Sis Innie… what can we do…" Sasha had burst into tears from the side. Even though she hadn't gotten to know Innilis for more than a day, the girl slightly larger than her had taken care of her rather well. It was no surprise she would be so worried for her in that kind of state.

Annelotte stopped when she heard the voice. She recalled Innilis telling her about wanting to stay in the same dorm room as another. The girl's name should be Winleysha, right?

Winleysha… Winleysha…

She pondered on as she set the formation up and she finally remembered. She was the unexpected Stokian recruit who was also a gifted, more specifically, a water swayer!

Annelotte stopped her spellwork. While a limited wishing spell didn't cost as much to use as a proper one, it was still a huge price to pay. She didn't want to use it if she could. Not to mention, she couldn't even be certain of its effects.

She adjusted Innilis's positioning and walked to Sasha.

"Madam Annie…" It was the first time Sasha had such a close encounter with the principal. Perhaps she was too worried about Innilis's state, so she couldn't properly appreciate Annelotte's beauty.

Annelotte ignored her and tapped the center of her brows. She sent her enthymema into her body. Since she was doing a delicate procedure, using enthymema through a physical connection was ideal.

"Wonderful!" Annelotte looked at Sasha and explained, "Winleysha, I've identified your gift and you can help Innie through this. Are you willing to do so?"

"I am!" Sasha immediately replied, but she hesitated again and whispered, "But my gift is… not awakened yet…"

"I can help you do so, but it'll hurt a little."

"Sure thing, Madam Annie!" Sasha mustered her courage somehow and said so without hesitation.

"Good!" Annelotte didn't drag it on and sent her enthymema into Sasha's brain once more. She found the weak glacial essence inside and…

"Ugh… Ah!" Both of them cried out in pain all of a sudden.

Clack!

Sasha felt something in her brain shatter. She slowly sat back up in a daze.

"It's done. I sent you a portion of my glacial essence," Annelotte said with a pale look, "Your first gift is Liquid Control. Any liquid you touch can move as you will it, including blood."

What should I do then?" Sasha tilted her head in puzzlement. She had noticed that gift of hers long ago, but it wasn't significant and nobody really paid much attention to it. It was through that One found that she was a gifted, and sent her to Second Magic Academy. She also included a file with Sasha's abilities.

Annelotte saw that her gift was at the brink of awakening, so the slightest push was all she needed. She gave a little of her glacial essence to her to force the awakening.

"Have Innie's blood flow normally." Annelotte had wanted Sasha to also redirect the blood that flowed out into Innilis's body, but considering that she had just awakened the gift and probably couldn't use it well, she gave up on that notion. At the very least, they had to keep Innilis's blood flowing at the minimum rate.

"What should I do to control it?"

"Just think, will it! That's all it takes!" Annelotte said, recalling how she usually called upon her gifts.

"Then… I'll give it a try!"

"I will open a small hole in her vein. Just touch her blood there and control it as you will," Annelotte said with a pleading tone, "Remember, don't make it flow too quickly or slowly. Just keep it at the right speed. We only need this to last ten minutes! Do your best!"

Sasha didn't think she would be begged to help someone like that, not to mention the fact the one doing the begging was hailed the strongest magus on the continent, the glacial empress.

A proud look flashed across her eyes as she nodded. "I understand, Madam! Leave it to me!"

"Then, start!" Annelotte took a small dagger out of her dimensional pocket and opened the vein in Innilis's wrist.