The Water Magician

"Let's take a moment to calm down."

Ryo deliberately spoke those words.

He had just severed Leonor's head.

His own left arm had been sliced off.

The area between the elbow and wrist, commonly known as the forearm, had been cleanly cut.

For now, he froze the severed end to stop the bleeding and protect it in various ways.

He also froze his entire severed left hand.

Having done that, he was finally able to think calmly.

However, calming down also meant recognizing the current situation.

Losing an arm was indeed painful.

It wasn't painful in the sense of sensory pain... of course, that was painful too, but it was painful in terms of the various restrictions imposed on his actions.

First of all, he could no longer swing a sword properly.

Murakumo, which took on the form of a 'japanese sword,' was fundamentally a two-handed sword.

While there are exceptionally specialized sword techniques, or iaido, where one might swing with one hand, a japanese sword is fundamentally designed to be handled with both hands from the outset.

Using it with one hand was extremely challenging.

In the martial arts hall where Ryo had practiced kendo, there was a senior who swung a sword with just his left hand.

He had lost the lower part of his right arm from the elbow down during his childhood.

After considerable training, that senior had become comparable to swordsmen who used both hands, but even so, handling it with one hand was no easy feat.

Moreover, compared to a bamboo sword, a japanese sword was even more difficult... he wasn't Tange Sazen.

If a priest of Rhea's class were here, it would be a different story.

High-ranking priests had secret arts that could even restore missing body parts.

However, they were not here.

Considering that they were far from the royal capital and other major cities, it was not a realistic option.

Restoration of missing body parts would not succeed unless done within twenty-four hours.

In the royal capital, Ryo had created several potions with Baron Kenneth Hayward, the genius alchemist.

However, even the genius alchemist Kenneth could not create a potion that could restore missing body parts.

One could understand just how extraordinary the priest's magic, particularly the 'Extra Heal' that could even restore missing parts, truly was.

"Reattaching the severed arm..."

Saying it out loud, he felt nothing but despair.

As Ryo was thinking, Leonor's body, which had collapsed a short while ago, began to rise.

"..."

Ryo could only watch in astonishment at the sight.

The risen body of Leonor walked over, picked up the head, and placed it on top of its own neck.

"Eh? It's not sticking."

Finally, Leonor's head spoke.

"Ah... Ryo's sword is the Sword of the Fairy King. That's quite troublesome; I can't just fix it like this."

"You're alive, so isn't that a good thing?"

Ryo managed to respond to Leonor's words.

"Hmm. Well, if I return over there, I can manage. Now, this time it's Ryo's victory."

"No... I've lost an arm."

"But I lost my head, right? Normally, anyone would see it as my loss, wouldn't they?"

"But you're not dead... I'm here worrying about what to do with my arm."

"That's... how do I say it, it's a trait of my race, so there's not much I can do about it. Oh, that's right, I need to take that dark attribute man with me."

Saying this, Leonor cradled his head under his left arm and lifted a white-haired old man with his right hand.

"Well then, Ryo, let's meet again. Next time, I'll win! This was fun."

With that, laughing heartily, Leonor disappeared through the 'Gate.'

Abel approached.

"Ryo, are you okay... no, you're not."

"Yeah, I'm definitely not okay."

Seeing Ryo's left arm, Abel frowned.

"Abel, let's step outside for now."

Ryo said, grasping his left hand with his right and stepping outside.

As they walked out, Ryo began to contemplate the process of reattaching his arm.

Though he felt nothing but despair, realistically there were no other solutions.

(The parts to reconnect are bone, muscle, nerves, blood vessels, and skin. Among these, the most difficult are the nerves and blood vessels... probably. Normally, it would require microsurgery... with thin blood vessels too. Of course, I've never done it... If this were Earth, I would be at a loss, but 'Fai' has magic. And fortunately, I'm a water attribute mage.)