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Despite the circumstances, your initial impression about today had been wrong. The constant pain was an awful thing to endure, doubly so for Hao who suffered from an intensity that made breathing torturous but having people around you... That's the true magic to heal the soul.
The hours before evening were full of discoveries. While you had no energy to try anything elaborate, helping out the girl's various hypotheses was the distraction you needed to ignore the pain, and the simple joy of being in each other's company made your trial almost bearable.
--
''I-I'll be fine. Just need a breather.''
''Holy isn't even working... damn it!'' Elina sharp intake of air sounded like a whistle. ''I'm sorry.''
''Don't be. Blood magic is giving us results. Surprise made me panic, that's all.'' Your weak grip on Elina wrist lessens to nothing as pain shoot across your arm.
''Mine expectation was for Focus to bring pain, yes. Yet it is the act of casting itself that brought agony... Hrm.'' As if she, too, hadn't lost an arm, Teruko pinched her chin while looking at you thoughtfully. ''Difficult, difficult'' the little colorful fairy commented as she rested on her shoulder. Titania had been flying around you and Hao to spread her fey dust, a stimulant for Teruko's near-unique type of magical healing.
''I should be able to endure a few spells now that I know what to expect.'' You breathe out, carefully wiping sweat off your face. Even a cloth hurts.
Embracing Focus had been something everyone around you felt dreadful to make you try, while the act itself was no trouble, attempting to create a spell poured molten lead into your already oversensitive nerves. With your soul linked to Hao, your agony traveled into her, making for a very unpleasant experience.
The last few hours were about listening to Ama and Deruella instructions in blood magic. Shereen is slowly but surely making something happen under the duo's sharp tutelage, resulting in your little sun creating a sedative with her blood by using Vilma magical nature. With Ama's help (she could process some magic by using rituals), lessening the intensity of Hao's agony became a genuine possibility... albeit one that only lasted an hour at best.
Blood magic is an immensely dangerous thing to do for neophytes because it can all-to-often result in summons rampaging into the magical bodies created by this craft (blood itself is a potent shell for Red World entities) or simply getting the wrong type of blood into the rituals. The pair of experts in the craft reduced this risk to near-nothing. Hopefully, nobody will try to stop future exercises, doing them behind guarded, closed doors remain the wisest option to avoid people's judgment. Your close allies had no choice but to accept its necessity but that wouldn't hold with the rest of the army or nobles... The angels, despite their huge numbers, do seem to accept Shereen gift for what it is. What did Ama do with them?
''I can sti-''
