Kamila quickly snapped out of her reverie and made Tista slowly drink a healing potion. She was the more gravely injured of the two and needed immediate assistance. Kamila checked her pulse between gulps, to make sure that Tista's body could handle the strain.

Once the bleeding stopped and Tista's heartbeat became steady, Kamila took care of Dorian. A few seconds later, the Carpenter was dead and Lith rushed to her side.

'Remember to chant. We don't know who could be watching.' Solus warned him before he could forget to keep up his act in his worry. Treating two people at once was already something unheard of, doing it with silent magic would have been beyond stupid.

Lith's chant was a streak of English swear words as his hands performed random gestures before he activated Invigoration on both Tista and Dorian. Contrary to Kamila's expectations, he was the one in the worse shape.

Even though she had received a full-force attack from a Carpenter, her Awakened body amplified the potion's effectiveness and reduced the life force consumption the healing process required.

'Dammit! Both arms have compound fractures, cracked and splintered ribs, punctured lungs, internal bleeding, ruptured organs, second-degree burns from lightning, lacerations and a concussion. Those are not injuries but a **ing grocery list!'

Lith inwardly cursed while he used tier four true magic to heal their bodies and replenish their life force. The abundant energy from the respiration technique brought color back to their pale complexion.

Kamila had no time to rejoice. She noticed two brown stains on his chest and left leg that were slowly getting bigger as the red of his blood mixed with the green of his ranger uniform.

The holes in the fabric had yet to self-repair. Even though light fusion had almost stopped the bleeding, the wounds looked pretty nasty. Kamila was about to splash a potion on his injuries to make them heal when Jirni caught her wrist.

"Right move but wrong moment, Lieutenant. If Lith loses his focus due to the combined exhaustion from the fight, his wounds, and the potion, these two could need days instead of hours to recover.

"

"I'm sorry, Constable. It's just…

" Kamila didn't know what to say. Her eyes moved from the potion in her hand to Lith's open wounds. She inwardly cursed the gods and herself for being utterly useless.

"First time on the battlefield?

" Jirni sat beside her. A flick of the Royal Constable's wrist made all the needles scattered throughout the room return to her pockets.

Kamila nodded, biting her lower lip in worry. Whatever Lith was doing, the effort was draining color from his face by the second. Healing was much harder than destroying. Even Invigoration had its limits.

"Well, it's normal to worry about the people we like. Normal and a bit rude.

" Jirni said, drawing Kamila's gaze on herself.

"I may not be as young and sexy as he is in your eyes, but I'm wounded nonetheless.

" Jirni took the potion from Kamila's hand and gulped it down. It was only then that Kamila saw the scorch mark on Jirni's chest and her bleeding back.

"Oh gods, I'm so sorry. I…

"

"Relax. I was joking.

" Jirni cut her short with a laugh.

"You did a good job keeping them alive. With no specimens, Manohar gone, and no more suspects to interrogate, at least no one died. That's all that matters.

"

Kamila grimaced and pointed at the bloody mess in the main hall. Bits of nobles, soldiers, and Carpenters were splattered on the walls.

"I mean none of us. You can't save them all. Do this job long enough and you'll learn that small victories are what lets you keep moving forward. If you focus on the losses, you'll go crazy in no time.

"

***

Later, back at the Association headquarters, everyone was eating like there was no tomorrow. Sharing life force with someone prevented them from dying, but they still needed to replenish all the nutrients spent to reconstruct bones and mend flesh.

Tista had used Invigoration to replenish Dorian's and Jirni's strength, so that Lith would have some time to rest and all the members of the group were back at their peak physical condition.

Psychologically, aside from Lith and Jirni, they were a worried mess. Tista kept reviewing her fight with the Carpenter in an endless loop. Every repetition only made her more bothered.

'That's what they mean by

"Don't bite more than you can chew

". If that thing wasn't in a hurry because of the mana poisoning, it could have killed us both. I need to learn more offensive spells before starting my travels.

'There's no such thing as a second chance in a fight.'

"How did you know that thing had an ass for brains?

" Lith asked

"It was actually obvious.

" Jirni replied.

"It didn't flinch when you aimed at its head and the torso is always the biggest target available. Legs and arms were a no go, big muscles like that need space to flex.

"Since the second set of arms took almost all of the lower back, where else could it be?

"

"We're screwed.

" Dorian said once his stomach had finally stopped grumbling.

"Not only has the investigation hit a dead-end, but we have also lost Manohar, maybe for good. Things couldn't get any worse.

"

"That's not true.

" Jirni shook her head.

"Count Xolver still has a lot of explaining to do. Before we had nothing on him, but this evening he both assaulted a Ranger and illegally accessed his personal file. The Crown has given me free rein on the matter.

"

"How did he get his hands on my file?

" Lith's eyes brimmed with rage. The creep had made things personal one time too many.

"Not your real file, just the one we leave available to known corrupt officers.

" Jirni explained.

"It only contains public information and enough details to make it look authentic.

"That way we can use it to track their contractors and anticipate their moves. So far, someone has requested classified information on all of us the moment the investigation started. I didn't tell you because we failed to track the delivery.

"Lith's file has been accessed again this evening, right after his quarrel with the Count. We failed to track the delivery again, but the timing is too suspicious. The Crown prefers to ruffle some medium importance noble's feathers rather than risk losing the Kingdom's two best diagnosticians at once.

"

"This would be fantastic news, if not for Xolver disappearing right after leaving the Marquis' mansion. None of the men stationed outside his house have seen him for hours. Also, there is no record about this Kaelarn guy. It's another dead end.

"

"Maybe it is and maybe not.

" Lith would have liked to steeple his fingers while thinking, but Kamila's hand was stuck to his like a boot on a car. Listening to his reports was one thing, watching him risk his life several times in a single night was another.

"I have a contact in the undead community that might be able to help us.

"

"Why didn't you tell us that as soon as you arrived? Withholding information during a royal investigation is a crime!

" Dorian was grateful to Lith for saving his life, but not enough to forget about their shared duty.

"Because we had no solid lead. I never believed it was the work of a Necromancer and I still don't. Even if I'm wrong, undead doesn't equal necromancy. Take Balkor for example. Also, what was I supposed to ask? For a list of all the undead in the region?

"Only after tonight's events do I have a name and a description. I wouldn't even risk exposing her existence if we weren't clutching at straws.

"

'Her?' Jirni, Tista, and Kamila frowned at the word, each for her own reasons.