About 5 minutes passed before they finally calmed down. Resita sniffed loudly.
"I'm thirsty," she said in a nasal, weak voice.
"Aaaghh did you really just broke my arm?"
Diana was writhing in pain. It seemed like she had cooled down and her adrenaline had dropped. The unbearable pain of her fracture had set in. She was sweating from the pain and screaming. Regretfully, I looked at my own hand. It was completely bruised, and the air hitting it was burning like crazy.
'Once again, my stubbornness got me in trouble. Diana is a little girl, why my old ass is playing around.'
Practically both of us hadn't realized anything until now due to the adrenaline and excitement. And now regret was pointless.
'How is a kindergarten group of 4, two of whom are injured, going to survive here?'
Nuka came over to me.
"So what are you going to do with your hand now?" he asked worriedly.
"Ugh. I need to wrap it with something so more air doesn't get to it."
"There's no need for that."
As Resita tried to hide her sadness, she came towards me. She wanted to take my hand, but I pulled back.
"What do you want to do?"
"Don't worry, I won't bite. I just want to heal it."
"How exactly?" I gave her a suspicious look.
"With magic, silly."
"What?"
"Stop being so fussy. Just give me your hand, and you'll see."
Reluctantly, I brought my hand forward. She grabbed my hand in hers and gave it a little squeeze.
"Ow!" Even the slightest touch made it burn fiercely.
Resita closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It seemed she was trying to concentrate. Then, with her eyes still shut, she began to mutter something under her breath. After a short while, a green aura surrounded my hand. I looked at her in astonishment.
'Is... she casting a spell?'
Slowly, the awful burning in my hand faded, and instead, it felt cool, like someone had poured a bucket of water over burning coals. After a while, the burning sensation completely ceased. Resita stopped reading and looked at my hand with pride.
"This is the power of the eldest child of the Tasmanians."
I pulled my hand away from hers, amazed, and examined it. Aside from a small burn mark, my hand had returned to normal, and the dark soot had completely disappeared. Nuka and Diana didn't look any less amazed than me as they stared at my hand.
"My sponsor is Raffaela; the goddess of healing."
"So you're a healer, huh?" Diana asked.
"Ha! Of course! Anyone inherits their genes from their family anyway."
"But none of your family members are healers," Nuka said.
"I meant in terms of power, idiot!"
" come heal my hand instead of talking bullshit," Diana said through the pain.
"You need to ask nicely for me to do this great favor for you—"
Diana, annoyed, slammed her fist against the rock beside her.
"o_okay, Why are you hitting the rock, come on!" Resita said fearfully.
She sat beside her and repeated the same thing she had done with me.
"But really, memorizing such a spell is incredibly difficult and truly a feat of genius. Most people carry their spellbooks around because they forget," Nuka said excitedly.
After confirming Diana's full recovery, Resita checked her hand and then let it go. She frowned, trying not to show her happiness and satisfaction at Nuka's words.
"Humph! I'm Tasmanian, of course I have to be clever and genius unlike some villagers. This spell is a whole page written out, and only a genius like me can memorize it."
Of course, Nuka didn't gave two damns about any related words about peasantry. he turned back to Diana.
"By the way..."
Diana didn't lift her head to see Nuka standing over her. She just raised her eyes and waited for Nuka's look. Nuka reached into his pocket and pulled out her watch.
"Here, take it."Diana glanced at the watch and then at Nuka. Finally, she turned her face away.
"Why don't you take it?"
"Hold onto it."
"Why? Didn't you want it?"
"Consider it my apology gift for this recent events."
"But I don't want it."
"Then throw it away."
Nuka not knowing what to do stood above Diana, indecisively holding the watch in his hand. Then, he muttered something and put it in his pocket.
"Thanks for the gift."
'Well, that ended well. Now there's just one thing left.'
"I have another question."
"Ask away," Resita said.
"How do you both know magic?" I asked without any sign of emotions on my face.
"Well, all humans have magic and mana—"
"No, you don't understand what I mean. We're all just getting to know our sponsors this year, while you guys already know who your sponsors are."
"Hah! This dork still doesn't realise our power and influence."
"What?"
"Most of the people who govern sections of the country have a Sage's sphere. So the common folks in their area, who are peasants and the illiterates, can identify their sponsors through them. My family has a Sage sphere because they are dukes and govern a region. As for Resita, well, their specialty is in identifying outstanding talents. So naturally, they need a sage sphere."
"Hmm, so many nobles find out who their sponsor is before others," Nuka said.
"Thank your god you're studying in this school; otherwise, who knows if you'd even encounter a sage's sphere by the time you turn 18," Resita said with a smirk.
Ignoring Resita's jab, Nuka asked thoughtfully, "But if you can identify your sponsor at any age, then why don't they do it for us from our birth?"
"Well, I know that for the peasants, it may take a long time to bring the sage sphere, and someone may not know who their sponsor is for years. But I don't understand why there's a specific age determined by schools compared to what high-ranking nobles do," Diana said.
"..."
"Uhm..." Resita coughed discreetly.
"..."
"I mean..."
We looked at her questionably.
"Don't you want to think about our situation?"
Diana crossed her arms and leaned her head against the rock behind her.
"I say we go straight through this desert; maybe we'll reach a settlement. The sky doesn't indicate whether it's dusk or dawn, but whatever it is, it's not too hot."
"But if the sun was rising or setting, it should have either become night or day by now. But nothing is happening. The sky is in the same state," Nuka said.
"I don't know. I'm just basing my opinion on what it seems. Now I don't know why this damn sun is stuck up there."
"Nuka, where's your necklace?" Resita asked.
"I don't know; I can't find it no matter how much I search."
"Ugh, damn it!"
"Why are you still looking for that necklace?" I asked.
"Shouldn't I? It's the solution to these problems. After all, this incident happened because of that punch Diana threw."
"I searched the entire area but couldn't find it..."
Suddenly, a sound shook the entire area. Strong and alarming. As if time had run out for something or someone. A wave of wind hit our faces. We were all stunned and speechless.
"Is that the sound of a bell?"
"Then there must be a village nearby."
The loud sound echoed through the whole desert again.
'I don't have a good feeling about this sound.'
"It seems to be coming from the north," I said.
We had all gotten up from our spots and were turning our heads around.
"Let's hurry to that place and get help from the people there," Resita said excitedly.
Everyone started walking excitedly. But I still didn't have a good feeling about this. I shrugged.
'After all, it's better than being indecisive.'
I followed them.