Although the fight between all three of them had ensued, the cavern remained as it had. If anything, the ice grew black, covering the scars the battle had been left in the cavern.
"This ice…" Shadow whispered.
Liora still hadn't come out, he wasn't sure why. Perhaps she had gone on a jolly ride through the tunnel and was captured.
"Your eye…" He heard from the wall. He turned and saw a human figure protruding from the wall. Shadow took a step back, he had to be cautious.
"Liora?"
"It's me" she said, turning from stone back to human in a matter of seconds. Shadow stood stunned looking at her.
"What the hell was that?" He asked, genuinely surprised.
Liora looked around a bit, seemingly bothered by the dismembered parts that lay about on the floor of the cavern.
"Aahh, well. You said I should conceal myself. So that's what I did" she answered.
"By turning into the wall?"
Liora sighed. She always had to explain herself when it came to magic.
"Look, it's not turning myself, it's using magic to change my form that anything that I touch. It's a form of concealment magic that renders me impossibly safe… And don't you dare ask me why I know this" she walked towards Shadow and poked at the pieces of cloak that bound his idea.
"How's your eye?" She felt truly bothered. While she was immersed in the stone, she could feel all of what went down. She didn't need to have eyes, the vibrations were enough for her.
"It's gone" Shadow sighed. He hadn't even reached the main party, if his subordinates were this powerful, just how strong was the boss?
"Let me try healing it for you" Liora whispered.
"Huh?… You can use healing magic too?" His face was a blank sheet of surprise. He still couldn't wrap his head around this knowing all magic nonsense, being born with every kind of magic principle to ever exist.
He saw the expression on her face and thought otherwise.
"Careful…" He said. Slowly, she unwrapped the cloth, while Shadow kept his eye in place. He didn't grunt in pain or anything like that.
He had stabbed himself with anesthesia, the same one he had used to finish off Sam. He was an assassin, using poison was second nature.
"Doesn't it hurt?" She asked…
"It will if you keep wasting so much damn time" he cursed, knowing that there was nothing keeping his eye in place anymore. If he so much as bent his head, his eye would fall right off.
"Hold still!" Liora stretched her hand out and placed her palm on the bloody patch on his face…
Shadow looked at her with curiosity as she closed her eyes, her lips began moving at an alarming degree. He tried reading her lips, but then realized that she wasn't speaking a language he could understand.
A subtle warm green aura enveloped his body, the light rejuvenated him, healed him. He felt the Anastasia burn away, his wounds and injuries slowly healing, his thoughts became crisp clear.
He blinked.
"There we go…" Liora smiled as beads of sweat could be spotted or her face. Shadow knew this had taken a toll on her. He had to be careful for her sake, and he also had to admit that, bringing her along was definitely his good fortune.
"Any problems?" She asked unsure.
"No it's fine. Better than I expected, even. Looks like you're not very good at healing magic too" Shadow said placing a hand on her shoulder so she wouldn't fall.
She shook her head
"That's not it. What true healing magic does isn't just regrowth of body parts. It's time reversal" she responded.
"What?"
This was the first time Shadow had ever heard about this. He looked at her dubiously, maybe the strain has gotten to her head and she was speaking nonsense.
"Why do you think both living and non things can be healed? It's a time reversal principle that only focuses on restoring a part or a whole of an object to the time of its prime. So it takes a lot out of me" she sighed.
Shadow rubbed his smooth chin and thought about it. It did make sense if he thought about it in that manner.
"Tell me something else" he said unexpected. Liora looked at him hesitantly but nodded.
"What's do different about Mages and Mana users?"
Liora nodded her head in understanding, at some point, even she had been confused.
"The difference is that, while Mages know all sorts of magic, Mana users follow a specific path, or two. Three at most, it makes them more driven and precise. In a sense, mana users that use fire have more depth in the element that we mages do" she answered.
Shadow nodded to himself and began walking. That made sense…
"Come, let's get this over with. The others know we're coming, four more men are coming after us. How are your magic reserves?" Shadow gazed into the darkness while he asked her.
Indeed, he could feel four shadows slowly approaching them. These men were more conscious, probably because they knew that Shadow had killed the others.
"I still have plenty left. Let me just heal myself, " he said.
Huh?
Wait…
"If you could heal yourself, that makes a cheat…"
Liora nodded in delight, "Although not all mages can. But I can". She muttered a few words like before, and an ethereal glow encompassed her.
"Alright, I'm back, let's go" she said confidently.
Shadow wished, just for that moment, that he had been brought into this world as a mage instead. His life would be so much easier.
"Sure… Let's" Shadow straightened himself and walked side by side Liora. He had to admit it, she was useful as a party member.
But something was horribly wrong with one of the shadows that approached them. It seemed detached from its owner.