When Leon arrived in New York, everything looked pretty normal. That being said, it was midnight, so Leon couldn't say for sure that nothing suspicious occurred in the last few days. He had an easy time entering the building where his apartment was. There were no guards, and since few soldiers were living there, he didn't find a single one.
When Leon opened the door and turned on the lights, he saw Sarah holding one of the two knives Leon made to Gisela train.
"Ah... it's you… don't scare me like that." Sarah sighed.
"Is there a reason why you are so on edge?" Leon asked.
"No, after you left, nothing weird happened," Sarah explained. "Two days ago, Tom was elected to be the one who would represent the soldiers while I would represent the ordinary survivors. We are working to make things decent… but I have a feeling that some people won't like how I will do things."
"Maybe I can help you with that," Leon said.
"How? You don't intend to stay here, right?" Sarah asked.
"It is simple; I just have to create a massive sword on the side of the main building," Leon said. "That should keep the troublemakers in check."
"I guess that is a good idea…" Sarah said and then walked toward the bed where Gisela was sleeping. She had bandages covering the wound in her face. "She lost too much blood, she won't die, but she needs to rest."
"How did she react after that?" Leon asked.
"… She has a thin appetite, and she doesn't talk much." Sarah explained. "She doesn't look depressed, but she doesn't have the energy to do anything. I come here every night to look after her, but I didn't see any signs of her leaving the bed during the day. Maybe she will cheer up a little with you here."
"I will heal her eyes; I will find a way…" Leon said. "Do you know someone who can heal wounds?"
"No, I have never heard of anyone who is capable of healing wounds," Sarah answered. "There are items that increase the recovery rate, but isn't the same thing, right? The best thing that I saw that could heal wounds was that pair of gloves."
"But as you already know, it isn't enough," Leon said. "However, those can give me a clue about how to learn the skill necessary to do that. I will study those."
"Well, if someone is capable of learning that type of magic, I guess that someone is you," Sarah said. "I have an early day tomorrow, so I will go to my home."
"Sarah, do you have access to the information that William and the others obtained?" Leon asked. "I'm interested in how they managed to create magic items and those choppers that use mana."
"Yes, we found those documents," Sarah said. "I will bring them to you tomorrow. I doubt that anyone would say anything against it."
"Hahaha, I'm not asking them for free." Leon laughed. "Just the copies should be enough; if you need help with something, I can help you tomorrow all day. However, we will leave the city the day after tomorrow."
"All right," Sarah said.
After that, Sarah left the room, and Leon brought the armchair to the side of the bed. Leon put the gloves and grabbed the steel knife, until now, Leon refused the idea to cause self-warm, with passion, but now to help a friend, he had to do it. His gloves could only heal wounds, and to understand the process, he had to see that with his own eyes.
Slowly, Leon made a point of the knife touch his skin. Although the blade was pretty sharp, Leon didn't felt anything, then he understood why. The gloves increased his endurance, and since the knives weren't magic weapons, it would have a hard time cutting the flesh. Leon had to strike without hesitation, and so he did it… because he wanted to help a friend.
Blood started to drip from the small wound, but after a few seconds stopped. Not to dirty the floor, Leon created an earth bucket and filled it with water. While he did that, he observed the wound closing at a fearsome speed. It didn't even leave a scar.
"I see… the wound just heals a lot faster than it should. There are no shining lights causing a miracle… the mana just accelerates the natural healing process. I wonder if that is dangerous to the body."
Although it was hard to be sure, Leon was quite certain that mana wasn't harmful even when it accelerates the natural healing of human flesh. That was because Leon used mana like a madman for the past four years, and until now, he didn't feel anything weird with his body. It was as if… mana was the purest and harmless font of energy in the universe.
"So, I should just use my mana to make the cells heal faster?"
To manipulate the basic elements, Leon had to infuse his mana in them, to strengthen them, he had to do that twice, and to create them, he had to change the properties of his mana. However, he couldn't imagine one of those steps making wounds heal faster.
"I guess I have to do it again."
Leon took off the gloves, and this time the knife pierced his skin quite easily. Leon tried to infuse his mana in the wound, but he failed again and again. Why? Because the injury was in his body, and his mana was in his body. He didn't have to infuse his mana… he had to make his mana inside his body heal the wound before the recovery heals it.