Outwardly, her condition looked less severe than the Khar'veth's. She still had her limbs. She still had her core intact. She still hovered without difficulty, because Rank Three did not need wings to fly.
But that was a surface reading.
What she did not say, and what she did not intend to say, was that losing her wings had injured more than flesh.
It had injured her vitality.
Not in a way that would immediately kill her, but vitality was not just lifespan. This injury had also damaged her potential to some extent.
And even the process of regaining her wings would consume more vitality.
Whether she used resources or not, some portion of that vitality would be spent.
The only difference was that using resources would make the cost smaller, controlled, and less significant to worry about.
She did not need the elf to know that.
She did not need the Khar'veth to know it either.
