Rot Heart: A LitRPG of Rot Magic in an Ancient World (Book 1 completed)

Since coming back to Camboaci, Div spent most of his time at the farm. Despite the rising tension in the basin, the village stayed mostly unaffected, allowing their war preparation to proceed smoothly.

It was all thanks to the wall of trees and the spirit protecting it. The massive wooden being completely surrounded the village and used its mystical powers to shield it from the curse that the mountaineers were spreading through the land.

Camboaci was a fortress, a bastion. If it came down to that, the village could weather a decade-long siege thanks to the fields and livestock occupying a large portion of the protected area.

Div was waiting for orders, sharpening his magic and practicing his weapons. But his biggest contribution was in the cheese he was tirelessly producing for the common storage.

With his unprecedented ability to sense rotlife, Div was able to accelerate the process of fermentation and slow down the ensuing decay. He had single-handedly multiplied the village cheese production and made it so it could be kept fresh for longer periods in any environment.

Considering the food shortage looming on the horizon for all the Lienien settlements, he hoped they would be able to send some to Bavacium and further south.

But his efforts were not solely concentrated on cheese. Food was only one of many factors in the coming conflict. What he really needed was to increase his strength.

Theaphilia's words had lit something inside him. While he wasn't arrogant enough to think he could influence the course of the war by himself, he hoped he could at least help preserve the independence of the northern basin where Camboaci was located.

If Kheiron or the mountaineers managed to extend their claws to Camboaci, it would destroy the life he was trying to build in the Wildlands

Sitting alone on one of the benches surrounding the village's training ground, he couldn't help but think about En.

He could still feel his brother through the link they shared via Bound Genesis. En was far south of Camboaci, likely still on his way to the city that had seen their birth.

Div wondered what adventures he'd gone through, what dangers he avoided, what feat he'd accomplished. He wanted to know, but he was content knowing his brother was alive, especially with the rising turmoil coming from the east.

It had already been close to three months since they evolved Sundered Mind into Bound Genesis, but Div still had no idea what the skill was for. Despite his best attempts at deciphering its use, it remained a mystery.

All he knew was that it was more than just a vague position tracker and a way for them to exist separately. It was a certainty burned in his soul.

Time would tell.

Aside from improving his mastery over rot magic and devising new spells, he had tried putting some thought into an evolution path for his other skills.

Rotten Spear had been sitting at the level cap for a while now, but he wasn't sure in which direction to develop it. It was a useful skill, but he couldn't focus on it the way he did on Rot Magic.

His old idea of transforming Blighted Passage into something else had petered out. The skill touched on concepts he didn't fully understand, making it hard to modify it.

As an Evolved Rank who hadn't mastered what should be his most powerful skill, he felt inadequate. But he felt that his best avenue for power was to keep focusing on Rot Magic. He briefly considered learning new weapons, like the javelin or the bow, but he just didn't feel the moment was right.

Standing up from his bench, he left the training ground and headed for the Brigaseta's house where Gennorina was waiting for him.

Everyone was busying themselves, trying their hardest so they could be ready. Lugsellos had even shut himself off from the world after his meeting with the old druid. Div didn't know what words were exchanged there, but his friend came out of it with a drive to evolve.

The weather was warm and pleasant, flowers grew in patches around the houses. Hosts of butterflies, birds, and other small animals hovered around those patches of tamed nature. A stark contrast to what was happening outside of the walls.

Vercinetos, Belilamos, and other capable people had been sent out to try and capture one of the rumored artifacts responsible for the lifeforce drain plaguing the region. Unfortunately, their search had been fruitless so far.

The deep valley clans were well organized. While a few groups had been caught, the person holding the artifact was always able to escape.

The village's leaders had even begun to question whether there was no artifact at all.

"Ah, Div, you're here," Gennorina called. She was sitting outside her teacher's home.

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All these years, they had continued their regular outings in the forest to meet the earth spirit. They had increased the rate at which they performed their ritual now that the land was sick.

"Spirits are resilient—especially earth spirits. But they are alive, they could suffer from the lifeforce drain," Gennorina had explained. "And this is a good opportunity to show our goodwill and befriend it. In a few generations, the spirit's support will help the village. At the very least, since it's so close to us, we should aim for its neutrality."

"What about the Lien River's spirit?" Div had asked.

"Who knows?" Gennorina shrugged. "It's so ancient, the drain might be as insignificant to it as a mosquito bite is to us."

The two friends made their way to the wall of trees and exited the village.

It was silent, the only birds chirping were behind them, in the village where many had taken refuge. The tree leaves were already dead when they should have been vibrant with the bright green of spring.

No insects crawled. No fungi fed. Even the wind seemed hesitant to pass through.

Without a word, they headed toward the area where the earth spirit lived. After years of doing that regularly, they could almost find the way with their eyes closed.

But, this time, their attention was raised to the maximum. The forest's beasts had long since disappeared, having fled the storm to come. But the heavy atmosphere looming over the woods weighed heavily on their minds.

There could be something more dangerous than beasts out there: mountaineer scouts or the ghosts their cursed lord had unleashed on this world.

When Div brought up the subject, Gennorina argued, "Ghosts don't exist."

"How can you be so sure? There are so many strange phenomena in the world, ghosts are absolutely plausible."

"No," Gennorina said, firmly. "No ghost."

Div got the message and decided that going forward he would keep his belief in ghosts for himself. There had to be a skill or a bloodline that permitted their existence. He was sure of it.

That wasn't necessarily a bad thing. With his Rot Heart, he had learned to put awful-sounding powers into perspective. Still, he wasn't looking forward to meeting a ghost.

They reached the earth spirit without complications. Gennorina sat down on the ground and began weaving a complex spell of nature magic to commune with it.

Now that Div was starting to grow as a rot mage, he could appreciate the complexity of her spell. Of course, it hadn't been designed by Gennorina. Passed down from the ancestral druids of the Lien River basin, the communion spell was a work of art. A deliberate assemblage of mana weaving together into a tapestry like no other.

It was a testament to her talent that Gennorina had been able to cast it a few months after awakening.

Div knew he wasn't quite at that level yet. But his path was different. He had no ancestor to rely on, no book to peruse, no teacher to ask.

No matter, if there was no rot mage to learn from, he would pave the way for his future peers.

Maybe.

It was a nice thought and something Div was aiming for. But with his measly level 2 magic skill and one spell to his name, he was far from achieving it.

He needed power. No, he wanted power. The heart of rot beating in his chest demanded he master the magic branded onto his soul.

Still, Div watched Gennorina shape a spell that had been created long before his earliest ancestor was born, then improved by successive generations.

Inspiring.

He needed to start recording his own journey with rot magic. Leave a trace so that people could walk in his footsteps.

The forest around him was bleak, lifeless, empty. As an adept of rot, it was disturbing. Perhaps even more than for a regular person. He didn't mind death and decay, but this was different.

Without any vitality, rotlife had vanished from the land. The cycle was broken. The plants were withering, they didn't turn into essence to feed their children. They just stopped existing, slowly, inexorably.

Disturbing. Div had no idea how the mountaineer lord had achieved such a feat. It was so close to being the antithesis of his own magic that he had to wrack his brain for a counter.

All he could achieve was based on his ability to manipulate rotlife. If there wasn't any, his rot magic was useless, with no way to affect the world around him.

Unless he could somehow summon rotlife out of thin air, there was nothing he could do.

Draining lifeforce from an entire region… Even with support from other Ascended Rank and their people, the power this lord was displaying was more than Div thought possible.

Was this the power of a peak Ascended Rank?

Even if the attack had been planned for years, supported by countless resources and artifacts, it was humbling.

Knowing that the curse wasn't just affecting Camboaci, but the entire basin was enough to fill Div with dread.

There were a lot of Ascended Ranks in the Lienien world, even more if Kheiron had decided to be involved. But could anyone stop that lord?

He had to trust it was possible. Too far removed from his level of power, he could only leave his fate in the hands of others.

Another motivation to get stronger, if he didn't have enough already.

Div's thoughts were interrupted by a change in Gennorina's mana.

It wasn't unusual for the young druid's spell to fluctuate as she conversed with the spirit. A spell wasn't a static construct, it interacted with its environment, morphing and flowing with the ambient mana.

But this time, it was different. Div had seen Gennorina cast her spirit communion spell enough times to know something was wrong.

He focused, feeling Gennorina's mana repeatedly expand and retract. Unfortunately, there was nothing he could do but watch. He had no authority over nature-attuned mana, and if he tried to forcefully break her spell, it could make things a lot worse.

His best option was to wait and see. As worried as he was, he had to trust that Gennorina had things under control.

"Genno…" He whispered, hoping it would give her even a little bit of strength.

With no way to help her, he turned his attention back to the forest. He didn't know what was happening, but he had to make sure nothing bothered her.

The ground hummed with silent purpose. A presence swelled beneath them, not angry, not kind—simply aware.

The spirit was no longer watching.

It was moving.