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

Div stood alone on the walls overlooking the plain that surrounded Trabine. Just days ago, it had been a forest. A dying forest, but still a forest. The mountaineers' army camping at the foot of the hill upon which the oppidum stood had turned the landscape into a series of wooden palisades.

The first rain had come, turning the beaten dirt ground into mud.

Trabine was surrounded, and Div was on watch duty.

So he watched.

He watched the malnourished men and women of the eastern range build their barracks by digging waist-high trenches and fortifying them with wood. He watched them queue up for rations, the last in line often coming back empty-handed.

For all the misery they inflicted on this land, the invaders didn't seem better for it.

The siege had only been going on for a few weeks, yet it was the besiegers who were starving, not the besieged.

"Bored?" Dana asked as she climbed up the wall.

"Very. Your shift doesn't start before another hour."

Dana shrugged. "It's not like there's much to do inside the city. I thought I'd keep you company."

Div nodded. He knew she was lying. Even under the tension a siege brought, there were plenty of interesting things in Trabine. Chief among them, their library.

"Thank you."

"Any progress on the bloodline front?" Dana asked.

"I'm not sure. I'm not ready to share yet."

He had done a lot of research since coming back and reporting on the approaching army. His goal was to find out how Chorus of Renewal was affecting the souls of the persons he used his skill on.

Only then could he hope to prevent it.

So far, his conclusions were lackluster. Chorus of Renewal touched on the soul, potentially a result of his first evolution: Bound Genesis. After all, separating with En had essentially split their shared soul in half. Something like this was bound to leave an impact.

His leading theory was that his bloodline was too overbearing, leaking into other people's as he healed them. The issue was that he didn't know if he was anywhere close to being right, and if he was, he had no idea how to control it.

Div sighed and turned his attention back to the army below.

It was quiet.

They hadn't even attempted an assault. The Trabinian elders and the Kheironite army hadn't done anything either.

"How long is it going to last?"

"Div, it's only been a few weeks. Sieges can go on for years. We have the resources to."

"I know. I just don't like it."

At least, Dana was with him. His other friends, not so much. Gennorina was busy getting Suce to help with what they could. As for Lugsellos… he didn't know.

The elders had assured him that he was fine, just extremely busy. Div could suspect foul play, but in reality, the elders didn't need to lie to him. They had the power to do whatever they wanted. So Div chose to believe them. Perhaps they were putting Lug's special gifts to good use.

Unlike his own.

It had seemed so evident. As soon as the army settled around the oppidum, Div had volunteered his magic to the council. He offered to cast preservation spells around the food stocks.

His best bet at getting that final level to Rot Magic and completing his facet. It was common knowledge that five levels of the related magic skill were necessary to complete a mage facet. Div saw no reason for it to be different for Rot Magic. In any case, he also had levels in Mana Manipulation and Rotlife Sense.

Yet, the elders had refused.

"Look, Div," Panos had said. "We appreciate your desire to help, but we're not going to risk rot magic contaminating our stocks."

"But, with the siege, I can make them last longer."

"I know you can. But that's not the point. We have safer ways to preserve our food. Frost magic, but also salt, fermentation, and other traditional methods."

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"It doesn't hurt to add more," Div had argued.

"It could, Div. It could. You're still a novice in rot magic. One wrong move, and you'd be responsible for people starving."

Div knew Elder Panos wasn't wrong. But he still stung. He'd just started to believe in the positive sides of rot, yet he was reminded that others didn't see it this way.

They likely never would, and he couldn't blame them.

Div leaned on the battlement. "I feel useless."

Dana shrugged. "Same, but what can we do? That's just how sieges go."

"What's the point of us being here, Dana?"

"We have to be somewhere. Fate took us here, don't overthink it. Let it play out."

He couldn't be that relaxed. He'd like to, and it was something he needed to learn. But for now, it was out of reach.

As he looked at the opposing army down below, he spotted watchmen in the towers placed at regular intervals on the palisades. Just like him, they were waiting. Looking up instead of down.

At least, his stance was more comfortable.

Surely, they weren't all here by choice. Forced to follow a lord in his quest for transcendence, in his attempt to defy death and old age.

Transcendent Ranks were not immortal, but they could live for millennia. Div could understand why someone would want that, but not for such a heavy price.

Perhaps he was too young. Death was but a distant destination for him. It wasn't tangible, it wasn't real. If he could feel it in his flesh, in his bones… If he knew that his remaining time was short, would he turn into the same kind of monster?

He hoped not.

"What will you do when we're done here?" Div asked, trying to get his mind rid of those thoughts.

"I don't know. It all depends on what the clan will want from me."

Right, that's how Kheiron worked.

"What about you?"

Div didn't know. He didn't want to stay in Trabine, yet he didn't feel like returning to Camboaci when Gennorina couldn't. There was also Lugsellos' situation to consider.

Maybe he'd continue south, but Kheiron was also not a great destination to further his practice of Rot Magic.

"It's too early to say."

Dana chuckled. "Come on, Div. Don't be so sour."

Div tilted his head.

She continued, "You always look like you're expecting something to go wrong."

"It usually does."

"Well, nothing you can do about that. Just enjoy the moment, will you?"

Div took a deep breath. He wanted to retort, but instead, he decided to follow her advice.

The weather was nice. The view was good, despite the looming threat of the army—no, he had to think positively.

The view was good, the sun shone and reflected on the Lien River quietly flowing in the distance.

Dana stood close to him. She was one of the rare people to accept him for who he was, and he appreciated that.

She was impressive in her own right. At least, Div thought so. Barely three years older than him, but she stood strong despite the situation. Dana wasn't a grizzled veteran; in the grand scheme of things, she was a relatively new soldier. Yet she never complained and always tried to cheer him up.

He wished he could be more like her.

What was stopping him?

Nothing concrete, but change was never easy.

"Maybe you should stop trying to change," Dana said, her voice low.

Div blinked. "What?"

She kept her eyes on the horizon, arms folded on the stone. "Everyone's always trying to become something. Transcend this, evolve that. But sometimes, who you are already matters more than whatever's next."

"That's easy to say when people trust you."

Dana scoffed. "Please. You think Kheiron's full of trust? They just need me. That's not the same."

"But they listen to you."

She shrugged, then she smiled, but there was no warmth in it. "I missed the part when anyone listened to me, then. They don't reject me, and that's just because I keep my mouth shut and swing a spear where I'm told."

"Still. You're useful."

Her smile faded.

"You are too, Div," she said, quieter now.

Div wanted to believe that. But he couldn't find the words. Instead, he nodded and returned to watching the distant glimmer of the Lien River. A silence stretched between them.

He could feel her presence beside him. A constant. Something stable, where everything else was uncertain.

If this siege ended tomorrow, would they still talk like this, or would they part, never to meet again?

Div opened his mouth, unsure of what he meant to say.

But before he could speak, heavy boots echoed on the steps behind them. Dana turned first. Div stayed still a moment longer, as if hoping time might pause.

"Div!" Elder Panos's voice cracked against the stone. "The east cellar's spoiling. Something's wrong with the stock."

Div straightened, all thoughts swept away in an instant. He turned. Panos was already halfway up, breathing hard. Did they think he was responsible? That his mana had gone out of control and infected the supplies. Maybe they even thought he was a traitor…

"I haven't—"

"Div, I and the other elders know it's not you. Although others will not be convinced so easily. But that's an issue for later. The point now is: can you fix it?" the elder asked, urgency lacing his voice. "We don't know how fast it's spreading."

Dana shot Div a look—sharp, questioning, maybe even worried.

He hesitated just long enough to notice it.

Then, he gave a sharp nod. "I'll try."

Panos was already descending again.

Div stepped toward the stairs, then paused and glanced back.

Dana was watching him. "Go. Show them."

And maybe, for the first time in weeks, he felt like he could.