Rules of Biomancy: A LitRPG Healer Fantasy

In a sense, it could've been worse.

The Dungeon hadn't lied. Everything below the ground had moved down two meters on average, crushing thousands of its inhabitants and causing untold amounts of destruction within the caves. Materials and plants worth more than most noble families had been crushed, never to be harvested by human hands, and it would take many weeks for the Dungeon to put everything back together.

On the other hand, the surface had seen minimal change. There had been some shaking, for sure; Aleksi had made that clear to him, but it wasn't on the level of what had happened in the caves.

This was not something that the Dungeon was responsible for, however. Instead, the main reason that Kulvik hadn't seen a sudden change in altitude and property values was Alin, who had held the city together. The old Earth Mage had been forced to loosen his Core and show off more power than he had in decades by manipulating untold tons of rock and stone for the sake of the people's mental health.

That he had been able to accomplish such a feat was legendary.

Not that the populace was told this tidbit. The official reasoning for the shaking was blamed on the scheduled and planned remodelling of the outer walls. After all, several documents had been sent in previously in the day about those plans, and who could fault the tireless mind of a Royal Mage for working through the night?

Perhaps anybody who had hoped to sleep peacefully, but that was another topic entirely.

From outside the city, Elijah couldn't see a difference. Kulvik looked the same as it did a day before, with the addition of the sun's early rays shining off the walls.

'You get into a lot of trouble, I hear.'

And then there was another fixture which could be found outside the city. The tarrasque, with scales the size of people, horns strong enough to break through a house, and those slitted eyes that carried intelligence that was rightfully feared.

A beast infamous for its power and ruthlessness, so heavily contrasted by the smooth voice which filled Elijah's mind.

'It wasn't me that lost control,' Elijah countered, the hair on his neck rising when that deep laughter echoed through his bones. 'Any reason for your sudden desire to talk?'

'There was nothing sudden about this,' the tarrasque mirthfully replied. 'I've been asking you questions for weeks. It's not my fault that it is only now you decided to talk back.'

'Guess I hadn't gotten to the point where I could catch your wavelength.'

'My wavelength? Oh, what a strange word.' A rumbling came through the earth around Elijah, as the chest of the beast vibrated. The workers who'd been feeding the tarrasque the morning meal looked ready to flee in terror. 'But maybe I am merely unaccustomed to the ways of humans. I certainly wouldn't have thought to delegate a portion of my role to another being.

Do you not think the same, little sun?'

'Yes! He is weird!' Dawn agreed, joining the mental connection post-haste. 'He kills prey but doesn't let me eat them after! Wasteful! Pointless!'

'Truly?'

'Dawn, I'm not letting you eat corpses,' Elijah said. 'If anybody saw it, there'd be consequences.'

'I could be quick! Drag them off somewhere and then eat them.'

'The little sun is very wise, former human. Maybe you should be more lenient.'

'... I'm not sure what I expected from you.'

'A human mind, perhaps? Apologies for the disappointment I've caused, but you must remember that I take great joy in devouring those featherless bipeds you stand amongst. Such a shame I have to settle for the promise of future feasts.'

Elijah gave the tarrasque one last look before turning away, letting his mind wander from the mental connection. He did catch the well-wishing, however, along with a promise to Dawn to teach her some tricks.

'I like her,' Dawn said, popping into existence atop his knee. 'Very smart.'

'You like her because she agrees with you,' Elijah countered, his eyes falling to the others who sat in the wagon. Jack had fallen asleep the moment he'd sat down, Sasha was quietly going through biscuits of some variety, Aleksi was holding the reins, and Grace and Hafrad were conversing about some tidbit of ancient history.

'That's what I said,' Dawn replied, with no sense of shame in her words. 'Can we bring her with us next time?'

'Probably not.'

That'd be an easy way to cause international conflicts, even if the tarrasque would be more than happy to come along regardless.

"— but, the most fascinating part of our old tomes is the theory-crafting about the apparent lack of women in dwarven societies," he heard Grace say. With Dawn busy trying to justify that a giant beast of legend would be fine to bring on their next journey, he tuned into the conversation between the Wind Mage and the dwarf. "Every time Darim sent a delegation to Castilla, or during the rare trip into your cities, the scribes only noted children without beards. Every other dwarf they met carried braided beauties with impressive lengths. This caused the idea that your society was very protective about women, to a point where you kept them hidden from outsiders."

A bark of laughter left the dwarf, causing Jack to briefly wake up in confusion before falling back asleep.

"You humans simply couldn't comprehend the beauty and femininity of the fine dwarven women that likely accompanied your expeditions," Hafrad said, eliciting a chuckle from Grace. "But we dwarves were also very confused by your human traditions. We knew you were taller on average than a dwarf, but to see beardless children double our height was very confusing. It was only during the second age, when King Dramond tried to offer a piece of rock cake to what he believed to be a human child, that we learned even some mighty human warriors did not grow more than a moustache."

That was a new story, one which was retold to the others when night reached them. Other stories came up as well, of course, both sides regaling their country's history and laughing over misunderstandings between cultures. Fun facts, things that the other side found strange, and quirks that were inherited from the other side.

"Humans have very sensitive stomachs when compared to dwarves," the diplomat explained during the third night. "We enjoy the taste and crunch of metal and rocks, but your kind would chip a tooth before you could handle the southern granite bites. A sad reality, since the variety of minerals inside can be exquisite, but we have in the past done our best to accommodate when humans visited our cities."

"... Is that why the old books describe your early feasts as bland?" Grace questioned, causing a grin to grow on the dwarf.

"We stayed on the safe side, with any dish served to your delegations," Hafrad continued. "Imagine our surprise when one of your own brought out a small container and sprinkled ground-up rocks onto moss porridge."

"Do you mean salt?"

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"Collected through the boiling of ocean water, yes."

The quality and value of the shared tales varied wildly, but they were decent entertainment. It certainly helped fill the time between experimentation, when Elijah's eyes were too tired to read, and Aleksi was napping.

And, as the days passed, and they closed in on the border, there was a voice in the back of his head that wanted to visit the leyline again. The Entity hadn't liked the idea, still needing to think, but something within Elijah grew more curious with every passing hour.

Not curious enough to be stupid, however. Elijah simply looked in the direction of the leyline when they passed it, not bothering to set up camp nearby and risk any last-second temptation.

And it wasn't as if there weren't other mysteries to ponder.

Name: Elijah Caede

Affinity: Biomancy

Mana: 1348

Spells:

[Accelerate Growth](Tier 1)

[Plant Bond](Tier 1)

[Animal Bond](Tier 2)

[Plant Storage](Tier 2)

[Flesh Bond](Tier 4)

[Breathe Life](Tier 5)

Titles:

[Dungeon Pillar]

1348.

The blue letters floated in front of Elijah's face, the fake light making his eyes unfocus from the world around him.

His status screen mainly looked identical to what it'd been the past few days. He hadn't learned any new spells, his title remained unchanged, and the name he'd gone by in the past years had the same story.

But his mana had increased.

"Two more than yesterday," he muttered under his breath, noting down the number in his notes. A week ago, it'd been sitting at 1336. Five days ago, it had reached 1340. Now it was 1348.

Twelve more than the total he'd achieved from the last upgrade to his Core.

He'd brought it up to Grace in passing, and she had thought very little of it. The total amount of Mana that could be stored inside the Core wasn't a precise constant. It floated around a little through the day, as people went about their lives. Diet, physical exercise, and even breathing patterns could increase or lower the total amount of Mana being read by the System. Excessive use of the Core could even cause some temporary bumps, making it seem like strain caused growth, but it was meant to return to the original within an hour or so.

That wasn't the case here. It hadn't been a sudden increase, Elijah hadn't modified his routine substantially, and, while there were some fluctuations through the day, there was a clear upward trend.

Breaking the standard conventions for how Cores worked, Elijah was growing his total capacity passively.

"Doesn't sound like a bad thing," Aleksi commented when the discovery had been brought up in private. "Having more mana at hand seems like a positive. Lower risk of running out mid fight and all."

"It's less the effect and more the cause I'm worried about," Elijah countered, eyes falling down to the grass he was sitting on. Running his fingers through the blades, he could feel how unnaturally soft they were, as if they were trying to mimic a cushioned seat. "This isn't normal."

"We're not known for being normal."

"Regardless of that, I don't know what other side effects could come from whatever is causing this."

Elijah was clued in on the potential cause a few days later, when they closed in on the rocky terrain that surrounded the old dwarven outpost. The modified plant life hadn't reached so far just yet, and with that observation came the following discovery that the increases to his mana capacity slowed down. It still increased by a single point through the final two days, but no more than that.

Perhaps it was a consequence of his conversion from human to… something else. The entity had already modified his Core before, to harvest the energy of those he'd slain. That it could potentially absorb mana from his surroundings in a more permanent manner than what human mages did wasn't out of the question.

"Dwarves ahead," Aleksi commented, as they passed the line into the old outpost. The horses slowed to a crawl as they followed the old path between the buildings. "Four or five of them."

"Should be four, as is protocol," Hafrad added from inside the wagon. "Two warriors, one scribe, and a representative of the king."

"I thought you represented the interests of Darim," Jack commented.

"From a diplomatic role between nations, yes, but it is a different matter when foreigners have to be transported to Kragdur through the old lines."

Kragdur, the capital city of Darim. It wasn't often the city was mentioned by name, as there was rarely a need for it. The dwarven country's cities were largely unknown to outsiders, and Elijah wouldn't be surprised if the dwarves preferred to keep it that way.

"Well met!"

Just like last time, the loud greetings of a dwarf awakened Elijah's nerves. As Hafrad had predicted, there were four of them this time, though Elijah couldn't see the differences between them. Each was short and wide, brimming with muscle, and wearing intricate plate armor that covered up almost everything but their eyes and beard.

"Bramli Emberforge, son of Durgram Emberforge!" Hafrad shouted back, jumping out of the wagon and hurrying towards his fellow dwarves. Elijah and the others were slower in their disembarking, though Elijah could tell Jack was excited to join in. "It has only been five years since I last saw you, lad, and you're already a King's Hand? I must apologize for not getting you a gift!"

"I was promoted only a month ago, Hafrad, and seeing you in good health is a better gift than any other," the dwarf known as Bramli assured the diplomat. "Now, introduce me!"

"Ah, where are my manners?" Hafrad exclaimed, turning back to the group while keeping his hand on the other dwarf's shoulder. "Before you are Grace Runner, Wind Mage studying under the guidance of Alin Oathbreaker, Elijah Caede, an accomplished Biomancer and the Royal Healer for Serenova, Aleksi Grey, partner and protector of the Royal Healer, and, finally, we have Sasha Petrova and Jack Larson, both accomplished mages and the apprentices of Elijah Caede."

Though it was barely perceptible to the human eye, Elijah spotted the finger movements of one of the other dwarves behind Bramli. It was subtle but with a clear structure, following the pace of the introductions and repeating movements whenever a previous name was spoken again.

I suppose that's the scribe.

Though the dwarven delegation was meant to include only two warriors, it truly was hard to see a difference between the four. It was only their actions that clued Elijah in on who was who, as even the armor was identical to his eyes.

"Names with meaning that I would be happy to unravel, but this is hardly the place to trade tales," Bramli commented, to which Hafrad agreed. "If you all follow us, we have prepared a place for your horses and wagon to stay before we travel underground."

Before they turned to lead, there was a quick whisper from Hafrad to Bramli, and the dwarven eyes momentarily rested on Jack. The reason for this meeting had been revealed.

As promised, they were led to the cave entrance they'd seen last time, though now it also contained a few additions. Boxes filled with feed for the horses, along with water that could keep them full for several weeks. When put alongside the larger area that contained grass and shade, the animals seemed more than happy for the chance to do little other than relax.

With that taken care of, the group gathered their bags and supplies before following the dwarves down into the well-sculpted stairs. The initial path was the same as before, but a turn led them into another section that Elijah hadn't seen before. It didn't have as tall a roof, forcing Aleksi to be hunched over for the first twenty minutes of the descent, but it evened out once they reached flat ground.

"Forgive the darkness," Bramli apologized, as he methodically trailed his finger alongside an inconspicuous part of the wall. "In the past, this portion of our tunnels was intended purely for dwarven use, so it doesn't possess the light levels that surface folk are accustomed to."

Elijah didn't offer any comment, simply trailing the continued movements of the dwarven hands. While minor at first, something hidden in those walls was responding, and the glimmer of crystal was steadily being revealed.

"I have a question, if you don't mind," Jack said, to which Bramli assured him it wasn't. "How exactly do we get to Kragdur? Hafrad said it wouldn't be by foot, but he wouldn't reveal what other methods you had."

"As is expected, since the method of transportation we will be using is a secret that we prefer to keep quiet about," Bramli explained, before a grin could be spotted through the massive, orange beard. "And… it is a rare pleasure to see the befuddled faces of others when they witness the glory of the rails for the first time."

Though Jack seemed ready to ask another question, he was silenced along with everybody else when the stone wall before them turned crystalline. It shone in an ethereal light, not too bright, but the darkness made it feel extreme, and Elijah almost looked away. He persevered, however, and was able to witness as the wall finally disappeared entirely, revealing a wide cavern containing a massive mechanical construction.

"Holy—"

Truth be told, Elijah nearly missed the shared grins amongst the dwarves, as he and the others stood there dumbfounded at the sheer scale of what was before them.

"That's not something you see every day," Aleksi whispered under his breath, though the echoing effect of the cavern allowed the others to hear him clearly. "I suppose those count as rails?"

Elijah doubted any human smith would call them that, for fear their work would be seen as pitiful.

Suspended two meters above the cavern floor by massive iron pillars, the two parallel meter-thick rails continued into the impenetrable darkness. They were made of black metal that contained lines of gold, and the magical residue that fell off them hinted at some form of enchantment.

But that wasn't all. Not far from them were stairs made of the same black metal, leading up to a platform that allowed them to board a strange contraption that sat on the rails. It was about twenty meters long, with more than enough seats for fifty men.

"In the old days, minecarts like these were used by our people to travel between distant mines," Bramli regaled, as he and the other dwarves instantly walked onboard the contraption. Jack and Sasha followed them a moment later, but the rest stood back hesitantly. "Come, now. The work of the forefathers can be trusted. This particular cart has been used for two centuries."

The dwarf's words did little to calm Elijah, as he heard the low and echoing groans of metal. There were no switches or control panels on the so-called minecart, and yet the dwarves were able to awaken the construct. This… This was beyond him.

"A week ago, you were disagreeing with a tarrasque without fear," Aleksi commented, clapping him on the shoulder before taking a step forward and joining Jack and Sasha on the minecart. "Is a big hunk of old metal going to scare you now?"

That twinkle in the giant's eye caused Elijah to step forward spitefully, dragging along Grace who'd been just as, if not more, hesitant as him.

Let's just get this over with.