Rules of Biomancy: A LitRPG Healer Fantasy

The fourth day of the siege had begun. Elijah had barely even blinked through it all. Bursts of action came every few hours, which forced him to act swiftly and ruthlessly, but the hours of silence between those moments were much worse.

Sasha had gone missing since the first day, and Mila had fallen to the same fate not long after that. Vera had promised that she'd sent people out to search for them, but nobody had found anything concrete. It troubled Elijah to no end, and he wished more than anything to go out and search himself, but his duties stopped that.

"They're starting to move," Elijah reported, his back to the stone walls of the barricades. With the death of many of the enemy's Biomancers, he'd regained most of his control over the root network outside the city. While he hadn't dared to disrupt many of their operations, instead focusing on recon, the information gathered had proved more than valuable. "They're coming in from all sides on foot. Machines are rumbling. Expect strikes."

After almost two full days of inaction, the armies of Castilla began their charge. Their numbers had greatly increased, their artillery on wheels had been rebuilt, and he could sense the great powers that now fueled the people. While it wasn't alchemy, something had been done to the men and women to make them faster. Armies were not meant to run at full sprint. Especially not with the rocky terrain that the late Earth Mages had been able to create.

"Strikes spotted," one of the Royal Mages nearby reported. The thin body and low voice allowed Elijah to recognize it as the young Luxomancer. While their combat prowess hadn't increased to a high degree, their ability to bend light to see around distant corners was a great boon. "Seven black bolts, spread out across the initial front."

"On it," Tina said, just as Elijah felt that pink Mana spread through the air. With great speed and power, the bolts were met by the colorful pillars mid-air, causing massive explosions high in the sky. The sound waves could be seen travelling above them, and the stone wall behind Elijah shook, but he kept up his work. "Say if they're sending out more."

"You have a minute or two," he replied. 'Dawn, is everything ready?'

'Yes!' she answered instantly. 'Can we kill them now?'

'They're not dying from this,' he corrected, before tuning back into the physical realm. "The first wave is far enough inside my range. Has everybody consumed their pills?"

Commanders shouted codes, and several dozen sergeants shouted back in affirmations. Even with the lower amounts of wind present, and Grace ready to stop any counter-attacks, they had to make sure everybody soon to be fighting was immune.

'Send it out,' he ordered, calling upon the vast reservoir in his Core and letting his voice go through every root and path of grass. 'Make them fall.'

A thousand voices replied with glee, their modified roots instantly cracking open and spraying out that white fog. The transmission allowed his nose to pick up the traces of chamomile, which obviously confused the enemy foot soldiers as well.

Then the shortest of the warriors fell to the ground, and the mages began to work fast. Wind Mages blasted the white gas into the sky to disperse it, but the roots had been filling up for two days now. There was no single blast of that white smoke. A dozen seconds passed, and every blade of grass still sprayed the airborne sedative at the enemy.

Simple enough to pass through masks, through skin, and even that armor you're all so fond of.

Like a wave, soldiers hit the ground, abruptly ending the charge upon Kulvik while still two kilometers away.

"They're incapacitated," Elijah reported. "Get our artillery going."

"Already sent in the order," Tina replied, her words highlighted by the thumps of Jack's mortars. With the two days and the lack of sleep on anybody's part, the madman had been able to restock his supply of rounds. With several hundred of them ready to be sent out, seeing the results of his efforts was only a question of patience.

That had been the plan at least.

"Magical Shields are being deployed," the Luxomancer said, a frown on his face. Elijah couldn't see it from his position, and his connection to the grass only allowed him to sense what was on the ground. Yet… as the sound of mortar rounds reached his ears, without a similar response from the root network, he knew something was wrong. "Their shields are holding. No casualties spotted."

Shit.

Plan B came into effect after all.

"I'm switching on regular traps," Elijah said, getting a grunt from Tina, who was preoccupied with handling the next burst of black bolts sent their way. The count had doubled now, and the other Royal Mages wouldn't be able to stop everything soon.

'Oh, finally,' he heard the tarrasque comment, as the approaching army came closer and closer to the city walls. Vera had stopped the beast of legend from fighting after the first day, wanting her to stay alive for defence. 'No reason to hold back anymore.'

'Remember that you're of more use to us alive,' Elijah reminded her, as he sent out the orders for the root network to attack. They were more than happy to oblige, grass growing slick and flowers shooting out to penetrate through flesh. "They're getting closer."

Another set of black bolts, now reaching above twenty in number. Tina and the others fired off with counter-shots, but only so much could be done against attacks of such magnitude.

"Brace for impact!"

Aleksi pushed Elijah closer to the ground instantly, the giant protecting him with his own body. It went unneeded, as the bolts headed their way were shot out at the last moments, but those three streets north weren't as lucky.

"Current ETA is ten minutes," the Luxomancer shouted, making it clear Elijah needed to be closer to the center of the city to continue his work. "I'm seeing— Something is happening in their back line!"

Elijah couldn't agree more. As his network shouted in jubilation, racking in kill after kill, Elijah began to feel… stretched.

'Lines are being lost, brothers!'

'The bonds are strong! Hold—'

'Never fear! Never—'

'We will—'

At an increasingly rapid pace, Elijah felt the roots binding the plants together be ripped apart, each primitive mind lost to the ether as the connection ended abruptly. The plants didn't transmit pain, but the physical material became more and more stretched.

And, as more seconds passed, he felt their bodies moving. Elijah could feel the push of air.

"Don't tell me…" Elijah muttered, opening his eyes and looking towards the distant city wall. His fears were realized as he began to see his months of work rising into the sky. Like a patch of skin being peeled from the body, the infinitely complex cobweb of connection between the countless plants was being ripped out and pulled high into the air. "Damn them."

His chest ached at the sight, and he wished that whatever group of Earth Mages behind it would suffer. Or maybe it was only one. Elijah didn't know; his magical eyes were forced shut. The innate connection to the world that he had grown used to, the subconscious understanding of every moment beneath the ground, had been cut off.

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"Steady yourself," Aleksi pleaded, as Elijah stumbled around like a fool. "We need to get to safety."

"And where is that exactly?" Elijah questioned with some small amount of gallows humour, as black bolts hit the ground fifty meters ahead, piercing straight through the buildings on their right. Dust and rubble charged towards them, but the giant didn't pause in his sprint. "We need to get to Vera. She should still be in the command post."

Aleksi didn't argue, diverting their course and leaping over the destroyed parts of the streets. Off to the center of the city, in a nondescript alley far away from any critical infrastructure, commanders and strategists barked order after order inside an invisible tent. Mages outside stopped them when Elijah and Aleksi approached, but a quick word allowed them entry.

"Vera," Elijah said, catching Vera's attention. Six different guards instantly blocked Elijah and Aleksi's way, along with Harper herself going for a dagger, before Vera ordered them all to stand down. "My network is bust. I've got nothing stopping their charge."

"We won't have anything stopping them soon," Vera muttered. There was a distinct lack of papers on the table, reporting the movements of the people, but Elijah didn't fail to notice the constant, unheard whispering from Harper. An illusion to hide the parchment, most likely. "Jack's attacks aren't denting Castilla's number anymore, and we're getting reports of their Earth Mages grouping."

"You think they're breaking down the walls?" Elijah asked.

"It's what I would do," she confirmed. He didn't doubt it. Nothing else would make sense. If Castilla didn't, they would need to enter through the tight, official entrances, where they would be funnelled to their deaths. "Commanders are adjusting for the scenario."

"Any hopes of any elves or dwarves arriving early?"

"No."

The idea of having Sven teleport to their current locations and bring back the most powerful mages had already been considered, but something was stopping the Eidomancer from going past the city walls. Castilla had foreseen the potential use.

Vera had put some mages to the task of finding a way to circumvent the wards, but it seemed nothing had been discovered.

"They've hit the walls," Harper reported loudly, causing the shouting commanders around the tent to pause. "It's starting."

That fact was made clear with the rumbling that began soon after. It was different from the black bolts. This was no mere impact, but the destruction of a portion of the giant walls that surrounded Kulvik. Thousands of tons of stone, ripped apart at the bottom and allowed to fracture. Even with Alin's tireless work to strengthen the fortification, it only delayed the inevitable.

'Potent.'

Elijah felt the first true death of a mage inside Kulvik a second later. His opinion mirrored that of the Dungeon's. Within ten seconds of the first combatants entering, his half-empty Core had already been refilled.

And then the true fighting started, as the archers behind barricades fired off their first volley, causing an entire wave of foot soldiers to fall. Elijah did the same, his legs giving out on him. The only reason he didn't fall was the quick assistance of Aleksi.

"Keep people in the shelters," Vera ordered to one of the commanders, before looking back at Elijah and Aleksi. "I might be asking for a lot, but I need another miracle from you, Elijah."

"We both do," Elijah replied dryly. "Where is Grace stationed?"

"Just moved to help in the west. They'll get through in a few minutes there as well."

The city was being well and truly torn apart. As they left the hidden tent behind, Elijah could see how the walls began to topple over. Some fell directly downwards, while others tilted into the city.

His hand tightened around his staff as the massive chunks of stone hit the ground and bursts of Mana entered his body. So many dead, so many soon to share the same fate. It was without end, and Elijah knew that it would only get worse.

"You can barely walk," Aleksi said, as Elijah's body disobeyed him for a second time. "You won't do any good on the front lines."

"I'm not staying put when Grace could be in danger," Elijah fired back, gritting his teeth as he fought to keep himself composed. His body didn't agree with the choice, and his muscles twitched under the constant influx of energy. "They're being cut down like dogs."

"Your death won't make it stop."

His attempts to continue through the central area of Kulvik ceased, his ferocity dimming. Aleksi said nothing, but it didn't stop Elijah's mind from continuing.

Every building around them had been burnt down, the stone foundations scorched black. The streets beyond carried new damage from looting and artillery strikes, and even further away were the result of the toppled walls. Stone dust still floated high up in the air, while thousands of soldiers fought to the death. Bolts of black, pink, gold, and every other color flew above. No order, no glory. Just bloodshed, the destruction of homes, and the quiet understanding that this battle would ruin the lives of those who survived it, no matter what. Too much had been lost already.

Elijah refused to give up, however. He'd grown. He had people he cared for, people he had promised to protect. He needed to honor his oath, just as he had honored his oath to Aleksi. They kept each other alive, and so would he keep Jack and Sasha alive. If that meant going into battle unable to walk, unable to hold himself up, then he would do just that.

The thought of losing everything he had grown to cherish was something he couldn't bear to consider.

"I can hear her, Elijah," Aleksi informed him. "Her fighting, in the western sector. She's winning."

The giant pointed towards one of the spots where the wall had crumbled. The dust clouds were being shot around sporadically, as the conjured winds sliced through enemies. When Elijah focused, he could feel Grace's affinity at work. Even without his network to look through, he knew she was keeping herself alive.

'It's too much.'

His eyes glazed over as the trembling voice of the Dungeon filled his head. The Entity that normally spoke in monotone words, without much emotion to speak of, sounded stressed.

"What?" Elijah said. Aleksi looked at him in confusion, but he didn't explain. 'What is happening?'

'Thousands of deaths. Powerful cores absorbed. Decades of harvests in minutes,' the Dungeon replied quickly. 'Too much. Can't be contained.'

Both of them suffered under the same curse. Too much Mana gained. Even with the network Elijah possessed being limited to the few spare lines beneath the stone, which were of no use, they continued to absorb and send the energy of the dead. He tried to cut them away, to halt the misery, but the influx was too strong to manipulate.

"Elijah," Aleksi warned, as the alarms on top of the Dungeon's main entrance began to blare out. They had gone unused for months now, to the point where many had blissfully forgotten about them, but the imminent signs of a Dungeon Break were obvious. "Is this your doing?"

"No," Elijah said. 'You can't do this right now. You'll stop any chance of Kulvik surviving.'

'I have to. I am full. Beyond capacity. No more monsters to make,' the Dungeon replied. 'Energy has to be spent.'

It hadn't started properly full yet, but Elijah knew it wouldn't be many more minutes before a stream of monsters would fill the streets, killing indiscriminately.

Wait.

'Give me control of them,' he requested. 'Your creations. Give me the reins over them.'

'Impossible. My creations follow me only when below. Not above. And you are too human.'

'Then lend me your Mana and your skills, and create the monsters through me. I can go beyond your domain. I can retain control.'

'You… This is possible,' the Dungeon said, correcting its own ideas. With the stressed mind, Elijah was able to glimpse through the million thoughts and conceptual frameworks that it considered. 'A pillar to carry the load. To bring expansion. To be more. It is possible.'

'What do you need me to do?'

'Accept the risk. You will be reformed. Altered. You become my vessel. We become one. Briefly. Souls mixed and separated. Allows you control. Allows me range. Underground is my domain. With you, I can reach further. With me, you can command.'

Elijah saw the images, the steps required. It was risky, a roll of the dice at best, but the Dungeon thought it possible. It exploited several dozen loopholes in the Dungeon's list of unexplained rules, and potentially broke half a dozen more, but he didn't care about that fact.

'Do you think you can do it?'

'I am optimistic.'

… Screw it.

"We have a plan," Elijah announced to Aleksi, as he pulled the giant towards the Dungeon entrance.

Elijah tried to ignore the melancholic face on the man as he did.