Rules of Biomancy: A LitRPG Healer Fantasy

Elijah had slept until two in the afternoon, skipping past his earlier duties as the Royal Healer but feeling no shame in the actions. For once, his body didn’t feel terrible as he stepped out of his bed, his back not hurting as much as it had the day before. Getting eight hours of sleep had helped him more than he thought possible.

Aleksi was still out like a rock, however. The giant was awoken briefly to make sure there were no obvious problems, but, after getting him to eat a little along with taking some more medicine, he was allowed to return to bed once again. Seeing the giant falling asleep at the table had been a rather entertaining sight, though getting him back upstairs had been a struggle for them both.

With his own hunger sated, another hour had passed before he reached the castle. Lugh had been visited before he could reach the royal estate, so he could warn the man about Aleksi’s ‘sickness.’ No complaints had come from the muscle-bound smith, wishing the giant a swift recovery and being clear that he should not return until a time when had returned to full health. Risking anything at their age wasn’t a good idea, after all.

If only you knew.

The guards hadn’t questioned his entry once he finally did reach the castle, just waving him in before he could show his emblem. They seemed to be remembering him properly now, barely looking his way. He didn’t mind it.

“It hasn’t been a week yet, Elijah, and you’re already abusing your status to come in late,” Mary commented the second he entered the laboratory. The smell of cut-up garlic was instant, almost enough to make his eyes water. “It’s for an allergy shot, for one of the noble families. The dinner served yesterday night triggered a reaction, and they would rather be rid of the affliction than deal with it for the rest of their lives.”

“A fair opinion, but that shouldn’t stop you from allowing so much liquid to be wasted,” Elijah replied, cleaning his hands before moving over and showing off how to properly macerate the vegetable before shredding to reduce the lost effectiveness. “It does not matter as much with this, but if you keep this up with other ingredients like it, you could end up using double the quantity to end up with the same amount of final product. Understand?”

They did, improving significantly in the following minutes. Elijah made a few more comments about their technique and such, giving Oscar plenty of pointers with his own batch as well before moving on to his other duties. There were five or so patients to treat that day, along with a dozen who wanted to meet with him in the next week, so he got to work cleaning out that list as fast as possible.

It was nothing serious. More broken bones, more general sickness and fevers, and finally one of the older generation that had managed to gain a throat infection which Elijah managed to remove then and there with the help of some peppermint-infused water along with some magical enhancement to speed up the process. Nothing too serious, and certainly nothing he was worried about seeing again.

If anything, it was the paperwork that frightened him. Much of it could be delegated to the assistants since their word carried as far as his in most cases, but updating the documentation for each patient was to be done by his own hand. Why it was such a complicated mess to get done, however, he didn’t understand.

Elijah was here to help patients. He was not here to write the same twenty words a hundred times over, and especially not give off those little comments that were so damned cryptic that—

“Message for Royal Healer Elijah Caede!”

A voice he didn’t recognize brought him out of his rant-fueled writing. At the door stood a younger man, a messenger by the look of his outfit and what he’d said.

“What is it?” Elijah questioned, taking the chance to sip at his tea. He’d been busy enough that it had started growing a little cold. How annoying.

“His Royal Highness is requesting your presence at your earliest convenience. He promises that… ” the messenger stated, reading aloud from the scroll he’d brought along before pausing. He frowned at the words, mouthing them before regaining his composure. “He promises that the family reunion will be a sight to see.”

Oh, right, that was meant to be starting around now. Maybe even an hour before, but Elijah's reference for time had been destroyed so he hadn’t realized at all. Perhaps an effect of him waking up after lunch was meant to have been eaten?

A mystery for another time, as he bid his assistants farewell and left all of the remaining work to them once again. They didn’t mind, of course, as dealing with the King was his duty above everything else.

And, sometimes, dealing with the King meant eating luxurious food, drinking expensive alcohol, and watching as gossip was traded amongst the high-ranking people of the country.

Today’s meeting wasn’t far from that expectation either. When the guards opened the door into the King’s chambers, he was granted the sight of several already sitting by the table, telling the others some rather immature things.

“I know for a fact that you ruined his bedsheets with mud after he snitched about you stealing cake from the kitchen,” Vera argued, responding to some comment from her older brother. All the while, Alin and Mason laughed at the two siblings arguing over something that had occurred a decade before, as if it was a matter of life and death. “Don’t try to deny it! I have several witnesses I can bring up this very minute, and they will be more than happy to reveal your faults.”

Prince Louis wasn’t here, Elijah noted. A plate had been put out for the Prince, right on the opposite side of Elijah’s own, but it was left untouched.

“Aren’t we going a little too far, dear sister of mine, when you have many faults hiding in the closet as well?” Phillip fired back when the Princess was able to gain a rather loud chortle from their father. “I certainly remember the early days, when I found some rather intriguing books under your bed.”

She became white as a sheet before turning red a second later, making the others get close to laughing their lungs out.

“... Don’t go into other people’s rooms without permission,” she defended meekly, finally looking away and noticing Elijah’s approach. “Oh my, look who decided to show up.”

An attempt to move away from the earlier topic.

“I apologize for the lateness,” Elijah said, trying to make a short bow before that was shut down by the King who ordered him to plant his ass on his chair. “Sleep had me in its clutches for longer than I intended, and I was behind on my work until a few minutes ago.”

“It’s fine,” Phillip assured him. “The works of a Healer are rarely simple or easy. Who are we to judge if it takes more from you than expected?”

“Wise words from somebody shouting about mud mere minutes ago,” Mason commented, managing to make the Crown Prince grow a shade redder. “But he’s right. Think nothing of it, Elijah. You managed to do better than my youngest son, who you might want to inspect one of these days. He might've denied visits by your assistants, but if he stays cooped up in his room without leaving for much longer, I might have you take a look for me.”

The son that has been missing for nearly two days now?

Elijah didn’t think it likely that he would find the prince in his room if he did go inside, and he knew it would likewise create quite the stir if that happened. From what he could sense from Vera, it was best to avoid that possibility.

“Has he not visited you at all, after your recent improvement?” Elijah asked, making the King’s expression tighten just a little.

“Louis did briefly visit me early yesterday morning before he suddenly grew sick and locked himself in his room,” Mason explained, sipping his drink. Remembering that Elijah hadn’t been offered any, he was granted a glass of the brandy as well. “Quite the timing on that, I must say. If I had to make up a theory, I’d guess he was avoiding the family meetup while being perfectly healthy.”

“He hasn’t changed much in your absence, father,” Phillip added, taking a sip from his own glass. Elijah mirrored it, finding the taste better than what it had been a few days before. “Still prone to his bouts of fury when things change in ways he doesn’t want them to. He’s just switched to avoiding us while they’re happening instead of screaming his head off.”

“A little too much backtalk on your brother, son.”

“Sorry,” the Crown Prince said while clearly having no guilt for his words. It was shocking how suddenly the atmosphere within the chamber could grow cold, the warmth from the other stories replaced by the deafening silence of old and deep wounds being opened back up.

Even worse was the fact that the reason for his absence was being misplaced. It wasn’t because of the resentment within the family itself, or at least not the right kind of resentment, but because of the plans that the other Prince was currently helping orchestrate.

They were able to move on to other subjects with time, of course, but the topic had already been brought up and the mood never fully recovered. Laughter and smiles could be seen, the others cracking jokes whenever one could fit in, but it was all tainted by that still-empty plate.

“While I would love to stay and chat some more, duty calls,” Phillip announced after an hour of sitting by the table. “We’ve just started a new training regiment, and it wouldn’t do for the man who forced it to be absent at the first run.”

“Too true,” Alin agreed, also standing when seeing the time. “I must take my leave as well, sadly. There’s been a mild emergency at the Academy, so I need to take up another’s paperwork for the next few days.”

Two of the three still sitting perked up at that.

Please be what I think it is.

“Emergency?” Vera repeated while wearing the perfect face of worry. “I hope it’s nothing serious.”

“Nothing of the sort, I assure you,” Alin was quick to say, not letting the fake worrying grow in strength. “My second-in-command, Rubeus, believes he has eaten something he shouldn’t have and is currently confined to his porcelain throne, so the general management of the Academy is being done by me until he improves.”

A very kingly snort left Mason at the words.

“Try to uphold some level of respect for the Royal Mages, father,” Phillip scolded, Mason waving it off. “Being behind closed doors shouldn’t make you rude to those who serve under you.”

“It’s all in good fun,” the King assured the Crown Prince. “We’re in good standing with each other, and I am sure he would laugh as well if we switched shoes.”

Though he didn’t say it, Elijah wasn’t too sure that was entirely true. The ‘good standing’ part, that is. From what that Royal Mage had helped make happen, there was a relatively good chance he would find the King’s misfortune the height of comedy.