Beneath the Dragoneye Moons

The great wheel of time meant nothing stayed the same, no matter how much I wanted it to.

This too shall pass. Both a happy and a sad statement, an ode to the relentless march of time and change.

My little clinic was one of the places that had undergone numerous changes, no matter how much I resisted and tried to prevent anything from being different. My new healing ability to ‘fix’ minor defects bordered on biomancy, and the fact that I was handing out ‘free biomancy’ was quite a draw to the poor citizens who had no other recourse.

The Healer’s Guild knew about it, and directed people to me if they had no means to afford a normal biomancer. I was a little suspicious of the arrangement at first, but Aulus, my primary contact in the Healer’s Guild, had explained it to me.

In short, I’d destroy a large number of livelihoods. Aulus, along with a number of other high-level healers, were all in a position where they could offer free healing to practically the entire city, at which point they’d be in a gigantic race to the bottom as well as neutering any other up-and-coming medics. Same with a number of other industries - there existed Immortals capable of single-handedly destroying every job in the city, but they didn’t because it was a terrible long-term idea. Stunts like me healing most of Sanguino every decade or so were okay, because it was a government flex - ‘look what we can do’ - but doing it regularly was a no-go.

At the same time, the Guild under the Willow & Hydra symbol wasn’t heartless. If people truly had no hope of ever affording a biomancer to fix their baby’s blindness, or a kid had a complex digestive allergy to milk, strawberries, and a host of cross-reactive fruits, they were sent my way, to camp out in my clinic hoping that today would be one of the rare days I showed up.

Today promised to be a busy day, and I was going to be gone for an unknown amount of time. I swung by my clinic, there being a bit of a crowd, but nothing too gigantic or unmanageable. An issue with me semi-randomly healing the poorest people who otherwise couldn’t afford help was most of them couldn’t afford to spend even an hour walking across the city, then hanging out effectively doing nothing until I showed up. The other nice part was the parade during the changing of the guard. I’d fixed up so many invisible long-term problems that it was mostly people who’d been outside of my kilometer-wide moving radius on that day, or who’d been born since then.

Of course, since the world was cruel and the poorest parts shoved to the sides of the city while the parade path was in the middle, many of the people who’d needed my services the most hadn’t been inside my range. I seriously had been considering going rogue at some point and saying ‘fuck this, everyone go forth and be in perfect health forever.’

I was focusing more and more on my wizardry, hoping to get a strong class offered when I upgraded sooner rather than later. My wizardry was being so focused on spellbooks, and having a ‘history’ of [Bookwyrm] in the class along with the strong reading elements, that I believed I could get a hybrid wizardry-reading class. It should be an option. Either way, with a prepared spell for my voice and an on-the-spot spell for a hovering stone platform - it took seven awkward minutes as people watched - and I was ready.

“Hi!” I waved to the watching crowd. “I’m Elaine. I’m going to fix you all up in a moment. Before I do, two quick things. First, when I’m done, if you could please make your mark in my book, that’d be great.”

I hated the taxman. Hated, hated, hated, and every signature made him gnash his teeth and kept more gemstones in my pocket. He even could figure out the rough value of what was in [Vault]!

I’d been strongly pro-taxman until a number of my exemptions and special statuses had run out, then the sticker shock had done bad things to my opinion of the profession. I retained enough sanity not to take it out on the man doing his job, because giving him grief was a sure way that he’d squeeze every last coin out of me, versus doing the slightly more generous check.

Long experience had taught me that if I didn’t ask people ahead of time to sign my book, they’d pretty much all leave the moment I was done. Asking ahead of time at least got a percentage of them to stick around and make their mark.

“Second! I’m going on a trip. It’ll be a month or two at least. If you know anyone waiting for me and have missed me - sorry.”

The massive wave of relief I saw nearly guilted me into staying and continuing to help.

By Ciriel, this was impossible at times. I was split in so many different directions, so many competing interests. How much self-sacrifice was enough? When did I say ‘I’m done for the day, time to go home and look after myself?’ How could I look at the person next in line and say ‘goodbye?’

Well, at least I didn’t have that problem. The issue of ‘how proactively should I be seeking out people to heal’ did haunt me at times. Would it really be so terrible if I looped all over the world, catching the millions upon millions of people who’d fallen through the cracks and improving their quality of life? Would it really cause that many problems? Besides personal ones for me, being on the Warden’s shit list.

I knew that one day I’d have had enough, and do it. Today was not that day.

It only took a thought, and everyone was healed. Allergies cured. Eyesight restored, tinnitus removed.

My new ability to perform ‘mild’ biomancy straddled the line between healing and biomancy. I had no doubt that by itself, it would be flagged as a [Healer] class, and my bonuses to power, control, and healing efficiency all applied. At the same time, I had to fight past the vitality defense every time. I was operating on a tiny enough scale most of the time that it didn’t matter, but it chunked my mana far more than I would expect.

Fortunately, kids who hadn’t unlocked the System yet tended to have 10 or less vitality, making the multiplier insignificant for them, and even at 1000 vitality I could easily brute-force the problem with my other skills decreasing the costs.

My work done, I checked briefly for apples, sniffing the air.

They were primarily grown literally halfway around the world, which was why I’d had the occasional problem with them in the Han Empire, but here in Exterreri they were a luxury. I avoided fancy parties that the [Emperor] and some [Senators] threw, no matter how many times I got an invitation, and the potential presence of apples was only part of it. Here in the worst part of town, my biggest risk was someone had found some digging through the trash.

Fortunately, today, there wasn’t any, so I didn’t need to make an excuse and fly away. I mentally decided that today wasn’t going to be a day I flew away ‘random’ just to throw off the scent of anyone meticulously observing me. I descended, pulling my big middle finger to the [Taxman] out of [Loremaster’s Library] and opening it, a quill and a capped ink bottle already on my belt. I was hit with a deluge of gratitude and complaints from the people who’d stayed behind.

“Thank you for restoring Primus’s foot!” A woman was practically sobbing into my tunic. Thank goodness for the System helping me keep my book safe! I handed the quill and book to another man, who quickly signed it - fancy, he was literate, rare in this population - and he handed it back.

“Why are you leaving? My cousin needs your help, can’t you stay a single day longer?” A man was going beet red in rage. Normally I’d wonder if his blood pressure was alright, but I’d just fixed him up. It was so unfair of him to guilt trip me right after helping him out.

I wish Iona was here. With three sentences she would’ve had the crowd forming an orderly line.

I sent a prayer to Ciriel.

Argh! Ungrateful patients! They always get on my nerves. How do you handle them? I asked.

I always wanted to wring their scrawny little necks. Ciriel confessed. But as I got older, as I saw more, I realized more that everyone is fighting their own demons. Fear often manifests as anger, and eight minutes from now you’ll be free and focusing on yourself and your own happiness. The fear and pain will linger with whoever’s giving you grief until they break free from its shackles or learn to handle it. Pity is a good emotion.

“I can walk again! I CAN WALK!” A teenager was jumping acrobatically in the back, going far higher than a systemless human could manage.

“If you keep jumping like that, you won’t be able to for much longer!” I good-naturedly shouted back.

“Excuse me.” A quiet voice would have usually been drowned out by the crowd asked. “My grandpa’s not better.”

[The World Around Me] let me immediately identify the issue, and I [Blinked] over to where a young woman was dragging a stretcher. An old man, hair as white as snow, was laying on it, half covered by a blanket. I threw up [Stellar Shroud] around us, giving us some room from everyone else as I pulled the top of the blanket over his head.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

“I’m sorry.” I quietly said. “I think you need a [Gravedigger].”

“Oh.” She didn’t sound too surprised or shocked. Just absorbing this week’s disaster. “Alright then.”

Without a word of complaint she started to drag her family member down the road.

I wrapped up quickly enough, and went to one of my least favorite places in the world. A place that was at least vaguely useful now and then, as long as I interacted with it minimally and with thick armor on.

The Adventurer’s Guild.

I walked in, ignoring a few of the idiots, and went to one of the [Receptionists].

“Hi! What can I do for you today?” The lady asked, clearly having a number of skills around appearances, outreach, and being friendly and social. The perfect set of skills for both the job and life.

“Hi! I posted a request a few weeks ago, I was told a group had taken it up, and they’d completed it. It was a D-ranked book collection quest, by Elaine?”

Naturally, I got a funny look at my name, but the lady went digging.

“Elaine, Elaine… ah! Here it is. Yes, it’s complete. By the requirements you posted and the Guild’s fee, you owe 15,628 arcs. You put down a 1,000 arc deposit, but we have to ask that you put up the rest before we give you the goods.”

Ooof, that was a lot. At the same time, needing to pay that much suggested the team that had taken the quest had succeeded beyond my wildest imagination.

“Just checking - what happens if I reject some of the books?” I asked. “Like, they’re no good or something.”

“The Adventurer’s Guild takes pride in making sure only the highest quality goods come through.” She said, checking over my quest again. “In your case, three different sets got rejected already. If you’re unhappy with any of the other results, let us know and an [Arbiter] will help decide.”

I wanted to pull a face at that - I was the[Arbiter], both in class name and on the subject matter, but I wasn’t going to argue right now. I paid, and was led to a room. Another member of the guild was given a slip, and he scurried off to a room to collect my request. I tracked his footfalls the entire way, letting my anticipation build as he spent an inordinate amount of time in the storage room, moving piles of books around.

Was that the sound of bones clicking on each other? Oooh, I was getting excited!

“Tea?” The receptionist asked.

“Please.” I gratefully accepted the cup, taking a moment of peace and calm for myself after earlier while eavesdropping the whole time.

Soon the delightful tones of squeaky wheels on a groaning cart reached my ears, and I stopped myself from wriggling with anticipation. The minion came into the room with the cart piled high with books, tablets, fans, scrolls, a pair of agate gems, and a half-dozen other ways of writing. My eyes went wide at the bounty.

I was heading off to Bhutai to visit Night’s friend, and ask him to make a rune to generate a set of the Medical Manuscripts. Having a sample of ‘this is what I’d like to have generated’ would dramatically speed up the process, especially with how technical the Medical Manuscripts were, and I was equally unsure on the best language or form.

Going out and collecting dozens of copies of the Medical Manuscripts sounded tedious in the extreme, and with great reluctance, I’d turned to one of the only organizations that prided themselves on doing the odd, random jobs that didn’t have an easy market for them.

The Adventurer’s Guild.

Given that I was asking for a collection of books that were widely printed and distributed, it wasn’t like I’d asked for anything high level or challenging - simply tedious.

I started with the books, noting that all sixteen volumes were there. As I was studying them, a word caught my eye in a portion of the book I usually skimmed over and ignored. A now-familiar name in the list of contributors.

Ciriel. The now-Goddess of Healing had been a contributor to the Medical Manuscripts.

Hey Ciriel!What was your contribution to the Medical Manuscripts? I asked her.

It took a moment for the goddess to respond.

A large portion of what I added was later found to be wrong, and removed. She admitted. The process of getting the Medical Manuscripts to their current form has been a long one. Two steps forward, one step back.

I silently nodded to myself. I’d noticed even a few of my own contributions to the original manuscript had silently been removed, and it didn’t surprise me in the slightest that, even with my Earth knowledge, it wasn’t perfect and people then and there didn’t have all the answers. We knew we didn’t have all the answers.

My biggest lasting contribution is how the divine and medicine can interact. Ciriel’s pride in her addition oozed through the connection.

I can’t imagine anyone else ever has been in a better position to contribute that knowledge. I said.

Knowledge is often requested, but is disproportionately expensive to answer. A simple plea for healing is easier, if enough mana is provided, but the ratios…

Ciriel gave me the basics, most of which I’d skimmed in the Medical Manuscripts. It was more an area of curiosity, since most [Healers] who’d read the Manuscripts and had the right elements could just do the job themselves.

I had to admit, despite myself - I was impressed. They’d gotten the books in thirteen major languages, although a number of them were suspiciously identical in some ways. The same paper, the same cover, heck, even the binding glue smelled the same. I rapidly made the connection between that and the price I was paying per set, and laughed.

“The rascals!” I half-shouted. “They took a copy to a local [Translator] and had them do the work!”

The [Reception] looked a little nervous at that.

“There was nothing in the brief saying they couldn’t-”

I waved her off.

“No, no, it’s fine, it’s the end product I care about, not how they did it. I’m happy.”

With an unnecessarily dramatic wave of my hand, I pulled all the books into [Loremaster’s Library], moving onto the scrolls. There were fewer sets here, all the volumes in seven different languages - six of them major languages, and only one obscure one - and noted that for each set of scrolls, they’d industriously gone out and found someone who could make a single gigantic scroll containing all the same information.

“I’m happy to accept both forms.” I said, sweeping them into my [Library]. I didn’t know if it would be better if the spell I was asking for made a bunch of little scrolls for people to read and study, or if a single gigantic scroll would be easier. My own wizardry theory had pros and cons for each method, and I’d never even gotten into the fundamentals of [Rune Smithing]. Best to give Night’s [Rune Smith] friend Kunchenjab as many options as giantly possible.

The scrolls and the books were the only ones the [Adventurers] had been able to get quite a lot of duplicates of. The two agate gems had Sound recordings of the entire Medical Manuscript on them, which was an excellent point in favor of doing things that way. If the rune would explain everything, there was no need for the [Apprentice Healer] to be able to read. The counterpoint would be I couldn’t just drop it and run - only listening to the Medical Manuscripts once at a low level was unlikely to engender enough understanding to do what I wanted, and it was only for an audience that was immediately present. Plus, there was so much information.

Still, it was an option.

The gemstones themselves wouldn’t work too well for my purposes. If I was going to record an entire lecture, I’d probably need to work with Kunchenjab directly and probably verbally say the parts. Amber had swung by recently, claiming that ‘it finally wasn’t unlucky to visit’ which was absolutely charming, and she might like the gems for her collection. Or just as a little gift. Why not?

Two separate events connected themselves. Amber had shown up after the [Taxman]. No wonder it would’ve been unlucky for her to show up earlier!

One aspect that had occurred to me and threatened to simply undermine the entire process was linguistic drift. Short-term it didn’t matter, but I was asking for an entire rune to be made, a permanent, unchanging way to generate a set. Sure, Creation remained unchanged from the moment the gods had stuffed it into their first creation’s head, but everything else had drifted and changed over the years. I was primarily hoping mortals would be the beneficiary of the runes, but a hundred years from now, a thousand after civilization was shattered and rebuilt, would anyone still be speaking Hakka? Altaic was popular now, but Godae was liable to shift a bunch. Was there a good language to put this all in? Was it worth making three or four different sets per cast, each in a different set? Would languages drift too far, too fast?

It could destroy the entire project.

I still felt it was worth it.

After the gemstones with the recordings on them came the more esoteric versions, where the [Adventurers] had really earned their pay.A fan from Nippon-Koku was written in Yayoi. They’d gotten their hands on a set of bones from Penujuman Necrocracy, with the Medical Manuscripts written in Kra-Dai. Clay tablets from Ralakar written in Samkra, and a set of wax honeycombs from the reclusive Gwyllt.

I hadn’t known it was possible to write Buzz down, and I doubted it would be any good… still, it fit the letter and spirit of what I asked for, and there was nothing wrong with having my own personal collection of Medical Manuscripts.

A quipu from Tonzaltzintli was easily the most exotic and unusable one I had, but that was just plain fun to own now.

A few of the formats I had issues with. The fan in particular I was torn on.

“This one’s missing too much.” I tapped the fan in question with my finger. “I see that it’s multi-layered, which is nice, but it’s a loose primer at best. It’s fancy, but I couldn’t give it to an [Apprentice] and have them learn the Medical Manuscripts properly. Same with the clay tablets. They’re sturdy, but they’re a light overview, not the full set of texts.”

The [Receptionist] frowned, and I quickly came up with a compromise. Thank you Amber!

“How’s this. I doubt you want to have them, and I doubt the party that took the quest is interested in getting them back. I’ll take them, but at a quarter price.” I proposed.

“I’ll need to discuss with an [Arbiter].” The [Receptionist] said.

A few minutes later, and I got a couple hundred arcs refunded. I waved my hand again, dramatically pulling everything - honeycombs and all - into [Loremaster’s Library].

[Adventurers] could be occasionally useful, if used properly and in small doses. I’d still keep a wary eye on them if they swung by my place, and remain downright paranoid if I encountered one in a place where civilization was a distant word, but… they’d come through on this one.

“Thank you.” I said.

“The Adventurer’s Guild appreciates your patronage, and hopes you think of us if you have any additional needs.” The [Receptionist] said.

A few polite noises later, and I was heading home.

An art supply store was between me and home, and I stopped by there, picking up a notebook filled with outrageously expensive paper that Iona had been staring at with doe eyes the last few times we’d been in the store. I had no idea how paper was nine arcs a sheet, but it had something to do with tooth density, durability, and lack of acidity.

The things I picked up from listening to my lover rave about her hobbies.

Casual ‘because I love you and I can’ present secured, the last item I needed before heading off to the Jakhong Monastery in the Bhutai Provinces, I headed home to say hello, and then once again,

Goodbye.

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