As we were about to begin the surgery I decided to activate and keep Immuno-boost on Earl. Additionally, I turned off my leveling notifications, I didn’t want something jumping out at me while I was wrist deep in someone’s chest cavity. After that we began what turned out to be a pretty easy surgery.

The surgery itself was actually fairly uneventful. Between a combination of magical laxatives, painkillers, and sleeping potions, Earl didn’t even remember it and his colon was clear. Finding the cancer had been far easier than I could have hoped for, because it was… huge. Like the size of a tennis ball. It ended up more on the outside than the inside or his colon, pushing aside various organs. There was little chance it hadn’t metastasized by now considering how old it must be.

His relatively high vitality had to be keeping Earl alive and relatively symptom free at this point. Eventually the cancer would cause enough havoc that even his vitality would get overwhelmed and his body would shut down. Just the fact that he was relatively healthy and experiencing fairly minor symptoms walking around with a mass that size was astounding. Yet another reason in my book to have high vitality.

I took some healthy colon and a large bit of the cancer. Transferring them to a metal plate for a moment. Helen then healed his insides with Light healing. I saw the colon tissue reform, but I also saw the cancer I had cut away come right back. It had been my fear that healing magic helped cancer just as much as it helped the patient and it seemed I was right.

Light magic also somehow knew how to push his intestines back in and place everything back the way it had been before I started crawling around inside him. Watching the massive organ compress back down to fit inside Earl was… horrifying. I may have been a doctor, but the slurping and sucking sounds the flesh made as it pulled back inwards was a bit much, even for me.

Applying a little wound cleansing potion before closing him up, then having him drink some later would take care of the fact that I worked without gloves. Immuno-boost should also help with that. I had of course cleaned my hands before and after, but still working without a sterile field felt very wrong.

Helen also used her Water healing skill to replenish his lost blood periodically throughout the surgery, and, of course, afterwards. Earl was up and around not 30 minutes after I had cut a large hole in his lower abdomen. Magic was absolutely cheating when it came to healthcare. I let him leave telling him to return in three days once I had time to examine the growth.

Riza had acquired a piglet for me. With just a bit of sleeping potion and painkiller the pig didn’t resist my cutting a small patch of skin away near an artery on her neck. I placed the cancer on one side and Earl’s colon sample on the over.

Now I just needed to bioshift the artery so it would feed Earl’s cells blood. Magic was going to have to do a lot of work here, because without it this wouldn’t be even remotely possible. The actual change wasn’t significant. All of the anatomy in question had vessels all over, I just needed to close the gap.

Unlike with killing the hair follicle, I was only making one very simple chance. Making a hair follicle never produce hair again was actually a ton of different little changes. Nonetheless Bioshifting still took a huge chunk of my mana. The cancer cells were way easier to graft than the healthy cells.

I took about 2 hours to be sure the cells wouldn’t get rejected right away. Throughout I constantly applied Bioshift to the cells to get the piglet’s body to accept them. I watched as my mana drained away in the process, then I would meditate back to full, then do it again.

Eventually Bioshifting didn’t have any purchase any longer and I was confident the cells had taken and wouldn’t be rejected. With that I bidded Helen goodbye and Riza and I headed back to the manor. It wasn’t until Riza and I were well away from the town that she began to ask me questions.

“Can you really cure aging disease? It's what kills almost everyone with long lifespans. To my knowledge there is only one Dark healer in all of Hakan that can deal with the disease, and even his treatments only last for a few years.” Riza actually seemed interested in my healing project for the first time.

I sighed, debating exactly what to tell her. Anything I said to her would probably be shared with Halcroft. I knew he had access to long distance communication enchanted items, and there was little chance he wasn’t keeping tabs on me. Yet I just couldn’t bring myself to care too much about the ruse anymore. I was close to leaving and nothing I said here would really change Halcroft’s plans for me.

“I can cure it. My class has everything I need, the real question is how long it will take. I might find an answer later tonight or it might take me months. However, I am absolutely confident there is a magical cure. Fire healing is uniquely suited to dealing with this disease.” I explained.

Riza went silent for a moment before replying. “Why hasn’t someone else tried it before? And why do you think it will work?”

“Aging disease is what happens when portions of your body go out of control.” I paused trying to figure out how to explain cellular regeneration with only using simple concepts. I shake my head. “I’m not sure how to explain it, but as for your other question, Fire healing is incredibly powerful but also very difficult to use. I doubt anyone has even had the idea to attempt what I am.”

Riza didn’t seem satisfied with my answers, but she kept to herself after that. Just as well, carrying this piglet around was distracting. I think I needed to get her a leash. Also I would need to find her a home before I escaped. She should make it through my experimentation without any lasting harm, but just in case I wasn’t going to get attached in the slightest. Even if she was the cutest little pig with a small cancerous growth connected to her neck.

-----------------------------------

Edward, the head butler, saw me enter the manor with a piglet in my hands and sighed. He opened his mouth then shut it again. I had apparently stumped him with this one. He looked up to Riza with a plea in his eyes, but she just walked past him shaking her head. “I got nothing for you, sorry.”

He took another moment before he spoke. “Is this a pet, you highness?”

I briefly debated acting like a spoiled brat, telling him to find the piglet the best pillows, but the poor man’s anguished face made me think better of it. “No, she is a test subject. I have a magical healing experiment I am performing on her.” I held her up in a slightly different position to show the cancerous lump that protruded from her neck. “Take her where she will do the least harm to the manor but also somewhere warm and where I can access whenever I need. She is to be cared for, but hopefully her stay here will be short.”

That seemed to placate the poor butler a bit. “As you wish, your highness.” He bowed then snapped his fingers. He had this crazy skill to summon any specific servant in the manor with just a snap of his fingers. We stood there for a few moments then the beastmistress came walking up. She was a short and fit half-elven woman with her pink silver hair tied back in a ponytail. I had never really spoken with her before so I didn’t know her name. Other than seeing her around I had just never gone to the stables, chicken coop, or roost.

“Lyssa, could you make a place for this piglet, and ensure the princess has access to it as much as she needs.” Edward motioned to the piglet in my arms.

“Uh… sure. Why not?” I could see Lyssa struggling not to roll her eyes as she turned back the way she came. “Follow me.”

“Manners Lyssa.” Edward said with a flat tone.

She stopped and turned back. “Oh so sorry-” She bowed at the waist with her hand across her chest motioning me toward the stables. “-this way your highness.” I didn’t really care, but she was clearly being sarcastic with her bow, not to mention technically she should curtsy even if she is in pants.

Edward glared at Lyssa. He was about to yell at her when the piglet squealed in my arms. Instead he just grumbled. “Just go.” He waved us away.

I nodded my head to Edward. “Thank you as usual.” I said before following after a rather annoyed Lyssa.

She moved quickly back out the front door and around to the side of the manor. She was in charge of the stables and the roost for the messaging falcons. Both those places were previously off-limits to me, so I never spent much time with Lyssa. Technically she also oversaw the small chicken coop attached to the stables, but other than eating the eggs they produced I hadn’t interacted with them either.

I tried to keep up with her, but the piglet made it difficult. Before I could even turn the corner myself she had already disappeared into the stables.

I slowed my pace and walked more carefully to the stable since I didn’t want to agitate the piglet. I poked my head in. “Beastmistress?” Only the horses that lined both walls seemed to react to my question. I swear the closest horse gave me an annoyed look before snorting and looking away. The other horses took that as a cue to ignore me and the piglet, because they all went about what they were doing.

I walked in further still looking for Lyssa. I was somewhat surprised by the amount of horses that the stable housed. Well horses and one donkey that is. There were 15 horses, some clearly meant as warhorses, others for pulling carriages, and a few for other work. I wasn’t sure what the donkey was for though.

I spotted a young man tending to a horse. He clearly worked here. “Hello.” I announced myself to him.

He jumped then turned toward me. “P-princess?” He stuttered and gave me an anxious look that turned to confusion when he saw the piglet in my arms. “D-did… you need the…” He left the sentence hanging.

“I was looking for Lyssa, she was to find a place for this little girl.” I said as I held up the piglet a bit more. “Did she come by this way?”

He turned away from me looking around. “I think she went to the barn.” He pointed around the corner to another section of the stables.

“Thank you.” I flashed him my best princess smile. He blushed and turned back to what he was doing and mumbled something to me. Good to know that particular smile is working as intended.

I turned the corner and saw something I hadn’t been expecting. I knew the stables ran up against the wall, I had done many laps around the manor’s walls after all, but I didn’t know there was an opening in the wall. The stables were L shaped and at this end of the building there was an arch built into the wall and the stables were built to completely envelop the opening. The other side of the wall was still stone, it just let you into a walk-way inside the wall.

There were stalls along both walls, and along one wall was a milking station. Most of the stalls were currently empty, but one had a cow probably waiting to be milked, and another had a cow and her very young calf. I hadn’t known the manor supplied its own milk, but I guess they used the large grassy area to the west of the manor to graze. The entryway into the wall must bring them out at the south or north gate.

I saw Lyssa’s butt sticking out an empty stall closer to the opening in the wall. “Beastmistress?” I asked again to announce myself as I approached.

“The piglet will stay here.” Lyssa’s voice was cold as ice.

I wasn’t sure why Lyssa was being so short with me, but I decided this was becoming more of a hassle than it was worth. “If this is a problem I imagine I could keep her in my apartments, I doubt I’ll have her for more than a few weeks.”

Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.

Lyssa stood a scowl on her face and hands at her hips. “Just bring her here.”

Reluctantly I approached the stall she had prepared. This one was clearly designed to contain a mother and calf because the walls were solid so a small animal couldn’t escape. The piglet was young, but more importantly was the runt of her litter. She would likely have been butchered early due to her small size. There was little reason to spend time raising a piglet if it wasn’t going to grow to full size.

I set the piglet down into the enclosure. “I’ll need to check on her quite often for the next few weeks. Then hopefully I’ll be out of your hair after that.” I gave the still scowling woman a winning smile.

Lyssa entirely ignored the gesture. “I assume I’ll be expected to feed and care for your… pet?”

I paused, taken aback by her confrontation on this. Wasn’t it her job to do exactly that? I mean I would take care of the piglet if needed, she was my experimental specimen. “To be clear, she is not a pet, she is here for me to perform experimental magical healing on. I am attempting to cure a rather specific, as of yet, incurable disease.”

Lyssa was about to open her mouth to reply when it snapped shut and her scowl finally lessened. Guess she wasn’t ready for a 12 year old to say that. “What?” Now she just looked confused.

I shook my head and opened the stall the piglet was in and motioned for her to follow me in. The piglet jumped at me in a rather adorable manner. I was really going to need to find her a home. I pet the pig while Lyssa reluctantly followed me in. I pointed out the rather disgusting small growth coming out of the piglet’s neck. “See this? It is the cause of a certain type of aging disease. I removed it from a guardsman in town and with magic grafted it to the piglet. I am going to be here performing tests in an attempt to destroy the growth permanently and stop it from growing back. While advanced Dark healers with a high manipulation can temporarily remove the growths from aging disease they will return extremely quickly. I on the other hand am a Fire healer and I will be attempting to modify the flesh directly to cause it to destroy itself and never be able to regrow.”

Lyssa gave me a skeptical look. “You… a little girl, are going to attempt to cure aging disease?” She let out a laugh.

I smiled at her disguising my annoyance with her. “Yes, well, I hope you can do me the favor of taking care of her. I will either have results or be forced to abandon the project, at least temporarily, in no more than a month.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Sure, watching a princess fail will be worth it.”

I stood with my smile dropping. “Then why not a wager? Should I succeed, you will adopt the piglet as a pet and give her a good life. I needed to find her a home after my experimentation anyway.”

“And if I win?” She seemed a bit more interested now.

I shrugged. “Would 50 gold reimburse you for your wasted time taking care of a single piglet?” That was an obscene amount of money. Technically it was all Halcroft’s, but I have been doing well siphoning funds from him since he has standing orders to give me gold each time I go to Grimstel.

Lyssa grinned genuinely. “Deal.”

----------------------------

Once the piglet was settled I returned to my room and filled Alice in on the happenings of the day while I bathed. She was interested but for her it was pale by comparison to my passion for the subject. All until I checked my notifications for levels.

*Level up. Bioshifter Curist level 5. You gain 2 Vitality, 1 Animus, 2 Magic, and 3 Manipulation.*

*Level up. Bioshifter Curist level 6. You gain 2 Vitality, 1 Animus, 2 Magic, and 3 Manipulation.*

…

*Level up. Bioshifter Curist level 11. You gain 2 Vitality, 1 Animus, 2 Magic, and 3 Manipulation.*

*Level up. Elven Adolescent level 20. You gain 2 free stats, 1 physical stat, and 1 mental stat.*

*Level up. Elven Adolescent level 21. You gain 2 free stats, 1 physical stat, and 1 mental stat.*

*Training has leveled up several levels, level 21.*

*Noble has leveled up several levels, level 21.*

*Learning has leveled up, level 21.*

*Elven Heritage has leveled up, level 21.*

*Pretty has leveled up, level 21.*

*Dodging has leveled up, level 20.*

*Sukeshi Chakra has leveled up, level 56.*

*Fire Affinity has leveled up several levels, level 6.*

*Bioshift has leveled up several levels, level 11.*

*Critical Care has leveled up several levels, level 11.*

*Immuno-boost has leveled up several levels, level 8.*

*Enhance Metabolism has leveled up several levels, level 6.*

That’s… Alice thought, sounding stunned.

A lot of levels. I continued. Two species levels and seven Bioshift Curist levels for a single operation, that was a big jump. Yet it was the species levels that really jumped out at me. I had just leveled it twice while Alice and I were figuring out our new skill. Two more levels in such a short timeframe meant I was doing something truly novel. Something that could be a huge boon to all elves.

I’m suddenly much more interested. Alice sounded aghast.

That’s good, because I need your help with the next step. I put aside my considerable level growth for now. I need you to develop a diagnostic spell. A spell that can show me realtime changes to DNA as I make them.

Alice scoffed. Just like that you want me to create a spell? What happened to never giving me access to magic?

I… need this to do it right. A true cure means manipulating cancer until it mutates in a way that it destroys itself without doing the same to the healthy tissue. I thought tentatively.

A beat went by then Alice sighed. I might be able to make a spell like that but it will take time, days at least.

That easy? Could you just create several diagnostic spells then? I asked.

Given enough time yes, but rune magic requires incredibly intricate figures. I could draw them, but actually performing the magic requires a meta-spell that allows me to make the required motions quickly enough to actually perform the spell. That meta-spell takes hours to create and currently can only have one spell form set in it. The only spell form I have truly memorized is the very simple meta-spell. Alice explained.

I considered that, it almost felt like how wizards worked in Dungeons and Dragons. I guess being able to create nearly any magical effect had to have drawbacks. Wait, what about when you modified Radiant Step during the fight with the Basilisk?

Alice sent me an image of shaking her head. That’s different, all I’m doing is modifying the existing spell form. I had already come up with that specific modification earlier and implementing it was easy. I’ve been trying to find other ways to modify our magical skills, but it will require a lot of experimentation. Which I can’t do with the restrictions you’ve placed on me. The last sentence came with a serious undertone of shade.

Alright, I get it. Let me try something. I used the Dual Consciousness skill and attempted to allow Alice access to the ability to manipulate my existing radiant magical skills and to experiment and create the diagnostic magic I needed. I do not want her screwing with my Bioshift Curist skills, that could be disastrous. I just gave you access to some magic.

Alice raised our hand and began to draw a rune in the air, but her action seemed disjointed. I think you’ll need to empower the skill with mana to let me do this. Alice said.

I activated the skill with my full 244 Manipulation draining the same amount of mana. Instantly Alice’s movements became more smooth. She drew a relatively simple rune into the air and I saw her nearly finish the rune, a single small stroke away from completing the magic when her hand suddenly stopped.

I saw as Alice struggled to move our hand again and again, yet it seemed my skill stopped her. What? Why can’t I? Alice's thoughts were quite annoyed.

The sigil she drew burned in midair with soft white light. It was just a circle with a single symbol in the center. Whatever she attempted to cast it wasn’t likely to have done anything significant. What were you casting? I asked.

Just a simple light, it would have been not much brighter than the sigil and only lasted for a few seconds, anything more complex I would need to add rune-etchings. Alice explained.

It’s probably because I limited you to only modifying my existing radiant magic skills and working on the diagnostic magic I need. Alice sent me an annoyed look through our link. What? Can you really blame me? You’ve admitted you can steal my body if I gave you free reign. Just going this far was a big step for me.

The thought that Alice could be lying about my control was actually working on her. It would be a masterstroke if she had done that. We were smart, but that was one too many chess moves ahead for me to even consider until after the fact. No, I was pretty sure this was actually going to work out. We could train with her magic modifying my skills which will make me a lot more powerful. I might even be able to just restrict her from mental magic and give her completely free reign. Something to keep in mind for later.

I suppose. Alice rolled our eyes in annoyance. I guess I should thank you for being so gracious to allow me to use magic at all. Alice was back to being her petulant self.

Well I’m sorry for not wanting to let someone have a knife to my throat. I got out of the bath. Are you still planning to work with me on the new spell?

Alice used our mouth to groan out loud. I suppose, just be happy that I desperately want to practice magic. Plus… I have to admit your leveling speed probably means you are going to do something crazy.

Thanks Alice… I know this isn’t ideal, I just…

Aren’t sure if you can trust me? Alice finished my thought. I get it. If our situations were reversed I’d do the same thing. Actually I’d probably do even less than you did.

I smiled, her admission was somewhat scary, but at the same time it felt truthful. Well, thanks I guess?

*Alea Rothana

Age: 12

Unspent Stat Points: none

Mana: 2,145/2,145

Mana Regeneration per day: 2,378 (-1106) (+1,331) (1.81 per minute)

Strength: 203 (+26)

Agility: 203 (+26)

Vitality: 184 (+24)

Animus: 207 (+10)

Magic: 203

Manipulation: 233 (+11)

Elven Adolescent: Level 21

Main Skills:

Learning (level 21): -63 mana regen/day

Elven Heritage (level 21): -33 mana regen/day

Identify (level 18)

Class Skills:

Pretty (level 21): -21 mana regen/day

Dual Consciousness (level 8): -240 mana regen/day

Open Slot

Training (level 21): -210 mana regen/day

Noble (level 21): -42 mana regen/day

Dodging (level 20): -40 mana regen/day

Radiant Redeemer: Level 61

Main Skills:

Radiance Affinity (level 37): -111 mana regen/day

Radiance Resistance (level 25): -25 mana regen/day

Class Skills:

Radiant Blade (level 44)

Radiant Step (level 46)

Sukeshi Chakra (level 56): +1,331 mana regen/day

Titan Slayer (level 16): -160 mana regen/day

Sukeshi Mastery (level 41): -123 mana regen/day

Minor Radiance Conjuration (level 38)

Bioshifter Curist [Fire]: Level 11

Main Skills:

Fire Affinity (level 6): -18 mana regen/day

Bioshift (level 11)

Class Skills:

Medicine (level 20): -20 mana regen/day

Critical Care (level 11)

Enhance Metabolism (level 6)

Immuno-Boost (level 8)*