84. Building Bridge

A higher viewpoint only showed Shen-zin Su's size: a Dragon Aspect was equal to a songbird, while the sea turtle was a kodo by comparison.

It was hard to even fully comprehend.

Still appreciating the marvel of biology.

I flew by beating my massive leathery wings, supporting my multi-ton bulk, with the two pandaren below toward the gargantuan chelonian.

It didn't take long to reach him; finding the landing spot was easy, thanks to the bonfire and prior instructions. Thousands of pandaren of all ages gathered in a wide circle with three inside.

An old male with a walking stick and a paper lantern in one, which I deduced to be Shang Xi, was between two younger ones, a male and a female, respectively.

I knew who they were; the first dressed in red was Ji Firepaw, and the second in blue was Aysa Cloudsinger. They were both currently the most promising and de facto heirs.

From what I understood, there were no leaders of the Wandering Island, strictly speaking. Pandaren didn't have defined leadership; monks were an all-in-one deal from warriors, peacekeepers, healers, and philosophers.

It was just that Shang Xi was the Master of the one and only Academy, making him the most respected monk, strong, and experienced. Naturally, he was the leader in all but name.

And as I landed, body shifting to my usual self with the whispers of the spirits now instinctive, I spoke, my pandaren perfect yet accented, "Greetings, Master Shang Xi. I'm Ohto, Representative of all furbolgs in the Wild and the healer you seek."

"It is a pleasure, Master Ohto… you are significantly more… sizeable than I imagine." The elderly panda trailed off, "Those are my students, Ji and Aysa. Are you one for tea in a less inconspicuous environment?"

I hummed, the sound like a goblin engine, "Quite, but I wish to check and heal the sea turtle on which I'm standing. I sense his agony; the wounds are worsening by the second. His life isn't on the line, not immediately, but that is the gentlest aspect of the process."

And that was an understatement.

Infection, necrosis, paralysis, parasites, and a numberless list of such afflictions and symptoms, if left untreated. It was ugly and beautiful. Life wasn't a force of good; it simply was.

It was rarely the injury itself that killed, for the better or the worse.

Following that, Chen, Li Li, and I were escorted with something almost akin to urgency, though it was more haste wrapped in hope and excitement.

We moved through the village, eyes and people on our tails, if hesitant, as any on our way quickly parted for us. I was pleased with the relaxed yet effective, almost paradoxically, no-nonsense attitude.

They understood the gravity of the situation.

Though we weren't brought to the injuries first, they were mostly underwater anyway. Well, by my deduction, I saw the damage on the left flipper even from afar.

And given the scale, the worst of it could be almost a half a kilometer under sea level if not more.

Those kinds of depth weren't inaccessible. As we walked, talk of scrubbing the plastron and the like was mentioned; they had the spirits help them come up.

I was curious since Shen-zin Su evidently was cared for by them. They didn't live on him like freeloaders.

It wasn't only that the problem was different; taking off barnacles, skin parasites, corals, and algae was different from a sustained dive to heal multiple wounds, each stretching in length and depth for at least hundreds of meters.

But first, I met the patient, as any good shaman would. Funnily, something I was doing comparatively rarely, people who needed my help were barely alive by technicality or fighting.

Or we weren't allies, and I wasn't going to waste time speaking about the weather with them. Be that as it may, the Wandering Island was to be met, and what a meeting it was.

We moved down the shell that felt more akin to a mountainside through a path of wood painted red, white jade, and bamboo with lanterns and ribbon until we arrived at what appeared to be a port.

Only there was an eye opened, a massive eye with a hazel iris filled with unmistakable intelligence. The head was so large I had to consciously focus for my brain to register it.

And the presence of something that significant, focusing entirely on you, was interesting. Novel and insightful.

Harmless Shen-zin Su may be, at least to me personally, when hundreds of me would barely fill a single eye, but it stirs some of my instincts. I reigned them in, but they were here.

"Good afternoon, Shen-zin Su. I'm to be the one to bring you to full health, though I can do more. Far more. Depending on what you wish, such as speaking. But that's not my point. Do you agree that I should heal you?" I asked loudly but did not yell.

There was a glint in that hill-sized eye, then two blinks in quick succession.

"That is a yes," Ji said. The code language is simple but efficient for what it was.

There wasn't a hundred ways to speak with a being that size. Shen-zin Su couldn't write, speak, or do much else.

Not even magic, well, magic precise enough outside that strange mist and elemental spirits tied to his existence. He was the land itself.

"Can you truly do such marvels, Master Ohto? Young Chen proclaimed you were the greatest healer, but that is far beyond. Pardon me, but I found it hard to believe." Shang Xi mused; curiosity was the only inflection in his tone.

I merely demonstrated by turning my right paw into a jaw, connecting the whole to my throat, and speaking through it, "I wouldn't if I wasn't the founder of biomancy. Yes, I can. It won't be straightforward with Shen-zin Su, given his bulk, if he agrees. A modular throat to control volume, depth, and speed would do, but I will have to study him first."

There was a moment of silence, almost uncomfortable until I turned my paw back to normal. I suppose it was quite… surprising to witness it for the first time.

Aysa coughed then tentatively queried, "When will you be ready?"

"Right now," I said, my eyes turning to the giant turtle, who blinked twice. Well, no need to waste time. He was in pain; it was better to put a stop to it.

With a sudden sprint, I jumped from the bridge, ignoring the gasps from behind, my body pulsing as it took the shape of a giant wooden ottuk.

Gills joined soon after; this transformation was to swim, breathing underwater, not so much. This fixed it, and optimization was key for minor problems that suffered the same fate.

So I swam, following the plastron and well-oiled intuition through Shen-zin Su's life force. The worst wound was my first target, and what a nasty one, the skin of the plastron was shredded, and the bone itself broken.

Less said of the damage inside. Healing came after, and there came the most significant challenge: scale. Scale and potency of life, the first was evident. Bigger meant more mana.

The second was more complex and varied a lot depending on the state.

The general consensus was that the stronger the life force, the harder it accepted interference, and the weaker the less interference it could accept.

This case was a perfect example of both, and the most extreme I ever had to tackle. Nothing that would make me give up, however.

The water took the shade of emerald and ruby as I began my magic. It was ultimately an injury of equally extreme simplicity. Blunt force trauma with minor lacerations, perhaps big, but that was it.

The organs and tissues trembled, knitting themselves anew as they regrew, blood vessels that could fit me whole bloomed by the thousands. The bones came next, as did the skin over them.

The process was repeated dozens of times, tedious and exhausting, yet done with minutia and perfection in mind. Fascination too. Such a massive being was incredible.

I know, I repeat myself, but it can't be said enough. Shen-zin Su was a titan, no, beyond even. A small city could fit inside his primary heart if built optimally.

It was mind-boggling for an animal to be this size.

I was amazed and also spent to a point I rarely did. It took a lot out of me; that was the equivalent of a minor army thoroughly healed. I was strong, but had clear limits.

I went dangerously close to them by helping the turtle in one fell swoop and going beyond. Old injuries fell against me, as did parasites and nefarious microorganisms of every kind.

But that was for the best to be done with it at once. Or so I reckoned, time was precious as I swam back to the surface and climbed enough to fly to where I jumped.

"Done… I can help with old age later." I breathed out, wet fur rapidly drying from my body, absorbing the water. The salt was of no concern in the process; if anything, it was a bonus.

"That was quicker than I thought," Chen said with a smile, his focus shifting to Shen-zin Su and the eyes on me. Particularly the chelonian, there was a tear, one that wasn't from sadness by the looks of it.

I was mildly shocked by the reaction, not so much by the fact that he could cry. Biology was finicky and with big leaps on Azeroth. But you never get truly over when people let go, emotionally speaking.

It was always touching in a way I couldn't quite describe.

And again, size.

"You're welcome, big guy. That's the least I could do." I rumbled, voice tinged with unmistakable exhaustion, and Shen-zin Su tilted his slightly.

No words were required. However, the biggest reaction was from the head monk.

"You have my and my people's eternal gratitude… You saved our way of life, our everything… You saved him from a slow demise." Shang Xi said, making a deep bow.

One that was almost akin to prosternating, and his students did much the same, to Li Li's surprise. Chen was as unfazed as ever, content to watch.

Ultimately, he straightened up and continued, his tone soft and genuine, "This is a debt that cannot be forgotten. Yet we must not take without giving, say your price and I shall make it true."

I tapped a claw on my lower armored lip. I didn't want riches or anything.

And even without repayment on Chen's demand I would have healed Shen-zin Su for the simple fact of inspecting him, and that well, the brewmaster asked.

He had helped a lot, in more ways than met the eye.

"Well, that is generous. I won't ask for artifacts, fear the idea itself. I only desire for you to keep in touch with the Wild, what evolves from it only the future can tell." I let out, studying the older male expression.

"I suppose it is time for the pandaren to explore once more…" Shang Xi said.

"Teacher?"

"Truly?"

Aysa and Ji tutted right after, as if unbelieving of what was said; there wasn't any anger. If anything, it was the opposite.

"I'm to be honest, however. The Wild has many enemies. I can tell that this is no stop, but the danger is real. Association came with a price, but also benefits." There came the selling pitch.

Something I never did to any extent that mattered.

"The Wild has something called Dream Portals, a shortcut using a dimension of primordial nature. I wish to build one here, and have a permanent bridge between us that ignores distance." I said, my tone was more formal.

But I wasn't finished, "With it, we can trade, you will never starve, never have to fear a lack of resources, and have the full might of the Wild if you're in danger. An inevitability if you open up to the world, more would depend on how our relationship evolves. You might become the eighth race to join the Council. Those are still meaningless words, but that entirely depends on what you wish."

Of course, the Wild would gain just as much. The pandaren, for one, and monks have their knowledge and wisdom. A ten-thousand-year-old civilization wasn't lacking in any.

And as cold as it sounded, the Wandering Island. It brought an ocean of benefits.

This was a fortress that could vanish on command and travel the world faster than any ship. Add a Dream Portal, and you can bring an army out of nowhere, anywhere near the sea.

It didn't take a genius to understand why I wished for Shen-zin Su to join. And then there was the plethora of additions to be made–with consent–that would make him no lesser than any Wild God.

Not that many of them rivaled the sea turtle in raw size and power, but neither were they what made a Wild God, well, a Wild God.

It was the tie to the Emerald Dream. If the demi-god in question was weak, then that was their own fault.

“Great and many things then, Master Ohto. Much to ponder and talk over, forget about the tea. It is not the time. Let us drink and feast on it. Tonight we celebrate.” Shang Xi declared with a full-blown smile.

And I didn't disagree with that proposal; nobody did. Particularly not Chen, who was happy in a way I had seldom seen. He was borderline euphoric, bouncing up and down like a cub on a honey overdose.