The study of life itself has been a lively subject since the time of the first physicians. The usage of magic on living subjects is called biomancy, and it is an advanced subject for mages to study. Its usage in the art of healing is well recorded, for while having an understanding of basic healing magic is fine for more basic wounds, you would be at a loss concerning proper diseases. But the subject has many more applications than turning its subjects into magical physicians, as you would soon discover.
The introduction and first chapter of the book were a basic rundown of what exactly you could and couldn't do; it was a refresher of basic biology. Biomancy would allow you to manipulate the living, not the dead or the lifeless. It was a way to harness the power of life itself, to shape and mould it to your will, although the book warned that you should start small.
Biomancy was thus for living things, necromancy for the dead, and the lifeless was divided along subjects such as earth elementalism, lithomancy, and metallomancy. Which were for earth, stone, and metal, respectively.
Going in further, the book made the distinction between the various forms of life, explaining that biomancy could be used on plants, animals, fungi, and even humans. It emphasised the importance of understanding the intricacies of each form of life in order to effectively manipulate them using biomancy techniques.
For basic exercise, the book recommended that you should try to find a plant or a seed upon which you can experiment. You should also try to keep a log, where you must note what you were trying to cast or change. Additionally, the book suggested starting with simple spells before moving on to more complex ones in order to gradually build skill and confidence in biomancy. It also mentioned the significance of practising patience and mindfulness while working with living organisms to avoid unintended consequences.
With it offering such exercises as trying to make a rose out of a dandelion or transforming a weed into something productive. Like making a sunflower out of a nettle.
If you had mastered it, it recommended you try out experimenting on animals, not only to see if you can heal their diseases or wounds, but also to see if you could undo whatever transformations you had done unto them. It recommended you try to change the coat of an animal before moving on to more dangerous experiments. Your cat was still in Greifswald, so you couldn't use him, but you're getting ahead of yourself; first things first. You should practise upon plants.
The first thing to practise was to see if you could accelerate the plants' growth from seed to bloom and then to see if you could slow it down enough to prevent its premature demise.
That evening, in your room, with a book, a pot, a quill and a logbook by your side, you started your practise.
