The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  “Welcome to life in the Ten Realms. If you have something that others find interesting or could be useful to them and they can get away with stealing it, then you’re as good as dead.”

  Tanya made a noise of agreement, nodding her head slightly. Before she could say anything, Tian Cui had reached the front gate of the camp and knocked on the front door.

  “Knock, knock, anyone in there?”

  “We were wondering when you would show up for the party!” A man’s voice came from inside.

  “Well, hearing all the noise you guys were making, it sounded like a heck of a good time,” Tian Cui said, sounding sour at missing out on a “party.”

  There was a slight grunt and scraping as something was tossed away, hitting the ground with wooden noise.

  The doors squeaked. A man in full plate armor walked through. In the camp’s flickering light, he looked terrifying. There was a grim look on his face and blood on his armor.

  “Hello, Miss Tanya,” the man said with a nod before looking to Tian Cui. “We still got a lot to clean up. Why didn’t you go help out Han Wu?”

  “’Cause he always makes a mess wherever he goes?” Tian Cui let out a suffering sigh.

  “I’ve got to say, I think I’m improving!” A shorter man brought up a weapon, pointing it into the air.

  The others started all talking, addressing the man. Tanya wasn’t even listening to any of them. The weapon in his hands looked like what she saw in foreign movies and in videos back on Earth.

  It basically confirmed what Tian Cui had already said and asked her.

  She was afraid to look too closely around the camp. The grenade launcher in his hands must have been used on the living quarters, which was now nothing but a series of blown-out craters. There were only a few remaining people, who had all been killed in various ways. Other than a few fires that were slowly dwindling, there was nothing else left of the bandits who had once called this camp home.

  It was hard to come to understand it. It happened all so suddenly. Tanya ran across the camp as a sudden fear filled her.

  Tetsu! she thought in a panic, fearing that he might also be one of the casualties brought about with the man’s grenade launcher, or being a casualty from the other fights. She knew how easy it was for bystanders to be caught up in a large fight.

  She ran over to the cages as the people within the camp yelled out to her. She didn’t listen to them, instead stomping right in front of the cage where Tetsu had been locked up.

  She looked inside. Seeing those familiar eyes looking back at her, she couldn’t help smiling as she called out his name.

  “Hey, Tetsu. Come here, boy. Come on.” Tetsu, recognizing her, padded over to the bars of the cage. “Who’s a good boy?” she said, feeling a rush of relief as she patted and scratched Tetsu.

  She moved to the lock and used a simple unlocking spell that she had learned from the game master compendium that she had been reading from, plotting out her next game session when she was teleported to the Ten Realms. It had become her most prized possession.

  Tetsu greeted her eagerly, his tail betraying his excitement at seeing her again.

  “Oh yes, who’s a good boy?” Tanya reached down as he gave her sloppy kisses. She half-heartedly tried to stop him, laughing as she stood.

  “Sit!”

  Tetsu did as she asked and she brought out a treat.

  “Shake hands.” She reached out her hand and he raised his paw. The two of them shook hands before she tossed him a treat.

  She turned to look at the group. Tian Cui was only a little bit away while the rest of the group was clearing the camp of any remaining loot and changing the appearance of the camp.

  There were a few people with certain items.

  “What are those for?” Tanya asked.

  “We can’t very well make it look like we came in to clear the camp or draw attention to you. There are few groups in the area that we don’t agree with their practices. So, we’ll make this look like it was them who took the camp,” Tian Cui said.

  The others worked quickly and efficiently and it wasn’t long before they were finished laying down the new evidence and removing all signs of their involvement.

  “Let’s get going,” the man in full plate armor said.

  “Where are we going?” Tanya asked.

  “Somewhere—well, you have your secrets and we have ours,” Tian Cui said. “You’ll need to store your pet and we’ll have to blindfold you for the trip.”

  “I made a deal with the devil. I guess it’s now time to pay,” Tanya said, resolute in her decision.

  She stored Tetsu away before Tian Cui put a mask on her. She smelled something on the mask, making her nose itchy and causing her to sneeze. Her head started to feel heavy and her vision blurry.

  It must be some kind of sleeping powder or Alchemy concoction! Tanya thought in alarm. But she didn’t have any strength left in her body as Tian Cui grabbed her once again and threw her over her shoulder.

  If she meant me true harm, then shouldn’t I be dead?

  This final thought comforted Tanya before darkness took her.

  ***

  Chonglu open his eyes and looked around in a state of confusion.

  His eyes came to rest on Feng and Felicity, who had passed out beside him in their chairs. His chest tightened in those last moments when he’d been hit; he thought that he would never see them again. He reached out to pat their heads, only to find that his other hand had been captured. He looked over, thinking that he had been shackled, only to find his hand was entrapped in another’s so tight it was like a vise. Tears appeared in his eyes as he turned over to face someone he never thought he would ever see again in his lifetime.

  His emotions were a mess. If she was here, then he didn’t know what had happened in the Fourth Realm; he didn’t know whether the assassins would come again. All he did know was that he wanted to savor every last second and look at her face again being so close.

  “Mira.” He spoke in a soft whisper, as if speaking too loud would make her disappear.

  She tensed, ready to draw her sword as his hand held onto hers.

  It felt as if a lifetime had gone by. She feared that the person that she had been with him was gone, destroyed as she had to adapt to her new existence within the Stone Fist sect. She didn’t know whether she was the woman he fell in love with anymore.

  Memories of the time that they spent together, of the love they shared...she saw their two children in her mind. Her stiffness and cold exterior started to crumble and tears fell onto the floor. She let out a wail and grabbed onto Chonglu, burying her head in his chest.

  Chonglu wept as he wrapped his arms around her, trying to bring her closer. He buried his face in her hair. Tears streamed down his face as he laughed and cried, unable to control his emotions.

  Feng and Felicity were woken by the noise. They looked over to their mother and father hugging. They had been too young to remember their mother before she had to leave. They had seen the burning emotions in her eyes when talking to them, and then her cold manner when dealing with others. When seeing her with their father, they finally let go of their apprehensions. Tears fell down their faces as they grabbed onto Mira and their father, all four of them holding onto one another, crying and laughing.

  The guards in the room looked at one another and then silently moved outside to give the family some time together.

  ***

  “Well, Robertson, you did as you promised,” Lin Chan said as she walked down the column of carriages headed onto one of the loading docks of the massive growing city Peli.

  The city looked more like a nest than a metropolis. Supporting plants were woven together, creating floor upon floor and maximizing the growing room of the city. The city had walls to stop creatures from entering and large fields beyond, a teardrop of green above it all.

  Plants worked like machinery to lift and lower, replacing formations and other devices seen in other cities.

&
nbsp; “The Alva Adventurer’s Guild is happy to provide,” Robertson said. He was a short man with a black and gray beard, part of his heritage rather than his age.

  He had a roguish glint to his eye and his armor, although well maintained, showed pitting and scarring from battles and training.

  Lin Chan smiled and nodded. “Your payment.” She took out a storage bag and passed it to Robertson.

  He took a look inside before he held out a hand. “Good to do business with you.”

  “And with you.”

  They shook hands.

  Lin Chan met up with the rest of the traders and Robertson turned toward the twenty or so rough-looking Alva adventurers who were stretching and complaining now that the employer was out of earshot.

  “All right, let’s get some rooms tonight. We’ll head back to Alasam tomorrow and use the totem there to head to the Third Realm again,” Robertson said.

  “What about the loot?” Virion asked.

  “The loot stays with me. We’ll distribute it when we get back home,” Robertson said.

  There were groans and half-hearted complaints.

  “Come on, let’s go and see if we can’t get some rooms for the night!”

  ***

  In a high-class bar in Peli, a group of people were gathered around a table. They were sipping their drinks slowly, looking around, as if waiting for something to happen.

  Another man, wearing similar clothes to them, walked into the bar, ignoring the other patrons. He quickly climbed the steps to where the group sat overlooking the entire bar.

  A man sat at the head of the table.

  As the runner reached the table, he held back his words, waiting for permission.

  “Did you find out where they’re staying?” the man asked in a quiet voice.

  “Yes, Master Kernys. They’re staying in the Copper Roost,” the runner said in a low voice. The others looked around to make sure that no one else heard him.

  “Are you sure that they have the cultivation resources with them?”

  “Yes, Master Kernys.”

  “Go and watch them. Tell me when they move. With those resources, we can breakthrough and draw the eyes of the elders. When the next tests for those heading to the fourth realm come around we will be able to advance quickly.” Kernys said.

  The people around the table all smiled. The Fourth realm was a place where fortunes were made.

  “Yes, Master Kernys.” The runner’s eyes filled with excitement as he ran back out of the bar.

  “What about the Alva Adventurer’s Guild? I’m told that they have big connections,” a woman at the table asked.

  “We are from the Willful Institute—we take what we want, when we want it. They might be a force in the Mortal realms, but in the Earth realm they’re nothing. Our Wilful sect is able to reach into the fourth realm and a number of our members have reached the fifth realm and entered sects that have a powerful standing in even the Sky Realms.”

  Chapter: Fighting Art Basics

  Old Hei was dealing with matters pertaining to the Alchemist Association and Delilah was “having lunch” at the Sky Reaching Restaurant. Which actually meant that she was dealing with the reports from Alva that needed her attention.

  Erik had been working on his Alchemy for a few days and was getting antsy. He had a lot of knowledge, but now he needed to work on the practical knowledge, to practice his Alchemy over and over again. It was dull and boring but there was no way around it.

  He had taken a break to train in fighting and was off in a private training square, one used by Old Hei’s personal guard.

  He was focusing on channeling mana through his body. When he did so, his movements surpassed his boundaries—his movements quicker, his reaction time lightning fast. He could jump several meters with ease, and fall the same distance without having to bend his knees.

  “I don’t think I’ve seen someone with such a high degree of control over their body,” Khasar said.

  Erik looked over. He had noticed him there, but he had been so wrapped up in practicing his fighting style that he hadn’t paid him any attention.

  “Thank you,” Erik said.

  “Though I don’t understand why you don’t use your mana to affect the environment around you,” Khasar asked.

  “Affect the environment around me?” Erik asked.

  “You don’t know it?” Khasar asked.

  “My knowledge of fighting styles in the Ten Realms isn’t all that deep,” Erik admitted.

  “This would make sense.” Khasar nodded before he stepped out into the training area. “There are three main types of melee type attacks and fighting styles: inner, that allow one to control the strength within their body.” He executed a punch that let out a blast of air that sent the dust on the training square rolling away.

  “Then there is inner and outer, where a person has control over their body and the mana within it and then use mana on the environment around them to increase the strength of their attacks.”

  He turned and punched. There was no rush of air; there was no sound, but Erik felt a blast of air go past him. It was much stronger than the first punch, where the power had spread into the air with barely any of that wind reaching Erik.

  Khasar stood straight.

  “Then there is domain. This is created when someone’s senses and reactions are so fast and strong that within a certain area they control everything within it. A person with a domain will be able to kill someone who is next to them as fast as someone who is at the edge of their domain. Only others who have a domain or have incredible reactions can hope to defeat them. Otherwise, only special weapons and taking time to grind them down will stop them.”

  “Isn’t this inner and outer?” Erik used Mana Blast. A shockwave of mana emerged from his hand.

  “While that is terrifying, that is not inner and outer; that is merely the mana within your body being forced out in a concentrated blast. When I executed that technique you saw, I created a layer of wind mana around my hand so that it wouldn’t have any resistance as it moved forward. Then I moved mana through my different mana veins in a special circulation, allowing my attack to not disperse immediately. Altogether, I executed a fist art. There are palm arts, finger arts, leg arts, even head arts, as well as saber, sword, spear, and bow arts. These are all physical weapons. Through understanding one’s body and their weapons in detail, they can execute impossible techniques, increasing their damage, attack speed, and so on,” Khasar said. “I can see your skeptical look. I’ll teach you a movement art.”

  “Okay,” Erik said.

  Khasar blurred so fast it looked as though he had teleported over to the other side of the training square. He stood there with his clothes settling back down as the dust only under his feet was swept up. There was no trail of him across the training square.

  “How?” Erik asked.

  “I will impart the technique to you—not only the movements that you must do with your body but the way that you must move your mana in order to use the full power of the move,” Khasar said.

  Erik nodded as Khasar passed on to him how he should move the mana in his body and how to do it in time with his movements.

  Erik checked it over a few times and asked Khasar a few questions.

  “Okay, now we won’t learn without doing. Give it a try,” Khasar said.

  Erik followed the circulation method he had been told and felt a tearing pain in his body. He started to move forward and then accelerated suddenly, tripping and rolling. He stopped circulating the technique.

  “Try running and then circulating your mana. That way, you don’t have to get the timing of the two lined up right as you start,” Khasar said.

  Erik started jogging and then incorporated the technique. He would shoot forward, and then stop circulating the mana so his body was going fast. But his perception was too slow and he would go down in a shambling mess.

  He kept on doing it again and again.

  Finally he started to
get the timing of the two parts together. The air stopped whistling past him and he started to glide through it.

  If he got the timing wrong, then his body would hurt with all of the built-up energy having nowhere to go, causing a small rebound.

  The rebounds happened less often and the pain stopped appearing as Erik got the hang of it. He only stopped after he could sync up the running with the circulation without issue, though he was unable to stop, causing him to tumble and crash after his sprints.

  “Seems that I was just a frog in a well,” Erik said, using a proverb that he had heard all too often in the Ten Realms.

  “It is good to understand there is always more to learn,” Khasar said. “Now, get up. Let’s see if you can do it again.”

  “Sound like my old drill instructors.” Erik got to his feet, shaking his body.

  “Now you’ve got the part about starting, we just have to work on the bit about stopping.”

  ***

  Erik blurred, leaving the corner he had been standing in.

  “Left!”

  Erik went to the corner designated left.

  “Forward!”

  Erik moved again.

  “Right!”

  Erik didn’t even make it to the forward corner before he was moving to the right corner.

  “Back! Left, forward, backward!” Khasar kept on calling out the changes again and again.

  Erik had to switch where his momentum was going, change the resistance on his body. The first time Khasar had done this, Erik had been practically standing in the same spot. There were so many things to think about, he got nervous and messed it all up.

  It was kind of like driving for the first time: someone would be trying to change gears, do the clutch and the gas, then braking and then turning and signaling and watching everything that was happening around them. It was just so much information that a person was not able to easily process it. It was only when some of those functions became almost as easy as breathing that instead of having to worry about the clutch, the gears, and the gas, that they instead focused on the mirrors and the indicators.