The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  Tanya looked off into the night, trying not to be too much of a third wheel.

  “Hurry up to Vuzgal. I’ll be in Alva next week probably, though,” Tian Cui said.

  “Just finishing up here in the Second Realm. I’ve been hearing about Vuzgal. Is it everything the others are saying?”

  “Everything and more. There are thousands of Mortal stones flying around that place every day. I don’t even know how much is going per month and there are people buying all the time. The original plots are now selling for fifteen times more than the first people bought them for.”

  The merchant let out a low whistle.

  “But then, that isn’t what we’re here to talk about. You’re heading back down, right?” Tian Cui asked.

  “Yeah.” The merchant nodded.

  “Rex, meet Tanya. Tanya, this is Rex. We lived in the first Alva together. He’s had a crush on me for as long as I can remember.”

  “Thank you, Tian Cui.” Rex reached out his hand, shaking Tanya’s.

  “Good to meet you.” Tanya had stored Tetsu away; she didn’t want to draw any unwanted attention.

  “She just needs to get down to the First Realm and then join up. Make sure that the citizen people process her,” Tian Cui said.

  “All right.” Rex nodded.

  “See you later. Got to go and deal with some problems.” Tian Cui sounded tired all of a sudden.

  She said her good-byes and Tanya was left with Rex.

  “They move fast in the special teams. They’re jumping across the realms all the time and work directly for Erik and Rugrat on most operations. They’re the best fighters we have, which puts them in the most demand,” Rex said. “Let’s get you some food. We leave for the First Realm in the morning.”

  “Okay,” Tanya said. The last few days had been a whirlwind. She was looking forward to some point where she could just put her feet up and relax.

  ***

  Rugrat and Gong Jin were sitting in a bar when a woman walked up and sat down opposite them, passing Rugrat a package under the table. It went into his storage ring.

  “Give me the quick version.”

  “Came here, started as traders, saw others with more, started taking it, got away without problems. Got bold, started to do it more often, hired people to help them take on bigger jobs. They have a backer. They’ve got powerful weapons and they are moving their goods, though I haven’t heard anyone that is buying,” the woman said. She was a local source and not someone from Alva, so Rugrat and Gong Jin filled in the blanks in her story themselves.

  “How are they working now?”

  “High value goods, people who are worth a ransom, or that they can sell as slaves—it doesn’t matter to them. They’ll hit any caravan they can find, making the southeast a dangerous place to be,” the woman said.

  “Has anyone tried to take them down?”

  “A few of the traders banded together to fight them, but they weren’t strong enough. A city lord put a bounty on their heads, but then the bounty hunters’ heads were found in front of the city a few days later. They’re strong and bold. Brings them a lot of rough people to do their bidding and no one has been able to challenge them.”

  “Got it.” Rugrat passed her a small sack of money. It disappeared into her storage ring and she left the tavern.

  Rugrat and Gong Jin looked at each other.

  “What are you thinking, boss?” Gong Jin asked.

  “See what merchant convoys we have in the area, that we own. I want them to act as bait. Use people only from Alva—I want to keep this contained.

  “They go in, we spring a trap, capture the bandits, group by group, clean them out, take out their strength, silence them and then put them to work for the rest of their lives as labor. We take down the people from Alva and we do the same with them.”

  Rugrat saw the question in Gong Jin’s eyes.

  “If we can’t capture them and it is a risk to ourselves or to the bait, we kill them, last resort,” Rugrat said.

  “Yes, sir.” Gong Jin nodded, taking a few moments to build up some courage. “You and Erik gave us a whole new life. We had no idea that this would happen. Just letting it go on would only set a bad example. At the end of the day, we’re just people and people make mistakes.”

  “Thanks,” Rugrat said.

  “Now please don’t court-martial me for talking out of place.”

  Rugrat shook his head and laughed, feeling a lot less tense as they headed out of the tavern to brief the others and put their plan into motion.

  ***

  “I don’t like it,” Elise said.

  “You said that ten minutes ago,” Ray, the carriage driver, said as they rolled on. Ray was one of the later generation Alva residents. He was a reliable man and was the leader of this convoy.

  But hearing what they were doing, Elise had raised her doubts with Rugrat. When they hadn’t budged, she had then added herself to the convoy.

  “I just don’t like the fact that there are only six of them but there are supposed to be a hundred of these bandits, maybe even more than that,” Elise said.

  “You heard it as well—they defeated an army numbered in the thousands. A few hundred isn’t much to them and they’re not looking to kill them all,” Ray said.

  “It’s the fact that we have to do this that is wrong,” Elise said.

  “Yes, it is,” Ray said.

  They lapsed into silence.

  ***

  Rugrat looked over the land from on top of George.

  “I’ve got movement.” Using a long-distance Detect Life scroll, he saw dots moving on the horizon.

  The group was quickly setting up. There was about fifty of them.

  Rugrat marked their position and then sent the information via his sound talisman to the rest of the special team.

  He grabbed a crossbow with a canister mounted on it.

  The rest of the special team were using the cover of the forest to move around, Rugrat giving them information so that they remained hidden. They worked their way from the rear to the front, knocking out and incapacitating the bandits.

  “Remember, don’t take them all. Let some escape,” Rugrat said.

  The trader convoy started to enter the area that the bandits had prepared.

  ***

  Bandits emerged around Elise, yelling as they came out of their hiding spots.

  Han Wu, who was hiding in the convoy, fired his grenade launcher. The explosions went off, surprising them and stunning them.

  “Get them!” Elise yelled as the merchants showed their armor and jumped down from the carriages.

  The sudden reversal made the bandits rethink as they saw that there weren’t as many on their side as they thought. It looked as though some of their members had run off.

  They turned and charged away in a panic.

  Elise waved her hand, slowing the merchants. “Check for wounded!” Elise yelled.

  The merchants checked their bodies, and then looked around.

  “Don’t worry—I didn’t hit anyone,” Han Wu said. “All noise and flashes.”

  “While we had to do the real work,” Yang Zan said as he dragged several bandits out of the forest.

  “Go and help them.” Elise looked up, seeing the small spot in the sky that was Rugrat tracking the bandits as they ran.

  ***

  Viggo had been a farmer with big dreams. He had done everything to try to get away from Alva to set out on his own path and show them just how well he could do.

  When the attack came on the village, he had fought and his passion to do more with his life had burned brighter than ever.

  Once they went to the dungeon and he started to see the traders heading out and coming back with massive rewards, he saved up and paid for people to help him increase his level.

  He reached the Second Realm and started trading. He made some good money but it was only a small profit.

  Then a trader slighted him—said that he was just a small f
ry, that he would never amount to anything. He didn’t take that so well and when the trader left the city, he led his friends and a few people they had convinced to attack the trader.

  With the weapons and items from Alva, they were able to win over the traders.

  Then they had returned to Alva with those same carriages, showing off just how they were incredible traders.

  It was too good, so they had continued. They could buy gear from Alva and then sell the items they got without it ever being traced back to them.

  “Don’t worry, it won’t be long until we’re the biggest traders in all of Alva and then we can do what we want. Doesn’t Elise take what she wants and no one says anything?” Viggo said to his fellow conspirators as they sat in a hall enjoying food and drink they had looted from the latest caravan.

  “I heard that Erik and Rugrat were able to take a city in the Fourth Realm, though.” One of the others spoke up.

  “Shut up, Otto! So what is a city? We could take several of them without effort!” another yelled, throwing food at them.

  Otto grumbled and smacked the naked woman beside him. She cried out in pain and the five’s eyes turned to her.

  “Ah, Otto, you were too rough. Look what you’ve done now—you must have broken her face,” Viggo said in mock-sadness.

  The woman held her face. Tears streamed down her face as she looked at the other slaves, who all looked away.

  “We were stepped on our entire lives but we never screamed, we never yelled. Aren’t you strong enough?” Viggo said.

  The other sniggered as Viggo moved closer, half crouching as the woman whimpered.

  She covered her face with one hand and raised the other feebly, to defend.

  “Ah, seems she does have some fight in her.” He laughed and grabbed her arm, breaking it.

  She cried out again as she dropped to the floor.

  “Don’t you know anything!” Otto yelled and broke a knee cap.

  The woman’s screams were disjointed because of her broken face.

  “Lord! Lord! We were attacked, Lord!” a man yelled as he rushed into the hall.

  Viggo and the others looked up, their expressions offering death as the man came to a halt and dropped to his knees.

  “We attacked a caravan that you told us about. When we attacked them, it was like they knew. They had powerful weapons and everyone was wearing armor. It was a trap. They must’ve killed most of our people. We fled, but only a fifth of our number were able to make it back,” the man said in a panic.

  “The lords are getting bold!” Viggo yelled and stood up to his full height. His belly appeared underneath his armor and he was covered in gold and jewels.

  The woman was still whimpering, unable to do anything but just lie there at their mercy.

  “I hate broken things. Kill her.” Viggo stepped forward.

  ***

  Rugrat looked over the outpost. It must have been a small village at some time. Maybe it was a way station to another city that had found better trade routes, or a farmers’ town that had been claimed by the desert.

  Its past didn’t matter now as Rugrat saw the three hundred or so people who were moving through the town. About three hundred people were locked up in cages. Goods were stored all over the place, with carriages being looted and their items checked before they were repacked again.

  He watched as chained people were herded into cages that were dirty and filled with filth. The bandits didn’t see their victims as people anymore, just new loot to be sold for a profit.

  “Elise, you’re going to need more people to help deal with this issue.” Rugrat’s voice was cold. He had long moved past the point of making jokes, seeing this all and knowing that this was done by people under his command.

  There was no more mercy in his heart.

  Gong Jin and his team had been moving according to his directions and they were now coming in from the north, farthest from the main hall where the fastest man was running toward and only had a few people in it.

  Rugrat was watching everything that happened in the camp as he pulled out a scroll.

  He saw the woman being hit as he activated the spell scroll.

  ==========

  Spell Scroll: Demon Chains-in effect

  ==========

  Everyone within a target area of 200X200m is captured by unbreakable black chains that will last three hours, or can be broken by someone Level 35 or higher.

  ==========

  Black chains appeared across the city. Everyone was chained in place, unable to move, only struggle.

  ***

  Otto was just a few feet from the woman, staring into her fear-filled eyes as the demon chains held him tight, making him unable to move.

  “What is this!?” he demanded.

  There was a crash from above. The tattered ceiling fell apart and light shone in. A massive wolf with flames across its body dropped to the floor, taking up the entire space.

  “You are charged with betraying the trust of Alva, carrying out acts of violence, acts of slavery upon others for your own personal gain.”

  The man’s voice made the mana in the room quiver. Viggo felt his mana stop in his mana channels.

  The five all looked up at the voice. They knew it. They knew it well. It was Rugrat.

  “Dungeon Master, we were just looking to bring more strength to the dungeon! To bring in more money for our families!” Viggo said, already pleading with him.

  “You will serve Alva for the rest of your lives as forced labor. Your crimes will be judged by the people of Alva.” Rugrat used a Silence spell on them all, making them unable to talk as George got smaller and he stepped off.

  He walked forward. His hard expression and his sand-dusted armor showed the hard edge he had rarely revealed to the people of Alva.

  “If there was no one watching, I would mount you on a pike and tie weights to your ankles so that every time you moved, every time you struggled, you would slowly sink down farther. You wouldn’t die from your injuries. Your infections would kill you—your own body poisoning yourselves.” Rugrat manipulated the mana so his voice only carried to those five, who had wide eyes as they saw the uncaring look in Rugrat’s eyes.

  He stepped forward and bent down to the girl they had been hitting. He took out a potion and fed it to her; she let out a gasp as her body started to repair in front of their eyes.

  “Miracle potion,” one of the slaves said.

  “Just a potion. Are any of you injured?” Rugrat asked.

  The slaves looked away and shook their heads. They had been cowed over the days or weeks they had been controlled by Viggo and his people.

  Viggo felt some triumph seeing their sheep-like expressions. As long as I am alive, there is a chance that I can make a comeback! The people of Alva are soft. I can use them to release me!

  ***

  Elise looked over the city. The bandits were to one side and the slaves on the other. They looked at one another, looking at Elise and her people with fear, but accepting their aid.

  I can’t even begin to imagine what they’ve been through. Elise thought of the slave pits.

  Rugrat came out from the slave pits carrying a young boy, who was in bad shape. He passed him off to Yang Zan.

  “He was at the bottom. His mother and father were killed in the attack. The others tried to help him but he got sick,” Rugrat said.

  “Understood.” Yang Zan looked over the young man and started to organize those who had basic medical understanding and got them to work.

  Rugrat stepped over to Elise.

  She blinked and looked to the side as the wave of smell hit her.

  “Yeah, it’s not good in there,” Rugrat said.

  “I had no idea that—” Elise said.

  “I believe you, but we need to make sure that something like this never happens again,” Rugrat said.

  Elise felt as if the energy in her body had been sucked out of her and could feel the pit in the bottom of her stomach.
>
  It is my job to not only grow the traders, but to watch over them. If it wasn’t for Elan’s information network, then we wouldn’t have found out about what was happening here.

  Rugrat headed off to deal with something and Elise watched his back. She knew that underneath his jokes and games, there was another side of Rugrat, a ruthless side that would destroy himself to complete his mission, that could turn off his emotions and deal with the task ahead of him.

  She had forgotten about it after not seeing it for so long. She saw the same coldness in the expressions of the special team as they worked, detaching themselves from their work.

  I have been in the lower realms for too long. I don’t know what is happening in the Fourth Realm and I’m out of contact with Alva.

  Elise promised to go back to Alva more and go to the Fourth Realm, not to build her business, but to understand just what all of the traders were doing so that when someone asked, she could give them an answer.

  I focused on expanding so much that I lost sight of some of my responsibilities.

  ***

  Robertson and the team were laughing and joking as they left Peli.

  “Thankfully we have some spare cure poison and healing potions for all the hangovers,” Virion said as she walked beside Robertson.

  “Yeah. We’d be in one hell of a mess otherwise.” Robertson chuckled.

  They left the shade of Peli behind, looking at the massive grown city as they passed through the fields.

  Peli was a city in the Second Realm, but it was settled by a few families from the Third Realm. In the Third Realm, their power was limited but in the Second Realm they were like kings, controlling an entire city. With their practices, they turned Peli into a growing city that did regular trade with the Third Realm. Wanting to protect the city, they didn’t build a totem within it and created a sister city, Alasam, with a totem.

  Most of the trade happened there, but the higher quality goods and the major suppliers were still in Peli. Lin Chan traded with them directly but the route between the two cities was plagued with bandits and her load was too valuable to leave up to chance. When returning, she would have the protection of Peli to Alamas.

  Although it was a Second Realm city, its close connection to the Third Realm made it so that no bandit was willing to attack a Peli-protected convoy.