The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  “I wanted to make it quick and fast, but I realized that it would only lead to more mistakes. We need to know just what we’re dealing with before we charge in.

  “I want to send in a group to establish a position around the teleportation formation, make it ours and hold it. Then we push out from there toward the core, use bases to support one another and send out scouts to learn what is happening on the floor. Then we move forward, creating camps as we need to support one another over formations in the floor. We repair those formations, slowly regaining control over the floor before we strike the center. This is only if the situation is bad and hard to handle. If it’s not that bad, we can send in a strike force through the floor with support and they retake the main commanding formation, repair it so we can once again extend the dungeon’s influence over the floor. Egbert’s words gave me an idea. It’s risky, but could speed things up.”

  “What?” Rugrat said.

  “The gnomes used to drop the core down and used it like a drill. It would take command over an area, change it and turn it into a floor and then it kept on going. If we can drop the dungeon core down, then you and Erik could change the floor, rebuild it, repair the formations much quicker,” Glosil said.

  “I want more concrete information before we do something like that. If we drop the core, Erik and I need to be close to it, so we would need to take it to the floor and then do these changes, which can take a lot of power and resources. We go with your first plan for now and use the second as a backup,” Rugrat said.

  “I just don’t want to put the dungeon core at risk. If we lose it, or something happens, it wouldn’t be good. We might be able to replace it with one of the cores from Vuzgal, but then we’ll lose something—the Crafting trial dungeon, or complete control over Vuzgal and its undead force. I really like having an army of undead to call on to back our people up with.”

  “Okay.” Glosil nodded.

  “Now, establishing this beachhead—how will you go about it?”

  “Beachhead?”

  “It’s a term for entering enemy territory, their beaches, and creating a defensive position from where we can launch further attacks or operations,” Rugrat said.

  “Okay, well, taking a look at the landscape, I thought it would be best to have close-in weaponry and then move in mages, with artillery. The ceilings are tall, but we would need much smaller charges so that they don’t hit it and rain down rocks on us, which means that we’re not going to have an awful lot of range,” Glosil said.

  The two of them bent over the plans, discussing the upcoming operation.

  ***

  Delilah walked into the library of Alva. She’d snuck out of the Third Realm to come down. With the totem in Alva, it now made it incredibly easy to reach. People from all walks could be found here. Any of the books people could read for free, but people had to pay a membership fee to rent the books and take them home and each rental had a time limit on it.

  The library was the largest building in all of Alva, the home of Egbert and his librarians. The librarians were some of the strongest mages. They had a demure appearance and shared a joy of finding new knowledge and showing people the path to new information that would help them to increase their abilities.

  They all wore simple brown and green clothes. Each of them had cultivated their mana to a high degree, some of them surpassing Rugrat’s own cultivation, opening mana gates and using what they learned and the resources of Alva to increase their power.

  Egbert also spent the most time with them and could easily pass them on tips and tricks or guide them to books that would aid their pursuits.

  Delilah liked going to the library. Here, the people of Alva learned. She reached the front desk where librarians sorted out books and assisted patrons.

  The man at the desk stood with a smile as he greeted Delilah.

  “Where is he hiding?”

  The man’s smile faltered for a second before sighing. “Novice area, fiction.”

  “Thank you.” Delilah weaved through the bookcases, seeing people in the aisles looking for books, putting them back; some were at desks piled high with books, working feverishly, or others who were reading one book at a time.

  She reached the fiction section and passed people smiling or laughing silently to themselves. Others gripped the next page, ready to flip it over in a moment, not willing to break that immersion, the story gripping them tight.

  She headed back into the shelves. Here they had been positioned to make nooks and crannies for people to get lost in and hide from others.

  She looked at the people’s hands until she found a robed man who had bony hands.

  He sat on the edge of his seat, holding the edge of the page.

  She could see inside his hood, his jaw half open, captured by the book.

  The Wealthy Merchant’s Scion and the Shapeshifting Woman. Sounds kind of fun. Delilah coughed as she realized the train of thought she was going down.

  “End of the chapter,” Egbert said, not looking up.

  So he knew that I was looking for him at least.

  She sat down and pulled out reports, absorbing information books and then marking down reports and adding notes.

  Egbert let out a noise as he carefully put a bookmark in the book’s pages, taking a moment to leave the world he had been in and return to the library.

  “Okay, so what do you need, Miss Council Leader?” Egbert pushed back his hood, not trying to hide his appearance anymore.

  “Alvan bandits,” Delilah said, her voice turning cold.

  Egbert’s eyes flashed and his expression turned grim. “Okay, what about them?”

  “We need to try them. The police force we have is only growing up now. It is spread thin. I’ve already ordered them to make up a group of officers who would be in charge of going around the realms and checking in on the people of Alva, make sure that they aren’t up to anything nefarious. They would be trained up by Elan and his people but they would operate in the light while Elan operates in the dark. Still, it doesn’t deal with the bandits we were able to arrest,” Delilah said.

  “And what do you need from me?” Egbert asked.

  “I need a judge, someone to listen to the different sides and render a judgement fairly,” Delilah said.

  “So, me?” Egbert asked.

  Delilah nodded.

  Egbert was quiet for some time. “Yes, they need to be punished. And I will be following the Alvan laws?”

  “That is correct,” Delilah said.

  Silence filled their nook, the lighter atmosphere from before shattered.

  “I heard that you have the newest Earth arrival, Tanya, working here?”

  “She has a different way of looking at the Ten Realms. She is studying magic, trying to get a greater understanding of its underlying principles and ways to effectively use it. I have tentatively named her as the head of the pure magic research division, though I’ve not told anyone.”

  “How is it different from the spell research division?”

  “The spell research division looks at taking spells that we already have and combining them with others to increase their strength and create techniques. They are working spells together. If we can understand the basis of magic, then it will have a multiplicative effect upon the power of spells. We could reduce the amount of power needed, spell casting time, and increase the effect. Spells are useful to those who have the mana capacity and mental aptitude for it. In Alva, nearly everyone can cast at least basic spells but out in the realms, there are a lot of people who don’t cast spells. Learning about mana and magic doesn’t just affect spells; it effects formations, spell scroll making, woodworking, smithing, tailoring, Alchemy, farming, cooking, every craft, as well as Mana Gathering Cultivation and, as we have found out recently, Body Cultivation.”

  “You think that it could be that effective?”

  “I’m not sure how effective it will be but I think that if she makes the right breakthrough, then all magic in A
lva could take a qualitative leap forward.”

  Chapter: Training Demon

  Delilah rubbed the sleep from her eyes as she walked out into the courtyard of the residence that she and Erik were living in.

  He was in the middle of the courtyard, with Khasar watching him.

  Erik breathed heavily, his body covered in sweat. His body dropped but in his eyes there was an excitement, a willpower that demanded more, that pushed him past his boundaries, almost as if he were hungry for more to increase his strength.

  “Come!” Khasar said.

  The two of them shot toward each other. She felt as if there should be a rush of wind, but there was only a small amount of dust being stirred up. The control over their strength was impressive.

  They clashed and their hands and fists shot out as they fought on the ground or in mid-air, their movements taking them around the courtyard.

  Khasar seemed to be playing with Erik.

  Delilah could see his building frustration. But instead of lashing out as she had seen younger fighters do, he refined his ability. He drew more mana into his body; his skin started to glow with power; his muscles started to increase in size and his eyes turned colder, the mana serving to focus his mind.

  The mana drifted toward him, cutting it off from Khasar.

  Khasar showed a bit of shock before he laughed. “A few more secrets! Yes, I knew that you had more power!”

  He started to draw on the surrounding mana as well, buffing his strength.

  Khasar hand cut through the wind like a blade, silent and deadly.

  Erik jumped to the side, getting underneath the attack that left a shining line through a pillar. He used his hand to toss himself behind Khasar. He landed on his left foot, planting it and spinning around as he lashed out with his right leg.

  Khasar was there already. He floated away from the attack. Erik pushed off the ground and blurred. The two of them connected with hands and fists.

  Khasar grabbed Erik’s hand, opening him up, and he pushed his palm forward. The space around Erik became solid, sealing him in place. Khasar’s hand blurred as several hands appeared over the one as he struck Erik.

  Erik was sent flying backward. He slammed into a wall like a cannonball, spurting blood.

  Dust was thrown out and Delilah rushed forward in a panic. “Teacher!”

  There was an awkward look on Khasar’s face as he moved forward too. “I might have used too much strength,” Khasar said.

  Erik was on the ground. Behind him, there was an impression of his body and a handprint that covered his body, imprinting on the wall.

  Blood fell from Erik’s lips and his eyes were closed.

  Delilah ran up to him, to see his lips moving.

  “Multiple hands, manipulating the space around me as if it were tangible. The hands were closely packed together, disrupting and focusing the wind, creating a sort of air cannon, like being in front of a jet when it passes through the sound barrier...overlapped over one another, combining the effect of the air with the physical abilities of the hand.” Erik’s eyes snapped open.

  “That was incredible!” He started to stand.

  “Ah, body.” Erik used a healing spell, helping his impressive healing abilities. His body started to repair itself, faint heat vapors rising up from his body.

  “Teacher, are you okay?” Delilah asked.

  “Never felt better,” Erik said.

  Khasar smiled and shook his head.

  “That technique there—you used the movement technique on your palm, moved it really fast, contained the air and then unleashed it in one shot, right?” Erik asked.

  “Yes,” Khasar said, surprised with his accuracy.

  “If you could throw some water in there, then it wouldn’t just be powerful shit—it could go through people, or rocks or something. Toss it out of your storage ring.” Erik held his chin.

  Khasar’s brows pinched together in thought and then he threw his palm out. He had let out some water from inside his storage ring. His hand blurred and then a part of another poor pillar was torn apart and the water droplets cut through a wall behind it.

  “Will you two stop destroying our house?” Delilah growled, seeing the new destruction and noticing all of the scars and cuts that were left on the different pillars and walls. I’m surprised that this place hasn’t collapsed already!

  Khasar let out a cough and Erik looked around.

  “Oh, sorry. I was focused on training so I didn’t notice.” Erik looked meekly at Delilah.

  Delilah could only let out a sigh. He means well but he is so focused on increasing his power that he forgets about everything else.

  “Well, if there are damages, I’m not telling Grand Teacher,” she warned.

  “I have some friends in the maintenance hall. They should be able to fix this up. But we should maybe take our practice to the private training halls?” Khasar said.

  Erik nodded.

  “I never thought to combine water into the technique. With it, the strength of the attack increases more!”

  “Well, if you could use heat, then you could superheat it into steam. Or maybe use another medium, like iron and then superheat it into plasma? Then that would suck big time.”

  “Plasma?”

  “State of matter, I guess?” Erik said.

  Khasar smiled, clearly not understanding what Erik was talking about.

  “How were you able to hold me in place, though?” Erik asked.

  “Ah, space sealing. It is something that only higher level people who have a high Body or Mana Gathering Cultivation can do. As one increases in level and holds more power of the Ten Realms, then they can alter the natural realm to a greater degree, like how people who are over level fifty can walk in the sky because the ambient mana can keep them up. When someone has a greater cultivation, then they can bend the rules of the Ten Realms more; they become a force of their own intelligent nature in the Ten Realms. The technique that I used is a palm art, Air Sealing Thunderous Palm.”

  “These techniques rely on just the environment and your own body. When you’re attacking, you’re using the influence you have over the Ten Realms to bend it to your will to create these techniques. The Ten Realms isn’t fighting with you—it’s working with you,” Erik said in a moment of realization.

  “It’s best to think of the Ten Realms like a beast. When you’re small and powerful, it doesn’t look at you at all. When you get stronger, then it is more amenable to helping you. You show this power with your increased stats, more mana, more physical abilities, and such.

  “There are many ways that people learn to control their power and that over the Ten Realms. When fighting, you react instead of thinking things through, allowing you to pass this boundary. You can meditate on the Ten Realms, create within it, or test out your limits in your own way. Everyone gains control in their own way,” Khasar said.

  Delilah listened to their conversation. I just saw them fighting, but is it possible that them fighting allowed Erik to have a greater understanding over the Ten Realms, an understanding that could increase his abilities overall?

  She looked at Erik, who nodded.

  “Information builds the platform, but it is only through using that information that we can affect change,” Erik said.

  “Seems like you are learning,” Khasar said.

  Delilah saw Erik’s eyes light up. Just as he opened his mouth to ask for another round of fighting, she cleared her throat.

  “Grand Teacher wants to see us both. He said that he wants to create a high-level pill and needs assistants,” Delilah said.

  “Very well,” Erik said. “Thank you for teaching me.” Erik cupped his hands and bowed his head slightly.

  Khasar returned it. “It is the least I can do if you’re not willing to take protection from the Alchemist Association. I don’t think you realize just how much they value you.”

  “I’ve forged my own path to this point—I don’t want to start relying on another’s
strength. I do know when to ask for it, though,” Erik said.

  “Don’t forget that,” Khasar said.

  Khasar departed and Erik used a cleaning spell and took a sip of Stamina potion.

  “That’s the good stuff. I finally got the taste right, just like espresso,” Erik said with a satisfied sigh.

  “Are you sure? You have been tasting every ingredient you can get your hand on,” Delilah grumbled.

  “You can do it, too, if you want to get the Reverse Alchemist title!” Erik laughed.

  Delilah screwed up her face in displeasure. “I wish you didn’t tell me how you got that title. It sounds horrible.”

  Erik shrugged.

  ***

  As they walked through the Alchemist Association, different people greeted them. They nodded and cupped their hands in return.

  Erik was still awkward with it, but it was the effort that people appreciated.

  He took a look at his stats and his skills.

  ==========

  Name: Erik West

  ==========

  Level: 57

  ==========

  Race: Human

  ==========

  Titles:

  From the Grave II

  Mana Emperor

  Dungeon Master III

  Reverse Alchemist

  Poison Body

  Fire Body

  City Lord

  ==========

  Strength: (Base 36) +41

  ==========

  770

  ==========

  Agility: (Base 29) +72

  ==========

  555

  ==========

  Stamina: (Base 39) +23

  ==========

  930

  ==========

  Mana: (Base 8) +79

  ==========

  870

  ==========

  Mana Regeneration (Base 13) +58

  36.50/s

  ==========

  Stamina Regeneration: (Base 41) +59