The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  Egbert’s words caught Tanya up and she rubbed her storage ring. It had been what she had been studying all this time. She hadn’t thought of it before, but she wanted to unlock the mysteries of the Ten Realms.

  “In my games, I was always the person who was investigating so many times that the rest of my group made me the game master so that I would stop spending a session figuring out the rules of the world and bending them.” Tanya let out a snort but her eyes were glazed over, remembering those sessions and the time she had spent reviewing spells that she knew, or that she had been able to adapt from her game book to use in the Ten Realms. “Maybe I can find out the truth of the Ten Realms and bend the rules here.”

  ***

  “So this is a technique.” Erik looked at the book Old Hei had slid across the table.

  “There are only a few of them to be found in the lower realms regarding crafting. Most of them deal with fighting. Otherwise, the recruiters in the Fifth and academies in the Sixth Realm have collections of them. I only have five different technique books and I have only completely learned four of them. This is the only one that I can freely lend to others within the Alchemist Association,” Old Hei said.

  “Flame Puppeteer?” Erik read the cover of the book.

  “The technique uses threads of mana to control the flames within the cauldron. The flames can alternate temperatures and allow one to work complex concoctions that need different temperatures and fine control,” Old Hei explained. “Open the book. It is written by a magical scribe to immerse one in the technique completely.”

  Erik opened the book and started reading the first page, reading about the positioning of the body, the way one should breathe and focus. He was drawn in by the words, feeling the world slipping away. He started to see scenes where there was an alchemist sitting behind his cauldron. He had his hands next to the cauldron. With a flick of his hands, lines or mana strings connected between his hands; he threw in prepared ingredients, his fingers moving the threads of mana that turned into flames, their changes directly affecting the ingredients.

  More were thrown in as the man’s fingers danced. It was a beautiful display of Alchemy, of one’s mana strength.

  The technique simplified the process for the alchemist, the perfect tool for the job as the concoction didn’t fight but worked with him.

  Erik knew on some level that the scribe had somehow imbued the book with the ability for him to see what the transcriber had seen in greater detail.

  Erik could feel that he was only scratching the surface of the technique; the mana strands were just part of it.

  The alchemist’s eyes were closed, but still he reacted with incredible precision without anything inside the cauldron missing his gaze.

  The strands between his fingers twisted into shapes back and forth, as if they were alive. The control was incredible.

  Erik closed his eyes as a pill appeared from the cauldron and the alchemist cancelled his technique.

  “What did the alchemist do?”

  “The Flame Puppeteer is a technique that allows one to control combining different sub-concoctions at the same time before combining them. Its ability to isolate and concoct is incredibly useful for concoctions that have ingredients that need to be freshly prepared, or sub-concoctions that need to be combined as quickly as possible so as to not lose efficacy.

  “Could the pill be completed without the technique?”

  “Yes.” Erik opened his eyes, confused.

  “What would the outcome be?” Old Hei asked.

  Erik leaned forward and looked at the now closed book. “The efficacy wouldn’t be as high. It would require a lot more mana and concentration. The techniques are like Alchemy tools.”

  “Correct. And there are right tools for everything. Remember, one technique might be good for just one kind of concoction, but it might not be good for all of them,” Old Hei said.

  “How can I get more technique manuals?”

  “There are a few ways. Get a high merit and get them as a reward. Impress people enough to join an academy in the Sixth Realm, or go to a competition and compete. Or,” Old Hei smiled at Erik’s conflicted expression, “go to the Fifth and Sixth Realm and buy them at the competitions.”

  “I can just buy them?” Erik asked.

  “Mana stones rule in the Ten Realms. Although the technique manuals will be incredibly expensive, don’t you control one of the most popular cities in the Fourth Realm?”

  “Oh,” Erik said.

  The two of them looked at each other before they both started to laugh.

  Chapter: Formations and Statues

  “That concludes formation power sources and interfacing with mana stones, ambient mana and gems!” Qin said, clapping her hands together.

  The students in her class all started to get up, talking to one another about the lesson and heading to their next lecture, class, or workshop time.

  Tan Xue and Rugrat wrote down notes. They walked up from the back of the class toward where Qin sat on her desk.

  “You going to tell them or should I?” Julilah asked as she entered the classroom, walking over to them.

  “Fine.” Qin stood, some of her energy returning to her.

  “We were able to complete the designs for the new rifle weapon system and Julilah was able to design a formation socket system for the grenade launcher and the mortar. She also added a formation socket within the formation so the shooter can pick what kind of warhead the enemy is hit by,” Qin said.

  Rugrat smiled. “Well, it sounds like we’ve got our next army upgrade ready.”

  Julilah smiled at the praise.

  “I was wondering about having a mana stone in a formation and then also using ambient mana. Does that mean you would use the ambient mana first and then you would use the power of the mana stone? Could you, if you replaced the mana stones with a cornerstone, actually passively charge the weapon or armor?”

  “Yes, but it would be a slow charge unless you’re in an area with high mana concentration. And as it pulls in mana from one area, it would deplete it. So you might want to move around with it to draw in mana over a larger area,” Qin said.

  “Ah,” Tan Xue said.

  “Oh, Erik sent me a message the other day, something about techniques. Kind of been busy and it slipped my mind,” Rugrat started.

  “Techniques?” Tan Xue asked.

  Rugrat let out an awkward cough as he realized that it might benefit her the most out of anyone he knew. He quickly told them everything that he had learned from Erik about techniques.

  “And you didn’t think to tell us? What else did you forget?” Tan Xue threw her hands up.

  “Crap, answering statue!” Rugrat smacked his head as he turned around and made to walk out of the classroom, only to have the door slam open in his face.

  “You don’t have a trading interface!” Elise yelled, storming into the room.

  “Huh?” Rugrat asked, his mind miles behind as he tried to pull the relevant brain cells together to spark inspiration.

  “Trading interface! You know, the thing that we use to trade across the realms!” Elise made sure that the door was closed. “Can anyone hear us in here?” Elise asked.

  Julilah grabbed a formation plate and stuck a controlling formation into the socket in the middle of it.

  A distorted wave spread out, covering the walls, and all of their ears popped.

  “Now they can’t,” Julilah said.

  “Handy,” Elise said with a nod and then focused her laser beams—uh, eyes onto Rugrat.

  “A trading interface, like the one that can be found in Alva, the one that lets us trade with other cities. We can use that to trade with the other people of Vuzgal, offload our items we can’t sell in the lower realms. We can set the descriptions of the different items to buy and sell there. We just tell everyone that they’re from Vuzgal, make them want to come here in order to find cheaper goods,” Elise said.

  “That makes sense.” Rugrat nodded.


  “Then build the damn thing!”

  “How?” Rugrat asked.

  “Do you have a city building cornerstone? Like the interface that was in Alva Village?”

  “I think I remember seeing something like that under the pillar,” Rugrat said.

  Elise pinched the bridge of her nose. “You have to access that interface. Then you can get a blueprint from it. Then you place the blueprint down where you want it, and build it just like anything else requiring a blueprint.”

  “While I’m doing that, I can put down the answering statue. All right, I’ve got to run, things to do!” Rugrat quickly left the room before he could get himself into any more trouble.

  The women all looked at one another.

  “Rugrat!” they said by agreement, shrugging before they collected their items and cleared out.

  “Drinks anyone? Elise, do you know anything about techniques? Crafting techniques, kind of like fighting techniques?” Tan Xue asked.

  “No, but Elan might know,” Elise suggested.

  “Good idea.”

  ***

  Rugrat was in the bowels of the pillar where he found the city interface. He had to chip some mana stones off it to get to it.

  He accessed the interface, purchasing two of the city trading interfaces and put them into his storage ring before he took out the answering statue and placed it down.

  ==========

  Do you wish to fuse this answering statue with the dungeon: Vuzgal?

  ==========

  YES/NO

  ==========

  “Yes,” Rugrat said.

  The answering statue flashed with runes before its base fused with the floor of the pillar.

  The statue flinched and stood straighter, causing Rugrat to jump up and backward.

  “Shit, crap, damn it!” Rugrat swore, trying to get himself back under control as he stared daggers at the offending statue.

  There was no more reaction from it.

  “Damn friggin’ moving inanimate object,” Rugrat muttered underneath his breath before he cleared his throat. “What is this place?”

  “This is a dungeon city hybrid called Vuzgal by the locals,” the answering statue said.

  “How many people are in the city?”

  “There are approximately 157,894 people within the limits of Vuzgal.”

  “Can you tell me the contents of books that are not located within the Castle District?”

  “Yes.”

  “What must happen in order for you to get the information from a book?”

  “I will only know the information from a book if it is in contact with an area that is under my control.”

  “So if I put a book down, then you can read it?”

  “No.”

  “The book’s information, can you copy it?”

  “No.”

  “Can you repeat it?”

  “Yes.” Rugrat smiled at the answering statue’s answer.

  “Do you retain that knowledge?”

  “I do not understand the question.”

  “When you are not in contact with a book, do you know the words contained within?”

  “I do not understand the question.”

  Rugrat took out a book. “What is in my hand?”

  “An item referred to as a book, made of leather, wood, and ink.”

  “What is contained within the book?”

  “Markings, part of the book.”

  Rugrat put the book down. “What is contained within the book?”

  “Markings.”

  “What are those markings?”

  “A line going left to right and then down halfway through the character with two small notches two and three-quarters down the main stem.”

  “What letters do the markings make?”

  “T-H-E.”

  “What sentences do the markings make?”

  “The art of smithing is more complicated than most think—”

  “Bingo!” Rugrat let out a laugh. “Okay, so you see books as objects, not as books—”

  “I do not understand the question.”

  “Oh, quiet, will you?”

  “That is not a question.”

  “You don’t see the words inside the book as information; you just see it as part of the book. A component. So you can repeat it with perfect clarity, but as soon as that book is gone, you don’t retain any knowledge of that book. You’re a talking photograph! Just need the right parameters to get you to say it instead of just give us a load of useless information!

  “Now, if we were able to somehow increase your knowledge, add sort of filters to you, then maybe you could look out for other things. Maybe have images playing of people attacking one another and then you look for anyone who is committing similar acts and then would catch people attacking one another in Vuzgal.”

  The answering statue stood there, like a statue, not responding as it had not been given any questions.

  “There’s going to be a lot of figuring out, but then, damn, you can be our very own surveillance system.” Rugrat made to touch the answering statue and then stopped. The thing just plain old creeps me out. Don’t think of the fact that you’re in a basement with it all alone. Crap!

  Rugrat smiled and backed away, not wanting to turn his back on it, for fear that it might move or stare at him with some kind of evil intentions.

  You’re overthinking things—totally overthinking it!

  He forced himself to leave the room normally, but made sure that he was half facing the answering statue so he would know if it moved at all.

  As soon as he made for the stairs, he ran up them as fast as possible.

  Not scared of a statue—just wanted to get some cardio in!

  Chapter: Expansion

  Chonglu looked over the Battle Arena.

  It was a grand structure with several floors. In the basement, there were training rooms where one could fight against puppets, train in solitude, or have private matches.

  Few knew the details of these rooms; even the leader of the Fighter’s Association in Vuzgal didn’t know the complete details.

  The mana density varied in the different rooms, creating five tiers of rooms from A to E grade. The E grade had the lowest amount of mana, having the same ambient mana as that found in Vuzgal.

  The D grade had a five percent increase in mana density; C a ten percent; B thirteen percent; A fifteen percent. It didn’t seem like much, but the mana density was as high as some of the higher grade training rooms in the Sixth Realm.

  These training rooms practically burned through mana stones, but the benefits couldn’t be understated. At the Vuzgal level of mana density, one’s mind was calmed and they became more alert, increasing their ability to focus on their tasks and develop faster.

  Increasing that by just five percent, the benefits increased to nearly double. People would work harder for longer without noticing it. It was easier to fall into a training trance and gain enlightenment.

  At ten percent, even training in such an environment for an hour would be worth three days of training outside; twelve percent an hour was worth training for a week; at fifteen percent, one hour could be like training in the Fourth Realm for two weeks. Even if one was to just sit down and cultivate their Mana Gathering Cultivation, they could break through bottlenecks that had been holding them back and accumulate mana at a much higher rate.

  A hidden but powerful benefit was the purity of the mana. With its higher purity, one didn’t have to refine it as much to clear impurities.

  The first floor was the ticket floor and the first sparring areas. People could purchase tickets to the training rooms, or they could sign up for tournaments. The Battle Arena allowed people to fight and settle their grudges. Even fights to the death were okayed as long as either side was not pressured.

  It was smart adding this in. The Fourth Realm is a land of death; if people didn’t have a way to vent their anger and killing intent, then it could cause issues within the c
ity. This way the violence is at least contained, Chonglu thought.

  “How are the preparations for the tournament?” he asked his assistant Dominque. She had been part of the Alva Army, but then she focused on formations leaving the army behind. Now she was Chonglu’s assistant and one of the people who monitored him and what was happening in the battle Arena. While she followed his orders he knew that she was reporting to others on his actions. He wasn’t offended, he would have done the same thing if he was in Erik or Rugrat’s position. Still he was having a hard time understanding just how powerful those two had become.

  “Everything is readied. There will be a total of six tournaments happening concurrently: those from level thirty to thirty-five, then thirty-five to forty, with a tournament for every five levels up to level fifty. Are you sure about the prizes?”

  “I’m sure,” Chonglu said.

  “Giving the tournament winners a luxury suite in the nearest Wayside Inn, cultivation resources, and allowing them four hours a day in the B-grade training rooms with discounts on all Battle Arena products,” she said, casting him a look.

  “Right. To the winners goes the spoils. It should bring out a number of competitors and most of them will probably want to go to the A-grade rooms,” Chonglu said.

  He looked at the different stores on the first floor. There were stands that would sell potions; others, armor and weapons. “What about the arenas?”

  “The one hundred arenas on the second floor are all prepared as well as the thirty on the third floor. The last parts are being added to the six arenas on the second and the formations of the main arena are being laid down,” Domnique said, checking her notes.

  Chonglu was about to speak again when he got a sound transmission.

  “The Fighter’s Association head has arrived,” one of the arena guards reported. The guards, like the staff of the arena, were all people of Vuzgal and had sworn oaths binding them to the city.

  “Very well. I will be there in a moment.” The message disappeared in a flash of light.

  “Our guest has arrived.” He started to walk toward the entrance. “How about the second training floor?”