The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  Erik’s body was covered in blood. His skin cracked; his bones broke and rebuilt; his organs had shifted and every other breath brought blood up with it.

  He had nearly passed out several times, but the aids he had laid down before kept him awake and functioning, keeping him alive when most would have died. If he gave in and passed out then he would’ve died.

  Erik threw the second-to-last tempering pill into his mouth, scared that he would run out of pills.

  Erik looked like hell as he fought the pain, repairing himself.

  The pain started to fade as his healing aids helped him to recover.

  Erik felt relief wash over him and his eyes rolled back. It didn’t take long for him to recover.

  “How do you feel?” Rugrat had finished his own tempering some time ago. Instead of moving on with his remaining temperings, he had stood watch to help Erik if he needed it.

  Erik opened his notifications to see nothing.

  It looks as if my foundation is stronger than I thought. If I want to temper my body more with the Earth element, I’ll need stronger resources. If I could just heal it all away and grind out my temperings...

  “It’s been a long time since I healed anyone,” Erik said to himself as he looked at his healing skill. After the initial race-like increases in his skills, the much slower level gain was a pain.

  “There’s nothing stopping us from building a few hospitals in Vuzgal. Even if they come through the totem, we should more than earn back the cost of running the place in sheer taxes.” Erik gave it some more thought.

  “It would be best if we didn’t call it the Alva Healing House. The healing house in the First Realm has already created enough troubles. If we just say that they’re Vuzgal healers, part of the crafters, that should deal with any issues.”

  Erik sent a sound transmission to Hiao Xen, leaving him a message before he settled down, feeling tired from everything.

  And hungry, really hungry.

  He pulled out food from his storage ring and started eating. He kept on stuffing food in his face.

  “Damn, I’m so hungry! I hope I’m not hungry like this all the time or I’ll spend all my mana stones on food!”

  After eating for two hours, Erik pulled out a sleeping bag and rolled over.

  “Tomorrow I’ll increase my Mana Gathering Cultivation,” he promised, closing his eyes and passing out in seconds.

  ***

  Erik woke up the next day feeling relaxed.

  He got up and saw Rugrat asleep off to the side.

  With a few movements, Erik distanced himself and started to go through the new training regimen that Khasar had helped him create. He flowed from one position to the next, using his movement ability combined with his One Finger Beats Fist technique.

  Khasar had shown him his own fighting techniques, and impressed on Erik that using someone else’s fighting techniques would improve one’s strength, but it would be limited. Your own created techniques were much stronger.

  Techniques are not just a new way to punch or kick, they are a new way to combine your different movements and your knowledge into powerful strikes.

  Khasar didn’t teach Erik his techniques, instead he pushed Erik to fight him with his own ability, to push his body to the limit and see how he reacted.

  He settled down after some time of training, with a better understanding of his body.

  “Now just need to temper my body with Metal and I can reach the Divine Iron stage. With every stage, it becomes harder. With the Earth attribute tempering to reach Body Like Mortal Iron, I tempered myself in small bursts. It increased my overall strength, but it was only a small amount compared to when I made an actual breakthrough. As I go, it will require me tempering my body multiple times before I can make it all the way.”

  Erik felt tired from the temperings, from the cultivation, but he knew that it would pay off with time.

  He changed the settings on the formation that he had set up and then moved the circle on the main mana gathering formation. The air within the formation flags mixed together into a soup of colors, becoming a deep blue in color.

  Erik took a step into it, feeling the density of mana nearly double.

  All of the mana collected from across the city was being directed into this formation.

  He sat down, crossing his legs.

  Once again he pulled on the mana within his body, circulating it and drawing it into his mana core.

  Erik flopped down sometime later, and he checked his watch. “Fifteen minutes. I increased and it’s easier to control, a little.” Erik took five minutes and then started to draw more mana into his body again.

  He continued to do so until he heard movements from outside the formation. He looked out to see Rugrat setting up his own formation plate and his formation flags.

  “Did you finish tempering your body?” Erik asked.

  “Body Like Stone, baby.” Rugrat grinned, before it turned into a frown. “Fricking sucked to do, though. Mana Gathering Cultivation is much nicer.”

  “Yeah, but the two of them working together—”

  “Make them both harder, but yeah, it does increase your power,” Rugrat said.

  “How is your mana core?”

  “I’m about to breakthrough to Mist Mana Core stage soon though!” Rugrat activated his formation and the area within the formation flags he had laid out filled with mana.

  Hearing that, Erik was invigorated again. He was two stages ahead of Rugrat with the body temperings but he was still severely lacking in Mana Gathering Cultivation. His mana domain was only a quarter of Rugrat’s. Erik had the same number of open mana gates, but as Rugrat had been increasing the Mana Regeneration and the size of his mana pool their entire time, his Mana Gathering Cultivation was leaps and bounds ahead of Erik’s.

  Rugrat turned to ask Erik a question, but the latter was already sitting up in his formation, drawing in mana from around him, trying to increase the size of his mana core.

  “Good luck!” Rugrat jumped into his formation and started to compress mana into his mana core. The two of them waged a silent cultivation battle.

  ***

  Erik and Rugrat got a sound transmission at the same time from Elan.

  “I have been able to find you a guide to the city Arman. He will arrive in two hours.”

  “How many mana stones do you have?” Erik asked Rugrat.

  “I don’t know—a few dozen Earth grade and then a few hundred Mortal. I left most of them with the treasury,” Rugrat said.

  Erik looked in his storage rings. Everything he had amounted to five Earth stones and a handful of Mortal stones.

  “We should collect as many as possible so that we have enough to compete in the auctions.” Panic rose in Erik’s chest. The funds of the bank were lent out most of the time, with them only holding a reserve on hand for the simplest of transactions.

  Erik’s eyes moved to the mana stones that were growing along the walls. “You contact the bank. I’ll contact Hiao Xen.”

  Rugrat grunted as they left their cultivation areas. Erik put the mana gathering formation back to the way it had been. The mana in the formation flags was sucked into the mana gathering formation and sent down to the Vuzgal dungeon core.

  Erik’s sound transmission reached Hiao Xen.

  “Erik, what can I do for you?” Hiao Xen asked.

  “How many mana stones do we have extra that I could get?” Erik asked.

  “Well, we don’t keep much in the way of reserves. The mana stones are used to pay the people of Vuzgal, from military to admin, to the crafting school and building operations. Though the Battle Arena will have probably accrued funds at this time and I believe that Elise owes us a large amount in taxes,” Hiao Xen said.

  “Ah, thank you!” Erik said. He cut the sound transmission and sent one to Elise.

  “Erik? Sorry, I’m doing a deal right now,” she said.

  “Taxes—have you paid them?”

  “I...well, it was
included in the price of the formation.”

  “Do you know where those mana stones go?” Erik asked.

  “Straight to the treasury, I believe. Why?”

  “No worries. Talk later!” Erik looked over to Rugrat.

  “They have about fifty Earth stones that they can spare,” Rugrat said.

  “Crap. One more place.” Erik sent a sound transmission to Chonglu.

  “Chong—Chonglu, how has the Battle Arena been doing?”

  “Mister West, it is so good to hear from you! The response has been incredible! We have sold out the ten thousand membership cards out already and we have thirty thousand applicants to fight in the Battle Arena. There are some people coming over from other cities just to fight!”

  “Did you collect their fees?” Erik asked.

  “First and last month up front, with the people entering the tournament paying an entrance fee,” Chonglu said.

  “Good! Have you sent it to the treasury yet?”

  “Not yet. I was supposed to send it all over at the end of the month. The betting has already been fierce. We’ve made some good profit on that and the material goods and training items. The Fighter’s Association came and saw me. They will be getting a membership package for one hundred memberships.”

  “Wow, okay, that’s impressive,” Erik said. This Battle Arena is a real money-making machine! “I’ll be over soon to get the funds from you.”

  “Understood. I’ll prepare them.”

  Erik looked to Rugrat.

  “I just talked to the Blue Lotus. They were able to sell my items, so we have another few dozen Earth mana stones waiting for me there,” Rugrat said.

  “Well, I haven’t collected my mana stones from them, and I already used the mana stones from the Alchemist Association from them making the Age Rejuvenation concoctions. With the Battle Arena money, we should have quite a few Earth-grade mana stones.”

  “Do you think that it will be enough?” Rugrat asked.

  “I’m not sure, but where can we get more from?” Erik asked.

  Rugrat pulled out a pickaxe and put it on his shoulder. “We’re in a mana stone mine, and with how rare these things are, we need to get as many as possible.”

  “But the mana barrier,” Erik said.

  “We get the people in the undercity to take mana stones from the other dungeons and bring them here,” Rugrat said.

  Erik felt conflicted about it before he nodded. “All right.”

  “Okay! I’ve always wanted to mine for mana stones!”

  “Use your mana blade. If you break them off all irregular, then we could get short-changed!” Erik said.

  “Fine!” Rugrat sighed and created a mana blade in his hand.

  Erik headed up into Vuzgal, sending a mental message to Gilly. Gilly, who had been roaming the Castle District, made her way over.

  Erik jumped on her back and patted her neck as she took off, running through the streets and toward the Battle Arena.

  The space around the Battle Arena was now as busy as the crafting districts. There were stalls everywhere, with people selling food and drink and people talked about the matches that they had seen or about their training.

  There were people looking for sparring partners in a square outside the Battle Arena.

  “Looking for a Journeyman-level archer to train, offering five hours in a C-grade training room!”

  “Selling Stamina recovery potions and pills!”

  “Want to make most of your training time? We have cultivation aids of all kinds!”

  “Looking for fighting partners? Trust Vuzgal’s premium sparring partner matching service!”

  Erik passed them all and dismounted Gilly. They walked into the actual arena. It was packed with people at the different counters trying to join in on the new fights that were coming up.

  Others browsed the goods within the arena. Only members and contestants were allowed to buy from the arena. The goods were of high quality and good prices so it drew a lot of attention. People who were training could have these items delivered to their rooms so they didn’t need to waste any time.

  “I am sorry but we have sold out of memberships!” someone yelled at the counter as a sign was put up.

  “Sold out of memberships! How can this be?”

  “We want to provide the best service to our members, so selling more memberships would only decrease the quality of the service. We are sorry!” the person said.

  “Quality over quantity.” Someone who had just bought a membership nodded.

  “I was scared thinking that they might chase the gold instead of keeping their standards,” another member said.

  “I wonder how much we could get for lending out our membership,” another said.

  “Didn’t you read the agreements? Only we can use our memberships unless we got them in some group deal,” another said.

  “How will they know?” the first shot back.

  “You can try it, but don’t come crying to me if it doesn’t work!”

  The ticket and betting counters didn’t decrease in size at all, with people heading up to see the fights and putting their money on their chosen fighters.

  Erik walked up to one of the guards. After the fiasco at the totem, Hiao Xen made sure that everyone in Vuzgal knew what Erik and Rugrat looked like.

  The guard put his fist to his chest and bowed in greeting. “City Lord!”

  “I’m here to see Chonglu. Could you take me to him?” Erik asked.

  “This way.” The guard guided Erik through doors into a VIP area and past others who were waiting, right to the elevator.

  Erik stored Gilly away in her crate.

  The guards all saluted and bowed to Erik as he stepped into the elevator.

  As they rose up, Erik could see the arenas.

  “Looks like the qualifiers have already started,” Erik said as he saw the one hundred arenas filled with people sparring one another and putting on shows.

  People were cheering and getting into the spirit as bets were being placed down on every fight.

  There was a mage and a ranger going up against each other. The mage erected a frost barrier in front of themselves and they threw out sand golems that chased the ranger, who was dodging and rolling across the arena, firing their bow at the mage’s barrier. It shook and broke in places, forcing the mage to concentrate on just his two initial attacks.

  The ranger got to the mage’s side and shot out an arrow.

  The mage’s worn-down mana wasn’t enough to stop the arrow and it hit a barrier that appeared around them. The match ended, the referee stepping out as the mage dismissed their mana constructs.

  They moved to the second floor. A few arenas had been blocked off with isolation formations as the people inside didn’t want to reveal their fights to anyone. The fights that Erik could see were on a different level from those below. There were people running classes here and members who were testing out their newfound strength with one another.

  Two people shot across the floor, sword and saber clashing with one another. The fighters—one man and one woman—smiled as they pushed back and forth. Their movements churned up the air and the ground shook with their attacks.

  They must be in the high level forties to create that kind of disturbance in the arenas. Maybe we should look into beefing up the arena’s strength again so it can deal with their power. With the new training floor that is being built, we could even entice Masters who are in the fifties.

  The remaining two floors were clear, with no one allowed into them yet. The builders were still working diligently to complete them as quickly as possible.

  Erik arrived in Chonglu’s office.

  “City Lord West,” Chonglu said.

  “Erik will do fine with me. Thank you for guiding me,” Erik said to the guard.

  They saluted and bowed, taking the elevator down, leaving Erik and Chonglu alone.

  “Have there been any problems?” Erik asked.

  “We haven�
�t had any so far. With the Fighter’s Association backing us and my own connection to them, I think that things should be relatively stable,” Chonglu said with a smile, indicating to a chair.

  “Good. Are you and the children settling in well?” Erik asked, as they moved to the chairs looking over Vuzgal.

  “They’re doing well with their classes. Felicity has become interested in woodworking. Feng still wants to fight, but all young boys want to be like the valiant heroes. I think that access to the Battle Arena’s stands will only make that desire stronger.” Chonglu laughed.

  Erik smiled and nodded. “While I was working with the Alchemist Association, I came across a pill that I believe will be able to increase the strength of their bloodline. I’m not sure if it will work for your wife as well because I haven’t examined her. It is a low Journeyman-level pill and it is called Winter’s Rage. It is a berserk type of pill to increase one’s strength in an emergency setting. It uses a combination of fire and ice type mana to increase one’s power, with Felicity and Feng having their Ice Phoenix constitution it will have a different effect and should increase the power of their constitution. Your wife only has the Ice Empress constitution so the fire mana would hurt more than help her. Remember that they will need to temper themselves with ice and fire, the more the better.”

  Chonglu’s eyes lit up as he stood and clasped his fists. “Thank you, City Lord West. We have brought you nothing but trouble but you have saved my children and myself, and given me this position. If you command it, my life is yours,” Chonglu said solemnly.

  Erik coughed awkwardly. “Please, sit down. I only did what I thought was right. We needed a manager here and you were a good choice for the position.”

  Chonglu let out a light laugh and moved to his chair.

  “Have you been training as well?” Erik asked.

  “I have been working with the training staff in the combat training rooms,” Chonglu said.

  “How are they?”

  “They would be S-grade training rooms here at the Battle Arena. If not for having people rotate in and out, I think that most would still be down there. The focus one is able to achieve is unparalleled.”