The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  The floor disappeared and the Alva floor appeared.

  “Well, beers?” Storbon stood up and put his rifle away.

  “Everything go well?” Glosil asked, walking across the teleportation array to meet them.

  “Seems so. We’ll find out soon enough if our Experience starts to increase,” Han Wu said. “The formations are set to go off in twenty minutes.”

  “I’ll monitor in the dungeon headquarters. I hear that the academy has a few combat art manuals that you can check out now.”

  ***

  Blaze looked at the letter from the Willful Institute and the message from the First Realm. They had both arrived in the same day.

  “Erik and Rugrat are back?” he asked the messenger.

  A network of messengers had been set up from Alva, to the Adventurer’s Guild locations, the Sky Reaching Restaurants, Vuzgal, and different key trading locations that the Trader’s Guild was located in. They helped to pass information between different branches of Alva, keeping them all connected. They also observed what people were doing and passed materials. They were the lifeline of Alva and Elan’s spies and confidants.

  “Very well. I have something I need to tell them as well.”

  Blaze stood and pulled on a bookcase that opened to reveal a set of stairs. He pulled a cloak on. The messenger frowned but followed Blaze out of his office and through the secret passage into Hersht’s busy streets. They blended in with the seething, robe-wearing masses.

  It didn’t take them long to reach the totem.

  I wonder what Erik and Rugrat will say. Blaze hadn’t really seen them in a while.

  He paid the fee of a Mortal mana stone and gained access to the totem. They disappeared with a flash of light.

  ***

  Egbert stepped onto the Earth floor.

  “Toasty.” He stepped into the sky and flew across the floor. The heavy Earth mana in the floor now had a thread of Fire mana within it.

  The floor had been burnt to a crisp, or cooked into oblivion. With burning all of the plants, the air was heavy with the Fire mana and lacked oxygen. The plant floor had grown stagnant, producing so much oxygen that the plants were suffocating. Now there were already shoots appearing in the soil, drawing in the liberated mana and carbon dioxide.

  Egbert used his ability to talk through the dungeon, reporting directly to Glosil, who waited on the other side of the teleportation pad. “This floor is currently uninhabitable. I can’t sense any life here. I’m going to lower the dungeon core,” Egbert said.

  “Okay, keep us updated,” Glosil said.

  Egbert flew across the floor. There were water features, pastures and plains; the different lands butted up against one another and connected in the middle to what had been a large forest but was now just a charred hill.

  Egbert focused his attention on the dungeon core as he headed for the hill.

  “First, change the power output from the dungeon core to the mana storing formation. Done. Now need to open up the tunnel.” The mana storing formation allowed power out into Alva, powering the different magical systems.

  Underneath the dungeon core, sections moved apart and revealed a dark hole. Other shutters opened in series.

  “And then cut the formations holding the dungeon core in place.” The dungeon core started to slowly fall down from its original position, passing the shutters. It went underneath the Alva floor, looking like a falling star as it entered the Metal floor. The Metal-attribute mana flooded toward it, being purified as it passed through the main command formation in the Metal floor and descended again.

  It passed into the Earth floor. The impurities were so high here that a windstorm was stirred up. Egbert made sure that the doors between the levels were secured.

  “Balancing out all of the floors again is going to be a pain in the thigh bone.” Egbert sighed as he flew up and grabbed the dungeon core that was greedily drawing in the impurities of the floor.

  Egbert stood on top of the main formation plate for the Earth floor. It had a fifty meter diameter, with all kinds of different inscriptions and shapes linked together. Beasts had torn it apart—out of boredom, in interest, or when they had fought to be the master of the floor.

  Egbert took out a podium from his storage ring and put it down, resting the dungeon core on top.

  The dungeon core drew in the impure mana from the surroundings, refined it and then used it to power the podium. Blue lines traced down the podium, reaching the floor, and began tracing out those complicated lines, restoring them to their former glory. It was a slow process and Egbert pulled out a recliner, patting it down.

  “Well, nothing to do but wait,” he said with a hint of excitement. He sat in the chair, curling his legs underneath him, as he pulled out his latest romance novel, holding it with one hand and his chin in the other. “Damn it, Daphne! Just stay with James! Come on!”

  “Has the dungeon core been placed?” Glosil asked.

  “Stop interrupting. It will take much time. I’m reading!” Egbert stopped listening to Glosil and he buried his head in the book, flipping the pages, not wanting it to end, but wanting to know what would happen!

  Chapter: Expanding down and out

  Everyone was there for the meeting: Elise, Blaze, Glosil, Jia Feng, Egbert.

  “Three days ago, we began Operation Firestorm. Today, we sent Egbert down to the Earth floor in order to know the condition of the floor.”

  “Crispy, very crispy,” Egbert said in affirmation. “Also, really needs some breathable air in there.”

  “The floor is clear but we can’t inhabit it because there isn’t any air inside,” Glosil summarized. “Egbert is using the dungeon core and its area of influence to repair the formation on each floor, with the formations on the Earth floor rebuilt we will be able to change out the air and make it breathable for our people to head down.”

  “Might be an idea to work with the farmers, get some of their plants, throw some plant seed out there. With their speed of growth, the high, pure Earth mana concentration, they’ll shoot up and produce air that we can breathe,” Erik said.

  Glosil wrote down a note quickly.

  “The next floor we need to clear is the Fire floor. The Earth floor, we could burn out everything that was on it. The Fire floor, we could attack people with water, but then the floor would be damaged irrevocably and well, I think the flames would only make the floor stronger.” Glosil took a breath.

  “Our running plan is to send Egbert to check the environment. If it is safe, then we will send in the special teams; they survey the area. We have the plans of the Fire floor from Egbert but we don’t know what the floor looks like now. We don’t have any formations that are connected with the main dungeon core. Once we have an understanding of what’s happening on the floor, we’ll move forward.”

  “Sounds like I’m going to be real busy for someone who is supposed to be dead,” Egbert said.

  “You know, we didn’t want you to get mothballed.”

  “Hah! Really funny!” Egbert said and turned to Jia Feng. “What is a mothball?”

  Jia Feng shrugged, not sure herself.

  “Well, you’re undead, so you only need mana from the dungeon. And with the power of the dungeon, you’re one of the strongest, if not the strongest member of Alva,” Glosil said.

  “Aw, you’ll make me blush with all that flattery.”

  Glosil smiled but largely disregarded Egbert’s words.

  “Sounds like a solid plan to me,” Erik said and looked over at Rugrat.

  “Me too!” Rugrat then pulled out his book and started to jot down notes.

  “We saw a competition. He got excited. He’s been drawing things since then,” Erik said by way of explanation. “How are things progressing with Vermire?”

  Glosil stood and cleared his throat.

  ***

  Erik and Rugrat looked at each other as Glosil finished the presentation.

  “In conclusion, everything is in place. We have re
cruited and trained the main guard force. The secondary force has been, in turn, trained by them. Mister Silaz has been working the other outposts. We believe we have a good chance of roping a majority of them into this endeavor, or have them remain neutral.”

  Erik looked at Rugrat and shrugged. “It’s a good plan, really good plan. Let’s see if it works, ladies and gents,” Erik said.

  The tension in the room seemed to bleed off.

  “Erik and I can’t make every decision. It’s clear you didn’t run into this. You used the systems and got approval from the necessary people. Good work,” Rugrat said.

  “How is everything else?” Erik looked around the table.

  “The school continues to grow. All Alvans have a basic understanding of the skills and other practical knowledge. We are currently investing the excess funds we have gained so that when we increase the workshops to the fourth tier we hopefully won’t need any funds from the treasury or very little. Since the Expert manuals have been offered at the library, the applicants to the teaching staff has increased. Junior teachers are heading to Vuzgal for training, with the more experienced teachers splitting their time between Vuzgal and Alva. This is in an effort for them to learn in Vuzgal and increase our strength there and then repeat the process here, keeping their minds active and giving them new stimulus constantly. I have factored this into the academy’s budget.

  “With the new manuals, I don’t think that it will be long until we are ushering in new Experts to the academy. With the new Experts, I have started to brainstorm with the other department heads. For those who wish to remain in the academy, they will be able to take on teaching positions, to be paid back in higher priority for items, reduced cost on items, and a stipend from the school. They can also pay to use the workshops, but the students will have priority. Most of them, I believe, will look to increase their levels and then head to Vuzgal for employment. I know that a number of them have contacted the Adventurer’s Guild about being power leveled.” Jia Feng looked at Blaze, who nodded.

  She settled back down as Erik spoke up.

  “I would also be interested if the academy would create a competition program. It will have a few purposes—first, to organize and oversee competitions within the academy and Vuzgal. I am hoping to make a second arena there that will focus on competing crafters. Second, they will train up our own home crafting teams, whose goal will be to attend the competitions in Vuzgal, the Fourth, and the Fifth Realm. It is my hope that this program will incentivize the people in the academy to work harder, to learn more about the other realms and their different techniques. The Expert-level books are not just straight information like, say, spell or technique books that we’ve used in the past. Instead of giving a person an answer, it would be better to call them aids that are meant to help people create or find their own path. As people advance down their own path, they will need to experience others’ paths, refining their own skills. If we just tell them what to learn and don’t allow them to make their own path, then we’ll stunt our own growth.” Erik’s eyes moved around the room before they fell on Glosil.

  “Also, I hope that the army can participate in this trend as well. I want to turn the Battle Arena into a prime location for people all over the Fourth Realm to test their skills. I want to have our people up on those stages and training with the different combat artists in the training rooms.”

  “I know that there are plenty of people willing to join in.” Glosil smiled. “I will only be holding back one platoon to remain in Alva. Every three months, the platoons will rotate between Alva and Vuzgal, training their own unit or training new units.”

  Erik smiled in approval. Glosil has really stepped into his own element, commanding the military completely, understanding the people within it, looking to increase their power, protect our assets and looking at the big picture, planning ahead for the future and the higher realms.

  Erik looked over to Elise and Blaze. “It’s been some time, though it looks like things have gone well.” He laughed.

  Blaze and Elise looked at each other and smiled.

  Blaze cleared his throat as he sat up in his chair. “The Adventurer’s Guild has continued expanding. We’re still taking in applicants all the time. We’re operating across the first three realms, and we have put out feelers to the Fighter’s Association. One, to see if they’re interested in taking on our best fighters who didn’t pass vetting to become Alvans and two, to open up a new route to get training and personnel. Once we’re connected to the Fighter’s Association, then it will be harder for the other guilds to create issues.”

  “Issues?” Erik asked.

  “We’re becoming a force to be recognized. There are different sects that are fighters; they challenge our people...get into fights. There have been a few bad ones.” Blaze’s expression darkened.

  “Such as?” Erik asked.

  “There was a group from our association that had just finished running a convoy to their final destination. It was a long haul. Instead of earning gold or copper, they got resources; they worked it out with the merchants. The people from the sect, hearing about the resources exchanged, went after the fighters.

  “They killed three of our people and wounded seven. The remaining ten escaped with the wounded and passed the word. It was in the Second Realm. We sent people over to talk to those in the sect. They gave us reimbursement and punished their students,” Blaze said.

  “What was the name of the sect?” Erik sounded calm but his eyes were locked onto Blaze.

  “Willful Institute. I didn’t want to push it too much. I blacklisted them. You told me to keep a low profile. I made a report and sent it to Delilah.”

  Erik looked at the ceiling, a rush of blood and adrenaline surging through his veins.

  “Someone should really teach them a lesson,” Rugrat said quietly.

  Erik looked over to him.

  “Elan looked into them, they have roots in the fourth realm and a small presence in the fifth realm. Though, there are a number of their sect members that gain the interest of more powerful sects, they head to the higher realms, joining the academies of the sixth and there are rumors that they have members that are in the seventh realm, possibly the eighth.”

  “So a sect reaching to the fourth realm, but really they can call on support from seventh realm experts, possibly the eighth realm,” Rugrat said grimly.

  “Exactly and we all know just how powerful someone from the higher realms could be, think of the power difference between someone from the first and second realm and then someone between the fourth and fifth realm. The gap is bigger with the higher level equipment, cultivation, techniques and any bonuses that people have, such as titles, add up quickly as people don’t just have a handful of stat points anymore.”

  ***

  Aditya was studying a map in his office as there was a knock at the door. It opened to reveal Miss Evernight.

  He waited as the door was closed and she activated a formation. She pulled out a bundle of papers and moved to the planning table next to the map. He moved around to be beside her as he looked over the documents.

  “Training is complete with your primary unit and your reserve. Do you have any questions?” she asked after she had finished laying out the papers.

  Aditya thought of the changes he had seen in his guards. It was as if they had been trimmed up and straightened into form. Now they were closer to one another than before. They had been all doing the same job and looking out for one another. Now they were willing to lay down their lives for one another, to leave their life on the line so that the other would survive. With them all thinking the same way, they were willing to take more risks for one another, exceeding their limits. A loss of honor, of not looking out for the person on their left and right, was more important than dying.

  They had learned how to use their strength with greater effectiveness and coordinate with one another. Their levels hadn’t increased but they had changed.

  “I don’t,�
�� Aditya said.

  “Very well. These are the information reports on all of the outposts, from the basic information of their main imports, exports, the people who control the outpost, to the deeper layers of the thoughts and the back-door dealings that the outposts have, hidden alliances, motivations. The things that we can use to pressure or entice them into joining into the unification effort. Then we have plans for military coordination, as we have discussed. It will be your job to pull in these different outpost leaders and to move forward.” Evernight looked at Aditya.

  He felt a new weight rest on his shoulders as he looked at the information displayed in front of him.

  “Your information network is impressive.” Aditya then took a breath. “The first thing we need to do is create ties with these different outposts—invite them here for a meal, meetings, and trade. We can offer items for sale in the auction houses, use the cover of a newer, stronger Vermire wanting to connect to its fellow outposts. We do a bit of trade, strengthen ties on the outside; behind closed doors, we put into place the first alliances that we have with the different outpost leaders. We will probably need another meeting with them, less pressure in another outpost to confirm our plans and move forward.”

  “You will have the items needed to entice them,” Evernight said with a sly smile.

  Aditya nodded.

  Just what standard have their crafters reached? Are Apprentice weapons and items that hard for them to manufacture?

  Chapter: Line in the Sand

  Emmanuel stood in the guard tower, looking over the training area. He saw the men and women there, wearing their layered clothing as they fought with the small shields and curved swords of the Fayad family.

  “Father.” A woman’s voice came from behind him as he heard Nasreen kneel on the tower floor.

  Emmanuel continued to watch the men and women training and fighting with one another, the flash of blades and shields, the moving of fabric as they focused entirely on their attackers.

  He pulled out a scroll from his robe and held it out.