The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  Matt sipped from his beer.

  “You miss it?” Rugrat asked.

  “Sure, I miss the people, miss video games and TV. Don’t miss the taxes though, and being here comes with its benefits.”

  Matt summoned one of his beasts. A turtle-looking creature appeared. “This is Leonardo.” Matt grinned.

  Rugrat snorted as George padded over, tapping on Leonardo’s shell, examining him.

  “Do you?” Matt asked.

  “What? Miss it? I miss my mom, my sister, but I feel like I belong here more than I did there.”

  “I can see that.” Matt nodded.

  They sat there quietly and Matt let out a snicker.

  “It’s strange. We’re rushing around doing so much right now, but to butcher a good quote: it’s not insane to think that with the medical professions and concoctions in the realms that we could live for two, even three hundred years!”

  Rugrat let out a laugh and leaned back on his elbows. “Two or three hundred years—sounds like a long damn time.”

  “Ten lifetimes.” Matt raised his beer in agreement.

  Leonardo snapped at George, making him jump back, startled.

  “Stop messing with Leonardo.” Rugrat waved George over as the flames that had started to appear around him dimmed down.

  Leonardo seemed pleased as he laid down, tucking his limbs in as he let Matt scratch his neck.

  “Maybe it’s like water, krill, and plankton as one. The attributes are the krill and plankton, in the water, or mana. The dungeon core and different items in the Ten Realms consume that plankton and krill, removing them from the water or changing them into a different byproduct. Like air back home and a dungeon core is the air filter.”

  “Or maybe you’re overthinking it?” Matt said.

  “Overthinking it?”

  “When I use magic, I just use it and I get to know it more. Then it becomes like a secondary response. Talking and writing is something that we learned but now we use it every day. Maybe magic is just a different way to communicate?”

  ***

  Erik sat in front of a cauldron as it started to shake and tremble.

  Erik’s forehead was covered in sweat as he watched the different ingredients reacting with one another, turning the inside into a chaotic mess.

  Erik lost control and a thick, turbid, black smoke appeared in the workshop, filling his nostrils. He coughed and spluttered. He started up a formation that would draw the smoke out of the room. He leaned over the cauldron and took a deep breath. He coughed some more as he used his Reverse Alchemist ability to try to understand what had happened in the concoction.

  “It’s not a simple pill to make.” Erik ran his hand through his hair.

  “Everyone wants a pill or something to heal their ailments in one go. If you were wounded on Earth, then you would need to get treated for the wound. Then there might be follow-up operations, then they needed to rest up, and then there is rehab so if the change is big the person can adapt to it. There wasn’t one pill but a series of medications, maybe a change to a person’s diet and their routine.”

  Erik frowned as he pulled out his notes on the recluse.

  “Making a pill might be too hard. But a treatment plan? I talked about using different parts to heal the body...can’t I do that for him? I’ve been so focused on increasing my Alchemy, but what if I can get the same effects through different means?”

  Erik studied the sheet without really seeing it.

  “Could I use that to increase my cultivation? Not one pill or concoction to bust through, just slowly over time. I used a pill, a blade, and the floor to temper my body with flames. So what if it takes longer? If I can get the Earth attribute to permeate my entire body—wait a minute.”

  Erik turned his thoughts inward, to the power of Fire within his body. He opened his hands and flames appeared around his hand. He stood and closed his hand. His hand glowed with a red power as embers seemed to appear around it.

  He struck out with his fist. Sparks scattered into the air. He did it a few more times before he shot a fireball from his fist.

  “I’m such an idiot,” Erik said as he executed Illusionary Unhallowed Strike.

  Now his fists were imbued with the power of flames, increasing his striking power.

  “I was so wrapped up with other things. I was following other people’s paths and not mine. I wonder if I can use these flames instead of my spell flames? Can I use it in combination with the flame technique that Old Hei taught me?”

  Erik’s head hurt as two sets of knowledge, history, and abilities were forcefully merged into one.

  Erik waved his hand. A Fire tiger appeared on his arm and walked up his shoulder.

  A spurt of water came from the other side of the room, striking the tiger. Gilly gave an unimpressed look.

  Erik laughed as a flaming turtle appeared in front of him. He seemed to be made of a red crystal with a blue flame that could be seen burning within him. Embers flowed together and spun into the form of a dragon that wove around Erik’s shoulders and down his arm, charging the larger turtle. The turtle opened his mouth and the dragon passed through. It was formed of embers and fire, circling the turtle’s blue flame.

  “The mana drain is really high, but I can just maintain it with my Mana Regeneration. Though my control is much higher than it was. If I could have the two of them within the cauldron...”

  Erik’s mind was filled with more ideas.

  “With the skill book, my spell book, and my arts combining together, I must be close to making my own technique. I feel like I am missing something still.” Erik frowned before he dismissed the flames.

  “Time to see if there is an Earth-attribute weapon for sale, or if I can get someone to make one.”

  ***

  “You want me to make you an Earth-attribute weapon so that you can stab yourself?” Taran asked.

  “Pretty much.” Erik nodded.

  Taran opened and closed his mouth, then shrugged. “Okay. I can make the weapon. I’ll talk to some of the people with the Formation Guild.”

  “I’m going to be at the library. I need to research Earth-based poisons. Egbert!” Erik yelled into the air as he was walking.

  “What?” Egbert yelled back through the air.

  “Is the Earth floor done yet?”

  “It’s filled with Fire-attribute mana still. Poisonous to others. The air is cleaner. Little Davin has secured the Wood floor. It is just taking us a lot of time to fix the formations. Stop eating rocks!” Egbert collected himself. “The roots went through the formation. It is a mess.”

  “Just has Fire-attribute toxins, right?” Erik looked down at his hand as it glowed with power.

  “Yes. Why are you using Fire mana within your body? Do you know how? Oh yeah, you tempered your body.”

  “I’m going to the library and then I’ll be down in a bit.” Erik headed into the library. I’ll check out all of my options and then combine them together to temper my body and reach Body Like Diamond.

  Erik was filled with energy again as he saw a way forward.

  Chapter: Step by Step, Piece by Piece

  “Something wrong?” Elise asked Blaze as she came out of their shared bedroom, seeing him working at his desk.

  “I thought you were asleep,” he said, looking over.

  “Once I saw you weren’t in bed and heard you out here working, I couldn’t keep being lazy.” Elise smiled as she draped her hands over his shoulder and leaned down.

  Blaze gave her a kiss and she rested her head against his shoulder, looking at the papers on the table.

  “So, what has got the Adventurer’s Guild leader all worked up?”

  Blaze’s smile soured as he let out a haggard breath. “The guild isn’t happy, though I have a meeting with some representatives from the Fighter’s Association in a few weeks. Hopefully that will give them something to talk about. We all hate waiting. They killed our people and took their gear and rewards—now they’re up in
the Fourth Realm while their sect told us to stop being annoying.”

  “Well, what does the Willful Institute do to earn money?” Elise asked.

  “They’re a sect—people pay them money to join,” Blaze said.

  “An institution like that, they need to have people going out and earning them money.”

  “They go to tournaments, they have trade caravans, and they sell goods across the realms.”

  “Well, we have crafters and highly prized goods. If you could find the places for our traders to sell the goods, then compete with them?” Elise said.

  “They’re a massive sect,” Blaze said.

  “And we have our own Expert-level crafters now. Alva isn’t just some small little village anymore.”

  “So we compete against them?”

  “Anyone who is looking to compete against them, I think that Erik and Rugrat will agree with me that we can back them. Then you give them protection. We start cutting into the bottom line of the Willful Institute. They are a massive institution; they need to be constantly earning money to create a revenue. We have all of those items from Vuzgal that need to be sold as well.” Elise had a cold look on her face.

  Blaze laughed and kissed her as he pulled out his sound transmission device.

  “What is it?” Jasper asked, answering as if he were still asleep.

  “Elise just had an idea. I want to know every merchant and convoy across the Second and Third Realm that competes with the Willful Institute. Contact Elan and his people to get the information.”

  “I will have it shortly.” Jasper sounded much more alert.

  ***

  Elan sat in the Sky Reaching Restaurant, looking over Vuzgal. Someone knocked at the door.

  He pressed a button on the formation and the door slid open. An aide, looking like a server from the restaurant, bowed before coming in. The door slid shut behind her.

  “Head Blaze and Deputy Jasper request information on traders and groups competing against the Willful Institute.” They opened their serving tray and Elan took the two letters on it.

  He read the more detailed information.

  “Send word to the Third and Second Realm intelligence heads to gather information on figures and groups that have issue with the Willful Institute.”

  He put the letters into a fire next to him as the server bowed and headed out of the room. The formation within the room wouldn’t allow sound transmissions to enter or exit.

  Elan smiled as the door closed.

  Seems that Blaze has a new way to fight back against the Willful Institute. If they were to take direct action, then the sect might attack them head on. With aiding others, they reduce their footprint and do a greater amount of damage over a longer time. Elan looked at the reports around him.

  He left the room. He went down a secret lift that went under Vuzgal into the dungeon floor underneath. Down here, the food for the Sky Reaching Restaurants was grown. It was also where the formations to supply power to the different bunkers that protected Vuzgal were hidden. As well as undead that patrolled the area and watched the city above.

  He reached a complex. There were several houses that had been built up around a courtyard.

  Elan knocked on one of the doors.

  A lanky, pale-looking fellow answered the door.

  “Head Elan.” A scribe stepped out and greeted Elan with a bow.

  “Scribe Dang.” Elan nodded to the man. “How goes the recording process?”

  “Please come in. I have sorted out information that I believe would be of interest to you. We have been recording different cultivation technique manuals and processes that people use. Still, our biggest advancements have been in spell scrolls, formations, and blueprints.”

  Elan smiled. “It was the right choice making you the overseer of the answering statue.”

  When I learned how underused it was and its capabilities...Rugrat might be a good smith and have great ideas, combining what he knew on Earth with the tools he has in the Ten Realms, but when executing some of them, he’s not the strongest.

  “It has been a wealth of knowledge. The different designs are creating an uproar in the Kanesh Academy.” Dang smiled happily as he took off a medallion and then pressed it to a lockbox. It opened to reveal reports and papers inside.

  “Anything that I should know?” Elan asked.

  “There seems to be someone gathering information on us. Our military and our strength. I know a lot of people have been doing so, but this seems more direct, as if they’re looking for tactical information and formulating a way to attack us.” Dang’s words were heavy before he continued in a lighter voice. “The associations are pleased with their positions. The Blue Lotus has lost some face and are looked down on by the other associations because they stepped on the feet of the city lords the most. They don’t go overboard as there is someone from the Blue Lotus in charge. People are having more questions about the city lords. The military gained some attention. Minor matters, it seems.” Dang shrugged.

  Elan took the papers and nodded.

  “Is there anything that I should pay attention to in the future?”

  “With someone moving in the shadows and gathering information, it would seem they are local. We should look to the surrounding area and see who would benefit the most by taking Vuzgal. Also see what people think about the auction house and the arena,” Elan said.

  “I will do my best,” Dang said.

  The answering statues can give real-time information on what is happening, or when there is a blueprint within its area of influence, it can help people write it out. Still, it has to describe it line by line and can’t show people. It is a great tool. With the scribes here, they can work faster, but we still lose information.

  “I’ll see you tomorrow unless there is an emergency,” Elan said.

  “’Til tomorrow.”

  ***

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” Egbert asked as he and Erik stood on the teleportation formation.

  Erik checked his storage ring. There were healing concoctions, Earth-attribute concoctions, and several needles with formations inlaid in them. Formations have sure come a long way.

  “It’s an idea. We’ll test the environment around the teleportation pad. If I’m all okay, we can move deeper,” Erik said as he finished checking his supplies.

  “That sounds safe,” Storbon said.

  “And you’ve never done anything stupid?” Yao Meng quipped.

  Storbon flipped him the bird as the rest of the special team grinned.

  “Now don’t kill one another while I’m gone. Egbert, kick it,” Erik said.

  “Kick it? What am I kicking? Is Rugrat around?”

  Erik held his rifle at the ready as the formation flashed with light.

  “I’m not in Kansas anymore,” Erik said, looking at the floor.

  He checked the area.

  “There isn’t anything alive on this floor other than you right now. Well, and some plants,” Egbert said.

  Erik lowered his rifle and checked the condition within his body. The Fire-attribute mana was thick in the air, more than the dungeon level he had been in. He breathed it in, coughing as Egbert gathered power in the formation.

  Erik waved his hand at him and he kept coughing, taking a bit of time to clear his lungs. “Smoky,” he wheezed out, grabbing a canteen of water and drinking it.

  Erik checked on the condition of his body. Erik couldn’t help but shake his head.

  “Sometimes the thinking on Earth is useless here.” He sat down and started to circulate his mana.

  He could feel Egbert staring at him as if he were a peculiar specimen. “What’s wrong?”

  “You’re okay? Why are you circulating your mana to temper your body?” Egbert’s questions fell out of his jaw.

  “People temper their bodies with the affinities, though most people aren’t willing to waste the time tempering and suffering through a long period of time. Pills and Alchemy products are much
easier to consume—they’re powerful and fast-acting. People just use concoctions to increase the tempering of their body. Now, if we combine concoctions to increase the recovery, then I can temper my body faster, drawing in the power. I also found out something interesting when I gained my Fire Body.

  “With my Fire Body, it will take a lot of Fire-attribute mana to affect me now. Fire attribute attacks are much weaker and my control over flames is higher. Though I was a bit of an idiot. When I saw Fire Body, I thought it was just a title to mean that I had passed my tempering. I only realized recently that it means a lot more.” Erik raised his hand and the air shifted; the heat built up and a flame appeared within his hand as the Fire-attribute mana was gathered together.

  “I didn’t just temper my body with flames—I gained control over them. I treated it like another level that I needed to pass and didn’t look at the benefits.” Erik shook his head. “There is still a lot to be learned about the Ten Realms and although some of it can be explained by what I know from Earth, some of it just can’t. As for why I’m circulating my mana, you need to break and remake one’s body when body tempering, incorporating the power of the Ten Realms. Cultivation is looked at as increasing one’s power. That is just a passive effect. It makes us closer to the Ten Realms—we can tap into more of its power. While I draw in the mana, my body has to grow accustomed to it. The Fire-attribute mana doesn’t affect me anymore. The Fire attribute is turned into energy, restoring my Stamina. The remaining mana I can then compress into my mana core. The impurities temper my body.

  “With my Poison Body, I can excrete poisons, using it in my attacks. They don’t affect me as much and the impurities within my body are slowly resolved, turning from toxin to tonic.

  “With the high amount of Earth attribute in the air, I draw it into my body and concentrate it around my bones.”

  Erik felt his bones itching and small cracks appeared. The Earth-attribute mana caused them to crack under the pressure. A small amount of the Earth mana entered the bones as they were reformed.