The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  “Damn, this is a lot of power.” Erik was a little scared of the power in his hands now. If I have this power, then who else does? That thought sent a shiver through his body.

  “You done in there yet?” Egbert asked.

  Erik looked back to see Egbert in a flower pattern shirt in a wooden reclined chair, reading a book.

  “I have so many questions,” Erik said.

  “Oh, about your cultivation?” Egbert asked in an excited tone, leaning forward.

  “Mostly about the shirt,” Erik said with a raised eyebrow.

  “Hey, Rugrat talked about these Hawaiian shirts and someone made up a print. People really started to enjoy them. Even got a pair of shorts and sunglasses!” Egbert pulled out a pair of sunglasses and put them on his face. He had to tilt his head back so they wouldn’t fall off his head due to the lack of nose and ears.

  Erik cleared his throat. Gilly moved and the two of them headed out of the Earth cave. As Erik walked out, he had to adjust the amount of strength he used, getting accustomed to the changes within his body.

  Erik remembered his mana core and looked at it once again.

  Still there were the ribbons of colors that moved through it, appearing and disappearing, weaving their way through, the blue flame and the dirt sphere that orbited where his mana drops rested. The dirt sphere drew in the mana and the flame refined it as two mana drops rested at the center of Erik’s mana core.

  Erik explained what he was seeing in his core.

  “That must be because of your cultivation,” Egbert said excitedly.

  “How?”

  “So it looks like your body cultivation because it has been tempered by flames, it refines that affinity out of your mana, increasing its purity without concious thought. Its like what Old Hei told you. You can use the affinity mana to temper your body, but you’ve tempered your body to such a degree it has taken on the attributes of the affinity. Increased resistances, greater control over the affinity. Which means that as you increase your cultivation, your body will automaticlaly refine the mana you are gathering, the two systems working together to become stronger. People who have an innate constitutions have greater control over one or another type of attribute mana, which allows them to gather and refine it easier. So an ice type consitution, if in a cold place with only ice attribue mana their body will refine the ice attribute, increasing their body’s power and the mana will be much more refined as they use it in their mana gathering practices. I never thought of it, but based on what you’re saying and what I’ve read on innate constiutions is makes sense!”

  Egbert pulled out a notepad from somewhere and wrote down his learnings.

  “Seems that I am walking the right path then,” Erik said. “What happened while I’ve been cultivating?”

  “Well, you started four weeks ago. A lot has happened.”

  Chapter: Redesigned Beast Mountain Range

  Glosil left the battle in the hands of Aditya and his trained guards, but it had to do with the future of Aditya and their security. He had been watching what was going on and getting regular updates from Miss Evernight and their intelligence officers across the Beast Mountain Range.

  He watched a shimmering mirror in the middle of the room.

  A mage sat off to the side, controlling the divination spell that allowed Glosil to see the overall battlefield.

  In the higher realms, the more rampant mana that people contained within their bodies and spells that armies used to stop others from spying on them made divination a hard task. In the First Realm, there were few people with the amount of mana that would make it hard to use a divination spell and they didn’t have spells to distort the spells. Only the powerful armies of different kingdoms had those kinds of abilities.

  “Since they have been able to free up their allies, they’ve turned the tide on the enemy,” Yui said, watching with him.

  “Taking out the leadership of the opposing alliance has thrown the others into chaos. Knowing that their homes are being attacked while they’re trying to attack another outpost—one hell of a blow to the attacker’s morale. It has bolstered the allied outposts as well.”

  Aditya’s second army had done two major things. They had attacked and taken down a number of outpost lords and ladies, and they had hit the rears of the enemy alliance that were attacking the outposts that supported King’s Hill Outpost. Miss Evernight’s people had done their job well. The people in the outposts had long heard about Lord Aditya. Knowing his people were occupying their outposts and were going through and restoring order, it went a long way. When hitting the rear of the outpost armies, the Vermire army called for their enemies’ surrender. Not many were willing to lose their lives and most were mercenaries there to earn coin, not lose their lives.

  The Vermire army linked up with forces from the King’s Hill Outpost Alliance. Then, driving the mercenaries and surrendered forces ahead of them, they pushed into other outposts. Even if the lord ordered it, many of the guards on the wall weren’t willing to shoot their friends and family who had been sent out to take another outpost and were now charging their walls. So the army grew.

  “Using those binding contracts, the guards and mercenaries can’t do anything but follow the army’s orders,” Yui said. “Feels dirty.”

  “It works,” Glosil said, not disagreeing with him.

  “What will happen with the mercenaries and the guards afterward?”

  “Not sure. Some might remain as guards, retrained. Others will be released back to their old lives. Miss Evernight’s people will figure it out,” Glosil said.

  He looked from the divination. “You can go rest,” Glosil said.

  The mage opened her eyes and the spell disappeared.

  “Thank you.” She got up and stretched lightly before leaving the room.

  “How are things on your side?” Glosil asked.

  “Training is almost complete. A lot of people have at least two or three courses under their belt now. They’re taking the time to go to the academy, try learning a new skill. They can take more courses when we’re rotated back to Vuzgal. I know a lot of them are interested in going CPD and testing out for the special teams. Do we have any news on operations?”

  “Train, rest up and get ready. We still need to build our numbers up to defend Vuzgal and Alva properly. There might be something coming down the pipe soon.”

  “Sounds good. You hear about Erik and Rugrat?” Yui stood.

  “How they’re teaching in the academy, Erik is working in the healing house, Rugrat is taking formation lessons and both of them are creating Alchemy and smithing items like madmen?”

  “Yeah. Do those two ever stop?” Yui snorted and shook his head.

  “I don’t think it’s in them to,” Glosil said, his voice becoming distant. With the weight on our shoulders, how can we give everything less than our all?

  “I heard that Erik got stronger, a lot stronger,” Yui said.

  Glosil remembered standing in front of Erik. It didn’t feel as though he were standing in front of a man, but a beast that was ready to pounce at any moment, that could tear him apart with casual ease.

  “Yeah, should be enough to terrify the hell out of some people.”

  ***

  Nasreen looked at the outpost ahead. The flags of the lord had been removed and now they were bare as she and the rest of the King’s Hill Outpost Army rode into the outpost.

  The people hid away from them, but there were guards from Vermire waiting within the walls.

  Just how did they do it?

  “Report,” Veli, a high-ranking Vermire guard, asked the group waiting within the walls off to the side.

  “We took the outpost without issue. Once the lord was killed, we allowed the guards to surrender and they did. Didn’t like their lord much but he used the threat of spell scrolls to keep them managed. With him gone, they were happy for a change of guard,” the woman guard said.

  Veli snorted and nodded. “Very well. We’re going t
o rest here for the night and then head onto Dundeep. They are still being attacked by the enemy.”

  “We got word ahead of time. We have got barracks prepared, hot water for cleaning as well as food. We checked it already,” the woman said.

  Nasreen was impressed and a little scared. Communication devices are rare but all of these groups have to have at least one in order to coordinate their attacks.

  “Good work,” Veli said.

  The woman guard bowed, a pleased smile on her face. The others with her grinned.

  Nasreen and Veli moved away from them.

  “How long have you been planning this for?” Nasreen asked.

  “I’m not sure. The lord might know that.” Veli shrugged. He wasn’t as brooding or quiet as Pan Kun.

  “Though getting all of these people into place into the outposts to strike out at the outpost lords and ladies... Eight outposts fell in the first night. Seven had fighting break out in the streets. Twelve of the neutral outposts pledged to the alliance right away, forming up and supporting the other outposts of the alliance. Now there are just five more outposts that remain standing. The people within are not sure who is an ally or a spy.” Nasreen felt that Vermire was an enigma.

  “Interesting, isn’t it,” Veli said with a smile. “Our lord is not a simple man.”

  He let out a laugh and Nasreen moved with him. Her thoughts moved to King’s Hill Outpost.

  ***

  Aditya looked at the changing map.

  Once the forces of the outposts were freed, with those attacking them being driven back, the outpost lords had sent out their guards to join the KOA, or King’s Hill Outpost Army, sending support to their fellow outpost leaders and clearing the armies attacking them faster than before. Now there were three different KOAs that were moving between outposts, with a fourth nearly formed.

  Aditya’s communication device lit up.

  “Lord, the basic structure of the outpost is complete. We have wooden walls in places and there is a village headquarters made from stone. We should have the barracks created tomorrow. We spent most of our time sourcing the materials from the surrounding area. Now it should be a lot faster to build.”

  “How long do you think that it will be until the second phase is complete?”

  “Should be three weeks,” Pan Kun said.

  “I’ll send crafters and laborers ahead of the road team from Vermire. I want the second phase completed in no more than a week and a half.”

  “Yes, my lord.” Pan Kun paused.

  “Wondering how the fight is going?”

  “A little, my lord,” Pan Kun said awkwardly.

  Aditya chuckled and looked at the map.

  “There are still some lords holding out on us. Some have started to pull back their forces, looking to defend what they have instead of taking more. Some are suing for peace. With the head of the enemy alliance gone and with three armies of three thousand strong, the pressure upon them isn’t small. With our eyes and ears, we have been able to disrupt the outposts from within and create openings for our armies to exploit. To be honest, even I didn’t expect these results.”

  Aditya’s eyes moved to Miss Evernight, who was reading over a report on the kingdoms that were backing different outposts.

  “Seems that the second army has done better than I hoped.” Pan Kun laughed in relief, though Aditya could sense the pride as well.

  “Don’t let anything stop the construction of the outpost. We’ll need it soon.”

  “A week and a half with our crafters, sir.”

  “They’re on their way.” Aditya closed the connection and then sent a sound transmission to his guards, ordering them to escort crafters, builders, and laborers to King’s Hill Outpost. With the new building that Vermire had recently undergone, there were plenty of skilled builders in the outpost.

  “Should be about time to send a message to the other outpost lords,” Evernight said, standing.

  “Already? We haven’t cleared the remaining outposts.”

  “Yes, sending them a message now shows your confidence and your arrogance. Being arrogant is something they’re used to. Being cautious and analytical, it will be harder for them to control,” Evernight said.

  ***

  Emmanuel got the message from Aditya, requesting a new meeting of the alliance. This time, it would be held at the King’s Hill Outpost.

  He is sure confident that we can win this war, and he has set the date for us to meet in just a week.

  Emmanuel was not expecting so many changes in such a short while. When he and the other outposts had been just reacting, Aditya had been executing a well-thought-out plan. He had been able to take down eight outposts with his people, using them as supply points for the KOAs as they pushed to attack the enemy outposts and support their allies.

  The reversal had been too quick for the enemy alliance to have time to react, with Aditya’s people focusing on breaking up the chain of allied outposts, putting a thorn in the middle of their support and supply lines.

  “I wonder for how long he has been planning this,” Reema Fayad said.

  “He is young and bold, but he has the ability to back it up.” Umar sighed.

  “What are our actions now? Do we continue to support him? Look to take the outpost for ourselves?” Reema asked.

  “Right now, we are more vulnerable than ever. There are many eyes gathered on us from outside. Kingdoms and empires are moving. We must show that we are working together, not fighting amongst ourselves. Some are looking to take over; others are guarding against any actions we might take. We need support, or else those wolves might take a bite of us,” Emmanuel said.

  “So we support the King’s Hill Outpost Alliance.” Umar snorted softly and looked to the others. “Very well. If we stick together, we must make sure that it is all the way and that none can get out of the agreement.”

  Emmanuel nodded. He wasn’t as headstrong to think that his own outpost could challenge a kingdom or an empire.

  Chapter: Work for It

  Erik jogged into the Battle Arena, waving to the others. Behind him, Niemm and half of Special Team One were following behind.

  “You’re not normally late,” Rugrat said as Erik jumped from the top of the arena and landed in the sparring area with a thud.

  “Show-off,” Rugrat muttered.

  “Sorry. I was dealing with a patient,” Erik said.

  Gilly was on his back in her smaller form, looking excited, as if she wanted Erik to do it all over again.

  After he had finished his body tempering, Erik had headed to the Alva Healing House to help out with the patients there. He had come to be known as the Godly doctor. He’d needed to tone down his abilities with the increases to his mana control, mana pool, regeneration, effect; healing people became easier as he was more exact with his efforts. With the laser-like focus of his healing, the people under his care didn’t need to expend so much Stamina in order to recover.

  When he wasn’t working on patients, he was working on concoctions. Instead of trying the high Expert-level concoction formula he had received, he was working on lower-grade concoctions and increasing their overall efficacy.

  He had been able to make Apprentice-grade Inscribed pills. These were at least fifty percent more powerful than the original pill and unlike the original pill, Inscribed pills would not lose their efficacy over time.

  Through further research, Erik had learned about all the levels of pills.

  There was the Newborn pill. This was a pill with no additional effect; this was a minimal kind of pill, just being formed.

  Then there was the Condensed pill, which would display a twenty percent greater effect than the Newborn pill. Then there was the Concentrated pill that showed thirty percent greater effect. Inscribed had a fifty percent higher effect and wouldn’t lose its strength with time. The last was an Enlightened level pill. This was a hundred percent stronger than a Newborn pill; it would not lose its efficacy and over time it would passiv
ely increase in strength. Creating a High Apprentice-level Enlightened pill would be harder than even a mid Journeyman level Concentrated pill. For low-level pills, it wasn’t worth the alchemist’s time to go past the Concentrated level as a higher level pill formula would be much easier to learn and create a stronger pill.

  Upon reaching the high Journeyman and Expert level of Alchemy, people would focus on their efficacy more as the distance between grades was vast.

  A high-level Journeyman Inscribed pill was on the same level as a low Expert pill.

  Erik was churning out high Journeyman Condensed pills with ease and Concentrated pills one in three batches, but Inscribed were still out of his reach.

  “Ready to lose?” Erik asked.

  “You said that you were going to help me out with tempering my body,” Rugrat complained.

  “Give me like two weeks. Then we can challenge Body Like Stone. You didn’t tell me about all of the damn Mana Gathering Cultivation quests!”

  “Whoops?” Rugrat shrugged with a smirk on his face

  “Whoops?” Erik’s eyes thinned as his own face split into a cold smirk. “Do you want to spar? I’m not sure how strong I am and should be easy enough to put you back together.”

  Rugrat laughed awkwardly not saying anything before he sighed, seeing the look in Erik’s eyes.

  “Fine,” He sighed, preparing himself mentally as he headed over to the fighting stage.

  The two of them went to opposite sides of the stage. Those from Special Team One couldn’t look away as they stepped up. It had been some time since the two had stepped on the stage.

  They had all started to learn their techniques and were interested how Erik and Rugrat had adjusted and adapted to theirs.