The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  The boy started to shake as he stood there. “Do you take me for some kind of simpleton! You think that just because I am in this—this form, I am a doddering fool! I am no idiot, man, and I will not be taken as one! Guards!”

  Erik frowned. It seemed that he had touched on a nerve. He opened his mouth to speak and a guard rushed him.

  Erik and Rugrat had been fighting each other for five days, every day for five hours. They’d quickly fallen into a rhythm and cleared any cobwebs that might have been remaining.

  Erik threw out his fist, creating two semi-illusionary fists.

  The man countered one, but the second and Erik’s true fist struck the man, sending him flying through the wall and out into the city beyond.

  The guards in the room stopped and Erik pulled his aura back in. For a second, they had felt as if they were staring at some kind of beast king. The alchemist was stunned but he had not fought as much as the guards, so he recovered the quickest.

  “I will never give you that formula!” he hissed.

  Erik shook his head and turned, leaving the room.

  “Y-you think you can leave?” the boy yelled, regaining his voice as he pointed at Erik.

  Erik looked back at him. “Keep your formula. I don’t need it anymore. Maybe this form fits you better, after all. Boys don’t think about what consequences their actions might have.”

  Erik departed the room.

  The guards shuddered and the alchemist boy lowered his finger.

  Erik found the special team in the stairwell. They’d subdued the butler and the staff.

  I’m not the only one who’s improved.

  “Time we were leaving,” Erik said.

  They headed out of the building, pulling on their cloaks. Erik took a trip down a side street, finding a man who had crashed into the neighbor’s garden.

  Erik quickly healed the man. He opened his eyes, unable to see into the darkness of Erik’s cloak.

  “Don’t fight for idiots or else they’ll get you killed.” Erik used a stronger version of Wraith’s Touch and the man’s eyes rolled back into his head.

  The group departed, leaving the city behind.

  Chapter: Upon a Firm Foundation

  Aditya put down his sound transmission device, a wide smile on his face.

  “The outpost has completed its second phase of construction. The lords are creating roads through the forest as quickly as possible. For now, the Yearin and the Tairith kingdoms are gathering their strength. Something that the other outpost lords are acutely aware of.”

  “It is said that a foundation needs to be properly tapped down. Pressure increases how strong it is bonded together. With the exterior threat, the lords and ladies don’t have anyone to turn to but one another.”

  “It also happens that with the King’s Hill Outpost between us all, if we can move troops through it, then we can support any of the outposts easily, defend the exterior and protect the interior.”

  “You’re getting it now, Lord Aditya. Are you ready for the meeting?”

  “As best as I can be. In two days, all of the remaining lords and ladies who control an outpost in the Beast Mountain Range will gather in King’s Hill Outpost for the first time. It’s a momentous occasion!”

  ***

  Hiao Xen looked at the people within the room. It was a rare time when all of the managers of Vuzgal were in one location. There was Elise, who managed the trading; Chonglu, who controlled the arena; Tan Xue, the leader of the academy; as well as Mallory, the leader of the police force, and Domonos Silaz, the current commander of the Vuzgal military. Glosil was the overall commander of the military but he was part of the Alva Council. Yui or Domonos ran the military when their units were stationed there, becoming the VDF. Then there was Matt, the host of today’s meeting, grand architect of Vuzgal and manager of the Sky Reaching Restaurants, Wayside Inns and all building that was going on in Vuzgal. They were in the main Sky Reaching Restaurant, looking out over all of Vuzgal, only shorter than the mana barrier pillars.

  “All right, well, we’ve got a lot to discuss, so shall we start?” Hiao Xen looked to Elise. The group didn’t stand on many traditions, other than having their meetings at dinner shared with the others. They said it went back to their founding days when the only spare time they had was over meals.

  “Sales are stronger than ever in Vuzgal. There are more people coming through on a daily basis. Our biggest issue is with housing. I have a number of merchants and people who are interested in when more land will be available for purchase. Many are even willing to build their own buildings. We are trying to grow our own traders with loans, but we have a number of powerful merchant houses that are coming in. It makes us more revenues but it is stifling our own traders. I am wary that if we are not careful then these merchants who don’t have ties to Vuzgal will control the markets.”

  Elise then looked to the next person.

  “The arena has grown in leaps and bounds. The private training areas are a hot commodity. We have introduced a membership option. Every two weeks, people can reserve two time slots in the tier-one private training areas and one in the tier-two private training areas. Those with a membership can get four slots in the tier-one training area, two in the tier-two and one slot in the tier-three. For the VIP membership, people get two free time slots in the tier-one training areas and can book one slot in the tier-four training rooms. These memberships are rewarded to those that place high in the championships as well. So far, we have been running weekly tournaments. In two weeks, we will have the first official tournament.

  “We have coordinated with the auction house.” Chonglu looked to Elise. “There will be items up for sale that will interest fighters and those who come to view the tournament. The entire Battle Arena will be open for a week. The first three days will slim down the tournament to just one hundred people. These one hundred people will be broken into ten groups. They will need to compete in these groups. The top three will go on to fight in the final tournament. With the last competitions, from the quarterfinals and semifinals, we will host them in the main arena. Those who are knocked out will go to the lower levels, fighting it out there to get our rankings. The top thirty will all gain rewards of some kind. We hope to run a tournament every three months.”

  Tan Xue sipped her tea and cleared her throat. “The academy is progressing smoothly. We have nearly tripled the number of crafters who have signed exclusive contracts with us and there are plenty of people willing to pay for the schooling. We have even turned a slight profit to cover the expenses of the academy. Among our staff, we have thirteen Expert-level teachers. Among our own people, there are five who are on the border of becoming Expert. I hope they will cross that barrier soon.” She took another sip of her tea, done talking.

  “Crime is low within Vuzgal. Many of the people within the city are incredibly powerful, meaning that few people are willing to try thievery. We do have people fighting in the streets. We fine them and send them in the direction of the arena if they want to fight. Some people like to throw their weight around, using their position to try to get us to pressure others. My officers have kept their oaths and dealt with situations freely. It has got us some ire from powerful people.” Mallory, the head of the Vuzgal police force, shrugged.

  “To the people of Vuzgal, it means they can rely on you and can come to you if they are in need or have important information, even if it is against someone powerful,” Domonos said.

  “Thank you.”

  “The military’s training is going well. We are stronger than before and we are recruiting more people than before. We are now able to fully support the wall and have active patrols around Vuzgal. There might be a possible threat to the north, but we are looking into it.”

  Tight-lipped as ever. Hiao Xen knew that there were secrets he was not privy to; one was the training and overall strength of the military.

  He looked to Matt, who was struggling with his noodles and chopsticks. Seeing the eyes on hi
m, he quickly slurped the noodles back, coughing slightly.

  Domonos passed him a water; he nodded in thanks and used the water to calm his coughing.

  “Wrong tube. Okay, umm, well, we’ve got building projects across the city. We have reclaimed the remainder of Vuzgal. The streets have been cleared; the defenses and water treatment systems are all in place. Areas have been designated as park land, or left empty for future development. In the other areas, we just need the buildings. Staffing for the restaurants is still low, but we have more people arriving all the time willing to learn and a number of the cooks are going to the academy on their time off to increase their skill.”

  “What is our plan with the new space?” Hiao Xen looked to Elise.

  “Sell it off in lots like we have done before. We take our time to plan out the city, build the different buildings and auction them off. Again, if we grow too fast, then we lose control over the people,” Elise said.

  “Okay, I’ll leave it to you. In the meantime, administration has started to get easier. Instead of needing to hire more people, the different managers and workers have a good grip of their job and are able to take on more. The academy healers offering cheap services to the people in Vuzgal has made more people apply to become Vuzgal citizens and increased the people’s sentiment toward Vuzgal. Schooling opportunities, loans, security and areas that you have all affected has impacted their lives greatly, leaving us with a rush of people applying to be citizens.”

  “We will need to hold back some of the residences for the people of Vuzgal, give them loan options in order to buy homes,” Elise said.

  Hiao Xen felt the minds and gears of the different people moving around him. This was one of the powerful and great things of working in Vuzgal: there were no roundtables and committees to carry out an action; an order created action and reaction, increasing the effect dramatically.

  ***

  Olivia knelt in front of Nadia.

  “Don’t you think that by now you can greet me without kneeling?” Nadia muttered.

  “I am trying to be more humble.” Olivia smiled.

  “Working well for you?”

  “Some days...” Olivia’s words trailed off.

  “The moves of Vuzgal, what do you think of them?”

  “Opening the academy to all, heavily recruiting military forces? The missing combat company, or how strong the Dragon Combat Company has become once they returned? Building up their traders, investing in their defenses, selling weapons and arms to other cities and creating trading alliances with cities to the east?”

  “When you put it that way, there are quite a lot of changes,” Nadia said. “What I am asking is about how they have scouts heading to the north.”

  “We can confirm this?”

  “Not totally. They are good at hiding their tracks.”

  “Seems that someone in the north is not pleased with them. They have gained quite a lot of strength here. Why do you ask?”

  “You know how the Blue Lotus looks at battles,” Nadia said.

  “As long as we are not targeted, we are informed, move our people out of the way and compensated with damages and a new contract is agreed to at the same stipulations or higher than before, we won’t care. Remaining neutral in these conflicts allows us to grow. Are you saying that the north has offered terms?”

  “Not yet, but they might. They just took the northern territories and Aberdeen. They need funds and strength. If they can take Vuzgal, they should get it,” Nadia said.

  “If you think that, then Erik and Rugrat will have taken that into consideration.”

  “Do you think that they could win?” Nadia asked seriously.

  Olivia had seen how Erik and Rugrat fought, their strange but highly effective tactics.

  “I’m not sure. I don’t know what the other side looks like. Though they slowed a force numbering fifty thousand with planning, positioning, their strange weapons and one hundred men and women. Now there is a complete combat company of nearly four hundred people, training eight hundred people every three months. Each of them are an Elite, have at least some degree of body tempering and have made progress toward compressing their cores. Each of the mages have compressed their cores and all of the sharpshooters have reached Body Like Stone.”

  Nadia was silent, her thoughts unknown. “What of the merchants? Their power is growing and they can’t be fought through conventional means.”

  “They didn’t hesitate to ban Experts from Vuzgal and they have not regretted it for a moment. Now they have nearly twenty Experts, a number that increases by the week as more of their people have breakthroughs.” Olivia let out a self-deprecating laugh.

  “I feel more and more that Vuzgal is only the tip of an iceberg. There is plenty happening underneath the water.”

  ***

  “If you only knew,” Elan Silaz said from his office underneath Vuzgal as he read the transcript of Olivia and Nadia’s meeting. He turned his eyes to three piles of information: one on the merchants of Vuzgal, the kingdom to the north, and the last a copy of a report he had sent to Blaze, simply titled Willful Institute.

  ***

  Roska looked over the men and women who would become the future of the Alva Army: the leaders commanding people in battle, Experts who would train the later generations and would be called to be Alva’s spear in times of need.

  Sixty people stood in front of her. Each of them radiated a dangerous air. Even then she could tell that their auras were heavily restrained.

  If there is one core rule within the Alva military, it is to leave your strength hidden to the last moment. Then strike with everything. Let the enemy come in, confident and cocky, then show them the error of their ways with strength.

  The people in front of her had become soldiers, trained as sharpshooters, learned the secrets of artillery and the magical arts. They’d undergone extensive medical and Alchemy training to become medics. They’d learned how to work with metal and wood as engineers, learning tens of spells. The nervous excitement when they had joined on the first day had turned into hardened determination.

  “You are all here to complete your training to become a close protection detail member. Each of you is qualified as a sergeant. Upon completion, you will retain your previous ranks, but be paid as specialized staff sergeants and will be able to take up staff sergeant positions. Others will continue on to become officers and the leadership of the Alva Army. The rest of you will rise to the challenge to join the special teams.”

  To her right and left were the members of Special Team Two. Their eyes scanned those in the ranks ahead, finding them lacking.

  “We will not treat you like children here, unless you have somehow found bad habits through your training! We are here to make you the strongest you can be to defeat our enemy and defend our strongholds: Vuzgal, Alchemy Association Division Headquarters, Hersht, Alva, and the Beast Mountain Range. You will all be participating in the competition starting in three weeks in Vuzgal. Till then, we will be training in fighting techniques in the tier-four facilities day in and day out. Once you have proved your strength to us and in the competitions, we will head out into the field for a month. Each group will have different missions. These are not mock missions; these are real missions with consequences. These are missions that the special teams would undertake but we’re stretched thin. Questions?”

  A man raised his hand. Roska pointed at him.

  “As part of the CPD, do we operate with our units or with the special teams?”

  “When your combat company is on operations, you will be there to support them as needed, tasked with missions that couldn’t be left to any other group. In a battle, your primary concern is to protect medics, engineers, mages, and artillery—people who are focused on other tasks. The CPD is meant to be mobile. You can carry out any task you are set and act as a tactical reserve and quick reaction force. If there is an issue, you’re the first group that is called on. The special teams usually work in isolation, behind e
nemy lines, a small group making a large impact. You might have missions to this effect but it is not your primary concern.”

  She looked at them again. “All right, those with ten mana gates or more open on my right side. Those with less on my left side in a line.”

  Chapter: Down to the Roots

  Erik and Rugrat were having a beer in Alva. They sat outside of the bar. People pointed to them as they passed.

  Alva’s population had only increased. Now, with recruiting happening across four realms, the reach of Alva was spreading farther.

  Seeing the two city lords drinking beer outside on the patio was strange to them.

  Erik and Rugrat nodded and raised their beers to the familiar faces they saw. The older residents of Alva didn’t mind, used to their eccentric lords.

  “Want to go wandering again?” Rugrat asked.

  “Didn’t you want to become an Expert smith?” Erik asked.

  “Been grinding at it for weeks. Had an inspiration the other day, or whatever you want to call it.” Rugrat fell silent. “Smithing is bending materials into new shapes, but what if it fit with the path of nature?” Rugrat raised his arm, looking at the Norse-style tattoo sleeve that ran down his left arm to just before his wrist. He looked at the different Norse symbols within. On his right arm, there was a black ink-only American flag. As one looked up his arm, his shoulder had the Marine Corps emblem, while underneath it there were poppies slowly progressing down his upper arm.

  “I think I know what you mean. Why don’t we head to the higher realms, check out a few academies, see if we can’t join a few fighting competitions and search for some new dungeons. You can smith as we go and I can heal people. Alva Healing House is good to work at, but they don’t need me. They’re more than capable of healing all the injured who come through their doors. Time we got back to what we’re good at, a sniper and a medic,” Erik said.