Seventh Realm Part 1: A LitRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 8)

by Michael Chatfield

  “Okay, well, see you later, Rex. Thanks for looking after these two.”

  “No worries. It opened up a whole new area of beast raising. I’ve been talking to the other trainers. It will be much faster to raise beasts and make them stronger.”

  Erik and Rugrat jumped onto Gilly’s and George’s backs, respectively.

  “This is going to make protecting you a whole new challenge,” Storbon complained.

  His mount complained in a low whine.

  “And it’s going to cost a lot.” He sighed.

  “Training is the most valuable exercise a person can do.” Erik waved his finger, being teacherly.

  Then everything became light as Gilly jumped, launching herself into the air. Erik clamped down with his legs and his throat to stop the building scream.

  Gilly snapped her wings and tail out. With a few powerful flaps, she was just meters away from the ceiling. She banked, the wind gliding over her and Erik.

  A fiery comet appeared to their side. Rugrat had a massive smile on his face.

  Erik laughed. “Woo-hoo!”

  “Yeee-hawww!” Rugrat yelled.

  Gilly and George joined in with their roars.

  They circled the floor. It was covered in orchards that produced food for the Alvans. Alchemy gardens. The signs of Davin’s great fire were fading with time.

  Erik nudged Gilly, who flew toward the teleportation area within the village. She batted her wings as she came in, coming to land lightly on her feet.

  Storbon and his team were there waiting for them.

  “Egbert!” Rugrat yelled.

  “Jackass!”

  Light enveloped them as they appeared in the dungeon training area.

  “He still pissed at you?” Erik asked as Gilly padded off the teleportation area and toward the dungeon entrances.

  “Yeah. Guess that while he was asleep, he was still recording everything.”

  “You dropped me in the bathwater! Twice!” Egbert’s disembodied voice rang out.

  “Just won’t let it go for some reason.”

  “You tried to drink beer out of my skull!”

  Rugrat sighed. “Petty of him.”

  People stared at them as they passed. Some saluted, others bowed. Erik and Rugrat nodded and saluted back, reaching the dungeon they’d requested.

  “You sure we can’t come with you?” Storbon asked.

  “You’d steal all the damn experience.” Rugrat laughed as he dismounted and checked his gear.

  Erik jumped a few times to get his carriers moving in the right way, opening and closing his gauntlets and moving his shoulders.

  Rugrat took out his modified rail gun and adjusted the two-point sling, raising and lowering his rifle to make sure it wouldn’t catch on anything. “So, we’ve got different capture points inside. We need to hold those for a certain period of time to control the area. As we advance and control more of the points, more creatures will come out and attack us.”

  “Lovely dungeon,” Erik muttered.

  “Dude, it’s a level sixty to sixty-five dungeon in the First Realm. Shit, I talked to the formation masters that worked on it. Place is practically its own world. Also, with it so deep, the elements are concentrated as hell. So concentrated you need to have Body Like Iron to deal with it!” Rugrat smacked his chest.

  “Well, shit.” Erik pulled out his helmet and put it on. The formations activated inside.

  Rugrat pulled on his helmet as well, their faces hidden behind formations and enhanced metal.

  “You hear me?” Rugrat asked.

  “Loud and clear. You good to go?”

  “One sec, prepping grenades.” Rugrat looped a drop-down panel to his carrier and tied it around his left leg. It had ten pouches filled with twist-top grenades.

  Erik checked his larger medical kit and the back of Rugrats’ gear to make sure everything was secure. “Good to go.”

  They walked through the open dungeon doors.

  Light flashed, and they were teleported into a large cavern.

  Rugrat grunted.

  Erik took the increased pressure well. The gravity change wasn’t severe, but with the high elements, it would be harder.

  “That’s new,” Erik muttered as earth and fire elements were drawn in through his mana gates. They entered his body as he refined out the other elements, purifying and compressing his mana through his body.

  They were all on alert. George and Gilly were practically glowing with power as they looked around.

  Water dripped somewhere in the cavern. A kind of moss grew in random places, creating bright spots and abyss-dark shadows. The ground was uneven, filled with divots, half-steps, and drops. Stalagmites jutted out of the floor. The ceiling was lumpy rock, carved out in some places, hanging low in others.

  Several entrances led into the cavern they were standing in.

  “Love what they’ve done with the place.”

  ==========

  Capture Dungeon

  ==========

  Capture different areas within the dungeon.

  The more areas you capture, the more dungeon creatures will attack.

  Kills and holding more area will get you dungeon points, redeemable through the dungeon kiosk.

  ==========

  Capture Area 1

  ==========

  In the middle of the cavern, a pillar lit up with the number 1 above it. There was a table with four medallions.

  Erik grabbed them, putting one onto his carrier, then onto Rugrat’s, and lastly onto Gilly and George.

  A notification floated in his vision as a circle on the totem turned green and started to light up.

  ==========

  Capture Area 1

  1/100

  ==========

  The circle kept growing as they all faced outward, looking and listening.

  “The hell is that?” Rugrat asked.

  Erik heard a noise in the distance like heels on a hardwood floor. “Your new ex?”

  The creature rounded the corner. It looked like a dust-mite, but blown up to the size of a large dog or small pony, and was three times as wide.

  Erik turned with his rifle, but Gilly was faster. Eight Earth spikes compressed until they burst out of the ground with a release of pressurized water vapor.

  Five spikes failed to penetrate, but three succeeded.

  The creature clicked and chittered in pain, a white ichor coloring its carapace.

  Pillars of stone slammed the dust mite against the ceiling, cracking the mite’s exo-skeleton and killing it.

  A tombstone appeared below it.

  Erik checked the slowly growing capture percentage as light traveled up the pillar.

  ==========

  Capture Area 1

  27/100

  ==========

  More of the mites’ pointed feet hit the ground. Rugrat fired. The helmets deadened the sound as it rang through the cavern.

  The unlucky mite showed a hole in its head as its back blew out, splattering the tunnel behind it.

  Erik fired at another mite. The first round broke its exoskeleton. The second went through, killing the beast.

  George released a blast of flame that melted a mite’s armor and the surrounding ground. The mites’ rate of attacks picked up.

  Erik switched between three tunnels. Mites were pushing past their fading brethren. He’d killed about twelve of the mites. Scanning the area, he lowered his weapon.

  “Clear on my side!” Rugrat yelled.

  “Same here!” Erik yelled.

  No hard beasts. Gilly relayed into Erik’s mind as she let out a yip.

  George did the same.

  ==========

  Capture Area 1

  100/100

  ==========

  The pillar they were standing next to showed a complete green circle. Erik and Rugrat scanned with Gilly and George.

  “I don’t hear anything,” Erik said.

  “Me either. Not sensing any changes in m
ana around here. I think that’s it.”

  A notification popped up.

  ==========

  Capture Area 2

  0/100

  ==========

  “Guess we have to go find the next one,” Rugrat said.

  “Hold up. Let me check out these big bastards before we move on.”

  “Got you covered.”

  Erik moved to the nearest one. “Okay, what the hell are you?” He used Scan, encompassing medical scan, then inorganic scan, filtered through his elemental and mana sight. “From what I can tell, this thing is earth and metal attributed. Strong exo, not so strong internally. These antennae are element sensitive. If there is a spike in the element, they’ll lock onto it and go after it. I don’t think they really eat anything.”

  Erik opened the tombstone.

  ==========

  3x Carapace sections

  1x meat

  1x Earth Grade Earth Variant Monster Core

  ==========

  Erik looted the beast. It released a burst of Earth element that Erik absorbed. The rest drained into the dungeon.

  “What do you mean?” Rugrat asked.

  “I think they just draw in the earth and metal element. That’s what keeps them alive.”

  “Don’t creatures need food?”

  “Not necessarily. Elemental energy can restore your body. If I have enough elements, I won’t get hungry for years, possibly forever. Though I’d need a lot of elements and to not do so much.”

  “So, wait, will it eat us?” Rugrat asked.

  “Probably, beasts eat one another for their elements to increase their monster core. In the past, we always thought they were trying to get one another’s mana and experience.”

  “So, still dangerous, and weird.”

  “Yes. And they have bodies that are nearly as strong as Iron. Before we step into the area around the next capture point, let Gilly and I put up some barriers,” Erik said.

  “Works for me.”

  Gilly and George reduced to the size of large dogs. Erik checked his experience bar. A smile spread across his face. It’s sweet fighting stronger beasts.

  ==========

  You have reached Level 63

  When you sleep next, you will be able to increase your attributes by: 5 points.

  ==========

  ==========

  18,484,039/217,100,000 EXP till you reach Level 64

  ==========

  “Okay, so where the hell do we go?” Erik said.

  “I think it’s higher in mana down that tunnel.” Rugrat gestured to a tunnel with the barrel of his rifle. “You take the front. Gilly, George, in the middle. I can be at the rear.”

  “Let’s go.” Erik nestled his rifle tighter into his shoulder. He scanned the tunnel as he walked down it. The others followed behind closely.

  “Turn to the left, piecing the pie.”

  Erik aimed around the corner, taking steps to the side and coming into line with the corner. In a burst, he stepped out.

  “Clear!” He pushed down the new tunnel. It dipped down, but there was more light. He scanned ahead, seeing nothing moving. “Gilly you look right. I’ll look left.”

  Master.

  He stepped out with Gilly, churning up the gravel and mud, looking out along the wall. Still, there was nothing.

  The room was smaller with a mound in the middle with another pillar. The ground was a gravel-mud soup. The walls and three other tunnels were made of worn rock with compressed clay in between. Some of the rocks glowed red as if they were still partially magma. Others were covered in the glowing green moss.

  “Bit tighter than the other one,” Rugrat said.

  “We’ll get some spikes set up around the mound and in the tunnels. Keep a watch.”

  “On it.”

  Erik connected to the ground at the entrance of the tunnels through his elements, fueling his commands with mana and raising sharpened stakes of stone and metal from the ground. Erik conjured flames around the spikes, hardening and tempering them.

  Gilly was drawing up other spikes, while George used his flames to temper hers.

  Erik took out poison and poured it out into the air. With mana manipulation, he coated the spikes.

  He raised blocks from the bedrock around the pillar, creating two defensive walls with more spikes.

  “Are you building defenses or trying to recreate the hedgehog?”

  “Shut up and watch the tunnels. I’m going to test something out.”

  “What?”

  “The pillar. When it activates, it must be releasing elemental power. I’m going to use a metal tempering needle, see if it distracts the mites.”

  “Okay.”

  Erik activated a needle and threw it down a tunnel. If they were interested in the needle, they wouldn’t advance toward them as long as it was stronger than the pillar’s power.

  “Good to go.”

  “Let's get this show on the road.”

  They stepped up the mound and into their defenses.

  ==========

  Capture Area 2

  1/100

  ==========

  Gilly raised the last defenses, sealing them in as Erik felt the spike in elements.

  “Shit, this thing is like an elemental well.”

  Spiked feet splashed in the mud.

  Several red crystals formed around George and flew down a tunnel striking a mite. The water in the tunnel vaporized in a moment. A wave of heat surged around the pillar.

  Erik waited, watching. The mites rushed down the tunnel, lunging for the metal needle.

  They crashed into one another as their bodies expanded. Their exoskeletons opened as they drew in the surrounding elements.

  “Explosive shot.” Erik fired into the open exoskeletons. The explosive rounds tore the unprotected beasts apart, turning them into ichor as they started to dissolve.

  “Reloading!” Rugrat yelled.

  Gilly turned her neck, letting out a yell. Brown waves shot into the tunnel. The ceiling collapsed around the mites. Time seemed to reverse as the tunnel reformed, using the mites as building materials.

  “Back in!” Rugrat fired at the mites.

  Erik moved to Gilly’s side, firing into her tunnel. The mites ran into her spikes. One had already died from the poison.

  Gilly, focus on your area first! Help others only if you can!

  Gilly hung her head lower but kept using Earth attacks.

  Erik checked his tunnel; mites had gathered around the metal needle again. He let his rifle hang from his sling and pulled out a grenade launcher. “Fire in the hole!”

  The explosion tore through the mites.

  Erik dropped the grenade launcher into his storage ring. No movement.

  He smacked the side of his magazine. It was half full. He scanned Gilly’s area. She’d crushed or slammed the mites into the walls and spikes in the tunnel. George was looking at his tunnel with more of the fire crystals. Molten stone dripped from the ceiling of his tunnel as mites collapsed.

  Rugrat’s rifle was silent while he scanned as well.

  “Stand ready,” Erik said.

  They watched the tunnels, but nothing else rushed toward them.

  ==========

  Capture Area 2

  100/100

  ==========

  ==========

  Capture Area 3

  0/100

  ==========

  “I guess we must have scared them off. How many was that? Thirty or forty? I’m reloading.” Rugrat pulled out his magazine and put in a fresh one.

  “I think it was closer to fifty. The needle worked, by the way. When they got close to it, they opened their exoskeletons. Easy targets. Have to make sure they don’t get too close, or they’ll strip the elements right out of us.”

  “What happens if they do that?”

  “Think of it like a slowing spell. We get slower, weaker, and our resistances weaken. In this place, if we don’t have a high resistance, we�
��ll die.”

  “Back in. So, they’re working with their environment against us.”

  “Yeah. Reloading.”

  Erik changed out his mag for a fresh one in his storage ring. “Back in.”

  “This experience gain is sweet,” Rugrat said.

  “They’re a higher level, plus nearly Body Like Sky Iron. Yeah, they’re going to be an experience jackpot.”

  ==========

  83,395,078/217,100,000 EXP until you reach Level 64

  ==========

  “Let's go find pillar three.”

  “More mana in that direction.” Rugrat pointed down a tunnel.

  “Let me grab my needle and we’ll head out.” Covered by Rugrat, Erik used an earth-moving spell to grab the needle and throw it in the air. He grabbed it with mana manipulation and returned it to his hand.

  “Damn, nearly drained it.” Erik looked at the pillar. “If I can draw in the element as well, would that reduce it overall? Maybe the creatures wouldn’t charge as much.”

  Erik put the needle away. “Let’s get moving.” He led the way again, lowering the spikes in the tunnel.

  “We can use this as a fallback position,” Rugrat said.

  “Good call.”

  It was a long path to the third area.

  “Ah, shit.” Erik entered the cavern. There were five paths leading to the middle of the room with a bottomless dark pit between them.

  “That doesn’t look like it would be a fun drop.”

  The paths were big enough for Gilly to grow to her full height and walk across comfortably.

  The central area was a ruin. Collapsed stone lie around arches and pillars, jutting from the ground like ribs. Metal and earth attribute plants had grown between the stones. In the middle of the ruin stood the pillar they were looking for.

  Motes of light drifted through the area. Moss lay among the ruins and on the ceiling, making it brighter than the other rooms.

  The tunnels and paths leading in showed veins of rare metal and stone. Some gave off light; others reflected it.

  “I never really got interior design, but dungeon design is stranger still. Want to spike the paths leading in? I was thinking of laying mines, but don’t want to break these bridges.”