Second Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  “Thank you, Jasper.” Taran sounded relieved.

  “What for?” Jasper was confused. He half-expected Taran to be annoyed with him.

  “I was thinking the same thing but I just didn’t want to say it. Hearing you say it, well, I can’t deny it anymore.” Taran let out a rough laugh. He looked off at something, as if he could see the future and what their thoughts and actions might bring. “It’s kind of terrifying when you think of what this might become, or what could happen if it fails.”

  “Yes, it is.” Jasper’s own doubts and thoughts surfaced from the back of his mind.

  Chapter: Noise Complaint

  “All day and night, all I hear is banging!” Cao Shi turned and yelled out of the window in the direction of the hammering.

  “Come, dear. It’s not that bad,” Cao Huang said, lounging in bed, the signs of sleep still on his face.

  Shi stomped on the ground, her face darkening. “That’s because your snoring is so loud you can’t hear it!”

  Cao Huang rubbed his eyes and he let out a sigh, unwilling to argue this early in the morning. “What do you want me to do, dearest? The villa has been rented out to someone.”

  “Go to the manager and get them moved!”

  Cao Huang moved the sheets away and stood. “They might be loud but it seems to only be one person. They rented out the entire villa for themselves and they’re in a hidden courtyard that others can’t look into. They are also forging something. That noise—it’s a hammer hitting metal, with them pausing to assess the metal or increase its strength. A simple smith would not be able to pay for the residence and go on for that long. They have been smithing for nearly an entire day. Smithing is not a simple task and it takes a great amount of endurance. So, we’ve got a rich blacksmith with high Stamina to last for this long.” Cao Huang had a kind outward appearance, but even when rising from sleep, his mind was clear and focused, able to pick up on the essential points and make a concise judgment.

  Cao Shi pouted and lowered her head cutely.

  Cao Huang wrapped his arms around her and smiled.

  She struggled for a bit before relaxing into his embrace.

  “Don’t worry. Someone will probably complain. Duan Jie doesn’t have much patience for others. I would guess he would complain and we can get a show,” Cao Huang said.

  ***

  “What are you going to do about all of this noise? My people and my animals can’t sleep! How are we supposed to prepare for our trip to the city Erast, Manager Wu?” Duan Jie demanded.

  Manager Wu looked after all of the trading villas underneath the Ekeem family.

  Duan Jie was one of the best traders underneath the Ekeem family. He was able to make them a great amount of money and had been personally awarded his villa by the Ekeem clan leader.

  His position wasn’t simple but neither was the man who had rented the villa in question.

  Made no other requests other than to rent the villa, paid his gold in full. Since then, he has been working on something. It seems that he is a smith. But to have that kind of wealth…

  Manager Wu’s eyes thinned before he took a deep breath. “Request to headquarters—see if we can get more information on this man,” Manager Wu said to one of his assistants.

  They bowed and turned away, using a sound transmission device to send a message to headquarters.

  Duan Jie let out a grunt and crossed his arms. Duan Jie’s patience was growing thin as the person communicated with headquarters.

  Finally, they turned back. “It looks like he is associated with the Thantis Traders. I was not able to get much more than that. It seems that he is known to the Ekeem family,” the person said to Manager Wu.

  Well, that doesn’t make anything easier.

  “If they are a person associated with the Ekeem clan, can’t we talk to them and see if they will stop that infernal racket! They should know the strength of the Ekeem clan and change their actions accordingly,” Duan Jie said, not letting it go.

  His position and what the clan thought of him was not included. If it was another trader, I wouldn’t entertain the thought but Duan Jie’s value to the clan is not simple. If I go and see if I can understand the situation, I can make a decision there.

  “Let us go and pay them a visit.” Manager Wu headed for the doors.

  Duan Jie flicked his sleeves and followed after Manager Wu. They headed out of the administration offices and toward the inner regions of the trading villas.

  People talked and watched as they passed.

  Manager Wu had an impassive face as Duan Jie walked beside him.

  Well, they’re certainly loud. Even over the conversations and the daily activities around the villas, he could clearly hear the noises coming from the villa.

  When he reached the villa, he found a number of people hitting on the door of the villa.

  Seeing Manager Wu, they all bowed in greeting before one of the trader company leaders stepped forward.

  “Manager Wu, you need to do something about the noise! My wife hasn’t been able to sleep properly all night!”

  “The atmosphere is weird as well. My men keep complaining about feeling nauseous!” another chimed in.

  “It’s almost demonic, the shifting Mana making creatures and people fall ill,” another said in ominous tones.

  Manager Wu waved a hand, quelling their voices. “Please. I have been informed of the issue and I have come to see if I can resolve it.”

  The people seemed to be satisfied with this.

  Manager Wu stepped forward and knocked on the door. With his strength, the doors shook, but there was no reply, not even a break in the hammering happening inside.

  Manager Wu tried two more times.

  “This is Manager Wu from the Ekeem family. I wish to talk!” Manager Wu infused his voice with Mana, allowing it to carry.

  Still the hammer blows didn’t stop.

  Manager Wu knew everyone was looking at him. If he simply backed down, it would be a hit to his reputation. He knocked and yelled one more time but there was still nothing from within the villa.

  He waved his hand. A badge appeared and he placed it against the gates. The mechanisms unlocked under his authority.

  He indicated to the guards who had come with him. They opened the doors. A string that ran from the door into the villa went tight as the hammering stopped suddenly.

  The others behind Manager Wu looked at one another in the ominous silence.

  Manager Wu walked into the villa. His guards went ahead as Duan Jie stood beside him. The others who had been at the gate all looked in but they didn’t enter.

  Duan Jie, with his position, had a different status than them.

  ***

  Feng Yi had given in his reports and information, then he’d headed to the Cloven Tavern. Liao Ah had met him on his way out and given him an emblem to give to Rugrat when he saw him.

  Feng Yi didn’t think of it much and tucked it away and headed out to meet with friends and get a few drinks. He’d stumbled home and slept in. When he woke up, he looked at the emblem that Liao Ah had given him.

  His hands shook as he looked at the emblem. It was the emblem of Lord Ekeem. There was also a note attached, without anything on its front.

  Feng Yi slapped some water on his face and took some healing powder to deal with the hangover and ran toward the villa where Rugrat had told him he was staying.

  When he got outside the villa, he was greeted with the sight of people opening the doors into the villa and marching inside.

  He noticed some of them. They were from the larger trading houses.

  Feng Yi, who could hear Rugrat’s hammering, heard it suddenly end.

  Feng Yi was a smith himself and he knew that Rugrat hadn’t paused his smithing, but instead been pulled out from it.

  Shit! Remembering how Erik and Rugrat had talked about killing the spiritas’ easily, he feared that these idiots didn’t know wha
t they were walking into. If Rugrat thinks that they’re a threat? He’s already going to be pissed off from being interrupted.

  Feng Yi ran forward. “Make some room!”

  The people making it into the gate looked at him. People looked down on him and his simple clothes while those who knew him frowned in displeasure.

  Seeing that they wouldn’t move for him, Feng Yi pulled out Lord Ekeem’s emblem.

  Their annoyed looks turned to shock as they quickly moved out of the way and he dove into the crowd, forcing his way through.

  Feng Yi made it to the front of the crowd to see Rugrat coming out from between two buildings. In one hand, he held a metal cylinder; in the other was a crossbow.

  “As my father liked to say: You’ve got ten seconds to get off my front lawn or I hope you can get buckshot out of your ass.” Rugrat’s eyes seemed to be glowing, while the bolt in his crossbow glowed with a shifting yellow and red light.

  Rugrat’s powerful aura was like being in the presence of a powerful monster that was deciding whether or not to attack: unpredictable, powerful, dominating.

  The guards pulled out their weapons, ready for a fight.

  “Sir, I have that emblem from the clan leader!” Feng Yi yelled out.

  Rugrat turned to look at Feng Yi with a frown. “Emblem?” Rugrat relaxed slightly as Manager Wu, who had a pale face, looked to Feng Yi, who was holding up Lord Ekeem’s emblem as he ran forward.

  Everyone held their actions seeing Feng Yi go to Rugrat and hold it out.

  “Feng Yi, what is that for?” Rugrat asked.

  “I was told to give it to you, and it’s Lord Ekeem’s emblem.” Feng Yi then raised his voice so that the others could hear him. “I also have a letter from whom I think can only be the clan leader himself.” Feng Yi made a show of pulling out the letter and adding it to the emblem and holding it out to Rugrat.

  Rugrat frowned. His dangerous aura had retracted slightly as the guards had lowered their weapons as well. Everyone seemed to be a third party to Rugrat and Feng Yi.

  Rugrat put his crossbow into his storage ring. He inspected the emblem and tossed it in as well. “Well, open the letter,” Rugrat said, still holding onto the metal cylinder.

  Feng Yi did so and then passed it to Rugrat.

  He looked over the letter and then stored it in his ring. “Tell this clan leader I’m busy! I was in the middle of making something, zoned out on smithing and then this lot came in here. Tell him if he really wants to show his goodwill, he should rein in that Jole boy and stop people from interrupting me. While you’re at it, go and get these items.” Rugrat put the cylinder away and took out another piece of paper. Then, with a second thought, he pulled out the emblem.

  “This should help you, I guess.” Rugrat shrugged and tossed it to Feng Yi.

  Feng Yi could only smile awkwardly at how flippant Rugrat was. “Lord Ekeem rarely invites anyone to see him,” Feng Yi said.

  “And I didn’t invite anyone to come into the villa I rented!” Rugrat pointed to the people standing awkwardly in the entrance way. His aura flared up. “I was nearly damn well done! Then these dipshits walked in and broke my flow!” Rugrat let out an angry sigh and turned around.

  Rugrat got a sound transmission. He answered it and listened. His expression got worse as he faced Feng Yi, who winced under his gaze.

  “I’ll go.”

  Rugrat turned around and headed into the back of the villa. “I miss the times when you could just sit on your own damn property and shoot your guns off, drink beer, and not give a shit. People coming over because I’m being too loud? The least you could do is knock first!”

  Feng Yi looked back at the crowd that was half inside the villa.

  Manager Wu bowed his head toward Feng Yi. “Thank you, young man.”

  “It is no problem.” Feng Yi bowed to the man. He didn’t know who he was as he didn’t mix with the higher-ups in the Ekeem clan, but he knew of Duan Jie, one of the most powerful traders in the Ekeem clan. Seeing he was a half-step behind the other man, he must hold a high position.

  “This man is a guest of the clan leader. Let us depart and go about our day,” Manager Wu said. The guards helped in making sure everyone left the villa. The Mana in the area once again started to fluctuate and testing hits could be heard from the hidden courtyard.

  Feng Yi looked down at the list of items he needed to get.

  “I can assist you with those items if you desire?” the powerful man said.

  Will he know these items? He is beside Duan Jie—best to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s probably looking for a way to get on the good side of Rugrat. Everyone could feel that powerful aura weighing down on them. It feels like he’s a level twenty-three or four!

  “If Elder could help me, that would be greatly appreciated.” Feng Yi smiled and held out the note.

  “Please, call me Manager Wu.” The man smiled.

  Feng Yi’s smile became more forced and he tried to make sure his hand wasn’t shaking. He felt like collapsing. Manager Wu who manages the security and villas for all of the traders? How much noise was Rugrat making?

  ***

  Rugrat was once again looking to find the resonance, the all-encompassing focus that he had been stuck in before.

  It was like when Tan Xue hits the metal according to a rhythm: with each blow, she requires less energy to alter the metal as the vibrations in the metal keep it warm and allow it to compress more, increasing the density and the armor value. Rugrat picked up his hammer once again and started striking the metal. The Mana infused in the forge and passing through Rugrat into his hammer and then into the metal wasn’t small, and it was what created the most noise.

  As he struck down on the metal, red and blue sparks would be created. The destructive Mana energies resulted in small explosions. They infused into the metal, increasing its grade by a small amount. It was already Mortal-grade iron. Using not only heat but Mana to form the metal increased its strength and protective attributes, and allowed power to move through it with less restrictions.

  Rugrat continued to try to find different swings, different ways to hold the hammer to once again get to those vibrations that seemed to flatten the metal without forcing it to expand.

  Normal armor becomes stronger as you add more layers to it. With this compression, one-inch iron can be compressed into three-quarter inch. Its strength and stopping power is retained; its weight remains the same but Erik’s strength takes care of that easily. The biggest thing is that it is less cumbersome and easier to work with.

  Rugrat had made different prototypes already but since he had started to achieve vibrational compression, he had started to focus on perfecting the new technique. With compressed Mortal-grade iron and this technique as a base, then he could create a new kind of armor for Erik that would be leagues better than his previous armor.

  It wasn’t long until Rugrat was once again sucked into the world of smithing, removing everything else from his mind.

  The Mana around him vibrated according to his hammer blows; the Mana and hammer were his instruments; the metal the crowd he was bending to his will, to listen to his music and find what matched them.

  Chapter: Movements in Taeman

  “Clan Leader!” A member of the clan ran up to him and kneeled in front of him as he put the scroll to one side.

  “Speak!” he commanded.

  “The forefather of the Luo family has awoken! In just a few hours, he took back control of the clan, moving with those who were loyal to him to the Gu family home. The remaining members of the Luo family have been left without his protection and can only rely on their personal wealth and not the wealth of the clan!”

  “I thought that he was close to death and that the third elder’s son Hong was supposed to take the position of clan head?” Clan Leader Ekeem tapped his chin.

  How did things change so quickly? Kun Luo was impossible to corrupt but young Hong was easy t
o manipulate. With him running the Luo family, it was only a matter of time until there were just five powers in Taeman. With Kun Luo throwing his weight behind the Gu family that his daughter married into, then they will quickly surge up to take over the Luo family’s position!

  The Gu family was a powerful trading family. Their current clan leader was married to Kun Luo’s only daughter. They cared little for political power but they had built their strength up through their contacts and business dealings. In Taeman, not even the other four main families wanted to antagonize the Gu family.

  The Gu family will be one of the five powers within Taemen but they will keep to the sidelines and must not be forgotten. We will need to make sure that our relationship with them is solid if the other families not only want to destroy the remaining Luo family but try to expand beyond that.

  “Do we know how the Luo clan’s old clan leader recovered from his ailment?” Clan Leader Ekeem asked.

  “We’re not sure at this time, but it is said that a person was brought into the Luo Estate by Fairy Luo. He insulted the candidate to be the clan leader, the third elder’s son, Hong. He entered the clan leader’s estate and then left afterward without being escorted by anyone,” the clan member said.

  “Was he a man wearing an odd shirt and armored greaves?” Clan Leader Ekeem’s voice sharpened as his eyes bore into the clan member.

  “Yes, Clan Leader, how did you know?” The man looked to the clan leader in shock.

  “You do not need to worry. Send for the elders and convene a meeting immediately!”

  ***

  Delilah held her face, a bright-red handprint on it as her “Master” glared at her.

  “I was benevolent! I was the epitome of humble, bringing you with me from that city to enjoy the fruits of Taeman, to become my student! Instead, you go and bring conflict between some fighting master and the young master of the Ekeem clan! What do you think the Ekeem clan will do now! I’m ruined! I’ll have to move all of my work to a new city!” the old man bellowed, sending a kick at her.