Second Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  “So, these control formations, what will happen if we’re able to get control of them?” Jasper asked.

  “If we are able to restart the control formations, we will be able to use the Mana gathering formations that are connected, drawing the power in the level away and adding it to the dungeon core, decreasing the speed that creatures level up in the area and increasing the amount of power the dungeon core creates and the rate that it expands. If they connected to beast formations or sensing formations, we can use them to scout the floor more and maybe control some of the beasts on the floor.

  “The contract that was placed on the beasts was ingrained into their bloodline. As they have intermingled and cross bred, there will be creatures who will be able to resist the effects but it should make it easier for us.”

  The eyes in the room moved to Erik and Rugrat.

  “Do we have any idea of the creatures’ strength?” Erik asked.

  “Based on the information I have been able to get, none are below level fifteen and most are around level twenty. Unlike beasts in the Ten Realms, they can’t ascend the realms naturally so their strength only increases while they are unable to attain a higher realm. There is some large power in the center of the floor, but I have not been able to get any clear information on whether it is a beast or a malfunction in the active formations, or just a continuous lightning storm.”

  Rugrat couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, an unknown floor with unknown high-leveled monsters, filled with Metal, intrigue, and a whole lot of not much information. Sounds like just another FUBAR situation.”

  “Our task would not be to fight the monsters. If we do that, then we might get stuck in a long battle. Our goal would be to restart and repair the different control formations. Qin might have a plan to restart them, but we need more than just that. Do we have control formations on this floor?” Erik looked to Egbert.

  “We do.”

  “I want you and Tan Xue to personally take Qin under your wing—any books she needs, any information. Once we can restore the different formations, then we can plan out how to regain control over the floor. We can’t rush into this. Egbert, Rugrat, Qin, Special Team One, and I will be part of the scouting party.”

  “Qin? She can’t go. She’s just a kid,” Egbert interrupted.

  “She’s not a kid anymore and she’s the one with the most knowledge on the subject,” Erik said. “I don’t like it either but we’re not going in unprepared. Taran, upgraded weapons and armor for everyone in the party. Mana, Stamina, and healing concoctions. Food from the cookhouse. Jasper, we need those stealth spell scrolls. Rugrat, finish with your testing on the weapons and rounds as well as compressed Mortal-grade iron. Glosil, Blaze, I will personally be tempering and opening your Mana gates if you agree to it. Then I want you to train the hell out of Special Team One. I will join in as well. Egbert, you know the dungeon the most and you will be our guide through it all. Get Qin ready. Make sure that she has armor and the supplies she needs. Also, prepare lectures and information, all that you remember and know from the Metal floor. You will need to get us up to date on all the information. Six weeks—I want to be ready to go in six weeks.”

  It was a big move. The people in the room grit their teeth and acknowledged their orders.

  Chapter: Body Alteration

  Glosil stood next to the hospital bed as Blaze lay face down on the bed.

  Erik was using his Simple Organic Scan, sitting on a rolling chair. He quickly administered Wraith’s Touch to different areas after he used his Simple Organic Scan.

  “Right now, I am locating the different Mana gates and using a numbing agent so that you won’t feel a thing. I will start with your extremities: the Mana gate at the top of your skull, the ones in your hands and your feet. The reason being that as Mana moves through these, they will start to wear down the other Mana gates. I will be trying to puncture through the Mana gates one after another. It might take a short or long time,” Erik said as Jen checked two IV bags filled with a solution of Mana Regeneration powder and saline solution.

  “What’s that for?” Glosil pointed to the two IV bags.

  “For me to recover and for Blaze to continuously circulate the Mana in his body, clearing out any detritus in the Mana gates.” Erik finished marking the spot where the Mana gate was in Blaze’s left wrist and covered it with Wraith’s Touch.

  Erik checked the Mortal-iron needles at his side that had been cleaned and prepared for him. He rubbed them in Mana focusing powder. It took on a purple and blue look as Erik hooked Blaze and then himself up to the IV of Mana regenerating solution.

  “Are we done yet?” Blaze asked, his voice muffled as he spoke into the bed.

  “Not quite,” Erik said as he circulated the Mana in his body.

  He took the needle and placed it on Blaze’s skin at the top of his head where a Mana gate was located. Holding the needle between his thumb and middle finger, Erik tapped on the base of it with his index finger. With his strength, it easily passed through his skin and embedded itself in Blaze’s Mana gate.

  The powder that was on the needle started to work, pulling more Mana toward the Mana gate and weakening it.

  Erik, who had been circulating and compressing his Mana, now held the needle and allowed it to pass through the needle. The needle had been modified; a spiral was carved into it, with a yellow and green metal inlaid into the spiral.

  Erik’s compressed Mana rushed through the spiral and slammed into Blaze’s Mana gate.

  The gate cracked and fell apart under the attack. With Erik’s compressed, pure Mana and his high stats and Mana Regeneration, opening Blaze’s first Mana gate wasn’t an issue.

  He quickly pulled the needle out. A glow appeared on the top of Blaze’s head. The Mana gate came alive as Mana rushed out of Blaze’s body, expelling the impurities in the Mana gate.

  Mana was pulled in through his open Mana gates as Erik moved to his right wrist. Pulling out a clean needle, he tapped it into Blaze’s Mana gate as he had done before and channeled his Mana into it.

  Once again the Mana drilled into the Mana gate. It took a few moments before it opened. The rushing noise only increased as the density of Mana in the room increased.

  Erik moved quickly to the right foot, not taking a pause.

  The compressed Mana created a drill that cut and tore up the Mana gate there. After a minute, it opened as well.

  Erik moved as if a machine, going to the left foot. Five minutes, and the gate there opened.

  Thirteen minutes later, with sweat on his face, Erik opened Blaze’s fifth Mana gate.

  Erik stopped and looked over Blaze’s body that was undergoing massive changes. As the Mana gates were cleared, blockages and impurities in his Mana channels were blasted open.

  Erik used simple needles to open different acupoints, clearing blockages and allowing the Mana to pass through Blaze’s body easier, reducing the strain on his body.

  Blaze let out groans as the pressure was released. Erik sat back on his chair, looking around. All of the medical staff were watching while Glosil stood there, stunned.

  “Give me ten minutes and I’ll get started on yours,” Erik said to Glosil.

  “Thank you,” Glosil said with a serious expression.

  “Take it as thanks for making sure the dungeon didn’t burn down,” Erik joked.

  Glosil smiled as the sound of snoring could be heard from Blaze.

  The two couldn’t help but laugh.

  Erik understood the relaxing feeling that would come with opening one’s Mana gates.

  ***

  Rugrat didn’t need sleep. He didn’t need food as he drank Stamina solutions mixed with water from his camelbak. He didn’t need a shirt, nor pants, but he did need his American flag shorts and cowboy hat.

  He only had eyes for the metal he was working on. Beside him, Tan Xue was similarly hammering down on Mortal-grade iron ingots, compressing them to decrease their surface a
rea but increase their strength and enable the user to be more maneuverable.

  Their hammers and metal seemed to be humming along to a strange rhythm. Rugrat seemed to follow it at times and at others, he was trying to catch up with Tan Xue.

  As time went on, the finished and compressed ingots were checked and passed on to the other smiths. Taran was there, hammering the ingots into form.

  Rugrat and Tan Xue’s ability to compress the ingots only increased while Taran and the other smiths working with the metal advanced their own skills. Day and night, the smithy could be heard at work: processing, compressing, forming, and finishing off weapons and armor.

  Finally, on the fifth day, Rugrat and Tan Xue were allowed to stop compressing the metal.

  The smithy’s warehouse now had some fifty ingots of compressed Mortal-grade iron.

  Rugrat took a drink and then pulled out a mold as he heated up a Mortal-grade iron ingot. He got the metal to the point it was just an orange liquid with blue lines in it.

  Then he poured them into the different molds.

  He repeated the process until he had used up the Mortal-iron ingot, filling two different molds. Then he took the compressed Mortal iron and started to work it in the furnace.

  The molds cooled as Rugrat worked the metal, the form of a barrel appearing.

  He quenched the barrel and moved to the molds. He smacked the mold on the surface, releasing bullets from one and cartridges from the other.

  “Clean them up to look like this.” Rugrat passed new orders to the smiths as he passed them a bullet and empty cartridge.

  They used files, chisels, and sandpaper to take off the rough edges to the round’s components.

  Rugrat then took his barrels and firing mechanisms and headed off toward an unused part of the dungeon.

  Tan Xue and Taran continued to work on weapons and armor as Rugrat set up a range, pouring out sand as a backstop and then putting up a target he got Shi Wanshu to make.

  Rugrat backed off and pulled out Big Momma. He laid down and found the target. He fired. The roar of the gun filled his ears. He didn’t take his eyes off the target that was punctured.

  Rugrat put the weapon away, changed the targets and then pulled out a contraption he had made himself. He placed a barrel into the contraption, aiming it onto the fresh target. He pulled out a regular round and placed it in the chamber. He sealed it tight and primed the firing pin.

  He dropped sandstone blocks out of his storage ring around the contraption and ran a line from the firing mechanism off to the side, where he dropped off more sandstone blocks on top of one another, creating a bunker.

  Rugrat laid down, pulled out a pair of binoculars and then pulled the string.

  There was a loud bang but nothing appeared on the target.

  Rugrat went over to the contraption. The barrel hadn’t been able to handle the pressure and had been destroyed.

  He checked the barrel testing contraption before placing in a new barrel with a regular round again. He primed it and tested it.

  The regular round fired fine, putting a hole in the target.

  Replacing targets, changing the rounds: Rugrat tested different rounds to see their viability based on the materials used, the new gunpowder, the barrels being able to withstand the pressure and force of the round.

  Changing barrels, changing rounds, checking the damage to the target, using Simple Inorganic Scan to check on the barrel and the empty cartridges. Changing the ranges, firing repeatedly. Then making more rounds, testing them, gathering the Mortal-iron rounds, changing up the different amounts of gunpowder.

  Rugrat went from victory to failures every other minute as he focused on his testing and information gathering.

  There was no such thing as too much information. As someone who lived with a rifle or weapon beside him for most of his life, his knowledge of firearms was extensive.

  All of it was put to the test as barrels broke. The gunpowder was too strong or not strong enough and he had to work to find equilibriums for all of the parts.

  He only stopped when he passed out. Then he woke again and continued testing and working.

  ***

  Erik had made sure that everyone had at least eight open Mana gates. For those who had more at birth than the others, he was able to open more of their gates.

  It looks like the hardening happens when forcefully opening a Mana gate, so if someone has five Mana gates open naturally, opening the first gate will be as hard as if someone born with two Mana gates opens their first.

  It was an unfair advantage from birth but the Ten Realms didn’t care about fairness, only the pursuit of power.

  Not only had he opened Mana gates, but he had also made concoctions to temper one’s body. He’d watched over the temperings. With the aid of the Alchemy and medical students, it took a lot of the stress off him. Once he had shown them how to care for someone who was tempering their body, they quickly got used to it.

  He had left that to them and collapsed asleep in the mansion.

  He’d woken up a short time ago. As he took a shower, he was able to collect his thoughts.

  “Poison allowed me to get to this point. If I was able to make a stronger poison, wouldn’t it allow my body to increase in strength again and I could reach Body Like Iron stage?”

  With this, he headed over to the Alchemy lab. He pulled out his cauldron and started to work. Making poison was much easier than making concoctions that helped rather than harmed the body.

  It was like making food: it was easier to make bad food than good.

  Just smelling some of them, Erik had to use healing spells. He quickly stored them away before he headed back to the mansion.

  On the first floor, there was a bath carved into the ground. It was more of a small pool than a bath.

  Erik got into it and looked around. “It seems that cold and hot don’t matter that much to me anymore,” Erik muttered to himself. The water should have been cold but Erik ignored the temperature.

  He took a seat and held a healing powder vial between his lips. He pulled out poisons, dispersing them into the water.

  Quickly, the water started to give off a potent vapor that burned one’s nose.

  Erik sat there. With his high poison resistance, it took some time before the poison took hold in his body.

  Erik started to heal the different issues, increasing his resistances and his understanding of Alchemy and his body.

  His veins turned black, his skin alternating between black, purple, green, and yellow.

  Four days later, his skin and veins cleared. He stood and let out a breath, stopping the vial that he’d held between his lips.

  He was greeted with new views.

  ==========

  Your base stats have increased!

  ==========

  Stamina +3

  Strength +1

  Agility +2

  Stamina Regeneration +3

  ==========

  Erik had felt the notifications appear in the first day of him being in the poison bath. After that, they had decreased in frequency until he didn’t get any more on the fourth day.

  “I have been able to consolidate my foundation but I’m still not able to increase the level of my body,” Erik said to himself as he gathered the water from the bath into his storage ring. Looks like I’ve reached a bottleneck.

  “I’ll go and find Egbert.” Erik quickly dressed and left the mansion. He went to the library and found Egbert walking around and reading a book.

  “Julilah and Qin are off looking at the control formations on this floor,” Egbert said.

  “I didn’t come to look for them. I wanted to ask you something.”

  “Oh?” Egbert looked up, interested.

  “I have reached a bottleneck in my Body Cultivation. I can’t reach Body Like Iron. It feels like I’ve hit a wall.” Erik’s frustration colored his words.

  Egbert took a few minutes,
thinking to himself. “I’m not really sure how to help you, but I do remember hearing this. Or maybe I read it? It doesn’t matter. The foundation tempered, the soul grounded, mind forged, bones reformed, muscles that flow and blood with the power of the realms.” Egbert seemed to think for a moment.

  “Yeah, that’s all I remember about Body Cultivation. The gnomes mostly looked into Mana gathering. It was a lot less painful and it allowed them to do a great number of things. Their Strength and Agility stats weren’t that high, after all.”

  Erik couldn’t help but frown. It sounded like a clue, but he wasn’t sure how to use it. “Another riddle to figure out.” Erik sighed.

  “Well, you could focus on opening your remaining Mana gates still,” Egbert offered.

  “I’m waiting till Rugrat is done testing before I try that out.”

  “He does know how to make a lot of noise,” Egbert said. Even though he was far away, the dungeon was made out of stone. For the growing areas, they had to bring in dirt from the Beast Mountain Range. The sound carried all the way to the living areas.

  “Should give us an edge in the Metal floor,” Erik said.

  “I’m not sure what would or wouldn’t give us an advantage there,” Egbert said.

  Chapter: Increasing Combat Capabilities

  Storbon was fighting Tian Cui. Her Agility was much higher than Storbon’s, so he had to use everything to make sure he kept her far enough not to use her daggers, but not too far that she could use her arrow.

  Tian Cui’s magic moved toward curses, so if she was allowed to land one hit it wouldn’t be long until Storbon was slowed or cursed into immobility, leaving him as prey for Tian Cui. Her nickname was Red Spider: she wore a red scarf and weakened her enemy before coming in for the final attack.

  She didn’t have time for that right now as she was facing Storbon’s strength. She had to dodge and move. If she would be hit, with his strength, he could break her defenses or throw her back. That would make her lose her rhythm and he could make use of the opening.