Rugrat exhaled. “Yeah, it just feels weird, you know?”
“Yeah, I get that. It works, so why mess with it?” Erik shrugged.
Tian Cui opened the door to the meeting room. She swept the room with her eyes before she gestured it was clear.
They walked into the room, finding Elan waiting. Beside him were two women and two men. They looked like plain and simple people, which made Erik raise his guard.
Elan’s spies.
Elan rose with his people, they bowed deeply, cupping their fists.
“Lords,” Elan said.
“Come on, Elan. You know we’re not bowing kind of people,” Erik said.
Yuli closed the door. She and Yao Meng took up guard outside while Lucinda, Tian Cui, and Storbon moved to seats along the wall.
These people might be heavyweights in information-gathering circles, but they were nervous meeting their true masters.
“Qin and Domonos send their love. The two of them are working like crazy. I met up with Qin and Julilah in Vuzgal. They had classes to teach, but they’ll be back down soon to complete work on the armor,” Rugrat said.
“Armor?” Erik asked.
“Conqueror’s Armor. Don’t worry. There’s a demonstration this afternoon; I’ll take you.”
“More things to do. All right, Elan, how are things shaping up?” Erik asked as he and Rugrat grabbed seats.
Elan and his group dropped into their seats as well.
“This is Miss Evernight, who you’ve met before. She is my agent on the ground dealing with the Beast Mountain Range and all things in the First Realm. This is Mister Liu. He deals with the Second Realm. Mister Yi operates in the Third Realm, and Miss Wen deals with the Fourth Realm.” Elan indicated to the people in the room. “I am operating agents in the Fourth Realm, and I will be setting up new departments for the Fifth, Sixth, and Seventh Realms. We have people operating in just the Fifth and Sixth at this time.”
Erik nodded to Elan and examined the others once again. On the outside, they looked like simple, easygoing, low-level folk. If they were running the agents and operations across an entire realm, they were anything but simple.
“It is good to meet you all. Shall we go over what is happening in each realm?” Erik asked.
Evernight looked up. Both Erik and Rugrat had beards; they wore simple pants and shirts identical to the rest of the Alvan army. On their arms, Erik wore a patch that marked him as part of the special teams. Rugrat wore the same.
As someone completed a new course, they were re-badged with their new qualification. Now that training had been going on for so long and constantly refined, people had to go through the training step by step and couldn’t jump ahead based on open slots in different advanced courses.
She had seen them briefly once before when they had appeared in front of Aditya. Erik had healed the man’s leg. Aditya had known he was talking to people higher up in Evernight’s organization, but he hadn’t known he was dealing with one of the leaders.
The two men were relaxed and laid-back. Their beards softened their appearance, but there was a predatory look in their eyes as they assessed the people in the room. Evernight had seen enough mercenaries and fighters in her life to feel the chill on the back of her neck, and her back straightened. These were wolves.
The air in the room seemed to come to a standstill, falling under their control. They smiled, dispersing some of the tension.
Elan introduced them all, while Erik and Rugrat sat down.
If Evernight didn’t know who they were, she wouldn’t have noticed the small changes that hinted at their hidden power; she would have forgotten they were in the room as the briefing started.
She talked by rote response, her attention remaining on the two men at the end of the table.
Rugrat rubbed his tattoos while Erik scratched his beard. Their eyes flickered as they absorbed everything. Although they looked lazy and uncaring, nothing made it past them. Rugrat was working on a blueprint while he listened. Erik wrote out alchemical formulas and studied the diagrams of different beasts’ biological structure.
The realms were not calm. In the First Realm, Lord Aditya was quickly turning the alliance of outposts into the Beast Mountain Range nation. King’s Hill was rising to prominence. People were launching attacks from different kingdoms and groups. They were trying to undermine them, but it wasn’t working out.
Alva operated in the dark, and the Beast Mountain Range nation operated in the light. With the Adventurer’s Guild, Trader’s Guild, and crafters, they were rapidly accelerating how fast the nation developed. The military and Adventurer’s Guild trained up selected Experts, turning them into Alva’s people, first and foremost.
The Beast Mountain Consortium was being organized and formed in secret. It would unify the outposts and create a central power that would be the spiritual backbone of the new nation.
Over time, the situation would stabilize.
In the Second Realm, the Adventurer’s Guild and Trader’s Guild forged new paths into different regions, one supporting the other as they expanded. Most of Alva’s trade occurred in the Second Realm. The Willful Institute that could be found in the Second Realm was being systematically cut off from their allies; other kingdoms, sects, and groups that the Willful Institute had stepped on had been enabled and assisted. Using their informants, they had only exacerbated the tensions between the two groups, putting them at one another’s throats.
The intelligence department, run by Elan, was the nerve of Alva, the council the brain, and in this operation, the Trader’s Guild and Adventurer’s Guild were the hands.
The Willful Institute focused on their old enemies as tensions flared and didn’t pay attention to the small “mice” that were slowly destroying their supports.
The same thing was happening in the Third Realm. Hundreds of Alvans were of the Alchemist Association. Sky Reaching Restaurants were located in every Division Headquarters and proliferated throughout the Regional Headquarters, creating bases for Alva in each city. Some were only manned with members from Alva, and the rest hired externally. Using the restaurants and a few Wayside Inns, traders and adventurers blossomed. The First Realm was their headquarters, but the Fourth Realm was where they had the greatest strength.
The Blue Lotus’s endorsement of Vuzgal meant that although many sects coveted the city, few were willing to act on their desires. Pissing off them and the Alchemist Association didn’t seem like a wise choice. The Fighter’s and Crafter’s Associations had also come over to their side. If someone wanted to take the city, they would have to offer incredible terms to the associations.
“The noose has fallen around the Willful Institute and is tightening as we remove their resources and motivate other groups to act against them,” Elan said.
Evernight thought how they had infiltrated the nations and groups in the First Realm was advanced, but it was nothing compared to what was happening to the Willful Institute. The lower nations should be happy they didn’t have any designs on them and only cared about the Beast Mountain Range.
“When will it all kick off?” Erik asked.
Rugrat looked up from his tattoos, his eyes cold as the sense of ease evaporated around him.
“That depends. It will take a spark. There are two things that might happen: Others start a fight with them or we start the fight,” Elan said.
“What about the nations in the First Realm?” Rugrat asked.
Elan glanced at Evernight.
“They sent out groups of fighters and assassins to attack traders moving through the Beast Mountain Range,” she said. “The military is growing in strength. With their training in Alva, they can reach the level of adventurers who live in the Third Realm. Those with potential have the option to be directly recruited into the Alva army.”
“That would be a good way for them to have some Experience. We should see about having those who pass initial training in the army serve in the Beast Mountain Range to get some Experience
.” Rugrat looked at Erik, who nodded.
Evernight continued, “We have the army that is reserve, and within that, we are creating a reactive force that will go out and hunt down the enemy before they ever reach the Beast Mountain Range. We can use them as scouts, spies, and assassins as needed in different nations.”
“Well, instead of using a new force, you could use some people from the special teams. We need to rotate them around and teach them about the different realms. Have them operate in different realms—become Experts on them,” Erik said.
“They are the best of the best,” Elan said.
“Yeah, and you need it for dangerous operations. Though I have one rule.” Erik held up a finger. “No secretive bullshit with them. If they’re going on a mission, you can tell them and consult them on the mission parameters. They must all agree to the mission, and they have the right to change it if they so desire. No offense, but you gather the information, and they need to act on it. I trust your information and their judgment as to whether they can act on it or not.”
“Too many times spooks come in and tell us a mission, and they have a skewed vision of how it will come out—too many damn action movies,” Rugrat muttered darkly.
Movies? Evernight kept her judgments to herself as Elan nodded.
“Understood, lords.” Elan bowed his head.
Rugrat and Erik’s body language turned weird at the mention of “lords” but they didn’t say anything.
“Have we got any information on people from Earth?” Erik asked.
“There have been some instances. Evernight?” Elan said, and everyone turned to her.
“People from Earth are new to the Ten Realms, so they will appear in the First Realm. A few incidents have gained our attention. Although our net around the Beast Mountain Range is dense, it is much thinner in the lands beyond. We have found a total of seventeen people who might have come from Earth. Twelve of them have died. Of the remaining five, three advanced into the higher realms, and we are searching for them through other sources. Two remained in the First Realm. One operates as a commander of an army; the other is a slave of a nation. Advances in materials have occurred again and again from that nation. Based on our information, they appeared in the same areas, so we have expanded our search area to where people have appeared.
“We have also have information about a group of possible Earthers we found by mistake. Queen Ikku is moving her forces toward the Beast Mountain Range. I thought they wanted to attack us, but they seemed to be searching for something. I checked into it deeper, and a group of people, some who are fighters using crossbows and are terrible with blades, escaped with a group of weaker people and are protecting them. It was said that they had been gathered by Queen Ikku.”
“The man who is a slave and this group—what have we done about them?” Erik asked.
“We were waiting for your orders,” Elan said.
“Brief a special team. They are to secure that man at all costs. I want another special team ready to meet with this group of people from Earth. You said Queen Ikku is moving her people toward the Beast Mountain Range?”
“Yes,” Evernight said.
Erik glanced at Rugrat.
“She has to be following them,” Rugrat said. “If I were looking to disappear, I would want to go somewhere where it is hard to track down people. We have people moving all over the place. Outposts are being shifted around; more people live and trade above us than ever before.”
“Perfect way to get lost in the crowd,” Erik agreed. “All right, have your people figure out who these people are and locate them. Once you find them, tell us. They’re running scared. If you make contact, it could be an issue. If you can’t get Rugrat or me, get Matt or Tanya to meet with them.”
“It will be done.” Evernight nodded.
“Anything else?” Erik asked.
Evernight pressed her lips together, thinking of Aditya. She raised a hand at the last second.
“Miss Evernight.”
“Lord Aditya…he has served faithfully and worked for Alva for the last few years without complaint. His subordinates already know about Alva and have even trained here, but he has been kept in the dark.” Evernight stared at the table in front of her, not knowing whether she had spoken out of turn. She felt the heat in her face as her stomach turned over.
“Well, we have met him, and he has done a lot of good for us,” Rugrat said.
“Elan?” Erik asked.
“He has done everything we asked of him and gone beyond. I think it’s past time,” Elan said.
“All right. Miss Evernight, in four days, bring Aditya to Alva. Make sure everything is prepared,” Erik said.
Evernight shivered. She wasn’t sure whether it was fear or excitement, and she bowed her head. “Yes, Dungeon Lord.”
After all the other heads had left, there was only Elan, Erik, and Rugrat left.
“I’m guessing you want the details about the Sixth Realm now?” Rugrat asked.
“It wouldn’t hurt,” Elan said, pen and paper ready.
“All right, well, we should start from the beginning.” Erik stretched in his chair.
It took a few hours for them to get through everything, telling Elan about the academy cities. The dungeons underneath them were like a whole second world. The orcs and the testing carried out by Lena. They dumped all her journals they had gathered. They’d made duplicates with special spell scrolls.
“We also ran into a guy called Lee Perrin. Sounds like an Australian, a place on Earth. He had some people with him who called him a teacher. They were all plenty powerful. If you could have some people keep an eye on him, we might find an opportunity to bring him to our side,” Erik said.
“To make it to the Sixth Realm, he must be one hell of a fighter. Do you think that he was power-leveling?” Elan asked.
“Honestly have no idea. There are different ways to grow one’s Strength. Seems he found a really good one,” Rugrat said.
“I will see if I can get some information on this Lord Vinters too. Sounds like the dungeons are a wildland down there.”
“Perfect for exploitation. Could have a whole bunch of mines in there or people collecting resources,” Rugrat said.
“We might have needed that in the past. Now, not so much. We haven’t used up twenty percent of the overall space on the separate floors. The Water floor is largely unexploited as well. Going to take us some time to develop all that,” Erik said.
“Makes sense. Sorry, I’m used to us having to make secret bases all over the place.”
“Yeah, it was my first thought too,” Erik said. “Also, Elan, talking about secrets, what about your son Wren?”
“What about him?” Elan looked up.
“You haven’t asked once for him to become an Alvan; you didn’t want to cloud our judgment, I know. I read the reports from Evernight about his interactions in the First Realm and work in Vermire, Chonglu, and now in King’s Hill. He’s not the little shit who attacked us back then,” Erik said.
Elan didn’t say anything.
“We would be willing to give him a shot at being an Alvan and for the Silaz Trading house under him to become a member of the Trader’s Guild,” Rugrat said, cutting to the point.
“Thank you. I know in the past—”
“The past is the past. He has grown up, having to rely on himself and develop out the trading house. We can only give him a shot. Whether he makes it through recruitment or not is up to someone else.”
“I understand. Whatever the decision, I won’t fight it.”
“Good.” Erik tapped on the table and stood. “Now, the next thing we need from you is information on the Seventh Realm. We need to deal with this Willful Institute crap first, but I want us to be ready. The Sha have their eyes on us.”
“Yes, sir. I am leveling up some of my agents so they can enter the Seventh Realm.”
11
Calm Before the Storm
Delilah and Erik walked together. T
hey wore relaxed clothes, and although people stared, with just a different set of clothes, few people recognized the duo.
“How is the family?” Erik asked.
“They’re good. My mother is at the school working as a healer. Two of my brothers—John and Jamie—have joined the army; Joanna followed them too. My father is a confirmed farmer. He works on the farms and the Alchemy gardens.” Delilah smiled as she looked up at the ceiling and the roof of mana stones. “Nolan followed him, and Kyle is a cook and Greg is a tailor. Suzy and Rachel are still figuring out what they want to do. Zhiwei was in the military, but she is now expecting John’s child. She is resting at home, but she spends most of her days in the library and has become a student of pure magic.”
Erik laughed, a wide smile on his face. “Looks like the Ryans are going all out!”
Delilah smiled, proud of her family. They reached the low tables and chairs that filled the first market square. There were restaurants, bars, and stores around the square. In the middle were chairs and tables with staff ready to take their order and bring them meals from the different vendors. All of them sold a variety of meals and items, allowing one to have a truly different style of food.
The square was packed with people having meetings over lunch or catching up with friends, fellow students, workers, and compatriots.
An attendant came over with menus. The man opened his mouth to speak and stuttered when he saw Delilah’s face, putting his hands to his side and starting to bow.
“Please, don’t. I’m just looking to have a private meal,” Delilah said to the waiter.
The waiter didn’t seem to know what to do. He nodded and cleared his throat.
“Thank you.” Erik held out his hand for the menu.
“Your brother is working in the kitchen. I know he would like to say hello. If you want?” the waiter asked.
“Kyle is working today? Only if he isn’t in the middle of something,” Delilah said guiltily.
Sixth Realm Part 2: A litRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 7) Page 12
