The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  “Once a battle begins, that city’s totem is rendered inactive by the ten realms. Teleportation formations still work but there are few people who have the knowledge and power to create teleportation formations and their power consumption, although less than the totems, is still high.

  “To assault a position, thousands of soldiers will be needed to assault the defenses, along with powerful tools like siege weaponry, spell scrolls, combined spells, and magical items. All will be used to open up the defender’s walls and break their Mana barriers. The normal troops are fourth realm fodder used to control the population and gain access, allowing the Elite armies who are made up of members between level forty to fifty to assault the Elite defending army. The real battle will happen between the Masters. Masters are people who have not only stepped on the path of cultivating but they have made some progress reaching the second or third stages of progress and they will be between level fifty and sixty. Those Masters in the city will fight against those from the attackers. Masters are at the peak of the Fourth Realm. Think of them like tactical weapons, once they enter the battlefield, whoever has the most remaining at the end is the victor. They fight those of the same strength to increase their level, power and gain wealth from the defeated. Once they have killed their opponent, they will move on to the next enemy Master. Then they will help their Elites in destroying the other Elites, reducing the strength of the attacker’s nation. Finally, they’ll clear out the regular soldiers. Raising an Elite, or a Master, is a costly exercise. In the Fourth Realm, tens of thousands of people die every day and all of those resources and money are gone, never to be recovered. Killing Elites and Masters is a heavy blow to the group that raised them.”

  “So if you were to kill the Masters of a group, basically they’ll run and try to recover?”

  “Essentially.”

  “What if you were to kill the regular soldiers?” Erik asked.

  “Others can be brought down from the higher realms that haven’t performed well or raised up from the lower realms within a few weeks, the Elites take months, and the Masters take years or decades. Regular soldiers are more like slaves, conscripted and then ordered forward to soak up the damage so the Elite forces don’t need to.” Old Hei looked at Erik sadly.

  ***

  Old Hei knew that Erik was not like others. Even though he was interested in Alchemy, there was a darkness to him. He was not a man to avoid violence. It was part of the reason that Old Hei didn’t want Erik to go to the Fourth Realm.

  He knew Erik had a good head for when to act and not but the threat in the Fourth Realm was extreme.

  “So human wave tactics—beat them with numbers, much like the Medieval ages. With some new tricks in the way of magic, on the open field it might be possible to use tactics, or over time if the dungeon doesn’t supply food, cut off their supply and starve a group out, or try to cause issues in their back lines. Get the people to fight against them. Morale is going to be a big issue in a place like that where wars are so common and people know what happens at the end of a siege.”

  Erik was talking to himself but Old Hei understood what he was talking about. When he was young and stupid, he had gone to the Fourth Realm, looking for glory, only to come racing back to the lower realms to escape the Fourth Realm.

  He was a peaceful man but there, he had seen so much death and waste of life—and all for little more than a dungeon. The rulers tell their people what to do and spill the people’s blood for their goals. Old Hei listened to Erik, who was breaking down the fighting tactics that Old Hei had talked about.

  “Okay, so in the wilderness, other than moving militaries, what is out there?” Erik asked.

  “Powerful beasts roam. The Mana in the Fourth Realm gives birth to many treasures other than the dungeons. Beasts can find these and can increase their strength greatly. Bandits are common, often cast-off soldiers from various militaries. There are also cursed lands, places filled with creatures that are hard to deal with, or have leftover formations that create strange anomalies or natural phenomena that have led many to their deaths,” Old Hei said.

  “What about the food situation?”

  “Foraging is limited. Many of the armies, when retreating, will destroy any crops they encounter to deny their enemy. There are few farmers outside of the different cities. Stamina potions are used more often than actual meals in the Fourth Realm. After all, people there earn more income than those in the lower realms. It is a jump by a force of magnitude, with gold there being what copper is in the lower realms, a Mana stone is a silver and a Mana cornerstone is a gold. Many people have spells, so farms use these to increase their yields.It is rare to find a place that doesn’t have a food shortage in some way. If you have the money or the Strength, you are well fed. Otherwise, you starve. This is part of why people join the various militaries.”

  “Water sources?”

  “Dependent upon region.” Old Hei sent a message to Feng Fen to gather the different maps. “Is there nothing that I can do to stop you from going into the Fourth Realm?”

  “I don’t want to but I need to.” If they do nothing but train then are they really soldiers? I need to increase their strength so if something happens to Rugrat and I then they’ll be able to look after themselves.

  Old Hei felt that Erik wasn’t telling the whole truth. Seeing that he did not want to talk on it, Old Hei simply nodded. “All right. I will get Feng Fen to get all of our current information on the Fourth Realm as well as the included maps.”

  “Thank you, Old Hei.” Erik bowed slightly at the awkward atmosphere between the two of them.

  Chapter: Through the Realms

  “Good to do business with you.” A man in swarthy clothes and a tanned complexion stood and reached out his hand.

  Blaze took it with a wide smile on his face. “The Adventurer’s Guild will look forward to completing the missions you put forward.” Blaze laughed.

  “Though I must ask, just where might one be able to find your Triple S class party?”

  “They’re off completing a mission in the Third Realm. They should be coming back to the Second Realm sometime soon,” Blaze assured the man.

  “You talk of realms so easily—it is rare to find!” the man said with a big smile.

  Blaze simply nodded. After saying their goodbyes, the trader and his people left the room, leaving just Blaze in the office.

  He looked out the back, where he could see Taeman city. If he looked down, he could see the training grounds where men and women from Alva were training and testing the new recruits from Taeman. Their style was not like other mercenary bands. They tested those who came through their doors and those who passed were then trained by the other adventurers. It was possible for a person to walk off the street and become a trained adventurer in just a month.

  They would then need to sign a contract with the Adventurer’s Guild, agreeing that they would be loyal to the guild, could not reveal its secrets, and that they and the Guild would both honor their agreements.

  Even if something about Alva slipped out around someone who wasn’t invited to the dungeon, they wouldn’t be able to repeat it to anyone else outside of the association.

  Once they completed their oath, they would then have to pick a party to go with. It would have at least two or three experienced adventurers and they would go out on a few missions to get their confidence and levels up.

  Then came testing to see what kind of quality they were, after which they could go out on their own and pick out missions that were rated for their skill level.

  It had been nearly six months since Blaze had left the First Realm. He had placed Jasper in charge of managing the Adventurer’s Guilds that were in the First Realm and taking his place on the council.

  If Blaze was ever needed, he could be reached by someone crossing into the Second Realm and reaching an Adventurer’s Guild. All of them were in cities that had a totem, so one could teleport to them. Blaze and Jasper passed messages back and forth
once a month.

  The Adventurer’s Guild had exploded in the First Realm, as they could give training and offer to sell equipment that was hard to find in the First Realm. Upon seeing their strength and ability, the traders, the different nobles, and people with coin learned that they were not just another mercenary company. They had oaths, a code of honor and they were good. They didn’t know how to just swing a sword; they had real training behind them. With the added rating system and the Adventurer’s Guild business approach to the whole matter, many people were swayed in their favor.

  Learning that the association spread up into the Second Realm as well and that many of the core members were above level twenty-five, making them powerful people in the Second Realm, their prestige only increased, and applicants and job offers rushed in from the First Realm.

  The core of the Adventurer’s Guild trained these applicants, testing their character, energy and willingness to improve. They would gather them close, train them and then they would then watch them. Over time, selected people would be exposed to Alva, and were given a chance to increase their Strength by challenging the battlefield dungeon, training with the teachers from Alva, or taking up a craft. They could also join the Alvan army and even the special teams with time and effort.

  Though, it was early for that for most applicants.

  Blaze had been spending his time growing the Guild’s strength in Taeman city, emulating what had worked in the First Realm. It was harder but the hard work was starting to show fruit.

  Over one thousand people had applied and they had made contracts with three large trading groups and multiple smaller ones. Crafters looking for rare resources in hard-to-reach places had also put forward orders.

  The Adventurer’s Guild proved their ability through completing mission after mission. Each day, the number of applicants increased and their ranks swelled.

  Blaze had sent out three different parties to other cities, using the funds at his disposal to increase the reach of the Adventurer’s Guild. The location in Taeman city would remain their headquarters in the Second Realm, unless they found a better location someplace else.

  Slowly but surely, Blaze wanted to increase the reach of the Adventurer’s Guild. Jasper and Rose had already had talks about turning the guild into a financial backbone for Alva’s interests. One could pay a fee at one location and at another location, the money they transferred could be dispensed to the recipient. Rose was looking at sending people from the treasury to the different locations. They would not only transfer money but also lend and create savings accounts after the successful model in Alva Dungeon. She was currently working out the security measures.

  She had picked Rugrat and Erik’s minds; then, through discussions with her own treasury department, they were building a strong Alva Bank.

  The Alva traders still used the Adventurer’s Guild religiously, appearing in the Second Realm with the goods they had saved up over time from Alva Dungeon. They were making massive profits.

  Everything is growing.

  Blaze shook his head, looking away from the training grounds. Nearly two years ago, he had been leading his village to defend themselves against a beast horde.

  Now, having nearly quadrupled his original level, he would live for four hundred years if he didn’t run into problems.He was a member of a dungeon. He was running an association that had some two thousand members, and was growing by the day. Blaze just shook his head at how life has changed him.

  There was a knock at Blaze’s door, and he looked up, having just sat down.

  Before he could say anything, the door opened and a dust-covered person entered his office.

  A scarf and goggles came off, revealing her sand-stained face.

  Blaze’s melancholic look turned into a wide smile.

  “Had to go through a damn dust storm to get here on time. You totally owe me dinner,” Elise complained. Blaze turned in his seat; she jumped on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and landing a gritty kiss on his lips.

  Blaze held her close, sandy ass grit or no sandy ass grit, life is good!

  She leaned back and smiled, looking at Blaze before she buried her head in his shoulder, moving until she got comfortable and letting out a satisfied sigh.

  “Good trip?” Blaze asked.

  “Long,” Elise complained.

  Blaze had to tilt his head at an awkward angle to see the cute pout on her lips. He moved his arm, bugging her for more information.

  Elise made a noise of displeasure. “Trade went well. We ran into some bandits but your people took care of it easily. We also met up with some other trading caravans, did some easy trades, and got to the Quanbei Quarry. We obtained raw resources, metal, jewels, enhancers for healing concoctions, Stamina concoctions, high-quality mining equipment and food. Made a decent profit. The trade caravan is already selling it to the crafters from Alva in the city. The rare goods were sold to one of the Alva trade caravans, and the other items will be sold to the traders inside the city in exchange for food and other items. We’ll be establishing an exclusive route to Quanbei Quarry, maybe even a trading outpost, as there are several quarries in the area with high-quality ores. They’re pulling out Mortal-grade iron in decent quantities, as well as other jewels.

  “With refining in Alva, most of it could turn into Earth iron. We might create a cooperative refinery, where others bring in their raw resources, we refine it and then sell it. The refineries there charge a large amount to buy from. With the refinery that Taran and Tan Xue made, Erik and Rugrat’s knowledge, and Matt to do up the plans—we could reduce the costs and increase the productivity,” Elise said.

  “We went to Hermal city. They do make formations there as Erik said but they’re low grade. It might be a place that we can get information from but I would not suggest any of our people going there. It is run by a sect and anyone who shows ability, the sect will take and teach, making them one of the sect’s people. Though, if that metal we got from the quarry is turned into formation plates here, then we would double or triple our income. They go through hundreds of formation plates and then most of them are thrown out after just a few uses. We can purchase those, use a Butcher spell to tear them down, and reforge them.”

  “The bandits?”

  “They were hiding between Quanbei and Hermal, as there are plenty of rich people going in between.” Elise shrugged.

  “Gear?”

  “Simple, tattered stuff. They didn’t even get close to the caravan. Your people saw them before they even launched their attack. We let some of them escape. Seemed that they spread the word as there were no more problems on the trip,” Elise said.

  “So, good trip overall,” Blaze said.

  “Yes but the next one will take me toward the imperial city of Idel—plenty of opportunity but also plenty of greedy people.” Elise sighed.

  “We don’t always get to do what we want to,” Blaze said.

  Elise nipped at his ear before letting go. “Dinner!”

  “Fine, fine! I’ll get absolutely nothing done today,” Blaze said.

  “Good! You can tell me all about the nothing that you’ve done!” Elise hopped up and stretched.

  Blaze smiled, not hiding the fire in his eyes.

  “Time enough for that later. I need a bath,” Elise said, a demure smile on her face as she stretched more.

  “Everything can be arranged.” Blaze put his hand around her back as she continued to stretch. He kissed her deeply before pulling away. “I missed you.”

  Elise simply smiled, biting her lip as she stopped stretching and turned, putting her arm through Blaze’s. “Food!”

  Blaze laughed as they walked out of his office, talking about everything they had been doing in greater detail. Blaze passed her the messages that had come from the First Realm while she had been gone.

  They walked through the front of the Adventurer’s Guild. It was like a restaurant, with people eating and drinking all around. Off to one side, there was the admini
strative booths and the mission wall. One could take the poster from the mission wall and apply for it at the administrative booths. They could also sign up, receive their pay, as well as buy goods from within the Adventurer’s Guild armory, potions, pills, equipment, armor and weapons—all of it could be found in the Adventurer’s Guild armories.

  All of these goods were sold to the guild with an agreement with the academy. To buy items from the armory, one needed to be a person of the guild. This was another thing that made it appealing to join the Adventurer’s Guild.

  “It’s grown,” Elise said, as they made it through the tables to a private booth. The two of them greeted people they knew and were stared at by the new people from the Adventurer’s Guild. Blaze was usually in meetings or having his meals in his room.

  He went out to train and to fight but it was rare. There were few things that could challenge him in the Second Realm. He wanted to reach the Third Realm soon but didn’t want to rush the development of the Second Realm Adventurer’s Guild.

  “New people every day.” Blaze looked over the front of the guild.

  ***

  Erik and Old Hei’s meeting came to an end. The two agreed to meet later that day at the Sky Reaching Restaurant for a meal.

  Erik headed to his second meeting. With his token, he was easily able to make it to Ebeneezer’s office in the Blue Lotus.

  After a quick greeting, Ebeneezer, seeing Erik was in a hurry, passed over the money from the Age Rejuvenation concoctions.

  “I am sure that production will increase in time and we would be more than willing to pay top price for the processed Lidel leaves.” Ebeneezer pulled out a number of boxes.

  “I will keep that in mind but I might not be able to in a short period of time.” Erik smiled. I could get Delilah to get a number of the alchemists to refine the leaves and then I can courier them to the Blue Lotus and sell them, another way to earn money for Alva.