“Oh, how he defeated those attackers with but a flash of his sword, showing off his valiant side to Anabeth.” His voice returned to normal as he walked toward the forest, his hands behind his back.
“You see, Charles was stuck in the forest because he had been cursed by a witch. Seeing him and his looks, she wanted for him to become hers. When he denied her, she turned him into a half-man, half-swamp creature. At night, he would transform into a man and in the day he would be a swamp creature that would roam its depths, killing any that ventured inside.
“It is with Anabeth’s love that he can overcome his curse and the swamp transforms into a grand castle, with poor Anabeth as Charles’s queen.” Egbert didn’t seem to care in the slightest as he walked through the murky and humid air. The trees around him started to move as creatures with wrinkled, almost bark-like skin appeared. On the swampy ground, eyes started to appear and Davin moved closer to Egbert.
“Egbert,” Davin said in a warning tone.
“Ah, damn, I got some mud on my robes. You know that these are Expert robes, though they’re a pain to wash out?” Egbert still ignored his surroundings, stopping to clean it up some.
A beast jumped out of the water, opening its mouth wide to bite into Egbert.
Egbert raised one hand. A flash of light appeared at the end of his finger, slicing the creature into parts and cutting anything behind it for ten meters apart.
All the while, Egbert patted and scratched at the mud on his robe.
“Damn thing,” Egbert complained. “Oh Davin, use your Fire domain, just this once.”
Davin seemed relieved and his body started to glow red. He seemed more sinister and the beasts around him seemed to slink back, an innate fear toward Davin.
Davin grinned as he unleashed his power. A wave of fire burst from him. The floor rumbled as it shot across the swamp, vaporizing the water, ripping up the trees, and super-cooking the unfortunate beasts.
Egbert finished cleaning up his robe. He looked up at the destruction around him as the air around Davin was still burning.
“What is that—a one-hundred-meter radius? Is this your domain?” Egbert reached out.
“I can extend it farther but it’s much harder.” Davin sighed.
“So you can completely sense everything in this area and cast spells within it as if casting them from your body?” Egbert asked.
“Don’t you have a domain?” Davin asked.
“I have a dungeon, not a domain. Everything within my area of influence is under my command.” Egbert stepped into the air. “Come along. One Wood floor to tame. Will you put your flames out? Don’t need another Earth floor situation.”
Davin sighed and he flapped his wings. The skeleton and Fire imp headed toward a truly massive tree that dominated the floor. There were signs of buildings in and around the tree, and other plants and creatures lived within its branches.
“Really have to work with the lighting in here. I guess the sun formation must have gone out. Though the formations that simulate sunlight are still working. Became a swamp instead of a forest.” Egbert talked to himself as they crossed the floor toward the tree.
***
Rugrat looked at the breastplate he had finished.
“High Journeyman level.” He sighed to himself as he sat on the chair next to the workbench. He was covered in grime and he held his chin.
He looked over to the notes he had made from researching and using an Expert-level smithing technique. I understand what I have to do, but what I have to do and how I get there are two different things.
Rugrat moved to the bathroom attached to the workroom and washed his face, feeling a bit defeated.
“Okay, well, my smithing might have hit a wall. Although it sucks, if I keep on grinding at it, I might make some progress over time. There is still a lot for me to learn about formations. Formations and smithing are linked to one another. I’ll take a look at formation techniques, make some notes, then work on formations. Maybe that will kickstart my brain.” Rugrat cleaned up the workshop and he passed Taran, who was working on a blade.
Rugrat waved to him and he raised his hammer back in greeting and kept on working. He passed other smiths who were learning. Classrooms were filled with people learning about the different kinds of metals and enhancers that were in the Ten Realms. How they could be worked into one another, the effects that they would have.
The smithing department had grown with the rest of the academy, which was easily three times its original size. He exited the department into the halls, stairwells, and walkways that connected the academy. He stepped out of the buildings and into the green areas that lay between the different sections of the academy. There were people doing study groups, others having fun in the sun.
Rugrat’s eyes were drawn to one of the main sights of Alva, the library. It had grown in size and height once again.
It remained in the center of the academy, with people from all departments within its halls.
It feels more like a college than those academies. I guess the fact of it is that people are all working in the same areas; no one person is more or less important than the others. There are people who are taking all kinds of combined classes and although the departments are in different areas, they’re not segregated and people want to teach and share with one another. Sure, there are rivalries. Nothing is perfect. Though it’s pretty damn good.
Rugrat walked into the doors of the library. He ignored the stares and the people talking to one another about him. He had dealt with it before when he was traveling from home to work, or his next station wearing his uniform.
He took the stairs and headed up to the top floor of the library. The Novice area now had three floors—same with the Apprentice and Journeyman—breaking up the levels of books from low, mid, to high.
There didn’t used to be so many people up here, Rugrat thought, taking a stroll through the mid Journeyman-level floor. There were now two or three dozen people with the qualifications to be on the floor. Rugrat went higher, using his Alva medallion to enter the Expert-level floor.
It was still just one floor.
“Looks like Egbert has been working on security a bit.” Rugrat saw undead from Vuzgal in the room. Each of them wore powerful weapons and armor of the Expert grade. Erik and Rugrat had shipped some down for study and to be used by Alva. Being undead, they could be stuffed into storage rings and transported, though they needed to be within a dungeon and animated by a dungeon core, or by a ritual in order to function.
Rugrat leafed through the books on smithing, checking his notes once again.
“Red sword dance—move the red-hot sword, maintaining temperature, as you use your movements to alter the shape of the weapon. These weapons will be best suited for those who walk down the path of high Agility, with their graceful moves dazzling and destroying.” Rugrat sighed as he shook his head. “The descriptions sound like weird poetry.”
He stopped looking at the smithing techniques and turned to the formation techniques.
“So what have we got here? The hidden formation—basically using threads of mana like someone knits together a blanket. They knit it into a formation, laying them upon one another in a design. Takes dense mana, and a lot of time. Using a hammer to smack a formation into creation. Need to have the entire formation in your mind and all of the working parts, then you put that onto your hammer and then just press it out as one. Very fast method but need to be exact, really high rate of failure and the metal can become corrupted and unusable. That sounds fun.
“Okay, so next we have the fine-tuned technique. It’s a series of movements that one memorizes that can be used together to create a formation. This is a technique? It’s more like an instruction manual.” Rugrat read more. “Good pointers though, and smart.” Rugrat listed down different information that was useful for him. Most of it was too complicated; he hadn’t reached that stage yet.
After checking the information he had down and his head hurting, he
headed out of the library and toward the totem that could take him to Vuzgal.
“Are you really going to follow me everywhere?” Rugrat asked Niemm as he walked toward the totem.
“Kind of our job, City-Dungeon Lord.” Niemm smiled.
“Great, now I’m the one being babysat. This sucks,” Rugrat said as he led the way. “I have to pay all of your teleportation fees as well!”
***
Erik sat across from Old Man Hei, chewing on some new ingredients.
“You’ve been chewing on that for a while,” Old Hei said.
“Oh, can’t taste anything anymore. I think it’s good?” Erik put it into his storage ring. “So what do you think?”
“I think that you are trying to find a quick solution for a long problem,” Old Hei said. “Go and create concoctions. Go and read about Alchemy. Chew on ingredients if you must. Information and time go a long way. Becoming an Expert isn’t a quick thing. You must be in the right mindset and then it just kind of happens. Using other Alchemy techniques will bolster your strength, but they are someone else’s path. You need to create your own technique. Maybe they will be similar to one that you learn from someone else. Maybe it is completely different. If you have blinders on and you charge down a set path, how will you know that there is a better road right beside you?”
“I feel like you’re getting more riddles the longer I talk to you.” Erik sighed.
Old Hei smiled. “The path toward higher crafting is not a simple one, nor is it easy. Books become closer to reference material than instructions. Maybe that is because an instruction manual has not been made yet. Maybe it is because we may always be searching to create that instruction manual but we will never make one that suits everyone, just the majority?” Old Hei shrugged lightly.
“So what should I do?”
“Train.”
“Didn’t you just say kind of with the blinders that I shouldn’t focus on one thing?”
“Train in Alchemy, train in fighting, train in healing. How long ago was it that you spent time healing people? I know how much it means to you.”
Erik saw a flashback of Chonglu and cleared his throat.
“Train your mana and your body.”
“Well, for that I need supplies,” Erik said.
“You have reached Body Like Iron, correct?”
“Yes. Now I need to temper my body with the Earth element. I can apply to get those concoctions but they will take weeks or months.”
“And although you are my disciple, because you still wander the Ten Realms, you are an outer disciple, so you can only purchase the finished concoction instead of make it yourself. Bit paranoid about putting concoctions within your body?”
“A little.” Erik smiled.
Old Hei pressed his lips together in an amused expression and pulled out a piece of paper. “There is an old recluse, an alchemist in the Fourth Realm. He has said that he is willing to give away a Mana or Body Cultivation formula in exchange for someone completing the low Expert-level Revitalization Tree Sap concoction. He will give you the formula, but you will need to sign a contract with the Ten Realms to attempt to make the concoction at least ten times. If you create it, then you will not need to make another concoction and you can use the formula freely as you wish.”
When commissioning someone to make a concoction, they can pay for the alchemist’s time, give them the ingredients and the formula. Giving the formula greatly decreases the cost. If they pass them the formula and make a contract for them to not use this version again, the cost rises. If the alchemist has the formula already, then the customer pays a higher price. Formula, compensation, and ingredients: these are the three parts that are the basis of a deal between an alchemist and their client.
With him supplying the formula, it is a high-grade formula and must have a powerful effect. If he distributes it to anyone but they must try to create the formula ten times, the cost of ingredients must be high or they are rare for him to not supply them. Though if he passes all of these formulas out, maybe there are six or seven people who create the concoction, he gets all of those, allowing him to resell them on.
“It’s a gamble. How rare and expensive are the ingredients?” Erik asked.
Old Hei’s smile grew deeper. “The ingredients are expensive but not all that rare. A set of them would cost around one hundred Earth mana stones.”
Erik blinked a few times. “What does the formula do?”
“It is a formula that allows one to undo changes to their body. Powerful poison or curses, limited aging, adding in a beast bloodline to your own. Say your cultivation became chaotic. I thought about using it on your friend. It would have turned back the damage, but advancing is always better than reverting, I believe.”
“Why would I be interested?”
“The one who completes the concoction first will be allowed to take one other Expert-level concoction. He made a list, but you might be interested in the Earth Soul pill. A foundational pill that will allow one to temper their body with the Earth attribute.” Old Hei smiled and Erik felt his competitive side taking over.
“I will go and take a look. Maybe the formula will challenge my mind while the Age Rejuvenation challenges my techniques.”
***
Old Hei was looking over papers; Erik had headed off somewhere to do as he needed.
He looked to a side door that opened, revealing Delilah. She had a confused look on her face.
“Grand Teacher, I have reached level seventy-four but I can’t break through into the Expert levels.”
These two—are they trying to beat me next? What would that be like, the grand student beating the grand teacher?
Old Hei coughed a little and there was another knock at the main door. “Come in,” he said.
Captain Khasar walked in with a box and put it down on a table.
“What is this?” Old Hei asked.
“A present from Erik,” Khasar said. “He gave it to me when I escorted him to the totem. Said it should help you both and even if Delilah beats him...” Khasar coughed before continuing. “That he’ll beat you.”
Old Hei stared at Khasar for a few seconds before he got to his feet. “That little rascal! It wasn’t long ago he was just a Novice!” He moved over to the box and opened the lid. The next words on his lips died down.
“What is it, Grand Teacher?”
“Uh, technique books, Expert level, copies.” His voice was stilted, looking at the items, and Delilah looked in as if they were nothing much.
“These should help me break through.” She opened them and started to flick through.
Khasar and Old Hei shared a look before Khasar bowed and headed out of the room, leaving them alone.
It’s not bad having a student who owns a city.
Chapter: Recluse
Erik and his group of “merchants”—who were really half of Special Team One following him along and making sure that he didn’t get into trouble—followed their guide and passed through the totem.
“Welcome to Elivas,” the guide said.
Erik tossed him the payment as Yao Meng led the way and the others looked around.
The man waved good-bye to them as they passed through the custom gates. Erik checked the information that Old Hei had given him and they headed deeper into the city. Seeing a group in hoods wasn’t that strange but with their powerful auras, people moved out of the way.
They went through the city. It looked ancient, with old carved walls covered in moss and hidden pictures of days past. The forest was close around them and a loamy smell of moss and humidity filled one’s senses.
“Is that it?” Storbon asked.
“I think so.” Erik looked at the long building with a tower that rose up into a disc at its peak. The trees around the buildings looked as if they were actively trying to reclaim the building, growing all around and over it. Vines crisscrossed around it.
A young man stormed out of the house, his face filled with rage as he met
up with others. “That old man is too stubborn and cheap! We’re leaving!”
He stormed off with his group as Erik and the others walked up.
“Seems like fun,” Storbon said as he continued to scan the area.
“Thanks, Storbon. Great pep talk,” Erik said dryly. The two of them looked at each other and smiled.
“All right, see you in a bit.” Erik made to step forward.
A man yelled as he was propelled out of the tower’s window, before he crashed down into a nearby field.
“Stop kicking people into other’s fields! You’ve done it three times! If you hit my prized Roasi plums, I’ll call the city guard!” an irate old lady yelled from the other field. “Stop rolling around! You’re making it worse! Aren’t you an alchemist? Don’t you know how to act in a garden?”
The woman berated the poor alchemist, who was an easier target.
“Hopefully leaving through the front door.” Erik headed up to the door and knocked on it. It took some time before it was opened and a butler appeared.
“Master is up on the highest floor.” The man looked tired and worn out, barely keeping his appearance together as his master threw people out of his house.
“Thank you.” Erik headed up the stairs and knocked on the door there.
It opened and he found himself in a large room. To the left side, it was closed off, with the sounds of Alchemy being carried out. In the main area, there were four guards.
They seemed to grow alert as Erik entered the room. He was different, not weak and fragile or a sheep in wolf’s clothing.
He smiled to them simply, acknowledging other fighters. No one made it here on the Fourth Realm without killing a few people.
“I am here about the job for the completion of the Revitalization Tree Sap.”
“What do you want in exchange for making the Revitalization Tree Sap?” A voice came from the other room.
Why does it sound like a child’s voice?
Erik cleared his throat. “The Earth Soul pill.”
“Are you looking to increase your cultivation or others?”
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