The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  Glosil greeted Yui and Domonos as they entered his office.

  “So, how are things going?” he asked as they all sat down at the table in his room.

  “We have the numbers, but we don’t necessarily have all of the training. As we were told, we trained up people for one role at this time. So someone who took a medic course is now a medic, just to fill spots. Most of the people from Alva have all of their qualifications and are the backbone of the companies. We’re teaching the newest members in our free time, but it will take time to train them up properly and get them all of their qualifications,” Yui said.

  “Our people have largely finished their training. We had the personnel to train them up in most areas. The new guys need an extra course or two still—just a time squeeze.” Domonos spoke up.

  “Training the new units? Thoughts?”

  “We’re going to have another seven, nearly eight hundred people joining us in just a few weeks. They will be basic, but I think we should hold to the training we’ve set out. Mix in our veterans with the newly qualified in the Dragon and Tiger units, overstaff them and then break off secondary units—half veteran, half new,” Yui said.

  “The training companies are a good idea. They each get taught in their own trade and then come together to see how all of the different parts work together. It will increase the training time, though,” Domonos said.

  “We need quality, not quantity. Some of the originals from Tiger Platoon will finish their training in all areas.” Glosil’s statement turned into a question as Yui smiled.

  “That’s correct. There will be thirty-eight who will have completed their basic, sharpshooter, medic, mortar, mage, and engineer next Friday.”

  “And Dragon Company should have another thirty-two to add to that,” Glosil said. “We’re about a course behind Tiger Company, but they only have one more course to go through to be fully qualified.”

  “I’m sure that you’re all getting asked when selection for the CPD will be held. Three weeks from now, selection will be open. Up to thirty people from each of your companies are allowed to apply. There will also be an officer training course in Alva that your people can enter into—room for twenty from each of your companies. Once they complete their officer or CPD training, they can complete the other course. Afterward, they can choose to remain at their rank, or become officers. For now, the CPD units will be teacher training pools, with one CPD squad active and the other training others in medical, artillery, mortars, and so on,” Glosil said.

  “How long is the CPD course?”

  “One intensive month. It will be taught by Special Team Two and will have extensive time in the Battle Arena, fighting and training to increase their combat standards. They will learn directly from the special teams how to increase their effectiveness. They’ll be placed under constant stress to perform. Once they’re done, they’ll be writing the manuals on how to use our different weapons systems.”

  “Still a lot to be done.” Yui smiled.

  “Yes, and then there is the issue of the Willful Institute. Cutting out that problem with minimal issued will be difficult.”

  ***

  Rugrat had returned to Vuzgal secretly and hid in the Vuzgal Crafting Academy. He had brought a number of Expert-level books with him but instead of diving into smithing, he had gone to the formation workshop, and started working there.

  Rugrat spent his time reading books on formations and carving them out. He tried to make formations that were needed for Vuzgal. Although large areas had been reclaimed and rebuilt, most of them were missing the myriad formations that they required. Building was quick; crafting the different parts needed for the building was time intensive.

  Rugrat’s days passed quickly. In the mornings and afternoons, he would smith and create formations. At night, he would train with George. He and Erik had taken up learning combat techniques. Throughout, he would cultivate his mana.

  Today, he was visiting the hospital.

  “Okay, so I’ll take this, then wake up in a few hours and I should have tempered my skin?” Rugrat asked, remembering the hell that Erik had needed to go through.

  “That’s it.” The medic had a slightly nervous expression. His eyes turned to Storbon and the other members of the special team in the room.

  “See you on the other side.” Rugrat threw the pill back and swallowed. “Urgh, tastes like chalk,” Rugrat muttered as he laid back and closed his eyes.

  He opened them again, feeling a bit confused. Where am I? Hospital...okay. Rugrat looked around blearily. The special team looked a little paler but there was a new notification waiting for Rugrat.

  “Okay, that looks like fun. One more tempering complete. Just a few more to go and reach Body Like Stone.” Rugrat rubbed the back of his head and he felt a breeze on his skin.

  He looked down. “Well, who stole my clothes?” he asked, still looking down.

  “You were, um, shedding,” Storbon said.

  “Oh.” Rugrat stood. He could feel more on his skin—the temperature differences, the flow of air. He pulled on clothes. He could feel them more than before.

  “Might need to change my shirts. Damn, these things chafe,” Rugrat complained as he finished getting clothes on.

  “Okay, time to go and hand Erik his ass.” Rugrat headed out of the hospital, a smile on his face.

  The special team and Rugrat got on their mounts and rode through the streets to the Battle Arena.

  At the entrance, Erik and the other half of Special Team One were entering, drawing people’s attention. Gilly’s unique appearance and the levels of those around her drew people’s interest.

  They entered into the Battle Arena on their mounts. They were the only ones given the privilege.

  “Ready?” Erik asked.

  “Born ready. Bit busy in here.” Rugrat looked around the busy floor.

  “Good for business. Come on.” Erik led them to a VIP elevator. They dismounted and their mounts went to their smaller forms but remained by their sides as the special team boarded the elevator.

  They headed upward. The doors opened to reveal the largest Battle Arena. The stands were empty but the barrier around the stage was active.

  “Well, looks like we invested well.” Rugrat laughed.

  The elevator behind them opened once again as the final member of their group arrived.

  “So this is what it looks like when it is empty,” the Fighter’s Association Head Klaus said in interest.

  He pulled on his gray and black beard. His fingers were covered in rings, each of them with inlaid formations. His beard was pulled back by metal ties and his hair was shaved short. He looked like a dwarf in appearance, but in height he was taller than Rugrat. He wasn’t packed with muscle but there was a strength and presence in every movement.

  “Looks like you two have the pleasure of being my trainees.” He grinned as Erik looked at Rugrat.

  “We need to learn how to fight up here—he’s the best one for it,” Rugrat said.

  “Also, I’m bound to not tell anyone your skills or abilities, standard trainer contract. Not even the Fighter’s Association will find out your abilities from me,” Klaus said with a grin.

  They went down to the training square, and the special teams stood to the side. Testing equipment lay around. Erik and Rugrat demonstrated their attacks, from their mana bullets to Erik’s Mana Detonation.

  The more they went on, the darker Klaus’s expression became.

  Erik and Rugrat stood in front of Klaus.

  “Seems that you have been throwing things together. You are reliant on your firearms and you have not worked on your other fighting skills. It is as if you created these firearms before you could develop fighting in the Ten Realms. Erik, your footwork and movements show that you are somewhat on the right path. Your attacks are items added to one another. Although they can work together, it is more complicated than it needs to be. Rugrat, your entire fighting style is on fighting with your weapon. If you don’
t have one, then your power drops dramatically.” Klaus took a deep breath. “That said, you seem adaptable, which means that this might not be a waste. So I will start from the beginning and we will go from there.”

  He stepped into the middle of the sparring area. “When one starts fighting, they learn that there are two major areas: melee”—he snapped out a fist, causing the air to shift—“and magic.” He threw out his other hand and a thorn of wood stuck into a target.

  “As it progresses, these two merge into a style that is suited to the fighter.” He threw out a fist while creating a thorn at the exact same time. The thorn buried itself in the same target, nearly two times deeper.

  “These are called techniques. Now, there are pure mage and pure melee techniques as well. They’re both powerful in their own right, but pure mages are weak to close-in attack; pure melee types are weak to ranged attacks. There are few or no pure mages or melee types. Now, I’m not saying that everyone needs to wield a sword, a spear, or some kind of weapon. Think of techniques like shortcuts, combining multiple high-level concepts together: instead of having to recite all of the spell, you add in movements to simplify it. Instead of trying to follow the path of pure magic, you augment your fighting. It doesn’t care who fights the prettiest or has the cleanest spells—it matters who wins. If you find a way to improve your spells, that will help you later,” Klaus said.

  “Erik, your fist thing—it’s wasteful, shooting out mana like that. If you were to use a spell to make fire and lightning and then use just a part of your mana, then the attack power would increase greatly.

  “Rugrat, if you could cast a spell on yourself to increase your defense and your speed, then you would be able to fight for longer and not have to fear for your life as much,” Klaus said.

  “Read these.” Klaus pulled out two spell books and tossed them to Erik and Rugrat.

  “Healing Dagger?” Erik asked.

  “You create a dagger in your hand that you can throw out. The people it strikes it will heal instead of wound.” Klaus looked to Rugrat. “Chains of the Darkness is a control spell. At its base, it can trap someone in a one-hundred-meter area. With your power, I would estimate that it would reach three hundred meters and you can capture multiple people. With this, you can control the battlefield more effectively. Learn them. We’ve got a lot to go through.”

  ***

  ==========

  You have learned the spell: Healing Dagger. Your spell book has been updated.

  ==========

  ==========

  Healing Dagger

  ==========

  Novice

  ==========

  Attack heals instead of harms.

  ==========

  Consumption of Mana based on effect and power.

  ==========

  Erik fell into a daze as he thought of the Healing Dagger.

  Is there a way to combine this with my other healing spells and make it more effective? If it is just a general healing spell like Simplified Heal, then what if I was to add in Heal Bone, Heal Scars, Heal Muscle. Could I have a spell that uses Simple Organic Scan to search the body and heal the wounds as it goes? Could those then be combined with the Hallowed Ground spell? A Stamina recovery spell?

  Erik felt information starting to click together in his mind.

  ==========

  You have learned the spell: Hallowed Healing Dagger. Your spell book has been updated.

  ==========

  ==========

  Hallowed Healing Dagger

  ==========

  Master

  ==========

  Attack heals the target struck, creating an area of effect around them that will rapidly heal those wounded around them and harm their enemies. Increases Stamina Regeneration over time. The more enemies within the area of effect, the greater the Stamina and health recovery for allies.

  ==========

  Tier 1 Cast: 300 Mana, costs 50 mana every minute. Covers a 10-meter area.

  Tier 2 Cast: 600 Mana, costs 100 mana every minute. Covers a 15-meter area.

  ==========

  ==========

  For teaching yourself a Master ranked spell, you gain: 50,000,000 EXP

  ==========

  ==========

  You have reached Level 58

  ==========

  When you sleep next, you will be able to increase your attributes by: 5 points.

  ==========

  ==========

  39,048,136/70,000,000 EXP till you reach Level 59

  ==========

  Erik blinked. He felt drained, stumbling slightly.

  “You okay?” Rugrat asked.

  “Uh, yeah.” Erik held his hand out. Golden power appeared within the shining blade. It looked to be made of glass. He stabbed it into Rugrat’s arm.

  “Hey!” Rugrat complained and frowned but he didn’t feel any pain as the dagger stuck into his arm.

  Hallowed Ground enveloped them both.

  “Move around.” Erik pushed his fatigue to the side.

  Rugrat moved and the Hallowed Ground, a mix of light-green and golden flames, moved around with him at the center.

  Erik stopped casting the spell and he started to laugh.

  “What did you do?” Rugrat asked.

  “Well, I thought of my other spells. Then I combined them together. I was thinking really fast and then with the spell book and my crafting book, they combined somehow,” Erik said.

  Rugrat waved his hands, a look of inspiration on his face. “If I was to create these chains, could I add in the different enhancements that I have for my rounds, focus on the ones that keep them in place? Then what about the power of the chains? If they are weak, couldn’t I use my Simple Inorganic Scan to find the weaknesses and—” Rugrat’s eyes moved back and forth and he stopped talking. A few seconds later, he was the one stumbling as golden power from the Ten Realms entered his body.

  He raised his hand and chains wrapped around a mannequin on the training area. The mannequin showed the effects of the chains that were filled with the power of poison, lightning, and fire. They were incredibly strong and tightened around the mannequin.

  “What do they do?” Erik asked.

  “The chains can recover and increase their strength over time with enough mana fed to them. They have a paralysis spell to immobilize, with lightning and fire to passively harm over time. It is really wasteful in power, so I might create a spell that focuses on holding and another that looks at hurting over time. If I was to focus on increasing the strength, the paralysis, then silence...” Rugrat went silent for some time and he held his head.

  “New spell—damn, that hurts,” Rugrat said as more power entered his head.

  “What if I was to combine the healing skills and the Stamina together, then not include the Hallowed Ground?” Erik felt all of the pieces being pulled together, joining information from his Journeyman crafting book and the spell book within his mind.

  ==========

  Divine Healing Dagger

  ==========

  Expert

  ==========

  Attack heals and increases Stamina Regeneration of the one struck.

  ==========

  Cast: 150 Mana

  ==========

  ==========

  For teaching yourself an Expert-ranked spell, you gain: 5,000,000 EXP

  ==========

  ==========

  44,048,136/70,000,000 EXP till you reach Level 59

  ==========

  Erik cast a new dagger and threw it at Rugrat, who didn’t even notice as chains shot out of the ground and wrapped around a new mannequin. It clamped around it; lightning and flames danced around the mannequin. Rugrat closed his hand and the chains exploded, scarring the mannequin.

  ***

  Klaus looked at the two freaks. One second he was teaching them Novice level spells and the next they were already starting to create their own advanced versions.

  There is a reason that they ar
e city lords of one of the strongest capitals in the Fourth Realm. Klaus couldn’t help but shake his head.

  He cleared his throat, regaining the two’s attention. “Now that you have these spells, you have already formed techniques. By combining your insights with action, you created techniques.”

  “Techniques is merely the way one shows their knowledge in the physical world,” Erik said, as if something clicked for him.

  “Now, these are both supporting techniques. You still need something to increase your fighting power directly.” Klaus looked through his bag, thinking on their fighting styles, looking at the different spell books and combat art styles.

  “Scan.” He tossed out those books at them both. “Aerial Mounted Beast Combat style. The Silver Falcons.” Klaus looked at George and shrugged, tossing out two more books to Rugrat. “You’ll need to both learn that one.”

  “Abnormal Beast Mount fighting techniques.” He tossed out a book at Erik. “Your mount isn’t normal. She is strong, great support—this manual will allow you to become closer and allow each of you to react to the other with greater fluidity.

  “Erik, are you just going to use your fists?” Klaus looked in his bag.

  “It’s what I know best,” Erik said.

  “Movement technique, Cloud Footwork technique.”

  He threw another book at Rugrat. “Illusionary Fist spell, and then the Unhallowed Strike,” Klaus said.

  “Lastly, Shade’s Covering for both of you and then, Bound Weapon and Aura of Swords for you, Rugrat.” Klaus finished dispersing the books. He looked at the duo staring at the books. He nodded and then headed off.

  “Make sure to study up. We’ll meet here again next week. I hope that you don’t take this lightly! I’ll test you both personally. Only beaten up one other capital lord before.” Klaus chuckled to himself, thinking of his younger and wilder days. He glanced back to see the two pass the books to their mounts and then started to devour spell books and the combat arts that he passed to them.

  Their foundations are firm, stronger than some in the Fifth Realm, but their abilities are lacking. He continued on his way, interested to see just how far they would go.

  I must be old, this interested in seeing what the younger generation will do.

  ***