The Fifth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  No one gave answers but as he saw the veterans of the unit barely holding their grins, Bai Ping wanted to grill them. They were clearly enjoying the silent torture that their fellows were going through.

  They reached a large barracks and marched inside. Even though he was filled with questions, Bai Ping didn’t stop marching, nor did anyone else. They trusted one another with their lives.

  Major Glosil was waiting for them inside the barracks. The last of the platoons stepped into formation and their commanding lieutenant turned with them to face him.

  Captain Yui walked out and gave command over to Glosil.

  “At ease!” Major Glosil said.

  He was a quiet man but none had seen his strength. He was the leader of the military. They had only seen him a few times so he was still a mysterious figure.

  “You are all members of the Alva Army and the Vuzgal regiment. It’s about time you learned what Alva was. This”—he gestured to the barracks and the city beyond—“is Alva. A dungeon controlled by the city lords. You will be here for three months for training. Training to get your qualifications for promotion. Many of you are privates still. By the end of this, you will all be corporals at the very least. While you are here, you will be able to enroll in classes with the academy to learn different crafting skills. We don’t want just trigger pullers here in the Alva Army—we need skilled soldiers. People who know how to make concoctions, know how to repair their bows and staffs, know how to make war weapons. Can see the weakness in a castle’s construction. Here, we walk the path of Elite. You will get out as much as you put in. All lessons at the academy are paid for by the military.” Glosil looked over them all. They stood tall as he seemed to weigh their worth.

  “Very good, Captain Yui. Get your people settled. Classes will start in two days.”

  “Yes, sir.” Yui saluted Glosil, who returned it and headed off into the barracks.

  Yui turned to face them all. “I expect the very best from each and every one of you. You have all completed your basic training and some of you have had the fortune to complete your sharpshooter courses at the very least. Training schedules will be posted. Your sergeants will pick out your training schedule. Any time that you have free between training, you will report here every morning. You will carry out fitness once a week. The rest of the time will be free. I would suggest that you head to the academy to learn there. Talk to the staff and older members of your unit. They are alive because of their training and what they learned here. Alva is your home now. Unless you are given permission from the city lords themselves, you will never reveal any information about Alva. Am I understood?”

  They could feel Yui’s protectiveness and determination. They could feel the same thing from the veterans within their units.

  “Yes, sir!” they yelled out as one.

  Bai Ping felt pride at being brought into such a big secret.

  ***

  Erik awoke with two new notifications.

  ==========

  Illusionary Unhallowed Strike

  ==========

  Expert

  ==========

  You attack with three illusionary fists and a semi-illusionary fist imbued with necrotic damage that can harm over time.

  ==========

  Tier 1 Cast: 425 Mana

  Tier 2 Cast: 850 Mana 5 Illusionary, 3 Semi-Illusionary

  ==========

  ==========

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

  ==========

  ==========

  Shade’s Covering

  ==========

  Journeyman

  ==========

  Cover an area fifteen meters wide. In darkness, you see through it as clear as day.

  ==========

  Cast: 140 Mana

  ==========

  ==========

  For teaching yourself a Journeyman-ranked spell, you gain: 500,000 EXP

  ==========

  ==========

  51,048,136/70,000,000 EXP till you reach Level 59

  ==========

  Because I passed out, I wasn’t able to pick what to put my points into.

  With a groan, he looked around his room in Vuzgal. He checked the time and got up. He stretched and used his Clean spell.

  He pushed up against the top of the bed and opened his character sheet.

  ==========

  Name: Erik West

  ==========

  Level: 57

  ==========

  Race: Human

  ==========

  Titles:

  From the Grave II

  Mana Emperor

  Dungeon Master III

  Reverse Alchemist

  Poison Body

  Fire Body

  City Lord

  ==========

  Strength: (Base 36) +41

  ==========

  770

  ==========

  Agility: (Base 29) +72

  ==========

  555

  ==========

  Stamina: (Base 39) +23

  ==========

  930

  ==========

  Mana: (Base 8) +79

  ==========

  870

  ==========

  Mana Regeneration (Base 13) +58

  36.50/s

  ==========

  Stamina Regeneration: (Base 41) +59

  21.00/s

  ==========

  “Who would have thought I would have got to this stage? Faster than a damn car, as strong as a crane, and take hits like a tank,” Erik said as he studied his stats.

  My three weakest stats are Stamina, Mana Regeneration, and Strength. I can recover Stamina with concoctions, so I haven’t cared about it much. I still need to develop my Mana Regeneration. Strength I can increase with gear and concoctions as well. Well, I can do that with Mana Regeneration but now I know how I have an increased control over Fire and Earth mana. Mana is now much more useful.

  Still, that Stamina is really low at sixty-two overall and the next lowest being seventy-one.

  “Three into Mana Regeneration and two into Stamina.” Erik pulled out a sleeping concoction and poured it down his throat. He shook his head at the taste, but with the other ingredients he sampled, it wasn’t the worst.

  He was met with an old screen.

  ==========

  You have 5 attribute points to use.

  ==========

  He smiled and input the changes quickly.

  ==========

  Name: Erik West

  ==========

  Level: 58

  ==========

  Race: Human

  ==========

  Titles:

  From the Grave II

  Mana Emperor

  Dungeon Master III

  Reverse Alchemist

  Poison Body

  Fire Body

  City Lord

  ==========

  Strength: (Base 36) +41

  ==========

  770

  ==========

  Agility: (Base 29) +72

  ==========

  555

  ==========

  Stamina: (Base 39) +25

  ==========

  960

  ==========

  Mana: (Base 8) +79

  ==========

  870

  ==========

  Mana Regeneration (Base 13) +61

  38.00/s

  ==========

  Stamina Regeneration: (Base 41) +59

  21.00/s

  ==========

  He woke up a few minutes later. He could feel the higher amount of mana entering his body and felt more satiated than before. He stood and saw he had a number of messages on his sound transmission device.

  “Qin has made a breakthrough to Expert formation master. I don’t think that Julilah is far behind.” Tan Xue’s voice filled his ears as he got another message from Elise.

  “We wer
e able to rent out the next lot of buildings, total profit of thirty-two hundred and thirty-seven Sky mana stones—=”

  “What!” Erik yelled.

  “And nine hundred and fifty-three Earth mana stones. We didn’t get that many actual Sky mana stones. I have been looking at the different traders inside Vuzgal. Many of them are coming to trade here but there are very few of them who are looking to put their base of operations in Vuzgal. I want to see if we can get people to start more trade houses here. If they are coming from here originally, then they will come back more often and they will fall and rise with us. We could also hold a stake with them and offer them better loans. I am seeing the other merchants moving around and taking over, and I don’t like having an external force owning our markets and a large portion of our power.

  “Also, I wanted to talk to you about the agreements we have with the association and talked to Hiao Xen. We can get them to amend their terms. Right now the Alchemist Association and the Blue Lotus have agreements with you and Rugrat; with the new changes, they will have agreements with Vuzgal as a whole, which will make it so that they can’t go back on their agreement in the future.”

  It was at this point that the special teams burst into his room, looking around for threats.

  “Elise,” Erik said, tapping his communication device as she kept talking.

  “—Do you want me to proceed on this?”

  Erik used the communication device and sent a message. “I agree to raising more merchants from within Vuzgal, having them tied to us. Also see if the Blue Lotus and the association will change their agreement, separating the different contracts from personal and those that they have with Vuzgal.”

  He looked at the special team. “All right, where is Rugrat?”

  “He’s still sleeping it off,” Storbon reported.

  “Okay.” Erik pulled out his Journeyman-level Alchemy book. He checked the formula in there for the Revitalization Tree Sap. He checked the ingredients and then his notes.

  “Okay, looks like we have some of these in the Alchemy department, and my shift at the healing house doesn’t start for another three hours. I’ll collect the ingredients and start preparing them, then work in the ward.”

  Chapter: Selling Favors and Buying Allies

  Emmanuel Fayad sat on the highest platform. Around the circular room, there were the different leaders of the Fayad family. They all sat on different platforms to denote their rank and the location of the different areas they managed: the outpost, trade, fighting forces, and internal family matters.

  “A quarter of our fighting force, food and supplies for our forces, two hundred gold and we will be the base of operations for it all. That will make us the biggest target of the other outposts that don’t want this to happen and we’re still paying the same amount as the others!” The trading leader, Reema Fayad, shook her head.

  “If we are able to make the path and the outpost, we will have one of the first roads through the Beast Mountain Range. Surely that will be worth more in the long run,” Umar, the leader of the family, said.

  “It might, but can we be sure that we will complete this road? If the others agree, then we will have a fighting force to do it. Are we strong enough to deal with everything that is in there? We are doing Aditya’s work for him!” Reema’s voice rose.

  Emmanuel cleared his throat, calming the tensions in the room. “Reema, what scares you?”

  “We are making ourselves a target for others. If we are the base of this road, then we are the main point to attack. We have one of the widest trading networks of any outpost. We are sure to lose some of those people as our caravans are cut off. We have no surety that this will even succeed. Even if it does, what happens to us?”

  “We must take risks to earn rewards. Once this road is completed, then we will rent out our services to the other outpost leaders to connect them to King’s Hill Outpost. We are not making anything off this first road, but then we can earn more helping out the others at a reduced cost.” Emmanuel pulled out three different contracts and put them down.

  “This contract is for the reduced taxation of all goods between the agreed outposts and allowing traders from other outposts access to theirs. It has been sent out and agreed to by several already. The next is an agreement for the council of King’s Hill Outpost. There will be one main representative who will control the outpost for three years and then the leaders can vote to change them. They will make five percent more than the other outpost lords if we profit; otherwise, they will need to forfeit the pay they get for the year and can be voted for re-election. Major decisions will be decided by the council, which is made up of all the outpost leaders who join.

  “The third is a mutual defense contract. The council in the previous document will assist one another. If one is attacked, then the others will attack the attacker and assist the attacked lord in defense. It also stipulates that the money that we have put forward will be put to expenses associated with building the first road, dealing with any major attacks and then building the King’s Hill Outpost. The materials will be sources from the outpost leaders. We, the Fayad family, will be in charge of building the road. Once we site the outpost, then Aditya has supplied us with a blueprint for the outpost to rapidly increase our building time. I have studied it. There are places for people to stay, a small healing house, an auction hall, stables, inns, smithies, and a sparring area.” With a wave of his hand, attendants took the contracts and passed them to the other leaders.

  “With this, I am satisfied,” Umar said.

  “Reema?” Emmanuel asked.

  “I still think we will become a target. I ask that we start pulling back caravans to make sure that they aren’t used to retaliate against us,” Reema said.

  “Send them messages, but nothing overt.” Emmanuel turned his head to Nasreen.

  “What about afterward? Lord Aditya is not a simple man,” she said.

  A hint of a smile appeared on Emmanuel’s face. “That is something that I have been debating. I feel that he has a number of cards to play. I feel like this young pup is really a wolf who is watching us dance in front of him. I don’t know what will happen. From these contracts and our interactions, I don’t think that he wants to wage war against us all. Though I think he does want to swallow us.”

  “He can try,” Umar said darkly.

  “I put this to you: if it comes to pass that he does want us to become part of his power, what do we do?”

  “We fight.” Umar shook his fist.

  Emmanuel turned to Nasreen.

  “We will need the help of all our allies and then more. It would be a hard fight. He is far away; we would need to loop around the Beast Mountain Range. With his people, I think he might be able to go right through it. If we siege his walls...” Nasreen shook her head. “I don’t think we would be able to take Vermire easily. Yes, they used the power of other nations to defeat the Zatan Confederation, but their guards are well-trained, the people love Aditya, and he has a healing house, while we have weaker healing solutions. His people can get hurt and come back stronger; ours will need time to rest. They sold off war mounts, weapons, and armor. If they wanted, another kingdom or empire would happily swallow them and assist them in defeating us.”

  “We have two options,” Emmanuel said, drawing eyes back to him. “We go all in from the start and we prove to Aditya and the others our strength. Otherwise we wait until the dust settles and make our move. Afterward, our rewards will be much smaller.” Emmanuel opened his arms, leaving it to them.

  “We go all in,” Reema said with a sigh.

  Emmanuel raised his brows and she gave a weak smile.

  “Agreed.” Nasreen followed.

  “Now I feel like we are leaping into the tiger’s mouth. What if he wants to take us over?” Umar asked.

  “From the beginning, we have been traders. Our guards are strong but our tongues are faster.” Emmanuel smiled. “If we prove our strength and our traders’ abilities, we will step
onto a new stage of trading across all of the Beast Mountain Range and beyond.”

  “Let us show them the strength of the Fayad family,” Umar said.

  ***

  Ryan Mills paced in his main hall. His captain guard entered, with a note in his hand. It was made of black paper.

  Mills opened the paper and read the words inside.

  You might have stepped over my head, but with Lady Sumi on my side, no matter your plans—you will fail.

  “Secretly gather mercenaries who would be interested in making a little more coin. We will use them to bolster our own strength in attacking the other outpost leaders. We need to prove our strength to get better trading rights and more loot in the future,” Mills told his guard.

  “Yes, my lord.” The guard nodded and left the hall.

  ***

  Mills was not the only person to receive a letter. Evernight and Aditya were looking through the notes that were on the table. The contract in the middle of the table changed as a new signature was added.

  “And that makes it twenty-three outpost lords.” Aditya put down the last note.

  “Twenty-one of which we can truly trust,” Evernight said.

  “Was it worth it, adding in the two spies?” Aditya asked.

  “None of them know who is allied with you or not. With the different discussions and groups, the two spies will need to be careful. There are twenty-six other lords who might be interested in the news. If they learn of our plans ahead of time or as we are carrying them out, they have three options: attack, do nothing, or try to see if they can join. It is our job to stabilize the Beast Mountain Range. In the end, the aim is to have you as the leader of the Beast Mountain Range and those who are capable as helpers. Those who aren’t will be relegated to a comfortable position, but without any power to shake our foundations.”

  “It’s when you say things like that I remember just how much strength you wield. Makes me wonder why don’t you just make them change.”

  “We do not want to expose our power if we don’t have to. This way, we can know their true sentiments, know how they think before we move forward. How would you, or the others, grow if you didn’t have some difficulties in your path?” Evernight smiled.

  Aditya sighed. “All right, I will send out the orders. In two weeks, our forces will be at Shadowridge to break ground on the first road to King’s Hill Outpost.”