The Third Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  “I will need some time to think on this,” Erik said after a few moments.

  “Certainly.” Ebeneezer smiled. “Is there anything else that I can help you with or any items that you wish to purchase?”

  “I just wanted to sell these items,” Erik said. They were the weaker concoctions that he had. He’d kept copies of the stronger ones and passed a few of them to the others in case they needed them in emergency, but these lower grade ones, he knew that even his poor attempts now would be better than these and in his need for more money, he decided to sell them.

  I’ve still got something like eighty Mana stones but I can only guess how much high-Journeyman concoctions and low-grade Expert concoctions are going to cost me!

  “Actually, there is one thing that I am looking at. How much would a Mortal-grade cornerstone cost me?” Erik asked.

  “A Mortal-grade cornerstone?” Ebeneezer’s eyes shone as his smile widened. “A Mortal cornerstone is worth one hundred Mortal Mana stones. Would you be interested in exchanging for one?”

  Erik fought to keep his composure as he held his chin. “Not right now.” Erik smiled.

  Ebeneezer’s eyebrow raised at Erik’s words.

  Erik could see the dollar signs moving in the man’s head. Clearly he was a trader through and through.

  ***

  Rugrat was looking at his Mana system, looking at the damage of the ravaged Mana channels, and his dantian, which had three Mana drops connected in harmony as one more rested above them, an unreachable star.

  Rugrat couldn’t push any more Mana into his dantian and exerting control over it would lead to massive pain, degrading all of his Mana channels.

  If I could just compress my core, then I would be able to go through Mana rebirth.

  Rugrat opened his eyes. He knew that even if he went through Mana rebirth, it might not necessarily heal his Mana channels. He hadn’t been able to find much knowledge on one’s Mana rebirth and what it meant.

  He used his Dungeon Sense in frustration to do something out of boredom.

  “What the? Dungeon?”

  Rugrat could feel a resonance, a dungeon core that was close by.

  “Not only close by—it is right underneath the Division Headquarters gardens!” Rugrat pulled out his map, looking at where he was and where he was picking up the dungeon core.

  “And it’s not a weak one. With something like that here, the entirety of the Alchemist Association could be in danger if it somehow reaches the surface!”

  Rugrat’s excited expression from moments before turned serious. He checked his crossbows and pulled out his newest invention that he had not even revealed to Erik. Taking the rotating formation used by the mill in Khusai, he had combined it with a crossbow. Below, it held a magazine with a spring and a platform to push them up to a holding arm. The rear of the crossbow behind the trigger was the formation on a gear; the teeth of the gear pulled on a bike-like chain that had two hooks on it.

  When one pulled the trigger, it put the powering gem in contact with the formation, giving it power. The gear would move the chain; the hook would catch the string, pulling it and the arms back; an arrow would drop down from the magazine when it was pulled past. The hook would cycle down, releasing the string. The string caught the arrow and sent it flying forward.

  The second hook would come up and pull on the bowstring again, repeating the process.

  Its rate of fire approached one bolt per second, but the power from the arms and bowstring was many times stronger than any synthetic materials used for bows. The draw strength was well past what a normal person could hope to pull back, even with an assist, if they were on Earth.

  Rugrat checked it and put it away, then sent a message to Erik to have him meet as soon as possible.

  Erik, who had been looking through the markets for ingredients, got his message and headed back. It didn’t take him long to find Rugrat.

  “What’s up?”

  “There’s a dungeon right underneath us.” Rugrat pulled out his map and showed it to Erik. The two of them combined maps, updating each other’s information.

  Erik’s face turned grave. “That’s inside the main Division Headquarters area, restricted to outsiders.”

  “Well, this might help.” Rugrat pulled out a package he had been given for Erik. In it was a number of emblems and a guide.

  Erik took out the emblems. They were given to allow him into the Division Headquarters.

  “Worth a shot,” Erik said. He had a good impression of the Alchemist Association and this was the division under the command of Old Hei. Hei had done so much for them; this was something he could do to help him out.

  The two of them set out and headed right for the Division Headquarters area, right where the Alchemy gardens were located.

  ***

  As they left their residence, Erik took the time to look around. While they were in Resam and the other cities, he had been hurriedly preparing for the next challenge, spending his time bent over a cauldron. He knew that it wouldn’t be long until he was doing the same and practicing to create the Mana Channel Revitalization pill.

  The people here, unlike those in the Beast Mountain Range or the rougher outskirts of towns that he and the party had been living in, didn’t wear armor or look at one another with questioning glances. Most didn’t wear weapons; only the patrolling guards had armor and weapons.

  The alchemists wore robes of all kinds, from the humble to the most exquisite. The Division Headquarters was a place where massive power had been concentrated, where people wished to enter but very few were allowed to. The people here were all high Apprentice level or higher. People would gather together to exchange pointers, sitting in the gardens and gazebos that were scattered around. One could see people hurriedly rushing from place to place, or writing down information as if the world would stop turning if they forgot the information that had just appeared in their mind.

  The buildings were older, standing since the beginning of the headquarters. They carried a dignified air and made one look around, taking in the atmosphere. There were fountains and gardens to be seen. The gardens weren’t as opulent as the ones in Ebeneezer’s office but all of them contained rare ingredients. In such a Mana-rich environment, even regular plants, if planted in this soil for a few generations, would be able to become ingredients to be used in Alchemy.

  They passed open-air auditoriums and people rushing out from the Mission Hall toward the flying beast platform and other areas of the Division Headquarters, or those that were coming back from their missions and handing them in.

  The Division Headquarters was really lively, like a school campus back on Earth mixed with a military base.

  Erik and Rugrat reached a gated area. They had to follow a path around to a gate where a few guards were standing.

  To the side of it, there was a store.

  The guards looked at Erik’s emblem. “Do you have a permission letter to enter the gardens?” One of the guards held out their hand.

  “I’m not sure. I got all of these emblems.” Erik pulled out four emblems.

  The guard smiled awkwardly and put his hand away. “Please go on ahead.”

  “Could you tell me what these are?” Erik asked.

  “These are your permission tokens to enter the different areas of the division—that one the administration building, this one the gardens and Ingredient Hall for the level of ingredients you are able to purchase, this for the library and this for the Pill Hall and the type of pill room you can use,” the guard said helpfully.

  “Thanks!” Erik didn’t want to have to pull them out all the time. It was already embarrassing when he had needed to pull out all of the Blue Lotus emblems to the lady at the counter.

  Rugrat followed Erik through. The duo looked at each other, talking with their eyes.

  Guess they let me in too? Rugrat seemed to say, shrugging.

  Don’t draw attention!

  They continued forward, their maps updating as
they moved.

  “The Mana density is much higher, much purer in here. If I’m not wrong, the walls of the pill garden are some kind of formation, reflecting and concentrating the Mana inside,” Rugrat said.

  “The growing array here is crap. They’re just growing things in lots,” Erik muttered back. The plants were of a high quality but without a growing array, they didn’t reinforce one another and could create plots of heavily attributed Mana staining the ground.

  “Though the plots of ground aren’t filled with one attribute concentrated Mana, so either they’re rotating their ingredients so that they disperse the Mana, or there is something else,” Erik said.

  “The dungeon core?” Rugrat asked.

  “Could be,” Erik said.

  They moved forward. The pill gardens were expansive and their collection of ingredients and plants were impressive. There were hundreds of thousands in just ingredients located in the garden. Guards moved all around and there were checkpoints that they had to pass through to get to the more restricted areas.

  The more security they went through, the greater rarity of the ingredients. The Mana concentration increased, as well as its purity. They were close to where the dungeon core was when they stopped before a group of four powerful-looking guards. The wall in front of them was much stronger than those they had passed.

  “I am sorry, we can let you in but we cannot let in your assistant,” the guard said in a cool voice.

  Erik looked to Rugrat, who shrugged.

  “No worries. I can wait here,” Rugrat said.

  Erik passed through and made it to the other side. As he passed the guards, he was able to sense the Mana held within their bodies and the power in their bodies.

  This strength, have they reached Body Like Iron already? To have guards who reached the second stage of the Body Cultivation system guarding a gate—just what is this place?

  Erik saw a ramp leading down. There was only a small garden aboveground, with a few people tending to the exotic plants as if they were caring for their own newborns.

  Erik made sure to stay on the path, not making too much noise as he headed downward.

  It didn’t take him long until the ramp leveled out and he looked out over a massive underground cavern. Platforms were built into the walls, with plants being grown on them. Plants were grown from the walls and across the floor. The Mana concentration in this place was much higher, but it was focused in the ground and the plants instead of in the air, diffused like the Mana that surrounded a dungeon core.

  Erik moved through the growing area. They were deep underground but there were points where the porous rock above allowed light in that reached gems in the ceiling, illuminating all of the cavern.

  Erik cast his Dungeon Sense, picking up the direction of the dungeon core, and headed through the cavern. He followed a stream as it grew larger and larger, sloping up into a pool made from a natural spring.

  “Different.” Erik looked at the pool. Streams spread out over the cavern, feeding the plants.

  Erik moved to the side and, making sure no one was watching him, he quickly got undressed. Putting his clothes away, he got into the pool, taking a few breaths as he pulled out his armor. The added weight dragged him down; he moved deeper into the pool, quickly leaving the surface behind. The pool wasn’t large but it was deep as hell.

  Erik reached the bottom of the pool and moved across the ground before he touched right above where he was sensing the dungeon core.

  The dungeon core rose up. Bubbles appeared around it. It was the size of two of Erik’s fists, the largest dungeon core that Erik had seen other than the one in Alva.

  He held his hand out to the dungeon core.

  ==========

  Dungeon Core

  Grade: Grand Mortal Grade

  Linked: Drogoth’s Fire Prison

  ==========

  So looks like the Alchemist Association might not know about this as they haven’t claimed it for their own.

  ==========

  You have come into contact with a dungeon core. With your title: Dungeon Master, new options are revealed.

  ==========

  Do you wish to:

  Take command of the Dungeon

  Remodel Dungeon

  Destroy the Dungeon

  ==========

  Erik clicked on the command text.

  ==========

  You have claimed Drogoth’s Fire Prison!

  ==========

  Erik felt his Dungeon Master screens activate; information filled his mind. He could now see everything in the dungeon, as if it were his private property. With this, the dungeon was now no longer under the control of the Ten Realms and he could make it safe.

  Erik put away his armor and pushed against the ground, shooting upward as the dungeon core disappeared into the ground, disappearing from view once more.

  Erik reached the top of the pool. With his connection to the dungeon, he was now able to see everything around him, all of the movements that were happening. He was more relaxed as he toweled off, using a flame to dry his hair, and got dressed quickly.

  Erik toured the “dungeon” once again. He didn’t know why there were no monsters. He would need to ask Old Hei, but it looked as if the Mana from across the gardens was indeed impure. It was forced toward the dungeon core, polluting the waters that spread through the garden feeding the plants. The dungeon core absorbed the impurities, growing to an impressive size and releasing pure and dense Mana. Most of it was contained in the waters but it was released into the air as well.

  The cycle continued, with the Mana fueling plants and allowing them to be grown in massive batches without needing complicated growing arrays. The division needed to supply a great number of people with ingredients to allow them to progress. In the dungeon area, growing arrays had been introduced to raise only the strongest and most expensive of ingredients.

  Though there was one thing that was odd about the dungeon. It was a large cavern with side caves and the like, but there was also a long stretch behind where the pool was located.

  Erik moved to where it was located but he could not find a way in. It looked like an old lava tube that had been closed on one side. Erik opened his interface and made a small change. He created an inlet that passed from the pool into the long strip of ground behind it, a plan forming in his mind.

  He placed a marker on his map and headed out of the cavern. As he left, people only glanced at his passing. He collected Rugrat and they headed back to their residence, where Erik told Rugrat everything.

  “So you’re saying you just claimed the dungeon beneath our feet and there’s a secret passage that is getting watered with ultra-Mana refined, Mana-filled water?” Rugrat clapped his hands. He might only use ingredients and enhancers for his projects or creations but he knew what kind of boon this might be to their alchemists.

  “I’m thinking that we should set up an official residence. Build a base here; people from Alva can use this as a launch pad: trade high quality items from here, through the Blue Lotus, the traders that come around, or taking their own transport to the other cities that surround this place.”

  Rugrat nodded.

  “Well, that has been part of what we’re thinking—build up places across the realms. If we could get a residence, or land, then we could build a way down to that secret area. We’d need more people with earth and stone moving spells,” Rugrat said.

  “Right. The dungeon can only change a little bit, but we can get it to help us on that front,” Erik said.

  A dungeon could grow, but it only had a small area of influence and it couldn’t create buildings, merely shape the landscape. As the grade of the dungeon core increased, its area of influence increased, though when it changed the landscape, whatever was there before would be destroyed, so one would need to be careful.

  “Well, looks like we’ve got a new greenhouse to work with, or green tunnel.” Rugrat grinned.

  ***

  With the cri
sis averted, Erik and Rugrat turned to Domonos and Matt, offering to open up their Mana gates.

  The two agreed. Erik tapped open their Mana gates, then Rugrat talked to them about how they could increase the speed to open their Mana gates, how to pass through the stages of the Mana Gathering Cultivation. Hearing from someone who had already done it, their progress was much faster than when Erik and Rugrat had started. They also had Mana stones to accelerate their growth.

  Erik started to make Age Rejuvenation potions. With Rugrat’s tools, he was able to mass-produce them, creating dozens of them in just a short period of time.

  He sat in his room, looking at the formula sheet he was working on. It was a formula for a Journeyman-level Age Rejuvenation pill.

  He had already written down the formula for the potion but he was holding back on it, not sure what to do with it.

  He wanted the money but it was the first potion he had ever made; he just didn’t want to let it go.

  He sighed as he looked at the pill. He had used his Alchemy Book extensively to troubleshoot the efficacy problems he had. He was now ready to test out his new formula.

  He had talked to Rugrat about the Alchemy and Healing Book.

  Rugrat had been able to find out the existence of his Smithing Book and then he had been able to remember perfectly all the reactions his enhancers had with different kinds of ores.

  Rugrat had only really begun testing and learning more about smithing as he reached the Journeyman level. Smithing, in its early stages, relied on technique much more than information. One could make a basic and crap sword knowing how to use a hammer, heat metal and beat it. However, as one knew the right temperatures, how and where to strike, then it added another layer. Then the process of alloying the metal using enhancers only really came into its own at the Journeyman level.