Second Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  Then, they had told him.

  They were leaving for the Second Realm. They said how sorry they were. He congratulated them and celebrated, but inside he was falling apart.

  He had turned to drinking, to building up his own outpost, and they had left. Years had gone by and all he was left with was an outpost and one leg.

  He looked to the side, where a snarling wolf head was stuck to the wall.

  “But I got you, didn’t I,” he said. With the flash of lightning, one could see the green light in the stuffed wolf head’s eyes.

  ***

  Erik and Rugrat checked over their gear. Erik’s cuirass was a mess. He pulled on an old set of body armor underneath a large cloak to give himself some protection.

  He didn’t miss Rugrat looking at the armor. He wanted to say something, but he knew it would be useless.

  Rugrat had made the armor to protect him. It had taken a truly massive amount of damage in the battles in the Second Realm and Erik would have been seriously wounded or unable to fight if not for the armor.

  He knew Rugrat and saw the look in his eyes as he saw the armor or when he looked at his storage ring with determination.

  Erik would bet money that Rugrat would begin working on a new set of armor as soon as possible.

  They pulled on cloaks to hide their weapons and armor. They simply didn’t know what they would meet in the other room.

  “All right, you’re going to go into the room, check on the people there, then pull them out of the dungeon. I’ll wait on the other side, ready to assist if they turn aggressive. Once you’re out and give the signal, then I’ll destroy the dungeon, take in all of the materials and meet you outside,” Rugrat said.

  “Works. Let’s get this done.” Erik moved his shoulders and got his body armor seated properly.

  “Okay,” Rugrat said.

  They moved toward the room where the five humans were supposed to be.

  ***

  Feng Yi and Ru Xie had slept on and off since the explosions. They were simply too tired to stay awake for the entire time.

  The other three were still in a bad situation. They didn’t have any concoctions to alleviate their symptoms or to help them out.

  One of the doors into the room shook violently. It was hit again. Cracks formed across it before the third hit; it exploded inward, revealing a man wearing a black cloak.

  “Howdy, folks. Fine day...what’s wrong with them?” The odd man who had been waving frowned and looked at the three girls who were unconscious on the ground.

  Feng Yi grabbed his sword and stood. The man seemed wholly focused on the three girls as Ru Xie looked at him with wide eyes.

  Feng Yi didn’t know whether the man would help them or take advantage of them.

  He ran into a Mana shield and tapped it. “Oi, get this out of the way. I can help them,” the man said.

  “How do I know you’re not with the spiritas?” Feng Yi yelled back.

  “’Cause I killed them all?” The man shrugged.

  Feng Yi simply didn’t know what to make of the man.

  “Feng Yi, Liao Ah is having a hard time breathing,” Ru Xie said quietly.

  “Look, I swear on the Ten Realms I will not harm you unless you harm me or people I care about and that I will deal with you honestly and help your friends without any malicious intents,” the man said as the Ten Realms energy descended upon him.

  A screen appeared in front of Feng Yi, confirming his words.

  Feng Yi looked at the screen, his sword shaking. With a hot breath, he deactivated the formations.

  The man moved over to them and looked at the three women. “Crap. They’ve been torn up on the inside—heavy injuries internally. Mana channels are a mess—no regeneration. Okay, let’s get them and everyone outside. The screwed-up Mana in here isn’t helping us out any.

  “You grab one of them. I’ll take the other two.” The man grabbed Liao Ah and Ru Guo, and put them on his shoulders with ease.

  I can’t tell his level but he’s strong and if he really did kill the spiritas’? Feng Yi stared at the man as he moved toward the door.

  “Okay, but what’s your name, mister?” Ru Xie asked.

  “I’m Erik, just Erik. Hurry up, you two.” He moved to the doorway that they had come in and that had collapsed behind them when they set off a trap.

  Erik kicked at the doorway as Ru Xie and Feng Yi grabbed Cai Dan. Usually it wouldn’t have been hard; now, they were so tired that they were having a hard time not dragging her.

  Erik struck out at the door, breaking down the rocks and opening a passageway.

  Feng Yi felt the rush of fresh but hot air on his face and couldn’t help but speed up.

  Yi and Xie looked at each other. It didn’t seem real as they went up the stairs behind Erik.

  Once outside, he put the two girls down on the sand. He sent a sound transmission as well.

  Yi and Xie set down Cai Dan, both of them looking out on the desert.

  Feng Yi dropped to his knees. He had never seen such a beautiful sight.

  “Get this down you.” Erik held out cooked meals for them both.

  Ru Xie had wet eyes as she stuffed food into her mouth.

  Erik waved his hand and fired out green bolts that landed on each of the women.

  “Healer?” Feng Yi asked, seeing the spells. But healers don’t come out of the cities.

  Feng Yi’s thoughts were interrupted as the ground started to shake and shift. The sand dune behind them started to descend.

  A man suddenly appeared in midair.

  “Ahhh!” He landed in the sand face first, cutting off his yell.

  He was spitting sand out everywhere as the sand dune reduced in size. The doorway emitted a flash of light and then it was gone.

  The man who had come from midair was getting up slowly and dusting off as much sand as possible.

  “Give me a hand, will you? They’re in pretty bad shape,” Erik said. Clearly he knew the man.

  Feng Yi grabbed his sword again.

  “What’s up with them? They don’t seem to have all that much Mana going through them,” the new man said, getting up.

  “The spiritas’ attacked and drew out their Mana and life force.” Ru Xie lowered her head.

  “Don’t worry. Their Mana channels have been damaged because of the spiritas forcefully pulling Mana from them, but they’ll be okay.” Erik smiled at her and turned to the other man. “Want to get a shelter together, check them out as well, get some food, water and healing going?”

  “On it,” the other man said with a smile. “My name is Rugrat. Your friends should be okay soon,” Rugrat said, trying to reassure them.

  “You got first watch? I want to check on the others still,” Erik asked Rugrat.

  “Fine with me,” Rugrat said, allaying some of Feng Yi’s fears as Erik took over caring for them and their friends.

  Feng Yi watched Erik closely and drank some water. He saw the color coming back to the girls’ faces as Erik continued to use healing spells on them.

  Chapter: Destination

  A few days had passed since their first meeting but the atmosphere had changed. Jasper had a serious expression on his face as he looked at the traders.

  All of them had been selected not only for their trading skills but how they collected information.

  “Someone seems to be paying close attention to us and they’ve got some power behind them to get the people of the city to move. All of them are imposing an extra tax on buying and selling our goods. Even the underground sales avenues are acting odd,” Jasper said, putting together the different reports.

  “I don’t like it.” He thought for a few moments before coming to a decision. “Let’s head back. We’ll send in others to check out Vermire later.”

  The others couldn’t help but look disappointed, but they listened to his words.

  Jasper’s voice was quiet and he was using a
formation that was supposed to contain his voice. Still, he felt as if there were a dozen sets of eyes on him.

  “I’m going to collect a few things from my room.” Jasper stood and headed upstairs.

  He made a full report on everything and then sent it to the rest of the council, saying that he would report in every few hours. He finished sending the sound transmission and headed back down stairs.

  With a wave of his hand, the others got up from the table as well and they left the bar.

  They headed out into the night and through the roads toward the gates that led into the Beast Mountain Range.

  “Ready yourselves,” Jasper said. A crossbow appeared in his hands underneath his cloak.

  They made it to the gate; instead of just a few guards, a group of about twenty were lounging around.

  In their center, there was a man with crossed arms. His forearms were massive. He stood beside a two-handed hammer that rested in the dirt by his side. His right side of his face was a mess: a claw mark ran down the side of his head and his eye socket was sewn shut.

  “Mister Jasper and your trading associates, this humble one is called Pan Kun. Lord Aditya wishes to talk business with you. I’ve been sent to escort you to visit him.” Pan Kun grinned and put his hand on the hammer in the dirt.

  “We’ve got people behind us,” one of the traders said as another group of guards strolled out of an alleyway, blocking off their exits.

  Jasper looked around the area. They could try to get on the rooftops and run for it. None of them were under level thirteen now, but the man in front of them was level thirteen and there was another behind them.

  Though they had training from Glosil and time out in the Beast Mountain Range with Blaze and the parties to increase their combat skills before they started trading, fighting an animal and a human were very different things. Jasper also knew that if he didn’t send a message to the council in a few hours, they would send someone after them.

  Jasper lowered his hand to the other traders. They put their crossbows away. They had complete trust in him.

  “Very well. I’ve always thought it would be interesting to meet with the Vermire Outpost’s lord.” Jasper smiled.

  He was thinking about his decision, filled with fear that he was making a terrible mistake, that he was taking his people into danger. He was, but they still stood beside him. That trust was a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

  Pan Kun seemed a bit surprised. The smile on his face dimmed slightly and his eyes thinned. His face quickly bloomed into a smile and he held out his hand. The hammer disappeared into his storage ring as he stepped forward. His guards moved with him.

  All of them were strong but they sported injuries that would bar them from joining a party and heading into the Beast Mountain Range.

  Jasper took this all in. He had heard of the Vermire guards’ requirements and that those who got special treatment were those who had been disabled in the Beast Mountain Range and were unable to join another party.

  They were incredibly loyal to their lord and even if they reached above level ten, they didn’t head to higher realms.

  They were called the half-dead Legion of Vermire and their combat strength was impressive, even if others said that they were crippled.

  When Jasper said he would be interested in meeting Lord Aditya, he wasn’t lying.

  Pan Kun and the two guard units led the way, taking them down back roads until they reached a side door into the lord’s manor.

  ***

  Erik worked on the three others as Feng Yi watched Rugrat and Ru Xie was watching Erik.

  “Are you a healer?” she asked.

  “I can use healing spells, so I guess I am.” Erik pulled out a powder from his pocket and a set of needles. He used water to adhere the powder to the needle before he jammed it into several different position on Ru Guo’s body.

  Ru Guo breathed in as if surfacing from underwater. Mana was drawn toward her as she settled back down, her eyes still closed.

  “What did you do?” Ru Xie asked in a panic as Feng Yi held his sword.

  “Just helped her a bit. You people are too reliant on Mana, so without it, it’s like you don’t have oxygen. I just allowed her to accept more Mana into her body, diverting around the ruined Mana channels.” On Erik’s hand, a spell formed before he pressed it down on Liao Ah’s chest.

  “Y-you!” Ru Xie cried out, about to hit him for taking advantage of their leader. But his eyes were closed as power poured into Liao Ah. Her pained expression died down as Feng Yi saw a green energy moving through her body.

  “Calm down and watch.” Rugrat held a weapon at the ready to defend Erik as he was working.

  The two glared at him and then Erik as they traced their storage rings.

  Erik pulled his hands away. Green light still moved through Liao Ah. His head was covered in sweat as he moved to Cai Dan, once again gathering his power and then pouring it into Cai Dan. Her whole body started to regenerate from the point of Erik’s hand, moving up and down her body, clearing away her pained expression and making her look at peace.

  Erik stood with a sigh. He looked tired but he was recovering quickly.

  Ru Xie looked over the three women. “They’re in much better condition,” she assessed.

  “Really, your medical training is lacking.” Erik shook his head and moved back to Ru Guo. He removed the needles and focused his attention, healing the girl.

  Then he stood and looked over the three. “They should wake up in a couple of hours. They’re going to be fatigued and Stamina drained. With food and sleep, they should be fine. I’ll prepare something.”

  “Those needles—did you use a powder on them?” Feng Yi asked.

  “I used something on them,” Erik said, not giving anything back.

  Feng Yi had seen a great number of things in his life. He had heard about powders that alchemists could make that were able to heal and change people. He knew that there were also apothecary powders, but their strength was so low that only people with little income would take them.

  Looking at Erik and Rugrat, he could sense they were hiding their strength. To be able to defeat the spiritas—he had not met someone who could have done that. Then there was the fact of the dungeon disappearing. Feng Yi simply hadn’t heard of anything like it before.

  They’re not like most people in the Ten Realms. They wouldn’t have cared about healing us; instead, they would have probably killed us to keep their secret. The wealth one can get from a dungeon is no small matter. They are places that can bend the normal rules of the Ten Realms and are seen as cultivation holy grounds, with high concentrations of Mana for one to train in and strengthen their body and control.

  Few questions were answered; more appeared.

  Erik moved over to Rugrat and the two talked in low voices to each other.

  Rugrat looked out over the area, pulling out his binoculars as Erik sat near him but with his eyes on the group.

  “I feel like we’re being as watched as much as they’re watching the area,” Ru Xie said.

  “You wouldn’t be wrong,” Feng Yi said.

  They weren’t offended; they’d just met, so it made sense to not fully trust each other.

  Ru Guo let out a cough and turned on her side, coughing more.

  Ru Xie moved to her sister, wiping the sand away from her face and resting her head on her legs so that she wouldn’t breath in the sand.

  Liao Ah’s body shook as she started coughing as well and sat up. Cai Dan let out a groan as she stretched in the sand as if she were waking up from a sleep.

  Liao Ah opened her eyes and looked at Rugrat and Erik. She got to her feet as Feng Yi held out his hand.

  “Boss, how are you feeling?” he asked.

  Seeing Feng Yi there, her face was filled with questions. She stumbled a bit. Her body was still feeling the effects of having all of her Mana forcefully torn from her and was only starting to
recover.

  Feng Yi held her so that she wouldn’t fall.

  “Where’s my help?” Cai Dan complained as she dusted off the sand he’d accidentally kicked onto her.

  “Who are they?” Liao Ah asked Feng Yi, her eyes on Rugrat and Erik.

  “Don’t know, but they said that they killed the spiritas’ and the one cooking healed you three up,” Feng Yi said.

  Liao Ah looked to Feng Yi and then back to the two.

  “You need to eat up. Your Stamina is really low and you’re close to exhaustion. I wasn’t able to heal everything. If I did, then you would be in worse condition.” Erik waved for them to join him.

  “Thank you for your aid but—” Liao Ah started.

  Erik frowned and stood. “Sit your asses down. Get some food into you. I’ll finish healing you, then sleep tonight and we can go our separate ways tomorrow.”

  Feng Yi looked from Liao Ah and then toward the two men.

  Liao Ah was stubborn and she might reject them out of spite. She looked to the rest of the group and took a deep breath. “Then I’ll have to thank you for your hospitality.” She ground the words out.

  “How the hell did a group of traders like you get stuck in there?” Erik stirred the pot with the spoon he had.

  “Around this time, there are a number of sandstorms in the area. We were looking to take shelter when we saw the doorway out of the sand. One of the storms must have cleared it off,” Ru Xie said. “We went in, thinking it was empty. We entered the room you found us in and a trap activated, blocking us in. We couldn’t get through any of the other doors and the spiritas’ would just appear in the room and attack us periodically.”

  Silence fell as Erik nodded.

  “Umm, also, thank you for everything,” Ru Xie said, perking up even as Liao Ah frowned at her.

  “No worries. It’s part of a creed I made to help others,” Erik said.

  “But that healing—are you from a healing house?” Feng Yi asked. Was he kicked out by them? I haven’t heard of a healer who fights as well.

  “All right.” Erik got up and moved over to Cai Dan. “Can I have your wrist please? I want to see how you are.” Erik held out his hand.