Second Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  “I heard that a third special team is being formed?” Elise looked to the military men.

  “That is correct. Special Team One is in charge of the test, with Erik and Rugrat overseeing,” Blaze said.

  “Is it your aim to convert all of the parties to special teams?” Jasper asked.

  “Not all of them. Only those who pass the testing will be allowed to form a special team, or replace lost members. As the population grows, more people will join the parties. They will be the main combat strength, but the special teams will remain our elites, scouting and fighting ahead,” Rugrat said.

  The room quieted with his words.

  “Once the scouting of the Metal floor is completed, what is your aim?” Egbert spoke in the silence.

  “Depending on the situation with the Metal floor, we will head forward to regain control or activate more formations, or we will leave it and then head to the Third Realm,” Erik said.

  Their words were something that the others were expecting, but they hadn’t asked before.

  “Well, it’ll be good to have some damn peace and quiet! And not have people trying to stuff you into storage rings!” Egbert glared at Rugrat.

  “I thought that was behind us!” Rugrat complained.

  “You stole my femur the other day to look at the different smithing supplies we have!” Egbert grumbled. When they had given Egbert the different supplies to be passed out to the departments, he had stored them in the safest place he knew: his own storage spaces located within his body.

  “Errhh.” Rugrat coughed and looked away.

  The others didn’t pay any attention to their actions. It was just part of their relationship by now.

  “When will you leave?” Glosil asked.

  “Tomorrow, if possible,” Erik answered.

  ***

  It took a few days for them to cover the ground between Alva Dungeon and the Vermire Trading Outpost.

  They were riding on two of the panthers that had been found after the defense of Alva Village and then raised in the beast stables. With high-leveled meat and monster cores to consume, they had rapidly raised in level.

  The ones that they were riding had been specially treated with Alchemy solutions to increase their strength and abilities.

  One of the parties from Alva Dungeon was also traveling with them.

  Rugrat sat up on the panther’s saddle. He had ridden horses back on Earth and he found it easy as he chewed on some grass with a crossbow across his hips.

  A roar came from the forest as the panthers moved to face it.

  Rugrat raised his crossbow up and fired. The bear that had reared up caught an arrow in the throat, cutting off its roar. As the first crossbow disappeared, a second appeared in Rugrat’s hand as he used his feet to guide the panther and fire on the bear.

  The party moved forward, brandishing bows, crossbows, and ranged weapons.

  In just a few short moments, the bear was killed and stored in someone’s storage ring as they rushed forward.

  With the smell of blood on them, it was some time before they were challenged again.

  They would be hard opponents for people in the First Realm. Although they were tough to kill, none of the people from Alva Dungeon were ever in real danger from getting hurt.

  They travelled through the night. The panthers’ vision allowed them to see easily as both theirs and the Alva Dungeon’s people’s Stamina was great enough to go for a few days without sleep.

  Two days later, they could see Vermire. In the midday sun, the large outpost was a scene of bustling trade as people from all over tried to buy and sell their different goods. Supplying the hunters and mercenaries with weapons, armor, and consumables while traders gathered hides, crafting materials, and monster cores to ship back to the large kingdoms and cities, where they could turn a profit.

  The party took care of the panthers and had two of their people stay outside the city to look after the panthers and act as support if needed.

  The rest of the group checked their gear before heading toward the gates. All of them were wearing simple gear so they wouldn’t stand out that much among the other mercenaries and hunters.

  The party slung their weapons over their shoulders as they seemed to look at the world with disdain, tired from all of their fighting.

  It wasn’t that hard as they had been riding hard for the last two days.

  They went up to the gate, paying their fee and entering the trading outpost.

  “Looks kind of small, don’t cha think?” Rugrat asked Erik as they were walking through the streets.

  “Compared to Taeman, it’s not even a tenth—maybe a fifteenth the size,” Erik said.

  The party followed as they moved through the city, using the maps that the others had. They knew the entire city and had picked out a tavern to stay at.

  “Food, beer!” Rugrat said to the tavern waitress as he sat down at a table. The others moved at the tables when someone tossed a shield on the table Erik was about to sit at.

  “Sorry, it’s reserved.” A man, drunk and rocking his head side to side, stopped Erik’s movements.

  Erik didn’t miss the slow smirk that appeared on his face or the way he tilted his head, as if asking Erik what he was going to do about it.

  The rest of the party stood as Rugrat stretched.

  Those with the drunkard who had thrown the shield all stood up as well. There was nearly forty of them.

  “Don’t worry. Let him have some fun. Where’s that beer?” Rugrat waved everyone down.

  The Alva party looked at one another and then sat back down.

  The other group were all standing up, making it awkward.

  Erik picked up the shield and tossed it up and down in one hand. “Whatever.” Erik’s hand snapped up as he threw the shield.

  The drunk man didn’t have the presence of mind to do anything than half raise his hands. Getting slammed by the shield, he fell down.

  The others’ eyes flickered from the man on the ground to Erik, who had charged forward, hitting one man in the stomach and sending him flying into others behind him.

  One punched out at him. Erik caught the punch between his arm and his side. Grabbing the man’s shirt, he turned and tossed him, slamming him to another group, tangling them up in chairs and people. They fought one another to get up, only making the situation worse.

  A man slashed out with a blade. Erik was hit in the side; his clothes were torn but only a small cut was left behind. Erik kicked backward; the man let out a yell before they slammed into others.

  One of the waitresses had come over with a pitcher but she was just hiding against the wall.

  Rugrat went over as Erik was dodging, punching, kicking, and tossing his opponents into one another.

  With his major Strength increases, it was nothing more than an adult pushing toddlers back. He had to pay attention to make sure that he didn’t leave any lasting damage.

  His reaction time made him move through them all as if he had seen their movements before they even thought of it. Their weapons might not be even able to puncture his skin.

  “Is this for us?” Rugrat asked, indicating the jug.

  The waitress looked up at him like a deer in the headlights as a man came flying over.

  Rugrat dodged to the side as the man flew out the front of the open tavern and into the street.

  “Thanks. Sorry about the mess.” Rugrat smiled as he took the cups and the pitcher. He stopped his steps as another man stumbled backward, trying to regain his footing.

  Rugrat gave him a boot in the ass as Erik smoked him in the face with a chair.

  “Should’ve played for the Yankees!” Rugrat moved toward the seating area.

  The group of forty or so fighters were now groaning and complaining on the ground. Some were still trying to get up.

  Erik, who was wielding two chairs, quickly put them back down on the ground, face first.

 
; Rugrat calmly poured out beers.

  “Can I get a hand?” Erik looked at the people all over the place.

  “I’m pouring, but I’m sure there are some volunteers.” Rugrat started on a new glass and looked at the people from the Alva party.

  With weak smiles, they did as they were voluntold, grabbing the broken thugs and tossing them out into the street.

  Erik sat down and took a cup, drinking from it, and then let out a gasp. He wiped the foam from his face. “Damn, nothing like a good beer.”

  “Thankfully, the furniture is pretty sturdy,” Rugrat said.

  One of the waitresses came over with another pitcher as Rugrat passed out beers to the rest of the party, who sat back in their chairs and relaxed from their journey.

  “Oh, they’re very sorry and they meant this in repayment.” Erik pulled out some items he had looted from the thugs and put it on the waitress’s tray, taking the pitcher and filling up some of the cups.

  “Do you have any food?” Rugrat asked as the waitress seemed to be stuck in silence.

  “Y-yes we do.” She smiled at the party.

  “Perfect! Dinner’s on me!” Rugrat said.

  Everyone cheered and raised their drinks to him.

  “Make sure you only get the items on the value menu and no more than two,” Rugrat quickly replied as the cheers turned to groans.

  “What’s your most expensive dish?” Erik asked the waitress.

  “You!”

  “You said you’re buying—you can’t put stipulations on it!” Erik winked to the others in the party, who grinned.

  Rugrat gulped as they looked like hungry hyenas. “You all ate well, right?” he asked in a weak voice.

  They didn’t say anything but their smiles only grew.

  “Done in by my own generosity. Momma always told me to watch what I said,” Rugrat bemoaned.

  Erik rolled his eyes at his antics and drank more beer. As they ordered food, Rugrat looked like a sad puppy dog at the end of the table.

  ***

  Lord Aditya closed the door to his room behind him. He started to take off his jacket.

  “That looks heavy.” A man’s voice came from within the room as a light-emitting crystal appeared in his hand.

  Aditya made to yell out but a hand covered his mouth. As he readied his hands to pull out a weapon, a blade was pressed against his back, ready to slide between his ribs and into his heart.

  “We’ve come about those goods you should’ve sold for us by now? We came in Jasper’s stead. We did say we’d be back.” The man had an odd accent, but being so close to him, Lord Aditya felt his Mana gates were closing, being drained of energy.

  Even with the man’s simple actions, his Agility and Strength were leagues above his own. Even with all the preparations he had made, they had easily gained access to his bedroom.

  “Do not alert the guards and take a seat.” The man with the crystal put it on the table while the other released Aditya.

  The man sat calmly across from him. After a few tense moments, he leaned forward. “If we were in the mood, we could easily level your trading outpost and go after your backers, all of them, if we wanted to. Simply put, it’s too time-consuming and we don’t want to deal with it all. Which means this contract you agreed to is the only thing keeping you and this trading outpost standing.” The man sat back in his chair.

  Aditya had faced down kings and mercenary captains. Even though this man’s words were simple, the ramifications were large. Aditya, who prided himself on knowing about the person he was dealing with upon meeting them, knew that the man was probably not lying. He hid his aura but to Aditya it felt vast and powerful, the kind of thing that he had never felt in someone from the First Realm before.

  “It’s a good thing that you only imprisoned our people instead of attacked them.” The man paused again, studying Aditya before he looked over to the other man in the room, who had sat down in a chair with a crossbow across his lap and then back to Aditya.

  “How did the trade go?” the man asked.

  “I sold all of the items and placed it where the drop location was. I didn’t tell anyone how I got the items and I used people who would be discreet about the trade, spreading them out so that there wouldn’t be any connections made,” Aditya quickly explained.

  ***

  Erik nodded as he looked at the man. Rugrat continued to sit behind him. He looked at ease but he would be ready to use that crossbow in an instant.

  Seeing Aditya started to recover his bearing after speaking for just a little while, Erik couldn’t help but commend the man’s calm, analytical mind.

  “Your role to us will be that of an informant and fence. We will send you items to sell and items to buy. You can take the money from what is sold.” Erik’s voice ended on a cold note, making sure that Aditya understood that although he could use the funds, he shouldn’t spend more than necessary and take the profits for himself.

  “When you come across information, such as the Eearlo Kingdom is currently having a big fight among the nobles and that war might break out at any time, I would be interested in that and any developments in the other locations that you have your little doves inserted. Also…” Erik paused as he judged Aditya, who was hanging on his every word.

  He frowned instead of continuing.

  Aditya’s eyes flickered to Rugrat and back, showing his nervousness.

  “Tell me your story. I have heard parts of it but I want to hear it all. How did a man who was crippled in the Beast Mountain Range come to have one of the most powerful trading outposts at his beck and call with the backing of several large families, trading groups, and kingdoms?”

  Aditya was kind of shocked with the question. “I was a fighter—went into the Beast Mountain Range to get money. I was crippled, then I had to stay in town. I started selling items for my friends. As their strength increased, my standing did as well. There were others who were crippled but had good minds. Others saw them as a waste; I saw them as eyes and ears. I created a network. I looked after them and they looked after me.

  “I gained power over time before I formed my own trading outpost. I brought in all manner of kingdoms and groups to trade. I talked to them one-on-one, shared information on their competitors and basically strapped them to my ship. From there, the outpost remained neutral, a place where the different places can do trade out of the public eye and where they can share information.

  “As time went on, I confirmed my position until I got to this current level,” Aditya quickly said.

  “Impressive, but you left one thing out.” Erik tilted his head at Aditya. He had tried to hide it by speaking fast but Erik could see the pain on his face when he said that the rest of his team had moved on.

  Fighting in close quarters with anyone and you’ll have strong feelings—hate them or love them. He stayed around and sold their items, then they left him here. It was something that a person who hadn’t been in the same or similar situation wouldn’t pick up on.

  “Your team—why did they leave and why didn’t you go with them?” Erik asked.

  Aditya’s face went through a few changes before he unconsciously rubbed his prosthetic leg. “They headed to the Second Realm. I wasn’t high enough level to follow them. I had spent too much time trying to build my network to help them that I didn’t develop my skills or my level. They left and I was stuck here.”

  “So you pulled people to you who were totally loyal, those who had been dismissed by society as well. That’s why your guard is made up of cripples. The world turned its back on them, but you gave them a path forward. It shows that you know how to evaluate people, assess if they will be loyal and also figure out their potential.

  “You will also recruit people in our name. It doesn’t matter their skills as long as they’re determined, have a good work ethic, and would be loyal,” Erik said.

  Aditya was surprised by the request.

  “Don’t
look at me that way. You should know more than anyone else—as soon as you agreed to that contract, you were a part of our organization. Do well and you will be rewarded and protected. This doesn’t have to be all one-way.” Erik stood and put his hand on Aditya’s shoulder.

  Aditya froze up, all of his muscles tensing.

  Erik used Simple Organic Scan to look through his body and see the ruin of his leg. He used Focused Heal.

  Aditya looked to his leg as it started to regrow at a speed visible to the eye.

  Erik pulled his hand back. “Follow the contract.” Erik dropped off a storage ring on the nearby table. He walked to an open window.

  Rugrat moved with him, his crossbow pointed up in the air.

  The two of them checked outside of the window and jumped out. They were on the third floor but they easily absorbed the impact from the fall and started running.

  In their ears, they could hear reports from the team as they watched for the different roving patrols.

  It wasn’t long until they crossed the walls and were walking through Vermire’s streets.

  “Looks like it was a beneficial meeting,” Rugrat said.

  “Don’t use so many big words or else you’ll hurt your brain. But yes, I hope that Aditya will be useful, if not to help others like him, then for his own gain. We will need to monitor him, but it will ease up the strain on our people.”

  “That was fun and all, but now we’ve got nothing else left to do,” Rugrat said.