“There are the main routes, but there are many roads and routes between outposts. Some caravans might head away from the Beast Mountain Range toward other villages and towns if the weather or roads are bad. If our targets run, they can go anywhere,” Drev replied.
“With the route to King’s Hill, they’re boxed in. Okay, we will head out as soon as possible.” Salyn turned around to Drev’s frown. “Something wrong?”
“The roads are well made, but they still go through the Beast Mountain Range. We will need to be at our best condition if we want to rush through. We could hire the guards to escort us, but it is expensive and we would have to travel at their pace,” Drev said.
Salyn snorted. “You think too little of our people and too much of these guards. Have everyone prepare. We will set off in two hours.”
Drev moved his lips, as if he had something more to say. He cupped his hands and bowed. “As you command, Lord Salyn.”
16
Light at the End of the Tunnel
Kanoa waited as the guard passed. The sound of footsteps faded away. The trader who was ferrying them to King’s Hill checked the area once again and waved them forward. They left the rest deployment area at the side of the road and quickly escaped into the forest.
It was cold, still wet from the last few days of rain. They reached a group of boulders in the middle of the forest. They were covered in moss, untouched by time.
The trader moved a rock out of the way and pressed a medallion against an engraving.
Kanoa scanned the area, covering the civilians who were huddled together. He’d convinced them, but they were understandably scared about trusting someone new.
The ground shook and some boulders moved aside, revealing stairs leading down. The trader waved them forward. They passed through a series of doors and found three people waiting for them around a teleportation array.
“Captain,” Rugrat said in greeting. “All right, step into the teleportation formation and then we’ll be off to the races. I’ll hold your hand if you want?”
Kanoa sighed. “You got into all kinds of shit with your officers, didn’t you?”
“Once or twice.” Rugrat grinned.
Kanoa stepped onto the teleportation array with three civilians and Rugrat. The trader turned around and headed out. Kanoa heard the boulders moving back into place as a flash of light consumed him.
Kanoa had his rifle ready to snap up to his shoulder.
He scanned the area, noticing the defensive structure around the teleportation array. The air was warm; the men and women at the defenses wore modern military equipment and toted firearms, though they had lines of formations on their weapons and gloves. They were relaxed and laid-back.
“Please vacate the teleportation array and step forward. New arrivals to the left for medical check and familiarization courses. Returning citizens, to the right. Welcome to Alva.” The words were monotonous and bored, as if the speaker had been drained, body and soul.
Kanoa stared at the little imp holding paddles and standing on a box.
Kanoa stepped out of the way of the teleportation array and saw more of his people appearing at different teleportation arrays.
The imp sighed, filled with suffering and unwillingness.
Kanoa’s eyes went wide as a flame appeared and the temperature increased. He felt a chill watching the enslaved creature repeat his instructions, waving his paddles from the left to the right entryways.
“What are you doing here as a greeter, Davin?”
“Hey, Rugrat,” the imp said, his entire body slumped.
“Did you make a mess in the Wood floor again?”
“I tooted one time! How was I supposed to know it would set the field on fire?” Davin waved his paddles and pouted, like a five-year-old child who couldn’t have possibly done wrong.
Kanoa coughed slightly and lowered his guard. Okay, so not indentured servant, but a fire-spitting imp on time-out?
“What was it this time?”
“There were some pies out for free, and because the people from the cooking trades are so nice, I couldn’t let them go to waste so I had to show my support for their hard work!”
Rugrat turned to a guard.
“There was a large test being held by the cooks. The pies had only just come out of the oven. They were so hot they had to be handled with gloves, and they were put near the window to cool them down.”
“They were just the right temperature!” Davin said.
“You’re a Fire imp—everything hot is the right temperature. Most other people would be sent to the hospital with burns!” Rugrat said.
“I was just passing by. How was I to know?”
“It was the seventh floor,” the guard said deadpanned.
“Right, it all makes sense now,” Rugrat said. “Keep up the good work, Davin, and stop eating everything!”
Davin made hurt noises, and his face crumpled some more.
A large skull head appeared in front of Davin.
“Are you slacking again?” the head asked, its eyes glowing with mysterious fire.
“No! Not at all, Brother Egbert! Please vacate the teleportation array and step forward. New arrivals to the left for medical check and familiarization courses. Returning citizens, to the right. Welcome to Alva.” Unlike before, Davin’s words were filled with cheer and happiness, as if he were only too happy to please others.
“Right.” The head disappeared from mid-air.
“Mysterious and creepy. Stop putting on a front, Egbert!” Rugrat yelled into the air. “Hard to find good help these days.” Rugrat led the way.
Medics cast spells, checking everyone. “You have an issue with your heart. You should go to the hospital for further testing.” The medic wrote out a note, passing it to Kanoa.
“What do you mean?”
“Your knees are in bad shape. Your back is a mess. Did you break your collarbone and one of your fingers?”
“Yeah, just pains of the trade,” Kanoa said.
“Well, we can get that fixed up easily, and you have some scar tissue leftover that will be simple to fix. Also, it looks like your arteries are partly clogged, so you’ll need to flush them out. Easy enough, happens a lot of the time,” the medic said with a smile.
Kanoa walked forward and looked at Rugrat.
“Ah, just a partly clogged artery. A few healing spells and you’ll be fine.” Rugrat waved it off as they entered an auditorium.
“Like I could’ve had a heart attack? And what did he mean about my wear and tear?”
“Bit of healing, and your knees will be like when you were sixteen. Spine all in the right place—no more aches, pains, squeaks, and creaks. Also, heal your heart and circulatory system up good. Just clears you out. I was a big chew fanatic; I’m all good to go now. Got a whole new set of teeth—not one filling!” Rugrat opened his mouth and pointed at it.
Kanoa checked, seeing nothing but pearly whites.
“Oh, whoops, you’ve got a quick presentation first.”
A lady was waiting for them all at the front of the auditorium. “Please take a seat. Once everyone is ready, we will begin the introduction to Alva,” the lady said.
“We have replaced some of your people in the varied groups with our own. They’ll act like you and keep running, make it appear that you’ve disappeared into the Beast Mountain Range.” Rugrat tilted his head to the lady. “You might find this useful.”
“Thanks.” Kanoa was still not sure about all of this, on alert against anything. Kanoa and the other military members sat around the civilians, watching the doors.
“Hello, and welcome to Alva. First of all, we require you to take an oath on the Ten Realms to not share any information you might learn. This is the oath. Please review it and let me know if you have any questions.” Behind the lady, a set of words appeared on the wall, outlining the content of the oath.
Kanoa went through the oath with everyone, and then the lady started talking of Alva, going throug
h its founding, the different institutions, then property ownership, loans, taxes, and so on.
Kanoa was a little surprised by the founding, but the main points were similar to what they were used to on Earth. It was clear Rugrat and Erik had affected the changes in Alva.
The civilians, starting to see something that reminded them of home, began asking questions and coming out of their shells.
When the information session was over, they were given temporary resident cards and led out of the auditorium and past the defenses around the teleportation array.
Kanoa stared at the growing city that lay underground. It was dark, simulating night, but he could see lines of light above his head. There had to be hundreds or thousands of glowing crystals growing from the ceiling. It looked like an artificial night sky.
He took a deep breath and realized just how dense the mana was. He could feel it flowing into his veins, making him feel alert and full of energy, clearing his mind.
Lights could be seen in different windows as buildings grew from stone and metal or trees and bushes while factories worked through the night.
“Well, shit.” Sung stopped next to Kanoa. The military members grouped together so others couldn’t hear them and made sure no one else got close.
“What’s the plan, Captain?” Badowska asked.
“We give it a shot, see what the truth is of this all,” Kanoa said.
“This might not be too bad.” Miller looked around.
Kanoa grinned, and some of the others chuckled. All of them stepped back from the hyper-alert state they had been in for months, relaxing minutely.
“I heard they have showers, and we’ve got food vouchers,” Sung said.
“Move in groups still. Always have the civvies covered. We’ll check in a week and see how things are going,” Kanoa said.
The group nodded and then broke up. They gathered up their charges and headed toward their temporary house, what looked like apartment-style housing.
17
Truths and Misdirection
Tanya cracked an eyelid open and looked around the dusty room.
What was that noise?
“Mrhmmk.” She rubbed the dribble from the side of her mouth and blinked a few more times, taking in her office and staring at the book she had fallen asleep on. She smacked her lips and cleared her throat as she woke up.
She blinked slowly. Her eyes focused on the wet spot on the book. She stretched her hands and paused mid-stretch, as if struck by lightning.
I drooled on a book? A library book?
“No! Nononono! I am not getting in shit for defacing a book! Egbert will kill me!” She jumped up and ran around the room. Grabbing a rag, she moved to the book, dabbing it as if it were the most precious item in the universe.
I could use my Clean spell? No, shit, don’t—that would remove the ink from the pages and turn it blank! Egbert would murder me!
The wet mark wasn’t shifting, and her panic increased.
Tetsu watched her running around and got up, jumping up and down, excited to play. He was nearly twice the size of a regular Doberman, with that goofy I-want-to-play-too-human look on his face that dogs got when excited.
“Calm down, Tetsu. I can’t play right now!” Tanya said as she ran through ideas in her head.
She closed her eyes, focusing. “A hairdryer would work. I need something warm. Not a Flame spell—could set it on fire. Is there a way that I could create a hot element that is strong enough to dry out the pages?” Tanya raised her hands; the air around them shimmered as she combined mana and attributes together.
Flames appeared first.
“Nope!”
Then Metal shards shot out over her hand.
“Okay, more Metal, circulating Water and Fire to create a circulating breeze and increase the Fire attribute for more heat.” She kept her eyes closed, and the air in front of her moved; it turned red and seemed to have reflective particles within.
There was another knock at the door.
Shit, I totally forgot there was someone at the door!
“Who is it?” Tanya put her hand under her magical heater.
“It’s Rugrat. I wanted to talk to you about your recent studies. I made an appointment.”
“Oh, yes.” Tanya looked around and then took out a key; she threw it toward the door. Using air manipulation, she turned it in the lock; then with Earth manipulations, she used the door to shift the doorknob, opening the door as she sent a blast of air to at it.
It happened in some hurried gestures before she focused again on her book.
Tetsu bounded over to Rugrat, eager for someone to play with in his excited state.
George, who was in his dog size, sniffed Tetsu.
Tetsu tapped George’s neck with his head, his tongue hanging out, wanting to play. The two of them wrestled and started jumping around like two puppies again.
“Make sure you two don’t break anything,” Rugrat said to George.
“What are you doing there?” Rugrat asked, turning his attention to Tanya.
As Tanya raised a page of the book, she moved her hand, manipulating the spell around the page, and the water started to evaporate. “I am using a heater spell to dry the book,” Tanya whispered.
“You defaced a bo—”
Tanya’s hand clamped over Rugrat’s mouth, and she looked around.
Rugrat nodded. She removed her hand and worked while Rugrat walked to the door and closed it quietly, locking the door.
He waited as Tanya painstakingly dried the pages. She waved her hand and sighed as the spell fell apart and the book’s pages dried.
“Holy crap, I nearly died of a heart attack.” Tanya slumped into a chair, her back covered in a cold sweat.
“Definitely not.” Rugrat shuddered.
Tanya clicked her tongue, and Tetsu came over. “You two go play in the yard,” she said.
Tetsu jumped up and down.
“I can’t come now. I will play with you later.”
Tetsu lowered his head, and his tail dipped.
“You have George to play with!”
Tetsu looked up and over to George, whose tail wagged as his tongue hung from his mouth.
“All right, don’t get into too much trouble.” She opened the door using more mana. The two hounds ran out, and she closed the door behind them without standing up. She sighed and brought out some fruit juice. “Drink?”
“Please.” Rugrat cleared papers off a chair and put them on top of a full desk, making sure nothing fell before he sat.
She chilled the juice with Air, Water, and Metal magic and inverse flames that drew the heat away.
Rugrat took it, watching the spell fade away before staring at her.
“Okay, so what are you interested to learn?” Tanya said, the sweet juice clearing her throat as she glanced over to Rugrat.
“Pure magic. Explain to me what you think it is.” Rugrat leaned on the armrest and stroked his beard.
Tanya played with the piercing through her lower lip, staring at the ceiling to pull her thoughts together. “Pure magic is a name that others have given it. What I am looking to do is study the fundamentals of magic. Primarily, what is mana, what are attributes, how do the two work together—then the system of ley-lines, dungeon cores, and the various ways those fundamental components are utilized in different ways.” Tanya glanced to the corner of the room and nodded, sure in her answer.
“Okay, so what have you found out about magic? Small words, please.”
“If mana is fresh water, then attributes are the salt creating sea-water. There is very little freshwater compared to sea-water. Mana flows throughout everything; it is sunshine and water—the power of the Ten Realms. Everything has adapted to it. Attributes by themselves are nothing, just impurities lying around. When combined with mana, they change the state of mana, let’s say. Going with the water idiom, you have steam, water, and ice. Combining these different attributed mana, or different states of water, you create
a spell. A spell is a combination of attributes, powered by mana to create an effect that the attributes and the mana could not create on their own. So”—Tanya held out her hand—“use your Mana Sight and watch my hand. First, I will create a Fire mana attribute layer around my hand. Fire mana creates an immense amount of heat, but it can also pull it away. It is why people with a high Fire attribute have greater resistance. Same for the other attributes. Now I have some Wood element, and I’m going to add in some Fire element.”
A flame appeared in her hand.
“So, it’s like a circuit: The attributes are different parts, but linked together, they create something greater than the sum of their parts, and the mana powers it,” Rugrat said.
“Traditional spells are more like that.” Tanya dismissed her original flame, and a spell formation appeared, showing the same flame. “Spell formations are a means of quantifying spells. It is like the math of magic.”
“I thought you were against traditional spells?”
“Against them? No, I think they’re an incredible discovery, though I also think they are outdated. This burns three times the amount of mana for the same effect. To increase the power, you need to put in more mana. If I were to just use Water and Metal elements, I could create a highly oxygenated area instantly through electrolysis. It costs much less mana overall, but the effect is the same.”
She cast the spell version and then her own modified version into the air, creating two larger flames in mid-air.
Rugrat studied the flames and half-closed his eyes. He raised his hand and a flame appeared, identical to her pure-magic version.
“It is more like cooking than it is like spellcasting, though I can see how it would be faster to cast. What about higher-grade spells?” The flames disappeared.
“That is a problem. Spells are useful when it comes to large spells. They create a path for the mana and the attributes to follow. I am not saying that we should use the spell structure. I think it is a useful guide—training wheels on a bike, if you will. Once you master the spell, you can take off the training wheels and cast a spell without needing the complete structure. You can cast it faster, adapt quicker, even alter your spell mid-cast.”
Sixth Realm Part 2: A litRPG Fantasy series (The Ten Realms Book 7) Page 18