Sixth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  Feng turned around with noodles still hanging out of his mouth.

  “Murm!”

  He ran over as Felicity turned as well, the two tackled Mira’s legs.

  “Feng you still have noodles hanging out, Felicity remember to chew or you’ll choke! Chonglu what have you been teaching these two?”

  “That they should sit down and finish dinner first,” Chonglu’s looked at the twins.

  With sheepish looks they rushed back to the table, as if they had never left.

  Chonglu sighed and started to serve Mira a bowl. She leaned between Feng and Felilcity, kissing both their cheeks, not minding the stain Feng left on her dress or their sauce covered cheeks.

  She went around the table and kissed Chonglu.

  “Thank you for dinner dear.”

  “You always forget to eat! Tell me what have you had today?” Chonglu said as he made sure to give her an extra helping in her bowl.

  Mira coughed, blushing as she quickly changed the subject.

  “What have you two been up to?” Mira asked,

  “We learned about inscriptions!” Feng said, Felicity was rapidly moving her head as Mira frowned.

  “What has your father been teaching you, no need to stuff your face like that now,” Mira said.

  I’m innocent!!

  Chonglu chewed furiously to try and defend himself.

  “Come on, I want to hear all about your time in the academy, show me your cultivation.”

  Chonglu grumpily swallowed, knowing his opportunity was gone.

  They proudly released the power of their cultivation.

  “You’ve improved quickly,” Mira said, a bit stunned. “It won’t be long until you can compress your mana into drops!”

  She reached out her hand to Felicity, who put her arm in her mother’s hand.

  The room chilled as Mira exerted the power of her constitution.

  Slowly a frost started to form on Felicity’s arm.

  “How is it mom? Am I stronger than Feng?” Felicity beamed.

  “No, I’m stronger!” Feng complained.

  “You’ve done well, have you used up all of the pills that I gave you?” Mira asked Felicity.

  “One every morning for a week and then two every day: one in the morning and one at night after that until I have had them all,” Felicity rattled off the instructions proudly.

  “You did well,” She smiled as she completed the test on Feng.

  “I’m stronger right mom?”

  “You’re both strong, you two need to work together instead of fighting one another all the time,” Mira said.

  As she had been testing her children, Chonglu had filled up her bowl with the different things she liked.

  ‘”How has it been for you?” He asked as he put her bowl down.

  She smiled as he kissed her.

  “Training, training and more training. There was a new dungeon found in the Sixth Realm we’ve been asked to go and explore. It will be a long campaign though it should raise our levels quick,” She said.

  “You might be able to hide how excited you are from others,” Chonglu murmured.

  She pressed her lips together, but her eyes were shining.

  “It should be really good, it has been too long since I went on a dungeon dive. What about you, have you been in the dungeons? You feel stronger.”

  “Well it seems that I should be a bit stronger. I’ve been training with the military here. Learning techniques and I might’ve gone in the dungeon once or twice undercover. You’re not the only person that misses going into dungeons,” Chonglu smiled. “I heard that the dungeons in the Sixth Realm are massive?”

  “Depends, some are just large dungeons, while others can be interconnected dungeons which could fit multiple cities from the Third Realm inside them.”

  “Can we go to a dungeon?” Feng asked.

  “Not until you’re older,” Chonglu said. “Felicity Chonglu, calm down on the noodles, there are more.”

  “You get to go,” Feng stabbed his chopsticks into his food.

  “You can when you’re older. Now, how about that healing course, I heard that you’re doing well?” Chonglu said.

  He caught Mira looking at him out of the corner of her eye

  They were able to pull out what the two had been up to in school.

  “By the time you two leave you might be apprentices in all of the major crafts,” Mira said with approval.

  “Plenty of people will want to hire you right away. Don’t sign anything without your mother or I,” Chonglu said.

  “Can we go to the games?” Felicity asked in a rush.

  Feng was looking forward, ready for the reply.

  Seeing the two of them looking between their parents. Little devils, trying to get us to fold and let them off of school for two weeks!

  “We can go this weekend. If you do well in your tests next week then I’ll take you to the arena. If not, then you will have to watch from home.”

  They both groaned and complained, looking at their mother for aid. She shook her head at their pleading eyes.

  “Will Uncle Erik and Rugrat be there?” Feng asked.

  “They’re away right now, but there are some other people that you can meet,” Chonglu said.

  The two’s faces dimmed, they were at the age when it was awkward to talk to older people. They had their favorites, but the others they didn’t like being around unless they made a connection and then they would be enthralled with them, forgetting all about the awkwardness from before.

  “Can we just train in fighting?” Felicity said.

  “No,” Chonglu said firmly seeing Mira hesitate.

  “Fighting is not all that someone can do in the Ten Realms. It is not a kind world out there, there are people that will want to hurt you. You will learn to fight with time. For now, what you learn could help you if you do choose to fight, or you might find something even more fun to do,” Chonglu’s voice turned excited. “You could create formations that could stand up against the strongest of monsters, create a flame pillar that reaches high into the heavens, clothes that will stop arrows and swords or shields that will stop a charging rhino. Swords that can cut through a forest with one cut, Healing concoctions that could cure a person in a second or give you massive strength. Create spell scrolls that will allow anyone to wield the power of a mage grandmaster, even stronger. Create tasty food.”

  Chonglu had a wry smile on his face as he looked over to Felicity who slowed down and started chewing more, lowering her head.

  “There are many paths to take, fighting is just one of them. When you finish school then I will train you to fight. Your bodies will be tempered, you will run day and night, do pushups and pull-ups until your muscles burn and then you will do more. To be fighters you must suffer, sweat and do hard work in order to save you from spilling blood. Training to fight comes with sacrifices. With your education from the academy, you will know how to repair your shield, set your bones, wrap your wounds and use healing concoctions to the greatest effect. You’ll know where to strike a person’s armor and recognize when someone is wearing well-made clothing and when they are wearing well-crafted armor. These are small items, but that knowledge, even at the novice and apprentice level, can save your life.”

  They fell quiet as Chonglu looked at them, he was their father and they knew that he had been an adventurer with their mother. He had a number of scars on his body that had been removed from when he had been badly wounded by assassins.

  “There are always people stronger who can send one to death’s door.”

  His words made them think of the condition that they had seen him in. Their faces were haunted. Chonglu wished that they never had to see something like that, but it was also a learning point. The Ten Realms was a savage place. They needed to be ready for anything.

  They finished dinner and the two showed their parents what they had learned. They had a building all to themselves within the castle district. They had been given th
ree mounts, special panthers raised in Alva. Chonglu received an older panther, her name was Lola. She was Erik’s older mount, she was a leader among the panthers and was incredibly strong.

  With Chonglu’s companion and long-time mount killed and Lola without a rider, Erik had passed her into Chonglu’s care.

  She padded over to Chonglu and he patted her and scratched her neck as she pushed into him, her body rumbling as she purred.

  I’m going to need to get stronger. Only then can I hold my position confidently, riding you without being conscious of how powerful you are and how weak I am.

  A rule that Chonglu hadn’t paid attention to, has now become his mantra.

  How powerful you or the group you are with is the only thing that matters in the Ten Realms. The stronger you are, the less people will try to attack the things that you love. I need to get stronger and then there will be no one that can harm my children or try to take my wife again from me again. No one that can kill those that I care about. His thoughts trailed off. Thankfully, Domonos is more than willing to help me.

  He felt stronger in his bones, completing his foundational temperings and now he needed to temper his body with bones. With the resources and information from Alva, he was waiting until after the competition was over and then he would seclude himself to go to the Fire floor in Alva dungeon and temper his body.

  The night quickly came and the family went to bed. Feng and Felicity were laid down and Chonglu went back with Mira to bed.

  With it being so long the two of them were a bit nervous around one another at first. Now they had fallen into their old ways as she held his hand and rested her head on his shoulder.

  They got into the room and Chonglu heard noises from her.

  He turned her around, seeing wet lines on her face as she tried to hide her tears.

  “What are you crying for?” Chonglu asked, holding her to his chest.

  “I’m so happy to be here with you all, but sometimes I just remember all that you’ve been through. I missed seeing them grow from babes, taking their first steps to being who they are today. I missed seeing you going from an adventure captain and new city lord to a father that is able to navigate the pitfalls of being an adult. Who was there for our children when they were happy or sad, picked them up when they were hurt and saw them grow,” Mira let out a shaky sigh.

  Chonglu hugged her, figuring out his words.

  He kissed her head and smelled her hair.

  “They are still young, there are plenty of memories to be made with them. You’re their mother and they want you in their lives.”

  “Maybe I shouldn’t go on that dungeon campaign,” Mira said.

  “You want to go on that dungeon campaign, being a fighter is part of who you are. If you didn’t go then you would regret it. Just know that we’re here and waiting for you to come back. Don’t make snap second decisions because of your emotions, think them through,” Chonglu said.

  They fell quiet, as he felt her relax against his chest.

  “Plus, well you know, not saying we couldn’t have more children,” He said with a wide grin.

  She smacked his chest with a smile.

  Chonglu cradled her neck and pulled her lips to his.

  Chapter: Land of Experts

  “Damn-“ A hammer slammed into a formation with every word”-power-freaking-runes!”

  “Soo, things going well in here?” Julilah asked from her workbench.

  “The damn runes I was using weren’t able to handle the power, burnt out the entire thing I was working on for...” Qin’s tirade came to a pause.

  “What day is it?”

  “I dunno,” Julilah said, looking through her formation enhanced glasses at the piece that was held in a vice. Even with her fellow’s tirade, her hands didn’t falter.

  “Urgh!” She hit the formation again with a hammer.

  “You could just get Tan Xue to do that again and hammer it back down.”

  “Days wasted!”

  “You’re guessing now,” Julilah pointed out, lifting her fine mana tool and checking on her work. With a satisfied nod, she moved down the table and studied another band of metal that was clamped down.

  “It must’ve been days with how hungry I am! Look at my skin, people are going to think I’m a witch,” Qin sunk into her chair with a groan.

  She picked up a socket formation and dropped it into the socket. They snapped together as she pulled it out and then let it drop again, it lit up and then died as she pulled it off.

  A vein appeared on Julilah’s forehead.

  “Will you go do that somewhere else?” Julilah yelled.

  “Oh,” Qin released the formation and it snapped into place.

  She had a sheepish look on her face as Julilah turned around.

  “I didn’t mean to do that one, umm, I’m going to take a walk,” Qin said.

  Julilah turned back to her work. Qin quickly left the formation workshop that they were working in, with the drop in mana she felt tired. She rubbed her face as she saw the setting of the sun, her eyes stung from looking at natural light. She wandered through the halls of Vuzgal’s academy. There were people moving around wearing medallions that showed off their profession and the level they had reached.

  Seeing her medallion most people would bow and make room. She saw a number of other experts and nodded to them.

  Since we got access to the technique books from the higher realms, people have been using the techniques in them to enter the expert level of crafting, while a smaller number have been working on making their own techniques and made it into the Expert realm. Now that I’m an expert it’s nothing more than just knowing I know something that I have a hint of an idea that works. A theory that showed some promise, now I need to remove all of the extras, remove my assumptions and find the truths contained within that theory. The closer I come to finding that truth about formations, the stronger I can make my formations.

  She was surprised by the number of Experts that she saw in the halls. They had been hiring Experts not that long ago, now they were hiring on Low Expert-level teachers as general staff while Mid-level expert teachers were also growing in number.

  “With the help of these external experts, we have been able to enhance our basic education system. With it being free to all children in Vuzgal, in a few years, we should see a large population of highly capable students entering the academy. Vuzgal is still young, but the groundwork is in place to make the later generations terrifyingly strong.”

  Her eyes looked out over the school as she headed to her quarters.

  “The fighting competition should start soon.” Her footsteps slowed as she thought about the formation competition she had seen and the formation fight she had competed in.

  Thinking on it, she started to get excited and started to look at the people around her, wondering just how strong the different experts’ knowledge was in practical applications.

  Jia Feng said that there will be a competition in the future. As the department head, I need to step up and show how strong I am right? What if I lose my position? I’d lose access to the workshop, the alchemical aids, and the resources. I already had to start paying for some resources as I ran out of my allotment. I need to hold my position! If Julilah wants it then she’ll have to tear it from me!

  Qin chuckled to herself and continued on her trip home, looking forward to the fighting competition and anticipating the crafters’ competition.

  I wonder if the Fourth Realm will be surprised with all the Expert crafters that are in Vuzgal academy’s halls?

  **

  Roska was looking over the measures that the security forces in Vuzgal had taken to mitigate risks and issues around the Battle Arena.

  Those of Special Team Two were resting in the lounge area, Gong Jin was studying the quickly filling stadiums. Each stadium was layered on top of the other, they had hundreds of stages, people could see multiple fights from any of the stages.

  “Must be making a
killing off of binoculars,” Simms said as he looked from the couch.

  “Don’t forget the Sky Reaching Restaurant is making food and drinks,” Tully said as she stretched.

  “Come on!” Imani complained as Han Wu revealed his cards.

  “Either you are the Ten Realm’s best cheater or the luckiest bastard out there,” Davos said as he pushed his cards forward.

  “Who you betting on for the fighting contests?” Yang Zan moved closer to Han Wu as if he was getting the inside scoop.

  “Xi knows better than me,” Han Wu said.

  Roska glanced up to Xi who was passed out on the couch, snoring lightly.

  She checked the report once more and put it away.

  “Well, it looks like we’ve covered nearly everything that could go wrong. Let us know if you need help in any way,” she said to Chonglu who was standing beside her. He looked a little nervous seeing them all.

  “Thank you,” he sounded relieved.

  “How many applicants are there for the competition?”

  “Around two thousand people as of last night. There were some last night checks but the number shouldn’t have changed that much,” Chonglu said.

  “And two weeks will be enough time for the competition?” Gong Jin asked

  “It should be. I talked to the Fighter’s Association and they reviewed my plan.”

  “Should be a good competition,” Roska said.

  “It’s a lot of damn people, not all of the seats are filled but there are a lot of freaking seats,” Han Wu said as he started to deal out cards again.

  “Are you sure you want to remain in here?” Chonglu asked.

  “Best if we’re out of the public eye and we can use these viewers here to look at the different fights our people are in and see how they do,” Roska said.

  “Very well, let me know if you need anything,” Chonglu said.

  He headed out of the room to carry out his other tasks. There was plenty to be done in the two hours before the first fights begin.

  ***

  Blaze looked over the members of the Adventurer’s Guild, they were all focused. There was little conversation, a few jokes here and there, but they were all focusing themselves for the fight that was to come. Some of them had spent the night with the combat puppets to hone their skills, others had been cultivating to clear their minds.