Sixth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

“Eastern side there are some workshops there, more in the city above, ten stones to take the elevator,” the guard said in a bored tone.

  “Thanks,” Rugrat nodded. The group passed through the large black walls, they looked up at the holes in the ceiling and formations that had been carved into the stone to drop attacks on anyone that made it into the gate.

  The tunnel rang with noise, Melika was moving in her seat to look ahead. They exited into a large open area, there were all kinds of beasts pulling carts. Merchants were hawking their wares, inns were advertising their unoccupied rooms, others were selling stamina potions. The group pushed on, after a quick glance these merchants and sellers could tell that they weren’t interested in their items and tried their tricks on others.

  They found an inn away from the main hustle of the city.

  “Alright, Melika always go with someone else or stay here. Everyone else, two days of R and R. Do as you want, only need one person back here at a time, drinking allowed, but have a detox with you and ready to use,” Storbon said to his team as Rugrat and Erik were stripping off their gear at their own beds.

  Rugrat shook the cloak out, used his clean spell on it and put it in his storage ring. He scratched his head, it had pushed down on his hair the entire time, leaving his head and beard almost painfully itchy.

  The ten realms Alvan rip-tape straps on the side of his carrier opened as he slid out of it. The feeling of air against his clothes and losing the weight across his upper body he felt naked.

  “Damn, these plates keep on getting heavier each time,” Rugrat said.

  “They weigh about 30 kilos now,” Erik said, tapping on the vest and laying it out as he checked the different pouches, refilling them.

  “Thirty kilos, damn, doesn’t feel like it,” Rugrat said as he checked his vest, too.

  Storbon broke down tasks for everyone and left it to Yao Meng to figure out watch shifts.

  “You’re the smith,” Erik said.

  “Yeah, but I don’t make most of these items. What a single person does doesn’t change much. Crafters in Alva are just the people to make a blueprint, teach others and quality test the products that are made from the factory lines. Right now we can’t make Expert-level gear on an assembly line, but with time I think we’ll be able to do it. The factories for the military work day and night to make weapons, armor, clothes, rations and more for Alva Army, most armies in the Ten Realms take years to grow. They can only hire so many people because the older generations have died out and they can give them their weapons and gear. It’s like the Russians in the Second World War. They have people but they don’t have the gear and weapons. Though people die so quickly that they shift one person’s gear to another rapidly,” Rugrat said as he finished up restocking his vest.

  “We don’t have people dying all the time, but we have the mass-producing industry of Alva to support the army’s rapid expansion,” Erik said.

  “Yes, and our blueprints are shared, so this carrier, the actual carrier doesn’t change much but the plates are altered all the time. The plates are simple enough to make. The standard plates are made on an assembly line, cut to size then formations are stamped in and filled, can produce ten carrier plates an hour at that speed. Say someone comes up with a better combination of iron and enhancers, well we can alter the production line and run off ten prototypes in an hour. A new formation, do it once, prove it works, modify the stamp and bingo you have a newly-enhanced carrier.” Rugrat sat on his bed and pulled off his blouse. “Heck, you can use the blanks from the carrier to make new formations get them from the line instead of bugging a smith. Leads to people innovating more instead of making the same old thing. Constantly improving at a rapid rate.”

  “So with the formation sockets?”

  “We have a formation tester, they use the old armor plates, put it in and test it out. Something works, then can study it more or start looking at producing it on scale in the factories. Can lead to more research, making the formation smaller, stronger, require less power, same as technology back on Earth.

  “Instead of years to create a new formation, can take months. Testing can take a few minutes instead of weeks and implementation, well it could take months to create the factory line to make the formation. Once it is up and running then it can produce them until the end of time. If it was made by traditional formation masters they would make a few, to increase their skill level and then never touch it again. This leaves our formation masters to innovate and we get shiny new badass gear.

  “Bonus, we’re recycling conscious, formation fails, or we replace the old ones, take all of that, refine them back down and use them for something new. Bingo bango, technology wonder of the tenth realm.”

  Rugrat frowned.

  “Something wrong?” Erik asked.

  “Just, well my theory, the one that I was thinking of using to break through to Expert. I was thinking of how a weapon should work together with a person completely. That it should be an extension of themselves, seamless,” Rugrat felt that there was something nagging him but he couldn’t place his finger on it.

  “What are you thinking of doing?” Erik asked.

  Rugrat pulled off his boots, releasing his feet from their prison, he let out a grunt as he dropped the shoes to the floor and moved his toes freely.

  “A new type of weapon, one that is linked to the user. A kind of amplifier for whoever is shooting. I have been working with Earth Rifles, but with a mana rifle, amplifying the spell you place on the round, using formations to shoot it out, then the more power you have, the greater the power of the rifle is,” Rugrat said, starting to get excited. “A mana railgun!”

  “A railgun?” Erik said. “But most of those are mounted on tanks.”

  “The issues are power supply and heat. Here the power supply is mana stones and the heat can be dissipated by the enhanced heat and cooling runes!”

  “Sounds feasible,” Erik said.

  “What are you going to do?”

  “Cultivate my mana. I’m falling behind and I can build up the Metal mana within my mind then I can passively temper it over time.”

  “Well, if you come to the smithy there is plenty of Metal mana, more than just in any normal place,” Rugrat said.

  “Sounds good to me, though tonight is on me!” Erik raised his voice so the others could hear him.

  There were grins and smiles among the others. Melika was still quiet but after being with them for some days while she was apprehensive she wasn’t afraid.

  Chapter: First Annual Crafter's Competition

  Delilah and Fehim entered the large hall that had been created as part of the crafter's competition.

  There were several different areas that people could wander through, crafters from all different ability levels, across the different realms and in different disciplines filled the area. They'd brought their friends and families with them, all of Alva seemed to have shown up. People were talking with their friends, meeting with their heroes and discussing with peers.

  All while food and drink were supplied.

  Delilah and Fehim were trailed by four members of the Close Protection Details as they met up with Tan Xue, Julilah and Qin.

  "It looks like things are going well," Delilah said in greeting.

  "Just wait until tomorrow, in those arenas then the real fight will start," Tan Xue grinned.

  "It's not fair that we don't get to compete," Qin complained.

  "You just want to beat more people with your formations again. Did you not have enough fun in the academy?" Julilah asked looking innocent as she drank from her cup while Qin glared at her.

  Fehim coughed to hide his smile as Tan Xue elbowed Qin who lowered her head grumpily.

  Delilah smiled openly.

  "It's unfair, why can't we have the experts all fighting it out?" Qin complained.

  "If we have all the experts competing then who will tally up the scores? This is for Alva as well, when we have the competition in Vuzgal then we wil
l naturally need to show off our ability and our position," Tan Xue said.

  "We can take this time to teach others, share our knowledge. Isn't that better than fighting it out?" Delilah said.

  "I guess, just competing is more fun! I can remember the looks on the faces of those guys still," Qin said.

  "Next year you'll have the competitors that you could want. Think of how much the people of Alva will have grown by then and all of the people that will come from across the realms to challenge us?" Julilah said.

  "And we have the arena now, we can set up monthly competitions as well as test out our different ideas," Tan Xue said.

  "It will be an exciting series of matches tomorrow I am looking forward to them all," Delilah said.

  "It's certainly ignited the fighting spirit of the crafters, they want nothing more than to show off their skills. Spending all of their time hidden away they don't get the kind of praise or support that fighters or people in the military might get," Fehim said.

  "All Alvans are the most quiet show offs," Qin grinned.

  "Quiet show offs?" Delilah chuckled. "I think that other crafters might die of shock if they heard you!"

  ***

  Tan Xue, Julilah and Qin were all together as they entered the stadium. The interior arena had several towers that one could sit in, looking at the other arenas through the glass or formations that broadcasted the events of the other crafting competitions. All of the bars and taverns across the city were showing the 'livestreams'. It was being shown in the other floors and on the Dungeon Core Headquarters building.

  "I don't think that I have seen so many people in Alva," Qin said as they got drinks and sat down, watching over people's heads.

  "I'm just thankful that we are in the teacher's lounge, there are so many crafters here. If we were in the general seats we would be getting mobbed with questions," Julilah said.

  Tan Xue laughed and took a sip of her drink.

  "All of the students that were learning away from Alva have returned, some want to show off their skills, others wanted a reason to come home and others are just wanting to see their fellow crafters show off their power. The traders all came back as well because the crafters that rise in these competitions will get a lot of resources behind them. They could really increase their overall abilities rapidly."

  "And it is always best to support a crafter when they are younger, to build up a greater feeling of familiarity, that way if they require anything in the future they will look to you. Also they'd be happier to sell their goods to you or help you create special items if you ask," Qin said.

  Julilah played with her glass, frowning.

  "Something on your mind?" Tan Xue asked.

  "I was just thinking about how everyone is coming here, I didn't realize that there were so many Alvans. I never felt that I was connected to the people in Keaju, but in Alva I feel like all of the people around us are our people. Feels like belonging or something a bit more distant than family, but only barely so."

  Tan Xue hugged her from the side and Julilah smiled.

  She had a hard life in Hersht, her mother had four children from different fathers. Her ‘manager’ took control of them and had them working different seedy jobs, anything they earned he kept. Some of her brother's and sisters were pick pockets, others worked hard jobs at all hours. Working to get resources to cultivate or increase their level. Born at level zero, they had to fight for every level in a realm where the majority were over level ten. A casual slap could leave them bruised and battered with broken bones.

  Tan Xue thought to the day where she had been walking back to her smithy with a supply of iron ore.

  ***

  Tan Xue saw a young girl crying into her clothes, her little body shaking as she squatted on a stoop. One might think that she was sleeping except for the occasional jerkiness as she cried silently.

  Tan Xue checked around making sure that it wasn't a scheme.

  She rolled it over in her head, debating talking to the girl or just walking on by.

  Tan Xue cleared her throat and the girl flinched, looking around with wide eyes, ready to run in a moment. Her clothes were haggard and she looked malnourished.

  "Are you okay?" Tan Xue asked, not sure of how to talk to her.

  "I Uh-hh I didn't steal anything!" The girl said, that fear in her eyes, that flightiness and tension in her body, it made Tan Xue feel vulnerable herself.

  "I didn't say that, this is my shop," Tan Xue pointed at the door behind the girl.

  The girl got up and skitted to the side, watching her the entire time as if she might rush out and grab her.

  "I didn't mean you any harm," Tan Xue said, trying to be as non-threatening as possible.

  "My name is Tan Xue, I'm a smith."

  The girl seemed to have a debate.

  "I'm Julilah."

  "It's nice to meet you Julilah," Tan Xue said and moved to the door, opening it and revealing the smithy beyond.

  "Ah-"

  Tan Xue turned to the sudden noise from Julilah and waited patiently.

  "I like your door it's warm and the designs are pretty."

  Tan Xue looked at her door and the formations carved into them.

  "Well, feel free to look at the formations whenever you want."

  "Can I really? Most businesses chase me away," Julilah was looking down, her eyes growing heavy.

  "Ah, I'm just a smith, not many people come here to find me. Just no talking when I'm working and I better not catch you skipping work to come and find me!"

  "I don't have a job," Julilah said.

  "Go talk to Miss Warren on Ling Street, she's always in need of young helpers to take messages across Hersht," Tan Xue turned and smiled to herself as she walked into the smithy.

  ***

  Tan Xue mussed up Julilah's hair some, making her frown.

  "What did you do that for? Aren't you supposed to be a high and mighty principal of Vuzgal Academy? It took me a whole twenty minutes to get my hair sorted!"

  Tan Xue had a devilish smirk on her face as she raised her hand again.

  "No! Not the hair!" Julilah pathetically tried to cower in her seat, sending Qin and Tan Xue into laughter.

  "Mean!" Julilah pouted.

  Tan Xue shook her head as she pulled out food.

  "You got breakfast? Look there are even hash browns," Qin looked at the perfectly preserved food that seemed to have just come from the pan.

  "I know you two, you have plenty of materials and tools in your storage rings but you eat out all the food you have stored and forget to get more," Tan Xue admonished them with her chopsticks.

  The two girls ducked their heads with awkward expressions as they were readying their chopsticks under the table.

  Do you think I can't see what you're doing, food assassins! I'll need to be quick! Sudden strike!

  "Hah!" Tan Xue's chopstick shot out as she grabbed pancakes into her bowl and grabbed bacon before the other two realized what was going on.

  "You!"

  "Big sister Xue!"

  Like fish and snakes, their chopsticks flashed out, grabbing food and placing it into their own bowls. Some didn't even make it to the bowl as they dived in.

  The teachers and others that saw the sight, coughed and looked away, as if a food fight wasn't happening between three of the first generation of Alva crafters.

  Orange juice was consumed as pancakes were covered in sauces and savaged. Meats and eggs had no time to understand their fate as the three warriorresses of food waged their battles and wars, leading to skirmishes and flanking ambushes.

  Finally the plates were clear, all three of them sitting back in their chairs.

  The plates went into Tan Xue's storage ring and tea appeared on the table.

  "Thank you for breakfast big sister Xue!" The two said together.

  "Though I wish I had an extra sausage," Qin said under her breath just so the others could hear.

  Julilah put out her tongue and grinned before takin
g the teapot and pouring for the others, Qin Tan Xue drank first and Qin served Julilah.

  The three of them sat there, satiated.

  "So, I don't get why we are doing this in Alva and not in Vuzgal," Julilah asked.

  "Confidence," Tan Xue said. "This competition is smoke and mirrors. With the fighting competition everyone that is a fighter and many that are not have needed to fight one time or another in real life. Most of our crafters they have learned crafting through Alva, they have not tested their skills against any one that is outside of Alva. With this competition they can go against one another, gain confident in their own abilities, in what they have learned. Then when they compete against others outside, they have some confidence. They might even not focus on others, as long as they can do better than they did this year and place better according to their fellow Alvans."

  "Everyone here while they don't come from the same place, they all got the same teaching and training. Anyone outside they have different teachers, different techniques. Confidence doesn't sound like such a big thing, but if you are nervous, if you have never done something before. You'd be anxious, more likely to make mistakes and you couldn't put your full effort forward," Julilah surmised.

  "There is another hidden benefit. The Stadium and the arenas. Now there are the facilities it can be called another way of training. We have the crafter dungeon, classes, the recordings from other crafters, the library and multiple workshops. With the arena's people can fight one another, maybe people are motivated if they are competing against one another?"

  "They can see how strong they have become, how strong everyone else is as well, build confidence in what they're learning and show off to Alvans as a whole. We have a large crafting population, but we have people in all walks of life. As we've said before, getting to show off our abilities to others is a rare opportunity. Confidence, fighting will, fame and pride. All of those can raise people up," Tan Xue smiled.

  "What if they lose?" Julilah asked.

  "If they lose, well what have we been teaching? It doesn't matter your background or your ability in the past, with hard work and pushing forward, one foot after another, you can succeed. Constructive criticism is just that," Tan Xue said.