Sixth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  “Y-you!” Delilah didn’t know what to say.

  “Come on, look aren’t the Silaz boys both good candidates? I could put in a good word? Storbon is a good and strong boy too, think of him as my own boy. Glosil is too serious, doesn’t seem your type. Yao Meng? He’s a good guy and funny? What about Gong Jin? He just got command of his own Special team and he’s the tough reliable sort with a heart of gold,” Erik quickly rattled off.

  Delilah closed her eyes, her lips moving as she shook her head as unwanted images and thoughts started to fill her mind.

  “Teacher,” she hissed in a low voice, cutting him off. She took a breath and looked at him.

  “I am not interested in anyone right now,” Delilah said forcefully.

  Erik looked at her, there was no malice. There may be a bit of humor but it was the look of someone who cared deeply.

  “Delilah, I am just your teacher but you’re like a daughter to me. Don’t hold back your own life for your job. I have done it before and I threw myself completely into my work. I don’t blame anyone but myself, but looking back I wish I had taken those opportunities, that time I needed to explore my options, to try out a relationship.”

  Delilah was stunned slightly as she sat back and thought about his words. The waiter came back over and they quickly ordered as Delilah felt like she was in a bit of a haze, focusing on his words. She seemed to return to reality when the food arrived, she found her eyes had fallen on a group of soldiers that were marching around the dungeon headquarters.

  “Alva’s population has grown rapidly in a short period of time. Our external branches such as the traders, the adventurers, the Sky Reaching Restaurants and Wandering Inns, Vuzgal and the Beast Mountain Range have nearly doubled in size since Rugrat and you left. With our foundations, we have been able to absorb all of these people seamlessly. Though war is coming with the Willful Institute, I know that there is no turning back now. Though I am worried about the price we will need to pay and what the outcome will be.”

  “Good,” Erik said.

  Delilah looked at him with more questions.

  “A good leader leads from the front, a great leader leads from the front and plans for the future. Every movement now they ready their next moves and create new paths,” Erik sat back.

  “With this war, the Adventurer’s guild will be revealed to have a power behind them at the very least. At the most, Alva itself might be revealed, though I do not think that would be a bad thing. We have grown our strength in the darkness, the power we show the outside world is only part of our real strength. Our measures to weed out spies and those that are looking to stab us in the back have been updated and expanded again and again. If we are attacked an under siege from every side we can retreat into the depths of Alva, we have been stockpiling resources for years, we have training floors and dungeons. In Alva we can train people to level Sixty, who says we can’t train people to level Seventy or One Hundred? Even if they know where Alva is, they will have to dig through kilometers of rock, breakthrough multiple defenses. If we retreat from the main living floor and moved into the lower floors then it would take decades, if not centuries, for our enemy to even reach us.”

  “What if we win?” Delilah asked.

  “We sell the cities. We don’t need them. The resources and promises we can get in exchange for them are worth much more. We recover and ready ourselves, train until we have forces to infiltrate the Seventh Realm. We learn about the Seventh Realm. We push forward, striving up through the Realms. Unravel the mysteries of the Ten Realms, why are we here, what are the Ten Realms? What is at the peak of the Ten Realms? Who made this place? For what purpose?” Erik’s words grew faster while his eyes shone brighter.

  Delilah felt her heart speeding up as her hands tightened in excitement.

  Those same questions had appeared in her mind before though she has dismissed them as questions that she would never learn the answer to. What if we can make it to the Tenth Realm? Then what? What would we see?

  “As a leader, our responsibility is simple. Listen to the needs of our people, plot a path for the future, and if anyone dares to hurt those that are under our command or under our protection. We make sure that they never threaten their lives ever again. Even if we have to go up against the strongest sect, the most powerful beast even the Ten Realms itself, we will fight for them with everything at our disposal. That is our oath, that is our purpose.”

  “Attacking one of our adventurer teams, they didn’t attack the Adventurer’s Guild, they attacked Alva,” Delilah said.

  Erik nodded.

  “They nearly killed Domonos and tore him apart. They stepped on our necks across the Realms. They attempted to kill you and Rugrat. Killing our people was the last straw, now our strength has reached this point if we do not attack then we could lose our people’s confidence. If we are attacked, it is okay to wait, but we must never forget!”

  Delilah felt fury building in her stomach, anger that made her muscles tense. She also felt fear and despair as she knew that in any war there were casualties on both sides.

  “Right now we can only increase our abilities and prepare for whatever our future is.” Erik said quietly.

  ***

  High Elder Cai Bo wore gauze clothes that made her look mystical as she surveyed the city outside of the window she looked at her reflection in the glass, seeing the Earth Iron crafted Willful Institute Medallion on her chest.

  “Henghou city wouldn’t have reached its current state without your efforts High Elder Cai Bo,” a plain-looking man entered the room, he clasped his fists and bowed to her as the doors closed behind him.

  He looked to be in his early forties, his movements were elegant and he wore a fine set of armor that didn’t seem to have joints and flowed together as if it was a second skin.

  “Low Elder Kostic,” Cai Bo’s voice came out with a pleased tone. “Please rise.”

  She turned from the window and moved to a desk that stood in front of the Low Elder and sat down easily.

  “I have received alarming reports that our root Sect’s tributes have decreased.”

  Kostic’s face turned dark as he waited on her.

  “It seems that many are just handing over the minimum required resources,” her voice was light but the pressure in the room seemed as heavy as the tower they were in.

  The Willful Institute was spread over three realms with outposts in the Fifth Realm. Being spread so far apart, they had been given a large level of autonomy. Competition was seen as a great motivation the strongest would rise getting more resources. Those who gave more resources, the best geniuses they would be rewarded with more slots for progression in the future and greater training arts and advanced items from the higher realms. Factions went against one another but it mattered little as long as more strong people were pushed higher.

  With fewer resources, then the geniuses in the higher realms couldn’t advance and the Sect would stagnate, what mattered was the power of their strongest members. They had been able to get people into the Sixth Realm and there were even a few members in the Seventh!

  “Do they not acknowledge their position?. I will go down there and deal with them personally to make sure they remember their position!” Low Elder Kostic said.

  Cai Bo raised her hand lightly but it stalled Elder Kostic from doing anything.

  “It is only a few of the sects that have slowed their contributions. Just make note of those that are only meeting the minimum requirements. If they are not paying me, are they increasing their payments to others?” Cai Bo’s words were light but there was a cold light in them.

  If they dare to pay other Elders before this High Elder then they should learn that I am not someone to be forgotten. If their contributions drop, it must be because they are paying off other Elders, increasing their power. Still, their payments to me have not increased, do they think that I am blind?

  “Should I take a look to check which Elders are away for training in seclusion re
cently?” Elder Kostic hinted.

  Smart, if we can see who is hiding in seclusion hoping to use up their extra resources to gain more power to take over my position or gain more followers, we can restrict their power. In this way we can find out those that are going against me.

  “It is always good to make sure we know the location of all our elders for safety reasons,” Cai Bo’s eyes flashed.

  Kostic bowed deeply and backed away.

  “I heard that your grand-niece was able to progress into the Fourth Realm,” Cai Bo said lightly.

  Kostic stopped and a wide smile appeared on his face.

  “It was only by High Elder Cai Bo’s teachings that my little niece was able to reach the Fourth Realm. It is my hope that she can repay your kindness in the future tenfold,” Low Elder Kostic said gratingly.

  “They call her Mistress Mercy do they not?” Elder Cai Bo asked.

  “It is just a playful moniker from the lower realms,” Kostic said with a light laugh.

  “How are you related?”

  “She is my sister’s grand-daughter, thus the different last name. I was interested in supporting her after hearing her exploits.”

  “Interesting still, there are many enemies of the sect that we might need your little grand-niece’s talents for. There is a good position for those that can make the enemy reveal their secrets.”

  “If you are ever in need of her talents I am sure she would be most pleased to serve,” Low Elder Kostic’s expression was cold, the corner of both their mouth’s lifting slightly.

  “Make sure she doesn’t fall behind in her training,” Cai Bo said, turned away from Elder Kostic, and stood up. As she walked to the window Low Elder Kostic bowed and backed out of her office. The doors opened and closed behind him as High Elder Cai Bo continued to look over Henghou, focusing on her empire. Elder Kostic, her favorite guard dog, would figure out the plots of the other elders.

  Chapter: Alva’s Technology Sector

  Rugrat reached Jia Feng’s office, the older lady was just putting a few books into her storage ring as he arrived.

  “Rugrat! Good to see you, do you mind if we walk and talk? I have to head to a class I’m teaching,” she said in a rush as she checked the notes and information on her desk before walking around it.

  “That would be fine with me, had too many meetings in stuffy rooms and around desks,” Rugrat laughed.

  Jia Feng smiled, her eyes shining as the corners of her eyes showed laughter lines.

  “Perfect!,” she said as Rugrat opened the door for her and she walked through, he shut the door behind them as they walked.

  “Taran told me the idea that you had with the applied side of things. I think that it is a great idea. I actually agree with the whole idea of having teachers on the academic side being people that have not only been taught the different theories and ideas, but are people that have used their knowledge in a practical way. ‘Applying’ it to their everyday lives.”

  They walked down the stairs of the academy headquarters passing other teachers, nodding and greeting them as the two of them talked.

  “I don’t see the need to adjust much else on the academic side of things. How are you going to start having people applying their craft though?” Jia Feng looked at Rugrat.

  “Contracts. The military will pave the way, every year around the time of the crafting competition held internally by the academies. People can show off their skills in a timed event and they can show off what they can build. It creates a competitive platform for the greatest technologies. The Academy and Alva proposes what will be the technologies focus in the events and people build all year to create those things that people require.”

  “Okay, there are some people that are better at creating complex equipment that will take longer but will be much better than the items created in a few hours or days,” Jia Feng nodded. “Though that creates one item, people will not do it all the time if they only have one opportunity.”

  They exited the main teacher’s building and walked across the grounds, Jia Feng’s brisk pace went against her short stature as people made room for them both.

  “Government contracts: we need something in the military. We create contracts for people to build items, they can get lower rate loans to support their efforts. The best item is picked from what is supplied. The inventors with the patent will get an amount for each item created. We then push this for traders to do the same, if the items they want to build have a solid plan behind them, then low-rate loans can also support them too. People looking to create their own items for a perceived need will present a plan to the bank, based on the perceived viability of it then they can get loans,” Rugrat said.

  “How will the bankers assess the plans? Will they have crafters on staff to check the plans and see if they are viable not only in terms of profit, loss and return on investment, but make sense? Will people need to provide a blueprint of their technology? What is this patent you are asking about?”

  “Uhh, well the blueprint and the hiring of crafters for the proof of concept, uhh I didn’t think of that,” Rugrat said.

  “Bankers deal with money, not crafting, might need to have a few people on staff to assess plans. Patents what are those?”

  Rugrat explained patents. She had questions about different kinds: of patents, how they would work if a company paid for people to develop an idea, if someone developed it themselves, changing people’s access to the patents, and how payouts would be split to the different crafters on different projects.

  “What about the workshops? Will they be working in our workshops or others?” Jia Feng asked, turning around at the entrance to her classroom.

  “They would be able to rent them from the school, but I am hoping that we can create more independent crafting workshops. People can work there for a fee. If people want to, they can buy their own land and create an office or a crafting workshop,” Rugrat said.

  Jia Feng held her chin and bit her lip, silently collecting her thoughts.

  “I think that it is a great idea. One that will go on to develop the crafters from Alva even further. I think that you are underestimating the ability of the trader’s though. If they sense money can be made they will be the first people to start employing more craft4ers to work together. They hire out a number of crafters that are looking for jobs to help them out. There are a number of crafting workshops in Alva already that are now owned by the academy. Talk to Elise and to the Treasury, Matt as well as Taran. Taran has set up the factories with Matt for the military. Elise’s Trader’s Guild is hiring out all of the crafters that are done with school. and The treasury will need to put in strategies to encourage more people to work together on projects that will create powerful gear that won’t increase one’s skill level. There are a number of brilliant crafters that aren’t well suited for academics, they have gone out to learn in the world. There are crafters that dabble in other crafts. Some of them have probably thought about mixing their crafts together but there are no clear benefits to them. There are a number of people trying to become Experts but there are those that know that they will not be able to get higher than Apprentice or Journeyman unless they have a fortunate circumstance. These are the people that will become the backbone of your plans, become inventors and factory creators. People have families that they need to support and they need money to increase their cultivation, and provide for others.”

  “Okay,” Rugrat said. He felt like he had been dunked in cold water as he was rushing ahead and missing key steps and forgetting people to talk to.

  “It will be slow to start but with time it will increase with speed, it takes one to start everything,” Jia Feng smiled and patted Rugrat’s bicep, she was too short to reach his shoulder.

  “Thank you,” Rugrat said calmed by her words as he grinned.

  She nodded and squeezed his arm as she turned to head into the classroom.

  “Needs someone to start it all. I don’t know everything, gonna need some of the h
eads of different departments to help. Then involve the students to help with researching and then building the factory. Wouldn’t that be the best example of applied science?”

  Jia Feng looked back to Rugrat. The sturdy large man was shivering as sparks and fires burned in his eyes and his mouth turned into a determined grin while his hands moved as if grasping the handle of a hammer.

  “Thank you Miss Jia Feng. I have work to do!” Rugrat turned around, people pushed to either side as each of his strides created waves of mana and air that brushed through people’s hair as if an unstoppable train had passed them.

  Chapter: Congregation of Experts

  The flash of teleportation faded as Blaze and Jasper lead the Adventurer’s Guild’s branch heads out of Alva’s totem.

  Their identities were all verified by the soldiers before they passed the walls. Blaze led them across the city that had grown once again, leading them to the military district. It was filled with factories that mass-produced the gear for the Alva Army. They were checked again and given a group of guards to watch over them and escort them to a private field.

  Stephan looked at the tower of the academy in the distance wishing to get some time among the books there and talk to Tanya to discuss what he had learned on Pure Magic and share information.

  He looked over the squat factory buildings unimpressed. He stared at the gear of the guards that were watching over his group.

  They are all just wearing Journeyman armor. Not even one piece of Expert level gear. They have their rifles but how can that be compared with the power of magic? They’re just inert tools.

  He didn’t try to find out their levels or their cultivation. It was rude to pry and he felt that it would be worthless. In the fights at the Battle Arena, the soldiers had reacted quickly but they were buffed by being in the city and they were able to increase their strength retroactively. In his eyes they were too reliant on their gear that could fail.

  He looked down on them and their abilities.

  Fighting together as a party makes sense, but their squads, how do they get anything done? and They lose all the benefits dividing loot up so much.