Sixth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  Over the next few hours Rugrat and the people from Earth talked over the systems in place in Alva and their subsidiaries. He told them everything and held nothing back. Kanoa watched it all.

  Really the Ten Realms are not like Earth at all, what we were used to is gone, but there are still a lot of people trying to hold onto that. Those that are too rigid will collapse. The people of Alva are pleased with the system, if not overjoyed. Sure it is not perfect, but we are immigrants to this land, if we want to become Alvans, we should wholly embrace what Alva is. Thinking of it like a company, that makes more sense, and with having the people with the highest ability and the support of others, reminds me of the ranking system in the military. Its not perfect, but it works.

  ***

  Rugrat had led the group out of the compound. He had hoped to recruit some of them to help with the development of military hardware. There was a war coming at some time and he wanted to be as ready as they could be.

  Instead of recruiting people, it turned into some damn political debate.

  Rugrat turned around to head back to the workshop when he found two people there.

  “Kanoa, Badowska?” Rugrat asked.

  “So, I hear that you have some space in your military. I might be a bit older but these old bones got a new lease of life in the Ten Realms,” Kanoa said.

  “You don’t have any tanks or mechanized forces, can you say you are army without tank?” Badowska said, his thick Russian accent and partial english making it hard to fully understand him.

  “You sure? If you want to help out then you will need to become citizens,” Rugrat said.

  “We haven’t been sitting on our asses this whole time. We have been out and in the middle of the Alvans. They aren’t fanatics or idiots, they know what Alva is and they are more than happy to put their full strength behind it. You’ve not only created a safe place, you have created a powerful community. Sure we could keep on running, we could berate you for not having a democratic society.”

  Badowska grunted in derision.

  “This system works and its clear to me that while you aren’t the best lord, you are an honest one and someone that I’d trust watching my ass,” Kanoa said.

  Badowska shrugged. “As long as you not wearing american flag booty shorts dah?”

  “It’ll grow on you.”

  “I do not want booty shorts growing on me.”

  Chapter: Rise of the Beast Mountain Range

  Lord Aditya returned to his office.

  “So how was the envoy from the Marcella Kingdom?” Evernight asked.

  “They wanted to look for better trading terms. I put them in contact with some of the traders that might interest them and made sure to keep them personally invested with a few extra trinkets,” Aditya said as he sat down.

  He looked out of the window at the new large complex that was being built within the latest round of expanding walls around the city.

  “The Sect hasn’t finished construction but Sect Leader Quan has already filled out the different teaching positions. The Adventurer’s Association is also building out a branch within the city. The auction will be starting in a few hours,” Evernight stood.

  “How about things beyond our borders?” Aditya asked, watching as she walked toward his desk.

  “The same as they were this morning, we shall see how people’s attitudes are after the auction. Before that, don’t you want to learn about your real masters?” Evernight smiled.

  “What are you hiding?” Aditya asked, watching her suspiciously.

  “Come on, you have a meeting before the auction,” Evernight pulled him out of his chair and led him to the secret ladder.

  Aditya felt his hands grow clammy.

  “We’re really going to see them?” he asked.

  “Of course come on,” Evernight dropped down the ladder first.

  Aditya swallowed and then followed after her quickly.

  They reached the bottom of the ladder, the bookcase above rotated back into place.

  After a few twists and turns they reached a room with different connecting tunnels. A City Interface was placed against one wall. On the other side of the room there was a teleportation circle.

  “Okay your oaths are all good, so thankfully we won’t need to do that again,” Evernight waved him over to the teleportation circle.

  He gritted his teeth and balled his fists, stepping over.

  Evernight activated the formation, in a flash of light they appeared in a bright area.

  Aditya looked around with hooded eyes, against the sudden light, he adjusted quickly seeing the odd guards and the defenses.

  His body shook it felt as if he was soaked in a warm bath.

  This mana density! Training in here for one day would be like training for a month in the First Realm. No, three months!

  Evernight was well known as she greeted a few people and brought Aditya with her.

  When they stepped out of the defenses around the teleportation facilities Aditya saw Alva dungeon spread out in front of him.

  Even a person on the street is stronger than me. Look at the market. They have High Journeyman level gear for sale even selling it in large batches?

  They passed a group of police officers that nodded to them and a group of soldiers that were marching through.

  I thought that our own forces were impressive, but they’re just imitations of the regular soldiers.

  Aditya was burning up. He had been fed hints and information for so long but he had never seen the power behind him. Now he saw it, he was even more stunned than he expected.

  They reached a large round building in the middle of the city. It was covered in formations and there was a pillar of light that shot up into the skies above.

  It pierced through the blue ‘sky’ and spread through formations to a ceiling of mana stones. Aditya shuddered at the casual display of so much wealth.

  There are literally mana stones growing on the roof! On the roof, are we underground?

  He looked around, he had been focused on what was around him he didn’t look up.

  “Come on, Aditya!” Evernight teased as she pulled him into the building, they passed a few guards that watched them both. They headed up past offices.

  “The dungeon core used to be just a single building. But with the expansion of the city, the buildings were all pushed back and we created a new larger building around the dungeon core, adding in offices and more meeting rooms.

  She guided them in further and stood straighter.

  Aditya did as well.

  “Someone can make you act official, looks like they are really powerful,” Aditya joked.

  She shot him a look, pressing her lips together to force down the smile.

  They reached another door with guards, they opened the door, to the left side of the room there was a massive cylinder that went from the floor to the ceiling, the room was only one section of the cylinder. There were formations all over the place inside the cylinder was the pillar of light, it branched out through several formations and headed through the building back down into the ground. It captured Aditya’s attention before he saw Evernight bowing to the two occupants of the room.

  Aditya glanced at the two men who were wearing simple comfortable clothes. Both of them had short haircuts and sported freshly shaved faces.

  They give off a feeling of quiet controlled power.

  Off to the side, there was a wolf with wings that seemed to be made of flames that nipped at a large lizard looking creatures that dodge his attack and bit back on her own.

  Aditya bowed with Evernight.

  “Lords Erik and Rugrat, this is Aditya, the leader of King’s Hill, its associated Alliance, and Vermire,” Evernight said. “Aditya, these are Lords Erik and Rugrat, celebrated soldiers of Alva, the saviors of Alva Village, creators of Alva, Vuzgal and all associated guilds, academies and subsidiaries.”

  “It is my honor to meet with you,” Aditya said.

  “How is th
e leg doing?” Erik said.

  “Uhh, it is fine,” Aditya said.

  “Don’t need to talk into the floor there,” Rugrat said.

  Aditya looked up at Erik who had stood up and was walking toward him. He put his hand on Aditya’s shoulder and used a spell.

  “Y-you are the one that healed me?” Aditya said, seeing Erik up close again.

  “It healed fine, your body cultivation is progressing well,” Erik pulled out a pill and gave it to Aditya.

  “Go to the healing house and have them watch over you as you take this. It will suck, but it will allow you to temper your organs,” Erik used another spell and Aditya felt his body was rejuvenated. He operated just like the healers in the healing house.

  I was healed by the Lord of all this? Is he like the people in the healing houses, or are they like him, mimicking his methods?

  “Try and get up and walk more often, your back is getting bad.” Erik warned.

  “Yes, thank you Lord Erik,” Aditya’s breathing was harsh and strained.

  “You did body cultivation I guess I should do mana, huh?” Rugrat checked his wrist where there was a bracelet, each of the pieces were actually a storage ring.

  Aditya shuddered, storage items were rare in the First Realm, but Rugrat had enough to create a bracelet! Elders and powerful figures in sects had a few storage rings. It wasn’t until the second realm that the middle class got them. In the third realm nearly everyone had storage rings.

  Rugrat walked over as he was examining his bracelet.

  He pulled out a book and a scroll. He pressed the scroll against the book and with a flash of mana, words appeared on the scroll as he put the book away.

  He took out a salve and passed it and the scroll to Aditya.

  “These should help you out. Ask the people at the healing house to apply it for you. Should open some of your mana gates, increase your rate of absorption. The scroll is based on what I have learned about mana cultivation. Do you have organic scan or way to look inside your body?”

  “No, I don’t,” Aditya said.

  “Erik?”

  “One sec,” Erik checked his storage rings and then pulled out a book and tossed it to Rugrat.

  Rugrat passed it to Aditya.

  “Here is a technique book on the spell. That should work. Also, here is a formation necklace to help you if you are attacked.”

  “Here are some pills that will help you recover from grave injuries,” Erik walked over with the pills.

  “Do you have a sound transmission device?” Rugrat asked.

  “I do,” Aditya said.

  “Good. If you need help then there will always be someone there to help.”

  “What are your plans for the future of King’s Hill?” Erik asked.

  “My first plan is to grow the power of the sect and the army. The army will create more security for all of the outposts and start to bring everything under one control. With the sect we will get the people on our side and draw more people from the surrounding areas to support us, sending their children over to train and become stronger. It is expensive to be part of a sect. Using countless resources, the people that will be coming from outside the Beast Mountain Range will be the sons and daughters of different nobles. Won’t they have a favorable outlook on the Beast Mountain Range if it is the place of their education and where they transformed from children into adults? Inside the Beast Mountain Range, it will join the people to King’s Hill. The outpost leaders, if they hold out that long will have a choice to follow the orders from King’s Hill, or step aside. Integrating the outpost leaders would be for the best, unlike the kingdoms, outpost leaders in the Beast Mountain Range gained their positions by being great and powerful leaders, instead of politicians. Their own personal strength and backing isn’t small.”

  “How many of the outpost leaders have come over to your side? Come on, lets sit,” Erik moved the conversation to the seats.

  “We have most of the outpost leaders, I would say four fifths of them at this point, many are just holding out for better terms or positions.” Aditya said as he sat down.

  “So through giving the people and the outpost lords more opportunities, make them united,” Rugrat said.

  “Yes, at that time we will create our own region, we announce that Beast Mountain Range is our domain, we say that we are all allied against the beasts overrunning the surrounding area. If we unite people in words it is easier for them to unite in reality. King’s Hill will become the capital. All the guards will become Beast Mountain Range Guards. We will boast a strong sect open to people from across the lands, focused on learning how to fight alone and in groups, training up healers, and crafters. With the Adventurer’s Guild showing interest in the area, people are excited, it would be a clear path to the higher realms. Proving yourself in the Sect could lead to a higher and greater position. Even if not you could become a great crafter because there are rare materials in the Beast Mountain Range one can buy for cheap to train with, healers would be advanced as there are always wounded people. They would be learned and tested. On the surface, that is,” Aditya smiled as Erik and Rugrat’s gaze sharpened.

  “Under the surface, while people are fighting to train their hardest, we are picking out promising people from across the Beast Mountain Range, through different competitions and avenues. These people are recruited to your force, on the surface they are people of the Beast Mountain Range, the sons and daughters of powerful nobles. In reality they are your loyal people. With time, we gain control over these surrounding kingdoms and groups, or at least nurture an even greater embedded intelligence network across the First Realm,” Aditya smiled as he saw the surprise in Erik and Rugrat’s eyes before smiles appeared on their faces.

  “You have been working hard,” Erik praised.

  “He’s getting as sneaky as the Intelligence Department head,” Rugrat said to Erik while grinning at Aditya who felt a new energy in his veins with their praise.

  “So that happens internally, what about externally?” Evernight prompted.

  “Trade,” Aditya said, gaining everyone’s attention. “Trade is the basis of all agreements, if we can start trading with others, we draw them closer, if they fight us then they might gain something in the end, but then they will lose any possible revenues of trade. We planned the auction to happen as soon as possible to bring the attention of all the kingdoms to us.

  “The groups that are closest to us, they are all coveting our outposts, though there are more people out there than just them. They have multiple borders with different groups. Our aim is not for the people closest to us, but it is those further away. What will the possible enemies nearby think when they know our good friend is standing out their backdoor. If they go out to attack us, might they be worried that someone could come in through their backdoor? What if we have three friends along different borders? We’ve used ourselves as bait before with the Zetan confederation but didn’t they suffer a miserable defeat? With this in mind, then freely selling to everyone, even our greatest enemies will sheathe their swords for now. If they remain angry, doesn’t it mean that our friends behind them, might get better weapons and an advantage over them? For an analogy, the kingdoms around us are on a scale, the Beast Mountain Range will be a feather, balancing out the scale making the two bleed one another to not worry about us.”

  “An interfering constantly neutral force,” Evernight said.

  “Over time that feather weight will increase, or maybe as people see one feather they don’t notice the other small feathers you have spread around. You’re using the auction as a smokescreen, bring in trade interest as fast as possible with goods that you know that the surrounding kingdom’s elites will have to fight over,” Erik said.

  “Yes my lord,” Aditya bowed his head slightly.

  “Damn plans in the future and in the present, Aditya, I am glad you’re on our side,” Rugrat said.

  “Our relationship was an unsteady one when it started,” Erik said.
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  Adtitya winced and bobbed his head.

  “Though with time you have proved while you are a schemer, you aren’t a malicious one. Even as you have reached your current position. People in all of the outposts are safer, there are more jobs. You have spread healing houses to all outposts, created schools of crafting from what you have. While you have talked about the secondary reasons of the sect, the primary one is that you hope to help the people in the Beast Mountain Range and the surrounding areas succeed. They also line up with your secondary objectives nicely.”

  “So, Phillips Aditya, would you like to become a citizen of Alva,” Rugrat pulled out a medallion and slid it over the table in front of Aditya.

  Aditya looked at the simple medallion, he heard his heart in his ears, he felt anxious, afraid and excited. The medallion and what it represented was not simple. He had worked for years for Alva without knowing it. Now he could become one of them.

  For the first time in a long time I felt that I belong somewhere. When I was in the worst positions they were there to support me. Even just now didn’t Lord Erik and Lord Rugrat take time to check on me, didn’t Lord Erik repair and heal my leg?

  He felt a door closing behind him ; on his hunting party, friends, that had abandoned him in the First Realm.. It is time I moved past that anger and moved on to something more, a new future, a new possibility.

  His fingers curled around the medallion, the edges of the metal firm in his hand.

  “If you’ll have me,” he said in a hoarse voice.

  “Phillips Aditya, please stand,” Erik said.

  Erik and Rugrat stood up in front of Aditya.