Sixth Realm

by Michael Chatfield

  He took out a pouch and threw it, sending a blade of air at it, the pouch exploded in reds and blues, covering Ilwu.

  Ilwu was still on the ground and had nowhere to go.

  Sok Young-Min stepped backward over to his corner of the arena.

  Ilwu coughed as the poison cloud settled over him.

  “You!” The Referee cried out as Ilwu’s face distorted and changed colors, blood started to run down from his nose as he dropped his sword and grabbed at his neck, writhing on the ground.

  Sok Young-Min pulled out a potion and poured it down his throat and followed it up with a second quickly afterward.

  The referee looked up at the Elder box and then down at Ilwu who was fighting against the poison.

  As he turned back, he saw the young man still and a tombstone appear above.

  Deathly silence fell over the arena, people’s eyes flickered from the dead Ilwu to the Elders who had shocked expressions on their faces.

  “A battle of arms turned into one of poisons, it looks like this is over with six wins,” Blaze sighed and stood.

  It was not his desired outcome, but what the Institute had started, they finished.

  “This has been a very eye-opening experience to see the ways of the Willful Institute,” Blaze’s dry voice made some in the audience wince and pull their necks back as they felt the killing intent wash out from the Elder’s box.

  “It seems that my students are in need of some further training and that if we were so wasteful to give them high-level gear then we might have another match,” Elder Mendes said.

  Seems that they did notice the gear our people were using.

  “We will take our leave now. Derrick, gather our winnings. Joan, make sure to check on our fighters, don’t want any lasting injuries.”

  Derrick jumped over the wall and went to where the prizes were kept, he took back the storage ring and waved a hand, gathering the materials that the Willful Institute had put out. Even if they had vicious looks on their faces the Willful Institute bore with it.

  Like that the competition came to an unsatisfying end.

  Blaze got a message request, he opened it without anyone seeing.

  “Looks like you guys really messed up their day,” Niemm said.

  “You in position?” Blaze asked.

  “Of course, a little birdy told me that things might get interesting today. Are you good on your side?”

  “We’ll just have to see if they take the bait,” Blaze said, his hood hide the ruthless look on his face as he gripped his sword tight underneath his cloak.

  “Once this kicks off there’s no stopping it,” Niemm said.

  “The guild is ready, the army is ready and we have ears within every nook of the Institute. We’ve been preparing for this for months.” Blaze said.

  “Alright, well you lead them out, and we’ll stab them right where it hurts,” Niemm said.

  ***

  Mendes left the box with a flick of his sleeves, he could feel his cheeks burning from what had just happened in the arena.

  The Elders were all grouped around him as his aide came up to him.

  “Are our forces ready?”

  “Yes Grand Elder,” his aide said.

  “Good! All of you prepare your weapons and armor. If we let them get away with those resources then we won’t be able to raise even one expert and the other branches will start looking into our matters. If they find out that we have been schemed against by a small Adventurer's Guild then we will lose our funding and possibly our positions. We cannot let that happen!” He looked at the Elders, they were all bristling with anger. Where they went people would show them respect every step, the Adventurer's Guild had gone too far crossing their bottom line again and again.

  “Yes, Grand Elder!” their voices rang out in unity.

  They headed out of the arena, going their separate ways. They gathered their weapons and their closest supporters and then headed out of the city.

  Mendes commanded everything, the strongest of their fighters had been.

  “The Adventurer's Guild took their time wandering the city, showing off to other people, they didn’t take the totem,” Mendes’ Aide said.

  Mendes breathed a sigh of relief, if they had taken the totem then they could have gone to another city. In that case Mendes would not have an opportunity to strike.

  The heavens might have forsaken us before, but the arrogance of the guild will become their downfall!

  It wasn’t long until the guild and their people appeared some were riding mounts while others were walking along talking to one another, all of them were wearing their cloaks still.

  Mendes waited as they were completely enveloped in the fighting formation of his Willful Institute.

  “Now!”

  Archers and mages that were hiding in the trees along the road attacked, the archers arrows shot out as spell formations materialized.

  A mana barrier snapped over the Adventurer's Guild, covering them as the arrows struck, the spells hit their force exploding against the barrier throwing up dust and shaking the trees around the guild.

  “You dare!” The Guild leader’s voice came from near the front of the formation.

  “Did you think that you would get away with stealing the resources of my Institute! Kill them!” Mendes yelled.

  From around the Guild, dozens of fighters ran out with a yell.

  The Elders were right behind them, all were wearing their strongest gear.

  “Defensive formation!” the Guild leader yelled.

  The Guild shifted their people as they tore off their cloaks and drew out their weapons, there were eager expressions on their faces as Mendes’ people ran through the barrier.

  Yells filled the air as the two groups clashed, the Guild held their ground as they viciously defended.

  Mendes’ eyes thinned as people from his Institute were dropped to the ground, the Guild’s weapons tore their lives from them, not giving them a chance to withdraw from the fight.

  The bloodlust of the guild seemed to ignite like a wild animal.

  “Send the mages and archers forward!” he ordered as more of his people’s bodies were broken under the Guild’s weapons.

  One of the Guild members was struck in the arm, cutting down to the bone, she yelled out in pain as a golden glow covered her.

  Mendes’ eyes snapped to the woman and the man behind her that healed her, using a shield to defend.

  The healed woman glowed with power, her blade turned white as it moved like a fish in water, slicing out at the attacker her comrade had defended against.

  The attacker let out a scream as the blade tore through armor and drew blood.

  “Advance! Don’t let the ranged get inside the barrier,” the guild leader said, he and the two with him hadn’t taken off their cloaks as they remained in the middle of the formation.

  Four assassins appeared around the guild leader, their blades aimed at his blind spots.

  He shot forward, kicking one, they were tossed to the side, their chest with an unnatural dent in it as his shield took one hit and his sword cut off another hand.

  An arrow crossed his shoulders, hitting the handless assassin and a second unmolested assassin, the blocked attacker didn’t feel the blade that stabbed through his back and into his chest and withdrew it before he knew he was dead, staggering for a few seconds before collapsing.

  “Healers watch your mana, remember to use your potions,” the Guild leader talked as if nothing had happened, his breathing hadn’t even increased.

  “Send in the Elders,” Mendes said, seeing that the students were unable to compete with the Guild who was getting in a rhythm and pushing the Institute backward, a dozen bodies lay on the ground.

  The Elders rushed forwards, clashing with the Guild members, the battle seemed to tilt in their favor. A guild leader was struck, two Elders took them down before they were blocked, there was no saving the guild member as they looked sightlessly up in the sky.
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br />   Mendes got a sound transmission but he ignored it, watching the fight. The ranged fighters were useless as they couldn’t get into the mana barrier to attack the guild members and the barrier was too strong for them to defeat in a short period.

  “Have the rangers and archers that have close combat abilities join the fight.” Mendes wasn’t panicked the fight was largely even, with time he would wear them down into nothing, but he didn’t want to spend more time, there was a possibility that others could find out about the fighting and spread word.

  More sound transmission came in but he continued to ignore them.

  The guild ranged fighters had created elevated positions with gear from their storage rings, they shot over their allies heads and attacked those at the edge of the fight.

  People from the Institute ducked their heads from the attacks, a few of them falling under the deadly rain.

  We have numbers on our side, they’re stronger than I thought. Without knowing it Mendes’ greed had overcome any cold calculations towards losses.

  “Grand Elder, we’re under attack!” One of the older Elders that wouldn’t have been useful in the fighting but had remained behind to watch over the Institute used a sound transmission that couldn’t be blocked.

  “What do you mean?” Mendes asked as his stomach dropped.

  “A group of people rushed through our defenses, we don’t know who they are, they were able to get through everything as if they were students and Elders of the Institute, they cut their way to the warehousing district!”

  “The warehouse district? Why? The resources! They dare to steal from us! The Adventurer's Guild is bold, bolder than I thought!”

  “I don’t think they’re from the guild, they are fighting as a group and their equipment is all the same. They aren’t different like the guild and they are much more powerful, their power is more than that of people from the Fifth Realm!”

  Mendes gritted his teeth, so hard they hurt down to the root, he had brought most of the combat strength with him in order to take down the Adventurer’s Guild, but it had left his Institute open to robbers and bandits. He felt that the Adventurer's Guild had something to do with this, but there were no signs that they or the other group were related and the other groups power was much higher!

  “We are using our formations and experts to try and slow their advance but they are breaking into all of our warehouses!” The Elder’s panicked words drew Mendes out of his thoughts.

  “If we were to lose the warehouses then we would lose all paths of advance! I will be there soon!”

  Mendes cut the sound transmission.

  “Break off the attack and rush back to the Institute!” Mendes yelled.

  ***

  “Pull back!” Roska yelled as she kicked a wall, it shattered as she used a telepathic spell and an earth spell, pulling the rubble into blades, stabbing into several Willful Institute fighters chasing her in the close quarter’s city.

  Tully let out a roar as her spear cut one fighter down and she kicked another, they slammed into a wooden stall.

  Yang Zan threw daggers, taking out three ranged fighters that were on the roofs.

  The group rushed through the maze. Imani was waiting for them with the rest of the Special team, they had six new members, rounding out to ten members.

  Two mages used Earth spells throwing up walls as another member called down multiple spells, fog and smoke spread across the area.

  Roska used a special spell, her world turned purple but she could see through the smoke. The group ran away from their position, perpendicular to where they had been heading.

  Imani was leading the way, her arrows cut down any of the Willful Institute members that were chasing them.

  “Seems we really pissed them off,”Yang Zan said.

  “Might it be because we just cleared out their treasury?” Tully laughed.

  They reached a side street as the first group spread out, covering the area.

  The rest pulled out grey beasts that looked like a mix of bears and rhinos.

  Roska jumped up onto her mount as those on the mounts covered the first group.

  “Contact!” Imani called out, standing in her stirrups. Five arrows shot out from her bow, it was as if they had eyes as it killed two and wounded another two.

  Only one arrow missed as the axe wielding attacker slid on the stone, saving his life.

  Ras Mangath one of the newer members of the team,let out a yell as he turned into a blur, leaving smoke trails behind him. He took a hit on his shoulder armor, he didn’t even slow as his left blade tore through the first opponent’s leg, and his second blade stabbed into their neck.

  Roska didn’t have a clear line of fire.

  Ras pushed the man he’d stabbed in the neck to the side as Yang Zan’s dagger forced the next attacker to defend.

  Ras hit with his sword, blowing the weapon to the side as his blade shone white, creating an arc in the air.

  His opponent looked at their chest that had been cut in two and was bleeding. Ras tried to push them away and to the side, to reach the last attacker, the second axe wielder.

  They turned and started to run as Tully raised her spear.

  Roska held up her arm.

  Tully looked to her in question.

  “We need some witnesses to say that it was the Grey Peak Sect,” Roska said.

  Tully lowered her spear.

  Ras threw out a few pieces of metal that looked inconspicuous but could be linked back to the Grey Peaks Sect if one studied them.

  “Get on your mounts!” Roska yelled to the few that had been half-mounted.

  She snapped her reins and her mount moved forward. They were big beasts but as they moved they picked up speed.

  People yelled as they appeared out of the smoke and mist. The games had only just ended when the attack was carried out, people were now coming out to find out what the new noises and commotions were in their city.

  “Gate,” Imani said.

  “Don’t worry I have a key,” Roska grinned as she circulated her mana.

  She saw the gate ahead of her, there were only a few guards on duty. Seeing the commotion and the group heading toward them, they started to get into position. They wouldn’t make it in time.

  Roska raised her hand, several spell formations appeared in front of her hand. Mana from the surroundings dropped in seconds as her spell glowed brighter.

  A drill made of spells and mana shot out from the formation. It lit up the ground, blowing wind in every direction as it passed.

  The guards seeing the incoming drill turned pale. None of them dared to face it head on.

  They jumped out of the way.

  The drill struck the stone gate house. It drilled in deep.

  Yellow, reds and Blues appeared inside the gatehouse.

  The world took a breath and then returned in thunder and light.

  One of the new members cast a mana shield over them all it shimmered with the rocks and parts of the gate, gatehouse and wall that had been blown apart.

  The nine foot deep walls were spread out across the road.

  Roska led her people forward, making it through the rain of rubble. They exited the city and rushed out down the road, past the surprised traders and people that had been waiting on the other side of the wall.

  They had been far back as the gates were closed. Roska felt relief seeing that the stone had rained down to the side instead of directly on the road.

  All of the rubble was just pebbles, the force of the blast focused in destroying the wall instead of spreading it everywhere.

  Roska pulled out her map, checking it quickly.

  The location of the elders, the guards, Adventurer’s Guild were all highlighted.

  Roska used spells on the beasts to enhance their speed as she activated her sound transmission.

  “Eagle one, this is Special Team Two, we’ll be at the rendezvous in four minutes.”

  “Special Team Two this is Eagle One. Understo
od, be ready for pickup,” Kanoa replied.

  Roska and the team made it to a rest spot along the road, the area had been cleared out by traders needing some place to sleep on the side of the road.

  “Tully get those pickups ready! Everyone harnesses on!” Roska ordered, her beast had barely come to a stop when she jumped off of her mount, taking the impact in stride as she checked her map and sent another message.

  “Eagle one, we are in position.”

  “Special Team Two, understood, we’re ready and on station. You have a group five minutes out from your location.”

  “Understood,” Roska said as she was pulling out a harness stepping into it and pulling it over her shoulders.

  Yang Zan pulled on her straps without her needing to ask.

  He checked them and then she turned, returning the gesture as Tully pulled out a box with a length of rope. Some of the team members with their harnesses hooked up to loops on the rope.

  Roska finished with Yang Zan and took the last place on the rope.

  “All secure?” She yelled.

  “One secure!” Tully called from the front. Holding her hands up to be visible.

  “Two secure!”

  “Three Secure!”

  They went all the way back to Roska.

  “Fire up the balloon!” Roska said. “Eagle One, balloon going up.”

  “Special Team Two, understood!”

  The metal box formations activated and shot up into the sky, pulling on the rope slightly.

  There was a sound of rushing air as two birds dove and banked around the area, the mages on them, covering the area, ready for anything.

  The Kestrel flapped his powerful wings, on his stomach a formation activated, it stuck to the metal box and the harness attached metal and the box fused into one as there was a pull on the line. Then the kestrel was rising higher and forward with greater speed.

  Tully was off in the air, then the next person and so it went, people being pulled up attached to the line rapidly.

  Roska used a spell on the ground, the footprints were cleared away and the mana settled down, it would be hard to track anything that had happened.

  She was pulled up and forward, her harness holding her as they dangled below the bird, picking up speed.