“We just do our best. Rugrat has control over the dungeon so we’ll know if any threats are heading our way. Get two lines of defense set up and dug in, then rotate shifts, get your people to drink and eat.”
“Got it,” Domonos said as there was movement from the doorway to the dungeon core.
Rugrat and George were walking out with the rest of the formation specialists and smiths. They had been in there for three hours working on the design.
Rugrat was guiding undead as well, sending them out beyond the defensive lines and into the city.
Glosil patted Domonos on the shoulder and went over to Rugrat.
“The formation is done. We still need more cornerstones. The formation is throttling the power leakage and the Mana should disperse over a large enough area that it shouldn’t bring too much attention to us. We’ll need to update the cornerstones from Mortal grade to Earth grade and increase the power that the formation can store. I have the undead out there cleaning up the streets and the area around the totem in case we need to run for it. I’m also having them collect storage items and drop them at the front of the castle,” Rugrat said.
“I sent out Lieutenant Yui to recover the items,” Glosil responded.
There was some noise at the front lines as Yui returned along with two sections carrying boxes of storage items.
Yui had them stack the boxes over by the wall. There were already twenty or so boxes against the wall, with three people looking through storage items and then tossing them to the side. This was where the cornerstones they had already set up had come from.
“There are a lot of storage items. The undead are walking in from across the city, collecting them as they go and dropping off theirs,” Rugrat said.
“Damn,” Glosil said. Just how many undead are there in the city. How many people did there used to be in this city?
“Get some people to start going through the storage items, looking for corner stones. We still need another thirteen to fill in the formation. It’s strained right now but stable for at least a week in its current state,” Rugrat said.
Glosil nodded.
“We’ll have a leadership meeting in thirty,” Rugrat said, looking out at the sun that was hanging lower in the sky.
“Understood,” Glosil said.
Rugrat contacted Erik and had him pull the special teams back.
***
Rugrat had found a corner of the main room, the blood had been cleaned up and the room, while still showing signs of battle, had been cleaned up as well. The pillars were repaired slightly. The dead on their stretchers were resting inside of Glosil’s storage item.
Erik, Glosil, Niemm, Roska and Rugrat were sitting on chairs with a field table between them.
“How are we looking?” Erik asked.
“We’ve got a perimeter of this hall. The castle is too big to do much more than that. We’re building some defenses now,” Glosil reported.
“Well, we should start thinking about our next moves.” Erik sat forward.“I propose we secure our position, check on the totem, loot this place and then check out the nearest trading city. We need to know more information about what’s around us.”
“We should definitely get in contact with a neutral trading city,” Rugrat said.
“We need to secure our position here. I’ll go with Roska to the nearest trading city. Keep the skeletons active—use them to ward off people and keep the changes to Vuzgal a secret,” Erik ordered.
“Safest when they don’t even know we’re there,” Rugrat said as he nodded in agreement.
“We’ll do a sweep of the city. Have the undead clean up the dead and gather up the rest of their storage items. Have our people search through the city too. I want to know where every sewer goes and the inside layout of every square foot of this place.” Erik looked at Niemm, Rugrat, and Glosil.
“Can do,” Rugrat said. “What do you want to do with the city?”
“I’m not sure,” Erik said. “We’ll talk about it later. I’m going to check in on Dragon’s Scouts—give them some light duties and time to take this in. We’ll have a funeral ceremony in three days. We’ll take their bodies back to Alva and bury them there.”
With that, the meeting broke up. Erik and Rugrat headed to the spire through the corridor and then down to the dungeon core.
“So, what are you thinking?” Erik asked Rugrat.
“I’m thinking we have a massive city under our control and an undead army, including our own small one. I want to say that this would be a good place to put down some roots but the Fourth Realm is a constant warzone. If we take over this city, then others will try to take it from us. They might not find out that we’re here instead of the cursed lands for some time but somehow, it’ll get out,” Rugrat said.
“Hasn’t yet with Alva,” Erik offered.
“Alva is underground and only we know about it. People know about this capital and it’s right out in the open. We can’t keep the dungeon core from expelling Mana all over the place. Already, the city has changed from my lapse of judgement.”
“This is quite a large city. There should be a dungeon around here—maybe more than one,” Erik said.
“Well, this might help,” Rugrat offered as he pulled out a book.
“What is that?”
“It was inside the Emperor’s storage ring. Looks like a journal of some kind. I’ll read through this, see if we can get any clues. I think the biggest thing we can get from Vuzgal is loot and the totem. If we can take that stuff down to the First Realm—well, no one ascends to the First Realm, so we can use it as a way to go to the other realms and other totems without having to use the other Totems in the Ten Realms. Saves on power usage with the teleportation arrays,” Rugrat said. “Maybe with the city lord title we can make an extra totem here and send it down. Otherwise, we just dismantle the one here and take it with us.”
“Okay, so we get the undead to make the totem, if we can, or break down the other one. Then, we have the special teams scout outside of the city and find out what’s around us, terrain, cities and so on. Have the Company start organizing the loot inside of the city. Start sending materials down to the first realm if we can, once we’ve got control over Vuzgal, then we go and check out the neutral trading cities in the area and hopefully get updated mapstoo. Build up our strength here as much as possible so that when someone does find out about Vuzgal, they can’t take it from us.”
“I was thinking about something,” Rugrat frowned. “Grenade launchers and mortars. Grenade launchers can add a lot of combat power, without being all that complicated, same as mortars can. Now that we’re in a city, mortars can be a powerful defensive weapon,” Rugrat said.
“You spearhead their creation,” Erik said.
The two of them sat there for a few guarded seconds.
“You good?” Erik’s tone changed as he looked at Rugrat, holding a different meaning.
“Never good when you lose someone but I’ll deal with it.” Rugrat breathed out of his nose as he moved in his chair. Feeling as though he was missing a part of his body, numb once more.
He’d trained and worked with them for nearly a full year now. He had known some of them for nearly two years, laughed and ate with them, their families, talked about dreams and aspirations. Now it was gone and they were but corpses lying underneath blankets, where not even the concoctions and healers of the Ten Realms could bring them back to life.
“They did good but shit happens,” Erik said, patting Rugrat’s knee.
Rugrat let out a grunt but didn’t say anything else.
“Try and get some food and sleep. I’ll move with Niemm and Special Team One to scout the totem,” Erik said.
“Alright,” Rugrat nodded.
They stood up and headed their own ways.
Rugrat moved to the defensive lines, walking them to understand where the different members of the company were and making sure he remembered how it was laid out.
He didn’t miss the
quiet conversations, the dark atmosphere that lay over them all. He found a position and pulled out his repeaters, reloading them, followed by his rifle.
Scanning the area, he pulled out the book he had seen in the emperor’s ring. Rugrat opened the book and started to read. The afternoon was turning into night as Special Team One and Erik headed out on their mounts.
Rugrat’s body was tired but his mind couldn’t rest, so he read the book and monitored the dungeon with his dungeon interface.
Chapter: Vuzgal’s Strength
They rode on their mounts through the streets, they passed undead that were moving orderly down the street. They were clearing a path from the totem to the castle and collecting storage items. Small piles were appearing along the streets some undead collected these storage items dropping them off at the castle.
“Fucking weird, with them all walking around, feels like they might turn on us at any second,” Yawen said.
“Just keep your finger off the trigger,” Storbon warned as they kept moving.
Erik heard them but didn’t pay any attention as they got close to the totem. Around it there was a miniature castle with gates to allow people in and out, to be checked on their way.
The walls were in disrepair like those around the city.
They padded across the open ground.
“Spread out, cover the entrances and exits,” Niemm said, Special Team One fanned out, their mounts prowling around.
Erik dismounted and went up to the totem.
==========
Ten Realms Totem
==========
This totem allows one to move between cities and realms.
Status: Disabled/Enabled
Functional
Charge: 1,000/1,000,000
Controlled by: Vuzgal City
==========
“So I guess you can disable a totem. You can turn it on and off, then in a fight the Ten Realms shuts it down to limit movement. If we enable it now then it should be good to go. It looks like the fighting wasn’t centered around here.”
Erik patted the totem and then walked over to Lola, getting on her back.
“Okay let’s head back,” Erik said.
They rode back to the castle district, passing the section of Dragon Platoon that was gathering up storage items in boxes from the pile that the undead had created.
“Get some rest, you’ll be out scouting in the morning,” Erik said.
Special Team One complained and grumbled as Erik headed back to the spire.
The dungeon core was only added after the capital was built and it had no power over the current standing architecture.If they wanted the materials or the items in the capital, they would have to take them themselves.
Erik didn’t see Rugrat in the corner where they’d had the meeting or down where the Mana storing formation was.Erik looked at the stairs that went upwards.
He shrugged and started to walk up them as night started to settle in. It took some time before he reached the top.
From there, he could look over the capital, the large road that ran from east to west.
Erik turned around, his eyes narrowing. To the south, the former capital butted up against a valley. The original castle and inner walls closing the valley off as the newer outer wall grew out of the valley’s side.
The mountains circled the entire valley, closing it off from East to the South and back West, creating a pinched U that opened up towards Vuzgal, reaching higher than the spire Erik was on. Along the mountains, spires and walls could be seen watching over the surroundings. The tallest spire on those mountain ranges would have been shorter than the main spire that Erik stood upon before it was destroyed. “The capital is massive as hell, holy shit.” Erik shook his head. The city must have been filled with millions of people when it was at its height.
The mist previously covering the area had been pushed back but it hadn’t been completely removed. Erik looked at the valley that was left untouched by the death and destruction of the constant war in Vuzgal.
Erik pulled out his personal rifle and sat down. He used his marksman ability and the scope to zoom in on the valley. The ground was lush with various growths. Groves of trees lay here and there. A small road exited a sturdily-built gate, heading deeper into the valley, hidden by the low-lying mist.
Creatures were moving about, eating the vegetation or hunting, moving from one location to another. They seemed separate from the rest of the world, untouched other than for the road cutting through the valley.
Erik checked his map. The map of the capital was highly detailed, including all of the damage but the valley must lay beyond the influence of the dungeon core and the capital.
***
Erik went back down to the castle interior. It was getting darker. Night stones had been put up so people could work in the darkness.
Smiths had set up shop next to the dungeon core, repairing gear and setting down mana cornerstones as they were found.
The wounded were all back on their feet except for one, who needed some monitoring overnight.
People were eating and sitting around, talking. Some laughing nervously about how close to death they’d come; others talked about things that they’d learned or seen. Others were off to the side, dealing with their grief. Everyone dealt with loss differently; no one way was right or wrong.
Erik checked on the defensive lines and talked to a few people here and there before he found Rugrat tucked away in a room. He was sitting on a foldable chair, with his rifle across his lap as he read a book.
“Good read?” Erik asked.
Rugrat looked up. His hand touched his rifle for a moment before returning to the journal. “It’s the emperor’s diary.” Rugrat answered as he grabbed the map on his leg.“And this is a map of the dungeon that Vuzgal controlled. They called it The Armory. It is a dungeon that gives set armor for completing every level of the dungeon. If one clears the levels with fewer people, then they can get higher level gear—they pulled out an Expert-level blade from there once.
“They used the dungeon to supply their military, free weapons and armor. It was a Water and Earth attribute dungeon. Seems that they were farming the hell out of the dungeon to arm their people. The quality of the weapons and armor allowed them to fight harder and for longer while they grew their empire. They covered the north and controlled the Scarlet Rivers as they once called it or the Chaotic Lands as they’re called now. To the west of this continent, some thirteen dungeons were controlled by them as well.
“Then they advanced further on the Chaotic Lands. Back then, there was a race of lizard people living there. Nasty bit of fighting to clear the land, blood feud kind of stuff. Then we get what we’ve got here. Has to be a long time ago that this old war happened. Lizardmen attacked the empire directly. Seeing that the empire was weakening, other bordering groups attacked from the west and pincered the empire.
“Cut off from the rest of the empire, the capital could only rely on itself.
“The lizards attacked and battle raged on for months. The lizards broke the main spire, paid for it in blood though. It seems that the base of the spire is where Mana stones were stored to power the shields. The formation was actually located at the peak of the spire and linked to the other spires to cover the entire capital.
“They were getting closer to the center and the emperor, seeing death coming—” Rugrat turned back a couple of pages. “Well, I inferred that—he basically stopped after reporting that they had slaughtered a large portion of the lizard’s army but the remaining lizards still weren’t stopping. Though he makes a reference to the dungeon core and about its abilities, the royal family primarily used it as a training aid to increase their cultivation. They called it the Purification Stone. Raised a pretty powerful family, it seems. I guess he took a long shot, using the formations at the base of the spire, to try to connect to the rest of the city. Then, he cursed the whole city and the people in it to wage war eternally. I’m thinking that the rest of
the lizards in the area didn’t make it back—all of them were stuck here. Then the lands to the east turned into the Chaotic Lands and people kept on fighting for control over the other cities.
“Others probably came here, only to be killed by the two fighting forces and turned into more undead.”
Erik shook his head, thinking of those who wouldn’t make it back to Alva alive, wondering whether his actions were the right ones. He forced words out to clear his head. “The dungeon—is it to the south in a valley?”
“Yeah,” Rugrat said.
“I went up to the top of the broken spire and looked out. I could see it.”
“Ten Realms Totem?” Rugrat asked.
“Looks like it’s functional but purposefully disabled. Looks like we can activate it when we want,” Erik said.
“As soon as we activate it, then someone could ascend accidentally into it or randomly get sent to us,” Rugrat put his hands up. “I know, low chance but there is still a chance. No knowing if they’ll be on our side or not. I saw a building option on the city Capital Interface—it’s underneath the dungeon core. Might have forgotten to tell you anyway we can possibly build a totem, well we get the undead to build it. Then we break it down into parts and ship it down to Alva. Set up a totem there and start shipping materials back and forth,” Rugrat said.
“I’ll go look about building a second totem and start it if I can. Then we’ll scout Vuzgal out tomorrow, scout the surrounding area too. We should push out observation posts and alarm formations so we know if we’re going to have any guests. Day after the ceremony, we’ll check the dungeon out with the special teams?”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Rugrat nodded.
“Alright, I’ll go check on the city interface.” Erik said. “Let me know if you learn anything else.”
“I will.” Rugrat nodded.
Erik left and Rugrat continued to read through the journal.
Erik found a corner and checked his notifications.
The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4) Page 19