The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  It flopped down on its side silently as another two appeared.

  Bolts pierced through them, filling them with wood and fletching. They tried to spit out a concentrated form of acid but their range fell short, hitting the ground instead of the humans.

  An explosion went off from the other side of the dungeon as Yao Meng, who had joined the other group, used a Fire grenade and burned whatever was in that other room.

  Roska and the rest moved into the room of the acid T-Rex creatures.

  There was a half-covered mural that had been carved into one wall and a pit of dirt with different ingredients growing in it. The ingredients glowed with vibrant colors, poisonous and powerful.

  Reinforcements moved up from behind as they stacked up against the wooden door. They smashed it down, moving into a connected corridor that went to the right.

  They followed the corridor, finding a burned-out room and linking up with the other group, moving to one of the two remaining doors in the room.

  Storbon was in the lead and stacked up on one door with others flowing behind as Davos covered the other door, ready to fire his repeater if anything came through it.

  Storbon used his foot to bash in locked door and move to the side.

  “Dead end!” Yao Meng yelled out as the two groups with Roska moved to the other door, it was locked as well. Yuli, who was with Roska, used a flame spell to melt the hinges and kicked the locked door.

  A roar came from the room beyond as Han Wu, the first person in the breach line tossed in grenades. The grenades went off and the floor shook with the movements of the creature on the other side. Yao Meng pushed into the room, firing as he entered with Tully and Roska flowing in behind. Roska was third. She saw two dead beings that could only be trolls and a third falling to the ground. All three were covered in wounds from the grenades and bolts. Even dead, it took the troll bodies a few moments to realize they were already dead before their wounds stopped trying to close. Their natural healing ability was incredible, despite only having levels in the low thirties but the grenades had confused and wounded them badly, the powerful and poisoned bolts were the end of the line for them as their bodies couldn’t deal with the cumulative damage.

  As the teams advanced through the hallways of the dungeon, a labyrinth of tiles appeared. They attempted to skirt around it and ran into two traps. Either a section of ground would open up to reveal spikes or toxic spores would be released into the air.

  Tian Cui fell victim to a spike trap, but her teammates were able to care for her wounds and get her back into the fight without needing Erik’s assistance.

  They weaved through tunnels after clearing the traps, updating their maps as they ran into various dead ends. They passed through a row of water traps that shot water at pressures high enough to cut through their armor. Fortunately an inorganic scan had predicted the water traps and were avoided. They just had to crawl under where the jets shot out.

  They eventually broke into a room filled with more rats, spiders and with trolls thrown in for good measure. They threw in grenades and backed up, tossing in magical curses afterwards until everything was dead.

  Then they entered a large corridor that was filled with plants and a few roaming creatures. They killed the creatures and found deadly plants hidden alongside their more benign brethren in the idyllic corridor.

  On Erik’s order, they used Fire spells to burn everything down in the corridor as they advanced through.

  Even as the plants burned away, they started to reform. The dungeon was bringing them back to life.

  Erik hauled up a portcullis that lie at the end of the corridor, letting everyone through into a smaller hallway as they advanced on a large room. It was much darker than the other rooms they had been in thus far.

  They all cast night vision, allowing them to see in the darkness.

  They had just exited the small hallway into the large room when three creatures that looked like raptors without eyes appeared. The soldiers fired their already readied crossbows on the creatures, who then opened their mouths and unleashed destructive screams that destroyed the bolts and threw back the three closest Alvan’s, Xi, Setsuko and Davos.

  Bullets from marksman rifles, that had been quickly swapped out after the bolts disintegrated, were fired. The bullets were able to make it through the shockwaves. The rounds exploded and disrupted the sonic attacks as the raptors. With a higher pitched screech the raptors closed to make use of their sharp forelegs in melee range. Roska couldn’t hear anything thanks to the previous attack bursting her ear drums but she could feel the pressure and pain on her brain as blood dripped from her ears.

  Rugrat got a clear shot on a raptor’s head and it disappeared in a fountain of blood, reducing the sound pressure on the Alvans.

  Those in the front row recovered and stayed prone on the ground, where they had dropped at first contact, as they fired so that those behind them could safely fire over them.

  It wasn’t long until the creatures were killed off in very short order. Each raptor was broken into tiny and tinier pieces. Brutal overkill is a damn fine thing.

  The healing effects of the standard-issue armor worked to supplement the healing spells people used on themselves. The medics saw to the worst affected people, who had been up front, their brains rattled to the point that they had become unconscious.

  They cleared the rest of the room once everyone was back up and their heads at least screwed on right enough to move.

  There was a dais in the middle of the room, its sides were made from roots that gathered up to support an altar of water above it. A set of boots rested on top of the water fountain.

  The boots were their prize for clearing the first floor.

  Roska used a healing potion by dripping it slowly into her ears. That allowed her to hear a rustling noise from the freshly opened doorway that led to the second level of the dungeon.

  A creature moved through the new doorway, its large body too wide and too big to walk forward normally. It looked as if it were made entirely from soil but it had mouths and eyes covering it, moaning and letting out hissing noises at the same time.

  It was like it had run into a firing line as everyone aimed and fired their repeaters.

  The beast was too big to dodge. The bolts pierced through the beast or exploded next to it, tearing chunks out of it until it stopped moving and a tombstone appeared.

  “Big but dumb as hell,” Han Wu said as they all looked at the dirt creature.

  “Organize a watch. The rest of you check your weapons and drink some water. Tend to the wounded,” Erik ordered. The sergeants moved to him as Rugrat took over the lance corporals, organizing the wounded and the defense of the room.

  Roska took out her repeater and started to clear the webbing off of it to get it functional again.

  “The beasts up here are difficult to deal with but manageable. We’ll recover here and then head to the second level,” Erik said.

  Roska and Niemm nodded.

  “Any issues?” Erik asked.

  “Good to go,” Niemm said.

  “Same here,” Roska agreed.

  Erik was about to say something else when Rugrat came over.

  “Don’t you think that these are a bit harder to deal with than just regular level thirty-twos?” Rugrat asked.

  It took them a moment of thinking before Roska nodded.

  “Yeah, it felt like they were almost as strong as us,” Roska added.

  “Check your Experience gain,” Rugrat ordered.

  They all did, looking at one another with surprise.

  “These guys haven’t died in a long time and have just been pumped with more Mana. When they die, do you feel like the Earth and Water Affinity Mana increases exponentially in the area?” Rugrat asked.

  Roska had felt a slimy feeling like mud covering her but she had been in the midst of fighting and didn’t pay much attention to it.

  “The dungeon seems to be about three times the size now of what it w
as listed as being in the journal. So, the dungeon must have been putting that power into expanding as well as pumping it’s creatures up. If I was a betting man, I’d think that the creatures on the lower levels are going to be stronger as well. If they’re level fifty-four, then next level after that they might be level fifty-six.” Rugrat’s words hit them like a bucket of cold water. “I can already start to feel the purified Mana from the dungeon core rising up, while the impure Mana we released by killing these creatures is being drawn down. Whatever dungeon core is controlling this place, it’s much stronger than the dungeon core in Vuzgal.”

  “Get everyone sorted out. We move out in ten. We’ll head back to the surface to make sure our exit route is clear. Then, we’ll come back down tomorrow and clear the second level. Slow and steady wins it,” Erik commanded.

  Roska checked on her people. Yang Zan already had everyone back on their feet, if a little worse for wear.

  They all checked their gear. Erik grabbed the boots and then they headed for a large door framed by roots behind the water altar.

  They found a corridor beyond. To the left, it led down a level; to the right, there was an elevator-like pad.

  Rugrat inspected the pad for traps before everyone got on.

  They shot upward, a section of ground opened, revealing the dazzling sky above and making them flinch from the light as water dropped down around them.

  The elevator stopped suddenly. Looking around, they were about fifty meters away from standing in one of the streams that flowed out from the dungeon tree.

  They stepped off the pad and the ground moved back together, covering it and preventing re-entry.

  Morning had turned to midday. They had been down in the dungeon for a few hours.

  “We’ll head back to the Vuzgal castle today. Sergeants, collect the loot,” Erik said.

  Now that they confirmed that they could exit the first floor, tomorrow they would clear the first floor faster and move to explore the second floor.

  They made it back to the castle with no problems. Erik and Rugrat traveled back to their room. Erik pulled off his body armor.

  “We’re making progress,” he said as he made his armor stand up on the floor to air it out.

  “Bit by bit. I’m going to check on the Vuzgal dungeon core and the Mana storing formation,” Rugrat said as he dropped his gear on his bed.

  “Alright. I’ll check with Glosil and see how things are going,” Erik said, using a clean spell on his armor and then himself.

  He looked up seeing Rugrat with a towel, wearing his American flag short shorts and boots.

  “Dude, you’ve been wearing that all day?”Erik asked.

  “Yeah, pretty funky,” Rugrat said, pushing back the sheet that covered a hole in the wall that led out to the hall where they’d set up sleeping quarters and a shower at the end of it.

  “You can make him an officer, even a first sergeant, still can’t get rid of the marine,” Erik muttered as he pulled out some food and started eating. He pulled out his map and checked it, looking over the tree dungeon and adding new markers to it.

  Chapter: Clearing the Second Floor

  The special teams moved ahead into the second floor with a group of twenty from the Tiger Platoon waiting until the monsters on the first floor respawned. They had all increased their levels quickly. With the dungeon they could adapt to their newfound strength faster so that they were ready for battle at any time.

  The second floor was filled with camouflaged creatures that blended into their surroundings. They didn’t have a great fighting strength in a prolonged battle but their sneak attacks could easily be fatal if one wasn’t careful.

  It took them a full day just to reach the boss room of the second floor. They’d gone around every single pathway in the entire floor before they found the right way to get to the boss.

  It was similar to the last room on the first floor. There was an altar at the back of the room and behind it there was a door. A small stream fell from the altar, where a pair of shining greaves lay on top. The walls were covered in tree roots, weaving over one another.

  Erik and the others advanced into the large room, looking everywhere for danger.

  Erik swept the room with his rifle. Rugrat moved out to the other side, sweeping the other side of the room as the rest of the teams moved in doing the same.

  “Do you smell that?” Erik asked as he sniffed the air.

  There was a faint dust in the room.

  Someone started coughing as Erik’s eyes narrowed.

  “Spores! Everyone hit the deck! George, use your fire breath!” Erik shouted.

  Everyone dropped to the ground as George expanded in size. His chest blew out and glowed brighter. He took in a powerful breath and he released it in a large flow of bright-red flames.

  The whole room exploded. The pressure wave wreaked havoc on everyone’s ears and sucked the air out of their lungs as it shot through the rest of the floor.

  “Up!” Erik yelled but with the ringing in his ears, he couldn’t even hear himself. He looked around in assessment. The spores had all been burned up, with some of the roots on fire.

  A large creature rose from the floor, shaking itself as the flames attacked its body. It looked like an octopus but instead of flesh, it had limbs that looked like tree roots.

  Erik fired his rifle at it, working the action as fast as possible. The rounds hit the creature, spraying green blood around the room behind it.

  The creature ignored its wounds as its long, tentacle-like limbs shot into the ground. They burst back up from the ground under the Alvans, hitting people who were still recovering from the fire burst. Yawen was hit in the leg; while Deni took a hit to the chest and was sent flying.

  Erik dodged a root tentacle before he punched it, using his Mana Detonation and covering his fist in poison. The limb was blown apart. The poison mist entered the creature’s body through the remains of the tentacle, making it shiver, shake and slowed its reactions to a degree.

  Erik glanced over to see Rugrat use a large Mana blade to cut the limbs around him. They all raised their rifles and fired. The creature was resilient, using its limbs to create a shield around it and sending others through the ground to attack or lash out.

  Those who could still fight fired on the Tree-topus.It was in bad shape in short order. Modern weapons are devastating. Its body glowed green; its limbs and body became smaller but it healed itself and it became faster as it shrunk. It rushed Rugrat, who was doing the most damage.

  Erik rushed forward to block whileRugrat moved to the side. The creature’s thorn-covered limbs missed him by inches as he moved forward through the offending limbs. His rifle touched the creature’s main body and he pulled the trigger.

  The round forced the creature back before it exploded. Parts of it rained against the Mana barrier that appeared in front of Rugrat.

  Erik looked over to Rugrat, who cycled the action on his rifle, chambering another round.

  The door behind the altar opened, meaning that they had cleared this floor’s boss room.

  Erik and Rugrat used healing spells on themselves and started to organize the wounded and security details to watch for other dungeon creatures that might be brought up by the noise.

  A few people were reloading their crossbows, a few were still holding their ears. Some who had been hit by the creature’s attacks were rolling around on the ground and crying out or silently trying to deal with their pain as they frantically tried to heal themselves.

  The medics set to work, organizing people by their wound severity and stabilizing those who were in the worst condition, getting IVs into their veins or needles into their bone marrow as quickly as possible. They stabilized each person and moved on, figuring out each person’s separate issues.

  Some people just got a few healing potions. Four had amputated limbs by the creature, its limbs had cut through their unarmored portions of their legs or arms. The tiny and numerous thorns along the roots had acted like
a saw, tearing people apart.

  Using potions and healing spells, the medics were able to put the worst of the wounded back together. Erik couldn’t help but just wonder how many lives he would have been able to save back on Earth if he had the same abilities then as he did now.

  Erik had some people do self-aid and assigned others to assist the medics.

  Cut arteries and amputations needed concentrated healing potions or powerful healing spells. The person with the opened artery could get back into the fight rapidly and the person with the amputation would have to have their open wound sealed over and slowly stitched together with the missing limb.

  Yao Meng had had his leg cut up badly, with an open artery in it and a busted shoulder. He had done some self-aid with a potion. Yang Zan was working to seal up the artery but Yao Meng would be good, just unable to move for now.

  Han Wu, crying out through gritted teeth, had also been hit badly. He had done some self-aid as well and had a tourniquet around his leg, applying a second above the first tourniquet as it was still bleeding. Han Wu cried out again as he tightened it more, stopping the bleeding.

  Erik stored his weapon and pulled on medical gloves as he moved over to the last patient who needed immediate care.

  Setsuko had taken a nasty hit that had torn her glasses off and shredded her face. She had been panicking from the pain and not being able to breathe, hear or see.

  Erik poured healing potion in her ears and used a hand to keep her down on the ground. “Setsuko! Get a hold of yourself!” Erik yelled. “Setsuko! Setsuko, can you hear me!”

  She calmed down a bit as she could hear Erik, who poured the rest of the healing potion on her tattered face and used Focused Heal with his left hand, focusing on her neck and mouth.

  Setsuko made a noise and then a wet coughing noise.

  “Recovery position,” Erik said. Deni, who was assisting Erik, put Setsuko on her side as she was coughing into the dirt, unable to breathe.

  Erik pulled out a tube and a breathing bag.