The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  “Rugrat wants to have one of these weapon systems for each of the Special Team members and then two per section to start, he really wants to make this a standard issue firearm.”

  “Understandable, it should be very versatile,” Qin said. “New ammunition can greatly change the effects. If we add a formation to rotate the cylinder, it won’t take much but it will mean that we can only add in one formation socket to the system if we want to mass produce them. If we took our time, different materials and different techniques we could increase that.”

  “Plastics will take time to build up, it might be better to go to the woodworking department, they have plenty of different types of trees that might be able to create coverings that will save people’s hands and something to soften the blow with the buttstock,” Fehim said.

  “If we use casting for the rounds then we can create dozens of rounds at the same time, then check the formations, make sure they’re properly inlaid,” Julilah said.

  “Then repeat the assembly line for rifle rounds, we’ll need more powder from the alchemists department though,” Taran looked at Fehim.

  “We have made a system to create the rifle gunpowder, it has increased the production speed by thirty to forty percent. We will need to check the formula that Rugrat has identified and set up another gunpowder mill but it should take us less time to make more rounds. As long as we have the funding we can shift all academy related projects to creating more gunpowder and accelerants as well as explosives,” Fehim said, looking to Delilah who was sitting in the corner listening.

  Everyone looked over at the council leader of Alva.

  “From now until the end of the conflict in the fourth realm, all production will be shifted to support the Alva military, funds have been released to this effect. Departments with personnel issue will call upon students in other departments to increase their numbers,” Delilah’s stood up as everyone watched her.

  Matt looked at them all, most of them were older than Delilah, some nearly twice as old, but all of them respected her orders.

  “Yes Council leader,” Taran said, the others nodding their heads.

  “Taran you have been liasing with the military and the smiths, now you will be in charge of military supply, you will coordinate the creation of any and all supplies that the military require. It will be your job to increase production while decreasing the resources and time required to create these supplies. I have sent a message to the Adventurer’s and Trade sectors, they will be at your beck and call to gather required resources,” Delilah’s gaze fell on Taran as he bowed deeply with a grave expression.

  Matt felt something in his core, something he didn’t realize. He felt a part of Alva, he didn’t care if he was worked to the bone if he could help. It was part of being and Alvan, pitching in and putting yourself to the side to help the whole.

  It felt right and it felt powerful to be part of not just a group, but a community.

  Seeing them all, thinking of how they had worked together to break down and build up the grenade launcher, Matt remembered that they had been dealing with swords and shields just months ago.

  ***

  Erik started the briefing as Rugrat entered the room, his clothes in disarray and he smelled different.

  Took him twenty minutes to get here and he came from the south. I should start sending my messages to Racquel if I want to get him after hours.

  “From what the messenger is saying,” Erik began, “Tareng was affected by what looked like a plague. As per their Standard operating procedure, they messaged the headquarters and locked down the city, no one in or out, containing the spread. Sound transmissions are being stopped by the attacking sect. They found out afterwards that the plague wasn’t a plague at all but it was a concoction that had been introduced into the water systems.

  “To others, this would be a failure of a transformation pill but it is also an incredibly effective poison because it doesn’t act like a poison. Healing spells accelerate the poison instead of counteracting it. Many citizens of Tareng have already died, mainly the old and the very young. Apparently, the people with Body Cultivation aren’t affected as quickly.

  “The pill has been added to the water but in amounts that are hard to detect. Though a person needs what—three to five liters of water a day, more in the desert? Add that up over weeks, the potency increases, like poison building up in the body. This is a city, not the road, so people drink water from here instead of what’s in their storage rings. If you went looking for poison, you wouldn’t find anything. The body reacts positively to the failed pill after all, so healing spells actually accelerate the process. The change takes a lot of Stamina, so the people who have died were due to Stamina exhaustion. The chemical release of the body from the vast changes probably affects the chemical balance of the brain—turns them insane. Looks like it’s pretty violent too.

  “This is not a plague but a ploy. It seems that someone knew that Tareng would be cut off from the rest of the neutral cities if a plague started there. With this imposed isolation, when Tareng tried to report the poisoning, they found that they were under an isolation barrier. Moments later a war was declared on the city, locking up the totem so they couldn’t leave.

  “So to the various headquarters, nothing is wrong and it allows this Blood Demon Sect to do as they want,” Erik concluded.

  Everyone was quiet. It was a smart plan that took cunning to carry out but it removed the advantages of the Blue Lotus.

  “Can they hold out?” Rugrat asked.

  “The Blood Demon Sect is watching the city As the concoction progresses people will enter a stage of madness, where they will attack others wildly and randomly. After causing the people within Tareng to attack one another, then the Blood Demon Sect will walk in and clear up what’s left,” Erik said.

  “Ways to cure it?” Domonos asked.

  “None so far, just use Stamina potions to keep the body active, no healing potions, same reason for no healing spells,” Erik said.

  “So, what options do we have?” Yui asked.

  “Leave them to suffer and get destroyed by the Blood Demon Sect and keep Vuzgal a secret, or help them escape to here and expose Vuzgal,” Glosil said.

  Erik turned to the map on the wall, it was a copy of the rough map Old Hei had given him.

  “Tareng used to trade with Vuzgal back in the day. They’re the closest city to the road that acted like a major trading center between Vuzgal and the Chaotic Lands before the fighting. We can take them supplies, Stamina concoctions and clean water so they can recover from the concoction over time but Tareng’s got a weakened army of ten thousand. The Blood Demon Sect has a fifty thousand strong army. The Blood Demon Sect came to destroy Tareng one way or another. We will only be able to do one supply run in. The scouts aren’t watching the forest as much as the desert and the messenger knows a weakness in the detection formations. While we can probably get in and out once, I wouldn’t risk it a second time. They’ll know someone came from the west. They might head this way and attack us at Vuzgal afterwards and we’ll have to run. The other plan is,” Erik paused “A little insane. We pull everyone out of Tareng. We get people from the higher ups on the fastest beasts we have, get them through our totem and to their headquarters.”

  “We need more information, have Lucinda do what she can to find out about the Blood Demons Sect numbers and their position. See what people in the lower realms know about Tareng, their fighting force numbers,” Rugrat said.

  “We should still send out forces to prepare for fighting, reainforce the observation points, clear out positions for the mortars,” Glosil said.

  “They will die without us,” Rugrat said not trying to play to either side.

  “They might die sooner because of us,” Erik rebutted.

  Rugrat seemed to have a response ready before he deflated and shrugged non-committally.

  “Can we use the undead?” Glosil asked.

  Erik looked at Rugrat.

 
“Only within the dungeon’s area of influence. The undead rely on the dungeon core’s power to keep them active, they can go beyond the dungeon’s reach but they consume the power that is within their bodies quickly, while fighting it goes even faster. They’d be effective fighters in Vuzgal but outside of it, they’re effective bombs if we just get them to detonate their mana core.”

  Glosil nodded.

  “What are your orders?” Roska asked, looking between the three of them.

  Rugrat looked to Erik who crossed his arms.

  “I don’t like how many unknowns we have and frankly the plan is more of an idea than a plan,” Glosil said. “That said there was a time when Alva needed help. You helped us against the odds. I would suggest that we focus on building up our defenses here and making ammunition, using the undead to aid in both of these processes. We dig in like tics. If the battle is going bad on the road we risk it and send what we have to Alva and pull out as many people as we can.”

  “We should cut down the totem before we leave, Special Team One will volunteer to take it and flee to the North, we’ll find another city with a totem and then bring it back to Alva, it’s use and value cannot be denied,” Niemm said.

  “If we want to delay an army of fifty thousand, we’re going to need a lot of shells. We’ll need to clear those firing positions as well. What if they have aerial creatures or go through the forests?” Yui asked.

  “The forests will be hard for them unless they have jungle mounts, there are a lot of monsters in there that will get stirred up. If they move into the forests it means that they won’t be able to use large area defenses and we can tear them apart with artillery. If they have aerial creatures, we’ll need to use explosive grenade shells to create flak,” Erik looked to Rugrat.

  “Otherwise we have spell scrolls, say we call in a lightning storm, tornadoes, high heat or low cold will make it hard for anything to fly in the skies,” Rugrat offered.

  “My current plan is that Domonos and Glosil will remain here with Rugrat to build up our defenses and complete looting the place,” Domonos and Glosil nodded as Erik looked to Yui and Roska.“I will move to meet up with Special Team One and this messenger to head to Tareng. Special Team Two and Tiger Platoon will come with me. Tiger Platoon have trained extensively with the Mortars. Special Team Two will start plotting out ambush points along our projected retreat path. Tiger Platoon will start clearing and readying positions where they can fire their mortars from. We’ll adapt as things change on the ground. Special Team One and I will head in with supplies for Tareng. If they just take the supplies, that is all we can do. If they only send a few people out with us that’s all we can do. We’ll plan for all of Tareng coming with us and the sect trying to chase us down.”

  “Thankfully Han Wu has been studying how to make explosives for a long time so shouldn’t be much of an issue getting him to adapt to the mines and IEDs,” Rugrat said.

  Roska’s eye twitched but she nodded in agreement.

  Erik looked at the others in the room. It was clear that they had their doubts.

  “It won’t be easy, but it’s worth a shot,” Glosil said getting nods of approval from the others.

  ***

  “Well this is one big fucking mess,” Rugrat said as Erik was packing up his gear in their shared room.

  “Yeah,” Erik said, stuffing items into his bag.

  They could hear the rest of Tiger Platoon gathering their gear as well, people checking weapons or on their mounts. Vuzgal was in motion once again.

  “Didn’t think that we would be putting the mortars into use so soon,” Rugrat said.

  “They’re good to go, right?”

  “Yeah, though it will be the first time using them in combat and they weren’t trained all that long ago.” “You sound like their mother. Mortars are much simpler than artillery.” “The two are pretty similar actually.”Erik checked the room with a glance, it felt as if he had never been there. He pulled out his rifle, checked it and put it away as he grabbed his helmet and pulled it on.

  “Keep the lights on,” Erik said.

  “Kick some fucking ass,” Rugrat commented. They fist bumped as Erik walked out of the room and into the chaos of people getting their gear together and moving to the muster point, jumping up on their mounts.

  ***

  Supplies were still going back and forth between Vuzgal and Alva, they were using multiple routes to bring up supplies while a small trickle was making it Alva. Most of the supplies held in different locations across the realms, waiting to go down so that it didn’t raise people’s suspicions seeing so many trading convoys heading into the Beast Mountain range. Loot travelled down and ammunition travelled back up.

  “So you got all of this to play with?” Han Wu asked, his eyes shining as he looked at the crates that filled the abandoned warehouse.

  “We’ve got shell casings, over there, bullets there, then we have the powders for them in those crates. Then we’ve got the solid explosives there,” Rugrat pointed to different areas of the warehouse.

  “Alva are making mortar and grenade rounds, they have casts down there that make it faster for them to cast the rounds, formation masters clean them up and fill in the formations. Alchemists add the charges to the mortar rounds, they can make five thousand rounds per day reliably. Now that will increase with needing to cover the people from Tareng.

  “Which brings up this part of the warehouse, explosives.”

  “I’m guessing that they haven’t been broken down into charges?” Han Wu asked.

  “Bingo, Erik made this stuff when we were finding out the right mixture of stuff for gunpowder,” Rugrat explained.

  “And the world has never been the same,” Han Wu grinned.

  “Yeah explosives are pretty sweet,” Rugrat and Han Wu shared a look of appreciation between pyrotechnics.

  Rugrat cleared his throat.

  “This is C4, the name doesn’t relate to what it is, I just like it.”

  “C4 this stuff is pretty stable though. Can throw it around and it’ll do nothing, you compress it or set it on fire, going to be an issue. Great for making mines without building the casings,” Han Wu said.

  “Seems you’ve learned a bit about it?”

  “Well, I do deal in explosives and make my own mixes, get talking to alchemists and you had this in production and my clearance is high,” Han Wu coughed under Rugrat’s gaze/

  “I’ve done stupider shit. This is your main go to IED making mix. I have the alchemists in Alva working overtime to make more, it’s up to you to figure out how to use it. Here are a few ideas,” Rugrat passed Han Wu a few pieces of paper detailing ways to set up different charges and what they would do.

  Chapter: Tareng

  Special Team One raced ahead with Erik to meet up with Special Team Two who were looking after the messenger who was sending messages to the Crafters and the Blue Lotus continuously, trying to get them to break their plague protocols.

  The Tiger Platoon followed behind, making sure to not tire their mounts that were at a lower level than Gilly and the special team mounts.

  Gilly, finally free from the dungeon pulled ahead, stretching her legs happily as she raced down the road.

  Erik was surprised with her speed being level sixty-five it started to make sense.

  The ride was short. A few creatures tried to challenge them but with ten battle-tested panthers and Gilly, they didn’t stand much of a chance, not even including the humans riding them.

  It topok Erik four days with only a small break to rest before he arrived in the camp that Special eam One had created.

  “He’s this way,” Niemm said, Erik was covered in dust from the road as he dismounted the blue scaled beauty known as Gilly.

  Gilly shook her body, even she was tired after the hard riding that they had done over the past few days.

  Erik used a healing spell on himself, his legs were chafing and burning something fierce.

  Erik entered a tent where
the messenger was staying He looked like hell as he drank another Stamina concoction.

  “I’m Erik, the leader of this group,” Erik pulled out two medallions and handed them to the messenger, he looked at them, the medallion that showed him to be friend of the Blue Lotus and the other that made him a Journeyman of the Alchemist association.

  The man’s eyes relaxed a bit.

  “My name is Qiu Jun. I’m told that you have a plan to help the people of Tareng.”

  “Yeah, we’re going to get past these Blood Demon Sect scouts, and meet up with the leaders of Tareng then convince them to flee Tareng with us,” Erik said. “Are you good to move? We need to get our plan in action as soon as possible.”

  “I’m okay to move but I don’t think that they’ll agree,” Qiu Jun said

  “I can only give them options,” Erik looked at Niemm. “Get the supplies cross loaded, we’ll head out in two hours.”

  “Sir,” Niemm said.

  Erik left the tent and looked at a notification that appeared.

  ==========

  Event

  ==========

  You have found that the Blood Demon Sect has poisoned the people of Tareng.

  Save the people of Tareng or leave them to die.

  Rewards will be based upon your end result.

  ==========

  ***

  Qiu Jun’s body had healed up some more, with the clean water and stamina potions his body had been able to recover enough to allow him to walk and calmed down the changes happening in his body.He looked down from the sand dune, his enchanted clothing blending in with the sand naturally.

  “Looks like there are a few scouts in the area. They are looking away from the west, toward Tareng,” Lucinda said, her eyes murky as she was looking through Night Terror’s eagle eyes.