The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  “These should make it easier to get into the different caches.” Rugrat observed as he looked at the formations. They were defensive or offensive in nature. He opened up one of the books; he put it on a crate and pointed to the map inside.

  “Looks like there are plenty of hidden places in the castle,” Rugrat said.

  “Well, they would need to have some kind of record for what changes happened to the building,” Glosil said.

  “If that out there is their armored division, then this is their nuclear missile silo,” Rugrat said, checking in the different crates.He grabbed two of the crates and moved items from the remaining to the two he was holding. “I’ll be taking these.”

  Glosil nodded, not sure he wanted to know what items he was keeping, if he was willing to have Glosil look after Expert-level equipment.

  Glosil followed Rugrat out.

  “Good work on finding this place. I’ll be checking over everything personally. Head to the next location of interest,” Rugrat said.

  The others took another look around the room and headed off to their other tasks. Glosil took a look around the room and pulled out a notepad. He started to list down the different weapons and their stats. He picked up the sword that Rugrat had been holding.

  ==========

  Chilling Breeze

  ==========

  Attack:

  361

  Weight:

  4.2 kg

  Charge:

  2,234/5,000

  Durability:

  84/100

  Innate Effect:

  Strength of the user increases by 14%

  Agility increases by 20%

  Enchantment One:

  Call down Storm of Swords. 10X10m radius. Speed of user increases by 50% for 3 minutes.

  Costs 500 charge

  3 hour cooldown

  Enchantment Two:

  Chilling Strike

  Imbue sword with the effects of frost. Increase attack power by 100%. Frost attack reduces opponent’s speed by 5%; lasts for 5 minutes.

  5 hour cooldown

  Costs 750 charge

  Requirements:

  Agility 51

  Strength 47

  Stamina Regeneration 25

  ==========

  Glosil let out a whistle. The Expert blade served to enhance one’s Strength by a large margin. Also, it’s enchantments didn’t just increase the weapon’s ability, they were killing moves that could be used tactically, like Erik’s overclock enchantment on his armor.

  The line between Journeyman and Expert-level weapons appeared thin, but from the stats, one could see it was much wider.

  One needed to have three stats that reached the requirements in order to wield it. The enchantments that Journeyman level or half-step Expert-level armor and weapons had were usually based toward a percentage increase instead of a hidden technique that one could execute with their weapon.

  Glosil looked at the three other weapons that were hanging up on the wall and then the storage crates.

  Rugrat appeared again, dragging his boxes behind him. “Well, so, uh, I might have not actually realized this.” Rugrat pulled out a few undead bodies—the emperor and his personal guard that Rugrat had found around the dungeon core.“Yeaaah, they’ve probably got some good gear too.” Rugrat let out an awkward laugh.

  “You forgot?” Glosil’s eyebrow twitched.

  “Well, yeah. I know that there is supposed to be Expert-level gear here and it is a big place, but I didn’t look at their gear. Honestly, I just thought that it might be useless and smell nasty,” Rugrat said.

  “Aren’t you a smith?” Glosil’s voice rose.

  “No need to point that out.” Rugrat looked around. “Anyway, they can be your helpers.”

  Mana seeped through the ground and into the bodies of the fifty or so dead that were on the ground.

  They started to rise up, turning into undead as Rugrat used the power of the dungeon. Though the problem was they’d been thrown haphazardly and quickly into Rugrat’s storage ring. There were a few cases of someone’s foot stuck between someone’s arm bones or a foot in another’s chest as the undead started to get up, dragging one another undead upside down because their foot was stuck in the other’s ribs, so their head was on the floor.

  “Good luck!” Rugrat left, quickly dragging his two high-quality storage crates with him. “All elbows and knees with that lot. Maybe should have just had them walk over.”

  Glosil was sure that the undead looked confused and scared as he looked at their pitiful state. Is this how it is for Egbert?

  Glosil looked at the skeletons, looking at their actions with pity and shook his head as they tried to get themselves out from one another and stand up without being connected to each other. “Go outside the room and get yourselves upright!”Glosil commanded.

  They stumbled out of the room, even the undead emperor, who had one arm in one guard’s neck and a foot stuck in another’s arm as he flailed around with one free arm and one of his legs.

  “Poor bastards.” Glosil looked at his notes and started with his work.

  ***

  Rugrat headed to the city’s dungeon core. Using a spell stone, he was able to pass through the security barriers and formations.

  They had collected three dozen Mortal Mana cornerstones and nearly ten Earth-grade cornerstones.

  With the power of the area and the dungeon core, the crystals had grown at an alarming speed. They were growing at a rate visible to the eye as they spread across the interior of the pillar, only a small road leading from the stairs to the dungeon core.

  Rugrat could sense that the polluted Mana around the capital was becoming cleaner with time. Right now, every three or four days, the people of the army needed to circulate their Mana while being around the dungeon core so that the polluted Mana didn’t remain in their system.

  A few had been able to get a day or two off in order to use this opportunity to increase their Mana Gathering Cultivation.More people were forming Mana drops. Roska had formed three drops already. With her natural talent and focusing on Mana Gathering Cultivation from the beginning, she was one of the strongest, though she was currently out fighting with the rest of Dragon Platoon and the special teams.

  Rugrat put down the boxes and opened them. They were filled with a number of spell scrolls.

  Spell scrolls were rated, much like regular spells, by the force that they could exert. The difference between spells and spell scrolls was where the power came from. A ninth-tier spell needed a tier-nine caster to cast it. A tier-nine spell scroll had a similar effect, but it didn’t need the mage in the equation.

  Rugrat looked through the scrolls. Many of them were buff-like scrolls, mass scrolls that could increase the power of a fighting force in times of need. There were mass healing scrolls as well as spells and formations that would weaken the enemy as they were attacking.

  Most of the defensive and attacking scrolls had been used, but there were still a few fifth-tier spell scrolls he could use.

  The defensive scrolls could enhance the walls making them sturdier all around. There were also some earth and stone scrolls that could increase the level of the materials in the walls for a period of time.

  There were dozens of tier-three and tier-four artillery spell scrolls or damage-enhancing scrolls.

  It was a treasure trove, if used right.

  The amount of gold coins that they were worth—well, it could probably only be calculated in Earth-grade Mana stones.

  Rugrat checked on the dungeon. Everyone was working in the capital right now, but construction had not stopped at the Bala dungeon. A rudimentary sixth floor was completed and the basic layout of the first floor of the Crafter’s trial dungeon was under construction. It took a lot of Mana and materials that Rugrat had had the undead drop off.

  Rugrat hoped their scheme worked but it wasn’t his primary concern right now.

  He felt more Experience entering his body. Rugrat paused and look
ed over to the east. He couldn’t see Erik and the others fighting but he knew that they must be with the new Experience flooding into him and the rest of the defense force.

  Even without fighting, their levels were increasing. It would give them a better chance when they had to face the Blood Demonarmy.

  ***

  “What happened?” Xue Lin asked as Olivia entered her carriage.

  Olivia relayed everything that had happened and handed Xue Lin the medallion.

  “We can’t trust them anymore, now that they have broken their oath. He was just looking for a reason to do so,” Olivia said.

  “Looking for a reason to do so…” Xue Lin clenched her teeth.

  Olivia had an ominous feeling in her stomach as she looked up at Xue Lin.

  “I have been in contact with Elder Lu.”

  Olivia’s eyes went wide. “Elder Lu, the one in charge of the Fourth Realm?”

  Xue Lin nodded. Something of this caliber had to be sent to him.

  “Hiao Xen is a deputy head in the Fourth Realm. His son was healed by Erik West in the Second Realm just over a year ago. At that time, he was close to reaching level twenty and was under the tutorship of Third Realm Pill Head Hei Zen. I got a message from Elder Lu, asking why we broke trust with Erik West. His oath jade is kept in the headquarters of all the Earth realms.” Xue Lin let that sink in.

  Olivia gnashed her teeth, thinking of the arrogant fool West and unable to compare it against this other man she heard explained to her.

  “So, I ask again, what happened?” Xue Lin asked with narrowed eyes.

  Olivia gave a full recounting of everything that had happened since she and Erik had left the rest of the convoy.

  “So we don’t know if Erik’s people at the capital will be hostile or friendly to us.”

  “We are the Blue Lotus—we can destroy them,” Olivia said.

  “And that is the flaw.” Xue Lin nodded, as if putting it together. “Because of our position, do you think that others should blindly obey? That the realms can bend to our rules and orders? We might be one of the pillars of the Ten Realms but that is only due to our backing. There are many who would like to see us fall. We are strong but we cannot take on the Ten Realms. We were attacked, yes. We were forced to flee, yes.” Xue Lin’s words made Olivia wince, bringing up her failures again and again. “We had to rely on another group to save us. We look to make connections and friends like Erik West so that we have people to assist us in times of need. It is not when we should be pushing them away!” Xue Lin’s voice rose into a yell as she shifted her armor and adjusted her hands to calm herself.

  “He wanted to use these mortars and IEDs, too scared to attack the enemy head on,” Olivia complained.

  “Maybe, but I gave overall command to him, not to you. He was in charge and you went against my wishes and my orders,” Xue Lin said.

  “I didn’t…”

  “It doesn’t matter what you meant to do—it’s what you did. Even now there are strangers fighting for us to escape and our fighting forces were sent away because the people saving us couldn’t trust them! Do you know what kind of stain this is on our reputation?!” Xue Lin’s anger was fully revealed, finding it quite hard to keep under control.

  “You are dismissed of command and you will report to Commander Femi. You will carry out his orders as a person of the Blue Lotus. Am I understood?” Xue Lin’s eyes burned into Olivia’s.

  Olivia felt a pressure on her very soul; she wanted nothing more than to drop out of the bottom of the carriage. “Yes,” she said in a small voice, unable to look Xue Lin in the eye.

  Chapter: Elan Silaz Surfaces

  Elan Silaz looked rougher than when he had left Chonglu just a few months ago as he stepped down from his carriage.

  A woman came up to him with a smile. “Head Silaz.” She bowed to him.

  “Come, little niece Lidia, is that any way to greet your uncle?” Elan smiled. He had grown a beard while he had been traveling around the different outposts around the Beast Mountain Range.

  Lidia giggled as she and Elan hugged.

  “It is good to see you, Uncle!” she said with a pleased smile.

  Elan laughed happily and released her. “I have heard that you have turned into the trading devil of Vermire.” He grinned.

  She played with her hair, pressing her foot into the ground.

  Elan let out a laugh. “I knew that you came from my side of the family!”

  Lidia blushed but couldn’t help smiling.

  “Come, it has been a long road and your uncle smells!”

  “I was wondering what that smell was,” she teased and waved for him to follow her.

  They went through the back entrance into the Silaz trading house. It was one of the biggest traders of monster cores in the city. They also dealt in certain high-quality weapons and armor that couldn’t be found in other stores.

  “The meeting with Lord Aditya?”

  “It has been confirmed but it has taken a lot of work to do so. He has become a powerful man since the Zatan Confederation was turned on its head. Did you see the construction?”

  “Looks like they are expanding the city walls?”

  “The outpost has more people visiting it than any in the region. Getting a place to trade or stay within the outpost has turned out to be incredibly expensive now. There is also the healing house. People are even willing to come from cities far away to go to our healing house due to their agreeable rates that don’t fluctuate with a person’s medical issue.” Lidia’s tone dropped.

  “So it has turned into a gold mine. Thankfully we had a position here already,” Elan said, a hidden smile in his eyes.

  “I heard that you brought a number of skilled people who are looking for employment with you, as well as Mana stones and wealth?”

  “Why do you think that I had so many guards?” Elan laughed.

  “A number of them are lamed as well.” Lidia’s eyes narrowed as she looked at Elan. “What are you aiming to do, Uncle?”

  Elan simply smiled, not revealing anything.

  Lidia let out a flustered snort. “Of course, always keeping your little tricks to yourself!”

  “When will I be meeting Lord Aditya?” Elan asked.

  “Tonight. It was the only time that he was free. In four hours,” Lidia said.

  “Very well,” Elan said. “Before I go, I want to take a look at this healing house.”

  ***

  Elan looked a bit cleaner, his beard trimmed up and the dirt of the road cleaned away before he walked toward the Alva Healing House.

  There was a line down the street with people wearing a uniform of green clothes and white masks moving along the line, checking people over, giving them each a colored emblem for them to pin to their jackets.

  A man screaming was rushed to the hospital by a group of fighters. Someone wearing a uniform rushed over, halting the group. They used a healing spell and then had them continue inside.

  Elan walked around the building. There was a garden to the back of the healing house. It was gated off, with some people outside, being monitored as they began to walk, or doing tasks for people inside the fenced area who were wearing the same uniform.

  Elan saw a few people with stands next to them with bags of liquid that dripped into their arms.

  A mysterious smile appeared on Elan’s face.

  He had been able to get information on what Erik and Rugrat had done for Lord Chonglu’s children; it wasn’t a big secret. The way that they healed people was different than healers who used spells and alchemists that used concoctions: they used a mixture of tools, concoctions, and spells.

  Elan had heard about the bags before. Seeing them attached to the patients within the healing house, he felt closer to Yui, Domonos, and Qin than he had in a long time.

  He turned away from the healing house and looked toward the lord’s manor. His guards followed him as he headed off to his meeting.

  ***

  Jen chec
ked Lord Aditya’s leg. It had healed well, fully recovering, and now he was looking to restore his Strength. “You’ll be making a full recovery soon,” Jen said as she released his leg.

  “I can’t thank you enough,” Lord Aditya said.

  “Just doing my job,” Jen said.

  Lord Aditya laughed. Things had changed from that night when in this very room he had been visited by that mysterious woman and her companions.

  The new Vermire couldn’t be compared to the one of old.

  They had items for sale that would be hard to find in some capitals of the First Realm. There were dealings from multiple countries and nations that happened in the back taverns of Vermire. Supplies moved hands here on the scale that could supply a country.

  There were more mercenary groups than ever in the outpost and they were even making strides toward becoming a true city in their own right.

  The healing house, the items that they sold, the spell scroll trump cards, weapons and armor: all of it came from Aditya’s benefactor. Even the construction plans for the new wall and the layout of the city that would go between the new wall and the old wall was written up, designed and then passed to Aditya.

  He had accepted it fully. He didn’t know when it happened, but at one point, he had become simply a vassal for this power. He added his suggestions and he was listened to. He didn’t know where this path would lead but he was excited and content for the first time in a very long time.

  It was as if he were hunkering down before, just living a blind existence. But now he had been able to step forward; the realm was his oyster and there were endless possibilities at his feet.

  “Head of the Silaz trading house has arrived,” an aide said.

  “No rest for the wicked,” Jen said. “You should be good in a week. Try not to lose any more limbs. Oh…” Jen pulled out a letter and passed it to Aditya.

  He opened the letter and read it. Then he took it to the fireplace, burning it. He looked to Jen and raised his hand as if making to talk.