The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4)

by Michael Chatfield

  “Let’s go and check out the different corridors. If we can bring this layout back and sell complete maps for everything, we should be able to get a nice finder’s fee,” Galaan said.

  They headed down one corridor together.

  “There are places for people to use tokens on the normal crafting rooms but then there are also ones over there.” Yellow Rabbit pointed to sealed doorways to the side of the workshops.

  “There must be close to one hundred Apprentice-level workshops here.” Brian marveled as he went over to what Yellow Rabbit was looking at.

  “Expert?” he said out loud, his voice breaking slightly.

  “Hmm?” Galaan said, but Brian was looking up at the doors with a look of shock.

  He read the two plaques above: “Passage to Journeyman-level workshops. Passage to Expert-level workshops.” His voice slowed to a halt as he read the information on the second doorway.

  “We need to go back to the association right now and report this!” A new dungeon was one thing, but having the possibility for Expert-level workshops—he would be negligent if he didn’t report this as soon as possible.

  ***

  “The other associations have all started to show interest in coming to Vuzgal,” one of Hiao Xen’s aides said as they were inspecting the new road that had been laid down in the inner city.

  “All of them?” he asked.

  “All of them.”

  “Stall them and find out just what is happening. Something must have changed their minds. See if there was anything strange happening in Vuzgal or the surrounding area as soon as possible,” Hiao Xen urged.

  Another aide stepped up. “There are a number of people coming through the totem and seeking residence or to purchase property in Vuzgal.”

  “What kind of people?”

  “They’re mostly crafters connected to the various associations.”

  “I just got a message that the Crafter’s Association is planning to upgrade their building and that there are Journeyman-level crafters coming through to start on the project. Others are applying to head to the main dungeon,” the first aide said suddenly, sounding shaken.

  “Since the arrival of the Crafter’s Trial dungeons, the associations have been focusing on building up their locations nearest these trials. But now they’re sending over their highest level workers to build here. All of the associations are coming over and they’re wanting to access the main Bala Dungeon. Send someone to the main dungeon and have them report on if anything has changed!” he snapped off as he turned toward the castle and the mounted convoy waiting for them.

  “Let’s head back,” he said to the guards as he got into the carriage. The people from the Alvan army led the convoy back toward the castle as more information came in.

  “One of the teams went into the dungeon,” the second aide said and looked up at Hiao Xen. “They’re saying that there is now a Crafter’s Trial dungeon attached, but there is passageways to a Expert-level workshops inside it and it is much larger than the other reported trials.”

  Is this part of the event that Erik said that they triggered? Were they the reason that the crafting dungeons appeared? Is that why he was confident?

  Hiao Xen contacted Erik and reported everything to him.

  “Increase prices to normal capital standards. I will have a new agreement for the associations to complete. We asked them before and they looked down on us; we need to instill that we are the rulers of this city. They will all be presented with the same contract. If they do not sign it within three days I will have a second contract ready for them,” Erik said.

  “Did you know this would happen?” Hiao Xen asked.

  “Well, after talking to you, seemed that it would happen eventually. It seems that you’re breaking up sorry, losing connection. Schrrak You’re going to have a lot of work to do! schrrak Good luck!” Erik cut the call.

  Hiao Xen looked at his sound transmission device and then looked out at the city passing by outside his carriage. Things were sure to change quickly now.

  “Why was he making all that noise?” Hiaso Xen sighed. “Looks like it’s going to be an eventful few days.

  ***

  Erik put down the call as he looked at the men and women arranged on the parade square. The barracks and training facilities were large enough to house and train an army of ten to twenty thousand.

  Erik’s plans weren’t that big, yet. Instead, there were just one hundred new and nervous recruits standing in the training square beyond the castle window. They were looking around nervously as sergeants, corporals, and lance corporals marched up and down the ranks. It reminded Erik of months ago when he had stood in front of the original Alva military and turned them into a fighting army.

  Now it was time to do it all again. They would train them on tactics in Vuzgal, then increase their levels with the dungeon, their body and mana cultivation with classes with assistance from the medics and teachers.It wouldn’t be cheap and they needed people that would remain loyal even as they grew stronger.

  It wouldn’t be a fast process but Erik knew that these things weren’t to be rushed. Ranks didn’t matter as long as they had strength. After all, hadn’t he been able to stop an army of thousands from advancing smoothly with just fifty or so members of the Alvan army? With the new rifles, repeaters and Rugrat already talking about upgrading mortars, it was time that they used their momentum to secure their position in the Ten Realms.

  “We’ve got Vermire, four dungeons and a city. The outpost needs to expand, we need to clear the floors of Alva Dungeon and make it completely ours and we’ve only just started with Vuzgal. We need to recruit more people into Alva. We’ve been racing ahead in levels, power leveling people, but then our basic skills and techniques haven’t developed as quickly.” Erik let out a laugh and rubbed the back of his head. He could talk freely with the security formations that had been added to the office.

  “What are your orders?” Glosil asked.

  Erik turned to Glosil.

  “It’s time that Rugrat and I took a step backwards, you are the leader of the Alva Military. So, my question to you would be, what do you think that we should do?”

  Glosil didn’t answer right away but took a few moments.

  “Oragnize, build strengthen,” Glosil finally said. “We need to organize our forces better. Units to defend, units to attack, units of engineers to create paths, medics to heal, Scouts to search ahead, weapon courses to master weapon systems. Artillery and ranged units to support from the rear. Supply and repair units, to create and repair weapons and armor, to craft the supplies needed by the other units. Ammunition, bandages, food and so on. Build, if we want to hold Vuzgal then we need the numbers to do so. Which brings up questions of, do we let them all know about Alva or only select groups, which goes to organization again, units that know and those that don’t. Then Strengthen, we send the specialized units to learn in the academies. We make the regular soldiers masters of their weapon systems and have an understanding of other roles. We have a small military we need quality to over come quantity. It will take more resources and time.

  “Though regular soldiers instead of just waiting on the engineers can start to prepare an area ahead of them. If there are wounded they can render aid that can save lives and keep people stable until they get to the real medics. We teach people how to fight as a section, a platoon a company and higher levels. If we want to recreate the military strength of Vuzgal, we will need ten thousand to twenty thousand soldiers,” Glosil warned.

  “What is your plan?” Erik asked.

  “Instead of racing to the fifth, we’ll focus on strengthening our foundations. We will take time to learn of the higher realms and plot out a path. Elan needs time to establish his command and then develop it. While that is happening, we begin recruiting, we re-organize the military so as we grow we have a plan. We increase the strength of our people through training and levels. We now have the strength to take the lower floors of Alva Dungeon. Wi
th those floors open we can send people down there to increase their body cultivation. The military is one of the biggest expenses of Alva, if we can reduce those training costs and give back to Alva,” Glosil left the rest unsaid.

  Erik studied Glosil. His plan sounded simple, but the changes it would have on the military would be as big as the training they had gone through before they entered the fourth realm. It would also deal with the threat of the lower floors that had been a worry in the back of Erik’s mind.

  “Firm up our foundations and grow while we can,” Erik crossed his arms, looking at the floor and letting out a breath through his nose.

  “Instead of focusing on charging forward, lets increase our strength now.” Erik said, coming to a decision, he had felt ready to make another breakthrough with his mana gates, as well as his body cultivation. His Alchemy and healing skills had fallen to the wayside as he focused on his combat strength. He still needed to adjust to his new power.

  If we don’t fully digest Vuzgal and use our gains to increase our strength then we will only regret it later, we can’t let the victory here blind us.

  ***

  Cui Chin, like the other information leaders of the different associations, had gotten word on the Crafter’s Trial dungeon that was located in Vuzgal. They’d immediately sent over more people to increase the grade of the Blue Lotus building there.

  They’d dispatched a higher ranked manager as well.

  “Vuzgal has given us a number of surprises. It is good that we got the original contract.” Elder Lu looked at the new contracts that were being given out to the new associations that had yet to join Vuzgal and the contracts that were being handed out to people who wanted to join the city as residents or workers. “This new contract is expensive but they will pay it.”

  Cui Chin nodded. Vuzgal had turned into something of a gem in the Fourth Realm. “Do you think that they are dungeon masters?” Cui Chin asked suddenly.

  Elder Lu put down the contracts. “I would say that I doubt it, but there was those people of Erik’s disappearing and we don’t know where Rugrat is off to and where his different ‘special teams’ went. Though, to have multiple dungeon masters, that would be difficult to do. They’ve probably seen a few dungeons, but if they were dungeon masters, wouldn’t they try to keep them to themselves? Instead of telling others and allowing them entrance?”

  Cui Chin and Elder Lu fell silent, thinking on it.

  “Dungeon masters are only common in the Seventh Realm. It is hard for one to become a dungeon master and is passed down to their subordinates who become their vassals. They have the power to alter dungeons but keep the information to themselves. Even we have only found out a few clues about the clans with dungeon masters. Most of them remain underground, allowing people to fight and train in their dungeons for a fee. One has to have the luck of the heavens to become a dungeon master unlike city lords that can be created as long as one establishes a city and is recognized by the ten realms. Even if Erik and Rugrat have dungeon masters, they haven’t done anything against us. How have the different design teams found the new crafting dungeons?” Elder Lu asked.

  “We are still getting a complete copy of the dungeons’ blueprints, but we should be able to have a copy soon enough to start converting a few of our dungeons to have crafter trials as well.”

  “Good, but we don’t want to spread them too widely. Otherwise it could create instability,” Elder Lu said in warning.

  “I have been watching over this personally and using only those I trust. There shouldn’t be a leak in information,” Cui Chin said.

  “Good, well I should go and inspect the progress of the Blue Lotus location there,” Elder Lu said.

  Cui Chin was a little stunned.

  “What, can’t I go and inspect a Blue Lotus location?” Elder Lu asked with a raised eyebrow.

  “I didn’t mean any disrespect, Elder Lu,” Cui Chin said bowing quickly.

  Elder Lu laughed, waving to Cui Chin.

  “Don’t worry I know what you’re thinking. They helped us in a time of need, now there is a high level crafter dungeon attached to their city. People are going to look at Vuzgal and want to take it from Erik and Rugrat. If I go there, it shows that we are close. It will make others think twice about attacking and dissuade many.”

  “Do we want to do that?” Cui Chin asked in a strained voice.

  Elder Lu frowned slightly.

  “I know that it is your job to be skeptical of others. They saved Tareng and were made honorable Elders, that is no simple honor. I think that we should place some more trust in them and try to help out.”

  “I will see to the arrangements. Should I let others who have designs on Vuzgal know our attitude?” Cui Chin asked.

  “That would be for the best,” Elder Lu’s voice held a note of approval. Cui Chin usually worked in the shadows, he knew of just what Erik, Rugrat and their people had been through. Internally, Cui Chin felt that helping them out only felt right.

  Chapter: Invitation

  Erik watched the twenty or so recruits working in the barracks. The Alvan army were going all out on their training. They hadn’t even touched firearms yet, just working on the basics.

  The gates to the barracks opened as a convoy entered. Erik looked over. People stood at the doors, looking in. They were from various families and groups; all of them were looking to talk to Erik and create closer connections. A number had tried to bribe the different members of the Alvan army, or the people who worked for Erik, for personal access. Those who took the bribes were immediately fired. None of the Alvan army had even looked at the money.

  Erik had put out rules that people of Vuzgal’s administration would not take in bribes and listed it with the other rules in the city.

  He also had every person who did trade with the city make an oath that basically made them not be violent, or try to steal within the city walls.

  People wanted to fight back against his rules, but Erik held the cards and he had the support of the different associations now. All of the associations had crafters of some kind in their ranks and the Expert-level crafter dungeon trial was a massive draw. The other dungeons were also powerful and enticed a number of people over from the other established cities.

  Vuzgal’s crime rate was incredibly low so far. The inner and outer city was filled with the sounds and sights of construction. In the Ten Realms, buildings were built much faster, taking what would be months or years on Earth, just a few weeks or days to complete.

  The associations’ buildings had been completed, creating the association circle around the central castle.

  Crafters worked on repairing the castle, under Matt’s guidance. The undead, which had scared people at first, were now seen as an attraction as they were a low cost and untiring labor force, moving materials around as needed.

  The outer defenses were completed and manned by the mixed units from the associations and the Alvan army.

  Trading market stalls had cropped up as they were easier to build. The Wayside Inns and Sky Reaching Restaurants were packed with people. In a night, thousands of Earth-grade Mana stones were changing hands throughout Vuzgal.

  The convoy cleared the barracks gates and the gates closed behind them as the convoy moved through the training areas of the various units. People who thought it was just another guard position either got their act together and pushed on, or they left through the gates. The units grew smaller and smaller, allowing new training programs to be started.

  It was better to train someone who hadn’t been a fighter before than a fighter. The fighters already thought they knew what to do, while those who didn’t have any training picked it up easily and took everything said to them as gospel.

  Erik and Glosil had started to work on the new outline of the units.

  At the base there would be Fireteams made up of Four privates and one Corporal, three fireteams would be combined under a sergeant’s command to create a rifle squad. Three rifle squads, a scout sq
uad and a Mixed support squad with a fireteam of Battle Mages, a fireteam of medics and a fireteam of Engineers each led by their own corporals who reported directly to the Staff Sergeant who was the second in command. A senior sergeant assisted the Staff Sergeant who got their orders from the Second Lieutenant, altogether, these eighty-two people formed a Rifle Platoon. So far they only had enough people to form one Rifle Platoon. They still had to work on the organization for the support and artillery platoons, followed with a combat company’s makeup.

  The convoy stopped and Hiao Xen got out, talking to his aides. He was busy with all the people going to him because they couldn’t get to Erik.

  “Is there still people trying to get you to give them slots to enter the crafter trials?” Erik asked.

  “Yes, but I kept on telling them what you told me,” Hiao Xen said. “They have been trying to bully others into not going at all in protest but I put an end to that as well by preparing to evict them if they went against our policies.”

  “Good. They’re testing us now, want to see if we’ll bend to their whims. We just keep on acting on the level, don’t change our policies and enforce them all equally—we’ll be fine.” Erik nodded. “So what are you here for then?”

  “Well, I thought that you would like to know that I was able to get that invitation that you’ve been looking for.” Hiao Xen pulled out a letter and gave it to Erik.

  Erik quickly read it. “Well, looks like it’s as you said. The Stone Fist Sect has sent me an invitation. Looks like they want to get closer to us. Strength really comes in different ways—they’ve even offered to clear out the dungeon for me. I think they’ve seen through the reason I want to go there—they’re even offering help with healers.” Erik laughed lightly. “They are a sect that deals with hand-to-hand combat and tempering the body, so it makes sense that they would put the dots together.”

  “They have asked for a reply,” Hiao Xen mentioned.