If one needed anything to be crafted, they could find it in Vuzgal.
The inner city had been revitalized and the large noble manors were now being upgraded with additional floors.
Stores had gone up what seemed like overnight, with taverns and tea houses following quickly on their heels. The associations buildings all sat at the associations circle, standing up proud and tall.
The warehouse district had people coming in and out at all times, with materials moving to the crafter’s workshops that constantly churned out high quality products. The crafter workshops were being upgraded as well. Hiao Xen had bought plans, upgrading them straight from tier one to tier three. In the cities, unlike dungeons, one could purchase the plans, but then they needed to build everything themselves.
As soon as funds came in, they were spent: on the military’s expenditures, put into the bank, or used to purchase materials from the surrounding areas. They had also started the city libraries; depending on one’s contributions to the city, being a resident for a long time, or helping out the city, one could access the library, finding all kinds of information on many subjects. It was a new idea and a costly one but Vuzgal had the money to spend. Hundreds of people came just to study in the library and hopefully be able to start crafting.
Vuzgal was advertised as a city of traders and crafters, but the fighters also had a large presence. The three combat dungeons gave ample rewards worth up to ten times the admittance fee and the possibility to level up as well.
In a day, three Sky Mana stones’ worth of money were moving through the city in trade. Just in taxes, Vuzgal earned one hundred and fifty Earth Mana stones per day. With the dungeons, Sky Reaching Restaurants, Wayside Inns, rent, and the totem’s revenue being piled up on top of that. Erik had taken over the old Alchemy lab that was hidden in the castle. Now that he had the time, he took out a pile of ingredients and used his Reverse Alchemist abilities to increase the amount of knowledge he had on Alchemy and the ingredients that could be found in the Ten Realms.
He went to the Alchemist Association in Vuzgal at times, looking up information on available pills for Mana Gathering Cultivation and Body Cultivation.
He had bought a new pill called the Earth Tempering pill. It was supposed to temper one’s body with the Earth attribute over time. The problem was that although they weren’t that hard to create, you would need to start with one pill per day on the first week, two on the second, and this would increase for ten weeks. If one forgot for one day, they would need to increase the amount of pills they consumed by another one each day.
It would end up being tens of pills and the reasonably costed pills turned into a large cost, especially if one just missed the time period to take the pill just a few times.
Erik stored the last ingredient he had tested out. Information filled out the pages of his Alchemy Book on the ingredients he had just worked with.
He stood and then grabbed the chair as he felt his legs were numb. “Crap!” He used a healing spell on his legs, restoring their function.
“Everything okay?” Roska asked from the door.
“Yup! Just some minor difficulties! Come on, you damn legs.” Erik tried to shake them out and get them back alive. He finally half stumbled and fell his way to the door.
Roska was on the other side, giving him an odd look as he started to humanize. “You ready?”
“Maybe?” Erik shrugged as they kept walking. The rest of Special Team Two waited for them near the castle’s exit. With the Mana stones they were pulling in each day, going between the realms was no longer an issue with the Alvan army rotating in and out to train and to rest.
They wore cloaks to hide their identity as they left the city.
They passed through the totem; the mid-morning turned into nighttime as they arrived in the Stone Fist Sect’s city.
The city had all kinds of healers and alchemists around, as well as stalls selling items that were said to help with tempering one’s body. Body Cultivation ruled this city without a doubt.
People wandering all over the place with weapons at the ready.
It took them nearly an hour to reach the main headquarters of the Stone Fist Sect. People were lined up to enter the hall.
Erik and the others joined the line.
“Well, looks like there are a lot of people here,” Han Wu observed.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious,” Yang Zan chipped in.
“They wanted to bring us in to share in the festivities—seems that someone is getting married and there will be most of the Stone Fist Sect around,” Erik said.
“So…best behavior—Han Wu,” Roska warned.
Han Wu made a mocked hurt face as they moved with the rest of the line.
Erik passed over the invitation that he had been issued.
The person at the front door bowed as they entered.
“Lord of Vuzgal, Erik West!” someone announced.
“Well, there goes staying under the radar,” Erik muttered to Roska.
They pulled off their cloaks as they headed into the room.
The people all watched them coming in.
An older man with a husky build walked over to them with a wide smile. “Lord West, I am glad to see you! I’m Lord Morraine!”
“It is good to meet you, Lord Morraine,” Erik said. The people around them both started to move over to him.
They had a brief conversation, with Lord Morraine hinting at getting some personal concessions. Thankfully, he didn’t push it too much and he left Erik alone after some time.
Others moved in to make their introductions and to greet Erik. He met with them throughout the evening. His face muscles hurt from forcing a smile for such a long time.
“From the Elsi clan, Mira Elsi!” the announcer called out.
A woman walked out. All eyes were drawn to her as she walked in with a green and purple dress. She had an impassive face, as if she couldn’t hear the comments below as people talked among themselves.
“Mira Elsi—she is the betrothed to the Young Master Perkins. She might be beautiful but she sullied herself with a beast from the lower realms.”
“It is only because of her special constitution that someone like Young Master Perkins would be even willing to look at her.”
“Young Master Perkins is a lecherous fellow, with three wives and more than ten times that in concubines!”
“His father is a man of power, so none are willing to step in his way.”
“I heard she even had two children. She and Young Master Perkins are well suited!”
Erik heard their conversations and looked up at the lady, frowning.
“Mira? I’ve heard that name before I think…some time ago now.” He felt that the information was on the tip of his tongue but he couldn’t figure it out in the end.
“Do you know her?” Roska asked.
“I’m not sure but something sounds familiar,” Erik said.
The festivities went into the night. Erik drank and ate, entertaining the different members of the Stone Fist Sect and those who walked up to him.
It wasn’t until much later he escaped to a residence that had been prepared for him. He didn’t do much other than read books and hang out with the special team as they waited until the next day.
Through the servants, he was able to request to see Lady Mira Elsi. He felt that if they were in the same room, he would remember what he felt was so familiar about her.
Lord Morraine appeared once again and took them off to the dungeon located in the outskirts of the city.
They left the city in carriages. The trip did not take long at all and they soon arrived at what could be called a small town onto itself. The walled town surrounded the dungeon, supplying the dungeon explorers with all the items they might need.
Here the streets were filled with just those from the Stone Fist Sect.
People came out to see the lord of Vuzgal, a city that was making a name for itself in the Fourth Realm.
“
Sorry about all of this, but hearing someone as storied as yourself, others can’t help but be excited. I know that the Stone Fist Sect truly values your time and your presence.” Morraine chuckled, studying Erik out of the corner of his eye.
“Thank you for your kind words.” Erik had gotten better at this doublespeak that most powerful people in the Ten Realms seemed to do with ease.
“The dungeon has been cleared out before but when going in, you will find a heavy pressure upon yourself, compressing your entire body. Break this token and we will send in someone to assist if you are in danger,” Lord Morraine said in a grave voice, handing Erik a plain stone token in the shape of a large coin.
“Thank you.” Erik turned to the members of Special Team Two. “See you lot in a bit. Don’t touch anything.”
He walked down the stairs of the dungeon. The air seemed to be damp and musky. It smelled wonderful, like freshly tilled soil. Erik found that he was out of breath as he walked, taking a few minutes.
“The pressure has increased, though it’s not like high altitude or even being underwater. Is this higher gravity?” He looked around. “Tempering body with Earth attribute—does it mean withstanding the pressure?”
Erik continued on, taking breaks periodically to recover. It took him a few hours to pass through the dungeon. As he got closer to the dungeon core the gravity steadily increased, making every action harder.
He took out Wraith’s Touch salve and put it on his neck, using it to numb his nerves so he wouldn’t feel the gravity building up on his body.
Using his Simple Organic Scan, he looked to see whether there were any changes in his body. His body was slowly compressing and compacting.
He used Simple Heal, allowing his body to recover but now, instead of rebounding and going back to the way it was, his bones, his skin, his muscles, and the rest of his body regrew and compressed his Fire tempering and the Fire Mana that had become a part of his body appeared.
“Iron body—I get it now,” Erik muttered. He continued forward, his pace now at only a few steps a minute, the gravity climbing. He had to take breaks, getting used to the gravity forces and then keep on moving. Like iron, Erik’s body was the raw material, the Fire energy already inside him the heat, and the Earth energy the hammer. Only with the two of them could they reform Erik’s body—removing the impurities and bringing out a raw hidden material, just as iron was refined. With his compressed system, threads of the yellow Earth Mana seeped through his pores and bathed his body. With each compression, there was more power stored up in his body.
A faint yellow fog appeared in his Mana channels. Erik had to stop, finding it hard to breathe. Each step was now torture. He had to stand there, letting his body adjust.
He had learned from Rugrat, taking his time instead of trying to force his cultivation.
He took hours to take even a few steps. His foundation was strong, all of his work was adding to his original strength.
Though, with his foundation, it was harder for him to temper his body.
“This is a lot harder than what I read about in the books from the different associations,” Erik said through his teeth, using the words to rally his body. He fell to his knees and had to crawl forward.
He went up to his limit, holding on as long as he could before his Mana started to dry up.
He tried to drag himself back but had to use the token, breaking it. He heard people approaching. Two disciples from the Stone Fist Sect who had already gone through the Earth tempering grabbed him and carried him back. Erik felt his entire body becoming lighter and lighter as if it were nothing. He passed out in relief.
In his body, yellow Earth Affinity energy and Fire energy circled each other like dragons passing through his body.
***
Erik woke up in the residence they had stayed in the night before. He felt as if he were in a new skin; as if he had taken a weight off for the first time in months and it almost felt foreign being so light and free.
Erik got out of bed, controlling his Strength like when he leveled up a few times and dumped stat points into his different attributes.
Still, his notifications hadn’t showed any changes and he felt as though there were still some way to go before he could fully temper his body with the Earth Affinity energy.
Well, the way I see it, there are two ways to do it: be exposed to high Earth Mana Affinity and slowly integrate it into my body, compressing and regrowing, or to subject myself to rapid bursts of Earth energy, letting it run rampant in my body. For the first, if I am doing it without aid, it could take months or years. If I was to do it the second way, I would need to have someone watching me. Though I can at least confirm what happens and what I need to do. If we can open up the Earth floor of Alva Dungeon, there must be a way to concentrate that energy. If it was possible to concentrate the attributes on every floor in Alva Dungeon, then we could temper people that way, instead of having to make expensive and wasteful concoctions.
He went to the door, quickly getting used to the changes in his body. He reached the door, finding the special team waiting outside.
“How are you feeling?” Yang Zan asked as he stood up from a card game.
“A bit compressed.” Erik smiled as Yang Zan indulged him with a smile.
“Mind if I check you out with a Simple Organic Scan?”
“Go for it.”
Yang Zan walked over and put his hand on Erik. Using Simple Organic Scan, he checked Erik over quickly.
“Mira Elsi agreed to the meeting. She is waiting on us,” Roska said.
“Anything happen?”
“Haven’t got any messages.”
“We good?” Erik asked Yang Zan, who had finished with his Simple Organic Scan.
“Looking fine to me.” Yang Zan nodded.
Chapter: Return to the First Realm
Mira Elsi stomped around the room.
“First, I’m being sold off to a lecherous man who wants nothing more than my body. Now I need to wait on every man who comes through to our sect.” The Mana in her body circulated furiously before she was able to get herself under control.
Doing the family’s bidding is the only way that I can protect Feng, Felicity, and Chonglu.
The fight seemed to go out of her and she deflated. She had ways to stop the lecherous Young Master Perkin’s advances, but she wouldn’t be able to find everyone’s weaknesses and use it against them.
“Lord West is on his way over,” a servant said.
She let out her frustration in a long exhale. All of her servants were loyal to her and handpicked. They didn’t dare to speak up as she raged around the room.
It wasn’t long until the door opened and Lord West walked in.
“Hello, I was wondering if you could answer a question for me,” Lord West said as some of his guards moved out behind him.
“What is it?” Mira asked in a cold tone, annoyed with his direct manner.
“Do you know a Chonglu?”
How does he know that name? Does he want to use them against me? Her body shook in anger, as cold fear filled her.
“No?”
“If you want to use them against me…” Mira started.
“Use them against you? I think you have me wrong,” Erik crossed his arms, frowning as he closed his eyes, remembering the worsd from back then.
“Their father said that his wife was from a powerful clan that lives in the Earth realm. She was adventuring in the Second Realm when they met up. They adventured together for some time before going to the First Realm and establishing themselves here, looking to settle in and have a family.
Erik saw that he had the attention of the entire room, as the Ice Empress truly looked like an ice statue as he started walking and talking, back and forth to jog his memory.
“Little did he know that her family had other plans. They sent people down from the Fourth Realm to deal with them. Dragging away his wife without letting her say goodbye. While telling me that they would never allo
w the spawn that I had desecrated Her Holiness with, to survive.
Erik didn’t miss the chill in the air, or the wrath in her eyes that were focused on Erik completely. If he said one thing that was wrong she would strike him down. He continued, not paying her anger any heed.
“They left and he didn’t think much of their words, he was lonely but he had his children to live for. It was cut short as both the girl and the boy were affected with a nasty poison.
Erik paused his steps and looked at the Ice Empress, feeling hisbody shaking slightly in rage as a twisted smile, formed from pain and anger filled his face.
“They were toddlers.” His rage escaped for a second, anyone that killed children without care or remorse, or because of some stupid system they believed in. He didn’t care what damn excuses they came up with. If he found them, he would make them suffer.
He composed himself and kept walking, unable to look at anyone for fear that his emotions would take a hold.
“It seeped into their bone marrow and took root. For two years they lived off of healing concoctions, in a comatose state, nearly dead. Their father shut himself off from the world, cared for them, focused only on them.
“Thankfully they recovered, do you know what the names of the twins were?” Erik looked to the Ice Empress who looked to be a chaotic mess of emotions, her eyes filled with tears, her fists balled in rage and her body shaking from an emotional backlash that was more powerful than any physical attack.
“Felicity and Feng,” Erik’s words were light as he looked her in the eyes.
She lowered her head, forcing herslef to keep her composure.
“Thank you for telling me your story I am sorry but I won’t be able to see you out,” She said in a hoarse voice, looking to the floor.
“I hope you have a good day my lady,” Erik tilted his head and left the room quickly.
As the door closed Mira raised her head as ice formed around her.
“I am going to see the contract hall!” she said savagely.
The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4) Page 74