The Second Realm

Ten Realms Book 2

By: Michael Chatfield

Table of Contents

Title Page

Chapter: Kaeju City

Chapter: At the End of a Bow

Chapter: Slapping Oneself

Chapter: Meeting Masters

Chapter: Apprentice Alchemist!

Chapter: Innate Metal Ability Enhancers

Chapter: Young Inspiring the Old

Chapter: Iron Bashing

Chapter: Merchant Convoy

Chapter: Crazy Idea

Chapter: On Credit

Chapter: Sharing Alchemy Knowledge

Chapter: Loan on Unsold Items

Chapter: Hidden Preparations

Chapter: Alva Mercenaries

Chapter: Auction Begins!

Chapter: Age Rejuvenation Potion Creates a Stir!

Chapter: Alchemist and Blacksmith Duel

Chapter: Snake in the Auction

Chapter: Dungeon, Journal?

Chapter: Embarrassing Alchemist Nguyen

Chapter: Celebration Turned Sour

Chapter: Fleeing Kaeju

Chapter: Cheated by Yourself

Chapter: Onward

Chapter: First Outsiders

Chapter: Away from Prying Eyes

Chapter: Unexpected

Chapter: A German and Redneck Walked into the Test Range One Day...

Chapter: Alva Dungeon’s Growth

Chapter: Do Golems Have Taste Buds?

Chapter: Compressing Last Mana Drop

Chapter: Taran Exits Seclusion

Chapter: Walking, More Walking, Beetle! Worm?

Chapter: Desert Spiritual Palace

Chapter: Dungeon Hunters

Chapter: Collecting Rewards

Chapter: Traderly Dealings

Chapter: Destination

Chapter: Guest of the Lord

Chapter: Making Contact

Chapter: Creating a New Ally

Chapter: Entering Taeman City

Chapter: Confrontation

Chapter: Taeman Blue Lotus

Chapter: The Luo Family’s Troubles

Chapter: Gaining Favor

Chapter: Hidden Strife

Chapter: Noise Complaint

Chapter: Movements in Taeman

Chapter: Accepting a Student and Paying a Favor

Chapter: Kick-starting a Mana System

Chapter: Rolling Intimidation Stat

Chapter: Buying Spree

Chapter: Return

Chapter: Dungeon core’s growth

Chapter: Passing on Teachings

Chapter: Path to the Realms

Chapter: Turning a Profit

Chapter: Breakthrough

Chapter: Body Alteration

Chapter: Increasing Combat Capabilities

Chapter: A Trip?

Chapter: Metal Floor

Chapter: Compressing Mana Core

Chapter: Third Realm Awaits

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Chapter: Kaeju City

Erik and Rugrat blinked, getting rid of the dazzling white light.

“Damn! That’s a big ass flashbang,” Rugrat complained.

They could see that they were in a new kind of square, but this one had more people than in Chonglu. The buildings were of a higher quality and the entire place displayed a qualitative difference.

“Do you feel that?” Rugrat took a deep breath in, pulling the denser Mana into his body.

“Yeah,” Erik said, feeling his body relax.

“New arrivals, move forward and pay your fee to enter Kaeju city or be escorted out of the city,” a guard yelled, his tone bored as if he had been yelling the same thing for too long.

“Well, new realm, new world, still same old customs,” Rugrat said as they looked at the tellers who looked not too different compared to the immigration gates one might find in an airport back on Earth.

The two of them looked at each other and let out a snort before they walked forward to pay their dues and enter the sprawling city. An excited look landed in their eyes as they wondered what kind of things they would find in this new realm.

“Fifteen Silver,” the guard said in a bored tone.

Erik and Rugrat winced and pulled out the money.

***

In Alva Dungeon, the dungeon’s department heads were all sitting in the dungeon headquarters. The dungeon core hummed below them.

Even Taran was there. He looked haggard but there was an energy in his eyes and a smell of metal that drew one’s attention.

Elise cleared her throat. With Erik and Rugrat gone, she had unconsciously taken over the leadership position among the department heads.

As the former leader of Alva Village, Blaze could have tried for the position but he was happier leaving all of the major issues to others as he focused on the scouting and fighting that happened outside of the dungeon.

“We’ll go around the room through each department head. Glosil, how are we looking?” she said as everyone looked to the previous city guard captain. He had now been placed as the defense captain. It was his job to settle disputes within Alva, to defend it if need be and he commanded all of the military personnel inside the dungeon.

“Currently we have two sections that are focusing on defending the dungeon, rotating watches on the exterior dungeon entrance, manning defenses, and scouting the surrounding area. They are on week-long rotations between being on watch and training in the barracks. We have three sections that are training within the dungeon. We are looking to create a new training regimen that is located in the barracks for combat mastery. Like the academy that can increase one’s abilities in different crafting and skills, the combat mastery class focuses on fighting. People go through different fighting technique manuals that we have gained and fight among one another to increase their combat ability. It will take up more healing resources as people might get hurt but I think that it will greatly improve combat ability. I also propose that we only have this class for people in the Alva military or militia,” Glosil said. “In the future, people who gain access to this information will have to swear special oaths. Otherwise they can only get access to the basic training information.”

Elise looked around the table. “Does anyone disagree?”

Seeing no one raise any objections, she nodded. “Very well. The combat mastery classes will fall under your purview, Glosil.”

Glosil nodded to everyone before sitting back in his seat.

Next was Blaze. He was in command of the entire military, but the two would rotate between external and internal operations. He was in charge of the external operation currently. That meant he commanded sections and parties that moved beyond Alva Dungeon, hunting down Mana beasts, keeping the area around Alva Dungeon clear, as well as mapping out possible routes to surrounding outposts that they might be able to trade at.

Erik and Rugrat had given them their map information but there was still plenty to be discovered.

“We have a total of forty people, not including the quick reaction party that is moving through the Beast Mountain Range. The QRF party led by Storbon scouted out the Wild Reaches Trading Outpost and is moving toward Chonglu, where they will ascend to the Second Realm. Parties are pushing out toward other outposts to see what missions they might be able to gain. We’re ready to send out our first trading convoy as needed.” Blaze looked to Jasper before continuing. “We have also found an iron vein in our scouting. We do not know what its true size is.”

His words caused a stir in the room. Finding a new resource vein was nothing simple. It could raise a simple village into a town or even city if it contained gems or other rare resources.

“Iron you say?” Taran asked with a smile on his face.

“We’ll go over it later. Blaze, do you have anything else to add?” Elise reprimanded lightly, making sure the meeting didn’t get bogged down.

“That’s it,” Blaze said.

“Good. Taran?”

“’Bout time. Need to get back to my smithy,” Taran complained. The others could only smile faintly. He had always hung out in his smithy, but he had usually been relaxing and smoking his pipe. He had accepted his fate, the fact that he wouldn’t advance again. When Rugrat had entered his smithy, his inferiority complex had been challenged and he was determined to not be outdone by the new guy in his smithy.

It had brought back his motivation and his competitive spirit. To get an edge on Rugrat and increase his own skills, Taran hadn’t even touched his pipe in a while and spent as much time as possible in front of his forge.

His role as the academy head took away his time, but his no-nonsense manner made him surprisingly efficient in either agreeing or chasing people out of his smithy for wasting his damned time!

“We’ve had an influx of thirty-seven students across all disciplines. Not including people from the military. Egbert has taken over the administrative needs of the academy for the large part, but anything that requires my agreement wanders into my damn smithy without a lick of sense.” Taran grumbled out the last part.

“We have added two more disciplines: healing, which will be carried out by the hospital, and farming, which will occur in the greenhouses. We felt that farming, although it is connected to cooking, would not fall under the cookhouse because they’re vastly different disciplines even though their products are interconnected. Also, beast taming and husbandry has been started in the beast stables. Hopefully we’ll have some panthers that are ready for masters in a few months.” The academy had become the core of the dungeon, with nearly everyone being a student or working for the academy directly or indirectly. People were quickly advancing their skills and Alva Dungeon was undergoing an explosive growth. Their population hadn’t increased but with their people able to do more, their future was limitless. “Though we are running into a supply issue. We need to send out a trade convoy as soon as possible to make up for lost or used materials.”

Taran sat back, finished.

“Jasper?” Elise asked.

“We’ve completed the warehouse district and the market. We have some trading going on but we’re in need of a greater selection and more items from the outside world that we can’t produce yet. We’ve put forward twenty percent of our lowest ranked monster cores to power the automations that are increasing the size of the greenhouses and consumed by the dungeon core to power the city. We are ready to send out three trade convoys to the outposts that have been located. We have got lists from the different department heads and people from within the city. Based on these, we know what to look for.”

“We must not forget the secondary missions of the trade convoys,” Elise said.

“To look for new blood to join Alva Dungeon and to gather in-depth information on the different groups that surround Beast Mountain.” Jasper nodded. “We have not forgotten.”

Elise nodded, reassured by Jasper’s words.

“Our greenhouses have reached a point where they can meet our food requirements. I am told that with some research and time to increase people’s skills that we will soon not only be able to just meet people’s food needs, but surpass them. People in government positions are earning gold from their pursuits. The trade convoys are currently controlled by us but in the future, other groups from Alva Dungeon will also venture out to do their own trade. Taran, I want you to put together a group that will check out the newly discovered iron vein and make up a plan to mine it. In the last week, all of the academy teachers have broken through at least Apprentice level in their main skill. When Rugrat and Erik return with the dungeon core, I want them to see a changed Alva Dungeon. This might be the First Realm, but with the right foundation, we can grow into a city with Expert- and Master-skilled people walking the streets. This is the goal of Alva Dungeon: to grow Experts and build a deep foundation that works together.”

Elise looked at the department heads. She saw the fire in their eyes. Everyone was pursuing their goals with everything they had. She had thought the idea ludicrous and she still thought it was insane.

But what would that future be like if we were able to complete Erik and Rugrat’s vision? To be able to support them instead of having to put all of the weight and troubles on their shoulders?

***

Erik and Rugrat didn’t know the big changes that were going on in Alva Dungeon. Instead, they had sour expressions on their faces as they paid the toll to enter Kaeju city.

“Fifteen silvers. Fifteen silvers!” Rugrat grumbled like an old miser.

Erik could only shake his head.

“Fifteen silvers just to enter the city! If I didn’t see them calling the same out to others, I would think it was highway robbery!” Rugrat complained.

The Ten Realms totem allowed one to ascend. If one paid a price in monster cores or Mana stones, then they could randomly teleport to another totem, or if they had been to a totem previously, they could select it and travel to it again. One could also descend realms to other totems they had been to before or randomize where they would appear.

In the First Realm, it was too expensive to do. In the Second Realm, only powerful people or merchants were willing to pay the cost to move between different locations, but there was still some traffic.

With Erik and Rugrat activating the totem together, they had been recognized as a group and sent to the same location.

“At least we were able to get some information on apothecaries and smithies,” Erik said.

“For ten more silver,” Rugrat muttered. As a profession that ate up money, both Erik and Rugrat were slowly turning into misers who complained at the slightest loss in money.

They looked around before they headed into an alleyway.

A screen appeared in front of Erik as Rugrat kept a look out.

==========

Skill: Dungeon Sense

==========

You can sense dungeons within a 5km radius. As you increase the level of your dungeon, your Dungeon Sense’s power will increase.

Can be cast once per day.

==========

Cooldown: 1 day

==========

“Yes,” Erik said.

A formless wave seemed to shoot out from him in every direction. It passed through buildings and walls as if they didn’t exist.

Erik and Rugrat could see it but no one else seemed to react even as the wave passed through them.

Erik sensed different things, but nothing that seemed to feel like it was a dungeon. He opened his eyes while Rugrat looked back at him.

“Nothing.” Erik shook his head.

“Oh, well.” Rugrat shrugged. “What’s next?”

Erik took a moment before collecting his thoughts.

“We need to find a dungeon and increase our strength. We might be able to rule the First Realm but in the Second Realm, we’re only mid-range nobodies. We can try to learn more information on dungeons from the Blue Lotus. Then we should head out of the city to increase our strength.”

Erik had a sample of the marrow poison that had infected Chonglu’s children. With the powerful poison, Erik would be able to complete the seven temperings, formally stepping on the first stage of the Body Cultivation path, reaching the Body Like Stone level of body cultivation.

Rugrat, on the other hand, was readying himself to attack his thirteenth Mana gate, the final gate one could “open.” Rugrat wasn’t able to open it by himself, but with what they had learned with opening Qin Silaz’s Mana gate, they could use the same method to open it slowly.

“Blue Lotus it is,” Rugrat said in an excited voice. He had a number of armor pieces that he was interested in getting appraised. Rugrat had made a ton of armor, mostly reforging the limited metal he had over and over again. Though there was just him and Taran to look over the finished products, getting another opinion and seeing how his armor compared to others ignited Rugrat’s competitive spirit. Even if it was terrible, it would allow him to learn from their words.

They left the alleyway and asked for directions. They headed off through the hot and busy Kaeju city toward the Blue Lotus.

***

Disciple Ban Tong stepped out of his carriage wearing a clean white robe. Designs that looked faintly like formations were sewn into his robe with golden thread, making him look elegant and refined.

“That must be Ban Tong from the Kerose Institute that rules over Kaeju city. I heard that his genius was even noticed by the Blue Lotus, who sent a formations Master who accepted him as an apprentice,” someone muttered to their neighbor.

“Not only a person from our Kerose Institute, but someone accepted by the Blue Lotus? Truly, his future will be incredible,” their friend said.

“The Kerose Institute truly raises dragons. They might specialize in formations, but how would they dominate three cities if they weren’t strong?” Another person boasted about Kaeju city’s true rulers.

“If my daughter was able to marry a man as refined as Ban Tong, then my job as a mother would be done!” another said laughingly.

Their words fell into Ban Tong’s ears, increasing the brightness of his smile as his disposition seemed to increase another level.

Ban Tong ascended the stairs slowly. People moved aside for him as he walked up, taking his time and enjoying in the moment.

“I told you that we should have gone left at Su Ran’s tailor shop,” a man complained to his fellow.

“I know, but those dumplings smelled so good,” the other man said as they walked up the stairs. They walked past Ban Tong, who was taking his time going up the steps.

“You think something big is going on? Look at all these people,” the taller one said as they moved up ahead of Ban Tong, not caring for him and ruining his ascent.

Ban Tong’s face twisted. His whole walk toward the Blue Lotus and ascending the stairs, which had looked like a hero ascending the heavens, now looked like some simple-minded fool holding up everyone else trying to get into the Blue Lotus.

It only took a small act, but the sanctity of the moment was ruined completely.

Feeling the mocking smiles and slight laughter that rose on people’s lips, brought on by these two’s actions, Ban Tong’s body shook with anger.

He had held a high position since a young child. Now, at seventeen, when he wanted to show off to everyone about his accomplishments and look good in front of the girls in the square, these two simple-minded idiots had ruined it all!

“What do you think you’re doing!” he yelled out at the two men.

“Going inside,” the tall man said. His words made it seem as if he were talking to an idiot who couldn’t see what was happening right in front of their face. They didn’t even stop their steps.

Ban Tong shook, unable to express his anger. “Clear my path,” he yelled to the guards who had followed him.

They rushed forward up the steps. The two men were almost inside the Blue Lotus now.

The guards rushed forward but as the two men entered into the Blue Lotus, seemingly oblivious of what was happening behind them, two Experts seemed to appear from the sides of the Blue Lotus gate. The guards halted their steps.

The Blue Lotus guard looked at Ban Tong. He seemed to recognize him and lowered his hand. The guards didn’t dare to move.

“Since it is young Ban Tong here, we will let this infraction go. But remember that the Blue Lotus does not allow any fighting inside its halls,” one of the Experts said.

Ban Tong, realizing that he was in the wrong and knowing that the Expert was giving him a lot of respect not throwing his guards out, could only bury his anger and bow slightly to the Expert.

“This one acted too rashly. I am sorry,” Ban Tong said.

The Expert looked him over, giving a slight nod before he and the other Blue Lotus guard moved back to their sentry positions.

Ban Tong continued up the remaining stairs with none of the previous atmosphere. He snapped his fingers and an aide appeared at his side.

“Find out their information immediately,” he hissed. He didn’t know who these two people were, but they didn’t seem too strong. Before acting, he wanted to know whether they had a backing and what his actions might bring.

Chapter: At the End of a Bow

“Looks like they’re not ones to update their style,” Rugrat said.

The top of the building looked like a half-opened lotus. The interior was refined and simple, with an opulent air.

The building looked identical to the Blue Lotus in Chonglu, but its scale and the level of opulence had increased greatly.

There were people talking at different counters and going into private appraisal rooms. Others browsed the catalogue for the next auction that would be coming up.

Erik and Rugrat went to the last area where there were things on display and for sale. At the Chonglu location, one could only check the auction book.

There were glass boxes holding all kinds of items, from weapons to technique and information books. Rare materials and products from the higher realms—everything could be found in those boxes.

Rugrat’s gaze was attracted by a set of black and blue boots. They seemed simple on the outside but Rugrat could tell that their craftsmanship was incredible.

Studying so many different kinds of blueprints, and information books, as well as the practical building that he had done, Rugrat had grown his ability to appraise and understand works by other smiths.

He looked at these boots with interest.

“They’re made from one sheet of metal that has been hammered and tempered into iron. From the Mana, it must be half Mortal iron.” Rugrat didn’t sound dismissive. Whoever the smith was, they were able to get to the half Mortal iron stage. Just refining this kind of metal took a lot of iron. He was also trying to refine Mortal-grade iron. It was his biggest bottleneck currently.

He made various weapons and armors but his materials were limited. So far he had only used iron in limited amounts. If he was able to use Mortal-grade iron, then he could increase the quality of his products. It was so hard to buy, so he would need to refine it himself. Honestly, he preferred it that way. It was more work, but then he would know the characteristics of the ore and refined ingots he was working with.

Erik was looking at the array of Alchemy products that were on display, his expression a bit sour. Rugrat had surged ahead with his smithing abilities but Erik, who craved for Alchemy knowledge, wasn’t able to find much. He had a lot of theory, but before he could get any kind of practical knowledge, or even practice Alchemy with Alchemist Tommins, he had rushed off for Chonglu and now the Blue Lotus in search of a dungeon core.

The Blue Lotus servers didn’t pay them attention as Rugrat and Erik continued to browse.

They both wore dark cloaks over their armor, hiding it from view, and from the way they acted, it was clearly their first time being in the Blue Lotus. People browsed all the time but few could actually place bids on the items that were displayed.

***

Ban Tong took a few moments to compose himself. He needed to re-adjust his mental state before he met the formation Master from the Blue Lotus.

He headed off toward the viewing hall that showed off the goods that the Blue Lotus would be auctioning off in the future.

Looking at the amazing things that other formation Masters had made, it only inspired him to try harder and shoot higher, surpassing his previous limits.

Before he entered the hall, his sound transmission device lit up with a message. He listened to it before he frowned and then gritted his teeth together. His hands balled up into fists as he stormed into the hall.

Two nothings from the First Realm! They dare to spit in my face and ruin the day that I join the Blue Lotus! He was filled with indignant rage at these two old fogeys who had barely made it into the Second Realm.

He turned a corner, seeing the two men looking at different objects in the viewing hall, muttering to each other. Ban Tong’s eyes nearly jumped out as his guards all stiffened.

“You!” Ban Tong yelled out, unable to hold it anymore. He pointed at them and rushed forward, as if he were some sheriff prosecuting the law’s greatest offenders.

What right did these First Realmers have to talk down to me!

The taller man, who was looking at a finely crafted metal staff, seemed to awaken from a strange state as he looked over at Ban Tong rushing toward them.

“Do you First Realmers not know your place?!” Ban Tong yelled out.

“Do you only fucking yell?!” The man’s expression turned thunderous. His voice snapped through the air.

Something primal chilled in the guards and Ban Tong. It was stronger in the guards, who remembered the times that they had started training and their training staff had snapped out an order.

Ban Tong momentarily lost his words. He was only a boy, after all. Being yelled at by an adult when he had been pampered and raised up by the Kerose Institute—it was a first for him.

“First! You prance up the goddamn stairs like you own the fucking place, then you send your guards after us. Now you’re raising a ruckus here! If you continue, I will tan your fucking backside. Your parents might not have taught you manners, boy, but I sure as hell will!” The man’s voice wasn’t a threat; it was an ironclad truth.

Even Ban Tong was stunned a bit by the man’s yell, how fast he snapped words together, not even leaving time for breathing.

Guards from the Blue Lotus moved over. Seeing them, Ban Tong grew in confidence.

“You First Realmers dare to attack me in Kaeju city! Let alone in the Blue Lotus! I am Ban Tong, former Apprentice to the Kerose Institute’s formations Master, Yi Chen, and Apprentice formations Master trainee to the Blue Lotus!” Ban Tong declared. “I ask, what are you doing here in the Blue Lotus other than wasting time and trying to deface this place?”

If he could get them thrown out of the Blue Lotus, then it would satisfy at least some of the pettiness in his heart. Making them look like poor fools as they had ruined his spotlight earlier.

“I’m selling armor.” The larger man pulled out a simple gauntlet from his storage ring.

Ban Tong took one glance at the simple-looking gauntlet and sneered. It was only made from iron and he wished to sell it to the Blue Lotus? Truly, the dumb had courage!

***

Su Wei, the leader of the Kaeju Blue Lotus, sipped tea with his honored guest, formations Master Pan Lim.

Pan Lim was a formations Master of the Blue Lotus. The Blue Lotus was a massive system of auction houses and people. Their background wasn’t simple.

They had people of all different crafting backgrounds in their ranks. With the best weapons, armor, and aids to increase their power, people from the Blue Lotus weren’t to be taken lightly.

On this occasion, he was looking for an acceptable Apprentice.

“Good tea,” Pan Lim praised. He was full of smiles as Su Wei smiled.

Su Wei was a powerful figure in Kaeju city, but he was just the manager of a Blue Lotus location. Pan Lim was a Journeyman formations Master in his early fifties. He had already reached level twenty-three, meaning he would at least live two hundred years if he wasn’t killed before then or he didn’t use some kind of resources and items to extend his life. In the eyes of the Blue Lotus, he had a great future ahead of him. Su Wei, who was only level twenty, was skilled in appraising and management; there were many like him.

“Master Pan Lim honors me.” Su Wei bowed slightly to the other man.

A light flashed on his sound transmission device and his expression turned dark. This better be good, he thought, seeing the displeasure on Pan Lim’s face.

“I am sorry, Master Pan Lim. It seems that something has come up,” he said with an awkward smile.

“It is no worry. We all work for the Blue Lotus in the end,” Pan Lim said with an easy smile.

Su Wei let out a short laugh and nodded, taking the call. His expression went through several changes before it darkened.

The sound transmission stopped as Pan Lim sipped from his cup.

“Is there an issue?” Pan Lim asked.

“I am sorry but it looks like Ban Tong and some people have gotten into a confrontation in the viewing hall. I will go and take a look.”

“You said Ban Tong is involved?” Pan Lim frowned slightly.

“That’s correct,” Su Wei said.

“It explains why he is running behind. I will accompany you.” Pan Lim put down the tea and stood.

“As Master Pan Lim desires.” Su Wei quickly led Pan Lim out of the room and toward the viewing hall where Ban Tong was yelling out insults and the Blue Lotus guards were looking to kick out the two people who were raising a ruckus.

***

“You think that such a shitty gauntlet can get the attention of the Blue Lotus? Do you not know where you are?” Ban Tong jeered as he saw the gauntlet in Rugrat’s hand.

Erik looked at the surrounding guards with a detached look, observing them and mentally appraising them. It wasn’t looking good.

“Rugrat, let’s go.” He put his hand on Rugrat’s shoulder. He didn’t want to get into a fight here. These guards were using powerful weapons and armor; the way they moved showed that they had seen combat and trained to a high standard.

He didn’t want to get into a fight with them if he could help it.

Rugrat opened his mouth as if to argue but closed it as he saw Erik’s eyes. He, too, looked at the guards that were around them. “Fuck this place.” Rugrat threw the gauntlet into his storage ring.

They moved through the viewing hall. A group of people were filling up the area to see what was going on.

Erik and Rugrat headed for the exit.

“Now you’re scared of your lacking skills—you want to run!” Ban Tong jeered. “Guards, stop them!” Ban Tong called out imperiously.

“Who dares to create a commotion in my Blue Lotus!” a man called out, his anger clear. Two men appeared, one with his hands in his robe, an aloof look on his face; the other furious, his hair tied up in a bun. He’d been the one to yell out.

He saw the guards and the two men. The guards bowed and moved to the side as the Blue Lotus guards moved up behind their leader.

“All right, which one of you pussies wants to die first?” Rugrat pulled back on his bow. A spell fell on the arrow. The room seemed to freeze. Rugrat was aiming right at the angry man.

Rugrat saw something annoying off to the side: Ban Tong stood there with a joyous look on his face at the two men’s fate.

“Best to remove the useless fops before something goes wrong.” Rugrat’s point of aim changed.

The color drained from Ban Tong’s face as he looked at Rugrat’s impassive face.

***

Su Wei had charged into the viewing hall, expecting an argument. Instead, he found a group of guards from the Kerose Institute blocking two men. When he had yelled out, the archer had locked onto him and he paused half a step.

He had met people of all kinds over the years, but this one made his heart stop for a second. He was a killer: the coldness in his eyes, the analysis that was going on, planning out who he would fight, and the different moves he would take.

Su Wei sighed as the man’s point of aim changed. He wanted to swear as he saw the cocky Ban Tong, who had been sneering off to the side, turning pale.

Su Wei had a powerful level and had dealt with all kinds of situations; Ban Tong was but a pampered youth.

Pan Lim let out an angry breath, infusing his Mana into it. It turned into a physical thing. Before it reached the archer, it dissipated, as if the Mana didn’t want to hurt him.

These men aren’t simple.

For the first time, Su Wei looked at them, really studied them—their armor, the way they acted.

“That armor...” Su Wei had risen through the ranks as an appraiser. There was little that could escape his eyes and he had always been interested in smithing. He hadn’t had a talent for it, but he liked to read about it.

Seeing the armor, he could confirm that it was made from iron, but the way it was made—all of its strength had been pulled out. The armor wasn’t flashy, but it was powerful. It wasn’t simple. Many made flashy weapons and armor to get a better price, but it was these low quality-looking items that were worth more. If your enemy didn’t think that you were using anything but junk, wouldn’t their confidence soar?

“T-teacher!” Ban Tong yelled out.

“What is the reason for this disagreement? This is not Kaeju city, but the Blue Lotus!” Pan Lim said, his anger reaching new heights.

Su Wei had a bad feeling in his stomach.

Chapter: Slapping Oneself

“What right do you have to brandish weapons in this Blue Lotus?” Pan Lim said before Su Wei could speak.

“Fucking hell. These people are all pricks—can’t enter, can’t leave. The fuck is with them?” the taller one asked the other. They were looking out for each other’s backs without even saying a word to each other.

Su Wei didn’t feel like anything was going their way.

Pan Lim was about to shout out when the infuriating tall one called out again.

“I was thinking of selling some armor here, but then I’ve been set on by this useless child here. Got his panties in a fucking bunch because we cut in front of him. Sorry, just wanted to get inside, not wait for Sir Shiny Cloak to walk up the fucking stairs like he’s some kind of reigning king,” Rugrat said.

Pan Lim was shocked with the stream of words. “What goods could you possibly sell here?” Pan Lim picked up on the subject that would bring the most shame and embarrassment to the man.

The tall man grabbed out a gauntlet and threw it at Pan Lim. “This, you fucking dumb-assed alligator fucking chicken! I swear to God, I’m about to go nuclear up in this bitch. They fucking understand a goddamn fucking thing I’m saying?” the man yelled.

The Mana in the room started to fluctuate as Su Wei and the others looked at one another.

Mana Gathering cultivator—powerful one and multiple open Mana gates. This is emotional resonance with the Mana around him!

It wasn’t an attacking function but it made it hard for others to replenish their Mana while increasing the Mana recovery speed of the one with more open gates.

Pan Lim, on the other hand, had caught the gauntlet. He was about to yell out and throw it back when he stopped.

“You dare to talk to a formations Master of the Blue Lotus like that!” Ban Tong couldn’t help but yell out.

The man drew on the bow so fast and snapped it up to Ban Tong. “One more fucking word out of your cock holster and I will nail you to the fucking wall like you’re a fucking tapestry.” The man’s voice was cold and rang with surety.

“Rugrat,” the other man said calmly.

“It’s been a fucking frustrating Monday!” Rugrat yelled back.

“I think it’s Tuesday,” the other man said, unruffled.

“Prick.” But Rugrat smiled.

Even with all of the threats around him and the promise of death, the two of them were grinning. Su Wei couldn’t really understand the two men.

“This...” Pan Lim said, shocked.

Su Wei turned his eyes to the gauntlet. Looking at it first, it seemed to be ordinary. Though it was actually iron exterior with silver and gold layered inside, creating a hidden formation array inside the gauntlet.

“What is it, Master Pan Lim?” Su Wei asked in a low voice.

“These formations—they’re Journeyman grade, though that’s not the biggest thing.” Pan Lim took a deep breath. As he let it out, he spoke in a rush. “If I’m not incorrect, he forged the entire gauntlet from just three iron ingots and then completed the formation. It’s basic but the later finishing stages already show signs of further refinement.”

Su Wei was shocked by such a revelation. Making a formation was hard by itself; creating a formation while you were making something as complicated as a gauntlet...

Just what level smith is he? Or formations Master? Su Wei felt that his world was falling out from underneath him. To have such an Expert in his Blue Lotus was an amazing gift. But now, through Ban Tong, they had thoroughly angered them.

Ban Tong, who had been through so many ups and downs today, had a wild look in his eyes. “Even if I struck you down, no one would attack me. I am a person of the Blue Lotus!” Ban Tong started to laugh when Pan Lim’s vision cleared.

“Ban Tong, quiet!” Pan Lim yelled out, cutting off Ban Tong, who looked at his half teacher in confusion.

They hadn’t completed the student/teacher relationship, but Pan Lim had already passed on some materials and items to increase Ban Tong’s understanding of formations. The ceremony was but a forgotten formality.

Ban Tong nearly choked on his next words as he looked at Pan Lim in confusion.

Pan Lim, on the other hand, gave the gauntlet to Su Wei. He might be a formations Master but Su Wei had gotten to his position by being a highly valued appraiser.

Su Wei took the gauntlet. His comparisons met with what Pan Lim had said previously. He cast a spell on the gauntlet; in his eyes, the gauntlet showed a faint blue color. When looking at Rugrat, he was the same color.

The spell was used to verify whether a person made the object.

With it, Su Wei was assured; the shock was much greater than when he had heard of Ban Tong’s abilities. He was barely an Apprentice in the formation skill, though with the metalworking and the formation, it might not be powered but the gauntlet was a Journeyman-condition piece with an Apprentice-leveled formation contained within.

An Expert of two different skills and able to combine them freely.

Su Wei could only look to Pan Lim. Awkward smiles appeared on their faces. They’d truly stepped in it today.

Pan Lim felt even worse. He had disregarded and tried to publicly embarrass him, and by all standards, he might be more advanced than him.

The Blue Lotus focused on creating close relationships with powerful people. If others were to learn that they had alienated a budding crafter, it wouldn’t look good on either of them.

Pan Lim might be an Expert within the Blue Lotus, but Su Wei was the manager of this Blue Lotus and had complete control over the people here.

“Lower your weapons and go back to your duties,” Su Wei said. The Blue Lotus guards were a bit shocked, but it was an order from their manager so they quickly moved away.

The people surrounding them were a bit shocked by his actions.

“Dismissing the guards even as someone has their bow drawn? What is this?”

“Who are they to make Manager Su Wei act so?”

“That gauntlet looks simple, but look at formation Master Pan Lim’s face—it looks rather ugly, no?”

All kinds of comments could be heard as Su Wei showed an awkward smile.

“I am sorry for the way that you have been treated. Would you like to take this to a private room where we can talk?” Su Wei asked.

The man Rugrat seemed to only become more enraged before the other talked in his ear. They looked at each other as if they could communicate by look alone.

The bow and arrow disappeared into the man’s storage ring.

“Very well,” Rugrat said. They pulled out cloaks and put it over their armor. Hats also appeared and they used them to obscure their features and hide their weapons underneath.

Su Wei, who hadn’t been paying much attention to the other man, now gave him a deeper look. Still, he couldn’t figure out much more. He hadn’t pulled out a weapon even as he looked ready to fight. He also seemed to be calmer than Rugrat.

Simply put, he seemed to be a side character or a guard.

He’s probably Mister Rugrat’s guard, though he must have defended him for a long time to have his words listened to by his Master.

Due to Su Wei’s upbringing and the way of the Ten Realms, he didn’t give the other man another glance as he quickly led the group away.

Pan Lim had a forced smile on his face as he held onto the gauntlet awkwardly.

***

It was just a few moments later but they were now back in Su Wei’s office with a new pot of tea. Su Wei had poured for everyone. Pan Lim took some with a thankful gaze; the other two men simply sat on the other couch, hidden in their doupengs, a conical hat with a veil that fell down to cover one’s face and cloaks.

The guard casually drank the tea as Su Wei cleared his throat.

“Again, I am sorry for the disturbance downstairs,” Su Wei said.

“I’m here to sell items and get information,” Rugrat said.

“I am Su Wei, the manager of this Blue Lotus.”

“I am Pan Lim, an Apprentice formations Master of the Blue Lotus,” Pan Lim said, recovering some of his standing.

“Apprentice? Do you know any Journeyman formations Masters?” Rugrat leaned forward in interest.

Pan Lim nearly choked on his tea at Rugrat’s words.

“Mister Rugrat should know how hard it is to find a Journeyman formations Master,” Su Wei said, covering for Pan Lim.

“Looks like we won’t be finding a Master-level formations Master here. Kind of annoying that there are two Masters in the name,” Rugrat muttered to his guard, who simply sighed.

Su Wei was only able to pick it up with the training he had undergone to improve his hearing. It was a simple trick but it made it harder for people to have private discussions by themselves.

“May I ask what kinds of items you want to sell and the information you need?” Su Wei asked.

Rugrat seemed to pause.

Su Wei cleared his throat and set down his tea. “One thing that Mister Rugrat might not know of is the Blue Lotus Oath. It is something that governs how we act. We will not pass on seller’s information but to other Blue Lotus staff. We will abide by every contract that is signed by a Blue Lotus employee, as long as it is done in good faith. We will not look to harm any customers or sellers unless they break the rules of the Blue Lotus. This is an oath that we make to the Blue Lotus and we make upon the Ten Realms.”

Rugrat seemed to take a few moments before he waved his hand. Two daggers, two gauntlets, a breast plate, and a shield appeared, all of them made with iron. Each and every piece was of Journeyman-level quality. Though only the gauntlets and one of the daggers had formations on them.

A formation was engraved into the dagger, enchanting it, showing that it was a Journeyman-level item. Although it was easier to do, the level of the formation increased in power.

“I don’t know if these are any good.” Rugrat pulled out another twenty metal plates. They were covered in carvings, magical circles that connected to one another, creating impressive formations. Most of the formations were Mana gathering formations; others were made to create light.

All of them are well made, but there are no gems inserted into them to act as a Mana source. Are these all just Mana based? The formations themselves should be of a mid-Apprentice level, but then the power systems are nonexistent.

“May I?” Su Wei asked, indicating to the items on the table.

Rugrat nodded.

Su Wei picked up the armor. It was well made but limited by the materials. “Iron armor, well made. Journeyman-level workmanship at least.” Su Wei found it hard to hold back his surprise. To bring iron, a simple metal, to this level showed the skill of the blacksmith.

Pan Lim picked up one of the formations. “This metal has been used many times, reforged again and again, from weapons to armor, to formation plates. This was iron ore mined from an open pit iron mine and refined in a coal-burning smithy. Part of the smith’s Mana has bled into the iron, increasing its purity and strength. It’s reached the level of half Mortal iron, being handled for so long by the same smith and infused with Mana.” Pan Lim looked at Rugrat with greater respect before he turned to the plate again.

“This is a basic Mana gathering formation. It should gather all ambient Mana within five meters and focus it internally, but there isn’t a gem or core within the formation to store the energy.” Pan Lim’s voice turned disappointed.

“I didn’t think to store the energy,” Rugrat admitted.

Su Wei was a bit shocked. Even Novice formation Masters would know this. Based on his work, he was a genius, but why did he sound like he barely knew anything at the same time?

“I built it to supply power to the other formations,” Rugrat said.

“Linking formations?” Pan Lim quickly looked over the other formation plates. After some time, he put them down, his face pale. “I have heard of one or two formations being interconnected. But I haven’t heard of multiple formations being interconnected, even interchangeable with one another.”

“It’s a bit complicated, but as long as you use the same base knowledge and think not of just the formation you’re building, but the system of formations that it will create, it becomes much easier,” Rugrat said. “What’s the purpose of the jewels for Mana retainment?”

Pan Lim’s face was flush as he thought of the new possibilities that Rugrat’s ideas brought.

“So, everything in the Ten Realms is capable of absorbing Mana. Metals like silver, gold, thorium, obsidium, and elementium allow greater control over Mana and are great conductors for it. Jewels are good at collecting, holding, and then discharging Mana. None of them are greater than Mana stones, but although Mana stones can gather all kinds of Mana, the jewels are more specific, gathering different elementally orientated Mana, like diamonds are great at collecting Fire-orientated Mana as they have been subjected to massive heat and pressure to be created.”

Su Wei sat back, seeing the excitement in Pan Lim and Rugrat’s body language as they leaned forward.

“The energy of these jewels can be used and directed through formations to create an effect. Think of a spell: there is the power, function, and direction. The power is the jewels, with the function and direction controlled by the formation.”

“Then, lining up the attributes of the formation with specific kinds of jewels will increase the effects,” Rugrat said, catching on.

“Exactly! Jewels are used in the lower realms. As one moves higher, then people use monster cores or Mana stones instead,” Pan Lim said.

“When the jewels are used, what happens?” Rugrat asked.

“If they are drained of all power, then they will turn to dust and fall apart. They can be recharged by directly injecting them with non-attribute Mana, or with Mana that is directly aligned with its attributes. Also one can use Mana stones to restore power,” Pan Lim said.

“So, if I was to incorporate jewels, then I could alter and focus the Mana that is channeled into a formation, increasing the power that it produces,” Rugrat said, his tone completely different from how it had been, as if he were realizing something new.

If he was able to make these without this basic knowledge, what will he do in the future? Su Wei couldn’t help but think off to the side.

The two of them sunk back into their seats as if reviewing what the other had said. Pan Lim’s eyes shone. This was completely different than his normal aloof figure; instead, this was the heart of someone who pursued their craft fully.

Rugrat seemed to calm down after a few minutes. “Oh, yes, so, the information. I am looking for dungeons, smiths who are capable of refining Mortal iron, formation Masters, as well as anything on Alchemy and alchemists.”

Pan Lim looked to Su Wei. This was his city, after all. He knew it better than any other.

“This...” Su Wei thought for a moment before nodding to himself, compiling all the information.

“If one is interested in purchasing Alchemy goods, they should seek out the Black Cauldron. For information on a dungeon, there will be an auction in three weeks that will have a number of items up for sale. Among these is a journal that supposedly contains information on a desert dungeon and a piece of a map that supposedly leads to a dungeon. There are three tablets that one might be able to find the stone golems’ armory. Also a memory crystal that could hold memories of an adventurer. There are many such artifacts that are supposed to lead to dungeons. If one can conquer a dungeon, then they can harvest a great number of items from it, sell it on to powers, or if it is a rare event dungeon, they can continue to farm out the dungeon, or charge others who wish to travel into the dungeon.” Su Wei pinched his lips together before he shook his head.

“Formations Masters are rare. They become more abundant in the higher realms with more resources, but here there is only the Kerose Institute that might have information that interests you, or the information manuals that we auction off,” Pan Lim answered honestly.

“For a smith who can refine Mortal-grade ingots—” Su Wei frowned. “There is one person that I know of who knows how to refine such metals and might be willing to pass on her knowledge. But her situation is...awkward.”

“Explain,” Rugrat asked.

Su Wei found the blunt way Rugrat talked to be refreshing compared to the word games he had to play with others all the time.

“She is a smith who grew up in this city. Her parents didn’t have much money and she didn’t have forging designs or information books to rely on. Though there was a constant need for materials.

“She focused on refining ores into ingots. She started off small, got bigger and learned a great deal about smelting and making metals to specified requirements. She even got to the stage of turning iron into Mortal iron. At this stage, she had enough money to support her family.

“Once coming from the slums to a higher position, they used their daughter, taking and spending her money freely. They went into ruin and she lost her position, once again at the bottom.

“Now she has cut off all connections, focusing on making Mortal-grade iron to pay off the debts that her family incurred. No smith would usually sell their forging secrets, but Tan Xue might.” Talking of her story, Su Wei had a sour taste in the back of his mouth. But such was the way of the Ten Realms.

Silence lasted for a few seconds before Rugrat cleared his throat. “Okay, I’ll trade with the Blue Lotus, putting these items up for sale.” Rugrat indicated the items on the table.

“Very well. I will enter them into the auction set in six weeks,” Su Wei said with a pleased smile.

“If we have more items we wish to sell in the auction, will we be able to add them?” Rugrat asked.

“Certainly. Please take this as a token of my thanks and apology. This is a token for our valued customers. With it, you will be able to pass through a lot of the obstacles that others find in the Blue Lotus.” Su Wei smiled as he produced a finely worked metal token with the Blue Lotus’ information upon it. Su Wei had already marked the token; it would act as an identifier at any Blue Lotus location.

Rugrat hesitated before taking the token and standing. “Good doing business with you.” Rugrat held out his hand.

Su Wei put his hand forth and shook it. There were many greetings and good-byes across cultures and Su Wei worked to learn them all.

“Thank you for the talk. You opened my eyes.” Rugrat held out his hand to Pan Lim, who accepted it quickly.

“Thank you for opening mine as well.” Pan Lim’s expression turned dark. “I will see that Ban Tong learns from the incident downstairs.”

Rugrat nodded.

With that, the two men, with their cloaks and doupengs, departed Su Wei’s office.

Su Wei and Pan Lim looked to each other, filled with questions, before they looked at the items on the table.

Chapter: Meeting Masters

Erik reached a shop that smelled of aged wood and a mix of smells that tickled the nose with ever-changing scents. Erik saw a cauldron above the shop.

We have six weeks until the auction. Till then, we should increase our skills and the different items we can sell. There’s no knowing if there won’t be some noble or powerful group trying to get the dungeon information.

Although this was Erik and Rugrat’s resolve and they were excited to learn more about the crafting skills they’d picked, there was just three and a half months left. This was the timeline that they gave themselves to return to Alva Dungeon with a dungeon core to meet their power needs.

It made them want to grasp every opportunity to increase their strength, even if they were crafting skills.

Erik had removed the doupeng. Honestly, it was a pain in the ass to look out of.

With a deep breath, Erik collected himself and opened the door to the Black Cauldron.

Inside, there were various instruments that would have looked at home in a laboratory. There were all kinds of mortar and pestles, beakers, droppers, and even stones and metal instruments with formations carved into them that emitted a flame. Cauldrons and books were enclosed behind glass with more formations and runes etched onto their surface.

“What you looking for?” a man demanded, looking up from his book as he squinted at Erik.

“I’m looking for information about making potions,” Erik said.

The man lowered his book and looked over Erik again. “Seems that you have tried some Alchemy in the past.” The man’s statement was a prying question.

“I have read some on the basics of Alchemy. I have also tried to improve my skill by dealing with the basics of growing and harvesting,” Erik said.

“Starting from the basics instead of rushing ahead—now you’re looking to advance your simple knowledge.” The man’s expression softened some as he closed the book on the counter before walking around it. “Well, there are multiple paths of the alchemist. There is the basic making powders, which is for those who are unable to understand the complexities of Alchemy. Then there are potion makers, who are able to mix ingredients into potions capable of healing or creating effects to benefit people in battle, or heal them from disease and solve their hunger for weeks. Then there are the pill makers who can create miracles, fusing ingredients that have the power of dragons into a pill that one might be able to use in order to cure an impossible poison, to transform the body, and even open the fourteen gates!” The old man’s excitement built as he talked, a look of pride on his face as he talked about his passion.

“Now, being an alchemist and delving into the secrets of powders, pills, and potions is not cheap, nor is it easy. One might be stuck working to improve their art for decades before attaining a working product,” the man warned.

“I’d still like to try.” Erik smiled. The man’s energy was infectious.

“Good! Good!” The old man pressed a runed key against a glass cabinet. He talked to himself as he read spines of the books, tapping one and pulling it out. “This is The Basics of Alchemy, written by Norvis Beacham, one of the greatest alchemists to grace the Second Realm! It’s said that he made it all the way to the Eighth Realm, the Celestial Realm no less!” The old man had stars in his eyes as he talked.

“How much is the book?” Erik was short on funds, using the majority to increase the strength of Alva Dungeon, but he knew he needed this book to know whether it was worth making his own potions, pills, and powders.

“For a new alchemist, I’ll put it at sixty silver,” the older man said, quite proud of the price.

“Would you take forty?” Erik asked. He had to save every silver and copper possible.

“Fifty-eight.” The man’s eyes thinned.

“Forty-five, though I’ll only buy my supplies from you,” Erik said.

The man pursed his lips before letting out a breath. “Fifty-two, final offer. And I’ll help you along your path.”

Erik pondered for a few moments. If Su Wei sent him here, then he doubted that this man or this shop was simple. He didn’t know Su Wei too well but he doubted he would do anything nefarious to a potential customer.

Erik nodded and pulled out the silvers, passing them to the old man.

The silver disappeared into his ring of holding as a wry smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. “The old me knows a few things. It’s good to see that the younger generation values this kind of information so.” The old man chuckled. With a wave of his hand, he sent the book over to Erik.

Erik didn’t wait and opened it. A screen appeared above it.

==========

Information Book: Basic Effects of Alchemy Ingredients

==========

Do you wish to activate this Information book? Doing so will destroy this Information book.

==========

YES/NO

==========

Erik selected yes. His eyes went wide as information started to flood his mind. He remained unmoving as the pages of the book turned slowly at first before increasing in speed until the back cover of the book snapped closed.

The runes that had faded in and out over the book’s cover disappeared as the book deteriorated and turned into dust.

Erik closed his eyes as memories flooded his mind: dozens of plants, their characteristics, methods to harvest them, different ways to prepare them, and what effects each of these preparation methods would have on the ingredients.

He recalled the effects of a forest fennel he had cultivated and grown in one of the greenhouses in Alva Dungeon.

The plant had three growing stages. It would look similar to all other fennel except for a slight blue veining on the underside of its leaves. It would absorb the Mana of the area before hitting its second stage, where it would return Mana to the area, increasing the latent Mana of the area. In the third stage, it would release seeds to create more fennel. At this stage, it would no longer need to absorb Mana; instead, it would be like a normal plant but would release ambient Mana into the surrounding area.

The fennel could be used in order to create Mana Regeneration potions only when it was in the two later stages; when it was in its third stage, the potion would be much stronger. If it was harvested in the first stage, then it could create a poison that made it harder for the person to regenerate Mana.

Erik was a bit taken aback by the information. It not only said the benefits of the ingredients but it also said what poisons it might be able to make.

As he closed his eyes and thought of other ingredients, he saw that not all of them were harvested to create items to help people.

“Something the matter?” The old man picked up on Erik’s changing facial expressions.

While Erik had been absorbing the information, the old man sat down on a chair, casually reading a small tome.

“There are a number of poison properties and refinement methods listed.” Erik opened his eyes, his eyes cloudy with turbulence.

“Poisons are used as much, if not more than, reinforcing alchemic creations,” the old man said. “Many call alchemists ‘those who walk with death,’ saying that we can reward life or take it. I don’t know what the place you came from was like, but here, as the Ten Realms say, fortune favors the strong. If you’re not strong enough to hold onto something, don’t take it out. Otherwise, someone who is stronger than you will have eyes for it. Poisons can be applied to blades, arrows, or dispersed through the air with spells, giving people an advantage in battle. Many people get poisons to deal with the deadly beasts in the area, or to gain an advantage over an opponent.”

Erik was slightly taken aback by the old man’s nonchalant attitude toward poisons, but he had seen a large amount of the bad side of humanity on Earth. Poisons here were like rifles back on Earth: in certain places, if you didn’t have one, then it was inviting others to take advantage of you.

These Ten Realms were not some peaceful place. Erik’s eyes hardened.

The old man pulled out a small box made from carved stone. “There are a half dozen different seeds for some basic ingredients. Do not be in a rush to turn to formation. One must learn the basics from the beginning. The stronger your base, then the stronger your future achievements.” The old man passed over the items.

Erik took the offered items as the old man continued. “There are two things to remember. One can increase their base strength through evolution. The more effort over a long period of time you put into something, the faster your body will adapt and increase your base stats. The longer you run, the more your Agility will increase; run a bit faster, push past those limits and you will grow faster. The closer you get to the edge of dying, the greater the benefits. Alchemy assists in pushing one’s boundaries to promote growth. One has to not only be strong in abilities, but in will.

“The other thing is that the evolution of skills and levels, while it might be quick now, will not continue this way. You gain overall and skill levels based on your actions. You eat a plant; you grow a plant; you harvest, prepare, and form it into a product. Each of these steps are harder; as such, you will get more Experience each step you complete. The higher your Experience, the higher your skill. However, skill does not reflect ability.

“With each skill level, progressing from Novice to Master, one will gain aids specific to their skill, so alchemists will not need to test different ingredients to know their effects. They will be able to tell with a glance, or they might be able to harvest a plant without worry of losing any efficacy. A Novice might be able to craft a Master-level alchemic formula; due to the difficulty of the formula, they will get a difficulty bonus, greatly increasing the speed at which they ascend the ranks of a skill. It is only when one becomes a Master that their Star ranks reflect their skill within the Alchemy field.” The old man looked wistfully off to the side, a small smile playing on his lips.

“Star ranks?” Erik asked, enthralled as this world of Alchemy opened before his eyes.

An excited look appeared on the old man’s face as he looked to Erik. “Star ranks are the mark of a true alchemist! Once one has reached the Master rank, then they might be awarded with a Star rank. The higher quality or effect of a pill, potion, or powder they make, the higher Star rank they will attain.”

Excitement bubbled within Erik’s chest. He had been thinking of just using potions to substitute for the medical pills and liquids that he used as a combat medic. But as his eyes were opened to the path of an alchemist, he was filled with a burning desire to try his hand at it.

“Now, that is far off, and one must remember that although Alchemy is one of the most revered crafting skills in the Ten Realms, for one to become a Master alchemist they will do so over the failed harvests, preparations, growths, and final formations. Ingredients for an alchemist are not inexpensive. Although the rewards are great, alchemists who pursue a higher level will always be looking to trade their finished products with new ingredients to increase their strength,” the old man warned. “If you are to keep making the same level of potions, powders, and pills, then you will be unable to proceed to a higher rank within the skill.”

“Thank you. You’ve taught me a lot,” Erik said. “Might I ask what your name is?”

“Zen Hei. Most people just call me Old Man Hei.” Zen Hei smiled.

“It was my luck that I ran into you today, Old Man Hei.” Erik grinned.

“There are few things greater than igniting another’s passion of Alchemy.” Hei laughed. “If you have questions or needs for ingredients in the future, do not hesitate to meet me. If you cultivate some ingredients, I’m always in need of more.”

Erik could hear the gold coins in Hei’s words and smiled. “Do you possibly have some seeds, cuttings, or bulbs?” Erik asked with an awkward smile. He had some from Egbert, but they were still plants he didn’t fully understand.

Old Man Hei moved behind the counter and started opening up drawers, muttering to himself as he threw different items into a box. “These should all be listed in the book you used. I’ll sell them to you for forty-two silver.” A cunning look appeared in Old Man Hei’s eyes.

Erik could only force a smile. “Thirty-five?” Erik asked, starting off another round of bartering.

***

Kaeju was a much larger city than Chonglu. Three or four Chonglu cities could probably rest comfortably within the walls of Kaeju city.

Instead of just being one area where smiths would work, there were multiple areas. There were areas that specialized in making armor and weapons, those that made decorations that nobles wanted, others that made farming implements and more than one carried out maintenance.

Seeing the variety of items as he walked through a slum area opened his eyes.

Now that he had advanced his blacksmithing skill again and again, he could pick out the flaws and identify the techniques that were used in creating the different items.

He made sure to keep his fists closed as he walked through the area, noticing the people who were eyeing him, to make it harder for them to pull off his storage rings.

He walked through a market stall area. People were pressed against one another. It was hot and oppressive. Kaeju was located in the middle of a desert; adding in the food and crush of human bodies, Rugrat couldn’t help but blink at the combination of smells.

Thankfully, he knew where he needed to go. Su Wei had given him a map location that he followed through the city’s twisting streets.

He entered an area where there were smithies working constantly as people manned the counters, selling all kinds of goods and bartering with those interested in their services or wares.

Rugrat went down an alley that was half hidden by goods. He passed piles of refuse as he continued on. The noise of the street was cut down as he went through the alleyways.

People walked quickly, not making eye contact, and moving goods to and from the market.

Rugrat finally reached the location he was supposed to be at. It was the back of a smithy. Its side entrance was open.

Rugrat looked through the door, seeing a woman working with a powerful flame. Rugrat could feel a resonance with the flame.

A flame made from Mana? Rugrat thought. Since he had become a Mana King, his control and sensitivity toward Mana had increased dramatically.

He watched as she pulled out a length of red-hot metal; her hammer made sparks as it connected with the metal.

Rugrat held his words. Seeing her concentration, he didn’t want to interrupt and instead watched as she guided the metal into a new shape.

Rugrat was stunned as he watched her methods. He had read plenty with Taran and used some of the methods practically, but still, other than Taran starting him off, Rugrat hadn’t had any formal teaching. Having a bunch of theory was good, but it was just that: a theory until tested.

There was a reason that he had reforged the iron he had so many times. Yes, he didn’t have that much money to waste on his projects, putting it toward developing Alva Dungeon. But the other was that he had messed up tens or hundreds of times, ruining the project and requiring him to start all over again.

He was seeing new techniques—not only reading about them—and could see the effects. It allowed him to combine practical knowledge with theory stored in his mind.

He lost track of time before the woman looked up.

“What are you looking at?” the woman demanded.

“You?” Rugrat said, his mind still playing over what she had done and looking to recover as she suddenly stopped. He could see that his words weren’t taken well as the woman’s annoyed look turned into one of rage.

“I was watching your smithing! Sorry, I haven’t seen many smithing Masters! Su Wei said that I might find Tan Xue here. Are you Tan Xue?” Rugrat said, ready to jump to the side as he worried she’d throw her hammer at him.

“Prove it!” she yelled.

“Prove what?” Rugrat said, thoroughly lost.

“That you were watching my smithing,” she growled.

Rugrat unconsciously covered his crotch as he eyed her hammer. “You’re using half Mortal-grade iron, forming a halberd. You made the iron personally. It’s a destructive and powerful weapon but one that is meant to be underestimated until utilized. While forming it, your hammer beats seem chaotic, but they have a rhythm. When watching the metal, it creates a vibration within the metal. Even as it is being formed, the impurities of the metal are being removed and the additional elements incorporated deeper, making them not only a coating that will be worn away with time, but keeping the characteristics throughout the weapon’s lifetime,” Rugrat said out in a rush. His face turned red as he quickly started breathing, not daring to, lest he might be one or two mini Rugrats short of a full fruit basket.

She lowered her hammer and her expression relaxed. “I’m Tan Xue. What do you want?” Her voice and entire aura seemed tired, worn-out—and defeated.

“I want to learn how to refine Mortal iron,” Rugrat said, not hiding anything.

“You think that kind of knowledge grows on trees?” She snorted and shook her head. Her anger surfaced once again, but it didn’t seem to be directed at Rugrat this time.

“Name a price. I have been making items with regular iron but I haven’t been able to figure out how to make Mortal-grade metals,” Rugrat said confidently. No matter what, he had to learn how to make Mortal-grade iron.

In the gnomes’ knowledge, they found Mortal-grade iron easily. I have a feeling that the Metal level of the dungeon will be a gold mine for smithing resources. Even if he wanted to explore the next level down in Alva Dungeon, first they needed to repair the dungeon core. Then they needed to be strong enough to enter the Metal level. Also, unless they had a formations Master who was capable of repairing the formations and connecting the city and Metal level together, then they wouldn’t truly be able to command the Metal level. Egbert said that the Mana gathering arrays on the lower levels had been disconnected. Based off that, Rugrat had taken to building up his knowledge of Mana gathering formations. His hope was to be able to repair the Mana gathering formations so that the other formations would have the power necessary to activate.

“You must have four Mana gates open and pay me fifty gold,” Tan Xue said.

“Do you take monster cores?” Rugrat asked awkwardly.

“Monster cores, sure,” Tan Xue said. A smith could use monster cores in combination with metal to increase the ability of the metal, even raise its innate ability.

He didn’t have much gold as he had used most of it with the auction platform, though he had plenty of monster cores and other trade goods. The highest value monster cores had been used on the dungeon core or held by Elise. If there was an emergency, then everyone could use one, like when they were defending Alva Village. They might break through their bottlenecks or recover their lost Mana and energy.

So Erik and Rugrat both had plenty of monster cores.

Rugrat dumped out two thousand seven hundred and thirty-five Lesser Mortal-grade monster cores, followed up with thirty Common-grade monster cores.

Tan Xue looked at the sea of monster cores as they rolled through the smithy.

“That should be all of them, based on thirty silver per Common and Lesser Mortal monster cores,” Rugrat said, happily dumping all of his Lesser Mortal monster cores. It opened up a lot of room in his storage rings.

“How did you get this many monster cores?” Tan Xue looked around her smithy.

“It’s a long story. Now, how about that lesson?” Rugrat was willing to give her all of the materials in his possession if it allowed him to learn how to make Mortal-grade iron. With that, then he could teach Taran, greatly increasing the level of weapons and armor they could create.

Tan Xue looked as if she were about to ask more but then held her tongue. She started to pick up the monster cores. Simply put, she didn’t have a storage ring to hold them all.

Seeing this, Rugrat pulled out a storage ring from inside his storage ring. Sweeping it around, he cleared up those around him and then passed it to her.

“Take it as a thank-you for having me as a student. Might need to teach me three or four times more than another student.” Rugrat grinned.

She still hesitated before Rugrat put the ring in her hand and dispelled his connection on it. He could tell that she was strong, but her build was thin. Although she was overbearing when he arrived, now she looked like some awkward young woman.

Finally, she nodded her head. “Very well, I’ll teach you how to make Mortal-grade iron.”

“Yes! High-five!” Rugrat held up his hand. Seeing Tan Xue frown at him, he lowered his arm. “Psych! Ahhh, yeah.” Rugrat let out an awkward laugh.

“First, let me see you refine that iron ore into iron ingots.” Tan Xue pointed to a wall of materials next to the furnace that contained an ever-burning blue flame.

Rugrat moved over to the iron ore and used his Simple Inorganic Scan, getting a better idea of the material. He moved to the furnace and started to look it over. So far, he had only dealt with furnaces that used charcoal and coal. They hadn’t activated the formation in the smithy to use the magical flame within for fear of overdrawing their limited power reserves.

“The differences in grades of a material in the Ten Realms is based upon the amount of Mana that the material can absorb. You might hear such things as Mortal or Earth iron, even Sky grade. This directly relates to the amount of Mana that these metals have been in contact with, the amount of Mana that has changed the very structure of the metal,” Tan Xue said as Rugrat worked.

“These higher grade materials can be found in the higher realms due to the fact that they have higher concentrations of Mana. They still aren’t as easy to find as, say, normal-grade iron and not every deposit will contain higher grade iron or steel. Maybe through an entire vein in the Mortal realms, one might be able to find three ingots’ worth of Mortal-grade metal. The chance for finding higher grade material becomes easier in the higher realms. Though as the metal can increase in grade by absorbing natural Mana throughout its lifecycle, it is possible to change the grade of a metal after it has been mined out. This process is much harder and is called Mana refining, as one must inject Mana into the metal as they refine it, to increase the grade. There is also Mana absorption, which means placing ores or ingots in an area with high concentrations of Mana. Only clans in the higher realms would be willing to waste Mana that might increase the grade of their weapons, armor, and metal. Now, what are the stages of refining iron?” Tan Xue asked as Rugrat continued to examine the furnace.

“First need to preheat the furnace, then put the iron in; let it heat up and burn off the impurities and create a bloom. Make sure that not too much carbon is absorbed. Pull out the iron bloom, hammer out further impurities, and create workable iron,” Rugrat said.

“You have only worked with coal and charcoal?” Tan Xue asked, seeing him study the furnace.

“Yeah,” Rugrat admitted.

“Very well then. I will show you how to use a magical flame first.” Tan Xue inspected the ore he had collected and then checked the furnace. She threw the ore in, increasing the flame’s temperature with a wave of her hand, personally supplying it with her own Mana. Once it reached the desired temperature, she tossed in some dust from a shelf beside the furnace.

The roar of flames made it hard to hear but her eyes were focused on the iron. “The flames burn through the use of Mana and they do not have any carbon in them. That is black dust. It is high in carbon. Be careful to not use too much of it. It can replace the carbon that one would get naturally from coal or charcoal,” Tan Xue yelled over the flames.

“Got it!” Rugrat yelled back.

Tan Xue watched for some more time before she grabbed a set of tongs. She reached in, pulling out the porous metal, or iron bloom.

She slammed it onto an anvil. Pulling out a large hammer, she started to hit the metal. “Turn it!” she yelled.

Rugrat grabbed the tongs from her and turned the metal as she hit it with the hammer, driving out the molten slag.

With the two of them working on the metal at the same time, there was no need to reheat it.

The slag was driven out and cooling iron was left behind.

“Your turn,” Tan Xue said.

Rugrat nodded and put the iron off to the side to cool.

He moved to the iron ore and found another few good pieces. Seeing Tan Xue complete the process made it a lot easier for him.

He threw the ore into the furnace and grabbed some of the black dust. He placed his tongs on the iron ore as it was heating up. Using Simple Inorganic Scan, he could see through the tongs and the iron ore it was touching.

He threw in some of the black dust; he could see as the iron started to change, absorbing it. He threw in some more, his actions slow and careful, not wanting to ruin the metal.

Finally he pulled out the tongs and let the metal heat up, turning into a bloom.

“Good!” Tan Xue said.

Rugrat just watched the metal, his body covered in soot and sweat. It was a pretty simple process but it took nearly two hours each time to refine out iron.

Rugrat pulled out the metal from the forge.

***

Tan Xue was impressed with Rugrat. At first she had thought that he was just a playboy; then he had broken down what she was doing, showing he had some smithing talent.

The sheer number of monster cores he had thrown out as if they were nothing left her a bit shocked. Either he had an incredibly powerful background or he had committed some kind of monster genocide.

When he had studied the magical flame and admitted that he had only used charcoal and coal before, her heart softened a bit.

People who only used coal and charcoal weren’t usually from high positions, but those who needed to save every piece of copper so that they could advance their smithing skill.

Seeing the focus in his eyes and the way he didn’t want to waste the iron by limiting the amount of black dust he threw into the furnace, her thoughts were confirmed once again.

There was a time that I was like him, trying to do everything to advance my smithing art, coming from a lacking background. She shook her head, not wanting to give rise to the bitter feeling she lived with day in and day out.

He pulled out the iron and threw it on the anvil. He pulled out a hammer. A spell formation could be seen wrapped around his hand holding the tongs. His hammer blows were quick and powerful as they moved through the metal, methodically removing impurities.

At this relaxed stage, Tan Xue wasn’t only watching him; she was looking for something else.

She could feel the Mana in the air moving according to his hammer blows. Tan Xue even felt a slight pull on her Mana gates with the Mana that was drawn in with every breath, and then released with every blow.

He should be able to make Mortal-grade iron without too much instruction. A small smile appeared on Tan Xue’s face as she watched Rugrat at work.

She had taken up smithing because it was one of the only things she could do. She was naturally strong and doing labor all of her life wouldn’t help her family.

She had done it for work at first, but after some time she had fallen in love with it—the solitude, the way she was able to leave everything behind and focus on just her project.

That was the greatest thing about it to her.

It might have been what led her to her current issue, but she couldn’t blame smithing for that.

Rugrat finished with the iron bloom, turning it into workable iron.

“Huh?” A girlish voice came from the door to the smithy.

Tan Xue frowned as she looked over, seeing a young teenager there.

“Julilah! I told you that I wouldn’t be your teacher! Go home!” Tan Xue said upon seeing the little girl’s face.

“But big sister Tan Xue!” The little girl pouted and dropped her shoulders as she dragged out Tan Xue’s name.

***

Rugrat looked from Tan Xue to the younger girl Julilah before putting the workable iron next to the piece that Tan Xue had finished earlier.

“Go home, Julilah!” Tan Xue said with a tired voice.

“But I want to be a smith like you!” Julilah batted those big, sad, puppy eyes.

“You should be off playing with other kids, trying to go to school or learning a skill that’s actually useful to you,” Tan Xue said.

“But it is useful to me! You’re the silver hammer smith of Kaeju!” Julilah said, a bit of hero praise clearly evident in her eyes.

“Out!” Tan Xue walked over to the door and slammed it closed in Julilah’s face.

Well, um, probably best to do nothing in this kind of situation. Rugrat stood there, looking at Tan Xue.

She seemed to take a moment before remembering what was happening before.

“All right, so you can make workable iron. But now you need to learn how to make Mortal-grade iron. To do that, you need to infuse Mana into the iron. When it’s being heated up, when you’re hammering it, your every action must pour out Mana into the iron, to force it to become a grade higher. To increase your chances, you must also use a Mana flame; with coal or charcoal, it does nothing to increase the Mana within the metal,” Tan Xue said.

Rugrat nodded seriously as he saw a small head pop over the fence.

She made eye contact with Rugrat before ducking down worriedly.

He didn’t look over as Tan Xue moved to the forge.

“I will go over the technique you must use when infusing your Mana through your hammer into the metal,” Tan Xue said.

When her back was turned, Rugrat looked over at Julilah and winked.

A big smile appeared on her face. She held two big thumbs up before ducking down again so it was hard to see her peeping over the wall.

***

Erik had left Old Man Hei’s with a new problem. He had a bunch of different seedlings, cuttings, and bulbs, but he didn’t have anything to grow them in.

First he went to different stores, buying plates, bowls, and other containers. Along the way, he found a few places that were looking for hides. He didn’t sell many at one location, hoping not to draw attention to himself as he went from store to store, slowly turning them into coin.

When he’d sold all but three-fifths of his hides he’d made five gold and seventy-two silvers.

Seeing it was getting dark and most of the places that bought hides were closing. Erik took a tour of the parks, gathering dirt.

It wasn’t pretty but he knew that alchemy wasn’t cheap and he didn’t want to spend his money on dirt when he could easily get some from the parks.

After collecting enough he found an inn to stay at. Paying for a few nights and telling Rugrat where he was through sound transmission, he went up to the room. He threw off his cloak and set to work. First, he pulled out one of the Mana gathering formation plates that Rugrat had made and given to him.

He placed it in the middle of the room. It started pulling in ambient Mana and focusing it.

Then the bowls and containers were dragged out and he planted all of the seeds, cuttings and other ingredients Hei had given him.

He took his time. Just looking at the different plants, he could recall the information held in the book Hei had sold to him. He checked that information against his Simple Organic Scan and then planted them in the stolen park dirt. Three of the ingredients only grew in water. Why do I feel like he’s testing me and throwing in a bunch of curveballs?

There were plants that interacted well with one another and ones that wouldn’t. He had to plant them all accordingly. He even added in the forest fennel he had taken from Alva Dungeon and hunter’s nettle. He had grown plenty of the two but had harvested them at the wrong times, or in the case of the forest fennel, at different time periods.

After arranging them in their different containers, he used his Plant Cultivation spell. With the stolen dirt and the spell to increase the plants’ growth speed, it was only a few minutes before the plants started to sprout.

Erik moved to the smaller forest fennel. Taking out a pair of shears, he cut off the parts of the forest fennel that would allow the plant to reproduce. If it wasn’t allowed to reproduce, then it would just continue to grow, concentrating and refining the Mana around it.

Erik left the forest fennel that he’d stored untouched; if he needed more forest fennels then he could grow it more.

“Grow.” Erik had been able to slim down the Plant Cultivation spell to just one word.

Mana that was pouring into him now rushed into the fennel he was tending to. The Mana in the room moved to his command as the fennel started to grow at an increasing rate. As it grew, Erik used his Simple Organic Scan spell to see what was happening within the plant.

The Mana was like adding rocket fuel to a fire. The plant eagerly accepted it, passing from its first stage into the second stage. Instead of pulling Mana from the area, it started refining it, feeding off the excess and the impurities.

Erik repeated his actions with the other first-stage fennels. The Mana in the room became more refined as it passed through these plants.

He was greeted by a new screen.

==========

Skill: Alchemy

==========

Level: 18 (Novice)

==========

No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

==========

He quickly stuffed it into his storage rings so others would not detect the increase in Mana.

==========

You have eaten Forest Fennel! Forest Fennel can increase Mana Regeneration!

==========

“At later growth stages, it can help one recover Stamina. Maturation of the different ingredients creates different effects.”

He moved to the hunter’s nettle, trimming off a few sections to be used later. He cut off the thorns and chewed on a piece of the leaf. It tasted like pine needles and energy drink mixed together.

==========

You have eaten Hunter’s Nettle! Hunter’s Nettle can increase cold resistance!

==========

Erik spat out the hunter’s nettle and took out his camelbak to swish around water in his mouth to try to get rid of the taste.

Erik had tried out these plants before, but now he was starting to see how useful it was testing them out first. Not only did he get a clearer idea of the ingredient, he could figure out an effect of it as well.

“So, here I am, tasting random ingredients.” Erik harvested different plants and started to taste them.

Erik stood, chewing on some ingredients, and rubbed his hands together. He moved from plant to plant, using his Plant Cultivation spell on them and paying attention to how they were growing. New ideas started to flicker in the back of his mind as he thought of other ways to possibly raise the plants. He didn’t act on these thoughts, knowing that for now, it was best to do what he knew worked.

Later, when he had a better idea of how the plants were growing, he might be able to test out some of his ideas.

Erik continued to work through the small bedroom now filled with plants. With his Plant Cultivation spell, it was as if they were doing a week’s worth of growing in just a few short hours.

Erik pulled out clippers and other harvesting tools. He had been harvesting the hunter’s nettle the entire time—it was hard to mess up harvesting it.

He moved through the different plants, remembering the right way to harvest the plant. He used his Simple Organic Scan and Medical Sight as he harvested from the plants.

The two spells allowed him to see through anything that was living, making it easy for him to understand the plants as well as humans. He made a few mistakes but he was learning from them.

There was something incredibly calming that came with working with the plants, Erik found, as he moved through the plants, tending to them, harvesting them and doing the process over and over again.

Erik only paused to eat and sleep. Even that was just pauses between tending to the plants.

He didn’t notice Rugrat entering the inn, or collapsing on his bed and passing out, or waking up the next morning and leaving for the smithy once again.

He only looked at the different plants he had harvested correctly. With the information inside his head, he’d still failed, but it was a lot easier than when he had gathered different ingredients in the Beast Mountain Range for Alchemist Tommins.

Erik had grown plants in Alva Dungeon and now in the Second Realm. He felt he had a good handle and understanding of it now.

Now he wanted to try the next step: preparation and formation!

Chapter: Apprentice Alchemist!

Erik was exhausted, but more than that, he was excited.

He had returned to the Black Cauldron, when he was leaving Old man Hei offered to let him stay at the black Cauldron and use one of the alchemy rooms in the rear.

It was a simple place with a bed, bathroom and alchemy workspace.

Erik had set to work as soon as he entered.

Before him there were forty-one boxes. Each of them contained Winter’s Bane powder.

As he had gone along, he had removed more of the impurities and he felt that the powder was stronger. It was like his ability to figure out what level someone was: the more he leveled up and was around stronger people, the greater his baseline for knowing how strong someone actually was.

He had only just been exposed to the world of Alchemy, so he wasn’t sure of the strength or the ability of his powders.

It made him nervous and one of the reasons that he had spent so long making so many different powders. He wanted to increase their power so that they wouldn’t be a total failure in Old Man Hei’s eyes.

He looked out of the window and saw that it was day time. He gathered up the boxes and cleaned up the area.

Three days had passed since he had entered the Alchemy room, a full six days since he and Rugrat had advanced to the Second Realm.

He checked his notifications and the new glowing screen that made him smile.

==========

Skill: Alchemy

==========

Level: 21 (Novice)

==========

No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

==========

He had only made the Winter’s Bane powder. Though, like with any craft, because he had made it so many times, the progression of his skill had come to a halt and his Experience gain was slowing down as well.

==========

75,231/195,000 EXP till you reach Level 16

==========

The Experience gain was minimal, but with time Erik knew that it would increase.

With a deep breath, he walked out of the Alchemy room and went down the corridor. There weren’t ever many people in Old Man Hei’s shop; few people could afford his wares and he didn’t like talking to anyone unless it was about Alchemy. If they were sent by some power to draw him to their side, he would tell them to buy items or leave his store.

Erik had no affiliations and he just wanted to learn Alchemy.

Which was why when Erik went up to the counter, Old Man Hei smiled.

“I’ve been working to make a few powders. Could you take a look? I’ll pay for your evaluation,” Erik said happily.

“You made some of your own powders already?” Hei looked back to Erik, pursing his lips and nodding slightly.

“Hey, I’m smart!” Erik said.

“Keep telling yourself that,” Hei said in a bare mutter, just loud enough for Erik to hear.

Erik pulled out the powders and put them on the table as Hei walked back with books.

“This one is advanced preparation, this one is basics on powder making, that one potion making and this one is pill making.” Hei pointed to each of the books, which were grander and better-looking than the last.

“How much?”

“Altogether, twelve gold, seventy-nine silver.”

Erik passed over the gold. He had less than three gold left. Erik had been able to get some gold from all of the different beasts killed at Alva, but it was quickly disappearing.

Spend money to gain money and increase my Alchemy skill.

He needed information on Alchemy, which was not cheap because it was made up from alchemists’ experiences and countless ingredients being destroyed. When looking at the price, it was actually a deal compared to the losses the different people who had written the book had gone through. The basic books were coppers and silvers but the more advanced books grew more and more expensive.

Erik opened the books and started to fill his mind with information. Old Man Hei’s products might be expensive but the knowledge contained within was pretty advanced and easily understandable, making Erik wonder just what Old Man Hei’s background was.

“How are you able to get these books?” Erik asked as he finished with them.

Old Man Hei looked up from examining the selection of powders that Erik had brought in. “Well, I’m part of the Alchemist Association. I made it to the Fifth Realm but for various reasons I found that it was safer to head to the second realm. I made sure to bring some of the higher quality goods with me so that I could set up this store.”

“Alchemist Association?” Erik asked, his interest piqued.

“The Alchemist Association was made so that alchemists might be able to share ideas with one another. It extends throughout the Ten Realms. The association is basically a ruling body. They host the countless trades between alchemists, decide what will happen in different issues between alchemists, judge tournaments and the like. There are also many teaching institutions and groups that deal with Alchemy but are not part of the association.”

Erik made an interested noise and then looked to the powders in Hei’s hands. “So, how are we looking?”

“Your initial Winter’s Bane was barely passable, but the later ones were of a decent quality. I’m guessing that you made these later?” Hei waved at the few dozen vials and containers that dotted the desk.

“Yeah.”

“While these initial powders would rank at Novice level, these other powders that you have come up with, most of them are poisons. If someone was to consume them, they’d at best feel bad—worst, they would die. Still, Alchemy is about not only making concoctions to aid the body but also poisons. The skill increases when making either kind of concoction.”

“Would you be interested in buying them?” Erik asked.

“Not the poisons, but I can give you a formula to make a minor Stamina Regeneration powder. If you can make forty-five of them, I will give you the simple healing powder formula. You just need to make sixty of them. Then you can acquire the minor Mana regeneration powder if you make one hundred and seventy portions.”

Erik looked at Hei with a confused look.

“There are always people looking for nice and cheap powders for them to use on their adventures they all seem to like going on. I don’t like having to make them all, but if you can make them, you can make up for the cost of the different formulas. We would need to make an oath on the Ten Realms, of course.”

“Thanks,” Erik said after a few moments. It seemed that Old Man Hei had noticed that he was quickly running out of funds.

“Don’t say that too soon. Now I want those minor Stamina Regeneration powders in nine days or else you will owe me forty-three gold!” Old Man Hei said in a severe voice, pulling out the formula and putting it on the table.

Erik steeled himself and made an oath on the Ten Realms.

“Good.” Old Man Hei pushed the piece of paper forward.

Erik took it as if it were some holy relic, reading the ingredients and the notes on making the powder. “Could you sell me some testers as well?”

“You know what testers are, right? They’re shavings or pieces of pills, potions, and powders. They were only a small amount and people use them to gain a deeper understanding of Alchemy, trying to understand how different items were made and increase their own appraisal ability of different items,” Old Man Hei said.

“I just want to try my hand at it a bit.”

Old Man Hei shrugged and checked his storage ring before he pulled out a few vials. “Thirty silver.”

Erik passed over the money. He flashed Old Man Hei a smile and went back to the Alchemy room he was using.

Erik cleaned up and then sat down at the simple table in the room, pulling out the ingredients that he’d bought from Old Man Hei as well as some shavings from pills or tester vials from potions.

Erik was testing out something new. He smelled the testers, and looked at them with his Simple Organic Scan.

These were Apprentice-level potions and the first type of pill that one could create. The pills at this stage were actually worse than the potions but they taught the elementary traits and did not have the possibility of their medicinal effect weakening as rapidly as other potions.

Erik pulled out one of the powders and mixed it with water. He drank it, examining what happened to his body as the tester reacted. No other alchemist would do this with random Alchemy products they’d found, I am pretty sure.

To do so would be inviting death. Only a Master was supposed to know how to break down a pill’s effects and could glean some of the ingredients that had been part of the pill. A group of Masters might be able to break down what a pill was made from, but the process and all of that needed to be figured out by them in incredible detail.

Erik’s idea took any sense of safety and tossed it out of the window. His idea was pretty simple. When I consume different ingredients, then I can figure out what kind of effects they have. If I was to use Simple Organic Scan at the same time, I might be able to find out more about the ingredients. My body has already been tempered with powerful poisons. Even if it does damage me, I can use healing spells to repair myself. It will make me able to nullify more poisons and other Alchemy creations from affecting me. I would not only get a better understanding of what ingredients are contained within the concoction, I’ll increase my Strength! Like how vaccines work. With more time, I might be able to understand and break down more concoctions in greater detail.

With this thought, he took out an ingredient he had harvested and consumed it. He was able to figure out three more effects of the plant.

Although it tasted nasty, like orange peel and grass, Erik moved onto his first solution, pouring water into a glass vial and then drinking down the water and the powder inside in one shot.

With his newly widened knowledge from the different ingredient encyclopedias, Erik jotted down the different ingredients, then he listed down the effects on his body.

From that, he started to think of what the different ingredients must have undergone, how they must have been prepared to create these kinds of effects. It became a mental game. He knew the end result and what the powder was made from, but the path from harvesting to formation was missing. That was what he wanted to expand upon next.

A screen appeared in front of Erik. Its font was grander than the screens he had seen before and seemed to demand his attention.

==========

Title: Reverse Alchemist

==========

From the slightest tester, you have not only recreated its full form, you’ve been able to do so with ingredients that vary from the original. With your ability, it is not impossible for you to gain an understanding of most pills from a sniff, a glance, or touch.

==========

Rewards: Able to recognize some of the processes concoctions have gone through once you identify all of its effects and at least one set of ingredients.

==========

This reward sounded simple but Erik’s eyes glowed with new energy.

==========

Skill: Alchemy

==========

Level: 22 (Novice)

==========

No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

==========

“That’s what I’m talking about—three more levels until I reach Apprentice level!”

Filled with new interest, Erik once again pulled out a tester and started to run through his test regimen. He consumed it and then thought on the new formula that he was looking at.

Sleep became a forgotten memory as he continued to work on several of the testers and recreate them with his own special skills.

Smells that vitalized the soul or drew it to feel pain, lights that shimmered and others that seemed to suck in the surrounding light: all of these phenomena and more were visible as Erik finished with the testers. Wrapped up in the drug that was creation, Erik once again attained that state he had gained when he was passing through his first tempering.

He chewed and drank solutions he had made to try to counterattack the effects, his body an Alchemy battleground as healing spells were used repeatedly.

He passed through failure after failure. But instead of being wrapped up in the loss, Erik took the time to learn from his losses. In front of him, he was starting to see the cornerstone of the alchemist’s world.

On the third day, he tried making his first potion; it failed. On the fifth day, he was finally able to create a potion; on the seventh, he was able to make a second potion.

The conditions of these potions weren’t the highest and they were low-Apprentice grade, not due to their effects but the difficulty in making them. Even then, they were the simplest potions one might be able to create.

As Erik looked at the murky-looking Mana potion, a smile crossed his face as he saw a now familiar notification.

==========

Skill: Alchemy

==========

Level: 25 (Apprentice)

==========

Able to identify 1 effect of the ingredient.

==========

==========

Upon advancing into the Apprentice level of Alchemy, you will be rewarded with one randomly selected item related to this skill.

==========

You have received the spell scroll: Flame Creation

+10,000 EXP

==========

==========

94,981/195,000 EXP till you reach Level 16

==========

Erik laughed as he slumped into a seat, excited about the benefit he had earned. If he knew one of the effects of an ingredient, then it would mean he wouldn’t need to test it nearly as much to find out what the other effects were.

“They always said to not use your own shit.” Erik looked at the medical supplies in front of him. He had every type of pharmaceutical product that he had brought from Earth laid out.

He took them one by one. After taking them, he healed himself to remove the drugs from his system.

It took time but he hoped that with the knowledge in his mind that he would be able to replicate them later with different ingredients from the Ten Realms.

He cleared the last drug from within his system and opened his eyes. Other than the saline solution, he didn’t know how he might recreate the drugs. He didn’t know whether it was worth to try to remake them, or whether it was best to just find concoctions that had the same effects as the items from Earth.

“Before all of that, I should focus on making those minor Stamina Regeneration powders.” Erik pulled out the formula that Hei had given him and started to read it over. He looked over it a few times before he put it to the side.

“Let’s begin,” Erik said to himself as he pulled out an array of different ingredients.

He started to prepare them. Once they were ready, he pulled out his cauldron and used his Mana flame to heat it up, checking the formula again.

His flames started to dance inside the cauldron, obeying his commands as the different ingredients were combined. Erik glanced down at the formula, not sure about the next step. A spout of flame shot out of the cauldron, destroying the ingredients.

Erik calmed himself as he looked at the ruined ingredients. Thankfully they hadn’t been too expensive, but it was still a failure.

He picked up the formula and read it again, wanting to ingrain it in his mind so he wouldn’t need to glance at it, pulling his focus away from the concoction.

He failed more times than he succeeded, but as time passed and day turned to night and back into day, he started to succeed more times than he failed. As darkness came once again, he had few failures as he looked to increase the amount of powder he could create to fill Old Man Hei’s order.

***

Old Man Hei manned the front of the store, serving people here and there. Most of them looked pained at the prices, paying them and leaving quickly.

The store was never busy, just with maybe one or two people browsing through the day and nothing otherwise.

Erik had come out four times to get more ingredients from Old Man Hei. Otherwise, he had been locked in his room.

Was my timeline a bit too strict? Old Man Hei thought. It was no less difficult than the test I had to go through to become recognized as an alchemist Apprentice.

The door opened again and Erik moved toward the counter.

“More ingredients?” Old Man Hei had prepared another batch already.

“I think these are done.” Erik pulled out boxes filled with vials and put them on the counter.

Old Man Hei opened some vials and sniffed them, picking randomly. “It seems that you did it.” Hei took the boxes into his storage ring. He waved his hand. More boxes and vials appeared, with ingredients next to them. Finally he laid down a piece of paper on top of it all.

“The Minor Healing powder.” Erik picked up the formula and started to read it.

Old Man Hei smiled. That expression, the excitement at learning something new and opening up the secrets of Alchemy—it’s been some time. Old Man Hei cleared his throat, removing such embarrassing thoughts as Erik looked up. “Best to read that kind of thing in your room. Be cluttering up the store otherwise!”

“Understood. Thank you, Old Man Hei.” Erik bowed to him quickly and then swept everything up, heading back to his room.

“I don’t feel like it will be long until he’s looking for the minor Mana Regeneration powder,” Old Man Hei said to himself. A smile flickered across his face.

He wasn’t wrong. Four days later, he had another batch of vials in front of him.

Looks like this boy might be capable after all.

Chapter: Innate Metal Ability Enhancers

Rugrat came back with as much iron ore as he could purchase. Then he set to refining out three Mortal-iron ingots. With the completion of his first one, the following Mortal-iron ingots were swiftly completed. He passed them back to Tan Xue to pay for her time and then he continued to refine four more Mortal-grade iron ingots.

Doing so, he was able to increase his smithing from Apprentice to Journeyman officially. His level even increased, putting him at level seventeen.

He also gained a new item, an ingot of mithril. He kept it in his storage ring. The bar would be useful in making formations due to its impressive ability to conduct Mana. Rugrat had a few ideas for it but continued to refine forty pieces of Mortal-grade iron over nine days.

Instead of taking out the Mortal-grade iron, he pulled out the normal iron he had. A number of times, he had failed to push the iron into the Mortal grade and he still had some left over from before.

With this, he got to work. He didn’t have any money remaining and if he and Erik wanted to get a lead on a dungeon, they needed the wealth to be able to take at least one of the items Su Wei had told them about.

Rugrat heated up the iron metal and started to get to work. He made simple swords, daggers, and shields. If anything wasn’t of at least high-Apprentice grade, he melted it back down and started again.

The normal iron wasn’t good for making formations; in fact, it was horrible for it. Rugrat had simply made his formations from iron just because it was the easiest metal for him to get his hands on.

It was only because formations were so hard to find in the lower realms that Su Wei was interested in them. That, and the interesting ways they worked, were why Su Wei and Pan Lim evaluated them so highly.

“Why don’t you use some Redas blood?” Tan Xue said as Rugrat was making a war hammer.

“Redas blood?” Rugrat asked.

“When added into iron, once it tastes blood and the energy one releases when they die, it strengthens the user, increasing their strength,” Tan Xue said.

Rugrat had read about it, but he hadn’t started combining the metals he used with different elements that might increase their innate abilities.

“Did I read all of those books for nothing!” Rugrat yelled, directing his own anger toward himself.

In the First Realm, it was hard to find any of these kinds of extras that might be added into metals to improve its abilities. In the Second Realm, they’re easier to find and widely used as just regular metals aren’t able to handle the greater strength of the users.

Kaeju is one of the larger cities in this area of the Hersht Desert—of course they must have all kinds of different enhancing powders and items that can be used in combination with metal to improve its innate abilities!

Rugrat looked at the weapons he had made already. An inner pain that only an artist or a crafter could feel welled up in his chest. As he looked back on those items, there were the happy memories, the thought of finally achieving something brilliant. But at the same time, there was the knowledge that they were less than anything he could make now. There was a want and a need to go back and make them all again to raise them up to his new standard.

Tan Xue, seeing the newly emotional Rugrat, decided to not say anything.

“I must get more items to increase the metal’s abilities! I will forge it into iron that it is well suited for. That’s right—I will use the iron as the base, connect it directly with the right kinds of enhancers to pull out the metal’s innate ability. I will not make the items based upon needs, but based upon what the metal is best suited for! From the ground up, they will live up to their true purpose!”

He started to run out of the smithy before turning around. “Where might I find different enhancing ingredients?” he asked, as if an afterthought.

“All of that and he’s still a bonehead,” Tan Xue muttered under her breath. Before he could open his mouth, she continued talking. “Go to see Dai on Froex Drive.” She waved him off.

Rugrat wanted to retort but finding he had nothing, he ran off through the alleyways, then across streets. With his map, he could quickly locate the shop.

He calmed down his steps, not wanting to just run into the store. Well, he wanted to, but it might seem a little abrupt.

The store was simple, with a burly man at the counter. Behind him there were a number of different racks. In them, Rugrat could see there were different kinds of enhancers, as well as ingots that one could use.

“Hello, I was wondering if I might be able to get a list of your different enhancers?” Rugrat asked the man.

“Who are you?”

“Rugrat. Who might you be?”

“Dai. Don’t know you.” Dai stood.

“Tan Xue sent me,” Rugrat said.

“Oh?” Dai looked thoughtful before he nodded. “All right, I’ll take your word for it. We’ve got weevil root, Desa sand, heart of the burning weevil...” Dai listed off a dozen or so different items as Rugrat stood there. He had heard about all kinds of enhancers, but even if the gnomes had documented different kinds, it didn’t mean that they knew everything. Some enhancers might only be regional and not that well known to the outside world.

The gnomes had settled down in the First Realm to get away from everything and create their own hidden society. Their knowledge was very specific to the different things in their city.

Rugrat had already run into it with formations. They didn’t need to worry about storing energy as they connected all of their formations through power runes to their dungeon core.

“Could I get one of each?” Rugrat asked, not wanting to look like an idiot in front of the big man.

“Very well.” He went to the different boxes and started pulling out different enhancers and putting them into containers before returning to the counter and depositing them all in front of Rugrat. “That’ll be seven gold and seventy-one silvers.”

Rugrat opened his storage ring and, seeing the fifteen coppers that were there, cleared his throat. “Would you be up for bartering? Monster cores?”

Dai’s hand landed on the goods. His eyes thinned and his voice turned low, clearly not liking what Rugrat was saying. “Only items associated with smithing.”

Rugrat looked into his storage rings. He had hides, some monster cores; he didn’t even have enough monster cores to make up the difference. Otherwise, he had iron and Mortal iron.

“How much would this be worth?” Rugrat pulled out a Mortal-iron ingot, holding his breath.

Dai’s eyes shined as he looked at the Mortal-grade ingot. “Mortal-grade iron—well made, too.” Dai made it seem as if it were some holy artifact, his tone changing completely.

After a few moments, Rugrat coughed slightly.

“Fifteen gold,” Dai snapped out, as if afraid to let it out of his sight.

Rugrat’s eyes went wide and he tried to control his expression. “Right, that should be enough,” Rugrat said. Then another thought hit him.

He had paid three Mortal-iron bars to use Tan Xue’s smithy. That was forty-five gold to just use her furnace—he supplied his own anvil and tools!

Sometimes it was just better if one didn’t know what they had lost. He had made his money many times over with the Mortal-grade iron ingots he’d created.

Dai deducted the cost of the enhancers and quickly took the Mortal iron from Rugrat, not caring about the enhancers anymore as he studied the Mortal iron in greater depth.

“If you have any more, you know who to come and see!” Dai smiled.

“I will,” Rugrat said. The wind that had come out of his sails was slowly recovering. He might have made a loss, but he wasn’t that worried. Tan Xue might have pulled the wool over his eyes but she wasn’t a bad person.

If she were, she would have held back all of the information about creating Mortal iron and fleeced him of money.

As his thoughts moved to using the enhancers and working with his remaining normal iron, Rugrat caught onto his burning passion from before.

What the hell do these enhancers do? Hopefully Tan Xue will let me know! She should—it’s the least she can do after duping me like that!

He went back to the smithy only to see that Tan Xue was in an important part of forging out shoes for different animals out of simple iron.

Rugrat waited until she was finished.

“You get the enhancers?” Tan Xue asked.

“Yeah, abou—”

“You know what they do?” Tan Xue asked.

“Some of them,” Rugrat said. She had seen through him in no time.

“Bring them here. Let’s see what you’ve got.” Tan Xue sighed and shook her head as he pulled out the different items.

Okay, maybe it wasn’t the biggest loss, Rugrat consoled himself as he pulled out the different enhancing materials for her to look over.

He didn’t miss the head that perked up over the wall. Little Julilah was never far away and even if Tan Xue wouldn’t teach her directly, Julilah still faithfully snuck around to listen in and watch her at work.

Chapter: Young Inspiring the Old

“I’ve got some potions. I was wondering if I could have you look at them. And I need some more ingredients as well as tools,” Erik said.

“Always business with you.” Hei laughed again.

“We both know how much you love Alchemy as well.”

Hei brushed Erik’s comments away. “What ingredients might you need?”

“I am in need of these ingredients.” Erik pulled out a piece of paper and put it on the table.

Hei looked over the listed ingredients, perusing its contents, muttering to himself and stroking his beard. “Let me take a look and see what I have.”

“Thank you. I need some instruments as well,” Erik said.

“Let me know what interests you.” Hei waved to the front of his store and the warded glass that kept the valuable instruments contained. He left him with a reminder: “A Master alchemist does not rely on their equipment, but their own mind and flame.”

Alchemy ingredients weren’t the only items that were expensive. Having tools that were able to stand up against the medicinal power of the pills, potions, and powders were not easy things to make. Most had to be made out of special materials that might need to be enchanted. Unlike the regular items that Erik had brought, these Alchemy tools could increase the potency or chance of success in creating the best Alchemy items.

Erik wanted to buy those items so that they might take the load off himself when preparing them but Hei had made a valid point. If Erik was relying on just his equipment and items to do the work for him, then if he was without them, there would be no way to complete his creations.

High-tier alchemists would rely on their flames and skills. The lower-ranking alchemists who had stayed in their level for a long time continued to use Alchemy items that would improve their preparations and place less pressure on them. Using the tools, they didn’t understand the ingredients that they were using to the depth that the higher-tier alchemists did.

Although it seemed to be simple, that anyone could carry it out, the complexities that were hidden within each part of the process were enough to make many bow their heads and take a step back. Why should they suffer to learn this method instead of using an aid?

Using equipment, I will be able to make higher level items, but the cost is going to be expensive. I need to make sure that I am using them to augment my ability, not become the only reason I can carry out Alchemy.

Things would be a lot easier if he just advanced slowly. He didn’t have the time for that. There was just a week to go until the auction; then there was just two more months to find the actual dungeon, then return to Alva Dungeon.

He wouldn’t have the help of Old Man Hei all the time. Without him, he wouldn’t have been able to progress as quickly.

Others might despair under this kind of stress. Erik smiled, filled with excitement at the pressure and surpassing all of the expectations placed upon him.

On Earth, he had thrown himself into the military, then being a private security contractor. He did whatever he felt like because he didn’t know when his end would come. He wanted to live his life without any regrets.

His biggest regret would not be failing to get to the Tenth Realm and stand at the top of the Ten Realms. It would be that he had the opportunity, but he never tried to.

This was the feeling he had when he started a new video game: the anticipation, the excitement and anxiousness, wanting to become stronger, to dominate the game and beat it. Taking challenge after challenge but passing through them, overcoming them with nothing but his own actions.

Old Man Hei returned from the ingredient storage area behind the table and gave Erik a sidelong look. “You okay?”

“Yeah, just had a crazy idea,” Erik said.

“I’ll prepare the ingredients. You look like you’re itching to get back to your cauldron,” Hei said with a smile, seeing through him.

“What about the gold?” Erik asked.

“I know where you live and even if you don’t have enough, I can get you to grow some plants and make different concoctions,” Hei half-threatened.

Erik laughed, awkwardly. Instead of staying at the inn, he had been working and passing out in the Alchemy room when he was fatigued.

“Thanks!” Erik went back to his room and sat down in front of the cauldron.

He pulled out the scroll he had received for becoming an Apprentice alchemist.

==========

Technique Book: Mana Flame

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Do you wish to activate this Technique book? Doing so will destroy this Technique book.

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YES/NO

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==========

You have learned the spell: Mana Flame. Your spell book has been updated.

==========

==========

Mana Flame

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Novice

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Create flames fueled from Mana

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Consumption of Mana based on area and effect.

==========

Erik took a few more moments, calming himself down. “Mana Flame.” A blue spell formation appeared in his hand, with a flame appearing at its center.

Erik didn’t do anything for some time. Instead, he changed the flame in his hand, altering its heat, making it burn hot and then burn cold, to move like water across his hands and then be as solid as stone.

He pulled out some of the remaining ingredients he had and placed them within the flames, working to refine them with his flames alone. He started with only one ingredient at a time, following the acknowledged ways to prepare the ingredient. He failed time and time again; a small mound of ash appeared in front of him.

Erik felt disheartened but he didn’t stop. He continued to prepare the materials, destroying them nineteen times out of twenty. Every time, he looked back over the process. Nothing could escape his eyes.

Hei came in sometime later with the requested ingredients.

“Could you get me all of your ten-year Lidel leaves?” Erik asked.

Hei opened his mouth to complain, but seeing the look in Erik’s eyes, he simply nodded and quickly went back into the store. He quickly returned with a large box filled with green leaves with red and yellow lines tracing through them.

“So many? I don’t want to owe you gold for the rest of my life,” Erik said.

“All of this is worth about two silvers. Lidel leaves are cheap. Most people use it to freshen their breath. Alchemists use it as a nonreactive substance most of the time. It has no real value. You can even buy it at the farmers’ market.” Hei shrugged.

“Oh, I didn’t realize.” Erik stood and received the box of Lidel leaves. “Thank you.”

“Let me know if you need anything else.” Hei left as fast as he had entered, not wanting to interrupt Erik’s discovery.

Erik opened the box filled with Lidel leaves. The leaves’ red and yellow lines shimmered in the light, moving around the leaves. The problem with the Lidel leaves was their difficulty to refine. One needed a Journeyman-level Alchemy instrument to properly prepare just basic ten-year Lidel leaves because of their temperamental nature.

Hei would have warned Erik at any other time, but seeing the determination on his face and the low cost of the leaves, Hei held back his comments.

Erik threw the leaf up and caught it in his flames. He started to turn the leaf within the flame. It started to wither slowly when suddenly the lines on the leaf turned blue and the leaf disintegrated into ash.

Erik grunted. Instead of it just being another act, his competitive spirit and anger was ignited, focusing his mind and driving him to go further, to be better as he tossed in another leaf. He went through hundreds of leaves, not stopping once.

His eyes were bloodshot but his determination didn’t waver for a second. “Don’t think that I won’t be able to refine you, you fucking leaf!” Erik threw the leaf into the flame once again.

The leaf withered under the slow grilling of Erik’s flame as he alternated between a hot and cold flame, making it so that there was always a red and yellow coloration to the lines in the leaf.

Slowly, ever so slowly, the leaf went from its vibrant green until it started to wither toward the red and yellow lines. The leaf seemed to disappear. A complex series of red and yellow lines appeared in the flame, their color richer than before.

Erik continued onward. The lines didn’t do anything for some time, then they started to reverse like water returning to its spring: the smaller lines retracted in toward the larger lines, becoming smaller and smaller.

Suddenly, the lines turned blue and fell apart.

“Hah, I have you!” Erik threw in another leaf without pause and repeated the process. This time, the lines retracted all the way until a single blood-red and gold drop rested in Erik’s flame.

Erik took out a vial and placed the drop into the vial. Erik stoppered it and looked at the small drop.

He looked at the remaining Lidel leaves. “I won’t stop until I refine all of these down into drops.”

The flames moved with just a thought as he grabbed some more Lidel leaves.

This time, he wanted to refine two of them at the same time. Even with high-tier Alchemy instruments, someone could only refine one Lidel leaf at a time because they were always different from each other.

Erik failed over and over again, burning through his supply of Lidel leaves at an increased rate. These Lidel leaves hold a powerful energy within them. If they could be used to create a revitalizing potion, they might allow someone to gain ten to fifty years, Erik thought between his preparations.

Slowly, he was able to get to the point where he was able to refine two of the Lidel leaves into drops. He placed them in the vial, continuing the process a few more times before he stood from where he was sitting.

He left the room to see that it was nighttime. The store was closed and Hei had retired to sleep.

Erik wrote up a note and left a small sack of money before he headed back to his room.

Erik drank fortifying potions for his Stamina and Mana. He sat down in the middle of his room. Three flames appeared in the air as he threw out three different leaves.

Erik’s rate of failure decreased as his level of control was able to reach new heights. Not only did his control over the flames increase, his senses became more precise, allowing him to pick up changes that happened in his flames and the ingredient he was working with.

***

Old Man Hei stepped out of his room. His foot caught on the note and money that Erik had left there. Hei picked up the note and the card. He looked at the ingredients. What does he want more of the Lidel leaves for? Once knowing that it was beyond his abilities to refine, why wouldn’t he move onto other items?

Hei sighed, thinking that Erik had fallen into the trap of the young: repeating something endlessly, believing that it would do what they wanted it to do because they believed in it. Hei once again wanted to tell Erik that this act would only lead down a path of failure but he held his words.

He collected the other ingredients, carrying them to Erik’s room. Opening the door, he stopped mid-stride as he saw Erik with three Lidel leaves above his head. All of them were in their vein form, being condensed down into blood-red and gold drops.

Erik didn’t even notice Hei opening the door, his entire attention focused on the three flames and their leaves.

Hei’s mind was in shambles as he looked at the three leaves, the fire, and Erik.

Erik had been in the room for two weeks. For two weeks, he had gone through thousands of Lidel leaves, nearly clearing out Hei’s supply. But from those thousands, he had produced some twenty or so gold-red drops.

Hei looked to the pile of ash in front of Erik and the few leaves that were left, as well as the vial filled with the prepared Lidel leaves.

It was a sight he hadn’t seen in a long time. In the higher realms, an alchemist would have multiple rooms to work in so that they never had to stop working, shifting between rooms as others cleared out the failures.

It’s rare for an alchemist trying to advance their skill to have even one in twenty successes.

Hei put down the ingredients and waved his hand. All of his remaining Lidel leaves joined them. He closed the door behind himself.

“It might be childish to chase after what can never come true, but to succeed one must face failure on all sides. I have been blind, worrying about what I might lose when I was trying out a higher-level potion or powder, or even attempting to make pills. I can fail time and time again to only succeed once. What is it but gold? I have become too comfortable! I returned here to gain peace from the higher competitions in the association but I have let my skills fall to the wayside.”

Hei walked toward the door of his shop, marking it as closed. He moved to the racks of ingredients, taking from them as he wanted, not caring whether he had enough of something or too little of another. He went to his own Alchemy chamber, setting down his ingredients and beginning his preparations.

Chapter: Iron Bashing

Tan Xue took her time going through all of the different enhancers that Rugrat had bought from Dai as well as their effects, the way that they could be combined with the metal. Ones that needed to be folded into the metal. Others that needed to be placed at the heart of the metal and heated. Others as a finishing agent.

Rugrat went through his iron ingots. He checked each and used his Simple Inorganic Scan to see just what their inner makeup was and get a greater idea of their innate abilities. No iron ore was the same, even from the same iron vein.

Some might have greater contact with Fire and Metal Mana as it was at the center of the vein; others might have an affinity with Earth Mana, or be changed due to being combined with other metals as they were formed.

There were so many possible combinations that Rugrat had never noticed.

His angry thoughts at Tan Xue’s “scam” disappeared as he took an iron ingot and placed it into the furnace.

Rugrat might act a little immature at times. And he might wear short shorts with the American flag on them right now underneath his apron as he worked in front of a forge—with Tan Xue looking away to try to save her eyesight and her mind from burning the image into her consciousness.

“Dear gods, man!”

Her calls fell on deaf ears as Rugrat got into the zone. He pulled the heated ingot out of the forge and put it on the anvil. He took out a green paste and put it on the face of his hammer.

Mana freely flowed through his body and through his hammer, tracing out Mana veins as it entered the green paste.

Rugrat’s strikes fell on the metal at an odd rhythm. Sometimes his blows were strong and powerful, other times lighter and focused.

Anvil, hammer, forge, heat; return and repeat.

Rugrat’s hammer blows fell as a spearhead was created, then the pole arm. The entire spear was made from metal with green veining throughout.

It wasn’t long until Rugrat finished off the spear, quenching it. A sizzling noise came as steam rose off the spear.

Rugrat put down his tools and grabbed the spear. He turned and threw it at a target in the smithy. The spear slammed home and shook.

“Ah, you used the Ylais paste to increase the flexibility of the iron, turning the main body flexible so that it can exert greater strength,” Tan Xue said.

“Not bad!” Rugrat said, his hands on his hips.

Tan Xue looked over to get a side view. “Put some damn pants on!” she yelled, having forgotten what he was wearing.

“Come on, it helps with the breeze to keep my cool!” Rugrat looked at himself, his collection of tattoos and his bulky body. He was in good shape—he even had abs! “It’s okay.” He patted his stomach as if looking out for their feelings.

Tan Xue’s next hit missed; she’d been smithing the entire time but it was only with his last comment she’d been thrown totally off.

He didn’t seem to notice her missed hit as he put away the spear and then pulled out another piece of iron that he had been eyeing earlier.

“Time to put this iron to work!”

Once he was set on a goal, he wasn’t to be stopped. Rugrat’s Stamina meant that he didn’t require that much sleep. In that time, he spent it on hammering out new weapons, armor, and items.

For four nights and five days, one could hear his hammer ringing out.

As an item was finished, he would test it and place it into a storage ring. With each item, he was testing out new ideas. The pressure increased; unlike the metal that could be reworked if he messed up, when using different enhancers with the metal, then it would be ruined and he would lose it.

With his unwillingness to sell more Mortal-grade iron ingots, he could only buy a certain number of enhancers from Dai.

He sent out Julilah, who still kept coming around the smithy to go and get him more supplies with his remaining gold. He would have gone himself but he was too engrossed in what he was doing.

Finally, he sat down on a chair and pulled out a beer from his storage ring.

“Is there anything you don’t have in there?” Tan Xue had seen him pulling out different storage rings from within his storage rings. Although most wanted to show off their wealth, he seemed more like a pack rat with too much stuff!

“Yeah, the kitchen sink.” Rugrat snorted at his own joke while Tan Xue frowned at him.

“Never mind. Joke from back home.” Rugrat sipped from his beer and looked over the smithy.

Then he waved his hand as the two steel capsules he and Erik had been teleported in appeared with a loud noise. “Could you let me know what you think of this?” Rugrat asked. “The metal, not the workmanship,” Rugrat amended, seeing the welds and knowing how people regularly used spells and flames they produced from their hands to create welds. His utilitarian welds looked incredibly ugly now.

Tan Xue looked over the steel, using a few different spells and tests. “A heavily enhanced iron,” she said after some time, looking over to Rugrat.

“Thanks.” Rugrat took a long pull from his drink.

I haven’t heard anyone saying steel, but then we just came up with the name because we use steel more than iron most of the time. With the different kinds of enhanced iron, there’s just so many varieties with the iron as a base, some of it being regional. They don’t have too many common items other than the raw material. Also, it shows that multiple enhancers can be used at once. Steel is made from a combination of different things, so it could be possible, with a proper mixture of enhancers, to improve the iron. I wonder if Erik would be able to help me out. It seems like the enhancers are more like ingredients that one might find in an alchemical concoction.

Rugrat continued his musings for some more time. He took the steel and started to write down notes and put a piece to the side. This would act as a reference in the future for him to improve upon and take information from. It was like a record from Earth: their metal and the different processes that they had come up with to create metal-based items.

Rugrat was still drinking from his beer when he took out some steel and threw it into the furnace. “Part two—steel.”

He had got down forming the metal to what he needed easily, but before, he had been forcing the metal to become items that they might not be suited for.

Thinking of the items he had given to Su Wei, he could only wince, thinking of what an idiot he must have looked like, giving them such sub-par items.

His path had become much harder as he sought out perfection, taking one piece of metal as his base that suited all of the stages and later parts.

He didn’t just take a piece of steel and think of making a sword. He would take a piece of metal, think of how he could enhance it to bring out its truly destructive properties.

Enhancers could bring out the innate attributes of the metal.

An enchantment was a simple way of saying formation but applying it permanently to an item of clothing or weaponry, looking to increase the user’s fighting capability.

Rugrat knew that he was lacking in his knowledge of enhancers and formations. The problem was that with so few alchemists in the first two realms, enhancers came in their most basic form: unprocessed and unrefined.

Formation Masters only started to appear in the Earth Realms with massive sects dominating the landscape. The Kerose Institute of Kaeju city might have people who dabbled in formations, but their focus was still on combat strength and couldn’t rely on just their formation Masters to hold up their group. No one was willing to share information unless one joined their group. Rugrat wanted to learn as much about the enhancers through trial and error as soon as possible, so he had at least some knowledge before he got to the Third Realm. He hoped that Alva Dungeon would be able to help him to increase his knowledge of formations.

He didn’t know about that, but he did know that making such a high-class item was not simple. To contain that kind of power, to perfectly integrate enchantments and innate abilities together, the base damage of an Apprentice-level weapon might only reach fifty. But with the different combinations, they could reach mid-Journeyman tier as they exacted hellish damage, or had attributes perfectly suited to the user, greatly increasing their combat capabilities.

It was too simple to just place a formation on the weapon that worked instead of one that complemented it. Custom-making a formation was a hellish undertaking that required a high-tiered formations Master.

Rugrat hoped that he would be able to reach this stage in the future. He had placed a few formations on daggers and the like, but he knew that they were half-assed. The only reason he sold them instead of melting them back down was for his need of gold.

Instead, he focused on creating the right item that suited the metal and using enhancers that drew out greater innate abilities from within the metal.

Rugrat had a smile on his face as he pulled out the steel from the furnace and started working again. His eyes glowed with the sparks as he hit the metal; his Mana channels beat according to his hammer, creating a resonance with the two, increasing the amount of Mana that entered the steel.

Mana veins started to appear on the steel as an object from Earth underwent a new baptism, becoming an item of the Ten Realms.

Chapter: Merchant Convoy

Jasper looked at the outpost in front of him with a complicated expression.

“Something wrong?” Elise asked from beside him. They both stood on a hill far away, using binoculars to study the outpost.

Jasper laughed to himself. “It wasn’t long ago that our little village was nothing but a couple of people who banded together to try to hold out against the beasts that roamed the forest. We weren’t even a fifth the size of the Wild Reaches Trading Outpost.

“Though now when I look on such a large outpost, I’m not left in awe, but wondering what kind of supplies they have and if they’ll be able to meet our needs.” Jasper shook his head. With their first preparations, Jasper had been in charge of dealing with all of the crops, getting them processed and stored for the long haul. Then there had been the beasts. He and his people took lessons from hunters and developed their skills to clean the meat and prepare it. Monster cores, healing and Stamina powders, armor, weapons: things that would have left Jasper in shock were now nothing more than something to be sorted, organized, and dealt with.

What had been treasures were now just trading goods.

“Well, let’s see if we can’t get a good deal on what we’ve got,” Elise said. She might be in charge of Alva Dungeon but she was also the highest skilled merchant in the dungeon. She’d got herself a place on the trading convoy, leaving the management of the dungeon to Egbert, Glosil, and Taran.

Egbert had taken over his role as librarian with gusto. People constantly asked him for information and he could be seen sitting in the large library, browsing books. He had become a god-like figure to those who were interested in information.

The previous fear had long disappeared as his quirkiness and odd personality were known.

Taran administered the academy fairly and efficiently, meaning that he was in his smithy all the time and would make snap decisions, not caring who the people were as he only wanted to get back to work and train his apprentices.

Some people who argued about their tuition not once but three times found themselves forced to work as Taran’s aides, working the forge and moving around supplies.

Then their parents, who had paid their tuition, found out and thrashed their backsides.

Glosil had turned into a training maniac. He had been left as the guard captain for a long time, but after the fight for Alva Village, he had seen Erik and Rugrat charging forward; he listened to their orders and put everything into improving his and the military’s strength.

The barracks had turned into a holy ground for combat Experts. Although they didn’t get Experience from killing their opponents, they could increase their fighting skills, which allowed them to get Experience and increase their combat capabilities.

Parties regularly went off into Beast Mountain to test out what they had learned in the barracks or academy.

The beast stables were also more lively as different kinds of cubs were brought back from the wild and raised there. A few of the people from the village had taken on the role of beast tamers. The gnome records had a deep understanding of beast contracts between creature and person. With the high-leveled raw meat and scraps from processing the beasts that the parties brought back, the cubs were growing rapidly, becoming an actual fighting force. Their trainers took them out to fight other beasts to increase their strength.

“Ready?” Roska asked. She had been deployed with half of the quick reaction force, which had now become the second special team. The Special Team One, led by Storbon, had reached the Second Realm and were looking to train and increase their strength.

“Lead on,” Elise said.

“Move out!” Roska said.

The Special Team Two was quiet as they moved. They didn’t seem to be threatening at all, but Jasper had seen their strength as they dealt with the beasts along their path from Alva Dungeon to Wild Reaches Trading Outpost without batting an eyelid.

They only trained with one another, but not because they looked down on others. They were too strong to have a fair fight with others. They hurt one another badly in their fights, nearly always requiring healing agents. Through it, they learned and took on the saying: If it hurts, you’re alive and you can keep fighting.

They’d turned from farmers, shopkeepers, crafters, and jack-of-all-trades into a true fighting force. They laughed and joked around, but when that switch turned, just like with Rugrat and Erik, then they were focused killers.

Jasper looked to the other traders with him. With Elise and himself, there were three others he had brought from Alva Dungeon. Jasper had high hopes for them and they had all expressed a great interest in being merchants in the future.

Gradually, they moved out of the forest and then reached a road that many groups coming back from Beast Mountain would use to enter the outpost.

They reached the gate. The guards looked them over, their eyes wary. They might not be showing off their levels but they were all high-leveled people. The pressure that they placed on those of a lower rank was impressive.

Though there were still many high-leveled people who ventured into the first realm just to farm the Beast Mountain. They gained access to the safety and inns inside the outpost only after paying their fees.

“Simms, Xi—go and get us a place to stay at the Bloody Ram,” Roska said as they entered the city, before looking to Jasper and Elise.

“We’ll do as we discussed,” Jasper said.

The others agreed and split up to go about their business.

One group would look to sell off the hides, another the monster cores, another the miscellaneous items they had made or acquired, another the beast meat they’d collected.

Jasper was in charge of selling the monster cores and headed off to one of the trading houses that dealt nearly exclusively with monster cores.

The Silaz trading house was a powerful presence in the outposts that lay around the Beast Mountain. They owned five trading outlets in different outposts. They had carved out their position with their greater strength and their connections to the higher echelons of the surrounding empires and countries around the east mountains.

There was always a great demand for the monster cores, whether it was nobles trying to increase their level by consuming the cores, or different people trying to increase the power of their weapons, armor, and crafted items.

The Silaz trading house was a dominant power. Their headquarters could be in any major imperial city but instead they chose to remain in Chonglu city, where they had started, so that they were close to their different branches.

Jasper entered the branch. Two strong guards stood at the entrance. They looked at Jasper, their eyes thinning; they couldn’t look through him as he entered the trading outpost.

The people inside were all hard-looking men and women who went into the Beast Mountain, putting their lives on the line to increase their power and gain riches.

A monster core was a great matter of wealth for people in the lower realms. To Jasper, who had seen hundreds of them, he didn’t really care for them.

It takes forty Common Mortal-grade monster cores to power the dungeon for even an extra day. Egbert said that if we increase in our levels and we use more Mana around the dungeon, then the excess Mana will be purified by the core and stored in crystalized form, whatever that means.

The items they had gathered from the different beasts had become their most valuable products. Hides of beasts up to level twelve, Common Mortal grade monster cores, beast meat up to level nine: all of these were delicacies or rare crafting materials that would be hard to find in anywhere but Beast Mountain.

Though there was no single group in Beast Mountain that could bring them out in such large quantities.

Jasper walked up to a counter off to the side. The counters were broken up into booths so it was hard to hear and see what the sellers and buyers were doing.

Jasper pulled out five Lesser Mortal monster cores and two Common Mortal monster cores.

The man on the other side of the counter looked around to make sure that there was no one looking in on the deal. “I can give you one silver and thirty coppers for each of the Lesser Mortal monster cores, twenty-seven silver for the Common monster cores,” the man said quickly, as if not wanting to let Jasper go.

Jasper pushed the Lesser Mortal monster cores forward, resting his hand on the Common Mortal monster cores.

“Twenty-eight and fifty coppers,” Jasper said.

The man looked from the cores to Jasper. Lesser monster cores were rare, but Common monster cores were in high demand. Their price in the higher realms was around thirty silver, but here in the First Realm, where there were less resources, they could sell for thirty-five, even thirty-seven.

“Done.” The man nodded.

“Good. I hope the price stays the same. I’ll have more later,” Jasper said.

The man paused before taking out a token. “If you show this medallion, then I will make sure that you get the same price for your monster cores. But I will have to ask that there be more than five of them at the same time.” The man pushed it over.

“Agreed.” Jasper took the card and pulled out another five Lesser monster cores.

The man looked to the monster cores and then to Jasper. “One silver and thirty coppers.” His eyes shone as he smiled at Jasper.

“Agreed,” Jasper said.

The man quickly took all of the monster cores into his storage ring and then pulled out a stack of silvers and coppers.

Jasper glanced at the money, checking it quickly before it disappeared into his storage ring. “Good doing business with you.” Jasper turned and left the booth and the store.

He pulled out a list of different items that had been requested by the residents, the academy, and the barracks of Alva Dungeon.

Across Wild Reaches Trading Outpost, there were all kinds of strange sales happening. A lady walked into a tannery and sold twenty different hides from level seven and eight creatures. Another woman walked into a weapon store and sold off five different iron weapons that had all reached the Apprentice grade. A man stepped into a butchery and pulled out animal carcasses to be sold.

As many big deals were made, there were no ripples on the surface. The sellers all wore clothing to hide their identity and the buyers, not wanting to offend them and keep their gains to themselves, kept their secrets.

At the same time, small items were being sold on a grand scale: paper, ink, jewels, refined metals; even Alchemist Tommins had five different visitors purchasing various potions, powders, and books that he had.

The Bloody Ram was purchased by new owners, the staff given a bonus and asked to stay on as long as they made an oath to the new owners.

The transactions passed smoothly over the space of a week, the people from Alva Dungeon trying to make as little of a stir as possible.

***

Sergeant Niemm watched as Egbert walked up the side of the mountain.

“Dear gods above!” he yelled out and tripped on the hem of his robe, falling down the hill. His legs went everywhere in an explosion of bones. “Dammit! That’s the third time this month!”

“Oh, by Grabthars Hammer!” Taran grumbled as he looked at the sorry collection of bones at the bottom of the small incline.

“Jones! Get off my small toe!” Egbert yelled as he started to reassemble himself.

Jones looked down and picked up the small bones. “How did you feel that?”

“Well, it is my damn small toe, just, you know, over there instead of here,” Egbert said.

Taran looked at the pile of bones with his hands on his hips. “Now, will you cast the damn bleeding spell that’ll tell us how big this iron vein is?”

“I need to get up the hill and do a ceremony and...”

“I read the damn book, you shiny skull-headed twit! You just want to do that bit to look like some evil undead mage,” Taran said.

“You didn’t have to be mean about it,” Egbert said, but didn’t deny Taran’s words.

“You will cast the spell or I’ll put your head on top of the academy’s library,” Taran said.

“You know how uncoordinated my body is!” Egbert complained.

The smith and undead stared back and forth at each other.

“You blinked first!” Egbert said a moment later.

“You don’t have eyelids—how is it even a contest?” Taran raised up his hands in aggravation.

“Pssht, someone’s a bad loser.” Egbert grabbed his head and put it on top of his spine. “Shit, around the wrong way.” Egbert turned his head to face forward as he kicked his foot around, re-aligning the bones in it.

“Egbert,” Taran said.

“Fine!” Egbert sighed. He raised up his hands as the world darkened. A massive magical circle appeared in the sky. It looked ominous, made from black smoke with the runes carved from purple lightning.

Sergeant Niemm felt the Mana in the area being gathered into the spell formation.

The robe around Egbert whipped around, making him look like a hellish undead mage as he laughed and lowered his hand. The rumbling formation shot forward, expanding; a purple light shot out of the spell formation into the ground.

The earth seemed to shake with the impact as the Beast Mountain’s skies returned to normal.

Everyone was quiet under Egbert’s display of magic.

“Hmm, looks like it’s a pretty good vein.” Egbert pulled out a map and started to update it. “Got some good gems in there that could be used for crafting. About three thousand iron ingots’ worth of ore, pretty pure—even have some enhancer elements around the outside of the iron vein.”

How can he change his personality so much in a short period of time? Sergeant Niemm could only sigh, putting it down to one of the oddities that had happened with the people of Alva ever since Rugrat and Erik had come along. It’s like there’s weirdos popping out of everywhere!

Niemm couldn’t really be blamed as Egbert and Taran, who had been complaining at each other, were now both looking over the map that was being transcribed via magic.

“Why don’t we make a Mana drill? We can harvest about one hundred iron ingots a week!” Egbert said.

“Do you not remember about the whole part where we don’t have the Mana to spare?” Taran said.

“Well, what else are we going to do?” Egbert asked.

“We’ve got plenty of smithing apprentices. It’ll be good training if they know how to mine the raw materials—also improve their strength,” Taran said with authority.

“I don’t know what’s scarier—that he wanted to make a bigger show of the spell, or that he completed it so easily,” Corporal Tei said beside Niemm.

Niemm could only nod. He hadn’t seen that kind of magic before. It had been overwhelmingly powerful and Egbert only raised his hand to call it down on the world.

“Just make sure you never piss him off,” Niemm said, offering his best advice.

“Let’s get started!” Taran pulled out a pickaxe.

With that, Egbert guided him to a part of the wall. His smithing apprentices followed. Taran swung the pickaxe with all his strength. It smashed into the wall, sending rocks exploding outward.

Around him, the other smithing apprentices also started to hit the wall. With their strength, they made quick work of the wall, and found the cave hidden behind.

Taran and Egbert went first. One could hear the sounds of pickaxes as they struck the ground, clearing out the cave and making room for Alva Dungeon’s first iron vein mine.

“All right, I want trip wires around the area to let us know if any beasts come to check out the noise. Use some of the pee from the panthers—that should dissuade anything other than high-level creatures from coming to check out the area.

“Tei, Knox, I want you to find an overwatch position and mark out a place for a watchtower to be made,” Niemm said, organizing his people and starting to build the defensive structures that would secure the mine from the monsters in Beast Mountain and protect those working inside.

Chapter: Crazy Idea

Erik prepared three of the Lidel leaves in one go.

He did it a few more times. He didn’t succeed every time but as he went on, he reached one hundred percent. He didn’t think about the outside world, only focusing on the ingredients in front of him and the flames that danced around him.

Instead of moving on to prepare four of the Lidel leaves in four flames, Erik took two leaves in his hand. He let out a breath. Fire surrounded the two leaves as he started to refine them both within the same flame. It only took a few seconds before he failed.

Erik didn’t stop. When the leaves turned to ash, Erik would pause, centering his mind again and thinking about what had happened, and then start again.

He burned through leaves, getting further and further with each attempt. It wasn’t long until he reached down and there were no more Lidel leaves. All concept of time was gone inside the sealed chamber.

Erik collected himself, thinking about all the gains he had made in preparing the thousands of Lidel leaves. He looked down at the vial filled with nearly forty drops from the Lidel leaves. He would be easily able to prepare three of the leaves at the same time without much difficulty.

Erik lay down on the bed within the room and fell asleep. He woke the next day and looked at the notifications that had been hidden from his vision as he worked.

==========

Skill: Appraisal

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Level: 3 (Novice)

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No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

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Skill: Alchemy

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Level: 29 (Apprentice)

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Able to identify 1 effect of the ingredient.

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He had simply refined his ability to work with his flames, increasing the chances that he would properly prepare his ingredients for the final formation.

The forming stage, the most complex stage, was harder than all of the others as the alchemist needed to rely on their own strength enhanced by the tools that they used to concoct a powder, potion, or pill.

Integrating and refining these ingredients together would enhance their effects. As they became more powerful, then it was harder to fully meld the ingredients together into a whole that was stable enough for someone to consume.

Erik checked how close he was to reaching his next level.

==========

109,581/195,000 EXP till you reach Level 16

==========

“About halfway there.” Erik laughed at himself.

If he had just stopped at preparing one of the Lidel leaves, repeating the process for the entire time, he might have reached level sixteen already. With all of the failures, he had destroyed so many ingredients, increasing his skill and knowledge. But the Ten Realms only rewarded one when they completed an act, so as they went up in ashes, his knowledge increased but his Experience stagnated. It had taken him two hours to clean out all of the ash he had created as he couldn’t move around properly. Thankfully, storage rings made it much easier to clean up.

With each success, Erik would get Experience. In the failures, he wouldn’t gain any Experience, but his skill could increase in Alchemy.

When he was able to refine three of the Lidel leaves at once, he had gained a mass of Experience that mounted with every further preparation he carried out as they came closer and closer to preserving the efficacy of the Lidel leaves and refining away the impurities without refining away the prepared product.

Erik held up the vial of the prepared Lidel leaves. As he had worked with them, he had been thinking of some amazing potions that he could make with them.

Lidel leaves were practically everywhere because of the difficulty in preparing them. Few people in the realms had the time needed to refine the Lidel leaves so they were left alone to spread across the Ten Realms. They also lived for an incredibly long time. It wasn’t hard to find some Lidel leaves that had been growing for hundreds of years, or even thousand-year-old Lidel leaves. These leaves weren’t usually thousands of years old but in Mana-rich areas, it was possible for them to age faster and increase their potency.

Erik took out a dropper. Taking a drop from his vial, he opened his mouth and let the drop touch his tongue. He closed his mouth, consuming the drop as he sealed the vial and studied his body’s reactions.

Erik felt as his body changed. The powerful potency of the drop spread through his body. His face started to change and slight changes went on the surface of his body, but the biggest change was within Erik’s mind and body.

It was as if his vitality had skyrocketed for a period of time; his body rejuvenated before settling back down. The effect of the drop was powerful, but without other ingredients to try to control and direct it, only slight changes occurred.

Erik felt younger, his body ached less, he could feel his emotions were higher. His skin had less wrinkles. Looking in the mirror he even looked a bit younger.

He thought on the changes he felt in his body and his original thoughts. “I was right—the Lidel leaves have a powerful vitality to them. I didn’t think that it would lead to something that could increase someone’s lifespan. If this happened with a drop from a ten-year-old Lidel leaf, I wonder what would happen with some of those century-old or longer leaves?”

Erik’s mind raced for a bit before he could try to calm down. “I have increased my skill in preparing ingredients but I haven’t yet tried to make an Alchemy concoction with just my flames.” Erik got excited as he sat where he had been sitting for the last couple of weeks.

With a wave of his arm, he cleared away the ashes on the floor collecting them into a storage ring to be disposed of later. He took a few breaths and pulled out an ingredient. He smelled it, thinking of possible concoctions he could make with it. From there, he pulled out other ingredients, smelling them and leaving them out or putting them away.

After a few minutes, he had a number of ingredients in front of him. He took out two of the ingredients and tossed them up into the air. Flames appeared like snakes, wrapping themselves around the ingredients.

Erik checked over the ingredients. Feeling little strain, he threw out another ingredient. So he went. Once he felt he could handle the ingredients wrapped in flames, he would throw out another until they were all being refined in different-colored flames that circled Erik.

Compared to the complexities of the ever-changing Lidel leaves, refining these ingredients was easy for him.

He finished the first preparation, the separate ingredients being placed into new containers as Erik started to combine two ingredients. One was a pile of metal-looking shards; the other was a powder.

Erik coated the metal shards in the powder, increasing the heat slowly. After some time, the metal and powder combined, changing color and becoming a block-like structure.

Erik threw in a yellowish liquid. The block dissolved into the yellow substance as Erik started to add more and more ingredients. His confidence increased as the selected ingredients came together. A puff of black smoke appeared as the potion fell apart.

Erik looked at the failed combination and let out a deep breath.

He pulled out another ingredient. Thinking of a concoction, he pulled out other ingredients and started to work.

So he continued on, his confidence shooting up as he was now able to make potions with just his fire.

He introduced a cauldron into the mix after the seventh potion and the second one to fail exploded, making Erik’s ears ring as he fought to heal the burns on his hands and his eardrums.

With the cauldron, his success rate soared.

Erik created potions for the thrill of creating, making those that would challenge his boundaries. There were as many successes as there were failures. Erik didn’t think on the gold that he was destroying with each failure, punctuated with a successful concoction.

Sometimes as he was going through creating a new concoction, he found that he was actually unable to carry out what he wanted.

For days, he continued to experiment and try out new ideas.

The air around his workshop was filled with the smells of success wafting through and lifting the soul, or the nose-burning smells of failure.

Erik spent three days and nights on his own concoctions before he once again retrieved the prepared ten-year Lidel leaves.

Erik reviewed the three concoctions he had thought to create with the Lidel leaves.

He pushed aside how much the prepared Lidel leaves might get him and started to preheat his cauldron. He threw in several ingredients. His flame leaped out, gathering the ingredients, preparing them and combining them.

A faint haze started to appear around Erik as he took out a dropper and put a drop of the Lidel leaf liquid into the cauldron. The parts of the concoction started to come together, through a series of fusions and mixing.

There were three parts to the potion. One was the part that would prepare the body to accept the powerful energy; one would enhance the power of the Lidel leaf; and the final would allow it to be released over time so that it didn’t overpower the person who drank the potion.

Erik slowly started to merge these three solutions together. He used Simple Organic Scan to look through it all and search out the smallest issue as he combined them all together. They came together slowly. Erik did not speed up the process at all, so that he could see every small thing that was happening.

The three parts of the potion came together. A wave of pressure filled the cauldron, banging against its walls. Erik didn’t account for the added pressure and the potion came apart. The different solutions counteracted one another, spoiling.

Erik removed the by-product, resetting and starting again. He went through five more attempts before that pressure wave passed and a dull silver liquid appeared in Erik’s cauldron.

Erik used a potion bottle to collect up the potion. He took out a dropper, taking the potion and putting a drop on his tongue.

The power was reduced compared to what he had with the raw drop he’d had the first time. Its power was calmer, lasting longer but having no less of an effect.

“Success!” Erik laughed and looked at the silver potion. It was a solid mid-Apprentice-level potion, approaching a high-tier Apprentice potion.

“Well, it’s going to need a name. I’ll call it the Age Rejuvenation potion.”

Erik studied the potion, the product of two and a half weeks of focus. He put away the Age Rejuvenation potion and pulled out the ingredients again.

“One success deserves another.” Erik laughed as he continued to make more and more of the potions. With each potion, his skill grew, increasing in power as Erik’s practice with the Lidel leaves improved his Alchemy abilities.

Chapter: On Credit

The trades within Wild Reaches Trading Outpost had gone on without issue. A few of the people from Special Team Two were left in the outpost. Their objective was to watch the outpost, learn of the powers that operated within it. Their secondary objective was to look out for talents that might be useful members of Alva Dungeon.

The return of the merchant convoy was less like the return of friends and heroes, but a rush to strip them of everything that they had brought from the outside world.

Hearing that the convoy was back, the people from the dungeon poured out so that they were all behind the defenses when the convoy made it back.

“I have two Lesser Mortal monster cores!” someone in the crowd yelled out.

“We’ll buy them at one silver each! See Elise!” Jasper, who had been calm and collected on his trip, panicked and yelled out at seeing the mob.

Elise’s eyes shot daggers at him. She was trying to get away quietly and was instead turned into everyone’s target.

“I can only exchange three Lesser monster cores per person!” she yelled out just as people were about to start yelling. “Trades will only be carried out in the market square!” she also added as people moved in on her like a pack of hungry wolves.

Little did she know her words would make them all turn like sharks smelling blood, grabbing the merchant convoy people and carrying them to the merchant square.

Jasper had people separate out. Each person manning a stall had certain items. They exchanged their monster cores for money at Elise, then used that money to buy items from the different stalls.

Although they had lots of resources within Alva Dungeon, they couldn’t bring it all out and sell it in one shot at the Wild Reaches Trading Outpost. This was why they were scouting other outposts so they could spread out their sales, making them look smaller.

They’d sold only a small amount of their goods but due to their high quality, they had plenty of money to buy simple goods. Spices, woodworking tools, farming implements, smithy hammers: these kinds of items and more were simple. But they were items that the people of Alva Village would have never been able to purchase, and items that allowed them to increase their skill levels greatly. Using spices with cooking could increase their skill level in leaps and bounds. They needed a hammer when working in the smithy. The farming equipment allowed them to work more land in a shorter period of time. A good needle and thread could allow for higher classed repairs on different clothes

Though when people’s smallest value goods were monster cores and hides, the remaining silver that they had left was quickly distributed.

Through the trade, Alva Dungeon made twenty coppers on the deal. This was put into the treasury for future projects and people’s wages.

On that day, the market square of Alva Dungeon was born. Trades were made quickly, with people rushing off with their goods. One of the cook apprentices nearly cried as he hugged the spice rack he had purchased before he ran off toward the cookhouse while yelling, “I will show you the power of hot sauce!”

Elise found Jasper after the day of trading was winding down. “Well, looks like we’re going to need to do some more trading and fast.”

Jasper nodded. “I’ll set off in the morning.”

Elise started to interrupt him before he continued. “I know that I’m needed here, but I want to know the situation in each of the places that we’re trading before we send out our people to them.”

Elise didn’t like the answer but she seemed to understand. “Okay. I don’t think it’ll be long until we have people making their own trading groups and heading off.”

“At that time, then we’ll introduce the tax on the market.” Jasper was looking forward to a time when there were merchants freely moving goods to and from Alva Dungeon and he could go back to managing the stores within Alva Dungeon.

“Miss Elise, Mister Jasper! Come quick!” a cooking apprentice yelled, running up to them.

“What is it?” Jasper asked.

“Teacher Feng has made a breakthrough!” The apprentice’s eyes shone in excitement.

“I’m going to guess it was due to the advanced spice rack.” Elise laughed as she moved forward.

Jasper followed her and the apprentice over to the cookhouse. It was a large building with multiple different cooking areas. It also had a storage room that was specially made to keep food fresh.

There were some six people in the cookhouse. Most of them were food lovers who didn’t find interest in other areas. Formations created great power, woodworkers could make buildings and had the sub-school of architects, tailors could make leather armor from the plentiful hides, or fix holed clothes with ease and generate massive amounts of gold; same with smiths. But cooking wasn’t seen as that important by many.

Jasper believed in the cooking skills as he had seen how people recovered during their fight for Alva Village. Still, he thought that it had a limited growth; people couldn’t do much more than make food taste good.

When he entered a room in the cookhouse and looked upon the beast meat that lay in the center of the table, the glow of everyone’s eyes as they looked upon the meat that Jia Feng had proudly carved up, Jasper felt that something had changed.

Even though he had eaten not that long ago, just the smell of the meat made his stomach growl and he had to swallow.

“Jasper, Elise! Try some of this.” Jia Feng put a slice of meat onto two plates and put it in front of the two.

They smiled sheepishly and took the meat. They were only given a fork; the meat was so tender that one didn’t need to use a knife to cut through.

Jasper took a bite of the meat. A warm feeling filled him as he closed his eyes to capture the taste. He tried to eat slowly, but the taste was so good it was hard to slow down.

He finished it all up and would’ve licked the plate if it was possible.

==========

You have consumed: Jia Feng’s roast wolf dish

==========

Your Stamina Regeneration increases by 0.05 for 8 minutes

Strength increases by 5% for 20 minutes

==========

Jasper could feel as the weariness from the last couple of days fell away. His body relaxed and he could feel new strength within his body, as if the food had replaced his exhaustion, rejuvenating him, body and soul.

“What?” he yelled out.

“It’s a high-Apprentice-level dish. It can restore one’s Stamina and increase their Strength. This is the first one that worked, though Egbert said that it’s possible to make dishes that can increase one’s Mana and other attributes!” Jia Feng said with an excited voice.

“I thought that only Alchemy could have those effects,” Elise said.

“They’re stronger, but they don’t taste as good, last as long and they’re also more expensive to make,” Jia Feng said.

Alchemy concoctions of the Novice level have an effect but it was only when she made a high-Apprentice-level recipe she was able to have such a powerful effect.

“Now how can the other skills look down on us!” one of the cooking apprentices yelled out.

Jia Feng looked at them with a disapproving glance, but a smile was just barely hidden on her lips.

Imagine if people were to have this every day—then wouldn’t they need even less sleep and be able to do more? Jasper wondered just what kind of price this food would go for in the outside world. Alva Dungeon, just what will happen in the future? Jasper couldn’t think of an answer to his open-ended question.

***

Rugrat put down his hammer and then took the last item he had made, a pair of boots, as he put them in for their final tempering. He had acquired special smith’s oil from Tan Xue to improve on the final product.

He wiped his forehead. He was covered in sweat, from his bandana down to his short shorts.

“That’s the last of the steel.” He pulled out the piece of steel that he had kept and looked it over.

“Steel? Why have you been calling that enhanced iron steel this entire time?” Tan Xue shook her head. She had finally gotten used to the fact he wore short shorts the entire time he was smithing, but her resentment hadn’t dissipated, only being focused in other ways as he was left unaffected by her complaints.

Rugrat laughed to himself and put the piece of steel away.

Through his work with enhancers and iron, he had reached the mid-Journeyman level in smithing. The enhanced iron wasn’t able to truly reveal his skill anymore. They could only have simple formations and the formations weren’t good enough in Rugrat’s eyes, so he didn’t even put them onto the items anymore, leaving the possibility for them to gain formations later on.

He looked at the remaining ingots in his storage ring. There was only Mortal-grade iron left now. Instead of being excited, he could only sigh.

“You sound worse than a broken bellows. What are you sighing about now?” Tan Xue asked as she was refining Mortal-grade iron without any issues.

“I don’t have enough money to buy enhancers for the Mortal-grade iron,” Rugrat said.

“You don’t have enough? Why don’t you just sell some of those weapons?” Tan Xue asked.

“I need them for an auction,” Rugrat said.

“You’ve got some forty pieces of Mortal-grade iron and nearly twenty different items all of Journeyman class—that’s enough to buy nearly anything you want in Kaeju,” Tan Xue said.

“One second—my friend might have some more money!” Rugrat said, thinking of Erik. He hadn’t talked to the other much since they had both been focused on their crafting.

Rugrat used his sound transmission device and waited as it connected.

“Rugrat! Just the person I was looking for. Do you have any spare gold?” Erik asked before Rugrat could open his mouth.

“Do I have gold? I was going to ask if you have anything,” Rugrat complained.

“Do you have any Mana stones left?”

“No—you?”

“I’m out,” Erik said.

A depressing air fell over them both. They had been so wrapped up in their pursuits that they hadn’t kept track of the money that they were spending.

I guess this is why organizations are so interesting. With their materials, it’s possible to increase one’s skill without having to worry about the items that they use. They can get immediate money upon completing certain jobs.

“Do you have anything to sell?” Rugrat asked.

“Some potions. I was going to see if I could sell them at the auction. I want to make sure that we get that dungeon information,” Erik said.

“Same. Maybe we can get a loan off the items?” Rugrat asked.

“Like a deposit? What kind of items do you have?” Erik asked.

“Journeyman.” Rugrat didn’t hide anything.

“Su Wei seems to like you so it might be possible. Won’t hurt to try it out.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever been this broke.” Even though Rugrat’s level had increased and he had some powerful items on him, his wealth was severely limited.

Erik didn’t say anything; he didn’t need to. Rugrat could tell he felt the same.

“Let me know how it goes and then I’ll try it out too,” Erik said.

“Okay,” Rugrat said. “It sucks being broke.”

“Bet you wouldn’t have thought we’d be in this kind of position before we arrived in the Ten Realms,” Erik joked.

“I don’t know if that makes me feel better or worse.”

“Me neither.”

There was only two days to go until the auction. Knowing that they had so little time before they left Kaeju city, they wanted to put everything forward in these remaining days.

Chapter: Sharing Alchemy Knowledge

Erik looked at the potions arrayed in front of him, the products of his last few days of concentration and singular drive. There were the random potions and powders that he had created after preparing the Lidel leaves, then thirty Age Rejuvenation potions, ranging from low quality to three high-quality potions.

He had a few more failures as he had been refining the potions to bring them to that higher tier, advancing his Alchemy skill.

He put them in his storage ring and rolled over to his bed, looking at the notification that had accumulated as he worked.

==========

Skill: Alchemy

==========

Level: 32 (Apprentice)

==========

Able to identify 1 effect of the ingredient.

==========

==========

127,769/195,000 EXP till you reach Level 16

==========

Now, instead of just his gains, he was looking at the potions with a new set of eyes, wondering and worrying about how much they would be worth.

“Worrying about it won’t do much, and I don’t have anything left. In fact, I’m in debt to Old Man Hei.” Erik stood up from sitting in the Alchemy room. He didn’t have any more resources to use. He wanted to try to calm his mind. Talking with Old Man Hei, he might learn something and advance his Alchemy skill in the process.

Erik got to his feet and went to find Old Man Hei. He looked around the shop. It was closed even as it was nearing midday. The assorted boxes containing ingredients had been ransacked.

A powerful medicinal smell filled the shop as Erik heard Hei making excited noises from his workshop. The door burst open as Hei held a pill within a pill bottle.

“I did it! I was finally able to make a forty percent medicinal pill!” Old Man Hei waved the pill at Erik, his expression looking crazed but ecstatic.

Erik looked at the pill bottle. From a glance, he could tell that this was no simple pill. “Congratulations, Hei!” Erik said, excited for his friend.

“I wouldn’t have been able to complete it for years if I hadn’t seen the determination you showed. Even as you burned through the Lidel leaves, you never gave up,” Hei said. “How were your own harvests? I doubt they were low!”

Erik pulled out the potions that he had created, except for the Age Rejuvenation potion. “I was able to make these.”

“Come, come, let’s have a look at them inside my Alchemy room.” Hei moved into his Alchemy room and waved Erik to enter.

He went through Erik’s potions and powders one by one, smelling and moving them around. At times he would run tests with his instruments.

“See this pigmentation here? This is because you didn’t grill the Xea root enough. It’s supposed to be a deep blue. When it is only showing dots, then it is all but ten percent there. But if you can get it all the way blue, then the Xea root will be two or three times more potent.” Hei dissected the potions and powders with ease, pointing out where Erik had gone right and ways to improve.

Erik listened with rapt attention. This kind of guidance was priceless to him. With just a few words, Hei was able to clear away the fog in his mind and open up new paths.

Erik finally pulled out three of the Age Rejuvenation potions, from low to high quality.

“This—what is this potion?” Hei asked after sniffing the potion.

“Age Rejuvenation potion. I’m not sure how potent the effects will be but it can reduce someone’s age in appearance and body,” Erik said.

“This is a fake high-level Journeyman-level potion,” Hei said.

“A what?”

“This potion would be ranked as a low-Journeyman potion if it wasn’t for the need for Lidel leaves that I can sense. The preparation of this one ingredient combined with all of the other preparations and the final forming boost this into one of the weaker high-level Journeyman potions. If this was made with even twenty-year-old Lidel leaves, then this could increase in rank drastically. With a thousand-year-old Lidel leaves, I could only guess what level it might be. Lidel leaves are one of the hardest ingredients to refine in the lower realms. Going from the ten-year leaves even to fifty-year leaves is a difficulty increasing in magnitudes.”

Erik’s eyebrows rose. He knew how difficult it was to prepare the ten-year-old Lidel leaves. It seemed that his original excitement wasn’t able to meet up with the difficulty that lay along his path to becoming a Star-ranked alchemist.

Instead of feeling downtrodden, Erik was excited to find that there was a greater depth to the Alchemy world.

It is said that one who is excited to train or increase their levels is hard to find. That these people can reach greater heights. With every training session and day they spent increasing their level, their drive and passion to reach the top only increases.

“Good. You were able to attain a thirty percent efficacy,” Hei praised.

“Thirty percent?” Erik muttered. The number seemed to be extremely low.

“This is not something to be upset about but something to be excited about. When someone creates an Alchemy concoction, the final product’s effects are rated by Novice, Apprentice, Journeyman—low, medium, and high. Within this, the concoction’s efficacy can increase the duration or power of these effects, drawing out the power of the ingredients. At thirty percent, you have drawn out thirty percent of the ingredients’ power. I have heard that there are people who are able to draw out concoctions whose efficacy is sixty percent! Most of these people are those who can create potions at least one overall level higher, so a highly skilled Journeyman alchemist completing a high-Apprentice-level potion will have a high chance of producing a higher efficacy potion. It wouldn’t be hard for them to easily create a thirty or forty percent efficacy concoction. If they were trying, they might be able to reach a forty-five percent efficacy. Once passing forty percent, just making a concoction one percent more powerful is an incredible feat.

“As one reaches higher levels and makes lower level potions, it is not rare for them to get closer and closer to sixty percent.” Hei’s eyes shone. “That is why the fact that you are able to make a thirty percent powerful peak mid-Journeyman potion, passable high rank is an incredible feat!”

Erik nodded. But still, he wanted to go further, to push past those limits and pull his potions and his abilities into a higher realm. “I was also wondering about the Experience gain. I’m now a level fifteen and I’m rapidly closing in on level sixteen while my Alchemy skill level is soaring,” Erik asked.

“Difficulty modifier, I would think,” Hei said. “You’re making potions that are a level higher than your actual skill rank. You don’t have the helping hand that most people who are in the Journeyman level and trying to make these concoctions would. You’ve also made nearly fifty potions, ranging from low Journeyman to high. Those are not simple concoctions and your medical efficacy is high. These things combined together, it’s not abnormal if you get two or three times the Experience per concoction when compared to people in the Journeyman level making these potions. Failures earn us nothing but a new direction to take while making items that are below your skill level will lead to little or no advancement.”

“And getting those higher formulas and techniques is not cheap,” Erik muttered

“Exactly. If someone has a bunch of spell scrolls and kills a lot of monsters that are a higher level they can increase their level quickly, but if they only have their fists, they can only rely on fighting what is in front of them to increase their level. This is one reason that crafters can ascend levels quickly if they have the money to burn on creating things.” Hei passed back the potions.

“Might I be able to look at your pill again?” Erik asked.

“Certainly. It is a low-Expert-level Mind Cleansing pill.” Hei passed it to Erik.

Erik opened the pill bottle and smelled the pill, feeling his mind calm down from just the smell.

“This pill can allow someone to remove the difficulties plaguing their mind, to refocus and center themselves. It is a great aid for those who are trying to study the magical arts and gain a deeper understanding of a fighting technique, or those who are going to craft a complicated item,” Hei said proudly.

“Some powerful-ass ADHD drugs—nice,” Erik said. “How do you know its potency or efficacy?”

“Training! Didn’t you learn anything from those samples? Or you can buy this handy technique book.” Hei pulled out a book. “It’s only fifteen silver.”

“Are you sure you weren’t some kind of bartering merchant in a past life?” Erik muttered, pulling out the necessary money and put it on the counter, getting the book from Hei.

“I’m thinking of selling the store,” Hei said as Erik was about to open the book.

“Wait, why?” Erik asked, a bit stunned by the suddenness of Hei’s announcement.

“I made this store so that I could trade information with other alchemists, see their wares and hope to improve myself. I did in the beginning but recently I have been caring about the store and less about my advancement as an Expert alchemist. If I was able to become an Expert alchemist, then I could once again compete with my peers instead of be relegated to administrative work.”

Erik sent out his Mana Sense and locked onto Hei. “I never knew. It makes sense though—you said that you were in the Third Realm.”

“I made it to the fifth realm before I took a break from it all. And now I think that my time away is up.,” Hei said with bright eyes.

“It has been my life dream to become an expert alchemist recognized by the Alchemist Association. I know that it won’t be easy but I don’t think that there is anything else left for me in the Second Realm. If I’m being honest, I think that I should have left a few years ago but I was stubborn.” Hei laughed.

“It sounds like you won’t have much peace in the Third Realm,” Erik said.

“No, but it means that I will be surrounded by alchemists, pushing their boundaries. These three weeks that we’ve spent working on Alchemy, I’ve made incredible gains. You were able to reignite my fighting spirit, my passion for Alchemy.”

“I was only doing a few things that I thought might be able to push me a bit further down the path,” Erik said.

“Well, no matter what, I count you as a friend and I can see a long path ahead of you. My talent is only middling but you’ve been able to come here as a new arrival and become an Apprentice alchemist.”

“I’ve only just started with the world of Alchemy. My background isn’t as strong as yours.”

“It might not be, but that is something that we can work on,” Hei said. “I wouldn’t say that I will be your Master or your teacher—you are too advanced to call me that. Instead, I would like to exchange pointers with you in Alchemy, if that is possible. It is clear to me that your path is different than mine and that we could both gain benefits from working together.”

Erik nodded. Hei was a wealth of knowledge: he had ascended the first three realms by himself and was in his right a peak Journeyman alchemist, someone who was able to create Expert-level concoctions, and not only concoctions but pills—the king creations of an alchemist.

It would take Erik a long time to reach that kind of mastery by himself. With Hei’s aid, he could get there faster.

“I would be an idiot to not take up that offer.” Erik extended his hand.

“Good!” Hei laughed and clasped Erik’s hand.

“Wait, you said three weeks?” Erik said, his mind catching up to what Hei had said.

“Well, two and a half weeks,” Hei said. “When working on Alchemy, it is easy to let the world pass by.”

“Crap. When’s the auction at the Blue Lotus?” Erik asked.

“Oh, the one for the people who come from the higher realms?”

“Yeah!” Erik said, fearing he had missed it.

“It is in two days.” Hei smiled at Erik’s anxiousness.

Erik let out a sigh of relief. “That’s good. I’m out of gold.”

Old Man Hei coughed awkwardly. “Well, it looks like to me you’ve got a number of high-level items that they would be pleased to auction off! Go, get some rest and consolidate your gains. Go tomorrow and drop off your potions.”

Seeing that it was dark outside, Erik could only agree and headed back to his room to rest.

Chapter: Loan on Unsold Items

“So I would like to take a loan out against these items,” Rugrat said.

Su Wei, who had just been taking a sip of his tea to try to hide his trembling hands as he looked at the new armor that Rugrat had made, coughed and nearly choked on it as he fought to regain his composure.

“What?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

Rugrat looked awkward as he scratched the back of his head but he continued on. “In making these items, I ran out of other funds, so I don’t have enough to continue on in making better items for the auction.”

Better items for the auction? These are already items that would interest people in the Third Realm and would be used by the soldier regiments in the Fourth Realm! Did he really just make these or was he holding them back to make a greater profit and stun me more?

Su Wei couldn’t see through the man in front of him. Su Wei would dismiss such a request from most people, but seeing Rugrat and recognizing how fast his skill was improving, Su Wei wanted to bring him closer to the Blue Lotus.

“You do know, if you were a smith for the Blue Lotus, then you would have all kinds of resources, not only material but also information books to grow with,” Su Wei said, testing the waters.

“No thanks. I’m good right now.” Rugrat shook his head.

Su Wei smiled and then thought on the idea for a few moments. He looked over the armor and weapons that covered the table again and looked to Pan Lim.

“All of the items are of a high quality. As you can see, though, none of them have been fit with a formation.” Pan Lim’s statement turned into a question as he looked to Rugrat.

“I’m better at smithing than I am creating formations. These weapons can be sold as the base model, then someone can create a formation that is better suited for them and add it to the item to increase their power. Making general weapons is easy, but if the weapon is suited to the user directly then their overall strength will greatly increase.” Rugrat’s words didn’t hold a hint of superiority; instead, he just seemed to be simply explaining his actions.

“Indeed, these items could be easily enhanced with a formation to increase their power,” Pan Lim agreed.

Su Wei took a few moments as he mentally estimated the base value for each of the items. “Okay, then we can give you one hundred and seventy gold as a loan, which will be deducted from the sale price, plus five percent.”

Rugrat’s eyes went wide before he started nodding and then stood and held his hand out. “Yup, that works for me!” He shook Su Wei’s hand before he had fully stood up, as if he were in a state of shock.

Su Wei felt his arm was going to fall off with how violent Rugrat shook his hand. “It’s no worry, Mister Rugrat.” Su Wei finally got his hand back and rubbed it.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure to get you another piece for the auction!”

***

Rugrat wasn’t the only one who made a trip to the Blue Lotus.

As he was exiting the building with his ring filled with gold, Erik was in the sellers’ side of the auction house.

“I should have asked Rugrat to lend me that token. It might have sped things up a bit,” Erik muttered.

There were a number of people who had items that they thought were rare or valuable; all of them came here, looking to make it big. One time selling through the Blue Lotus was something one could brag about for many years to come; it could also bring in massive wealth.

Though more often than not the items were useless.

There were different counters with people at them. Each used different formations on the counter or tools such as monocles or swabs to test the items that were placed before them.

They could immediately accept some items at the front desk. Higher-leveled items or those that they couldn’t make an accurate test on were sent into the private rooms, where a senior appraiser was waiting to look at the different products.

Erik waited in the line. While he was standing there, he pulled out a notebook and started jotting down ideas. This was the first time in a long time he had actually spent not completing one or another experiment inside of Old Man Hei’s Alchemy room.

Now that he had some time, he was reflecting on his gains and his ideas for the future.

I have the Reverse Alchemist ability, but it’s too unreliable. I am able to identify the different items that I have learned from the information books but there are so many more ingredients out there. There are three possible paths in the future to make up for this shortcoming. One, I will need to consume a large variety of different ingredients to get to understand them to some degree; later, if I consume a concoction, I will be able to at least know what ingredients it came from. Two, I upgrade my Alchemy class. At that point, I can understand more ingredients from what I consume. I also have the third option, which is to consume as many information books as possible. This will allow me to understand the ingredient and its traits. It might be harder for me to recognize what it is when consuming it, but I’ll have a greater depth of information.

These were three very different paths, but they would all grow and improve upon his basic knowledge.

“I can’t guarantee that any of them will work on their own, so I should try them all out,” Erik finally muttered. He had a grim smile on his face, as if he could predict the problems he might run into in the future.

The man behind him coughed, bringing him out of his thoughts.

“Next!” a lady at the counter yelled.

Erik looked back. From her look and her tone, she must have tried to get his attention a few times.

With an apologetic smile, he moved up to the counter. “Hello. I have a few items that I wish to put up for sale.” Erik looked around and then pulled out the different powders and potions he had made.

Among them were the Age Rejuvenation potions. With Old Man Hei wanting to sell the store and pursue Alchemy once again, Erik didn’t want to try to sell him the potions. Once he got the gold from the sale, then he resolved to pay back Old Man Hei in full.

“May I inspect them?” The woman at the counter looked more respectful as she stared at the potions and powders.

“Please,” Erik said.

She took the items onto her side of the counter and pulled out a piece of metal. She opened the potion and put the rune-covered piece of metal into it; she swirled it around and then pulled it out and placed it on a formation plate to the side.

This many formations just to test the most basic of items—the Blue Lotus has money to burn.

A light emitted from her side of the counter. Her expression flickered before she smiled at Erik. “Sir, my skills aren’t enough to determine the quality of these items. However, there is a senior appraiser who will be able to help you.”

“Okay,” Erik said.

A man came over and bowed to Erik. “If you care to follow me, I will take you to Senior Appraiser Juko,” he said with a faint smile.

“Thank you,” Erik said to the lady, taking the items back into his storage ring before following the other man.

They moved past the counters and into a nicer hallway, where people were having hushed conversations.

The man leading Erik knocked on a door and opened it. The office inside was large, with couches and testing equipment off to the side. A larger man sat behind a desk. He looked up and smiled as Erik entered the room.

“Hello, my name is Senior Appraiser Juko. I hope that I can be of some use to you today?” Juko bowed to him slightly.

Erik returned the slight bow as he entered the room. The man who had led him there shut it behind him.

“Hello Mister Juko, I’m Erik. I was wondering if I could add some items into the auction that is coming up?” Erik moved forward.

Juko’s smile turned a little tight before he laughed. “It might be difficult to do so. Why don’t I take a look at your items first?” Juko said, smiling on the surface.

He wants to make sure that they aren’t some crap that will make the Blue Lotus look bad if he puts it on the auction block.

“I wish to sell all of these.”

Juko looked at the potions in some amazement. “Apprentice mid-level quality, high level, even low Journeyman, with some half-step mid-Journeyman level in quality,” Juko said with a glance before frowning. “Though I do not know what their effects are.”

Juko continued to look at them for a few moments. Erik waited on him.

“I will need to run some tests on these but you can rest assured that we will be able to sell these for you,” Juko promised.

Erik nodded. He would want to test them first if he didn’t know what kind of potion or concoction they were.

“If you could sell them for me, that would be good. Though, umm, I’m currently low on funds so I was wondering if I could use these as collateral?” Erik dragged out the last bit of the sentence as Juko wasn’t able to hide his grimace.

“We won’t be able to do that, Erik,” Juko said apologetically.

Erik could only nod at that. “Okay.” I hope that Rugrat is able to get some money from them—I’m running on coppers here!

Juko pulled out a contract that said he would look to test the items and that he would either sell them or return to Erik, or pay the full amount that they were estimated as being worth if they were broken in any way.

Erik signed on his part of the contract and it disappeared. A connection formed with Erik; it was like when one made an oath on the Ten Realms but it wasn’t as restricting.

Seeing Erik’s confusion, Juko smiled.

“It’s a magical contract, much like one that people would use to contract beasts or allow people to be bound together, without having to call upon the Ten Realms. After all, the Ten Realms usually kills anyone who breaks an oath, or inflicts heavy payment. This merely deals with money and allows one party or the other to be held responsible easily.”

“Ah, that makes sense. I have to get going, though. I still have other concoctions to work on.” Erik turned to leave. He actually wanted to track Rugrat down and get some money if possible.

“Will you be coming to the auction?” Juko asked suddenly. Erik missed the flash in his eyes when Erik talked about making more concoctions.

“I will.” Erik stopped as he was on his way to the door.

“I hope that you go safely, and remember that if you wish, the Blue Lotus would be more than happy to help you in advancing your Alchemy skill,” Juko said, his voice heavy with hidden meaning.

“I like to be free right now, but thank you for the offer,” Erik said with a smile and headed out of the office.

He pulled out his sound transmission device, connecting to Rugrat.

“I’m in the money again!” Rugrat yelled back in excitement.

“Don’t spend it all. Give me two—no, three gold at least!” Erik said.

“I’ve got like a hundred and fifty gold—I can give you twenty!” Rugrat laughed.

“I’ll be there in a minute!” Erik yelled, seeing gold coins in his eyes as he thought of all the concoctions he could make with that kind of money.

***

It wasn’t until sometime later that Juko left his office.

He took with him a collection of different items that he wasn’t able to fully understand. He dropped them off at different places. His last stop was the Alchemy labs, a place filled with Alchemy tools and Blue Lotus alchemists.

“Master Reinhart, I need you to analyze these.” Juko put the murky silver-black potions in front of the man.

“These look to be Journeyman potions. Who was fortunate to be able to find these in the Second Realm?” Reinhart looked at the potions. His eyes moved to the silver-looking potions that had a simple label on it. “Age Rejuvenation potion—what might this be? Some appearance-altering potion?” Reinhart muttered to himself as he took one of the potions, taking a small sample and running it through some tests.

“This isn’t possible! How can this be!” Reinhart said.

Juko looked over at Reinhart. The other alchemists in the workshop also turned their attention to him.

“This is an age-altering potion! It can allow someone in the First to Third Realm—all of the Mortal Realms—to gain anywhere from ten to fifty years longer life!”

“What? How is that possible! Those potions are incredibly rare and difficult to create! That someone would give them up?” Another alchemist walked over.

He and Reinhart ran the tests again, both of them left in shock.

“This—how can such a thing still exist down here? This beaker is of a high quality, but the power of this potion would be lost after just three decades!” the second alchemist said.

“That’s not the only thing—there are some thirty potions all labeled the same!” Reinhart said.

The other alchemists were now all coming over to check the findings of the first two, all of them getting into animated conversations.

Juko was unable to follow them all as questions were sent to him. He could only smile in the face of their questions, unable to tell them anything.

“What alchemist was able to make this potion? It is totally new. I have not seen anything like it before! They must be an Expert alchemist to so easily make thirty of these potions!”

“These could be sold across the realms for all those people who are below level thirty and trying to gain more years to increase their levels and skills!”

“The combination of these ingredients—it’s not regular at all. It is as if the alchemist was substituting for other ingredients. How could a Master like this need to substitute for these ingredients?”

“These must just be tests for him—he was just increasing his skill by making the same potion and doing it with a variety of ingredients. I have heard that some high-tier alchemists can make concoctions with but the most rudimentary ingredients!”

“That’s right! These were probably just simple tests for him!”

“Let me test this Fortify Strength potion here! I have been working on my own concoction—maybe I will be able to gain some insight from this!”

“Let me test these healing potions. The mysteries of the formula might help advance my own skills!”

The alchemists had turned into a rabble, vying to test the potions and hoping that from this alchemist grandmaster they would be able to gain insights that would allow them to increase their Alchemy skill.

There was only one Journeyman-skilled alchemist among them, and even he was only able to make mid-Journeyman potions. The rest were all Apprentice-level alchemists. To them, this was a great chance!

Juko could only send a sound transmission to Assistant Head Louis. He came down personally a few moments later, talking to the Journeyman alchemist who ran this division of the Blue Lotus.

Juko had personally taken charge of any dealings with Erik. He didn’t even want to let these potions out of his sight, knowing just what importance that Assistant Head Louis placed on him.

Then Assistant Head Louis forwarded the information to Manager Su Wei, creating a stir within the Blue Lotus.

***

Even as there were big things happening in the Blue Lotus, Rugrat was looking at a piece of metal which looked to have veins etched into its surface. His expression was solemn as Tan Xue looked on.

Erik sat in front of a cauldron, new supplies all around him.

Rugrat threw the Mortal-grade iron into the furnace as a flame appeared in the cauldron in front of Erik and started to heat it up.

One at the Black Cauldron, the other at Tan Xue’s smithy: they both had a determined look in their eyes.

“Let’s begin!”

Chapter: Hidden Preparations

Tan Xue watched as Rugrat pulled the Mortal-grade ingot out from the furnace. It was only when he was working on making a new item that his face changed.

There were no signs of the playfulness underneath. Instead, he was totally focused on his work, leaving everything else behind. It was as if a switch had been turned.

Rugrat’s hammer landed on the Mortal-iron ingot. The Mortal-grade iron that was much stronger than regular iron deformed under the blow.

His hammer continued to fall again and again. Rugrat didn’t use any enhancers but every blow was reinforced with Mana, increasing the power behind it and changing the composition of the metal.

Sparks of red and blue were thrown up in his wake as he hammered the iron out and started to shape it. He separated the ingot out, putting the pieces he wasn’t directly working on back into the forge’s flames.

He finished, piece by piece.

“What is he doing?” Julilah asked from behind Tan Xue, who nearly jumped up in alarm at the little girl’s words.

Trying to hide her actions, Tan Xue glared at Julilah, but the younger girl was oblivious as she watched Rugrat working the iron on his anvil.

Tan Xue didn’t want to teach the little girl and bring her fate down upon her. She was trying to protect her, in her own way. Still, she knew how Julilah would peek over the wall and Rugrat would hang out with her when Tan Xue wasn’t around, showing her different parts of the smithy and teaching her.

I should really just give up, Tan Xue thought, but she was stubborn down to the bone. Julilah didn’t even notice her changing emotions, still focused on what Rugrat was doing.

“It looks like he’s making gauntlets,” Tan Xue said, seeing the smaller pieces that were finished off, checked and then dumped into the quenching bucket.

Rugrat didn’t look too pleased but he didn’t stop to try to reforge it. Tan Xue, who had been around him for nearly two weeks, could feel that Rugrat wasn’t just making this item to work with Mortal-grade iron; he was making it because he felt a need to before he left.

Seeing how focused he was on making these gauntlets, her chest tightened a bit. She had crafted hundreds of weapons for all kinds of people, but seeing Rugrat—this was not just an item to him; this was a necessity to deal with what might be ahead.

“Why didn’t he make a sword? Wouldn’t that be easier?” Julilah asked.

“It would be. Gauntlets are much harder to make as they need a way to connect each of the different pieces together. And they’re usually more expensive to make as it’s hard to buy just any old gauntlet and get it to fit perfectly,” Tan Xue explained. “Though I think there is another reason for why he’s trying to make a gauntlet.”

Tan Xue muttered, her voice hidden in the hammer blows.

***

Erik spat out a root on the ground, closing one eye and shivering as he thought of the flavor.

After he recovered some of his taste buds, he waved his hand. A selection of different ingredients appeared.

“I might not have a formula to make healing powders or potions, but I’ve built up a good basic knowledge of ingredients. Based on that, I should be able to make some basic powders. Then, using Reverse Alchemist, I can see what the results are and modify accordingly until I can create Health and Stamina powders.” Erik outlined his plan as he removed a number of ingredients.

“Okay, that should be enough.” Erik’s flames started to move into the cauldron, warming it up and removing any remaining residue.

He started, taking what appeared to be a branch and tossing it into the flames.

A noise sounded as a notification appeared.

==========

After spending a great deal of time using the spell Mana Flame, you’ve come to understand it in a deeper way, increasing efficiency and control while decreasing Mana cost.

==========

Mana Flame has undergone a transformation, evolving into an Apprentice-level spell

==========

==========

Alchemist’s Flame

==========

Apprentice

==========

Create flames fueled from Mana

==========

Consumption of Mana based on area and effect. When using for Alchemy, effects are increased by 3%

==========

==========

You have upgraded a spell!

==========

Through tireless trial and error, you have come to learn a spell completely until you improved upon the original.

Reward: 1,000 EXP

==========

==========

128,769/195,000 EXP till you reach Level 16

==========

Erik was stunned by the change and nearly lost control of the preparation that was going on in the cauldron. He felt that the strain on his mind had become easier while using the flame and the medicinal smell coming from the branch he had put into the cauldron went up a notch.

“I didn’t think that spells could increase in a grade.” Erik let out a sigh. He wanted to learn more about spells. He had tinkered with them, but the simple fact was that they took on a supporting role.

He had worked to maximize his healing abilities by modifying his healing spells, but toward modifying other spells, he had no interest. Others might want to rain down destruction on their enemies with massive magic. Erik just needed to punch them in the face a few times, and suck up damage to protect Rugrat as he landed in hits from afar.

Once again he focused his mind and started working with the ingredients in front of him.

Some twenty minutes later, there was a rumbling in the cauldron before a black smoke shot out into the room.

Erik took in a deep breath and then started coughing harshly as the smoke filled his lungs.

“Fu-uck! Oh, my eyes! Shit! Worse. Than. Reaper. Peppers!” Erik coughed between each word. Still, as he drew in the smoke from the failed concoctions, information started to fill his mind. He knew the ingredients before they had been placed into the cauldron; he knew the processes he had carried out. But with his Reverse Alchemist, he was able to piece together what had happened.

“I didn’t take into account the reaction between Yius bulbs and the sungrass.” Erik coughed some more as the smoke was cleared away by the chimneys in the room. He let out a sigh before he removed the remaining residue from the cauldron.

Once it was clear, he calmed his mind and started again. So far they had been relying on the Stamina and Health concoctions that they had bought through the auction function of the store, looted from their enemies, or bought from various apothecaries and Alchemy stores that they had chanced upon.

Buying the actual formulas was beyond Erik’s current ability, but he knew that he would be able to figure out how to make at least a Health powder. Although he wasn’t interested in trying to learn how to break down spells, breaking down Alchemy ingredients, seeing how they interacted—this was the path to create better concoctions, those that could help his allies, allow him to improve the level of his Body Cultivation and also allow him to focus on fighting, increasing his own abilities.

Failure after failure, he continued on, smelling the fumes, altering his actions and trying again. There was no such thing as failing; only someone dumb or smart enough hadn’t figured out a way to succeed yet.

After thirteen failures, a red powder appeared in Erik’s cauldron. He tasted the healing powder.

“Now just need another half dozen vials of this,” Erik said, readying the cauldron again to start on the next batch.

Erik glanced at the ingredients he had put to the side of his storage ring. All of these had explosive effects, but they weren’t something he wanted to take out in Kaeju city.

***

While Rugrat and Erik worked their hardest, the city around them that had been boiling with excitement for the last couple of days seemed to step up another level as members of different sects, families, and cities started entering Kaeju through the Ten Realms totem or arriving on the back of powerful contracted beasts.

The Kerose Institute that ruled over Kaeju city had a group of elders and others standing next to the totem to greet those who entered. The institute’s head had even come from the main city to visit Kaeju city, evicting the city lord from his residence.

All of this had been created by Su Wei as he had allowed certain information to leak out to others in the surrounding areas.

The items that Rugrat had created were powerful in their own right with strong innate abilities. They appeared to be simple weapons and armors and other than the first group that had formations inlaid into them, these were all blank. Making them perfect for someone who worked on formations to upgrade.

Being able to place a formation on such a weapon and increase its power was worth an incredible amount of Experience and could create impressively powerful weapons.

There were many normal goods that one could increase the power of through formations, such as jewelry made into accessories, formation plates and so on. But totally blank powerful weapons were a plus as the higher the rank of the item, even if it was a lower level formation, the Experience would be greater due to the difficulty.

There were also fighters coming from all over to try to get these weapons. Their power was comparable to low-grade weapons made from Mortal iron, but being made from regular iron, their enemies might underestimate them. Also, being blank, they could pick out the formation to have engraved on the weapon, customizing it to themselves.

Though their true focus was on the blank Mortal-grade iron weapons and armor. Using these, the skills of formation Masters would shoot up compared to simply creating formations on the regular iron items. If they were to be compared, the iron items were worth their weight in silver to Apprentice formation Masters, while the Mortal-grade weapons were worth their weight in gold to the Journeyman formation Masters.

Then there were the Age Rejuvenation potions. Su Wei had only let out a little bit of information on the potions. Their effects were simply incredible and he had requested information from the higher realms. None of them had heard of a similar potion before. It could be the birth of a new potion!

Su Wei had leaked word to those old monsters who were looking to increase their lifespans. “We must make the sale for both the weapons and the potions big. I have got word from higher that they want to bring both of these people to the Blue Lotus or to keep them as friends if possible.” Su Wei looked around the room. Pan Lim had remained, teaching Ban Tong and letting him clear away personal matters before they left. There was also Assistant Head Louis and Senior Appraiser Juko.

Su Wei’s eyes fell onto Juko.

“I will ask him if he would be willing to join us. If not, I will do my best to pass him the VIP medallion of the Blue Lotus that you have given me.” Juko’s voice was suitably grave.

The medallion wasn’t anything simple. It was a third-grade medallion, something that could only be given out in the Third Realm by an assistant head, giving it much greater power than Su Wei’s own medallion.

“See to the final preparations,” Su Wei ordered.

Chapter: Alva Mercenaries

Erik met Rugrat outside of the inn that Rugrat had been staying in. Erik had been staying in the Alchemy room at the Black Cauldron, while Rugrat only spent a night or two a week at the inn.

“Got you something.” Rugrat looked around before he handed Erik a set of gloves.

==========

Rock’em Sock’em

==========

Attack: 47

Defense: 82

Weight: 1.2 kg

Health: 97/97

Base Value: 21 Gold, 59 Silver

Slot: Takes up hand slot

Innate Effect: Blood Drinker. Upon drinking blood, these gauntlets increase the strength of melee-based attacks (base increase of 2% can stack to a total of 7%).

==========

“Really? What’s with the naming?” Erik put the gauntlets away.

Rugrat laughed as they walked toward the Blue Lotus. “If you get the blood of a stronger person onto the gauntlets, then they’ll increase the melee attack bonus faster. It’s made from Mortal iron as well, so it’s easier to conduct magic through it. So you can still use healing spells with only a slightly higher Mana consumption.”

“You might be a bonehead but it looks like your smithing is moving along quickly,” Erik said.

“How did your Alchemy progress? Did you get ingredients to make grenades and gunpowder?”

“I’ve got a few different items to test out but I want to do it once we’re out of Kaeju,” Erik said.

“So, dungeon hunting, huh? I’m looking forward to it. Also, I saw some interesting items in the auction catalogue,” Rugrat said.

Erik frowned.

“You still thinking about the money that I gave you? Don’t worry, you can pay me back—at only thirty-seven percent interest!” Rugrat’s voice rose as he tried to run away from Erik’s hand as he was about to hit him on the top of the helmet.

Rugrat snorted and grinned as the two of them continued on their path.

***

The Blue Lotus was filled with people who had traveled all over to see the items on sale. After all, these were things that people from the Third Realm would be interested in! If they weren’t able to get it here, then there was no way that they would be able to find them at a later time.

“Entrance fee is twenty gold!” a guard said. An imposing aura surrounded him as he looked at Erik.

“Will this do?” Rugrat pulled out the emblem that Su Wei had given him.

The guard’s blank stare turned warm in an instant. “Please disregard my rudeness. There is a VIP entrance to the right.” The guard waved to where the door was located.

“Ah, thank you.” Rugrat and Erik turned away from the man and headed for the other entrance.

“He doesn’t look like anything special. Why is he going toward the VIP entrance?” someone in the line asked.

“Twenty gold just to attend! This auction will surely be rich!” another said in excitement.

“I heard that there might even be fourth-level monster cores on sale! Imagine how powerful a formation would be with that level core incorporated into it?”

“Look—there are the people from Kerose Institute!” another said.

Erik heard this last one and looked over to the people from the institute.

They had robes covered in different-colored threads that formed half formations, emitting a pressure that made one who was not from the Kerose Institute feel pressured and move out of their way unless they were sufficiently strong. They had an arrogant air about them, as if disdaining all they saw, only barely interested in the auction itself. They didn’t deign to look at the people who were lining up.

These people were lords and ladies of large estates; even a few leaders from other cities had to move aside for the Heavenly sect, another group that controlled two large cities, bowing to them.

The people from the Kerose Institute didn’t seem to even sense them; they moved into the Blue Lotus as if they owned it.

Strength is the only thing that one can use to get respect around here. If you’re weak, then you’re useless. Erik had seen varieties of cocky people in his life. These higher realm practitioners were closer to a group of preening narcissists. Though, considering he didn’t have the strength, how could he say anything like that out loud? Erik shook his head and continued to the VIP area.

***

Su Wei stood in the VIP area, greeting the more powerful people who had entered the Blue Lotus. When he saw Rugrat and his guard, he waved them over, finishing his talk with the latest person before moving to them. Pan Lim was off to the side, entertaining the Kerose Institute’s people. Unlike how they had been outside, now they were the ones looking up to Pan Lim with stars in their eyes.

There was nothing greater than one’s power and Pan Lim was younger than some of their students but had the ability to create formations on par with their elders.

“Rugrat,” Su Wei said in a quiet voice, greeting him personally. Seeing the items that he had created were all Journeyman class without fail and he had made so many of them in a short time, he was nothing more than an equipment-making factory compared to other smiths.

Such a gem shouldn’t be let go. Even if he just continued to make Journeyman armors at that speed for the rest of his life, then he would earn the Blue Lotus a great amount of money.

Juko cleared his throat beside Su Wei, trying to gain his attention but Su Wei ignored him, not wanting to slight Rugrat.

He didn’t care for the guard behind him at all.

“Manager Su Wei, it’s good to see you. I hope that all of the items were to your liking?” Rugrat asked.

“They are. There have been a number of interesting entries near the end of the auction,” Su Wei said as Juko tried to gain his attention again.

Su Wei glared at him but Juko looked helpless as he tried to signal something. Su Wei dismissed him.

I thought that he might be good but he’s trying to interrupt my time with Rugrat. Does he not know the importance of this person? I gave him all the notes on the important people to make sure that this wouldn’t happen.

“I’m certain that you will be able to find a great number of good items in the auction.” Su Wei smiled.

Juko stepped forward and bowed to the guard behind Rugrat. “It is good to see you again, Master Alchemist.”

Su Wei, who was about to yell out at Juko, felt his expression sour as he looked at the “guard” behind Rugrat.

“Ah, Appraiser Juko, good to see you. So how did the testing go?” the man asked quietly but Su Wei could pick it up.

“Very well. Your skill has left the Alchemy division in turmoil.” Juko laughed.

“I hope in a good way.” The guard’s voice seemed to be like a nervous question.

“Yes, yes!” Juko said, reassuring him.

“See, I told you your potions wouldn’t be bad. Damn perfectionist,” Rugrat said to his guard, elbowing him.

“Thanks, jackass,” the guard said back.

“As the Blue Lotus, we would be interested in offering you a position within our association,” Su Wei said, recovering quickly.

The two men shook their heads.

“It’s not that we don’t like the Blue Lotus—we just like roaming around a lot,” the alchemist said.

Rugrat nodded in agreement.

“Very well. We understand. Still, we hope that this medallion might make things easier for you in the future.” Su Wei indicated to Juko, who pulled out a medallion and offered it to Erik.

“You think mine looks better than yours?” he said, teasing Rugrat.

“We’ll get to our seats then,” Rugrat said. The two made their good-byes and headed deeper into the Blue Lotus.

The two Experts continued to berate each other as they moved toward their seats.

***

“We’ve got another bandit group coming from the south,” Yao Meng said to Storbon.

One couldn’t see the others who were in the small little depression. Their faces were covered in mud and paint so that only their eyes were visible, all of them focused on Storbon.

He had become the leader of the very first special team.

Once they had scouted Chonglu city and sent back reports, they had been okayed to move to the Second Realm. They were the first team to do so. With them, they carried supplies from Alva Dungeon. From weapons to armor and goods—all of it was supplied by the people of Alva.

Quickly, once reaching the Second Realm, they realized that they needed to increase their strength. To do so, they went in search of various jobs. The harder it sounded, the better.

They knew that dealing with higher level and stronger opponents, they could increase their levels quickly.

Their first mission was with a trading convoy, where they had found themselves in several fights with the creatures in the Second Realm.

Then they had taken up an exploration mission, heading into a dangerous area to gather information on a bandit camp.

They’d found the camp; the problem was getting that information back to the city was going to be a lot harder than they thought.

“Fucking nobles,” Yawen said off to the side.

“Well, we didn’t know that one of the nobles who was issuing the warrant was in league with the bandits,” Storbon said.

In fact, the number of bandits was much greater than he expected. It looked as if they were mercenaries turned bandits. The way that they talked and moved showed they had some discipline.

They only cared about money and what their gain might be.

It also meant that every single one of them had a big stash of valuables on them.

There was the sound of a crossbow being loosed and then rustling in the underbrush.

All of them felt a faint increase in their Experience, removing some of their fatigue.

“Looks like there were some more scouts,” Yao Meng said as they started moving. It wouldn’t take long until the higher ranks learned of their scout’s death.

“I have an idea.” Storbon pulled out his map and read it by the single moon in the Second Realm’s sky.

“Yao Meng, I want you and Tian Cui to lead the mercenaries toward this gully.” Storbon pointed to a location on the map that they had checked over earlier.

“They’re going to know that there’s an ambush in that gully,” Yao Meng said.

“There will be one—just not inside the gully.” Storbon pulled out one of the FABs that Rugrat had created—a fuel air bomb—and passed it over to the rest of the team.

Yao Meng and Tian Cui dropped back to cover up their trail and guide them in a new direction. If it looked deliberate, then the mercenaries might catch on. They were humans, not beasts, after all.

Storbon, on the other hand, moved with the rest of the team, planting the FABs in the ground and hiding in the forest.

***

“Captain Tiere! We’ve got a trail! The scouts are closing in on them!” A man pulled out a map and showed where the last scouting party had been killed.

“I thought that our source said they were just level thirteens at most,” Tiere grumbled. Two more dead meant she had to hire two more people to fill their roles. “Take three hunting groups and track them down.” She looked over the map. There was a hilly area nearby. The fastest way to traverse it was through a gully and a one-hundred-meter wide pass.

“If they go toward the gully, don’t go in after them,” Tiere said. The gully was thin and only one or two people would be able to pass through at a time. These people didn’t seem like the easy suckers her employer promised her. If she were them, she would hold in that gully; that way, she could use her full strength while limiting her enemies, cutting them down.

“Have one of the hunting groups at the entrance into the gully, then send the other two through the valley passage here.” She pointed to the open area.

“Yes, Captain!”

He ran off as Tiere let out a sigh. She wasn’t a person to talk of absolutes. She might send strong people after them, but this group would hide or ambush them, only fighting when it was to their advantage. They weren’t like other groups that would fight it out, talking about things like honor and a stand-up fight. Tiere had seen it plenty: when fighting against someone who overwhelmed you in level, you had to hide, or else be destroyed. Valiantly challenging them and rushing forward with all of your might to pull off a final victorious battle? That only happened if the much more powerful opponent wasn’t aware of or prepared for the attack.

Stealth, planning, and preparation: that meant that with one strike, all problems would be removed.

She might admire this group’s abilities, but her contract was signed and a mercenary who would run away from a fight they had been paid for wasn’t a mercenary anymore.

The night was falling away and rays of light started to come in with dawn when she got a message from the lead group.

“We tracked them to the gully. Two of the groups are running around through the plains,” the officer in charge reported.

“Very well.” Tiere closed the sound transmission.

***

Storbon was lying on the ground underneath a rotted log. He was covered in dirt, trying to hide his shivering from the puddle he was in as he saw people moving through the hill’s second passage.

He waited, watching them and gripping the two strings tight in his hand. Just a little bit more. Come on in—nothing but a safe little valley.

There were nearly one hundred mercenaries in the valley, moving forward quickly.

They had angry looks on their faces as they had been chasing after Storbon’s group in the dark. Storbon’s smile only deepened as they rushed forward, some swearing as they found potholes in the ground.

There was a ringing noise as the lead mercenary ran into a thin line connected to a set of bells.

“What the—” His sentence was ended by rolling explosions ripping through the valley. All of Storbon’s team heard the bells. When they did, they ripped the deploying cord.

They were the same weapons that had surrounded Alva Village and used to create a wave of destruction to kill hundreds of beasts.

Now they tore people apart with ease.

The explosion passed quickly. Storbon looked up as trees had been torn apart and dirt thrown around, smoking craters where the explosives had been ignited.

Storbon stood and pulled out his sound transmission device. “On me!” he yelled out. He and the others had been hiding on the side of the valley that the mercenaries had come from.

Now they all joined up and started running to the south, where the gully was.

“Yao Meng, move to phase two,” Storbon ordered.

“Understood.”

The mercenaries might not have trained in moving through the forest, but the special team had done it extensively—before when they were training in the defense of Alva, and then when moving through Beast Mountain. For them, moving through the forest was much easier.

All but one of them held bows in their hands, who was none other than Yuli, their mage. Her staff already glowed with a buildup of Mana.

It didn’t take them long to reach the gully.

A scream rang out.

“Shit! They’ve got archers in the gully! What do we do?” one mercenary yelled out.

“Where do we go? There’s nowhere to hide!”

“Didn’t you hear that explosion earlier? That must have been their hidden card. They shouldn’t have anything left!” The mercenaries were in disarray as Yao Meng and Tian Cui fired on them with their bows from within the gully.

“Spread out,” Storbon said.

The special team moved out and then started moving forward.

Storbon pulled out a piece of paper with runes covering it. It was a kind of formation except it was created with special paper instead of being inlaid into metal and other hard materials.

Storbon felt pained as he thought of a target and tore the piece of paper apart. A countdown appeared in his vision.

==========

Magic scroll: Lightning Retribution scroll activating

0:05

==========

The timer counted down as the clear sky turned dark; clouds appeared out of nowhere and the wind was churned up.

“Close your eyes and protect your vision,” Storbon said as he communicated with the rest of the people in Special Team One.

==========

Magic scroll: Lightning Retribution activated

==========

A thunderbolt shot out of the heavens, smashing downward and striking the ground, vaporizing the mercenaries who had just started to look up.

Thirty-seven were vaporized right away. The rest were left stunned and incapacitated by the lightning effects.

Thankfully they all grouped together. Storbon raised his crossbow and fired. These crossbows had been further upgraded before they left Alva Dungeon. Against the weakened and paralyzed mercenaries on the ground, they reaped more lives.

Tian Cui and Yao Meng came out of hiding to help.

Lightning gathered around Yuli. As an elemental mage, she focused on using the power around her to her advantage.

With the ambient lightning Mana, her power increased dramatically. She only had to redirect it toward the mercenaries, maintaining their stun and killing the heavily wounded ones.

Storbon rushed forward, using his spear to kill off the stronger people who hadn’t been killed with arrows.

He was no longer the weak, younger man who worked day and night to try to make ends meet after he had been crippled.

He was a man of Alva Dungeon, a man of the Special Team One. He had thought that he was strong in the First Realm, but reaching the Second Realm, he found that he was nothing but a frog in the well.

Still, he had his training—everything that Rugrat and Erik had grilled into his very bones, the orders that resonated through his soul with Blaze and Glosil’s yells.

He didn’t give up; instead, he moved forward to become stronger. There was no other path. If he wanted to be able to help Alva Dungeon, he needed to become stronger.

Storbon flicked his spear, clearing some of the blood on it as it started to rain with the gathered clouds. He surveyed the mercenaries. All of them lay dead now. “Gather the storage rings. Five minutes then we’ll move to the east! Yuli, Tian Cui —watch our backs and make sure no one sneaks up on us.”

“Time we turned in this quest,” Yao Meng said as they bent to gather up the storage rings, weapons, and armor. Everything could be used or sold later.

Storbon checked his level. “Time that we leveled up again and see if we can’t get more of those spell scrolls,” Storbon said. “We’re all out of Rugrat’s FABs.”

“Adapt, overcome, maneuver, destroy.” Yao Meng replied with words that Rugrat had grilled into them before they left.

Chapter: Auction Begins!

Rugrat and Erik moved through the Blue Lotus, heading for the ground floor seats.

“Can I help you find your seats?” an usher asked as they looked at their tickets.

“Please,” Erik said, offering his up.

The usher looked at it, before coughing lightly. “Esteemed guests, these are not for the floor seats but rather for the fourth-floor VIP suites,” the man said with an awkward smile.

“Nice. Never had a suite before,” Rugrat said.

“Don’t go all metal concert and trash the damn thing,” Erik muttered.

“If you want, I can guide you to your seats?” the man asked.

“Nah, we’ve got it. Where are the stairs?” Rugrat said.

“Over there through the doors and on the right,” the usher said.

“Thanks, man,” Rugrat said. The duo went up three floors of stairs before they found their suite.

All of the suites were isolated from one another. The glass window had a formation on it that allowed one to see out but not in. It could be deactivated if someone wanted but Erik and Rugrat left it how it was as they paid more attention to the snacks and drinks that were placed along the wall for them to try out.

They loaded up two plates and took them to their chairs.

“Kind of looks like the booths that someone would get at a sporting event.” Rugrat looked at the other boxes. Some were open, others not.

Most of the ones on the fourth floor were open. These people didn’t deem it worthy to hide their identities from one another.

They were clearly the big players at the auction today.

“I thought that the fourth floor was pretty high. I didn’t think that it would be the top floor. You must’ve impressed Su Wei a lot. How has your smithing gone?” Erik asked as he tried out some of the new food on his plate.

They had been so wrapped up in their own crafting they hadn’t really discussed it.

They went through two more stacked plates as they told each other what they had done in their time apart.

“You look to have a thinking expression on your face,” Erik said as Rugrat went quiet.

“It’s just...my teacher. She’s a good person but she’s been crapped on. I was wondering if I should ask if she wants to return to Alva Dungeon. I know that having her around would be good for the dungeon. I don’t know if it would be good for her skills, though, or if she’d want to. She doesn’t like her family very much but she still wants their recognition,” Rugrat said.

“She seems like a good person, a hard worker. I don’t see why not.” Erik shrugged.

Rugrat didn’t reply, still turning it over in his mind.

“What does it hurt to ask? It’ll give her another option and possibly bring a new blacksmith to our side. We have a lot of people trying out different ideas but having a smith who’s done more will aid us greatly,” Erik said, reassuring his friend.

“Okay, I’ll ask her after the auction,” Rugrat said, resolving his mind.

“I wonder how the people from the dungeon are doing.”

“Hopefully they’re not in too much trouble. We need to hurry up in finding a new dungeon with a dungeon core in it. Even though we’ve increased our skills, I can’t help but worry we might not get a dungeon core in time.” Rugrat sighed.

“We’ll find one—we’ve got to,” Erik said. “It’s why we focused on making items that would sell, so that we have the funds to compete against anyone else who wants the maps and information on the different dungeons.”

“Yeah, I hope that they’re enough to wrestle a few dungeon items from the other groups.”

They fell into silence, each left with their own thoughts.

People on the ground floor talked to one another and moved to their seats.

“I hope that I can get a few books on tailoring. My daughter talks my ear off about thread this, leather that, and get me those types of hides, but not those.” One man laughed with a few friends.

“It looks like a lot of powerful people have come out today. A total of five different first elders have left their sects to come to the auction. The Kerose Institute’s leader is here as well!”

“I heard that one of the Kerose Institute’s formation students was scouted out by the Blue Lotus. They must be putting on a good show because of this!”

“It should be lively with so many powers around! Do they know something we don’t?”

These conversations and more drifted into the booth, although they couldn’t hear anything Erik and Rugrat said. The formation on the window also served to cut off noise.

People continued on with their conversations until the doors closed and an amiable-looking man walked on stage.

“Ladies and gentlemen, I am your auctioneer today, Lu Chiao. I hope that you are ready for the treasures that will be brought before you today! We have a number of interesting items that might not be seen in the Mortal realms!” Lu Chiao smiled, his manner making the people push their other thoughts to the side and lean forward in anticipation of his words.

Lu Chiao clapped his hands together. “Let us begin!”

A lady walked in from the side, a rare beauty holding a jade box that she placed before Lu Chiao.

“This is a rare technique scroll that is suited for those who practice magic of the Air attribute. It has been verified that the person who created this scroll was a person of the Sky Realm and was talented in Air magic. This scroll will allow someone of the Third Realm to fly with ease and have a movement speed that will leave others at a loss. It is rated as a mid-Master-level scroll!” Lu Chiao said. With his words, the atmosphere in the Blue Lotus changed.

“I must have that scroll!”

“An item of the Fifth Realm! This is a treasure that could push a family from the Second Realm into the Third Realm with ease.”

“I will start the bidding at fifty gold,” Lu Chiao said with a smile, happy with the talk that he’d stirred up.

“Fifty-five!”

“Fifty-six!”

The bidding started in earnest as Erik watched. Techniques were hard to create and few were willing to pass them on. To get a technique that few others knew and had been used by someone in a higher realm spoke to the power of this technique.

The Second Realm had the least resources and techniques to pass down to their younger generations; all of them were trying to reach higher levels to gain fame and prestige.

The technique was sold. Other items appeared, from weapons and armor to rare beasts that one could train.

As soon as the people in the VIP seats from the powers in the higher realms spoke up, then the seats on the first floor would turn silent to watch the titans fight it out.

Erik was uninterested in it all; he just wanted to see whether there was anything to gain his interest.

“Here we have a healing spell of the mid-Journeyman level, Healer’s reach. We will start the bidding at ten gold!” Lu Chiao said.

The hall was quiet for some time before someone put up a hand. “Fifteen gold,” they said.

“Healer Tae has started off the bidding!” One of the spectators said

“Thirty gold,” someone else said.

“That’s Healer Francis—I heard that he is mid-Apprentice level!” someone on the first floor said.

“Forty gold.” Healer Tae looked to Lu Chiao.

“Fifty,” Francis said.

“Who is that person in the VIP section? Might they be a healer as well?” someone asked from below.

Healer Tae paused for a second. “Sixty.”

“One hundred gold!” Francis declared.

Healer Tae’s eyebrows pinched together.

Erik was also interested in the book, but not knowing the effects of the spell and having his own healing abilities Erik would much rather adjust the spells that he had than wasting money on another healing spell that might not be useful.

The goal was to get the dungeon map in the end.

The spell went to Healer Francis.

“Look, brother Francis is glowing with glory. Being the Master healer of the Klemine sect!” someone said.

Francis, a middle-aged man, smiled as he looked over the crowd. The others in the suite with him congratulated him on the win as he looked over to Healer Tae’s suite, also on the fourth level.

“Looks like we’ve got some competition.” Rugrat laughed.

“I have a feeling that most of the people here are going to be ego bidding instead of actually giving a damn about the items.” Erik sighed as the bidding started on the next item.

“Oh?” Rugrat looked to Erik.

“They’re the overlords of this area. They’re always trying to look better to pull more people in and increase their power. They’re not fighting but through their bidding, they can piss one another off.”

“I miss the days when if someone pissed you off, you just punched them in the face.”

Erik rolled his eyes and took out the gold Rugrat had loaned him and passed it back.

Rugrat took it without comment as they continued to watch the bidding.

On the fifteenth item, they sat up as a new item was pulled out.

“The next item is a pair of bracers. They might look simple but don’t be deceived: these iron bracers are half-step Journeyman in quality. They hold an innate effect of increasing one’s Stamina Regeneration. There is no formation on them. I will start the bidding at ten gold,” Lu Chiao said.

“Now we’re talking.” Rugrat leaned forward and looked at the other bidders as if his actions would draw more money from their pockets.

Erik rolled his eyes even as he smiled. After all, no crafter would forget the look and appearance of their own items.

Chapter: Age Rejuvenation Potion Creates a Stir!

“Fifteen,” someone from the third-tier suites called out in a casual voice.

“Seventeen,” another called out in the third-tier suites. The fighting was quick and rapid, driving the price up rapidly.

Rugrat, who had been leaning forward before, now sat back in his chair as the bidding started to slow down.

“Twenty-seven!” one of the people in the third-floor suite called out, standing up and leaning on the banister to look at others as if challenging them to outbid him.

The hall quieted down with his latest declaration.

Lu Chiao looked around the room for any more bidders. “If there are no more bidders, this piece will be sold for twenty-seven gold to the gentleman in the third-suite booth.” Seeing the reactions, he gauged the room quickly. “Congratulations, sir, on your purchase,” he said with a smile and hit his hammer against the table. The bracers were cleared away before a new covered item was brought to the front of the stage.

Slowly the talking died down as Lu Chiao cleared his voice, his face solemn.

“Today, I truly have an item that one could only find but not purchase, even in the Third Realm,” Lu Chiao said.

An alluring woman walked out with a jade box in her hands and put it on the display table.

“This potion has been verified by the Alchemy Masters of the Blue Lotus and its effects will be displayed to you today!”

A pill beast was pulled out. This beast was sensitive to the effects of potions and would display the effects of the different Alchemy concoctions. They only required a small sample to display the effects.

Those in the Blue Lotus leaned forward; even those in the VIP sections showed interest.

“This potion is a peak mid-Journeyman level, with a medicinal efficacy of thirty-five percent!”

This sent murmurs through the people in the auction house.

“Thirty-five percent? What Alchemy Master made this?”

“Is it possible that it was crafted by an Expert alchemist and not a Journeyman alchemist?”

“An almost high-Journeyman-level potion of thirty-five percent medicinal efficacy is rare, but they are not things that can’t be bought with money in the Third Realm,” one of the people in the VIP section said. Her words made those who had also ventured to the Third Realm nod in agreement.

The person handling the pill beast opened its mouth and let a few drops enter its mouth.

The pill beast shook as ripples of energy started to appear all over it. Its veins popped out, with deep orange lines running through its body.

“What is this?”

“I have never seen a potion of this tier have such an effect. Are they sure it is just a Journeyman potion?”

“Is it a poison?”

“It can’t be. Look at the pill beast’s face—it looks almost...excited?”

The people in the room were in confusion, not understanding what was going on.

A few moments passed as energy rushed toward the pill beast.

“How is this possible!” People yelled out, looking at the pill beast with alarm. In just a few minutes, it had undergone a great change.

“It looks...younger?”

“Alchemist Hou, what do you believe happened?” one of the students in the VIP section asked an alchemist of their sect.

“It looks to me that this is an appearance-changing potion, good for those who want to keep their young looks!” the alchemist said, his expression dark.

Lu Chiao cleared his throat. Everyone looked to him and regained their composure.

“This is the Age Rejuvenation potion, of the mid-Journeyman level. Consuming it will allow someone to regain two to ten years of their youth. It can only be used once but one can use other age reversal medicines after or before this potion!”

Alchemist Hou stood, his face filled with shock. “You can use this even after consuming other age reversal medicines?” he yelled out.

“That is correct.” Lu Chiao nodded with a smile.

People’s faces went blank as their eyes gathered on the potion.

“It’s said that one can only use one age reversing pill or potion for each realm they are in! Many people will spend their entire fortune to gain just a decade more of life—if they were able to add two decades!”

“This must be made by a Master alchemist!”

“I agree. I have only heard of this kind of concoction being made by Expert alchemists who are able to mix the ingredients so that there are no reactions at all. It is said that one can even consume three of their recovery potions and will have no adverse effects! With a lower alchemist, one can only have one of their potions and the second one will have a penalty on it!”

The people in the Blue Lotus were whipped up into a frenzy as they all looked at the potion with undeniable greed.

Erik was shocked by their reactions. He had made this potion by himself by working with the Lidel leaves for weeks. He had refined or attempted to refine them hundreds, if not thousands, of times.

He’d become increasingly intimate with the Lidel leaves, coming to understand them and to bring out the timeless effect that was hidden within them. It had taken him a dozen attempts before creating this potion he was proud of. Then he had further refined it time and time again with each creation. He pursued the knowledge of Alchemy, not to make a profit.

These were simply the potions that he had remaining. He’d expected them to create a stir, but nothing of this height.

Rugrat laughed off to the side. “Well, looks like you’ve made something to stun even these people from the Second Realm!”

Erik could only smile ruefully at the discussions that were going on in the auction hall.

“Hopefully it’s enough to actually get us some of those items related to the dungeons.”

***

Never mind Erik—even Ban Tong was stunned that such a thing had appeared in the Second Realm.

He knew that this object wasn’t useful to him now, but it would be a great lure for elders and people he came into contact with in the future.

If one didn’t have fighting strength, they needed to have the skill to back up their position. Although waiting and attending lessons was good, if one had the wealth and resources, they could open up new routes of progression.

He knew if he were to gift this to the right person, then he could easily gain access to greater resources and even private teachings from the stronger people!

I must have this potion! He gripped his fists together, looking out at the sects, clans, and other powerful groups that sat in the fourth level. His expression turned grim as he saw those older monsters leaning forward with interest.

“We will start the bidding at ten gold coins!” Lu Chiao said.

“Fifteen!” an elder said from the first floor.

“Forty!” an elder from the upper VIP section said, his voice calm and reserved. A hush fell over the room.

“To go from fifteen to forty in a single breath! This is not something that we of the Second Realm can compete for,” someone whispered on the first floor.

The people on the ground floor looked up to those in the VIP sections, their dismay clear. But they were unwilling to raise their complaints. After all, they were only moderately wealthy merchants and fighters. Those above them owned entire cities and sects that might have origins in higher realms. How could they think of competing with them!

“Fifty!” another elder said.

“That is Elder Oilel! It’s said he is trying to reach the Fourth Realm but is being held back by his age!” Now even the disciples in the VIP sections were unable to stay quiet and retain their mysterious air, whipped up in the excitement.

“Seventy!” The first elder’s face darkened, seeing that there was someone competing with him.

“Eighty!”

“That’s Disciple Zhang from the Zhang family!”

“I heard that his grandfather is declining in health! He must be getting it for him!”

Ban Tong was thrown off as the bidders climbed to twelve people and the price soared upward.

“Two hundred and fifty!”

“Three hundred!”

“How can money be equal to years of life! If I had the money, I, too, would put it all on the line to gain a few more years!” someone said proudly from the first floor.

They were no longer upset with their loss but watching with shock as the price continued to climb well above their means. It continued to climb until there were only four people left to bid.

“Disciple Zhang is not willing to give up!”

“But Alchemist Nguyen is unwilling to give up!”

“Elder Yan is still so calm and composed. This is the bearing of a true elder!”

“Elder Vuong looks like he’s starting to get angry. If a level twenty-five were to show his ire, how would we be able to stop him?”

Alchemist Nguyen stood. The eyes of the Blue Lotus turned to him.

“Will you friends allow me to take this prize? I wish to study it and increase my own understanding. As such, it will only be a small period of time until I am able to reach my own Master level in Alchemy. If you are willing to let this go to little me, then I will happily fulfill a request you each have for me.” Alchemist Nguyen bowed slightly to the others.

“Breakthrough to Expert-level alchemist! To think he is so close!”

“Having a future Expert-level alchemist owing you a favor is no small thing!”

Alchemist Nguyen was using his potential to reach the Expert rank in the Alchemy skill to show that he was not someone to be stepped over, while also softening the blow of losing this item to them.

“Alchemist Nguyen has said these words; I can only bow to them.” Disciple Zhang tilted his head to Alchemist Nguyen. His family was incredibly powerful, but pissing off an alchemist who would soon reach the Expert level in his skill was not a wise move.

“I will look to Alchemist Nguyen in the future,” Elder Yan said with a slight smile.

“I hope to see Alchemist Nguyen become an Expert in the near future.” Elder Vuong’s words were biting, making it clear that he was displeased to lose, but that Alchemist Nguyen was too powerful to compete with.

“I will thank you ahead of time then.” Nguyen looked to Lu Chiao. “Three hundred and five.”

“Sold to Alchemist Nguyen,” Lu Chiao said with a beaming smile. Why wouldn’t he be smiling? He got a part of the sales and seeing that the first potion had sold for so much, he could only imagine what he would gain from the thirty or so potions that were listed on the auction guide.

“Thankfully, we have the same potion of the same quality. Instead of raising the price, we will be holding it at three hundred and five,” Lu Chiao said.

“What?” People in the room yelled while Alchemist Nguyen staggered slightly.

The other three who had lost to Alchemist Nguyen had a new fire in their eyes as they leaned forward.

“I’ll buy it!” Disciple Zhang said.

“I’ll buy it too! Three hundred and ten!” Elder Vuong said, not willing to lose again.

“Three hundred and twenty,” Elder Yan said.

It was as if their auction had only taken a pause instead of stopping with one of their number bowing out.

“This—they have more potions of the same?”

“How is this possible?”

“These must be made by a Master alchemist!” someone else said.

The second went to Elder Vuong for three hundred and seventy gold.

“Congratulations, Elder Vuong!” Lu Chiao said. Even though he said that they were willing to sell the potion, with the bidders starting up their own war, Lu Chiao was happy to take their gold.

Young Master Tan was in a state of shock. This kind of gold was more than all the gold he had saved up in his entire life! As he wanted to buy it to establish greater connections with the elders in his sect, it was beyond his reach!

“Now we have another Age Rejuvenation potion of the mid-Journeyman rank, this one reaching forty percent efficacy!” Lu Chiao said.

“What...what is going on?” someone in the VIP section asked.

“There are more? How is this possible?” a disciple asked.

“Get an auction guide!” Elder Rou hissed to the disciples behind him.

Deeming the auction as nothing more than a plaything, they had failed to read the auction guide, only arriving in time to show off their power and pass the people of the Second Realm and enter the VIP suites. They were interested in the auction but they didn’t think that a treasure such as this would appear!

“Next we have a Journeyman-level iron dagger. It has an innate effect of Stamina drain and has the room for a formation but one has not been placed on it. We will start the bidding at twenty gold coins!”

All of those who were connected to formations leaned forward as the bidding started in earnest. It seemed that the auction had finally reached the white-hot stage.

“Seventy!”

“Seventy-five!”

“Ninety-five!” The last woman’s voice finished the bids. The price was higher than it needed to be for the weapon, but for those who had the formation skill, what was money compared to Experience and increasing their skill?

“We have a blank set of Journeyman cuirass crafted from Mortal-grade iron. It has been further enhanced, giving it an innate Fire attribute! We will start the bidding at fifty gold!”

Chapter: Alchemist and Blacksmith Duel

“Lu Chiao, may I ask how many potions there are for sale?” Disciple Zhang asked with a strained voice. There had been several items since the last potion but now another had appeared once again.

Lu Chiao cleared his throat as everyone looked to him. “In this auction, there are seventy-three potions, with four different bundles and thirty individual rejuvenation potions. All of these rejuvenation potions have a minimum threshold that I can’t speak on. This information is in the auction guide,” Lu Chiao said easily. “We will start the bidding for this potion at four hundred and fifty gold!”

People rushed out of the auction hall. Disciples from the higher powers were no longer lofty as they returned with auction guides, the different powers flicking through the book.

“Didn’t they read the auction guide?” Rugrat asked.

Others might not hear them, but Erik chuckled and shrugged. “Guess not.”

This potion that they were competing for so viciously was actually the weakest potion? This thought rang through the heads of those in the VIP sections.

On the ground floor, the people were stunned to learn that those in the VIP sections hadn’t even taken the time to review the auction guide! They didn’t dare to say anything out loud but neither could they hide their amusement at seeing these arrogant fellows being tripped up by their actions.

People opened up their guides and started to look through the descriptions of the items that were for sale.

The people on the ground floor and those in the VIP sections seemed to grow in excitement. There were more potions coming up in the auctions.

Alchemist Nguyen paled when learning this information. “High-Journeyman potion with an efficacy of sixty percent.” These words escaped Nguyen’s mouth.

“For that, they must be a high-tier Expert or even Master alchemist! It would be impossible for a Journeyman-level alchemist to make concoctions of that grade!” someone said in the crowd.

“How are such items available in the Second Realm?” one of the disciples asked with agitation.

Lu Chiao cleared his throat. The noise passed through the Blue Lotus and returned the hall’s calm. “If there are no bidders and the minimum is not reached, then I can only take away this item. It must be known that the next auction these potions will go to will be in the Fourth Realm.”

Lu Chiao’s words doused their spirits but also raised their will to fight. He was telling them that this was their only turn to try to claim one of these potions. If they didn’t grab this opportunity now, then they wouldn’t be able to get another in their life!

Erik hid his excitement, wishing to give this Lu Chiao a resounding round of applause for his words. That’s it! Gimme your gold—I have expenses!! With this, I can get the items I want from the auction! Including the dungeon guides! I could really do with a beer to watch all of this. Erik laughed to himself as the price increased.

***

“Next up, we have a short sword made from regular iron. Its grade has reached half-step Journeyman as well, though this one contains a formation to increase the user’s Agility. The innate effect decreases the weapon’s overall weight. We will start the bids at fifteen gold.” Lu Chiao quickly started the next auction. People’s blood was boiling at seeing the Age Rejuvenation potions.

In their emotional state, it was easier for Lu Chiao to bring out their competitive side and empty their pockets faster.

Erik and Rugrat watched the auction as it continued, the different items they had created making a frequent appearance.

Finally the auction seemed to be lagging as people were recovering their senses, bringing an end to the bidding war as hundreds of gold were exchanged.

Lu Chiao took a drink of water as a new item was rolled onto the stage.

The curtain on the item was lifted. A snow globe appeared on a cushion.

“This is a traveling forge, utilizing Mana formations to seal the forge as well as a few select larger tools to be used in formation creation and smithing. The furnace has a Common Mortal-grade magical flame taken from the green fire lizards found in the Nazeel plains.

“This item can be bound to the user. Its craftsmanship places it as an Apprentice-grade formation while the equipment contained within could be used by a half-step Expert smith or formations crafter.” Lu Chiao touched certain parts of the snow globe. A spell formation appeared around it before the items inside the snow globe started to expand. Once they passed through the surface of the snow globe, the rate that they grew only increased. As they settled down on the ground, a forge appeared on the stage.

The furnace flickered to life, with its green flame raising the temperature around it rapidly.

“The traveling forge can consume monster cores, or Mana stones to power it.” Lu Chiao looked over the audience. A smile appeared on his face as he saw all of their eyes gathered on the forge.

“I need it,” Rugrat said beside Erik.

“We’ve made eleven hundred gold so far—don’t use it all. I’m pretty confident that we can get at least one of the dungeon items with what we have left,” Erik said.

“The traveling forge will start at seventy-seven gold,” Lu Chiao said.

Hearing that price, Erik couldn’t help but cringe.

Those in the second tier of suites and below had sour looks on their faces as they looked higher. The starting bid was too much for them to even try to bid on.

“Eighty-nine!” a woman on the third floor called out.

“Ninety-seven!” an older-looking man from the Kerose Institute said from the fourth-tier seats.

“One hundred and seven,” another man said calmly from another one of the fourth-tier seats.

The man from the Kerose Institute looked over at the new bidder, his eyes thinning as the bidder returned a calm smile.

“Well, looks like there is something going on there—big boys playing power games,” Erik muttered to himself.

“One hundred and twenty-seven,” the Kerose Institute man said.

“One hundred and fifty.” A new voice, Rugrat’s voice, entered into the fray as the two bidders looked over to the sealed suite. Both of them seemed to be trying to see through the formation on the window.

“One hundred and sixty,” the second bidder called.

“One hundred and seventy-five!” the man from Kerose called out, his eyes daring the other two bidders to bid again.

“One hundred and eighty-five.” Rugrat’s hands turned into fists. “Come on, that should be good,” Rugrat prayed out loud.

“One hundred and ninety!” the man from the Kerose Institute snarled.

Rugrat’s prayer was in vain. “Two hundred,” Rugrat said finally.

“Two twenty!” The Kerose man looked to be challenging Rugrat directly.

“Two forty!” Rugrat yelled out.

“Should we not know if the person who is hiding their identity has enough funds for this auction!?” the Kerose man asked, his frustration clear.

“Is there a new bid?” Lu Chiao asked with a frown, picking up his hammer.

“Is it not the right of us to know who our opponents are to make sure that they aren’t purposely driving up the price of an item without funds they have?” the man demanded.

Although he was being unreasonable, people seemed to agree with him. The Kerose Institute was the leader of this city; if the bidder could make them look foolish and drain them of funds, wouldn’t they be a laughingstock?

Lu Chiao looked to another booth on the fourth floor. It was a private booth for the people of the Blue Lotus’s management and their friends. Pan Lim and Ban Tong were in that suite, as were Su Wei and Juko.

Su Wei stood and bowed toward Erik and Rugrat’s booth, looking a bit embarrassed before he faced the man from the Kerose Institute and the bidders in the hall. “I can assure you that the bid is true and that they are not looking to drive up the price of items without need,” he said in slow, measured tones.

The man from the Kerose Institute might have been rash, but he wasn’t idiotic. He stood and bowed to Su Wei. “I am sorry for disturbing Manager Su Wei,” he said with a respectful voice.

Su Wei sat back down as the man came up from his bow.

“Two hundred and forty-five.” As he finished his bid, his eyes shot over to Rugrat and Erik’s booth.

“Two hundred and fifty,” Rugrat said in a voice that was neither fast or slow.

He sounds cool but he’s nearly out of his damn seat! Erik couldn’t help but look at Rugrat. He was on the very edge of his seat, his entire body tense as he held up his balled fists, as if he were watching his favorite team playing in the finals.

Lu Chiao looked to the man from the Kerose Institute. He shook his head bitterly and looked away from the other suite.

“Sold!” Lu Chiao slammed his hammer down.

The forge shrank and entered the globe again as the next item was brought out.

“Woohoo! Yeah, take that, you stinking bastard!” Rugrat exploded off his seat as he laughed and did his own version of a celebration dance.

***

“I am sorry. This price is still below the minimum bid,” Lu Chiao said apologetically. This was the sixth Age Rejuvenation potion to be sold off so far.

The numbers had risen from one hundred to five hundred. Now the sixth potion was at eight hundred but it didn’t meet the minimum! There were thirty of these potions but just under a fifth of them had been sold!

Many of the people’s faces contorted as they wondered what the level of the last potions would be. The auction guide only gave a name for each item, and the order that they would come out.

That information was only brought out as Lu Chiao began talking about and describing the items. This kept people’s attention and would allow them to get the feeling whether they were to discover a treasure.

None were able to compete for the sixth potion. Even using the money that a few of the elders had gathered, their funds weren’t enough. Many were kicking themselves for not bringing their entire wealth down to the Second Realm.

“We will continue with the nameless low-Journeyman sword. It is imbued with a core of the wind wolf to give the user a great boost of speed and the howling wolf to increase its sharpness!” Lu Chiao said.

Although the people’s spirits were dashed with such a blade in front of them, Lu Chiao expertly pulled them out of their depression and incited their anger once again.

“I must have this sword!” someone called out, looking at the object.

In this way, they were directly competing with the disciples from the other sects and showing off their power for all to see. In just a few objects, the atmosphere had brightened and the furious bidding war was going on.

“That’s right.” Rugrat leaned forward. The auction had turned into a competition now, one where Rugrat and Erik were fighting to earn the most gold. “Come on! Beat out those silver potions!”

“You know we’re both on the same side, right?” Erik complained.

“The winner is the one who gets the pile of gold! I have expenses, you know!” Rugrat yelled as the bids increased.

“Sixty-five!”

“Seventy!” The different groups that had formation Masters in their ranks had entered into the bidding.

They’ve already gone through half of his stock, but all the remaining items are of high-Journeyman quality and they’re not selling any more of my potions!

“How is this fair? You have more items than me!” Erik complained.

“Sucka!”

Chapter: Snake in the Auction

“These potions and pill bottles were recovered from an ancient ruin! It looks like it was owned by an alchemist of high standing. He was a Master-level alchemist by the items in his home. We have been unable to find out what these items are, be that their effects, strength, or name,” Lu Chiao said.

His words interested the more adventurous, who started to lean forward.

“May I ask a question?” Alchemist Nguyen asked. He was the first one to acquire an Age Rejuvenation potion and had forced the other competitors back with just his words.

“Certainly.” Lu Chiao smiled.

“Do you know the age of these potion and pill containers? Can you verify that the content still retains a medicinal efficacy?”

Lu Chiao’s smile became difficult to maintain as his expression lowered. “The potion and pill containers are believed to be one hundred and fifty years old and we cannot verify that they maintain medicinal efficacy as we have not opened them.”

With a simple question, Alchemist Nguyen had removed most people’s interest in the Master alchemist’s leftovers. Over a hundred and fifty years old? What potions could possibly weather that amount of time? As for pills? How much had their medicinal efficacy dropped? Were they anything more than chalk to be chewed on?

With his words, most people had lost interest in the strange-looking pill and potion bottles.

“We will start the bidding at twenty gold,” Lu Chiao said.

For some time, no one said anything, thinking of Alchemist Nguyen’s words.

“I will pay twenty-five,” Alchemist Nguyen said, as if giving a favor to the Blue Lotus.

“Thirty,” Erik said simply.

Even if they had lost their medicinal efficacy, if he was to consume samples from these bottles then he could gain knowledge on how to make them, the different processes used, and advance his own knowledge of Alchemy.

***

“Dammit, who is this person?” Alchemist Nguyen hissed as he looked at the covered suite. It was the same one that had received Su Wei’s bow.

Su Wei might be polite to them but doesn’t he bow and scrape in front of me, too? Some hidden factor shouldn’t be that important.

He had bid on a few things but after a certain point, he hadn’t pushed himself to truly compete with everyone, either overruling them with the wealth he had or letting them take the item. Now they’re bidding on items that they couldn’t possibly understand. Do they sense the Expert-level potion?

Alchemist Nguyen was running low on gold after purchasing the first Age Rejuvenation potion.

He had meant to pick up these items easily, bluffing both Lu Chiao and the people in the room so that he could get them cheaply. They would think that he was only doing it out of graciousness and the Blue Lotus might even look favorably upon him.

Although the others in the room had no interest in the old pill and potion bottles, Alchemist Nguyen noticed a sight he hadn’t found in a long time. It was the Heart Calming elixir!

This was an ancient elixir that had been lost over time.

Nguyen had stumbled across it by chance. His study of the limited potion that was left was enough for him to earn his current position. He wanted to use the Age Rejuvenation potion in the same way to inspire a breakthrough in his skill. Now he didn’t have the money for it! He had less than one hundred gold.

After I just denounced the potions and pills, what reason would I have for trying to get them? If I was to bid again, then people would think that there is something wrong!

Nguyen looked at the vessels. His eyes flashed as a small smile appeared on his face. “Ah, I see that you wish to have the containers! You have a good eye, a much better one than I do. These are indeed interesting vessels. Very well, I will raise to thirty-three,” Nguyen said, as if he were curious.

His eyes moved to the other booth, a slight smile on his face while his mind turned over. Could he know what is contained in these pill bottles and potions?

Alchemists were proud of their skills and would regularly wear items that showed off their ability with Alchemy. In the higher realms, most would wear their skill level badges on their chest so that anyone would be able to recognize them with a glance. Seeing this man chose to hide away instead, Nguyen felt secure.

The other man might be interested in the random selection but as nothing more than a casual collection. He should give up after some time!

“Ah, that man must have a collector’s eyes. After all, items from a hundred years ago are mysterious,” someone commented below.

“Potion and pill bottles are another treasure—these ones are much different from what we use today. It is indeed interesting to see what the previous generations did!”

“An auction for pill bottles! I would sell them all the pill bottles I had for three hundred gold!”

“Forty,” the hidden man said, as if uninterested in money.

“Forty-five,” Nguyen said, almost playfully.

“Fifty-five,” the hidden man said.

Nguyen seemed to pause before he nodded. “Sixty.”

“Seventy-five.” The hidden man didn’t even pause.

“What is this? Are they competing for the pill bottles or against each other?”

“It does seem more like they’re playing with money than caring about the items for sale.”

“One hundred. I hope the Blue Lotus takes this as my apology,” Nguyen said, showing himself to be benevolent. “It seems that my own competitive spirits have been roused by this affair!”

If the other person was to put money on the items, then he would have only won through Nguyen’s graces, tainting his victory. If you are competing with me for simply making yourself looking better, there won’t be any feeling of victory! Maybe there will be time afterward to see if I can “admire” the pill and potion bottles.

What was his standing? He was a Journeyman alchemist soon to make it to the Expert skill level! Who could deny his request?

When he examined the pill and potion bottles, he would take the contents of both. The murky and opaque glass would make it nearly impossible for someone to see inside. If they were opened later, then there would be no signs leading to Nguyen.

After all, these were mysterious pill and potion bottles—who said that they hadn’t been opened in the last hundred and fifty years?

“One hundred and ten,” the hidden man said.

After a few moments of asking for more bidders, Lu Chiao hit his hammer against the table.

Alchemist Nguyen stood and looked to the blacked-out box. “Congratulations on your victory. I would be interested in examining these containers with you, if that would be possible?”

There was a pause before an altered voice replied. “I would welcome the opportunity to talk to an alchemist as skilled as yourself,” the man said, sounding interested.

“Sir honors me.” Nguyen smiled, bowing slightly as he hid his malicious intent deep.

The hidden man didn’t say anything in reply before the next item was brought out.

“Ah, a fight of gentlemen—this is something that others should learn!” a man from the VIP section told his disciples.

“Yes, Master!” they repeated back. For Alchemist Nguyen to address and invite this man to share his goods with him, even though he had won the auction, this was the bearing of a high-tier alchemist—this was being humble without caring of one’s level!

***

Although Nguyen might have fooled most people, he had been going up against Erik. Juko and Su Wei had both met with and dealt with Erik, so they were able to get a good idea of how he acted.

“Do you find that there is something odd in the way Nguyen acted?” Su Wei asked Juko casually.

“I do,” Juko said, with a displeased expression.

They had hoped to have a battle between people who were allured by the mysteries of the items. They hadn’t been opened and could contain great items. It turned them into a form of lottery, there was the possibility to gain a lot or lose everything one paid.

It was an ingenious way to stoke one’s competitive spirit over something that might be worthless.

Nguyen’s words had thrown water on any excitement they might build. He had seemed reluctant to put a bid but he had at the beginning.

As soon as he bid, then Erik put down a bid.

Juko and Su Wei knew that the other was a person who was capable of making low-Journeyman potions.

Then, instead of just letting the item go, Nguyen had bid on the item again and again until reaching one hundred gold coins.

“Surely he’s seen a lot of Alchemy containers in his time. Why would he be interested in these ones?” Juko asked.

“He wants to find out what is inside them,” Su Wei said.

“Why didn’t he compete with the others?” Juko looked to Su Wei.

“If others were to bid against him, then it could easily climb higher in price. If he was able to discredit the items right off the bat, then few, if any, people would be willing to bet. After purchasing the Age Rejuvenation potion, he might be low on funds. This was his way of making sure that the other people wouldn’t get into a competition with him and allow him to buy them for a cheap price.” Su Wei’s true identity was as an assistant head to a prominent Blue Lotus location in the Fourth Realm. His ability to see through people and their actions had reached a high degree. If Erik hadn’t won, then he was willing to tell Lu Chiao that the minimum had not been met so that they wouldn’t sell to such a swindler.

As it was, the alchemist didn’t know it but Su Wei had a bad impression of the man. He quietly jotted down a report and passed it to an assistant in the room. “Have this submitted to the records of the Third Realm Blue Lotus locations that Alchemist Nguyen frequents,” Su Wei said.

“Yes, manager Su.” The person turned and walked away.

As the Blue Lotus wanted to build relationships with their customers, they also wanted to know who was worthy of that trust.

This could be counted as a small black mark on Alchemist Nguyen’s record.

***

Erik and Rugrat didn’t really pay attention to the light confrontation as they were looking at the next item.

Lu Chiao smiled to the higher booths. Clearly this was an item that normal people wouldn’t be able to acquire.

He put his hand on the cloth that covered the item. “Next we have an ancient map that was found with an adventurer’s body. The map is in a bad state, but from what we’ve discovered, it looks to be a map to a dungeon close to Kaeju, at least within two hundred kilometers. We will include our notes and findings with the original map.” Lu Chiao’s words seemed to make the auction hall freeze.

He pulled the cloth off to reveal a glass-looking box covered in formations to protect and distort its image so people wouldn’t be able to simply remember what they saw on the map instead of buying it.

Even the people in the fourth-tier suites moved forward as a glass box with a tattered and faint-looking map was shown. The formation also made it hard to make out any details on the map.

“The bidding will start at one hundred gold coins,” Lu Chiao said. Even as he smiled brightly, there was a sharp intake of air.

“Two hundred gold coins,” a woman said from a fourth-level box.

“That’s clan Master Qiao Jingyi!” one person said.

“Truly, items related to dungeons are something that can only be acquired by those who have great power. Only the big clans, sects, and other groups can hope to bid as they can move all the wealth of their group with one word.” Another person sighed.

“Good! Seems that things will be more lively! Three hundred.” A burly man wearing armor who had been reclined in his seat leaned forward with an excited look on his face.

“Cutting Wind’s Sect Leader Feng Luoyang has joined in on the bidding too!”

Erik and Rugrat looked at each other ruefully.

“There are eight different items. We just need them to bleed one another on the first four and we can move in afterward,” Erik said.

“What’s saying they don’t increase the prices of the last four?”

“Are you intentionally cursing us right now!” Erik quickly knocked on the wooden arm of his chair.

Chapter: Dungeon, Journal?

Two group’s leaders might have started the bidding but others quickly joined in. The wealth of a dungeon was incredible. They were areas where creatures could randomly spawn, a great place to farm Experience, and the Ten Realms would give people prizes for moving farther through the dungeon. There might be rare resources and items that appeared as well. If one had a dungeon, they could quickly increase their strength and influence.

“Five!”

“Six and a half!”

“Eight!”

“Nine!”

Erik and Rugrat were left stunned. These people who hadn’t bid up to this point were now spending everything.

“They must have been holding back their bids because they were aiming for these dungeon-related items,” Rugrat said with a sour expression.

“The people from the Kerose Institute haven’t moved yet.” Erik looked at one of the larger suites.

“What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that these dungeons must have some indication that they’re in this area or they were found close by, or else the Blue Lotus wouldn’t sell them here. This can only increase the price. For the other groups, they’re a possibility to gain great resources. To the Kerose Institute, who control three cities already, if they were to lose out on these dungeons and one of them was actually discovered, then they would lose their position and probably become their subordinate. To others, it’s appealing; to them, it’s giving up their home.”

Rugrat was about to talk when a man in the Kerose Institute raised his hand.

“One Mortal-grade Mana stone.” He pulled out a crystal that seemed to contain swirling lights.

“That’s a Mortal Mana stone! I didn’t think that I would be able to see one with my own eyes!”

“The lowest grade is worth one thousand gold. Truly, the Kerose Institute’s pockets are deep!” another added in.

Erik and Rugrat leaned forward. They could feel a faint suction feeling from their open Mana gates, as if wanting to draw in the stone’s energy.

“So, that’s a Mortal-grade Mana stone,” Rugrat said.

“I guess it is,” Erik said, recalling that Mana stones could be used as well to help the dungeon to recover.

“One thousand two hundred!” a man said, breaking the atmosphere.

The leader of the Kerose Institute looked over with a vicious look in his eyes. He had been basking in the glory that came with showing off such wealth but before he could get a greater taste, the limelight was stolen.

“One Mana stone and six hundred,” he said, his eyes clashing with the other man.

“Eighteen!” the man shot back. The two of them stared at each other.

“Nineteen!”

“Twenty-one!”

“Two Mana stones and five hundred!” The leader of the Kerose Institute made a gesture with his hand. Two Mana stones appeared there as he looked to the other man in challenge.

“Bah, take it then!” The other man dejectedly fell back in his seat.

The leader of the Kerose Institute showed signs of victory as the first bidder, Qiao Jingyi, spoke up.

“Twenty-eight,” she said simply.

The Kerose Institute’s leader shot a look over, but it didn’t seem to affect her at all. She simply rose an eyebrow at his look before turning her gaze toward the stage.

“Is there another bid?” Lu Chiao said, his smile not diminishing in the slightest. He was a person from the Blue Lotus; people fighting over goods was good for him instead of something he would complain over.

“Three Mana stones,” the Kerose Institute’s leader called out. Another stone appeared in his hand.

There was a bitter expression on his face still.

Lu Chiao looked around as Rugrat leaned forward to use the formation to bid. Erik held him back.

“What?” Rugrat asked.

“He’s already pissed off. Do you want to jump in and annoy him even more? Also, we can wear down his wealth—he might have more. There are more dungeon-related items up for auction.”

Rugrat looked reluctant before he sighed and sat back in his seat. “Damn. I wish I just had online shopping—just click and buy, get it in a few days. This bartering and auction stuff is annoying.”

“Didn’t you just make some two thousand gold off this auction?” Erik asked in a low voice.

“Two thousand two hundred—don’t forget now, loser.” Rugrat crossed his arms. “Some flawed systems aren’t without merit!”

“Hypocritical ass,” Erik muttered.

“Sold to the Kerose Institute’s leader Wen Xuegang.” Lu Chiao bowed toward the man.

“Next up for sale, we have the Overdrive potion. It increases one’s melee fighting abilities and recovery for forty minutes while reducing pain. There are ten potions up for sale. The bidding will start at forty gold!”

“Fifty!”

“Sixty!”

“Ninety-five!”

“One hundred and ten!”

“One thirty!”

Erik wanted to bid on the item, but he wasn’t sure what the prices of the dungeon guides might be.

Erik and Rugrat sat there as miscellaneous items were sold. Then a tablet was sold, related to a dungeon, for three thousand one hundred gold—again, to the Kerose Institute.

The third went for twenty-nine hundred gold. It was a painting that depicted the opening of a dungeon. The painting was thought to be some six hundred years old, though.

The fourth item was a partial map. It went for a stunning thirty-five hundred gold. The Kerose Institute couldn’t hold out and it went to the Cutting Wind sect.

“Now?” Rugrat said as the second-to-last item related to the dungeons was revealed. It was a journal that contained information on an adventurer’s journeys as well as a possible location for a dungeon. But nothing was definite.

“Wait a bit,” Erik said, feeling pretty anxious himself as the price steadily rose past the one thousand gold mark.

“Seventeen hundred,” Wen Xuegang called out.

“Twenty-five hundred,” Erik said.

People’s heads swiveled as a new player entered the field—the silent suite that hadn’t been able to bid on an item that was one hundred gold, then went to buy a forge from under a formations Master in the Kerose Institute for two hundred and fifty gold.

The man who had been arguing their wealth now slumped in his chair, trying to look as small as possible.

The leader’s eyes swiveled over to him and then back to the booth.

“How dumb must he be feeling. Called us out like that and now we’re competing with his boss!” Rugrat said with satisfied laugh.

“Well, let’s crush ’em!” Erik said.

“Twenty-seven hundred gold,” Wen Xuegang said in a cold voice.

“Can I?” Rugrat asked as Erik was about to place his next bid.

“Go for it.” Erik took his hand back.

“Twenty-eight hundred,” Rugrat said through the voice-changing formation.

A few of the elders were talking into Wen Xuegang’s ear as he seemed to deflate.

“Are there any other bids?” Lu Chiao looked around the auction hall. He slammed his hammer against the table. “Sold!”

“Suck on these American nuuuts!” Rugrat jumped out of his seat, flipping Wen Xuegang the bird through the formation, waving his hands up and down as he kind of crab-walked across the suite in a victory dance.

“Can’t fucking take you anywhere.” Erik grabbed his drink and downed it in one go. “Now, we just need to figure out where the fuck we need to go.”

“With that journal and our Dungeon Sense skill, we should be well on our way!” Rugrat said.

They calmed back down as the auction continued and the last item was put up for sale.

“Our final item up for sale today is the carcass of a dungeon monster.” A well-preserved corpse was revealed.

“It was buried in the sands and mummified. Using the body, one might even be able to use tracking skills to find the location of the dungeon it came from.” Lu Chiao paused, a smile on his face, as all of the leaders and the elders were talking to one another. This was the last item on the table. Those who needed to bring at least one item back were now rushing to see whether they might get enough funds to take this last item back with them.

“Based upon old bids, the bidding will start at fifteen hundred gold,” Lu Chiao said.

“Sixteen hundred!”

“Two thousand!”

“Twenty-one hundred!”

“Two thousand, four hundred!”

“Twenty-six hundred!”

“Twenty-eight hundred!”

The bidding was so fast that some people couldn’t place a bid before their amount was overtaken.

“Three thousand!”

“Three Mana stones, four hundred gold!”

“Thirty-eight hundred!”

The bidding paused as the last bid was thrown out by Wen Xuegang.

“Four Mana stones,” a man with a hawk on his shoulder said.

“Landar Kree from the Thunder Talon sect!”

“The Thunder Talon sect is a group that focuses on fighting with beasts by their side, taming them and using them to bolster their own strength. If they’re able to get the corpse, wouldn’t the location be as good as known?” someone asked.

Erik and Rugrat could only look on at this point. Their meager remaining wealth wasn’t enough to even compete.

Wen Xuegang looked at the people in his booth with a deep look.

All of them had forced smiles as they handed over the wealth that they had to improve their chances of winning the bid.

“Four thousand one hundred,” Wen Xuegang said.

“Two hundred.” Landar Kree frowned slightly.

“Three hundred.”

“Four hundred.”

“Six hundred!” Wen Xuegang declared, his voice rolling through the hall.

Landar Kree forced his face into a smile as Lu Chiao looked at them both.

“If there are no more bids?” He looked about. “Sold to the leader of the Kerose Institute Wen Xuegang!” He offered up his applause; a few other people and those affiliated with the Kerose Institute joined in as well.

“All items and proceeds from the auction will be available for pick up from the collection booths. Thank you for honoring the Blue Lotus with your presence.” He bowed to everyone before the lights turned on and people started to talk about the crazy bids that they had seen or ran off to get the different items they had bought or the gold that they had sold the items for.

“Well, let’s go and see what we’ve earned.” Erik stood and headed for the door of the booth.

He heard a clanging behind him. He looked back to see the food and drink disappearing into Rugrat’s storage ring.

“What? It’s complimentary,” Rugrat said, not stopping from cleaning away everything that was left.

Erik opened the door to find a woman from the Blue Lotus there.

“If you would like to follow me, Manager Su Wei has organized a private room for you to go over your items,” the woman said.

“Lead on!” Rugrat pushed past Erik with an almost fanatic smile on his face.

Chapter: Embarrassing Alchemist Nguyen

The woman from the Blue Lotus led Erik and Rugrat through to a guarded room. Two guards opened the door before Erik and Rugrat, allowing them access to the private room. Inside, Juko and Su Wei had a number of subordinates waiting on them. They were watching a large wall that showed the inside of the Blue Lotus.

Looks like a bunch of security cameras.

“Leave us,” Su Wei said. The people in the room bowed and left the room quickly. In moments, it was just Erik, Rugrat, Juko, and Su Wei.

Su Wei’s face bloomed into a smile as he pulled out storage rings from his robes. “I took the liberty of changing two thousand of the gold into two Mana stones and then the remaining gold. Your purchases are all inside the rings as well.”

Rugrat and Erik took their rings.

Erik made to speak as Su Wei continued talking.

“For the Age Rejuvenation potions, they are a high-quality good, but they would not be able to get the price that they deserve in my little Blue Lotus. If you want, I can give them back to you. Otherwise, I can pass you a token and they will be sold through the Blue Lotus locations that would be able to sell them for a higher price. Once they’re sold, then you will be able to collect your money from any Blue Lotus location with your token,” Su Wei said.

Erik took some time before he nodded. “I’ll trust the Blue Lotus to sell them on for me. Is there a place that we might be able to read the journal?”

“Certainly. There are private viewing rooms that you can use to look over your goods.” Su Wei sent a sound transmission as the woman who had brought them to his office returned once again, bowing to them.

“Ella, would you show Mister Erik to one of the viewing rooms?” Su Wei asked.

“Certainly, Assistant Head. This way.” Ella waved her hand for Erik and Rugrat to follow her.

“I have already reported higher up the Blue Lotus about the Age Rejuvenation potions and the different smithed goods. If you have any more of them in the future, then please keep the Blue Lotus in mind,” Su Wei said.

“We will,” Rugrat said, enthusiastically slapping Erik on the back. “See you later!” Rugrat said, half helping, half pushing Erik out of the room, he was so eager to check out his new items.

“You’re worse than when we went to a Black Friday sale!” Erik complained as Ella quickly composed herself and led them back out of Su Wei’s office and to the private viewing rooms.

“Once you’re inside, then the formations will activate, making it so that no one will be able to listen in or spy on whatever you are doing inside,” she quickly explained.

“Thank you,” Erik said to her. Rugrat had already walked into the large room with a conference table in its center.

Ella nodded with a small smile as Erik entered the room too. Ella shut the door behind him. Magical circles appeared on the walls, isolating Erik and Rugrat from the outside world.

Erik quickly pulled out the different powders, pills, and potions. With swift movements, he opened up a powder box. The powder was essentially useless. There was no sense of medicinal efficacy coming from it; there was little difference between it and dust.

Erik pulled out a jade spoon, scooped a tiny amount of the powder up and tossed it into his mouth. He swallowed it down, waiting a few moments before information seemed to bloom in his mind.

“Powder, ugh.” Erik shivered at the taste and the pop in his stomach that threatened to make him throw up. “Effects, creates an explosion when ignited.” Erik took a few moments to recover.

“Did you just...eat an Alchemy powder?” Rugrat asked slowly.

“Yeah. I got a new title, the Reverse Alchemist. Basically, when I consume things, then I build up a memory of the concoctions and the ingredients. It’s kind of like a puzzle: if I know the ingredients and I know the reaction of the different concoctions, I can think of a way to make it. Or if I know some of the ingredients and the concoctions, then I can figure out some of the ingredients that are in it that I don’t know, or think up new combinations of ingredients to replace them,” Erik said.

“So, you took something cool, made it nerdy as hell and now it’s kind of a math equation. If you know the different numbers or ingredients, you chuck them together—multiplication, division, subtraction—and it craps out a final product. When people ask me, I just say I hit shit with a hammer.” Rugrat went back to his forge snow globe.

Erik scratched his head before he shrugged. “Well, that stuff was better than the other propellants I’ve been working with. Bit stronger—could use it to make grenades.”

“Grenades from eating some vial fluff! Shit, we should have bought you some more!” Rugrat moved closer.

“What are you doing?” Erik backed away.

“Come on, eat a few more! I need better propellant for my rounds! Mortal-grade iron deserves better powder!”

Erik sighed and pulled out another container. He felt that if he didn’t take them all himself that Rugrat would force them down his neck at this point.

“Well, this should be a ride. If I finish these fast enough, then I can sell the containers to that Nguyen alchemist. I don’t know what person would be interested in spending so much in just getting old empty vials.”

“Fucking weirdos.” Rugrat studied his snow globe.

Erik flipped him the bird and put the next vial to his lips. Erik had genuinely thought that Nguyen felt bad about his words, making everyone not interested in the potions.

He felt interest toward the contents of the pill bottles and potions. He would remove the contents; then he would be more than fine with selling them to Alchemist Nguyen if he was interested in them.

Erik held his head as he drank one of the potions. “Fuck me! Tastes like gasoline and reaper peppers mixed with bad decisions.” Erik pulled out some mint leaves, trying to dull the taste in his mouth.

“Come on, you’ve got like another ten to go,” Rugrat said.

“What does it matter to you?” Erik chewed on the leaves rapidly.

“Well, maybe you can come up with more enhancers that I can use with the different metals that I have to bring out greater innate effects! Also, gunpowder and poison? You know how deadly my rounds are going to be now! Though I’ll need to figure out how to make a barrel out of Mortal steel and rifle it.” Rugrat sunk into thought, giving Erik some more time to recover from the concoction’s awful taste.

Erik quickly and efficiently downed the different concoctions, storing away their information for later. He didn’t have time to think on them all but his ability to recollect information had increased with time. He was only able to identify a few ingredients used in the concoctions.

He’d gone through most of the powders, potions, and pills he’d acquired, leaving a pile of them on the counter in the room.

His haul hadn’t been small. Most of the items had lost their medicinal effects long ago, but to Erik it didn’t matter as he gained new insights and even more questions.

“Might be better than reading a damn technique book, but feels like I licked a sewer in Kandahar.” Erik shook his head and chewed on some mint leaves.

Erik left the other items in his ring to look over them later. He collected the pill bottles together and stepped out of the private room. Ella was waiting for him as he left.

“Have you seen Alchemist Nguyen?”

“He is entertaining a number of people in the main hall,” Ella said.

“Do we want to meet him? We made a bit of a stir. If we show ourselves, then others might be interested in us,” Rugrat muttered into Erik’s ear.

“Well, we don’t need to show our faces.” Erik pulled on a doupeng. He took out another and put it on Rugrat’s head.

“Who turned out the lights?” Rugrat looked around. He looked pretty comical in the wide-brimmed hat.

“You look like a damn budget Dalek.” Erik led the way into the main lobby.

“Thank you, Miss Ella,” Erik said.

Rugrat bowed to her as well; she bowed back to them before they separated.

Erik and Rugrat headed out into the main hall. Erik looked around the room and saw Alchemist Nguyen, who was talking to a group of people and seeing them off. It was the same people who had agreed to let him win the potion, gaining a favor in return.

“Alchemist Nguyen, you said that you were interested in the Alchemy containers?” Erik said.

“Ah! I have been looking for you!” Alchemist Nguyen opened his arms wide, as if meeting a good friend as he moved up to Erik.

Erik had been expecting Alchemist Nguyen to be arrogant and overpowering but it seemed that he was willing to meet Erik on a level ground.

“Alchemist Nguyen, it is good to meet you in the flesh,” Erik said respectfully. “I have the different pill bottles and potion containers. If you wish to have them, I can gift them to you.” Erik pulled them out.

“I couldn’t simply accept this kind of gift.” Nguyen laughed. He pulled out a pill of his own. “This is the Mind Revitalizing pill. My skill is not great, but I hope you can accept this as thanks.”

Those nearby started to talk to one another in an agitated manner.

“The Mind Revitalizing pill? Isn’t that the pill that will allow one to focus totally on their studies, making it easier to break through and removing distractions of the world for a number of hours?”

“Yes! It’s a mid-Journeyman pill!”

“So humble to give this kind of pill to the person he lost a bid against, just for his interest in pill and potion containers.”

“I thought that alchemists were aloof figures. I didn’t realize that they could be so humble and generous!”

“What a lucky person to buy those containers. I would have spent three thousand gold to get a pill from Alchemist Nguyen himself and his recognition,” another person said in regret.

“Thank you.” Erik passed the containers to Alchemist Nguyen and took the pill with a smile. His opinion of Nguyen rose with his straightforward actions. “I have other business to attend to but have a good day.” Erik clasped his hands.

“And you as well.” Nguyen smiled.

Chapter: Celebration Turned Sour

Erik and Rugrat met up at a bar they had checked out earlier.

“What’s the plan?” Rugrat asked.

“First we go over the journal, then we figure out a plan of how to get to the dungeon.” Erik looked around before he pulled out the journal.

Now that it wasn’t on the auction block, it looked to be nothing more than a simple bound book.

There was a half-written word on the cover of the book. Time and wear had taken the rest of the word away.

Erik opened up the first page. Inside, there was a sheaf of notes that the researchers and evaluators from the Blue Lotus had added to the book. It listed out pages of interest and possible locations that they had figured out.

Erik quickly flipped to the listed pages and started reading.

The journal was, thankfully, simple.

“I think we need a map.” Erik turned the journal around and passed it over to Rugrat.

Rugrat took the book and started reading the part Erik pointed to. “Daejo Trading Post?” Rugrat said.

“According to the notes that the Blue Lotus had, there was a trading post between cities. In a war, the trading post was destroyed. As the territories were rearranged, the location was left alone. It looks like Su Wei gave us a bit of help.” Erik pulled out a piece of paper that had been in the book.

“This is a map of where Daejo was supposed to be. Lucky for us, it’s only a couple of days’ hike from here. Though we’ll need to get maps of the area to make sure we’re going to the right place.”

“Shouldn’t be too hard,” Rugrat said.

“The area is two hundred square kilometers. If we didn’t have the Dungeon Sense skill, then it could take months or years to try to find any sign of the dungeon. Also, this place doesn’t sound too pleasant.” Erik’s voice lowered.

“What was it—the parts of screaming live sacrifices or people having their very life force drained from them?” Rugrat said with a grim look. “Scared the writer half to shit. He didn’t even go in—instead ran away from it and was plagued with nightmares. Did you read on?”

Erik shook his head in the negative.

“Yeah, looks like he had a poison or curse upon his body. He didn’t get more than a few days’ travel before he started wandering in the desert, lost all sense of direction, delirious—can’t even write here.” Rugrat flipped through the following pages as the writer’s handwriting deteriorated and his words made little to no sense.

“So some torture hole filled with poison, screaming and curses,” Erik said.

“What choice do we have?” Rugrat asked.

“None. All right, let’s get some maps, see where this place is exactly.” Erik took a drink from the cup he had gotten when entering the tavern.

“Another adventure, another map,” Rugrat said, as the journal disappeared into his storage ring.

***

Old Man Hei finished off his letter and sealed it. He looked around the store with a heavy breath.

“The auction will be over soon and I’ve stayed here too long.” He looked around at the counters and shelves that he had seen for decades. There was something calming and welcoming about them. It was exactly the thing he wanted to get away from.

“Time to go back to the Third Realm.” He let out a dry laugh. “Never thought that I would be going back because of someone from the younger generation!”

He turned and went out the door.

“Never been much of one for good-byes.” He glanced back at the Black Cauldron.

“Well, I wonder how the Third Realm has changed.” Old Man Hei walked away from his store and headed for the center of the city, toward the Ten Realms totem.

***

Erik and Rugrat had gone to three different stores that sold maps, getting a few different ones to increase their knowledge. Once they combined them with their original maps, they gained a much better idea of the terrain around Kaeju city and the desert it was located in.

“Okay, top up on food and water, check. Sand goggles and gear?” Erik asked.

“Check. And check this out!” Rugrat pulled out a robe that was meant to protect one against the winds and sand of the desert.

“Then, the next part.” Erik’s voice lowered and became softer.

“Saying good-bye,” Rugrat said.

Erik clapped Rugrat on the shoulder. There wasn’t really anything else he could say.

“Who knows, maybe they’ll come to Alva Dungeon,” Erik said, trying to put a positive spin on things.

“Well, no need to sugarcoat it. Just something that needs to be done,” Rugrat said.

***

It wasn’t hard for her to pay off the debt, but she hadn’t completely removed it for two reasons: she had never been anywhere other than Kaeju city and she didn’t know where she would go. The second was that Black Eye was not known for his mercy. If she had a debt to him, then he had control over her, which kept her safe based on the Ten Realms oath. If she paid it off, then the oath would be broken and she would have to flee Kaeju city to be safe; otherwise, his people would actively try to keep her down.

The different small jobs she had taken on—from the outside, it looked as if she were frantically trying to pay off her debt.

The reality was she was building up her savings, secretly selling off Mortal-grade iron ingots, weapons, and armors to the Blue Lotus and others. Although she kept Julilah at arm’s length, she relied on the little girl to act as a courier to the buyers. Hearing Rugrat’s stories about the other places in the realms had built up her confidence as he had pushed her toward leaving and starting up a new life somewhere else.

It’s a nice idea, Tan Xue thought as she bent forward and prepared the plow blade she was working on.

Tan Xue was just getting into a rhythm when the door to her smithy was knocked open.

“We need a new Apprentice-level blade. We’ll take off fifty silver from your debt,” a domineering voice called out.

A shiver climbed up Tan Xue’s spine but she suppressed it as she looked around to see Black Eye and his gang standing there.

With him was a young boy who had a similar appearance to Tan Xue, but there was a sneer on his face as he looked to Tan Xue.

“Isn’t it touching having family reunions!” Black Eye laughed, clapping the boy on the back.

“Don’t try to call this bitch a part of my family, Mister Black Eye,” Tan Yan, her younger brother, spat.

Seeing the hatred, the anger directed toward her, Tan Xue’s heart clenched. And then she wanted to beat the hell out of her brother, to remove the lies, the trash that filled his mind and help him see sense.

As this thought entered her mind, it passed. Her eyes dimmed, knowing that it was useless.

She took out the storage ring Rugrat had given to her and threw it to Black Eye.

“Oh look, seems that you made something.” Black Eye laughed. He looked inside. His gloating look turned into a frown.

“Our debt is cleared. I don’t wish to see you again,” Tan Xue said simply and turned back toward her work.

There was a flash of power. Tan Xue felt a restraining power lift from her as her Ten Realms-assured contract was released.

“You think that you can get away from us just like that!” Black Eye yelled. “Get her!”

The others rushed forward.

Tan Xue whirled her hammer around, about to send it crashing into the first person there, only to see that it was her brother. A look of shock and pain flashed across her face as he punched her in the side.

Pain bloomed in her side as another hit got her in the face. The blows rained down as her hammer was torn away from her hands.

Finally the beating stopped. She was coughing on her own blood, her face caved in and her eyes bruised.

“Shit. Well now she’s no use to us.” Black Eye sighed as he took her hammer from her brother’s hands. He swung down viciously, hitting her knee.

Tan Xue cried out as he broke her bones with calculated hits.

“Big sister, Tan Xue!” Julilah’s voice came from the smithy opening.

“Oh, look who it is,” Black Eye said.

“No! No, don’t!” Tan Xue had tried to drive the little girl away, but it seemed that she had crawled into a place in her heart.

Two of Black Eye’s people grabbed the girl and pulled her into the smithy.

“You see, there’s a special formation in Kaeju—can’t kill anyone here. But there isn’t anything about accidents that might happen. Hold her steady,” Black Eye said.

They forced Julilah to the ground. Tan Xue watched her brother’s cold eyes and the smirk at the side of his face.

Even with the beating, she had still thought that there was some kind of connection, hoped that there was one. Seeing the look on his face as he looked forward to seeing Julilah getting hurt, she didn’t have any feelings other than loathing and hatred.

Julilah was gagged, unable to yell out as Black Eye grabbed the still red-hot plow blade and put it into the furnace.

“Well, this really makes it harder to get you a proper weapon, Tan Yan, though as a consolation, you can deal with this young one,” Black Eye said.

“Yes, Mister Black Eye,” Tan Yan said, excited to be picked out by Black Eye as he bowed deeply to him. He went to the smithy and checked the plow blade.

Anything he knew about smithing was all from his big sister Tan Xue.

He picked up the rough plow blade. It was glowing hot as he moved over Julilah. “This is going to hurt, a lot!” Tan Yan raised the plow blade above his head.

The cruel smile on his face froze, as did the entire smithy, when the door slammed open.

Rugrat didn’t pause. Flowing through the door, he fired at Tan Yan. The arrow took him in the throat, causing him to fall backward and the plow blade to fall on him. The crossbow disappeared; another appeared as he fired. He switched again, firing and hitting another man.

His movements were swift, accurate, and deadly as crossbow bolts seemed to follow one another in a constant stream.

Each was struck in the neck or eye with an arrow, dropping as they started to recover.

Black Eye yelled out as an arrow hit the shining shield around him. “You!”

A metal weapon appeared in Rugrat’s hands. It spat out metal shards, one after another, without having to change the weapon.

Tan Xue had never seen anything like it before. The weapon let out a terrifying amount of noise. Black Eye’s shield collapsed as he and his lackeys were cut down by the metal shards.

Rugrat checked the area, using his weapon on anyone still alive.

Once he confirmed they were all dead, he started speaking into his sound transmission device, rushing over to the shocked Julilah, quickly checking her over and moving to Tan Xue.

“I’ve got two wounded, Tan Xue and Julilah, my teacher and the kid I told you about. Non-critical, broken bones, bruises, pretty rough shape. One’s having trouble breathing. I’m doing first aid and they should be okay, but we need to get out of here. I just killed a bunch of people and the city formation should pick it up soon enough.”

***

“...Third Realm to resume my position in the Alchemist Association.” Erik read the letter and looked at the Alchemist Association emblem in the letter. It was a gold cauldron with three lines across it. A ragged scar marred the surface of the cauldron and time had not been kind to it.

Looking at it one wondered the history behind it, what it meant. Erik knew, it was the token of the Alchemist Association.

“Looks like I’ll have to go to the Third Realm if I want to repay him.” Erik laughed to himself.

He had heard of the stories about the Third Realm. A realm that was dominated with swamps and hidden locations holding all kinds of valuable ingredients. It was called the Alchemist’s garden and the swamp realm by many. Alchemist from the higher realms would even descend into their area to try to acquire higher-level goods. There were not only Mortal-grade ingredients but also Earth- and rare Sky-grade ingredients in certain myths. These ingredients were usually found in special places where they could gather a great amount of mana to grow and increase their medicinal strength.

Erik had only just come to learn the world of Alchemy; he was just an Apprentice-level alchemist. Even if he could make the Age Rejuvenation potion, he was only able to make that one potion to that skill level. He needed time to grow and learn.

He let out a sigh and looked around the shop as he put the letter into his storage ring. His sound transmission device lit up. Erik accepted the call from Rugrat.

“I’ve got two wounded, Tna Xue and Julilah, my teacher and the kid I told you about. Non-critical, broken bones, bruises, pretty rough shape. One’s having trouble breathing. I’m doing first aid and they should be okay, but we need to get out of here. I just killed a bunch of people and the city formation should pick it up soon enough.” Rugrat’s voice was blunt and orderly, falling back on his training.

“Understood. What’s your location?” Erik said, the joy from before doused quickly. He was already running out of the store and heading across the street.

“Smithy,” Rugrat said.

“On my way. ETA seven minutes!” Erik jumped up, getting on top of a railing before jumping up and onto a roof. With his increased Agility and Strength, jumping four or five meters was simple.

The streets were filled with people, so Erik took the fastest route—over the roofs.

Chapter: Fleeing Kaeju

Tan Xue opened her eyes. She flinched, expecting the pain of her body, and looked around frantically for Julilah.

Instead, she saw Rugrat and a man standing a little bit away, talking to each other.

“We need to get out of the city and fast,” the unknown man said. “How long until the crime is found out and we’re discovered?”

“It runs on a scanning-like system, so it’ll sense the deaths in three more minutes. Then it’ll send a message to the guard headquarters. They’ll need to dispatch people to this location, get information on us, and track us out of the city,” Rugrat said.

“Known tracking methods?” the other man asked.

“I don’t know.” Rugrat shrugged.

“So, eight minutes.” The man looked over to Tan Xue. “Looks like we’ll have to move fast.”

Tan Xue saw that Julilah was awake but sitting in a chair a bit away from them all.

“Tan Xue, this is my friend Erik, the alchemist. We’ve been through a lot together. Right now, we need you to trust us if you and Julilah want to get out of this city safe,” Rugrat said.

Tan Xue made to argue but she looked around at the bodies in her smithy, at her brother’s face, the look of shock in his eyes.

Seeing him, she felt pain. But she also remembered the monster he had turned into.

“What’s the plan?” Tan Xue finally asked, looking back to them. If they stayed here, neither she nor Julilah would have anything close to a life.

Black Eye was well-connected and there were people who would come after those connected to his death.

“We’ll take you to the Ten Realms totem. We’ll send you down to the First Realm, to a city that we know. From there, you can do as you want—you’ll be out of danger. We also have friends located in a nearby trading outpost. If you take this token and letter to them, they’ll look after you and give you a place to stay. They’re a group we stay with regularly. You can get your bearings there and leave as you want,” Rugrat said.

Tan Xue looked over to Julilah to see the scared look in Julilah’s eyes. “All right,” she said, making the decision for them both as she got up slowly. “Why don’t I hurt?” she asked, unable to get past that as Erik pulled out a robe for Julilah to get into.

“Well, we know some healing and he’s an alchemist and combat medic. Wasn’t that hard to fix you guys back up.” Rugrat passed her a robe.

“Let’s get going.” Erik moved over to Tan Xue. “Excuse me.” Erik picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder.

She could feel the armor underneath his cloak in her stomach. “What are you...!”

“You’re too slow. We only have seven minutes left.” Rugrat winked at Julilah and threw her over his shoulder.

She was about to argue when Erik jumped. He took two jumps to get onto a roof and started running. Rugrat trailed behind, carrying Julilah.

She could see Rugrat’s face. There was no smile on it any more, only a determined look.

How am I going to be able to repay this debt? she thought before she relaxed slightly.

Erik and Rugrat’s speed was impressive, enough to be on par with some of the high powered characters in Kaeju city.

After a few minutes, Erik and Rugrat dropped down into an alleyway, sorting out Julilah and Tan Xue.

They led the way toward the totem.

Tan Xue followed them, feeling a small hand grip onto hers. She was a bit stunned and nearly missed her step as she looked down at Julilah.

She thought of all the times she had pushed her away, how she had tried to do what she thought was best for the little girl. She looked down at her, seeing those young and scared eyes. She saw the fear in them, the fear of rejection and deep inner anxiety.

Tan Xue’s immediate reaction had been to shake her off, but seeing that look, she tightened her hand on Julilah’s.

They went through the different checks. Leaving the city was free; only entering it cost a fee.

***

Rugrat walked up to the totem and touched it.

==========

You do not have the required levels needed to ascend to the Third Realm. Do you wish to:

Randomly teleport to a location in the:

First Realm?

Second Realm?

Would you like to teleport to a previously visited location?

Would you like to send someone to a location you have previously been to?

==========

Rugrat clicked on the last option

==========

Previous locations:

Chonglu city—First Realm: Cost—5 Lesser Mortal-grade monster cores per person or equivalent

==========

Rugrat selected Chonglu city and two people traveling there.

==========

Requires:

10 Lesser Mortal-grade monster cores

==========

Rugrat pulled out some of the Common-grade monster cores that he was holding onto to increase his smithing skill.

Two spots on the ground were illuminated as the monster cores dissolved and energy flowed into the totem before flowing down into the complicated magical formation in the ground.

==========

Ready to teleport

==========

Rugrat turned around to the two and pulled out a pouch holding Black Eye and his people’s storage rings and items, as well as Tan Xue’s smithing equipment and her magical flame. He put them into Tan Xue’s hand.

“Travel to the Wild Reaches Trading Outpost and go to a bar called the Bloody Ram. There will be someone with an item on them that looks like the one with the letter inside. They’ll look after you,” Rugrat said.

Tan Xue wanted to talk but Erik shook his head.

“You’ve got to move. We still need to get out of the city,” he said.

Rugrat pushed them forward onto the two glowing lights.

==========

Do you wish to teleport?

YES/NO

==========

“Yes,” Rugrat said as power built up around the two of them. “Look after yourselves and hopefully we see you in the future.”

Julilah tried to move but she couldn’t. The formation locked down her actions as a flash of light appeared around them and teleported them away.

Erik and Rugrat moved back toward the city. They had to pay the guards to get past their checks.

Once through, they quickly made their way to an alleyway, before consulting a map. “Southeast is the closest wall to us,” Erik said.

“Okay,” Rugrat said.

The two of them took off at a run. They didn’t have time to waste on talking.

***

Erik aimed at the mouth of the alleyway as he heard movement there.

“Nachos,” Rugrat said.

“Fully stacked,” Erik replied as he lowered his pistol.

Rugrat entered the alleyway.

“Okay, it looks like people learned of the killings. There are guards going through the city and people from the Kerose Institute have been called out to track us. The guards have increased at all of the gates, but they’ve pulled them off the walls. I think I’ve found a way for us to get out of here.” Rugrat pulled out his map and zoomed in on the wall that was near their location.

“Right here, there are two guard towers. They look out on the desert and the patrol that was between the towers is gone. The wall is thirty feet high, though,” Rugrat said.

“Why do I feel like there’s more?” Erik asked.

“The wall is meant to keep people out, not in, so leaving we shouldn’t trigger any alarms. There are also no gates around, so we should be good to climb down the side. Also, it faces the direction where the sun goes down. Sunset is in two hours. We get down to the base of the wall, use the robes, and start crawling our way out. Then, when the sunset blinds all of the towers, we leg it. There’s a dune some eight hundred meters out. Once we’re there, we’ll have more cover and we should be beyond the range of their spells.”

“Okay.” Erik opened up his storage rings and started to go through them, checking their contents.

“What are you looking for?”

“Anything that might give us an advantage, like Strength or Agility enhancing concoctions. I don’t think that I have anything, though.” Erik sat down and pulled out a cauldron. Flames shot out of his hand and wrapped around the cauldron.

“Okay, so if I use the Trena leaves and then the Geniss dust with a drop of concentrated juice from wilted yarrows, that should increase one’s Strength for a short period of time.” Erik pulled out three different ingredients. Flames appeared around his hands and took the ingredients from him as they started to prepare them.

“What are you doing?” Rugrat asked.

“Learning the value of support potions. I should make more. Maybe I could even use poison on my fists as long as I’m immune to it.” Erik felt his mind stirring as he thought of ways to use Alchemy to not only increase his healing abilities but his combat power.

Rugrat took up watching the entrance of the alleyway while the ingredients in Erik’s flames were changed and altered. The wilted yarrows were roasted; vapor rose out from it but it was captured by the flames and refined, creating a red sphere.

The Geniss dust was actually a rock that went through rapid heating and cooling until it crumbled into dust, the detritus in the Geniss rock being removed.

The Trena leaves were grilled slowly, turning from yellow to blue.

Erik put the leaves into the cauldron first; the flames inside were spinning around rapidly.

The Geniss dust was thrown in next. The dust melted onto the leaves, which started to fall apart, becoming a green powder.

The red drop of wilted yarrows was added in slowly, coating the powder. Slowly, the red and green merged, creating a yellow powder.

A notification appeared but he didn’t pay it attention.

Erik waited a few moments till he was satisfied. Pulling out a box, he emptied the contents of the cauldron into it.

Erik put his pinky into the yellow powder and put it on his tongue. He felt his muscles become looser and the need to just run and be free.

He opened his eyes and portioned the box out into vials, splitting them between Rugrat and himself.

“What’s this?” Rugrat might be able to appraise weapons and armor to a high degree, but this was an Alchemy concoction.

Erik was able to identify the concoction better.

==========

Awakening Monkey powder

==========

Effects:

Increase Strength by 6% for 3 minutes

Increase Agility by 4% for 3 minutes

Side effects:

Taking more than 1 in 5 minutes will decrease the following potion’s effectiveness by 25% each additional potion.

==========

Erik read it out to Rugrat.

“Did you get this concoction somewhere?” Rugrat asked.

“No,” Erik said.

“Then why does it have a name?”

“The Ten Realms remembers everything that happens in it. In the past, someone must have made the same concoction. As long as I can make it and understand at least eighty percent of its effects, then the Ten Realms will imprint the information of the concoction’s effects into my mind. Otherwise, I would just get a card filled with question marks and the effects that I had got right,” Erik said.

“Sounds complicated, but no different from how if I know everything about something I’ve made then I can appraise it easily, but then appraising other weapons and items is harder because I don’t know what’s gone into it,” Rugrat said. “What does the 25% reduced effectiveness mean?”

“It means if you drink more of them before the cooldown is over, then instead of getting four percent increase, you’d only get like one percent.” Erik stored away the rest of his items.

“So, I’m a regular Olympic sprinter with this? You think that the Olympic committee would let this pass?” Rugrat grinned.

“You’re already faster than anyone on Earth and they definitely wouldn’t, especially because you’d probably try to run the damn one-hundred-meter sprint in short shorts!” Erik said.

Rugrat chuckled but didn’t deny Erik’s words. “Let’s get a move on,” Rugrat said. He checked the exit of the alleyway before he moved out.

Erik followed him.

The traders were starting to go home as the bars were opening up and the restaurants were doing a quick business.

Erik and Rugrat moved through the crowds. People didn’t care about them as they moved off toward the wall.

Rugrat led them between two tall buildings and pulled off his cloak and doupeng.

Erik did the same as Rugrat jumped from building to building, using them to get higher until he was at the top of them. He lay down to reduce his profile, waiting for Erik.

“Shit, makes it look easy,” Erik muttered. He shook his head, and ran before he could start thinking about what he was doing. He jumped from wall to wall, trying to go as fast as possible or else he might fail.

He got to the top. Rugrat grabbed his hand and pulled him onto the roof.

They got down low on their stomachs, listening to see whether anyone called out.

“Up we go again. You’re stronger than me, so launch me up first then I’ll drop a rope down for you,” Rugrat whispered.

Erik made the okay sign with his hand.

There was a five-foot gap between the building and the wall. Then the wall was up a further twelve feet.

Rugrat took out two daggers as Erik squatted, cupping his hands.

“Good?” Rugrat asked.

Erik nodded.

Rugrat got up, shaking his hands to amp himself up before he let out a breath. He looked up to the wall and then to Erik.

He ran at Erik; he stepped up, planting his foot into Erik’s hand as Erik used all of his strength to squat up and throw Rugrat as Rugrat also jumped off him.

Rugrat sailed through the distance in the dimming sunlight. Erik dropped to the roof and looked at Rugrat as he hit the wall. His daggers dug into the wall. He was five feet from the top.

He used his upper body and feet to launch himself up three feet and then onto the top of the wall. He looked over quickly before rolling over the parapet.

Erik sat there watching where Rugrat had gone over, waiting for an alarm or the rope.

Come on, Rugrat. Toss the rope over. You’ve got it, come on! Erik’s entire body tensed, imagining the worst had happened.

No alarms were raised and people didn’t seem to have noticed.

It was only because he was watching that he saw the rope come down the side of the wall. Rugrat let it out slowly so it would draw less attention.

Erik looked around and started to crawl backward along the roof.

Finally the rope stopped descending.

Erik got up into a crouch and moved his body around. He took a breath, stood up fully and took off at a run. He reached the edge of the roof and jumped, sailing across the gap.

He hit the wall and grabbed at the rope. Panic struck him. The rope was too close to the wall. Erik couldn’t wrap his hands around it.

He started to fall down toward the ground.

“Shit!” Erik stabbed his hands forward and the gauntlets scratched against the wall. Erik didn’t have time to worry about the noise at this moment.

His fall slowed as he jammed his fingers into the wall. He felt his bones break and start mending themselves. He had to rely on the strength of the gauntlets, driving past the terrible pain.

He dropped another few feet before he came to a stop.

Erik’s hands were mangled, so he wrapped his arm around the rope, his hands useless. He used his feet to pinch the rope. Using the inside of his arm and pinching and pushing the rope with his feet, he quickly started to go up the wall. He used his other elbow to stop himself from dragging on it.

I can’t use healing spells. If I do, then the glow might alert others.

Erik heard a faint noise and then people rushing around.

In one of the nearby squares where people had set up pop-up diners, people were rushing to look on the ground, yelling out and pushing others away. It looked chaotic.

Seeing them distracted, Erik quickened his pace. He got to the top. Rugrat grabbed his neck and pulled him over the top of the wall.

Erik just looked at his broken hands. As he started to cast healing spells on them, the bones moved back into place.

Rugrat put the rope into his storage ring and nodded to another rope that had been set up on the other side.

Erik got up, still healing his hands. Rugrat helped to get the rope through his elbow again and Erik went over the wall.

He dropped down, his tempered skin able to withstand the friction. Rugrat jumped onto the rope as well and descended above him.

Erik dropped to the ground and pulled off his gauntlets that were bent to shit. His hands finished their healing.

Rugrat dropped down next to him and took the rope into his storage ring.

“Was that distraction you?” Erik asked.

“Well, I might be lacking in silver and coppers now,” Rugrat said in a hushed voice, looking up at the wall.

“You threw coins into the square?”

“Yeah, first idea that jumped into my head.”

Erik nodded and pulled on his sand-colored robe.

Rugrat did the same and laid down. “Just another five minutes.”

Those five minutes went by slowly as they pulled out their vials, ready to run.

The sun started to set, the light coming right in at the watchtowers.

Erik and Rugrat tossed the powder into their mouths. It dissolved and sank into their stomach before passing into their body.

“Now!” Rugrat said.

Erik and Rugrat stood and ran. Erik felt as if there were someone looking at him through a rifle’s scope, just waiting to shoot.

He just increased his pace as the two of them maintained distance from each other.

One hundred meters. Two hundred meters. Still, they were good.

Three hundred meters.

Erik started to hear yelling behind him.

“Shit!” Rugrat yelled.

They worked to pick up the pace. With each step, the sand poured over their feet, making it harder to move forward. It felt as though they couldn’t even put forward ten percent of their normal speed.

Erik and Rugrat fought onward: seven hundred meters, eight hundred meters. The sand dune dropped away in front of them.

Erik jumped and landed on his back. Rugrat tripped, recovered, and started running down the dune before he let his feet go out from under him and he shot down the dune with Erik.

“You good?” Erik yelled as they reached the bottom.

“Yeah, fuck sand!” Rugrat yelled back.

They kept running. They needed to put as much distance between them and Kaeju city as they could.

“Based on the map, there are three oases in the direction that we’re running. There is also a lovely rock outcropping,” Rugrat said.

“Rock outcropping it is then,” Erik said.

Rugrat put down a way point that appeared on the mini map in Erik’s vision.

They altered their path so they were lined up with it and ran as fast as possible.

As they ran, the wind behind them was already starting to cover over their tracks.

Chapter: Cheated by Yourself

Wilbur had been enjoying a nice drink when a man walked up to his table.

Wilbur looked up to him. He could sense something familiar about this man.

“King’s hand, it’s good to see you’re well.” The man in the cloak sat down and pulled out a piece of paper, placing it on the table.

Wilbur was about to signal to his guards who were hiding among the crowd to move on the person when he looked at the piece of paper.

His hand fell on the contract instead and up to the man who pulled his hood back.

Storbon’s face was revealed—harder, colder than it had been just a few weeks before when he had accepted the quest from one of Wilbur’s associates.

Wilbur might look as though he were just a noble patron of this tavern, but in fact he was the leader of the king’s intelligence gathering network.

Wilbur knew that there was a rat within the nobles’ faction. He just didn’t know who.

He had issued this contract to a number of groups to try to draw out the rat and get an idea of their strength and forces. Twelve groups had accepted. None had come back.

Wilbur now looked at this man in a new light. He was the person who had accepted this contract. He had also taken the time to find out about Wilbur and come to him directly.

A rare talent. Wilbur looked at Storbon. “Do you have results and information?”

“That I do, but the cost to get it was much more than I was expecting,” Storbon said.

Wilbur’s eyes thinned. It looked as if this man knew how important the information was. It might be too dangerous to let him go with what he knows.

“We can make oaths if you want. Otherwise...” Storbon tapped the desk twice with his right ring finger.

Patrons who had just been moving around the room closed in on Wilbur’s guards, as if talking to them while they had various hidden weapons on the guards.

Instead of turning angry, Wilbur smiled.

“It’s rare I get to deal with a professional. Name your terms.” Wilbur felt more confident in this man and interested in trying to stay on good terms with him.

“Five hundred gold should do it,” Storbon said.

Wilbur pressed his lips together in a frown.

Storbon smiled slightly and pulled out a piece of paper. It was a handwritten map that had been torn apart. It showed different locations in the forest and some of their strengths.

Wilbur looked on the map. His expression turned grave. His eyes flicked up to Storbon again.

“This was fresh as of two days ago. Who knows? They might still be there, and we reduced their numbers by about one hundred, maybe two hundred.” Storbon wasn’t bragging, just stating facts.

“We also got letters, orders, troop displacement, mercenary company names, and at least four nobles’ names,” Storbon said.

Wilbur looked into his eyes before he looked into his storage ring. He pulled out a card that had a gold, silver, and copper ticker along its side. The gold one said five hundred while the other two were blank. It was a cash card that sorted and organized money. A full cash card could hold ten thousand gold.

He passed it over to Storbon.

Storbon tapped twice on the table with his ring finger again. As the people in his team said their good-byes and removed their weapons, the other patrons in the bar didn’t even notice, going about their drinking and talking.

Storbon passed a storage ring over to Wilbur.

“I would start with Nobleman Li Tian. He seems to be something of a ringleader,” Storbon said. The money card disappeared into his own storage ring as he stood and walked out of the tavern.

His party also flowed through the tavern, leaving it. In just a few moments, it was as if they had never been there.

Wilbur checked the storage ring and the contents. His expression darkened by the second.

“Do you want us to deal with them?” a guard asked in his ear.

“No. I can smell the aura of death on them and I could feel his anger when talking about the traitors. If we try fighting them and the rats, then we would be only shooting ourselves in the knee,” Wilbur said. “No, we need to head to see the king. It’s time we flushed the rats out.”

***

Storbon and his group left that night and headed off to a camp location they’d picked out.

“Five hundred gold. With everything we looted from the mercenaries, we’re rich even by Second Realm standards.” Yao Meng laughed as they sat down for food.

“Still, it’s nothing compared to being back in Alva Dungeon,” Storbon said.

“Nah, though we’ve made it to level seventeen already. It won’t be long until we get to eighteen.” Yao Meng sat back as he ate.

“I just hope that things are going better for Rugrat and Erik,” Storbon said.

“They haven’t failed before—they won’t fail now. They’ve put it all on the line for us before. We owe them a debt to do all we can to help them,” Yuli said.

“Only two more months until they’re supposed to return.” Deni checked his sword and shield, cleaning and maintaining them.

“We’ve already been out here nearly two months,” Storbon said.

“Feels like it was a lifetime ago that we left but also just yesterday,” Yao Meng said.

The others seemed to agree. It was a different life in Alva Dungeon. They were home there. Here, there was nothing to fall back on but one another. It was chaos, but they were willing to embrace it to grow stronger—increase their strength and protect one another and Alva Dungeon.

“I miss Jia Feng’s boar stew with fresh bread.” Yuli sighed.

“An actual shower,” Deni chimed in.

“A room without you smelly bastards,” Storbon said.

Yao Meng threw a stone at Storbon, who happily grinned at their complaints as another night in the Second Realm passed.

***

Qin Silaz looked at her hand. Orbiting it was a spark of Mana.

It was highly compressed to the point it looked like a gem. After Erik and Rugrat had left her, she had been stunned by the lack of pain in her body and the control she seemed to have over the world around her.

Her father and brothers had been overjoyed that she had been healed and stunned by her talent in Mana.

There were no mage teachers in Chonglu city. Mages were highly versatile and it wasn’t hard for them to move up to the higher realms as long as they could pass through a few stages of Mana cultivation.

So her father had made some quiet purchases, buying her a number of spells.

She learned the spell technique books and could cast the spells quickly, even when starting off. It only took her a matter of hours until she could cast them without an incantation, maybe a day or two until she could cast them without any motions, so-called insta-casting.

Bored with just adding more spells to her mind, thinking of them as too rigid, she had started to play around with spells and her Mana.

Her body was still adapting to the changes that had happened with opening her Mana gate. Her Mana was incredibly dense and contained a lot of power, increasing the power of her spells, but her capacity, or Mana pool, was tiny.

So she had to learn to be economic with her magic. She had always been a girl to read a great number of books. Now she spent her time going through every book on spells that her father held in the clan’s library.

She had finished those two weeks ago.

When I was sick, I shut off all ideas of going on adventures or seeing outside of Chonglu city. Now all I want to do is see what’s beyond those walls. See what’s behind this.

The Mana gem dissipated and was absorbed back into her body as a token appeared in her hand.

She still hadn’t forgotten Erik and Rugrat’s words, their instructions if she wanted to learn more and become stronger.

A smile rose on her face, excitement filling her.

She wasn’t naive. She knew that there were dangers beyond the walls of Chonglu city.

Her brothers and father tried to keep her from seeing it but it was the way of the Ten Realms. If it wasn’t for her father’s position, she wouldn’t have lived this long. She was incredibly grateful to them, but she wanted to go out and see the danger. She wanted to grow her strength so she could support them, so that she could do what Erik and Rugrat did—have the strength to make even powerful rulers bow to her.

“You’re thinking about leaving us?” Her father’s voice carried a playful tone but there was also a sadness to it as he stood at the door to her study.

“Father!” She put the token away. Her cheeks turned red as she bowed her head slightly.

Elan moved to her with a kind smile on his face. “You might be a genius with magic but you could never lie well.” He pinched her cheek.

Qin pouted and looked away, rubbing her cheek. “I want to learn and get stronger, like Erik and Rugrat.”

“I know, and it looks like they gave you a path to do so,” Elan said.

Qin didn’t say anything. Elan seemed to have seen through her anyway.

“I won’t say that I’m happy, but I also know that if you want to become stronger then you will need to go to somewhere other than Chonglu city. This is why Domonos went to the Second Realm to train with the Willful Institute and your brother Yui goes to Beast Mountain to train up his combat techniques. I don’t want any of you to have to fight, but the Ten Realms respects those who are strong.”

Qin felt stuffy as she heard the care in her father’s voice and she knew how much he loved her. He was a cold man to others, but as he could see through her lies, she could see to his heart.

“Dad.” She sniffled and looked at him.

“It looks like you’ve made a decision.” He couldn’t hide his sadness, or how proud he was.

She hugged him, tears running down her face.

He put his arms on her shoulders. “Your path will not be an easy one, my little Qin’er, but remember you are a Silaz and you will always be welcome back here.”

Her grip only tightened more as she realized she had made a decision and that his words meant much more than comfort to her.

***

Alchemist Nguyen had spent the day talking to many people, offering his services and having things requested from him. This was how he spent most of his time. Wherever he was, it was always the same.

The power of an alchemist was complex, from those who wanted to get something from them to others who wished to call upon their strength when needed.

An alchemist could be there when a person was gravely wounded with a valuable concoction. They could help in breaking through walls in advancing skills or tools to be used to save one’s life or deal with a powerful enemy.

Their strengths couldn’t be quantified by regular means.

Nguyen had a satisfied look on his face as he made it back to the residence he was staying in.

He had come here as a guest of the Jour sect, interested in what the Second Realm looked like. The feeling of power he held as a Journeyman alchemist in this region was as much as a governor who ruled over several cities. Even kings and emperors would have to be respectful to him if he was in their presence.

Nguyen moved to the room he had set up as his own Alchemy workshop. He stepped inside and pulled out the containers that Erik had given him.

The familiar scent was still on them. Nguyen took some time to relax before putting the items down on his work table. He pulled out all kinds of instruments, setting up his workplace.

These were some of the finest Alchemy instruments in the Second Realm. In the First Realm, they would be seen as priceless treasures.

Nguyen used them as a show of his power. Few people were able to take items such as these.

Nguyen pulled out the bottle that he had smelled the Heart Calming elixir in. He slowly opened the bottle, his excitement reaching the peak as he opened the container.

His smile froze as he looked into the bottle. “Where is it? It must’ve been a high-quality complete potion! There are even signs of it being in this bottle recently,” Nguyen yelled as he looked into the potion bottle, as if looking harder would make the potion come back.

Nguyen’s arm tensed as the crystal started to make creaking noises. “He must’ve taken the potion out! Damn him!” Nguyen made to throw the potion bottle but held his hand.

Did they figure out that there was Heart Calming elixir in the bottle? Did he try to dupe me? Nguyen’s anger reached new heights to be played by some common idiot of the Second Realm. It was a hard blow for his ego.

He was seen as a powerful figure in the Third Realm. If people were to learn of how he had been played by Erik, then his reputation would drop.

“Damn it! Damn him!” Nguyen yelled. He took a pill from his storage ring and ground it between his teeth. His mind started to calm with the pill, allowing him to concentrate.

“If I was to approach him then it would make it known that I was playing the Blue Lotus and everyone else, saying that the random concoctions were useless,” Nguyen said. “He must at least have some knowledge of Alchemy to know that there was some kind of useful concoction in the batch.”

Nguyen had made one critical oversight. He thought that like he had played Erik, Erik was playing him. Stuck thinking that everyone was there for their own gain, he had categorized Erik as a threat.

Nguyen could only shake his head. His power base wasn’t located in the Second Realm but rather the Third Realm. Also, the Jour sect that had invited him to the Second Realm were leaving the next day.

“If he is an alchemist, then he will inevitably try to reach the Third Realm at some point. The Second Realm’s resources are too limited to be of help when someone is advancing their Alchemy skill.” Nguyen could only gnash his teeth. The chances of him finding them again were slim.

He slammed his hands on the table and threw a bottle at the wall in anger.

***

The totem in Chonglu city flashed with light as a young woman and a girl appeared from it.

People looked over in interest at the duo.

The woman quickly moved away from the square, taking the little girl with her.

Tan Xue sighed as they left the square and people stopped looking at her and Julilah.

Julilah was looking around at the new city. She had never left Kaeju. Tan Xue hadn’t either, but, being older, she contained her interest.

She moved through the streets, getting directions to the stables around the city.

“Where are you looking to go?” an older man asked as she got to one of the coach stations.

“Wild Reaches Trading Outpost,” she said.

“Oh?” The man perked up. “There’s a convoy heading there in an hour, just over by the Reasi stables. Ticket is forty coppers. Two to three days’ travel.”

“Okay.” Tan Xue looked into the pouch that Rugrat had tossed her. Inside, her magical flame had been collected into its holding crystal. All of her wealth that she had accumulated to pay off Black Eye was there as well. There were also other storage rings and items from the different gang members.

She pulled out a silver coin. The old man’s eyes seemed to shine as she passed it over.

He quickly passed back twenty coppers. “The Reasi stables are three stables down on the left side—got a symbol like this on their carriages.” The old man pointed to an emblem mounted on the wall of his stall as he passed over two tokens, marking them.

“Thanks.” Tan Xue took Julilah and headed for the stables.

It wasn’t long until she found them. She talked to the coach’s leader and passed over her tokens.

He accepted them and pointed them to a carriage.

Tan Xue was about to board when she felt the Mana in the air being constricted. She had felt the same when Rugrat had been fighting or smithing.

Her senses were much higher than people’s from the First Realm. Others didn’t really sense it as she looked over to two cloaked people who were boarding another carriage. One was a man, the other a woman.

“Must have some coin to have robes that high quality,” Tan Xue muttered before she got into the carriage and shut the door.

Chapter: Onward

Tan Xue and Julilah stepped off the carriage. They had interacted little with the team guiding the carriages.

Tan Xue looked around the outpost that they’d entered. Traders were moving to the different teams, gathering their supplies that had been sent to them, seeing what kinds of goods had arrived.

Passersby looked over, more out of seeing something different than their day-to-day.

The outpost was nothing special. Tan Xue started to doubt Rugrat’s words. Well, I’m on this path now. I should at least see where it goes before I back out.

She took Julilah’s hand and headed off into the outpost. It was small and it wasn’t hard to find the Bloody Ram after a few minutes.

Tan Xue rubbed the storage ring on her hand, ready to pull out a weapon if she needed it.

“Stay here and don’t talk to anyone. If I’m not back in a half hour, run back to Chonglu and go to another city,” Tan Xue said.

“But Teacher Tan...” Julilah’s eyes welled up with tears.

“Promise me,” Tan Xue ground out, trying to look out for the little girl.

Julilah lowered her head and nodded slightly.

“What was that, Julilah?” Tan Xue asked.

“Ten minutes and I’ll leave you!” she yelled back, sending a vicious look at Tan Xue.

Tan Xue felt as if she’d taken a direct hit to her heart. She wanted to explain, but she knew that it was better to have the other angry at her instead of staying around and getting potentially hurt.

Tan Xue patted her shoulder and turned for the bar.

She weaved through the streets. The people here lived on the edge. All of them wore their weapons freely; their eyes were hooded, evaluating one another.

Even if they were allies today, there was no telling if they got a big haul tomorrow whether they’d also get a knife in the back from one of these allies.

Tan Xue entered the Bloody Ram. It wasn’t too different from other taverns, maybe a bit cleaner and the people inside were of a higher level. To the level eighteen Tan Xue, it didn’t seem all that different.

People looked over as she entered, appraising her and feeling her strong aura. People nodded in respect and went back to what they were doing.

Tan Xue scanned the room quickly. She saw that there was a person in the back corner of the room reading a book. In front of them, there was a vase with flowers in it. On the vase, there was a symbol identical to the one on the token Rugrat had given Tan Xue.

She didn’t go over directly but sat at the bar and got a drink.

She looked around the room. There didn’t seem to be anything odd about it. The person with the book continued to sit there, flipping through pages and then would periodically note down something on his notepad.

The door to the tavern opened again as one person entered the tavern.

People looked up. The person was covered from head to toe and it was hard to tell who was under the cloak.

Tan Xue’s eyebrows rose a bit. That cloak—it looks like the one that the other person in the caravan was wearing. Wasn’t there two of them though?

The person scanned the room and then walked on over to the man in the corner with the book.

He looked up at the new arrival and put down his book.

It was only because she was paying attention that Tan Xue saw the flash of silver as the cloaked person passed a token to the other.

The man smiled and passed the cloaked person a key.

They nodded and headed off toward the rooms that were a part of the Bloody Ram.

The man in the corner sent off a sound transmission. After a few moments, he picked up the book once again.

Tan Xue waited a few minutes before she got up and walked over to the man. He looked up as she took a seat, pulling out her token and the letter that Rugrat had sent with her.

She put them on the table and pushed them over to the man. “Rugrat said I’d find you here,” she said simply.

The man’s eyebrows rose sharply. As the book disappeared into his storage ring, he checked the tavern. He cast a spell on the token, nodding to himself. He took the letter.

He opened it quickly and checked the contents. At times, he would read; at others, he would look up in alarm at Tan Xue. “My name is Niemm, Miss Tan Xi.”

“It’s Tan Xue,” she replied a bit angrily.

“Sorry, wanted to check,” Niemm said with a sheepish smile.

What secret are they keeping?

“You probably have many questions but I can’t answer them here. Rugrat hopes that you will join us, but if not we will happily support you and hopefully work together in the future if it benefits both parties,” Niemm said.

“What do you mean: join you?” Tan Xue asked.

Niemm had a deep smile as he pulled out the book he was reading and passed it over to her.

She opened it and flipped through some pages. Her boredom turned to shock. It was an Apprentice-grade teaching manual on formations.

She looked up at Niemm. This was something that sects and groups in the Second Realm would fight for. “Are you a sect?”

“Nope, just a group working together to help out one another and defend those we care about,” Niemm said. “It’s unlike anything I’ve seen before. You’re welcome to see—and leave—if you want to?”

Tan Xue looked over Niemm. Her brows pinched together. He must be level fourteen but he’s here in a bar on the First Realm with a smile on his face and reading about Apprentice-level formations. What the hell were those two doing before I saw them?

“Okay, let’s do that,” Tan Xue said.

“Here is a key for room five. Take a rest and we will leave tomorrow morning,” Niemm said.

“What time will we meet up tomorrow morning?”

“Eight,” Niemm said.

“Good.” Tan Xue stood and left the tavern.

She checked to see whether she was being followed. Finding no one, she went and picked up Julilah.

“How did it go?” Julilah asked, still annoyed at Tan Xue but her interest overruling her caution.

“We’re going to see just where Erik and Rugrat came from tomorrow,” Tan Xue said.

“Oh!” Julilah turned thoughtful. “Will there be good food there?” she asked seriously as her eyes shone.

Tan Xue let out a heavy breath but she couldn’t help but smile. “Let’s get you some food and washed up. Tomorrow will be a big day.”

They went in search for another tavern. Tan Xue was interested in what would happen tomorrow, but she didn’t want to just stay in the place that they controlled.

“Okay!” Julilah sounded a bit excited. Who wasn’t interested in going on an adventure?

***

Erik groaned as he pulled off his chest rig.

Just being out of it gave him a ton of relief.

Rugrat was spitting over in the corner. As they had run away from Kaeju city, a sandstorm had started up. Thankfully, it covered their tracks, but it also covered them in sand.

They’d entered an area filled with rocks and caves. They quickly found an empty cave and settled in.

“I’ll get some food started.” Erik waved his hand; a few chairs and a table appeared.

Rugrat pulled off his gear as well. “I forgot how much I hate running in the sand.” Rugrat sat down at the table and grabbed some food.

“Yeah, just a little bit of a bitch.” Erik looked around the cave and nodded. “This cave should be good enough.”

“For?” Rugrat said between bites.

“To increase our Strength.” Erik pulled out a vial with a black and red substance.

“Is that—?” Rugrat’s voice turned serious, seeing the poison.

“Yes, this is the poison that affected the Chonglu children, a poison that destroys one’s bones and leeches poison into one’s body. The last tempering—tempering one’s bones.”

“I was wondering when you would pull that thing out.” Rugrat sighed.

“We both know how badly you want to open your remaining Mana gates and compress your Mana core,” Erik said.

“So, time to increase our Strength. What about the dungeon?” Rugrat asked.

“We’re about a week from the area we marked out on the map. We don’t know what’s there. We need to increase our Strength quickly so that we can deal with whatever is there,” Erik said.

“Both of us want to get to the dungeon as soon as possible, but we can’t just charge in. If we do that, then we’re only asking to die,” Erik added.

“All right, I agree with you! I’ve been wanting to open the next Mana gate for too long now!” Rugrat said. “When do you want to start?”

“Tonight. If you can help me, I want to temper my bones tonight,” Erik said.

“Sure we aren’t rushing it?”

“I’ve made a number of healing concoctions that will be able to aid me in going forward. Also, my healing skill has only increased. I don’t think that there will be a problem. Instead of healing my entire body, I’ll be focused on just my bones to aid my body in defeating the poison.”

“Looks like you’ve thought it through.” Rugrat laughed.

“What’s your plan to open your Mana gates?” Erik asked.

Rugrat winced. He had been joking with Erik but he’d flipped the tables too quickly. “Well, umm, I was hoping that I could get your help—do that needle method thing, pierce a hole in the Mana gate, then allow the Mana to circulate through, opening it up more over time. I can tell even if we were to use all of our Mana, then we wouldn’t be able to break down the Mana gates as we did in the past.”

“Okay, if I pierce it with a needle and you attack it from the inside, we should be able to drill through,” Erik said. “Want to help me out afterward?”

“Come on, I did a lot of work!” Rugrat complained.

“I made you a lot of healing and Stamina concoctions and I might be able to make pills and concoctions that will allow you to temper your body as well!”

“Instead of having to use poison to break your body apart?” Rugrat asked.

“Yes,” Erik said. There are many ways to break down your body without using poison.

“Deal!” Rugrat smiled as he held out his hand.

Erik shook it. The two of them smiled at each other, meaning very different things.

They quickly finished off their food and Erik laid down on the ground. He pulled out the vial and then a syringe. He filled it with the poison from the Chonglu children.

Rugrat prepared an IV of healing solution and took Erik’s arm. It took him a few tries before he was able to get the needle into the vein. “Well, I think that tempering your body is going really well, but also your skin has gotten to the point where it’s getting hard to pass through with a needle.”

“Well, this might suck a bit then,” Erik said. “Do you have those Mortal-iron needles and nail?”

“Sure, but what do you need the nail for?” Rugrat held out the items.

“To get into the bone.” Erik took the nail, and coated it in poison, putting it to the side as Rugrat put gloves on.

Erik curled onto his side.

Rugrat rubbed Wraith’s Touch onto his lower back. “Ready?”

“Hell fucking no,” Erik muttered as Rugrat inserted the nail through Erik’s skin forcefully, hitting the bone.

Rugrat pulled out his hammer and coughed slightly.

“Get it over with.” Erik, who was using Simple Organic Scan, could see everything that was happening. The Chonglu children had this poison in their bodies for months; over that time, their bodies had become stronger but so had the poison.

Rugrat hit the top of the nail, driving it into the bone marrow of his hip.

The poison that had been seeping into his body now found the perfect breeding ground. It started to quickly proliferate through the bone and take hold in the marrow.

Erik started to use his Heal Bone spell right away. It was like throwing water on a forest fire: the powerful poison continued to charge forward with no sign of slowing down as Erik rushed to heal.

Rugrat applied Focused Heal as well as opening the taps of the healing potion IV.

Trying to manage their Mana output with their spells, they were running on a tightrope.

The poison spread through Erik’s blood. It was as though mercury had been poured into his veins.

His tempered blood was fighting back as the poison spread to the muscles. They started to fight back. The tempered system relieved some of the pressure, but it wasn’t enough.

The poison reached the other bones in his body. Taking over the marrow, more of the poison was produced and leached into his bloodstream to attack his body.

Erik focused on just healing his hip where the poison originated from.

Rugrat used his Focused Heal on Erik’s blood that was moving up his neck, weakening it considerably so it wouldn’t affect his mind.

Time crawled past as the poison’s density continued to climb against their effect.

Then, finally, Erik saw the poison starting to reverse in his hip. The blackened and rotting bone started to turn a lighter shade. It was just a small dot, only the size of a pinhead, but in that sea of poison, it was fighting back, and growing stronger, fed on by Health potions and healing spells.

The pinhead grew to be as big as a nail, then a pen. Then it started to only increase in speed.

The poison was changing but against the newly tempered bone, it was useless.

Erik poured more power into healing, his thoughts and vision swimming. His body was slumped, his bones deteriorating as pain radiated through his body.

His hip that had been thinned and weakened started to regrow, started to rebuild what it had lost.

Erik’s entire body was tired, the poison and the healing leaching his Stamina at a rapid rate.

He just held on as his bones transformed, a new vitality and strength to them, finally in tune with the strength of his remaining body.

The poison in his veins started to clear, the bones in his body all undergoing changes.

He had broken down the bones and now they were regrowing in rapid order. His entire body itched and was in tremendous throbbing pain.

Erik’s mind couldn’t hold on. As he thought he saw a screen, his vision went blank.

***

Rugrat felt Erik fall into unconsciousness. He had been watching over what was happening in Erik’s body.

He used his Focused Heal on Erik’s bones. A war was being waged inside: the poison was trying to gain strength, but Erik’s tempered bones seemed to update his whole body.

From his hips, his bones were changed. Bones were compressed and strengthened; as they went, the poison in Erik’s body was cleared away.

The temperings finished at Erik’s feet and his head.

Rugrat checked his body with Simple Organic Scan before he sat back, his body covered in sweat and shaking. Rugrat wiped off the sweat from his head. “Shit, that was a nasty one.”

As he said it, gold energy Experience from the Ten Realms started to flow toward Erik and entered his body, being absorbed freely as his potential increased.

His tired and Stamina-drained body was filled with new energy. It was as though the last piece of the puzzle had been entered. Before, it was just a number of different systems but with the last and final tempering, Erik’s body harmonized: all of his systems working together increased his overall Strength and allowed him to gain a new higher level in Body Cultivation.

Impurities were expelled from his body as his attributes soared.

With each breath, the air in the cave moved. Rugrat had seen many people of different levels. He had become someone who commanded Mana with his movements, though seeing Erik’s changes, he felt that this was lacking. With opening their Mana gates, they were taking a new path to increase their power. When Erik increased his cultivation, reaching Body Like Stone, he entered a new league.

Rugrat checked Erik and pulled out the IV needle from his arm. Erik’s arm recovered at a speed visible to one’s eyes.

Rugrat flicked the skin. Other than some blood, there was nothing to show that there had been a wound there.

“Just wait till I reach the core compression stage and open all fourteen Mana gates!” Rugrat said to Erik’s unconscious form.

Chapter: First Outsiders

Qin wasn’t able to sleep all night. Her eyes were heavy and she wished that she had gotten at least some sleep. She might now have access to Mana but it didn’t mean that the strength of her body had grown as well.

She was only a level seven, after all.

She checked her different items once again when there was a knock at the door.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“Niemm.” The man’s voice from the day before came through the door.

She opened the door and found the man from yesterday there.

He smiled at her. “Morning. Are you good to go?”

“Yes, I’m ready.” Qin nodded.

“Please follow me.”

They headed down the stairs and into the tavern, then round the back.

There was another person wearing a cloak, then a strong-looking woman and a girl holding her hand. The girl looked to be a young teenager, with wide eyes.

“So pretty!” the girl said to the taller woman as Qin stepped out.

The other woman made a noise of agreement and pulled the girl back in a protective gesture.

Qin smiled to the young girl but had a peculiar look on her face as she looked at the older woman.

Dad taught me how to study people and understand their strength, but this person, I can’t see through her. I had trouble with identifying people who were above level twelve—could she be higher than that? As Qin thought of it, she looked to the other person, who looked to Niemm. I can’t figure out how strong he is, or Niemm.

She had been so excited and anxious yesterday that she didn’t take the time to look over Niemm’s strength and level.

“Let’s go,” Niemm said, looking to the other three.

The other man led the way out of the tavern’s backyard and through the city.

People were recovering from the previous night; others were opening up stalls and on their way to work. A few groups had got themselves together and were heading out to Beast Mountain. Trading convoys were heading to the nearby cities.

“Where are the horses?” Qin asked as they were nearing the gate.

“Beast Mountain is filled with dangerous creatures. Most people choose to go by foot. Beasts, unless they know how to fight, aren’t proper mounts. We’ll have some transportation soon,” Niemm said.

They easily left through the Wild Reaches Trading Outpost’s gate and entered Beast Mountain.

They had walked for five minutes, cutting off the rough trail and heading on their own path.

The atmosphere was oppressive, as if there were eyes on them from everywhere.

“Looks like some of the Beast Mountain is awake this morning.” The new man laughed.

“Don’t scare the new people, Ren.” Niemm sighed.

“Sorry, boss. You also know about our extra traveler?” Ren asked.

Qin leaned forward, looking at the other two women, who tensed up as well.

“Yeah. I wonder who he is. We’ll ask him soon enough. I sent a message to Shen Yu,” Niemm said, sounding unfazed by it all.

They headed deeper into the forest. After some time, they came to a clearing in the tree cover. As they entered the clearing, three other people came out from the underbrush. Qin and the other two women stepped back a bit at their sudden appearance.

“This is the rest of our party,” Niemm said as a few massive panthers also exited from the woods, following their masters.

These were no regular panthers, but beasts that were a meter tall and three long. Under their black coats, one could see their rippling, powerful muscles.

They looked at the new people with their yellow eyes.

Under the petting of their masters, they showed their softer sides, acting like cats as they moved into their scratching and petting, their tails moving happily.

“Get out there!” a man yelled as weapons clashed.

Someone else let out a startled cry as they shot out and into the clearing. They tore away their cloak and sent it into their storage ring with one hand and pulled out a spear with the other.

“Good reaction time,” Niemm said as two more people came out of the forest.

One was a man, the other a woman. The woman was scratching the belly of a large bird on her shoulder; her other hand rested on her blade as a powerful panther moved to her side.

The man held a sword, his shield on his back.

Both of them were wearing masks and their armor was made from the same leather material.

Not simple leather armor—it’s made from at least a level ten beast’s hide. Qin was certainly her father’s daughter. When she had been bored and reading in the library, she had found many books on different items. The Silaz family focused on trading monster cores, but they had a number of different companies and groups they invested in and having knowledge of all kinds of goods was a good background for any trader.

Her eyes flicked to the other man. She had felt there was something familiar in his movements. Now she could only feel her fists bawling up.

“Yui! What are you doing here? You were supposed to go home!” Qin said.

“What kind of brother would I be if I let you go somewhere unknown without knowing them!” Yui yelled back as he moved to try to protect her and isolate her from the others, his spear out and ready.

The two who had walked out of the forest looked to Niemm.

“Sarge?”

“I told you to not call me that out here,” Niemm said and looked to Qin. “You know this man?” he asked simply, as if a man waving a spear about wasn’t anything much.

“I do,” she said, hoping that it wouldn’t remove her ability to visit Alva Dungeon.

“Okay, then you’ll both have to come with us. The council will have to decide this one,” Niemm said.

“That’s just putting the problem off onto someone else,” the woman with the animals muttered.

“Not now, Lucinda!” Niemm rubbed his temples.

Her bird let out a squeak at her displeasure.

“That’s right, Night Terror,” Lucinda said.

“Your naming sucks,” the man beside her said.

“Davos!” She stomped as she turned to face the man.

The panther seemed to let out a huff and laid down as Night Terror stared at the other man. It seemed offended that he didn’t like his name.

“I swear on the Ten Realms that if you come with us, unless you try to harm anyone in this group, we will not harm you intentionally. You will be fairly judged by the council, who will decide what to do with you,” Niemm said.

“You just want to take us to where you are to brainwash us and make us your followers or shapeshift and devour us in the night! Or to take my sister hostage, or drain her blood for a ritual!” Yui yelled righteously.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at Yui with puzzled expressions.

“What the hell does he think we are?” Shen Yu complained.

“Is he, y’know, okay—mentally, I mean?” Davos asked Qin.

The others looked over to Qin as well.

“Put your weapon down!” Qin yelled, her face flushing. I know you mean well, but how can you say such embarrassing things?

“Where did you get those ideas from?” another man in the party asked.

Yui lowered his spear at his sister’s words, albeit reluctantly, moving closer to her and looking at everyone as if they were a potential warrior.

“My brother Domonos has a secret stash of research materials under his bed he uses to know the outside world,” Yui said proudly.

“Do they have pictures?” Niemm asked.

“Yes!”

“Do they have...men and women?” Niemm asked delicately.

Yui looked a little embarrassed as his boisterous attitude dimmed. “Yes.”

Niemm looked at the others in the group.

“Well, I don’t think that is exactly research material for battles, more like increasing one’s forearm strength.” Niemm grinned. Smiles appeared on the others’ faces.

Qin felt as if she were burning in shame. She wanted nothing more than to just dig a hole under her feet and hide in shame to get away from her ridiculous brother!

Not only did you follow me, you go and tell them all of our family secrets! Domonos, I will not let you off with your secret books! Qin vowed silently.

Yui looked to be at a loss but Niemm took some mercy on him. “So, what’s your name?” Niemm asked.

“Yui.”

Niemm frowned, as did some of the others.

“You mean me? I’m called Niemm. What’s your name?”

“Yui!” Yui yelled, getting annoyed. After all, everyone knew his name and with the backing of his father and his position, there was no one who would be willing to make fun of his odd and confusing name, depending on what a person’s first language was.

“His name is Yui. He’s not trying to say ‘You.’ His pronunciation is really bad from being hit on the head too much from over-training,” Qin said, settling it and sending her brother an angry look.

Yui let out a dry laugh, scratching his almost bald head awkwardly as he looked away. He might be a strong warrior, but in front of his little sister, he couldn’t even attempt to put up a front.

“Lucinda?” Niemm asked.

Lucinda let out a whistle and more panthers came out from the forest.

“Are you a beast tamer?” the large woman who had come with them from Chonglu city asked.

“Yup,” Lucinda said easily as the group started to get onto their panthers or the ones that had come out of the forest.

“It is an honor to meet you. I have heard of the rarity of beast tamers. My name is Tan Xue. I am just a smith.” The large woman bowed to them.

“Please, Expert Smith, there is no need.” Lucinda returned the gesture.

“Expert Smith?” Qin looked at this older woman with a shocked expression.

“My teacher is the best! She can even make Mortal-grade iron from normal iron!” the little girl said proudly.

“Julilah.” Tan Xue gave the young girl a fierce look.

Julilah ducked her head down and looked away.

Qin couldn’t help but smile at Julilah’s actions.

“Taran is going to lose his shit,” Davos said.

“Yeah. Come on now, get mounted up. The panthers don’t bite. Well, they do, but not us and we fed them not too long ago,” Niemm said.

Is this some secret society or a collection of special idiots?

Qin got onto the panther. Yui looked as though he was about to argue but with a glare from Qin and a look from the others with Niemm, he got onto his panther as well.

Lucinda let out another whistle and they moved off.

The panthers took off, slowly at first and then increasing in speed.

There were two ranged fighters in the group using bows. They sat up in their saddles on the panther’s backs, in sync with the panthers.

I wonder if they can fire their bows from back there. Qin let out a startled noise as the panther she was on pounced on a fallen tree, then jumped on two others and continued on.

Her hands were white as she realized the greatest strength of the panthers. Not only were they terrifyingly fast, they could easily move through the forest without worry, much faster than a horse that was more likely to break its legs.

Someone let out a call like a bird. From the trees, another called back and they continued on. Yui seemed to sit upright in his saddle more.

“What is it?” Qin asked.

“There are people watching us from the trees, I think, but I have no idea where,” Yui said in a grave voice.

Qin fell back into silence as they started to climb upward.

Through the trees, she could see that they were starting to climb a truly massive mountain.

Niemm cut the pace. They went through some underbrush and trees before entering a hidden valley. At the end of the valley, there was a dark tunnel looking like a mouth that wanted to devour all.

Around it there was a series of defenses that had been made from rock, as well as people manning the defenses.

I never heard of a base or city within the Beast Mountain Range.

Niemm moved up to the defenses and got down from the panther. The others did the same and walked to the entrance. Niemm talked to someone there before they entered the defenses.

There were only five people there but they were all wearing higher quality leather under Journeyman-quality hard armor.

Their weapons were also of a higher quality. Qin noticed that Tan Xue was looking at the armor and weapons closely.

They were escorted into the tunnel in near silence.

After passing a few checkpoints and descending for some time, they reached a base. It was much larger than the ones they had passed so far and had a number of layered defenses.

“What is this place?” Qin asked as they moved through the base. She looked up at the ceiling way above that was glowing, making it seem like daytime.

“This is Alva Dungeon,” Niemm said as they cleared the base.

Qin, Tan Xue, Julilah, and Yui all stopped as they looked at the massive cavern and the small village in the middle of it, surrounding a large glowing pillar with magical runes and formations covering it.

It wasn’t like anything Qin had seen before.

Chapter: Away from Prying Eyes

Erik woke up slowly. As he opened his eyes, he was bombarded with notifications.

=========

You have successfully tempered your Bones!

=========

+4 to Stamina

+5 to Strength

=========

––––––––

==========

Quest Completed: Body Cultivation

==========

The path cultivating one’s body is not easy. To stand at the top, one must forge their own path forward.

==========

Requirements:

Reach Body Like Stone Level

Sub-requirements

Tempering of the Blood

Tempering of the Bones

Tempering of the Organs

Tempering of the Muscle

Tempering of the Skin

==========

Rewards:

+3 to Strength

+3 to Agility

+3 to Stamina

+5 to Stamina Regeneration

+100,000 EXP

==========

==========

Title: Poison Body

==========

You have tempered your body with poisons. With repeated exposure to poison, your body has taken on some of its characteristics.

==========

Once you have consumed and defeated a poison, you will not be damaged by that poison in the future. Your poison resistance increases by 10%.

You can recreate poisons that you have consumed. You can store poison within your body and excrete it on command.

==========

“Wait, what?” Erik sat up and re-read the notification a few times.

Rugrat, who had been on watch, looked over. He put his rifle down and let out a shaken breath. “Dammit! I nearly shot you!”

“I can make poisons and push them out of my body? Increased resistance to poison? Does that mean it’ll be easier to consume more concoctions?” Erik wanted to go and test out the effects of the Poison Body but now wasn’t the time.

“Sorry, just got something.” Erik waved at Rugrat and continued passing through his notifications.

==========

Quest: Body Cultivation 2

==========

The path cultivating one’s body is not easy. To stand at the top, one must forge their own path forward.

==========

Requirements:

Reach Body Like Stone Level

==========

Rewards:

+6 to Strength

+6 to Agility

+6 to Stamina

+10 to Stamina Regeneration

+1,000,000 EXP

==========

==========

Character Sheet

==========

Name: Erik West

==========

Level: 15

==========

Race: Human

==========

Titles:

From the Grave

Mana Lord

Dungeon Master

Reverse Alchemist

Poison Body

==========

Strength: (Base 26) +14

==========

400

==========

Agility: (Base 19) +16

==========

175

==========

Stamina: (Base 29) +4

==========

495

==========

Mana: (Base 6) +11

==========

170

==========

Mana Regeneration (Base 10) +27

11.85/s

==========

Stamina Regeneration: (Base 27) +23

10.75/s

==========

==========

You have reached Level 16

==========

When you sleep next, you will be able to increase your attributes by: 5 points.

==========

==========

33,769/225,000 EXP till you reach Level 17

==========

“I forgot how good it feels to level up.” Erik laughed to himself as Rugrat sat down in his seat.

“No need to rub it in.” Rugrat let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes. While Erik had been taking a nice nap, Rugrat had been staying up and keeping watch.

Erik rolled his eyes and started to get up. With the big changes his stats had gone through, there was a lot he needed to adapt his body to.

He started to move around as Rugrat pulled out the smithy snow globe and activated it. It expanded and adjusted to the area they were in.

Rugrat looked around the forge and pulled out Big Momma, unloading it and then stripping it down into its basic components.

“Why not start with the rounds?” Erik asked as he moved through a few fighting movements that he remembered from close quarters fighting classes.

Rugrat didn’t look up as he continued to pull the weapon apart.

“We don’t know how powerful the gunpowder you make is going to be. If we put one of the rounds into the gun and fire it, it could blow up the entire assembly. I’m using Big Momma here as a test bed. I’ll make a barrel out of regular iron and Mortal-grade iron, then a mocked-up testing chamber at one end.

“We fire the rounds through that, see how strong they are. If they blow out, they’re just blowing out the testers instead of the whole gun.

“Also, making the barrels is going to be the hardest part. Though I do have some ideas of how to make the rifling, I need to test them out first. Once I have the barrels and chamber down, I’ll focus on making cartridges and bullets from different materials. We’ve got a ton of testing ahead of us!” Rugrat sounded partly excited and partly fearful.

Erik left him to it and focused on regaining control of his body.

Rugrat studied the barrels, the chamber, and firing pin, making a number of drawings and noting down measurements.

Then he started to heat up iron and Mortal-iron ingots. He pulled out the iron ingots. Combining them together, he started hammering them out.

The metal transformed under his hands, being beaten out into a long length of round iron.

Rugrat used calipers. His precision was as good as any machine as the iron turned into a rod.

It looks like iron bars. I knew that we had left normal standards back on Earth, but this... Erik’s thought trailed off as Rugrat cut the rod down to size.

He used the other length of rod and traced out a line with string and affixed metal down the second rod, then placed it into a clamped system so when pushing on the end of the modified rod, it twisted.

At the other end, a Mortal-iron-grade bit was attached.

He placed the boring device to one side and then clamped down the metal rod that was supposed to be the barrel.

He took out a drill that ran off a simple gear and had a Mortal-iron bit on it as well.

Erik, finally having adapted to his body’s new Strength and Agility, pulled out his Alchemy tools while Rugrat continued to make more devices to aid himself and then started cutting into the iron bar.

Flames appeared in Erik’s hand as he took out ingredients and prepared them. He placed them into his cauldron.

The two didn’t talk for a long time as day turned into night. Explosions rumbled through the cauldron and screeching noises came from within the forge as Erik and Rugrat swore at their failures.

“There we fucking go!” Erik said sometime the next afternoon as the top of the cauldron was removed, revealing a brown powder.

Erik took out the powder and put it into a vial. Erik tasted a small portion and then put another tester amount on the ground.

Hmm, seems pretty explosive. It should work, Erik thought as he used his own body to test out the results of his Alchemy.

He lit a piece of paper on fire and tossed it on the brown powder on the ground.

A small bang went off.

“Okay, time to make blasting caps and primers.”

Rugrat was working on a firing pin; his first barrel had been completed some time ago.

“Rugrat, for the primers, do you want to make them of metal?” Erik asked.

“I can premake the primers, but you’ll need to fill them, then top with wax before they get put into the cartridge,” Rugrat said.

“Okay, I’ll take like fifty metal primers when you’ve got a chance. I’m going to make some different primers and gunpowder.”

“Sounds good to me.” Rugrat turned back to his work.

Once he’d made one kind of primer, Erik found it a lot easier to make more primers and gunpowder.

He had ten different variants by the time Rugrat had completed the casings for the primer and cartridges to be filled with gunpowder.

The two men seemed to have forgotten everything else as they worked.

Rugrat completed the primer’s containers; Erik filled them up with the different types of primer powders. Rugrat made cartridges; Erik filled them with different types of gunpowders.

Rugrat made bullets from the materials he had; Erik used the bullet press to combine them altogether.

Like this, they created batches of rounds, four of the same combination and packaged together. Erik took them into his storage ring and then moved to the next part. Putting them together was slow. By the time he had put all of the rounds together, Rugrat had completed the next part of their upgraded weaponry: grenades.

Their fuse was simple, based off old grenades. There was a pull tab that, once tugged on, would ignite the fuse and then the explosive inside, hurling shrapnel around.

They didn’t have any more of the flammable substance from the three-headed forest snake and although it worked as an explosive, it wasn’t nearly as powerful as a purpose-built one.

If we don’t blow ourselves up first. Erik stood and stretched, cracking his back. He looked over Rugrat’s forge. He couldn’t help but be jealous.

It was Rugrat’s first time using the forge but he had quickly made it his own.

Erik and Rugrat had talked about their different crafts but this was the first time that they were seeing each other carrying them out at the new level they had achieved.

Erik watched Rugrat’s movements, his focus on the metal, the way he swung the hammer, not having to look where it was going to know where it would hit and what it would do.

There was a remarkable synergy between Rugrat and his tools, as if they were extensions of himself.

After making his decision to rely on only himself, Erik had removed all other tools, but now, his thoughts were changing.

Not having any tools or overusing them—both ways lead to problems. Don’t I use flames and the cauldron? I know a lot about my flames but I don’t know much about my cauldron. I just force it to do what I need. Since when did I stop thinking of things as just items? If I was back on Earth, I would just look at something as if it were used for one purpose. A cauldron is used to make Alchemy concoctions but with Alchemy, even the smallest thing can make a concoction fail. Every tool, everything that someone uses, should be understood down to the smallest level.

Erik looked up to Rugrat again, the harmony created with him in the forge, with his hammer, and his surroundings.

“No! Crap!” Rugrat yelled out as he twisted the metal and hit it furiously to undo his mistake.

“At times,” Erik muttered.

“Shut up over there. You’re distracting me! Go and do something useful—more gunpowder!”

“Do you know how hard it is to make gunpowder, rounds, and grenades right next to a furnace! I swear, I don’t know how we haven’t blown up!” Erik shot back.

Rugrat flipped Erik the middle finger even as he continued hammering.

Erik snorted and rolled his eyes.

Thankfully, Erik had been able to control where the powder was going completely and worked in the farthest place away from Rugrat so that nothing accidentally blew up. He didn’t want to have to heal that!

Erik returned to his thoughts from before and pulled out his cauldron.

He studied it. Since going down his path of not using any tools, he hadn’t looked into the cauldron. He didn’t know its limits, didn’t know its flaws and strengths. As such, he wasn’t able to know what he could and couldn’t do. He forced the cauldron to do what he wanted but now he was thinking how wasteful in concentration and Mana that must have been.

He had a wry smile on his face before he patted the cauldron.

Flames came out of his hand. They didn’t look aggressive anymore; instead, they wrapped around the cauldron and started to cover it and heat it up.

Erik didn’t have Simple Inorganic Scan like Rugrat, but his control over his flames had reached a high level. Through them, he was using them to test and learn about the cauldron.

Learning how to do things manually first is for the best, though once I know how to do it, using instruments can relieve the pressure on me. This might happen for lower-grade concoctions but at the higher levels, it’ll be necessary to learn how to make them relying on myself only.

A wolf-like smile appeared on his face. In the face of a challenge, an impossible wall that few had been able to cross before, he felt a thrill in his body.

It was what he lived for. Screw limits—he was here to break past them. A challenge? Don’t make me laugh—it’s just a goal to overcome.

Erik’s flames became stronger. How badass would it be to make Master-level concoctions?

Erik closed his eyes and started to learn about his cauldron while metal transformed under Rugrat’s hammer and tools, turning from metal blocks into components and testing items.

“Go and sleep! I want to open my Mana gate today!” Rugrat said.

“I’m busy!”

“I will rock you right to sleep!” Rugrat yelled.

“I...” Erik’s voice faltered. He wanted to say I would like to see you try, but calling Rugrat’s bluff wasn’t the best thing to do. “I’ll make something to help me sleep.”

Erik started to make a tea that was supposed to calm the mind. His own thoughts drifted toward his level increase.

I was increasing my Mana Regeneration so that I could open more Mana gates, but if we’re able to help each other in opening Mana gates, I no longer have to rely on my own. As I increase my control over Mana, then I will be able to increase the level of my Mana cultivation. There are Alchemy concoctions one can use to increase the chances.

Before, I was reliant on my body to increase my regeneration. Now, with a potion, I can increase my regeneration, my striking power, and the rest in leaps and bounds.

Fighting, I focus on melee—so greater Strength and greater Agility make sense. Then, when I use a concoction, or spell, because of the higher base stats, the greater increase in combat ability. I don’t really need to increase my Mana pool. If I can modify the spells to use less Mana and decrease the effects, that would be fine. I’m going to be fighting people close combat—I need spells that support me and others, not ones that do direct damage. I was only half becoming a monk; now I should go all the way: engage with weapons at distance, close in and use my fists and legs to win the battle as Rugrat moves around to get in good hits and deal with the peripheral. Looks like close combat all the way. Erik seemed to firm his resolve. “Two points in Agility, one in Strength, one in Stamina, and one in Mana Regeneration.”

With a plan, he blew on the tea and started to drink it. He started to grow tired.

Chapter: Unexpected

Although the others were stunned by the appearance of the hidden village, Tan Xue was wary of all the people who resided within it.

With her senses, she could tell that the majority were over level ten, but they had all remained in this village. Outside, they could have become nobles just due to their strength and level. They could have ascended to the Second Realm. Instead, they chose to stay in the First Realm in a hidden village.

What kind of secret do they have? What is this place?

They had to walk down a path into the village. After they left the base that was watching the entrance into the village, they passed a barracks. The sounds of fighting could be heard from there. Waves of Mana and shockwaves from fierce fighting rang out.

On the other side, there was a beast stable. A number of different creatures moved about, from birds to a large number of panthers. People were tending to the creatures or training with them.

She looked over to Lucinda, the beast tamer. She waved to some of the people over at the stables.

A school of fighting and another for beast taming. Although they’re both worked on in the other realms, the resources that are needed to develop these Experts aren’t small.

Tan Xue wanted to know more about the village that had produced Erik and Rugrat.

She held onto Julilah’s hand as she looked over the city.

“What is that shining thing and why is there light coming from the ceiling?” the little girl asked.

“Those shining things are magical formations. That thing on the ceiling must be some kind of illusion spell,” Tan Xue said.

“That’s so cool! Why are their buildings strange and why isn’t it dusty?” Julilah had come out of her shell and her inquisitive nature had come out.

Tan Xue sighed as they passed a large building with a red cross on it. Inside, people who were hurt were going to see people in uniforms.

“What is this place?” Julilah asked.

“That is the hospital, the first of its kind. Where healers and alchemists work together to help people,” Yao Meng said.

“H-healers?” Tan Xue wouldn’t be able to find more than two dozen healers in Kaeju city, and there were tens of thousands of people. Now she was seeing a building filled with them.

“Yeah, they come from the academy, learn how to increase their skills and they’re employed by the military and thus the Alva Dungeon council. Everyone has a right to healthcare in Alva Dungeon.” Yao Meng said it so casually but Tan Xue’s eyes nearly fell out as she found it hard to breathe.

“You okay, Miss Tan?” Julilah tugged on her hand, giving her a worried look.

“I’m fine, just a bit shocked. Healers are incredibly expensive in the outside world.”

“Well, there are certain things that people need to pay for but the costs are bearable. If you want to do something like Body Cultivation, we aren’t at that level yet and it would take three or four healers to do it and you’d have to pay for their time.”

“Body Cultivation?” Tan Xue was feeling light-headed now.

“Yeah, we’ve theorized that we can do two temperings based on what Erik taught us, though only the special teams have been willing to carry it out.” Yao Meng shook his head and he turned a bit pale. “Probably be the only ones to try it out until we get some alchemists who can manage the pain side of it better.”

Just hearing his tone, Tan Xue had a chill run through her spine.

They continued into the city. Qin, Yui, and Tan Xue looked around in interest while Julilah continued to ask a stream of questions.

The party with them answered the questions as they could.

The houses looked brand-new. They were uniform but comfortable. Everyone had a home.

There was a trading market and water was supplied to people, clean enough to drink.

They got into the city center around the main building. There was a large manor, a trading area with only a few vendors, and a number of buildings around a tower that was the second tallest building in the dungeon.

“That is the academy and this is the dungeon headquarters. The council is waiting to see you. Just go up the stairs.” Niemm moved to the side.

The four new arrivals looked at one another.

Yui was the one to take the first step forward, his finger on his ring, ready to fight.

They went up the dungeon headquarters, passing a glowing gem.

They entered a large room. In the center of it was a table with a thin thread of blue light coming down from above and into the chamber below.

At the table, there were four people: three men and one woman.

Another woman stood behind them. She had a kind of subdued beauty. If she smiled or wore the right clothes, it would bring out her looks. Instead, she stood back at ease, watching the new arrivals like a hawk. The two other people standing on either side of the table facing the new arrivals also watched them.

Tan Xue felt as though she were being watched by predators. The guards were level fifteen, two of the men were level sixteen, the woman and remaining man were level thirteen.

“My name is Elise. This is Glosil, Blaze, and Jasper. I am the council leader of Alva Dungeon. Erik and Rugrat left this dungeon in my charge. Most of you have been given an invitation to come here.” Elise looked over to Yui. She might be one of the weakest in the room, but the others all respected her word and she had a kind of power behind her words that only a leader could.

Yui ducked his head. He glanced to his sister but she just gave him a displeased look.

“So, there is a choice to be made. You can join Alva Dungeon as a resident, or leave. In both circumstances, you will need to take an oath on the Ten Realms. If you do join Alva Dungeon, then you can seek employment in our different industries or seek to create a business for yourself. You can look to join the academy, where we offer information on many different crafts, from cookhouse, tailoring, woodworking and architecture, formation, farming, Alchemy, and smithing.” Elise’s expression softened as she looked over to Tan Xue.

“Which we are looking for another person to help with. We might not have much in resources, but we have a great amount of information that one can use and learn from. If you stay in Alva Dungeon and you live in a property, you can pick others and rent from them or you can rent directly from the dungeon. If you have the coin, you can pay for it that way or it will be put as debt to be paid off later. There are terms we can offer in that direction,” Elise said.

“The academy—is it part of a sect? Will we have to carry out missions for them and give items up to it?” Tan Xue asked.

She hated the sects. They basically took over people’s lives, demanding for them to grow stronger, to contribute to the sect no matter what. They were kind of like artificial families that only demanded more from their members.

The people around the table and the guards frowned at her words.

“It is free to use the library of the academy, but the classes with the different subject matter teachers will cost money. You can pay by term and you will have tests. By the end of a term, you can expect to be an Apprentice in the craft you have picked, maybe even higher if you have a greater aptitude for it. With your fee, the classes, workspace time, and materials are paid for. If you wish to sell the items you make, then you are free to do so,” Elise said.

The room fell into silence.

“What about fighting?” Yui asked after some time.

The two higher-leveled men at the table smiled as they looked at Yui.

“Spearman—looks like yours,” Glosil said to the man called Blaze.

Blaze let out a laugh, looking over Yui. “Depends how good you are,” Blaze said.

Yui stiffened, clearly offended. He was just a teenager, after all.

She felt like these two men weren’t simple, not as dangerous as some of the people who had bought weapons from her, but they weren’t simple and not just contained by their level. Their combat power was much greater.

“Shit! I forgot! Why didn’t you send anyone to find me!” A man’s voice came from the stairs as hurried footsteps followed.

Elise sat back in her chair with a sigh. The others had pained smiles on their faces as the previous serious atmosphere dissolved.

A large man entered the room behind the four new people.

He was covered in soot and sweat. It looked as if he hadn’t slept or washed in some time, but his eyes were shining.

“Taran.” Elise’s voice rose in warning.

Taran looked at the people in the room and knelt in front of Tan Xue. “Please! Please teach this lowly one the way of refining normal iron into Mortal-grade iron! Rugrat might have beat me to it, that bastard, but I am more diligent and I will not let you down and call you Master for the rest of my life!” the man called Taran said solemnly as Tan Xue was thrown off by his actions.

“Uh?” Tan Xue looked around in confusion.

“That is Taran, the last member of the council,” Elise said.

“He runs the academy and is our smith.” Jasper coughed awkwardly.

Tan Xue had heard all of these amazing things from the council but now one of them was pledging to become her student. “You want to learn how to turn iron into Mortal iron?” Tan Xue asked.

She was nearly blasted away by the teary and shining gaze in Taran’s eyes, as if hearing about his lost beloved.

“Please! I can craft Journeyman pieces all day long, but with just iron I am not able to pull out the full strength of the weapons. If I was able to use Mortal-grade iron, then I could make weapons that could capture their power and I might find a path to make Master-grade weapons. I might figure out the path to make Earth-grade metal even!”

Tan Xue saw as a pure tear rolled down Taran’s stained face. She had never felt so awkward nor panicked. “It will cost you—” She cleared her throat.

“What is money in the face of improvement! I will sell myself!” Taran yelled.

Tan Xue couldn’t help but feel the corners of her mouth be pulled into a smile, seeing that passion in his eyes, seeing the surety of his words. She had seen it in two other people: in Rugrat and in her own eyes when she had been working on her projects, seeking the peak of smithing.

She didn’t make them for money; she made them to show off her strength, to improve, to challenge herself and all others.

It was the pursuit of something greater than oneself.

Her awkwardness was pushed away as she thought of Rugrat. She didn’t know where this would lead, but seeing Taran, seeing the unrelenting passion in his eyes, she felt something she hadn’t felt in a long time.

A spark.

A spark that ignited the fires of a blacksmith. Her hand opened and closed, seeking the feel of her hammer, the feel of heat blasting outward, standing against the elements and waging a war of stamina against the metal.

Taran’s smile grew wider, as if he could see what was happening behind her eyes.

“Well, Mister Taran, let’s see how much you can pick it up. Rugrat got it in just a week.” She held out a hand.

“Hah! A week? I need just three days!” Taran boasted. He reached out, taking her hand as he got to his feet.

***

“Well, that was not how I was expecting things to go,” Elise said to Jasper as they left the dungeon headquarters.

All four of the arrivals had made oaths and become Alva Dungeon citizens. Qin selected to take a semester at the school. She was undefined so she got access to room and board as well as some time slots in all the workshops and the library.

Yui had taken the path of fighter. Glosil and Blaze took him off to the barracks to add him into the ranks of those training.

Julilah had become a blacksmith apprentice. Tan Xue was a potential teaching candidate, getting half of her time and materials for cheaper.

“We’re running into the problem that we simply have too many high-grade items to sell,” Jasper said.

“When Special Team Two heads to the Second Realm, we’ll make it part of their mission to scout out places to sell items,” Elise said.

“In the meantime, we need to look for more places to trade with around the Beast Mountain Range and build up contacts with some of the surrounding Blue Lotuses,” Jasper said.

“Well, thankfully there are a lot of trading outposts in the places around the Beast Mountain,” Elise said.

“Are you sure about stockpiling a bunch of the higher quality items?” Jasper said. “We’re putting a lot of our money into holding them instead of selling them off.”

“I have to think of the safety for this dungeon. We can sell a few of them here and there, but if we put them out too quick then people might be wondering where we got them from and then start looking into it.

“Blaze had a good idea, actually,” Elise said.

Jasper looked over in interest.

“Have one or more of the groups head out to the cities, ones that aren’t close to us, then sell the items at the Blue Lotus there. Then move to another place and sell them there. Draw people’s attention away from here. So, it would need to be far enough away so there’s no connection to here, but close enough that the people here hear about it.

“Then, if we sell more items in this area that are higher than normal quality, but less than the items farther away, people won’t be as shocked,” Elise said.

Jasper nodded. He was now the quartermaster of Alva Dungeon. Elise took her time in raising him up into the position. She had been the main trader in Alva Village before so her information was invaluable to him and the other merchants.

“That would be brilliant,” Jasper said. “I never thought that I would be talking about market disruption and changes in my life.”

“I think that this is only the start of odd things,” Elise teased.

“I know. We’ve still got five more floors to clear and there’s no telling what Erik and Rugrat have planned.”

“If it’s anything to do with those two, I don’t think it’ll be simple.”

***

Qin had been surprised when she saw Egbert for the first time. It was hard to not be, seeing a skeleton walking around the library.

If you want to learn magic, then you need to find more books to read and he holds all the books in the library.

She built up her courage and went over to Egbert, who was patrolling the library.

“Uh, Mister Egbert, I was wondering if I could get some books?” she asked, unsure of where to look. It was only with her training as the daughter of a merchant that she was able to keep her voice level.

He looked down at her. The twin blue flames in his eyes seemed to lock onto her.

She couldn’t help but look up at them, interested by the flames.

“What kinds of books are you looking for?” Egbert asked. “Alchemy, cooking, woodworking, structural design, romance—er, fiction, magical formations?”

“Magical formations,” Qin called out. She had heard about magical formations and their abilities to create spells. She thought that it would be a good place to start.

“Hmm.” Egbert grabbed his head and pulled it off. The sight made Qin shiver. Egbert lowered his head to look at his spine; one hand held the head, the other used the storage within his vertebrae to check what was inside.

“Book of soups, planers, chisel information, pictures on beast rearing, no thanks—ahh!” Egbert cried out as he dropped his own head on the floor. His hands tried to grab his head but instead sent him flying across the room into a wall.

“Oh come on!” Egbert yelled out, his head on the ground clacking along.

Qin was looking at the whole scene with a pale face, before she finally broke into laughter.

“Hey! That’s mean! I lost my head and you’re laughing!” Egbert complained as a spell formation activated and his head flew back to his body.

“This isn’t right,” Egbert said, his head sideways on his vertebrae.

Qin couldn’t help but giggling at the “scary skeleton.”

“Let me help.” She grabbed his skull. He frowned as she put his skull back on the right way around.

“Damn youth today—no respect for their elders,” Egbert mumbled as he pulled out a few books and handed them to Qin, who now had a big smile on her face.

“Thank you, Mister Egbert. I’ll come back if I have any questions or spare time!” Qin said.

Egbert looked at her. Even without facial features, Qin felt as if he were a bit stunned.

“Have a good day!” she said with a wide smile.

He sounds all annoyed and angry but he lost his head to make me feel easier. I feel like he’s been really lonely. I’ll make sure to say hello and talk to him when I can! Qin nodded to herself and smiled.

Alva Dungeon was a place she had just entered and she didn’t know many people. Her brother was off training and she was left to find her own path.

Egbert had helped her feel more at ease and make Alva seem a bit more welcoming.

Chapter: A German and Redneck Walked into the Test Range One Day...

Erik felt strength entering his body. It wasn’t as much as when he had reached the Body Like Stone stage, but leveling up was still one hell of a drug.

He sat up. Only a few hours had gone by since he had gone to sleep.

Rugrat had finished with his testing models and was playing with a Mana gathering formation.

Erik closed his fist, feeling the Mana and the Strength moving through his body. “Strength, Agility, Stamina, and Mana.”

“What are you talking about over there?” Rugrat looked up. He quickly put away the formation in his hands, an excited look on his face.

“I’ve changed what I want to increase,” Erik said.

“Oh. Why?”

“I wanted to focus on close quarters combat, leaving you to be ranged.”

Erik checked over his new stat screen once again.

==========

Character Sheet

==========

Name: Erik West

==========

Level: 16

==========

Race: Human

==========

Titles:

From the Grave

Mana Lord

Dungeon Master

Reverse Alchemist

Poison Body

==========

Strength: (Base 26) +15

==========

410

==========

Agility: (Base 19) +18

==========

185

==========

Stamina: (Base 29) +5

==========

510

==========

Mana: (Base 6) +11

==========

170

==========

Mana Regeneration (Base 10) +28

12.15/s

==========

Stamina Regeneration: (Base 27) +23

10.75/s

==========

“That makes a certain amount of sense,” Rugrat agreed. “All right, now stop hogging the limelight. Some of us aren’t all over the place and know they wanted to go rogue as soon as they started. Help me with this damn Mana gate, will you?”

“You make it seem as if I’m helping you button the cuffs of your dress shirt up,” Erik said.

“What? It’s just a Mana gate. Stubborn one at that!”

“Oh, come on now. There’s not even a sense of anticipation!”

“There’ll be a sense of anticipation up your ass in a moment if you don’t hurry up. I’ve been waiting ever since we opened Qin’s Mana gate!”

Erik made a face and then got up, moving around to Rugrat, who was sitting in a chair. “You’ll feel a little prick,” Erik said.

“That why you’re single?” Rugrat asked.

Erik jabbed the IV needle into Rugrat’s arm, getting an angry yell.

“Sorry. Looks like I’m still tired. I slipped,” Erik deadpanned.

Rugrat grumbled but he didn’t say anything else.

The two of them quickly adjusted and readied themselves to open Rugrat’s next Mana gate.

“Okay, so you attack it from inside and I’ll attack it from the outside.” Erik applied Wraith’s Touch to where the Mana gate was.

Inside Rugrat’s body, he was already circulating his Mana, refining it and compressing it into a drill. It spun faster and faster, with more Mana being compressed into it. It started to become more physical, a manifestation of Mana.

Erik pulled out special needles made from Mortal-grade iron. The material supported the movement of Mana more than regular steel and Rugrat had carved some simple formations into them so that the flow of Mana wouldn’t be interrupted.

Erik took the needle and pushed it through Rugrat’s skin and tapped against the Mana gate. To the needle, it felt like it was as hard as metal. Erik couldn’t push it anymore.

“Okay, lining up from the other side,” Rugrat said.

“Got it.” Erik spun the Mana in his body, creating strings that rotated around one another but didn’t touch one another.

As Rugrat had done, he compressed the Mana until it nearly manifested into an item.

The room started to glow from the power that was being swept up into their bodies, processed and then forced through their Mana channels.

“Go!” Rugrat said.

Erik channeled the Mana through his thumb and forefinger. They were already spinning threads; when they overlaid the needle, they were guided and compressed—the needle, the body of the drill, but the Mana, the teeth.

It hit the Mana gate from the outside as Rugrat struck at it from the inside.

They were focusing on just a small point of the Mana gate. Sweat started to appear on their foreheads as they concentrated on their actions.

The two “drills” were cutting through the Mana gate. Rugrat’s Mana channels were inflating with the amount of Mana pressure behind the Mana gate.

The needle in Erik’s hand glowed with Mana, the blue light radiating through the cave.

Slowly, they started to make progress. All they could do was resolve their minds and focus.

As time went on, they tested out new ways to compress their Mana and gained greater control to create stronger and more powerful Mana manifestations.

They pushed on. The two tunnels they were making got closer and closer. With the pressure from his body, the small opening that Rugrat had made was being worn away by the concentrated Mana.

The two points met. Erik was watching it with his Simple Organic Scan but he wasn’t ready when his needle shot backward and a blast of Mana shot out.

The pressure inside Rugrat’s body had somewhere to go. The Mana gate, now with a hole in it, expanded. It was only a small amount but it was growing.

The Mana drained out of Rugrat’s body in one shot. Then, as if someone letting out a breath, Rugrat’s Mana drops pulled on the surrounding Mana.

“Crap! I just wanted it to come through the one Mana gate!” Rugrat said. Mana started to enter through his Mana gate. The size of the opening increased again but it was being pulled in through all of his Mana gates, not just one.

Erik watched as the hole in Rugrat’s Mana gate grew quickly; then, as he regained all of his Mana, it slowed its expansion. “So?” Erik asked.

“So, we’ve weakened it.” Rugrat sat back in his chair. “Over time, it should open up more and then finally crack open fully. I don’t know how long it’ll take, though.”

“You know what this means, right?” Erik said.

“What?”

“We now know how to open someone’s Mana gates externally. With Qin, it might have been her different body, but now that we’ve done it to you, we have at least a better plan to open Mana gates than what we had before.”

“Thanks. I feel so much not specialer.”

“Not a word.” Erik didn’t miss a beat.

“I’m saying it and it’s probably written somewhere, so it’s going!” Rugrat said, clearly tired and a bit illogical from the drain.

Erik patted his shoulder and took out another chair. “I’ll take the watch.” Erik passed over a solution he had made to go to sleep.

Rugrat grabbed it and pulled out his sleeping bag. He collapsed on top of it and drank down the solution. After a few moments, he fell asleep.

Erik used his Simple Organic Scan. When Rugrat was talking about getting something to close his Mana gates, something had clicked in Erik’s mind.

They had done a lot of work but he still hadn’t tested out the effects of the Poison Body title.

First, Erik scanned through his body. He could see that there were a few changes but they were on a cellular level. His scan allowed him to look through different systems but he wasn’t at the cellular level.

“Maybe it’s like my character sheet. Poison Body?” With Erik’s words, a new screen appeared in his face.

==========

You have gained the skill:

Poison Body

Ability Unlocked! (Title updated)

==========

As long as you consume a poison and understand its complete effects, you can use a portion of your Mana to recreate it and release it from your body.

You may pick from the following list of poisons:

1. Black Blood Poison

2. Bone Rot Poison

3. Three-headed Forest Snake Poison

Cooldown 1 hour

==========

“Three-headed forest snake poison,” Erik said.

==========

Where do you wish to expel the poison?

1. Right Hand

2. Lower Right Arm

3. Upper Right Arm

...

19. Left foot

==========

“Right hand,” Erik said.

A green poison appeared on his hand. Just smelling it, Erik could tell it was the same poison that he had taken from the three-headed forest snake.

“Okay, it has to be easier to use it than that,” Erik muttered. Having so many screens was going to be difficult.

He thought of the same poison but on his right foot. He felt Mana draining from his Mana channels and then returning rapidly, making him grunt at the rebound.

“Looks like I can call out poison, but once I do then I can’t create more for an hour while the ability cools down.” Erik then cancelled the poison on his right hand. It seeped back into his skin and he felt a fraction of the Mana return to his body.

Forty minutes later, he could create more poison.

“If I cancel the skill, then the cooldown time decreases.” Erik continued to test out how he could reduce the cooldown time. “Hopefully there is a way to increase the ability’s effects, decreasing the cooldown time.”

After some time, Erik felt he was getting the hang of it when he felt the need to go to the bathroom. Looking at his hands covered in poison, he realized he’d fucked up.

Chapter: Alva Dungeon’s Growth

Elise looked over the various reports that crossed her desk and the messages that had been left on her sound transmission device.

Thankfully, with all of the heads reporting directly to her, she had free time to look on the development of Alva Dungeon instead of just trying to deal with the different issues that came up.

She sat back in her chair as she finished up the latest reports.

“Ah, Miss Elise, I was looking through the collections and I was able to find a copy of information on the different plants that Erik mentioned in his letter,” Egbert said.

“Are you trying to look like some kind of skeleton king?” Elise looked at the massive robe that covered Egbert, making him look as if he didn’t have a neck and made from a deep-purple material.

“No!” Egbert turned quickly, only to have his large cape wrap around him, sealing his arms against his body.

“Or a skeleton carpet?” Elise muttered as Egbert struggled to free himself from the robe.

“How the hell are people supposed to wear this?”

“That, Egbert, sounds like a personal question. Now, do you have that list?” Elise asked.

Egbert continued to struggle but seeing as he wouldn’t be able to free himself in a short period of time and too proud to ask for help, he hinged his neck back and a scroll appeared out of his mouth.

“Egbert,” Elise admonished but still, she stood and took the scroll from between his jaw and skull.

His head hinged forward again with a clack as it came into contact with his jaw.

Elise looked over the information that Egbert had copied out. “I heard that there have been problems with the records?” She reviewed the scrolls.

“Well, it’s kind of like this. We have about forty different books that are related to Apprentice-level skills, twenty-five for Journeyman, three for Expert and one for Master, related to formation arrays,” Egbert said awkwardly.

“I thought that we had hundreds of books!”

“Well, the thing is that those are the books that people can research. I’ve got others that are spell scrolls, technique books, and all the rest of it. Although they’re consumable, they only improve a few people’s abilities. However, I have read plenty of books and I have started to copy out some books that I remember reading. The problem is that most of them were Journeyman and Expert level and I only know about seven complete books. The others are fragments.

“I can offer advice to people on certain things; on others, I can only tell them what I know or point them to one of the complete books or consumables. Though, as the different crafting teachers learn, I have been documenting their process and thoughts, and putting it in the written word so that their students and others can access it without needing to take up their time.”

Elise tapped the scroll in her hand. Finally, she let out a small laugh and shook her head.

“In the outside world, even having this much would be enough to get others jumping all over us. It’ll be some time until we reach Journeyman and Expert in any of our skills. I’ll pass over to the teams that are going out adventuring as well as Jasper to keep an eye out for books on crafting,” Elise said.

“Thank you! It’ll be so nice to read something new!” Egbert’s eye flames sparked up in excitement at her words.

He seemed to calm down a bit as he looked away. “About the request to go adventuring?”

Elise winced. He had been stuck in this dungeon for a long time and hadn’t seen the outside world in hundreds of years.

“We’ll have to wait until Erik and Rugrat come back to make a decision to see if you can go outside. We’ll need something to disguise you in. After all, your appearance right now would scare the hell out of people,” Elise said.

She remembered when she first saw Egbert and how different it was seeing the goofball now, who was still wrapped up like a carpet in his own robe.

“Okay!” Egbert said, sounding serious, neither crestfallen or excited but simply accepting the facts.

“How is the academy going?” Elise put away the scroll and sat on the desk she had taken over in a hidden corner of the library.

Taran was supposed to be the head of the academy, but he spent so much time working in his smithy, working to improve his skills and to show his apprentices the way of smithing. Now, with Tan Xue and Julilah joining the smithy, the flames never stopped. Taran had been at it for two days, trying to learn to turn normal iron into Mortal-grade iron.

Tomorrow was the cutoff date that he had put on himself to beat Rugrat. Sleep had become secondary.

Egbert was publicly recognized as the vice academy head and dealt with the majority of administrative needs of the academy. He helped out the teachers and students, allowing him a greater insight into the academy and what was going on.

“I am impressed, to be honest. The people of Alva Dungeon haven’t taken it for granted and are applying themselves to it fully. Our biggest problem is actually getting them the materials that they require. Thankfully we have the iron mine, so that helps the smithy. The growing fields and Alva parties allow the cookhouses to be supplied. The hides from the animals in the defense of Alva Village have been used up, so we’re relying on the Alva parties for that as well.

“The woodworking, crafters, and architects should separate soon. Their fields used to be close to one another but as they become more developed in one way or another, it will only cause problems in the future. Also, right now they’re putting up quests with the academy’s money in order to pull in different kinds of woods to work with.”

“Okay. Hospital, Alchemy lab and formation workshop?” Elise asked.

“The hospital has gained three Apprentice healers, one of a high Apprentice level, a woman called Jen. Right now, Erik is the department head but they need some true leadership while he is away. Jen is the best medic, but she would need someone to deal with the administrative day-to-day of the hospital. I have passed on the information that Erik and Rugrat gave Tan Xue on opening Mana gates and how they helped Qin Silaz. The Alchemy lab has many applicants, but the fee to join the lab is high and there are only a few results.

“Erik had noted down a few concoctions that can be made with simple ingredients and some notes on what he had learned. I hope that we might get some high Novice level alchemists sometime in the next year. Maybe sooner if Erik can do a few lessons with them. The formation workshop...” Egbert let out a sigh and seemed to be frowning, even if he didn’t have facial muscles.

The formation workshop wasn’t just a school in the academy; it was one that was intrinsically linked to Alva Dungeon. The whole place was covered in complex formations. Although right now they were worrying about just the living floor that they were on, there were five more floors below. Their condition was unknown but they, too, had multiple formations that would need to be rebuilt and repaired to regain control of the different floors.

“As you know, most of the books that we have are based on formations. Simply put, the gnomes who lived here weren’t the strongest but with their formations, they were able to do a great number of things.

“The fact is that there is a lot of information, but nearly all of it is at a high level. Rugrat was carving out formations that gathered Mana and has sent along his modified plans. With this, we can start to set up secondary Mana gathering formations, increasing our reach and pulling in more power from the area around us. This will slow down the burn rate that we go through Mana.”

On their current floor, there were two major formations: the Mana gathering formation that lay on the ground, and the Mana storing formation that was on the ceiling.

The Mana gathering formation was like the fuel, the Mana storing formation the battery.

The Mana gathering formation pulled in power and focused it on the dungeon core. The dungeon core drew out the impurities and then sent the energy through formations through the runed roads to be used in different smaller formations. The fact was that the Mana gathering formation had been made to connect to the other Mana gathering formations on the floors below. With them cut off, it was only 10% as effective as it had been before. With a lack of Mana impurities coming in, the dungeon core’s growth was so limited one could barely say it was growing. The Mana storing formations were slowly being drained to make up for the lack of Mana refined by the dungeon core powering Alva Dungeon.

It was easy to see how reliant the gnomes and Alva Dungeon were on the formations.

“All of the formations that are in Alva Dungeon are at least Journeyman level. Unless they have breakthroughs, or we can find a formations array teacher, there isn’t much chance we’re going to be able to deal with the formations that are on this level, let alone the ones on the lower floors while in a fight.”

Elise held her chin and lowered her face in thought. Resources come first. Without them, then we can’t grow or support our people.

She pulled out a report from Jasper and the warehouse district.

They had a low amount of lumber that would have scared her in Alva Village, just because it was needed for heating. But in Alva Dungeon, the temperature was largely regulated so the only fires used were for the smithy and the cookhouse. With Tan Xue’s flame, even though monster cores were needed to power the flame, it didn’t strain their wood supply. For gold, they were showing a nice stockpile, with the taxes on trading and the profits made by the growing houses.

They were good for stones because of those left when Egbert dismantled the different places of the gnomes to get to the useful resources and use them and his limited knowledge to support the dungeon core and cut off the other floors.

Their food stocks were high, though with people having their money, most of them went to the cookhouse or got items from the market to cook at home.

There were still a few people who went to the eating areas in the marketplace to meet one another and to see the community. There were even some dishes from the cookhouse that gave status effect.

They were a hit with the Alva parties that ventured out into the Beast Mountain Range.

Iron was not meeting demand yet but Taran wouldn’t let even an ingot go out of his smithy unless it was up to his standard. Iron, unlike food and hides, could be melted back down and then reused.

With the iron mine, it would take time, but their production was ramping up quickly.

“Our biggest deficit isn’t in our materials, other than the power supplied to the dungeon core, but rather the number of people we have,” Elise said, voicing her thoughts.

“We need to protect ourselves but also need more people to support our growth. It’s a bit of a dilemma,” Egbert said in a sympathetic voice.

Elise nodded as she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. “What are you doing?” she asked. Egbert seemed to be hopping away.

“Nothing. Nothing at all. This is all an illusion!” Egbert said.

It was clear that he was trying to escape her!

“Get back to your copying. I’ll take these over to the growing fields.” Elise stood and walked over to Egbert. She grabbed one side of the cloak and yanked on it.

“Weee! Who put that bookcase there!” Egbert spun like a top before slamming into a bookcase. He sounded like a bowling strike as his bones collapsed into a pile.

“Need a hand?” Elise said, wincing.

“I’ll be fine. Nothing to worry about.” Egbert waved one of his hands still attached to his arm, waving her on her way as moving his jaw made his skull move across the ground.

“Okay,” Elise said.

Egbert cast a spell on himself and his bones moved back into place. “Hmm, something feels wrong.” Egbert reached his arms out and they went behind him. “Head’s on backward,” Egbert muttered. “What are you doing there, femur!?”

Elise left him to his re-organization and went out to the growing fields.

There were farmers moving through the fields, casting growing spells, while others followed to harvest the crops. Their growing process had greatly reduced since coming to Alva Dungeon. The use of different fertilizers, plant growing spells, and plant hybrids had all reduced the time from planting to harvesting.

Most of them actually had a lot of free time as they could grow crops in about three to four days.

Two of the fields had been turned over to Alchemy plants to support the Alchemy lab and a testing field.

Elise went over to the testing field. There were plots where new fertilizer was being used, more that were getting water at different times. Different variants of crops, new planting machines and harvesting machines—any and every idea they had thought of trying out in the past as well as those that they had taken from Egbert, Rugrat, and Erik had been put into practice. Instead of waiting a whole growing season to see their results, they could get them within just four days.

They were also the strongest group in the dungeon.

Elise could only smile bitterly as she felt their powerful auras.

“Minna! I was supposed to put in the new field strawberries here! My little Rupert has been crying all night and only the purple strawberries are able to take his attention!” A burly man complained as he gestured at the growing plot.

“I talked to head honcho Mister Xuan and he said it was fine for me to plant my beets here! They’re purple in color too. Maybe Rupert will like them! If you really wanted to be a good father, you would have been here early in the morning to plant! We’re farmers—have you forgotten how to wake up properly!” Minna shot back, a strong-looking woman with her hair tied back and her hands on her hips.

The man looked as if he wanted to argue but also knew that he wouldn’t be the one to win the battle.

“What kind of beets are they? They look different,” the man asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.

“Sweet beets! They should be refreshing and sweet, perfect for a summer salad!” Minna’s anger dissipated quickly as a smile appeared on her face.

Elise shook her head. The two of them were Journeyman-level farmers. There were even those approaching the Expert level. Overseer Xuan had reached that stage and spent most of his time managing the fields with his apprentices and workers.

The farmers had originally been labor focused but as time went on and they saw how spells could affect their plants, with their increase in levels, a number of them had balanced out their character sheets. They might not have the combat power of the people in the Alva parties, but they were all level fourteen or higher. Xuan was level sixteen. None of them cared about their level, but their weekly contests over vegetables was heated, bringing most people over to view their new achievements.

Farmers—yes, the farmers are the strongest here.

It made sense. Skills gave a massive amount of Experience when leveling up. They had been farmers all of their lives, but now they were growing as fast as if they had farmed for hundreds of years in just a few months.

“Excuse me, where is Overseer Xuan?” she asked the two that were now looking over the beets, with the woman telling the man what she had done to change the beets, increase their size, and her want to imbue it with new traits.

“Field B-four!” the man yelled out, the two not looking up as they continued their discussion.

“Thank you,” Elise said back and carried on her way.

In the fields, there weren’t just farmers but those trying to be alchemists. They were tending to plants as well. After all, one of the four main stages in Alchemy was growing and the second, harvesting.

While they weren’t dealing with crops, most of them still required to be planted and cared for. Their requirements were higher, making many of the alchemists turn to their books and their farmer friends.

Elise didn’t find Xuan in the farmers’ fields but the alchemist garden that had originally been planted by Erik.

“Hmm, it’s a confusing one.” Xuan was talking to a man from the Alchemy lab. He didn’t look like some refined alchemist. He wore the same simple clothes as Xuan and had dirt on his clothes and hands as they looked at the odd-looking plants.

“The Rashil vine is doing well, much better than I thought. But then, the Seha roots that are supposed to like shade are being drained,” the man from the Alchemy lab muttered.

“Well, maybe it’s like a forest,” Xuan proposed.

Elise hung back as she listened to them, interested in what they had to say.

“Forest?” the other man said.

“Hear me out, Fehim. It sounds odd to me as well,” Xuan said. “A forest isn’t just one tree or whatever. It’s made of all kinds of plants and creatures, the rest of it; with all of them together, they create an ecosystem. The trees that grow faster starve out the smaller ones of light. The Seha roots are being drained while the Rashil vine is flourishing—I would say that the vine is draining the energy from the root. Your balance is off,” Xuan said apologetically.

“Damn. Well, I can just plant them away from one another, but it means I’ll have less ingredients to use.” Fehim’s shoulders dropped in defeat.

“Well.” Xuan tapped his lip in thought as he looked at the Alchemy plot. “What if you were to make your own ecosystem? Wouldn’t be easy, but if you made a plot with all the plants balanced out, wouldn’t that just increase the speed that they grow and their strength?”

Fehim’s shoulders rose up as he looked over the plot with new eyes.

“An ecosystem that works to strengthen the plants inside,” Fehim said, considering it. “Hell, I think that it’s possible. It will take some time, but I think we can do it! With the speed that we grow at, it could take four or five months to nail down. The distribution is going to be annoying.”

“Nothing is ever easy!” Xuan laughed and pat Fehim on the back. The hit would have broken a level one human’s back easily. “Also, my little niece Therese is working over at the formations workshop, looks into how to balance power all the time. She might be able to help out with this?”

“Well, it’s worth a try!” Fehim agreed.

Elise caught his eye as he moved with a start.

“Sorry, council head, didn’t notice you there,” Fehim apologized.

“No worries. Sorry to interrupt. I found it interesting.” Elise smiled as she pulled out a few pieces of folded paper and a scroll.

“These are for you two. This letter is from Erik regarding his knowledge of Alchemy.” Elise could see Fehim’s eyes light up. “It’s nothing complicated. What he details are a few concoctions, from growing to formation, then he has added in notes about specific plants that emit Mana. I’m not really sure what it all means but I had Egbert read it and gather relevant information.”

Fehim took them as if they were holy objects, just looking at them.

“Plants that emit Mana?” Xuan asked.

“So, as Mana can be turned into spells to support plants, this takes other energies, like water, sunlight, and nutrients, and turns it into Mana. Most of these plants are used as enhancers in smithing, tailoring, and woodworking. Also, they can be used as conductors in formations and Mana Regeneration concoctions.”

Fehim looked as if he didn’t know whether to jump in joy or faint from it all.

Seeing his expression, Elise could only smile, not wanting to hurt his feelings by laughing.

Fehim let out an awkward laugh and turned bright red.

“Alchemy nerds.” Xuan snorted, picking up the saying from Rugrat. “Well, you going to share or not?”

Fehim pulled the paper away from Xuan.

“See you later. No fighting now, boys.” Elise headed off back toward the academy.

“Okay, so, if there’s a new school of architecture, then we’ll have to put up a new building. Once the iron mine is complete, there’s the logging camp to complete to clean up the wood for the woodworking people. They’ll have to share for a bit before we can make a new school.” Elise started to talk to herself, getting her thoughts sorted out.

Even though it sounded like a lot of work, Alva Dungeon was growing.

“When Erik and Rugrat get back, I’m taking a week-long vacation,” she vowed in a darker voice.

***

“Hello?” A young girl walked up to the table where Tan Xue and Julilah were eating their meal.

“Hello.” Tan Xue smiled and waved for her to join their table.

She had lost track of time being in Alva Dungeon, spending her days and nights working at the smithy, teaching and furthering her own skill.

Julilah had been there, helping out and learning as much as possible.

Seeing that Qin and Julilah were about the same age, Tan Xue felt it would be good if they could become friends.

“I was wondering if you could make a formation plate?” the young girl, Qin, asked.

“A formation plate?” Tan Xue asked, her interest piqued. She was a good smith, but her knowledge on formations was lacking. It was one of the things she needed to improve if she wanted to make a Journeyman-grade item.

“I have started to learn about formations, though I have only dealt with the theory. I haven’t been able to see or use any of the physical parts. I was wondering if I could commission you to make a formation plate so I would have a better idea of how to work with them,” Qin said in a rush before she looked expectantly at Tan Xue.

Makes me think of kids who want to get out all of their reasoning in one shot so their parents can’t shoot down their ideas right off the bat.

Tan Xue smiled. “I can, but I have one request. I have been spending all of my time smithing. I haven’t been able to teach Julilah anything about magical formation. I was wondering if you could share what you know with her?”

Julilah and Qin looked at each other and then Tan Xue, and then back to each other.

“I can try.” Qin sounded nervous. “I don’t know that much.”

“Well then, you can work together to learn more. My knowledge of formations is really slim, so I can tell you all I know and then you can teach me later on,” Tan Xue said.

She didn’t look down on the other girl because she was young. If she did indeed learn more about formations than Tan Xue, she would be happy to listen and learn from her.

“Okay!” Qin held out her hand.

“I’ll make three formation plates, two from regular iron and then one from Mortal-grade iron. I can have them done by tomorrow,” Tan Xue said.

“Thank you!” Qin said with a smile and looked to Julilah. “I look forward to working with you!”

“Me too.” Julilah smiled. The both of them looked eager to get started as they started talking to each other, learning more about each other.

Tan Xue smiled as she saw the start of a friendship between the two.

Chapter: Do Golems Have Taste Buds?

“Did you feel a chill?” Rugrat started to get up from where he was sleeping.

“Nope. Felt my nose hairs burning from that fart, though.” Erik’s voice was muffled as his nose was down inside his shirt.

“I felt a chill—I was scared,” Rugrat defended, stretching more and letting out a fart that echoed in the cave.

“And I’m the one with Poison Body?”

“Damn, that one burned. Guess the food in Kaeju didn’t agree with me,” Rugrat appraised.

There was a deep bassy noise as the ground started to shake. Rocks started to come down from the ceiling.

“What in the ever living fuck is going on!” Rugrat yelled as he got out of his sleeping bag, tossing his gear into his storage ring.

==========

Event started! The event area Rock Golem Nest has activated. Clear the area to gain higher Experience and rewards based upon your contribution!

==========

“You’ve got me on that one!” Erik yelled back.

“Come back here, forge!” Rugrat said. The forge compressed back into its globe and Rugrat tossed it into his storage ring, as he pulled out a crossbow with the other hand.

As the ground continued to shake and started to rise, the rock that had been resting at the top of the cave fell away, allowing the mid-morning sun from the desert to stream in.

Erik looked around as he saw that there were rocks that looked like teeth around a semicircle.

“Shit, I think we’re in something’s mouth!” Erik yelled out.

Rugrat switched over to his larger weapon, Big Momma, Erik’s old weapon.

They were at the back of the “mouth.” As such, Erik picked what looked like the throat and aimed downward. He used the Growling Tiger Fist technique while poison coated his fist.

The Growling Tiger Fist, where he unleashed the power within his body explosively, was his strongest attack.

Erik could feel the Mana building in the area around him, as if collecting Mana from somewhere. The creature was waking up.

Erik’s punch landed. The back of the creature’s mouth and down its throat was opened up as Erik got a critical hit.

He used the three-headed snake’s poison, which stuck to the point of impact. Wisps of smoke appeared as the stone was being melted away.

A gray, harder stone was revealed as the whole body of the creature shuddered with the impact.

“Move left!” Rugrat said.

Erik’s body was in a great amount of pain but with his increased Agility and Body Like Stone, he quickly moved and started to recover.

Rugrat fired his rifle. The round slammed into the stone that looked like a heart.

The creature staggered again as it let out a roar.

==========

Rock Golem has used Stone Breath. Your body’s constitution is high enough that you ignore the paralysis effects of Stone Breath.

==========

The screen appeared in front of Erik as Rugrat lost his footing and started to fall down the mouth that was sloping downward now.

Erik pulled out three of the grenades that he and Rugrat had made. Work! He pulled the tabs and tossed them at the Mana heart as he moved toward Rugrat to catch him.

Two of the grenades didn’t go off, but the third worked. The Mana heart was cracked, revealing a powerful Mana core.

The stone creature stumbled backward and opened its mouth.

Erik was just to Rugrat, who had fought back against the Stone Breath, when the teeth started to shoot out of its mouth.

Erik was able to dodge with his Agility and not being affected by Stone Breath. Rugrat was still sluggish as he took a tooth shard in the stomach.

Erik was hit by different shards forced out of the monster’s mouth as well.

Erik flipped in midair as he looked at the creature. It looked like a human with a massive Venus flytrap for a head.

Erik cast Simple Ranged Heal on Rugrat, who was in rough shape. His armor had taken the brunt of the impact but with his weaker body, it still took a toll.

The Venus flytrap-like mouth started to crumble and fall apart as Rugrat got back to his feet, cradling his rifle.

Erik could see the golem’s heart and the monster core inside.

Erik rushed forward. With his Strength and Agility, he easily dodged the falling rocks, jumping up into the sky and pushing off them as Mana rushed toward him. The Mana channels in his arm glowed blue through his skin. He flipped through midair, firing to clear obstacles or hit the golem’s monster core.

A solid stream of Mana bullets landed on the monster’s heart, cracking it more and revealing more of the monster core.

Rugrat fired Big Momma. The heavy round slammed into the monster’s heart. He had cast Explosive Shot on the round as well, increasing its striking power. But still the sturdy heart stayed together.

The golem stumbled back as its face was revealed and the last of its “trap head” fell away in smaller boulders.

Its movements made it impossible for Erik or Rugrat to get clear shots on its opened chest. The hole was getting wider as the poison burned through it, but the pace that the stone melted was slowing as the poison was consumed.

Rugrat let out a yell as Erik turned back to see that the parts of the trap head weren’t just rocks.

The smaller boulders were turning into smaller golem types and charging Erik and Rugrat.

Rugrat had been hit by one looking like a scorpion. It slammed into his back, injuring him further and aggravating his previous injuries, but not killing him. Rugrat pulled out a crossbow with one hand, enchanting the bolt and firing it in one fluid motion. The rock scorpion exploded as Rugrat stored the crossbow and Big Momma as he pulled out his hammer.

Mana veins could be seen on his hammer as he uppercut a humanoid-looking golem, smashing it apart.

“These things don’t have monster cores. That big bastard must be controlling them!” Rugrat yelled.

Erik turned toward the massive thirty-meter-tall golem and rushed forward. He didn’t care for the smaller golems that now littered the ground. His Strength and Agility gave him faster reflexes and explosive speed with each step and movement.

The golem had recovered. It had a humanoid appearance, made from dark granite with obsidian eyes that focused on Erik.

Erik fired out Mana bolts. The Mana heart was damaged more, breaking away from the monster core.

Erik landed on the golem and slammed his fist down at the golem’s heart.

The golem seemed to be waiting for this as its massive hand swiped across to grab Erik.

Erik gave up on his attack and jump down and away, missing the golem’s grab; the golem’s other hand turned into a fist and shot forward.

Erik rushed to meet it and jumped upward. He was about to land on the golem’s arm when it smashed into the ground. The speed and strength sent rocks flying that hit Erik in the back and sent him off his trajectory.

Erik backed off. Using Mana to strengthen his body and using the Growling Tiger techniques took their toll, and his Stamina Regeneration was just about able to keep up.

The golem grabbed a handful of the golems that were rising out of the ground or had dropped from its body and tossed them in its mouth.

“Shit, that doesn’t look good,” Erik said. There was a glow around the golem’s chest as its Mana heart started to recover.

Erik heard Rugrat pulling out his rifle.

Erik could dodge the golem spawn and kill them with a fist, but Rugrat’s close combat abilities were lacking. He’d poured healing powder on his wounds but they were severe and took time to heal. His rapid movements weren’t helping, opening up different wounds and making it harder for them to heal.

Erik pulled out another batch of three grenades, with one a copy of the one that had worked the first time. “Don’t fail me now!” Erik ran forward again as the golem raised another handful of its spawn to its mouth.

“Come on, Patriots! Frag out!” Erik yelled as he pitched grenades at the golem. Its normal head was much smaller than the original trap head, but it was still a forty-meter-tall creature. Its mouth was nearly two meters wide and a half meter tall, the grenades went right down the golems throat.

The grenades went off, or at least one did and made the others explode.

The golem’s arm dropped as its eyes looked at Erik and Rugrat.

The smaller golem spawn started to fall apart and crumble.

The golem dropped forward, slammed into the ground and gave rise to a dust cloud. A tombstone appeared above it.

Erik shot over Ranged Heal at Rugrat a few more times.

“Let’s get out of here!” Erik yelled. Roars could be heard in the barren stone land. He accessed the golem’s tombstone, selecting Take All.

It started to dissipate as Rugrat met up with Erik and they ran.

Rugrat drank down a few healing powders. The two of them kept an eye out for anything else as they left the stony area and headed back out into the desert.

After about five minutes of running, Rugrat started laughing—well, coughing up a bit of blood and laughing as they were running away.

“What are you laughing about?” Erik said, unable to hold back his curiosity.

“I’m just wondering. We were in its mouth, right? And it didn’t do anything at all, till I let out that nasty fart this morning. Like, it had to have taste buds!” Rugrat fell into laughter.

Erik wanted to rebuke him, but with the adrenaline bleeding off and just having nearly died, Erik started laughing with Rugrat. They continued running far away from the golem’s home and toward where they thought the dungeon was.

***

Erik and Rugrat jogged through the desert as night started to fall.

Once they left the rock outcropping, a new notification appeared.

==========

You have left the event area Rock Golem Nest.

==========

“Events? Like how there are random events in video games?” Rugrat said.

“That would explain it,” Erik said back.

“Cool!”

With their Stamina and Stamina Regeneration, although it wasn’t easy, they didn’t need to stop once to rest.

“This looks like a good place to make camp,” Erik said as one of the Second Realm’s moons started to rise up.

Rugrat was in much better condition, having healed from his injuries fully. It was only afterward they found out about his crushed ribs and bruising. Thankfully Erik’s Simple Ranged Heal combined with quick self-aid helped him before they could affect him too much.

They broke down tasks and quickly got a tent erected and went inside.

“If I just had a few more months,” Rugrat said to himself as he looked at the armor he was wearing.

“The armor works well, Rugrat. Plus, we need to get that dungeon core as fast as possible.”

“Yeah. Could use some goddamn padding.” Rugrat winced as he continued to use healing spells on himself to fix the last of the damage. “If I could make some Journeyman armor, then we could increase our combat power. That reminds me, do you know which of the grenades worked?”

“I think it was tester Three C and Four One,” Erik said, checking his storage rings.

“Right.” Rugrat pulled out a notepad and started to write on it. “Failures?”

“One A and B, Four A and Three D,” Erik said.

“Okay.” Rugrat checked out his chart of combinations. “The Two B and C should be effective as well. Need to test them first, though.”

“Right.” Erik nodded. He had only used the grenades because he needed something that packed a powerful attack but didn’t rely on his Mana because he wanted some left in case of emergency.

“As much as I want to test them out, it doesn’t make sense to do so now.” Rugrat opened up his notifications. “Though it looks like I just got a level up, so that’s pretty damn nice!” Rugrat’s eyes shined as he ran through his notifications. “Hey! What loot did you get?”

“Give me a minute.” Erik opened up his storage ring and looked to the pile of items off to the side.

“Got something called blue rock dust, purple veined amethyst ore, powdered lightning rock, and then a variant monster core, Earth grade,” Erik said. The dusts and ores didn’t really interest him, but when he looked up, Rugrat was shaking.

“Something wrong?” Erik asked.

“Enhancers,” Rugrat said. Erik only had a blank face at Rugrat’s outburst.

“Those are all enhancers that one can use with different metals to increase their innate abilities and increase the strength of the formations that are placed upon it. The one you’ve mentioned, blue rock dust, allows the material to be malleable but not lose its strength. One could make a metal whip with it. The purple veined amethyst core is a combination enhancer. When used with a powdered monster core, it can increase the affinity and the success rate of the monster core being absorbed into the metal.

“The powdered lightning rock is a material to be used in formations. I’m not sure about its exact uses but based off the grade of the other materials, it shouldn’t be something low grade,” Rugrat said.

Erik’s eyes moved to the variant monster core. It had an Earth variant monster core, though Erik couldn’t figure out what grade the variant core was, whether it had the power equivalent to a Common or a Greater monster core.

“Damn, I love loot.” Rugrat laughed.

“Not so much the shit we need to go through to get it, though,” Erik said.

“Well, we need to take risks to get rewards. Still, in some regards, we think too much like people from Earth compared to people from the Ten Realms.”

“Yeah,” Erik said, feeling the weight of responsibility that lay on their shoulders.

They had taken in the people of Alva, creating Alva Dungeon, and promised to protect them. So far they couldn’t even protect themselves. Fighting was a good way to increase their strength, to test out their theories and ideas. They could turtle themselves away in Alva Dungeon, but that wasn’t living. Erik and Rugrat were lying to themselves in one way. Yes, they needed to go and get the dungeon core, but they also wanted to see more of the Ten Realms—they wanted to do more! On Earth, they had been limited, only feeling like they had a purpose, a challenge when they were on the battlefield and they could see the results of their actions.

When they went back home, they were lost among the sheep, the people who couldn’t complete a task in a set period of time, the bureaucracy that kept people safe but never seemed to do anything but slowly churn over, not producing anything but remaining the same.

Here they could directly change themselves, through stats, through weapons and armor, and change the world around them through their actions.

No one was there to tell them what to do. Fortune favors the strong, so they needed to become stronger.

Thinking on this, a fire burned in Erik’s chest. Others might have a grand goal to save as many people as possible, to build a grand empire. Erik had no idea what the future would hold, but he was sure as hell going to take it by the horns and hold the hell on.

“If you take first watch, I’m going to rest first, boost my stats and then I can condense my next Mana drop easier. Not sure if it’ll work but worth trying,” Rugrat said.

“Go for it.” Erik opened up his notifications.

Rugrat took out the sleep aid that Erik had made and drank it down.

Erik pulled out his cauldron and a few ingredients. Silently he started to combine the different ingredients. He tried seven times before one was a success. A gray and green powder was created by Erik.

==========

157,969/225,000 EXP till you reach Level 17

==========

==========

Skill: Hand-to-Hand

==========

Level: 28 (Apprentice)

==========

Attacks cost 20% less Stamina

==========

==========

Skill: Marksman

==========

Level: 41 (Apprentice)

==========

Long-range weapons are familiar in your hands. When aiming, you can zoom in x2.0.

==========

==========

Skill: Throwables

==========

Level: 14 (Novice)

==========

No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

==========

==========

Skill: Alchemy

==========

Level: 33 (Apprentice)

==========

Able to identify 1 effect of the ingredient.

==========

It had been some time since he had seen his fighting skills. He had been too focused on building up the dungeon and then increasing his skills to create concoctions to increase their funds to buy information on a dungeon.

His skill in healing and Alchemy had grown in leaps and bounds but it made sense.

“With healing and Alchemy, I’m combining my previous knowledge with that of the Ten Realms. With throwables, I guess I’m using what I knew from baseball and football when I was a kid and the grenades I’ve thrown over the years. Hand-to-hand, we did some but using a gun is faster than punching someone to death, so it’ll be harder to increase my power that way.” Erik looked over to Rugrat, who was sleeping.

It would be a lie if he said he didn’t want Rugrat to make him updated firearms as well. But Rugrat was already hard-pressed to complete the projects he was working on, from armor to grenades, rounds, testing it all and using the data to improve. Every single item he created was done one by one. Erik, on the other hand, if he wanted to make one powder or fifteen portions of it, he would need to adjust his actions slightly and just increase the ingredients.

“Plus, I have Mana bullet and bolt.”

Erik closed his eyes as he thought of Mana bullet. His focus turned in toward his own body. The Mana in his body circulated through his Mana channels slowly. In the Mana drop formation stage, the vapor-like Mana had become thicker. On the outside, it was thinner than at his core, where two Mana drops waited. Around them, the vapor was thicker; it was like a mirror after one had taken a shower but before it made water droplets.

Erik raised his hand and activated the Mana bullet sequence. The thinner vapor in his outer Mana channels compressed and circulated quickly, their motion pulling on the thicker and denser Mana closer to his core.

The Mana was compressed and hurtled down the Mana channel in his arm and hand.

Erik dissipated the Mana, decreasing the pressure and allowing the Mana to lose its power.

“The compression isn’t enough, the speed too slow,” Erik muttered. He could fire about seventy Mana bullets a minute if he went all out; at that rate of fire, his velocity would sharply decrease and the compression of the rounds wouldn’t be as high, decreasing their overall power.

“When I increase the density of Mana by compressing my Mana core, or opening up more Mana gates, the rounds will have a greater Mana force associated with them. Then I just need to speed up the rounds.” Erik rubbed his face, finding stubble there. In the Ten Realms, razors weren’t hard to find but as with most military personnel, Erik and Rugrat hated shaving with a passion.

Erik started thinking of the new pathways that the Mana could move through to increase their speed, thinking of it like how cars would slingshot in NASCAR, or satellites would use the gravitational pull of planets to increase or decrease their speed.

“Taking the mechanical approach to spells.” Erik snorted. Just as a smile was spreading over his face, his expression froze and his eyebrows pinched together.

“Spells?” If I was able to use spells to augment it, wouldn’t that make it easier? Quickly, a new thought rose in his mind, the kind of thought that could change one’s future thoughts and theories. I’ve been thinking that spells are these overly complex and annoying damn things to deal with. I kind of equated it to electricity and computer coding. But I’m no coder. If I think of Mana as a power source or something that’s needed, say a blood bag, then the blood is the energy, the bag is the container, the tubing and needle is the tool, or spell, and then me putting that needle into someone’s arm is the action; that completes the circuit. Who says I need to understand the spells fully? They’re too complicated for me, but what if I treated them as the components of a weapon system? I could create a spell that increases the speed that the Mana flows in my body. Maybe one right over the Mana channel in my arms to increase speed, another to increase the density. Spells become components.

Erik felt goose bumps rise on the back of his head. There was nothing saying that someone couldn’t activate multiple spells. He used Simple Organic Scan and Focused Heal all the time—hell, he had used Simple Ranged Heal and been firing Mana bolts at the same time!

He had thoughts of trying to learn how to break down spells then figure out their essential coding and then rebuild them. But that would take time and he knew that he would struggle. This method, however, would allow him to use multiple spells in concert with one another to amplify one another and increase their overall effect.

“What...What if I was able to chain cast spells, to increase my physical attributes when fighting?” Erik’s voice died away, the wind outside the only noise in the tent.

Chapter: Compressing Last Mana Drop

Rugrat woke up to see Erik in a daze. His eyes were looking up at the top of the tent while a flame of Mana moved through his right hand as if it were some kind of snake instead of fire.

Rugrat was surprised at Erik’s control over the flame but with all of the strange things that he had seen in the Ten Realms, he quickly adapted to it and simply sat up, checking over his body.

His power had increased again with his stat points going into Stamina, Mana Regeneration, and then Agility and Strength, in that order.

He needed the Stamina Regeneration to work in the smithy longer, Mana Regeneration so that he could continuously pour Mana into the items he was working on, from formations to his hammer and the metal he was working on and power the forge. Agility so that he could increase his reaction time; it also improved the speed that he could aim and adjust his body when shooting. Strength helped with his smithing as well.

Neither Erik nor Rugrat relied on the stats. Coming from Earth, they relied on increasing their own strength through various means: increasing the number of Mana gates they had opened and using the Mana gathering system, or using their healing and poison to temper their bodies.

This allowed their basic stats to increase at an alarming rate and fight creatures like the golem that were multiple levels higher than their own.

Erik seemed to come out of his daze. His flame ran up his arm and appeared on his shoulder. It was night now and the red flame illuminated the tent without ruining their vision.

“We need to get night vision spells,” Rugrat said.

“That wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Erik agreed. “I, well, I had an idea—chaining spells together. Think of it kind of like slotting in new components to a machine but using spells.”

Rugrat took a moment before replying. “Well, yeah, it makes sense. Like if I was to use a formation on a barrel to increase the velocity, then a formation on the bullet to increase blunt damage, coat it with poison and then also cast Explosive Shot on it, then the striking power of that all combined.”

“Right! But I was thinking for just like regular spells, like my Mana bullet, purely Mana based, but with a compression and an acceleration spell, I could hit harder and faster,” Erik said.

“Well, I guess that we’re doing the same thing, kind of, with me using formations on my weapons and you using spells. Though there are a limited number of formations that I can put on a weapon. I wonder if I was able to, say, have an acceleration formation on a weapon and then I used an acceleration spell on the weapon as well—would they stack up?” Rugrat and Erik’s eyes sparkled as they looked at each other with excited expressions.

“Master stack, stack formations, techniques, poison, spells—altogether, it’ll take time to build up the necessary components but the power, oh the power!” Erik said, a scary smile on his face as his eyes shone.

“Dude, that’s my role. Come on, I’m the eccentric one, the mad scientist. You just look creepy as fuck,” Rugrat said in a flat voice.

Erik coughed violently at Rugrat’s words.

Rugrat snorted and shook his head. He crossed his legs and started to focus on his Mana channels.

“What are you doing?” Erik asked.

“Shh. I’m trying to connect the four elements and find harmony between the ying and...” Rugrat swung to the side, one eye opening as a shoe flew past his face. “Hey!”

“Trying to act like some sage? Try this out.” Erik tossed over a powder. It was the one he had been working on while waiting on Rugrat.

“What’s this?” Rugrat caught the powder.

“Something that should help you. It’s called Mana Revitalization powder. If consumed, then it will increase the speed that one can regenerate Mana at. I think that if it was used on a needle and then put on all of your Mana gates, then it would increase the effectiveness and regeneration speed.”

“You want to turn me into a damn potion guinea rabbit.” Rugrat groaned.

“Don’t worry, I can heal you.” Erik dismissed his worries easily.

“You didn’t even deny it!” Rugrat yelled but turned quiet at Erik’s glare.

“AS I WAS SAYING. With this, it’ll mean that as you compress your Mana then there should be more Mana fighting to enter your body. It’ll reduce your need to compress, wait to regenerate Mana and then compress again.”

Rugrat looked at the powder again, its value increasing in his eyes.

“It might also help you to increase the speed that your tapped Mana gate opens fully.” Erik laid down his last card as Rugrat passed the vial back to Erik.

“All right, get your damn needles out.” Rugrat sighed.

Erik pulled out the tools he needed.

“Do I need to lie down?”

“No, just sitting there will be fine. After all, it’s easier to circulate through your Mana channels in such a position.” Erik moved around Rugrat.

He pulled out some of the new Mortal-grade iron needles Rugrat had made. He made sure that they were sterile before he used clean water and the powder, creating a kind of sludge.

He pulled out a needle, dipped it into the sludge and then stabbed it through Rugrat’s skin, right into his Mana gates. His actions were quick and precise.

“I can see them but I can’t feel them,” Rugrat said.

“I am missing the nerves so they don’t hurt. Stop moving.” Erik moved around Rugrat, tapping in the last of the needles.

Rugrat could feel the pressure outside of his body, the Mana that was gathering at his Mana gates, trying to force their way into his body.

He felt Erik putting his hands on the Mana gates in the middle of his lower back and where his spine rounded.

Rugrat focused on circulating his Mana for a few moments. He cleared his mind of everything else and started compressing his Mana.

His rotations were slow but they started to speed up as he guided the Mana through his Mana channels. As his Mana became denser, more Mana flowed in through his opened Mana gates. Even the small sliver of Mana coming through his partly opened Mana gate increased.

It filled up the space left by the compressed and circulating Mana.

Rugrat added this Mana into his original Mana pool.

Rugrat took in a deep breath and let it out. The Mana channels across his body that had a faint glow became brighter.

Go! Rugrat forced all of his compressed Mana through his Mana channels and toward his core. As it passed through his Mana channels, more Mana was dragged into his Mana channels through his Mana gates.

The Mana collected at his core. The thicker mist there started to agglomerate. The three drops that were waiting there shook as they hung at the nine, twelve, and three o’clock positions within his core.

Entering his core, the mist he had gathered adhered to the walls of his core. Threads appeared and joined with the formed Mana drops. They grew, gaining a deeper blue hue as they shone brighter with greater compressed energy.

Rugrat felt as if he were flexing every muscle in his body. He could see the changes, but they were slow. He continued to compress and circulate power through his body, gathering and forcing it into his core.

The threads from the three drops disappeared. Rugrat’s attention moved to the six o’clock position. The tension in his body—it felt if he let up, he would collapse.

A sole thread appeared like a seedling. It reached upward, painfully slowly.

The other three Mana drops seemed to be fighting back against the new arrival. The pressure inside Rugrat’s core sent throbbing pain through his body.

Rugrat grit his teeth and continued on. If he was to release the Mana he had stored up for this attempt now, then it would rage through his body. Pure, uncontrolled Mana would leave deep wounds in his body.

It was a massive risk but they didn’t know what they would face in this dungeon. The golem had shown them that although they might be strong, there were much stronger things out there in the Ten Realms.

Rugrat forged onward. The thread seemed to stop as a sphere began to form on its end. The sphere started to grow slowly, fighting against the pressure of the other Mana drops within Rugrat’s core.

Rugrat kept on fighting. His mind started to go blank from having to concentrate so hard. He tried to guide the Mana that was entering his body into his core. As he was doing so, his compression failed and the Mana ran through his lower back, injuring him greatly.

No! Rugrat cried out in his mind. He looked at the damage inside of his body. He was starting to lose control. With the pain, with the Mana channels in his lower body being savaged, the compressed Mana coming through was only making it worse.

There was a grunt from behind Rugrat as Rugrat felt the weight on his body become easier.

“What you waiting for, marine!” Erik growled.

Rugrat grit his teeth and opened his eyes, pushing past the pain. His fighting spirit was ignited as he felt Erik’s Mana moving in through the Mana gate in his upper back. It was already highly compressed.

Rugrat freely accepted it and drove it into his Mana core. Another thread formed under the fourth Mana drop, and then another, reaching out to the Mana drop and increasing the rate that it grew.

As it grew, a greater suction force could be felt in Rugrat’s body. The Mana Revitalization powder served to open Rugrat’s Mana gates wider, but this was a hunger from the core of his Mana system. His Mana pool was growing, creating a pressure imbalance as it drew in more.

Rugrat focused on compressing and pulling in Mana. He forgot about the pain he had been feeling. He only noticed the flow of Mana from the lower half of his body increased.

He didn’t notice the green-looking energy that moved through his Mana channels. Wherever they touched the wounds created by the wild Mana, the green energy would dissipate slightly, washing away the wound as if it were never there.

Once healed, more compressed Mana started to flow into Rugrat’s Mana channels through the Mana gate in his stomach and the one in his upper spine.

Erik’s Mana pool wasn’t great but his control over his Mana and his Mana Regeneration were high. With him pouring out compressed Mana directly through the Mana gates, Rugrat only needed to guide it through his body and to his Mana core, where the fourth Mana drop was forming.

Rugrat watched as the threads of Mana that connected to the fourth Mana drop left the wall of his core and entered his Mana drop.

Gold Experience from the Ten Realms rose out of the ground and rushed into his body.

Rugrat drank it in. His body was transforming; it felt as though his entire body were undergoing a baptism of Mana. His Mana channels expanded and Mana mist started to flow into his Mana core. The four Mana drops were like stars on a cloudy night, shining through.

From his core, his Mana channels started to evolve, widening and strengthening them. Mana rushed in through Rugrat’s Mana gates. Mana gathered outside of Rugrat’s body. The gold Experience and the ambient Mana contrasted each other as Rugrat looked like some holy existence.

The needles in Rugrat’s Mana gates were forced out. Rugrat sat there, feeling refreshed as his parched Mana channels were washed over with fresh Mana.

“This is power,” Rugrat said. With the combined effects of Mana king and the new changes to his body, the Mana all around their tent rushed toward them, stirring up the sand and dust, hitting against the side of the tent as the Mana passed through, entering Rugrat’s body and filling his Mana channels.

Chapter: Taran Exits Seclusion

“This is so boring!” Julilah complained as she lay on her back, reading a book.

“The more information we have, the greater chance we have of our formations succeeding,” Qin replied. But her mind was elsewhere as she looked at the formation plate in front of her, studying it once again.

“You just going to stare at it, or are you going to carve into it?” Julilah complained.

“I’m thinking about what I want to do,” Qin said.

“Do you know how to work with metal?” Julilah asked as a sudden thought hit her.

“I, uh, well, not really,” Qin finally admitted and looked over to Julilah.

Julilah shot her hands and feet up in the air in victory. “Finally something that Princess Silaz isn’t good at!”

Qin could only frown at her friend’s antics.

“Well, you wanna learn? Come on, I might teach you if you say yes!” Julilah grinned and played with a chisel in her fingers.

“Will you teach me how to work with the formations plates?” Qin sighed.

“Yes, I certainly will—you just buy dessert tonight!” Julilah put her book to the side and got up as she moved to the formation plate.

“Working with formation plates isn’t like smithing, but closer to engraving. The key is to plan everything out before you get to work. So before we work on the formation plate, we should work on something else and draw out a blueprint. Then we can work with wood. Master Tan Xue always said to work with cheaper items and prototypes until you reach the limit of how much you can practice with them. Then, once you have the diagram of what you want, you make your first lines. You don’t need to go that deep with them, just leave markings that match your formation, then you can make them successively deeper. If you start off making them deep, then if you mess up it’s harder to fix,” Julilah said, fully getting into it.

Egbert, who had been walking through the library, looked over at the two girls as they were absorbed in the formation plate and looking over different formations they wanted to create.

He passed by, unseen, as he hummed happily to himself.

***

“Did you hear?” Davos burst into the barracks.

“What?” Niemm asked, his voice a mix of tiredness and anger as he rolled over.

“Taran came out of his seclusion and he made weapons,” Davos said.

Niemm halted his movements as the others in the barracks stopped what they were doing and looked over to Davos.

Davos was always looking for new gear, putting all of his gold into whatever he could get. There were standard weapons and uniform for people in the Alva military, but you could use your own gear if you wanted to.

“What kind?” Niemm woke up a bit more, his interest piqued.

“I’m not sure, but there were some people saying that he’s finally broken through to Journeyman level and he’s using Mortal-grade iron. He supposedly just left the smithy and went home to sleep.”

Niemm raised an eyebrow at Davos.

Davos coughed awkwardly. “Well, it seems that he passed out in the smithy and he was so loud at snoring that no one could work effectively, so Tan Xue threw him over her shoulder and tossed him off at home.”

That makes more sense.

“Journeyman items made from Mortal-grade iron—is it possible to get weapons like that anywhere in the First Realm?” one of the people in the barracks asked in a hushed voice.

“I heard of it once from my grandad, said that it was one of the greatest weapons he ever saw and one of the imperial knight captains had to spend all their wages for a year on it,” another chimed in.

Niemm’s heart rate picked up. With a grunt, he got off his bed and to his feet. “Let’s go and check it out.” Niemm knew that just thinking about a Journeyman weapon, he wouldn’t be able to sleep.

Right now, he was using a spear that was high Novice ranked. He had his eye on an Apprentice-ranked spear. He was hoping to get back out in the Beast Mountain Range soon to earn the coin he needed to buy it.

If there’s a Journeyman spear, I’ll need to check the stat requirements, but just how much stronger would I become? Might he have some heavy armor as well?

Niemm’s excitement rose as he stepped forward. The others seemed to have a spell broken as they all ran out of the barracks and headed for the city.

“What’s going on? Niemm!” Glosil asked as he was walking the parade square.

“Sir!” Niemm snapped to attention as the others all tried to get into a position of attention, one tumbling over in the dirt.

“We heard that Smith Taran has come out of his seclusion and has made a number of high-quality weapons. We wanted to go and look for ourselves, sir!” Niemm reported as quickly as he could.

Glosil’s eyes shined as his eyes flickered to the dungeon’s center and the smithy. He half moved toward it before he seemed to remember where he was. “Well, what are you waiting for?” He then took off at a run, a grin plastered on his face.

“Captain!” A few called out at his shameless actions.

Niemm got his feet under him and ran after the speeding captain as a herd of fighters rushed toward the smithy.

***

Tan Xue wiped the sweat from her forehead as she looked at the next completed item, a shield. She looked at it with a frown and let out an annoyed growl.

“Is there something wrong, Master?” Julilah asked.

“This metal here is too thin. I used a double combination enhancer and it increased the defense but also added a Fire attribute to the piece. I should have turned this into gloves for those melee types. It could add a new attack if they punched someone instead of using their regular weapons,” Tan Xue complained.

“T-two innate effects?” a smith who had overheard said in a small voice. The man’s face was pale as he looked over at Tan Xue.

“Rei! Get back to work! I want another seven high-grade Apprentice daggers and another three you make yourself without that forging blueprint by the end of today!” Tan Xue snapped out.

“Yes, Smith!” the man said in a scared voice. His face turned even paler as he quickly turned to mind his own business.

“Are two innate effects strange?” Julilah cocked her head to the side.

“Somewhat. It’s the mark of a half-step Expert weapon. An Expert weapon can have two innate specialties, bound to their user and carry two enchantments. They’re leagues higher in strength than Journeyman weapons,” Tan Xue explained. Now that she had decided to take on Julilah as an apprentice, she poured out all of her knowledge.

She had the young girl aiding her directly in the forge and welcomed her questions as she worked. Hearing her genuine curiosity in something she was good in gave Tan Xue more energy instead of less.

“Innate specialties? But isn’t this an innate effect?” Julilah continued.

“Looks like someone was paying attention. An innate effect strengthens what is in the weapon and strengthens it, giving up to an additional five percent stat to the weapon. An innate specialty can give anywhere from five percent to twenty percent increase.” Tan Xue’s eyes shone. In all of her life, she had never seen an Expert-level weapon. Through reading a number of books and talking to other smiths, she was able to put together the requirements for higher-leveled weapons.

“Expert weapons can also hold two enchantment formations. While the base attacking power might be anywhere from seventy-five to one hundred, a true Expert smith will be able to draw out the true power of the weapon. With the aid of a powerful Expert formations Master, that power can be further augmented. It is why formation Masters and smiths are called brotherly professions. Most of the items that smiths make at higher levels require a formation to be completed and many formation artists require high quality items to work on to improve their craft. Many have walked down the path of formations Master and smith.”

Tan Xue remembered where she was and coughed roughly, trying to hide her embarrassed expression as she was washed up in the excitement of talking about higher realm weapons.

Julilah let out a childish laugh as she swayed back and forth, hiding her mouth with her hand. “Master has this side to her as well!”

“You!” Tan Xue threatened. Just as she was about to start with her famous tickling attack, she heard people running through the village.

She looked over, becoming alert.

Seeing the armored people running toward the smithy, she was a bit alarmed. Seeing their excited expressions and Glosil, who had been sitting at the council’s table, leading them, Tan Xue couldn’t really believe what she was seeing.

Glosil made it to the store side of the smithy. “I heard that Smith Taran was done on some projects. I wonder if any of them are up for sale?” Glosil asked, not sounding out of breath at all as he asked the man at the storefront.

“U-uh, certainly, Captain Glosil.” The man looked over the crowd of people who had gathered in front of the store.

Tan Xue let out a short, amused breath. “Battle fanatics are the same anywhere. For weapons and armor, they’ll sell even their family heirlooms.” Tan Xue’s eyes thinned, looking over the people. All of them had at least one or two pieces of Apprentice-level gear or weapons.

Even this much in the First Realm was a lot. In the Second Realm, it was seen as acceptable. After all, most smiths had reached the level of Apprentice.

The problem was that many of them were wearing a few pieces of low-grade Apprentice armor that barely made the grade and they had also medium- and high-grade Apprentice armor in a number of cases!

Tan Xue then shook her head. Why are you looking at their weapons and armor in shock? Aren’t you the one who wants to give them weapons and armor that are of the Journeyman level? She silently looked into her storage ring, where she had put all of the items she had completed.

“I will go and talk to the smith’s head!” the man at the storefront said with a forced smile, bowing to everyone as he backed away like a prey backing away from a fierce predator.

He turned and ran into the smithy, a look of panic on his face. Seeing Tan Xue, he ran over.

“Master Smith Tan Xue! There are a number of people looking to see what items Master Taran has made. He has not okayed the sale of his items and I don’t want to mess with his personal space. What should I do?” he pleaded, sweating.

Tan Xue nodded at the man. Even though he was at the front of the store, he wasn’t willing to go into Taran’s work area and take his finished items freely just to make the smithy a profit.

“Taran can figure out if he wants to sell his items.” Tan Xue started to organize her storage rings, moving items around. “The items in here, put them on display and see if you can sell them.”

The man took the ring with cupped hands and bowed. He moved backward. “Thank you, Grandmaster Smith Tan Xue!” The man bowed once more. He turned back to the store and looked into the ring. He nearly dropped to the ground with a surprised noise.

Tan turned back to the forge.

“What did you just give him, Master?” Julilah asked from beside the forge.

“All of the weapons and armors that Erik and Rugrat looted from those thugs and the weapons that I’ve made since being here,” Tan Xue said simply.

She had only made two weapons: the shield she had just completed and a curved saber.

They looked like simple items, but both of them were genuine high-tier Journeyman objects. Saying that they were half-step Expert items wouldn’t be an overstatement, but they still had a long way before they could truly reach that level.

Tan Xue didn’t make many items. Instead, she spent a great amount of time researching and learning, using that to temper her skills. As one got higher in any skill, just relying on their innate talents was impossible; they needed to talk to others, to experiment and learn.

True Masters always looked to advance. Those who made the most items were those who were hit with inspiration, and broken through a bottleneck—like Taran, who had made half a dozen Journeyman-level weapons after being able to create Mortal-grade iron just hours before the timeline he placed on himself.

The second were people who were okay with staying at the level that they were and not looking to advance their skill anymore. They had time to take requests.

Tan Xue was hungry to make more, but with needing to pay off her debt, she had taken on every and any job to pay back everything.

Now, with the freedom to do as she wanted, she took out two blocks of Mortal-grade iron.

“Crank the heat higher!” she ordered.

Julilah took out some lower-grade monster cores and tossed them into the flames that seemed to dance in excitement. The monster cores turned into the magic flames’ fuel. Tan Xue welcomed the heat of the forge; the noises of shock and excitement coming from the front of the smithy were mere background noise.

Julilah simply let out a sigh. “With that look in Master’s eyes, it looks like I will need to go to the cookhouse to get some more food. Though Miss Feng always has some good treats,” Julilah said under her breath.

***

Jasper was leading a group of people out of the dungeon’s market place, heading out on the next trading convoy, when he saw people milling around the smithy.

“I wonder what happened at the smithy? I don’t know what would get all those fighter types so excited,” one of the merchants said.

“Maybe there’s a new item on sale?” another added.

“Quartermaster, should we go and see what’s going on, to know what kinds of goods we might be able to sell in other places?” another asked innocently.

Clearly you just want to go over there and see what all of the commotion is about! Though I’m also interested...

“Let’s go take a look.” Jasper led the five people over to the smithy.

Jasper hung back, interested but not as excited as the others with him.

Then he saw the items on sale. The store was practically overflowing with weapons. People were stepping up and buying items left and right, changing gold and weapons over quickly. Still, it couldn’t compare to the two items that were on the top of the weapons wall on the smithy’s store wall.

Two Journeyman-level weapons rested there.

Elise’s teaching had been thorough so that even though Jasper didn’t know everything about all the items he appraised, he could tell roughly the grade of different items.

Seeing the Journeyman weapons, he felt a headache coming on.

“It’s already hard as hell to find Apprentice-level gear in the First Realm—what are people going to think when they see people with Journeyman-level gear? I need to go tell Elise about this and get them to keep this stuff hidden, or find some way to cover over the grade and hide their level. Looks like that trip is going to be postponed for a few more days.”

Chapter: Walking, More Walking, Beetle! Worm?

After Rugrat broke through to the Mana drop formation stage, his Mana system underwent a massive change. His Mana pool increased rapidly, as well as its purity. Though he couldn’t help but complain.

“I remember back in the day when one hundred thousand Experience would allow me to jump through friggin’ bottlenecks and up levels.” In fact, he’d repeated it more than a dozen times in the boring days as they marched through the desert. Because they didn’t need that much rest, they only slept a little every few days, then continued walking, wearing their robes and shades as they moved through the unending sand. They used their ability Dungeon Sense to try to find where the dungeon was lying but nothing appeared.

“I wonder if we’ve got a broken ability,” Rugrat asked as they were walking, breaking the silence.

“It’s the best bet we’ve got and has anything that comes from the Ten Realms broken on us yet?”

“True,” Rugrat said. They lapsed into silence again as Erik checked their direction and they continued on.

Sometime later, Rugrat halted Erik. “Do you hear that?” Rugrat asked.

Erik tilted his head to the side toward where Rugrat was looking. He shook his head in the negative.

Rugrat pulled out his rifle. Erik pulled out his personal rifle as well and moved to follow him, behind him and to the side. They moved toward the noise Rugrat had heard.

They moved through the sand for another five minutes. Erik trusted in Rugrat and didn’t say anything.

Ten minutes went passed as Rugrat altered their direction.

Then Erik heard a noise. A screeching noise could be heard in the distance, followed by clicking and hissing noises.

Rugrat paused and took a knee after some time.

They shared a glance, with Rugrat indicating where the noise was coming from.

Erik gestured with his eyes and his hands. We’ll check it out. If it’s too much to handle, we’ll leave it.

Rugrat nodded and gestured back, repeating what Erik had indicated.

With that, they moved forward. Erik looked around, checking their rear as they moved through the desert, up and down some different dunes. As they came to the top of a dune, Rugrat would crouch and then lie down before cresting them.

Finally, as the noises got louder, Rugrat went up a dune and looked over. His movements slowed down without stopping suddenly so they wouldn’t draw attention. But to Erik, who was watching his every move, he knew what that meant.

Found it.

Erik waited, checking the area before Rugrat moved back and down the sand dune.

He slid down on his ass right next to Erik.

“Okay, there is a valley over there. On two sides, there are sand dunes. At one end there’s a cave—looks to be the home of eight nasty-looking beetles. There is a large worm attacking them. The beetles were about five meters long and three meters tall. The worm was only half out of the ground but the section out of the ground was about ten meters tall and four wide. About four hundred meters from the vantage point I was at, I could smell something—like those ingredients you smelled like coming from the Black Cauldron—coming from the cave,” Rugrat said.

Erik debated it for a few moments before coming to a decision. “Okay, let’s take a look.”

They headed back up the sand dune. Erik looked over the top with Rugrat. There were eight beetles and one worm.

One of the beetles charged forward with its pincers. The pincers hit the worm, making it shake, but the worm’s hard outer layer was left unaffected. Another beetle attacked and another, using their massive, strong mandibles to clamp and cut into the worm.

The worm rose up and dropped on the beetles, stunning them. It reared back; one was still attached as it spat out a gray substance.

It covered one of the beetle’s faces.

The beetle started to thrash around as the worm’s spit started to congeal and harden.

The other beetles charged forward, letting out their hissing and clicking war cries. Their mandibles locked onto the worm’s outer skin but they weren’t able to get through, though even as they tightened their grip, the worm’s skin cracked and scarred. The worm let out another roar; sand rose up and compressed into sandstone drills that flew through the air and struck the beetles. The beetles were tossed back. Some were thrown on their backs but their fellows moved to flip them back over.

The powerful sandstone drills only left minor scratches on the beetle’s carapaces.

Erik looked over to Rugrat and signaled for them to go back.

They crawled off the edge of the sand dune until the sounds of fighting dimmed down a bit.

“That is a whole bunch of nasty that I don’t want to screw with,” Erik said.

“Experience, though?” Rugrat asked.

“I’m interested in what’s in that cave. If I can get in there, I can get whatever is in there, break out and we go on our way,” Erik said. “Those are called medicine beetles. They grow different ingredients, tending to them for decades, eating them, and living off the ambient energy to sustain their lives and grow to the size they are.” In the different materials he had consumed, there had been information on different animals that were closely connected to Alchemy. The medicine beetle’s cave was a treasure trove for alchemists. Even the medicine beetle’s bodies were great materials that could be used in Alchemy, smithing, and cooking.

Having been around ingredients all of their lives and living off them, the power in their bodies wasn’t small. The bigger the risk, the greater the reward. Also, the creatures were level seventeen, with the worm being level twenty-one.

Erik wasn’t sure about fighting them. The worm’s defense was incredibly high and it was able to hold off eight level seventeens all by itself.

“All right, I’ll take over watch and cover you,” Rugrat said.

With that, they moved to their different positions. Erik stayed low and circled around the sand dune. He moved quickly until he got to a lower sand dune. He was behind the cave and the beetles that were still fighting the worm.

“Good to go.” Erik used his sound transmission device to contact Rugrat.

“Got you covered,” Rugrat replied.

Erik moved forward, neither quickly nor slowly. He looked around, making sure that he wasn’t noticed, taking his skills from everything that Rugrat had taught him.

Rugrat was much better at stealth and sneaking up on people than Erik. Still, Erik moved to the cave’s entrance. The beetle that had its face covered had died; another had lost one of its legs. The worm was looking worse for wear, with its Mana dwindling and its armored skin covered in attacks.

The worm rose up more and used its body to slam the beetles. It caught one, stunning it as it staggered backward. Cracks showed on its carapace.

Their attention was totally taken up by the worm.

Erik moved forward, making it to the side of the cave.

Erik just crossed the threshold when a pungent smell was released.

Erik had been so focused on the battle he hadn’t been paying attention to what was around him, or what was under his feet.

He stepped on a vine that was hidden in the sand. Stepping on it released a smell that alerted the beetles.

The beetles’ clicking rose a note as they turned to face Erik.

Erik pulled out two grenades and tossed them at the beetles.

They went off, stopping the beetles from charging forward as their carapaces had embedded shrapnel in them.

Erik took off at a run and fired Mana bolts behind him to try to suppress the angered beetles.

The worm slammed down on another one of the beetles, cracking its carapace. It exploded, green ichor covering the valley.

The beetles’ bodies took on a red hue as they activated some special skill.

Four of the beetles charged the worm. Two latched on; their mandibles cracked through the worm’s skin, finally drawing blood.

Rugrat’s gun fired. His hit struck the carapace of one of the two beetles charging Erik. The beetle let out a sound of pain as the Explosive Shot round exploded, opening the carapace more.

The worm spat at one of the beetles, covering its carapace but some of it got on Erik’s legs.

Erik could feel it hardening, making it harder for him to run. He turned and fired Mana bullets at the two beetles chasing him. His shots hit the beetles, covering their vision and making them rear up.

Rugrat’s shot hit one in the stomach. At their jerky actions, his second shot went through the joint around the beetle’s head. The round tunneled in deep and exploded with Explosive Shot.

The beetle twitched and dropped to the ground. A tombstone appeared.

Erik shifted fire onto the other beetle. The beetle took the hits. It didn’t seem to be too badly damaged. It had turned to face Rugrat but Erik’s attacks brought its focus back onto him. Rugrat’s rounds sparked off its carapace.

It tripped over and slammed into the ground. It hadn’t watched where it was going, so angered at its fellow’s death that it didn’t see the spit that was on the ground.

Erik moved his legs but they were sealed together, the spit hardening more.

Erik tried to break his legs apart as the beetle picked up the spit-covered leg and moved forward. It continued to carry more sand.

Rugrat fired once and then went silent.

***

Rugrat worked the action on Big Momma but the round was stuck.

Erik couldn’t move and was ambling backward, firing on the approaching beetle but none of his Mana bullets penetrated.

Rugrat tossed it back into his storage ring and pulled out his M40. As the beetle hopped forward to hit Erik, Erik rolled to the side and took a hit to his side. It scraped off the armor as Rugrat fired. His bullet struck the beetle in the eyestalk.

It roared out in pain, still moving forward.

Erik used Mana bolt on his feet and launched himself forward. His entire body glowed with Mana. One could see the different muscles in his body activating in concert with his Mana channels.

Erik uppercut the beetle, hitting its underside. His fist cracked its carapace, the Mana focused in his fist. The pressure spread out but the beetle’s carapace contained the power, causing further internal damage and killing it.

The beetle slumped forward and pinned Erik to the ground. His head was clear but the arm he had used to attack the beetle was in bad shape. He had focused too much Mana in his hand. With Erik’s Body Cultivation, it had already started to recover

Erik grunted, twisting and turning as he looked to free himself.

Rugrat swung his aim to the remaining four beetles and the worm.

The enraged beetles had left cuts on the worm, wounding it deeply but their red hue was just dying off, their strength dissipating.

The worm was pierced by one of the beetle’s mandibles again. It twisted its body and let out an unholy screech.

Rugrat’s ears were sent ringing and he wasn’t even the one being aimed at.

Two of the beetles were stunned; another coughed up green ichor, taking heavy internal injuries.

The beetle that was attached to the worm opened and closed its mouth angrily, opening the wound it had created and increasing the damage.

A green cloud was released by the four attacking beetles. The cloud drifted over the worm, which turned sluggish.

Mana started to build up in its body again. It was slower this time but it was trying to use another sonic attack!

The beetles seemed to have found something vital as the worm shuddered and let out a halfhearted sonic attack.

It had fired the attack into the sky, speeding up its collapse. The worm dropped, landing on two beetles with its body and crushing one with its head. Two more tombstones appeared.

There were just three beetles left. They were heavily wounded and drained. One was stuck under the body of the worm. The worm’s killer was stuck in the worm’s body, trying to pull his mandibles back out. The remaining beetle that hadn’t been hit turned its head and looked toward Erik, who had freed himself and was using Mana bullets to break the worm spit tying his legs together.

Erik was swigging a Mana potion at the same time.

“Enemy coming over the worm!” Rugrat said.

The beetle jumped onto the body of the worm and raised its head in a battle cry.

“Get fucked!” Erik yelled, sending a compressed Mana bolt into the underside of the beetle.

The beetle’s already cracked carapace broke apart under the attack. Green ichor covered the worm as the beetle slumped, greatly weakened by the attack.

“Fucking bug,” Rugrat hissed between his teeth.

Rugrat fired. The first round hit the beetle’s antennae. It screamed out, as the second round found the hole in its chest. The next pierced through its neck. The next pierced the other side of its neck. Rugrat pulled the bolt back to the rear; he raised his hand and a fresh magazine appeared in his hand as the empty went into his storage ring.

Each of the rounds had Explosive Shot cast on them. The beetle slumped on the worm. Another tombstone appeared as Rugrat switched his aim to the beetle that had killed the worm. Its mandible was broken, twisted off in the worm’s fall.

It cut a pitiful picture as it started to charge Erik.

Rugrat fired on the beetle. His shots only annoyed the beetle but didn’t do any damage. The other beetle was climbing out from under the worm.

Erik pulled out a grenade and threw it. He was looking overdrawn from using so much Mana. The grenade, based on the grenades that had worked with the golem, went off.

The grenade blew off the beetle’s front leg, causing it to dive into the ground.

Erik jumped up and landed on the head of the beetle. He caught himself from falling off and kept low as he ran up, pulling out his personal rifle.

He ejected the magazine, wiping his finger on the rounds in the magazine and slapped the magazine back in. He jammed the rifle’s barrel between the beetle’s carapace layers and pulled the trigger.

The beetle twitched before finally a tombstone appeared.

The last beetle poked its head out from under the massive worm’s body.

“And fuck you too!” Erik yelled, covered in green ichor. He pulled out two grenades and threw them at the beetle.

The beetle opened its mouth, only to be force-fed two grenades.

The beetle exploded. A wave of green ichor covered Erik and caused him to fall off the beetle.

Rugrat surveyed the battlefield. Nine tombstones rested in the air, waiting to be claimed.

Erik reloaded his rifle and was looking over the battlefield.

“Looks clear,” Rugrat said from his vantage point, able to see the entire battlefield. Rugrat moved down to Erik, who was getting himself organized. Rugrat pulled out Big Momma to clear the jam as he kept looking around.

“We’ll clear the cave. Once we’ve done that, we’ll gather the loot out here and get moving.” Erik surveyed the area with his rifle.

“Got it,” Rugrat said. Erik was covered in the bright green and pungent ichor. Rugrat swallowed his joke as he checked the area, looking for threats.

Loot could wait. They needed to make sure that everything was secure before they let their guard down.

Erik led the way, moving through the bodies, ready for anything. As they entered the cave, Erik stepped over the vine that was buried in the ground and stepped on certain areas in the ground where the vine wasn’t.

Rugrat followed him.

They moved deeper into the cave. Insects were flying around but they didn’t seem to mind Erik or Rugrat in the slightest. They moved through the different plants that were inside the cave, caring for them and feeding off them. The first room was filled with the caretaker animals’ homes; underneath them, there were troughs, where the beetles ate the nectar from these caretaker creatures.

Beyond them, they moved down a long hallway wide enough to fit three of the beetles beside one another.

The walls were held up with plants. The whole place must have been burrowed out but then with the plants holding the sand and dirt back, it had created a series of tunnels.

Rugrat followed Erik’s lead as they moved through the tunnels slowly, making sure that they were all clear and nothing threatening was left.

“Don’t step on that.” Erik pointed to different plants that dotted the ground that could hurt them.

The tunnels were much cooler than the desert outside and regulated, with a slight breeze moving through. A small water spring bubbled up water that ran through troughs to the different plants.

It was its own entirely self-sufficient underground garden.

Erik lowered his rifle as they returned to the entrance, having not found anything.

“You want to collect the loot out there, I’ll clear up in here?” Erik asked.

“On it.” Rugrat slung his rifle, not putting it away as he wanted it close at hand. They’d had too many surprises recently to put Rugrat at ease.

“See you in thirty,” Erik said.

Rugrat gave him the okay symbol with his hand and went back up to the battlefield. He looked through the tombstones and then looked over the creatures to see whether there was anything else other than what was listed on the loot tombstone that he would be interested in.

Rugrat took out a chisel and hammer and went to work on the best-looking beetle bodies.

He moved through the creatures meticulously. He took the mandibles. They could be used to create longswords and claymores that relied more on the blunt force to break an enemy’s armor.

He retrieved the monster cores. Three Common, two Lesser, one Grand, and a Greater Mortal monster core all fell into his hands. He dismissed the tombstones. The beetles started to dissipate as he moved to the worm.

The worm’s skin was strong, but it was too heavy, heavier than iron armor but with stats that weren’t as good as iron armor.

What was left was four hearts, meat, worm spit sacks, and a Grand-grade monster core. Rugrat retrieved them and hoped that Erik or someone could do something with them.

He shook his head as the worm started to dissipate. Because it had been killed by the beetle, none of the Experience made it to Erik and Rugrat.

“Wouldn’t want to fight the worm and the beetles, though,” Rugrat muttered and turned back to the cave.

“Oh, it’s about midday. I should use Dungeon Sense.” Rugrat activated his ability. He felt it sweeping out as he yawned and moved into the cave.

His footsteps halted as something resonated with him and his notifications started to beep. A new way point appeared on his map.

“West!” Rugrat yelled, running into the cave to find Erik.

***

Erik quickly finished harvesting and collecting the different ingredients he found in the medicinal beetle’s burrow.

Most of the ingredients he didn’t know but using the knowledge of Alchemy, he was able to harvest about seventy percent of the ingredients properly.

Erik and Rugrat trudged through the desert. As they took breaks, Rugrat would make more grenades, or work on his new weapon testers. They still hadn’t tried the new rounds and the barrels because they didn’t want the noise attracting unwanted attention.

Erik reviewed his gains from the last battle with the beetles.

==========

223,669/225,000 EXP till you reach Level 17

==========

The beetles had only been level seventeen to eighteen. They had killed the worm and two of their number were killed by the worm, leaving just six of them. Their biggest weapon and greatest defense was their carapace, which increased their fighting abilities, but once it was opened then they were easy to kill.

“Just a few thousand away from seventeen.” Erik knew how hard he had worked for his current level and he didn’t think that it would get any easier in the future.

His eyes moved to the updated skills.

==========

Skill: Hand-to-Hand

==========

Level: 35 (Apprentice)

==========

Attacks cost 20% less Stamina

==========

Erik had showed a deeper understanding of his body when he fought. Having learned and tested out his ideas on the golem, he’d been able to pour more power into his attacks. Even as he was using Mana to strengthen his attacks, it was still based on a hand-to-hand combat style and awarded him skills for improving the lethality of his strikes.

==========

Skill: Throwables

==========

Level: 18 (Novice)

==========

No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

==========

“I wonder what kind of bonuses I’ll get when it becomes an Apprentice-level skill,” Erik said under his breath. He removed the information from his view, looking through the slit between his scarf as he followed Rugrat through the Hersht Desert.

Chapter: Desert Spiritual Palace

Feng Yi coughed, disturbing the dust in the room.

“Are you okay?” Ru Xie looked up from the three others on the floor.

“I’m fine, Xie.” Feng Yi put on a brave face. He had dirty-blond hair; coupled with well used and maintained armor and a hammer at his side, he was a solid-looking man. Even with his outwardly rough appearance, when Xie looked away there was a fear in those eyes and his fist shook while looking around the room. His hand clamped onto his hammer at his side.

Xie wiped her sister’s face and then turned to the next person on the ground.

Three of their party were on the ground in a comatose state, with Xie waking them up occasionally to get them to consume some kind of food and supplies.

If we had only gone to trade food instead of damn trinkets and weapons. Feng Yi couldn’t help but sigh.

“I knew that dungeons were dangerous but I never thought that they were this bad. Those...things...” Ru Xie started to shake, crying.

Feng Yi looked away. Any words of comfort would be useless now. Four more days. Four more days until those soul-sucking demons come back again. He looked over to Ru Xie and then away. His tremor subsided and although there was still fear in his eyes, there was also resolve.

It might be selfish, but please, Xie, live on if I can’t. Find a way to get out of here even if they claim me too.

***

Two men stood in the sand dunes of the Hersht Desert.

The wind tore at their clothes. There seemed to be nothing around for miles.

“There’s just one and a half months to go until we promised to make it back to Alva Dungeon,” Rugrat said.

“It’s coming up fast,” Erik agreed.

“We should be near it now, right?”

“We must be. The searching area has slimmed down since yesterday. It’s about time I used my Dungeon Sense,” Erik said.

Although it might be less than four kilometers away, with the sand dunes, they spent most of their time climbing up and falling down them.

As they had moved to where Rugrat had picked up on the dungeon, they had started to pick up the dungeon’s location and the search area to find it only decreased.

Erik sent out his Dungeon Sense ability.

Erik could feel it shoot out and then come into contact with something. He opened his eyes and looked at a sand dune. In his vision, he could see a red doorway.

“It’s under that, about a meter or two,” Erik said.

“Thank God we’ve got shovels.”

Erik moved right above the doorway and pulled a shovel out from his storage ring. “If we didn’t have the Dungeon Sense ability, there’s no way we would be able to find this place.”

They cleared away the sand. Rugrat’s shovel hit stone. They looked at each other and sped up their digging, clearing out the area around the dungeon entrance. Sand was thrown up around them. A door was revealed. It had two stone slabs sealing it from the outside elements.

Rugrat used his Simple Inorganic and Simple Organic Scan to look through the door and check for traps. Erik had his shotgun ready to go. The pellets had been changed to Mortal-iron filings to increase its stopping power.

“Looks clear.” Rugrat stepped back and pulled out his personal rifle. He was still using the same powder and rounds from before, but to the bullets, he’d added enhanced Mortal-grade iron core.

Rugrat covered Erik as Erik tried the doors. He had to push on them because the door was wedged shut with sand.

Erik looked over to Rugrat, who nodded.

Erik kicked the door and tossed in a handful of night pearls that turned on in the darkness.

Rugrat rushed in, checking around the door.

Erik swung his shotgun around and followed him in.

“Stairs front!” Rugrat warned.

Erik entered and stepped out onto a small platform before it descended down a set of stairs.

“Clear!” Rugrat said as he moved forward.

Erik followed him. Their two guns had night pearls fitted to the front so they could see what was in front of them clearly.

==========

You have entered the dungeon: Desert Spiritual Palace

==========

Erik and Rugrat quickly dismissed the screen that appeared and looked forward.

The stairs ended and the hallway curved. Erik stacked up behind Rugrat and pinched the back of his arm.

Rugrat and Erik turned around the corner. Rugrat took a knee, Erik standing behind but above him.

Erik pulled on the back of Rugrat’s armor.

Rugrat stood up as Erik moved right beside him.

They came up on another corner and repeated their corner drills.

“Door right five meters, hallway left,” Rugrat said.

“Seen,” Erik replied, pulling on Rugrat’s plates.

“Cover the other doorway. I’ll test the one on the right,” Rugrat said.

“Got it.” Erik moved around Rugrat so he was aiming on the left side now.

Rugrat peeled over to the door and Erik moved to the corner.

Erik stepped out in a crouch, scanning the hallway. “Fifteen meters, hallway to the left. Door straight ahead twenty meters, collapsed.”

“Got a device here,” Rugrat said. “Looking to disable.”

“Go for it,” Erik said.

Rugrat pulled out tools and started to chisel away part of the door. A rune-covered pressure plate was found shortly afterward.

Rugrat quickly removed the jewel power source and then put the formation plate into his storage ring. He checked over the door again. “Thunder attribute mine. Take the door—I’ll be lead.”

“Got it,” Erik said.

He moved out of the corridor and then over to the door. He repeated the same process with entering the dungeon’s door.

Rugrat rushed in and Erik went in behind him.

“Clear right! Two doorways back right,” Rugrat said.

“Clear left,” Erik responded. “Low obstacle in center of the room, altar. Go left, high-low. I’ll go close.”

“Good!” Rugrat said.

Erik moved forward and Rugrat followed him. With their angle, they could see the two new doorways and the altar in the middle of the room, covering all three.

They moved around the altar, doing the same as when they had turned the corners.

Seeing nothing on the other side, Rugrat pulled Erik up.

“I’ll cover the doors—you check the room.” Erik changed to his personal rifle and used the altar to stabilize his aim.

“Got it!” With his Simple Inorganic Scan, he could cover more ground and find more of the hidden items in the room.

“Got some skeletons in the walls. Looks like channels go to you. Channels are runed. I don’t think they were just getting drained of their blood.” Rugrat stopped at a section in the floor.

“Mana?” Erik asked.

“Think so. Got another thunder mine thing here.” Rugrat went to work, removing it.

Rugrat found another thunder mine closer to the doorways.

Once the room was cleared, meaning Rugrat had looted it of everything good and made sure that there were no more traps, they moved on.

There was a door made of solid stone but it had runes that were glowing on it slightly. The other door was actually a portcullis that allowed them to see through to the other side.

Rugrat moved up first, touching the metal to find out its mechanisms. “Thorium? Damn,” Rugrat muttered.

“Thorium? Isn’t that stuff like super rare?”

“It’s not that rare here. It’s a really good material to conduct Mana, used more in formations. If a mage uses a weapon that is made from thorium, then they’ll be able to amplify their attacks more and the necessary Mana to activate the weapon will decrease. Also, it’s an absolute bitch to deal with if you don’t have a magical flame. Thankfully it’s only connected to a thunder mine trap, stronger one. Whoever made this place rides the goddamn lightning. Cover me.” Rugrat moved to the other wall as Erik continued to look through the portcullis.

“And unlike the masterful and eargasmic AC/DC, they can’t nearly do it well enough to get praise from me.” Rugrat smacked a chisel into a tile, pulling it off and then searching through the open space behind. He twisted and pulled something. Another thunder mine entered his storage.

“Hallway to the right about thirty meters down,” Erik replied.

“Hoist the thing up and I’ll go through.”

Erik nodded. Now he was the stronger one with the stat boosts.

“Good to go,” Rugrat said.

Erik let his rifle hang; he grabbed the portcullis and lifted it. The thorium had been combined with iron and it wasn’t light.

Rugrat moved through quickly.

Erik shifted it over and jumped through. The portcullis dropped behind him. In the tight, enclosed space, the noise seemed to be its own thunder.

They moved through the hall quickly. They passed tapestries that showed people offering blood to the altar before a man standing there, his body made of glowing light, accepting their sacrifices. The sacrifices looked almost pleased being able to sacrifice their blood for the man on the temple.

At the corner of the hallway, there was a part that continued forward. There was a dead runed circle on the ground.

“Dead teleport of some kind. Looks similar to the ones in Alva,” Rugrat said. “Stack left corner, ready?”

“Set.” Erik squeezed Rugrat’s triceps.

They turned the corner.

“Hallway twenty meters right,” Rugrat said.

They moved through the hallways and came to a hallway that started to turn back on itself.

“Let me test something,” Erik said.

Rugrat nodded as Erik used his Dungeon Sense ability for the day.

He didn’t get any more information on the dungeon but with the ability, he locked onto the dungeon core. He shared the location to Rugrat to update his map as well.

Their maps showed it being below, but it was a big splotch covering a forty meter sphere.

Now there was a sphere with a radius of just three meters.

The closer we are when we use dungeon sense, the greater accuracy it achieves. Erik thought to himself.

“Let’s keep going then,” Rugrat said.

***

Jasper had conveniently dropped off the issue of having people running around with such high-level equipment at Elise’s feet as he and the rest of his trading group departed Alva Dungeon.

They might be just traders but all of them were level fourteen. Still, they had an escort of four people from Alva’s military to help them cross the Beast Mountain Range.

“All right, next stop, Vermire Trading Outpost,” Jasper said.

Chapter: Dungeon Hunters

Erik and Rugrat entered another room. It was built up like the first. Manacled skeletons hung from the walls and then more were placed on different pillars around an altar.

There were traps with poison that were meant to paralyze and more thunder mines.

Rugrat took his time looking through the room before he stopped and waved Erik over as he moved away from the wall he was inspecting.

Erik tilted his head to Rugrat in question, covering the two other doors that led out of the room and weren’t the one that they had come in through. “What is it?” Erik asked.

“There’s a secret door here. It has a lot of runes on it so I can’t see what’s on the other side. If I didn’t have my Simple Inorganic Scan that is used to see through things, I wouldn’t be able to find it. The runes make detection magic hard to work.”

“Well then.” Erik moved his rifle to aim at the door. “Shall we see what’s behind the mysterious door?”

Rugrat moved to the side and found the right button to press. He hit it and moved back, raising his rifle.

There was a series of clicking noises and then a rolling one. The wall pulled back and then rolled away. A blue fog rolled over them as Rugrat threw out night pearls to illuminate the area.

==========

You have entered a Mana-dense area. Mana Regeneration increases by 2.

==========

Erik moved through the door. The night pearls weren’t necessary. The fog was lighting up the room, as were the spiritas occupants.

They were in a fifty-meter by fifty-meter room. With four altars arranged upon it. Three of the altars were arranged in a triangle around a central, larger altar in the middle of the room. Roaming around it were glowing spiritas. They looked to be people but instead of being made from flesh, they were closer to a Mana-created creature that resembled a human.

Erik and Rugrat took this in as they walked through the door and fired on the five closest creatures that were looking at them.

There were six melee types, three mage types, and a heavy armored knight that looked like a whole bunch of anger and pissed-off Mana.

Erik and Rugrat fired at the closest melee spiritas’, killing one each.

The regular melee types’ speed was terrifying: one that had been nearly one hundred meters away closed the distance in seconds. One of them rushed Rugrat from the side. Rugrat turned to fight it but the Mana creature turned its arm into a blade that it stabbed into Rugrat’s side. The blade went through the opening in the side of Rugrat’s armor, piercing Rugrat directly.

One of the mage spiritas fired out a spell. It missed and hit the wall, blowing the stone away. The magical discharge hit the melee thing that had attacked Rugrat, throwing it back and tearing its blade from Rugrat’s body.

Erik yelled as Mana rushed through his body, focusing on his foot. He drove it down into the melee spiritas a few times until a tombstone appeared.

Another blast whistled over Erik’s shoulder.

“Rugrat!” Erik turned and fired on another mage taking potshots at him.

“Working on it!” Rugrat fired at another melee spiritas coming in at them.

Erik put his rifle away, casting a ball of Simple Range Heal at Rugrat as Mana rushed through his body once again.

With his state of mind, the Mana destabilized as it came out of his fist. It detonated like a shotgun going off.

The melee spiritas was missing its head. There were four more behind it, as all the spiritas in the room were rushing over.

One was disabled, another heavily wounded; the melee type was flickering with Mana as its power was going wild.

The other two were far back enough so that the attack missed. One that dodged out of the way let out a scream, shaking in rage as it threw its hands to the side, its fingers elongating into claws.

Erik, who had seen the heavily wounded spiritas, couldn’t do anything as the blade finger spiritas leapt at him.

Erik’s left fist slammed into the melee spiritas. From the Mana Detonation, his right fist was in a bad way but his body was already starting to repair the damage. If it was someone who hadn’t tempered their body, they might have crippled their hand or been in so much pain that they were unable to do anything else.

Erik had coated his fist in poison and Mana. The spiritas dropped to the ground.

“Fuck you, Edward!” Rugrat yelled, firing his rifle. ‘Edward Blade Fingers’ was hit and pushed back, only just staying on his feet.

The other two didn’t seem to care as they lurched forward.

Erik didn’t look to stop their attacks but moved to intersect his armor with their hands as they turned into blades.

They were pushed back by their attacks, giving Erik some room.

He turned on his right foot and slammed his left foot forward. He pulled out two healing potions, throwing one to Rugrat and drinking the other.

As he spun, he saw that Rugrat was looking in better condition and had a tube in his mouth, connected to a camelbak of healing potion.

Erik used Mana Detonation on his left foot.

Another explosion of rampant Mana went off. Everything in a five-meter cone was affected, killing another spiritas. Two more were wounded and a mage that had been disabled wasn’t able to recover from his wounds.

More were piling in and Erik looked as though he were going to be overwhelmed.

Rugrat leaned on one side and fired his rifle, firing around Erik to hit the spiritas mages that had spells prepared, ready to hit Erik if there was an opening.

Their spells went wild, causing them to yell out in pain, but they weren’t heavily injured.

Erik dodged a punch. His storage ring flashed as a shotgun appeared in his hand. Erik fired it one-handed. If it was a normal human, they would be lucky if they just hurt their hand and got hit in the face with the shotgun. Erik’s high Strength allowed him to fire it like a pistol.

The spiritas’s chest disappeared as the Mortal-grade iron cut through the spiritas.

Killing the spiritas before, he had seen that poison didn’t work on the spiritas at all.

“Reloading!” Rugrat yelled out as he changed mags.

With the melee spiritas thrown back, it was the opening one of the waiting spiritas mages needed. With a flash of lightning, one of the mages unleashed a powerful stun spell. Erik cast Ranged Heal on himself as he saw the attack coming in.

Erik was hit with a blast in the chest and flew backward as his entire body tensed up. A Mana spear shot through the air as fast as a bullet. Erik was trying to get up as it pierced his armor. His armor took away a lot of the damage but the Mana rushed through his body, running through his Mana channels and tearing them apart.

Erik hit the ground. The Mana spear dissipated as Erik let out wet coughs.

The Ranged Heal did healing over time, so it would work for a few more seconds. Rugrat didn’t want to think what would happen otherwise. He pulled out a couple vials of healing powder and threw them close to Erik. They broke on the ground and they released a cloud that Erik inhaled to help with his wounds.

The melee spiritas were recovering and looked to Rugrat in anger.

The mages were already creating new spells.

***

Rugrat’s blood boiled. His mind, his body—it was alive; he was on full combat high. He knew he had to deal with Erik but he hadn’t lost his mind. He had to deal with the threats that threatened them both or neither of them were going to get out of this.

Rugrat fired on the mages, piercing right through the magical formations they were making.

The Mortal-iron cored rounds interacted with the spells.

One spell went catastrophically wrong, exploding in rampant Mana, killing the caster and badly wounding the other.

The biggest and baddest spiritas in the room, the knight, swung at Rugrat. It was the biggest but also the slowest, covered in armor.

Rugrat instinctively cast Explosive Shot on the round inside his weapon. He came up and stuffed the barrel between the knight’s helmet and chest plate, and pulled the trigger.

As Mana-altered beings, the spiritas had a weakness to Mortal iron. The Explosive Shot buried itself in the knight’s skull and went off, sending shards of Mortal iron through its body.

Rugrat was pushed back, but the knight’s armor had contained most of the explosion.

Rugrat saw Erik out of the corner of his eye. He still had a big hole in his chest and Erik’s face was pale from shock; his mind was a mess and unable to put together a coherent thought. Thankfully, the cloud of healing powder was accelerating the healing and Erik’s own Body Like Stone increased his ability to regenerate.

Rugrat’s rifle snapped up, putting Explosive Shots into the remaining melee types.

He changed weapons and pulled out Big Momma. Red lines ran from his hands over the weapon and into the magazine as he cast Explosive Shot.

It took but a second as he kicked the knight’s armor that had remained standing up to the ground. He fired on the mage before they were able to cast; his round pierced through their spell as they were just releasing it.

The Explosive Shot hit the spell, causing it to detonate and then detonating itself. The Explosive Shot and the spell went off; the mage was torn apart, leaving a tombstone.

Rugrat checked the area quickly and rushed to Erik, pulling out healing potions and tossing down his rifle.

“Erik, talk to me, buddy. How are you doing?” he said—more like yelled. He tried to contain his own panic at seeing the hole in his friend’s chest as he poured the healing powder directly onto the wounds.

Some clarity started to return to Erik’s eyes. Rugrat knew it was only Erik’s constitution, the combination of healing spell and healing potions, keeping him alive.

Rugrat tossed the empty Health potions to the side and put one of his hands on Erik’s chest.

The air in the room stirred as all of Rugrat’s open Mana gates drank in Mana from the surrounding area as he poured out Focused Heal into Erik.

The fog in the room was being stirred up and commanded by Rugrat, turning him into the focal point of the room. The power Rugrat was pouring out was incredible. Erik’s chest was being stitched back together at a visible speed.

The room started to shake, including the three altars that were arranged in a triangle in the middle of the room.

Rugrat moved around Erik and pulled out another healing potion. Looking toward the center of the room, he poured the healing potion into Erik’s chest.

Erik let out a grunt as Rugrat felt the healing on Erik’s body accelerated. Erik’s face was a snarl, but Rugrat could tell that Erik was using healing spells to repair his Mana channels.

The altars rose up and moved to the side.

Coffins rose up from underneath. They were made from mithril, but the normally shiny metal was covered in what looked like rust.

From the pictures, Rugrat knew that it wasn’t rust—it was old blood.

The coffin lids opened and hands extended out to grab the sides of the coffins.

“Shit.” Rugrat stepped over Erik so he was kneeling over him. His back left knee touched Erik still, so he could use Focused Heal as he pulled out Big Momma.

Rugrat took his time sighting and firing. With his increased reaction time and marksman skill, there was about two or three seconds between each shot as he nailed the hands of the things that were trying to get out of the coffins.

One lost its hand while another lost their grip and fell back down. The last started to rise up.

A magic circle flared to life on the ground around the altars turned coffins, but it failed to fully activate.

Rugrat finally saw what was inside the altar-coffins: spiritas knights.

He didn’t hesitate to fire again when he saw an opening. The knight took a hit to the helmet. The Explosive Shot went off. The force and its weight made it fall out of the coffin but it was clearly wounded.

The blue circle that had faded now flared back into life, pushing back the Mana fog as a magical circle appeared on the floor. A blue barrier started to form from the ground, rushing upward.

Rugrat braced himself and pulled the trigger as fast as possible. For him, shooting Big Momma from standing was no harder than shooting his personal rifle back when he had been a normal human on Earth.

Bright splashes appeared on the barrier as the sound of explosions rang out from his repeated hits.

Erik grunted as Rugrat ran out of ammunition.

“Reloading! Looks like a Mana barrier!” Rugrat yelled out as the wounded knight and its two fellows got up.

The central altar tilted upward slowly.

“I don’t have a good feeling about that. Someone’s powering that barrier—it’s not a formation.” Rugrat slapped a new magazine into the gun.

Erik rolled over and started to get up, his face still pale. Rugrat was worried about him; there was still a hole in the front of his armor but his skin underneath was nearly done healing.

“It’s made of magic but it stops physical impacts. Try the grenades,” Erik said.

Big Momma disappeared and grenades appeared in Rugrat’s hands. “Good point!” He tossed the grenades at the barrier.

When they had run into the spiritas, they had used Mana-based attacks and Erik had tested out poison. But not having true physical bodies, the spiritas’ weren’t affected and continued on as they had before.

The grenades went off, making the barrier shake. Erik got to a kneeling position and pulled out his grenades, tossing them at the barrier as well. The barrier started to shake with all of the explosives going off. At around four grenades, it started to dim and flare, as if it were having trouble sustaining itself.

Rugrat cocked his head to the side as he felt a disturbance in the room. The fog that had been pushed away from the center of the room was now swarming toward it, toward the rising altar that locked into place, completely upright.

The altar was of a higher quality than the ones the knights who were guarding it had risen from, as if waiting for something.

“Something is powering its ass up in there!” Rugrat yelled.

Erik grabbed a Mana potion and downed it.

Rugrat focused on spells that increased his ability in smithing and augmented his weaponry. Pure destructive magic—he hadn’t looked into that much: if he could make stronger guns then he didn’t need Mana bullet.

He’d learned it but unlike Erik he hadn’t refined it.

Rugrat pulled out grenades, tearing the tabs out with his teeth, and tossed them.

“Shit, that’s a lot!” Erik, now linked to Rugrat’s Mana system, was not only pulling Mana through his own Mana gates and utilizing his own stats, he was using Rugrat’s as well. If he wanted to, he could drain Rugrat of all his Mana.

The two of them didn’t even think of this as Erik unleashed a Mana bolt. It hit the Mana barrier and fizzled out.

Erik altered the next one. It hit a few seconds afterward. Added to the grenades Rugrat was firing, it was like a mortar shell, causing a crater to form where the barrier met the floor.

Erik increased the power, getting used to being linked into Rugrat’s Mana system and the synergistic balance between them both.

He could only fire a Mana bolt every eight seconds, but with Rugrat compressing his Mana and Erik just needing to fire it, it was like a loader and gunner working together perfectly, adjusting to each other’s needs.

The Mana bolts landed faster and faster, like a grenade launcher going off.

“Fuck yeah!” Rugrat yelled out. Erik even grinned slightly at the scene of destruction. The Mana barrier looked to be on the cusp of failing when the central altar exploded. A tall spiritas stepped out. The Mana seemed to be naturally attracted to the glowing creature that was hard to look at.

The power in the barrier rushed back toward the lord. Erik and Rugrat didn’t pause at all. The knights’ roars as they charged forward was drowned out by the sounds of falling Mana bolts.

The lord raised his hand; three lightning bolts shot out and reached the knights, imbuing them with a buff as their speed increased.

Their armor took a beating but they waded through Rugrat and Erik’s attacks. Rugrat stopped throwing grenades as they were ineffective against the knights.

The spiritas waved his hand again and again in the same motion. A spell formation appeared in front of his hand, spinning and stretching, becoming a cone as Mana was pulled into it, giving birth to green flames and transforming into a flame tornado.

Next time I need to make some with Mortal-grade iron—that way it’ll at least rip these Mana assholes apart. This lord needs to cool it on the fucking casting!

“Unlink!” Erik yelled.

Rugrat and Erik broke their connection and they both pulled out their weapons. Erik engaged the knights, his rounds sparking off their armor but still slowing them.

Rugrat aimed at the lord, who let out a roar. A new purple light fell on the lord and his minions. Their eyes turned from blue to purple.

“Berserk!” Rugrat called out as he fired at the lord. Amazingly, the spiritas lord seemed to move slowly but shifted to the side. The round missed him and slammed into the altar/coffin behind him. The Explosive Shot and round blew a section of the altar apart.

A blue glow shone from within the altar.

“Dungeon core!” Rugrat yelled out. Finally, the thing that they had been looking for all of this time was in front of their eyes!

It was embedded into a formation that passed through the altar and into the rest of the dungeon.

Rugrat didn’t miss how the spiritas lord flickered and the knights’ pace slowed. “They’re linked to the core somehow!”

“Serpentine—shoot it! I’ll distract!” Erik ran to the left as Rugrat ran right. The flame tornado sped up and rushed Rugrat, leaving a deep groove in the ground as it cut its way through the room.

Rugrat ran full out and jumped off a pillar, feeling the heat and the cutting power of the flame tornado as it shot past. It tore the pillar apart and sent rocks flying, hitting Rugrat. He found his feet and kept firing on the formation around the dungeon core.

The lord waved his hands again. Another flame tornado spell was forming. Erik altered his aim and fired on the forming spell. He hit it, disrupting the spell and causing a Mana backlash in the lord’s Mana as it sent its flame tornado at Erik. The knights, who were now closer to Rugrat, started to rush him.

Erik’s Strength and Agility was much higher so it was clear the knights wouldn’t be able to catch up to him.

The flame tornado increased in power as its speed shot up. It rushed Erik, leaving him no room to escape.

Erik cast multiple Ranged Heals on himself and turned in to the tornado.

“Erik!” Rugrat yelled out. He expected Erik to be torn apart; instead, Erik’s Agility and Strength came into play. His explosive force as he shot toward the tornado allowed him to create his own trajectory. His Agility allowed him greater control over his body and he used his Strength perfectly as he only caught the outside of the tornado and was flung across the room.

Erik slammed into the side of the main altar, cracking its side. Erik grabbed the dungeon core. “Yes!”

==========

You have successfully claimed the dungeon: Desert Spiritual Palace for your own.

==========

The lord started to yell out a cry but as he started to cast a spell, power was being ripped from it. His Mana was no longer under its control. The knights became sluggish as they turned from running to barely being able to walk.

Erik pulled out his rifle and fired at the lord. Rugrat turned on the knights and shot them too. In moments, there were four more tombstones in the room.

“Shit.” Erik slumped down and leaned against the broken altar.

Rugrat looked around, scanning the room. He moved to Erik, feeling safe with his buddy beside him to watch his back.

“Crap. Still on potion cooldown,” Erik said weakly.

Rugrat was starting to feel the effects of the fighting. If this was Earth, he would have been out of the fight within the first few moments with the melee spiritas’s blade.

With healing spells and concoctions, he’d needed some time but he had been able to get back on his feet in a few minutes.

Erik wouldn’t have survived back on Earth.

Rugrat’s thoughts turned there. Before he thought anymore, he cleared his throat. “You know if we’ve got anything more to fight?”

“I’m accessing the interface,” Erik said. “Doesn’t show any more spiritas. There are five people in a room, though.”

“Close?” Rugrat asked.

“No, looks like they’re trapped there. I can’t get much information from this. This place is built like a prison, mostly linked to the shackles. If we didn’t deactivate the traps or we had touched the shackles on the skeletons, we would have woken up these bastards earlier.”

A chill ran down Rugrat’s spine. He didn’t want to think what it would be like fighting them in an enclosed corridor or if they were prepared and all awake at once.

Erik grunted and pulled out some salve.

“What’s up?” Rugrat asked.

“Well, I might have broken my back using the flame tornado to get over here. Apparently this altar thing is pretty sturdy.”

Rugrat slowly nodded as he continued to survey the area. He used Simple Inorganic Scan with one of his hands to see whether there were any traps in the area. It didn’t look as if there were. After all, this was the inner area of the dungeon and the home of the leader of the dungeon.

Putting traps in your own bedroom wasn’t the best idea.

“Let’s recover, loot the bodies, and check this place out some more. Then we can go and check on the five people trapped in here,” Rugrat said.

“Yeah.” Erik sounded a bit shaken up. After all, he had another close and terrifying scrape with death.

Rugrat was a bit scared for him. He watched Erik out of the corner of his eye as he shook his head and started to treat his body, focusing on his job and task at hand.

Rugrat could only press his lips together. Needs time to process, be best to keep him active, give him time to just live a bit, see more, do more and get distance from it so he can think on it.

Rugrat tapped Erik on the shoulder.

Erik looked up to him, confused.

They didn’t share any words; there didn’t need to be any. It was Rugrat’s way of confirming a sacred vow: I’ve got your back.

Erik nodded to Rugrat, acknowledging and repeating that same vow.

Rugrat grunted and stood. “Well, more loot. I wonder what these guys have on them.” Rugrat surveyed the room that was all torn to hell from the fight.

Better be goddamn worth it!

Chapter: Collecting Rewards

“What is that?” Ru Xie asked, waking suddenly as explosions could be heard off in the distance.

“I’m not sure.” Feng Yi had heard the sounds of battle earlier and was checking the few defensive formations that they had laid out in the room. It was the only reason that they had survived this long against the spiritas’ and their attacks.

Feng Yi held out his sword, looking outward. Ru Xie pulled out a crossbow. She looked odd with the large crossbow and her small frame.

The rumbling noises continued for some time, the dungeon itself shaking as the ambient Mana in the rooms was drawn in one direction.

A wailing noise cut through all of the walls, reaching the two’s ears before it was cut off abruptly.

With it, the explosions and noises from earlier died down.

“What was that?” Ru Xie’s crossbow shook as she looked to Feng Yi with wide eyes.

“It looks like someone was fighting the spiritas.”

“Did they win?” Ru Xie asked.

Feng Yi didn’t miss the hopeful note in her voice. He looked over and his heart clenched. He had given up on their situation long ago, but she still hoped and thought that there was a way out of this.

“Maybe,” he said, not willing to break her illusions. Who could defeat the spiritas? The formations only slow them down and they draw out a person’s life force, feeding on it and their Mana to sustain themselves and grow stronger.

Feng Yi didn’t lie to himself. He only had to look at the skeletons on the wall to know the truth: the spiritas’ were keeping them around as food supplies, consuming them slowly, digesting their power and then coming back again later so that they could recover slightly.

Feng Yi had his Mana drawn out of him three times. The others had all passed out after the fourth time, their Mana systems thrown into chaos.

He could feel that he would be no different.

He wanted to yell out in anger, to reverse his fate. A sense of powerlessness fell over him as he wanted to get stronger to defend the things he cared about.

***

Erik had his armor off. Rugrat had patched him up. Even though his body had mostly healed, there were still hidden injuries that needed attention with Focused Heal or time for Erik’s body to recover.

Erik and Rugrat sat against one of the walls, looking at the destruction. They were covered in dirt, grime, and sweat. Both of them still had their weapons out, close at hand.

Erik pulled out Stamina powder, sprinkling it into two pouches of peaches and syrup, and passed one to Rugrat. They ate the peaches and drank the syrup down. The powder added a gritty taste but they could feel their fatigue letting up.

With healing spells, it was hard on one’s Stamina, drawing energy from Mana and their body to recover.

They wolfed down the contents of the pouches, tipping it back to get every last drop of syrup.

“Damn, I’ve missed sugar.” Rugrat licked his lips and put the pouch into his storage ring.

“Yeah, maybe the cookhouse can come up with something,” Erik said.

They fell into silence again.

“Let’s see it then,” Rugrat said.

Erik snorted and picked up the dungeon core. It couldn’t be placed into a storage ring as it was still bound to the dungeon.

Rugrat took the dungeon core in his hands.

==========

Dungeon Core

Grade: Common Mortal Grade

Linked: Desert Spiritual Palace

==========

==========

You have come into contact with a dungeon core. With your title: Dungeon Master, new options are revealed.

==========

Do you wish to:

Take command of the Dungeon

Remodel Dungeon

Destroy the Dungeon

==========

Rugrat put his finger on Destroy Dungeon and a new screen appeared.

==========

Destroy Dungeon: Desert Spiritual Palace

==========

You will receive:

7289x Sandstone blocks

1x Common Mortal-Grade Dungeon Core

5x Humans

23x Thunder Mines

14x Teleportation Crystals

232x Thorium

1x Shield Spell Formation

534x Soul Manacles

1x Mortal-Grade Mana Cornerstone

87x Mithril

==========

Do you wish to destroy this Dungeon?

YES/NO

==========

“Damn, this Dungeon Master gig isn’t bad.” Rugrat looked over the items.

“We can use the thunder mines in Alva Dungeon to bolster its strength—maybe give a few to the formation workshop to break down. Same with the shield. Will have to see how powerful it is—can use it as a last line of defense for the living quarters. Thorium can be used to aid the mages in their armor and clothing. Can also use it for the formations. Soul manacles—maybe look at a few of them, melt the others down for metal. Must be a lot of resources in them. Mortal-grade Mana cornerstone?” Erik’s last words had a note of question behind them.

“Mana stones originate from a cornerstone. They’re said to be the heart of a Mana stone mine. In places of high ambient Mana, they can develop faster, actually growing Mana stones,” Rugrat said.

“So basically an organic Mana battery,” Erik said.

“Something like that.” Rugrat nodded. “And I think I just found it.”

Rugrat could sense the Mana fog in the room was being pulled toward the main altar. In fact, the ambient Mana in the surrounding area had been greatly depleted.

Rugrat got to his feet, shaking off the dust and debris on his body.

“What’s up?” Erik got to his feet as well, his upper body still covered in bandages as he stood.

“I can feel the Mana being pulled into the center of the room. I want to check it out,” Rugrat said.

“Okay,” Erik agreed.

The two of them moved through the area again, passing the knights and the different spiritas creatures with their hovering tombstones.

“Might as well get their loot too,” Erik said.

Rugrat nodded and tapped on a tombstone. He didn’t even look at the contents before hitting the Take All and throwing it into an empty storage ring.

They cleared a path to the center of the room.

Rugrat looked at the bottom of the altar coffin that had housed the spiritas lord. Although he could feel the Mana channeling down below, he couldn’t see where it went.

“Watch out!” Erik slammed his foot down. The strength behind it left cracks in the floor and a hollow sound could be heard. Erik slammed his foot down repeatedly until a piece broke away and light came from below.

Erik kicked some more of the floor free, revealing a glowing crystal that could only be the Mana cornerstone. The Mana in the room was all flowing toward it as the crystal started to slowly absorb it all.

“How long do you think till it’s absorbed all of the ambient Mana left in here?” Erik looked from it to the Mana fog that was dissipating slowly.

“Not long.” Rugrat looked at the remains of the broken formation in the altar. “From this, it looks like the dungeon core was channeling power into the spiritas lord. The Mana cornerstone acted as a storage device. Extra power was stored and pulled from it as time went on.” Rugrat knelt and put his hand on the Mana cornerstone.

His senses had only increased as he had attained the Mana king title.

“It looks like the lord was even consuming the power inside the cornerstone. It needs a lot more power to recover. If we can gather enough ambient Mana, I just want to see if we couldn’t make our own Mana stone mine. We could use the Mana stones to power up different formations and store our power.” Rugrat’s eyes shone as he looked at Erik.

“Basically a growing gold mine.” Erik nodded. “It sounds like a good plan to me. Let’s gather all the loot from the spiritas’ together, give it time to absorb the Mana in the area.”

“Okay. I’ll put down a Mana gathering formation to speed up the process.” Rugrat pulled out a large metal plate and put it over the hole in the floor over the cornerstone.

The threads of Mana fog sped up, drawn into the formation and then absorbed by the Mana cornerstone as it was so close. The cracked and damaged cornerstone started to shine brighter and repair itself.

Erik and Rugrat moved through the hall, looting the spiritas’.

***

Erik tapped on a tombstone.

==========

Spiritas Knight

==========

1x Silver Pearl

34x Gold

1x Bind Spell Scroll

Thorium-plated Sword

Thorium-plated Helmet

Thorium-plated Cuirass

Thorium-plated Greaves

Thorium-plated Boots

Thorium-plated Gauntlets

==========

TAKE/TAKE ALL

==========

Erik emptied the knight’s loot into his own storage rings.

“You been picking up any of these pearl things?” Rugrat asked from across the room.

“Yeah. I have no idea what they’re for.” Erik moved to the next spiritas tombstone.

They cleared out the remaining loot tombstones, with Rugrat looting the spiritas lord. He had pulled out an old book and started to read it.

“What you waiting on there, an invitation?” Erik asked as he was clearing up the last of the spiritas.

“It’s the lord’s experimental log. Looks like he’d lost all his goddamn marbles. Unfortunately, his followers were just as far out to lunch,” Rugrat said darkly.

“Well, what is going on here? What are these pearl things?” Erik asked, curious.

“The lord here was a mage called Emerakon. Twisted little fucker wanted to become closer to Mana, gain a greater control over it. He heard that there were beings called spiritas that live off pure Mana and are able to create massive and powerful spells.

“He started off researching the spiritas as purely academic, but as he got closer to the end of his life, he gathered other people who were looking to extend their lives or increase their strength through any means possible.

“He had found a dungeon core, though he calls it the alteration stone in this. He created the dungeon as a gathering place, hidden in the desert but close to multiple cities at the time.

“He and his followers would capture people. Using the manacles, they would bleed them of life force and Mana; using the dungeon core, they purified the Mana and stored it in the Mana cornerstone.

“Then they started to undergo their transformations. They imbued their souls into pearls and implanted it into their Mana cores.

“Then they went to rest in the different altars. They went to sleep and the dungeon core’s refined Mana was meant to enter their body, cleansing them of impurities and then powering up their Mana channels and soul pearls till they were reborn as spiritas.” Rugrat closed the book with a snap.

“One thing the dumb bastards didn’t think about: this Mana—it’s pure, making it a hell of a lot stronger. I’m not sure what happened, their bodies are transformed heavily, but their pearls have been overwritten.” Rugrat held one out.

“It was like they were trying to become goddamn Magneto by rubbing themselves in magnets and then saved their information to a hard drive. Dumb bastards.” Rugrat shook his head.

Erik let out a dismissive snort and shook his head. He noticed that his notification bar was blinking.

“Crap, I keep forgetting about that.” Erik always looked forward to the rewards he got and seeing his abilities increase, but with other things on his mind and when fighting, he always had them pushed off to the side.

“Huh?”

“Notifications.” Erik opened up the tab.

“Damn, I forgot about them too!” Rugrat said.

Erik was blasted with messages as he started to scroll through them.

==========

You have discovered a new technique:

Mana Detonation

==========

Focusing the Mana in your body, you can detonate it, inflicting immediate damage in an area five meters long and two meters wide. Can inflict Mana poison effect on targets for 10 seconds. Mana poison makes it harder for a person to cast a spell and burns through their Mana channels, wounding them internally. Targets with greater control over Mana than the one using Mana Detonation will be unaffected.

==========

Can cause bodily harm.

Mana usage varies.

==========

Reward:

10,000 EXP

==========

==========

Skill: Throwables

==========

Level: 22 (Novice)

==========

No bonuses at this time. You must prove your skills first.

==========

==========

Skill: Hand-to-Hand

==========

Level: 37 (Apprentice)

==========

Attacks cost 20% less Stamina

==========

==========

Skill: Marksman

==========

Level: 43 (Apprentice)

==========

Long-range weapons are familiar in your hands. When aiming, you can zoom in x2.0.

==========

==========

You have reached Level 19

==========

When you sleep next, you will be able to increase your attributes by: 15 points.

==========

==========

Title: From the Grave II

==========

A lesser person would have died, but you have turned the odds of fate and the grim reaper repeatedly. You’re a true survivor that has put one foot in the grave.

==========

Rewards: +1.00 modifier to Stamina and Mana Regeneration

==========

==========

267,444/355,000 EXP till you reach Level 20

==========

“Fucking, what!?” Erik yelled. He had jumped three levels in one shot! Killing the six beetles, I didn’t even increase a level, but from killing these guys, I shot up three levels!

“What’s up?” Rugrat yelled out, scanning the area with his rifle.

“Don’t worry about it. I just shot up three levels. I’m now level nineteen.” Erik looked over to Rugrat.

“Damn, nearly had a friggin’ heart attack!” Rugrat relaxed and glared at Erik.

“What level are you now?” Erik asked.

Rugrat’s expression only soured more. “Nineteen,” he said quietly, making it hard for Erik to hear.

So far he had been the one charging ahead, leaving Erik in the dust.

Erik let out an awkward laugh before clearing his throat. “I’m thinking that we should level up before we go and find those people in the dungeon.”

Rugrat nodded. “Agreed. We don’t know how strong they are, what condition they’re in. We should make sure that they make vows to not talk about any of this.”

“Good point. Haven’t had anyone turn on us yet but best to be safe than sorry,” Erik said.

“You take the first sleep. I can watch.”

“Thanks.” Feeling the aches and pains of his body, Erik knew that he needed the rest. It didn’t take him long to set up a place to sleep and close his eyes.

==========

You have 15 attribute points to use.

==========

Erik looked over his character sheet and started to plug them in.

==========

Character Sheet

==========

Name: Erik West

==========

Level: 19

==========

Race: Human

==========

Titles:

From the Grave II

Mana Lord

Dungeon Master

Reverse Alchemist

Poison Body

==========

Strength: (Base 26) +20

==========

460

==========

Agility: (Base 19) +21

==========

200

==========

Stamina: (Base 29) +8

==========

555

==========

Mana: (Base 6) +11

==========

170

==========

Mana Regeneration (Base 10) +30

13.00/s

==========

Stamina Regeneration: (Base 27) +25

11.40/s

==========

He put a full five attribute points into Strength, another three into Agility. With his explosive power and Agility, it was the only way he had been able to dodge so many attacks and use the lord’s own fire tornado to grab the dungeon core. Seeing the lower-leveled but deadly melee spiritas’, he couldn’t help but be stunned with their reaction speed.

If I could use that speed, land dozens of hits at once, mounting the pressure... Erik was already thinking of new ways to improve and increase his combat strength.

Stamina jumped by three points as he felt he had left it alone for too long and needed a greater Stamina pool to carry out short bursts of rapid attacks.

He left Mana alone. Now that he had reached Body Like Stone, he wanted to push forward, opening more of his Mana gates and compressing his Mana drops. With each Mana drop he compressed, his Mana pool would increase slightly so he didn’t see a great need for it.

With the upgraded From the Grave title, his Mana Regeneration and Stamina Regeneration increased slightly. Still, he placed two stat points into them both.

If Erik had a large Stamina or Mana pool, it would allow him to carry out one battle and use a lot of power, but it wouldn’t allow him to fight multiple battles or continue on for very long.

It was like running: he could jog at a good pace and go longer over further, eventually breaking down the run; at times, he could sprint but it would decrease his overall energy, rebuilding it slowly over the jog to sprint again. Or he could sprint and rest, sprint and rest, having to take that break or else his body would be overworked.

Erik and Rugrat switched around: Erik on watch and Rugrat using his attribute points.

Erik moved around the room. With the input of three levels’ worth of stats, even though he had slept, it would take more time for his body to adapt to all the changes.

He pulled out a map and then started looking at the places that were around Desert Spiritual Palace.

“First we need to find a city with a totem, then we need to either grow a Mana stone or make enough money to buy one and use it to return to the First Realm.” Erik pulled out a calendar with days ticked off.

“We’ve got just about six weeks until we need to be back at Alva Dungeon.” Erik noted down the different cities that were close by and put everything away.

Then he checked the accumulated loot from the spiritas’.

==========

400x Gold

4x Black Pearl

6x Silver Pearl

13x Blue/White Pearl

Purple Night Pearl

Emerakon’s Experiment Log

4x Bind Magic Scroll

2x Paralyze Magic Scroll

5x Bind Spell Scroll

4x Thorium-plated Sword

4x Thorium-plated Helmet

4x Thorium-plated Cuirass

4x Thorium-plated Greaves

4x Thorium-plated Boots

4x Thorium-plated Gauntlets

==========

“Hopefully someone is interested in the thorium and the pearls are worth something so we can raise the two thousand gold needed for the Mana stone. Over halfway there with the gold left over from the auction and the four hundred here.”

Erik sat back and waited for Rugrat to wake up.

I wonder how things are going back in Alva.

Chapter: Traderly Dealings

“Are you sure that there is no way we could interest you to stay with us for the next leg of the journey, Mister Storbon?” a middle-aged lady asked the youth in front of her.

He was still a teenager, but from the lines on his face, the look in his eyes, and that of his fellows, he was the clear leader of their group.

“Annette, I’m sorry but our paths must diverge here. My friends and I need to have some time off,” Storbon said.

She looked at the other people in his group. They all seemed relaxed, but the way they moved, the way they had their clothes—she had seen them snap into action before; she didn’t know their level but she knew that their combat strength wasn’t anything to laugh at.

She let out a sigh, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to tempt the group anymore. “Very well. Look after yourselves,” she said, emphasizing her last words. For ones so young to be like that, she wondered just what was driving them.

Most people just sat back and left the adventuring to others.

“We’ll try our best.” Yao Meng smiled.

Why do I think that promise won’t hold up, you bunch of fighting maniacs? She could only wave as she turned and left them. They also moved away from the market square to take care of other tasks.

***

“Just a few more months until we’re supposed to report to Alva,” Yao Meng said.

“I wonder how much it’s changed,” Yuli said.

“I wonder if Rugrat and Erik will be back in time,” Setsuko Ket said.

Storbon looked over to the archer.

“We’re all thinking it. I’m confident in them, but we all know just how volatile the Second Realm is,” she replied slowly.

“Yeah, it won’t be an easy thing to carry out, but if anyone can it’ll be those two,” Storbon said before he changed his tone. “Annette was right about one thing: we need some damn rest and we can also get rid of some of the items we have. We have to turn in just twenty percent of the value of our haul. Let’s see if we can’t get rid of the crap we don’t need, like the five dozen bushels of mushrooms that Ian bagged for us and try to get some manuals, spices, and materials that people back home would find useful.”

“Look at you, meeting the demands of others to increase our profits.” Yao Meng wiped away an invisible tear. “Ah, it’s so beautiful...you could be a trader yourself.”

Storbon pressed his lips together as the others laughed at him. Storbon rolled his eyes as his face split in a smile.

Adventuring through the realms is nice, but being away from home makes you appreciate it all the more.

***

Jasper and the other traders who had been sent to Vermire Trading Outpost were all sitting around a table in the back of a bar, nursing drinks.

There were a number of traders and people in the outpost. It was nearly three times the size of the Wild Reaches Trading Outpost and did nearly four times the amount of business. There were traders coming through the outpost all the time and fighters who went to try their luck in the Beast Mountain Range came to this trading outpost to get the true value for their high-quality goods.

It was an independent outpost, free from influence of any one kingdom, empire, or neighboring city.

The lord of the trading outpost had made agreements with them all to maintain neutrality and show that if one of the powers went against the management of the outpost, then the other parties supported would fall on them like a pack of wolves.

“So far trades have gone really well. We’ve been able to move even more products than we thought. There are a number of underground buyers and sellers here who don’t want to talk about their dealings,” one of the traders said to Jasper.

These groups were good buyers and sellers as they had less questions about the origins of an item. The margins of profit were lower, and prices were higher, but you were buying security with it.

“Good. It seems like the kind of place that we should set up a position in,” Jasper said in a low voice.

The traders all looked at him, catching onto his hidden meaning.

If we want to put down roots here, then we’d best know everything about the place so that we aren’t going in blind.

“I’ll get some sleep and maybe have a fire to warm these bones. We’ll talk in the morning,” Jasper said. Their reports done, they went their separate ways.

Jasper headed up to his room and pulled out his sound transmission device and a sound talisman. He repeated the reports he had just heard and then used the sound talisman so it would reach Alva Dungeon.

When he had said have a fire to warm his bones, it was a code. Having a fire meant send a sound transmission; bones was talking about Alva Dungeon.

Jasper looked out of the windows of the inn at the rain that was just starting to come down on the outpost. Through his window, he could see the lord’s manor in the distance.

***

A young man stood in front of a large set of bay windows, looking out into the rain.

He held himself up straight, even wearing an elegant robe. One could easily see his muscular frame underneath. Looking at him was like looking at a tower: sturdy to the point that it would not fall unless it chose to.

Three people knelt behind him, their hands on their hearts in salutes.

The man didn’t look around as lightning gathered in the heavens.

“So, my doves, you are telling me that there has been a recent increase in the selling of high-quality goods while there has been an increase in the purchase of low-cost items, specifically resources that can be used in crafting.” The man’s voice was neither slow nor fast.

None of the people kneeling refuted his words.

“Odd, truly odd. If it was someone looking to buy and sell high-quality goods, then it would be strange indeed. But many know of Vermire Trading Outpost. We’ve had nobles and kingdoms come here to liquidate their assets or make large purchases of items they need. Selling high-quality items and buying resources—it’s like someone is telling me that there is a group of crafters out there.”

The man sounded delighted as he turned around just as the first streaks of lightning darted down into the untamable Beast Mountain Range. “Who are they?”

“Lord, they are a group of several traders who came in from Beast Mountain Range just a few days ago. They are unknown and new to the city,” one of the “doves” said, not daring to look up.

“From Beast Mountain Range? Unknown? I want to know any and all affiliations that they have.” His voice didn’t rise but the first dove trembled.

“I looked into my contacts. No one knows them. It’s as if they appeared from the Beast Mountain Range. I even contacted others in different trading cities. They have seen them before, but again, they have come and gone from Beast Mountain Range,” a female dove said.

“Good, good. So—independent group, mysterious.” The lord laughed and smiled to himself. His eyes lit up as rain and lightning punctuated the silence.

“Very well. Approach them, hint to what we know. Get them to pay an extra fee for doing business here. I want to bring them over to our side. They must know of some secret in the Beast Mountain Range.” The lord turned around, shuffling slightly. If one looked at his lower body, they would realize that one of his legs was missing.

“Find it out. If they try to leave, bring them to me.” He waved his hand.

The three doves bowed once again and quickly left the room, locking it behind them.

The lord let out a sigh. “Left trying to overpower traders and look for secrets in the Beast Mountain Range. I remember when I was the one heading out of those gates for gold and riches.” He let out a bitter laugh as he rubbed his leg.

“Instead, I found out just what great friends my party members were, and learned how to rely on myself.” He rubbed the stump that was left of his leg.

“The rain always makes it act up,” he said. But in his mind’s eye, he could see the wolf with its bright-green eyes as it came out of the forest, ambushing them in the rain, the fighting, muffled cries and yells, people running away.

His party members stayed together and escaped the hunting group. The wolf must have tracked them; he was watching the rear when it came out from the underbrush and clamped down on his leg, ruining it.

They had gotten away again but the wolf was crazed and an infection had got into his blood.

He nearly lost his life and paid his leg to survive.

His friends were there for him for a few months, but he could see their anger, the way they looked at the stub.

As they grew in strength, he was just learning how to manage, selling the stuff they brought back, becoming a trader.

He had used his strength to carve out a place for himself. He didn’t take any shit from anyone. He wanted it to be a place for his friends to come back to, to spend more time with him.

Then, they had told him.

They were leaving for the Second Realm. They said how sorry they were. He congratulated them and celebrated, but inside he was falling apart.

He had turned to drinking, to building up his own outpost, and they had left. Years had gone by and all he was left with was an outpost and one leg.

He looked to the side, where a snarling wolf head was stuck to the wall.

“But I got you, didn’t I,” he said. With the flash of lightning, one could see the green light in the stuffed wolf head’s eyes.

***

Erik and Rugrat checked over their gear. Erik’s cuirass was a mess. He pulled on an old set of body armor underneath a large cloak to give himself some protection.

He didn’t miss Rugrat looking at the armor. He wanted to say something, but he knew it would be useless.

Rugrat had made the armor to protect him. It had taken a truly massive amount of damage in the battles in the Second Realm and Erik would have been seriously wounded or unable to fight if not for the armor.

He knew Rugrat and saw the look in his eyes as he saw the armor or when he looked at his storage ring with determination.

Erik would bet money that Rugrat would begin working on a new set of armor as soon as possible.

They pulled on cloaks to hide their weapons and armor. They simply didn’t know what they would meet in the other room.

“All right, you’re going to go into the room, check on the people there, then pull them out of the dungeon. I’ll wait on the other side, ready to assist if they turn aggressive. Once you’re out and give the signal, then I’ll destroy the dungeon, take in all of the materials and meet you outside,” Rugrat said.

“Works. Let’s get this done.” Erik moved his shoulders and got his body armor seated properly.

“Okay,” Rugrat said.

They moved toward the room where the five humans were supposed to be.

***

Feng Yi and Ru Xie had slept on and off since the explosions. They were simply too tired to stay awake for the entire time.

The other three were still in a bad situation. They didn’t have any concoctions to alleviate their symptoms or to help them out.

One of the doors into the room shook violently. It was hit again. Cracks formed across it before the third hit; it exploded inward, revealing a man wearing a black cloak.

“Howdy, folks. Fine day...what’s wrong with them?” The odd man who had been waving frowned and looked at the three girls who were unconscious on the ground.

Feng Yi grabbed his sword and stood. The man seemed wholly focused on the three girls as Ru Xie looked at him with wide eyes.

Feng Yi didn’t know whether the man would help them or take advantage of them.

He ran into a Mana shield and tapped it. “Oi, get this out of the way. I can help them,” the man said.

“How do I know you’re not with the spiritas?” Feng Yi yelled back.

“’Cause I killed them all?” The man shrugged.

Feng Yi simply didn’t know what to make of the man.

“Feng Yi, Liao Ah is having a hard time breathing,” Ru Xie said quietly.

“Look, I swear on the Ten Realms I will not harm you unless you harm me or people I care about and that I will deal with you honestly and help your friends without any malicious intents,” the man said as the Ten Realms energy descended upon him.

A screen appeared in front of Feng Yi, confirming his words.

Feng Yi looked at the screen, his sword shaking. With a hot breath, he deactivated the formations.

The man moved over to them and looked at the three women. “Crap. They’ve been torn up on the inside—heavy injuries internally. Mana channels are a mess—no regeneration. Okay, let’s get them and everyone outside. The screwed-up Mana in here isn’t helping us out any.

“You grab one of them. I’ll take the other two.” The man grabbed Liao Ah and Ru Guo, and put them on his shoulders with ease.

I can’t tell his level but he’s strong and if he really did kill the spiritas’? Feng Yi stared at the man as he moved toward the door.

“Okay, but what’s your name, mister?” Ru Xie asked.

“I’m Erik, just Erik. Hurry up, you two.” He moved to the doorway that they had come in and that had collapsed behind them when they set off a trap.

Erik kicked at the doorway as Ru Xie and Feng Yi grabbed Cai Dan. Usually it wouldn’t have been hard; now, they were so tired that they were having a hard time not dragging her.

Erik struck out at the door, breaking down the rocks and opening a passageway.

Feng Yi felt the rush of fresh but hot air on his face and couldn’t help but speed up.

Yi and Xie looked at each other. It didn’t seem real as they went up the stairs behind Erik.

Once outside, he put the two girls down on the sand. He sent a sound transmission as well.

Yi and Xie set down Cai Dan, both of them looking out on the desert.

Feng Yi dropped to his knees. He had never seen such a beautiful sight.

“Get this down you.” Erik held out cooked meals for them both.

Ru Xie had wet eyes as she stuffed food into her mouth.

Erik waved his hand and fired out green bolts that landed on each of the women.

“Healer?” Feng Yi asked, seeing the spells. But healers don’t come out of the cities.

Feng Yi’s thoughts were interrupted as the ground started to shake and shift. The sand dune behind them started to descend.

A man suddenly appeared in midair.

“Ahhh!” He landed in the sand face first, cutting off his yell.

He was spitting sand out everywhere as the sand dune reduced in size. The doorway emitted a flash of light and then it was gone.

The man who had come from midair was getting up slowly and dusting off as much sand as possible.

“Give me a hand, will you? They’re in pretty bad shape,” Erik said. Clearly he knew the man.

Feng Yi grabbed his sword again.

“What’s up with them? They don’t seem to have all that much Mana going through them,” the new man said, getting up.

“The spiritas’ attacked and drew out their Mana and life force.” Ru Xie lowered her head.

“Don’t worry. Their Mana channels have been damaged because of the spiritas forcefully pulling Mana from them, but they’ll be okay.” Erik smiled at her and turned to the other man. “Want to get a shelter together, check them out as well, get some food, water and healing going?”

“On it,” the other man said with a smile. “My name is Rugrat. Your friends should be okay soon,” Rugrat said, trying to reassure them.

“You got first watch? I want to check on the others still,” Erik asked Rugrat.

“Fine with me,” Rugrat said, allaying some of Feng Yi’s fears as Erik took over caring for them and their friends.

Feng Yi watched Erik closely and drank some water. He saw the color coming back to the girls’ faces as Erik continued to use healing spells on them.

Chapter: Destination

A few days had passed since their first meeting but the atmosphere had changed. Jasper had a serious expression on his face as he looked at the traders.

All of them had been selected not only for their trading skills but how they collected information.

“Someone seems to be paying close attention to us and they’ve got some power behind them to get the people of the city to move. All of them are imposing an extra tax on buying and selling our goods. Even the underground sales avenues are acting odd,” Jasper said, putting together the different reports.

“I don’t like it.” He thought for a few moments before coming to a decision. “Let’s head back. We’ll send in others to check out Vermire later.”

The others couldn’t help but look disappointed, but they listened to his words.

Jasper’s voice was quiet and he was using a formation that was supposed to contain his voice. Still, he felt as if there were a dozen sets of eyes on him.

“I’m going to collect a few things from my room.” Jasper stood and headed upstairs.

He made a full report on everything and then sent it to the rest of the council, saying that he would report in every few hours. He finished sending the sound transmission and headed back down stairs.

With a wave of his hand, the others got up from the table as well and they left the bar.

They headed out into the night and through the roads toward the gates that led into the Beast Mountain Range.

“Ready yourselves,” Jasper said. A crossbow appeared in his hands underneath his cloak.

They made it to the gate; instead of just a few guards, a group of about twenty were lounging around.

In their center, there was a man with crossed arms. His forearms were massive. He stood beside a two-handed hammer that rested in the dirt by his side. His right side of his face was a mess: a claw mark ran down the side of his head and his eye socket was sewn shut.

“Mister Jasper and your trading associates, this humble one is called Pan Kun. Lord Aditya wishes to talk business with you. I’ve been sent to escort you to visit him.” Pan Kun grinned and put his hand on the hammer in the dirt.

“We’ve got people behind us,” one of the traders said as another group of guards strolled out of an alleyway, blocking off their exits.

Jasper looked around the area. They could try to get on the rooftops and run for it. None of them were under level thirteen now, but the man in front of them was level thirteen and there was another behind them.

Though they had training from Glosil and time out in the Beast Mountain Range with Blaze and the parties to increase their combat skills before they started trading, fighting an animal and a human were very different things. Jasper also knew that if he didn’t send a message to the council in a few hours, they would send someone after them.

Jasper lowered his hand to the other traders. They put their crossbows away. They had complete trust in him.

“Very well. I’ve always thought it would be interesting to meet with the Vermire Outpost’s lord.” Jasper smiled.

He was thinking about his decision, filled with fear that he was making a terrible mistake, that he was taking his people into danger. He was, but they still stood beside him. That trust was a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

Pan Kun seemed a bit surprised. The smile on his face dimmed slightly and his eyes thinned. His face quickly bloomed into a smile and he held out his hand. The hammer disappeared into his storage ring as he stepped forward. His guards moved with him.

All of them were strong but they sported injuries that would bar them from joining a party and heading into the Beast Mountain Range.

Jasper took this all in. He had heard of the Vermire guards’ requirements and that those who got special treatment were those who had been disabled in the Beast Mountain Range and were unable to join another party.

They were incredibly loyal to their lord and even if they reached above level ten, they didn’t head to higher realms.

They were called the half-dead Legion of Vermire and their combat strength was impressive, even if others said that they were crippled.

When Jasper said he would be interested in meeting Lord Aditya, he wasn’t lying.

Pan Kun and the two guard units led the way, taking them down back roads until they reached a side door into the lord’s manor.

***

Erik worked on the three others as Feng Yi watched Rugrat and Ru Xie was watching Erik.

“Are you a healer?” she asked.

“I can use healing spells, so I guess I am.” Erik pulled out a powder from his pocket and a set of needles. He used water to adhere the powder to the needle before he jammed it into several different position on Ru Guo’s body.

Ru Guo breathed in as if surfacing from underwater. Mana was drawn toward her as she settled back down, her eyes still closed.

“What did you do?” Ru Xie asked in a panic as Feng Yi held his sword.

“Just helped her a bit. You people are too reliant on Mana, so without it, it’s like you don’t have oxygen. I just allowed her to accept more Mana into her body, diverting around the ruined Mana channels.” On Erik’s hand, a spell formed before he pressed it down on Liao Ah’s chest.

“Y-you!” Ru Xie cried out, about to hit him for taking advantage of their leader. But his eyes were closed as power poured into Liao Ah. Her pained expression died down as Feng Yi saw a green energy moving through her body.

“Calm down and watch.” Rugrat held a weapon at the ready to defend Erik as he was working.

The two glared at him and then Erik as they traced their storage rings.

Erik pulled his hands away. Green light still moved through Liao Ah. His head was covered in sweat as he moved to Cai Dan, once again gathering his power and then pouring it into Cai Dan. Her whole body started to regenerate from the point of Erik’s hand, moving up and down her body, clearing away her pained expression and making her look at peace.

Erik stood with a sigh. He looked tired but he was recovering quickly.

Ru Xie looked over the three women. “They’re in much better condition,” she assessed.

“Really, your medical training is lacking.” Erik shook his head and moved back to Ru Guo. He removed the needles and focused his attention, healing the girl.

Then he stood and looked over the three. “They should wake up in a couple of hours. They’re going to be fatigued and Stamina drained. With food and sleep, they should be fine. I’ll prepare something.”

“Those needles—did you use a powder on them?” Feng Yi asked.

“I used something on them,” Erik said, not giving anything back.

Feng Yi had seen a great number of things in his life. He had heard about powders that alchemists could make that were able to heal and change people. He knew that there were also apothecary powders, but their strength was so low that only people with little income would take them.

Looking at Erik and Rugrat, he could sense they were hiding their strength. To be able to defeat the spiritas—he had not met someone who could have done that. Then there was the fact of the dungeon disappearing. Feng Yi simply hadn’t heard of anything like it before.

They’re not like most people in the Ten Realms. They wouldn’t have cared about healing us; instead, they would have probably killed us to keep their secret. The wealth one can get from a dungeon is no small matter. They are places that can bend the normal rules of the Ten Realms and are seen as cultivation holy grounds, with high concentrations of Mana for one to train in and strengthen their body and control.

Few questions were answered; more appeared.

Erik moved over to Rugrat and the two talked in low voices to each other.

Rugrat looked out over the area, pulling out his binoculars as Erik sat near him but with his eyes on the group.

“I feel like we’re being as watched as much as they’re watching the area,” Ru Xie said.

“You wouldn’t be wrong,” Feng Yi said.

They weren’t offended; they’d just met, so it made sense to not fully trust each other.

Ru Guo let out a cough and turned on her side, coughing more.

Ru Xie moved to her sister, wiping the sand away from her face and resting her head on her legs so that she wouldn’t breath in the sand.

Liao Ah’s body shook as she started coughing as well and sat up. Cai Dan let out a groan as she stretched in the sand as if she were waking up from a sleep.

Liao Ah opened her eyes and looked at Rugrat and Erik. She got to her feet as Feng Yi held out his hand.

“Boss, how are you feeling?” he asked.

Seeing Feng Yi there, her face was filled with questions. She stumbled a bit. Her body was still feeling the effects of having all of her Mana forcefully torn from her and was only starting to recover.

Feng Yi held her so that she wouldn’t fall.

“Where’s my help?” Cai Dan complained as she dusted off the sand he’d accidentally kicked onto her.

“Who are they?” Liao Ah asked Feng Yi, her eyes on Rugrat and Erik.

“Don’t know, but they said that they killed the spiritas’ and the one cooking healed you three up,” Feng Yi said.

Liao Ah looked to Feng Yi and then back to the two.

“You need to eat up. Your Stamina is really low and you’re close to exhaustion. I wasn’t able to heal everything. If I did, then you would be in worse condition.” Erik waved for them to join him.

“Thank you for your aid but—” Liao Ah started.

Erik frowned and stood. “Sit your asses down. Get some food into you. I’ll finish healing you, then sleep tonight and we can go our separate ways tomorrow.”

Feng Yi looked from Liao Ah and then toward the two men.

Liao Ah was stubborn and she might reject them out of spite. She looked to the rest of the group and took a deep breath. “Then I’ll have to thank you for your hospitality.” She ground the words out.

“How the hell did a group of traders like you get stuck in there?” Erik stirred the pot with the spoon he had.

“Around this time, there are a number of sandstorms in the area. We were looking to take shelter when we saw the doorway out of the sand. One of the storms must have cleared it off,” Ru Xie said. “We went in, thinking it was empty. We entered the room you found us in and a trap activated, blocking us in. We couldn’t get through any of the other doors and the spiritas’ would just appear in the room and attack us periodically.”

Silence fell as Erik nodded.

“Umm, also, thank you for everything,” Ru Xie said, perking up even as Liao Ah frowned at her.

“No worries. It’s part of a creed I made to help others,” Erik said.

“But that healing—are you from a healing house?” Feng Yi asked. Was he kicked out by them? I haven’t heard of a healer who fights as well.

“All right.” Erik got up and moved over to Cai Dan. “Can I have your wrist please? I want to see how you are.” Erik held out his hand.

“Okay.” She held out her arm.

Erik held her wrist, making Cai Dan tense up. She was only a young woman and having a strange man gripping her wrist wasn’t too normal.

“Okay, good. You should be fine in a few days. Need more food and water.” Erik moved to Ru Guo, who held out her arm with an awkward smile.

He nodded and took her arm. “Looks like your Mana pool will be increasing soon.” Erik cast a spell and green energy entered Ru Guo’s body.

Ru Guo let out a startled noise, followed by a relaxing sigh.

“Good stuff.” He moved to Liao Ah, who held up her hand to Erik as well. He nodded and let her hand drop.

“Okay, so everyone is on the road to recovery. Need food and water to keep your Stamina up but you should be fine.” Erik moved back to his seat.

“Now what we need is an oath from you all.” Rugrat put down his bowl.

Feng Yi and the others tensed up, feeling that this was the true reason they had helped them.

“Basically saying you won’t reveal our identities, our capabilities, this dungeon, or anything related to it or us,” Rugrat said.

“That’s it?” Liao Ah asked.

“Yeah. We’ve got places to be, people to see. Happy to help you out but we want to keep our own secrets, after all,” Rugrat said.

“Okay, we can agree to that,” Liao Ah said.

They all made an oath on the Ten Realms, satisfying Erik and Rugrat’s needs before everyone started to turn in for the night.

Rugrat continued to work on the cuirass as Erik moved off to the side and started to move through different fighting techniques.

***

Liao Ah cleared her throat, getting Erik’s attention as he kept on going through different fighting movements.

“I wanted to say thank you,” Liao Ah said.

“No worries. I wouldn’t be able to leave people there if I knew that I could help them and you guys seem pretty innocent,” Erik said.

Liao Ah fell into silence as he kept moving.

“Anything else?”

“Uh, where are you going?”

“Taeman city. It’s the closest and we have other things we need to do,” Erik said.

“Really?” That’s where we’re going next. Do they know or—? Liao Ah had to suppress her natural instincts to think the worst.

“Why do you ask?”

“We’re headed to Taeman city as well. Maybe we could go together?”

Erik slowed his movements and faced her. “Feng Yi said that you’re traders?”

“Yes.” Liao Ah nodded.

“Okay, we can take you there for a protection fee, or information. We don’t have any contacts in the city and we’ll need supplies. If you can get them for us, then count our debt as cleared,” Erik said.

Liao Ah thought on it for a few minutes. “Okay.” She held out her hand.

Erik shook it. “We’ll set off in a few hours when night comes. Get some sleep while you can. Rugrat and I don’t need to rest for three days before we stop.” Erik released her hand and started to return to training.

“Okay.” Liao Ah paused and faced him. “Was there something else in that stew?” She felt as if her strength had come back much faster than expected. A simple stew wasn’t able to do that.

A smile appeared on Erik’s face but he didn’t reply.

Chapter: Guest of the Lord

Jasper and all of the traders were escorted into a building separate from the main manor. The lord of Vermire’s home was a compound with multiple buildings to house various guests.

A number of guards watched the building but they weren’t trying to limit them in any way.

“What do you think they’re looking for?” one of the merchants asked.

“Information. Quiet,” another said.

Jasper pulled out his sound transmission device. “Does anyone’s sound transmission device work?”

After a series of nos, Jasper let out a deep sigh. There must’ve been something in place to stop any outgoing transmissions.

I hope that the council acts quickly. He might be acting nice, putting us up in a house and only limiting who we can talk to, but that might change in a hurry.

“The lord would like to see you now,” Pan Kun said as he entered the room.

“Lead on.” Jasper was interested to meet this lord. They might be trapped in his manor and compound but Jasper knew that his people weren’t pushovers. They still had their storage rings; they had enough high-value weapons and armor as well as devices that Rugrat and Erik had made to make one hell of a mess if it was necessary.

With this thought, Jasper felt more at ease as he followed Pan Kun.

He didn’t miss the look from the other man. His clear acts to try to intimidate and keep them on their toes had all fallen flat so far.

Jasper’s smile only grew as they walked through the manor. They passed through the compound and entered the main building. They passed guards. Again, most of them had some kind of horrible wound. They nodded to Pan Kun and showed interest in Jasper.

They came to a room with two guards wearing powerful armor.

Jasper looked at it. It was peak Apprentice-grade armor, not something that was easy or cheap to get in the First Realm. Even their weapons were of Apprentice grade.

He faced the door, which they opened, and entered. A man sat behind a large desk that fit his stature. Even though it was a large room, he seemed to take it up.

Different animal heads hung on the walls, as well as items on display that would make a merchant’s eyes sparkle.

Jasper looked over them with mild interest. He had seen better and although they were prized and powerful possessions for people in the First Realm, he felt that their grade was lacking. These were collector’s items and didn’t have the value of an item that provided a function.

“Mister Jasper, thank you for accepting my invitation.” Lord Aditya got up from his seat and came around the front of the desk.

Jasper looked from the man in front of him to the butler off to the side. He was a big man who had lost his leg.

“Interesting.” Jasper looked at the butler. “Well, to what do I owe the pleasure, Mister Aditya?” He smiled toward the butler.

“It looks like you have indeed been listening.” The butler stood straighter. A powerful aura came from him as the others in the room flinched.

“Oh?” Aditya said as Jasper didn’t show any differences.

You think that is impressive? Just watching Glosil and Blaze’s sparring matches is like a gale force wind to your breath.

“So, what can I do for you tonight, Mister Aditya?” Jasper moved to a seat and sat down, crossing his legs and pulling on his jacket.

“Level fifteen—indeed, you’re not simple.” Aditya moved to the couch opposite. The man who had been playing him and Pan Kun stood behind him, their faces hard as they traced their storage rings.

“Oh, don’t worry, boys. I’m not really the fighting type.” Jasper smiled as he looked to Aditya.

“More of a crafter type?” Aditya asked.

“My mother always wanted me to find a craft to make her proud, but I’m much better at bartering.” Jasper laughed away Aditya’s spiked question.

Aditya’s smile became more genuine as a spark appeared in his eyes. “Looks like you’re not at all like you appear.” Aditya laughed.

Jasper smiled simply and waited as Aditya’s laughter died down.

“I actually wish to propose a business deal to you.” Aditya smiled.

“Oh?” Jasper asked.

“It’s simple, really. With my resources and your contacts with crafters, I was wondering if you would want to make a trade?” Aditya asked.

Although the means of getting them to stay and meet them in the manor weren’t the best, it did put Aditya in a position of power. And he hadn’t done anything to them yet. Honestly, if I can get him to get all the supplies for us, then it would help us out a lot.

“I simply know of a good trade route, though it would make it easier if we worked together,” Jasper said.

“Mister Jasper, you and your fellows look tired. Why not retire and take a stipend every month to live out lives of luxury, with your needs tended to? With my name, no one will touch you. That way I can make sure to manage your affairs easily.” Aditya’s smile appeared to be caring but Jasper could see the fighting intent in his eyes.

“My mother also said that I should earn an honest living and retire when I am tired. I still have plenty of energy in my bones and things to do,” Jasper said.

“That really is too sad to hear.” Aditya made a sad face. “Well, please take a break. It must have been a tiring few days. No worries—I have some doves out looking for your friends in the Beast Mountain Range.”

“I’m ready to go back to my room now. I don’t think there is a need for any more negotiations?” He looked to Aditya, who quickly hid his frown with a smile.

“What is Mister Jasper talking about? I’m always interested in meeting new people. We’ll have to meet later when there are more guests!” He laughed. “Remember that I only seek cooperation.”

“Cooperation? Yes, Vermire Trading Outpost wouldn’t be bad,” Jasper said, having a new thought.

***

“We haven’t heard from Jasper and his group in Vermire Trading Outpost for a few hours now.” Elise’s tired gaze went to Blaze and Glosil.

“Push the scouts out into the mountain range—make sure that there’s no one coming for us. I’ll order the combat and trading parties to gather information about the Vermire Trading Outpost. I’ll send Special Team Two and two more combat parties under Roska to Vermire Trading Outpost immediately to find out more,” Blaze said. Glosil focused on defense and him on offense, but in military operations, Blaze was in charge.

Elise nodded. “Very well. Have them draw weapons and armor from the smithy. The council will cover the rental cost and they are to return it once they return.”

“Understood.” Glosil nodded to her and looked to Taran, who also nodded.

He didn’t want to give his items away for free, but with a group of theirs threatened, none of them would hold back.

Alva Dungeon started to move as people were called back on duty by the military. Three parties, numbering seventeen in total, moved through the Beast Mountain Range on panthers, aiming for Vermire Trading Outpost.

Chapter: Making Contact

The three parties didn’t talk as they moved through Beast Mountain. The panthers under them focused totally on rushing across the large mountain range. They were the strongest beasts that Alva Dungeon had raised through specially cooked meals, different potions, and battle.

The gnomes had raised a great number of creatures and Egbert had a lot of knowledge on them. He detested being around animals but still he happily gave lectures on the information he had gathered.

The creatures of the Ten Realms, if they were nurtured properly and ate high-grade materials, could increase their level and their strength.

This is what had happened with the Alva Dungeon panthers. They had broken through to level thirteen and were much stronger and faster than the same panthers that had attacked Alva Village.

Roska sat on her panther, moving with it. Her expression was cold as her cloak flapped behind her. Rain struck her in the face but she didn’t seem to mind.

On this operation, she was in total command of sixteen others and the panthers. Her job was to return the merchants unharmed and remove anything that might lead back to Alva Dungeon.

She was allowed to do as she saw fit to remove the threats and secure their people.

A beast shot out from the trees, aiming to kill one of the riders. A crossbow bolt shot it down. The panthers didn’t even pause their advance. To the fighters of Alva Dungeon, the Beast Mountain Range wasn’t much of a challenge. To the special teams, the only challenge was one another; they spent their time honing their skills at the dungeon instead of out in the range.

The distance quickly fell away as they ran all night. By the next morning, the rain was still falling. It was only by the next afternoon as the rain was dying down that they saw the outline of Vermire Trading Outpost.

“We’ll go around. Lucinda, use your bird to scout,” Roska said.

Lucinda nodded, not even complaining about Roska calling her tamed beast simply a bird.

It moved out from under her cloak and shook itself. Lucinda scratched his chin; he seemed annoyed at first but reluctantly listened to her.

Then, with a cry, he jumped, his wings flapping as he quickly climbed. After a few moments, it was hard to see him.

They waited, all of them looking outward. The panthers lay low, their eyes scanning the area as they lifted their noses to find any unfamiliar scents.

Lucinda raised her arm as Night Terror flapped his wings, cutting his speed as he landed on her arm silently.

He cocked his head to her and let out chirping noises.

Lucinda’s eyes showed magical circles in them that were mirrored on Night Terror’s.

“Good boy.” Lucinda fed Night Terror a treat; he ate it, happy with the praise.

Lucinda pulled out her map. If someone went to a place, then it was discovered on their map. With Night Terror informing Lucinda, all of the information was put on her map and she linked it to the others’ maps, allowing them to get the rough outline of the buildings.

Roska looked over the map of the city and then the manor. “Guard rotation?”

“There are four guards on the wall. They’re at these locations.” Lucinda put down markers. “They looked bored and uninterested. If I am in close proximity to Night Terror, then I can see through his eyes and watch for movements.”

“First party will come with us. Seventh party will remain here with the panthers. Seventh party, you will act as backup or a distraction if needed. If everything goes to plan, then you won’t have to enter the trading outpost. If it goes wrong, you will head into the mountain range and wait for reinforcements.” Roska looked to Lucinda.

“Understood.” Lucinda nodded.

“Once we enter the trading outpost, we’ll move toward the lord’s compound. Yang Zan, Han Wu—you are our best at stealth. It will be your job to enter the compound and gain information about it and reach our people and make contact with them.

“We need to know their condition, to see what is inside the compound. Take your time. If you trip an alarm, then we will move toward the lord’s manor. If we get him as a hostage, then we can use him as leverage to free our people,” Roska said.

The two women signaled their understanding.

Roska looked over the map again. “If we are able to get to our people, Tully, you will need to create a distraction at the northern side of the trading outpost. Niemm, you will need to create one at the western side of the compound.

“Imani, Gong Jin, and I will be in direct support, with the remaining people from Niemm’s party for Yang Zan and Han Wu to recover our people and exit the same way that we entered. Niemm, your remaining people will mirror their actions and aid in covering our people’s exit.

“Once they are recovered, Lucinda, your team is to evacuate them back to the dungeon. The rest of us will meet up at this location.” Roska marked down a new position. “We will wait there for ten minutes and then scatter.”

The people around the maps looked at the different markings that showed their entrance into the trading outpost, then the lord’s compound, where the distractions would be, and the exfil route.

“Burn it into your heads. We don’t have room to screw up.” Roska’s look came to rest on Yang Zan and Han Wu. “Once you are inside, we will be coordinating off you. We need to know what is going on and what we need to do. If they’re in trouble, we need to act immediately so make sure that you keep us in the loop on everything that is happening.”

“Understood, boss,” Yang Zan said.

Roska looked to Lucinda. “Time to get Night Terror up in the skies so we can get over the wall. We’re burning night.”

***

The last of the group landed on the other side of the wall and ran over to where the rest of the group was waiting.

They moved out from where they were hiding and moved into the trading outpost.

People were moving around, going home or going about their day. Tully and two of Niemm’s people peeled off and headed into the trading outpost to prepare a distraction.

Another went to go and find a bar to drink in and relay the information between the parties.

The rest of the group broke up into groups of two and three, taking different routes to a rally point outside the compound. Lucinda used Night Terror to find a stall that had been closed down for the night and was close to the lord’s compound.

“It looks like there are formations on the compound,” she said to Roska as they walked through the streets.

Roska turned her head to the side but didn’t look back. “I’ll be heading in with you two. I can break down the formations.”

“Yes, boss,” Wu and Zan acknowledged.

They reached the abandoned stall. Then, with Lucinda watching out, they found a break in the patrols moving around the wall that surrounded the compound.

Imani, Niemm, and Davos rushed out with Roska, Wu, and Zan. The three men set themselves at the bottom of the walls. The women stepped into their hands, being hurled upwards as they jumped at the same time, reaching the top of the wall and getting over.

A spell formed on Roska’s hand as she touched a faintly glowing line. The line got brighter as it suddenly turned into dust.

She had used the butcher spell that she’d been given by Erik and Rugrat. It broke down anything that she cast it on, as long as it was dead and wasn’t too complicated.

The alarm formation was destroyed, just like that.

“Move. Two guards are walking the grounds. They’re to your left twenty meters and heading toward you,” Lucinda said, using the sound transmission device to talk to them.

The three men returned to their building as Lucinda watched from the sky.

The lord’s compound had a series of gardens with different plants and paths. There were private areas where the lord could entertain guests as well, making it a beautiful place. But with the complicated design, it was more for the guards to cover and there were hidden nooks.

“Jump behind that bush to your right! Patrol!” Lucinda called out.

Roska and the others jumped to the side, but rolled and used the dirt to soften the fall and the noise. All of them were wearing any light armor or items that improved stealth.

The guards walked by a few moments later.

“Getting chilly, man,” one said while yawning.

“Yeah. I can feel it in my bones. Winter must be coming.” The other sighed as they continued on their way, trying to waste the time left in their watch.

They moved through the gardens toward the building that they suspected Jasper and the other traders were being held in.

“I can confirm our people are in there. I see some familiar faces on the second floor. Main entrance—there are two guards in the alcoves. There are four on patrol around the house and there is one posted at every entrance way. I don’t see a way to get in,” Lucinda said.

“I have an idea. Get Night Terror to come down. I want to give him a message to deliver,” Roska said.

“On it.”

Night Terror landed on top of the bush they were hiding behind and cocked his head at Roska, who held out a piece of string and paper she had written on.

Night Terror offered his foot and Roska attached it. He took off and headed up high, circling the building.

“He got Jasper’s attention. He’s opened a window for him and he’s taking the message. He’s nodded and is moving into the building, talking to the others,” Lucinda relayed.

“Have him circle, look for an open window with the light off,” Roska said.

“He’s making a hold gesture,” Lucinda said.

“Let’s wait,” Roska said.

“He’s writing something,” Lucinda said.

The tension in Roska’s body only increased each minute that they lay in the garden, certain they would be found the next second.

“He’s written a note and is showing it to Night Terror. ‘Why not take over the trading city, threaten the city lord and get him to write a binding contract or oath to be our front man, do our bidding? Frees us and gives us control.’”

Roska sat there in the bushes, thinking on it. It makes sense. This area is heavily guarded because of our people being here, but the lord’s manor, there’s not many guards moving around. Those big bay windows—if we can find out where he is, then we can ambush him and force him.

“Use the note—point to the letters and ask, ‘What level is the lord?’” Roska said.

It took some time to get Lucinda to use Night Terror to point to letters to convey the message.

“Fifteen and a decent fighter, he says.”

“Get Night Terror to circle the lord’s manor and see if we can find him. Relay to the others,” Roska said.

***

Lord Aditya was working in his office, going over the latest information from his doves. He had created a large network to know what was happening with the different parties that he worked with. There was no knowing if one of them wouldn’t try to stab him in the back for even the slightest gain. He also had reports on the different groups of note in his trading outpost, the other trading outposts, and the tracking doves who were trying to trace back where Jasper and his people had come from.

Aditya rolled his feather pen around in his hand. A smile appeared on his face. “It’s been awhile since I’ve found such a hard target to deal with.” He laughed to himself, feeling melancholy. He had been similar to Jasper in a lot of ways. The difference was that he had the strength to back it up. Jasper might have a decent level, Aditya thought that he had been in a few fights here and there, but he wasn’t someone who looked to fight and hone his combat skills.

Aditya was confident he’d defeat him; with his people, their gear, and his backing, he was confident he wouldn’t take a loss. He hadn’t in twelve years.

He reached for the next report when he felt a chill run down his back and a knife slid across his neck. He froze as his heart accelerated, seeing the hand holding the blade and feeling another on his shoulder.

“Lord Aditya.” A woman’s voice came from behind him. “Best not to shout. I’m just here to trade.”

“Whoever you are, the people behind me will come after you,” Aditya said with confidence. His eyes focused on the doors, as if to summon the guards on the other side.

“You are rather resourceful, which makes you useful. Don’t make me think otherwise.”

“Useful?” He tried to turn his head but found the blade move slightly and cut his neck. He winced at the pain and stopped moving. Aditya was starting to feel as though he were out of his depth.

“Indeed. We need a broker and you seem to be the right man for the job. My boss has said so, at least. You will sell our goods, buy our supplies, and keep our names far from it. Of course, we’ll make you and your people make an oath.”

“You—!” The blade again pressed against his neck and drew fresh blood.

“Don’t test me. I’m only here because it will save my boss time and help people I care about.” The woman’s voice chilled.

Her hand on his shoulder tightened and the Mana in the room started to circulate angrily. He felt that he didn’t control his life anymore.

He had been in a position of power for a long time; he had forgotten this feeling. Now he knew it: the dry mouth, his heart pounding heavily as his body wanted to break free.

It was the fear of death, knowing that he tread a thin line between it and life.

“Okay, for ten percent—” he started, trying to tone down her anger.

Two people stepped out of the shadows: one with a crossbow, the other holding daggers.

The woman behind Aditya leaned forward. “I lied. This isn’t a trade—it’s a takeover.”

One of the people, the one with the daggers, sheathed a blade and stepped forward, putting a contract on the desk in front of him.

His eyes nearly bulged out as he saw the words on the contract. “I—”

“Now, Aditya, you made us come all the way here. Wouldn’t it be rude if you denied us this small request? You will benefit from it greatly. Who knows? If you do well enough, our leader might fix your leg.”

She let that hang there as Aditya’s entire body tensed up.

“He can heal limbs?” Aditya asked.

“He can,” she confirmed.

She had no reason to lie.

Aditya truly had no other option left.

“I, lord of the Vermire Trading Outpost, Lord Phillips Aditya, swear on my life and the Ten Realms to abide by the following contract...”

Chapter: Creating a New Ally

Blaze couldn’t help but laugh and shake his head as the council listened to the latest report that was relayed from Vermire Trading Outpost.

“Seems that Jasper’s not got a small amount of ambition,” he joked, looking to the others.

“From prisoner to owning the lord of the city—not a bad trade at all.” The worry in Elise’s features softened as she smiled and sat back in her chair.

“Damn, I owe him a drink. To be thinking of trade and the dungeon even when he’s wrapped up in the middle of it all. He put off his rescue to see that Roska and her people would have the opportunity to get Aditya.” Taran laughed, draining away his tension.

“I wonder what the expression must be on his face. We should be getting a message from him soon,” Blaze said.

***

Jasper was sitting in the house he and the rest of the trading party had been imprisoned in. He looked up at the knock at the door.

One of the merchants moved toward the door; the others all prepared weapons.

The door opened to reveal Lord Aditya, with a forced smile on his face.

“I am sorry for the inconvenience, Mister Jasper, to you and to your people. If you ever need anything from me, then I will be more than happy to help.” Aditya bowed deeply to them all.

Jasper’s sound transmission device lit up as he got a message from Roska.

“Very well.” Jasper stood and took a ring off his finger. “See that these are taken care of. I will be back in two weeks.”

He passed it to Aditya, who accepted it and bowed again.

Jasper leaned forward so only Aditya could hear him. “Shame we had to do business like this,” Jasper said as he walked past Aditya.

“Pleasure doing business with you!” Jasper said normally again as he walked out of the open door behind Aditya.

Aditya was doing all he could to keep a smile on his face as he moved out of the way and let the rest of Jasper’s party leave the house.

***

Aditya felt as if his guts were twisting. He wanted to monopolize all the opportunities that Jasper had held, but now he found himself under the thumb of Jasper and his people.

He had been too overconfident, thinking that there was no one who would challenge him. Instead, he had run into a wall, with Jasper’s mysterious allies appearing and forcing him into a contract that was unbreakable.

He was holding onto the hope that the woman had given him when she talked about someone who would be able to return his lost limb.

He had learned a lot losing his limb, but still he hoped that there was a way for it to come back. Healing concoctions helped and regrew some of it, but there was too much demand and too little supply. He had even started to take in apothecaries and group them together, pushing them to advance their Alchemy so they might be able to make something to help him.

Blessing or a curse, only time will tell.

“We’ll be seeing you soon.”

Aditya shivered as he heard that woman’s voice again whispering in his ear. He jumped and looked around but he couldn’t find anything.

“Lord Aditya, do you really want to let them go? Do you want us to follow them?” Pan Kun asked.

Aditya wanted to lash out but instead took a breath. He was now under someone and he didn’t need to lose his loyal followers.

“They are not to be touched. Treat them as if they were someone from one of the major alliances from now on,” Aditya said in a deep voice, his eyes finding Pan Kun’s.

Pan Kun’s expression turned pale as he bowed to Aditya. “I will pass on the word.”

“Go,” Aditya said. The energy started to leave his body from everything that had happened that night.

Pan Kun seemed to understand that Jasper and his people were not those to be messed with.

Aditya sat down in a chair, touching his neck. It was tender and there were a few bloody lines on it.

He moved the ring that Jasper had given him in the other hand. He pressed some of the blood on his finger to the ring; Jasper had removed his binding on it.

Aditya looked inside and nearly dropped the ring. There was clothing, armor, crossbows, bows, swords, shields, armor, healing poultices, food stores, uncut gems, formation plates, high-grade monster meat.

The items were all of the high-Novice grade and there were a few low-Apprentice-grade items as well. They weren’t high-quality luxury goods, but normal people couldn’t afford them. Only basic adventurers, mercenaries, soldiers, and crafters would be able to purchase them.

Aditya laughed at himself and pulled out one of the swords. He looked it over and moved it around. Then he pulled out a shirt, then a bow.

“Damn. Just where do you come from, Jasper?”

***

Erik and Rugrat were walking through the desert with the five others they had found in the Desert Spiritual Palace.

Their group’s name was Thantis Traders. They worked the area around the Hersht Desert. They made most of their coin going to the smaller settlements, offering their skills, buying specialty items from the smaller groups and then moving to the cities to sell them at a premium price. Feng Yi was an apprentice level smith and had an anvil and magic flame that allowed him to repair and work on different weapons and tools people brought him.

Cai Dan was a tailor who could fix clothes and leather armors as well as make new clothing and robes for the villages they visited.

The other three were true traders. Well, Ru Xie mostly tagged along and did odd jobs. Liao Ah and Ru Guo were their appraisers; they sold their services, bought and sold items.

They were just coming back from the villages where they had sold nearly all of their food and water in return for rare metals and gems as well as sculptures and antiques that people in Taeman would be interested in.

“So you’re from Taeman city?” Erik asked.

“Yes, originally. We’re actually one of the trading groups under the Ekeem clan. They’re one of the five great powers in Taeman city. There is also the Gu clan, the Aldair clan, the Luo clan, and the Xi conglomerate,” Liao Ah said proudly.

“So, are you someone from the Ekeem clan?”

“No. It would be better to say that they gave us a loan at the beginning and give us a place to sell our goods with ease. It is a good way for a clan to make residual income without having to do much.” Liao Ah shrugged. “It’s good money and it pays for our costs.”

Erik nodded. People needed to survive. As he went through the Second Realm, the people weren’t all that different from those in the First Realm or on Earth. Sure, they thought about becoming adventurers, to ascend the realms, or becoming a business leader or celebrity. But it was one thing to hope to become those people and another to step out and actually become one.

Those who were in special sects and clans started life with the thought and goal to ascend and become stronger, but to the normal people who didn’t have a great backing and were simply born into the Ten Realms, fighting to become stronger, going against their overlords? These kinds of thoughts didn’t come into their heads. They just wanted to live their lives, pay their dues and move on.

Erik looked back at Rugrat, who was talking with Feng Yi, not giving up any opportunity to increase his knowledge.

Ru Guo was with him; apparently she knew something on formations as well.

There wasn’t a clear goal in ascending the realms for them; they just wanted to do it because they could. It would be dangerous; it would be hard; they might not make it out alive. That was part of life. At least they were doing what they wanted, not holed up and hiding because they weren’t willing to try to follow their dreams.

Sure, Alva Dungeon was hidden away from everything and everyone, but they wanted somewhere to go back to. Just because someone had a home on Earth it didn’t mean that they couldn’t travel anymore, to expand their horizons. It meant that they could appreciate their home and their adventures that much more, knowing that they had a place that they could exist and call home.

“Is there a Blue Lotus there?” Erik asked.

“Yes. It is the largest in the six surrounding cities. With the five powers in Taeman city, it is a hub of trade and travel. There is a headquarters of the Beast Tamer Guild there. The truly rich and powerful can hire the guild and travel across the desert to the forest towns and beyond without needing the Ten Realms totem,” Liao Ah said excitedly.

Chapter: Entering Taeman City

There was still a day’s travel to go until they reached Taeman city but they could already see signs of the city. There were more beasts in the air with people traveling on them. When they were on tall sand dunes, they could see other groups heading to and from the city.

In the distance, they could see the beast tamer’s tower, which stood out as a tall beacon to all.

The Thantis Traders were all excited and talking to one another. Under Erik and Rugrat’s care, they had recovered fully.

Erik and Rugrat were sitting on a sand dune, looking at the tower.

“So, the next part, get a second Mana stone,” Rugrat said.

“They have a Blue Lotus there, so if we sell all of the extra crap we’ve got, we can exchange for at least one Mortal-grade Mana stone. Though we won’t have enough for two.” Erik looked to Rugrat.

“Don’t even give me that look. We came here together—we’re leaving together.” Rugrat threw a rock he had found in the sand without looking back at Erik.

Erik smiled and threw a rock he had been moving in his hand. “So, time to make some coin again?”

“I feel like us being broke but not is a running theme.” Rugrat grinned and looked over to Erik.

Erik let out a snort. “Redneck rich!” Erik threw the rock in his hand as if skipping it off a lake.

“Damn, I miss fried chicken, watermelon, mudding, and range days. The things I would do for a PBR.” Rugrat shook his head.

“Things I’d do for a gas mask,” Erik muttered.

Rugrat pushed him. Erik laughed as he sat back up.

“All right, well, you’re better with the whole bartering shit and I have a bunch of work to do. With the collapsible smithy, all I need is a plot of land. I can go to the outer reaches of the city, somewhere that there ain’t a lot of people around, and get to work. First, we’re getting you a good set of armor,” Rugrat said in a firm voice.

Erik wanted to argue that they needed to get back faster, but he was touched by Rugrat’s words and the feeling behind them. “Thanks.”

“What? Can’t let you go running around without a Nipple Chafer Three Thousand!”

Erik let out a groan and folded his hands. “Don’t punch him—you want to, but just calm it.”

Rugrat threw some rocks as Erik recovered from his strength-gathering prayers.

“All right, let’s get the Thantis Traders back. Once they’re all sorted out, then I’ll start offloading random items to them to be sold. I’ll go through the markets, see what they’ve got in the way of Alchemy. I can see about making some more concoctions and selling those. Then see if I can set up a stall and start healing people, up my healing skill and get that cash flow,” Erik said.

“You know what happened last time.”

“Yes, but I can help people, earn some cash, and increase my skills. Sounds cold-blooded as hell, but still only going to charge two coppers. Just going to have to do a lot of healing,” Erik said.

Rugrat didn’t look away.

“I’m trying to go for a monk build—can’t I spread the love and happiness?” Erik growled.

“Damn, you just went down hippie alley hard.” Rugrat was rewarded by Erik’s middle finger.

Rugrat chuckled. “We are level nineteen now. There’s few things that can mess with us in the Second Realm but we’ve been fighting creatures and beasts. There’s no knowing how powerful the people are here,” Rugrat said seriously.

“Yeah, let’s just hope that it doesn’t come to that.” Erik threw another rock.

***

“A secluded place in the city?” Liao Ah repeated what Rugrat had asked before Cai Dan perked up.

“There are a number of stables that are on the outskirts of the city. Some of them are empty as the traders who store their beasts there are out trading. You can probably use one of those to work in.”

“That should be fine, far away from other people and prying eyes.” Rugrat nodded.

“If you look at this map here, I’ve marked out the places that you can get smithing supplies from for a decent price. If you want, I can help in getting the items for you,” Feng Yi said.

Liao Ah could only look from him to Rugrat. The more Feng Yi talked to Rugrat, the greater praises he sang. Rugrat seemed to be a simple and crude man, but anyone who took him as what he showed on the surface would be greatly mistaken.

Hearing the two talking smithing, it was clear that Rugrat’s knowledge of the practice was much higher than Feng Yi’s. Even Ru Guo, who had a decent background knowledge in formations, could only go so far in a conversation with him.

“Sure, that would make it easier and faster for me to make items.” Rugrat nodded.

“Once you’re established back in Taeman, we have a number of things that we need to sell. We’ll need your help to deal with that,” Erik added in.

“We agreed to help in any way possible—you saved our lives,” Liao Ah said seriously.

Erik waved off the seriousness of her words. “It’s not a problem, just we need to work quickly.”

“We will report to the Ekeem clan as fast as possible and then meet up with you afterward,” Liao Ah said.

They were outside of the gates that led into the city, where people were walking in and out of the city. A few stalls were set up, selling refreshments to make the time pass faster for those who were entering the city.

“We have a special pass for traders of Taeman city,” Liao Ah said awkwardly.

“Go on in. We’ll meet up later. We’ve got one another’s sound transmission marks,” Erik said.

“Thank you, Mister West, Mister Rodriguez.” Liao Ah and the others all bowed to them deeply.

“Come on, get up, will you? People are staring,” Rugrat complained. But his voice was soft, touched by their actions.

“See you inside Taeman.” Liao Ah waved good-bye.

Erik and Rugrat nodded as the two groups parted.

The Thantis Traders headed toward the gates reserved for Taeman city traders.

She looked back at Erik and Rugrat, who stood in line and talked to each other. They were so different, but they were as close as brothers; for them, it was just natural.

She turned back toward the gate.

“Pass,” the guard said in a bored voice.

Liao Ah pulled out the pass from her storage ring. Days ago, she had been on the brink of death but now she was entering Taeman city as if nothing had happened.

She felt confused by it all.

“Continue on.” The guard gave them the pass back and they walked forward through the towering walls. The noise of the city channeled through the wall’s entrance way.

Can’t focus on what happened, or nearly happened. Just keep moving forward, one step after another.

***

Erik and Rugrat got to the gate. The guard there stood straighter as he looked at the two of them. The other guards also looked over in interest.

Seems that they have pretty good senses that they can get a good understanding of our level, Rugrat thought as the guard captain came over with a smile.

“I am sorry that you had to wait in line. Might I know what brings you to Taeman city?” the guard asked with a kind smile.

“Just passing through,” Erik said with a disarming smile.

“Is that so?” The guard captain seemed to be weighing Erik’s words.

Rugrat was inwardly surprised. The guard captain was level sixteen. In the First Realm, he could be a king, but here he was just the leader of the gate guards.

It showed the strength of Taeman city to support level sixteen people so easily.

The guard smiled and pulled out two passes. “These passes are for two weeks. If you wish to stay longer, you will need to apply to the city administrators, or a person from one of the powers that reside inside the city.”

“Two weeks should be enough time.” Erik and Rugrat took the passes.

“Should be able to get something done,” Rugrat muttered. He had a plan for Erik’s new armor and to upgrade his own. He also wanted to test the new bullets and components he had created. The desert had been too barren; any noise might attract a wandering animal’s attention. In the city, firing off bullets would likewise bring attention down on him.

“I hope you enjoy your stay in Taeman city.” The guard captain moved to the side with a small bow.

Erik and Rugrat moved past and into the city.

“I’m going to look for a place to set up. See you later,” Rugrat said.

“Don’t get into too much trouble.” Erik waved him off.

They had sound transmission devices to communicate and they had already picked out rally points in the city to meet up if they were in danger. Erik headed off into the bustle of Taeman city. It was much larger than any city they had been in before.

People wore all kinds of clothes. Most had symbols added to them to show off their alliances and where they came from. Those without symbols in their clothes were rare.

Rugrat moved away from the busy streets alongside traders who had come back from their travels and those who were heading out.

The traders talked of their wins and bugged one another on their losses as they passed.

Rugrat didn’t pay it much attention as he moved through the crowd.

With his large stature and the slight pressure he exerted holding the title Mana king and being a level nineteen, people unconsciously parted for him.

He reached an empty villa. It had a large warehouse off to one side; another had a building and then a large courtyard with different stalls to hold beasts and items.

It was just one trading villa of many. Each of them had the Ekeem clan’s symbol carved on their gates and walls. Guards walked around, making sure that the villas were protected. Some of the villas had traders resting in them, preparing to head out, or coming back from their journeys.

Rugrat walked up to a guard who was walking around nearby, his armor showing the Ekeem clan’s symbol.

“Hello. I am looking to rent an empty villa for a week.” Rugrat pulled out a chit that Liao Ah had given to him.

The guard looked at the Ekeem chit and took it from Rugrat. He checked it with a special tool before nodding. “I can take you to the manager of this block, if you would like?” the man said in a level voice.

“Please.” Rugrat followed the guard to a four-story building that rested in the center of the Ekeem trader villa sector. Guards stood on the roof, scanning over the villas.

Rugrat waited in the lobby as the guard he talked to went off into the building.

It was cool in the shade.

Reminds me of the buildings in Afghanistan—simple design but they cool right down just being in them.

The guard quickly returned and took Rugrat to a room.

A woman sat there, looking over paperwork. “I am told you are looking to rent an empty villa for one week.” She read over a piece of paper and applied a stamp to it before tossing it into a new box and pulling out a new piece of paper, reading it and glancing at Rugrat.

“That’s correct.” Rugrat nodded.

“The chit checks out. We have three villas available.” She waved her hand. A map appeared and she held it out, reading the other piece of paper the entire time.

The guard took the paper and held it out to Rugrat.

Rugrat looked the three locations over, first to see how close they were to the other residences, then looking at their defenses and then finally seeing whether the courtyard was secluded enough to keep out prying eyes.

“I’ll take this one.” Rugrat pointed to one on the map.

The guard put it back on the table and pointed to the residence.

“The cost will be ten gold per day,” she said.

Rugrat pulled out seventy gold and held it out.

The guard’s impassive face twitched as he took the gold and passed it to the lady.

She put down her piece of paper and looked over Rugrat. She was a level fourteen and Rugrat didn’t think she could read his level, merely thinking that he was at a higher level, but not knowing how far removed.

“The rent is agreed and signed.” She pulled out a piece of paper and started writing down information on it. She stamped the piece of paper with the Ekeem clan’s symbol. The paper shone as the contract was completed and she passed it back to the guard. The money disappeared into her storage ring.

“Good doing business with you,” Rugrat said.

The woman nodded with tired and annoyed eyes, getting back to her work.

Rugrat left the building and headed for the villa he had rented. He sent a message to Erik and Feng Yi to tell them his location.

“Feng Yi already offered his services and it’ll go faster if I have someone doing the legwork for me,” Rugrat thought aloud.

He tossed the guard a gold coin and left him to return to patrol.

Rugrat made it to the villa and closed the doors. He walked past the main building and went to a garden courtyard with residences around it.

“First I should increase the Mana in the area.” Rugrat pulled out Mana gathering formation plates. He placed them throughout the courtyard. He placed the largest in the center, then used thorium ingots to create a path from the central Mana gathering formation plate to a circle of more Mana gathering formation plates. He repeated the process two more times, creating three circles around the main formation plate. Rugrat fired up the central Mana gathering formation and then moved outward. The Mana in the area started to condense and move to the center of the courtyard.

The grasses and trees started to grow faster; birds and animals moved closer, trying to make use of the Mana.

Rugrat took out his forge. It was placed right over the central Mana gathering formation. The flame in the forge flickered and became stronger with the concentrated Mana.

“I wonder...” Rugrat pulled out a blue orb—the dungeon core.

A blue mist formed around it. The orb seemed to draw on the surrounding area, as if a heart pulling in blood.

Rugrat took it close to the Mana gathering formation.

==========

Do you wish to place this dungeon core?

YES/NO

==========

“Yes,” Rugrat said, hoping it wasn’t a bad decision.

The dungeon core floated away from his hands and moved into the furnace, right above the Mana formation plate. The flames didn’t seem to bother it at all.

Rugrat looked through the flames as the dungeon core came to a rest.

The Mana that was coming from the formation plate was drawn into the dungeon core and then released. The formations on the forge activated, drawing in the pure and refined Mana from the dungeon core. The rough surfaces of the forge started to show signs of repairing and alteration as the flame turned from yellow and red to a deeper red.

Rugrat had worked with the forge a lot and had come to know it well. Seeing the flame, he could tell its strength had increased greatly.

The pure Mana from the dungeon core was powerful. As Rugrat looked around, he could see more creatures coming to the courtyard. He needed something to take in all of the raw power.

Rugrat pulled out the Mana cornerstone. Moving behind the furnace, he placed it down. The refined Mana poured into the Mana cornerstone, repairing the damage that had been caused to it.

Its progress was slow. The pure Mana might have been enough to draw in the creatures and raise interest, but the Mana cornerstone created Mortal-grade Mana stones. Its power requirements weren’t simple.

The creatures started to disappear. Rugrat grinned, looking at the modified courtyard, his forge, the Mana cornerstone, and the dungeon core.

His grin faded away and his look became serious.

Once again the image of Erik being hit with a stun and then having a Mana spear break through his armor appeared in his mind.

Rugrat’s blood boiled as the man in the area moved with his actions.

Rugrat’s hammer appeared in his hand.

“It’s time I got to work.” Rugrat pulled out a half-formed set of armor and placed it into the flames, heating it up before he took it to the anvil. With each blow, he let out a breath; every time he lifted it, he would breathe in. With each hammer blow, Mana would surge toward him as he channeled Mana through his body, through his hammer, and into the armor he was working. Each blow imbued it with the focused Mana of the courtyard.

Chapter: Confrontation

“Move!” someone yelled at Erik. He was looking up at the Ten Realms totem and the massive bustling square around it. The square was large enough to take up a third of Chonglu city. There were stalls all around, with people moving to and from the totem, coming from all over the realm.

When someone ascended for the first time, they were randomly sent to another totem in the higher realms. Only if they descended and ascended once again would they be able to pick the location. Though if someone traveled to a totem and touched it, then its location would be saved and they could go to it whenever they wanted. Also, one could use the “random location in current realm” to be teleported to a random totem in their current realm. Totem hoppers were people who had gathered a number of locations; they could take any number of people with them to a new location.

Although ascending was free the first time, descending cost one Mortal-grade Mana stone or equivalent monster cores. Moving in a realm randomly cost a Common Mortal-grade monster core. If you knew the location, then it could cost anywhere from a Common to a Grand Mortal-grade monster core.

The totems were some of the fastest and safest ways to travel. They were also some of the most expensive.

Erik looked to see a trail of traders moving to the totems. Guards looked over to Erik and the man who had yelled out.

Not wanting to attract their attention, Erik quickly moved out of the way and headed back into the city, toward the Blue Lotus auction house.

Around the totem, people continued to disappear and reappear in a steady stream, paying their fee or showing a pass and entering the city.

The city was filled with an energy. Erik could compare it to New York’s bustle, but with medieval features.

People were all over the streets, hawking different goods. Monster meat of at least level twelve could be found at stalls; even if badly prepared, people would get a boost to their Stamina Regeneration. In the First Realm, it would be seen as a great luxury.

Instead of coppers and silvers, most people dealt with silver and gold.

People moved through the seas of spices and arrays of market items.

Erik couldn’t help but smile, eager to test out this new city and to come to know it.

I’ll have a look through the apothecary stands, see if I can resupply my Wraith’s Touch and other supporting concoctions. I can see what kinds of wares they have. If I can find out what things people buy in the city, then I can make concoctions that will draw their attention. Hopefully a few more of the Age Rejuvenation potions have sold. I should see about making more of them.

Erik headed in the direction of the Blue Lotus, entering the markets that sprawled across the city.

He looked down at the different herbs and items he hadn’t seen before. No time like the present to try to increase my Alchemy knowledge!

“How much for the black root and Ilas?” Erik asked the vendor.

“Four silvers!” the trader said.

In Erik’s eyes, a screen appeared, telling him that in the region that these items had a combined value of three silvers.

This must be the extra help I get from becoming an Apprentice in the Mercantile skill.

“Two silvers and twenty coppers,” Erik said, wanting to test out the skill.

“Three silvers, fifty coppers,” the trader said.

“Two silvers and eighty coppers,” Erik said.

“Three silvers, forty coppers—lowest I can do,” the man said.

“Done.” Erik pulled out the money from his storage ring.

He had plenty of gold right now but he knew how fast it could be burned through when working on different Alchemy concoctions. Raising his mercantile skill would increase his profits and decrease his costs, making it much more viable for him to make a living from Alchemy and increase his skill level.

The trader wrapped up the herbs and passed them to Erik. He turned to deal with the others who were coming by.

Erik moved through the market, a smile on his face.

Although the region price was a good guide to what the price really was, it didn’t take into account what the different stores would have to sell the items at.

If he had just come in at three silvers, then the trader would have tried to pressure him for more. Erik needed to undercut enough to make the trader feel as though they were gaining a profit while Erik also had enough room to adjust his offer.

Erik moved through the stalls, buying cooking ingredients and medicinal plants.

Erik looked over a store that was selling poultices and mixtures. These weren’t Alchemy concoctions but rather the trader’s own attempt at making mainly healing items.

I wonder how the apothecaries here are. Looking over them, he couldn’t help but remember Alchemist Tommins. Although he styled himself as an alchemist in Beast Mountain Range because his concoctions were stronger and kept longer, it was more a factor of the containers than his actual concoctions that were closer to apothecary products.

After being around Alchemist Hei, Erik’s eyes had been opened and he had actually learned practical knowledge about Alchemy.

These apothecary items were much weaker than Alchemy concoctions. They wouldn’t last as long but they were much cheaper, allowing people who didn’t have as much wealth to purchase them.

A pretty woman was working the stall. She busied herself with checking the wares, but upon seeing Erik, she couldn’t help but frown.

Erik, who was looking at the different items and having a game with himself to try to figure out what the different items did, didn’t even pay any attention to her, or the look on her face.

***

Delilah wanted to be an alchemist in the future. There was nothing she wanted to do more. The mysteries of the ingredients, their magical effects—all of these things made her want to ascend to the Third Realm, where she might apply to enter the Alchemist association and work to ascend to the peak!

There were few, if any, alchemists in the Second Realm. Most of them were self-taught or they had met a lucky chance to ascend to the Third Realm.

Few wanted to remain in the Second Realm, leading to the apothecaries becoming the main place for one to gain knowledge of Alchemy.

Delilah wanted to experiment, to read the books that her mentor had promised her. Instead, he had placed her at the store to sell the different items he and her fellow students had made, promising to teach her later.

She hadn’t missed his subtle hints that there would be a faster way for her to learn Alchemy—if she warmed his bed.

It was almost enough to make her leave and try to go to the other apothecaries. The apothecaries made a sort of guild under each of the powerful clans in the city.

They wouldn’t poach from one another, and other apothecaries wouldn’t take on those who left another group’s apothecaries for fear of them being a spy and stealing their secrets.

The cost to reach the other cities was high and there were few people she could rely on. If she was to travel across the unruled land between cities, for a pretty girl like her there were fates much worse than an old man trying to make a pass at her.

Even if she wasn’t learning that much Alchemy, she still got a commission for everything that was sold at the store. Her savings were growing every day but she hated the reason she was able to make so much gold.

She was pretty. She had thought it was the brilliance of her mind and quick wit that had attracted the attention of her Master, but now she saw that was a lie she used to delude herself. Now she knew that she was at the apothecary because there were many young masters and rich men willing to spend their gold to try to spend more time talking to her.

When she saw the rugged-looking Erik, wearing greaves and a ruffled and worn cloak and looking over the wares in her stall, she couldn’t help but frown.

Another creep “browsing” the items to stare. What will he ask me? To get something in the back so I have to bend down and he can stare at me from behind or make me lean forward to grab a hard to reach item?

She took a breath and pushed a smile onto her face. “Hello. Might I be able to help you?”

“Oh, hi. Just looking around right now.” Erik smiled and continued to browse her wares.

He likely doesn’t even have the gold to buy these items. Her smile faltered and her brows pinched together the more she moved around the stall, keeping an eye on the man. He would mutter to himself and look at the different pots, ingredients, and items on the stall.

Her disgust grew. No gold, but just wishes to watch me all day. Is there nothing else he has to do with his time! Her opinion of Erik worsened.

She heard an approaching commotion. Looking up, she saw Young Master Jole approaching.

Not one but two lecherous perverts! Who cursed me today! she complained inside her head.

She forced a smile on her face. The young master was the third eldest son of Lord Ekeem’s direct cousin, one of the four most powerful family heads in Taeman.

The city was controlled by these four families that acted as a council. If she offended him, then there would be nowhere for her to go in Taeman. The other families were not willing to step out to help someone else who had harmed another family in case it would lead to conflict.

She could only smile and bear with it.

“Delilah! I knew that I would be blessed with your visage today! I think that the weather is so beautiful that it can only truly be captured by the atmosphere in the Oasis restaurant,” Young Master Jole said.

“I am sorry, but I am unable to leave my stand. I have customers to attend to,” she said with a disarming smile.

“Customers? Aren’t I your best customer?” Jole said, undeterred, and pushing aside the rejection as he laughed easily.

Maybe I can solve two problems at once. Delilah’s eyes flickered to Erik.

“I am sorry, but this dear customer here requires my attention,” Delilah said.

She didn’t miss the changes in Jole’s face as he looked to Erik, who picked up another bottle.

“Hmm, looks like some weak variant of Health potion. I must test this out. It might help me to augment my own Health recovery concoctions,” Erik muttered to himself, not paying attention to the world around him.

Hah! Thinking yourself as high and mighty but just taking the time to stare at me, pervert! Delilah smiled slightly as Jole and his guards moved to Erik.

“Hello, sir. Might I ask what you’re doing?” Jole asked.

“I’m perusing the store,” Erik said innocently.

“Indeed. He’s been admiring my goods for some time.” Delilah added just the right tone and look of displeasure.

“Is that right?” A flash of light went through Jole’s eyes as he faced Erik.

***

If I can defeat this man or humiliate him, then I can show off my strength to Delilah, bringing her closer to me! A wicked smile crossed Jole’s lips as he looked at Erik.

“Do you not know it is rude to test out goods that you can’t pay for?” Jole said, taking on the role of benevolent minister of justice.

“Well, I can pay for them.” Erik frowned. “Why is any of this your business? Why don’t you carry on with your day and I carry on with mine?”

Insolence! You dare to put me down in front of Delilah!

“I am the third son of Endalh Ekeem, protector of the city Taeman. It is my job to uphold the values of this fair city wherever I might see them!”

“So, asking people if they have money? You sure you aren’t some kind of tax collector?” Erik looked at Jole as if he were some kind of bizarre animal from a far-off land.

“I mean you staring at my Delilah this entire time!” Jole exploded.

“Staring at...who’s Delilah?” Erik asked, a clearly confused look on his face.

“Are you not willing to accept your crimes? To sully a woman under the pretense of buying goods from her! Guards!” Jole yelled.

***

What the fuck? Because I was buying stuff I’m now being attacked? Ekeem—wasn’t that the clan that the Thantis Traders work under?

“I think that there is a misunderstanding,” Erik said, trying to defuse the situation.

“A misunderstanding! You, you lecherous pervert, are looking at a woman I admire with the pretense of trying to buy her goods! How is there anything to misunderstand!” Jole pulled his sword free from its scabbard, looking like a hero of justice with his handsome features and elegant clothing.

“He really is Young Master Jole. Anyone who draws his ire is not long for this realm,” a bystander said.

“Fighting them barehanded—is this man insane?”

“Those are the clan’s internal guards. Just one of the guards would be enough to kill him with a single slap!”

“Don’t resist!” One of the guards swung a sword at Erik.

Erik felt his anger ignite. “Don’t resist” and then try to fucking maim me?!

A sword whistled toward his head as another spear was launched at his belly.

Jole’s proud smile faltered as Erik released his power. It was as if a demon shed its skin, its ire awakened.

Erik’s reaction time and speed was great enough to fight with a spiritas, to fight beasts head on. How could a guard compare to him?

A wild grin appeared on his face. The sound of metal hitting stone rang out as he smacked the sword away that was aiming for his head. He turned, grabbing the spear thrust at him and kneeing the guard holding it.

Erik infused Mana into his knee unconsciously. The blow made the man cough blood as he was thrown back.

Erik flipped the spear in his hand and turned. The end of the spear hit the attacker’s armor, denting it and sending them flying.

“Did you see that! He dented in that man’s plate iron armor with the back end of his spear!”

“The force behind that spear throw! He dented high-Apprentice-grade armor and broke that man’s ribs!”

“Just who is he?”

The guards were all around level fifteen. They had training or techniques but they were guards; even if they had lived in life-and-death situations, they had been removed from them for some time. They cared more about their appearance than fighting prowess.

Erik had lived on battlefields across Earth and since coming to the Ten Realms, he had fought every step of the way. Erik did everything and anything in his power to increase his combat strength.

He had even tempered his own body with poisons, opened Mana gates, condensed Mana drops. Erik hadn’t truly fought a powerful human opponent yet. After fighting so many creatures, he didn’t hold back in the slightest, every move made to kill and wound.

Just the fact he was level nineteen, with all of his stats, would have been enough to defeat these ants.

Erik’s head snapped over to the remaining three guards and Jole. He shot forward, confident in his reaction speed and strength.

Erik dodged past another sword just released from its scabbard, twisting his body out of the way, and then struck like a viper.

Erik snapped back. He stopped using Mana in his punches and just used his physical strength. The man was pushed up and to the side by the blow. Erik swung a kick around, sending him flying into another guard.

Erik raised his hand. The sword rang out as it struck his armored gloves. The stunned swordsman had an opening as Erik sent a punch into his chest. He coughed and dropped to the ground, his breast plate dented inward.

Jole was backing up, his face pale as guards started rushing toward him.

Erik looked at it all: the destruction, the guards taking different apothecary treatments as they pulled out new weapons while trying to cover their wounds. Erik could see they were only a minimal threat, the fear clear in their eyes.

“Come after me and you’ll be next,” Erik warned.

He tossed a vial at the man who had spat blood and was lying on the ground. The vial released a powder that the man wasn’t able to get away from.

He inhaled it as the other guards made to move forward. The man’s breathing became easier as he was starting to heal.

“I don’t want to kill you.” He looked at the guards, who unconsciously backed up.

“For him to have healing powders—who is he?”

“He must have some great background to waste so much healing potion on his hand and pour it on the ground,” another said.

“Didn’t you say that he should have bowed down to the Young Master Jole before?” someone asked their neighbor.

“That was before I knew who this other man is! To fight five guards with nothing but his fists and legs—he must be one of those legendary melee fighters!”

“The fuck is wrong with you?” Erik yelled at the man who had been yelling at him.

Hearing all of the titles and the arrogance of the other man, Erik made the decision to not fight him. After all, he couldn’t fully control his strength right now. He was scared by his strength. He had needed to fight with everything on the line against the beasts he had come into contact with. Humans of the same level seemed much weaker.

Unless it was a fight to the death, he didn’t want to go into combat with another person. Killing someone with so many titles and who seemed to be important was not going to make leaving any easier.

Someone who had been hiding on the surrounding rooftops appeared like a shadow next to Young Master Jole.

They were a level seventeen existence; it was unknown what kind of tricks they might have up their sleeves. Still, Erik was nonchalant as he looked at the person who appeared next to Jole.

“Next time you want to attack an alchemist, you best kill him,” Erik said.

There was a startled look on the man’s face as he seemed to be thinking of something. He grabbed Jole and then rushed off, leaving the groaning guards and a stunned crowd who looked at the odd alchemist.

Erik looked at the trader woman.

He shook his head as he looked in the direction of rapid footsteps. A group of guards were rushing toward Erik’s location.

Erik turned and ran. People moved out of his way as he darted into an alleyway, quickly climbing upward.

He set off in the direction of the Blue Lotus and sent a message to Rugrat.

***

Just who was this man? Delilah could only think to herself. She had seen healing powders before but they were items used by the nobility.

Am I deaf and blind? I didn’t mean for Jole to try to kill him but just teach him a lesson.

She couldn’t say anything but just watched as Erik ran away, the taste of regret filling her mouth.

There was no cure for regret as she remembered his words. He had easily said that he was an alchemist!

Her skill level had only reached that of level seven Novice. The way that he used the healing potion, his Master must at least be an Apprentice alchemist! These people were like gods, with more power than the lords and ladies of the different cities.

They were even powerful in the Third Realm.

This was my chance. If I had just talked to him normally instead of assuming things...

She could only bite her lower lip, pushing her emotions down. She had seen the hurt in his eyes, the accusation.

She looked at the guards around her store. Her actions had led to five men getting wounded, possibly critically.

The guards appeared on the scene, most rushing after the man as she started to pull out healing poultices for the guards.

The leader of the guards stopped her. “You’ve done enough, don’t you think?”

The people in the crowds looked at her with scorn and anger. She just wanted to hide away. She wanted to chase off two lecherous fellows; she never thought it would end up this way!

Chapter: Taeman Blue Lotus

Erik didn’t waste any time as he sent a message to Rugrat, telling him what had happened.

“Shit. We need to move?” Rugrat asked.

“I’m going to go to the Blue Lotus. I’ll talk to them. Make sure you keep an eye out,” Erik said.

“On it. If you need backup, get me.”

“Send a message every hour.”

“Understood,” Rugrat agreed.

“Talk soon. About to get to the Blue Lotus.” Erik jumped from the building he was on, bouncing between different roofs before he dropped down to the ground and rolled up to standing. People stared at him as he ran across the open ground.

The Blue Lotus here was easily five times the size of the Blue Lotus in Kaeju city; the square was similarly massive.

Erik didn’t pause as he jogged toward the main doors, not feeling out of breath in the slightest.

A guard moved forward to stop Erik. “Hello, sir. There are no auctions going on at this time. Might I ask you to come back at a later time?”

Erik pulled out the token he had been given for the guard to see.

The guard’s eyes went wide with the emblem. “Sir, sorry for my rude words. If you would like, I can take you to visit the head of the Blue Lotus,” the guard said, his face full of smiles.

“The head?” Erik was used to meeting with Juko and Su Wei, but he didn’t expect that the guard would offer to take him to the head right away. Just what the hell does this emblem mean?

“I don’t need to take up his time,” Erik said. Talking to the head of the Blue Lotus might draw them into the trouble he had just created. He had a good impression of the Blue Lotus and their people; if possible, he didn’t want to affect that relationship in a negative way.

Thank you for the emblem Juko!

Erik, sensing that he wasn’t going to get away without meeting the head of the Blue Lotus, smiled to the guard. “Very well, I’ll meet with the head.”

“This way, sir,” the guard said with a smile, as if he had avoided tragedy.

Erik saw that he was sending sound transmissions as he led Erik inside.

“Alchemist West, the head has sent me out to guide you. If you would follow me?” A young lady came out from a room to greet Erik and the guard.

“Certainly.” Erik nodded and smiled.

Her smile seemed to wipe away his worries as she led him into the Blue Lotus.

Erik casually turned his head to the side, doing a casual pit test. Well, I won’t be making any friends with that!

***

Liao Ah sent off the rest of her group to go to their homes and see their families.

The Ekeem clan had a number of different areas that they controlled, from the clan’s actual compounds to their markets and trading areas, stables, workshops, and more.

She went down a few alleyways and to a hidden doorway. She knocked on a door; it opened for her and she walked inside.

The door closed behind her and she was in darkness.

She walked through the halls with familiarity before she reached a corridor. A light was on and there was an open room.

She walked into the room and the room’s door closed behind her.

“Report.” An indistinct voice came from the room.

“I have made a contract. I cannot reveal much information, though I can suggest that the clan quickly makes a friendship with the two men who came with us to the city,” Liao Ah said.

“Reason?”

“Contract, unable.” Liao Ah felt a faint discomfort. She hadn’t talked about them directly, or threatened them or put them in a threatening position. She was a part of the information gathering group that was under the Ekeem family. It was a complicated network of spies and messengers who talked to one another.

“Understood. Make your report as you can,” the voice continued.

Liao Ah started to report, from leaving Taeman—but skipping the dungeon—and then coming back to the city.

The voice only asked a few questions, listening the entire time, categorizing the information to decide whether it would go higher or not.

***

Jole was taken directly back to the Ekeem clan’s compound. It was only a few minutes after he had been hauled away that he was berating the guard who had him thrown over his shoulder.

He ordered the man to go back to kill the man who had embarrassed him, but he kept running, not saying a word as he entered the Ekeem family compound and then went directly toward Jole’s direct family residence, the building his father lived in.

Over three hundred people were part of the Ekeem family, with nearly two times that number attending on their every need.

Taeman was a city located in a desert but there were still gardens and ponds filled with life. These kinds of expensive luxuries could only be held by the four families who ruled over Taeman.

Jole’s father was a large and sturdy man. Power seemed to gather around him, making the air oppressive. He stormed out of his main hall, looking to see Jole and the shadow guard descend in front of him.

“Father!” Jole yelled out as the guard released him and fell to his knees.

“You are okay. What happened?” Endalh Ekeem said, looking over his son.

Jole wouldn’t rise up to take his position in the future, but he had high hopes for his son to be accepted into one of the powerful sects that had links to the higher realms.

His training talent was great and by killing a number of subdued animals, his level had risen greatly.

Jole told the story of Erik, saying how he was looking to sully Delilah and that he stood up for her honor, only to find that he was using her to try to attack Jole.

By the end of the story, it sounded as if there was some great shadow enemy plotting to kill Jole.

Endalh Ekeem knew that his son was prone to exaggerating things but from it all, he could tell that the man had some incredible strength and had easily dispatched Jole’s five guards with his bare fists.

“Jole, see to your wounds. I will deal with this,” Endalh said.

“Yes, Father,” Jole said subserviently. There was no one else he would bow his head to in Taeman.

Making a noise of approval, Endalh walked back into his hall, waving for the shadow guard to follow.

They reached Endalh’s private chambers and the shadow guard knelt before Endalh.

“Tell me it all,” Endalh commanded as he sat in his chair.

The shadow guard talked in a no-nonsense tone. He didn’t hide anything from Endalh, making him sigh in different places.

“This son of mine, chasing girls, trying to act a knight and becoming the villain!” Endalh shook his head with a tired expression.

“Lord Endalh, there is more,” the shadow guard said.

Endalh waved for the guard to continue. Endalh’s bored appearance turned dark and gloomy as the shadow guard finished his tale.

“His bones were strong enough to stop the blade? It even made a ringing noise when it got stuck between his fingers?” Endalh clarified after the shadow guard was finished.

“Yes, my lord.”

“He used a healing potion and doused his hand in it as if it were simple water, allowing his hand to repair?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“And he stated that he was an alchemist.” Endalh’s voice rose in volume as he talked, sitting forward and linking his fingers together.

“Yes, my lord.” The shadow guard shook under the pressure from Endalh’s billowing power that made it hard to even breathe in the room.

“Is he really my son or does he want to kill me?” Endalh roared. The room shook.

He took a moment to collect himself. “Come with me. We will go and talk to the fourth elder and see if she has got any information on this man. We need to know just who my son has offended this time. At best, we can pay him off; at the worst, we have just started a feud with a Master trying to pass through our city.”

The guard trembled, as if remembering the power that the alchemist had released when he was being attacked. It felt as though he were playing with them, just smacking ants away. He had no confidence to defeat the man head on.

“Go and tell the three elders to gather immediately!” Endalh yelled. Endalh rubbed his forehead. He was left with two decisions: either he had to kill this man who said that he was an alchemist, or he needed to win his favor back.

Alchemists were known for their eccentric ways and interest in materials.

Trying to buy favor back from an alchemist was a hard thing.

If he could get a formula or rare ingredients that they needed, it would be an easy thing. But with such things, there was a greater demand than supply, so their cost could be realized.

He needed to know more about this man and see whether he was truly an alchemist or using it as a cover.

***

Erik naturally didn’t know what was happening outside of the Blue Lotus at this time. The Blue Lotus was incredibly different than the one that Erik had been in Chonglu and Kaeju. It was much larger as there were more people who had the gold or Mana stones to try to bid on items.

There were separate areas where people could make requests or try to put their goods up for auction.

The people moving through the halls had powerful auras and their actions were more refined than the members of the other Blue Lotus locations he had visited.

Erik had bought some ingredients and different items when he had been walking through Taeman. He chewed or drank them. Using his Poison Body and Reverse Alchemist, he was only increasing his knowledge of different ingredients.

People talked to themselves as Erik passed, with his nonchalant attitude, chewing on different ingredients, wearing just his armored legs and a t-shirt with a bloody bandage on his hand. He was not the normal kind of customer to the Blue Lotus.

“I wonder who he is?”

“Isn’t his outfit a bit eccentric? Where’s his chest piece?”

“Why is he chewing on weeds and other things and then spitting them into his storage ring to get another?”

“Maybe he likes the taste?”

“He’s chewing on Denio flower! That stuff tastes like soap—how could he be enjoying it?”

“Where are they going? Is that attendant leading him toward the inner areas where the higher-ups are?”

“That attendant—I have seen her guiding the elders from the five main factions!”

“Who must he be to get her to serve him? I can’t even get a normal server to show me items.”

“What must his background be to be escorted into the inner areas?”

All these voices and more reached Erik’s ears. With his body’s transformations, his hearing, sight, and general senses had been greatly amplified.

Erik ignored it all as he made it through different checkpoints of guards before reaching a large door flanked on either side by level twenty-three guards.

“The head is inside.” The woman who had been escorting Erik bowed to him and gestured for him to go inside.

“Thanks.” Erik looked through his Mana ring before pulling out a Stamina potion. It was only Novice grade but the steel-faced guards looked over as Erik handed it to the woman. “Have a good afternoon.” Erik walked forward as the two guards jumped into action and opened the door for Erik.

Erik walked in to see a man standing up from his seat. He had a refined appearance; although young, there was a gravitas to his actions.

“Master West, it is an honor. I have prepared some refreshments—three forms of the lotus tea that is said to soothe the mind and body.” The man moved forward and waved to the tea set to his side.

“My name is Hiao Xen, the head of this Blue Lotus. If I had known that such an esteemed guest was arriving, I would have come to meet you personally,” Hiao Xen said.

Erik’s chewing paused for a half moment as he found that he couldn’t accurately determine Hiao Xen’s overall level.

Even though he was living in the Second Realm, the Blue Lotus had the resources to allow him to increase his level at a great speed while staying in the Second Realm.

This was why the Blue Lotus was able to have people of higher levels in lower realms, not only to secure their goods and uphold their reputation but to show off their power.

“I thank you for your hospitality, but I do not want to trouble the Blue Lotus. I have come into a conflict with the Ekeem clan,” Erik said, not wanting to beat around the bush.

“A conflict?” Hiao Xen repeated. He didn’t show any judgment. “Shall we have some tea and discuss it?”

Erik smiled and nodded. “A tea does sound like a good idea.” He moved forward.

They sat down and Hiao Xen started to go through the motions of preparing and serving the tea.

“What issues and conflicts have arisen?” Hiao Xen asked, his actions and words like an untouched lake.

“Was browsing an apothecary’s wares. Guess the girl thought I was a weirdo. She riled up a boy from the Ekeem clan. Instead of talking it out, his guards leapt into action, looking to maim or kill me. I, well, I didn’t watch how much strength I used. Thankfully, I didn’t kill anyone.” Erik’s voice became deeper and harder at the end.

He didn’t want to have to kill, but he would do it. If someone came for his life, they should be prepared to leave theirs behind.

Hiao Xen passed a tea over to Erik. The fragrance from the tea really did put one’s mind at ease. Erik sat back, the tension in his body relaxing slightly.

“A member of the Ekeem family wasn’t killed; also, you were in the right. I can clear the issues between you and the Ekeem family rather easily. If you pursue more conflict and repatriations, it will be harder,” Hiao Xen said.

“Could you guarantee that they wouldn’t take action?”

Hiao Xen’s eyes chilled. His aura changed, from being peacefully dispersed to revealing a sword hidden within. “If they do not abide, then the Blue Lotus will step in to deal with them. You are a valued customer and supplier who has dealt with us in good faith. We look after our friends.”

Erik bowed to Hiao Xen. “I will thank Head Hiao Xen.”

“Please, Master West, in the Second Realm, someone who is able to craft high-level Journeyman potions is not a simple person,” Hiao Xen said with a laugh, all sharpness to him disappearing.

Erik scratched his head awkwardly. He didn’t know that his potions would create this kind of stir.

Hiao Xen sent a message through his sound transmission device before he sat forward. “Mister West, is there anything else that you might need from us?”

“As you probably know, I’ve just made it to the Second Realm. I’m looking for all manner of interesting ingredients, as well as Alchemy concoctions. I’m looking for ancient concoctions or those that people have found and are unable to identify.”

“I have heard of this pursuit. Many alchemists will study and break down other concoctions to try to reveal their secrets and to improve their own skills,” Xen said. “I know that we have a number of ingredients and unclaimed concoctions. Although alchemists are interested in these things, the common people aren’t,” Xen said with a wry smile and a chuckle.

Erik let out a small laugh. Xen was a master at making people comfortable around him.

A magical circle appeared next to Xen, indicating that he had received a sound transmission.

He frowned, clearly unhappy to be interrupted. “I am sorry for that. One of the ruling families’ forefathers in this city has fallen ill and his daughter is looking to find a cure for him but has found no help.” Xen sighed.

“Oh?” Erik sipped the tea. His mind seemed to relax as he sat back in the seat.

“It is merely a passing topic for someone like yourself,” Xen said, dismissing it.

“I have dealt with a few injuries before. If she has not found a solution, it might be interesting to see what this forefather has been affected with. The human body is the vehicle for Alchemy concoctions. Learning more about the body strengthens my ability to create concoctions to heal and enhance it,” Erik said.

“Well said!” Xen smiled. “If you are interested, she is waiting outside. I could have her make her plea to you if you are interested?” Xen sounded curious, as if sounding out Erik and his depths.

“Certainly,” Erik said. It had been some time since he flexed his healing abilities. He was interested to see what he could do.

Chapter: The Luo Family’s Troubles

Chiang Luo was referred to many as Fairy Luo, the beauty of the Luo family. Her normal calm and icy expression was now tinged with worry.

Her grandfather had suddenly become ill. He had passed his position as the leader of the Luo family to Fairy Luo’s father, but he had been killed while in another city. The sect that ruled the city sent back money and gifts but didn’t punish the people who killed her father as they were their own students.

They cared little about Taeman or the people who ruled it.

Although Fairy Luo and her mother wanted nothing more than to burn down the city and destroy the sect, they were much too powerful for their Luo family to do anything but bite their tongues and accept the gifts.

Her uncles and the others who wanted to gain the position from her father stepped up and tried to vie for it, leading to her grandfather returning from his adventures to take over the family once again.

Everything had stabilized and her grandfather was actively looking for someone to take over as the family head.

The younger generation did all they could to try to foil the old man and ascend to the highest level in the family.

Her grandfather was wise and didn’t wish to lose it to these unscrupulous fellows who would turn the family’s compound into a sea of blood as they killed off those who opposed them.

Her grandfather still had hundreds of years left in his life when he started to get weaker and weaker before collapsing just a few weeks ago.

The family had started to look for doctors and all kinds of people to help. Most of them brought these people as nothing more than a formality, not wishing to heal the old man but to get his blessing.

Fairy Luo didn’t care as she sent out messages and drained her own savings to buy different healing potions and elixirs to help her grandfather.

Now she had nothing left to her name but her body and her clothes.

She waited outside the head of the Blue Lotus’s door. Her stomach churned. There was only one thing that she could now offer to try to heal her grandfather.

For the sake of her grandfather, she was willing to drop her dignity. Other than her mother, he was the last remaining person who truly cared for her in her family.

If he did die, she didn’t think it was long until she was either pushed out of the family or used as a trading token for others outside of the family.

Thinking about this, she could only bite her lips as fury welled up in her eyes.

The guard at the door received a sound transmission. He moved to the side, allowing her to pass as he opened the door. “The head will see you now, Miss Luo.”

She nodded and walked into the room, seeing Head Hiao Xen stand up from where he was drinking tea with an odd-looking man.

Her eyes passed over the man, who was drinking from his teacup. From the side, he looked to be about thirty or so years old. Her brow pulled down for a second as she saw his odd attire.

“Miss Chiang Luo.” Hiao Xen stood and greeted her with a smile.

“Blue Lotus Head.” Chiang Luo bowed deeply, not wanting to offend the man and make him more liable to assist her. “I have come to try to encourage people to assist my grandfather.”

She saw the man drinking tea look up and over to her. She didn’t pay him any attention, instead focusing on Hiao Xen.

“Please, come and sit.” The head waved for her to join him in the seating area before indicating the other man. “This is my friend, Master West.”

“Heya.” Erik raised his cup to her and then took another sip from it. “I don’t think I’ve ever had tea quite like this.”

“Mister Erik, I am pleased it is to your taste. I would be willing to gift you a box of it, if you desire?”

Chiang Luo’s eyebrows pinched together before disappearing. If I’m not wrong, that is the head’s own personal blend of three forms of the lotus tea. Just a single tea is worth thirty gold. He’s offering him a whole box—that is worth over a hundred and twenty gold! Who is this man?

“Thank you. I might have to take some but I don’t think that my skills will be as good as yours,” Erik said with an easy smile.

“If you were willing to come and work with the Blue Lotus, then you would be able to have it brewed every day.” Hiao Xen smiled.

“You and Su Wei are the same.” Erik laughed. “I’m not ready for it at this time but don’t worry—I remember who my friends are.”

Xen bowed to Master West slightly before turning once again to Fairy Luo.

He must be some powerful person to be able to get Head Xen to react this way.

“Master West, this is the granddaughter of the forefather looking over the Luo family, Chiang Luo,” Hiao Xen said.

“Good to meet you. I heard that your grandfather is sick. What are his symptoms?” Erik asked.

Chiang Luo wanted to refute him and tell him to mind his own business with the casual manner he asked about her grandfather’s health. She remembered the respect that Hiao Xen showed him; he had called him Master. She couldn’t understand what he was a Master of with his rough appearance, looking as though he had just trekked across the desert.

“He is short of breath. The energy of his body is sapped from him. Other than this, many great and powerful people have visited him but none of them have found a cure for his illness,” she said.

Master West fell silent, looking as if he were in thought.

“Head Hiao Xen, I have come today to look for someone who can heal my grandfather. All of my resources have been spent, so now I only have one remaining.” Chiang Luo’s cheeks reddened as Hiao Xen’s expression turned solemn.

“What is your last resource?” he asked, his voice serious.

Master West also looked to her in interest.

“My purity,” Chiang said, unable to look at the two men.

Hiao Xen let out a deep breath, as if sorry to hear this.

“I will give up my purity to the person who is able to heal my grandfather,” she said, her voice becoming stronger.

Now that the words were out there, there was no taking them back.

“You said that your grandfather is the leader of your family?” Master West asked.

“Yes,” Chiang Luo said.

“Do you have any mysterious Alchemy concoctions?” Erik asked.

“My father was interested in Alchemy and bought these different items. The family thought that they were useless. After he died, I took responsibility for them,” Chiang Luo said.

“Good,” Erik said with a smile before he looked at Hiao Xen. “Head Xen, would it be possible to get a map of the city and the surrounding area? I have not been here long but I am interested to explore this city and what lays beyond it.”

“Certainly.” Head Xen sent out a sound transmission. A few moments later, someone appeared with a map and passed it to Xen, who passed it to Erik.

“How much do I owe you?” Erik asked.

“Take this as a gesture of thanks for coming to the Blue Lotus to sell your goods,” Hiao Xen said.

“You spoil me too much.” Erik drank the last of the tea and accepted the map from Hiao Xen.

“There will be an auction in nine days, if you are interested in attending or wish to put up any goods for sale. Though I don’t know if the people of the Second Realm will be able to buy your goods,” Hiao Xen said.

“We’ll cross that bridge when we come to it,” Erik said.

“There is also the factor of other sales.” Hiao Xen hinted at something with his eyes.

“Has it yet reached the level of a Mana stone?” Erik’s voice dipped low.

“It is close,” Hiao Xen said. Reading Master West’s body language, he smiled. “I will be here. I see the interest in your eyes and I will not step in your way. When you return, I would be happy to host you at my home and go over further business dealings.”

“Thank you, Hiao Xen, for your thoughtfulness.” Master West stood and bowed to Hiao Xen, who quickly responded in kind to the bow.

“I will need a peaceful place to work and make some items for the upcoming auction,” Erik said.

“I will see to it personally.” Hiao Xen smiled and looked to Chiang Luo. “Your father was a good friend to me and we shared many drinks in the past. I cannot do much with my position but know that you and your mother have a place with my family if you so need.”

Chiang Luo bowed deeply, her eyes becoming wet at the depth found in Hiao Xen’s eyes. “I know that my father’s soul is at rest and would thank you deeply,” she said with a shaky voice.

“Chiang Luo, would you guide me to your grandfather? I would like to see if it is possible to heal him.”

Chiang Luo, a bit stunned by the events that had happened, could only nod her head.

“Very well. Manager Xen, until we meet again.” Erik cupped his hands and bowed to Hiao Xen, who went even a bit lower than Erik.

“I wish you good travels!”

***

Chiang Luo and Erik boarded a carriage and headed for the Luo family estate. Erik pulled out the map Hiao Xen had given him and pressed it together with the Ten Realms map he had gained from completing the Welcome to the Ten Realms quest.

There was a flash of light as the maps combined.

Erik pulled out different ingredients and tasted them. He didn’t realize it but his mind was automatically categorizing the different ingredients, drawing from the information that he had already stored up.

Only if it was a complicated ingredient or concoction he had tested would he have to think on them.

“Root plant, high Experience gain, but then there is also properties to nurse one’s bones and increase Mana affinity,” Erik muttered.

A noise went off in his head as another notification appeared.

==========

You have found out all of the effects of an ingredient. Your information on the ingredient increases and you are rewarded with a name.

Mana-festation root.

==========

“That was a horrible pun. Reminds me of that comms guy Krout. I swear, he created puns just by talking,” Erik complained with a soft smile, filled with memories.

Chiang Luo continued to look out of the carriage as Erik tasted another ingredient, increasing his knowledge.

As he learned more about the ingredients, based off his previous knowledge he was starting to build up a plan of what he could make from the different items.

“If I was to use cheaper substitutes or common ingredients that would work better, take more prep but then for the work, the Ten Realms should reward me more, right?” Erik said hopefully, looking up at the ceiling of the carriage as if talking to the Ten Realms itself.

Why do I have the feeling that the Ten Realms just scoffed at me? Well, I’ll just have to test it out!

They crossed through the gate into the Luo family estate.

Erik looked up. Through the windows, he was able to look upon the estate. He let out a whistle as he saw the beautiful sculptured estate.

People were talking with one another and wandering about. Others were practicing their fighting skills under various Masters in different training areas. Guards marched up and down the paths in their dominating silver and sand-colored armor.

Houses away from the roads made up their own domains, separate from the hustle and bustle of life.

“Now this is an estate,” Erik said, looking it over.

“Have you not seen an estate like this before?” Fairy Luo asked, immediately closing her mouth as a red flush appeared on her cheeks.

She hadn’t said anything all trip but rather looked out of the window with a forlorn expression. Even now she didn’t look at Erik but continued to look outside of the carriage.

It didn’t look as if she had returned home; if anything, her expression was even more guarded than it had been in the Blue Lotus.

“Nope,” Erik said simply.

Chiang Luo’s face went through a number of different emotions.

Erik didn’t pay it any attention as he continued to look over the estate.

Sometime later, the carriage stopped. A guard opened the door for them both.

“Fairy Luo, I was wondering when my dearest cousin might return!” A young man’s voice crossed the air.

Erik stepped out of the carriage and saw a rounder-looking man, his eyes filled with lust as he looked over Fairy Luo.

“Cousin Hong, don’t you have other matters to attend to than greeting me?” Fairy Luo said, her voice icy.

“Cousin Luo, you do me an injustice! I am here to attend a meeting coordinated by the elders.” A smile filled with hidden meaning appeared on Hong’s face.

Fairy Luo stiffened with these words.

Erik didn’t know the man but the clear way he stared at Fairy Luo as if she were nothing more than an object made him frown and think about smacking him a little.

He had worked with a number of women in different wars and battles. They were no weaker than any man he had fought beside and seeing someone degrading Fairy Luo, who just wanted to heal her grandfather, made Erik feel protective.

Not your fight. Just here to heal the old dude and get them concoctions.

“Oh, who is this?” The fat man’s eyes fell on Erik, turning vicious in a second.

“Oh, come on! I just got to this place and you’re angry at me because I was in a carriage with her? Big fucking whoop. Go and jerk off a few times, you sexually frustrated panda! Lady Luo, where’s your grandfather? I don’t have time to spend with idiots who think about nothing more than their dicks and pride.” Erik looked to Lady Luo.

Yeah, way to keep a low profile. Dude had it coming. Too many guys thinking with their genitals instead of brains! Maybe that Ekeem kid did piss me off.

His words had come out so fast, surprising people, that none of them had time to say anything.

“Y—you!” Hong started, his mass shaking in anger as veins appeared on his head.

“Christ, boy. You look like a half-finished Jell-O, shaking all over the place. Watch out or else you’ll blow a blood vessel,” Erik said in a professional tone.

Hong was reduced to sputtering as the people around him moved forward.

“How dare you insult our young master!” one yelled out.

“He’s your young master? Then maybe you can put that cock holster of yours to work. Seems that all he wants is to stick it in something.” Erik made an overly shocked expression, covering his mouth. “Oh! I didn’t realize you were all part of the same handsie, pandsie lemon fucking squeezy butter tart club! Well, use lube, guys! Lady Luo, we’ve got places to see, people to heal and all that.”

Erik started walking forward. Fairy Luo quickly moved to catch up with Erik.

“That was not the best idea,” Luo said once she was close enough to Erik that she didn’t need to shout.

“Eh, kid’s a perv—should keep it in his pants.” Erik shrugged.

“He’s eighty-seven years old,” Fairy Luo said.

“Huh. Old pervert then,” Erik amended. This whole not aging shit or aging really slowly is going to be a pain in the ass.

“He is the strongest applicant to the position of clan leader,” Luo said, her words harsh.

“Well, if he’s going to be the next leader, then I don’t think that your family is going to stay on top for very long,” Erik said.

Fairy Luo didn’t say anything, moving a bit ahead to lead him through the estate.

The guards ranged in strength from level thirteen to level nineteen so far. The clans that ruled Taeman weren’t as powerful as the Blue Lotus and could entice people away from ascending and instead have them help in maintaining their strength.

Lady Luo led Erik to a large building. All kinds of people moved around the building and guards were posted all around, surveying the different people with severe looks.

“Isn’t that Fairy Luo? Who is that person with her? He neither looks like a healer nor an alchemist,” someone said as they headed for the entrance.

“With his eccentric dress, maybe he is a young master from another city who caught Fairy Luo’s eyes?” another asked.

“What nonsense! No one in this city has been able to attract Fairy Luo’s eye. Are you saying that our city is unable to hold Fairy Luo?”

“Agreed! If anyone will have Fairy Luo, it will be Young Master Hong! As the son of the third elder and with his abilities, it is a matter of time until they are announced husband and wife!”

“Ah, I have always adored Fairy Luo. Why couldn’t she run away with me?”

These cries and more came upon Erik’s ears.

He was stuck in a state of confusion. She’s pretty, but what the hell? Do these people not have anything better to do with their time?

Erik’s frown grew deeper.

Erik didn’t realize that back on Earth, he had been exposed to supermodels, touched-up pictures, actresses, and all kinds of beautiful women who would cause a stir within the Ten Realms.

If actors and actresses from Earth were to come to the Ten Realms, then there would be an uproar!

“Have these people never seen a pretty woman before?” Erik muttered.

The strong rule and the weak obey. Fairy Luo is good-looking and from the Mana around her, she should be pretty powerful in her own right. She’s a level seventeen as well. Add in her position as the granddaughter of the current clan head and the daughter of the previous—like fricking kingdoms and alliances through marriage once again.

Even though it was adverse to him, he knew that in certain places on Earth that this was still a common idea.

He had no thoughts of owning another person, but he did understand that the weak in this world could only bow their heads to those who were stronger. If they didn’t, then they’d be beaten into submission.

As they were making their way into the building, the people thinned out and they passed a few checkpoints.

Fairy Luo was about to walk through another checkpoint when the guards moved to intercept her.

“What’s the meaning of this?” Her voice dropped low as she looked at the guards.

“Sorry. For the safety of the forefather, the third elder has said that you are to remain outside,” a guard said, his face impassive.

“Who is he to stop me? The forefather is my grandfather!” Fairy Luo’s aura ballooned. She was a level seventeen powerhouse. As her strength gathered, the guards also flexed their strength, showing that they were level eighteen to nineteen and suppressing her aura.

Erik blinked a few times. The pressure in the room wasn’t hard to deal with.

He let out a light cough and looked at the guards. He was just here to see an old man and help him out but it seemed that it was getting more complicated the further they went.

“Chiang Luo!” A voice filled with reproach sounded. An old man walked down a hallway, flanked on either side by guards.

As Erik saw the man, he saw a resemblance to Hong.

“This is not your place to start fighting with the guards, or bring in scraps from the street!” the man said, berating Fairy Luo.

“Third Elder, this is Master West. He has come to see Grandfather.” Luo barely held onto her anger as this third elder treated her as nothing more than a misbehaving child.

“You have taken to getting street rats from the street to sully Father?” the third elder said.

He was Fairy Luo’s uncle and her father’s brother, making him Lady Luo’s grandfather’s son.

“I would never do something like that!” Fairy Luo said, her anger getting the better of her as she shouted.

The third elder let out a deep sigh, rubbing his forehead as if a father tired of their child not seeing the truth.

Wow, good acting, fuckwad. Erik pulled out a can and spat out a wad of the chewed-up ingredient in it before he put more ingredients in his mouth.

“Look at him! You don’t know where he comes from and he chews on whatever he can find! I know that your grief is hard to bear—it is hard for me too. Why must you hurt your fiancé like this and bring around someone to insult him, daughter-in-law?” The third elder’s tone sounded as if he were trying to calm her.

“All right, I’m about fucking done with this.” Erik had a lot of patience, but through the day, only Hiao Xen seemed to be accommodating.

Erik pulled out a badge from the Blue Lotus.

The third elder’s admonishing tone and the cold look in his eyes changed.

“Shift it—I’m here to heal some old dude and get some Alchemy testers.” Erik moved forward, past the third elder.

A guard reached out for him and Erik’s fist shot out; the guard went flying backward and hit the wall.

“Next one who touches me, dies.” Erik continued forward and no one made to approach him. It was like a lion walking through the plains: all other creatures moved aside.

The guard let out a pained groan.

Erik cast Ranged Heal. The man’s groans simmered down as the others looked at Erik’s casual use of a healing spell.

“Fucking people just pushing my goddamn buttons today,” Erik growled.

Fairy Luo once again hurried to catch up as the third elder shook in rage but kept his mouth closed.

Chapter: Gaining Favor

Fairy Luo didn’t look back at Erik as they walked through the massive building. They reached the back of the building. Going through different passages, they gained access to a simple garden and a home.

They passed more guards, who bowed to her as she passed.

These were not guards controlled by the disciplinary third elder but directly under the command of the clan leader.

Although the clan leader was unconscious at this time, they had defended both him and his son for most of their lives. As such, they had been around Fairy Luo’s mother for a number of years, increasing their familiarity with one another.

It was becoming harder and harder for Fairy Luo to leave and then try to gain access to her grandfather.

According to the third elder, it seemed as if the clan had already decided that she would marry Young Master Hong, who was to become the next clan leader.

She had done a lot to go up against the third elder and his son.

If this person that Hiao Xen treated as an elder wasn’t able to heal her grandfather, it would be a big blow to her reputation. Making it harder for her to do anything within Taeman or the Luo family estate.

“So, this is someone who wants to attempt to heal Father?” her mother asked as she walked over to them before the final door.

“Yes.” Fairy Luo bit her lips.

“I’m Erik. I don’t know what he’s got but I’m willing to give it a shot.”

Fairy Luo closed her eyes for a few moments.

“Oh, Erik, I haven’t heard of you before.” Her mother looked at Erik with a curious expression.

“Oh, I just came to Taeman city today,” Erik said.

A spell fell over Erik.

His expression darkened as the Mana fluctuated around him. “Don’t fucking test me, lady. I’ve been fucked around with enough today.”

“Master West is someone Hiao Xen recommended,” Fairy Luo said.

Her mother seemed to weigh her words before she bowed to Erik. “I am sorry for being so rude,” she said. “I will take you to see my father.”

He nodded, seemingly unaffected by their actions.

He might look ridiculous and he was crass, but there was a hidden darkness to him, a depth that, if touched upon, changed him. He was like those warriors who had seen constant battles, numb to the world.

For his carefree attitude to melt away to reveal this, Fairy Luo felt more and more that this was the true Erik when pushed too far.

“You will have five minutes. You do anything that I don’t agree with and I’ll kill you,” she said as they reached the door.

Erik shook his head and pushed the doors open. “You can try.” Erik marched into the room as the Experts protecting the forefather looked at him with expressions that could kill.

“Once I’ve healed him, don’t forget your promise, Fairy Luo.” Erik’s voice made it clear that he had washed his hands of the Luo clan. The only thing that held him was their deal.

Fairy Luo’s emotions were complicated. She hated this man for the words he said to her mother but appreciated the way he had talked back to the third elder and Hong.

She didn’t know whether he would be able to heal her grandfather. If he did, she didn’t know her fate.

On one side, her grandfather would be saved. On the other, she would have to serve this man.

***

Erik spat out the ingredients into a cup before rinsing out his mouth with water.

Once done, he continued forward toward the old man lying on the bed as guards hiding in the room moved closer.

Erik took the man’s wrist and cast Simple Organic Scan to check his body. “Hmm, his organs all look okay. His breathing isn’t too easy.” Erik looked at the man, ignoring the others in the room.

Mistress Luo still held her finger on her storage ring, ready to attack at any moment.

Erik could find all of the symptoms: he was short of breath, he was in a coma, his Mana didn’t even seem to be moving—in fact, it seemed to be draining away.

Erik’s forehead creased as he started to look through the old man’s Mana system. There’s the damage. Poison, by the looks of it.

***

Master West stood there in thought for a number of minutes.

Chiang Luo looked to her mother and then back to Master West. She wondered whether he was an Expert at all and she was prepared for his failure.

Suddenly, he opened his eyes and looked to her mother.

“Mistress Luo, I have one question,” Erik asked. “When did it start smelling like rotten eggs?”

Chiang Luo watched her mother’s expression stiffen and then crack.

“How did you know it smells of eggs?” she asked.

“You did well hiding the smell over with the incense, otherwise people would think that he has already died,” Erik said.

“He has been poisoned, a poison that blocks acupoints across his body. The poison has now disappeared since it has done its work. He is older, over one hundred at least. His body relies on Mana and the Ten Realms to sustain itself. With the acupoints blocked, the Mana can’t flow through the channels easily and it’s circulating in a way that is harmful to his health.

“His body has started to shut down because of the restrained Mana, causing him to slip into a coma. He is relying on his internal Mana right now, but at some point his Mana will run out and he will eventually die.”

The others in the room had heard of these different things before, but all of them were looking at Mistress Luo, whose face had become paler and paler.

“How did you know that he was unable to pull in more mana?” she asked.

“His body was feeling cold as the Mana in his body was no longer circulating or going in reverse, pulling the heat of his body away,” Erik said. “Without his Mana channels as a Mana Gathering cultivator, then the strength he had accrued in his body will be cut off from him.”

He pulled out a box of needles and moved to the bed. “Don’t worry. You’ll be awake soon enough. You better get your daughter to apologize, old man! Your house doesn’t seem to have any manners.” Erik berated the unconscious man as he pulled out the needles from the box.

Don’t you know that he isn’t able to wake up? Fairy Luo thought but didn’t say. This man didn’t bear any normal reasoning. Unconsciously, her icy demeanor had fallen away. This man was too eccentric for her to remain aloof.

Erik pulled out a potion. Studying the old man, he jabbed the needles into the old man, one after another.

***

When Erik had examined the forefather, he had been able to build an entire understanding of the man’s body and the acupoints.

The Mana channels in one’s body were essentially a second cardiovascular system that moved Mana through the body and used the Mana gates as a mouth or nose to pull in more oxygen and expel impurities.

It seems that the long life people hold is maintained by having Mana. If one screws up their acupoints, then it is as if they have lost years off their life. One has an increased life expectancy of a hundred and fifty years. This is if they are in perfect health. It is closer to a hundred years if someone doesn’t go into battle and looks after themselves. If one opens their Mana gates, or tempers their body and Mana channels, they can increase the time that they will live for. If their Mana system or body is already wounded, unless they heal these injuries then it will be impossible for them to reach the extra one hundred and fifty years.

If nothing else, Erik saw this as a gain.

The needles jabbed into the man’s skin and a pungent aroma was released.

Erik merely wrinkled his nose. He’d smelled a lot worse before. His training as a medic stopped him from flinching as he continued to plant needles into the man’s acupoints.

“Sorry about this,” Erik said to the unconscious man. He used his Medical Sight to see through the man’s body.

There was so little Mana in the man’s body and most of the Mana gates that had been opened were stagnated. He had created weaknesses in the acupoints but he needed to flush them out with Mana, much like how one would clear out a gutter with a water hose.

Mana flowed through Erik’s body and into a pin he had pulled out from his storage ring.

He drove the pin into the man’s left kneecap.

He traced out more of the Mana channels, finding the blocked acupoints and placing pin after pin into the blocked points.

With the pure Mana inserted into the center of the blockages, it was starting to dissolve them from the inside.

Erik moved to the old man’s head. Holding the back of his head, he used Focused Heal, repairing the damage to the man’s Mana gate.

He turned to the old injury in the man’s shoulder where bone shards were still located in his muscle. The wound had healed and with the Ten Realms supporting him, he had been fine. But now without that support to hold him up, the old wound was coming back to affect him.

Erik used Wraith’s Touch. “I’m going to remove some bone parts that are inside of his shoulder.”

The guards all tightened their grip on their weapons as Erik pulled on gloves and then set out a clean cloth with tools he would need on the old man’s chest.

He took out a scalpel and cut the skin. He used tweezers to pull out the remaining fragments, putting them into a waiting cup.

Once they were all removed, Erik used healing spells to close up the wounds.

He checked on the pins that were across the man’s body.

He took a breath before his hands darted forward and pulled out the pins rapidly. Suction noises came from the old man’s body as the blockages were cleared.

The Mana rushed through the man’s body, clearing out the filth in his acupoints. The nasty smell only increased as black impurities came out of the old man’s skin. The clock seemed to be turned back and he grew younger at a visible rate.

Those in the room looked at him in alarm. Great changes were happening to the forefather’s body but Erik paid them little attention, pulling out the pins from his body.

This was a Master of healing!

He was so composed when dealing with the injury that even the phenomena that stirred up Mana was simply uninteresting.

If they knew that Erik was expecting something like this as he had gone through similar experiences when he opened a Mana gate, they would be jealous.

To Erik, this wasn’t a rare event but rather a normal occurrence.

The old man on the bed lurched upward, taking a deep breath.

“Oi!” Erik pulled out a needle from the man’s neck. He shook his head, putting the pin away and sealing the box.

He turned to Fairy Luo. “All done.”

***

“Father!” Mistress Luo yelled out, moving to her father-in-law’s side as fast as possible. She made to hug him but pulled back at the smell.

“Someone want to open the doors?” Erik said to the guards. “A bath might be needed as well.”

Someone coughed as they opened the door as if they were nothing more than a doorman.

Another used an attack technique to fan the pungent air out of the room and house.

“Smells worse than Rossy on taco night,” Erik muttered under his breath but Fairy Luo had no time to think about that as she, too, was beside her grandfather.

Her grandfather’s power surged back into him. The pale skin from before turned red with vitality. He seemed as if he had just woken up from a nap.

Fairy Luo’s mind reeled. She held back tears as her grandfather looked at her with a doting expression.

How is this possible? Fairy Luo’s mind was in chaos as she looked at the state of her grandfather.

“To have a granddaughter like you, I am truly blessed,” he said.

Hearing the voice she thought she might not ever hear again, she could only bow her head as tears rolled down her cheeks.

He looked to his daughter-in-law, a look of reproach on his face. “Nina, I’m not so pleased with you. I believe you owe this young man an apology.”

Fairy Luo looked up at her grandfather in confusion.

“He could hear everything. He wasn’t unconscious; it was just he didn’t have the energy to do anything but lie there.” Erik yawned. “Been a long day...”

“I must personally thank you.” Fairy Luo’s grandfather stood from his bed and, dropping to his knee in front of Erik, bowed his head. “You saved my life, the life of my daughter-in-law, and granddaughter. And I can feel one of my Mana gates that I thought I would never be able to open has loosened.” Her grandfather’s words were laced with powerful emotions.

Each of them rocked Fairy Luo to the core. Is he someone who can open Mana gates?

“That’s interesting. I was just trying to clear the blockages in your body.” Erik looked at her kneeling grandfather.

“Of course. Get down here and greet the grandmaster!” Her grandfather’s voice was filled with an undeniable command as the guards in the room and all of those who had witnessed Erik’s actions swore an oath on the Ten Realms to not reveal anything about Erik and his actions. The light of the Ten Realms descended to confirm their oaths before disappearing.

“Nina, apologize!” Her grandfather used her mother’s name.

Mistress Luo’s face screwed up before she bowed down from where she was kneeling. “I am sorry for my actions. I have brought embarrassment upon myself for my quick judgments. I was wrong,” she said, as if every word hurt her.

“Apologies cost nothing, but if they are sincere they are possible to stop greater conflicts from arising. Holding onto your pride makes you more of an idiot than accepting the truth,” Erik said.

Her grandfather made a noise of agreement. “Well spoken.”

To get this kind of praise, even seeing everything, Fairy Luo was finding it hard to connect the man who had entered the room with the one who stood before her.

“Very well. Now, there was an agreement between Fairy Luo and me before all of this. If I can get the different items, then I will be on my way,” Erik said.

Fairy Luo’s stomach had dropped with these words. Still, she was a woman of her word.

She stood and moved toward Erik before once again sinking to her knees and bowing her head. “I am a woman of my word. As my grandfather is now healed, you may use me as you desire.” Her voice slightly trembled at the end of it.

“Huh?” Erik said, clearly confused.

“What?” her grandfather said, stunned as he stood.

“Are you some kind of furniture? I’m talking about the concoctions. What are you talking about?” Erik asked.

“I thought—” Fairy Luo started, staring up at Erik with a lost expression.

“Your want to help your grandfather brought me, not the promise of your body. Though I will take those concoctions you were talking about. They sound like they could be some fun!” Erik said.

Fairy lowered her head, her face turning bright red. “I will go and gather them!” She rushed off.

***

“So, what’s your name? All I’ve been hearing is grandfather, forefather, clan leader, and all that,” Erik asked.

“I am Kun Luo,” the old man said.

“Nice to meet you. You should deal with your family affairs.”

Kun Luo frowned. His power circulated in the air. “While I was unable to move, I wasn’t unable to listen. The more I heard, the more I think that the Luo family is not a family but rather a pack of wolves fighting one another.”

With his expression and words, Erik didn’t think that things would be all that safe or peaceful in Taeman for much longer.

“Guards, send the word to your trusted brethren who were not controlled by the other elders. They are to start gathering their families and the wealth of the family.” With a wave of his hand, a table appeared from his storage ring, with paper and a pen on it.

Erik opened up his notifications.

==========

Skill: Healer

==========

Level: 43 (Apprentice)

==========

You have become familiar with the body and the arts of repairing it. Healing spells now cost 5% less Mana.

==========

==========

274,540/355,000 EXP till you reach Level 20

==========

Damn, that’s pretty high. I wonder how much Experience I would have gained if I was able to get Experience for healing myself and opening my Mana gates. Erik complained inside his head but there was nothing that he could do. Based on his self-healing, he had come to understand his body in a great variety of ways.

With this base knowledge, he was able to formulate ways to help others.

Kun Luo quickly drafted a letter before pulling a guard to the side. “Take this to the Gu family head. Make sure that no one sees you leaving the estate and change into normal garb. If you are stopped, tell them...” The rest of the words were hidden from the others so not even Erik could listen in on it.

He took out an apothecary mixture from his storage ring and drank some of the contents. He half closed one eye as he worked his jaw. His tongue stuck out as he tried to scrape the taste on his tongue off. “Ugh, God.” He spat in the cup even as he started to catalogue the different ingredients. “Like drinking hot sauce mouthwash with a charged car battery.”

“Are you okay?” Mistress Luo said.

“I’ll get back to you on that,” Erik said, getting control of his taste buds again. He pulled out some Wraith’s Touch salve and put it on his tongue directly.

“Hah! That should work!” Erik continued to drink the different mixtures, swigging them down with a smile on his face.

To others he looked crazy, smiling as he consumed everything from rubs to ease one’s muscles after a hard day’s work to poultices that sped up healing.

The guards all moved out as Kun Luo turned to Erik, bowing once again.

“I am sorry that my hospitality is lacking. Is there anything that I can do to make your wait easier? It shouldn’t be long until Chiang’er returns,” he said, using a term of endearment for his granddaughter.

“I phould be gud.” Erik frowned and looked down at his traitorous tongue. “My ounges num! Phuuck!”

Just my luck—get rid of the taste and my tongue is now useless. Come on! Erik shrugged. He could heal it but then he wouldn’t be able to get through the mixtures as fast.

“Nuh erries. Im hine.” Erik waved his hand to show that he was okay even with a useless tongue.

He opened another salve bottle and consumed a fingerful of the contents. Mistress Luo and Kun Luo looked to each other but said nothing as Erik moved to a chair, sitting down and consuming the different poultices and apothecary items.

It wasn’t long until Fairy Luo returned with a storage ring. She bowed and handed it to Erik.

He took it with two hands and looked inside. He smiled as he looked at the collection of potions, pills, and powders. There was some one hundred or so different concoctions. Erik rose, nodding to them all, and started to leave.

“Healer Grandmaster! If there is anything that we can do for you in the future, please do not hesitate to ask.” Kun Luo cupped his hands to Erik.

“Iah’ll eee oue ater.” Erik smiled and turned to leave. He pulled out a powder container, taking a bit of the powder and tossing it in his mouth.

All of the Luos looked to one another, not understanding this man anymore.

Erik received a sound transmission from Hiao Xen. As the guards escorted him off the Luo family estate, he turned down the offer of a carriage.

“Well, at least that is one problem dealt with. Time I got back to making concoctions.”

Chapter: Hidden Strife

Jasper returned to Alva Dungeon with all of the merchants. The pace they set was a lot slower than Roska and her team had set on the way out.

Still, it only took them a few days to get back to the dungeon.

“It’s good to see you back.” Blaze appeared from behind a tree. He was chewing on some grass, wearing a collection of different armors. Although each of them was different, all of them were well maintained.

“Looks like the beard is coming in well.” Jasper got off the panther. Although they were fast, they were still not the most comfortable things to ride.

Blaze laughed as the two clasped hands.

“Good to have you back—got me a bit scared there,” Blaze admitted.

As Roska and the merchants started to get down from their rides, people came out from the underbrush to take their panthers and greet their friends.

The group headed toward the entrance into Alva Dungeon.

“I wasn’t feeling the best about it, but if they wanted to make a fight of it I was sure that we could hold our own for some time. I might have argued against the fighting training before, but I understand it now,” Jasper said.

“Wish you didn’t have to.” Blaze looked sideways at his friend.

“Anything new that you didn’t send to me via sound transmission?”

“Same old, pretty much. Good work with Lord Aditya there. Having such an influential figure in a high position under our command will make things easier. Now we’ve got the problem of trying to control him,” Blaze said.

“It won’t be that hard. We should set up the city as a base of operations. Roska has already informed me how he wants to heal his missing leg. That gives us leverage on him. We can use drops, placing storage rings with goods at different positions; then he leaves storage rings in locations we pick and we continue trading like that. Gives him less ability to try to understand us. Also, when Erik and Rugrat come back, they can figure out how to deal with him.” Jasper grinned.

“Putting it all on their shoulders, huh?” Blaze laughed as they walked ahead of the others. “I wonder how their task is going.”

On the outside, he sounded confident but Jasper knew through their talks at the council table that they had all been making plans in case Erik and Rugrat didn’t make it back in time, or didn’t come back at all. They were in the Second Realm, after all; they didn’t have a means to get a message across that distance.

Without the information from the teams that they had sent out, or Erik and Rugrat, they had held back from sending more people to the Second Realm.

Blaze pulled himself back together as they were walking through the small pass that led to the main entrance. “We lost seven more people.”

Jasper nodded. “It was bound to happen. I’m surprised that we have been able to keep so many people up to this point,” Jasper admitted.

“Yeah, though the problem is that while there are people, there isn’t anyone new coming in. We need to look into recruiting new people. Erik and Rugrat sent us Qin Silaz and her tagalong brother, as well as Tan Xue and Julilah, but we can’t rely on just them to bring us more people. The problem is that people are going to find it hard accepting more people, especially in light of what happened with you and the other traders.” Blaze looked at Jasper with meaning.

“You want me to bolster the recruiting position, put people at ease?” I’m not against the idea. We need more people if we want to grow. We’ve got a lot of positions and not many people to fill them. Though we were a small village from the start and we relied on ourselves, having our protection oath broken hurt people. Erik and Rugrat were a pillar for us, but now with all of the things that we have, there will be people trying to just maintain their control, instead of sharing and growing others of strength.

“You’ve got it,” Blaze said.

They entered the main entrance, passing the guard post there. The defenses had grown, becoming more substantial and harder to break. They passed through the guards and continued on their walk.

“You’ve got my support. I agree with you—just let me know how you want me to pass the word.”

“Well, umm...” Blaze coughed with an embarrassed smile.

“You want me to go to something right now?” Jasper’s shoulders slumped. “I just got back!”

“Best time to hit is when the hammer is hot!” Blaze clapped Jasper on the shoulder before a thinking expression appeared on his face. “Or is it the metal that’s hot?” Blaze shrugged. “Whatever—you should ask Taran when you see him. He’s having a meeting with all of the people from the academy. They’re looking at everything that has happened and plans for the future. Just calm down their nerves. Also, I’ve been hearing that they’ve got more goods to sell and need new supplies!”

“All right, I’ll go and check it out,” Jasper said as they passed through another checkpoint.

Standing there were Elise and Glosil.

“Jasper, good to have you back!” Elise hugged him.

“Good to be back.” Jasper smiled and then looked to Glosil.

“When I heard the plan you had for turning the tables on Lord Aditya, I thought it was ballsy. Hopefully you’re not looking to take over my job. That was a damn good idea.” Glosil held out his hand.

Jasper smiled and nodded. “To be honest, I was nervous as hell, but it was one option that meant no one should have been hurt. And it would have allowed us to stay hidden away from the people’s eyes.”

“I know that if I was in your shoes, I wouldn’t have thought of it,” Elise said.

Glosil and Blaze nodded.

“Guess it was just the traderly instincts I’ve been building up.” Jasper laughed, trying to break the growing tension. The others quieted down. Seeing that they didn’t have anything else pressing to say, Jasper clapped his hands together.

“I hear that there is a meeting going on with the academy heads and that they might need a trader to talk on a few things. I’m going to head over and see what’s happening with them.”

“I wonder where you heard that from.” Elise gave Blaze a pointed look. The latter coughed and looked away.

He might have been the leader of the village previously, but Elise had stepped into her role as the leader of the dungeon fully.

She shook her head and smiled to Jasper. “I know that once you’ve said you’ll do something that there isn’t much to stop you. Just make sure that you get some rest and some food in you,” Elise said, her tone softening.

“Will do,” Jasper said with a warm smile, touched by her and the others’ concern.

***

Taran looked at the people in the room. Other than him, there were four others plus four more empty seats.

The empty seats were meant for those who led the Alchemy, smithy, formation, and architectural departments.

Taran had wanted to give the position of smithing department head to Tan Xue. She had refused but agreed to be a teacher. Taran spent most of his time in the forge or dealing with paperwork so he had effectively turned into the department head.

Egbert held the position of librarian but he was multitasking, teaching on formations and Alchemy. He also assisted a great number of people in finding information that could benefit them.

His memory was incredible, allowing him to recall entire books and in his free time, he recorded down the different books he thought might be useful. It was a slow process but Egbert didn’t need to rest, so his library’s walls were quickly filling up with more books.

Though he keeps forgetting about his romance novels. Taran raised his head to the ceiling, trying to find strength there as he thought about the latest time he had sent people to go and find the basics of smithing book and found a romance book hidden within the large book.

Egbert was embarrassed and quickly took back the book.

A smile appeared on Taran’s face. After all, a new weapon had fallen into his hands to threaten Egbert into line with.

Taran cleared his throat, bringing everyone’s attention on him. “All right, first, let’s go through the reports. Jia Feng, if you’d like to begin?”

“Certainly. We have five people who have a sixty percent chance to make meals of the high-Apprentice grade. Of that, three have a chance to make Journeyman-level meals. Unlike some of the other departments, we’re going in blind. We don’t have a great number of recipes that are safe for human consumption. The gnomes Egbert were around had a different palate and dietary needs, so what we can eat and they can eat aren’t necessarily the same thing. We only have a limited number of ingredients here. We need more ingredients, recipes, and other items from the outside world as well as cookbooks.

“Right now we’re reaching out into the dark as we only have two Journeyman-level meals—though with just two of them, we’re quickly running out of supplies to make both. Most of the cooks are spending their times on making Apprentice-grade meals to increase the rate that one’s Stamina is regenerated. The military is still buying these up by the bundle and most of the people in Alva Dungeon are coming to us rather than buying ingredients themselves as it saves them time to get meals from us and they recover at a greater speed.”

Taran didn’t miss the pride in her voice. The cookhouse was one of the most liked departments. Who didn’t like food?

“Okay, we will need to look into getting more supplies for the cookhouse, specifically cooking manuals. This might be a request that needs to go to the special teams when they move to the Second Realm,” Taran said, making a note.

“Barring that, I was wondering if it would be possible for people in the department to go on leave.” Jia Feng’s tone changed as she looked at Taran.

“Leave?” Taran asked.

“We have a certain amount of ideas here, but there are other places in the First Realm that we might be able to increase our knowledge. In the imperial courts, desserts and food can reach the high-Journeyman stage. These cooking manuals are only passed down to special chefs, but being around that high-class food, it could improve my students’ knowledge,” Jia Feng said.

Taran took a deep breath and sat back in his chair. Just as he was about to respond, there was a knock at the door.

“Come in.” Taran frowned. He wasn’t sure who else might need to come to this meeting.

The door opened and a dusty and dirty-looking Jasper walked in and closed the door behind him.

“I heard that you might need my expertise in trading?” Jasper smiled.

“I thought you just got back?” Taran asked.

“I have, but sitting on a panther the entire time, I wanted to do something with my brain!”

The others in the room returned Jasper’s smile.

“I think that your expertise might be required.” Taran waved to the formations seat.

Jasper nodded and headed over to it as Taran cleared his throat and looked back to Jia Feng.

Taran went through the remaining department heads, with Egbert giving a report on the Alchemy and formations department that he was overlooking.

Finally, Shi Wanshu spoke up.

“Look, we’ve been skipping around the issue, but here it is. We’ve got people who want to learn and they know that there is more to learn. So when they’re hitting the ceiling, they’re looking for new avenues to pursue—looking to other departments, leaving to venture the Ten Realms, or gain information from the outside world in some manner. We got some more, here and there, out of what Erik and Rugrat sent with Tan Xue and Julilah, but that wasn’t much. Egbert is a wealth of knowledge but he doesn’t have all the answers and a number of the books and information he has we don’t know how to interpret. We would be hard-pressed to find a group like this in the First Realm, with so many powerful crafters by the First Realm standards. There are going to be some who want to go and search out fame and fortune in the First Realm as there is nothing left here for them to do.”

The other department heads pursed their lips, but they didn’t argue the point.

“Three, nearly four months—I didn’t think that we would go through so much material in such a short period,” Taran said, agreeing with Shi Wanshu’s assessment. “The smithy lucked out with having Tan Xue join us and then the alchemist department and farmers under the cookhouse department got more to work on.”

Being a Novice was like being able to read and write. Apprentice was being taught how to learn and the basics of a skill. Journeyman was where the person made the knowledge their own, researching and gaining a greater understanding. Expert was where they combined research and testing with theories they or others had and started to test out different things that they had learned of a high difficulty. At the Master realm, they knew an incredible amount of information about their skill; they conducted more experiments instead of creating actually finished items.

“We need to come up with plans to allow our students to experience the world to gain a greater understanding. We also need to find more skilled people to increase our knowledge and possibly take over our positions,” Taran said.

“We must not forget that we already have a conduit to the Second Realm. Special Team One are all in the Second Realm. Part of their mission was to get forging blueprints, completed products, and more to bring back. With forging designs and new items, it gives us more paths to increase our knowledge. The gnomes, with their time spent underground, there were only a few of them and their population tightly controlled. As time passed, they made the dungeon, but they regressed—there was nothing to work toward. Some of the students under your tutelage might not increase in their skill level after a period. There are some who don’t have the motivation or don’t want to push any further. The academy system is to provide them with the knowledge and tools they need to increase their understanding and then let them discover and create on their own. It’s not to pull them in and hold them in the academy forever,” Egbert said.

The hall was silent as everyone stared at Egbert.

“What? Is my head on backward again?” Egbert grabbed his skull.

Taran and the others shifted their eyes to the young woman behind him with a proud smile.

Jia Feng went so far as to give Qin Silaz two thumbs up, getting a dry cough and a look from Taran.

Qin Silaz smiled and looked at the department heads, who all looked somewhere else.

All of the department heads cowed by a single girl. If this was to get out! Just how did she make Egbert reasonable? Is she a Master tamer?

***

Jasper and Taran were the only two in Taran’s office after the meeting.

“Looks like Qin Silaz has Egbert wrapped around her finger,” Jasper joked.

“Well, she’s looking into spells. The girl is a prodigy. She’s quickly advancing her knowledge in spells and Egbert is hopeful that she can start learning about formations. The theories between them are similar but the scale and the way that they’re carried out are the only great differences,” Taran said.

It was one of the things that everyone knew in Alva Dungeon but didn’t talk about: the other floors.

What’s really down there? They haven’t been touched in hundreds of years. Creatures that were down there have nowhere to go—did they die off, did they survive? The entire dungeon was supposed to be one big ecosystem, but now we only have access to a tiny portion of it. Teleportation formations, Mana gathering formations, controlling formations. Will we really be able to take control of the dungeon back?

“She’s made advances in the area of Mana gathering formations,” Taran said.

“Do you think she would be able to link us with the lower floors if she got the chance?” Jasper asked.

Taran let out a derisive snort. “The more I learn about the Ten Realms, the less I think I actually really know.”

The two of them drifted into silence.

“You okay?” Taran asked.

They might be the council members to the others, but behind private doors they were just people who had the mantle of leadership placed upon them and they’d had to run with it.

“I was scared out of my wits, but it worked out in the end,” Jasper said.

Taran let out an understanding noise. “After it all, what do you think about allowing even more people out of the Alva Dungeon?”

Jasper saw in Taran’s eyes, it was no simple question.

“I think that if we want to develop, then we’re going to need outside help. Look at Tan Xue and Julilah. They’ve brought in new ideas and ways of doing things. If we start telling people that they can’t go outside, we’d be nothing more than tyrants trying to exercise our own rule. We do our best to protect Alva Dungeon and the people in it, but those who are going outside of our borders, although they are still our people, we can’t be expected to save them from everything. They need to make their own mistakes.” Jasper looked away, becoming thoughtful at his own words.

“Thank you, Jasper.” Taran sounded relieved.

“What for?” Jasper was confused. He half-expected Taran to be annoyed with him.

“I was thinking the same thing but I just didn’t want to say it. Hearing you say it, well, I can’t deny it anymore.” Taran let out a rough laugh. He looked off at something, as if he could see the future and what their thoughts and actions might bring. “It’s kind of terrifying when you think of what this might become, or what could happen if it fails.”

“Yes, it is.” Jasper’s own doubts and thoughts surfaced from the back of his mind.

Chapter: Noise Complaint

“All day and night, all I hear is banging!” Cao Shi turned and yelled out of the window in the direction of the hammering.

“Come, dear. It’s not that bad,” Cao Huang said, lounging in bed, the signs of sleep still on his face.

Shi stomped on the ground, her face darkening. “That’s because your snoring is so loud you can’t hear it!”

Cao Huang rubbed his eyes and he let out a sigh, unwilling to argue this early in the morning. “What do you want me to do, dearest? The villa has been rented out to someone.”

“Go to the manager and get them moved!”

Cao Huang moved the sheets away and stood. “They might be loud but it seems to only be one person. They rented out the entire villa for themselves and they’re in a hidden courtyard that others can’t look into. They are also forging something. That noise—it’s a hammer hitting metal, with them pausing to assess the metal or increase its strength. A simple smith would not be able to pay for the residence and go on for that long. They have been smithing for nearly an entire day. Smithing is not a simple task and it takes a great amount of endurance. So, we’ve got a rich blacksmith with high Stamina to last for this long.” Cao Huang had a kind outward appearance, but even when rising from sleep, his mind was clear and focused, able to pick up on the essential points and make a concise judgment.

Cao Shi pouted and lowered her head cutely.

Cao Huang wrapped his arms around her and smiled.

She struggled for a bit before relaxing into his embrace.

“Don’t worry. Someone will probably complain. Duan Jie doesn’t have much patience for others. I would guess he would complain and we can get a show,” Cao Huang said.

***

“What are you going to do about all of this noise? My people and my animals can’t sleep! How are we supposed to prepare for our trip to the city Erast, Manager Wu?” Duan Jie demanded.

Manager Wu looked after all of the trading villas underneath the Ekeem family.

Duan Jie was one of the best traders underneath the Ekeem family. He was able to make them a great amount of money and had been personally awarded his villa by the Ekeem clan leader.

His position wasn’t simple but neither was the man who had rented the villa in question.

Made no other requests other than to rent the villa, paid his gold in full. Since then, he has been working on something. It seems that he is a smith. But to have that kind of wealth...

Manager Wu’s eyes thinned before he took a deep breath. “Request to headquarters—see if we can get more information on this man,” Manager Wu said to one of his assistants.

They bowed and turned away, using a sound transmission device to send a message to headquarters.

Duan Jie let out a grunt and crossed his arms. Duan Jie’s patience was growing thin as the person communicated with headquarters.

Finally, they turned back. “It looks like he is associated with the Thantis Traders. I was not able to get much more than that. It seems that he is known to the Ekeem family,” the person said to Manager Wu.

Well, that doesn’t make anything easier.

“If they are a person associated with the Ekeem clan, can’t we talk to them and see if they will stop that infernal racket! They should know the strength of the Ekeem clan and change their actions accordingly,” Duan Jie said, not letting it go.

His position and what the clan thought of him was not included. If it was another trader, I wouldn’t entertain the thought but Duan Jie’s value to the clan is not simple. If I go and see if I can understand the situation, I can make a decision there.

“Let us go and pay them a visit.” Manager Wu headed for the doors.

Duan Jie flicked his sleeves and followed after Manager Wu. They headed out of the administration offices and toward the inner regions of the trading villas.

People talked and watched as they passed.

Manager Wu had an impassive face as Duan Jie walked beside him.

Well, they’re certainly loud. Even over the conversations and the daily activities around the villas, he could clearly hear the noises coming from the villa.

When he reached the villa, he found a number of people hitting on the door of the villa.

Seeing Manager Wu, they all bowed in greeting before one of the trader company leaders stepped forward.

“Manager Wu, you need to do something about the noise! My wife hasn’t been able to sleep properly all night!”

“The atmosphere is weird as well. My men keep complaining about feeling nauseous!” another chimed in.

“It’s almost demonic, the shifting Mana making creatures and people fall ill,” another said in ominous tones.

Manager Wu waved a hand, quelling their voices. “Please. I have been informed of the issue and I have come to see if I can resolve it.”

The people seemed to be satisfied with this.

Manager Wu stepped forward and knocked on the door. With his strength, the doors shook, but there was no reply, not even a break in the hammering happening inside.

Manager Wu tried two more times.

“This is Manager Wu from the Ekeem family. I wish to talk!” Manager Wu infused his voice with Mana, allowing it to carry.

Still the hammer blows didn’t stop.

Manager Wu knew everyone was looking at him. If he simply backed down, it would be a hit to his reputation. He knocked and yelled one more time but there was still nothing from within the villa.

He waved his hand. A badge appeared and he placed it against the gates. The mechanisms unlocked under his authority.

He indicated to the guards who had come with him. They opened the doors. A string that ran from the door into the villa went tight as the hammering stopped suddenly.

The others behind Manager Wu looked at one another in the ominous silence.

Manager Wu walked into the villa. His guards went ahead as Duan Jie stood beside him. The others who had been at the gate all looked in but they didn’t enter.

Duan Jie, with his position, had a different status than them.

***

Feng Yi had given in his reports and information, then he’d headed to the Cloven Tavern. Liao Ah had met him on his way out and given him an emblem to give to Rugrat when he saw him.

Feng Yi didn’t think of it much and tucked it away and headed out to meet with friends and get a few drinks. He’d stumbled home and slept in. When he woke up, he looked at the emblem that Liao Ah had given him.

His hands shook as he looked at the emblem. It was the emblem of Lord Ekeem. There was also a note attached, without anything on its front.

Feng Yi slapped some water on his face and took some healing powder to deal with the hangover and ran toward the villa where Rugrat had told him he was staying.

When he got outside the villa, he was greeted with the sight of people opening the doors into the villa and marching inside.

He noticed some of them. They were from the larger trading houses.

Feng Yi, who could hear Rugrat’s hammering, heard it suddenly end.

Feng Yi was a smith himself and he knew that Rugrat hadn’t paused his smithing, but instead been pulled out from it.

Shit! Remembering how Erik and Rugrat had talked about killing the spiritas’ easily, he feared that these idiots didn’t know what they were walking into. If Rugrat thinks that they’re a threat? He’s already going to be pissed off from being interrupted.

Feng Yi ran forward. “Make some room!”

The people making it into the gate looked at him. People looked down on him and his simple clothes while those who knew him frowned in displeasure.

Seeing that they wouldn’t move for him, Feng Yi pulled out Lord Ekeem’s emblem.

Their annoyed looks turned to shock as they quickly moved out of the way and he dove into the crowd, forcing his way through.

Feng Yi made it to the front of the crowd to see Rugrat coming out from between two buildings. In one hand, he held a metal cylinder; in the other was a crossbow.

“As my father liked to say: You’ve got ten seconds to get off my front lawn or I hope you can get buckshot out of your ass.” Rugrat’s eyes seemed to be glowing, while the bolt in his crossbow glowed with a shifting yellow and red light.

Rugrat’s powerful aura was like being in the presence of a powerful monster that was deciding whether or not to attack: unpredictable, powerful, dominating.

The guards pulled out their weapons, ready for a fight.

“Sir, I have that emblem from the clan leader!” Feng Yi yelled out.

Rugrat turned to look at Feng Yi with a frown. “Emblem?” Rugrat relaxed slightly as Manager Wu, who had a pale face, looked to Feng Yi, who was holding up Lord Ekeem’s emblem as he ran forward.

Everyone held their actions seeing Feng Yi go to Rugrat and hold it out.

“Feng Yi, what is that for?” Rugrat asked.

“I was told to give it to you, and it’s Lord Ekeem’s emblem.” Feng Yi then raised his voice so that the others could hear him. “I also have a letter from whom I think can only be the clan leader himself.” Feng Yi made a show of pulling out the letter and adding it to the emblem and holding it out to Rugrat.

Rugrat frowned. His dangerous aura had retracted slightly as the guards had lowered their weapons as well. Everyone seemed to be a third party to Rugrat and Feng Yi.

Rugrat put his crossbow into his storage ring. He inspected the emblem and tossed it in as well. “Well, open the letter,” Rugrat said, still holding onto the metal cylinder.

Feng Yi did so and then passed it to Rugrat.

He looked over the letter and then stored it in his ring. “Tell this clan leader I’m busy! I was in the middle of making something, zoned out on smithing and then this lot came in here. Tell him if he really wants to show his goodwill, he should rein in that Jole boy and stop people from interrupting me. While you’re at it, go and get these items.” Rugrat put the cylinder away and took out another piece of paper. Then, with a second thought, he pulled out the emblem.

“This should help you, I guess.” Rugrat shrugged and tossed it to Feng Yi.

Feng Yi could only smile awkwardly at how flippant Rugrat was. “Lord Ekeem rarely invites anyone to see him,” Feng Yi said.

“And I didn’t invite anyone to come into the villa I rented!” Rugrat pointed to the people standing awkwardly in the entrance way. His aura flared up. “I was nearly damn well done! Then these dipshits walked in and broke my flow!” Rugrat let out an angry sigh and turned around.

Rugrat got a sound transmission. He answered it and listened. His expression got worse as he faced Feng Yi, who winced under his gaze.

“I’ll go.”

Rugrat turned around and headed into the back of the villa. “I miss the times when you could just sit on your own damn property and shoot your guns off, drink beer, and not give a shit. People coming over because I’m being too loud? The least you could do is knock first!”

Feng Yi looked back at the crowd that was half inside the villa.

Manager Wu bowed his head toward Feng Yi. “Thank you, young man.”

“It is no problem.” Feng Yi bowed to the man. He didn’t know who he was as he didn’t mix with the higher-ups in the Ekeem clan, but he knew of Duan Jie, one of the most powerful traders in the Ekeem clan. Seeing he was a half-step behind the other man, he must hold a high position.

“This man is a guest of the clan leader. Let us depart and go about our day,” Manager Wu said. The guards helped in making sure everyone left the villa. The Mana in the area once again started to fluctuate and testing hits could be heard from the hidden courtyard.

Feng Yi looked down at the list of items he needed to get.

“I can assist you with those items if you desire?” the powerful man said.

Will he know these items? He is beside Duan Jie—best to give him the benefit of the doubt. He’s probably looking for a way to get on the good side of Rugrat. Everyone could feel that powerful aura weighing down on them. It feels like he’s a level twenty-three or four!

“If Elder could help me, that would be greatly appreciated.” Feng Yi smiled and held out the note.

“Please, call me Manager Wu.” The man smiled.

Feng Yi’s smile became more forced and he tried to make sure his hand wasn’t shaking. He felt like collapsing. Manager Wu who manages the security and villas for all of the traders? How much noise was Rugrat making?

***

Rugrat was once again looking to find the resonance, the all-encompassing focus that he had been stuck in before.

It was like when Tan Xue hits the metal according to a rhythm: with each blow, she requires less energy to alter the metal as the vibrations in the metal keep it warm and allow it to compress more, increasing the density and the armor value. Rugrat picked up his hammer once again and started striking the metal. The Mana infused in the forge and passing through Rugrat into his hammer and then into the metal wasn’t small, and it was what created the most noise.

As he struck down on the metal, red and blue sparks would be created. The destructive Mana energies resulted in small explosions. They infused into the metal, increasing its grade by a small amount. It was already Mortal-grade iron. Using not only heat but Mana to form the metal increased its strength and protective attributes, and allowed power to move through it with less restrictions.

Rugrat continued to try to find different swings, different ways to hold the hammer to once again get to those vibrations that seemed to flatten the metal without forcing it to expand.

Normal armor becomes stronger as you add more layers to it. With this compression, one-inch iron can be compressed into three-quarter inch. Its strength and stopping power is retained; its weight remains the same but Erik’s strength takes care of that easily. The biggest thing is that it is less cumbersome and easier to work with.

Rugrat had made different prototypes already but since he had started to achieve vibrational compression, he had started to focus on perfecting the new technique. With compressed Mortal-grade iron and this technique as a base, then he could create a new kind of armor for Erik that would be leagues better than his previous armor.

It wasn’t long until Rugrat was once again sucked into the world of smithing, removing everything else from his mind.

The Mana around him vibrated according to his hammer blows; the Mana and hammer were his instruments; the metal the crowd he was bending to his will, to listen to his music and find what matched them.

Chapter: Movements in Taeman

“Clan Leader!” A member of the clan ran up to him and kneeled in front of him as he put the scroll to one side.

“Speak!” he commanded.

“The forefather of the Luo family has awoken! In just a few hours, he took back control of the clan, moving with those who were loyal to him to the Gu family home. The remaining members of the Luo family have been left without his protection and can only rely on their personal wealth and not the wealth of the clan!”

“I thought that he was close to death and that the third elder’s son Hong was supposed to take the position of clan head?” Clan Leader Ekeem tapped his chin.

How did things change so quickly? Kun Luo was impossible to corrupt but young Hong was easy to manipulate. With him running the Luo family, it was only a matter of time until there were just five powers in Taeman. With Kun Luo throwing his weight behind the Gu family that his daughter married into, then they will quickly surge up to take over the Luo family’s position!

The Gu family was a powerful trading family. Their current clan leader was married to Kun Luo’s only daughter. They cared little for political power but they had built their strength up through their contacts and business dealings. In Taeman, not even the other four main families wanted to antagonize the Gu family.

The Gu family will be one of the five powers within Taemen but they will keep to the sidelines and must not be forgotten. We will need to make sure that our relationship with them is solid if the other families not only want to destroy the remaining Luo family but try to expand beyond that.

“Do we know how the Luo clan’s old clan leader recovered from his ailment?” Clan Leader Ekeem asked.

“We’re not sure at this time, but it is said that a person was brought into the Luo Estate by Fairy Luo. He insulted the candidate to be the clan leader, the third elder’s son, Hong. He entered the clan leader’s estate and then left afterward without being escorted by anyone,” the clan member said.

“Was he a man wearing an odd shirt and armored greaves?” Clan Leader Ekeem’s voice sharpened as his eyes bore into the clan member.

“Yes, Clan Leader, how did you know?” The man looked to the clan leader in shock.

“You do not need to worry. Send for the elders and convene a meeting immediately!”

***

Delilah held her face, a bright-red handprint on it as her “Master” glared at her.

“I was benevolent! I was the epitome of humble, bringing you with me from that city to enjoy the fruits of Taeman, to become my student! Instead, you go and bring conflict between some fighting master and the young master of the Ekeem clan! What do you think the Ekeem clan will do now! I’m ruined! I’ll have to move all of my work to a new city!” the old man bellowed, sending a kick at her.

Tears fell down her face. She knew that she had done wrong when she saw that Young Master Jole wasn’t just happy with hurting the other man but intended for his guards to kill him.

It was only through the man’s hidden skills that he was able to fight off the young master’s attacks.

He announced that he was an alchemist without fear. A real alchemist! The idea that she strived for! Yet now all of that was dashed as she was left with nothing.

The old man let out a roar, turning and moving to the door.

Delilah coughed out blood from her lips.

When she was back in her town, she hadn’t had the greatest life, but she had been loved by her brothers, sisters, mother, and father. When she set off, she remembered their smiling faces and her sense of excitement to see the world.

With time, her view of the world had dimmed and she cared less about the people she met, wondering what they were looking to get out of her.

Although she felt pity for herself, her biggest regret was the way that the man had looked at her when he realized that it was she who had started the fight between him and Young Master Jole.

That more than anything broke her heart—the sadness, the distrust, and pain in his eyes at being betrayed.

She gathered herself together. Grabbing a storage ring close by, she ran for the door.

“Get back here, girl! I’m not done with you!” Her Master yelled at her as she barged through the door to her Master’s home.

She rushed out into the streets. Her injuries weren’t simple but if she slowed, she knew that her Master would catch up to her.

She balled her fists together and ran out into the city.

***

“Grandfather, what do we do now?” Fairy Luo asked.

They had all been settled down into new homes. Her aunt had taken them in with a smile, happy to see them all again.

Her grandfather had gone off with her husband and the leader of the Gu family to talk privately. That had been a number of hours ago and he had only returned now.

“Now we watch as what was the Luo family tears itself apart. I have announced that I am no longer the clan leader for the Luo family. We took as many valuables as we could and passed the deeds over to the Gu family for different businesses that we own. Right now they are looking to establish their control over these different businesses. The Luo family were prepared to fight over who the new clan leader was. Effectively, to them, I have died and they will need to find a new clan leader. In our absence, they will turn on one another to try to gain a higher position within the family.” Her grandfather shook his head, looking much older.

“I didn’t know that the family had been broken apart this much. After the death of your father, I cared little about running the family, leaving it up to my sons and the people of the Luo family without checking on what they were doing. A number of things were carried out without my knowledge, destabilizing the family and weakening it from the inside.”

“What will happen when they elect a new clan leader? Won’t they come after us?” Chiang Luo asked.

“They won’t be able to. As they fight against one another, the other four powers will eye them, creating their own deals or fighting to take control of the family’s assets. The Luo family’s descent will be bloody and terrible,” her grandfather said. His voice and eyes were hard but she could tell that he was hurting inside.

These people were meant to be his family but they had plotted against him, his daughter-in-law, and his granddaughter. They had subverted him for their own selfish gains, placing themselves above the family and weakening it completely.

He had no mercy to show toward them. But it was hard to think of them as the monsters they had become, compared to the children he had held when they had been born, the young boys and girls he had instructed, greeted and watch grow up.

Chiang Luo reached out her hand, touching her grandfather’s.

He smiled, looking at her and patting her hand. “More than anything, I am grateful to you and that strange man you brought.”

Chiang Luo’s expression changed as she thought of that man. He was older than her but when seeing her beauty, he was unaffected by it as none of the countless others were.

He had rescued her from an awkward situation with Hong and had helped her to heal her grandfather, even with all of the obstacles in his path. If he was like the haughty alchemists and healers that she had heard of in the past, then she doubted that he would have helped her.

She gritted her teeth and headed for the Blue Lotus.

The only people she knew were those who desired something from her.

She didn’t know what would happen and she was beyond caring. Her mind was spinning and this was the only plan that she could come up with.

She ran off into the night, a fierce determination in her eyes. She would make this right with him.

Chapter: Accepting a Student and Paying a Favor

Erik, seeing the time, quickly put away his different items and rushed to the Blue Lotus as fast as possible.

I nearly forgot all about dinner that Hiao Xen invited me to! Erik was mentally kicking himself as he picked up his pace.

The light was dimming and night was coming when he entered the Blue Lotus.

“Is Manager Xen in?” he asked one of the guards.

“He’s in his office, Master West.”

Erik felt a bit relieved but he continued up to Hiao Xen’s office. He brushed off his clothes and tried to clean up his appearance quickly before he got to the man’s door.

The guards opened the doors to show Hiao Xen finishing up work on his desk.

He stood as Erik came in and went to meet him.

“Master West, sorry. I was just working on a few final things,” Hiao Xen said.

“No worries. I am sorry for being late.” Erik waved off Hiao Xen’s concern.

“To be honest, I have something I want to ask Master West if he could help me with,” Hiao Xen said apologetically.

“What might you need my help with?” Erik smiled.

Hiao Xen scratched his head awkwardly. “This is...about my son,” Hiao Xen finally said.

Erik tilted his head, looking at Hiao Xen with greater interest.

“He, well, he was a prodigy, he was sought out by a number of sects to train with masters. I held back nothing looking to nurture him with the greatest medicines that I could acquire. Then  suddenly his acupoints started to close and his mana stagnated, his mana gates became clogged. Many said he would recover quickly,” Hiao Xen let out a soft sigh. “He didn’t. Now, when he tries to pull Mana into his body, he falls into great pain.

“Even as I have tried to stop him, he continued to try to pull Mana in. He wants nothing more than to be a hero who challenges the Ten Realms to ascend to the peak.

“I have spent countless items trying to heal his affliction but nothing has worked.” Xen shook his head in sorrow.

Erik smiled slightly, seeing Hiao Xen’s clear love for his son, wishing to relieve his symptoms and pursue his dreams. He thought it would be a request for potions or other items. If it had been, then he would have happily made Hiao Xen a few items, but for this kind of request, Erik would give his all.

“So, you want me to take a look at him and see if I can help him to get past his affliction?” Erik asked.

Hiao Xen gritted his teeth together, his eyes fixed on the ground. “Yes. You can ask any price from me.”

Erik patted Hiao Xen. “Seeing a father’s love for his son as strong as yours, there is no payment needed,” Erik said in a comforting tone.

Hiao Xen looked upward in shock, not believing his eyes as he looked at Erik’s smiling face.

Erik laughed at the man’s speechlessness. “Come, I’ll have a look at him before dinner. I will be leaving soon. Hopefully I can help him deal with some of the symptoms,” Erik said. “I make no guarantees that I can heal him but I’ll do my best.”

“Master West.” Hiao Xen made to bow.

“Don’t worry about it. You’ve helped me out greatly.” Erik smiled, stopping Hiao Xen from bowing.

“Very well, Master West.” Hiao Xen smiled. “If you want, we can head to my home now?”

“Certainly,” Erik said. “Let’s see if we can help your boy out.”

Hiao Xen nodded. He wasn’t sure that Erik would be able to heal his son, but he had hope.

Hiao Xen led Erik out of his office. A patrol of guards followed them as they swiftly departed the Blue Lotus.

The people of the Blue Lotus didn’t stay in the actual building but had a compound where there were homes for all the people who worked for the Blue Lotus. One could buy a home in the city, but few did with the well-maintained homes that the Blue Lotus provided.

They were crossing the open area around the Blue Lotus when a woman rushed up to the group.

The guards moved to intercept as Erik looked over in interest.

The woman dropped to her knees before the guards. There was blood on her clothes and her appearance was ragged.

“Lord Alchemist, I beg your forgiveness. What I did was wrong and I brought down problems upon you that I shouldn’t have!” the woman said into the ground.

Erik frowned. The voice was familiar, as were the clothes. Erik moved forward. The guards moved to either side but watched the woman in case she made any moves.

Erik squatted down in front of her. “Lift your head up. The ground is much more boring to talk to.”

The woman looked up, slowly, not wanting to meet his eyes.

Erik’s eyes thinned as he saw the blood on her lip. His eyes shone as he looked through her body, seeing the damage internally. She had a cracked rib and her internal organs were badly bruised from what looked like a kick.

Someone much stronger hit her. “Who kicked you?” Erik asked, his eyes returning to normal.

She didn’t say anything for a bit. Her body shook as her hands clenched into fists. “My Master,” she said, her voice low and cold.

Where some might feel shivers down their spine, a cold smile appeared on Erik’s face as he lifted her chin and looked into her eyes, finding the rage within.

His smile widened further. He had trained people across the world, turning them from teenagers, mothers, and fathers into soldiers, into medics—people who could use that same anger as motivation. Erik was no stranger to that anger, those who thought society had given up on them and looked for something greater than them, something that gave them purpose.

So when he saw that rage, he felt a sense of companionship. Beneath the medic, a part of him lived for the fight, the part of him that grinned while shooting, that felt alive in battle, that accepted the pain to defeat his enemies.

Seeing those eyes, he felt closer to her. He felt the rage simmering beneath, hidden from all.

“Why did you come to me?” Erik asked.

“My actions were wrong and petty. I came to try to redeem myself.”

Erik released her chin and looked at her. “What did he teach you?”

She looked to the side in disgust, her lip curling upward. “He said he would teach me all he knew of Alchemy and took me from my family. When we got to the city, his promises were nothing more than lies as he pushed for me to join him in bed with the promise of learning.”

Erik didn’t say anything. Although this might have shocked people back home, in the places he had gone, so-called social norms and laws were things that could only be upheld in certain areas.

“This is all I can offer as compensation for my actions.” She bowed her head and held up a storage ring for Erik.

Erik looked at the woman in front of him for some time and closed her hand around the storage ring.

She looked up in confusion.

“Do you wish to learn?” Erik asked.

“Yes,” she said, holding Erik’s eyes.

“If you are confronted with two great enemies, to pit them against one another is right. If I learn that you have harmed an innocent, then I will hunt you down.” Erik knew the strength of Alchemy; if she went around without a care, then with her poisons alone it would be possible to kill an entire town in a Second or First Realm city.

“I will not betray your teachings and if I use your teachings to purposefully kill the innocent, then might the Ten Realms strike me down,” she said solemnly.

Light filtered down on her; a screen appeared in front of Erik.

==========

An Oath of the Ten Realms

==========

An Oath of the Ten Realms is unbreakable. Delilah Ryan has made an oath to you. If she fails to uphold this oath, then she will be cut down by Tribulation Thunder.

==========

Erik nodded. This oath was much better than having to promise to descend once again or search her out to uphold her promise.

“Good.” Erik pulled out an Alchemy book he had received from Old Man Hei. He now understood how lucky he was to reach a city that had a true alchemist in it, instead of just the apothecaries that seemed to dominate the majority of cities.

“Do you mind if she follows us?” Erik turned to Hiao Xen.

“She is welcome to join,” Hiao Xen said.

“Master.” Delilah started to bow before the book, her eyes filled with water.

“None of that. I’m not your Master, merely your teacher. I can show you the basics but it is up to you to see how far you can step down the path of the alchemist.” Erik pulled her to her feet and firmly placed the book in her hands. He cast Focused Heal at the same time, removing the bruising from her body.

“Now, start reading. I want you to know the basics of Alchemy before we leave.” Erik turned and moved to join Hiao Xen again. “Sorry for the holdup. Let’s go see your son.”

“It is no worries.” Hiao Xen smiled.

“Thank you, nonetheless,” Erik said with an easy laugh.

They headed through the city. There were different groups moving through the night. When seeing the Blue Lotus guards, they were quick to move aside.

“Seems that the disturbances with the Luo clan have stirred up the city.” Hiao Xen frowned.

Erik grunted in agreement. There were a number of people with weapons walking away and the streets were unnaturally empty.

The identity of the Blue Lotus protected them as they reached the area where the people of the Blue Lotus resided. The Blue Lotus building held business, while the separate residential area held the people who worked for the Blue Lotus, creating their own large compound.

Chapter: Kick-starting a Mana System

Hiao Xen led them through the different homes until they reached a larger residence. He dismissed the guards, who went off toward their homes.

A butler came out to greet them.

“Old Shen, bring out my son to meet with Master West,” Hiao Xen said to the butler.

“Certainly, Master Xen.” The butler moved off to find Hiao Xen’s son.

“I will need to examine him in private, if that is okay?” Erik asked.

“Certainly. Any items you might need will be provided,” Hiao Xen said.

“I will have to make my assessment first then I will be able to treat him.”

Hiao Xen nodded in understanding.

A younger-looking version of Hiao Xen stepped out to greet everyone. He was well built and he had an easy smile on his face.

“Master West, this is my son, Qiang Xen.” Hiao Xen turned from Erik to his son. “Qiang, Master West is a powerful alchemist I have invited to dinner.”

“Thank you for visiting, Master West.” Qiang’s facial expression fell before he hid it deep.

Erik didn’t need to be a mind reader to know that Qiang had little faith that Erik would be able to heal him. “Let’s see if I can do anything to help you,” Erik said.

“We have a room over here that you can use to examine Qiang.” Hiao Xen guided them to a side room.

Erik and Qiang stepped inside. Erik looked to Delilah, who was looking around in awe.

“Read the book!” Erik chastised.

“Yes, Ma—Teacher!” she said, catching herself.

“I will find her a place to read in peace. Old Shen will remain at the door. If you need anything, he will get it,” Hiao Xen promised. He looked to Qiang, his face filled with care, before shutting the door behind him.

Erik turned to see Qiang in the middle of the room.

“I am sorry about this. I have come to accept my problem but my father isn’t able to come to terms with it,” Qiang said with an apologetic expression.

“You’re lucky to have a father like that. Can I see your hand please?” Erik asked.

Qiang held out his hand and Erik grabbed his wrist, casting Simple Organic Scan. The spell might be simple but Erik had used it so many times that it only took him a few moments to look through Qiang’s body.

“So, why were you trying to pull Mana into your body just this morning if you thought that it would never work?” Erik asked.

Qiang’s face froze like a deer in the headlights. “How do you know that?”

“’Cause I can see it.” Erik tapped the side of his head as he checked Qiang over using his Simple Organic Scan.

Medically he looked to be fine.

The Mana he’s absorbed has all been packed together. Where there should be clear channels, the Mana is filled with impurities. If it was just one affinity Mana or another it would be fine, but with them all together, they’ve started to make it hard to nearly impossible for him to circulate his Mana. It’s like debris in a river channel, building up pressure inside and outside of his body and making the Mana move in odd routes. As more came in, they became stagnant as well and only increased the blockages in his Mana channels.

Qiang’s Mana gates and his Mana channels didn’t directly match up, which was why there was a lack of force, and his open Mana gates were slowly being blocked off.

There was leftover trauma on his body and concoction poisons from taking many powerful potions and powders to try to open up his Mana gates.

These different items had attacked where the majority of people’s Mana gates were or close to. Instead of helping, they had caused damage and impacted Qiang’s Mana channels.

A sort of balance has been created in his body. If I was to open one of his Mana gates, then it would be like puncturing someone’s lung if they’ve got blood in it: allow the Mana to drain out, open the Mana gates; he’ll have a natural handicap but he’ll be able to use Mana. The pressure release will allow them to breathe once again and I can siphon off the detritus.

With this thought in mind, Erik nodded to himself and started to look through his storage ring.

“All right, lie on that couch, face down.” Erik pulled out a potent sleeping powder. From the shock on the faces of those who had been around when he’d healed Kun Luo, he felt it was best to carry out any healing in private if possible. If not, then he had already thought of a few ways to hide the Mortal-iron needle.

When opening one’s acupoints and Mana gates, Erik could do most of that with an acupoint needle covered in Mana to hide it.

Qiang laid down on the couch.

“All right, give this a snort.” Erik held out the powder.

Qiang took a deep breath. He coughed slightly as Erik tossed the powder back into his storage ring.

The coughing stopped and Qiang slumped, unconscious.

Erik carefully located Qiang’s dantian, the center of his Mana channels, where one would form their Mana core if they followed the Mana Gathering Cultivation path.

Erik took out a longer needle. He sterilized the longer needle before he pierced the skin. He used his Simple Organic Scan to guide the needle right into Qiang’s dantian.

Then Erik moved to the Mana gates that had been opened but were blocked up with detritus. He took smaller needles and put them into the Mana gates.

Checking his handiwork, Erik pulled out some leaves and started chewing on them. The leaves would increase one’s Mana Regeneration.

Erik circulated his own Mana, compressing and controlling it. He placed the open Mana gates on his hands against the needles. Erik moved his hands to each of the needles, memorizing the process.

“Okay, let’s do this.” Erik geared himself up and put his hands on the first needles. He fired out compressed needles through his gates, the Mana needles, and into Qiang’s Mana channels.

Qiang’s body tensed as Erik already got to the next set of needles and repeated the process; then the third and fourth sets. Then he grabbed the main needle in Qiang’s dantian and forced Mana through it.

The first attacks on the smaller needles drove into the crystalized Mana in Qiang’s veins. It broke and destroyed his Mana channels here and there but it loosened the debris as well.

Then he had sent a blast of Mana through Qiang’s dantian. The blast of power shot through all of his Mana channels.

Opening so many Mana gates and his control over Mana, Erik’s Mana was purer than most. Qiang’s Mana had been affected by so many external factors that it was buried with the deposits.

Faint wisps of Mana touched the deposits that littered Qiang’s Mana channels. It was like a car starting up, clearing its pipes. A pungent smell came from Qiang’s body as the impurities from within his Mana channels were expelled. He became skinnier but his skin and appearance looked healthier.

Erik’s Mana was like the spark to start a forest fire. These deposits were left behind by the pills and Mana that had invaded his body in the past.

The different items used on Qiang had left hidden wounds and these blockages. Erik thought it would be a long process to try to clear them, but now that the Mana rushed through him, his Mana channels started to swell as more and more Mana filled his body.

Erik stood back and looked at the boy. He couldn’t stop himself from laughing out loud. “That a boy! You only needed a spark!”

Qiang’s body showed blue lines, which would grow brighter as another deposit was burned up and the Mana inside refined and released. His body expanded again under the pressure of the Mana. Another cracking noise sounded as his third Mana gate opened.

It was only with the stored-up Alchemy concoctions’ energy within his body that he was able to do this.

It continued for several more minutes as two new Mana gates opened.

Well, I didn’t know that would happen. Just what kind of concoctions did he consume to have that kind of energy stored up in his body?

Qiang was covered in filth as more impurities were flushed out of his body. Mana shot through his Mana channels, rushing out of his open Mana channels. The force of the expulsion created a vacuum and pulled more Mana in for a few moments.

Qiang’s tense body slumped back down.

Erik looked inside Qiang’s body. His Mana channels were in a mess in places and there was severe damage in certain areas. Erik healed the worst of the damage and the larger injuries, leaving the ones that would take a few days to recover from.

He’d already cleared five of his Mana gates and two had blown open by themselves. If he was able to cure all of his ailments, then he didn’t doubt that others would come demanding his services in the future.

Erik checked his work and pulled out the needles. As he pulled out the larger needle, he was healing Qiang at the same time. Erik’s Mana core held a lot more Mana now. Although it helped his body, if it leaked out into his body, Erik didn’t want to deal with that. Internal bleeding was already enough of a pain in the ass with the circulatory system.

With everything cleared away, he took another powder and put it under the boy’s nose.

***

Qiang started to move as Erik put the powder away and headed for the door.

He found Hiao Xen pacing as a woman sat in a chair nearby.

They both looked up and saw Erik’s haggard expression.

“He had some minor injuries to his back that seemed to have blocked his acupoints. I was able to heal this problem with some difficulty. It set off a reaction within your boy’s body and I can sense a powerful Mana force coming from him. I wasn’t able to determine if he was able to be healed but he should be more comfortable now,” Erik said with a weak smile, overplaying his fatigue.

“Thank you, Master West,” Hiao Xen said. His wife stood and bowed to him with a smile.

“Please go and see to him. I will take a rest here.” Erik moved to a chair.

He could see the debate in Hiao Xen, wanting to thank his guest but also eager to see his son. “Go,” Erik said with a kind smile, touched by the man’s actions and the clear care in his eyes.

“Thank you, Master West!” Hiao Xen said. Both he and his wife disappeared into the room quickly.

Excited noises came from within as Erik smiled to himself. His eyes became hooded, even worried as his thoughts changed.

Although I can advance in the Mana Gathering Cultivation path, I haven’t made any more progress in the Body Cultivation path. I don’t know how I can go from Body Like Stone to Body Like Iron. Not a word on manuals related to it, and I haven’t met many people who seem to have pursued it. I can find plenty of people using the Mana Gathering system though.

Erik was impressed with the strength he had gained with his Body Cultivation. He had even learned better fighting techniques, like adapting the Growling Tiger technique in all of his actions.

Mana Detonation was more of a combining of skills, using his knowledge of Mana bolt and bullet with his Growling Tiger Fist.

I need to find more spells to augment my power, as well as techniques to increase my fighting abilities, and a way to reach Body Like Iron. Erik let out a snort at his own thoughts.

“Sounds all rather simple,” Erik said sarcastically, laughing at his own ambitions. But the light in his eyes didn’t dim in the slightest.

“Master West!” Qiang said, exiting the room.

Time to sell this—gonna need some acting awards up in these realms!

“Qiang, can you feel Mana again? I felt as if something was ignited in you but I wasn’t sure if it had worked,” Erik said.

“Master West!” Qiang dropped to the floor, happy tears in his eyes.

Erik caught Delilah looking up from her book down the hall. Erik quirked his eyebrow at her.

Like a caught mouse, she hid back in the book.

Erik turned his attention to the bowing Qiang as Hiao Xen and his wife came out of the room, tears in their eyes.

“You not only allowed me access to Mana but I now have seven open Mana gates. Two more than what I had when I was born!” Qiang yelled, overcome with emotion as the thing he had wanted more than anything in his life and was blocked off to him was now possible. “Thank you, Master West!”

“Seven Mana gates?” Erik took in a sharp breath as he looked over Qiang.

“Grandmaster West, I have never seen anything like it before!” Hiao Xen looked at Erik with a new respect shining in his eyes.

“I merely worked to relieve the injury and then used a potion to relieve some of the poisons that had built up in his body.” Erik looked as if he had sunk into deep thought.

“The potion must have somehow ignited these poisons and released the power hidden within them. The chain reaction must have blown open the gates, allowing your son to access Mana!” Erik looked to Qiang as a new question appeared in his mind. “Did you ever put stat points into Mana?”

Qiang winced at this question. His mother let out a sigh; even though she seemed displeased, when she looked at her son, Erik couldn’t see anything but motherly love in her eyes.

Even with the mistakes he had made, she still loved him from the bottom of her heart.

“I did,” Qiang said haltingly, clearly embarrassed.

“Were you able to draw on Mana then?” Erik asked.

“I wasn’t,” Qiang admitted.

“Well, now it looks like that won’t be put to rest. With such an increase of Mana, you must be careful that you don’t injure yourself and give yourself time to get used to your new abilities,” Erik said.

“Thank you, Grandmaster West!” Qiang said, following his father’s way of addressing Erik.

Erik didn’t miss it. With his actions, it seemed that his position and skills had increased in Hiao Xen and his son’s mind.

“While I had hoped that I could help you, I wasn’t sure it would be possible. It was due to your parents’ diligence and their efforts that your body built up the leftover energy needed to re-open five Mana gates at once and opened two more! Not even I hoped for this in my wildest dreams!”

“Now, come you two, now is not the time to pester Grandmaster West. He’s tired and our guest,” Qiang’s mother said, reminding the two.

“Please, I am sorry—the expelled impurities. Qiang needs to change. Would you also like to refresh yourself, Grandmaster West? We have a room you can use before dinner,” Hiao Xen said.

“Please. That would be great. Would it be possible for my student to join us? And might I ask Rugrat if he would like to come? He has been working on something and I do not know if he is busy or not.”

“Certainly!” Hiao Xen said with a wide smile.

They broke apart as Erik entered a private room. He used a wet cloth and put it on his head and then pulled out his sound transmission device.

He called Rugrat.

“What do you want?” Rugrat answered.

“You want food?”

“Busy, compressing metal, resonance,” Rugrat said, grunting as he was doing something with an odd rhythm.

“I’ll let you get back to it,” Erik said.

Rugrat hung up.

Seems that he is close to making a breakthrough. I hope it goes well or he’s going to complain for weeks about not making it here for food.

***

The Xen family treated Erik to a feast that night, calling their staff to make multiple delicacies. Erik gave Delilah three more books to read, knowing that it would be more than enough to occupy her. He banned her from attending the meal, but quietly asked the serving staff to put some food aside for her.

“I didn’t know that you were the type to take on a student,” Hiao Xen said.

“She has potential. It will take some time to pull it out but with the right information she’ll be a fine alchemist,” Erik said.

“Have you taken on a student before?” Nuo Xen asked.

“I have.” Erik’s voice lowered as he remembered the people he’d turned into combat medics. Those he had groomed through combat into leaders and soldiers. He remembered the funerals he’d gone to, their smiling faces and jokes falling silent as all that was left was a flag and a cold wood box in the ground.

“Did you teach them Alchemy?” Qiang asked, not sensing the change in mood.

“No, I didn’t. I taught them to heal, and to kill.” Erik shrugged.

“Please, try this fried bird. It’s delectable.” Nuo Xen offered a plate to Erik.

“Thank you.” Erik smiled, picking up some of the chicken with his chopsticks.

He didn’t miss the warning look that Hiao sent his son as Qiang awkwardly looked away.

“Don’t worry, living and dying, it’s part of a combat medic’s world. Part of this world. Standing on the edge of victory or defeat builds a person. It is best to have strength but never forget to be humble and hide that strength. Then you might use that strength to strike when the enemy least expects,” Erik said.

Hiao Xen and Nuo Xen nodded, with Hiao turning to his son.

“Remember Grandmaster West’s words.”

“Yes, Father. Thank you, Grandmaster West,” Qiang said.

“No worries and don’t worry about the grandmaster stuff.” Erik smiled.

They moved onto lighter topics. Lady Nuo asked Erik whether he was looking for a woman and said that she would be happy to play matchmaker if he was interested.

Erik thanked her for her words but turned down her offer.

Dinner came to an end, with Qiang excitedly leaving to go and test out his new abilities.

Lady Nuo retired as Hiao Xen personally saw Erik off to the building that he had put aside for Erik and Delilah.

“Grandmaster West, I know that for a man of your standing that there is little that I can do to assist you. But if you are ever in need for anything, you can contact me through the Blue Lotus and I will do all in my power to assist you,” Hiao Xen said in a solemn voice, bowing deeply to Erik.

“Please, Head Xen, you have a lovely family and have done so much to try to help your son. I simply saw your love and care for him and was unable to stand by. Your greatest gift to me is to have a full life.” Erik smiled.

“Grandmaster West is too noble and humble,” Hiao Xen said.

“For the next couple of days, I hope to make a few different Alchemy concoctions. The place that you recommended me looks like they have everything that I will need. Thank you for vouching for me.”

“I am more than happy to assist. Are there any instruments or items that you might need?” Hiao Xen asked.

Erik thought on it for a few moments. “Not really. Well, my cauldron is getting a little worn down. I haven’t really thought about upgrading it that much in the past, but I recently had a small realization. Do you know of any places that might have new cauldrons?”

“Certainly. I can have a few of the cauldrons brought over to your residence for your inspection? Also, Lord Ekeem would like to meet at your earliest convenience to apologize for his cousin’s son’s actions.”

“I don’t really want to do anything but make concoctions,” Erik said. I want to get back to the First Realm as fast as possible.

“If you would like, there are meeting rooms in the residence that you are staying in. If you want, I can deny Lord Ekeem’s request,” Hiao Xen said.

“We can use the meeting rooms. I won’t have long for it, though.” Erik stood. “With that, though, I should return. It’s about time I got back to making more concoctions.”

I wasted all day trying out new concoctions, burning most of them because I wanted to create some cheaper potions. Instead I’ve spent five times the money without anything to show for it. At least Rugrat is creating items of value!

***

After saying good-bye to Erik and Delilah, sending them off with a guard, Hiao Xen wandered back to the main house. He headed to his private quarters and met with his wife, reading a book in bed.

She was about to say something when she noticed his expression. “Has something happened?” she asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

“What? Oh, nothing happened. Well, maybe,” Hiao Xen said, preparing for bed.

“What do you think might have happened?” Nuo Xen asked.

“I’m not sure what to think,” Hiao Xen said, his thoughts far away.

Nuo Xen was silent for a while before she spoke in a low whisper. “Do you also think that Grandmaster West was the one who opened Qiang’s mana gate?”

“Never say that to anyone else,” Hiao Xen’s head snapped over as he hissed.

“You think it, too!” Nuo said in alarm, seeing right through her husband.

Hiao Xen looked around before continuing in a low voice.

“There are few people with knowledge about Mana gates. If it was known that he knew how to open five Mana gates in the space of just a few minutes, we would only be inviting tragedy down on our benefactor,” Hiao Xen said. “I also believe that his skills in Alchemy are far beyond what the Blue Lotus has recorded. I offered him use of the Alchemy facilities within the Blue Lotus. He wasn’t interested in the equipment but instead just wanted to borrow a cauldron. Making a high-Journeyman potion from nothing but one’s own personal flame and a cauldron...”

Hiao Xen didn’t need to say anymore as Nuo Xen sat back in bed. The two of them were thinking the same thing.

If this is true, then his talent can only be called that of a monstrous genius! To create a Journeyman-level potion in his early thirties and with just his own flame and cauldron! This rivaled the skill of Expert-level Alchemists!

“It’s too bad we don’t have a daughter.” Hiao Xen sighed.

“Seems that I’m not the only one who wants to play matchmaker!” His wife laughed.

“It is hard to find someone as skilled who is still able to remain humble.” Hiao Xen sighed and slipped into bed.

“It has been some time since I saw you this excited to meet someone from the skilled professions,” his wife said.

“I believe it won’t be long until he makes it to the Third Realm and rocks the Alchemist Association.” Hiao Xen laughed. “Think what those old fogeys’ expressions will be when they learn of his talent and his friendship with the Blue Lotus!”

Nuo Xen shook her head, a smile on her face, pleased for her husband’s joy.

***

Delilah was scared when she had first arrived at Erik’s private residence. Other than Hiao Xen’s house, she hadn’t seen a place as opulent before.

Erik went into the workshop and organized different ingredients, talking to himself and taking down notes as he planned out what he wanted to make.

Listening to him, Delilah wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but from the snippets she learned that he was looking to mass-produce concoctions!

She looked at the sleeping area with anxiousness. A part of her was still scared that he might take advantage of her and ask her to warm his bed.

As he set to work, she relaxed more and sat in the parlor where guests would be entertained and started reading her books.

She couldn’t help but glance to the door periodically, nervous. She had just met Erik earlier that day and her previous experience with alchemy Masters was a bad one. She had a dagger hid in her sleeve in case he did anything untoward her.

The door opened. Her heart jumped into her throat as she saw Erik step out of the workshop.

“Good, looks like you’ve got some actual interest in Alchemy.” Erik slumped down in a seat opposite. “Quiz time!” He cracked his neck and sat up a bit.

Delilah looked to Erik. She closed her book and put it down as she reached for the blade in her sleeve.

“What are the three stages of creating any Alchemy concoction?” Erik asked.

His question surprised her some. “What?”

“If you didn’t learn this, then were you even reading the books?” Erik asked.

“Three stages? I thought that there was four.”

“Oh, and what might they be?”

“Growing, harvesting, preparation, and concocting,” she said.

“Good! Looks like you were reading! Now, what is the right temperature one needs to concoct a powder?” Erik asked.

“I, uh, don’t know? Don’t they need different kind of temperatures?”

“Was that a question or a statement?” Erik asked.

“Statement?”

“Come on! Have some more confidence in yourself! If you’re questioning if your answers are right and wrong, when will you be able to say anything with surety?” Erik asked. “Now, have you got a flame controlling art?”

He continued to ask her questions about her strengths and weaknesses, while sowing in questions about Alchemy. His questions were filled with tricks and riddles to make Delilah have to fight to answer them and pay attention. When she didn’t know the answer, instead of being hit or scolded, Erik would take the time to discuss the question and work their way to an answer.

She forgot about the blade in her sleeve as she racked her brain to fill in the necessary answers. He didn’t once talk about her body nor did he look at her in a covetous way. When she answered a question right, he would smile and he encouraged her to interrupt him and supply information that would let them reach the right answer.

“Good. You’ve only been reading for a day but you haven’t wasted it. Being an alchemist is a lot about memorizing information. From ingredients to techniques, formula and the rest,” Erik said.

She raised her hand, something Erik had introduced when she wanted to ask a question.

“Go on,” he said.

“When will I be able to make an Alchemy product?”

“That depends on how well you can remember the different ingredients and then your skill with harvesting, preparation, and formation,” Erik said.

Her mood dropped as she lowered her hand slowly.

“Don’t worry. I hope to have you making powders in a short enough time. After all, they’re not as complicated as potions or pills. They’re barely even classed as Alchemy concoctions with the lack of work they need. Their effects are much worse than potions and pills, but their form offers some more options. You can easily use powder to cover an area in poison,” Erik said.

Delilah let out a gasp.

“Something wrong?” Erik asked.

“Why would you talk about poison so easily?” Delilah said.

“Healing and improving people’s bodies and constitutions is just one side of an alchemist’s abilities. If we can heal and improve a person’s life then we can, of course, do the opposite. This is the power we hold. Some alchemists believe in only healing, and some only in making poison. They are both wrong. In the world of Alchemy, to make truly powerful items, a poison might be a healing elixir and a healing pill might be death’s kiss. When someone rides the blade between life and death, your concoctions will have the greatest impact. If you don’t find the solution in healing, then maybe you can find it in poisoning. Alchemists are powerful people. People will want to pull you to their side or get you to do things for them. It is up to you if you will side with them and is not a decision anyone else should make for you. If someone attacks you, then you need to be ready to defend yourself. Poison is the greatest way to do this,” Erik said.

Not only is he showing me how to heal, but also defend myself. Delilah dropped her head, embarrassed that she thought her Master might want to take advantage of her.

Her eyes became itchy as she heard the way he talked. His stiff manner reminded her of her father. His words sounded harsh and hard, but they hid the care that lay behind them.

This is a true Master.

“All right, eat up!” Erik pushed the food over to her. “For doing so well to memorize all that content, I’ll show you something.”

Erik pulled out some paper and an odd writing item. He started to write on the paper but looked up at Delilah. “You going to eat or let it go cold?” he chided.

Delilah quickly grabbed the chopsticks and a bowl of rice.

Erik nodded and continued to write.

She tried to read the words as she ate the food. Even though they were delicacies, she ate quickly, wanting to know what he was writing.

After a few minutes, he stopped and put the piece of paper in front of her.

“All right, don’t lose that. It’s a minor healing powder that can be either sprinkled on one’s wounds directly, or it can be combined with water and the patient can drink it,” Erik said.

Delilah stopped chewing, looking down at the powder formula. He just gave me a powder formula like that! Does he just think Alchemy formulas are that easy to find!

If she only knew that Erik could figure out any Alchemy concoction he ate, she might collapse in frustration and fury.

“Many alchemists use multiple different kinds of tools and instruments to increase their abilities. We won’t be doing this! Instead, we’ll get you a flame manipulation art and work with it, so that you can increase your control over it. You will only use tools and instruments once you know how to make the concoctions yourself with nothing more than your flame manipulation skill and your cauldron.” Erik’s words made Delilah look at Erik as if he had grown another head.

Isn’t this too hard! Why can’t I use the instruments and tools first then create the concoction afterward when I’m sure I’ll succeed? Won’t I just burn through ingredients?

She might be from a rural town, but she had gone to the Blue Lotus and run her apothecary stall. Ingredients used by alchemists were expensive and worth many times what she had saved in her time spent at the stall. Hell, her family’s savings were less than what a lot of Alchemy ingredients were worth.

Erik clicked his fingers, waving them in front of Delilah. “Earth to Delilah, you there?”

“Huh? Earth?” Delilah asked, shaking off her thoughts.

“Never mind, that’s far away,” Erik said. With a wave of his hand, a red flame appeared, turning into a blue flame in just a few moments. “Now pay attention! I’ll make that powder right now. This’ll be good for you to figure out how to make it in the future.”

Delilah let out a little shriek as she watched Erik throw an ingredient into the flame without pause. Does he not care about gold!

He continued to throw in ingredient after ingredient. Different balls of flame separated out. Some were cold, others lukewarm, and others scalding hot.

Delilah stopped flinching and watched these different flames. Inside were the ingredients he’d tossed in. They were changing into different forms and being combined together with different techniques.

Erik threw in the final ingredient and seven balls of flame floated around him, giving off various temperatures.

The balls of flame started to combine together, sometimes letting the different solutions drip onto one another. Other times, they were grilled into one solution. Others were swirled together.

The balls of flame started to disappear. Erik stored different ingredients in bottles he held out, not letting anything go to waste.

It’s beautiful, Delilah thought as the complicated movements flowed into one another like a dance.

The last three balls of flame combined together above Erik’s left hand. The three solutions integrated with one another perfectly.

Erik pulled out a powder box.

The ball of flame dropped to the mouth of the powder box; it opened and the powder filled the box. It had a purple and blue look to it.

Delilah looked to Erik, who didn’t show any strain on his face.

“Don’t forget to eat everything up.” Erik put the powder on the formula and stood. “We’ll have a quiz tomorrow night to see how much you remember. Then we can go onto ingredient identification. I’ll see if I can’t get you some information books to speed up the process,” Erik muttered, turning. “See you tomorrow morning!”

“Master! Why are you leaving this box here?” Delilah asked.

“Well, you can study it and maybe get inspiration from it when making the concoction yourself. And call me Teacher. Ugh, even that sounds horrible—was much better when I was just Doc,” Erik said as if it were only natural, not stopping his footsteps as he walked through the house. “Where the hell is the bedroom in this place?”

Delilah sat there silently for a long time. He didn’t want her to warm his bed and didn’t make her complete a master-disciple binding. He gave his information freely, helping her to gain an understanding in Alchemy. The items he had given her thus far would be able to fetch a number of gold. He didn’t worry but instead looked to get her more resources, like an information book. Delilah had looked at those books proudly displayed in some of the more prominent bookstores in Taeman, covered in protective runes and magical circles. She never thought that she would get the chance to use one.

She looked to her meal. She thought he might not let her eat out of his anger. It looked as though he cared little for holding grudges and used the food to push her to remember more.

His preparation and forming ability was unlike anything that was talked about in the books she had read.

Where the hell did he come from? How were his skills this powerful in the realm of Alchemy at only thirty years of age!?

Chapter: Rolling Intimidation Stat

Erik spent the rest of the night working on different concoctions he already knew. He had wanted to go to sleep but once he started working on Alchemy, he had gained a second wind.

His focus was simple: it was time that he earned some gold!

First were Stamina and Health concoctions.

With his control, Erik could make forty to fifty doses of each powder in one shot. This reduced the time he needed to spend on making concoctions. And with the complexity of making so much of the powders at once, combined with his few successes in creating new concoctions, he was able to increase his Alchemy skill for the first time in a long time.

==========

Skill: Alchemy

==========

Level: 37 (Apprentice)

==========

Able to identify 1 effect of the ingredient.

==========

==========

281,340/355,000 EXP till you reach Level 20

==========

Erik continued on, making more batches of the Minor Healing powder and Stamina replacement powder.

He exhausted the ingredients about the time the sun had come up.

He rubbed his eyes and stood. His Mana channels felt sore from being used constantly and to a high degree. He had a headache coming on from the degree of control he had needed to control his Mana and the Mana flames.

He went to the living area and kitchen to get a drink and take a break.

Delilah was on one of the seats. She had fallen asleep reading one of the books.

She’s had a hard day—lost a Master, come to me and gained a new one.

Erik grabbed some water, drinking it as he went into the sleeping quarters and pulled a blanket off the bed. He threw it on Delilah and continued drinking down the water. He finished the glass and got another as he sunk into thought.

Three hundred vials of Minor Healing powder, seven hundred of Stamina replacement. Sold in batches, that should be worth about three hundred gold. With everything else that we have, just need another five or six hundred gold to go. Hopefully Rugrat can make up some of that. I was able to make that weak Strength Enhancing powder, but I want to keep that to myself. It’s barely a concoction, more of an apothecary product at this point.

Erik had tinkered and tried out different concoctions, but none of them were really Alchemy products, only giving him a little boost to his Alchemy level.

“Then the only true item I can make for gold is the Age Rejuvenation potion.” Erik pulled out a Lidel leaf from his storage ring and twirled it in his fingers. “No time like the present.” Erik stretched as he walked back to the workshop.

The Lidel leaves he had this time were ranging from ten years to one-hundred-year-old leaves. With one-hundred-year-old Lidel leaves as the basis of the potions, he could hope to increase the strength, but to match the potent leaves, he would need to use other ingredients to temper them.

Erik didn’t rush right in and start trying to make Age Rejuvenation potion with the one-hundred-year-old leaves. First, he started to make potions with the ten-year-old leaves. Time passed outside of his residence, with people waking up and going about their day. Erik paid it no attention; with his high Stamina, he didn’t need that much rest anymore. Although his mind was tired from performing Alchemy for so long, he continued on, oblivious of what was happening around him.

***

Lord Ekeem made sure to come early to the meeting. Hiao Xen and some staff from the Blue Lotus were already there and waiting for him at the residence that the meeting was supposed to be held in.

People looked on from the sidelines. Seeing the leader of the Ekeem clan and the head of the Blue Lotus in one place wasn’t a normal sight unless there was a large auction being held or grand event.

Hiao Xen nodded to Lord Ekeem, who cupped his hands and bowed slightly.

The other members of the Ekeem family all bowed lower behind him.

“Thank you for setting up this meeting, Head Hiao Xen,” Lord Ekeem said.

“It is no problem. I will send Grandmaster West a message and see if he is available to see us,” Hiao Xen said.

Ekeem silently noticed the title and his chest constricted a bit as he nodded to Hiao Xen in agreement.

As Hiao Xen was sending a sound transmission, Ekeem frowned and looked over to Jole and his father Endalh, who rested his hand on the boy’s shoulder—partly to comfort and partly to restrain.

It took some time before Hiao Xen was able to get a message back.

“Sorry. It seems that he was busy. He will meet us inside,” Hiao Xen said to Lord Ekeem and headed into the building.

The residence was not simple. People staying here needed to have a high reference to be considered for a room. Most of the people would be on the level of the elders in the different five ruling groups of Taeman.

A staff member guided them to the meeting room that had been set aside. There was an aide there with a tea set that had been prepared.

“Fifteen failures...fifteen! I need to do better. I got one right then got all jumpy and messed up four more. The ingredients aren’t easy to get either...” Erik entered the room. His eyes were unfocused and his clothes looked to be shabby and there was a medicinal smell coming from him.

A woman followed him into the room. Seeing the people there, she lowered her head and trembled. Grandmaster West didn’t seem to be fazed at all, speaking to the high level he had attained and the strength he controlled.

Lord Ekeem wasn’t able to get any concrete information from anyone on who Grandmaster West was. He seemed to have come from the desert, unknown by any.

Though he had a deep connection to the Blue Lotus.

If it is a connection made because of the sect or group he belongs to, for that kind of treatment, they must be stronger than my own clan. If it is based off his own strength, then he has made a deep relationship with the Blue Lotus and has something that they deeply desire.

Lord Ekeem didn’t even have thoughts toward whether it was a scam. The Blue Lotus was not simple and they wouldn’t waste time to just scam Lord Ekeem. He had also spent enough time around Apprentice Alchemists to tell that the smell from Erik was not something that could be piled up easily.

Grandmaster West seemed to realize where he was and looked to Hiao Xen. “Sorry for being late. Was in the middle of trying to create some potions. I have a number of Age Rejuvenation potions I would be interested in selling,” Erik said.

“We will gladly accept them at cost. I have looked into the issue and a compensation has been prepared for the items. I have received word from the higher realms that they wish to come into a contract whereby we could purchase these potions for our own use.” Hiao Xen watched Erik, but made it neither a question nor request but leaving it as a statement.

“Oh, I would be interested in the prices that you would offer.” Grandmaster West smiled, apparently amenable.

His eyes then slid over to Jole and his father, who was holding his shoulder. His smile faded and he shot a look back at the woman behind him, a displeased look on his face.

Hiao Xen cleared his throat. “Grandmaster West, this is the head of the Ekeem clan, Lord Ekeem.”

“It is an honor to meet Grandmaster West.” Lord Ekeem gave a low bow.

Grandmaster West simply nodded his head, waiting on him.

“I have come to resolve any issue remaining between our two parties. I can only hope to apologize for something that shouldn’t have happened,” Lord Ekeem said seriously before he pulled out three shining stones from his storage ring.

***

Erik fought to keep his eyes in his sockets. Mana stones! Mana stones? Whaa-at?

“I wish to offer these as a gift with no attachments, but simply an apology in my failings as a clan leader to bring up those who are under my banner.” Lord Ekeem held the Mana stones forward.

Hiao Xen looked to Erik to see whether he would take them.

Erik wanted to grab them, find Rugrat, and head off to the First Realm immediately. It was like hitting the jackpot in one go!

Though he was not a man to be pulled just by wealth.

“Thank you for your gifts.” Erik waved his hand and took the Mana stones and waited for Lord Ekeem.

“What Jole did was uncalled for. It is a stain on my family. I know that my own judgment might be softened by our relations, and I wanted to come to bring him to apologize and accept the punishment you hold for him.” Lord Ekeem raised his eyes to focus on Erik.

Erik nodded.

The boy might be bad but this Lord Ekeem is smart and calculating. Giving me the Mana stones first is meant to lessen my anger and to try to appease me so that Jole’s punishment might be lighter. The boy acted to harm and maim me. That is not something that should just be allowed to pass.

“First, Jole is not the only one who created this issue.” Erik looked to Delilah. “It was first created by another.” His voice turned firmer.

Delilah looked as if she wanted to crawl into a hole as everyone in the room focused on her.

“Delilah was working a stall that I was looking at. She thought that I had impure thoughts because of the way she had been treated in the market before. Delilah, explain your actions.” Erik moved to the side.

Delilah dropped to her knees and kowtowed to Lord Ekeem. “Young Master Jole came frequently to buy items from my stall and had an interest in me. It was not an interest I reciprocated, but one that I used to gain more wealth and not be punished. I hinted at the fact that my Master might have lecherous thoughts about myself. This played on Young Master Jole’s competitive spirit and he made to make an example of my...teacher. I didn’t know that it would lead to such a fight, or that so many people would be hurt. I don’t know what I wanted. I was just being silly, not knowing what my actions might bring. I am sorry for all of the strife I have caused!” Delilah hit her head against the ground.

The others in the room looked a bit shocked at her actions and looked at Erik. They could tell that her words were genuine, but such actions they had not seen before.

“Please, miss, you are the student of an alchemist Grandmaster,” Lord Ekeem started.

Erik raised his hand to stop Lord Ekeem.

“I might know a few things about Alchemy, but that doesn’t mean that I will protect my students from their wrongdoings. If they have done wrong, then they should be punished and make apologies. If they are wrongly attacked, then I will kill those who tried to harm them. Delilah’s crime is one of pettiness and creating strife, leading to a confrontation that got people hurt and could have very easily led to someone dying,” Erik said calmly.

His eyes shifted to Young Master Jole. “Young Master Jole is a young man, but he has a cruel mind. A boy jumps into action right away. A man looks at what his actions might bring, studies the situation and learns from it. I do not blame his guards. They were being loyal to their young master, who wanted to catch a pretty girl’s eye. This shows that he is headstrong, stubborn, doesn’t think of others, and is lacking the discipline required for a leadership position.

“I would suggest that he takes on a new identity and a role within your family, one that he doesn’t wield power but is under others. A guard with your trade caravans, a runner or Novice for your different crafters. Up to four years but no less than two,” Erik said.

Just like a new second lieutenant with too much power, it went to his head. He needs time to mature, to be in the shit with everyone else to break his illusion that everything will go according to the plan he’s come up with.

Lord Ekeem and the others were shocked by his words and actions. They did not think that the matter would be resolved so quickly.

Lord Ekeem gathered himself first. “Miss Delilah, I accept your apology. While it is unfortunate, I hope that this will be an opportunity that young Jole will use to become stronger.” He faced Erik and bowed deeper than before. “Thank you for your punishment. It will be carried out immediately.”

Jole slumped, the tension and anxiousness draining from his body. He silently got on his knees and faced Erik. “Grandmaster West, this one thanks you for your mercy and hopes to learn from his mistakes.” Jole’s voice was shaky, his emotions in chaos as his worst fears had not come true and he was given a path forward.

People can get wiser after they’ve had time to reflect on their actions.

“I accept your apology,” Erik said simply.

“We will not keep Grandmaster West anymore,” Lord Ekeem said quickly, sensing that Hiao Xen and Erik had more to discuss.

“You can get up now,” Erik said to Delilah as the Ekeem clan quickly left the meeting room.

She did so, remaining quiet as she stood behind him.

“So, Age Rejuvenation potions?” Erik asked.

“Based on the quality of the potions and their level, we are willing to offer good compensation for them. Your most basic ones like those that were sold at the Second Realm auction, where you sold them for three hundred gold, we would buy them for three hundred and thirty gold. The higher grade potions would be scaled off that price.” Hiao Xen waved his hand to dismiss the other people from the Blue Lotus before the group moved toward the table where the tea was set up.

“Do you mind if Delilah sits in? Might be good for her to listen about Alchemy dealings. Selling them is part of the process, after all.” Erik smiled.

“Certainly. I don’t see any problem.” Hiao Xen smiled.

Seeing the two of them sitting down, the lady who was in the meeting hall quickly and expertly started to serve them tea.

Even with the heavy talks from before, although she seemed a bit flustered, her movements were short and concise, showing the skill and talent she held in her art.

“What about the Age Rejuvenation potions in your hands?” Erik asked.

“If you agree, then it is likely that they will be purchased by us. After all, it is better to feed one’s family who are starving than strangers you don’t know.” Hiao Xen didn’t try to hide anything.

Honestly, if I didn’t have the Blue Lotus, then I wouldn’t have a way to sell the potions. It seems that people find them quite valuable. It makes sense: even five more years of life in the Ten Realms, one can turn their life around, gain another level or ascend and gain more time. If I trade with the Blue Lotus, then I can gain a closer relationship. I can also find a seller I trust. If I don’t go with them, then I will have to come back and hope that they’ve sold the potions by the time that I go to the next Blue Lotus. What I need is liquid funds, not items floating around. A lot is needed to grow Alva Dungeon.

“What would the remaining Age Rejuvenation potions be worth in your collection?” Erik asked as the lady passed the teacup to Erik and then Hiao Xen.

Erik took a sip as Hiao Xen was receiving his cup.

“It would be seven Mortal-grade Mana stones,” Hiao Xen said.

Erik looked up in alarm and tried to talk, forgetting that there was tea in his throat as he fought against choking and spitting the tea back out. He started coughing, thumping on his chest as he got control of his system again.

“Sorry,” Erik apologized. I’m already over here nervously rubbing my storage ring, thinking about the three Mana stones that are inside and you’re saying that I can get seven Mana stones in one go! Ten Mana stones! Ten thousand gold! Ten thousand fricking gold! I’m buying a yacht, then that new machine gun I was looking at, and a new television with all the channels.

Erik had a whimsical smile on his face as he got control of his thoughts.

It might be a lot of money, but that is only enough to get ten people back to the First Realm altogether. It can act as a buffer and help to power the dungeon or it can be converted into funds that can buy materials and items to aid those in the academy. It’s not spending the money; it’s investing it back into Alva Dungeon.

Hiao Xen was smiling opposite as he took a drink of the tea. He let out a relaxed breath, nodding to the woman who had served them and back over to Erik.

I have to figure out if it’s an even trade. That is a lot of money, but they might be messing with me.

“I wonder how much I would get for these.” Erik took out nearly all of the Age Rejuvenation potions that he had created and placed them on the table.

“May I?” Hiao Xen put down the cup and indicated to the potions.

“Please.” Erik sipped on the tea and sat back.

Hiao Xen looked over the different potions. He wasn’t an alchemist but as Erik watched his movements, he got ideas on how to improve his own analysis of potions.

Hiao Xen put the last potion down and then sat back in his chair, his eyebrows pinched together in thought. A smile appeared on his face as he was thinking. “It looks like I should commend Grandmaster West. These potions show improvements upon the last ones you sold to us. It makes it harder to estimate their worth, but I would place their worth to be at four Mana stones and three hundred gold.”

Going to die of heart attack and drowning in money at the young age of thirty-three! Erik sunk into thought, mentally totaling up the worth of the different potions and building a scale in his mind.

After a few minutes, he nodded and finished off the remainder of his tea. “It’s good doing business with you.” Erik held out his hand to Hiao Xen.

Hiao Xen took his hand and shook it. “I will have the contract finished up and given to you. I have the Mana stones on me. And you said that you would be interested in changing some gold for Mana stones?”

“That’s no worries.” Erik smiled. It might not be too abnormal for powerful figures to have a few Mana stones in the Second Realm, but if I was to take that into the First Realm it would create an uproar!

Hiao Xen took out twelve Mana stones and placed them on the table.

The Mana density in the room seemed to become stronger. As Erik breathed in, he felt a soothing feeling in his Mana gates.

He took the Mana stones into his storage ring.

Finally, we have our tickets home.

Chapter: Buying Spree

Rugrat was working in the forge when his sound transmission device went off. He answered it, not breaking his momentum in the slightest.

“Go,” Rugrat said. He was so focused on his work that he didn’t want to waste time talking. He had nearly completed his work.

The original armor he had made for Erik before he stumbled across the path of compression had been all redone.

He still wasn’t happy with the level of his compression and wanted to develop it further, but that was something that required help and aid of someone who knew the craft better.

Honestly, Rugrat had pulled most of this from his interactions with Tan Xue and he was hopeful he could get her to assist him.

It didn’t take him long to compress the armor and he was finishing off the last piece now. He needed to focus on making items that were worth money. Defense was good and all, but he couldn’t go too far down the path of making Erik’s armor or he might not be done for weeks.

“We’re rich! We’re so goddamn rich it doesn’t even make sense! You Lidel leaves! Everyone thought that you were useless but I saw right to your true value!”

“What?” Rugrat frowned. Shit, I thought I was the mentally unstable one.

“The Mana stones! I got them and more. We can leave at any time!”

“What!?” Rugrat missed his mark and winced as his whole arm vibrated.

“Don’t you listen! We’ve got our ticket home!”

“How the hell did you do that?” Rugrat asked.

“Sold some potions. Looks like I made the most from the auction after all!” Erik laughed.

“Just you wait. Once I get enough good materials... Wait, we can go back? I can talk to Tan Xue!” Rugrat had begun arguing with Erik and then it had clicked in his mind. Tan Xue should hopefully be back in Alva Dungeon.

He had been thinking of Alva Dungeon this entire time, but now, now that they had the ability to go back, he felt a pressure weighing on him. What has happened since we were there? Is everyone okay? Did they get into trouble? Did the academy work?

“I’ll get my gear,” Rugrat said.

“Not so fast. We can leave in a few days, but before we go we should see what items we can get here in the Second Realm that we can’t find in the First Realm.”

“We haven’t heard from them in months,” Rugrat said, his fears coming to the fore.

“I know. And I want to go back as much as you want to but at the same time, once we use the Mana stones, they’re gone. If we can bring back more items to help them out, wouldn’t that be worth it?”

Erik’s words made sense and Rugrat calmed himself down.

He looked around the forge. Now that they had the funds, it didn’t make sense that he would keep on working here to make items to raise funds.

“Okay, I’ll come to where you’re staying.” Rugrat started to clear away the items in the forge.

“I’m going to contact the Thantis Traders. Start making a list of all the things you want and the things that would be useful for people in Alva Dungeon. First, I’m going to head to a spell shop and see if I can’t upgrade my firepower.”

“Understood. I’ll be over there soon,” Rugrat said.

“Got it!” Erik closed the call and Rugrat looked around the forge. He had been focused on his work and hadn’t checked the area in a while.

He had Feng Yi put the goods outside the courtyard. Even though he trusted the other blacksmith to a degree, he didn’t want to show off his setup.

Rugrat cleared away his tools. He looked at the dungeon core resting in his furnace. It was unaffected by the flames as it glowed, absorbing Mana, consuming the impurities and releasing pure Mana.

Rugrat walked around and looked at the Mortal Mana cornerstone. It was still in rough shape, but it had started to repair itself, recovering from the overconsumption. Rugrat was pleased seeing its rate of recovery.

If we can get this hooked up in Alva Dungeon, it should be pretty good!

He quickly took the different items in the courtyard into his storage ring.

After a few minutes, it was as if he had never been there.

The Mana that had been gathered up was dissipating outward, slowly seeping through the surrounding villas.

Rugrat silently left the villa and headed toward Erik’s residence.

I wonder if I could get those new calipers that Feng Yi was talking about. Or if I could get a bunch of the midras steaks! No, need the Yelwa fruits and Reoi bird! I’ve missed fried chicken and watermelon! Ugh, food!

Rugrat’s eyes were shining as his stomach growled in agreement.

***

Delilah was back in the residence, studying. Erik, on the other hand, was walking up to a store where Cai Dan had agreed to meet him.

He had contacted Liao Ah, who seemed to be busy with something but she had sent Cai Dan to meet him.

“Erik!” Cai Dan waved over to him.

“How are you?” Erik asked as he got closer.

“A lot better now that I’ve seen everyone. It’s a bit terrifying thinking how close we were to...you know.” Cai Dan’s smile slipped away as Erik smiled and nodded in understanding.

“Makes you appreciate life more! Come on, let’s go and spend some money.” Erik patted her back and pulled her forward with him into the store.

A counter ran across the front of the store. Behind it were different storage chests.

People moved forward up to the counter and told the server what they wanted; the server would head back and look for the item and bring it back to the counter.

Cai Dan pulled out an emblem and showed it to one of the guards. They quickly moved to the side, allowing them to enter a special line that went right to the front instead of waiting with everyone else.

Erik made sure to not be left behind as he talked to Cai Dan out the side of his mouth. “What is that thing and how do I get to bypass lines?” Erik asked.

“It was something I was given in order to help you,” Cai Dan said as they reached the front of the line and then walked up to a counter with a man standing at it.

“How can I help you today?” the man asked with a smile.

“Do you have a list of information manuals? And I was wondering if you have any spell books on accelerating or compressing Mana?” Erik asked.

The man looked a little surprised but with a smile, he pulled a list out from his storage ring. “This is a list for the different information manuals we have. Is there any particular manuals you would be interested in?”

“Manuals related to woodworking, cooking, formations, tailors, farming?” Erik asked.

“Certainly!” The man pulled out more lists and put them in front of Erik.

The books weren’t cheap but to the current Erik, it wasn’t bad. “Could I get these ones?” Erik pointed to different books on the lists, quickly pointing out seventy or so books.

For farming, woodworking, cooking, and tailoring there was a lot of information to be found. Formations only really dealt with theories so Erik only got a few; their price was the highest as well.

“What about for smithing and Alchemy?” Erik asked.

More lists appeared. There was more for smithing than Alchemy. Still, Erik got a healthy collection of both and pressed onward, looking into spells and Mana Gathering Cultivation manuals.

After reviewing the lists, he had found three cultivation manuals that focused on compressing one’s Mana and purifying it. Erik knew about the subject, but only from doing it. He hadn’t talked to many people about the process and he needed more information on it.

The spell he bought was simple.

==========

Increased Casting Speed

==========

When used with another spell, it increases the cost of the original spell by 30% but it casts instantaneously and faster than before.

==========

Erik was hoping that casting faster than before would allow him to increase the Mana bullet’s velocity.

“Do you have any information regarding Body Cultivation?”

“We have some elementary books on Body Cultivation, different ways to temper one’s body and increase their strength.” The salesman nodded.

I was able to do it with poison but there must be other ways to temper one’s body. If I read the other books, I might find a new path to use and increase my body’s strength.

Even if it is not too useful to me, there might be people in Alva Dungeon who can use this to temper their bodies without having to go through the hell of tempering with poison.

“Could I take a look at those and books on Mana cultivation?”

***

Rugrat knocked on the door to Erik’s room.

There was a noise behind the door before a woman appeared at it.

“Oh, you must be Delilah. Did that German fart tell you when he’d be back? I need to get some crafting supplies!” Rugrat rubbed his hands together.

“U-uuh...who are you?”

Rugrat held his chest as if he had been critically wounded and took a few steps back. “Jimmy Rugrat Rodriguez at your service, dear Apprentice! Call me Rugrat, though. Haven’t used those other names in ages.” Rugrat somehow slipped into being serious. He let out a right squeaker of a fart with a wet undertone as he clenched right up immediately, a shocked expression on his face.

“’Scuse me!” Rugrat said as he ran into the room.

Delilah coughed and then gagged. “By the nine!” She took out two ingredients and stuffed them up her nose as she slammed the door, trying to keep the smell out.

Rugrat, clenched tighter than a Vietnam prisoner trying to hide a watch, skirted around the apartment with short steps.

“Bathroooom??” he yelled out in half panic, half strained clench.

Delilah tried to talk but failed, and just waved in the direction of the bathroom.

Rugrat pulled off armor as he ran, letting it clang to the floor as his skinny white ass disappeared into the bathroom. “Fuuuuuuck you, Feng Yi! I’m never eating spicy food again!”

Delilah didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She did take out more leaves and started chewing on them and made sure that there were no open flames.

***

Erik felt good about his purchases. He had cleared out a large collection of books and then went to a number of apothecaries to buy different items.

“Do you know of any consumables that can be used in a fight?” Erik asked Cai Dan, who was still a bit stunned from the money that he had spent thus far.

“Well, there are concoctions one can consume to boost their stats, or coat your weapons in to affect the enemy. Then there are formations one can wear or use to create barriers, though there are only a few of those and expensive, so really only used for defense. But there are spell scrolls inscribed with magical runes. They can be much stronger than a person’s regular spells as they can be more complex and hold a charge. Anyone can use them, so a level one can use a tier one or nine spell scroll with ease.”

That sounds fucking awesome. “Where could we buy some from?”

“There is a small mages guild here. They have the most,” Cai Dan said.

“Lead on!” Erik said.

Cai Dan laughed and guided him through the streets. “So, now that you have the Mana stones, what will you do?” Cai Dan asked as they walked.

“Rugrat and I have somewhere we need to go. Why? Going to be bored without us?” Erik winked.

Cai Dan laughed and shook her head. “It’s been nice having you guys around and I don’t think we’ve been able to thank you properly.” Cai Dan’s eyes flicked over to him casually, a teasing smile on her face.

Is she making a pass at me? It feels like it. As usual, Erik was his normal vocal self. “Errh, uhh, y-yeah,” he said with a weak smile.

Fan-fucking-tastic. You just tripped over your own fricking tongue! Damn, man, pull it together!

Cai Dan laughed and walked ahead a bit as they reached a store.

Erik quickly checked her out. One more day wouldn’t hurt, right?

They entered the large hall. There was a seating area with food and drink to the left side; on the right, people were selling goods and administration tables saw to the needs of the people in the guild.

Cai Dan showed Erik to one of the counters with a woman sitting behind it.

“Hello, customers. Is there anything that you would be interested in buying today?” She pointed to a list of items to the side of the counter.

Erik looked at the extensive list. There were a number of ingredients that one could consume to increase their Mana Regeneration, as well as high-leveled food that looked to do the same. There were enchanted arrows and a few enchanted weapons as well. Then there were supplies for making spell scrolls and the spell scrolls themselves, ranked from tier one to two.

Most tier-one spells were something that could kill creatures in the First Realm with only one or two uses. Tier-two spells had a larger area of effect or greater power, and one of them could kill most creatures below level seventeen.

If we had people who could make spell scrolls in Alva Dungeon, it would give us another advantage.

Although stats and attributes were good, Erik wanted to focus on using consumables first and then use the power in his body. He could weaken an enemy or heal an ally first and then finish the job off using his own skills and abilities.

Stealth spell scrolls, spell scrolls for fireballs, a lightning strike? Really? I’ll get one. Arcane arrow—worth a shot.

“Do you have any books on making spell scrolls?” Erik asked.

“Those are only available for members of the guild. If you are part of the guild and gain merit you can gain access to books about how to create spell scrolls.” The woman smiled.

Nice catch. Still, even if I can’t make the spell scrolls, maybe someone can and these things could be useful in any situation.

“All right, I’ll get the Wind Tempest, the Increase Strength buff spell, the Localized Thunder Strike.” How the hell do you make lightning localized? “The Stealth scrolls, that tier-two spell Increased Magical Damage...”

***

Erik had a full storage ring as he had cleared out a good number of spell scrolls from the guild, leaving the woman in shock as he took crafting materials for the spell scrolls as well.

He headed back to his residence with Cai Dan in tow. Rugrat had said he was there. Erik wanted to check with him, then see if he couldn’t take Cai Dan to get some food.

He knocked on the door to find it unlocked.

Rugrat’s clothes were on the floor and he was covered in sweat. He sat at the kitchen table in just his American flag short shorts. Delilah looked tired as she was making him something.

“Uhh...” Erik looked around the room, making assumptions as he looked at the two.

“It’s like that goat curry in Somalia,” Rugrat said.

With just those words, Erik’s body convulsed. Even with all of the windows open, Erik stepped backward toward the door. He took out two Mana stones and put them on the floor, tossing a Simple Ranged Heal in Rugrat’s direction.

“Come on, we’ve got a meeting with Hiao Xen,” Erik said.

Rugrat’s color started to get better as he started to use his own healing spells.

“Ugh, that nausea was nasty. Couldn’t keep my head clear to heal myself,” Rugrat said as he quickly recovered. He stood and got himself ready.

“Let’s go and see Hiao Xen then.” He walked for the door.

“Delilah, you can stay here and study.” Erik turned to the bewildered Cai Dan. “Would you want to go get something to eat later?” he asked with a smile.

She pulled her eyes away from the door, a big smile on her face as she nearly jumped with excitement. “Sure!”

Rugrat rolled his eyes behind her but Erik only grinned.

Erik and Rugrat went to Hiao Xen’s office.

He was waiting for them as they entered.

“It seems that you are leaving Taeman city,” Hiao Xen said, looking right through them.

Erik nodded.

“I hope that our paths are able to cross again in the future. My debt to you is no small matter,” Hiao Xen said.

Erik made to dismiss it but stopped, seeing that Hiao Xen would be offended if he tried to.

“Grandmaster Rugrat, I have heard and read a lot about you. I am sad that this is the only time that I have been able to meet you,” Hiao Xen said.

“I was busy with a few projects. I did plan on making my way over, but things came in the way,” Rugrat said.

“I hope that your projects went well and you know that the Blue Lotus would be pleased to sell any of them.” Hiao Xen smiled.

Rugrat couldn’t help but laugh slightly.

“Seeing that you will be leaving before the auction starts, I have taken the liberty to prepare a gift for you.” Hiao Xen pulled out a cauldron and held it out toward Erik.

Erik accepted it. Just holding it in his hands, he could feel the quality of the cauldron. It was much better than the simple cauldron that Old Man Hei had sold to him.

==========

Flame of the Rezi Cauldron

==========

Weight: 12.7 kg

Durability: 100/100

Innate Effect: Decrease Mana Flame cost by 12%

Enchantment: Medicinal Bell—reflect the medicinal ingredients back into the center of the cauldron. Increase quantity of concoction made by 8%

Requirements:

Mana, magical or formation flames

Apprentice-grade Alchemist

==========

Erik’s hands shook in agitation as he looked at the information that came with the cauldron.

With 12% less Mana used for the flames, then I can use more of them and I can exercise greater control over them. Allowing me to make higher-level concoctions without having to worry about the Mana cost as much.

If Alchemy was compared to running, then the amount of Mana that one could draw on was comparable to their Stamina: the more they had, the longer they could train for, and the farther they could go.

That, combined with the medicinal bell enchantment that made it harder for the efficacy of the different ingredients to be lost, resulted in the craftsmanship of the cauldron to be at half-step Journeyman. Although there were armors and weapons that could be found at this level, finding a specialized cauldron of the same level was much rarer as the blacksmith had to have an innate knowledge of Alchemy and smithing in order to make such a cauldron.

“This cauldron—I haven’t seen something like it before in my life,” Erik said.

“I am glad that it is up to your standards. I hope that it is of benefit to you,” Hiao Xen said, pleased that his item had met with Erik’s approval.

“It is more than up to my standards.” Erik bowed his head and accepted the gift.

“I wish you good travels.” Hiao Xen bowed to them both deeply.

They returned the gesture and turned, leaving his office.

Chapter: Return

People looked over to the Ten Realms totem as six people wearing cloaks appeared.

Storbon made a gesture with his hand and they all quickly left the square, heading for the gates.

In the First Realm, there were only a few places that had fees when one entered through the totems. They were simply too expensive by themselves to waste the manpower.

Still, a group of guards moved to intercept them.

“Welcome to Chonglu city. Might I know what your business is here?” the leader of the squad asked with a smile.

“Passing through,” Storbon said in a low voice.

The leader’s smile weakened as he squinted at the six cloaked people. He seemed to come to a decision as he waved the guards to move. “Please, have a nice day.”

Storbon nodded and headed straight toward the northern gate.

Seems all a bit small compared to the cities that we saw in the Second Realm. Storbon laughed at himself. When he was in Alva Village, going to a place like Chonglu city, he would have been lost and anxious.

He had truly changed since then. He was on guard but he wasn’t anxious. The Second Realm and his experiences had tempered him. He was no longer a simple boy who had only seen Alva Village and been left crippled.

They passed through the gate. The guards all watched them as they passed.

“Just those auras, did it seem to get chilly around here?” one guard muttered to his friend.

“That’s the aura of a fighter, someone who had put their life on the line again and again. I’ve only felt it when I served in the Gasalop war,” his friend replied. “Make sure that you don’t offend that lot.”

Storbon’s lips pressed together but he didn’t say anything. They headed out on the path with the occasional farmer and trader heading in and out of the city.

“Let’s pick up the pace,” Storbon said.

They quickly left the fields around Chonglu city and moved through the forest. The sound of rushing wind filled the forest as they moved out in an arrow formation. They circled around Chonglu and headed toward Beast Mountain.

Ian dropped off a few traps that would alert them if anyone was following them.

It was something that they had built up in their time in the Second Realm. They could only rely on themselves.

They disappeared in the trees, no one the wiser as they headed between the trading outposts that ringed the Beast Mountain Range.

***

Rugrat looked around, with Delilah next to him.

With the vials, he had quickly recovered from his episode. Then he had Feng Yi run all over town buying different things he wanted as payment.

Feng Yi enlisted the help of the Ru sisters as well, gathering more items.

He hadn’t been able to contact Erik, but the fact no one had seen Cai Dan either, Rugrat felt worse rather than worried.

One of the guards came over to them as they stood in front of the totem. Seeing Rugrat’s face, he swallowed his words, nodded to Rugrat and continued on his day, whistling as if nothing had happened—just a regular normal day, with a pissed-off redneck who’d had one too many goat burritos.

Feng Yi could only cough awkwardly. The rest of the Thantis Traders hid their smiles.

Cai Dan and Erik appeared, entering the square.

They walked right up to them, looking rather close as Cai Dan hung off his arm.

Rugrat moved his mouth, thinking of all kinds of curses before he let out a heavy breath. The corners of his mouth lifted as he looked at the people from Thantis Traders. “See you on the other side and don’t get stuck in weird places!”

Cai Dan grabbed Erik and kissed him deeply before letting him go. They looked at each other before smiling and releasing each other.

“What he said—look after yourselves. If you’re looking for a job,” Erik tossed them a letter, “this falls under the oath you made before.”

With his words, it made it impossible for them to knowingly pass the information to anyone else other than each other.

Erik and Rugrat walked through the line and toward the totem. Delilah trailed behind.

“Second Realm, check. Next will be the Third Realm. Holy ground for alchemists apparently,” Rugrat said.

“Fourth Realm, Battlefield Realm, where legends are born and heroes die,” Erik replied.

Rugrat looked to Erik. A grin appeared on his face.

“Battle maniac.” Erik grinned back.

“Like you’re any better, Blue Eyes.”

Erik let out a dry laugh and Rugrat put his hand on the totem.

He selected Chonglu city. Erik passed him three Mana stones.

They dissolved, entering the totem as three spots were highlighted on the ground. Power flooded into the spots as the three stepped on them.

They were locked in place, unable to move.

==========

Ready to teleport

==========

A flash of light and Taeman city disappeared. The mid-morning turned into late afternoon as the grand city was replaced with the simple Chonglu city.

Erik and Rugrat pulled on cloaks. Delilah followed their actions and they headed into the city. A roving patrol made to stop them but Erik held up a medallion from Lord Chonglu and continued on their way.

“Pretty useful, that,” Rugrat said as they headed out of the closest gate as the last farmers and traders were making it into the city.

“All right, hold on.” Erik bent down and beckoned Delilah to get on his back.

“Teacher,” Delilah said.

“You’ll be too slow otherwise and he’s got more strength, even if he is a short bastard,” Rugrat said.

Delilah reluctantly got on Erik’s back.

Erik and Rugrat took off at a run with the setting of the sun. Their speed was impressive as two moons started to illuminate the ground below.

Two shadows flashed along the ground, unseen by others. Beasts that felt their auras bowed down and stayed out of the way.

***

Storbon and his people only slowed at night. The distance from Chonglu to Alva Dungeon wasn’t something that could be crossed in a day.

It was late afternoon of the second day when four archers stepped out of the trees.

“Looks like you’ve grown.” The leader of the archers pulled back his hood.

From around the group, others stepped out of the forest.

“Sergeant Choi.” Storbon pulled back his hood with a wide smile.

The others pulled back their hoods.

They weren’t wearing the same uniform, but they all came from the same place.

Just seeing their smiling faces, for the first time in a long time, Storbon and the others all relaxed their guard as they greeted the others that they had grown up around and trained with.

“Welcome back.” Choi shook Storbon’s hand.

“It’s good to be back.” Storbon smiled, then he lowered his voice. “Erik and Rugrat?”

Choi shook his head, his smile dimming a bit.

“They’ll be back. I’m sure of it,” Storbon said.

Choi nodded and started to walk in the direction of Alva Dungeon. “So what level are you now?” Choi said, changing the subject.

“Ian, Yuli, Setsuko, and I are nearly nineteen. Yao Meng and Tian Cui are mid-eighteen,” Storbon said. Asking someone’s levels in higher realms was a huge taboo and a quick way to offend. For the people of Alva Dungeon, it was nothing big.

“You beat out Blaze and Glosil—they’re going to be upset.” Choi laughed.

“How has the dungeon been?” Storbon asked.

“We had some trouble, but we took care of it. We’ve got people stationed in most of the larger trading outposts where we can sell our different products slowly and get resources. The dungeon hasn’t had much more building happen because of power concerns, but people have been able to increase their skills a lot. We’ve got a lot of Apprentices and a few have reached Journeyman. Though they need more information and teaching to become Journeyman level in their skills. There are people heading out to the first and some are debating heading to the Second Realm in search of information.” Choi shrugged.

Storbon nodded. “Well, we’ve got a bunch of books so hopefully that can help. Got some forging designs as well. We tried to go for scalable ones.”

Scalable forging designs could be used with multiple different resources. The item’s ability and strength relied more on the crafter instead of the forging design. It allowed greater tinkering but as they could be stronger, there was a greater chance the items made wouldn’t be as strong as a specially made forging blueprint.

“You’re going to be a popular sight for the academy eggheads.” Choi clapped him on the back.

“What about the formations and getting to the lower levels of the dungeon?” Storbon asked.

“The formation students have been looking into them, and they’ve had some success, but they’re not at the stage where they can put together all of the formations. Though we can teleport to the other levels, it’s not worth going down there when we don’t have a high chance of being able to do anything—wasted effort,” Choi said.

“And high power usage,” Storbon said.

“Yeah, but we’ve made some progress. The alchemists and the farmers got together and started to make Alchemy gardens that have a symbiotic relationship.” Choi could see Storbon’s confused look and continued on.

“The plants are arranged so that they create a good environment for one another and allow them to grow faster. Included there are a number of plants that are sources of Mana. People have taken to growing these in their gardens and around the dungeon in every open and unused plot of dirt they can find to try to increase the Mana density of the dungeon. Also, there is a plan in place to use small Mana gathering formations in sequence to draw Mana from outside of the dungeon in small amounts and direct it inward. Also to be used to reinforce the different defensive posts so that mages stand on a formation and they increase their Mana Regeneration so they can cast larger spells quicker.”

“Looks like your gains haven’t been small,” Storbon said.

“Wait till you see Roska’s team. They’ve been hustling their asses to learn as much from the academy, the beast stables, and the barrack’s training grounds,” Choi said, not without a little bit of pride.

Storbon smiled, pleased that everyone was getting stronger and feeling reassured that everyone was safe.

***

Roska heard the reports with everyone else: Special Team One had returned from the Second Realm.

She stood in front of a mirror, looking at her battle dress, making sure everything was properly hooked together.

She wore plate armor with leather bindings across her body. She looked more of a veteran soldier from Earth as her armor had been styled off the body armor that Rugrat had given Taran.

She wore a thin style helmet as well. On her fingers, she wore a number of rings and a talisman hung from her neck underneath her armor.

On her chest, there was a sheathed blade; on her hip, a scaled-down crossbow loaded with an enchanted arrow.

The entire suit of armor was made as one, creating a set that separately were Apprentice-level items. Together, they could rival a Journeyman set of armor.

It had cost her most of her earnings with hunting in the Beast Mountain, but wearing it, she could feel her Mana circulation increase, her Agility rise, and power flood through her body.

She felt untouchable, a juggernaut ready to wade into battle.

“You know, if others found out how carefully you prepared, they might start thinking you like Storbon.” Imani rested against the wall, grinning, in her fully black leather armor. Twin daggers lay at her hips while a crossbow was slung over her shoulder.

Roska pouted and flicked in Imani’s direction.

Imani dodged to the side with ease, as if she had meant the action all along. A small lightning bolt struck the wall, leaving a burn mark behind.

“If you keep on stealthing into people’s rooms, they’re going to start calling you a voyeur,” Roska complained.

Imani laughed and sat down on the table. “Good to see you coming out of your shell more, though I do think a dress would be better. You and Storbon are both fighting fanatics.”

“I want to see how strong he’s become.” A rare smile appeared on Roska’s face at the thought of the challenge.

Imani rolled her eyes and let out a laugh.

Roska might have had deluded romantic fantasies when she was a little girl, but when she had been crippled, she gave up on that. Her contorted looks and the cold look on her face drove many away. She had known Storbon at that time; he had even looked out for her a few times, but she refused his help, wanting to do it on her own. Still, she found a brotherly care toward him.

Her wanting to challenge him was not only to see whether her strength had increased, but to see whether his had as well. She wanted to make sure that he was safe.

For the two of them, the purpose of their lives was to follow Erik and Rugrat, to care for the people in their teams and to grow stronger.

It was why they had been named as leaders of the first two special teams over the other people who had been fighters and leaders in the past. They would push themselves and those in their team harder than anyone else could. They were willing to try out new tactics, to learn and evolve. Looking at the armor and weapons that they were wearing, Roska was a mage, but she had trained with her blade and crossbow in case she ran out of magic power. She wore armor that protected her vital points so a single attack wouldn’t drop her like mages who wore simple robes to look more mystical.

“Is everyone ready?” Roska asked.

“All ready and waiting. They’ve passed through the first checkpoint and they should be here soon,” Imani said.

Roska nodded and half jumped, checking that everything was secure and moving the weight around so it was more equal. “Let’s go and say hello.” Roska walked out of the room.

Imani trailed behind. Her footsteps were light, requiring no conscious effort from Imani.

They headed out of the block of rooms they had been given. Sitting on a few crates and talking to one another was the rest of the team: Yang Zan—their healer and ranger; Han Wu— trap and explosive expert, second only in stealth to Imani; Tully—their straight-up spear wielder; and Gong Jin—the iron tank. Everyone but Han Wu and Gong Jin was wearing armor in similar design to Roska. Han Wu wore heavily padded light armor with metal plates layered on top of one another. If he wore plate armor and he was near an explosion then the force transmitted through the armor would have been immense, having the layers of padding, allowing him to deal with the pressure waves that came with explosives. Gon Jin’s wore massive armor plates that covered his body and a helmet that locked into place. He focused nearly entirely on Strength, Stamina, and Agility. Even in the metal citadel armor, he was able to move nimbly after having trained in it for days. He had a second name—Iron Bear: he had taken on a bear in a one-on-one and won. As the bear attacked, he would dodge out of the way and land powerful hits.

He worked on his own armor and was an Apprentice smith under Tan Xue and Taran’s guidance. He fought with his forging hammer and shield, bringing destruction to the battlefield.

“Tank! Don’t sit on that!” Han Wu said.

Gong Jin nearly jumped a meter. When Han Wu said to not do something, it was probably because he had laid explosives all over the place.

“Did you rig it?” Yang Zan sounded more tired than alarmed.

“No! But it’s full of tender boar steaks for Tully to cook!” Han Wu said.

“Good call,” Gong Jin said in a serious voice. He looked to Tully, who stood there leaning on her staff, looking half asleep.

“No,” she said without opening her eyes.

“But—” Gong Jin pleaded.

“No.” She cracked half an eye open and Gong Jin slumped in his armor, looking like a stroppy iron giant as he kicked at the dirt.

“I am not making a second meal just for you. You can have the leftovers or go get it from the cookhouse,” Tully said.

“I already spent all my money at the cookhouse,” Gong Jin muttered.

“Thank the stars you spent your money on tuition before you found the cooking department. Otherwise you wouldn’t even have armor,” Yang Zan said.

The group looked over as Roska and Imani approached and straightened up.

“Boss—” Gong Jin started in a wheedling tone.

“No. Now let’s get moving and go and see the other special team,” Roska said, not sparing a second breath on Gong Jin.

She led the way, her team following behind here.

Han Wu patted Gong Jin’s arm. “Don’t worry. We can go hunting later and get some good foods. Also, with the first team back we can go to the Second Realm. Think of all the different foods they’ll have there.”

Gong Jin’s eyes seemed to brighten as he stood straighter. “But hunting with explosives, the meat can’t be used.”

“Well, I’ve been working on this new explosive.”

The team collectively groaned as they left the barrack’s training ground.

“Hey, I only need to do a few tests!”

“I am not taking you to the doctors,” Imani shot back.

“I just need—”

“I’m not healing you,” Yang Zan shot back.

“Come on! It’s for research!” Han Wu said, with tears down his face.

“Then go get some healing concoctions.” Tully yawned and rested her arms on her spear that was across the top of her shoulders.

“Healing powders? Do you know how expensive they are? The hospital gets the most amount, and Roska won’t give me any.” It was Han Wu’s turn to pout.

When did I get such a bunch of misfits? Roska thought. All of them were a bit...touched, one could say, but their fighting strength wasn’t something to be denied easily.

They walked down the path to the last checkpoint before entering Alva Dungeon. Although the rest of Alva Dungeon hadn’t been built up more, the defenses had only increased in size and complexity.

***

Storbon looked at the approaching party. His wild smile started to transform as the corner of his mouth pulled up into a hungry arch. His blood boiled.

“Well, it looks like they’ve been able to upgrade their gear,” Yao Meng said as the soldiers who were walking them into the first level of the dungeon looked to one another and then the two special teams.

“Full battle dress? Are they going to fight it out right now?” one asked.

“The two special teams are not normal. Can we expect them to act like we would?”

“Both of them have grown a lot in the time they’ve been away. They might be special teams but Special Team Two can’t find much to challenge their strength anymore. Their stage is the Second Realm now. If you had reached that level, wouldn’t you want to challenge others and test your strength?” Another laughed.

The two teams looked at one another, confident in their skills and gear. Their weapons, armor, and gear was all well used and worked in, an odd assortment mixed together to allow them to fight better.

It was well maintained. The stains and scratches only served to show the tight situations they had been in and survived. They were no longer new to battle.

The two groups stopped in front of one another, looking at each other, two alphas ready to fight it out.

“Looks like you’ve been busy,” Storbon said.

“Looks like you’ve been muddy,” Roska said.

Storbon laughed and broke the tension. They both wanted to fight and test their skills but it was to improve their own skills and grow stronger. The two groups intermingled, talking to one another, brothers and sisters welcoming the other home.

“You owe me a duel!” Yao Meng told Han Wu.

“I got a new spear that I’ve been wanting to try out,” Tully said, her tired expression showing a smile as she talked to Setsuko Ket.

“What kind of food did you find in the Second Realm!” Gong Jin asked Ian Koshi, the metal giant rubbing his hands together in excitement.

“No!” Ian yelled back.

“Come on, just a bite!” Gong Jin moved forward.

Tully’s spear smacked Gong Jin on his helmeted head with a loud noise.

Gong Jin looked over with a pout on his face as he rubbed his helmet.

“Go buy it with your own money, you glutton!”

So the first team returned to Alva Dungeon.

***

Erik and Rugrat had been talking nonstop: about their worries, their hopes, and fears when they returned to Alva Dungeon.

“I hope that Jia Feng hasn’t been overrun with people. There were a lot of applicants to the cooking department,” Rugrat said.

“Yes, but she’s not one to take shit from anyone. I think that she should be all right. We should see if we can’t get Elise in on some cooking lessons. We’ve been kind of bad making her work all this time. We should see if we can’t get her someone to date,” Erik said.

“Pah, love life—only someone who recently got some would say that! Also, I think Zhou Heng should find a nice girl. He spends so much time working on his designs—it would be good if he has someone to look after him.”

So it went, back and forth, the two no longer sounding like military men but expectant fathers figuring out their children’s lives.

Delilah wanted to yell at them to shut up but she didn’t dare to open her mouth or else she might bite her tongue off at the rough journey.

There was a rustling in the leaves. The atmosphere changed in a moment as Erik pulled Delilah from his shoulders, his Agility allowing him to control her fall while he moved her with ease with his strength. A crossbow appeared in his one hand as Mana started to rush into his body.

Rugrat had two crossbows in his hands, aiming at two distinct places.

“Boss Rugrat, Boss Erik.” A woman came out of the trees.

Delilah was on the ground, not sure really on how she had got there as the woman took a knee in the forest.

Around them, several other figures appeared and took a knee.

“Dammit, Clarissa! You guys are getting sneaky as hell!” Erik put away his crossbow and relaxed.

Clarissa smiled as she continued to kneel in the dirt.

“Well done.” Rugrat winked at her and helped her to her feet, his crossbows disappearing into his storage ring. “All right you lot, get up out of the dirt!”

“Do you wish an escort back?” Clarissa asked.

Delilah looked at the woman. Even though they were in the First Realm, she was a level fifteen. With that kind of strength, she probably had the ability to contend with the old monsters that upheld some of the kingdoms in the First Realm.

The lowest ranked member was about level thirteen. Although they weren’t much in the Second Realm, she couldn’t imagine how much work they needed to put in to reach such levels in just the First Realm.

“We’ll let you get back to your patrolling. Send a message ahead, though,” Erik said.

“Understood.” Clarissa nodded and waved to the others.

They smiled and headed back into the forest.

“Erik and Rugrat are back. It looks like things will get interesting again.” One laughed to his friend.

“I wonder what chaos they caused in the Second Realm.”

Rugrat and Erik only looked awkward hearing the words. Erik bent forward and Delilah groaned slightly as she climbed onto his back.

He took off again at a sprint, Rugrat beside him as they headed toward Beast Mountain.

They passed through a valley and entered what looked to be a cave. On the other side, there was a guard post.

Erik and Rugrat looked over it and continued on, the guards letting them pass

Delilah had never seen anything like it. They started descending through a series of switchbacks, passing other defensive positions until the pathway started to open up. The gates were open and a group of people stood there.

Erik let Delilah down as he and Rugrat moved to meet them. Delilah tried to return feeling to her legs and get used to being on solid ground again. Her eyes went wide as she saw that among the people greeting them, there was a skeleton.

“Well, looking good, everyone. Very undead there, Egbert,” Erik said.

“I prefer re-animated,” Egbert the skeleton shot back. “Did you have to bring this big idiot back?” He sighed and looked at Rugrat.

“Oi, you bony bastard.” Rugrat smiled and tossed a ring to Egbert.

Egbert didn’t stand on ceremony and looked inside. His lower jaw trembled and Delilah thought it was the closest she had seen a skeleton to crying.

Wait, when have I seen a skeleton, or an undead? Do they cry?

Delilah was thrown off by her own questions as Egbert pulled himself together and pointed his nose holes in the air.

“Fine, we’re even for when you tried to stuff me in a storage ring,” Egbert conceded.

“I can hear the wedding bells already.” Another man, in armor with a small crossbow on either hip, sighed, as if picturing the blissful moment.

Rugrat and Egbert both stared daggers at the man, who laughed it off.

“All right, boys. We’ve got a lot to discuss.” A woman stepped forward. Although she was weaker than the others in terms of strength, the others all listened to her.

“Do you have it?” She looked to Erik and Rugrat, a sense of anxiousness and fear on her face.

Erik smiled and looked over to Rugrat.

He pulled out a glowing blue gem from within his storage ring. It seemed to be almost beating as it pulled in Mana and expelled it. Delilah felt her Mana system seemed to crave the released Mana; it was as if she had only drank dirty water in her life but now she had tasted clean water—the same dirty water didn’t satisfy her anymore.

Although everyone had been smiling before, there was a hidden tension that one only discovered when it was released.

The gem rolled out of Rugrat’s hand as he juggled it. Everyone looked over in shock before he recovered it.

“Got it!” he said with a weak smile.

“It’ll take a lot more than you dropping it to break it,” Egbert said.

“Let’s go to the dungeon core. A lot of things have changed.” Elise turned and led the party past the defenses and into the living area.

“Storbon and his team arrived just a week and a half before you. They were basically locked in with Roska’s team, talking about new tactics and their experiences. In their free time, they spent it sparring. Most of the other fighters watched and learned from them. Roska and her team headed to the Second Realm two days ago,” another armored man said, carrying a sword and shield.

“Tan Xue and Julilah?” Rugrat asked.

“They arrived safe and sound,” a man wearing clothes stained black and smelling of metal said.

“Qin Silaz and her brother also arrived, somewhat unexpectedly,” the man with the bow said.

“Her brother?” Erik asked.

“He was looking out for her and ran into one of our teams. They took him prisoner, pulled him back here. He made an oath to Alva Dungeon and well, he’s a regular party member,” the man with a sword said.

“Blaze took him on as something of an apprentice. Got twelve of the little devils running around who need to be re-educated occasionally,” the bow man said.

“Treat everyone fairly; those who prove themselves will show themselves,” Rugrat said, his words holding a heaviness behind them.

“I was too used to the way that I was raised in the kingdom’s army,” Blaze said, apologizing, his face stony. He looked to be sad, the kind of sadness brought on by having someone they respected talking with disapproval.

“We will have a look at all of the teams. Gather reports on them all. We’ll go through them one by one, pass on our teachings. We’ll organize a series of tests for those who want to join the special teams,” Erik said.

Blaze and the bowman both nodded as they walked.

Delilah looked up from the people as something caught her eye. Her footsteps paused as she looked over the small town. It wasn’t very large and only took up a small area in the entire floor.

“An entire town underground—why is it called a dungeon?”

Chapter: Dungeon core’s growth

They went straight to the dungeon core headquarters in the middle of the town.

People who had gotten sound transmissions from the guards and others they knew all poured out into the streets as they looked at the party moving toward the central building.

“Look, Erik and Rugrat are back!”

“I knew they wouldn’t leave us behind!”

“Who is that new person behind them?”

These voices all spoke up, looking at the group as they went into the main building.

Instead of making their way up the stairs to the room above, Rugrat placed his hand on the door that led into the rune-covered core area.

Runes covered the floor and the cylinder around the dungeon core. Mana was drawn in through a number of Mana gathering formations and pumped into the chamber, where it was consumed by the dungeon core. The impurities caused it to glow while it released pure Mana.

Erik was reminded of trees—how they could pull in carbon dioxide and then with photosynthesis turn it into energy and release air.

The dungeon core simply wanted the impurities from the Mana; to it, the impurities were more valuable than the Mana.

The core glowed in the middle of the chamber, looking lonely and small compared to the structure.

Pure Mana poured down in a thread like a stream, touching the formation plate at the bottom, which directed the Mana through the town.

Rugrat pulled out the second dungeon core. In the Mana-dense room, its glow started to increase, like a light bulb warming up.

A screen appeared in front of him, unreadable to others.

“Fuse,” Rugrat said.

The dungeon core in his hand rose up, growing brighter and brighter as it floated upward until it was next to the original dungeon core that was only a third of its size.

The two dungeon cores started to orbit each other, slowly at first and then faster and faster until they blurred together. The edges closest to each other started to merge in between. Mana in the room was swept up as the dim runes in the chamber started to wake up. The two cores pulled in the impurities and purified Mana at an increased rate. The thread of Mana to the ground stabilized and a faint line, then a thread, then a centimeter-wide line streamed upward, going through the top of the dungeon core chamber.

“Damn, we need something to take in the power,” Egbert complained.

A big glowing rock was thrown through the air and hit Egbert in the face. His head went rolling off out of the headquarters as his hands caught the rock.

“Hey! A heads-up would have been nice!” Egbert said, his jaw moving his head around as he cast a spell. His head flew back to his body but he was looking over his shoulder. “Dammit!” He turned to face the right way and started gesturing at Rugrat with the stone.

“Didn’t your—What? How did you?” Egbert ran off and up the stairs to the top of the headquarters.

Erik could see him through the headquarters.

He got to the opening and jumped up in the air. A spell formation appeared under his feet as he shot upward, going parallel to the pure Mana that was shooting out of the top of the building.

It struck the ceiling as Erik crouched down, prepared for something to fall off the ceiling. A previously hidden formation appeared above everyone.

The Mana struck the central point of the formation and spread out down ten different pathways. They all turned left, creating a circle, before they shot out along twenty lines.

Egbert rushed up to the point where the Mana hit the formation and smacked the cornerstone into place.

The power that had been spreading out shot back at an even faster pace. The formation grew dim again as the new cornerstone drew in the power, a blistering star above the dungeon core.

Egbert started to drift away from the point where he had placed the cornerstone that was starting to dim.

Erik turned his attention back to the two cores. The outside edges were blurred while between them a new core was being formed, absorbing the two cores into one.

A final dungeon core rotated and spun rapidly. The previous dungeon core had only purified a small amount of Mana, unable to keep up with the power usage. It was like a heart replacement: the old one wasn’t functioning properly, only pumping a small amount of blood, but this larger and newer heart was beating stronger and more powerful than before. It beat heavily, drawing in more Mana than before, clearing impurities and growing stronger as it pushed out pure Mana that not only met the needs of the dungeon but extra that was stored in the Mana cornerstone above.

Erik closed his eyes and took a deep breath. His body gained a refreshing feeling being around the dungeon core as some of the pure Mana leaked out of the formations and dissipated into the town. With the Mana gathering formations, it wouldn’t be able to leave the dungeon and would be returned. But as it went through the city, the pure Mana would change the bodies and Mana systems of the people in the dungeon.

It’s not quite the same density of Mana as one might find in the Second Realm, but with enough time and if we can upgrade with more dungeon cores, we’ll be able to get there.

Erik opened his eyes to a new chapter of Alva Dungeon and a new quest screen.

==========

Quest Completed: Restore Power

==========

The Beast Mountain Dungeon is under threat. To a dungeon, Mana is its lifeblood. You must find a way to increase the Mana produced in the Dungeon or a new way to produce Mana.

==========

Rewards:

Dungeon core recovers partially [4/12]

1,533,690 Experience (based on results and time)

Dungeon Lord Title Upgraded!

==========

==========

Title: Dungeon Master II

==========

Control over the Dungeon building interface.

Grade: Greater Mortal (Can be upgraded)

Ability: Dungeon Sense, 5km radius.

Cooldown: 1 day

Increase all stats by +1

Able to bestow title, Dungeon Hunter (1 remaining)

==========

Titles are awesome! Erik went through the remaining information.

==========

You have reached Level 23

==========

When you sleep next, you will be able to increase your attributes by: 25 points.

==========

==========

73,230/575,000 EXP till you reach Level 24

==========

==========

Quest: Dungeon Reborn

==========

Upgrade the dungeon core, returning it to its peak condition

==========

Requirements:

Dungeon core recovers partially [4/12]

==========

Rewards:

+10,000,000 EXP

==========

==========

Quest: Ten Realms Dungeon

==========

Turn the dungeon into a Trial and Tribulation Dungeon, a place to reward those with strength and to cull those without the power.

==========

Requirements:

Create traps and other tests for adventurers to pass through.

Randomly generate a Trial and Tribulation Dungeon (3,000 Mortal Mana stones)

==========

Rewards:

+1,000,000 EXP

==========

Erik’s brain might have short-circuited when he looked at the information. He looked over to Rugrat, who looked back at him.

“Whaaat?” Rugrat’s voice reached a high pitch.

Erik opened and closed his mouth, not sure what to say. Leveling up wasn’t that big of a deal with lower levels. After all, becoming an Apprentice in just one skill, one could jump entire levels. But once one started going up in the realms, increasing levels started to become much more difficult.

Jumping four levels in one shot is not normal!

He was just starting to realize what an Experience-making goldmine the dungeon was. I need to learn more. With this power, we should be able to set up that market stall and connect with the trade interface.

“I didn’t mean the stats! All hail the king!” Rugrat laughed as the pure Mana that was coming out of the dungeon core was distorted slightly, being pulled into Rugrat’s body as he opened his holed Mana gate, opening his thirteenth Mana gate.

From his Mana gates, it was like a chimney being blown clean.

Impurities filled the chamber, being drawn into the dungeon core that grew brighter.

“Well, now just need to compress that pesky Mana core.” Rugrat laughed as he took out his Mana stones and tossed them into the chamber. They started to disintegrate, increasing the density of Mana in the chamber. The amount of Mana headed up into the cornerstone increased.

There were two parts to dungeon cores: how strong they were and how much impure Mana was accessible to them. The stronger they were, the larger the area they could pull Mana from. Though, if they had Mana concentrated around them, then they would still draw upon that same area around them, but as it contained so much Mana then it would refine more in a shorter time period. It was why Mana gathering formations were so essential.

The Mana stones were pure Mortal-grade Mana. Earth- and Sky-level Mana stones had a lot less impurities. They were better for people to use and cleanse their own Mana systems, though with less impurities, their use was only small to the dungeon core.

For the newly combined dungeon core, the impurity rich Mortal Mana stone was a delicious meal.

Erik pulled out his remaining Mana stone and tossed it into the chamber.

“Well, might as well throw these in.” Jasper poured out a storage ring. Monster cores entered the chamber, quickly creating a small mound. The dungeon core eagerly converted the monster cores and Mana stones, glowing bright as if pleased with its meal.

Rugrat rolled his shoulders as the last of impurities was flushed from his body. He breathed in, pulling in pure Mana from the stream heading to the cornerstone, and let out a breath. Mana threads came from his body. Mana seemed to flow through him, obeying his commands as if it were only natural.

“Well, it looks like we will be able to deal with our power issues in the future.” Elise sounded relieved before her tone changed. “Now, we have a lot of work to go through.”

“I, uh, need to check on the smithy. Lots to be done there and I have a lot of items to be done!” Rugrat said.

“I should check out the medical facilities and the Alchemy lab. Make sure you plan the position for the trading interface well—I want it to be accessible to everyone!” Erik said. The two of them slipped past the group and ran off before Elise could say anything else.

She turned her look to the others.

“Books!” Egbert shot off into the sky and toward the academy.

“I need to check with Rugrat—the smithy has changed some!” Taran cried out, running as fast as his stubby legs would take him.

“I have to check on the students and reports from the Beast Mountain Range!” Blaze yelled, him and Glosil outpacing the short smith by leagues.

“Run a bit slower!” Taran complained.

“I’m going to help Blaze—two eyes better than one, you know!”

Like that, the members of the council disappeared.

Elise put her hands on her hips. “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” She sighed and shook her head before smiling and looking back at the chamber that was glowing brighter than ever.

“I wonder what’s next.”

Chapter: Passing on Teachings

Rugrat grinned as he could hear the sounds of the smithy in full swing.

“Wait for me!” Taran yelled, his smaller legs pumping for all they were worth.

Rugrat laughed and slowed down to a walk, letting Taran catch up as he was getting close to the smithy.

“So what did you get?” Taran asked, his eyes glowing as he looked at Rugrat.

Rugrat thought about trying to hide it for half a second before he was unable to hold out any longer. He pulled out a few forging designs.

Taran let out a stunned noise, halfway between a high-pitched scream, a cough, and childlike excitement. His hands came up, his fingers moving on their own as he wanted to grab the forging design.

Rugrat threw it as if he were feeding a hungry tiger.

Taran snatched it, rubbing his face on the forging design and petting it. “Oh hello there, you beautiful design. Oh, you’re Journeyman level, very nice.”

“What is the principal doing?”

“Is that a new forging design?”

“I want one!”

The smiths who were between work all saw what he was holding and moved to the edge of the smithy like a pack of hyenas, leaning as close to the forging design as possible.

Taran’s eyes opened, one eyelid twitching.

The smiths all froze with the look on his face.

He still continued to stroke the forging blueprint without a care in the world of what others thought of him. “Get back to work!” he barked.

The smiths nearly tripped over one another as they rushed back to work, grabbing new materials and working the bellows on the different furnaces.

Taran looked to Rugrat, a shameless smile on his face.

Rugrat tossed him a ring.

Taran grabbed it and looked inside and started to sit down.

“Do it in your office, will you? Or else everyone will get distracted,” Rugrat said.

Taran seemed to be caught in a dilemma before he quickly started to walk to his office in the smithy.

Tan Xue was coming out of the smithy, covered in soot and sweat. She opened her mouth, only to have Taran rush past and into his office, slamming and locking the door.

She looked from the door over to Rugrat, who stood in the front of the smithy.

“Well, looks like Taran won’t be coming out for a while.” She smiled.

Rugrat could only smile back. “So how are you settling in?” He looked around.

“Julilah isn’t here. She’s off with little Qin, looking up magic in the library. She might have a passion for smithing, but she has a real skill at spell formations,” Tan Xue said with pride.

“Oh, it looks like you took on a new student,” Rugrat said.

“Seems like I’ve taken on a lot of them, with Taran being the smithing maniac he is,” Tan Xue grumbled. But her eyes shined at the same time.

Rugrat let out a laugh and looked around the smithy for the first time. There were a few Novice-level smiths being taught by Journeyman-level smiths. Apprentice smiths were hammering out all kinds of designs, checking information, making their own designs or using the forging blueprints to get a greater understanding of how to make higher-level weapons.

Seeing what he was looking at, Tan Xue turned to face the smithy as well.

“Taran is a mid to high-level Journeyman, depending on the design. We’ve got four low-Journeyman level smiths, eight Apprentice, and three Novice smiths. Also, an iron vein was found in the mountain range, which has been hollowed out and a proper mine is being created there. It’s still early days, but we get about enough material to make ten iron ingots per day. We make around one or two Mortal-grade iron ingots each day. With the increased power from the dungeon core, we should be able to fire up the magical flames in the different furnaces—that’ll increase the quality of the items and their tier,” Tan Xue said.

“What stage have you reached?” Rugrat asked.

“Barely a half-step into Master. The difference between Journeyman and Master is wide and it’s wider to get from Master to Expert.” She simply shrugged. “I might not get to that stage in my life but I’ll certainly try.”

Rugrat’s smile turned softer, seeing that fire in her eyes once again. It was something that she had been missing in Kaeju city.

“Then we’ll give you all the support we can! Also, I’m working on a new set of armor and I’ve been trying to compress the armor down. I was just going to leave it at the stage I’d reached already, but now that you’re here...”

“Fine, let’s see what you’ve got.” She held out her hands and Rugrat pulled out the half-finished breastplate.

Tan Xue looked over the breast plate, tapping here and there, running her fingers across it and frowning. “You’ve compressed it in several areas but you’ve created weakness at the joints. If someone was to hit here, here or here, then they’d break right through! You need to compress the material before you start shaping it, you dolt! Or else it’s going to have areas of high and low compression, creating weaknesses! Have you still not learned how to make formations! It’s all good if you can make Journeyman armor, but it’s only truly Journeyman armor when it has one formation to enchant it! You focused all on defenses but this armor wouldn’t be able to hold a decent formation—only a Novice grade one or else it would shatter!” Tan Xue smacked the armor, making it ring as she looked at Rugrat, who stood there awkwardly.

Her hand snaked out and grabbed his ear.

“Ow! Owowowowow!” Rugrat reached for his ear as he was dragged into the smithy.

“First you’ll melt down the metal and then compress it before making anew! To use Mortal iron like this is such a waste! Then you’ll go over to the formations array school and learn how to make more than just Mana gathering formations! What else have you been working on?” Tan Xue tossed the metal into a furnace that held her magical flame. It wrapped around the armor and started to heat it up.

As she released his ear, he wanted to rub it but instead started taking out the different items he had been working on. Barrels and weapon components were carefully laid out on the table.

Tan Xue picked them up, checking them over before she put them back. “What is this part of?” She looked over the different parts.

Rugrat carefully pulled out Big Momma, unloading it with practiced motions and then extending the bipod and placing it on the counter.

Tan Xue leaned forward and started looking over the weapon.

“It’s similar to that weapon he was using on the roof of the village headquarters in the defense,” one of the smiths said.

“What is this?” Tan Xue looked to Rugrat, who grabbed Big Momma and started to field strip it.

“This is a high-powered rifle. It fires a fifty-caliber BMG round. It is a bullpup style with a floating barrel. It is a gas-operated semi-automatic weapon.” Rugrat started to go through the functions, and the way that the weapon operated: the firing pin striking the primer, causing the gunpowder to explode the gases, moving the action to the rear, ejecting the old round, picking up a new one and pushing it into the chamber, ready to fire again.

Tan Xue listened to every word before she started to check over the field stripped weapon and then the different components he had created once again.

“And these are the new test rounds Erik and I created.” Rugrat pulled out a dozen or so rounds that were organized in an ammunition tray.

“This is going to take some work, but if it is possible to create the components to a high enough standard, then they will improve one another’s strength. Even with Apprentice parts, then it could have the same striking power as a Journeyman-level weapon,” Tan Xue said aloud and then looked up to Rugrat. “First I’ll teach you how to compress metal properly with the vibrating hammer method, then we’ll see what we can do about this. Now get to work!”

As Rugrat went to work on the armor in the furnace, returning it to its ingot form, a crazy laugh came from within the smithy office before Taran slammed the door open and moved to a forge.

“I won’t stop until I can make at least mid-Journeyman-level items by myself! Jonas! Hun!” Taran called out several names. The different smiths looked over to him.

He threw different items, from books to forging blueprints. “You have one week with those items! Show me your ability!”

The smiths all looked at the items in their hands. The smithy seemed to heat up, not just through the furnace flames.

“Yes, Master Taran!” They yelled out and ran back to their own forges, quickly checking the items that they had been given and starting to get to work.

Tan Xue looked to Rugrat, a glow in her eyes.

“Yes, there are items in there that you might find useful.” Rugrat didn’t want to hide anything as he felt the pain lingering in his ear.

“Taran!” Tan Xue called out as she walked toward him.

Rugrat quickly put his head down and started to work on the armor.

***

Erik went to the hospital first.  He walked right up to a woman sitting behind the reception desk, her head bent down as she was reading through a book.

Erik cleared his throat slightly.

The startled woman looked up.

“Mister Erik!” The woman half-yelled, half-screamed as she jumped out of her chair with a wide smile.

Erik barely stopped himself from jumping into the air at her actions and voice as she rushed around the table.

“Hello! I am Jen! I have read everything that you have put down. Using not only healing spells but Alchemy together—it only makes too much sense. I don’t know why more people don’t do it! I’ve pressed it on everyone to get a greater understanding of Alchemy. While we haven’t had many injuries, I got a few corpses from animals that were killed and went through the different organs with people but without real patients it’s hard to train.” Jen looked disappointed before she lit up with a smile. “But with you here, it should be easy!”

Why do I feel that this girl has way too much blind faith in me? Erik cleared his throat as the other people in the hospital all approached with interest.

“No patients in?” Erik asked.

“Not really. We mostly get people who are hungover or have a few scrapes. Everyone is a high level, so there are only a few injuries,” Jen said.

Erik was happy to hear it. He didn’t want people overworking and making mistakes.

“We’ve been working on the tempering side of things as you mentioned in your notes, but we’ve only had one person from the barracks try it. They went through a lot of pain and now no one else wants to try out the different methods to temper one’s body,” another medic said.

“Who is in charge?” Erik asked.

“She is.” Everyone pointed to Jen.

“I’m not!” Jen complained and frowned.

The others shook their heads and rolled their eyes.

Erik couldn’t help but smile.

“Send a message. I want all of the Alchemy students and medics to gather together so I can talk to you all as one.” Erik had some big plans ahead. As the people in Alva Dungeon had shown their dedication, it was about time he passed on his information to open one’s Mana gates and temper their bodies. Because he and Rugrat had gone through it already, he had created extensive notes on his own experiences and come up with various ideas and theories on how to temper one’s body and open their Mana gates without the difficulties that he and Rugrat had gone through.

***

Qin looked up from her book with tired eyes, rubbing them and blinking as she tried to get moisture back in them.

“Did I fall asleep again?” she asked Julilah, who was beside her, writing out a formation circle under a series of magnifying glasses.

“Shh,” Julilah replied in an annoyed manner. She continued to work on the miniature formation with just a paintbrush, the end of the paintbrush flicking and turning here and there.

Qin looked over but didn’t say anything. She couldn’t make out the formation and gave up, knowing that if Julilah was happy with it, she would share.

Qin looked at the book in front of her. It was a copy on different control formations that the gnomes worked on.

They were not simple formations, but although the Mana gathering formations looked to control Mana, the control formations simply used it as a power source and then carried out commands. There was a power formation to draw in power, then the main control formation it was connected to; that was interlinked with smaller sub-control formations. The image in the book was only about ten-by-ten centimeters and she had been looking at it through the magnifying glasses to see the exact details. The notepad to her side had notes and then a line through it where she had fallen asleep and she had left an ink line across the desk.

What woke me up? Qin thought. Julilah had taken the magnifying glasses and was working on her own project, so Qin looked at the people leaving the library.

They were quiet but there was a great number of them.

She stood and looked around for Egbert.

She saw him moving through the library. The gnomes had left behind enchanted bookcases to protect their books but when they had departed, they had taken all of their books. Egbert had needed to take them offline to conserve power.

They had been added to the library but didn’t have any books in them because they would last longer in Egbert’s storage ring.

Now, however, the runes on their sides were glowing as Egbert was checking on different books, putting a book in one bookshelf, closing the door and then flying up to the second story and placing a few more books in a different bookshelf before heading to the third story and then back down to the first.

“Uncle Egbert.” Qin dragged his name out.

His movements halted as he turned around and descended toward her. “What do you need?”

“Where is everyone going?” Qin asked.

“Erik and Rugrat are back. They’re rushing over to the smithy and the hospital. Erik has called the alchemists and medics while Rugrat and the others in the smithy are using the items he has brought back to make more items.” Egbert’s voice rose in excitement.

“They’re back!?” Qin looked around the room. Seeing the bookcases with power going to them now, it made sense. They must’ve brought back a dungeon core or something to help the dungeon recover!

Egbert must have thought her expression meant she was displeased. He quickly pulled out three books. “These are more books on formations,” Egbert said, as if bribing Qin.

She pressed her lips together, trying to pout but she couldn’t, seeing all of the books.

“Thank you, Uncle Egbert!” She jumped up and hugged him.

Egbert dropped a few feet as his upper body disconnected from his legs. “I thought I fixed that.” He looked at his leg bones and hips that were a dispersed over three square meters in front of him.

“Sorry, Uncle! Thank you for the books!” Qin laughed as she grabbed the books and skipped off toward Julilah.

Wait till she sees these! Maybe I should read them before I show her. She is trying to make a formation prototype, after all.

A wicked smile appeared on her face as she quickly found a desk.

She didn’t see the sighing Egbert as his upper body floated upward and his legs reorganized themselves and he took a step forward and fell over.

“Oh, come on, right leg! You’re supposed to face forward, not backward!” Egbert complained as he started to rearrange his bones until they were all back in place.

“Kids these days.” Egbert shook his head and then looked around before pulling out a book from the books Rugrat had given him and tucking it away.

***

Delilah had followed Erik to the hospital. The people looked at her with confusion.

“Who is she?”

“She must be someone Erik and Rugrat brought with them.”

“I wonder what her skills are? If she can do smithing like Tan Xue or is adept at spells like Qin and Julilah?”

Delilah was feeling a little shy with all of the people openly staring at her.

Erik sat on one of the beds in the hospital as some thirty or forty people poured into the area. They stood or sat around, pulling out pen and paper. There were healers and alchemists all there, waiting on his words.

“Well, it looks like there are quite a number of alchemists and healers here.” Erik smiled.

The people in the room looked proud of their chosen profession as he cleared his throat.

“In the coming days, I will be doing an assessment of everyone’s skills. Both the alchemists and the medical personnel will be going through a written and practical examination.

“The written will be to understand how much knowledge and information you have retained. The practical is to see how you have used that information. Based upon your results, I will be awarding information and technique books. There might also be a few rare spell books,” Erik said.

The people in the room had glowing eyes. Even Delilah looked at him with a new hunger.

I wonder whether I will be able to be part of the examination? But these people, they’ve been studying for much longer than me. Her hopes couldn’t be helped and fell from one minute to the next as she confronted the reality in front of her.

“A number of books have been given to Egbert, and you will all be allowed access to them. Now, onto the lesson. In Alchemy, there are four classes of concoctions. Regeneration—Healing Stamina gain, Mana, and so on. Buffing—these can boost one’s stats, or they can have a special effect, like Night’s Eye potion. When consumed, a person can see through the night’s darkness with ease. Then there are berserker potions that can increase one’s overall Strength and Agility, but then it takes a heavy toll on their body afterward. Then we have Experience concoctions. These are made from incredibly rare or powerful items that are part of the Ten Realms. Monster cores will give you Experience if you consume them. It is the same with these concoctions—most of them only work once and their cost is astronomical. The last are body altering concoctions. These alter a person’s body, increasing their flow of Mana, their Strength and Agility through temperings or other means.” Erik looked around the room. “It might sound similar to some of the things that healers can do. Medics are trained to heal first and foremost, dealing with the ailments of the body, understanding it in a great depth. Concoctions can be tailored to individual people, but unless you’re an alchemist who also has a great deal of knowledge about the person you’re working on, you can do more harm than good. Alchemists and medics complement one another with all types of concoctions. Want to heal? You can down a healing potion, or you can take it into a syringe and then put it right into the person’s circulatory system to heal them faster. Medics can modify a person’s body as well, assisting people in tempering their bodies. Everyone knows about Mana gates, right?”

Everyone in the room nodded. Quests were rare and for most people, the fourteen gates quest was one that they would see for the entirety of their lives, a painful reminder of what they were not able to do.

“Mana gates are part of the body. The Mana system, as you know, is an internal structure. There are ways, both alchemically and medically, that one can open up those Mana gates.

“Though if you combine those two practices, the chances of someone opening a Mana gate shoot up. Healers and alchemists in the Ten Realms are said to be revered because they can only open a few Mana gates. Today, I’ll tell you the different ways that Rugrat and I have used to open our Mana gates and the Mana gates of others. Then I will talk over how one can temper their body, from the bones, the ligaments, and tendons, through the muscle, Mana system, and skin. Both processes are not easy, but listen up.”

Everyone in the room was focused entirely on him.

Delilah sat there, not blinking for fear that she might miss something.

***

Elise was at the barracks, sitting on one of the walls, watching Special Team One. Yao Meng, Tian Cui, and Yuli were in the training squares; each of them were separated, teaching different groups.

Those who had been in the Beast Mountain Range or had been training in the barracks and the academy had a variety of questions. They had tried out a number of things but in the First Realm, it had been a long time since their lives had been threatened.

The three from Special Team One happily fielded their questions, taking time to think on them as it might lead to an increase in their own fighting power. Their combat experience served as a good meter to strike down bad ideas and open up pathways for good ones.

Elise leaned forward, resting her chin on her hand.

“You don’t come around here often.” Glosil moved up to sit beside her.

“Just thinking on everything. You know, trying to make plans for the future and all that. But I simply don’t know how things will go. The haul of items that Special Team One brought with them was nothing to laugh at. Then Rugrat and Erik, well, I don’t know what they brought with them, but they’ve absconded off to the hospital and smithy while Egbert, who has all of the books, is scanning through them and passing them out to the departments that are coming by, hungry for more information. It’s like when we first arrived in Alva Dungeon all over again.

“People are excited. With the threat of being pushed out of Alva Dungeon gone, more people want to stay. With the information and supplies, it would be hard to find anything like them in the First Realm. Though I don’t want to force people to stay here. We need more people and we need our people to go and try out the world. It’s why I want not only parties made of military personnel, but those with crafters and traders to head to the Second Realm.

“Look at the gains that the first team have made. Erik and Rugrat’s Strength has surged, and from what we know by Tan Xue, Rugrat’s ability might be the second highest in all of Alva, only to Tan Xue. Erik—we don’t know how strong he is and how he can grow the people of Alva.” Elise let out a rush of breath, falling into silence. “I liked when it was simple and I ran a shop,” she complained, resting her chin on her knee again.

“Nothing is ever easy and I have to think that Erik and Rugrat have a plan. Even if they escaped you before, neither of them have willingly missed a meal.” Glosil smiled.

Elise felt reassured seeing that smile as she let out a light laugh. “Just like the days back in the village, meetings at dinner?”

“I think we might just have to do that for some time with everyone so busy.” Glosil grinned.

“Ugh, more paperwork.” Elise rested her forehead on her knee as Glosil simply looked at the people in the barracks as the three members of Special Team One ran through drills, answered questions, and showed what tricks they had learned.

Growing stronger together.

Chapter: Path to the Realms

Erik held nothing back as he told those listening about Mana gates, the ways he had found to open them, and how one could temper the body. He talked about the medical methods and the alchemical ways.

Then he had picked Jen and an alchemist called Lang Hua. He was a big lad but while Erik was talking, his eyes lit up with interest, taking in every word. He was the kind of person you could just tell was on the edge of a laugh or a joke, but he was so focused Erik couldn’t help but admire his interest.

He could also see that people were asking him questions. Instead of telling them to be quiet, he would whisper answers to their questions. Erik had spent time in all kinds of units and groups. Lang Hua might not look like it but he had become the unofficial leader of the alchemists.

He had seen it before where noncommissioned members all looked up to one or two people who could rally them in any direction.

The biggest problem with these people was they were good in a fight but they were hell when they didn’t have anything to do.

Erik had called Jen and Lang Hua forward. Then, using them as examples, he used a needle with Mana to pierce Jen’s Mana gate and then used a needle covered in Mana Regeneration powder on Lang Hua.

It was only a small perforation on each, but now Mana could move through this small gap and was starting to wear down their Mana gates.

Erik had also taken the opportunity to look at the other Mana gates in their bodies. Even piercing the Mana gate, he could see that the others had hardened.

He’d hoped that he had found a new way to open all of the Mana gates at once without them hardening and becoming increasingly difficult.

The two were swarmed over by the alchemists and the medics as they looked at the changes that had gone on in their bodies.

Erik was surprised how many of them had taken up training in both skills.

Once everyone had looked them over, Erik had gone on to talk about acupoints and the Mana system in greater depth. It was a part of every person’s body in the Ten Realms and he treated it just like the circulatory system.

With his words, the different groups who had been apprehensive of dealing with it before and potentially messing it up calmed down. It was no longer something that was out of reach; with Erik’s words, they came to understand it in greater depth.

***

Delilah listened to Erik’s lecture with the other medics and alchemists. At the sight of so many Apprentice-level healers and alchemists, she was in a bit of shock, but she didn’t let that distract her from Erik’s lesson.

He spoke in simple terms, working to make the content as easy as possible to understand.

He delved into the theories and ideas behind Alchemy and the effects that they have on the body, both those that could assist and those that could harm.

He talked on pill poisons that could build up in the body, like what had happened to Qiang Xen. He went over diagnosing people. What they thought their ailment might be could be completely wrong. It was the work of the alchemist and the healer to deal with the root of the issue if possible, not just the symptoms.

“We are quickly reaching the limit of what we can do with our current formulas. Look to change up your techniques, to make tools that aid you—work smarter, not harder. If it becomes too easy, try to increase the efficacy of the different concoctions. Then, look to make your own concoctions. One doesn’t just need to use Alchemy ingredients. You can use ingredients from the farmers’ market. It will take a longer preparation period, but you can still make concoctions from them. For the healers, working with one another, use your spells constantly until you have an innate understanding of them. Train with the beast corpses; look to open people’s Mana gates and temper their bodies. With the temperings, people’s bodies are broken down and then repaired. Seeing and understanding the process will increase your understanding of healing magic and how to use it.” Erik looked at the people in the room. “Your skill level is only held back by your own mind. There are plenty of ways to increase it. Don’t just heal all the time or make the same concoction: do the hard work, research, and look into new ways to do your tasks. Yes, you can use your skills again and again and earn a small increase, but if you use new techniques and don’t just use the easiest method, but use the most economical, the one with the least amount of aids, then your skill level will increase in leaps and bounds. Now, here are a few techniques that I have come up with that have allowed me to increase my skill level quickly.”

Erik held nothing back, sharing everything that he had learned. He fielded questions, answering them to the best of his ability. Finally, the lecture came to an end.

Few people were talking. Most of them seemed to be stuck in deep thought as they understood what Erik had told them and had come up with a few ideas on how to increase their skill level.

Erik looked to Delilah and gestured for her to follow him. He left the hospital and waited for her, looking out on the village around them. He turned to Delilah.

“The path I travel on isn’t a safe one. Alva Dungeon is the best place I know of for you to put theory into practice. There are ingredients, an Alchemy lab, and other peers for you to talk to. With your knowledge of the Second Realm, you’ll be a great resource to Alva Dungeon and it might lead to you having more breakthroughs in your Alchemy skill. You will have to make an oath to not reveal any information about Alva Dungeon to anyone. Though if you want to leave at any time, you can, as long as you have settled your debts.”

***

Delilah felt touched at his consideration.

She fell into silence for a few more moments. “I will do as Teacher suggests.” She bowed to Erik.

“Don’t worry. You’ll have plenty more teachers in your life. Go and register with the council. Give your oath and then you can join the Alchemy department,” Erik said.

“I will do as you say, Teacher,” Delilah said, feeling a mix of loss and excitement. Loss at knowing her teacher wouldn’t be able to give her individual lessons anymore, but excitement at the opportunity she had been given.

***

Erik left the hospital and headed for the growing areas.

I still have a bunch of items that I should add to the warehouse. Before I do that, I want to check out the gardens.

He had passed on information and his thoughts through Tan Xue and Julilah, though he wasn’t sure what they would do with it. After all, it was only an idea to him.

He walked around the residences and toward the growing area.

“Looks a bit bigger now.” Erik looked at the growing area, which seemed to have more than doubled in size. There were all manner of different plants within its borders now.

The farmland area had been cut up into different plots. People were walking around, checking on different things. There had been talk of making tester plots when he was leaving but he was in a rush to go find a second dungeon core to stabilize Alva Dungeon, so he hadn’t paid much attention to it.

Now it looked like all of the fields had been converted into testers. There were all kinds of different crops and plants within the growing areas.

Erik watched them with interest before he felt a change in the currents of Mana.

He looked over to a whole growing area that had been given over to what looked like a forest. Erik took in a deep breath. At the medicinal scent of the plants, he could easily tell that they were not ordinary.

Erik stepped into the overgrown growing area. Although it looked wild, one could see that the plots were actually worked into overlapping circles.

“Ingenious! I thought it might be a good idea, but they’ve expanded upon it further than I ever thought possible.” Erik looked around in wonder.

The different plants fell in with the natural elements that one could find within Mana and through the entire Ten Realms.

Earth, Metal, Fire, Wood, and Water: the different circles represented these different attributes. In the center of the circle, there were plants that only had one attribute. Moving to the fringes, there were other plants with different attributes and needs—some that were mostly in tune with the Metal attribute, but they also looked for Fire and Wood attribute energy.

Erik moved into the middle of the garden. The density there was high, but filled with impurities. The Mana was practically stained with the different attribute Mana.

Although it would be bad for some to try to gather Mana in this area, the impurities were the best kind of fertilizer for the different plants and for the dungeon core.

“It’s generating a constant field of Mana.” Erik laughed to himself, a wide smile on his face as he looked around. He saw a man approaching. As the two of them looked at each other, the other bowed.

“I am sorry, Mister West! I was coming to tend to the garden. I will leave you in peace.”

“Fehim, isn’t it?” Erik asked as the man tried to back away.

“Yes, Mister West.” Fehim nodded.

“Please, just call me West or Erik. I’m not used to all of that mister crap.” Erik smiled.

“Ah, yes, Erik.” Fehim smiled.

“Don’t let me disturb you. I was just taking this all in. It’s incredible what you’ve been able to do.”

Fehim couldn’t hide his pride or his wide smile. “Thank you, Erik. It took a long time to get it all sorted out and I have plans to extend it once again, but it is getting large already and I’m not sure if it would be wise to do so,” Fehim said with a troubled expression.

“Why would you want to expand it?”

“Well, right now we’ve got plants that are focused in one or two, maybe three different attributes. It was incredibly hard to find plants that fit these conditions. Many of the plants that we get down here in the First Realm use all kinds of attributes,” Fehim said.

“Oh?” Erik asked, interested in Fehim’s thoughts.

“It’s my theory that because in the First Realm there is not a lot of Mana, most of these plants have adapted so that they can absorb all kinds of attribute-aligned energy in order to grow. It decreases their purity and the strength of their harvestable ingredients because they have to scrounge for any kind of Mana.

“In the expansion, I want to make another set of areas that link to the first, allowing further intermixing of attributes. In the exterior of the garden, we would have plants that create and draw many kinds of attributed Mana to grow. Then, moving inward, we move into plants that have three attributes, then two and finally one,” Fehim said.

Erik held his chin and looked around in thought at the massive variety of plants around. “It’s not a bad idea.” Erik nodded. “You’ve made a natural formation out of the plants and with the form of the garden. Honestly, I never thought that it would be at this stage by the time I got back.”

Erik was standing in what looked like a wild forest. This was not some simple growth that could have taken just a few months. “How were they able to grow to this stage, though?”

Fehim grinned, as if revealing a secret.

“There was two parts. First were the plants that give off Mana. I took that information and I went looking through what we had in the way of seeds and cultivated them. I have a skill in Alchemy and farming, and I have been able to use Plant Cultivation and a few other growing-related spells. With the help of some of the other farmers, I was able to trial the different plants. Some had stages where they gave off Mana and others retracted it, like the forest fennel you sent me information about.

“Different plants gave off different attributes: Mana, Fire, Wood, Metal—well, that one was the hardest. Water was the second worst. But in the end, I was able to piece together plants that were able to release attribute-concentrated Mana. I used those as the cornerstones of each of the regions, then built up plants around them. I checked their reactions and helped them grow. The farmers and the ingredient alchemists helped me in taking care of the plants, studying which plants worked where. It is still an ongoing process but we have been able to plant about sixty percent of the seeds, cuttings, and other plants. With the attribute-concentrated Mana, the plants grew quickly in their ideal situations. I modified the Plant Cultivation spell. Not only did it help the plants grow, it used different attributes, allowing me to cleanse my system of the impure Mana and use it to feed the plants. The spell’s effects had at least a thirty percent increase. With this, I helped the farmers understand the attributes of their plants and modify their spells as well, allowing us to make more food than ever before. And they’ve kind of caught on with the testing bug, as they’re constantly looking to improve their crops. The higher quality crops have even made Jia Feng come out and learn more about the different plants.”

“The better the ingredients, the higher grade the final product—you’ve got to build from the ground up.” Erik laughed. “Damn, Fehim, this is impressive as hell.” Erik patted the man on the shoulder.

He seemed to think for a minute before looking around and pulling out three books. “Return these to Egbert when you’re done with them. Also, I’ll see if I can get a Mana tap in the middle of the garden to allow some of the pure Mana from the dungeon core to help you out. I’ll have a talk with Elise and see if we can’t expand the growing area and put in some Mana gathering formation plates that can be adjustable so you can control the Mana, isolate the different attributes, or combine them as needed. The excess attribute Mana can be collected and consumed by the dungeon core, allowing it to grow faster. Damn, Fehim!” As Erik’s mind worked over the possibilities that came with the garden and how it would affect the dungeon, he couldn’t help but be impressed.

Fehim held onto the books as if they were his long-lost children and looked up at Erik with a look of worship in his eyes.

“Keep on working hard, Fehim. You’ve done well.” Erik moved into the garden, pulling out clippers and a jade box as he started to prune down a few of the plants for ingredients.

***

Rugrat was finally released from Tan Xue’s hold sometime later. His understanding of metal compression had deepened. He was looking to make items and them compress them when he should have compressed the metal and then worked with it.

The metal was harder to work with once it was compressed, but its strength and attributes were higher, even if its weight remained the same from before the compression.

Rugrat went toward the Alchemy lab. There were people talking to one another and examining each other’s concoctions as he entered.

“Erik?” Rugrat asked as they all went silent upon seeing him.

“Third door on the right,” one of the alchemists said.

Rugrat nodded in thanks and headed to the secluded room.

There were alchemists in the different rooms. Smells came out but Rugrat couldn’t hear anything within. He made it to the door and knocked on it.

“Come in,” Erik said.

Rugrat opened the door and closed it.

“You saw it, right?” Erik sat at the cauldron in the middle of the room. His hands moved around the cauldron, allowing him greater control over the flames inside.

Rugrat leaned against the wall next to the door. “Yeah, the Trial and Tribulation quest. I was talking to Tan Xue. Dungeons are places where people can find fortune or misfortune. A place with great riches but one must have to pass through many tests and push themselves to get those rewards. Dungeons, for the most part, are randomly generated and run by the Ten Realms. I guess this is the Ten Realms trying to reclaim the dungeon to create a place where it can motivate people to gain greater strength and harvest those who don’t have that strength.” Rugrat shook his head, not in sadness, but the simplistic way of the system.

The Ten Realms was simple: you had to be strong, to force yourself harder or have better abilities and gear to advance.

“Fortune favors the strong,” Erik said simply as he continued to grill different ingredients, the flames lighting up his face.

Rugrat looked up to him. “What’s the plan, West?”

“We use the system ourselves.” Erik looked to Rugrat.

“What?”

“Take over other dungeons. Take control of them, turn them into outposts for Alva Dungeon. When one completes the first dungeon, they can leave with their loot, or they can challenge the path. We give them a trial to test their personality, to see whether they have what it takes to be someone of Alva Dungeon. If they pass, then they swear an oath and they enter a training camp run by our people and are checked before being allowed into Alva Dungeon proper. We not only make trials for fighters, but crafters and others. With each of these paths, people can come and conquer the dungeon.”

“Most groups try to monopolize the dungeons for resources, though.”

“Well, they might not be able to find the dungeon core. We can just yank it out and destroy the dungeon. As long as we have the materials, the people, and the blueprints, we can make any kind of dungeon in just a few weeks, or we can take the dungeon core, combine it with Alva Dungeon. We will need to conquer a number of dungeons, but with us able to pass on the Dungeon Hunter title, we can give it to the leaders of the special teams and they can conquer dungeons as well.”

“So what’s step one?” Rugrat asked.

“We take those teleportation formation plates we got in the spiritas dungeon and place them in hidden places near to cities. That way, our people can move through different cities. A few strong travelers occasionally coming by aren’t that strange. Also allows us to cover more ground. You’ve seen it—our numbers are less. People are leaving for different reasons. We need to grow and let them grow or else we will only hold them back and they will look for other ways to get stronger.” Erik waved his hand as the flames went out of the cauldron and Erik tipped the cauldron into waiting containers.

“You know that sounds totally insane, right?”

Erik looked over to Rugrat with one eyebrow raised. “When has anything been sane since we got the Two-Week Curse?”

“Fair point.” Rugrat fell into silence for some time.

“We’ve been fighting everything, looking to climb the Ten Realms. What do you want to do?” His question was simple but there was no hidden joke to it, cutting past all of Erik’s defenses as Rugrat truly asked him his opinion.

Erik stood and stretched as he was thinking. “Honestly, we could just sit back and live our lives out comfortably, if not in the best way. Just watch the world go by. We had maybe what, five good years left in us before we needed to retire from the business back on Earth? I don’t know what I would’ve done, but sitting back, unable to do anything, knowing what I had once been, a warrior who meant something, whose very words and actions could take and save lives. We both have it, battlefield high—we live for the fight; then, when we’re off it, we’re craving it harder than any.” Erik looked to Rugrat, who had a similar heat in his eyes as he nodded. Erik’s eyes moved to the cauldron at his feet.

“This isn’t just a new place; it’s a new way of life, a new challenge. Biggest challenge I’ve run into so far.” Although there were complicated emotions in his chest, a grin appeared on his face. “It ain’t easy—hardest thing I’ve done so far—but fuck it, I want to do it, because I wanted to, to see where we can go, lead these people to see if we can’t carve out a place for ourselves. Look out there.” Erik gestured to the window in the Alchemy lab and the dungeon beyond. “We gave them a place to grow, some information and buildings, but they took to it like diesel to a fire.” Erik let out a snort of air. “I’m going to reach for the top, because I want to.”

He looked over to Rugrat, who smirked and let out a laugh. “All right, I’ve always been interested in seeing what the gods look like. Who knows? We might be able to become some!”

“Great—Rugrat, the great overlord of Twinkies,” Erik said sarcastically.

Rugrat’s face dropped.

“What’s wrong?” Erik asked.

“I asked Jia Feng if she could...if she could make Twinkies.” Rugrat’s eyes were actually wet as he sniffed and looked up at the ceiling. “She said yes,” he said, filled with overwhelming longing for a Twinkie.

“Christ, what am I going to do with you?” Erik sighed and went back to working as Rugrat got his emotions under control.

“Well, dinner is ready to be served,” Rugrat suggested.

“All right.” Erik cleared away his different items and indicated Rugrat to lead the way.

***

Sure enough, works every time. Elise looked up from the table as Erik and Rugrat grabbed food from the cookhouse and moved to the seating area outside close to the market.

Well, they didn’t technically go to the cookhouse but one of the stalls that was close to it, selling the food that different people had made. With different people, different kinds of foods and flavors were bound to come out of their efforts.

Although everyone had their homes, people still came down to the eating area to drink and see the other members of the town, talk about the day’s events and release their tensions. The fact that the cookhouse served food that allowed them to rapidly restore their fatigue and drinks to take the day’s edge off was a bonus. Many people would laughingly say that as long as they ate from the cookhouse, they could work a week straight before needing sleep.

Elise knew that this wasn’t just a saying. With the Stamina recovery effects, the meals would allow people to work all day and night if they desired.

The people of Alva Village were used to working as much as possible in order to increase their profits and be ready for the next year. When they turned into Alva Dungeon, this same work ethic had not disappeared. If anything, it became stronger.

The academy even had night classes for those who worked in the day but still wanted to learn a new skill.

There might only be around two hundred people, but they did the work of six hundred people easily. For them, it was a point of pride.

Erik and Rugrat caught sight of Elise and Jasper, who were sitting at the table. With awkward smiles, they moved over to join them.

“Have a good tour of the dungeon?” she asked.

“Seems that you’ve all been rather busy,” Erik said as they sat down.

“Yeah, there’s always something that needs to be done.” Elise sighed.

“So what happened while we were gone?” Erik asked.

Elise took a deep breath as Jasper drank from his cup. Erik and Rugrat started eating from their plates, their eyes focused on Elise.

She recalled the different events, from the information network they had created in the different trading cities, to the issues with Vermire Trading Outpost. The expansion of the parties that went out into the Beast Mountain Range. The people who had decided to leave and go farther than just the edges of the Beast Mountain Range and those who had headed to the Second Realm.

Trade routes that had been established, the iron mines, the academy’s successes and the areas it was lacking. How the barracks had turned into a training ground for combat maniacs and a reserve militia had been created from the members of Alva Dungeon.

Erik and Rugrat took everything in, clearing their plates by the time she was finished.

“We’ll need to pay this Lord Aditya a visit, see what he’s made of and we need to expand the dungeon.” Erik took out a piece of paper that showed the dungeon and expanded areas he had added.

“I want to double the size of the academy and triple the size of the growing areas. The farmers can continue their projects but I want them to grow more crops. We’ve got an advantage over the other villages and cities in the Ten Realms. We can grow crops all season long. I want to create a secondary market and warehouse district with nearby housing, creating a trader and military quarter, between the teleport pad and the exit past the barracks. I want you to install the trading interface in the market there. Everyone will be allowed to access it. We will charge the five percent tax, as we do in this market.

“The secondary market will be meant for trading outside of the dungeon, while this primary market will be meant for trading within the dungeon. The beast stables are to be doubled in size as well—it’s getting cramped in there. Also, if the traders want to have beasts, they can board them in the beast stables, but they will have to pay extra for it. From now on, the beast stables will be under the control of the military. If they want, the traders can build stables attached to their new living quarters.” Erik finished as Jasper and Elise looked over the different plans and the new map in front of her. The changes were not simple.

“Looks like Shi Wanshu and the architects are going to have their work cut out for them.” She sat back as she felt that Erik wasn’t finished.

“We gained a number of teleportation formations that we can place in different locations, near population centers with Ten Realms totems. With these, we can spread out our people so they’re not all using Chonglu, as that would raise some eyebrows. One can teleport there for a cost. To use it to return to the dungeon, they will need to use a special amulet and pay a price in Mana stones, or monster cores to activate the formations.” Rugrat then looked to Erik.

“Rugrat and I will spend as much time trying to pass on what we’ve learned. We want to make at least one more special team that can head up to the Second Realm and mixed parties of Alva military and people from the dungeon to go in search of new resources and information.”

“You make it sound like you’re leaving already,” Jasper said.

“Once we’ve recovered our supplies, consolidated our gains, and created new weapons and armor and made sure that the dungeon is running as it should be, we will head off to the Third Realm,” Rugrat said, not hiding anything. “We’re just two dudes, though. We can get some items and gear, but we need more people to stimulate the dungeon and the people’s growth. In three months, we’ve only added five more members to the dungeon. This is partly because we’ve got very strict guidelines for people we allow into the dungeon and the second is that we don’t have enough ways and places to recruit people from.”

“Which is the next part we need to talk about: the expansion and future of Alva Dungeon,” Erik said. “It is possible for us to both elect one Dungeon Hunter, someone who can locate dungeons and take command or destroy them in our name. We want to turn these into proving grounds. Places where crafters and fighters can enter and test their skills. If they prove their skills, or their tenacity of character, we will need to review their character and see if they would be a good fit for Alva Dungeon.”

“Use the dungeons as testing grounds?” Jasper asked.

“Correctamundo, buddy.” Rugrat winked and clicked out the side of his mouth as he pointed a finger gun at Jasper.

“Even if we don’t recruit many people, we can use Mana gathering formations to collect and store Mana to be used in Alva Dungeon and we will see how they carry out different tasks, allowing the people in different departments to learn from them.”

The table went silent as Jasper and Elise thought over Erik’s plan. With control over so many dungeons, it was an incredible plan.

“Well, I think that the architect school will be getting bigger in the coming months. That’s a lot to plan out, and they’ll probably be constantly updating the plans they have. I know that they’ve already come out with three more upgraded versions for the houses and are working on upgrade plans for the other buildings,” Elise said.

“Well, if people want to upgrade, they can. If they use more power from the dungeon core, then they will have to pay a fee accordingly, based on monster cores,” Erik replied. If they use the pure power from the dungeon core and then feed it monster cores with all manner of impurities, it will help the dungeon core grow and supply more power.

“To the future and more building.” Elise smiled and held up a cup. The others tapped glasses with hers and took a deep drink.

“Why do I feel like we all just got a lot more work to do?” Jasper asked, grinning to the others.

“’Cause we did,” Rugrat replied, drinking everything remaining in his cup. “At least the beer is good!”

Chapter: Turning a Profit

“Twenty-five stat points,” Erik said aloud as he sat in the mansion that he and Rugrat were staying in.

He still couldn’t believe the Experience that they had gained from the quest. All quests came with Experience. Although some came with a fixed amount, others were calculated. These quests’ Experience could be nearly nothing or they could be a massive amount depending on the difficulty that the Ten Realms judged the users had gone through or based on criteria it had created.

“Now I just need to know what to do with them.” Erik was drinking a tea that was supposed to make it easier to sleep. It was working but his mind started to drift.

It might be easier to increase my stats overall than it is to increase my Body Cultivation. I need to go to Egbert and ask him whether he knows anything about Body Cultivation when I wake up.

He had gained Poison Body, but he didn’t want that to be the end of his Body Cultivation path. If he wasn’t able to progress more, then he would need to change his fighting style or rely heavily on just the armors that Rugrat made.

Erik’s eyes finally closed as he was met with a familiar sight.

==========

You have 25 attribute points to use.

==========

Seven into Strength, seven into Agility, takes me to fourteen with eleven left over. Split five and five for Stamina and Mana Regeneration, put the final one into Mana pool? Erik glanced at his Stamina pool; he laughed to himself and placed the last attribute point into his Mana pool, finalizing it all as a new sheet appeared in front of him.

==========

Character Sheet

==========

Name: Erik West

==========

Level: 23

==========

Race: Human

==========

Titles:

From the Grave II

Mana Lord

Dungeon Master II

Reverse Alchemist

Poison Body

==========

Strength: (Base 26) +28

==========

540

==========

Agility: (Base 19) +29

==========

240

==========

Stamina: (Base 29) +9

==========

570

==========

Mana: (Base 6) +13

==========

190

==========

Mana Regeneration (Base 10) +36

14.80/s

==========

Stamina Regeneration: (Base 27) +31

12.60/s

==========

***

It had been two days since Erik and Rugrat had come back. The academy libraries had undergone a transformation; the dungeon was stabilized and instead of making plans to evacuate, people were finally settling in.

There were more materials than ever for sale at the different markets, from items gathered by the parties in the Beast Mountain Range, the traders who went to the trading outposts, or the goods made by the people from the academy.

Most of the items that Erik and Rugrat brought weren’t tradeable and were added to the academy’s warehouse or the growing fields and barracks to increase the strength of the people and allow them to progress faster.

The two could be seen in the academy going from place to place, giving lessons, tutoring people and aiding as they could.

The people in Alva were busy as Erik and Rugrat had deposited tens of storage rings filled with the remains of the dungeon they had destroyed.

The architects had been sent into a creative buzz. They were creating all kinds of different drawings; with that inspiration, it seemed to have lit a fire underneath them and opened up their mind to more ideas than before.

Storbon, Setsuko, and Yuli were all headed to the academy. Ian, Yao Meng, and Tian Cui were still doing lessons and training in the barracks. While they wanted to develop their own skills in different areas, being in the Second Realm, they understood how useful skills were and had felt the bite not knowing enough in the Second Realm: getting scammed out of more gold than they should have, or not having a way to solve a problem that they knew there was a solution to.

Setsuko also wanted to head to the market. She had a list of supplies they needed to gather and had storage rings filled with items to be sold. The funds would be divided up within the team and they could use it to purchase more armor, better gear, powders, and meals.

While they were in Alva, use of the academy facilities was free. Their room and board was cared for and they could train as they wanted to with any additional gear or items they wanted to buy marked down twenty percent. They got a decent wage; in return, they had to pass eighty percent of their items on to the dungeon to allow it to develop. The remaining twenty they could do with as they wanted.

Storbon and his people had carried out a number of different jobs, gathering all kinds of materials. They only converted the useless items for money and gear to support themselves. When they were heading back, they cleared out any remaining useless items and purchased items to help the dungeon.

They’d already separated what to give the dungeon and keep to trade. It was enough for them to live comfortably in Alva for at least ten years. But with buying gear, it was lucky to last ten days.

They were headed toward the dungeon core down the main path from the barracks as they saw a new set of buildings. There were warehouses being quickly erected, glowing blueprints showing those working on it.

A group of about fifteen soldiers were helping out as well, speeding up the process.

It was a massive warehouse district, easily four times the size of the original, and then a clear area. There were a few glowing blueprints waiting there but only one building had been completed. It was less like a building and more like a pavilion.

Runes glowed on the pavilion as it powered up a glowing tablet.

People were gathered all around the glowing tablet. They were scrolling through or looking at information on their different screens.

As they got closer, Storbon could hear the different people calling out.

“I’m looking to sell fifty wolf hides. If you’ve got any, we can add them together for a better price!” one trader called out.

“I’ve got twenty wild turkeys here but I only need ten—anyone looking for any?”

“Selling Stamina recovery powders, fifteen percent efficacy—anyone have a better price than seventy-one silvers each?”

“Shall we go have a look?” Setsuko asked.

“Sure,” Storbon said, interested in the glowing tablet and why people were yelling out different items to buy and sell.

As they approached, Jasper walked over and pulled out a sign board from his storage ring. “All right, if you have something you want to buy, sell, double up on, put it on the board!” he yelled out, drowning out the people who were yelling.

He passed a piece of chalk to one of the Alva military personnel and then headed back off to the warehouse district.

Traders moved over to the party member and started to have him list out different things on the board.

Setsuko and Yuli looked around in interest.

“I’m going to check out that tablet,” Storbon said and left them. He got within a few feet of the tablet and a screen appeared.

It wasn’t a tablet but a formation. What appeared in front of him was a series of columns, with different items. Some were on auction; others could be bought outright.

The items were from all over the First Realm.

Items went for two or three coppers, all the way to hundreds of gold. There was a few pieces of broken Journeyman equipment, Apprentice items here and there. Most were food supplies, crafting materials, and other things done in bulk. Although their unit price was low, they were sold in quantities in the tens or hundreds; few, if any, things were below two or three gold coins.

It was simply at prices that normal people in the First Realm couldn’t attempt to pay.

I remember hearing about this from Blaze. He said that the reason that the village was able to keep going was because of the money-eating village store. I saw this in the store with Elise, but I never saw it active and I couldn’t use it.

He wasn’t offended that Blaze hadn’t shared the formation with everyone. There were few people who could spend more than a single silver in the entire village.

A silver on the market was nothing but spare change.

For the people of Alva, it finally gave them a true conduit out of the dungeon. A way to sell their goods to those who would be interested and could afford the price. It was untraceable and unknown.

Storbon looked at the selling channels. A number of things had been blocked off. Selling items wasn’t so easy. If they were to dump items into the market, then the leaders of the First Realm would start looking around to see where all these goods were coming from at once.

If they slowly started to bleed them out and hike the buying and selling volume of the First Realm market, then they could sell as they desired without making ripples.

Setsuko appeared next to Storbon and started to go through the interface. She muttered to herself and started listing out prices on the market, doing equations and the like. Storbon hadn’t been good with math. Although people in the Ten Realms could read anything as long as there wasn’t any interference, math was still something one had to learn.

Storbon smiled and closed the screen.

Over by the large board, there were items being added and removed from the board frequently. Another party member had come over to help the first to organize it all.

Storbon was about to head into the city when he saw Jasper headed over with a number of people who ran the dungeon’s warehouses.

It looked as if Jasper had been waiting for them to arrive.

They talked to him as he used the screen interface, listing different items for sale.

I wonder just how much gold they’ll earn by clearing out the warehouses?

He might have brought back a lot of items from the Second Realm, but the warehouses had items from before they came to Alva Dungeon.

Food, weapons, armors, hides, meat, monster cores: as people had traded in different gear for gold to the Alva Dungeon council, the council had run out of money multiple times, but they had built up vast stores that had been left untouched.

As trade went on, people could pay with money or materials as long as it met with the standards of the market manager. Most picked materials and items because silver, gold, and coppers were still in short supply.

Erik and Rugrat had dumped thousands of coppers, hundreds of silvers and gold coins into the dungeon’s coffers. With this kind of liquid assets, the council was once again able to trade items for money. Their supply had rapidly increased until it finally cooled the other day.

Now they must be offloading the different items in large groups and batches, timing them to make the greatest profit.

Storbon nodded in agreement. The council gaining more money made sense to him. After all, it paid for his wages, the building and expansion of Alva Dungeon with its different facilities.

People might complain and want more money back. If they got their way, then the dungeon would collapse, having no money to operate.

Storbon and Yuli met up, once again heading toward the center of the dungeon.

“I have a feeling that Alva Dungeon is going to be a gold mine soon,” Yuli said.

“Oh?” Storbon had the same thoughts but he was interested in her viewpoint.

“With just the amount of creatures that the parties kill, their resources are nearly all given over to the council and the party can get a monetary reward based on the different creatures that they kill. All of those supplies are piled up to be sold—that would be a lot, but that’s not taking into account the fields. We can grow food here all year long without any trouble, and faster than anyone else. The reason that the farms are all in plots is because they’re testing out new crops. I heard that we’ve got enough crops for the entire year in just two months since we left. If we can get bigger farms with better crops, then we could make enough food for entire cities in the middle of winter, undercut the other cities’ prices, collect the pay and continue on. Though there is one problem.”

“What’s that?” Storbon asked. She’d raised a few points he hadn’t thought about.

“With all that money, we can spend it inside the dungeon to an extent, but we need more trade with the higher realms.” Yuli had a mysterious smile on her face. “I wonder if it won’t be long before there are traders heading to the Second Realm to get different goods.”

Storbon knew that there were a lot of people who wanted to go to the Second Realm. Advancing was something that nearly every kid thought about. Now all of them could do that.

“I expected it to some degree—you know, in the future. I didn’t think that it would come so soon,” Storbon said. With her words, he felt that they were true.

“Come on. We need to hurry up or else we’re going to be late to class!” Yuli picked up the pace.

Storbon only had to lightly jog as she ran. His Strength was much higher than hers.

Storbon’s eyes shone. If I make friends with the right healers, then they might help me in tempering my body, or opening my Mana gates!

These procedures were still in their infancy, with Erik or Rugrat watching over them to make sure that nothing went wrong. But as more people learned how to open Mana gates, there was about one person a day who perforated their Mana gate.

For some, it took a few hours to open it all the way; for others, days or weeks.

Storbon was willing to do anything that might increase his fighting ability.

Chapter: Breakthrough

“Qin, have you slept recently?” Egbert entered the nook that she and Julilah liked to sit in and conduct their research. There were a number of other desks around. All of them were taken up with someone who was trying to learn formations. After all, this was the part of the library that had all of the formation-related books gathered together.

“Yesterday. Why? What is it?” Qin continued to read the book in her hands, not paying attention to Egbert.

Even as he moved in front of her, her eyes were going back over the page as she thought of something and jotted it down before she flicked back a few pages to another piece of information. Then moved to another book buried under several others, checking a reference there.

She let out a growl and angrily crossed off one of the items on a second list.

“Did you hear that Erik and Rugrat have taught a number of people how to open Mana gates? They should be able to open yours so that you can cast those spells you thought of,” Egbert said.

“I’m nearly there, Uncle. I can just feel it. These notes and I think I can finally crack the control formations. Mana gathering formations! Hah! I will return control over the entire dungeon!” she declared, getting angry looks from the others in the room who shushed her.

She pulled her neck in and smiled weakly at the others, for her outburst.

Egbert sighed. “Two more hours and you’re getting sleep.” Egbert moved away.

Although Egbert was ridiculous at times, if there were people in the library, he would do what he could to make their time easier, even getting meals delivered and then say he forgot he couldn’t eat so he wanted to give it to someone else so it wouldn’t go to waste.

People had come to respect him and the library greatly. He rarely had to clear up books or a mess as people made sure that they left the library as they found it, or else one of the people who spent a lot of time in the library would make sure to tell them to clean up their actions.

He moved around the area. The formation array students spent some of the most time in the library and Egbert knew most of them.

He talked to a few of them, recommended books and passed on some he had reserved for them based on their previous questions and his browsing of their contents.

“Let me know how it goes and the information inside.” This was all he asked. He had plenty of time to read the previous books he had, but with these new ones, he wanted to get an idea of their content and use before he organized them.

Egbert finished checking on everyone. I should go and check on those medical and Alchemy students. They’ve been strung out because of Erik’s upcoming test.

“Yes! I’ve got it!” Qin yelled out at the top of her lungs, making Egbert jump and nearly very literally lose his head. He looked over at her as she held up a piece of paper in the air.

“Qin!” There were certain things he would let her get away with, but causing everyone else to be distracted—this wasn’t just the library.

“I found it! I figured it out! I think I know how to at least re-establish contact with the control formations,” Qin said in a much quieter voice, looking around with an apologetic face.

The anger in the other faces turned to one of interest.

There was the sound of moving pages and books being put down as the others made for the desk.

Egbert arrived at the desk first and picked up the notes and started to read. He looked at the open book and the formation pictured within. He used a spell to look at the formation drawing in greater detail.

He continued reading through the information and compared it against what he knew. “Where did you get the information on resetting the power formation contained within a complex multi-layered formation?”

“Here.” Qin pulled out a book and then flipped through the pages. She pointed to a paragraph that Egbert read.

He finished reading the notes and then went through several books before he put the notes on the table.

No one made to grab it. All of them, including Qin, looked at him as he tapped his finger bone against his chin, making a clacking noise.

“It should work in theory. I will tell Rugrat to look over it tomorrow,” Egbert said.

“But Uncle Egbert...” Qin started.

“You have not left here in two days and I know your Stamina is not that high, which means you’re all hopped up on Stamina powder and not food and rest. You have your notes and your mind will be clearer in the morning.” Egbert put his hand on her shoulder.

Qin looked as though she were about to burst but finally agreed.

“Kane, make a copy of the note and then you can read off it,” Egbert said.

“Yes, Mister Egbert.” Kane, one of the formation students, pulled out paper and quill as he started to transcribe the note Qin had made.

Egbert led Qin out of the library and to her residence, walking her to her room.

“I really don’t need you to tuck me in, Uncle Egbert,” she said as the door to the kitchen opened, revealing Yui with food in his hands and a leg of meat in his mouth.

He dropped the hunk of meat into the pile of food in his arms. “I was coming to get you. Time you put something in your stomach! Father would be worried sick!” Yui said.

Qin ducked down under his tirade.

“This might help with the fatigue lessening effects of the Stamina powder.” Egbert pulled out a small vial of powder to Yui.

“Thank you, Uncle Egbert. I’ll make sure that she gets some real rest!”

Yui Silaz lived for his little sister and sometimes that meant not being her best friend, but the big brother who had to make sure she ate and slept.

Egbert headed out of the house and sent a sound transmission to Rugrat.

“There is only going to be one way to test out her theory,” Egbert said to himself as he headed back toward the school. “I wonder how the Metal floor has changed.”

***

Everyone was around the council table. Rugrat, Erik, and Taran had even been roused from their pursuits, speaking to the seriousness of the topic.

“How sure are you?” Erik asked.

“I reviewed it three times and I think that it is indeed viable,” Egbert said without missing a beat.

“The other levels, huh?” Rugrat said.

Although they ruled over the living level, there were still five more levels to the dungeon that had been cut off for centuries.

“What information do we have on the second floor?” Blaze looked to Egbert.

“The second floor was made with the Metal attribute in mind. There were hundreds of creatures on the level that were of the Metal attribute. The gnomes had tamed them and used them as caretakers. They would process and refine the metals for the gnomes, allowing the floor to continuously provide metals necessary for building.

“I lost contact with the level a number of years back. There were a number of creatures that were level seventeen at that time. Instead of allowing them to overflow into the Beast Mountain Range, I locked down the level. As time has passed, without maintenance, the different formations have started to fail. Now I can only control about five percent of the level. The information from it is limited.” Egbert waved his hand. The pillar of floors faded away as the second floor was pulled out and expanded across the circular desk; the lights in the room dimmed as a rough outline appeared in front of them. There were blank areas and hazy areas as well.

“The Metal element is one of the most volatile. Not only does Metal encompass the actual material, but frequent lightning storms were normal. With the Mana gathering formations, these could be controlled and directed. Now the Mana gathering formations still work, but they only serve to create focal points for these storms as the power has nowhere to go. If we didn’t have that cornerstone above, then the Mana density in this level would continue to grow stronger, attracting all manner of beasts and people. The Metal Mana is incredibly dense and will limit our overall strength; when regenerating Mana, one will take in the metal’s impurities. Spells of the Metal attribute will increase in strength, while other spells will weaken.”

“So, these control formations, what will happen if we’re able to get control of them?” Jasper asked.

“If we are able to restart the control formations, we will be able to use the Mana gathering formations that are connected, drawing the power in the level away and adding it to the dungeon core, decreasing the speed that creatures level up in the area and increasing the amount of power the dungeon core creates and the rate that it expands. If they connected to beast formations or sensing formations, we can use them to scout the floor more and maybe control some of the beasts on the floor.

“The contract that was placed on the beasts was ingrained into their bloodline. As they have intermingled and cross bred, there will be creatures who will be able to resist the effects but it should make it easier for us.”

The eyes in the room moved to Erik and Rugrat.

“Do we have any idea of the creatures’ strength?” Erik asked.

“Based on the information I have been able to get, none are below level fifteen and most are around level twenty. Unlike beasts in the Ten Realms, they can’t ascend the realms naturally so their strength only increases while they are unable to attain a higher realm. There is some large power in the center of the floor, but I have not been able to get any clear information on whether it is a beast or a malfunction in the active formations, or just a continuous lightning storm.”

Rugrat couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, an unknown floor with unknown high-leveled monsters, filled with Metal, intrigue, and a whole lot of not much information. Sounds like just another FUBAR situation.”

“Our task would not be to fight the monsters. If we do that, then we might get stuck in a long battle. Our goal would be to restart and repair the different control formations. Qin might have a plan to restart them, but we need more than just that. Do we have control formations on this floor?” Erik looked to Egbert.

“We do.”

“I want you and Tan Xue to personally take Qin under your wing—any books she needs, any information. Once we can restore the different formations, then we can plan out how to regain control over the floor. We can’t rush into this. Egbert, Rugrat, Qin, Special Team One, and I will be part of the scouting party.”

“Qin? She can’t go. She’s just a kid,” Egbert interrupted.

“She’s not a kid anymore and she’s the one with the most knowledge on the subject,” Erik said. “I don’t like it either but we’re not going in unprepared. Taran, upgraded weapons and armor for everyone in the party. Mana, Stamina, and healing concoctions. Food from the cookhouse. Jasper, we need those stealth spell scrolls. Rugrat, finish with your testing on the weapons and rounds as well as compressed Mortal-grade iron. Glosil, Blaze, I will personally be tempering and opening your Mana gates if you agree to it. Then I want you to train the hell out of Special Team One. I will join in as well. Egbert, you know the dungeon the most and you will be our guide through it all. Get Qin ready. Make sure that she has armor and the supplies she needs. Also, prepare lectures and information, all that you remember and know from the Metal floor. You will need to get us up to date on all the information. Six weeks—I want to be ready to go in six weeks.”

It was a big move. The people in the room grit their teeth and acknowledged their orders.

Chapter: Body Alteration

Glosil stood next to the hospital bed as Blaze lay face down on the bed.

Erik was using his Simple Organic Scan, sitting on a rolling chair. He quickly administered Wraith’s Touch to different areas after he used his Simple Organic Scan.

“Right now, I am locating the different Mana gates and using a numbing agent so that you won’t feel a thing. I will start with your extremities: the Mana gate at the top of your skull, the ones in your hands and your feet. The reason being that as Mana moves through these, they will start to wear down the other Mana gates. I will be trying to puncture through the Mana gates one after another. It might take a short or long time,” Erik said as Jen checked two IV bags filled with a solution of Mana Regeneration powder and saline solution.

“What’s that for?” Glosil pointed to the two IV bags.

“For me to recover and for Blaze to continuously circulate the Mana in his body, clearing out any detritus in the Mana gates.” Erik finished marking the spot where the Mana gate was in Blaze’s left wrist and covered it with Wraith’s Touch.

Erik checked the Mortal-iron needles at his side that had been cleaned and prepared for him. He rubbed them in Mana focusing powder. It took on a purple and blue look as Erik hooked Blaze and then himself up to the IV of Mana regenerating solution.

“Are we done yet?” Blaze asked, his voice muffled as he spoke into the bed.

“Not quite,” Erik said as he circulated the Mana in his body.

He took the needle and placed it on Blaze’s skin at the top of his head where a Mana gate was located. Holding the needle between his thumb and middle finger, Erik tapped on the base of it with his index finger. With his strength, it easily passed through his skin and embedded itself in Blaze’s Mana gate.

The powder that was on the needle started to work, pulling more Mana toward the Mana gate and weakening it.

Erik, who had been circulating and compressing his Mana, now held the needle and allowed it to pass through the needle. The needle had been modified; a spiral was carved into it, with a yellow and green metal inlaid into the spiral.

Erik’s compressed Mana rushed through the spiral and slammed into Blaze’s Mana gate.

The gate cracked and fell apart under the attack. With Erik’s compressed, pure Mana and his high stats and Mana Regeneration, opening Blaze’s first Mana gate wasn’t an issue.

He quickly pulled the needle out. A glow appeared on the top of Blaze’s head. The Mana gate came alive as Mana rushed out of Blaze’s body, expelling the impurities in the Mana gate.

Mana was pulled in through his open Mana gates as Erik moved to his right wrist. Pulling out a clean needle, he tapped it into Blaze’s Mana gate as he had done before and channeled his Mana into it.

Once again the Mana drilled into the Mana gate. It took a few moments before it opened. The rushing noise only increased as the density of Mana in the room increased.

Erik moved quickly to the right foot, not taking a pause.

The compressed Mana created a drill that cut and tore up the Mana gate there. After a minute, it opened as well.

Erik moved as if a machine, going to the left foot. Five minutes, and the gate there opened.

Thirteen minutes later, with sweat on his face, Erik opened Blaze’s fifth Mana gate.

Erik stopped and looked over Blaze’s body that was undergoing massive changes. As the Mana gates were cleared, blockages and impurities in his Mana channels were blasted open.

Erik used simple needles to open different acupoints, clearing blockages and allowing the Mana to pass through Blaze’s body easier, reducing the strain on his body.

Blaze let out groans as the pressure was released. Erik sat back on his chair, looking around. All of the medical staff were watching while Glosil stood there, stunned.

“Give me ten minutes and I’ll get started on yours,” Erik said to Glosil.

“Thank you,” Glosil said with a serious expression.

“Take it as thanks for making sure the dungeon didn’t burn down,” Erik joked.

Glosil smiled as the sound of snoring could be heard from Blaze.

The two couldn’t help but laugh.

Erik understood the relaxing feeling that would come with opening one’s Mana gates.

***

Rugrat didn’t need sleep. He didn’t need food as he drank Stamina solutions mixed with water from his camelbak. He didn’t need a shirt, nor pants, but he did need his American flag shorts and cowboy hat.

He only had eyes for the metal he was working on. Beside him, Tan Xue was similarly hammering down on Mortal-grade iron ingots, compressing them to decrease their surface area but increase their strength and enable the user to be more maneuverable.

Their hammers and metal seemed to be humming along to a strange rhythm. Rugrat seemed to follow it at times and at others, he was trying to catch up with Tan Xue.

As time went on, the finished and compressed ingots were checked and passed on to the other smiths. Taran was there, hammering the ingots into form.

Rugrat and Tan Xue’s ability to compress the ingots only increased while Taran and the other smiths working with the metal advanced their own skills. Day and night, the smithy could be heard at work: processing, compressing, forming, and finishing off weapons and armor.

Finally, on the fifth day, Rugrat and Tan Xue were allowed to stop compressing the metal.

The smithy’s warehouse now had some fifty ingots of compressed Mortal-grade iron.

Rugrat took a drink and then pulled out a mold as he heated up a Mortal-grade iron ingot. He got the metal to the point it was just an orange liquid with blue lines in it.

Then he poured them into the different molds.

He repeated the process until he had used up the Mortal-iron ingot, filling two different molds. Then he took the compressed Mortal iron and started to work it in the furnace.

The molds cooled as Rugrat worked the metal, the form of a barrel appearing.

He quenched the barrel and moved to the molds. He smacked the mold on the surface, releasing bullets from one and cartridges from the other.

“Clean them up to look like this.” Rugrat passed new orders to the smiths as he passed them a bullet and empty cartridge.

They used files, chisels, and sandpaper to take off the rough edges to the round’s components.

Rugrat then took his barrels and firing mechanisms and headed off toward an unused part of the dungeon.

Tan Xue and Taran continued to work on weapons and armor as Rugrat set up a range, pouring out sand as a backstop and then putting up a target he got Shi Wanshu to make.

Rugrat backed off and pulled out Big Momma. He laid down and found the target. He fired. The roar of the gun filled his ears. He didn’t take his eyes off the target that was punctured.

Rugrat put the weapon away, changed the targets and then pulled out a contraption he had made himself. He placed a barrel into the contraption, aiming it onto the fresh target. He pulled out a regular round and placed it in the chamber. He sealed it tight and primed the firing pin.

He dropped sandstone blocks out of his storage ring around the contraption and ran a line from the firing mechanism off to the side, where he dropped off more sandstone blocks on top of one another, creating a bunker.

Rugrat laid down, pulled out a pair of binoculars and then pulled the string.

There was a loud bang but nothing appeared on the target.

Rugrat went over to the contraption. The barrel hadn’t been able to handle the pressure and had been destroyed.

He checked the barrel testing contraption before placing in a new barrel with a regular round again. He primed it and tested it.

The regular round fired fine, putting a hole in the target.

Replacing targets, changing the rounds: Rugrat tested different rounds to see their viability based on the materials used, the new gunpowder, the barrels being able to withstand the pressure and force of the round.

Changing barrels, changing rounds, checking the damage to the target, using Simple Inorganic Scan to check on the barrel and the empty cartridges. Changing the ranges, firing repeatedly. Then making more rounds, testing them, gathering the Mortal-iron rounds, changing up the different amounts of gunpowder.

Rugrat went from victory to failures every other minute as he focused on his testing and information gathering.

There was no such thing as too much information. As someone who lived with a rifle or weapon beside him for most of his life, his knowledge of firearms was extensive.

All of it was put to the test as barrels broke. The gunpowder was too strong or not strong enough and he had to work to find equilibriums for all of the parts.

He only stopped when he passed out. Then he woke again and continued testing and working.

***

Erik had made sure that everyone had at least eight open Mana gates. For those who had more at birth than the others, he was able to open more of their gates.

It looks like the hardening happens when forcefully opening a Mana gate, so if someone has five Mana gates open naturally, opening the first gate will be as hard as if someone born with two Mana gates opens their first.

It was an unfair advantage from birth but the Ten Realms didn’t care about fairness, only the pursuit of power.

Not only had he opened Mana gates, but he had also made concoctions to temper one’s body. He’d watched over the temperings. With the aid of the Alchemy and medical students, it took a lot of the stress off him. Once he had shown them how to care for someone who was tempering their body, they quickly got used to it.

He had left that to them and collapsed asleep in the mansion.

He’d woken up a short time ago. As he took a shower, he was able to collect his thoughts.

“Poison allowed me to get to this point. If I was able to make a stronger poison, wouldn’t it allow my body to increase in strength again and I could reach Body Like Iron stage?”

With this, he headed over to the Alchemy lab. He pulled out his cauldron and started to work. Making poison was much easier than making concoctions that helped rather than harmed the body.

It was like making food: it was easier to make bad food than good.

Just smelling some of them, Erik had to use healing spells. He quickly stored them away before he headed back to the mansion.

On the first floor, there was a bath carved into the ground. It was more of a small pool than a bath.

Erik got into it and looked around. “It seems that cold and hot don’t matter that much to me anymore,” Erik muttered to himself. The water should have been cold but Erik ignored the temperature.

He took a seat and held a healing powder vial between his lips. He pulled out poisons, dispersing them into the water.

Quickly, the water started to give off a potent vapor that burned one’s nose.

Erik sat there. With his high poison resistance, it took some time before the poison took hold in his body.

Erik started to heal the different issues, increasing his resistances and his understanding of Alchemy and his body.

His veins turned black, his skin alternating between black, purple, green, and yellow.

Four days later, his skin and veins cleared. He stood and let out a breath, stopping the vial that he’d held between his lips.

He was greeted with new views.

==========

Your base stats have increased!

==========

Stamina +3

Strength +1

Agility +2

Stamina Regeneration +3

==========

Erik had felt the notifications appear in the first day of him being in the poison bath. After that, they had decreased in frequency until he didn’t get any more on the fourth day.

“I have been able to consolidate my foundation but I’m still not able to increase the level of my body,” Erik said to himself as he gathered the water from the bath into his storage ring. Looks like I’ve reached a bottleneck.

“I’ll go and find Egbert.” Erik quickly dressed and left the mansion. He went to the library and found Egbert walking around and reading a book.

“Julilah and Qin are off looking at the control formations on this floor,” Egbert said.

“I didn’t come to look for them. I wanted to ask you something.”

“Oh?” Egbert looked up, interested.

“I have reached a bottleneck in my Body Cultivation. I can’t reach Body Like Iron. It feels like I’ve hit a wall.” Erik’s frustration colored his words.

Egbert took a few minutes, thinking to himself. “I’m not really sure how to help you, but I do remember hearing this. Or maybe I read it? It doesn’t matter. The foundation tempered, the soul grounded, mind forged, bones reformed, muscles that flow and blood with the power of the realms.” Egbert seemed to think for a moment.

“Yeah, that’s all I remember about Body Cultivation. The gnomes mostly looked into Mana gathering. It was a lot less painful and it allowed them to do a great number of things. Their Strength and Agility stats weren’t that high, after all.”

Erik couldn’t help but frown. It sounded like a clue, but he wasn’t sure how to use it. “Another riddle to figure out.” Erik sighed.

“Well, you could focus on opening your remaining Mana gates still,” Egbert offered.

“I’m waiting till Rugrat is done testing before I try that out.”

“He does know how to make a lot of noise,” Egbert said. Even though he was far away, the dungeon was made out of stone. For the growing areas, they had to bring in dirt from the Beast Mountain Range. The sound carried all the way to the living areas.

“Should give us an edge in the Metal floor,” Erik said.

“I’m not sure what would or wouldn’t give us an advantage there,” Egbert said.

Chapter: Increasing Combat Capabilities

Storbon was fighting Tian Cui. Her Agility was much higher than Storbon’s, so he had to use everything to make sure he kept her far enough not to use her daggers, but not too far that she could use her arrow.

Tian Cui’s magic moved toward curses, so if she was allowed to land one hit it wouldn’t be long until Storbon was slowed or cursed into immobility, leaving him as prey for Tian Cui. Her nickname was Red Spider: she wore a red scarf and weakened her enemy before coming in for the final attack.

She didn’t have time for that right now as she was facing Storbon’s strength. She had to dodge and move. If she would be hit, with his strength, he could break her defenses or throw her back. That would make her lose her rhythm and he could make use of the opening.

While the two of them were having a fierce fight, their eyes were serious and their actions were meant to pry open the other’s weaknesses. But they wore smiles on their faces as their movements were fast enough to disturb the dust on the training ground.

Storbon’s spear went wide as Tian Cui darted forward. Storbon swung his spear but it was too late.

Then Tian Cui let out a cry. His spear that hadn’t been able to hurt her had a stun spell cast on it; she hadn’t seen it when she darted forward. Now, when hit by it, her body tensed up in sudden pain.

Storbon shifted his feet, gaining room as her blade nicked his stomach’s armor. He angled his spear, pointing down at her neck. He took a heavy breath as Tian Cui rolled over and he raised his spear, resting the butt against the ground.

“Ow.” Tian Cui looked up at the ceiling of the first floor.

“I tried to decrease the power so it would only stun. It’s hard to gauge.” Storbon reached down to help her up.

“Well, it was definitely stunning. I never thought of that.” She slapped her hand against his as he pulled her back onto her feet.

“I sure hope so. It cost me forty-seven gold to get the spell book.” Storbon sighed. “Though in the Metal floor, it should be even stronger based on what Egbert’s told us.”

Tian Cui dusted herself off, a thoughtful look on her face. “I don’t like it. We’re going in blind again.”

“I know. Erik and Rugrat aren’t pleased with it either. That’s why it’ll be a scouting mission and not a fighting one. Hopefully we won’t even be needed,” Storbon said.

Tian Cui looked to him as if to ask, “And you really believe that, do you?”

Storbon let out a dry laugh and moved his spear around. “Want to go another round?”

“I’m going to the library with Yuli, try to improve my curses while she’s working on her magic,” Tian Cui said apologetically.

“I’ll take you up on that spar if you have the free time?” a familiar voice said as they both looked over to see Erik.

He wore a simple shirt underneath a set of new armor. It was based off the same design as the armor Roska and the second special team had, although it looked to be of a higher quality. The smith’s skills had improved since they had made the first version.

Erik looked to be at home in the armor, moving it around on his shoulders.

“This, I wish I could watch,” Tian Cui muttered to Storbon as she let out a hot burst of air before leaving the training grounds. Others in the training grounds looked over.

Erik and Rugrat were somewhat legendary.

In the defense of Alva Village, they had been finally able to see the strength behind the two men. They not only fought with their own power but made sure to stack the deck in their favor.

After just going through two temperings, Storbon was wary to try any more. The risk of dying was high and you had to completely trust in the healer or alchemist who was helping you.

Erik had passed through five temperings. He had Rugrat help him, but otherwise it had been on him and using his own healing skills and Alchemy to survive the temperings.

Erik’s fighting style also incorporated Mana into his attacks, increasing their power without costing a lot in Mana.

Fighting intent, the use of the entire body to carry out an action. It is possible for a sword to unleash a long-range blade attack, combining the flow of Mana into one’s actions, causing the surrounding Mana to move in harmony with it.

This was something that Storbon had been chasing for some time. He had read about it in one of the books in the library but he had yet to see it. I wonder if he is able to use it?

“You up for it, Storbon?” Erik asked.

Storbon shook his head, realizing that he hadn’t said anything in some time. “Y-yes! Sorry!” Storbon said as he quickly got his thoughts organized.

Storbon set his feet, pointing his spear at Erik in provocation.

Erik stood on the other side and took out a coin and tossed it up in the air.

The coin hit the ground and Storbon, who had raised his hand close to his chest, pulled out a throwing dagger and tossed it as he brought the butt of his spear up, bringing in two attacks at once.

Erik was stunned by the throwing knife and used his arm to deflect it. He punched out with his right hand. It slammed into the spear, making Storbon’s hands go numb; his foot came up, lightning quick, and hit Storbon in his right side, which was unprotected.

Storbon grunted and went sideways, falling down.

“Damn! That throwing knife was sneaky as hell, nearly got me!” Erik held out his hand to Storbon.

“Again?” Storbon asked, his eyes glowing as he accepted the hand up.

“I’m up for it. Been some time since I’ve had a real fight against another human.” Erik moved back over to his side as Storbon moved his spear around and moved into a fighting position.

Fighting the others, I have gotten used to the way they move and thought of ways to counteract them. Erik’s got a different fighting style. It combines form and strength together to overwhelm his opponent. With his low reaction times, it makes it hard to anticipate where he’ll hit.

Even a casual blow from him will be enough to shake someone. With so much on the line, Storbon was excited.

Erik picked up the coin and tossed it once more.

It struck the ground as Erik and Storbon came together. Storbon’s spear jabs were short but rapid, aiming at Erik’s head and upper body, then flashing down to his lower body.

Erik had to use all of his Agility as the spear danced in Storbon’s hands, bending and curving with the force of the blows and thrusts.

Erik advanced as Storbon had to dance around and retreat.

Erik snapped to the side of an attack. He grabbed the spear and seemed to roll up it. The back of his hand came for Storbon’s face. He released the spear and jumped backward. Erik followed but had to protect his face as Storbon threw out throwing blades. A crossbow appeared in his hands from his storage ring as he fired it at Erik, who was dodging the blades.

The bolt shot out and slammed into Erik’s stomach armor. A lightning attack that had been added to the bolt made Erik twitch. Storbon pulled out another spear and charged forward.

Increase Strength, increase Agility! Buffing spells fell on Storbon as he ran forward.

Erik threw a fist forward. Mana gathered around his fist before it discharged with a clap. The force of the explosion sent Storbon flying back as Erik shot forward.

Storbon lost the momentum as Erik was now the one attacking. His blows changed in intensity, sometimes having no Mana behind them; other times, they would detonate with Mana. Storbon could feel that Erik was adjusting how much Mana he used and how, refining the technique while they were fighting.

Not wanting to be outdone, Storbon pushed himself harder. His spear started to blur, making it harder for people to see as Erik’s advance slowed to a crawl.

Erik dropped to the ground suddenly and fired out a Mana bullet.

Storbon’s right leg went out from under him. He brought his spear down where Erik was.

Erik slammed his fist on the ground, rolling away. He rolled on his back, getting back up to standing.

Storbon rolled to the side and jumped forward, only to find a spear across his front. Erik held the spear as Storbon slammed into his first spear that Erik had pulled out of his storage ring.

Storbon dropped back down to the ground.

Erik moved the spear around and dropped its butt on the ground. “Good weapon,” Erik commended Storbon, who was getting up.

“Again?” Storbon asked, hope in his voice.

Erik looked at him with a raised eyebrow before he laughed. “All right! Again! What was with that crossbow bolt?” Erik tossed the spear back.

“I cast Stun on it as I pulled it out of my storage ring. I was holding onto the wood parts of the crossbow so it didn’t affect me much and was focused on the metal bolt,” Storbon said.

“Smart. I didn’t even see anything so the shock from the pain and the actual lightning made me lose my momentum.” Erik picked up the coin and returned to his corner.

He tossed it again, this time pulling out crossbows and firing them at Storbon and then throwing them at him before he pulled out more and tossed them at him again, advancing so Storbon couldn’t see. Then he loosed a Mana bolt on the ground, tossing Storbon up and to the side. Erik fired a Mana Detonation at him, tossing him backward.

“Those crossbows are weak—not strong enough to break through your armor. Why didn’t you cut them down to clear your vision?” Erik asked.

“I didn’t want to break your equipment?” Storbon slowly got up off the ground.

“That would be good if I was trying to save my damn gold but I’m not! I’m your opponent. And plus, I can get Rugrat to fix it for me afterward.” Erik grinned as he picked up the coin. “Again?”

***

Erik got back to the mansion much later. He had healed most of the muscle pains and the bruises.

He pulled off his armor and started to check it over as he heard snoring coming through the house. He went to the living area to find Rugrat had flopped down his sleeping bag and dropped on top of it.

“Well, at least we won’t be getting complaints about the noise coming from all of his testing for a night.” Erik’s shoulder spasmed. “Shit!” He started to use a healing spell to fix the spasm as he, too, headed up to sleep.

***

Rugrat woke up and wiped his face to get rid of the slobber. He sat up and put his hand on his eyes to hide the light.

He let out a grunt and rolled his head to the other side as he smelled his own armpit. It took him a few seconds to gather the willpower he needed to sit upright.

He headed to get a shower. Once he was smelling something clean, he got dressed and went to the food stalls.

Grabbing the Ten Realms version of coffee and breakfast, Rugrat dropped down into a seat and started eating everything in front of him.

The taste of the food was good enough to wake Rugrat up between sips of the almost coffee as he went up for his second breakfast, then his third. He stopped about his fifth and looked around, as if seeing the dungeon for the first time. A few people were smiling and laughing at his actions as he stood and stretched.

“Good sleep?” Erik asked.

“Bad wake up,” Rugrat replied as he passed his dishes off.

“The testing?” Erik asked.

Rugrat took a few gulps and then threw back the rest of his almost coffee. He wiped his face with the back of his hand and passed off the mug. “I think I’ve got it.” Rugrat pulled out a round and passed it to Erik.

Erik looked at the round and moved it in his fingers.

“Mortal iron for the cartridge, tester powder Alpha seventeen for the charge, primer Charlie three. The bullet is enhanced Mortal iron. Barrel is enhanced and compressed Mortal iron. The striking power, I wasn’t able to accurately determine, but I did some steel plate tests and it made an impression three times deeper on average,” Rugrat said proudly.

Erik looked over to him and raised an eyebrow.

The expression made Rugrat grin. “Innate ability increases speed by four percent. I want to place a formation on it that creates Wind Blades around the round, then Explosive Shot on top of it. Think grenade launcher mixed with hollow point nastiness. Kill any damn hog.”

“In the first three realms,” Erik amended.

“I am really not looking forward to developing more rounds and barrels,” Rugrat complained.

“At least we have something like a plan and we can scale up instead of walking in blind,” Erik said.

Rugrat nodded. It wasn’t as if making new rounds and destroying targets hadn’t been a fun way to waste a few days.

“Right now, I’ll be replacing the parts in Big Momma that would be prone to breaking. I’ll work on making designs for weapon bodies, but each round takes about thirty minutes to make in total and I’m going to need to upgrade frequently. For now, I don’t think that we can mass-produce them. And crossbows we do make are reaching the point where they can rival the stopping power of a rifle back on Earth. Also, each round is worth about ten to fifteen gold each, so not the cheapest. The weapon system is made from five Mortal-iron ingots so, yeah.” Rugrat left the rest unsaid.

“So, basically, it’s as crazy as those gold and diamond covered guns back on Earth.”

“Yes, but this one hits as hard as a shoulder-fired rocket.”

Erik let out a snort. “Minor difference?”

“Small.” Rugrat smiled as he held his fingers just barely apart.

***

Erik and Rugrat were inside the dungeon headquarters once again.

This time there was no one else around.

Erik had just four Mana gates that were still sealed.

Opening his Eleventh Mana gate was going to be as hard as Rugrat opening his thirteenth. Thankfully, Rugrat had more Mana so it would make it easier for him to help Erik in opening just a gap in the Mana gate.

With the Wraith’s Touch applied and everything set, Erik tried to relax as much as possible. “All right, well, let’s get on with it.”

Rugrat took the needle, tapped it into Erik’s Mana gate, and started to force his compressed Mana through it. With his open Mana gates, higher Mana pool and Mana Regeneration, a small indent was quickly carved into the Mana gate.

Erik used his own Mana on the inside to open a channel, allowing the two streams to meet up.

They didn’t rush it, taking their time as they slowly made the channel deeper and deeper.

The dungeon core’s excess pure Mana gathered around them and was easily absorbed. The attribute-less Mana was much more effective than impure Mana, speeding up the process greatly.

Minutes turned into hours but they continued on, slowly but surely, bit by bit, until finally there was a cracking noise and a rush of Mana as the Mana outside of Erik’s body and that within his Mana channels tried to equalize.

The chaotic back and forth served to open the channel wider. Erik circulated his Mana, recovering it before he pushed it out of the Mana gate and recovered it again. It was like a tide wearing away at a rock: in and out, back and forth.

“Well, looks like it won’t be long until you’re a Mana duke,” Rugrat said.

“Yeah, while it won’t be long until you become a Mana sovereign and open all of your Mana gates,” Erik complained.

“Hey, with looks like these, I’m bound to get some bonuses.” Rugrat clicked his fingers and gave Erik two finger guns.

“With brain cells as sparse as yours, you need all the help that you can get,” Erik shot back.

“Well, my momma used to say...”

Oh, here we go again—more Momma Rodriguez tips and tricks.

Chapter: A Trip?

Armor was finished and weapons were created. Everyone who was part of the team to go to the Metal floor was trying to sponge as much information from one another, the academy, the people in the barracks, and off Julilah and Qin as they could.

But it could only be interesting for so long.

“So you want to go to Vermire?” Elise asked as the entire council was around the main table above the dungeon core.

“Yeah. It looks like a place that we can turn into a hub. We control the lord there and I want to see what the trading post is capable of. No one has gone there other than our parties, gathering information. It’s time we strike some fear into Lord Aditya and see how capable he was in selling the wares we gave him. From there, we can choose how to advance our relationship and use him,” Erik said.

“And we’re also bored as hell and want to try out our new toys,” Rugrat said.

Erik shrugged, not denying it. Special Team One had gone out into the Beast Mountain Range but nothing was their opponent. It wasn’t training if it wasn’t hard so they had continued to fight one another.

“Also, the Special Team One, I want to release them to go and check on the different trading outposts and let them take on tasks that have been put up by the barracks. We’ve got another two weeks before the deadline. If we just keep on training we’re going to lose our edge,” Erik said.

“Well, we can’t really stop you. Jasper?” Elise looked over.

“I can prepare items to be sold at the trading outpost that would gain a greater profit than on the trading platform,” Jasper said.

“Time for a little trip.” Rugrat smiled.

“What about the tests for the alchemists, medics, and formation department?” Taran asked.

Erik nodded at Rugrat to go first.

“The formation school have the basics down. Those who are both part of the smithing and formation department are the furthest along. With the information books and everything that Qin and Julilah have been researching, they’ve been able to increase their proficiency. Formations are a lot of complex calculations with a mix of practical and theoretical knowledge. They can all carve on formation plates, but they simply don’t know what to carve on it.

“It is really heavy on the books and learning from others. Tan Xue is teaching them what she knows but right now it’s only really a department in name instead of reality,” Rugrat admitted.

“With Alchemy, their knowledge of plants is incredible due to their gardens, but making concoctions is lacking because they only have a few formulas. There aren’t any available on the trading platform. Like the formations, they are skills that are groomed in the higher realms, where there are more materials and information. I hope upon reaching the Third Realm that we will be able to procure more information for the Alchemy department. The medical school has rapidly advanced. Using corpses and referencing the notes that I gave them, they’ve been able to quickly build up their knowledge.

“Healing spells are lacking and that is one of the greatest barriers. There are only a very few spell books for sale. Otherwise, people need to learn to cast healing spells themselves. Then make sure that it is truly a healing spell so it doesn’t hurt the patient. It’s time-consuming but both departments have a lot of students. All of the combat parties have at least an alchemist and medic, sometimes both. They have progressed further than I thought and made some incorrect assumptions but I’ve tried to make up for that knowledge gap. They might not have healing spells, but both alchemists and medics know how to look after wounds. The medic’s knowledge is more advanced but the alchemists know at least basic first aid,” Erik finished.

“I heard that a third special team is being formed?” Elise looked to the military men.

“That is correct. Special Team One is in charge of the test, with Erik and Rugrat overseeing,” Blaze said.

“Is it your aim to convert all of the parties to special teams?” Jasper asked.

“Not all of them. Only those who pass the testing will be allowed to form a special team, or replace lost members. As the population grows, more people will join the parties. They will be the main combat strength, but the special teams will remain our elites, scouting and fighting ahead,” Rugrat said.

The room quieted with his words.

“Once the scouting of the Metal floor is completed, what is your aim?” Egbert spoke in the silence.

“Depending on the situation with the Metal floor, we will head forward to regain control or activate more formations, or we will leave it and then head to the Third Realm,” Erik said.

Their words were something that the others were expecting, but they hadn’t asked before.

“Well, it’ll be good to have some damn peace and quiet! And not have people trying to stuff you into storage rings!” Egbert glared at Rugrat.

“I thought that was behind us!” Rugrat complained.

“You stole my femur the other day to look at the different smithing supplies we have!” Egbert grumbled. When they had given Egbert the different supplies to be passed out to the departments, he had stored them in the safest place he knew: his own storage spaces located within his body.

“Errhh.” Rugrat coughed and looked away.

The others didn’t pay any attention to their actions. It was just part of their relationship by now.

“When will you leave?” Glosil asked.

“Tomorrow, if possible,” Erik answered.

***

It took a few days for them to cover the ground between Alva Dungeon and the Vermire Trading Outpost.

They were riding on two of the panthers that had been found after the defense of Alva Village and then raised in the beast stables. With high-leveled meat and monster cores to consume, they had rapidly raised in level.

The ones that they were riding had been specially treated with Alchemy solutions to increase their strength and abilities.

One of the parties from Alva Dungeon was also traveling with them.

Rugrat sat up on the panther’s saddle. He had ridden horses back on Earth and he found it easy as he chewed on some grass with a crossbow across his hips.

A roar came from the forest as the panthers moved to face it.

Rugrat raised his crossbow up and fired. The bear that had reared up caught an arrow in the throat, cutting off its roar. As the first crossbow disappeared, a second appeared in Rugrat’s hand as he used his feet to guide the panther and fire on the bear.

The party moved forward, brandishing bows, crossbows, and ranged weapons.

In just a few short moments, the bear was killed and stored in someone’s storage ring as they rushed forward.

With the smell of blood on them, it was some time before they were challenged again.

They would be hard opponents for people in the First Realm. Although they were tough to kill, none of the people from Alva Dungeon were ever in real danger from getting hurt.

They travelled through the night. The panthers’ vision allowed them to see easily as both theirs and the Alva Dungeon’s people’s Stamina was great enough to go for a few days without sleep.

Two days later, they could see Vermire. In the midday sun, the large outpost was a scene of bustling trade as people from all over tried to buy and sell their different goods. Supplying the hunters and mercenaries with weapons, armor, and consumables while traders gathered hides, crafting materials, and monster cores to ship back to the large kingdoms and cities, where they could turn a profit.

The party took care of the panthers and had two of their people stay outside the city to look after the panthers and act as support if needed.

The rest of the group checked their gear before heading toward the gates. All of them were wearing simple gear so they wouldn’t stand out that much among the other mercenaries and hunters.

The party slung their weapons over their shoulders as they seemed to look at the world with disdain, tired from all of their fighting.

It wasn’t that hard as they had been riding hard for the last two days.

They went up to the gate, paying their fee and entering the trading outpost.

“Looks kind of small, don’t cha think?” Rugrat asked Erik as they were walking through the streets.

“Compared to Taeman, it’s not even a tenth—maybe a fifteenth the size,” Erik said.

The party followed as they moved through the city, using the maps that the others had. They knew the entire city and had picked out a tavern to stay at.

“Food, beer!” Rugrat said to the tavern waitress as he sat down at a table. The others moved at the tables when someone tossed a shield on the table Erik was about to sit at.

“Sorry, it’s reserved.” A man, drunk and rocking his head side to side, stopped Erik’s movements.

Erik didn’t miss the slow smirk that appeared on his face or the way he tilted his head, as if asking Erik what he was going to do about it.

The rest of the party stood as Rugrat stretched.

Those with the drunkard who had thrown the shield all stood up as well. There was nearly forty of them.

“Don’t worry. Let him have some fun. Where’s that beer?” Rugrat waved everyone down.

The Alva party looked at one another and then sat back down.

The other group were all standing up, making it awkward.

Erik picked up the shield and tossed it up and down in one hand. “Whatever.” Erik’s hand snapped up as he threw the shield.

The drunk man didn’t have the presence of mind to do anything than half raise his hands. Getting slammed by the shield, he fell down.

The others’ eyes flickered from the man on the ground to Erik, who had charged forward, hitting one man in the stomach and sending him flying into others behind him.

One punched out at him. Erik caught the punch between his arm and his side. Grabbing the man’s shirt, he turned and tossed him, slamming him to another group, tangling them up in chairs and people. They fought one another to get up, only making the situation worse.

A man slashed out with a blade. Erik was hit in the side; his clothes were torn but only a small cut was left behind. Erik kicked backward; the man let out a yell before they slammed into others.

One of the waitresses had come over with a pitcher but she was just hiding against the wall.

Rugrat went over as Erik was dodging, punching, kicking, and tossing his opponents into one another.

With his major Strength increases, it was nothing more than an adult pushing toddlers back. He had to pay attention to make sure that he didn’t leave any lasting damage.

His reaction time made him move through them all as if he had seen their movements before they even thought of it. Their weapons might not be even able to puncture his skin.

“Is this for us?” Rugrat asked, indicating the jug.

The waitress looked up at him like a deer in the headlights as a man came flying over.

Rugrat dodged to the side as the man flew out the front of the open tavern and into the street.

“Thanks. Sorry about the mess.” Rugrat smiled as he took the cups and the pitcher. He stopped his steps as another man stumbled backward, trying to regain his footing.

Rugrat gave him a boot in the ass as Erik smoked him in the face with a chair.

“Should’ve played for the Yankees!” Rugrat moved toward the seating area.

The group of forty or so fighters were now groaning and complaining on the ground. Some were still trying to get up.

Erik, who was wielding two chairs, quickly put them back down on the ground, face first.

Rugrat calmly poured out beers.

“Can I get a hand?” Erik looked at the people all over the place.

“I’m pouring, but I’m sure there are some volunteers.” Rugrat started on a new glass and looked at the people from the Alva party.

With weak smiles, they did as they were voluntold, grabbing the broken thugs and tossing them out into the street.

Erik sat down and took a cup, drinking from it, and then let out a gasp. He wiped the foam from his face. “Damn, nothing like a good beer.”

“Thankfully, the furniture is pretty sturdy,” Rugrat said.

One of the waitresses came over with another pitcher as Rugrat passed out beers to the rest of the party, who sat back in their chairs and relaxed from their journey.

“Oh, they’re very sorry and they meant this in repayment.” Erik pulled out some items he had looted from the thugs and put it on the waitress’s tray, taking the pitcher and filling up some of the cups.

“Do you have any food?” Rugrat asked as the waitress seemed to be stuck in silence.

“Y-yes we do.” She smiled at the party.

“Perfect! Dinner’s on me!” Rugrat said.

Everyone cheered and raised their drinks to him.

“Make sure you only get the items on the value menu and no more than two,” Rugrat quickly replied as the cheers turned to groans.

“What’s your most expensive dish?” Erik asked the waitress.

“You!”

“You said you’re buying—you can’t put stipulations on it!” Erik winked to the others in the party, who grinned.

Rugrat gulped as they looked like hungry hyenas. “You all ate well, right?” he asked in a weak voice.

They didn’t say anything but their smiles only grew.

“Done in by my own generosity. Momma always told me to watch what I said,” Rugrat bemoaned.

Erik rolled his eyes at his antics and drank more beer. As they ordered food, Rugrat looked like a sad puppy dog at the end of the table.

***

Lord Aditya closed the door to his room behind him. He started to take off his jacket.

“That looks heavy.” A man’s voice came from within the room as a light-emitting crystal appeared in his hand.

Aditya made to yell out but a hand covered his mouth. As he readied his hands to pull out a weapon, a blade was pressed against his back, ready to slide between his ribs and into his heart.

“We’ve come about those goods you should’ve sold for us by now? We came in Jasper’s stead. We did say we’d be back.” The man had an odd accent, but being so close to him, Lord Aditya felt his Mana gates were closing, being drained of energy.

Even with the man’s simple actions, his Agility and Strength were leagues above his own. Even with all the preparations he had made, they had easily gained access to his bedroom.

“Do not alert the guards and take a seat.” The man with the crystal put it on the table while the other released Aditya.

The man sat calmly across from him. After a few tense moments, he leaned forward. “If we were in the mood, we could easily level your trading outpost and go after your backers, all of them, if we wanted to. Simply put, it’s too time-consuming and we don’t want to deal with it all. Which means this contract you agreed to is the only thing keeping you and this trading outpost standing.” The man sat back in his chair.

Aditya had faced down kings and mercenary captains. Even though this man’s words were simple, the ramifications were large. Aditya, who prided himself on knowing about the person he was dealing with upon meeting them, knew that the man was probably not lying. He hid his aura but to Aditya it felt vast and powerful, the kind of thing that he had never felt in someone from the First Realm before.

“It’s a good thing that you only imprisoned our people instead of attacked them.” The man paused again, studying Aditya before he looked over to the other man in the room, who had sat down in a chair with a crossbow across his lap and then back to Aditya.

“How did the trade go?” the man asked.

“I sold all of the items and placed it where the drop location was. I didn’t tell anyone how I got the items and I used people who would be discreet about the trade, spreading them out so that there wouldn’t be any connections made,” Aditya quickly explained.

***

Erik nodded as he looked at the man. Rugrat continued to sit behind him. He looked at ease but he would be ready to use that crossbow in an instant.

Seeing Aditya started to recover his bearing after speaking for just a little while, Erik couldn’t help but commend the man’s calm, analytical mind.

“Your role to us will be that of an informant and fence. We will send you items to sell and items to buy. You can take the money from what is sold.” Erik’s voice ended on a cold note, making sure that Aditya understood that although he could use the funds, he shouldn’t spend more than necessary and take the profits for himself.

“When you come across information, such as the Eearlo Kingdom is currently having a big fight among the nobles and that war might break out at any time, I would be interested in that and any developments in the other locations that you have your little doves inserted. Also...” Erik paused as he judged Aditya, who was hanging on his every word.

He frowned instead of continuing.

Aditya’s eyes flickered to Rugrat and back, showing his nervousness.

“Tell me your story. I have heard parts of it but I want to hear it all. How did a man who was crippled in the Beast Mountain Range come to have one of the most powerful trading outposts at his beck and call with the backing of several large families, trading groups, and kingdoms?”

Aditya was kind of shocked with the question. “I was a fighter—went into the Beast Mountain Range to get money. I was crippled, then I had to stay in town. I started selling items for my friends. As their strength increased, my standing did as well. There were others who were crippled but had good minds. Others saw them as a waste; I saw them as eyes and ears. I created a network. I looked after them and they looked after me.

“I gained power over time before I formed my own trading outpost. I brought in all manner of kingdoms and groups to trade. I talked to them one-on-one, shared information on their competitors and basically strapped them to my ship. From there, the outpost remained neutral, a place where the different places can do trade out of the public eye and where they can share information.

“As time went on, I confirmed my position until I got to this current level,” Aditya quickly said.

“Impressive, but you left one thing out.” Erik tilted his head at Aditya. He had tried to hide it by speaking fast but Erik could see the pain on his face when he said that the rest of his team had moved on.

Fighting in close quarters with anyone and you’ll have strong feelings—hate them or love them. He stayed around and sold their items, then they left him here. It was something that a person who hadn’t been in the same or similar situation wouldn’t pick up on.

“Your team—why did they leave and why didn’t you go with them?” Erik asked.

Aditya’s face went through a few changes before he unconsciously rubbed his prosthetic leg. “They headed to the Second Realm. I wasn’t high enough level to follow them. I had spent too much time trying to build my network to help them that I didn’t develop my skills or my level. They left and I was stuck here.”

“So you pulled people to you who were totally loyal, those who had been dismissed by society as well. That’s why your guard is made up of cripples. The world turned its back on them, but you gave them a path forward. It shows that you know how to evaluate people, assess if they will be loyal and also figure out their potential.

“You will also recruit people in our name. It doesn’t matter their skills as long as they’re determined, have a good work ethic, and would be loyal,” Erik said.

Aditya was surprised by the request.

“Don’t look at me that way. You should know more than anyone else—as soon as you agreed to that contract, you were a part of our organization. Do well and you will be rewarded and protected. This doesn’t have to be all one-way.” Erik stood and put his hand on Aditya’s shoulder.

Aditya froze up, all of his muscles tensing.

Erik used Simple Organic Scan to look through his body and see the ruin of his leg. He used Focused Heal.

Aditya looked to his leg as it started to regrow at a speed visible to the eye.

Erik pulled his hand back. “Follow the contract.” Erik dropped off a storage ring on the nearby table. He walked to an open window.

Rugrat moved with him, his crossbow pointed up in the air.

The two of them checked outside of the window and jumped out. They were on the third floor but they easily absorbed the impact from the fall and started running.

In their ears, they could hear reports from the team as they watched for the different roving patrols.

It wasn’t long until they crossed the walls and were walking through Vermire’s streets.

“Looks like it was a beneficial meeting,” Rugrat said.

“Don’t use so many big words or else you’ll hurt your brain. But yes, I hope that Aditya will be useful, if not to help others like him, then for his own gain. We will need to monitor him, but it will ease up the strain on our people.”

“That was fun and all, but now we’ve got nothing else left to do,” Rugrat said.

“Check out the other trading posts?” Erik shrugged.

“Sure. I got my forge with me, so if I get bored I can at least do something else.”

“I’ve got my cauldron and we can use sound talismans to talk to the people in the dungeon for lessons and to answer questions,” Erik said.

“Actually, instead of the outposts, what about that river that goes through the Beast Mountain Range?” Rugrat asked.

Erik stopped in his footsteps and looked to Rugrat. “Fishing?”

“Fishing,” Rugrat confirmed.

“Shit. Hell yeah I’m in!” Erik laughed.

Chapter: Metal Floor

Erik checked out the new armor he had been given. It was based off the armor he had worn in countless battlefields across the world. He pulled the vest on and used the leather ties to pull it tight and tie it off.

He moved his neck against the stiff collar and moved his shoulders under the pauldrons, using more straps to pull them on.

He had already pulled on the arms, which were a modified prototype to allow mobility while also giving a decent amount of protection.

Legs were the same: a mix of cloths and fabrics used to hold the plates in place to stop lethal attacks from hitting him.

The armor plates were formed from enhanced and compressed Mortal-grade iron. Erik checked over the different information screens of the armor parts.

==========

Ass-shining Leather Boots

==========

Defense: 143

Weight: 3.5 kg

Durability: 100/100

Slot: Takes up foot slot

Innate Effect: Increase physical attack damage by 4%

Enchantment: Light Steps—running costs 5% less Stamina

This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.

Requirements:

Agility 27

Strength 18

==========

==========

Chaps, But With the Ass Greaves

==========

Defense: 157

Weight: 9.7 kg

Durability: 100/100

Slot: Takes up leg slot

Innate Effect: Increase physical attack damage by 4%

Enchantment: Light Steps—running costs 5% less Stamina

This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.

Requirements:

Agility 30

Strength 27

==========

“For fuck’s sake.” Erik sighed at the names of the different armors. Rugrat might have made them with his best skills but with these names, there was no way that he would be able to sell them in the future!

==========

Big-assed Chafer!

==========

Defense: 164

Weight: 32.6 kg

Durability: 100/100

Slot: Takes up chest slot

Innate Effect: Increase physical attack damage by 4%

Enchantment: Stone Wall—Defense increases by 7%

This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.

Requirements:

Agility 23

Strength 35

==========

==========

Ass Slappers!

==========

Defense: 112

Weight: 2.3 kg

Durability: 100/100

Slot: Takes up glove slot

Innate Effect: Increase physical attack damage by 4%

Enchantment: Mana Amplification—Mana-based spells power increases by 3%

This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.

Requirements:

Agility 28

Strength 29

==========

==========

Asshat

==========

Defense: 147

Weight: 3.7 kg

Durability: 100/100

Slot: Takes up helmet slot

Innate Effect: Increase defense by 5%

Enchantment: Mana Amplification—Mana-based spells power increases by 3%

This is a set item. When two or more set items are combined, the abilities of the set items will increase.

Requirements:

Agility 13

Strength 10

==========

==========

You have equipped the Ass Kicker set.

For having 5 pieces

Your defense increases by 2%

Physical attacks damage increases by 14%

Stamina consumption reduces by 3%

==========

The stats were a big boost, but Erik was having a real problem with the name of the set and their individual names.

“Storbon, what is your helmet called?” Erik asked.

“Helmet version three,” Storbon said with a confused look on his face.

“That mother fucker,” Erik muttered under his breath and headed over to where Rugrat was putting on his gear.

He had just opened his mouth when he was interrupted.

“Have fun fishing?” Egbert asked as Erik and Rugrat were checking their gear with everyone else at the barracks.

“It was good until we had to come back. Seven days of bliss,” Rugrat said.

“All good things come to an end,” Erik said.

Qin looked lost in it. A mix of excitement and curiosity as she couldn’t help but look at the others who were covered in weapons, laughing and joking as they checked one another’s gear, patting their shoulders and moving around to make sure all of their gear was where it was supposed to be and accessible.

“How does the armor feel?” Rugrat asked as he checked on Qin.

“Heavy,” she said.

Rugrat grinned as he tightened up the helmet strap and adjusted it so that it wouldn’t tilt over to the side. “Jump up and down.”

She did so, the armor reaching up to her chin and back down again.

“You need to keep it tight or else you’re just leaving openings everywhere.” Rugrat pulled on different ties, tightening everything, compressing Qin and enclosing her in the armor properly. “How about now?”

“It’s a lot warmer and it’s rubbing.”

“Everyone gets that at first. You’ll get used to it.” Rugrat checked her armor again and then pulled it up from the back, making sure that it wasn’t coming off her whenever she jumped.

He tapped her on the back, almost sending her to the ground. “You’re all good. Remember to stick to Egbert like glue and do everything we tell you.” Rugrat bent down to look her in the eye to make sure his words got across.

“Yes, Mister Rugrat,” she said, trying to show she understood.

Rugrat nodded as he looked over to Erik.

“All right, it’s time to boogie. You all know the plan: get in, check the area around the teleport pad. Emergency teleport out if it’s bad; if we’re good, we head toward control formation Alpha. We have a total of five control formations as our targets. We will be sneaking through the floor with the aid of stealth spell scrolls. Still, they’re not enough to make us invisible, just harder to detect. Above all, we need to look out for our safety. If things look like they’re going south, we’ll do a fighting retreat back to the teleportation pad, using spell scrolls and whatever we have.” Erik looked at them after his speech.

“Let’s do this.” Erik turned and led the way out of the barracks, toward the teleportation pad that had remained unused ever since they had arrived in the dungeon.

The secondary merchant market and warehouse district was growing quickly. Even now there were people around the trading platform, looking to make their fortunes. With the ability to make gold from the market interface, it had reduced the pressures on the council.

The council was selling off the goods that they had been holding onto. Instead of holding onto it, the money was put toward the other expansions. The beast stable was to double in size, the academy was undergoing more renovations, and the growing area was meant to double. The old growing areas were to remain as testing grounds; the ones that were being added would be used for just the purpose of growing. Year in and year out, these fields were meant to be the workhorses of Alva Dungeon. Everyone had to eat and Alva Dungeon could grow all year round. With the rest of the First Realm now accessible through the trading interface, the excess could be easily sold off for a profit then funneled through the council to upgrade the dungeon and its facilities.

Students and people from the barracks—all of them pitched in on the building efforts. After all, they got paid by the council to do so.

Now the work came to a pause as people watched the group heading to the teleport pad.

They didn’t stop moving as they made it to the teleport pad. The council was there, as well as a number of alchemists, medics, and military members, ready to move to assist if needed.

“See you in a bit.” Erik led the party onto the teleportation formation.

They made a circle, with Egbert and Qin in the middle.

“Stealth scrolls,” Erik said. Everyone pulled out spell scrolls and activated them.

The magical circles on the pages pushed out from the page, made of silver and black. It settled on the front of the user, flashing once before disappearing.

==========

You have activated the spell scroll: Light Footsteps, Hidden Movement.

Your scent is eliminated except in a five-meter area.

Your footsteps are harder to hear beyond five meters.

The shadows conform to your body more, making it harder to see you from more than twelve meters away.

==========

“Egbert?” Erik asked.

“Activating the teleportation formation,” Egbert said.

Power that had been pouring into the cornerstone located above the dungeon core now retracted back toward the dungeon core. Stored power was focused and sent down from the cornerstone. The line of power was as thick as a fist as it entered the formations around the dungeon core, rushing through the rune-covered walkways that lit up with power as it rushed out from the center of the site toward the teleportation formation.

The formation started to glow, the runes, circles, and shapes being revealed. A Mana mist covered the formation, being lit up by the glowing runes below.

“Activating,” Egbert said.

The power that had been gathered in the formation surged.

There was a suction feeling and then the living floor disappeared and a new landscape was revealed.

They blinked quickly, trying to adjust their eyes to the darkness.

“What is that smell?” Tian Cui asked.

“Metal, high quality,” Rugrat said quickly.

Smells like blood. Erik took in the landscape.

There wasn’t much.

Lightning cracked and lit up the level occasionally in the distance.

The sounds of beasts fighting or roaring was drowned out by the noise.

There was no ambient light. Only the lightning served to light the way, backlighting the pillars and ruins all around them.

Paths had been carved through the metal. Circular overhangs had collapsed. Buildings were nothing more than metal strewn about. Signs of fighting could be seen everywhere one looked.

“Egbert, take point. Let’s get moving,” Erik said.

Everyone organized their thoughts as Egbert moved forward quickly. The teleportation formation would probably draw monsters to come and see what had happened, so they needed to leave quickly.

They moved over the rough landscape. It was much larger than the living floor, with mountains and valleys of metal.

Erik could see a metal mountain in the middle of the floor. Lightning of all colors descended on the mountain. Runes and formations could be seen here and there, being activated and then dying with the power striking down on them.

Runes and partial formations dotted the landscape, ruined by age and the fighting.

Parts and bodies of automatons lay across the ground, discarded and broken, their insides torn apart.

Do these creatures eat metal? Erik cleared these thoughts as he took in the broken floor, following Egbert.

***

While the floor was unlike anything that they had seen before with ominous, random lightning and the sounds of beasts fighting, Storbon continued to look around, scanning for threats as they progressed toward their first target.

They reached an open area, with Egbert stopping and pointing to the ground.

Erik nodded and gave the signal for everyone to spread out.

They all moved out as Qin moved up to Egbert. She started to look over the ground, clearing it.

The rest of the party looked outward, scanning the floor.

Storbon couldn’t help but look at the large mountain in the middle of the floor.

It stood tall and proud, with the other mountains in the floor only half of its height.

Most of the beast noises were coming from there between the lightning strikes.

Storbon looked away, blinking to get rid of the flashes and allow him to see the rest of the floor as he scanned for any wandering beasts.

Time to get comfortable. He moved about on the ground, trying to move his body so he wasn’t getting poked by so many rocks. Finally, he settled down as Qin worked on the formation.

Time went by slowly. The only noise was Qin’s quiet footsteps and Storbon’s breathing. He even tried to make that quieter so he could hear more.

“I’ve got something approaching. Doesn’t look like it’s coming for the formation, though,” Ian reported through his sound transmission device.

They all tensed up before slowly bleeding that tension back out.

“Qin, stop what you’re doing. Egbert, let us know what it is,” Erik said in a calm voice.

Qin moved up next to Rugrat as Egbert moved to Ian.

For a bunch of bones, he was as silent as a ghost.

“It’s an arachon—large beast with metal antlers, teeth, and claws. Must be around level eighteen. Can probably break low-grade Apprentice weapons and armor,” Egbert said.

***

Rugrat looked through his scope, scanning the area where Ian was before he picked up the creature.

It looked like a mix between an elephant and a moose. It was massive, at three meters tall, with the body of an elephant. It didn’t have a trunk or tusks but metal antlers that reflected the lightning.

The ends of the antlers shone, sharpened into blades.

It didn’t move quickly as it covered the ground at its own pace. It moved closer to the formation but didn’t look to be heading for it.

“Make ready,” Erik said, his voice still calm. Everyone gripped their weapons tighter and readied themselves for what was to come.

“The arachon’s neck and stomach don’t have that much natural armor,” Egbert said.

They all laid there, waiting for it to go past or attack them. Someone moved, dislodging a few metal rocks.

The arachon paused and looked over to where the noise had come from.

Rugrat flipped off the safety as his aim followed the arachon’s eyes.

The arachon looked away after a few tense moments before it lost interest and carried on.

After another ten minutes, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

“Check your arcs,” Erik said.

Everyone reported what they saw. As the last “clear” was announced, Erik ordered Qin and Egbert back to work.

Qin called out the corrections as Egbert used magic and supplies he carried to do what she said, repairing the formation, section by section.

Ten secondary formations, four prime formations, and one master control formation. Simple, simple! Rugrat continued to watch.

“I’m good to restart the formation and see if it works,” Qin said after triple-checking her work nearly an hour later.

“Everyone, prepare to move. No matter what, we need to move when the formation goes active as it’ll bring every monster’s attention down on us,” Erik said.

Rugrat and the others got to kneeling, ready to move.

“Go for it.”

Egbert restarted the formation. The rune pathways were covered with metal and couldn’t be seen as they activated, drawing power from the central command unit at the center of the floor, a mirror copy of the dungeon core on the living floor.

The different parts of the formation started to light up, one by one, before the entire formation activated, glowing with power.

“Let’s move!” Erik led the way toward their next target; the rest of them followed.

A roar could be heard in the distance. As it moved closer, the ground shook. Other roars could be heard as well.

Qin stumbled and fell. Yao Meng grabbed her and they kept running.

Three arachons crested the hill they were running toward.

Erik called a halt as they all hid among the broken metal parts of the floor.

The three arachons rushed forward, their target the formation. Other monsters ran toward it as well, looking to put a claim on their territory.

“Move it!” Erik hissed as he got up and ran again.

The rest of the party got out from among the obstacles and started to run again.

***

Egbert helped Qin as they worked on the second formation. It was going a lot faster than the first.

Although she had the knowledge, she didn’t have the strength or power to work with the different materials that were part of the formation, requiring Egbert to process the different materials, carve out old formation lines and runes or add in new ones.

Making formations on such a scale as the one involved in the Metal floor was a mix of smithing, Alchemy, and mining to repair the formations.

Egbert, thankfully, had a number of spells he could call on to clear the detritus, create new lines, and then fill them in with the reagent items.

The formation’s shape acted to guide the magical power. The different reagents added into the formation altered and changed the magical power that was added to the runes, and linked formations acted in concert with one another. It wasn’t an easy task. Creating a formation was much harder than repairing one that they had at least limited plans for.

After working on the first formation, Qin’s actions had more confidence. Still, she triple-checked her work, wanting to make sure that there were no issues.

“Something is heading in this direction,” Yuli said.

Qin looked up at Egbert, who put away the items he was working with and headed toward Yuli. Qin headed over to Rugrat.

Egbert moved up behind Yuli. She was lying down in a depression as he looked out over a boulder.

A hollow. A trace of sadness went through him as he looked at the hollow, recognizing the necklace and staff in its hands. Fizzleuip.

“It’s a gnome hollow,” Egbert sent to everyone.

“Hollow?” Erik asked.

“A hollow is a creature that has lost their personality but is kept animated through Mana. Fizzleuip was an elemental mage. It looks like when he died, his body was kept alive with the power from the floor. He was sent down here to restore functionality to the lower levels. In the chaos, he must’ve been killed.

“He’s a level twenty-five hollow with lightning attribute. With his different accessories and his staff, his strength isn’t going to be weak,” Egbert said.

Part of him wanted to put Fizzleuip to rest; another part wanted to let him continue wandering on. It felt almost sacrilege to destroy the body of the gnome who had tried to save his people and the dungeon they had created.

“Let’s wait him out,” Erik said.

Fizzleuip continued moving forward, shuffling his feet, stumbling here and there as he dragged his staff. His eyes were hollow, with only lightning flickering inside. His mouth hung open with a silent scream as he shuffled and tripped onward.

Suddenly, the formation that they had been working on fluctuated.

Fizzleuip’s head snapped over. Power gathered around him. As he lifted his staff up, a spell formation appeared above him. A much larger and identical one appeared above the formation. As he slammed his staff downward, a bolt of lightning snaked downward in concert with his staff and slammed into the ground.

The lightning arced and shot through the ground. Rugrat grabbed Qin and threw her into the air as he let out a yell. His hand that was on the ground gave off a burnt smell and smoked before he collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. He locked his jaw down and pulled out a pistol with his other hand.

Storbon was zapped but far enough away that it didn’t leave lasting damage.

Tian Cui dropped to the ground, her entire body tense from the sudden lightning.

Ian, wearing his fully metal armor, yelled through his gritted teeth as the lightning ran through him before the charge ran out and he dropped to the ground, coughing blood.

The others were far enough away from the impact that the lightning had dispersed before touching them.

Egbert looked at Fizzleuip. He slumped, the light in his eyes dimming. A hollow capable of magical attacks was rare, but they were easier to deal with than the fighter types. Hollows attacked anything they saw that wasn’t another hollow and were prone to fly into a rage at the slightest noise. They used all of their power to destroy anything that wasn’t a hollow.

When Fizzleuip used the Lightning Bolt spell, he had drawn on a tremendous amount of Mana, depleting his stores.

Thankfully it wasn’t a group of hollows.

Yuli didn’t wait as she stood up. In front of her staff, a spell formation appeared; water condensed and formed a ball before she gestured forward. A stream of water shot out, but it didn’t have the range, missing Fizzleuip.

Egbert gritted his teeth and moved his hands. Five spell formations circled Fizzleuip. “Activate,” Egbert said.

The spell formations activated, firing out focused beams formed from flames.

Fizzleuip let out a moan and lifted his head before he exploded. Arcs of lightning shot out everywhere.

Egbert cancelled his spell as he and Yuli ducked. Rocks and other debris rained down on them.

“Target is destroyed,” Yuli reported.

“Rugrat is hurt!” Qin yelled out.

Egbert looked over. The girl was in a panic as Rugrat poured healing powder onto his burnt arm and armor and then tossed more into his mouth.

“Get ready to move! Tian Cui, Yuli—check on the body. Rugrat, Ian—talk to me,” Erik said.

He was closest to Ian and threw over a healing spell at Rugrat and worked on Ian.

The wounded were gathered up and treated.

“Nasty fucking burn. Right hand is useless. I’m out till I can get it fixed. I’m self-healing. Good to move.” Rugrat assessed himself quickly as he was healing himself.

“Internal bleeding, I think. All busted up. Hard to move,” Ian said as Erik continued to work on him.

“Storbon!”

“Boss?”

“You’ve got point. Egbert, get us to the next formation!” Erik threw Ian and his armor over his shoulders, healing him as he started moving.

“Shit!” Tian Cui cursed.

Egbert looked over. He could see clearly in the darkness. Green and black energy entered Tian Cui’s body, a formation appearing at the site it entered.

“What is it?” Erik asked.

“I grabbed the staff and I felt like a curse was put on me,” she said, her vision not as good as Egbert’s.

“Curse of Hollows. It takes effect in a week,” Egbert said.

“Okay, not an immediate problem. Just gather the items up in your storage rings. Storbon, Egbert!” Erik called out.

“Let’s go!” Storbon had checked on the other wounded, making sure that they were good to go.

Egbert took the lead as they quickly headed off. He could hear other monsters heading for Fizzleuip and they needed to put distance between them.

The sounds of fighting could be heard just a few minutes after they left the formation. With the power being used, Egbert didn’t doubt that they were all above level twenty.

When they had been hit with the spell, the stealth scrolls had worn off.

After three minutes, Erik called a halt.

Ian was able to stand on his own feet and they all used a second stealth scroll.

They moved to another location clear of beasts before Erik gathered them all in.

“Okay, we need to head back to the teleportation formation and get out of here. We’ll loop around and go for target seven to get out of here. I don’t like how many creatures are around,” Erik said.

They changed their heading and ran off to their new target.

Egbert stopped them as they entered a valley.

Lightning illuminated the valley, showing rocks all over the place. Egbert felt as if the lightning had gone through him as the sound of the lightning reached them.

“It’s a minor golem warren. We need to sneak around,” Egbert said.

There were tens of golems in the valley, all resting.

They backtracked and went around the valley, crossing the hill to one side. All of them stayed low, hating how exposed they were. They made it past the valley and kept moving.

They hid and moved, all of them recovered from their previous injuries except Rugrat, who was still trying to repair his arm and internal injuries.

They made it to the next target formation and settled down, watching the area.

“What did you get from the hollow?” Erik asked after five minutes of nothing showing up.

“I can look at the items and I won’t get affected by Curse of Hollows,” Egbert offered.

“Do it,” Erik said.

Yuli waved her storage ring and the items fell to the ground.

Egbert picked up the different items. There were a number of rings and necklaces but all of them were cursed. Egbert put them to the side as he looked inside Fizzleuip’s storage ring. The ring was cursed as well from being in contact with Fizzleuip for so long, but the contents were unaffected. There were spell scrolls, food, and formation supplies.

Egbert’s eyes lit up as he pulled a metal tome from within the storage ring.

“Fizzleuip was sent to repair the formations in this level and the other levels. He has a book on the different formations,” Egbert explained.

“Qin,” Erik said.

She quickly moved over to Egbert. She looked to be shaken up, seeing people wounded in close proximity. She took the metal tome in shaking hands as she tried to read it.

She pulled out a light, only to have Egbert shove it away. “Wha—?”

“Don’t use light here. It’ll attract more monsters!” Erik snapped.

“S-sorry,” Qin said as she’d acted without thinking.

“Use a sheet, put it over yourself and then use a light underneath to read,” Erik said.

“O-okay,” she said as Egbert pulled out a sheet and put it on her and then put the light-emitting gem inside.

Ten and then twenty minutes passed.

“Qin?” Erik asked.

“It’s filled with information on the formations. There are several different kinds of control formations, so I’m matching them up,” Qin said.

Another twenty minutes passed before she got out from under the sheet.

“I need you to carve a line in here with these symbols around it.” She pointed to the metal book’s sheets. Egbert could easily see what she was pointing at and started to get to work.

Before, she had been working in the dark for the most part; now, with some similar formations written out and notes on them, Qin and Egbert rapidly repaired the formation.

“We’re ready to restart the formation now,” Egbert reported.

“Okay, everyone get ready. We’ve got three more formations between us and the teleportation pad,” Erik said.

They had taken injuries but they were quickly recovering. Although Erik wasn’t as bold to do all of the formations, seeing the levels and abilities of the creatures on the Metal floor, he still wanted to get a few more.

We won’t clear the floor in one go, but with time and patience, we can. Egbert’s thoughts were in line with Erik’s.

Qin restarted the formation. As it started to light up, the party was already on the move away from the formation.

***

Storbon and the others had started to get used to the low light conditions. They moved quickly but watched where they were stepping to make sure they didn’t trip or hit something.

They were running through a depression. Rocks had fallen from overhead, making it hard to run through it in a straight line.

They were getting close to the formation. Up ahead, there was a small rise that obscured the view to where the formation should be.

They slowed their pace and checked their gear.

Storbon looked around at the sides of the large depression.

Erik made to use his sound transmission.

A roar could be heard on both sides of the depression.

“We’ve been discovered!” Setsuko cried out as metal shot out of the ground, creating trees with branches that were as sharp as spear blades.

Storbon reacted without thought and jumped to the side, missing a metal tree that sprouted below him.

Erik, Setsuko, Yuli, and Qin dodged or were missed by the metal manipulation spells.

Beasts that looked like a cross between a hog and rhino appeared on either side of the depression.

Rugrat and Egbert had been caught up by the magic and were freeing themselves.

Tian Cui had been hit in the leg and was smacking on the tree to free herself.

Ian, in his heavy armor and recovering from his injuries, only added to them as he had been hit in the helmet. It saved his life but it was taking him time to get up. He took healing powder and tossed it on the grate of his helmet, trying to get as much into his mouth and nose as his other hand grabbed his sword.

Yao Meng’s armor had taken the hit but his right ankle was in shambles.

The beasts all started to inhale as black and silver magical circles appeared in front of their mouths.

“Move it!” Erik yelled. He glowed with power, the Mana all around him being stirred up. He threw a camelbak tube in his mouth, drinking on a blue solution as he raised both of his hands.

Mana bolts shot out of his hands one after another, landing on the ground in front of the beasts, breaking their concentration and spell as they were hit with the Mana and the shards of metal thrown up by the blasts.

Storbon rushed to help the others. He didn’t have any good long-range attacks.

Yuli waved her staff. A spell formation appeared around the staff before she stabbed it in one direction. A spear of Mana shot out, hitting a creature.

“Using a spell scroll!” Yao Meng called out.

Egbert freed himself. Ian and Storbon helped to free Rugrat, his one arm still giving him problems.

Setsuko was healing and looking after Tian Cui, putting her on her shoulders.

“Three seconds!” Yao Meng called out as the spell scroll was activating.

Erik let out a yell as he continued to fire Mana bolts. The beasts were recovering; the damage wasn’t that much with their tough hides.

Mana gathered around Yuli as she prepared a spell as well.

Egbert gathered up Qin, who was in a state of shock.

Ian let out a yell and Rugrat dropped to the ground.

“Fire Rain!” Yao Meng yelled out.

A red spell formation appeared in the sky, pulling in a truly massive amount of Mana. Fire started to shoot downward; they were just small red flames but there were thousands of them.

The rain fell on the ambushers. They ignored the first ones and readied their spells as Erik cut off his Mana blasts.

“Are we good to move?” Erik asked.

“Yes!” Storbon called out after a moment. Storbon had been watching the situation while Erik had covered them all.

The beasts on either side of the valley started to cry out in pain as the flames continued to fall and hurt them, burning into their hides and leaving lasting damage. There was nowhere for them to go as they were trapped in the area of effect spells.

“Prepare to move!” Erik barked.

The beasts seemed to hear them. They gave up trying to hold the high ground and charged forward. Spells appeared in front of their faces.

We won’t be able to stop them now. Their eyes are filled with madness.

A cornered animal was tens of times more dangerous than one that thought it would win.

“Yuli, get that spell going! Everyone else, move it!” Erik yelled.

Everyone started to move, the wounded being carried or helped along as they rushed out.

The beasts’ spell finally finished. They let out a roar, the magical formation in front of their mouths shooting out metal shards.

Storbon was between boulders and wasn’t hit.

Erik slammed into the ground, hit by the shards.

Storbon moved to help him as he checked on the others.

Qin had been hit as well.

Egbert, who seemed to be unaffected, quickly rushed to her side.

Ian had been tossed sideways. He used his hand to stop his fall. He got up quickly but the way his arm was dangling, it looked to be broken.

Setsuko shielded Tian Cui but wasn’t hit too hard to make her drop Tian Cui or be thrown back.

“Yuli!” Erik yelled through gritted teeth as Storbon pulled him to his feet. Storbon didn’t miss the pained hiss Erik let out.

The beasts were practically on top of her as the top of her staff seemed to detonate.

A wave of Mana shot out. It was powerful enough to divert one of the beasts. Its horns stabbed into the beast beside it, killing it.

Two others were cut down by the wave of Mana, the others suffering massive wounds.

The blast wave hit the beasts but part of it was shot back. In close quarters, it slammed into the drained Yuli.

She was tossed backward and slammed into a rock. She dropped to the ground without any movements.

“I’ve got her!” Storbon yelled out as he rushed forward.

Rugrat was healing Qin and the rest of the party was retreating.

“Spell scroll out! Keep moving!” Erik yelled.

“I can cast four powerful spells but my power comes from the dungeon, so once I use them then there won’t be power from the dungeon core,” Egbert yelled.

“Get one ready. We’ve just become the main attraction on this floor!” Erik barked.

The beasts were now in the depression, making it hard for them to see the party among the rubble.

Storbon picked up Yuli. He threw her over his shoulder, and put a needle in some free skin he saw. He injected it all and ran toward the group, who were rapidly retreating.

One of the beasts showed its head.

Ian stepped forward, his shield up as it let out a metal scream. The shards slammed into his shield but he held on.

Mana glowed around him as he used spells to increase his defense, taxing his wounded body.

Behind him, Rugrat was stabilizing Qin.

Rugrat turned and took a knee. Big Momma appeared in his hands.

Ian stumbled forward as the metal scream ended.

“Ian, drop!” Rugrat yelled.

Ian dropped, even with his injuries.

The beast was just closing its mouth when Rugrat fired.

The round went into its mouth and detonated inside. The beast dropped to the ground, dead.

Erik threw out Ranged Heals toward Ian with his free hand.

“Lightning Descent!” Yuli called out. A spell formation appeared in front of her, glowing pure silver.

The formation shot out in lightning trails. With the Metal attribute floor, the lightning’s strength was amplified as it traveled through the metal floor.

The beasts cried out in pain from the attack.

“Teleport pad. Egbert, have that spell ready. Qin situation?” Erik called out through the chaos.

“Stable but bad,” Rugrat yelled out. He grabbed the girl, putting her over his shoulder. The hand holding her continued to glow with healing spells as he ran with the rest of the party.

They weren’t trying to hide now as they rushed toward the teleportation pad.

All around them, they could only hear the noises of the beasts that had come to join in on the fight.

A creature broke out of the ground, sending Storbon flying.

He used his body to protect Yuli but his head slammed against the ground as he skidded forward.

Yao Meng, who was limping forward, dumped healing powder on his face and took Yuli.

“Move your fucking ass, Storbon!”

Out of reaction more than thought, Storbon picked himself up and moved forward, feeling punch-drunk: his vision swam and his brain felt as if it were too big for his skull.

He saw a flash of lightning and pain ripped through his head.

***

Erik glanced around him. They had exited the depression and were running full out for the teleportation pad.

Beasts appeared out of the ground or came cresting over hills. Only a few of them, thankfully, had ranged attacks.

Most of them went wide, but some of them didn’t.

Their party was either wounded or helping out the wounded as they ran.

Even in their condition, they were firing out spells, using spell scrolls, crossbows, and ranged weaponry to keep the beasts at bay.

We won’t get to the teleport pad with just that.

“How long will it take for you to activate your largest area of effect spell, Egbert?” Erik asked.

“Forty seconds to a minute and a half,” Egbert said.

Erik glanced around. “It better be close to forty seconds! Start casting,” Erik bit off as he fired a string of Mana bolts at a fast-moving beast. The attacks landed around it, throwing off its straight shot toward the party. But it was still closing, and there were more like it.

The party was running faster than sports cars and the teleportation array was so close, but Erik knew it was going to be tight.

Their rate of attacks picked up as the creatures got closer. A few of them were killed but they were in the minority.

“Ten seconds!” Egbert yelled out.

Erik rushed forward and sent out a fist, smashing it into the face of one of the beasts. Its face deformed as it was pushed to the side. A tombstone appeared above it before it landed.

Erik jumped forward. Using the strength in his legs, he was like a missile as he kicked another aiming for Setsuko and Tian Cui.

The wind was stirred up, creating white streams around his foot as it kicked the creature’s back, breaking its metal bones and sending it flying back. He had surpassed humanity’s limits and the limits of strength on Earth long ago; his hands and fists had more strength than sledgehammers from back on Earth.

“Cleansing Light!” Egbert yelled out.

Mana streamed from Egbert, spinning around to create a white ball of light that seemed to be made up of spell formations so powerful that they were white. One couldn’t even see through them all.

The Mana stopped pouring out of Egbert. The world seemed to go silent as a pressure wave of air shot out from around the running party. Beasts that didn’t have a good footing were tossed back.

The ball of light shot up and exploded. A wave of white light shot out.

Erik felt as if his entire existence had been raised to a new level.

==========

Blessed by the Cleansing Light. Attributes strength increases by 10%

==========

The wave of white light slammed into the beasts as the party, now buffed by the spell, ran even faster toward the teleportation pad.

Notifications started to stream in but none of them paid attention.

***

Blaze was looking at the teleportation pad. In total, there were about thirty people with him: those from the military, medics, and Alchemy.

They’ve been gone for a few hours now, which is either really good, or not. Blaze couldn’t help but frown as he looked at the formation pad and let out a sigh.

“The power from the dungeon core, it’s being consumed,” someone yelled out.

Blaze looked to the dungeon core. Power was descending into it but it wasn’t coming out into the floor.

The power used wasn’t a small amount either.

I have a bad feeling about this.

“The formation is activating!” someone said as power from the dungeon core once again shot toward the teleportation pad just twenty or thirty seconds after the power was drained from the dungeon core.

“Stand to!” Blaze called out. The fortifications that had been assembled were quickly filled as everyone focused on the formation.

A blinding light filled the formation before disappearing.

“Medics!” Egbert yelled out.

What greeted Blaze’s eyes made his stomach drop.

The party was all there, but their armor was scarred and cut up, broken in places. They were covered in blood and healing powder.

Yuli and Qin were unconscious.

Others dropped to the ground, fatigued and in pain.

The medics and alchemists ran forward to check on the party. Stretchers were pulled out as people were hauled over to the hospital.

Storbon trudged forward awkwardly on his foot, wincing in pain.

Blaze went to greet him. Rugrat and Erik were already moving with the wounded toward the hospital.

Both of them looked to be in bad condition. Rugrat’s arm looked burnt and his armor was melted in places.

Erik’s left arm dangled from the side as he shuffle-jumped to move, clearly something broken inside of him.

“Creatures from level eighteen up to level thirty or forty. I don’t know. They had a fucking ambush and everything came for us.” Storbon took off his helmet and slammed it against the ground, his face covered in metal dust and sweat.

“You all made it back—that’s the main point.” Blaze grabbed him and looked into his eyes.

Storbon straightened up, seeing his old commanding officer looking at him.

“Yes, sir,” Storbon said, gathering himself.

“Get over to the hospital and check on them,” Blaze said.

Storbon nodded. He let out a charged breath and snatched up his helmet, storing it as he headed for the hospital.

Shit. Blaze could only look at the stretchers as the broken members of the party were hauled away.

Chapter: Path of Strength

The faces around the table were grim.

Everyone who had gone down to the Metal floor had been allowed to leave the hospital or was resting, their injuries taken care of.

With all of the medics and alchemists, their skills had been put on display.

Erik had been coordinating, taking on the worst wounded, but with five medics using healing spells and an alchemist giving the patient different solutions, they were able to quickly stabilize and get people back on their feet.

Erik and Rugrat had called a meeting. They were still wearing parts of their armor as they worked together to explain everything that had happened on the Metal floor since they had left.

Egbert leaned forward. Everyone turned to him. After hearing about the Cleansing Light spell, they realized the power that Egbert held. He might be powered by the dungeon but at the same time, the dungeon’s power stores, if they were allowed to grow, weren’t anything simple.

“In the center, I could feel a powerful presence. It must be the current king of the Metal floor as it stood on top of the main metal mountain. Its body must have reached Body Like Iron in order to withstand the impacts and power of those lightning strikes.

“I think that it would be at least level forty. I have been using the control formations on the Metal floor to investigate. The creatures around the metal mountain that fight for position are in the late level thirties. I would not suggest that we head to that floor again until we have a large number of level forty combatants,” Egbert said. His words landed in silence.

“Thankfully no one was too badly injured or worse,” Elise said. “Blaze, Rugrat, Erik, Glosil—what is the plan to move forward?”

They looked to one another before Rugrat cleared his throat.

“First, we look at the floor through the different control formations that are working.” Rugrat looked to Egbert.

“The control formations that were reactivated have allowed us a greater understanding of what is happening. We were targeting the control formations that allowed us to see what is happening on the floor so we can see about seventy percent of the floor, though only about sixty-three percent of the floor is in any kind of clarity and fifty percent we can see completely,” Egbert said.

Rugrat continued on with his plan. “Once we’ve got the control formations, we can map out the entirety of the floor. More teams will go in afterward to repair formations. We sneak in and out, get a better picture slowly. At the same time, we need to grow our strength, allow the teams here access to the Second Realm. Allow the special teams to venture to the Second and Third Realm, with the goal of upgrading their abilities, gathering information, and capturing dungeon cores.

“Before we left, a third special team was formed from Niemm’s party. Nearly all of his people made it in and we have some extras. In the next round of training, we will look to build a fourth team if possible. We need to get stronger and the fastest way is by going up against higher-level opponents. This is only the first floor we’ve tried entering. We only have a slim understanding of what’s on the other floors,” Rugrat said.

“When will you head out?” Elise asked Erik and Rugrat directly.

“We need a week or so,” Erik said.

***

Erik sat down in his room at the mansion, opening his notifications from the fight.

==========

Skill: Hand-to-Hand

==========

Level: 43 (Apprentice)

==========

Attacks cost 20% less Stamina

==========

==========

Skill: Marksman

==========

Level: 48 (Apprentice)

==========

Long-range weapons are familiar in your hands. When aiming, you can zoom in x2.0.

==========

==========

Skill: Healer

==========

Level: 53 (Journeyman)

==========

You have become familiar with the body and the arts of repairing it. Healing spells now cost 5% less Mana and Stamina.

==========

==========

Upon advancing into the Journeyman level of Healer, you will be rewarded with one randomly selected item related to this skill.

==========

You have received the spell scroll: Hallowed Ground

+100,000 EXP

==========

Erik moved to open the spell scroll and used it.

==========

You have learned the spell: Hallowed Ground. Your spell book has been updated.

==========

==========

Hallowed Ground I

==========

Journeyman

==========

A spell created by a religious sect, when cast, a three-meter area around the caster will burn with brilliant flames. These blessed flames will burn those who were enemies and stepped inside, but to allies, it would heal their wounds and wash away their fatigue. (3 meter radius—can be expanded)

==========

Consumption of Mana based on area and effect. 175 Mana for 3 meter radius (+125 Mana for each additional meter)

==========

Erik assessed the skill. When working with others or taking on a large amount of enemy forces, it would be useful.

“Or if I could pull an enemy into the spell’s range, and hold them there, they’d bleed away Health rapidly. I should see if I can increase the healing and damage output.” He looked to the next notifications.

==========

You have reached Level 25

==========

When you sleep next, you will be able to increase your attributes by: 10 points.

==========

==========

53,430/700,000 EXP till you reach Level 26

==========

“If I got this amount of Experience at my level, the members of the special team and Qin must have power leveled hard. I hope Qin is okay. Either she’ll get through it, or not.”

He shook his head and laid down, drinking more of the tea.

“My Mana pool is only at one hundred and ninety. If I cast Hallowed Ground, then I can only cast one three meters big and I would only have twenty-five Mana remaining. It would take me seven seconds to recover the Mana I need to increase the area of effect by a meter, or increase the damage or healing output. I’m going to need to increase my Mana pool, but I don’t want my Agility or Strength to fall behind. If I do three to Strength, three to Agility and then four to Mana pool, that would cut down the second time I can increase the Hallowed Ground, going from seven to around three seconds. Cast couple of hits, second cast.” Erik took his last drink from the tea, thinking of ways to fight with the new spell as he started to drift off to sleep.

==========

You have 10 attribute points to use.

==========

Erik quickly input the attribute points, checking his character sheet.

==========

Character Sheet

==========

Name: Erik West

==========

Level: 25

==========

Race: Human

==========

Titles:

From the Grave II

Mana Lord

Dungeon Master II

Reverse Alchemist

Poison Body

==========

Strength: (Base 26) +31

==========

570

==========

Agility: (Base 19) +32

==========

255

==========

Stamina: (Base 29) +9

==========

570

==========

Mana: (Base 6) +17

==========

230

==========

Mana Regeneration (Base 10) +36

14.80/s

==========

Stamina Regeneration: (Base 27) +31

12.60/s

==========

***

“Egbert, I have a question for you.” Rugrat walked up to Egbert, who was sitting behind the librarian’s desk.

“Go ahead,” Egbert said.

“That trial grounds that was used that was filled with different kind of beasts—what was that?” Rugrat asked.

Egbert let out a sigh. “It was a battlefield dungeon.”

Rugrat lifted his brow, looking for more information.

“Most people think that the Ten Realms are just places with rules. This is true, but the Ten Realms rules and the way they work seem to be based upon progression. One must constantly progress or they will be eliminated, their power returning to the Ten Realms. The floors that are part of Alva Dungeon have all been blocked off, not allowing them to become part of the Ten Realms. It is only when these creatures die that their Experience is bled over to the Ten Realms and returned.

“The dungeons are meant to be places where energy is returned to the Ten Realms—Mana, Experience, and so on. A dungeon that offers strong trials and stronger opponents will return more power to the Ten Realms. For this, the Ten Realms will reward the dungeon and they will reward one’s progress in a dungeon. With the battlefield dungeon, one can kill creatures of different levels. The more creatures they kill, the more Experience that they receive and the greater the reward they will be given by the Ten Realms. The dungeon masters simply create a stage, supply the monsters, supply the building, and activated a dungeon core. The Ten Realms will then come into an agreement with the dungeon and randomly select loot to be dropped in the dungeons and from the different trials. With the battlefield, Alva Dungeon was able to gain more Mana and kill off some of the monsters below. It also had a secondary questline that you and Erik passed through.”

“So all dungeons are made by people and by having people pass trials, then they can regain their losses and get a reward from the Ten Realms?” Rugrat asked.

“Partly. There are very few dungeons that are actually controlled by people. This is because of the dungeon core. Getting one is incredibly difficult. First, you need a Dungeon Master or Dungeon Hunter title in order to defeat another dungeon. Otherwise, you can only get the rewards given out and that would be the end of it. The other way is to find a naturally occurring dungeon core that hasn’t turned into a dungeon yet. Dungeon cores have another name.” Egbert’s voice turned grave. “Mana seeds. They are crystals that are found in high concentrations of Mana. Usually within intersecting Mana ley lines. They grow by consuming the impurities of the Mana. At times, part of them will break off and shoot through the ley lines before they are lodged in at some location. The dungeon core purifies and strengthens the Mana around it, drawing in creatures and people as it alters the habitat around it, creating different kinds of dungeons. One can only claim a Mana seed before it has taken root and become a dungeon core, or when they are forming at a convergence of ley lines.”

***

“That’s...well, damn, that’s not easy,” Rugrat said.

Egbert sat there, waiting for Rugrat to collect his thoughts.

“What about that dungeon? Can we still access it?”

“It is actually a subset of Alva Dungeon but it isn’t powered right now. There are a number of teleportation spells and the like. The reason that there were so many tokens issued was simply to bring in more people. The more people who entered the dungeon, the more beasts they would kill or die and in return, the greater amount of power that the dungeon would be rewarded with,” Egbert said. “What are you thinking?”

“I’m thinking that it’s a pretty good training ground for our people. We’ve got powerful beasts right below us. Through fighting them, we can increase our coordination and our strength,” Rugrat said.

Egbert paused before nodding. “I could make some changes, limiting the power needed. I could just operate one arena and allow the monsters to spawn in there. I can set the parameters but I can’t do much more. If there is too much interference, then the Ten Realms will cast down the dungeon, destroying it and the people within.”

“So we can make it, but we won’t be able to control it. That’ll increase the difficulty. As long as there is a way to retreat, then it is possible to do it,” Rugrat muttered.

“It would take nine days for the dungeon core to get enough power to start up one of the arenas. Or it would be three Mortal-grade Mana stones or the equivalent in monster cores,” Egbert said.

“If someone wants to compete in the trial, then they will have to put that up for collateral. If they do well, then we can gain rewards for the dungeon as a whole and they gain items that would be useful to them. If they fail, they can abort and pull back. With medics and alchemists on hand, it should allow them to recover quickly. Though many will push forward more. The better they do, the greater the rewards. If they reach certain levels and we get enough back for the dungeon based on the Ten Realms trophy, we can allow them tokens to enter the trial grounds again,” Rugrat said.

“The chances of death will be high,” Egbert said.

“We can do what we can to mitigate that. But at the end of the day, all of our people have been in real fights, with few of them giving them the option to retreat or pull back. The lure of rewards will push them forward but their combat experience should be enough for them to pull back before they get into a bad situation.” Rugrat didn’t like the risks, but they could mitigate them to some degree.

“I will look into getting that prepared,” Egbert said.

“What about the other arenas? Can we break them down?” Rugrat asked.

“Certainly, though I would leave some of them active. They’re connected to the different floors. If we need to, we can use them to enter the different floors instead of just relying on the main teleportation formation. I built them with this purpose in mind.”

“I have to say that I’m impressed. It’s one hell of a plan and it worked well, allowing the dungeon to run much longer, cut down on the population of monsters, and give us secondary entrances into the different floors,” Rugrat said.

“I was simply looking to make sure that the dungeon could be recovered,” Egbert said.

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?”

“Well, to use them requires power. To break them down requires power. We didn’t have much of it and our people were too low of a level. I didn’t want to see anyone getting hurt. Also, no one has asked me, which isn’t odd as only you and Erik were ever part of the trials.”

“I’ll let Glosil and Blaze know, and it will be up to them what happens with it,” Rugrat said.

“Understood.” Egbert bowed his head slightly as Rugrat turned and left the library.

***

Erik looked up from what he was working on as there was a knock at the door. “Come in.”

The door opened to show Jen from the hospital as she opened the door. “Mister West?” She seemed confused about being asked to come to his office.

“Please, have a seat.” Erik stood and came around to the front of his desk.

She took a seat and looked at him with clear questions.

“I am intending to head to the Third Realm in some time. With this, the hospital, medics, and alchemists will not have someone to lead them in an official capacity. I want to make you the leader of the medics. You would be in a teaching role, so it would be your job to make sure that everyone is advancing their skill and look for new ways to pursue progress. You would also take on an assistant, who would be in charge of all of the administration needs of the hospital. Elise will have a list of people for you to look at. It is also my aim to make Fehim the department head of the alchemists,” Erik said, putting all of his cards down on the table.

Jen frowned and nodded. She had been expecting this to a certain extent, it seemed.

“Don’t worry. It’s not all bad. You’ll be able to use more resources and not have to pay for them. Also, you can use those resources to advance your own knowledge of medical studies.”

Jen seemed to brighten up at this.

“Taran is the principal of the academy and the smithy’s department head, but you don’t see him falling behind in his level. You will also get a larger remuneration from the government for your time and gain a percentage of the money made by what the people in your department sell.”

Erik wanted to offer the best rewards to those who were the best in their field so that they would strive for the position of department head. He hoped it would make people more competitive with one another, increasing the level of everyone in the department.

“Okay, I’ll do it,” Jen agreed.

***

Glosil and Blaze were both looking at each other and then Rugrat as he finished relaying the information about the secondary dungeon.

“So there’s a second dungeon that basically acts as a trial area where people can go in, fight beasts of their level or higher from the different levels of Alva Dungeon. We get power the more creatures that they kill and they can get rewards from the Ten Realms. Do we have a name for it other than ‘the other dungeon’?” Blaze asked.

“Battlefield Trial,” Rugrat said.

“How much power would one need to provide in order to use it?”

“One Mortal-grade Mana stone would be for the best, or the equivalent of monster cores,” Rugrat said.

“So a thousand gold a shot.” Blaze let out a deep breath and shrugged. “Well, there is only one group in Alva Dungeon that is capable of raising that kind of capital other than you and Erik. The hunting grounds of the Beast Mountain Range are being depleted with our actions. This will give people a new test that they can use to test out their skills in real combat and I know that Special Team One will be the first ones to try it out. The potential experience they could gain alone—if they do it well and they don’t try to push harder than they can go, never mind the rewards from the Ten Realms—they can start clearing out the lower levels before we get to them.

“Also, if it’s like the trial that you and Erik went through, then there is no penalty if someone just waits in the resting area. They can recuperate there, then move in to fight the next creature, allowing them to economically move forward. Then, when in trouble, they can use their medallions to escape. There is a margin of threat—hell, people could die in there—but it would be up to them if they want to take on the trial. I think it should be something that the combat school take over. We can offer positions to people who do well as a reward for their progress and use it to level up our people who have hit bottlenecks in their overall level. It would be expensive, but if someone has the Mana stones, they could simply fight the lower leveled creatures repeatedly, gaining strength to take on the stronger ones. How many people can take on the trial at once?”

“About one hundred and thirty different trials are set up, but Egbert will only be operating one of them at this time. If we have more power, then it would be okay to spend that kind of power to increase our fighting forces’ strength,” Rugrat said.

“There is one thing that we’re not looking at.” Blaze held his chin and looked at the other two. “This trial has been going on for years. You and Erik happened to come across people coming from the Second Realm to partake in the trial. There are a few months from now until the time of the contest is up again. Will they come again to try out the battlefield trial? What do we do if they come? If it’s not active, then will they leave or will they try to find out what is wrong and start searching the area?”

“That—I didn’t think of that,” Rugrat said, sinking into thought as well.

“We have two options: let the trial go ahead, or don’t. If we have the trial go ahead, they are already paying to activate it. Then we just gain power from them taking on the trial, they get their rewards and we go our separate ways. If we don’t, then they might start looking around,” Glosil said.

“Looks like we’re going to have to let the trial run either way,” Blaze said.

Glosil let out a reluctant noise of agreement. They didn’t like the situation but it didn’t have many negatives to them.

“We can use the trial to our advantage. Egbert runs the trial; he can see what is going on—so could Erik and I if we wanted to. There are one hundred and thirty medallions, but there were only eighty given out at the end of the last trial. That means we have fifty medallions. If we were to give those to people in the First, or the Second Realm, give them a chance at the trial, we could bring more people to the trial, see what their combat capabilities are. If they’re good and they’re decent people, we might look at recruiting them into Alva,” Rugrat said.

“Like the trials that you and Erik want to create in the higher realm dungeons?” Blaze asked.

“Right.”

“I think we’ve got our answer,” Glosil said.

Chapter: Compressing Mana Core

Rugrat opened his eyes as he let out a deep breath.

"I think I'm ready to try and open my last mana gate," Rugrat said.

Erik looked up from the page he was writing on, trying to put down everything he had learned in the second realm for the people of Alva Dungeon to learn from.

"Core compression,"

"Yeah, I've compressed five drops of mana, now I need to bring them in to one another, combine them together and form my core, opening my last mana gate and allowing me to go through mana rebirth," Rugrat said.

"It's not going to be that simple," Erik said.

"I didn't think that it would, but if I have your help, the mana regeneration powder used on my mana gates directly, then I think that it should be possible," Rugrat said.

"I don't want you to rush into anything," Erik said.

"Rush into anything, I actually believed the Marine Recruiter," Rugrat grinned.

"Still, if this backfires then I'm not sure what is going to happen," Erik said. "I'd feel more confident if you had some more levels on you to increase your mana pool."

"Well the only place that we're going to get that kind of experience is if we go back down to the metal floor or when we go to the third realm. The realms aren't safe, yes it's a risk, but its a risk I'm willing to make to increase my fighting strength," Rugrat said.

Erik leaned back in his chair as Rugrat smiled, he knew that he had got him now.

"Okay, it will take time to get the different items together and I'll have a few assistants in case anything goes wrong and to learn if it goes right."

"Say in two days?" Rugrat asked.

"What's the rush?"

"We've been cooped up here for weeks, doing meetings on what about the future of Alva, but to have that future we need more things from the higher realms. I know that you want to go to the third realm about as bad as kids want Christmas morning to come around. Alchemist Garden sounds like it'd be pretty useful!"

"Damn you’re a pain in the ass, okay, we'll do it in two days, but only if we have everything ready," Erik wrote down a list of different items and held it out to Rugrat.

"Go to the alchemists and the healers to see if they can get all of this for you. I'm going to keep on working on this report," Erik said.

"Never thought that you would make your own life so boring," Rugrat grimaced as he got up and took the letter from Erik's hand which had turned into a one finger salute.

***

Rugrat had gathered all the materials that Erik had asked for. Erik had checked them and got a staff together leading to them being in one of the hospital's private rooms with a mana gathering formation placed on the floor.

"Okay, sit on the mana gathering formation. We're going to hook you up to an IV of mana regeneration solution, then we're going to have another IV with the same solution with the needles at each of your mana gates. I will also have mana regeneration IV in me as I compress my mana, pour it into the mana gates located in your shoulders. You'll have to focus on condensing all of that mana and guiding it into your dantain, forcing your mana drops together to create a compressed mana core," Erik made sure to highlight the steps to remind everyone in the room and get Rugrat focused.

"Okay so just focus on creating a core, got it," Rugrat nodded as one of the healers was cleaning his arm at the site of the IV and another was tracing out the mana gates putting wraith's touch on the different locations.

With the testing Erik had been able to asses not only everyone's skill level but their potential, if they were in the department because it was something to do, or if they had a real passion for it and drive to learn more.

These three he'd picked out because of their drive to learn and do more.

The healers started to insert the different IV's hooking Erik and Rugrat up.

Erik checked their work as he stood behind Rugrat who was sitting cross legged on top of the mana gathering formation, an array of needles sticking out of his mana gates.

Rugrat was already focusing the mana around him seemed to move in concert with his breathing, being drawn in as his mana channels and he expanded, blue lines traced up and down his skin as the others around him found it hard to draw any mana in from the surrounding area.

Erik used organic scan on Rugrat, seeing everything in real time.

He too started to compress his mana.

"Start the drips," He said to the alchemist.

They nodded and opened the Iv's the solutions flowed down and into Erik and Rugrat.

Rugrat was using the large amount of mana in his system to force the five drops inside his dantain towards one another.

They shook, fighting him before finally it started making headway, the amount of mana channeled into his body increasing as his mana gates started glowing.

Erik checked his hand placement, connecting the gates in his hands to the ones in Rugrat's shoulders.

Rugrat's mana system was focused on the singular object of compressing his mana drops into a core.

Erik's compressed mana entered through his gates, increasing the mana density. It seemed like the push that the mana drops needed as they moved forwards, it was hard to see that they'd even moved, but they didn't stop, just slowly converging. Rugrat let out a grunt as he kept on pushing, his mana channels increasing in size, quickly reaching their limits.

Rugrat’s dantain started to light up as the mana drops got closer to one another.

Then it happened, one drop met with another, as soon as they touched they collapsed into one another, creating a larger drop and releasing a torrent of energy that rushed through Rugrat's body.

Rugrat had sweat on his forehead as he took a few ragged breaths, getting everything back under control.

“Next!”

He once again started to exert control over his mana system, pushing a third mana drop towards the two combined drops.

It was like trying to force magnets of the same polarization together, but once you got them to touch, then the magnet would only get larger and stronger, making it harder to push another magnet closer.

The closer Rugrat pushed the drop, the slower it moved. Rugrat grunted, forcing it forwards, it pushed back against him.

He gritted his teeth the muscles across his body bulging out as his veins stretched his skin, his mana systems, stretched to their limit.

The stubborn southern boy did it. It wasn’t delicate, or graceful as the drop was bashed forwards. It advanced, but it didn’t go backwards, shaking as it got closer to the two compressed mana drops.

There was no give, there was no retreat. The marines forgot how to do that a long time ago.

Erik could only support Rugrat completely, pouring out his compressed mana.

“Get in there!” Rugrat yelled, his face red as the veins on his neck popped out.

With the fear of the marine corps and a drill sergeant imbued in it, the drop touched the other two mana drops.

A surge of power tens of times more powerful than the first one rushed through Rugrat’s mana channels that were stretched to the maximum.

The mana being pushed into his body and the mana rushing out of his dantian clashed against one another, pushing Rugrat’s mana channels wider and surpassing their limits.

"Ready on healing spells and potions!" Erik yelled. The others looked alarmed but readied themselves, the alchemist checking another IV that was ready but not being used.

The healers rubbing their hands as their mana circulated in their bodies ready to cast their healing spells.

Rugrat let out a cough of blood as he tried to retain control and was only making it worse as his dantain was ruptured.

"Rugrat you stupid sounva bitch push it down!" Erik yelled as he pulled his mana out of Rugrat's body.

"I have this!" Rugrat said as his kidney was destroyed and Rugrat let out a yell, releasing his control as he couldn't handle the pain.

Rugrat screamed out as he tried to regain control as his mana channels were being destroyed from the inside. Blood started to stain his clothes.

Erik grit his teeth as he poured mana into Rugrat’s body, supporting him now.

His mana slammed into the mana built up in Rugrat's body.

He was forcing the mana into Rugrat’s dantain, the large new three drop core was pulling the energy in but Rugrat’s mana channels couldn’t hold the strain as they were breaking, leaking mana into the rest of his body, destroying and killing the surrounding tissues.

“Watch forwards!” Erik yelled as he got a new and dangerous idea.

He needed to release this pressure!

Erik had compressed his mana as if a piercing round, creating a channel out of Rugrat’s stomach.

Mana shot out of Rugrat’s body, the pressure quickly falling as the mana in the surrounding area rapidly increased.

With the pressure dealt with now Rugrat was just injured, critically so.

"Healing spells healing solution!" Erik yelled as the mana was now draining out of Rugrat's broken body.

The healers piled on spells as Rugrat was screaming out in pain.

Erik poured in heals as well, Rugrat passed out from the pain as his body was rapidly being repaired.

"Stamina regeneration powder!" Erik called out as Rugrat had lost a lot of blood his stomach blown outwards. His body mass was shrinking as the healing spells accelerated his natural healing.

The alchemist pulled out the powder, nearly missing Erik's hand.

"Pull yourself together!" Erik yelled as he ripped open the cloth packet and poured it on the wounds, with the stamina regeneration it would help fuel the healing spells.

"I need blood," Erik said.

The alchemist checked through his rings before pulling out a blood bag, changing it with the mana regeneration bag.

"Hold on the heals," Erik said as the other two stopped healing. Erik used focus heal on Rugrat's organs, repairing them and the cardiovascular system first, a large hole still in Rugrat’s lower body.

Erik laid him down and moved around on the floor to his side now he was stabilized.

It wasn't ideal, but his organs and the bleeding were killing him, having an open stomach might look bad but it wouldn't lead to him dying.

Erik sat back on his ankles as he wiped his face.

"Okay he's stable, we need to watch him, once he has more stamina then we can look into healing his mana channels and then seal him back up. Things to keep him alive and speed the recovery first, everything else comes second," Erik looked at the staff he had picked, they'd done well but they were covered in blood and looked to be in different states, one of the medics seemed to be okay, the other was visibly shaken, the alchemist couldn't look down at Rugrat and his wounds.

Shit, just what have you done? Erik thought as he looked at Rugrat, using his simple organic scan to look at Rugrat's mana channels and see the full extent of the damage.

***

Rugrat woke up feeling like a pile of ass.

Erik stood up from the chair he'd been sitting in.

"What happened?" Rugrat asked.

"You've been out for a couple of days. I shot mana through your body, hitting the mana that was rushing up near your organs, they collided, and it was like a bomb went off in your stomach. Healed up your organs, put you back together, but your mana channels are in a bad way. You combined three of the drops together, leaving two more to be compressed together, but your mana channels are stressed and not in a way that can be simply healed. It looks like there was a Sequela left behind, basically a condition left behind from blowing up your mana channels. All kinds of crap are in your mana channels and you need to clean it out. Also, if you use too much mana then its possible they could burst. Think of it like they've lost their elasticity, like a rubber band been left out in the sun too long," Erik said. holding nothing back.

"Is there a way to fix it?" Rugrat asked.

"I'm not sure. There probably is but I don't know what it would be. I need to find out more. Maybe I can make a concoction to help, or maybe if we find a way to compress the other two mana drops you could go through a mana rebirth and your mana channels would be fixed. I'm not sure what happens in a mana rebirth and I asked Egbert about it. It's rare, something only talked about in legend, but someone is more in touch with the mana around them. I don't know what that means or if you go through a rebirth that with your mana channels the way they are you might explode.” Rugrat fell silent, looking at his hands touching his stomach. He'd been so determined but if Erik hadn't stopped him he might be dead.

"Fuck."

Erik pressed his lips together and slapped Rugrat's shoulder, squeezing it to reassure him.

"Well fix this," Erik promised.

Rugrat looked up into Erik's eyes seeing the determination there, it was nice knowing that he wouldn't be walking this path alone.

He hung his head, unable to see that pity that also lay in Erik's eyes.

"Thanks."

"We're brothers, I'll always have your back, just next time, listen to me," Erik said, his voice firmer.

"Will do," Rugrat said.

Erik smacked his shoulder a few more times.

'"Let’s see how you are for walking, need to get you over to the cookhouse get some food in you to bolster your stamina regeneration."

Chapter: Third Realm Awaits

The week went quickly. People heard about what had happened on the Metal floor but they continued to go about their day. Some people made plans to head to the Second Realm. Parties were organized to go and use the teleportation points across the First Realm near to big hubs.

Storbon and his people got settled into the academy.

The third special team would be deployed in another two months, after one-on-one lessons from Special Team One.

Although there looked to be a monster in the basement and a few people were a bit freaked out, the simple fact was that they controlled the entrance and nothing was coming out of the basement unless they left the door open.

Erik and Rugrat worked to make everything that they would need for their trip. Rugrat made rounds and grenades. Erik made gunpowder, explosives, and healing, Mana, and Stamina restoration concoctions, as well as poison that could be used on their weapons.

Erik and Rugrat left with little fanfare. Alva Dungeon was growing all by itself. They might be the ones who owned the dungeon but that didn’t mean they wanted to remain in the dungeon for the rest of their life.

Erik and Rugrat were once again walking through the forest of the Beast Mountain Range as Erik repeated something that had been on his mind.

“The foundation tempered, the soul grounded, mind forged, bones reformed, muscles that flow and blood with the power of the realms,” Erik said slowly, a thoughtful look on his face.

“What are you talking about? You trying to take up smithing as well?” Rugrat asked as they walked.

“Hmm? No. I’ve reached a bottleneck with my Body Cultivation. I have Body Like Stone and I was able to improve on it, but I can’t reach Body Like Iron.” Erik sighed.

“Well, tempering with smithing can mean heating the metal up and then letting it cool. It reduces the brittle aspect of the metal, increasing its strength. Grounded? Well, I don’t know what you’re going to do, crush yourself? Well, you can work metal—maybe you need to manipulate your body with some kind of tool?” Rugrat let out a laugh and looked back over to Erik, who was frozen in the forest.

“That’s it!” Erik quickly pulled out some notes before pulling out a page with five different circles.

“Fire, Earth, Metal, Water, and Wood! The next stages correlate with tempering my body with the different elements of the Ten Realms.”

“How the hell do you do that?” Rugrat asked.

“Well, I’m guessing that I use heat for the first.” Erik winced. “I’m not so sure about the others.”

“Well, glad it’s you and not me. Maybe, you know, you could use pills or concoctions to help you. Jumping into a pool of lava probably isn’t the best bet.”

“Yeah.” Erik let out a heavy breath. It seemed that he was more agreeing to his future than the actions he would take.

“Come on. We’ve got awhile to go before we reach Chonglu,” Rugrat said.

***

“Two hundred contribution points in just four short months,” the elder said with some praise as he looked at the young man in front of him.

“It was only through the lessons of the Willful Institute I was able to increase my ability.” The man bowed.

There was a bloody air around him. Although his face was young, there was a hardness to his eyes.

Many would be fawning over the elder, but this young man had been in too many fights to be scared or in awe of the man in front of him anymore.

Domonos Silaz had worked tirelessly to increase his personal value.

Once he had reached the institute, others, hearing that he was a moneybags, started to try to get more items from him.

The elders who he had passed gifts to turned a blind eye. He was just someone from the First Realm, while the others were from the Second Realm. Their starting point was already much higher and they had greater connections. He had borne it and worked tirelessly.

In the end, all that mattered was one’s personal strength.

“Very well. You have reached the required level. You will lose all of your academic credits but you can ascend to the next realm and continue to grow within the Willful Institute’s headquarters,” the elder said after a few moments.

“Thank you, Elder Hui.” Domonos bowed to the man again.

“Go and prepare your items and take this time to say good-bye to your peers.”

Peers? More like penny-pinching jackals who prefer to pick on others, taking on the title of talented genius for their past exploits and the level that they attained before they came to the sect.

“Yes, Elder.” None of Domonos’s inner thoughts showed on his face as he bowed and then quickly left the elder’s office.

***

“Why don’t you smile some? I can show you a good time.” A drunk man made to grab Roska’s backside, only to be turned around. A blade slammed into his hand, pinning him to the bar.

Her finger pressed against the man’s neck, a spell formation on the end of her finger.

The man screamed out in pain as he looked at her in fear. He wanted to pull the blade out, but also paid attention to the spell ready and active at his neck.

She looked around the bar. Others who had been sending her lecherous looks turned back to what they were doing.

She ripped the blade out of the man’s hand and kicked him to the side. “Seems that this isn’t my kind of bar,” Roska said.

She headed out of the bar and used her sound transmission device without any outward actions. “I kicked the hornets’ nest,” she said to the others.

“A knife to the hand would piss off anyone,” Han Wu said.

“Sorry, who just said that? Was it ‘Blow Me Up Wu’?” Yang Zan asked.

“Oh, come on, Doc,” Han Wu complained.

“If you weren’t such a good Experience pot having to put back together, I don’t know what I would do with you. Maybe just sit there and ask why you suck so hard.”

“Just a few minor calculation errors,” Han Wu said.

“I can’t believe that you’ve been able to temper your skin and muscles by blowing yourself up,” Yang Zan said, sounding defeated.

“Quiet.” Roska’s one word brought silence to the channel.

“One handsy little criminal ran to the boss man,” Tully said in a singsong voice.

“I’m tailing him,” Imani said.

“All right, everyone get ready. If we can get the slave trader, then it’ll help us with the trader’s association,” Roska said, focusing everyone’s minds.

The Second Realm wasn’t easy, but with the reports and ideas on how to get a reputation and different jobs, Roska and Special Team Two were already establishing a reputation in the imperial city of Triv.

***

Erik and Rugrat moved through Chonglu once again. They had gotten better at hiding their levels, so the guards simply took their gold and let them pass.

They wandered through the city, waiting for darkness before they headed for the totem.

Even with everything, Erik was excited to be heading to the Third Realm. Yes, he had been thoroughly clobbered in the Metal floor. If he let that defeat him, he wouldn’t have made it so long in the military.

They came back, partly completed their mission, and no one was left with lasting injuries.

So instead of focusing on that, he looked toward the totem as they ascended the steps.

“Want to do the honors?” Rugrat asked.

“Sure.” Erik put his hand out, seeing a screen he hadn’t seen in some time.

==========

You have reached Level 20, meeting the requirements to ascend to the Third Realm.

==========

Do you wish to ascend?

==========

YES/NO

==========

To most, it was known as the Third Realm, but to alchemists, it had another name: Alchemist’s Garden. The ingredients that grew there were hard to find in other realms.

It was the first realm where the Alchemist Association freely recruited potential alchemists into their ranks.

It was also the last Mortal-grade realm; as one stepped into the Fourth Realm, they would enter the Earth-grade realms.

Erik tapped the yes button.

A light enveloped Erik and Rugrat. Chonglu disappeared and a new city appeared in front of them.

“Damn, more humid than the swamps in Florida,” Rugrat said.

They looked around at the city. Massive trees grew through the city; their branches weaved above to create different levels of the city. There were spaces between the levels, opening up different areas, making it feel refreshing instead of enclosed.

There was a board above the guards working the perimeter of the totem.

Welcome to Girus of the Yechonate Dynasty.

Thank you for your support and taking the time to read Second Realm.

The Ten Realms will continue in the Third Realm.

As a self-published author I live for reviews! If you’ve enjoyed The Second Realm, please leave a review!

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