The Fifth Realm Read online

  The Fifth Realm

  Ten Realms Book 5

  By: Michael Chatfield

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter: Alva’s Military

  Chapter: Mobilizing Alva

  Chapter: Across the Realms

  Chapter: Rise of the Rifle Platoons

  Chapter: Move on the Metal Floor

  Chapter: Council Meeting

  Chapter: Undercurrents in the City

  Chapter: Adjusting to New Roles

  Chapter: Crafter’s Path

  Chapter: Lord Returns

  Chapter: Holy Land of Fighters and Crafters

  Chapter: Investigations

  Chapter: Formation Academy Competition

  Chapter: Retribution

  Chapter: Armaments

  Chapter: Student Surprises the Teacher

  Chapter: State of the Realms

  Chapter: Family Reunited

  Chapter: Fighting Art Basics

  Chapter: Bandit Clearing

  Chapter: Viewing Hall

  Chapter: Training Demon

  Chapter: Alva’s Will

  Chapter: Help From Afar

  Chapter: Next Leap

  Chapter: Formations and Statues

  Chapter: Expansion

  Chapter: Take Me Down to Vuzgal City

  Chapter: To the Earth Floor

  Chapter: Plants vs. Alvans

  Chapter: Adventurer’s Guild Bares its Fangs

  Chapter: To the Fifth!

  Chapter: Opening Curtain

  Chapter: Seeing the Sights

  Chapter: Quest of Fried Chicken

  Chapter: Quiet in the Library!

  Chapter: Expanding down and out

  Chapter: Line in the Sand

  Chapter: Advancing on the Fire Floor

  Chapter: Fire Floor Secured?

  Chapter: A Cultivation Plan

  Chapter: Strengthening

  Chapter: A Different Auction

  Chapter: Showdown

  Chapter: Recluse

  Chapter: Change Base of Operations

  Chapter: Vuzgal’s Land of Experts

  Chapter: Revelation

  Chapter: Selling Favors and Buying Allies

  Chapter: Frustrations

  Chapter: Step by Step, Piece by Piece

  Chapter: Embrace the Flow, Dude

  Chapter: Halfway Point

  Chapter: Strength Reserved, Strength Displayed

  Chapter: Forming King’s Hill Outpost

  Chapter: War in Beast Mountain Range

  Chapter: Vermire’s Second Army

  Chapter: Redesigned Beast Mountain Range

  Chapter: Work for It

  Chapter: Upon a Firm Foundation

  Chapter: Down to the Roots

  Thank you for your support and taking the time to read The Fifth Realm. | The Ten Realms will continue in the Sixth Realm. | Please, if you have some time, leave a review or rating, they help to spread the word about the book!

  Thanks again for reading! ☺

  Chapter: Alva’s Military

  “We owe you an apology,” Erik started.

  Glosil looked between him and Rugrat, not sure how to react.

  “We upset the chain of command during the defense of Vuzgal. We gave you the position as the leader of the Alva military because we trusted your judgement. We micromanaged the fighting and we shouldn’t have. We have only been trained to lead small sections and squads. It is why the rank system and the units are broken.”

  Rugrat cleared his throat. “So, we are going to take a step back. We want you to take complete control of the military. We will be there to assist and in times of war we may give you commands, but on the battlefield you will command us.”

  “We have our strengths and our weaknesses; our strength is the information that we brought over from Earth. Your strength is how you can work with the military, bring them together into a cohesive unit and see the whole picture. While we were worrying about the front lines, you were the one organizing trains to take resources to the rear and bringing up new ammunition. You took the ideas from Rugrat and modified them, creating a total defense. You turned objectives into reality and we’ll need you to do that again.” Erik looked at Glosil, who felt emotional.

  He had refrained from saying anything, but it had felt as if he had turned more into their secretary than the leader of the military.

  “So, grab a seat. First thing we need to do is work together to organize just what the military is going to look like. We’re going to need to expand in order to cover both Alva and Vuzgal’s defensive needs. And we need to do it before someone looks to attack us.” Erik pulled out a piece of paper and put it on the table.

  “Someone would be willing to piss off the large associations to take Vuzgal?” Glosil asked in a serious voice.

  “It is possible, if the associations aren’t attacked directly; they have agreed to help out in some ways, but they can probably find a loophole to cover their asses,” Rugrat said.

  “They are powerful people. We need to have backing in order to talk to them on the same level.” Glosil nodded and took the piece of paper. “This is your plan for units?” Glosil reviewed it.

  “Correct. Well, our basic idea,” Erik said.

  “Do you have any suggestions for leadership?”

  “Review how people did in the fight for Vuzgal? Based off that and training scores, select those for higher ranking positions and create a pool of people who can be slotted into leadership later on,” Rugrat asked.

  “It’s a good idea, but it doesn’t make up for the lack of time as a leader,” Glosil said, testing his boundaries a little.

  “Maybe make a school that looks to train them in their new roles?” Erik asked.

  “Who would run it, though?” Rugrat asked.

  “Blaze?” Glosil interjected before continuing. “He led a unit of over three hundred people. He isn’t part of the military anymore, but if he was able to pass on what he knew to others? He might have a better idea of how to train up leaders as well.”

  “Sounds like a good idea,” Erik agreed.

  Glosil felt relieved as he looked at the plans again. “We have engineer squads in these plans. Will they be recruited from the crafting school or through the military?”

  “What do you think?” Erik asked.

  Glosil held his chin, his brows pressed together for a few seconds before he started talking aloud as he worked through his own thoughts.

  “If we were to get them from the school, then we would be able to get a lot of people who could make the necessary items. Though, if we need them in close combat, breaking down the walls and not supporting from the rear, we will need to train them up still. I don’t think that it would be fair for us to help out people who haven’t gone through any training—what if they fail out? If we send people from the military to earn an education, well, they get it for free and with their training, they can easily adapt what they’ve learned into lessons and effective tools to enhance our combat strength. Look at Alchemy and explosives. Han Wu didn’t know anything about them but now he has gone and got an education in Alchemy and has taught others how to make explosives, ammunition and more, enhancing our current fighting ability.”

  Glosil was looking at just one aspect but he couldn’t help but feel excited. He had a road map with their plan, but he needed to bring it to life and turn it into reality.

  “What if they want to leave after all of their education and training?” Erik asked.

  “That is their decision. The military is not for everyone. If we force them to stay, then it will not help the unit they’re in—it will only harm it.” Glosil looked to the two men, trying to discover their thoughts.

  “C
ouldn’t have said it better myself,” Rugrat said. “Though we’ll still support them. Even if they’re not in the military, they’re still our brothers and sisters.”

  “Another area we need to focus on, something that was highlighted in Vuzgal, is supply,” Erik said.

  Glosil and Rugrat nodded with grim expressions.

  “We were having to limit how much we were firing as we kept on running out of mortars. As it is, we have kind of separated out military crafting from the rest of Alva but it is limited.”

  “I believe we will need to create a rear support team to supply Alva soldiers with gear, upgrades, and consumables,” Glosil said.

  “Veterans could assist, and we could hire civilians. If they’re not in combat roles, we don’t need to waste a soldier on it,” Erik reminded them.

  Glosil nodded. Having to use the special teams to move the carts of supplies back and forth irked him.

  “I think we should also revise what the military’s role is. We have the police to deal with civilian-related issues. Does the military watch the gates and the totem? Are they patrolling, or are they only fighting and training? If we can make clearer lines of what they should or should not be doing, it can allow them to focus on their tasks.”

  Erik and Rugrat both grinned as they looked at Glosil.

  “Did I say something wrong?”

  “Nope, instead you said everything right. Okay, so what will the overall structure of the military be?” Erik asked.

  “I’ve been thinking on that a bit,” Rugrat said, the other two waited for him to continue. “The forces stationed in Vuzgal, should be called the Vuzgal Defense Force, the VDF for short. Broken into the training legions and the operational units. Any of the forces that are in Alva will be the Alvan Defense Force, or ADF, again broken into training and those operational. This serves two purposes; it makes the different areas have their own assigned forces and command structure. If we are cut off from one another we will be able to operate on our own. The VDF will focus on Defense, their operational units scouting the area around Vuzgal, supporting the police and keeping Vuzgal safe. The Alvan Defense force is to defend Alva, yes, but they are also the active branch of the military. Say that there is an external threat then the Alva force will be able to deploy immediately to actively engage the threat. A quick reacting force that is ready to be activated at any given time. This gives us a greater flexibility, we will no longer have to defend passively, we can defend and strike at the same time,” Rugrat said.

  “Not just sitting back anymore, but able to reach out with our own strength, I like it,” Glosil said.

  “Better than anything I thought of,” Erik admitted.

  ***

  Yui and Domonos were waiting in the briefing room with Niemm and Roska when Glosil entered the room. They snapped up to attention as Roska pulled off a salute at the highest ranked and most senior officer in the room.

  Glosil returned the salute. “As you were.” He stepped to the front and looked at the other officers; they were the core leadership of the entire Alva military.

  “Okay, so today we are deciding the future of the Alva military.” He pulled out a piece of chalk and moved to the board.

  “There will be front line forces, defensive forces, and rear supporting forces. The front line and defensive forces will be trained military, while the rear supporting forces will be mostly crafters with military oversight. The rear supporting forces will be there to supply us with weapons, food, ammunition, all of the supplies that we need to fight and the gear that is issued to us. It will also be their role to create innovative upgrades to all of our gear. There will be departments for: clothing, armor, weapons, ammunition—including explosives—food, medical supplies, mounted support, and miscellaneous. Miscellaneous is anything that isn’t involved in those other departments—cover our asses.” Glosil raised his eyebrows as he saw the others grin.

  He smiled to himself and moved to the board and raised the chalk.

  “Our forces will be reorganized in the following manner! A fire team will be created from four privates and one corporal, for a total of five people. A rifle squad will have three fire teams led by a sergeant. Three rifle squads and one scout squad, a squad that has undergone the sharpshooter and scout course, will form a rifle platoon, commanded by a second lieutenant, who will have a platoon sergeant as his second-in-command and a supporting staff sergeant. A rifle platoon will have a total of sixty-seven people.”

  Glosil circled the different units and the growing diagram on the board. “Following?”

  There was a general nodding of heads as Glosil wrote down two names, and tapped on them once he was done. “Then there is the artillery platoon and the support platoon.

  “The artillery platoons will have two mortar squads—same strength as a rifle squad again—two mage squads and one close protection or supply squad. They will be led by two staff sergeants and a second lieutenant, for a total of eighty-two members.

  “Support platoons will have two medic squads, two engineer squads, and one close protection squad, with again a second lieutenant and two staff sergeants leading, again with eighty-two members.

  “A combat company will be led by a captain, with a first lieutenant and a senior staff sergeant acting as his second-in-command. There will be three rifle platoons, one artillery, and one support platoon to a company.

  “That is three hundred and sixty-eight people.”

  Glosil turned to the officers and tapped on the board with his chalk. “This will be the basis of the Alva military. One will serve in the rifle platoon, then be trained to become scouts, then moved into the artillery platoon to study as a mortar gunner or a destructive mage. Once they have served their time there, on to the support, where they will become corporals and have to complete training to become full-fledged medics, then engineers. Once they have completed their time there, they will be trained with the close protection details to utilize all of their skills. Once they complete a year, then they will hold the rank of sergeant or they will train to become officers through the officer school. Then, a year afterward, they can choose to apply to the special teams.”

  “Damn,” Yui said. The word filled the silence.

  “They’re going to be some highly trained soldiers,” Roska said. “What are we going to do to start? How do we fill the ranks up?”

  “Well, we’re going to start by forming the support elements, then we build up our first rifle platoon according to this plan. For the other positions, well, that’s what we’re here for.” Glosil put the chalk down and looked at them. “Ideas?”

  “So, we need to figure out a training routine to take people from being soldiers all the way to members of the special teams?” Domonos asked.

  “I thought I was the slow one,” Yui chided.

  Domonos rolled his eyes at his brother, easing the tension in the air.

  “Well, the training routine that Rugrat put forward for the scouts is easy to implement, an eight-week intensive course. We can pull the best performers to create a training staff,” Niemm said.

  “We’ll need to rotate them every so often. How does training fit into this?” Yui asked.

  “Asked as if you know you’re going to be teaching the support course,” Glosil said with a smile.

  Yui shrugged.

  “There are three overall branches. The fighting forces will be the ones operating in the field, or they will be doing light training. Brush up on their skills. To begin, there will be a platoon always active. Later there might be a company, or even more than one. Anyway, the forces will be only active as front line forces for three months of the year. They will spend three months as defensive forces, and another six on training. Active defensive is patrolling, checking the walls, and reacting to us getting attacked. Training is working in Vuzgal, in the field, and in Alva to increase their qualifications and progress.”

  “So we’ll need a minimum of four platoons to make that happen. What about the people of Vuzgal? Are we
just going to make them people of Alva as soon as they join?” Roska asked.

  “They will need to complete initial training before they become a scout. When they become a scout, they will have to make an oath binding them to Alva. The scout training will be held outside of Alva.”

  “So for training, I guess I’ll have to pull out the best people from my platoon to train others. What about mages? And what do engineers do?”

  “The mages...” Glosil held an open hand at Roska, who groaned and sat back in her chair, making him smile.

  “We just doing normal mages, or mages using formations?” she asked.

  “Both, preferably. Might be best to have two different courses?” Glosil raised his voice and looked at them all. “I’m just giving an overview. For the courses, and training, we’re going to have to work on it as we go along.”

  “I’ll need to talk to some of the mages and formation masters from the academy and Egbert’s Librarians.” Roska said.

  “Done, all the resources of Alva are at our disposal,” Glosil said.

  “What about medics?” Yui asked. The Medics position in the army was undeniable, they could save people’s lives and get them fighting again. Glosil planned to grow their numbers rapidly.

  “Medics will be an interesting course. People will go to Vermire or Vuzgal for the practical portion, with the theoretical part being taught in either Alva or Vuzgal’s academies. In combat, the healers will be dispersed in small groups to work under the officers and help out the wounded. Same with the engineers. They are there to make a path for us, or defenses. When the army is at rest, they’ll repair equipment. They will be attending the academies to learn about formations, weapons, armor, magics, and spells to remove obstacles or create them. They will be our resident crafters on the move. The CPDs, or close protection details, will be trained by the special teams. Niemm, you’ll be heading this up. Advanced training in fighting techniques, magical or physical, and supplemental training in all other areas. They need to be ready to take on any role at any moment. Think of them as a reserve force for the special teams.”

  Glosil saw Niemm nod as he turned his attention to the others.

  “Sounds like we will have our work cut out for us,” Domonos said.