The Fourth Realm (The Ten Realms Book 4) Page 3

  He was also given a course to run on spear techniques and ways to fight, along with Tully from Special Team Two and a potential applicant to the special teams named Domonos,.

  Storbon looked at the combat medic classes, the field cooking courses, marksman courses, rifle and repeater courses, bowman courses, Fire mage courses, lightning mage courses, battlefield formation course, sword and shield courses with avid interest. Anything related to war that someone had knowledge of, a course was made around it.

  With the changes in Alva’s military and their training, they had increased their Strength but more importantly their coordination. Everyone had striven to increase their Strength before as a personal goal. Now, their goal was to improve themselves to help their comrades.

  Storbon hadn’t thought the two different ideas would have a minimally different effect but he saw he was wrong as people signed up for as many classes as possible.

  They didn’t want to just push to be a part of the special teams; they wanted to improve upon the strengths that they had and shore up their weaknesses to better serve their units.

  Storbon felt his blood boil in excitement. He knew how strong their fighting power was when working together. These courses built upon that basic knowledge that had been burned into their minds and got them to think and react more.

  Storbon put his name down on a few sheets for new courses and then headed out of the barracks. One course started later that afternoon. Storbon’s classes didn’t start until early the next morning after group physical training.

  Storbon’s feet carried him to the healing house, where he saw a few other military members. “Hello, I’m looking to further temper my body,” Storbon said.

  “How many temperings have you completed?” the smiling woman at the front desk asked.

  “I’ve done four. I need to temper my organs as part of my next step.”

  “Okay, I will see if there is someone available.” The woman checked a list and then talked into her sound transmission device.

  “Sir!” Yao Meng snapped to attention after quickly noticing that Starbon had entered the main door.

  “At ease,” Storbon waved Yao Meng’s actions away.

  “Fancy meeting you here, boss,” Yao Meng said.

  “They still let you in this place?” Storbon replied with a smile.

  Yao Meng laughed and winked. “What work you having done?”

  “Body Cultivation, organs,reaching for Body Like Stone. You?” Storbon said.

  “One more body tempering, brings me up to four, and opening up one more Mana gate,” Yao Meng sighed in response.

  “That ain’t gonna be cheap,” Storbon said. The healing house might not have many patients from injuries but they were constantly helping people to temper their bodies, to raise their Body Cultivation or to make the path of Mana Gathering Cultivation a bit smoother.

  Erik had forged a path ahead with his Body Cultivation, and he and Rugrat had submitted all they knew on the two subjects. That information, combined with their knowledge of the human body, had led to further refinement of how one could open their Mana gates and temper their body using methods previously unknown in the realms.

  Mana gates were pierced and people circulated their Mana for ten minutes in the morning and night. Mana gathering formations and or Alchemy concoctions could both be provided for a price to increase how quickly they were able to open their Mana gates. The body tempering concoctions used to temper the different systems were highly targeted but they did not need to be tailored for each person. However a healer or multiple healers would need to be on staff, watching over them as they tempered their bodies. Stamina and healing potions, as well as healing spells, made sure that the temperings went well. Concoctions that would render the person unconscious while undergoing the temperings were used to make sure that there were no complications.

  The cultivations were both time-consuming and resource-intensive practices, so they cost a fair amount to carry out. Otherwise, the healing house would be filled with people all the time. They were always looking to make it cheaper and faster but there was a lower limit to their costs.

  “Tell me about it. My drinking fund is going to be hurting for a bit but thankfully I put all of my money into those new savings accounts.Actually made some money off it,” Yao Meng said with a pleased smile.

  “Storbon?” A healer asked as she came out into the waiting area.

  Storbon raised his hand and made his way over.

  “See you on the other side,” Storbon said to Yao Meng.

  “Catch you on the flip side,” Yao Meng said, trying to act suave as he walked up to the receptionist. “So I need to temper my body, open a Mana gate, and even more importantly, could I take you out on a date?” Yao Meng asked the receptionist, who laughed.

  Storbon grinned as he followed the healer into the back of the healing house.

  Chapter: Gathering

  Rugrat finally stumbled out of the smithy and collapsed in his room in the barracks.

  The manor had been given over to Delilah since Erik and Rugrat had taken up residence in the barracks.

  Erik left him with a few Stamina Regeneration potions, then went to meet with the staff on the different courses he would be leading and summoned Glosil into his office.

  “Sir!” Glosil snapped off a salute. Instead of the regular American military salute, Erik and Rugrat had gone with a Roman salute, placing one’s right fist over their heart. It was harder to see and if someone forgot on the battlefield, it wouldn’t be that noticeable. Also, it looked cool.

  Erik tapped his fist against his chest. “I’m going to be heading to the Third Realm for a few days, at most a week. I’ll be taking a group of people with me up there and I’ll return with those who are finished working on the restaurant. I’ll be meeting with Old Hei, my teacher, and gathering information on the Fourth Realm as well as looking over the location there. While I am gone and Rugrat is out of commission working on some kind of project, you are in charge. So, before I leave, are there any questions that you have for me?”

  “Not that I can think of, sir,” Glosil said.

  Erik nodded. Glosil was the direct commander of the Alva army, while Erik and Rugrat commanded all of the military forces of Alva, which included the adventurers, the army, the special teams as well as the rest of Alva. They could take command of individual units if they desired but when it came to the army, they went through Glosil, confirming his position and establishing a solid chain of command.

  Glosil dealt with the day-to-day management as Erik and Rugrat dealt with further training, planning for the future, and strategy. That did not mean that Glosil didn’t have any say but there was a clear divide between their responsibilities.

  “Okay. Look after Alva while I’m gone.”

  ***

  Erik looked over the group with him. They were bundled up against the cold. Nearly all of them were traders but there were a few farmers and people from the cookhouse as well.

  They had taken the dungeon’s teleportation formation to one of the hidden teleportation arrays they’d placed near cities with totems.

  It took them a half day to trudge through the snow and then through the mud streets of the city. Reaching the totem, they each paid their one Mana stone and disappeared in a flash of light.

  They reappeared in the Third Realm Division Headquarters. The traders and the others, some who’d spent their lives in Alva Village and Alva Dungeon, looked around in clear awe.

  They stripped off their heavy outer layers and pushed on, Erik leading the way through the crowds.

  “Fifty gold,” the woman said as they reached the front of the lines.

  Erik opened his coat. His mid-Journeyman Alchemist badge was pinned on his armor.

  She cast a verification spell on the badge. “Have a good day, Journeyman.” The lady smiled.

  Erik smiled back and went on.

  The others paid their fifty gold fee to enter the city. The totem was as busy
as ever, with people coming through with special massive storage holding caravans, others wearing Alchemist Association symbols on their chests.

  Such a scene in the First Realm was unheard of. The sheer amount of money needed to move so many people and items was incredible.

  They left the totem and weaved through the streets. It wasn’t long until he spotted the Sky Reaching Restaurant.

  “Well, it looks like Matt put all of his skills to the test.” Erik smiled, looking up at the building. It stood over the other buildings, it was tastefully built and situated so it looked out over the city. With clean lines, the building’s stone was white with floor-to-ceiling windows. The underside of the overhanging roofs was made with a lighter wood, creating a striking contrast against the clean gray tiles. It made one study it, looking at its striking details.

  As they got to the street, they saw that there was a line through a side door. The main gates were open but the large guards standing there only allowed a few people past. Both of them were from the Alva Adventurer’s Guild.

  “Well, looks like it has become quite the popular location,” Erik said under his breath, looking at the people entering and leaving.

  Erik and his group moved toward the entrance.

  “Look, another group looking to be tossed out,” someone in the passing crowd around the restaurant said.

  “I’ve never seen them before. The seating in the Sky Reaching Restaurant is highly sought after—only the upper echelons of the city can get a reservation! The rest of us have to hope that their store doesn’t run out of goods!” someone added.

  “It was only last week that the son of the Denang trading group’s leader created a ruckus and was not allowed in!”

  “I heard his father came personally to express his apologies and has since sent his son out of the city to carry out trade in another of their cities,” another added in a low voice.

  “The Sky Reaching Restaurant is generous. They made it clear that it was on the son, not on the father. The merchant head even made a reservation on the spot for his trade company to celebrate a large deal!”

  “Renting out that much space—it must have cost tens of Mana stones!” someone said in awe.

  “Truly, the rich know how to show off their power!” another mocked.

  People sneered and looked at the group with disdain, stopping what they were doing to watch the show.

  Erik paid them no attention as he strolled up to the entrance and pulled down his hood.

  “Mister West.” The two guards cupped their fists and bowed at their waist.

  “Who is he for the guards to bow that low? They only do that when Pill Head Hei is arriving.”

  “No need for that,” Erik waved off their bow. “Is Matt in?”

  “He is in his office, working on some plans or other. Do you want us to let him know you’re here?” Instead of the guards’ normal stony expressions, they seemed ten years younger with happy smiles on their faces as their eyes darted to the others behind Erik, overjoyed to see some of their friends from back home.

  “I’ll go bug him myself. Can you see if you can find some room for this lot?” Erik asked with a smile, pointing at the group.

  “We can probably find a floor somewhere,” One of the guards grinned.

  “You’ll be tasting the backside of my spoon,” one of the cooks warned, putting her hands on her hips.

  “No need for that, Agatha.” The female guard smiled.

  The cook’s expression collapsed into a smile as she waved a finger at the guard. “Your mother is worried sick. She sent me to keep an eye on you and make sure you get a boyfriend!”

  The female guard’s expression fell as her shoulders slumped.

  “Come on, one needs a good posture! You take good care of your weapons but not yourself!” Agatha sighed and shook her head.

  “Office?” Erik asked the other guard.

  “Office.” The guard nodded.

  Erik and the others looked to escape the chatter between the guard and her family friend. Another guard took her place as they moved toward the restaurant.

  There were plants being tended to in various places in the courtyard and around the walls themselves. Erik remembered the smell that had been there before but now it was neutralized by these plants that not only covered the smell but made one feel relaxed.

  Looking at the plants, Erik nodded in appreciation. They were ingredients that could be used to make perfumes and concoctions to calm one’s mind.

  I never thought that we would start to use ingredients to mask the smell of the neighbors. Erik chuckled to himself, studying the interior of the restaurant.

  The side entrance led to a store where prepared meals were sold to the people of the Division Headquarters. Everyone was only allowed to buy one meal to make sure that the greatest number of people were served and that traders didn’t buy up all of their stock and drive the price up.

  The traders with Erik couldn’t help but look at the store with shining eyes. All of them had brought multiple meals from the First Realm, some of them made by Jia Feng herself, her direct apprentices, or the teachers of the cooking department.

  They headed through the building, passing through the garden in the middle of the front tower, and continued through to the private areas.

  Erik got some directions, heading to the back right hand tower. He walked up the stairs, reaching the top of the building and passed other people working in the restaurant, or others who had come from Alva Dungeon to carry out trade, learn about Alchemy, or simply to explore. Erik reached Matt’s room and knocked on the door.

  “Give me a minute!” Matt yelled from the other side.

  Erik waited before Matt appeared. He wore a baseball hat and Erik had no idea where he had gotten it made. A pen was tucked up in his hat. His hands were covered in ink and graphite from pens and pencils.

  “What’s up, my dude!” Matt broke into a smile.

  “I see that you’ve been busy,” Erik said as the two of them fist bumped and Matt waved Erik into his apartment. It was in the back of the restaurant and it contained a bathroom, a bedroom, and an office that butted up against one of the large windows looking out over the city.

  “Yeah, well, one thing led to another and voila. What do you think?” Matt asked nervously.

  “I think that you’ve done better than I ever thought possible. Turning this place into a restaurant, that was a bold move but one that’s turning dividends. And it gives the people from the cooking department practical experience. I heard that you even established cooking lines to reduce serving times?”

  “Yeah, and storage rings have been useful—allows us to keep things good for months. Only the chefs in the upper levels are making food for the customers. The others are all pumping out food for the people who buy it at the store or for the traders. The Alva trade tax is applied to everything that is sold here and I have been keeping hold of the profits. It cost us seven thousand Mana stones to build this place. The running costs to pay everyone is two hundred Mana stones a month.

  “On an average day, we will generate two hundred Mana stones in income. We’ve been operating for nearly three months now and each month in the Third Realm is forty days. So, with the deductions, the restaurant has turned a profit of 16,400 Mortal Mana stones. With sales to traders and renting space, we have made an additional seven hundred and fifty-six Mana stones’ worth. That many stones is rather a pain in the ass to carry around. But Old Hei introduced me to Ebeneezer, who converted it into more manageable amounts. I’ve got sixteen Earth-grade Mana stones, eleven Mortal cornerstones and fifty-six Mortal Mana stones.” Matt waved his hand as several high-grade boxes appeared in front of Erik. Matt grinned.

  Even Erik, who was not really affected by money—considering how fast he earned it and then spent it on his different crafts—could not help but look at the boxes with apprehension. “Just two hundred Mana stones in wages per month? Is that enough?” Erik asked.

  “Think of it
as a paid internship. They are getting paid and they can test out their new ideas, without worrying about the ingredients. We grow ingredients ourselves or get them from Alva at prices that are unheard of here in the Third Realm. Literally, coppers and silvers turned into gold and Mana stones. Demand still outstrips our supply, driving the price up. The cooks also get to put their skills to the test in a high-stress environment, and they don’t have to pay for food or sleeping quarters. They also get to see the Third Realm. Most are pleased with just that.

  “An initiative started with the chefs, where they will head out to some of the powerful families and cook for them privately and they can earn a dozen or more Mana stones with just one meal. This is not all though. Room and board is ten gold per day, including food and sleeping quarters. This is what the traders, alchemists and architect interns are all paying.There are some twenty people living here right now under those arrangements. This has created another twelve Mortal Mana stones of profit. Then there are the architectural plans that people are asking to purchase. Those can earn hundreds of Mana stones for just one set of plans. The alchemists are actually the ones making the least amount of profit due to the high cost of the resources in the division but it is hard to get these items from anywhere else so they buy them willingly. In secondary income, including the taxes, Alva has earned another one hundred and thirty Mana stones, bringing it to twelve cornerstones and another thirty-one Mortal Mana stones. Oh and six hundred gold.” Matt pulled out a bag of gold and passed it to Erik.

  The weight made his hand sink.

  “Damn,” Erik said.

  “Right?” Matt laughed, shocked by it all as he looked at the wealth in his room.

  Erik took a moment, looking at it all before he took it into two storage rings. “Aren’t you interested in this at all?”

  “Kind of? Like, don’t get me wrong—I like money but this is way more than I would need to live on and I can see what Alva might become. I feel good seeing where it might go. Plus, I’m earning money hand over fist, trading with people and making blueprints for different stuff. I’m getting to do what I want, not what I’m told to do. Money is a big thing back on Earth but with Alva I know that I’ll be okay. I think I was trading and trying to make a lot of money before so that I could be stable, you know?” Matt sat down at his seat in front of his drawing table. “Now with Alva, it’s the first time I’ve been able to relax. Like, I just wanted a place to stay, and now that I’ve got it, I can focus on other things. Things that are important to me and not just money.” Matt shrugged.