The Third Realm Read online

  Two others were tossed backward but their armor had taken the impact.

  One was the mage controlling the lightning beast.

  The woman who had cast the holy light spell began to chant. The air shimmered and shook with power.

  Erik kept on glancing over with his spotting scope, looking at the injured. “They need our help. Unless they’ve got some powerful poison cures, they’re going to die.”

  Rugrat checked the situation, squinting. “All right.”

  They moved quicker, now headed right for the battle. Their riding beasts didn’t seem so happy about their direction and started to fight against them but they pushed onward.

  The summoner started to get up; the lightning beast stood still as the wooden beast charged forward.

  The lightning beast seemed to compress down and shot forward. It pierced through the wooden beast but it was much smaller and dimmer than it had been before. It looked as if it were on its last legs.

  Golden runes appeared from the ground and wrapped around the heavily damaged wooden beast, burning into the wood as it struggled against its holy restraints.

  Erik and Rugrat were now close enough to hear the people in the group.

  “We need poison cure potions! We need to kill the creature first or we’re all dead! It’s bound and debuffed! Hit it with everything you’ve got!” the holy woman yelled.

  The melee classes, unable to fight up until now, charged forward, brandishing their different weapons as they laid into the beast. The dark wood that made up the beast turned green as it was covered in its own blood.

  Mages cast buffs on the melee types as the summoner sent the lightning beast in again and again.

  “Go pika-lightning!” the man yelled out.

  Erik and Rugrat looked to each other.

  “Uh?”

  “You think he’s from Earth?” Erik asked.

  “Use Slash! It’s super effective!” the man yelled out.

  “Sounds about as nerdy as people from Earth can get,” Rugrat replied.

  “Well, shit, didn’t think we’d find another person from Earth,” Erik said.

  “Back off! It’s attacking!” the holy woman yelled.

  The beast was still restrained, fighting against the holy runes that captured and burned into its skin.

  It let out a roar as its feet turned into vines that shot through the ground and shot out where the melee fighters had been a moment ago.

  “Sir! I don’t quite agree with your tone!” The summoner put one hand to his hip. “Pika!”

  The lightning beast jumped up a tree. Its claws dug in as it climbed it in seconds before turning and jumping. It turned into pure lightning again and shot toward the wooden beast from above.

  It was going all out as the wooden beast could only yell out. The lightning beast slammed into its shoulder and ran through its body. Lightning appeared around it in the pool of water it was in, being directed out and then back in to the wooden creature.

  The other ranged attackers were unleashing all of their skills and attacks on the beast.

  The holy runes fell away as the green light went out of the wooden beast’s eyes, smoke rolling off it as it collapsed into the swamp, splashing mud and water on those closest.

  A tombstone appeared above it as the group started to relax.

  “That is what I thought, sir!”

  “Poison cures—does anyone have them!” the man who had pulled out the woman covered in black slime yelled out. The wounded were being looked over.

  “We don’t have any,” the holy woman said.

  “I might be able to help with that.” Erik stepped forward.

  The whole group went on guard seeing him, raising their weapons.

  The summoner looked at Erik and Erik looked back at him. Erik’s hands were up.

  “You from North America?” Erik asked.

  “Canada. You?”

  “Colorado. I’m a medic. I can see about helping them.”

  The summoner seemed to be debating something. The rest of the group looked between the two. “Shit, got some good friends from Colorado. Let him take a look.”

  The others looked to the summoner before looking back to Erik, who was moving to one of the poisoned.

  It seemed that they all trusted the summoner. They relaxed some but they didn’t put their weapons away.

  “Don’t try anything funny,” a man with a two-handed hammer said as Erik got close to one of the people who was poisoned.

  ==========

  Event Cleared!

  ==========

  Weras, the corrupted forest spirit, has been destroyed, returning stability to the region.

  ==========

  Erik waved the notification to the side as he saw the people in the party surrounded by a golden glow as they gained Experience.

  ==========

  Event In Your Area

  ==========

  Weras, the corrupted forest spirit, has been destroyed, but the other corrupted Earth creatures have marked the Yeanne Trading Group.

  Escort the Yeanne Trading Group out of the Dervin Swamp.

  ==========

  “That can’t be good,” Erik muttered to himself as he kneeled in the mud to get closer to the patient.

  He cast Simple Organic Scan and started to look at the situation.

  “Rugrat, I’m going to need your help!” Erik yelled.

  “Hold the beasts, cover my ass, come help me,” Rugrat grumbled as he headed out of the forest.

  The people gave him a wary look.

  “Medic?” the summoner asked.

  “Got my basic course,” Rugrat said.

  The summoner paused before he looked at the poisoned man on the ground. “Go for it.”

  Rugrat held out the ropes for the beasts to one of the party members. They took them in one hand, their other holding their blade still.

  Erik didn’t want to expose that he was an alchemist. He had just met these people and although he wanted to help them, using healing powder on them after escaping Girus didn’t seem like the brightest idea.

  He pulled on gloves, keeping his knee in contact with the patient to use his Simple Organic Scan.

  The poison was passing through, paralyzing the target and then hitting them with necrotic damage, eating the tissues and bones it passed through, liquifying them.

  Erik pulled out a scalpel and looked at the summoner. “I’m going to cut out the poisoned tissues. It’ll be easier to regrow it than fight off the poison running through their body.”

  “Matt…” The holy woman looked to the summoner.

  “Do it. We don’t have a choice, Clarissa,” this “Matt” said.

  Rugrat started using healing spells on the others who were poisoned and the burned woman.

  “I’ve got them stable,” Rugrat said as Erik took out Wraith’s Touch and covered the infected areas of his patient and started working, cutting out chunks of skin and muscle. A rotting smell filled the air and Erik grit his teeth.

  He’d faced worse and worrying about a smell would only put his patient in danger.

  He continued to cut.

  The others looked on in horror as he cut out chunks of the person’s arm and side, cutting away the green rot and leaving large wounds instead.

  Erik could see that the trauma was making her drop into shock.

  “What’s your name?” Erik asked as he worked.

  “Mm-mei. Am I going to die?”

  “Mei, was it?” Erik asked.

  “Yes.” The girl had tears in her eyes as she started to go pale with the loss of blood. “Cold.”

  “You’re not going to die. I’ve dealt with worse. So how did you get into a fight with the swamp monster?” Erik asked as he finished cutting away the last of the rot.

  He stored his scalpel and took his gloves off, not wanting any of the poison on them to infect her again.

  “W-we were passing through, wanted to go this route instead of the roads. Bandits,” Mei said
as the man watching Erik took in a sharp breath. Where bone and bloody wounds had been, it was now quickly regenerating and filling out at visible speed. The bleeding was stopped and color started to return to Mei’s face.

  “Bandits a big problem around here?” Erik asked.

  “Many people gather all kinds of resources here. If one can raid a caravan, then they don’t have to gather resources, just kill off the group,” Mei explained as her breathing got better.

  With most of the poison out of her body and Erik using a mix of healing spells, the poison that had been traveling through her veins started to dim in color until there wasn’t any color showing through her skin anymore.

  “Doesn’t sound very fun, but you’ll get to fight another day,” Erik said, as he checked his work.

  “You got a healing powder or potion?” Erik asked the group.

  “Yeah,” the man nearest Erik said.

  “Give that to her. Should clear up anything left.” He moved to the other two people.

  “You take the burn,” Erik told Rugrat as he was pulling on new gloves and pulled out Wraith’s Touch, putting the salve on the man who was shaking and coughing as the poison wreaked havoc inside his body.

  Erik pulled out a scalpel. The man’s eyes went wide at seeing it.

  “Don’t worry. Mei is healthy and fine, and you’ll be right as rain in no time. What’s your name?” Erik used a knife to take the man’s armor off and find the infected areas. He’d been struck in the leg and right armpit.

  He looked at the man’s leg. He’d been hit there multiple times.

  It only took him a moment to assess. Amputate. He pulled out a tourniquet and wrapped it around the man’s leg, pulling it as tight as possible. He made eye contact with Rugrat, indicating to the leg and his knife and then to Rugrat.

  Rugrat grimaced but nodded. A Mana knife appeared in his hand.

  “I’m going to have to get rid of some of the infection so don’t worry about it. Now keep your eyes on me, okay?” Erik moved to the man’s arm where he had been hit, away from the infected leg.

  He rubbed salve on the man’s side as Rugrat moved closer, releasing the woman with the burns and creating a larger Mana knife; he sliced through the man’s leg. The others tensed up as a foul smell polluted the air once again.

  Rugrat took the leg into his storage ring as Erik kept talking to the man, keeping his focus.

  “Got you right through the shoulder armor, it did. Nasty piece of work, though not too deep in there, so should have you sorted out in no time. So you didn’t tell me what’s your name?”

  “Jaidong.”

  “Jaidong, is it? Do you feel any pressure?” Erik asked, working the entire time, carving out infected pieces from the man.

  “No, just feel cold.” Jaidong started to cough.

  Erik used his Simple Organic Scan. The infection was reaching Jaidong’s throat. “Healing powder!” he called out.

  Someone passed him a vial.

  He turned Jaidong on his side, putting him in the recovery position as he was coughing up a storm. If he didn’t heal his throat and quick, then he wouldn’t be able to breathe and he’d die.

  Erik poured the healing powder into the wounds he had created. He packed the wounds with gauze and used Jaidong’s arm to keep the gauze in place.

  He tore off one of the gloves and put it on Jaidong’s throat. He poured out Focused Heal. Jaidong was turning blue as he suddenly took a deep, gasping breath.

  “That’s it, nice and easy. Big, deep breaths. You’re fine, okay? Don’t try to talk—just focus on your breathing, okay?” Erik said calmly, reassuring him.

  He ran a scan through Jaidong’s body again. The infection in his side was being counterattacked by the healing powder; the infection in his leg was bad but it wasn’t nearing any vital organs.

  Erik checked that the infection in his neck was sorted out and directed his Focused Heal into Jaidong’s lower body.

  “Stamina powder or concoction?” Erik asked. Jaidong’s pulse was weak and his eyes were rolling back from Stamina fatigue.

  “Here, I’ve got a potion.” Someone passed it to Erik.

  Erik pulled out the stopper with his teeth.

  Erik cast a couple of Simple Ranged Heals on Jaidong. The Simple Ranged Heals, unlike his Focused Heal, worked over a period of time, keeping Jaidong stable and leaving Erik’s hands free.

  Erik checked it was working before releasing him. Pulling a needle out from his storage ring, he quickly filled the needle up, cast another Simple Ranged Heal, and checked to make sure that there was no air in the needle, quickly locating Jaidong’s vein and sliding the needle home.

  He let out the Stamina Regeneration potion slowly.

  “Need that over here. She’s good and healed but drained. Burns were everywhere.” Rugrat moved over to Erik.

  “Go for it.” Erik passed the potion over as he checked on Jaidong. Erik’s heals were more effective and his breathing was more natural.

  It looked as if he had passed out from Stamina fatigue in the end, though.

  “Infection in the side is looking good. Healing powder is doing the trick. Lower body is still nasty, but clearing up with heals.” Erik didn’t hold back anymore now; with the Stamina Regeneration potion, he could heal without worrying.

  Around Erik’s hand, light could be seen as he pumped Focused Heal into Jaidong. His leg started to regrow where it had been cut off. A small version of Jaidong’s leg appeared, looking like a baby’s leg and foot connected to a man.

  Erik checked under Jaidong’s armpit, removing the gauze to see the recovering areas underneath. He used separate healing spells, knitting the layers back together.

  “He’s good to go. I want to wait till he wakes up before healing the rest of his leg.” Erik pulled off his remaining medical glove, putting everything into his storage ring and wiping the sweat off his face. He went to check on the woman with the burns. Rugrat was checking on Mei so that Erik could focus on Jaidong exclusively.

  The burned woman was asleep but her wounds had been healed.

  “Just needs rest and food.” Erik looked to the others as he gave his assessment and stood back up.

  If this was back on Earth, removing the leg would have been the last thing I would have thought of doing. But here in the Ten Realms, with healing potions and magic, as long as you have the gold for it and you’re in the right realm, then it’s no big deal.

  Erik snorted and then looked to Matt.

  A deep, bassy noise came from deeper within the forest.

  “I think it’s time we got moving. We got marked by the corrupted Elkta and the others nearby will be closing in. They’re stronger in the swamp. Once we leave, if they choose to follow us, we’ll be in the clear,” Clarissa, the holy woman, said.

  “We can put Mei and the other woman on the backs of our beasts. I can put Jaidong on my back if we strap him up,” Erik said.

  Everyone looked to Clarissa before she nodded.

  “Let’s get it done. Everyone else, watch out. I want to know if there are any Elkta trying to get close.”

  “I’ve heard of people being able to regrow limbs with Alchemy, but aren’t those concoctions hard to find?” someone asked.

  “Just shut up and be thankful that we ran into them and they’re willing to help,” another hissed.

  Seems that recovering a limb in the Third Realm isn’t such a big topic, but still restricted to people who have the money and the resources. Erik kept this in mind as others helped Erik, strapping Jaidong to his back quickly.

  Chapter: Battlefield Trials

  Storbon moved his shoulders around in his armor as Ian pulled the leather bindings tight and tied them together.

  “Good?” Ian asked.

  “Good.” Storbon nodded as he checked his arm bracers and the rest of his gear.

  “Can you get my side?” Ian asked.

  “Got it.” Storbon pulled on the tongs running up Ian’s side. “Good?”

&n
bsp; “Bit tighter,” Ian said.

  Storbon pulled them more.

  “Good,” Ian said.

  Storbon secured it and pulled over the armor panel, using the Velcro—as Erik called it—to secure an armor plate over the opening.

  “Have the feeling I won’t be taking this off for a while.” Ian smiled.

  “Might be right on that,” Storbon said. In his armor, he felt larger and as if nothing could affect him. Bolstered by the armor’s innate abilities, and the different enchanted rings and the necklace he wore, his Strength had increased significantly.

  He checked his leg holster for his small crossbow, the powder packs that could be torn open and poured into wounds, or water to be consumed. The vials could crack and break but the cloth packets had none of that issue.

  He checked his dagger and grenades before moving in his armor, settling into it and making sure he had complete mobility. His helmet appeared in his hand and he pulled it on.

  All of Special Team One were geared up or nearly there, making their last adjustments.

  “Special Team Two would be pissed if they knew about the battlefield dungeon,” Tian Cui said.

  “You seen the pouting faces of Special Team Three?” Setsuko asked as she adjusted her sword placement.

  “Surprised they haven’t jumped us for the spot.” Yao Meng laughed.

  “Once they have the gold, then they’ll be able to as well. Unlike some people, they didn’t go and earn bags of gold in the Second Realm,” Glosil said.

  “Perfectly entrepreneurial,” Yao Meng assured Glosil, who rolled his eyes.

  “The taxes weren’t,” Yuli complained.

  “Seems someone has the trading bug.” Ian grinned.

  Yuli shrugged. “You prefer I didn’t get us the best prices?” she asked with a playful smile.

  “No, I bow to your marketing brilliance. Your tactics light up the way for me like a perfect golden coin,” Ian said.

  The others laughed or shook their heads at his shameless praise.

  “Boss, can we change out our tank? I think this one’s been hit in the head a few too many times,” Tian Cui asked.

  “All right, you bunch of misfits, check your gear one last time,” Storbon said, ignoring Tian Cui’s words.