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  “This is the Cyclonic Piercer; it's imbued with the power of wind,” Stormspiral said. Crescent also stood up and a golden, acutely curved blade materialized in her hands.

  “This is the Flame Arc; it is imbued with the power of fire,” she said. Aftershock stood up next to Shade and a large, copper ax materialized in her hands.

  “This is the Jagged Chopper; it's imbued with the power of earth,” she said. They each looked at Trance, who finally stood up as an etched, cobalt broadsword materialized in his hands. The weapon glowed with a mysterious aura of might.

  “This is Excalibur—the sword of legend. It is imbued with the power of water,” he said. Shade marveled at each of their weapons, particularly the Excalibur.

  “You mean the Excalibur? King Arthur's sword? Isn't that just a myth?” Shade asked, perplexed.

  “Most of the myths and legends that we were taught as children were based on real events. They happened when the spirit world touched the physical,” Trance explained.

  “Ah,” Shade said.

  “Indeed. Our guild is now strong enough to be able to influence the physical world. I will have lessons for you all shortly. Until then, get some rest,” Victor said, adjourning the guild ceremony.

  When Matthew went to work the next day, the Alverezes invited him into their workgroup chat. They seemed to open up to him after he joined their guild. They did not openly talk about the spirit world in work chat. When they did talk about it, they used a coded language that Matthew was able to quickly learn. The Alverezes invited Matthew to a holiday party that Carmen was throwing for a group of underprivileged children that weekend.

  Matthew drove to the Secov Community Center to attend Carmen's party. The area outside of the building was set-up with festive activities, including carnival-style games and an inflatable bouncing house. Many of the older kids hung out inside of the building where there were arcade games, billiards, football, and ping-pong tables. A portable stage was set up outside where Domingo performed a song for the children that riled them up. Carmen had a booth where she painted their faces. It was clear that the children were having a great time and were not used to these types of fun events.

  Matthew walked around the party with Leila, enjoying some of the activities. Eventually, she volunteered to enter the dunk tank. Matthew laughed when Domingo jumped in line to try to dunk her in the water. Carmen took a break from her painting booth and sat on a bench nearby to view her family's shenanigans. Matthew sat down next to her.

  “You organized this, Carmen? It's very impressive. So, you're a superhero in the spirit and the physical, eh?” Matthew teased. She laughed.

  “It's not like that. I volunteer here. I've known most of these kids for a long time. They're wonderful. I'm just glad they're having a good time,” Carmen replied.

  “Wow. How do you find time to work full-time, volunteer, and do what you do in the guild?”

  “I actually don't hang out in the spirit very often. It's more Leila's thing. Volunteering is one of my passions though. Many of these children would be out in the streets getting in trouble if it weren't for this center. A lot of them come from broken homes.”

  “Yeah...an unstable home really jacks someone up,” Matthew sighed. He continued with shocking candor. “My dad died when I was a kid. It would've been devastating if he weren't such a scumbag and didn't beat my mom. I probably did a lot of stupid things when I was younger because of all of it.”

  His mother, Miranna, was one of the few people in the world that he respected. He loved her dearly and appreciated the fact that she raised him alone, as a single mother. He had long suppressed a traumatizing episode where he witnessed his father Dante abuse her, deep in his subconscious. Matthew hated Dante for what he had done to her. He did not shed a single tear when his father died. Matthew had learned to bury his emotions deep inside, long ago. His face displayed no sign of sorrow.

  “I'm so sorry, Matthew,” Carmen said with consolation in her eyes.

  “Don't worry about it. I appreciate your concern.” Matthew said. He did not seek to gain any of her pity. He rarely talked about his childhood, but he felt comfortable enough around Carmen to talk to her about it. She sat silently for a moment, almost as if to pay respect to Matthew's loss.

  “...When we were younger, we almost lost Dom,” Carmen said, with a hint of sorrow. “...He was always the popular one in high school. He started hanging around a group of thugs. One of them flirted with the wrong girl and ended up getting beat up pretty badly for it. Dom's crew went out to get payback and ended up getting gunned down. Dom almost went out with them...thank goodness I convinced him not to go.”

  “Wow, that's scary,” Matthew replied soberly.

  “Yeah...It really opened my eyes to how rough the streets are for some of these kids.” She really is something special.

  The heavy mood lightened when Domingo threw a baseball at the dunk tank target and Leila dropped into the water. Matthew and Carmen could not help but laugh when Domingo turned to them and cheered. Leila emerged from the water, scowling at Domingo. Moments later, she joined them in laughter. When the party ended, Matthew went home with a new-found appreciation for the Alverezes.

  * * *

  After joining the Ordered Chaoz guild, Shade was granted access to the single room in their guild hall. Inside the room there was a polished, wooden desk for the guild master and large storage lockers for each guild member. The guild members stored their relic weapons inside of their storage lockers. Shade learned that, in the spirit world, one could transport an unhandled item from one place to another with focused thought, as long as the location of the item was known. This was how his guildmates were able to materialize their relic weapons into their hands.

  The room in the guild hall had a door that led to an outside training area with multiple training dummies. The guild dummies were more sophisticated than the ones that Shade had created. They each had working limbs and could be programmed to defend, attack, or counterattack. Shade diligently practiced his swordsmanship on them with the same fervor that he had when he first learned unarmed, spiritual combat.

  Swordsmanship came naturally to Shade, but the elemental nature of his Maelstrom's Edge eluded him. Occasionally, his sword swipes would be accompanied by bolts of lightning. However, Shade could not control when the lightning bolts struck. He felt that there was a vast power inside of his weapon that he was unable to understand or tap into. During one of his training sessions, Aftershock entered the training area and informed him that a guild meeting was about to begin. The guild gathered together and entered a rift created by Victor.

  The guild appeared in the same region where Shade had collected nymph water for his guild trial. They were in a steep, lush area on a small island. From their elevated vantage point, Shade could see that the region had many islands scattered abroad, varying in size. There were fortified castles on some of the larger islands. Stout ships cruised along the waters.

  “It's time to learn advanced navigational techniques. Every region in the spirit world is considered a distinct realm. For the most part, to access a realm you need its coordinates. Coordinates are similar to latitude and longitude pairs in the physical world. When you have a realm's coordinates, you can create a rift to it,” Victor explained. I was right. Those alphanumeric codes were rift coordinates.

  “But, this isn't the only way to move in-between spirit realms. The ancients identified nine different levels in the spirit world. It is possible to move up and down these levels. In fact, one of you has already done this,” Victor said, as he looked at Shade. “I've tried to teach this to all of you, but Shade has been the only one who's been able to do it successfully,” Victor continued.

  “You've never even mentioned this before,” Trance protested, visibly upset.

  “Don't you remember that strong upwind? You failed to hang onto it long enough for it to push you into the level above us. It takes a tremendous amount of focus and determination to reach the level
above us,” Victor explained. A few of their faces were pained with the recollection of being violently thrown from the upwind. Shade thought back to his entrance into Amezarak's realm.

  “We're currently in the third level of the spirit world. This level contains realms of pure life force; some call it prana, others call it chi. Below us is the second level of the spirit world, which is known as the astral plane. It houses realms of pure subconscious thought. Below the astral plane is the first level of the spirit world. It's what we know as the sky in the physical world.” Shade listened intently as Victor continued with his explanation.

  “The secret to affecting the physical world is descending into it from the astral plane above it. But in order to do that, you need to first learn how to descend into the astral plane from where we are now. In order to descend, your spirit body has to increase its density to the point where it drops from the realm it's within.”

  “Density? Spirit bodies have mass?” Trance asked.

  “Yes. The spirit and physical worlds mirror each other in a sense. In another sense, they're completely different. This is why many of the laws of physics aren't applicable in the spirit world,” Victor explained.

  “So, how's it done?” Aftershock asked, as if she was trying to cut to the heart of the matter.

  “Maybe Shade can help you guys with that,” Victor said. Trance rolled his eyes. “When I first met Shade, his spirit body was full of gunshot wounds. He wasn't screaming in pain though, so I assume he learned how to suppress his pain,” Victor said, looking to Shade.

  “Yeah, when I first got shot, it was the most painful thing that I have ever felt...I started to concentrate on my wounds and it dulled the pain,” Shade said.

  “When you concentrated on your wounds, you hardened your spirit body. Had you continued to focus on your spirit body like that, it would've increased in density,” Victor explained.

  After taking some time to absorb this information, Shade and the others closed their eyes and concentrated on their spirit bodies. Suddenly, Shade felt the sensation dropping. He opened his eyes and found himself falling through a cloudy sky. He hit the ground hard, yet painlessly, landing in an entirely different realm. He found himself in a desert area which had many houses and skyscrapers. The realm was well-lit, despite there being no fire pillar in sight. Every object around him was illuminated with a soft glow. Moments later, his guildmates dropped from the sky and landed near him.

  “Wonderful work, everyone. Welcome to the astral plane,” Victor encouraged, giving the guild some time to gather their bearings. “Descending down into the first level will be a little different. You will need to increase your spirit body's density even further. In addition to that, you will need to pull some of the astral plane down with you. Think of the astral plane as a giant, inexhaustible onion, and you need to peel off a layer of it and bring it down with you.” Victor continued to explain.

  “Doing this warps the very fabric of the realm that you're in, creating a dip in it that will drag down anything around it. In order to do this, you need to focus on the astral plane until you feel connected to it. Once you're connected to the astral plane, direct your focus back to your spirit body and increase its density.”

  Shade and the others closed their eyes and concentrated on the astral plane. Shade stretched his spirit body's senses outward. After a while, he could sense the pulse of the astral plane. It hummed with discordant vibrations that made him hesitant to make a connection to it. Moments later, Trance began to sink down as if he were falling into quicksand, and the ground around him stretched downward. Trance dropped from the astral plane as the others spiraled down along with him, like water draining down a sink. They landed in an area that looked like the realm that they were just in. A massive silver ring arched high above them from the sky.

  “Fantastic work, Trance. This is a temporary realm where the spirit world meets physical time. When this realm expires, a new one like it will take its place. If you look below, beyond the ground, you can see the physical world itself,” Victor said. Shade and the others focused their gazes into the physical world. Their perspectives were filtered like a fish-eyed lens.

  “I can see our house!” Stormspiral exclaimed.

  “Yes, we should be right above it. The realm that we're in now indirectly influences the physical area below us. However, we can directly influence the physical world by merging this realm with the physical area below us. When that happens, the attributes of the spiritual and physical world are merged together. This allows supernatural phenomenon to occur in the physical world. All it takes is for one of you to focus on the physical world below us,” Victor explained.

  Immediately, Aftershock's spirit body flashed with a bright light, and they all dropped safely into the backyard of the Alverez home. The Alverez home and the objects within it glowed like the objects that were in the astral plane.

  “Excellent, Aftershock. We're currently inside of a fusion of the spiritual and physical worlds. This fusion will only last so long. While it lasts, you'll be able to use your spiritual abilities. However, there is a danger involved in this. Your physical bodies are no longer where you left them when you entered the spirit world; they're inside of your spirit bodies now. Your spirit body is wrapped around your physical body, protecting it. If you were to lose all your spirit body's vitality now, your physical body would be vulnerable, and a spiritual attack could kill you,” Victor said with a sober tone.

  “Ah, so this is where the risk comes in,” Shade said.

  “Exactly,” Victor replied. Moments later, the fusion ended and they found themselves pulled back up into a temporary spirit realm above the Alverez home.

  “We've had enough training for the day. You've all performed admirably,” Victor commended. They entered a rift that he created to their guild hall. “I've placed a set of lightweight armor in each of your storage lockers. They're made of shock absorbent, reinforced leather. They should allow maximum mobility while providing protection, should any of you be in the position that your physical body is exposed to spiritual attacks. Get some rest. We'll start making the world a better place soon,” Victor said, adjourning the guild meeting.

  * * *

  Over the next couple of weeks, Shade continued to hone his swordsmanship and marksmanship skills by practicing on his guild's training dummies. He fought them on their highest attack settings. The thought of being vulnerable to spiritual attacks in the physical world drove Shade to push deeper into combat mastery. His attacks became swift, precise, and deadly. However, he still could not harness the elemental power of his Maelstrom's Edge.

  Shade sat down on one of the couches by the guild fireplace, awaiting the start of their guild meeting. Everyone except Victor was gathered together. Shade looked forward to a meeting that would be led by Aftershock. She stood behind a portable, wooden podium near the fireplace, with a serious look on her face.

  “Now that we know how to change the physical world, it's time for us to develop a guild strategy. What should we do with our abilities? Who should we fight? We're all from the Unified Republics, so we know how much of an issue terrorism has become since the Allied Embassy bombing. My research has led me to discover a new breed of terrorism. Terrorists that are able to use the spirit world to their advantage,” Aftershock said, activating a holographic display next to her. A group of robed warriors appeared on the display.

  “They call themselves Obfuscation. Traditional militaries can do little to fight against them since they use the spirit world to mask their attack vectors. They employ the combat techniques of ancient mystic warriors known as spell blades. Spell blades were renowned in the ancient world and were said to have been the strength of the first Ghemezian Caliphate,” Aftershock continued.

  “Obfuscation isn't registered in the guild registry, so no one knows the location of their base of operations. My research leads me to believe that they're located in the Golden Badlands,” Aftershock reported. Stormspiral and Crescent grimaced.
Nobody wanted to go the Golden Badlands. It was known for being a place brimming full of dangerous mercenaries, powerful hybrid creatures, and a terrifying monster known as Akzar. It was rumored that Akzar tortured any poor soul caught wandering alone in its path.

  “We will disguise ourselves as Golden Badlands locals and attempt to gather intelligence that could lead us to Obfuscation's base of operations,” Aftershock concluded. Mmm, she looks good when she gets all serious. The guild put on their new leather armor sets and shifted their colors to match the tan and brown attire of the Golden Badlands locals. They each wrapped turbans around their heads. Shade wrapped a rag around his face. They entered a rift created by Aftershock.

  The guild appeared in the same realm where Shade had collected cursed salt for his guild trial. They found themselves in an oasis area. Multiple tents were set-up in the area. Intimidating faces glared at them with eyes full of suspicion. This did not phase Aftershock, who started to casually mingle amid the crowd. Crescent and Stormspiral joined her.

  Shade and Trance stood silently in a corner, trying to avoid attention. Neither of them was interested in a reconnaissance mission. After a while, the guild reconvened with no information on Obfuscation.

  “I've asked who can help us bring justice to the Northerners and no one seems to be taking the bait,” Aftershock muttered.

  “Everyone's lips are tight,” Crescent added.

  “They probably don't trust us,” Shade replied.

  “Screw this,” Trance said, having lost his patience. “Who knows something about Obfuscation?” Trance shouted, drawing everyone's attention and Aftershock's scowl. A group of robed men, armed with curved swords approached them. There was no doubt that they were spell blades.

  “Aren't you in the wrong realm?” One of the spell blades bellowed, yanking Trance's turban off of his head. His shimmery white hair seemed disturbingly out of place.