Realm Survival

Ever since I can remember, I have loved reading about great battles and the brave men and women who fought in them. Alexander the Great, Joan of Arc, Sun Tzu, just to name a few.

KAEL!

I heard the captain yelling for me, but I did not answer. I was hiding between some loose panels by warehouse three, reading a copy of The Darkest Day. On that day was when the World changed forever.

KAEL! The captain was getting closer, but I did not care. I was too enthralled by the book.

JONES! Captain Barrett ripped open the panels, with fury on his face. There you are.

According to the book, the first Realm appeared in our world a century ago. The Realm entrance was a spiraling void encased in a metallic ring covered in dense and foreign scripts. It emitted an aura of malcontent. The Realm covered the small town of Hullce trapping its 150 residents inside. The surrounding towns were in a panic upon seeing the Realms appearance and fled.

The government quickly mobilized and quarantined the area. When Commander Phillip Morrison of the 602nd approached the entrance of the Realm, a man stepped out of the portal. He was a pale skinny man of Asian descent, short deep brown hair with blue eyes. What he said changed the world as we knew it.

I am the Orator of the Linear Realm Ombra, under Realm Lord Draven. You may call me Elijah. Prove your strength or die trying. Once you enter, retreat is impossible. Defeat Lord Draven and be set free. When asked what the Realm was and what it was for, Elijah with a kindly smile simply said because it is our birth right.

Lesser Realms will appear to help temper you, alongside the Linear Realms. Strengthen yourselves, we expect good things from you. Elijah disappeared back through the spiraling void, laughing as he went.

The military threw every weapon they had at the exterior of Realm Ombra. But everything thrown had no effect. Many elite squids of the military equipped in the latest of high-tech weapons on armor entered Ombra never to come out again.

More Realms appeared across the world as Elijah had said. The miner gates as they came to be known were far smaller than Ombra. The miner gates were ten feet by fifteen feet. It was after the appearance of the miner Realm that the world finally got to see what was inside the Realms. Monsters and beasts ready to tear a warrior apart. guns having extremely limited effect on the inhabitants. There were cities and towns filled with humanoid creatures as well.

The most common humanoid race were the lizard men, who had light blue and green skin, wore armer and wielded weapons. More humanoid races were discovered as more Realms appeared.

The minor Realms could be exited once entered, to everyone's relief. Minor Realms were ruled by Realm spirits which needed to be destroyed to collapse the minor Realms, where Linear Realms were ruled by Realm Lords and could not be exited. Militias form to combat the minor Realms, many succeeding in defeating the Realm Spirits and closing the Realms. Many never made it back. A few miner Realms were designated farming realms for resource hunting and training.

The humanoids inside the minor Realms used medieval weaponry which gave people ideas. A swordsman by the name of Gabriel Bright, a gruff and disciplined man in his sixties decided to meet steel with steel during his raid of a miner Realm. Gabriel, proficient in using long swords fought the lizard men using no technology. Just a sword, and plate armor for protection. Gabriel using his years of experience practicing with the sword fought off three lizard men by himself despite his age.

Gabriel found success in this way of fighting, and he gathered more people proficient in medieval weapons before raiding the Realm spirit, defeating it after a grueling fight. After the success of Gabriel, more fighters swapped guns for steel, and modern weaponry was almost nonexistent on the battlefield.

 Academies and training halls were quickly erected to teach those who wanted to use the sword, axe, bow and more to anyone willing to fight. Many Flocked to these facilities', growing their skills, gather and create factions of their own.

A new branch of the government was formed called the Federal Realm control to stem the problem the Realm imposed and to suppress the growing number of factions growing.

Once the government tried to suppress the people, there were riots, coos, assassination attempts of top officials. It was anarchy. Across the world people were fighting against the Realms and the governments. Decades of instability followed, the world falling further into despair. Around 40 years after Ombra appeared the world was ready to heal and truly except its new reality. Modern technology and weaponry have mostly become obsolete. The world has become a mixture of the dark ages and the modern era. Wood and cobblestone structures stand alongside towering buildings of concrete, steel, and glass. Massive guild halls where Realm Raiders can form parties to raid any Realms that appear. Trading halls where you can buy or sell what raiders found in the miner Realms.

A century has passed since Ombra appeared on earth; its shadow still covers the land. The world may be different than how it was before, but the raiders refuse to give up. Fighting every day to close Realms in hopes that one day Ombra might be closed. I am not sure if that is going to fix the world, but it might be the start to lessen the problem. I, Kael Jones, 18 years old have dreams of being the one who closes Ombra, eradicating the shadow from the land. Until then I must survive.