War Aeternus 3: The Culling

by Charles Dean

  “That’s it. You can do it,” Lee heard Augustus say, and then he could hear what almost sounded like a chuckle. “You got it . . . just a little more spirit!”

  Okay, Lee thought back as he put more effort into it, upping the amount from 2 to 3%. Unfortunately, it still wasn’t shaping. Instead, it was changing color . . . and then it exploded. The wooden block ignited in his hand and burst into flames, the sound of the crackling wood covered up completely though by the sound of Augustus’s laughter.

  “I can’t believe you! Hahaha! That’s so great! What’s wrong with you? Did you really think you could do that? Oh, man, that’s priceless. I swear, you’re way too gullible!”

  Augustus carried on laughing and taunting Lee, but he wasn’t fazed. Even if it was incredibly embarrassing to mess up like this in front of everyone, there was still one thing he was taking away from this whole experience: he had made fire. Even if Augustus hadn’t actually meant to help him, Lee was entranced as he watched the block of wood burn in his hand. He already knew firsthand exactly how useful of a tool fire was, and being able to create it at a whim could be a windfall. There was a thin layer of dirt between the wood and his hand, but the fire was still hot enough to burn him a little and scorch away 15 hit points. Once it had turned to ash, there was a tiny piece of charcoal remaining from where oxygen hadn’t been able to reach it as it ignited.

  So, spirit is just another form of energy, and if I condense it into an object that is sensitive to heat or energy too quickly, then this is the result. Lee closed his fist around the piece of charcoal, and the ash crumbled down around his hand. I’m not just generating mana over time. I’m essentially a renewable battery, and this mana is my electricity. It’s something that I might one day learn how to program, just like computers. Lee couldn’t stop himself from smiling as he held onto his ill-gotten reward, the boon his trollish ancestor had not meant to gift him.

  With that, he grabbed another piece of wood and repeated the processes, laughing merrily to himself even as it burned him when he saw the exact same result. He was able to do it with even less mana this time as he focused his efforts on just burning one part of the wood rather than trying to turn the entire block into something he could shape as he had done the first time. By the third attempt, he was able to ignite the piece of wood with less than a single point of his mana, which was good because he didn’t have much mana to begin with.

  You have uncovered the school of magic ‘Ignis Veritas’ and begun to better understand the nature of magic in this world. Practitioners of Ignis Veritas can ignite objects more effectively using mana and produce a flame with higher heat.

  You have been awarded 5 bonus Intelligence for discovering a school of magic without help, a teacher or the assistance of a tome. Current Intelligence: 173.

  What . . . in the . . . This is freaking amazing. Lee couldn’t stop himself from laughing happily as he held onto the charcoal, staring at the skill.

  “Lee? Are you . . . Are you okay?” Ling asked hesitantly from his side. “You’re scaring me.” She wasn’t the only one looking concerned. Lee hadn’t noticed it, but everyone in the entire room who had been drinking mirthfully moments ago was now staring at Lee with their mouths as open as their eyes. Everyone except Miller.

  Miller was sporting the same ear-to-ear grin that Lee had. “The god of fire! I told you so! I knew it! I knew it!” he yelled loudly, jumping up and rushing over to grab the charcoal out of Lee’s hand. “This is amazing! This is everything I wanted from you and more. This is beautiful! So beautiful! I knew from the moment you were reborn that you were touched by fire! I told myself, the blood of the crafting god is in his veins, so of course he can use fire, but now I have proof!”

  “Easy there.” Lee had to calm down Miller before the raving Firbolg killed someone in his crazed state of overly-enthused excitement. The way he had pulled out a spar and slammed it on the ground as he proclaimed Lee’s fire-based divinity had people even more scared and nervous-looking than when Lee was laughing maniacally while lighting pieces of wood on fire.

  “How can I be calm? This calls for a round. This calls for a few rounds. This calls for a dozen rounds! Let’s celebrate all night! We must be exuberant as we toast the success of your newfound powers! Once more, you’re stepping out of the shadows of your divine father and into the spotlight, where you will shine with righteous and just fury!” Miller exclaimed, rushing over to the keg as he excitedly filled up a few mugs and passed one over to Lee.

  Lee took the first mug, and he didn’t shy from the moment as he toasted his success. It really was an occasion to be happy about. With that done, however, he had to keep his original goal in mind: gaining and leveling Carpentry and starting work on the annoyingly-complex medieval orchestra jukebox. As such, after just two beers, Lee was hunkered down with Miller and Ling, shaving down and cutting one piece of wood after the other. By the time Lee had spent nearly an hour working on the piece, and having achieved little to hardly any visible results, the message that he had been praying for finally appeared.

  You have learned the crafting skill Carpentry. This skill is currently at Initiate Level 1. This skill improves your ability to cut, carve and finish wood quickly and precisely in order to craft a variety of items.

  You have been awarded 2 Intelligence for discovering a new skill without the assistance of class trainers or a manual. Current Intelligence: 175.

  It then took another hour and a half before Lee reached Initiate Level 2, and at that point, he was beginning to grow incredibly-frustrated with the pace. He had expected that it would gain levels faster since the level of the skill was so low, and he was focusing on it entirely, but he was sorely disappointed. So, he took the one golem that wasn’t busy watching the council or following Brigid of Kildare and decided to have the little guy help him out while he took a break to make a few more glass statues. It was even more disappointing to see his Glass Smithing climb to Novice Level 2 before his Carpentry even increased to Initiate Level 3, but sure enough, right as he was beginning to think his experiment was a complete failure, the Level 3 status window appeared.

  Before he started back on what he was sure would be a long night of working on both the wood for the orchestra machine as well as the skill Carpentry, he made sure to pause and start up the public works project. He kind of wished he could be there in Satterfield to see their expressions when his Spirit Builder skill started creating a magic water reserve out of thin air.

  Alright, system, I’ve got the Carpentry. Now, I’m going to order the construction of the water reserve and the running water system. Does that sound good to you? he asked, deciding to do the one thing he was actually good at these days: asking for help.

  Please don’t abuse my significantly-higher Wisdom stat. I cannot do this competition for you.

  Fine, you’ve helped a lot already. Let’s just order the construction of that project, Lee thought back, a little disappointed that he couldn’t get more in-depth advice but still rather happy with the amount he had already received.

  275 gold has been subtracted from your inventory, and your leading delegate in Satterfield, Henslee, has been notified about the impending construction to prevent confusion. 35% of your mana and mana regeneration have also been sequestered.

  Thank you, he thought after a moment, almost forgetting his manners as he scrambled to throw it in quickly and not anger the omnipotent AI. When the skill was activated, it didn’t just sequester his mana. Lee felt as if a part of his very soul had been ripped from his chest, and there was now an emptiness where it used to reside. Is this normal? He touched his chest, his hand lingering directly over his heart, where it felt as if a part of his spirit was missing.

  A very large portion of your mana and mana-generating soul has been broken off of you and is now crafting in Satterfield. You should expect to feel uncomfortably empty for the remainder of the process, as most people take several months to several years to get used to soul splitting. The difficulty
of maintaining the state is so high that the skill would not even be possible for someone of your low Intelligence and Spirit scores if not for your class capability.

  So, it really is as if I’m in two places at once. Lee kept sucking in air, trying to patch up the emptiness inside of him, but it was to no avail. It took several minutes, but he was finally able to put his mind back toward working on leveling up his Carpentry. He figured that the only reason he was even able to take his mind off of the issue was that he was somewhat used to splitting himself up to concentrate from his own point of view and that of the three golems at the same time. He had gotten used to being part of a random hive-minded collective, though in some ways, this was also the opposite of that. Whereas the golems created more noise and static in his head to deal with, this particular effect created less and felt more like a cold, empty stillness gripping him than anything else.

  You know what? This type of emptiness is exactly why God made beer so delicious. He stopped himself from getting lost in his own musings and downed another beer in one go, much to Miller’s approval, and then went back to Carpentry.

  Chapter 5

  Name: Lee

  Race: Human

  Class: Herald - Statesman

  Level: 26

  Health: 360/360

  EXP: 8075/37000

  Primary Stats:

  Power 36 (39)

  Toughness 36 (39)

  Spirit 36 (39)

  Secondary Stats:

  Charisma 30

  Courage 21

  Deceit 31

  Intelligence 179 (198)

  Honor -2

  Faith 32720

  Personal Faith 233

  Skills:

  Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

  Swordplay Novice Level 8

  Sneak Journeyman Level 2

  Cooking Initiate Level 7

  Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

  Knife Combat Initiate Level 8

  Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

  Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

  Blood Shield Initiate Level 3

  True Patriot

  Glass Smithing Novice Level 2

  Delegation

  Carpentry Initiate Level 5

  The Statesman:

  Territories:

  Satterfield (+10: Savior)

  Defensive Strength Rating: 1

  Economic Strength rating: 3

  Population Rating: 1

  Territory Rating: 12

  Tech / Utility Rating: 2

  Influence / Tourism Rating: 2

  Public Persona:

  Kirshtein (-2: Unkind)

  Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

  Divine Skills:

  Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 1

  Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 8

  Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 4

  Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 4

  Faith Healing

  Ignis Veritas

  Spirit Builder Initiate Level 1

  Divinity Powers:

  Life in Death

  Titles:

  Cheat Code Fighter

  The Great Deceiver

  Lee reached Initiate Level 5 of Carpentry, and the night looked like it was going to be over in a rather dull and boring fashion. He was just getting ready to go to bed when he heard a loud cry, something akin to a large bird squawking, and then a hair-raising scream from outside. The sun had already set a while ago, so he sent Ethan out ahead of him as he rushed to the door with Miller, Ling, and a few of the paladins who had been drinking with him.

  “I don’t know what’s out there, but we can do this,” Lee shouted as he readied his sword and shield.

  “Should we wait for uhhh . . .” Ling hesitated as she looked over at Lee, clearly stumbling over the words ‘Ethan’ and ‘golem.’ Before she could even finish asking, Lee had already seen what would be ahead of them when they opened the door: nothing. It was empty on all sides. No matter how hard he surveyed the calm night scene, he couldn’t spot a single enemy. Even still, he was incredibly cautious as he opened the door, peeking his head out while still keeping as many of his vitals as he could behind his shield.

  Then, after a moment, the rest of the group had come out too, and still, no one could see anything at all.

  “I don’t get it,” Lee said as he looked around. “I could have sworn I heard screaming.”

  “Window.” Ling pointed.

  Sure enough, there was a window open. One of the manor’s servant quarter windows was wide open, and there was a smattering of some dark liquid on the sill.

  “Crap, Dave and Pelham were there drinking!” Lee thought aloud. “Dave! Pelham! Where are you--?”

  Then, as if out of nowhere, the screaming returned. It wasn’t out in the dark courtyard: it was above him. Lee switched to Ethan’s eyes as the rodent launched itself into the air, and he just barely caught a glimpse of one of the new paladins. The poor man was screaming his lungs out as he plummeted through the air and dropped toward Lee at break-neck speed.

  “No!” Lee shouted back, but there was nothing he could do. Moments later, the paladin struck the ground, splattering out in all directions like a watermelon. “What in the hell . . .?” Lee did his best to swallow as he stared at the corpse. He had already memorized the man’s face, and he’d have to make another statue, but he felt helpless in the moment.

  Just when he thought it was over, a sealed envelope fluttered down slowly and landed in front of him. Lee grabbed the strange missive before it hit the ground, and this time, he couldn’t hide the presence of the letter from the others. They all saw it as plainly as he did, so he didn’t bother trying to act discreetly as he opened the envelope and began reading it a moment later.

  We were weak. So weak. We shifted, and they mistook it for strength. The brain of a man and the power of a beast--they thought of us as perfect, but we are weak. So weak. Far from perfect, we were broken. That’s why we had to beg for power, to cry and plead for nature to undo the mistakes of man on our hands and knees for a thousand of days and nights. This is our story, my story, the story of the cruelest thing man had to offer his brothers and sisters: dishonest acceptance and unjust protection from the guiding hand of nature. Unto generations of men are born those stronger and weaker than their predecessors. I was of the latter. I was the weakest of the litter, spawned from the weakest of the litter and so forth, until I stood, a gaunt cripple with no strength, no skills and no hope of survival on my own. But it wasn’t my fault. It was theirs. If they had just stopped it at the start, if they had culled the weak genes from the pool before us foul and wretched spawnlings could emerge, would we have ever had to suffer?

  No. We wouldn’t have. Our existence here is the blight that they gave us, and our strength is here for one purpose: to cull the weak before those as wretched as me ever walk this world again. So, I gave you a gift, one you don’t even have to thank me for. I culled the weakest of your order so that you’ll never have to do it yourself. I know you have the strength to do it, but it doesn’t make it easy. I know. So, I will purge this genetic rot from your order and wait for your arrival. My birds tell me you’re coming.

  I’m so excited. I can’t wait to see you.

  “What’s it say?” Miller asked. Both he and Ling were trying to glance over his shoulder, but neither was too successful.

  “Nothing good,” Lee responded as he took in the gist of the contents. “It’s a challenge from the other Herald,” he continued, summarizing it in a way that he thought they would most easily accept. Should I tell them that I’m being courted by a crazy, murderous shapeshifter? He quickly ran over the letter’s contents again in his mind. He understood her to a degree, and he even sympathized with her a bit. She had been born deformed and crippled, and she blamed an endless line of selfish people with genetic defects freely procreating for why she turned out that way, but it didn’t excuse her. Even if he could agree with the logic behind her allocation of blame, there were so many ways t
o go about preventing the suffering she described that didn’t involve killing off the weak, ill and physically-deformed so they wouldn’t keep reproducing.

  “Can I at least--” Ling reached over to try and take a peek, but Lee just stashed the envelope and letter into his inventory.

  Lee shook his head. “It’s best if you don’t read the particulars.” He knew this was going to put a little bit of doubt between himself and Ling, and himself and Miller, but something told him that he shouldn’t mention the contents. The worst-case scenario was if this Herald’s words and tone created a rift between him and the party from Birnefeld. He didn’t think that Ling or Miller would leak the fact the Herald’s words implied they were on the same side, but an odd word at the wrong time might be deadly to the synergy he was hoping to achieve with this diplomatic party.

  The last thing he wanted was to be tied to just one town politically, and as much as this was an opportunity to hunt down a mad woman of a Herald, it was also an opportunity to patch up a relationship with a woman that probably hated him. If he could do that, there was a chance that he could also work his way into the good graces of another powerful and influential town. The more people that want me, the higher my price, right? Lee frowned as he was reminded of the things he had heard from the council after he left the room.

  But how do I fight a beast that can just rip me into the air like that? Lee’s eyes moved from the hands that were holding the letter back to the corpse of the fallen man. Wait, no . . . Don’t tell me I’m going to have to learn that too . . . Lee sighed as he came to realize the only possible way he could think of to stop himself from immediately dying from a similar bird attack.

  After that, the rest of the night went smoothly. He didn’t try to magic any parts for the most massive pre-electric boombox he had ever seen, but he stayed up until almost midnight, making it with Ling and Miller. He used his mana as it restored, constantly making glass statues and reaching Novice Level 3 Glass Smithing before he finally finished honoring all of the dead men and women who had fought for his cause. They didn’t even come close to finishing the machine. They were almost to the halfway point when they had to stop, but it was still a good bit of manual labor and a useful distraction to take their minds off the fact that they had all just witnessed one of the most gruesome deaths in their shared experience together.