War Aeternus 3: The Culling

by Charles Dean

  “Psh. No, forget that. Stay under your own stupid sad-sack excuse for a roof,” Jade scoffed. Then, as if it wasn’t obvious enough already, she stormed off into her pre-built home and was about to shut the door when she saw Brigid walking up to Lee’s tent. “You! Flat-chested princess, what are you doing? It’s time to go to sleep!”

  “But . . .” Brigid looked over at Jade and then at Lee. “I don’t actually have a tent. My accommodations are always handled by the soldiers under my command.”

  “NPC, that doesn’t explain why you’re going to his tent. What the heck? Did you feel inspired to give him a quest to craft you a better chest? Cut that out. You’re with me. If I see you go near his tent again, I’ll murder you myself like the under-leveled follower you are,” Jade threatened, staring at Brigid so hard she forgot to blink.

  “Stop with the threats,” Brigid shot back, having regained her spine as the day went on and the shock wore off. “I’ve seen how you fight without your golem. Don’t act like I can’t kill you myself before you have a body near to summon that hideous, grotesque creation of yours.”

  “Oooo, feisty. Well, come on girl. You’re sleeping with me tonight, one way or another. I need to keep an eye on you so that you don’t try to steal a march on me in the middle of the night!” Jade ran out of her tent, grabbed the still-angry-looking Brigid by the arm and dragged her into the tent.

  Lee crawled onto his well-described sad sack of a sleeping mat and pulled out some of the wood he had brought to practice his crafting. He desperately wanted to begin working on Masonry, but the problem he was having was that it was going to require him to be in a fixed location a lot longer. Cement was going to take a long time to mix, set and plan. There was also the issue that he wouldn’t be able to bring giant cement structures with him easily, since the only thing he could attempt to make with his nonexistent skill level and limited understanding was a foundation. Thus, he stuck to Carpentry while at the same time using his mana whenever he had enough to improve his Spirit Smithing.

  A little into the night, the ding that he was already expecting finally went off.

  Your wooden palisades have been completed. Satterfield has received an increase of 2 to its Defensive Strength score. You may now select a more useful and apt civic project to begin. I can offer you a suggestion from the list of options in the Tech and Utility tree if you like.

  He had been dreading the system’s response to the next project choice since he had initially planned it out, but it was still one he wanted to do now more than ever. Actually, I think that’s okay. I don’t need the list. I’d like to upgrade the wooden palisades to fortified wooden walls.

  You are joking, right? Mr. Diligent Despot, surely you would like to reconsider this option in favor of a better, more sensible one, right?

  No, I’m pretty set on this, Lee thought, not backing down from his decision. I want those walls to be in tip-top shape when I get back.

  I will trust this is part of a grand plan of yours and begin the program immediately. The project has been started. 77 gold has been subtracted from your inventory, and your leading delegate in Satterfield, Henslee, has been notified about the impending construction to prevent confusion. 15% of your mana and mana regeneration have also been sequestered. The project will be completed within 24 hours. At that point in time, you may then choose to upgrade the fortified wooden walls to stone walls.

  Excellent! Thank you so much for your assistance. Lee went back to work on his projects. He still needed to raise Sewing some for a few of his civic projects, but overall, he was actually pretty happy with the town. His only real disappointment was that he couldn’t be there personally to see the faces of the townspeople as the walls grew and improved around them. He also wished he knew exactly how far out they were situated, whether they left room for additional housing in the town, or whether they skated around the edges of the houses and if they protected any of the farms. There was a lot he didn’t know and wouldn’t know until either he sent one of the currently-disobedient golems or went there himself.

  He went to sleep after reaching a comfortable point with his Carpentry. He had fashioned several more pieces that he could assemble onto his medieval jukebox later on. He spent the time thinking the day’s developments and wondering exactly what was going on with Augustus, why the deity had sent him a crazy anime fangirl, and what he was thinking getting her to make a body-sized anime waifu pillow. Even with all that in consideration, Lee was actually happy to have met a Herald that wasn’t out to kill him. And, even if she might be murderous, at least she wasn’t going to try to make him kill children and sickly people either.

  Chapter 7

  Name: Lee

  Race: Human

  Class: Herald - Statesman

  Level: 28

  Health: 380/380

  EXP: 46110/46500

  Primary Stats:

  Power 38 (42)

  Toughness 38 (42)

  Spirit 38 (42)

  Secondary Stats:

  Charisma 31

  Courage 22

  Deceit 31

  Intelligence 204 (223)

  Honor -2

  Faith 32711

  Personal Faith 224

  Skills:

  Unarmed Combat Initiate Level 7

  Swordplay Novice Level 10

  Sneak Journeyman Level 4

  Cooking Initiate Level 8

  Trap Detection Initiate Level 6

  Knife Combat Initiate Level 9

  Mental Fortitude Initiate Level 1

  Sleight of Hand Initiate Level 3

  Blood Shield Initiate Level 5

  Sewing Initiate Level 4

  Glass Smithing Novice Level 4

  True Patriot

  Carpentry Initiate Level 7

  Delegation

  The Statesman:

  Territories:

  Satterfield (+10: Savior)

  Defensive Strength Rating: 3

  Economic Strength rating: 3

  Population Rating: 1

  Territory Rating: 12

  Tech / Utility Rating: 12

  Influence / Tourism Rating: 4

  Public Persona:

  Kirshtein (-2: Unkind)

  Birnefeld (0: Unknown)

  Divine Skills:

  Golem Sculpting Journeyman Level 5

  Appreciative Drunk Novice Level 10

  Nectar of the Gods Initiate Level 6

  Spirit Smithing Initiate Level 6

  Faith Healing

  Ignis Veritas

  Spirit Builder Initiate Level 1

  Divinity Powers:

  Life in Death

  Titles:

  Cheat Code Fighter

  The Great Deceiver

  The Aggressive Mile-High Chef

  The next day seemed rather uneventful at first. Lee, Jade and Brigid continued up the mountain path, pressing on as fast as they could without skipping out on leveling until they found a set of tracks. The impressions in the soft earth appeared to be left by a humanoid but were a little larger than an actual Human’s. The only positive thing that could be said was that whoever made them was wearing shoes. As trivial as this detail might seem to be, Lee took it as an indication that the owner of the footprints had a good chance of not being a Phouka, as all the members of that race whom he had encountered so far were always clothed in the simplest of garb and were barefooted.

  “They all lead up that way,” Brigid said as she bent over and studied them. “Do you think it’s worth a detour?”

  “I don’t know, NPC,” Jade huffed. “Are you going to give us a quest properly so that we can get some EXP after you state the obvious? God, I swear, I don’t know why Lee insists on talking to you all the time.”

  “Because her opinion is often valuable,” Lee responded. “Yeah, they’re worth checking out. Just because these prints were made by someone wearing shoes doesn’t absolutely mean they aren’t Phouka. We still need to be on our guard.”

  “You know, we co
uld just bring some breathing bodies with us. We could go sack an NPC town and stack the piles miles high, and then we could just throw them at the enemy and make little Bobby pop out and win the day during our next encounter,” Jade offered. “I’m just making a suggestion. Don’t look at me like that.”

  “I don’t know how many times I have to tell you. This isn’t a video game,” Lee sighed. “These aren’t NPCs; they’re real people.”

  “If this isn’t a video game, and they’re such real people, then why the hell does a status message pop up every time I kill one? It’s really confusing,” Jade complained as the three of them kept following the tracks upward. “Either they’re real, and this isn’t a game, and I’m insane, or something is really broken with reality, and this is definitely a game.”

  “I don’t understand what you two are talking about,” Brigid grumbled. “Why can’t you speak normally?”

  “Lo! Woman! I have a grand quest to split thy legs and venture through thy valley! Is that normal enough for you?” Jade chuckled. “Wait, you guys smell something?”

  “Yeah . . .” Lee paused, taking a big whiff. “It’s . . . It smells like barbecue,” he thought aloud. “But that’s not right. They don’t barbecue anything here. It doesn’t match with their culture.”

  “Forget logic . . . THIS SMELLS SOOO GOOD!” Jade gave up any pretense of patiently walking with the group and darted toward the smell. Lee and Brigid quickly followed behind. After nearly twenty-four hours together, they were used to her just doing what she felt like and going off on tangents, but it didn’t stop either of them from making sure their shields were up and ready for anything that might come their way.

  Lee sighed and looked over at Brigid, only to have her nod her head.

  “It . . . It really does smell good.” Brigid followed Lee toward the smell like a toucan in a rainforest hunting cereal.

  The trees opened up even more as Lee caught up to Jade, revealing a clearing by a river, and he understood why she had stopped at the moment the town came into view. It was decimated from one end to the other. The delicious aroma was the smell of crops burning in the fields that lay on the other side of the river and slain livestock whose corpses had been roasted in the flames. Lee watched with a little bit of horror as a group of incredibly-muscular bearded men struggled to dig a huge trench around the flame. They were each working incredibly hard and fast to trench the soil and create a barrier to prevent the fires from spreading, but it looked like they were fighting a losing battle against the flames.

  “Ugh.” Jade frowned, turning to Lee as he came up behind her. “These reeks of annoying, mind-numbing fetch quests and no food. Why did they have to tease my nose? I’m hungry now. Lee, go make me some food.”

  “How about ‘no’?” Lee answered, instantly denying her. “I think we need to make it to the other side and lend them a hand.”

  “Boring. We need to just make it up the mountain and finish what we came here for,” Jade insisted.

  But Lee wasn’t bothering with her. He had already begun scanning for a quick way across. Luckily, he didn’t have to look long. The river was wide and fast, but there appeared to be two carts on either bank with a series of ropes attached between them and a rope in the middle, floating in the water. The makeshift ferry appeared to seat six people, and when Lee got there, he found that the entire thing was essentially operated like a bike or a pedal boat. The occupants of the middle seats would pedal, propelling the vehicle along the rope to the other side.

  “You coming?” Lee asked, sitting down behind a set of pedals.

  Brigid nodded, and she didn’t hesitate to hop in the contraption and position himself next to Lee. An instant later, the two began moving away from the riverbank.

  “Wait! Fine, I’ll come. You talked me into-- Hey! Where are you two going?!” Jade harrumphed from the shore as Brigid and Lee traveled farther away, quickly making their way across the river. During their trip, the other cart that was previously on the side of the village ferried itself over to where Jade was waiting angrily.

  Lee hopped out the moment his cart touched into the specially-designed dock and rushed to help the men before the fire could consume even more. He and Brigid grabbed two shovels and then began digging as fast as they could. The men were determined, and they were clearly both efficient and well-organized, but with Lee and Brigid’s enhanced stats, the pair was easily able to tear through roots, plants and earth and expand the trench incredibly quickly. When they were done, they all took a step back and watched as the fire ran against the freshly-dug ditch. It began to burn itself out and lose strength shortly after as it had nothing left to feed off of.

  “Well, that was interesting,” Lee commented as he watched the slowly-dying flames.

  “Thanks for the help, lad,” one of the men answered as he came forward. The man was almost six feet tall with a barrel chest and a long beard. “Won’t forget the help you gave us here.”

  “It wasn’t a problem, but if you don’t mind me asking, how exactly did this happen?” Lee glanced around, finally taking everything in. There was a still-functional irrigation system running through the fields, albeit a crude and rough one. There was no logical reason for there to have been a fire in the area, especially given the weather, their proximity to a river, and the fact the crops that hadn’t been caught up in the blaze were looking very healthy and well-watered.

  “It just did,” the short, gruff man said. “It did, and that’s all there is to it.”

  “Oh my God, write a better plot, Mister Game Creator! These storyline quests are more recycled than childhood friend tropes at an anime convention,” Jade huffed so loudly that several men turned and looked at her. She was still sporting the same angry look she had on earlier. “I mean, seriously, how is this not absolutely clear? First, he”--Jade pointed to Lee--“doesn’t just show up right when a tragedy hits the town unless it’s been planned that way. Second”--she pointed over at the man--“he might look tough, but did you see how long it was taking him to shovel that dirt? Weaaaaak sauce, man. Weak sauce. He’s clearly one of the low-level townies that’s only good for trade at best, and he’s being threatened and extorted by someone that has an issue with you. I mean, coincidence much? This was set up from the start, and he can’t say a word because whoever set it up to mess with you did so with the express intention of not being discovered--which probably should have worked, given the main character is incredibly dense. Seriously, seriously dense.”

  Lee couldn't help but mostly agree with her. What she said made a lot of sense. And since we’re only near one potential bad guy, it must be Meadhbh. It’s not like Brigid’s people would have made it up here quicker than we did on the barbecue-bird express, and it’s not like we’d know anyone else up here. So, anyone else watching and waiting for us . . . “So, putting aside the attack by Meadhbh, where is your town?” Lee asked as he looked around. Fields were visible, and lots of contraptions and hydraulic gears, each seeming to have their own unique purpose, were everywhere, but there was a clear absence of dwellings. Lee’s eyes darted from one clever mechanical innovation to the next, noticing that the contraptions and gears were all broken, except for the pulley boat that he had ridden over on.

  “Below,” the man answered. “You’re welcome to lodge here for the night as thanks for your assistance, but it’ll be getting dark soon, and we have repairs to make and work to do. We don’t have time to spare on you Humans.” He moved toward the center of the field where there was a metal gazebo-shaped room with no windows, and once there, he opened a door and disappeared.

  “I’m not a Human,” Brigid sighed. “I’m a Leprechaun.” The constant verbal abuse from Jade had taken a toll on her, and she wasn’t the same confident and determined commander she had been when Lee first met her. Now, she just seemed resigned to tagging along with Lee while they made their way to meet the Herald.

  “Don’t take it personally, lass,” one of the other men added as he saw Brigid’s face twi
st up with frustration. He was slightly taller and had a broken-looking nose. “To us Dwarves, Leprechauns, Humans . . . well, you both look the same. It’s hard to tell one of you thick-headed surface dwellers from the next.”

  Surface dwellers? You mean . . . Lee’s eyes glistened with excitement as he watched two more people walk into the gazebo and disappear. They really do have an underground lair! he concluded, knowing full and well that those three barrel-chested men would not be able to fit comfortably in that tiny building.

  “What’s with that look?” Jade asked when she saw Lee’s face light up. “You excited you won’t have to sleep on that rat-infested thing you call a sleeping mat?”

  “It’s not rat-infested,” Lee grumbled.

  “It’s not? I could have sworn I saw three mutant, sewer-dweller-sized rats going in and out of your tent last night while you were sleeping,” she teased with a shrug. “But, if you don’t want to admit it, that’s fine.”

  She saw my golems? Lee was a little surprised by that revelation. He had used the three mice to gather materials from around their campsite last night, but he didn’t expect that she’d have seen them at all. Their Sneak skill was the same as his, and that was nothing to look down on. He was already a Journeyman, and it was by far one of his highest skills yet.

  “Well, I guess you’re right. I would like to sleep on a real bed for once,” Lee replied, brushing off her observation and heading toward the metal room standing in the center of the field. He’d have to remember to be more careful with his creations around her in the future, at least until he was comfortable enough with her to tell his secrets.

  He opened the door to find a steep, two-person-wide staircase that led down into the ground. He followed the Dwarf in front of him down, and the two descended into the town. Amazingly, the small town was covered in metal pipes and gears, and water flowed everywhere. If Lee had to guess, he would assume that they had channeled the river and turned it into an incredibly-efficient power source. There were knobs and levers, the functions of which Lee could only guess, at every turn, and he was forced to wonder whether or not running water had been as big of an accomplishment for Satterfield as he thought when this particular town was much, much more advanced. The cavernous area was lit with a series of small torches, and Lee could see several places in the ceiling where air was vented, but the rest of the rooms and hallways were solid polished stone with only tiny layers of mortar separating one block from the next.