War Aeternus 3: The Culling

by Charles Dean

  “This is crazy. It’s like steampunk without steam--just water,” Jade remarked as she admired the place. “And with this many men around, I once again am the main character!” she proclaimed for anyone listening.

  “How do you figure that again?” Lee asked, and the three of them pushed deeper into the Dwarves’ underground stone town.

  “It’s harem logic. If the ratio of party members favors men, not women, then a woman is the main character. If there are more women, then a man must be the main character. I swear, it’s like you don’t even pay attention to plots these days.”

  “Kind of a problem with that,” Lee observed. “Since we’ve added you, our party has two women and two men . . . so who is the main character in this scenario?”

  “Umm . . .” Jade wilted as she seemed to hit a wall, but she quickly bounced back. “I don’t know what you’re talking about. That’s silly. There has to be a ratio. It just means that one hasn’t been established yet, but have no fear! We’ll add one of these Dwarves into our group just for the sake of filling out a diversity quota of mythical races. Gotta represent them all.”

  “Which one is a high-enough level to add?” Lee asked, looking around at the men they were following and the others whom they occasionally passed. The further into the town he went, the more and more he began to notice something: everyone was healthy. Ridiculously healthy. And fit. He had yet to spot a single person who was fat or lame or weak. For a race that was supposed to be made up of tiny people, the shortest man he saw was only five foot five or five foot six, but by the accounts that he had heard when in Kirshtein, there were supposed to be male Dwarves that were as short as four foot ten. Even the women here were surprisingly tall, and not a single one of the children seemed ready to fit the description of the Dwarves he had heard about.

  “Tough call. I mean, he’s gotta have a beard, and he’s gotta be able to drink. Otherwise, why add a Dwarf at all? Might as well just add a short Human at that point,” Jade pondered aloud, causing the smooth-faced Dwarf next to Lee to scowl.

  “What about a female Dwarf with a beard? Do those exist?” Lee asked jokingly as they reached the center of town. He realized something else just then: there were far too few people for the number of homes. They had passed nearly a dozen rooms on the way, and from what he could gather from a single glance as they walked by, each could easily contain a full family. Yet, here he was at the town center, and there were even abodes, full-sized dwellings that could house a population of a thousand if not more, and yet he hadn’t counted more than a hundred or two citizens at most. “And this . . . This place is rather empty.”

  “Right. We went over the evil party trying to destroy you that attacked this place before you arrived, didn’t we?” Jade responded, shrugging off Lee’s commentary.

  “We did, but . . . something else is definitely wrong.” Lee stared into miserable faces on every person he passed. It was as if they had all been mourning for weeks.

  “Your friend has the right idea,” the Dwarf next to Lee said. “It’s best if you ask fewer questions. The fewer you ask, the better for everyone. We’ll get you some food and a bunk, and then when first light breaks, I suggest your group goes on its merry way.”

  Lee looked over at the Dwarf and then at the rest of the people around him. Perfectly healthy people . . . strong, tall, good looking. They don’t match the criteria for people Meadhbh would attack at all. The only one that does . . . Lee tried to find anyone who looked like someone Meadhbh would try to kill off. It took him a few minutes, but he finally spotted someone. It was a four-foot-tall, waiflike man with a limp in his leg who was walking hand in hand with a much taller and stronger-looking woman. Upon spying the man, Lee pulled out a glass dagger and threw it across the town square. The knife buried itself into the wall, inches in front of the man’s face.

  “What in the heck were you thinking?!” the Dwarf next to him shouted, backing up and gripping the shovel he had been using earlier in both hands like it was a weapon.

  “Put down your weapons, surface walkers,” the leader from earlier said, also readying his shovel.

  “I don’t know where you’re going with this, Lee, but I like it. All this walking and repetitive monster killing has just left me SOOO bored. A good town-clearing NPC slaughter fest is just what we need!” Jade cackled merrily, cracking her neck and pulling out a vial of blood that she quickly turned into her blood blade. “I also just got to know: Will my little Bobby have a beard if I only use bearded men to make him?”

  Lee extended a hand as if to stop Jade, trying to de-escalate the woman’s obvious bloodlust. “There’s no need for that. We only need that man,” he said, pointing at the limping guy across the room. “I want him and no one else here, but if you get in my way, I will do what’s necessary,” he threatened, hoping that no one would call his bluff. The last thing he wanted was to go on a murderous rampage through this town, but given how weak they had seemed in comparison to him as they dug the ditch, he was confident that he’d be fine against them--especially within confined hallways.

  “Just him?” the leader said, but his face didn’t seem disappointed. “Fine, you can have him, but then you must leave.”

  “That won’t be necessary.” Lee shook his head as he watched the man, who was now trembling so hard that his good leg shook from side to side. “After all, I’m doing you all a favor.”

  “A favor?” the Dwarf who had been walking next to Lee earlier. He was now a good ten feet away, his shovel locked in a death grip. “I don’t know how threatening to kill us is a favor.”

  “You know exactly how,” Lee said. “That man is a plague in your home, and you’ve been waiting for someone to come along and kill him, haven’t you?” He was growing more confident of his assertion as the seconds ticked by. If Meadhbh, the one who had written him so many letters, had visited this town, she would have killed the weak. She’d have purified their blood to her standards: by removing all the short ones, all those who couldn’t grow muscle and all the lame and ugly people throughout the entire town. She’d have only left the strongest and best of them--and a test. She’d have left one of her loyal Phoukas as a trial of whether they were able to do what it took to preserve their bloodlines and prevent the lame and sickly from being born in rampant numbers. That man was Meadhbh’s test. Their skittish reactions were because they didn’t have the resolve or strength to do what Meadhbh wanted, and so the Phouka had remained in their ranks, reporting on them and causing them problems like the fire above.

  “What are you doing? This isn’t like you, Lee,” Brigid said. “You help people. You don’t kill those who are crippled or weak just because--”

  “Remember the kids in the forest?” Lee asked as he drew his sword and started walking over to the short, limping man.

  Brigid pursed her lips and furrowed her brow, but she didn’t say another word. The last time she had stopped him, it had turned out incredibly ugly.

  “Can we just skip the cutscene dialogue and go straight to the killing?” Jade asked from behind Lee.

  “There won’t be any need to kill a bunch of people,” Lee replied, leveling his sword straight at the man’s throat. “I just need you to show your true form and have a proper fight to the death before you go.”

  The man swallowed hard, backing up against the wall. The tip of Lee’s sword followed, never leaving his throat. “It’s not what you think. I’m not . . . Don’t do this,” the man begged. “Please, just put down your weapon and go away.”

  “Show me what you really are before I kill you, or die in that wretched skin you’re wearing now,” Lee pressed, pushing the blade a little farther until it drew blood.

  “Fine,” he said, pulling out a letter and throwing it at Lee. “She said you’d come. She said you’d kill me, but I didn’t think you’d have it in you. Oh well. You want to see what I am? I’m the beast that will break this town before I die!” he laughed. “These weak fools couldn’t kill a single crippled man . .
. And I’ll murder them all with you here!” The skin around his hands turned black, growing claws and obsidian-colored scales that began spreading up his arms.

  Lee didn’t hesitate. His sword was already against the man’s throat, and the second his suspicions were confirmed, he pressed forward, driving the blade through the Phouka’s throat. Fearful of what might happen if the man transformed, Lee drove the sword clear through the man’s neck and into the wall behind him before he stopped pressing.

  You have killed Alby. Your party has been awarded 1567 Experience. Your share of this is 392 Experience.

  You have reached Level 29! Your level increase has boosted all primary stats by 1. Your current Power, Toughness and Spirit have been adjusted to 39. You are 51498 Experience away from Level 30.

  “Damn! That was cold,” Jade laughed from the side. “I’ve heard of gray ganking, but that’s rough, man. He was all, ‘This isn’t my final form!’ And you were all, ‘Nope, nope! Episode’s over! Go home, you little bastard!’ Then he was all, ‘U-ug-uglug.” Jade did her best impression of the man spilling blood out his throat. “Priceless. And that whole villain’s speech before he died? Even better. But you had all the fun. Can I kill one or two--?

  “No!” Lee stopped that thought right in its tracks. “We killed their Phouka agent, nothing more. It was an enemy. The rest of these people are just victims and innocent townsfolk.”

  “Do they always look helpless? Are they always supposed to look weak and deserving of sympathy?” Brigid asked, staring down at the dead man.

  “And what’s with that letter? Is that a love note? Is it a last will and testament? You think it’s a map for buried treasure?” Jade asked. She snaked up beside Lee and peered over his shoulder, clearly waiting for him to open it so that she could read its contents along with him.

  “It’s . . .” Lee stopped himself after one word. He was about to say, ‘It’s nothing,’ but there was no way that wouldn’t draw more suspicion. “It’s one of those long journal entries you get at certain points in a quest,” he said instead, accurately predicting how bored Jade would look when he described it like that.

  “Ugh! Who even reads those? Wait, are you actually going to read it? Don’t tell me you keep a little diary that you update between fights with each interesting thing you’ve done so that someone can go through it later and reference it for god-only-knows what reason?” Jade said when Lee opened the letter, unfolding it so that he could see what Meadhbh had to say now.

  My dearest Lee,

  You killed Ulchabhannadhbh, and as sad as an occasion as it was, it was a mercy for which I must thank you nonetheless. I worry that I did not have the heart to do it myself. In her beast-like form, she was strong. One of the strongest of us. But you weren’t wrong to kill her. She was still a Phouka for a reason. She was broken in more ways than one. Her flesh was weak. Her mind was weaker. There was no cure for the pain that addled her brain and left her the jumbled, mumbling mess of a woman she was. Still, it was hard to hear of her passing. She was my friend, and that friendship had created a wall between me and what I had to do. So, I thank you for doing it in my stead.

  The only fear I have is that you did it to save your friend and not to expunge the weak. This is a grave concern that lingers in my heart as I listen to the stories of your adventures. My heart, in constant trepidation, worries that I have mistaken you. It fears that you may just be another one like them, merely killing to protect, so I left you this test. Forgive me for once more shifting the burden of culling onto you, as it was clearly unjustified. That you hold this letter, that you are reading its contents, is proof alone that my fears are unfounded and my consternation was unwarranted.

  Yet, I hope you like my handiwork. I hope you can admire the strength it took to purge the blood of the weak from the town in which you collected this letter. Their kind do not exist in my home world, yet Fey, Goddess of Changing Fates, showed me what the Dwarf race looks like in many dimensions. It’s always the same: they breed themselves into the smallest and most hideous of beings, their muscles atrophy, their frames diminish, and they slowly neuter their own species until they resemble caged bears that are unwilling to even fornicate to save their own lives. They, the fastest to reach the stars, are always the first and fastest race to die among them. Over a thousand people in this town, only a hundred and sixty-eight worth keeping. It was a hard task, and I wept for every life I took, but I had to. They had to die so that tomorrow’s future can be glorious for their kind. They didn’t understand me. They cried, they wept, they begged, and it made the killing that much more difficult. But you understand me. Of course you do. Only you, among all others, truly understand me. Only you have come to purge the weak with me, to build the better world.

  To that end, and for that reason, I wait for you. My heart beats with growing excitement as you draw nearer, and I know we will soon be united. Please, come soon. This task is too hard on one’s soul to do alone, no matter how important or necessary.

  After finishing the letter, Lee couldn’t help but have mixed feelings about the psychopath he’d inevitably have to kill. To some extent, he understood her. He realized full and well that she believed in her cause, that she believed in what she was doing, even as it hurt her to do it. The fact that she was looking to him as some sort of emotional support, a beacon of understanding and sympathy in a world that had clearly rejected her, pulled on his heart a little. Her solution to the problem made no sense, and it wasn’t worth hearing out, but it was still one that came from the pain of being born already rejected into a society that would never accept her--and all for a ‘sin’ she didn’t commit.

  “So, you gonna keep the journal entry or just stare at it slack-jawed?” Jade asked.

  “I think I’ll keep this one,” he replied. Then, trying to downplay its significance, he said, “Never know when I’ll need to turn it in for another quest.”

  “You’ve been finding a lot of those,” Brigid observed. “Your men told my men before that, even at the manor when . . . when that soldier of yours met an unfortunate end . . . You found a letter there too.”

  Lee knew that there was no way he was going to be able to hide what was going on with the letters from Brigid. She was smarter than that. And he also knew that she wasn’t a threat. He hated classifying her as ‘good’ simply because she was the lesser of two bad options, but after finding out about Devin’s past and hearing about the storyteller Herald--and now having met the Herald of the Goddess of Blood--Lee was rather confident that, out of the two women currently present, Brigid was the least unsavory option.

  In this game of gods, Heralds were thrown into a world that felt like a game, given tons of powers and tasked with gaining and wielding spiritual influence over people from an incredibly-primitive age. They were bound to go a little crazy. Absolute power wouldn't always corrupt absolutely, contrary to what the common expression implied, but an absolute ego might.

  With that in mind, Lee was beginning to fully understand that the worse these other Heralds looked, the more likely the people of this world would turn to him as a protector and lend him their support. Being the least worst option was a game he hadn’t thought about playing until now, but it was one he was considering more and more as he noticed what Brigid would let him get away with, even though she clearly still hated him.

  He had brazenly deceived the general and tricked her into leading an army into battle and entering a war she had no part of in order to kill Devin. Since then, he still was spending all of his time and money helping out the people of Satterfield, fighting for those who believed in him, and Kirshtein was clearly much better off without the Firbolg’s oppressive and discriminatory ideology. On the other hand, Heralds like Devin or Meadhbh were fighting for the extinction of whole swaths of the population, and Jade literally saw people as nothing more than fodder for her golem in battle.

  With that in mind, Lee knew that he could get away with just ignoring Brigid’s observation about the letters and
continue on with his day. He found a place to bunk and started crafting in his own little private stone room. The bedding, the lighting, and the perfectly-cool underground air contributed to a comfortable night--one that was far better than it had been when he was working in a fold-up tent with barely any room and no amenities. The kindly Dwarves even brought him a nice meal by their standards, not that Lee trusted food that had been prepared for him after he had acted so harshly earlier, but it was the gesture that counted.

  At some point--Lee couldn’t tell when since he had lost track of time due to the lack of sunlight underground--the system reminded him of exactly how late it had become with a notification regarding his Satterfield project.

  Your wooden walls have been completed. Satterfield has received an increase of 2 to its Defensive Strength score. Now, since you’ve finally fortified the town, would you at least care to take a look at the options we have available for improving Satterfield’s infrastructure?

  Lee saw the message and sighed. Yeah, the walls should hold, but they won’t hold indefinitely. There is still something missing. Actually, I’d like to begin the modified polybolos project. The modified polybolos project was a simple project with the goal of adding a nearly-automated ballista at each wall segment, giving the town a massive defense boost. The only problem with this was that it was an incredibly-expensive endeavor, not monetarily, but in its mana consumption. The costliest project he had done so far, the water reserve and piping, had only sequestered roughly 35% of his total mana and mana recovery. This time, however, it would section off 60% of his mana. It was a hard call to make, but he knew that Satterfield’s defense against everything but a proper siege would be outstanding once the system was up and running, and that was something that would help him rest more easily at night.