Phil stayed on his feet in front of his armchair, awaiting a response. Garath just looked at him for a moment.
“Thanks, Phil. I appreciate you voicing your concern. You’re welcome to leave any time you’d like. Anyone else?” Garath asked.
The room was quiet, apart from a muffled laugh from Warrion.
“Okay, moving right along then. I mentioned before that I was going to make a Guild to replace our Raid Group. I went through that process last night, but most of you will be joining a second Guild. I learned that Guilds gain powerful bonuses for picking a specialization. For the Guild I started last night, I chose the Dungeon specialization because I’m sure we'll need every advantage we can get to do something nobody on Earth has been able to do in claiming a Dungeon. More on that later, though. I want everyone that is not going with me to the Dungeon to join a second Guild that I'm going to ask Gary to create."
Garath paused. He really should have said something to Gary about this beforehand. He looked at the bearded man questioningly, who looked back at him, surprised, but nodded his assent. “Thanks, Gary. My uncertainty on whether it’ll hold up to a World Boss is why I added the contingency of waiting at the north end of the building.” Garath paused, staring down at Phil with his fiercely glowing eyes until the pudgy man finally sat back down. “Great. Anything else before we move on?”
“What do we do if we have to leave?” asked the very pregnant Hispanic woman Garath knew as Almaria. “Will it chase us?”
Garath smiled warmly at her. “It might,” he said, his smile growing as a humorous mental video played in his mind. He was imagining Rum’bah chasing Almeria, specifically. He shook himself back into the moment. "But this World Boss happens to be a gigantic turtle. It moves very, very slowly. If it does decide to chase us, we won't have any problem getting away safely. It’d be a shame to let this building go, but we can always make a new home after it passes by. This is all just worst-case scenario, of course. I do expect the plan to work as I laid it out, to be clear.”
“Can we kill it?” asked a young man on the far side of the room. Garath recognized him as one of ‘the Hawkies’, a group of middle-school aged D&D nerds that kicked some serious ass for The Band throughout The Culling. There were murmurs of agreement throughout the hall. “I mean, it can’t be stronger than a Dragon. Right? Even if the damn thing did get better afterwards, we did kill a Dragon."
“I have no doubt that we could bring it down if we decide to go that route, but I think we should let it do its job. I know not many of you have spent time out there lately,” Garath said, pointing to the south, “but there are thousands of bloated, rotting corpses out there. I’m no doctor, but TodoroKen is. TodoroKen, what kind of complications can we expect from being surrounded by thousands of decaying bodies?”
TodoroKen looked to his wife and two children next to him on the couch, then nervously stood up to speak, his voice shaking. “Well, I was an orthopedic surgeon, not a pathologist. But I can tell you for certain that it’s bad.”
“Thank you, doctor,” Garath said, nodding. “There, you see? It’s bad. Nobody is going to dispose of them for us. If we kill the World Boss, then we will have to personally deal with the corpses. Anyone care to volunteer?”
Nobody cared to volunteer. Even Phil the asshat looked half-convinced that Garath’s plan was their best option.
“Alright. Gary and I will go over Guild creation and get everyone invited right after this meeting. Now, outside of our immediate danger, I also want to talk about the future. The truth is, it's pretty bleak. There are only 23 days left until other races are going to be implanted here on Earth. I don't know what races are coming or even have an idea what they’ll be like but, based entirely on our experience with The Culling, I think we should prepare for the worst."
At that point he knew his Leader of Man identification was taking effect. The words spilled naturally from his lips and over two-hundred people hung on his every word, murmuring in worried agreement.
"There was a prompt that we all received at the end of The Culling that told us about the Dungeons. It said that, once claimed, Dungeons can serve as a protected and resourceful home for humans. I don't know about you, but to me that sounds like a good way to prepare for the worst," he said, raising his voice and lowering it to keep their attention. Another murmur of agreement filled the hall and he continued. "As far as I know, not one of the ten Dungeons on Earth have been claimed by humans, and that needs to change before we’re not the only race that can claim them.” Garath prepared to deliver his call to action with a dramatic pause. When he spoke again, he made sure to project his new-found confidence with his shoulders back and hands at his sides. “I am going to lead a group to claim the Dungeon lying in the ruins of Seattle. We will make The Tower of Vy’thishrak a beacon for humanity! Others around the world will follow our example and mankind will do what we’ve always done, survive. This is our planet!"
Deep inside, Garath worried that his words would fall flat, and he would just look like an idiot standing on a table. On the outside though, his fierce eyes and commanding presence paired with his Leader of Man bonuses to inspire the frightened people sitting before him. The eruption of cheers all around the large room helped to relieve his insecurities, but Garath knew the peak of his speech would only hold their attention for so long. He took the opportunity to lay it all out one more time as clearly as he could.
"Gary’s Guild will make this building a much safer place until we can claim the Dungeon and make it our new home. That's it. That's the plan. Questions? Concerns?"
"How long will it take?" asked Daisy, seated next to Gary on one of the many couches lined up with a good view of Garath standing atop the table. “To make the Dungeon ours, I mean.”
"I honestly have no idea," the Necrologist told her. He shrugged. "I've been watching the forums for any information regarding these Dungeons, but I haven't seen a word. I’ve been in contact with someone that claims to know more and is willing to help us prepare, though. But to answer your question, I really don’t know.”
"Who's going?" Daisy asked from the couch as if she were simply having a one-on-one conversation with Garath.
"I don’t know,” Garath said again. “The Dungeons have a 10-person maximum and I want to start getting a Party together immediately. I have some friends on their way here that want to join the team. Which brings me to the third and final thing I wanted to discuss while everyone is all together. When my friends get here, I want to have something like a block Party down the street, by the Legion Memorial cliff that looks over the ocean. We picked up some canned stuff from a few of the restaurants while we were at the mall yesterday. I was thinking maybe we could put together something a little more exciting than salmon and more food rations," he said. That got an enthusiastic cheer from everyone in attendance. Even the mention of having anything other than salmon and tasteless food rations for dinner raised everyone's spirits. "In the meantime, if you're interested in being a part of the Dungeon team, send me a private message. There are five open spots as of right now."
Garath waited, standing alone on the long oak table for any further questions. When none came, Garath stepped down and walked to where Athios was standing. The crowd dispersed slowly, migrating into small groups and talking amongst themselves.
"Did I come off a bit strong?" he asked her.
"It was good," she said, raising the last syllable in a way that made it almost sound like a question. "A little fatalistic, but good."
"Fatalistic? More like manifest destiny," said Warrion, who had followed Garath away from his pedestal. “This will be our land. And we shall call it, this land.”
Garath knew he had come off strong, but that was his intent. He was strong. He needed to exude the confidence of a leader that knew what he was doing. His friends meant well, but he didn't need their validation.
There were plenty of things that Garath knew he should see to, like keeping an eye on the World Boss or grinding to L
evel up, but the only thing on his mind was getting back to where his egg was planted on the cliff. He longed to feel its soothing presence again. The Necrologist almost turned to leave, to go back to his peaceful little clifftop by the ocean when he caught a glimpse of Gary walking his way.
With a sigh, Garath took a seat at a nearby table and motioned for Gary to join him. He sat down and the Garath walked him through the Guild creation process. In a moment of abhorrent imagination on the part of the two G’s, they decided on the guild name ‘BoTH’. It turned out that choosing a Guild Hall to make inviolate was as simple as having the new Guild Leader, Gary, take a step outside and mentally select the old school building. There weren’t any visible changes to the building itself after Gary confirmed his choice, but the bearded man informed Garath that he’d completed the process. Gary even relayed a prompt to the Necrologist stating that the building itself, as well as an additional ten-meter perimeter around it, would be impervious to damage.
Garath left Gary to the mundane task of inviting everyone to the new Guild, then made his way back into the building. He found Warrion and Athios right where he’d left them by the large oak table in the front of the new Guild Hall’s main hall. It took some quick talking, but Garath got Warrion to agree to go into Stealth and keep an eye on Rum’bah with orders to send a warning message to everyone when the World Boss was getting close to the building.
Now, standing alone with the beautiful, dark haired mystery, Garath smiled. He wanted to spend more time with Athios, to learn more about her and who she’d been before forced to become the badass Dimensionalist that was responsible for saving his life at least a half-dozen times. He wanted to see her smile and make her laugh.
All of those feelings, yet the lust he felt pushing at the forefront of his conscious mind wasn’t for Athios. It was the taint. He’d been fighting it since he shifted out of Crow form to meet with his little community and, while he was pretty sure he could keep himself from doing anything crazy, like murdering said community for Experience Points, he wanted to get back to the cleansing presence of the egg buried on his clifftop as soon as possible. He knew it was a crutch, and that eventually he'd need to find a way to get a handle on his whole tainted soul issue. Yes, it may be a crutch, but after killing a 17-year-old girl, massacring a pack of wild trash pandas, and strongly considering murder for the sake of Experience Points, Garath was limping.
"I need to go check on the egg," he told her, and then turned to leave.
"You want some company?" Athios asked softly, following in his wake. "You did promise to tell me what happened last night..."
Chapter Six – Let it Go
Garath began receiving private messages from people hoping to join his Dungeon team the second he left the building with Athios. He dismissed the notifications as they came in, planning to go over them all when he was alone. Ideally, in the presence of the egg on the cliff where his mind would be clearer.
The drooping sun sent weak beams of light through small gaps in the clouds. Vibrant shades of yellow and orange danced across the ocean waves as Garath and Athios neared Garath’s clifftop. Knowing she’d be on the Dungeon team without even asking, Garath sent his very first Guild invitation.
Would you like to invite Athios to join The Band of the Hawk?
Yes or No
Garath chose 'Yes' and a few seconds later received another prompt.
Athios has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Now at two members strong, Garath decided it would be a good time to send some Guild invitations to the group heading west from Wyoming. Short minutes later, Garath received and dismissed a handful of additional prompts.
Auto has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Obawon has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Jebawon has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Maimon has joined The Band of the Hawk.
Eventually, Garath did tell Athios what happened with Leviathan the night before, leaving out the fact that she was a seventeen-year-old girl. He told her about the fight in great detail in order to avoid having to give details about Leviathan herself. As soon as they were within a few of where he planted the tiny silver egg the night before, Garath felt a wave of relief wash over him.
He hadn't told anyone about the effects of tainted soul for fear that they would not understand or worse, lose trust in him. Garath couldn't even imagine the response from the already jumpy community if they learned that the Necrologist Class was responsible, at least partially, for twisting Leviathan into the monster that she became. Now though, with the comforting presence of the egg to give him strength, he felt like it may do him some good to finally get it off his chest. He knew that he could trust Athios to keep it to herself, but felt as though he couldn't ask her to share the burden. He wanted to tell her, but didn’t even know where to start. What would he even say?
Anyways… I’ve been wanting to tell someone that I sometimes get urges to murder everyone in our group just to make myself stronger. And that other times, when I see wild animals looking for their lunch, I just massacre them and then feed their organs to these demons I summoned from hell to serve me.
That’d go over well.
"I know that face," Athios told him, her voice gentle and understanding. Garath looked up from his self-loathing to see concern on her delicate features. "You don't have to tell me about whatever it is that’s on your mind if you don't want to, but if you do, I'll listen."
Athios summoned a small red box from her Items panel and pulled a lighter out of her pocket. She took out a cigarette for each of them and handed one to the Necrologist, who accepted it happily. Garath hadn't been a regular smoker before the apocalypse, but it felt like a rare luxury at that point. Athios had found that when someone needs to unload something they were uncomfortable with sharing, oftentimes just doing something simple with their hands can make it a little easier.
"You find these at the mall?" he asked, hoping to redirect the conversation away from himself.
Athios nodded, lit her cigarette, and handed the lighter to Garath.
"Nice," he said dumbly.
Athios looked at him expectantly with her oversized, walnut-shaped eyes looking through him like he was a window. She waited patiently, inhaling and releasing tendrils of grey smoke from her thin lips. He could see that he wasn’t going to be able to hide anything from her, and more importantly he was unsure if he even wanted to. He lit his own cigarette and inhaled deeply. "Can I tell you something?" he asked with little puffs of smoke exiting his mouth with each syllable.
She nodded encouragingly and wrapped her arms around her knees. "Tell me."
"I haven't told anyone this." At first the words got stuck in his throat, unsure how to explain what he was going through, but after a few seconds, the floodgates dropped. He spilled everything. Even things he didn't know he needed to get off his chest, like being identified by the Earth as a Leader of Man, the raccoon massacre earlier that day, and the exultation he felt after killing Leviathan. He told her that he had never been a leader, and that he felt unsure of his ability to step into that role. He told her about the urges to kill that stemmed from his growing lust for greater power, the same lust that drove Leviathan to kill so many people. Athios listened to all of it without interruption. She just puffed away at her cigarette as she took in everything he was saying. She didn't give him advice or talk down to him for having murderous and psychopathic urges. She just listened.
The sky had darkened slightly and the night’s first handful of stars were winking into existence above when Garath finally stopped talking. Then Athios did something completely unexpected. She stood up and nervously approached him, then turned her head and placed it softly against his chest. She wrapped her arms around his back and pulled him close. Garath hugged her back.
He was surprised by how much good can come from just a bit of physical contact with someone you care about. It had only been seven days since the horrendous event that claimed billions of lives, but in
those seven days Garath wasn’t sure he’d touched another human at all. Any walls still standing within him to protect his emotional vulnerability fell with the first few raindrops of the storm he had smelled coming earlier that day. A strange mist filled Garath's vision, and he pulled away from Athios, blinking rapidly to clear his eyes.
"When did this mist come from?" But it wasn't mist at all. He had been crying. The heat given off from his glowing eyes must have evaporated the tears as they welled. He started to laugh, quietly to himself at first. It took a second, but when Athios deduced what had happened, she laughed softly, almost ashamedly as well.
It grew into a loud, uncontrolled fit of desperate laughter. When the joke had run its course, Garath felt 50 pounds lighter. Like everything was happening the way it was supposed to, and that someday soon he'd figure out a way to deal with the effects of his tainted soul. He pulled Athios close again and whispered in her ear. "Thank you."
She smiled a flushed little smile and nervously tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before whispering her response. "You can always talk to me."
Private Message from Warrion to Garath; +202 other recipients - 00/00/07 @ 17:11 (GST):
Got eyes on Rum’bah. I know Garath already said it, but this thing is NOT going anywhere in a hurry. It's about a block south of HQ. Best guess, it'll be here in either about an hour, or maybe sometime before tomorrow morning. G, can we do shifts or something? This is kind of boring.
Garath laughed upon reading Warrion's message. He really wished private messages had a reply-all option. Now that he was not in a Raid Group with everyone, he had to create a new message, and then manually add each recipient. With over two-hundred addressees, it took the Necrologist a few minutes to ready his reply.
The Tree of Ascension: A LitRPG Apocalypse (Peril's Prodigy Book 2) Page 5