The Culling of Man: A litrpg adventure (Peril's Prodigy Book 1)

by Craig Kobayashi

  *There is no need to fear, human. You cannot be harmed in this place,* the deep voice said in Garath's mind. Aldrasyl pulled his enormous wings in tight and lowered his body, bringing his serpentine torso to meet the emerald blades of grass below. He settled in to get comfortable, and to appear less threatening to the little human shaking with fear and still scrambling away from him.

  *Are you talking to me?* Garath asked the Dragon, already knowing it was a stupid question.

  The Ice Drake slowly looked around the serene glade they were standing in. Garath followed the Dragon's gaze, really taking in his surroundings for the first time. In his haste to put some distance between himself and the Dragon, the Necrologist had backed into a towering evergreen. The base of the ancient tree was as big around as a water tower and it was almost as tall as his thirteen-story apartment building had been. It wasn't the only one. In a perfect circle, hundreds of the ancient trees surrounded an emerald glade and, in the exact center, a round pool of crystalline blue water reflected the towering conifers around it. As he finished scanning the tranquil setting, his eyes once again landed on Aldrasyl. The fury that had filled the Dragon's sharp eyes only minutes before was gone, replaced now with an amused interest.

  *Shall I assume that you have discovered the answer to your question on your own?* Aldrasyl asked slowly, seeing that the frightened human had now noticed that they were the only two living beings in the tranquil glade.

  *Yeah,* Garath confirmed, still surveying the scene in wonder.

  Neither spoke for a time and the Necrologist and the Dragon sat in silence, Garath with his back against the bark of an ancient tree and Aldrasyl lying casually next to the crystal pool in the center of the glade.

  Time did not seem to pass in this place the way it had on Earth, Garath noticed. While they were sitting, he watched a seed that had fallen from one of the ancient trees. Before his very eyes, the soft soil seemed to almost suck the seed slowly under like a parent tucking their child into a blanket. Seconds after the seed was fully submerged, a sprout peeked out of the ground and grew steadily upward until it was roughly the height and width of the tree that had gifted the soil below with its seed. Even though he had watched it happen, in his mind, Garath knew that the newborn tree was many thousands of years old. He looked at Aldrasyl, who had been watching as well. The white Dragon only nodded, then gently tilted his horned and scaled head as another seed fell and the cycle repeated.

  After marveling at the timeless cycle of life for what could have been seconds as easily as it could have been centuries, the Necrologist got to his feet and approached the Ice Drake. He had something to get off his chest.

  *Hey listen, Al... I'm sorry about the whole shredding-your-penis thing. I know that wasn't a very honorable thing to do and, well, I'm sorry,* he said, his expression genuine and apologetic - though the glowing eyes didn't show it. He even passed up on the perfect opportunity to joke about how it was a dick move, opting for sincerity over comedy for once in his life. The Dragon may or may not have noticed, but Garath felt like he deserved some credit for that.

  *Do not apologize. I have slaughtered thousands of humans this day in the service of the bargain that saved my species from fading to nothing alongside our home world. Who would I be to hold a grudge against you for fighting in the best way you could find to protect your world and species? That is not the kind of man I am. My actions this day, too, have been dishonorable.*

  *So we're cool?* Garath asked dumbly.

  The Ice Drake simply nodded, then looked intently into the Necrologist's glowing eyes. *Do not insult me by shortening my name again though, human.*

  *What is this place?* Garath asked, taking a seat next to Aldrasyl in the short grass beside the pool. *I mean, where the hell are we? Did we die?*

  *Yes... and no. We are in the Glade of Rebirth. I have been in this place once before. All Dragons have the ability 'Rebirth'. Once per century, if we are killed in battle, our bodies are kept alive by ancient magic. What YOU are doing here, I do not know. Does your species, too, have the ability, Rebirth?*

  *Uh, no. I don't think so, no. But then, twenty-four hours ago I was playing games on my computer... now I can summon demons and turn into a cat. So... maybe?* he paused. *Let's go with probably not.*

  *I see. A mystery to us both then.*

  *Yeah, I guess so. How does this Rebirth thing work? Like, can we go back?*

  *You may return at any time. This Glade reminds me of my home, I want to revel in it for a moment,* said Aldrasyl, a wistful look briefly crossing his stern features.

  *I'm sorry,* said Garath, shifting uncomfortably in the soft grass. *...about your home. This Glade is beautiful. Your home must have been an amazing place.*

  *It was indeed. And thank you for your words, human. Maybe there is a hope for our two species to co-exist in peace after all. When you are ready, the way back is there,* he said, nodding to the motionless pool of crystal water. *Close your eyes and enter the water. When you open them again, you will be home.*

  Garath nodded and got to his feet, then started moving toward the center of the glade but stopped and looked again at Aldrasyl. *Can I ask you a question?*

  Aldrasyl lifted his serpentine neck to look into Garath's eyes. The Dragon's thoughtful gaze perturbed the Necrologist, it was like Aldrasyl knew what he would ask and was already considering how to answer.

  *You may ask,* said the Ice Drake cautiously. *I will tell you if I myself know the answer.*

  *That's fair.* Garath nodded in understanding and slid his hands into the pockets of his worn out jeans. *You mentioned a bargain that saved your species. Is it safe to assume it was made with the same… whoever or whatever brought The Culling to Earth?*

  *Yes,* Aldrasyl answered simply.

  *I kind of figured,* said Garath. It was the logical conclusion but hearing the Dragon confirm what he had already assumed was not his intention. The Necrologist was hoping for a little more information. He prodded further. *What is it? And what does it want? And what gives it the right to do this to Earth? Did it do the same thing to Thylsandra?*

  *Which question shall I answer first, human?*

  *Right, that was a lot. Sorry. What is it exactly? That’s doing all of this?* Garath decided that was the most relevant question.

  Aldrasyl inhaled deeply. *There is much that I do not know about the Entity. As far as its identity, I can only tell you that the lesser species of Thylsandra consider it a God, but it is not an omniscient being. The Entity is a Mana seeker. It came to our planet in its infancy, before life had emerged. It is because of the Entity itself that Thylsandra was able to harbor the incredible amount of life that it did and sustain it for millenia, and therefore the Entity is the reason that the Dragons exist at all. Or so I am told...*

  Garath nodded again. *What about the bargain you mentioned?*

  Aldrasyl raised one draconic brow and fixed Garath with an incredulous expression. *Are the memories of your species so inept? It has been mere moments since…*

  *Since you told me that you slaughtered thousands of humans to save your species. I remember that just fine. I mean the details, like...why? For example.*

  *I see. You seek understanding for the decimation of your species. I cannot give that to you, human. To gain that information you would need to ask the Entity itself,* said Aldrasyl, looking sympathetically at the Necrologist. *How you would do that, I do not know.*

  *You said a bargain was struck between the Dragons and the Entity. Doesn't that imply some kind of communication?* Garath asked petulantly. He didn't feel like Aldrasyl was lying to him, or even conveniently excluding information from him. The Dragon seemed almost sorry that he was unable to answer Garath's questions - but the lack of answers was beginning to frustrate the Necrologist.

  *Have you not received communication from the Entity?* asked Aldrasyl.

  *What, personally?* Garath asked, confused.

  *The Entity communicates with messages from time to time. They appe
ar in the written word within the mind’s eye.* Aldrasyl explained.

  Garath screwed up his face in confusion, and then it occurred to him. *The prompts?* the Necrologist asked. He guessed that was as good of an explanation as any. *Okay,* Garath conceded. *What about the other monste…* he stopped himself just short of using the term. *The other things that came with The Culling. The undead and Wyverns? Did they make a bargain too?*

  *No. Wyverns came also from Thylsandra with the Dragons and Sandrani, but the undead were created by the Entity,* the Dragon explained. *Wyverns are not an intelligent species. They are distant cousins of the Dragons and have lived harmoniously with my kind for eons. They pick meat from the bones of our kills and alert us to danger from the waters. They are useful pets but lack the intelligence to strike a bargain of their own.*

  Garath processed Aldrasyl's explanation slowly, the answer to his question made him feel like he was in a fucking Lost episode - instead of the closure he was seeking, Aldrasyl's reply only left him with more questions. The Dragon, it seemed, was in no hurry to leave the serene glad anytime soon though, and simply waited while Garath struggled to understand.

  *Sandrani?* he finally said.

  *The Sandrani, as a whole, have not arrived on Earth yet. Several warbands were dispatched during the Event to decimate branches of the formal military and governing bodies of your kind all over the planet, though. I do not believe they met a large resistance, the Sandrani hunt Dragons for sport. They are powerful creatures. The undead, I am told, were chosen to cull your species specifically based on their resistance to the small projectiles humans use to make war.*

  Garath's face screwed up in confusion, and then it clicked. Small projectiles, bullets. He supposed a bullet to the skeletons of The Culling would have very little effect. The tiny pieces of metal would not puncture vital organs or even cause the undead any pain. He wondered if a bullet would even inflict 'damage’ to the creatures at all or if it would just pass through them, bones and all. He'd had the complete lack of military presence or general leadership in the back of his mind throughout The Culling but just figured everyone on Earth was doing exactly what he had been, trying to survive - members of the military included. He had assumed that the military and/or government hadn't posted a thread on the Community panel simply due to panic or a lack of communication from leadership. Apparently, in addition to losing the organization provided through now-useless technology, the military had even bigger problems - a species that hunted creatures like the house-sized reptile in front of him for sport. They never had a chance. He was glad that The Band ended up voting against his idea to book it to the nearby Navy base, though.

  Garath had about a thousand more questions for the Dragon, but settled on just asking one. He was ready to go back, to explore the world beyond The Culling. He was eager to see what would happen next. *You're not going to try to kill me again when we get back, are you?*

  *Not on this day, human.*

  *Alright. Then, I guess I'll see you on the flip side,* Garath said, then turned from the white Dragon and walked through the short grass to the water. He put one foot in the cool water then turned back to face the white Dragon one more time. Then, with a shit-eating grin said aloud, "See you soon, Al!"

  Chapter 23

  The End of the Beginning

  Frigid air filled Garath's punctured lung with a stabbing pain as his consciousness re-entered the broken, feline body still clamped between three of Aldrasyl's four-foot-long fangs. He was covered from pointed ears to little toe-beans in Dragon saliva that had served to keep the cobalt blood painting his white fur viscus, just waiting for Aldrasyl to return and release the death hold. Garath had always had an excellent sense of smell, a trait that served him poorly as he was assaulted by the rank combination of literal Dragon breath, the coppery tang of fresh blood, and some fecal matter that had escaped his body during his death - soon followed by the addition of cat vomit. His Health bar was curiously... unmoving, neither increasing from his Regeneration stat nor decreasing from the physical trauma of being a kitten/Dragon-fang sandwich. Unable to move, Garath decided to take his mind off the pain (and smell) by going over the prompts that had been minimized during his fatal fight with the great white Dragon.

  You have died.

  ‘Did that happen?’ Garath thought with an internal chuckle. He also wondered about the functionality of a prompt like that - if you earned it, could you even read it? Did that suggest there actually was an afterlife? Maybe even an afterlife that only became a possibility when Earth underwent the other changes? If so, did this new afterlife replace whatever happened after death before The Culling? Ultimately, these were questions he just couldn't answer. Instead of making himself even more dizzy trying to wade through that particular theological puzzle, he moved on and found that he was able to adjust his prompts to display chronologically after a little mental finagling.

  You have ingested the blood of the Ice Drake, Aldrasyl. No human has ever consumed the powerful liquid that courses through the veins of a Dragon, many of the effects will have to be discovered over time but the following changes have become immediately apparent:

  You have gained the passive ability Rebirth. If slain in battle, you will have the option to return your life force to this plane of existence (can only occur once every 365 days).

  You have learned the silent language of the Dragons.

  A small amount of the blood you ingested has leaked into your bloodstream, your internal body temperature has increased from 98 F to 102 F in ideal conditions.

  Your sense of smell has improved by 300%.

  Gagging on the Dragon-mouth-stank, Garath had no problem believing the last part of that prompt. The rest of the information was unexpected to say the very least. Trying to Breath exclusively through his mouth, the Necrologist read on.

  The Ice Drake, Aldrasyl, has ingested Your blood. Dragons are born with the innate Ability to gain one or more Skills or Abilities when drinking the blood of their enemies. Your blood has bestowed Aldrasyl with the Ability BeastScape.

  You and the Ice Drake, Aldrasyl, have entered a Fatalistic Accord invoked by an unknown magic. With your current lack of available information, much is unknown about the Accord. However, you do get the feeling that your life force and that of the Ice Drake, Aldrasyl, are now tied.

  Garath wasn’t sure how he felt about that, especially now that he knew the prompts were some kind of explanation provided directly to his mind by the unkown 'Entity' (whatever the FUCK that meant). He dismissed the prompt, and then he read the big one.

  Congratulations, human! You have survived The Culling!

  The Culling Totals(final):

  Global Death Count: 7,001,012,919

  Community Death Count: 119,653

  Judgements are being processed. Expect to receive your results on 00/00/15.

  Garath stopped reading, stopped breathing even. The 2020 census had not been released by the time Earth had undergone its violent evolution, but he remembered the 2016 census stating something like an estimated 7.4 billion people globally. He was now part of an endangered species. Before the apocalyptic event, the city of Everett had an estimated population of around 120,000 people - was The Band of the Hawk really all that was left of the once industrious city? To be completely fair, there weren't many of the 100k+ people that had died in Everett over the past twenty-four hours that the loner Necrologist would particularly miss, but that didn't make it feel any less... real. With the vast majority of his species lost to whatever afterlife awaited them, Garath felt small - a lost, little blue fish in the vast ocean. Alone. And what did the prompt mean, 'expect to receive your results'? After a shallow, painful breath, he continued reading.

  For surviving The Culling, you have been awarded 100,000 experience!

  Congratulations, Garath! For reaching level 22, you are awarded +3 Attribute Points (3 per level) and +1 Skill Points (1 per level) to distribute at your discretion. As a Necrologist, you receive +3 Wisdom, +3 Vi
tality, and +1 Regeneration per level. You have one week to distribute the points before they are assigned for you based on your chosen class.