War Aeternus 3: The Culling

by Charles Dean

  What the hell? Lee was left in awe and feeling helpless as he continued to fend off the attacks in front of him. He could only catch brief glimpses of the brave paladin as he hacked away at the man for a time before falling to the ground dead himself. Another paladin filled in the spot as soon as he died. Miller’s men had finally shifted until they were able to cover his right as well, and while it was comforting to not have to worry about being flanked from two directions, it was somewhat unsettling to think about exactly how quickly the paladin who had just died had been replaced.

  Lee watched on in horror as Ling finally succumbed to her wounds and fell over backward, crumbling into a lifeless ball on the ground. She had taken out the remaining enemy archers and a few of the melee skirmishers, but now she was dying. And that meant that the fight was now time sensitive.

  Even with his healing, he was still down to only 225 hit points when he decided to make a gambit. His job was usually to stay safe and create a wall ahead of Ling so that she could safely kill from a distance. With Ling down, however, that changed things. It meant that he had to hurry things up or he wouldn't make it to her in time. It meant that he had to take a chance and gamble on something risky.

  He once more deflected away the spear with his shield when it was thrust forward, but he turned to the side at the last minute, anticipating the sword attack from the second man that was sure to follow. The weapon pierced right into his stomach, and pain exploded through his abdomen. His vision swam, even as a notice popped up letting him know that he had taken 68 damage and that the bleed effect was increased to 25 hit points per second, but it didn’t stop him from following through with his insane plan. He reached forward with his shield arm and grabbed ahold of the man’s forearm, refusing to let him withdraw his weapon, and then stabbed forward with his own sword. Lee’s swift strikes repeatedly hammered into the mercenary. He struggled against Lee’s furious assault, but Lee somehow managed to maintain his grip. The sword in Lee’s gut twisted around from the violent motion, racking up even more damage as it nicked his organs and left him hovering at just 98 hit points, even with the healing effect continuously coursing through him.

  The spearman finally stepped in with the intent of taking advantage of Lee’s precarious situation. Since Lee’s tenacious grip left him unable to wield his shield, it was basically a guarantee that he would land the strike. Somewhat thankfully, however, Lee was jostled to the side by the swordsman at the last moment before the spear struck. Instead of piercing through his chest, where the strike had been aimed, the spear sheared through his arm and only took off 35 more HP instead of landing a critical blow.

  Lee ruthlessly thrust his sword into his target over and over again until the death notice that he had been praying for appeared. Life in Death activated and stopped the bleed effect, and he sighed against the pain since he was able to start healing up at a much faster rate.

  Lee turned to face off against the spearman and was just preparing himself to take another blow just so he could create an opening and kill his opponent quicker when a giant wooden shaft penetrated through the man’s chest.

  “JUSTICE SHALL NOT TOLERATE YOUR EXISTENCE!” Miller’s voice boomed across the battlefield. “Lee, I have finished my foes. Why are you still dawdling around with these scum? You must show them your might and crush them all!” Miller then let out a Drunken Shout that hazed Lee’s senses and thankfully dulled the pain he felt in his still-unhealed gut when he was caught in its area of effect.

  Why didn’t you do that sooner? Lee thought exasperatedly as he turned around and hobbled over to Ling’s side. With Miller and the other paladins coming in to assist in cleaning up the mess, his only thoughts were on Ling, who was growing paler by the moment as she bled out. He dropped to his knees and placed his hand on her stomach and started healing right away. It took longer than he was comfortable with, but he was relieved when he saw color start returning to her skin. He didn’t know why, but after the incident with Amber, he was worried that the healing wouldn’t work, even if he did make it to her in time. Having watched someone die even as he tried to restore her, he felt inept. He was afraid that he might fail again, even if there was no logical reason for him to do so.

  The two arrows fell out of her stomach as they were pushed out by the healing process, and he pulled her up into a hug. He could hear the screams from the people dying in the background, and he could see the death notices as Miller went to town butchering the remaining mercenaries, but he didn’t pay them any mind. Ling was one of his only true friends in this world, and the only one he could trust absolutely.

  “I gotta ask,” Dave started from behind as he put a hand on Lee’s shoulder. “Is it the chest? Because, if that’s what it takes to get priority in the healing, I can grow a chest. Just put me in a room full of a few hundred pounds of bacon, give me some beer, and I’ll grow a nice pair if that’s what it takes to get to the top of the healing list. But if it’s not that, let me know what it is. Because I could really use one of those heals you just gave her right now.”

  Lee let go of Ling, who took a second longer to break off the hug, and stood up to see Dave still standing there with the most mangled arm he had ever seen, spear still firmly lodged an inch into his chest. Lee had no idea what type of health pool someone needed to stay alive and walk around like that, but he didn’t waste any time as he put his hands on Dave and began healing. Little by little, the flesh on Dave’s arm sewed itself back together, the bones closed until they were back in the proper locations, and the wood and metal from the spear pushed itself out of his wound. It took a lot longer to heal Dave than Ling, but after he finished, Dave looked very happy as he stared down at his arm.

  “That is amazing,” Dave said as he looked at his good-as-new flesh. “I’m telling you, I’ll never doubt you or Augustus again. Freaking miracle right there.”

  “No problem. I appreciate you stepping up and helping me back there,” Lee said as he dusted his legs off and looked over to the paladins to see if any were injured.

  “I mean, seriously, this is incredible. I’m surprised you don’t just go to one of the doctor’s sick bays or the medic place where all the injured are being treated and heal them one after the other. You’ve got the ability to save so many lives,” Dave noted. “I’m really shocked that you’re out risking your life to fight other Heralds instead. Personally, if it was me, I’d be healing people left and right, telling all the pretty women, ‘oh, you want your dad to be in good shape and healed up? Well, I can do that . . . but--’”

  “Can you not?” Lee stopped him right there. He knew there was a lot of merit to what Dave was saying, but the lecherous joke at the end just felt flat after he had watched someone die right in front of him--someone die for him. Lee glanced over at the body of the fallen paladin and sighed. More and more people seemed to be sacrificing themselves for him.

  “Ah. The kid who died,” Dave said after following Lee’s gaze to the one body that wasn’t an enemy’s. “Yeah, that happens. Kinda surprised we only lost one. Really good day, if you ask me.”

  Only lost one? Good day if we ask you? Lee was flabbergasted by Dave’s nonchalant attitude, and it must have shown on his face.

  “What? I’ve been in a hundred skirmishes, and I’m telling you, if it’s twenty on twenty or thirty on thirty, you can always promise yourself you’re going to lose five or ten. At least. We only lost one. Those are pretty good numbers if you ask me,” Dave said with a smile, nodding his head at the battle. “Whoever is training your paladins is doing a fine job.”

  Lee knew that what Dave said was logical, but that didn’t make it feel right. The fact he had been in so many battles and seen so many people die, in perspective, did explain his casual, laid-back mood after the fight.

  As Lee was trying to figure out how to respond to Dave, Miller came up to them with a decapitated head stuck on the end of his spear and a smile stuck on his face. “The enemies have been butchered, evil has been vanquished, and we ha
ve emerged victorious, Lee. Justice has won again.”

  “We lost someone, though,” Lee said, tilting his head toward the paladin that had died for him.

  “Yeah, we did. Augustus will see to it that he has a good afterlife though, right?” Miller asked. “Clontarf might not have been from Satterfield like most of the true and good believers, but he was definitely a good man. There is no way Augustus won’t take care of him.”

  “Yeah . . .” Lee trailed off as he looked at Clontarf’s body. “I got an idea, though, just in case,” he finally added. He went over to Clontarf, picked him up and walked it into the Tigernach manor. “Can you get me a large pile of sand and set it here? In fact, have your men gather as much sand as they can. Or just buy glass if they can’t find sand. Set it all up in piles and then set the piles up in rows. Treat them as you would graves.”

  “Graves?” Miller asked.

  “Yes, the distance between them should be the same as between graves,” Lee said. “I’ll need one pile for every person that has died serving our cause.”

  “Oh . . .” Miller said. “Do you want another pile for Amber too?” he asked, intuiting what Lee was thinking.

  “Yes, get another pile for her too,” Lee answered with a sigh. Then, leaving them to it, he finally retired into the manor to see what he had acquired.

  The actual manor itself was amazing. On top of having a massive yard, which was possible since the huge building was technically outside Kirshtein’s walls, the manor itself was an amazing piece of architecture. Out of necessity, housing was generally built for purpose or task, and it was fairly utilitarian. There simply wasn’t a need or demand for lavish homes when no one could afford them. This one, however, was very close to being its own castle. The front wall alone had several tower-like columns that extended outward from the flat surface. The walls and the tower-like extensions were all made of stones of varying colors, and there didn’t seem to be any mortar at all sealing them into place. Instead, they appeared to be fitted, which made it all the more impressive. The building itself was large enough that Lee suspected that there were plenty of open spaces with at least twenty, if not twenty-five, bedrooms.

  “Why do I feel like we could give everyone in Satterfield a room here?” Ling asked as she walked up to the manor’s entrance.

  “Probably because we could,” Lee answered, his eyes roaming from one end of the manor to the other. With all said and done, Satterfield wasn’t a large town. Compounded with the fact that so many people had died either in the slave mines or in fights against the Heralds, the town’s population was severely diminished, and there was no way more than 200 at most lived in the town. This manor could easily provide a roof for them all, even if they would have to share rooms to do it and convert a dining room or two, and whatever other luxurious space-wasting places they could, but the square footage was there to easily house over 200 people.

  “One of these rooms would have sure been a step up from being cramped three-to-the-room with pets included back home,” Ling commented, wistfully admiring the full scope of the manor’s majesty.

  Lee had to stop himself from saying what he was thinking: Well, it would be a downgrade from my home, since, you know, I had air conditioning, indoor plumbing and all the other good amenities this place probably doesn’t. One tiny room with air conditioning would be worth far more than any number of large sun-baked rooms when summer rolled around.

  “It’s not as nice as the House of Alastar,” Dave said as he came up behind them. “Just no color at all. It could definitely use some color.” He nodded once in appreciation of his own appraisal and then walked into the building. “Anyway, the old man needs to lie down. I’ll take one of the servant bedrooms, so don’t mind me. Just call if you get around to making more beer or if you need someone else to shoot me in the arm.”

  “We’ll be drinking later tonight,” Lee called after him, making sure to speak up so that he could hear. “Setting up a keg in the dining room in a minute.”

  With that, Lee walked into the house with his group and did exactly as he promised: he dropped a keg of magic brew in the dining room before exploring the manor. Even though the house was massive, it seemed like the majority of the rooms were for dining or hosting. There were several large open areas, like the center hall, that were much bigger than even anything he was familiar with back home except in hotels and plazas. The place was also fully decorated with the stuffiest furniture Lee had ever seen. It was wooden everything: wooden chairs, wooden tables, wooden cabinets and drawers. At the very least, Lee could praise one thing about the repetitive and dull nature of the furniture: the wood was very ornately designed with beautifully-intricate overlays. He personally preferred a more opulent and exotic style when he imagined his ideal mansion: dark-teak Moroccan couches covered in colorful silk pillows paired with low-standing tables, arabesque carvings on every bit of wood and embroidery, and maybe even some gold filigree highlights on the furniture. Also, drapery. Way more gossamer drapery.

  After he finished laying out the keg and setting up a meal for the paladins, he went back outside to see about the progress they had made with the piles of sand. Surprisingly, they had already managed to put little stakes in the ground for seven piles of sand already stacked up. Lee bent over and began crafting the first one into a person-sized statue of the paladin that died for him, the paladin whose name he hadn’t even known until after his sacrifice. After he was done, he went to the second one, and he was about to craft another member of the fallen, but he couldn’t remember the man’s face.

  Augustus, can you help me out? Lee asked. I don’t have any recollection of these people’s faces. They may as well have been wearing red shirts on a star-crossed adventure, Lee said.

  “I mean . . . I could, perhaps, show you clips from the past that you’d already seen, yeah . . . but you know you can’t tell anyone if I do, right?” Augustus said. “It’s not technically cheating, since it’s something you’ve asked for, and it’s just a memory you should actually have already . . . but . . . Well, you know we’re not supposed to help you out at all, right?”

  Yeah, and that’s . . . That’d be amazingly helpful, Lee thought back. He was taken aback by the fact that Augustus hadn’t mocked him or teased him about this.

  “Oh, and I’ll want a favor out of you,” Augustus added before Lee could pile on more credit to the deity’s good nature.

  Why did I have a feeling this was going to happen when you were so cool about helping me out? Lee sighed. Fine, what is it? What do you want from me?

  “Don’t be like that. I just want a memento from you. You know, the first time we met. I thought it would be a cute little bonding moment for us. I want you to make a little glass statue of it and leave it in the master bedroom of this new manor,” Augustus insisted.

  Fine, but do I have to make it right away? Lee asked.

  “Nah, take your time. I just want to make sure we get that panicked face of yours perfect, make sure we get that way you were wailing and whining like a little kid with a skinned knee down pat. You can do that for me, right? It was such a wonderful shared experience that I don’t want you to forget it. Yup, the day we first met.”

  You’re an ass. Lee sighed. But fine. I’ll do it, but just help me with the clips of their faces, Lee agreed, and Augustus did just that. It took Lee nearly twenty minutes to burn almost his entire mana bar, and he was only able to make seven statues, even with the massive discount that his improved Glass Smithing gave, but one of the big bonuses was that he got a status message window he had been waiting on for a while after crafting the fourth glass sculpture.

  Your mastery of Glass Smithing has progressed from the rank of Initiate Level 10 to the rank of Novice Level 1. Glass Smithing now allows for faster formation and manipulation of glass at a lower Spirit cost. The Novice rank adds a durability bonus of +1 to all future glass creations made using Glass Smithing.

  Due to improving Glass Smithing, you have received +1 Intelligence
. Current Intelligence: 164.

  When Lee made a dagger between statues to test the effect, he noticed that the damage had gone up again. It was still only increasing at a rate of +1, but the dagger did indeed have more durability. It wasn’t a lot, but it was noticeable. Lee also noted that the Novice tier bonuses leveled up the same way the initial one did, just 10 levels behind. If he received a +1 to damage at Novice Level 1 of a skill, that would generally scale up to +2 to damage at Novice Level 2. So, he was very happy to see that his glass weapons might actually be capable of outpacing basic steel weapons in time, even if it was highly unlikely they’d ever outperform Spirit Smithing products.

  Lee stopped and checked his status window as he took a break and headed inside. On it, he noticed that there was an entire category for his Statesman class, and Satterfield was listed among his territories. Below the listing for Satterfield, there was also a list of ratings for the town, ranging from a Defensive Strength rating to the town’s Influence and Tourism rating. Satterfield, sadly, nearly had a zero in all of these. The town actually had a Defensive Strength rating of 1, and he couldn’t help but wonder how it could possibly be any worse. The only thing he could imagine is if he personally drafted ‘conquer me’ letters for every single foreign power and had the women walk outside and lift up their dresses as they invited a hoard of roaming barbarians in for crumpets.

  What do these stats mean? Is there even a way to fix them? That defensive stat is just way too low, Lee wondered as he stared at the chart.

  These are the general status parameters for your territories. As they increase or decrease, so too will the likelihood of positive or negative events occurring for the territory. For instance, if a town’s economic strength is significantly higher than its defensive strength, it is likely that it will suffer barbarian raids or invasions should this information spread. The rate at which information spreads and people visit, establish businesses or leave a town is directly impacted by the town’s Influence and Tourism rating. Certain ratings, like the Tech and Utility rating, will indirectly impact other ratings while also maintaining a potential for their own effect, such as the rate at which resources or labor are consumed for desired outcomes by the villagers. Finally, some ratings, such as the Territory and Population rating, will not trigger events but are there to give a general understanding of the territory’s size and scope.