The Culling of Man: A litrpg adventure (Peril's Prodigy Book 1) by Craig Kobayashi (ereader android TXT) 📕

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 Vitality, and +1 Regeneration per level. You have one week to distribute the points before they are assigned for you based on your chosen class.

Unused Attribute Points: 3

Unused Skill Points: 1

At least there was some good news, Garath mused. He would allocate his APs some other time, ideally at a time that he was not inside of a Dragon. He dismissed the congratulatory prompt and read on.

Congratulations, Garath! For leading a Raid that slayed over 1,000 enemies without losing a single member, you have been awarded a rare gift.

*Note: as you were dead when this gift was to be awarded, it has been placed in your Items panel.*

With zero hesitation, Garath opened his Menu panels and filled the right third of his vision with the Items partition. Sure enough, something new was stored in his grid-like inventory - a silver egg icon. With barely contained excitement, he focused on the egg and willed his UI to provide more information.

You have found an egg. If left in your Items panel, this egg will remain in stasis. If removed and cared for, however, it will hatch.

‘My powerful gift is an egg?’

He wondered if the occupant of the silvery shell would be some kind of pet or familiar... or maybe even a Dragon? Unfortunately, clamped between Aldrasyl's teeth in House Cat form, he was unable to access the items in his inventory. Just one more reason to hope the Ice Drake would return his consciousness to this plane soon. Garath continued to scan over the cascade of prompts that had been waiting for his attention.

Further changes to Earth are scheduled to take place in the near future but the following changes will be made at 00:00 GST:

1. Loot is now available! Slay monsters, complete quests, clear dungeons, and claim Dungeons to gain powerful rewards.

2. Professions are now available. Though technologies of the past are lost forever, many exciting new possibilities await.

3. World Map updated to reflect the habitat(s) designated for Dragons (depicted in gold). For your own safety, avoid these areas.

4. Ten Dungeons (depicted on the World Map by a purple icon) have been established across the globe.

7. Emissaries from each of the sentient races that will soon inhabit this planet will be searching for a suitable location to establish their respective societies. Do not interfere with the Emissaries.

There was much of the last prompt Garath didn't understand. His emotions struggled against one another - relief, fear, excitement, and sorrow filled him to bursting but were ultimately suppressed by his strongest emotion, unadulterated rage. What or who, in any universe or dimension, had the mother-fucking right to administer this near-genocide to just to, what? Make room for other sentient races?

Disgusted by the whole idea, and hoping Aldrasyl was really fucking enjoying his inordinately long look at the glade that so reminded him of his home, the Necrologist read on.

Hear this, survivor of The Culling, your species is scattered across the globe and stands little chance of survival. To prevent the extinction of man, defeat a Dungeon and release the Fountain of Tabisama contained within - the Fountain is an item of amazing power that will allow any human within 1,000 miles of the Fountain to instantly transport to it.

Once defeated and claimed, Dungeons can serve as