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

action - eager to feel the sweet bliss of more Experience Points enter his form. Sharon followed suit, sending what Garath assumed was the Naturist equivalent to his Death Bolt Skill at the same Pikeman while Athios made sure the fight stayed one-sided by keeping the final Naga in an endless loop of cartoon-like game of chase it had no chance of winning. With all of the damage the four-man Party could manage focused on a single target, the helpless snake-person went down in seconds - another teal orb rising from the corpse as it fell. Schlap.

Begin combat log:

[You have been awarded 4,625 Experience for slaying Level 14 Aquawood Naga Pikeman]

End combat log.

The final Aquawood Naga Pikeman stopped in its tracks near the entrance upon seeing it was alone. It looked on at the Party, weapon in hand, frozen in place - Garath hadn't seen any sign to that point that they were dealing with intelligent monsters here in the dungeon but in that moment he saw the fierce-eyed Naga make a decision. A decision that could spell disaster.

“Sharon, root it!” he shouted.

As the words left his lips, the Pikeman dropped its weapon and whirled around, making a mad dash for the single exit. Sharon's response time wasn't fast enough and the Naga turned the corner and was beyond her line of sight before the thorny roots made it out of the stone floor.

Athios disappeared into a white disk below her feet as Warrion slipped into Stealth and Garath gave chase to the Naga, hoping to catch up and kill it before the brute brought back buddies. Seconds later, a confused, unarmed Naga fell unceremoniously from a silver disk to land between three enemies. The Dimensionalist came running back into the starting cave and barred the way out while Warrion, Sharon, Garath, and the Flayer quickly dispatched the final hostile.

The Party waited, silent, listening for any sign of more enemies approaching.

"Well fuck," said Garath, apparently satisfied that they were alone. His improved sense of smell had registered the scent of Naga when the group of them entered the cave and, though the cave beyond reeked of their fishy aroma, the Necrologist couldn't sense any nearby. "I feel like that went well."

"More like flawless victory," Warrion corrected. The Assassin unequipped his daggers and crouched to inspect one of the downed Naga.

"What did you do before we got here to make them so damned mad?" Sharon accused, shaking her finger at the Necrologist. "...and don't pout, you look like a child."

"I'm not pouting," Garath pouted. He was looking down disappointedly at the corpses of the slain Naga, each with a teal orb floating motionless above it. "I was just hoping looting would be less... messy."

"Ha," Warrion forced a laugh with an uncomfortable expression. "You don't think we have to, like, rifle through their shit, do you?"

"Yeah. For the gear at least, I think we do. I was really hoping for some kind of easy loot system,” said Garath as he approached one of the floating teal orbs hopefully. He reached out one hand and touched it. As soon as the tips of his fingers made contact with the strangely warm orb, it split into four equally sized, smaller balls of the same color. One entered his chest, passing through the cloth t-shirt and his skin as if they weren't even there while the other three zipped across the cave, one entering the chest of each Party member in turn.

You have received .25 Mana Crystal(s). Mana Crystals will be stored in your Items panel until spent, traded, or until you die.

Garath read then reread the prompt.

“Mana Crystals,” Garath said aloud. “Spent, traded, or until you die.”

“Does that mean one of those will come out of us when we die now? Where can we spend or trade them? And what for?” Warrion asked in rapid succession, his mind was full of the same questions Garath found himself wondering.

“Spend or trade,” said Sharon, one arm bent at the elbow, hand under her chin. She looked sharply at Garath. “Currency?”

“That's what it sounds like,” he agreed. “I'll do a forum search later. Let's loot these and keep going.”

The gangly Assassin walked to each orb in turn, tapping them with one finger. The Mana Crystals dispersed evenly to the Party, providing each with 1.25 Crystals.

“You may have to convince your imp first," Athios observed. The little demon had approached the Party, apparently interested in the corpses as well. "Oh, gross! G, are you just going to let it do that?" she asked incredulously as the Flayer savagely started ripping flesh from the chest of a slain Naga.

Garath watched wide-eyed, appalled, but also curious to see what would happen next. The Flayer ripped the blue skin from the Naga's chest, hurling oozing hunks of skin and muscle to the side until its sternum and ribcage were completely visible.

Only when it was unable to easily break through the bone did the little demon notice the four humans watching it with disgust. With the same foul glare on its hideous face and gobbets of bloody flesh dangling from its claws, the Flayer cocked its head questioningly.

"Dude. Make it stop, it's fucking gross. This is some Animal Planet out-take shit," said Warrion - his face crinkled in disgust.

"You don't have to watch," said Garath defensively. He nodded his approval to the Flayer and shrugged. "He isn't hurting anybody..."

The lower demon seemed to understand and returned to scratching wildly at the exposed bones of the Naga lying dead on the tunnel's floor. Garath watched, wondering what it could be after until it dawned on him. He nodded gravely and bent to scoop a Naga pike from the floor. As his fingers made contact with the smooth, sapphire shaft, his Inspect Ability triggered.

Aquawood Trident of Defense

Attack Damage: 19-26 (Physical)

Attack Speed: 2.625

DPS (damage per second): 8.571

Durability: 29/30

Item Score: 18

Two-handed weapon

Type: Polearm

Quality: Above Average

Rarity: Uncommon

Traits:

Grants the Skill ‘Aquawood Defense’

***Aquawood Defense provides the caster +10% to their maximum Health for 6 hours -