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

Using a gold-tipped Naga Trident as a spade, he cleared a one-meter circle around the egg. After that, he walked around the clifftop to find rocks with a similar shape and size - which proved to be rather difficult and time consuming in the dark of night, even with the light of the moon through a clear sky. He then brought each one that he found back to the egg. When he had gathered enough rocks, Garath formed a circle around the egg and stepped back to take another look. Satisfied, he found a seat on a moss covered log and pulled up the forums for some light reading while he waited for sunrise to water the egg. He didn't know if it would do any harm to water it immediately but figured that, with his lack of experience planting, well, pretty much anything, he may as well just follow the instructions and hope for the best.

Only minutes after he placed the egg into the soil, Garath started to feel its presence in a way he couldn't describe. The feeling was similar to the connection that he shared with his summoned demons. A small part of his mind was now devoted to whatever was in that egg. He wondered if that meant he would be able to summon and dismiss it, like he could with the demons, when it hatched. That is, if a creature came out of the ground after three days - and he was really hoping it would be, what the hell would he do with an otherworldly plant? And then he wondered for the six-thousandth time what would hatch - or maybe sprout? - from the egg in the soil just in front of him.

Athios, Warrion, Sharon, Gary, and even Daisy had come to check on him throughout the night. They seemed to understand that he wanted to be alone. At least they did after he shooed each of them away in turn, telling them, "I'm fine. I just want to be alone. I'll be back in the morning. Just, please, go away."

Garath was exhausted from a very long day. A day that had started off with a (literal) bang(s) well before he was ready for it, but the adrenaline still pumping through his veins and the constant sipping of Crystillium kept him from being able to relax.

With the salty ocean tang whipping at his face and hair, the Necrologist failed to keep his mind off of the scrap with Leviathan. She had been eight Levels higher than he was, she had a gun, and it was Garath that walked away from that fight. He thought about every second of the fight in great detail and deduced that there were two main factors that contributed to his upset victory.

One was the obvious advantage his demons gave him. Even facing another Necrologist, his bound creatures were a huge factor in the fight. When Leviathan started the three second cast of Summon Flayer, Garath knew he had a leg up on her. When her Flayer emerged from the circle, dwarfed by his evolved, blue-tinted Flayer, he knew he had even more than one leg up. His Fel Hound wasn't a big factor but his Flayer had kept up an almost completely uninterrupted torrent of Death Bolts at Leviathan for the whole fight. He remembered his promise to name them if they made it through the dungeon and resolved to do so as soon as he came up with suitable names for his summoned monsters.

The second factor held even more weight in determining the victor than his demons had - Garath had earned gear from a dungeon and Leviathan hadn't. The few pieces of loot he had picked up in Aquawood closed the gap between the Necrologist and an enemy eight Levels above him. Even though each of the four pieces of loot he had acquired raised his stats significantly, Garath knew he still had a lot of work to do. He had only filled four of the available ten Raiment slots and the gear he had gathered so far was relatively low level stuff. What would happen if he came across a foe with a full Raiment of higher level gear? Would he even stand a chance in the Dungeon with the scant gear he already had? Would he and The Band even have enough time during the thirty-day window before humans wouldn't be the only race vying for power to gear up completely AND make it through the Dungeon in Seattle?

Garath wasn't sure if he could answer any of those questions. He only knew one thing: he needed more power. With that in mind, Garath decided to do something he should have done that morning. He created a Guild.

Guild Name?

Garath entered the letters on a mental keyboard.

Do you wish to create the Guild, The Band of the Hawk?

He chose yes, then was surprised when a drop down list appeared with a second prompt.

Choose Guild Specialization:

The options came in the form of a drop-down list.

Battle; Crafting; Dungeon; Exploration; Faith; Fun; Industry; Technology;

As his mind's eye hovered over each of the options, the Guild bonus for each appeared.

Battle - Members of your Guild receive +5% to attack and defense in combat at Guild Level: 1.

Crafting - Members of your Guild receive +10% experience gained toward all Professions at Guild Level: 1.

Dungeons - Members of your Guild receive +10% to all Attributes when inside a dungeon or Dungeon at Guild Level: 1.

*** Additional bonus: If your Guild is in control of a Dungeon, all members of the Guild receive +10% to all Attributes (stacks with +10% when inside a dungeon or Dungeon) and contributions from Guild members toward Leveling the Guild are increased by 20% when earned inside a dungeon or Dungeon.

Exploration - Members of your Guild receive +15% movement speed on all terrains and all means of locomotion at Guild Level: 1.

Faith - Members of your Guild receive +20% increased effects from their individual Wisdom Attribute at Guild Level: