CHAPTER THREE
While the concept of powers was easy to grasp due to different movies depicting the fantasy world, now he had to deal with something a bit more out of his scope. On the window, he glanced at the role he was assigned. Castle Owner.
In his eyes, this was the essential part of his survival. After all, he was stuck in this castle for who knows how long. The fact that he couldn’t go outside and see the sun was crushing. Exploration was the best part of any game, but instead, he was stuck in this creepy castle. While he knew nothing would attack him, going past the safehold of the throne room was enough to raise goosebumps on his skin.
As he was about to press the control panel button, an idea came across his head. I wonder if the system could act according to my thoughts. He didn’t want to press the air every time he tried to access the system.
He took a deep breath. Alaric Castle Control Panel.
The control panel opened up, and he couldn’t help but do a mini celebration in his spot. His eyes sparkled with excitement. The fact that he could control the system from his mind made the entire process more intuitive.
He further tested his control by saying Manage Floor One in his mind.
Upon opening the front doors, floor One
First area, guests enter an ample open space surrounded by a large kitchen, living room, dining halls, practice arena, and a music hall.
Status: Empty
Battle Mode: Off
Defense
Arrows
Regular arrows shoot from different shooting points.
* Infinite arrows
Click to Manage
Trapdoors
Placed underneath multiple tiles - leads to an underground space covered in spikes.
Click to Manage
Edit Floor One
Return to Castle Control Panel
The castle has its own defense mechanisms. A castle defense game in easier words. He was the boss, and his mission was to fight and kill anyone who dared trespass his area. Pretty simple.
He scratched his head. But the defense is pretty weak.
Seeing how powerful his magic was, he doubted that arrows and trapdoors would do much damage to the opposing party. How would he fare with this crappy castle and his blood chain if a group of people entered?
A nervous chuckle escaped his lips. He can’t possibly die so quickly, right? What happens then? Does he just die? Go back to the infinite white space? Or perhaps, will he find himself back at school as if nothing happened? Considering all the potential options, he didn’t want to know.
His eyes moved down to Edit Floor One.
Edit Floor One
Edit Floor Plan
Add or Remove Defenses
Rename
Return to Floor One Panel
Above the window, the entire floor plan of Floor One was laid out in a bird's eye view. The main floor in front of the doors was empty and surrounded by other rooms. The ground was outlined in a grid with scatters of red squares to represent the trap doors. Red dots ran alongside some areas of the wall, on the furniture, and the statues, showcasing the existence of the shooting points. From what he could tell, all grounds were covered, and there were no glaring blind areas.
Since he had no idea what to change, he decided to leave defenses alone. Hopefully, through more experience, he’d be able to make the floor stronger. It would be nice to put everything on auto-mode and relax while reaping the benefits of…
More blood. He cursed himself for having that thought.
Since he finished the castle system, he went back to the Castle Control Panel and employees. One aspect caught his attention from the beginning. The monsters he had working under him as employees.
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While he wasn’t sure what a gnoll was, he knew what to expect from skeletons. Hopefully, they were powerful enough to compensate for the lack of castle defense.
Press to Call.
Not too much time passed till the large stone doors opened. In between its crack, Brian could see the haunting white bones of a rather familiar-looking fellow using his sharp vision.
Though the creature had no eyeballs, Brian could sense its gaze. The skeleton had a brown helmet on and a sword in its hand. There was something eerie about seeing a set of bones moving like a living person, though relatively rigid in motion. A shiver crept down his spine.
Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs which led to his throne, the skeleton bowed down on its knees. No words were exchanged, but Brian could feel the utmost respect and authority he had over this creature.
Brain let out an awkward chuckle and waved at the creature to stand up straight again. “I’m assuming you can't speak.”
There was a pause. “Can you understand what I’m saying, at least?”
The skeleton nodded.
His eyes brightened up. Even if it was a mute skeleton with probably limited intellect, he was glad to have at least one “living” creature by his side. Also, he could use the skeleton to get some answers about this world.
“Scratch your head.”
The skeleton scratched his head.
“Do you have your own personality, or are you obeying every word I just say?”
The skeleton nodded - staring at him with such… Innocent eyes.
Brain knew he was over-achieving with that question and decided to stick to the classic yes or no to get an answer.
“Do you have your own personality?”
The skeleton nodded.
The response was too good to be true. “Do you not have a personality?”
The skeleton nodded.
Of course it nodded. He let out a sigh. This is absolutely no help. The skeleton can’t teach me jackshit.
Not knowing what it did wrong, the skeleton stood quietly, waiting for its master’s following orders. Brian stared at it, a useless staring contest taking place. Then, he let out another sigh. There’s one thing I could do to make this thing helpful in gaining knowledge.
“Oi Skeleton. Let’s fight.”
He wanted to use his powers in a real-life simulation.
The skeleton nodded, walking to the middle of the room, before facing Brian again. He proceeded to take a battle stance.
Since he arrived, Brian stood up from the throne for the first time. However, he couldn’t help but stagger upon his first step down, stabilizing himself by grabbing the armrest. Compared to his average height, he was a lot taller, to a frightening degree. There was a several feet difference.
He took a few steps down the stairs. The difference in his body was noticeable sitting but amplified while walking. His body was a lot lighter, and his movements were tuned to his mind, fluid like a dance.
He reached the bottom of the stairs with his expression glazed with thoughts. “Stay there. I want to test something.”
The reaction speed of his body movements was unlike anything he’d experienced. He needed to test the extent of his physical capabilities. The easiest way to test his speed was to run to the entrance in record time. He bent down slightly, ready to run as fast as he could.
Go.
Brian underestimated his speed, and only in a few steps, found himself across the room. He tried to stop the momentum but stumbled and immediately crashed into cold metal. The impact sent shots of pain up the sides of his body, and he fell down to the floor. The skeleton watched its master. His head cocking sideways.
“Holy fuck.” His face turned deathly red.
While he felt stupid, there was nothing he could’ve done to prevent himself from hitting the other side of the room. His speed was insane, his human brain unable to calculate.
Brian used his less painful hand to help him stand up and succeeded, thankfully. The impact was more substantial than expected, and his whole body rang with pain. Not only was he fast, but he also couldn’t control his own strength.
Wait a minute. Let me check something.
He opened the system again to check his own health.
Status Screen.
Health
90/100 [one health-filled after every minute]
Close.
The window disappeared.
While he felt the damage of his body to a pretty severe degree, he was surprised that only ten health was taken away from his health bar. He also shuddered at the thought of the pain when it would go near the lower digits.
Luckily, the pain quickly subsided, and he was back to normal. There was a light throbbing but nothing he couldn’t handle.
Brian turned to the confused skeleton. It was time to test his powers out.
“Okay, start.”
The skeleton lifted its sword, running towards him at a speed that usually would be a fast pace. However, due to his experience with his own speed, Brian could easily dodge the skeleton, though not without flinching.
「Blood chain」
The chain bound the skeleton, trapping its arms right beside its body. Unable to move or walk, the skeleton just stared at Brian with its dead eyes. The whole ordeal was anti-climatic. He wasn’t sure if his chain was a cheat or if the skeleton was just too weak.
Another aspect he wanted to test was tightening the chain further to suffocate, but Brian hesitated. The skeleton was his ally - what if he killed it?
Let’s check the skeleton stats.
Skeleton [lvl 1]
Species
Skeleton
Basic Stats
Health
∞ [does not die unless bones are disintegrated or unrepairable]
Strength
15
Agility
5
Speed
5
Intelligence
2
Wisdom
5
Skills and Magic Spells
「Piece Together」
After breaking apart, the bones will come together again to fulfill Skeleton’s body in ten seconds.
While the regeneration was good, with those numbers, Brian was sure that any intruder would be able to defeat the skeleton in a second. He rubbed his fingers against his temples.
If anything, he can protect this place as a one-man show. Right?