Chapter 5: Darkreach Castle

Far outside the territory of Northfront City laid a desolate forest. The trees swayed eerily in the breeze. In the midst of the forest lay an abandoned castle. The castle was in deep disrepair. Numerous scorch marks lined the battlements, dozens of marks were scratched upon its surface.

Empress stared at the castle, her eyes wide in disbelief.

“I-I-It’s perfect!” she stuttered, her eyes gleaming.

She had always wanted a castle of her own and now she finally had one. She dashed towards the entrance, only for a knight in pitch black armor to get in her way.

“Who goes there?!” the knight shouted, tendrils of darkness swirling around his lance.

“Empress!” Vivian retorted haughtily, “Owner of this castle!”

The knight frowned through his visor, an expression of disbelief on his face.

“You’re our new liege?” the knight asked in surprise, “Tell me the password!”

“*****” Empress replied with a smile. The knight’s eyes went wide.

“Apologies, my lady,” he said with a bow.

Empress’s smiled deepened. The knight was a NPC, or non-playable character, set aside by the game to defend the castle. According to the information she received from the memory pill, the castle included numerous servants as well.

Every time a hideout was purchased, information regarding the NPC code was included. The code would affect the NPCs’ programming, causing them to swear allegiance to whomever uttered it.

“Let me inside,” Empress commanded. The knight bowed in subservience.

“Open the drawbridge!” he yelled towards the castle, “Our master has come!”

With a loud creak, the drawbridge unwound, making Empress nearly drool in anticipation.

As soon as the drawbridge touched the ground, she teleported forward, entering the castle. The knight blinked in confusion, before noticing her up ahead. He ran to catch up.

“Be careful, mistress! The castle is large and confusing. It is easy to get lost. Allow me to show you around.”

Empress hesitated slightly, she wanted to run around and explore the castle to her heart’s content. However, she knew it was important to keep calm in front of her servants. After struggling internally for a minute, she nodded. 

The knight escorted her inside of the castle. As they crossed the threshold one servant greeted them.

“Where are the rest of the servants?” Vivian asked, furrowing her eyebrows in annoyance.

“They left with the disappearance of our previous master,” the knight sighed, “It’s only the three of us in the castle.”

Empress frowned. No wonder the castle was only one million credits. It was rundown and abandoned.

The distasteful appearance of the castle set her trembling with anticipation. She would restore the castle to its former glory!

“What’s your name?” Empress asked the remaining servant.

“Hilda, milady,” the servant said with a curtsy.

Empress nodded, memorizing her name.

“Why did you stay?” Empress asked in curiosity.

“It was a request from the previous lord,” the woman said quietly, “I owe him a great debt.”

Empress raised an eyebrow, curious but uncaring.

“Very well, Hilda, you can return to whatever you were doing.”

She turned to the knight, “Show me around.”

The knight bowed and walked ahead, Empress in tow.

Empress was given a tour on every section of the castle. 

The first place they had visited were the stables. Bits of hay were the only remnants of horses. As Empress saw the abandoned shed, she became even more determined. She would fill it to the brim with thoroughbred horses.

After the stable they entered the keep of the castle. The great hall stretched widely, causing Empress to whistle in appreciation.

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They made their way through the keep, stopping at the numerous rooms that decorated the hallways. There was enough space for hundreds of people to live here. Empress was filled with desire to restore the place to its previous liveliness.

Next was the library. The library laid abandoned. The books were all missing from the shelves. Empress glanced at it dismissively, telling herself to remember to rob a bookstore at some point in time.

After leaving the library they entered her bedroom. A beautiful, large bed sat against the wall. From her room she had a perfect view over the interior of the castle, allowing her to see all the comings and goings beneath.

“Are there any secret passageways or torture chambers?” Empress asked in curiosity, her eyes glowing.

The knight blinked before hesitating.

“Yes, there are a few, but I’m sure you’ll enjoy finding those yourself.”

Empress nodded in satisfaction, the knight already knew her personality.

Just as she was about to run off and explore, a boom shook the castle.

Empress’s eyes went wide in confusion.

“What’s going on?” she asked the knight.

The knight’s face turned ugly, “We’re under attack by a primordial beast!”

Vivian’s ears perked up at the knight’s words. Primordial beasts were the source of power crystals in DoG Online. By killing the beasts, you could extract their crystals and increase your own power.

“They attack frequently,” the knight sighed, “Don’t be alarmed though. I’ll take care of it.”

At the end of his sentence the knight turned into a black fog and seeped through the cracks in the castle wall.

Empress immediately looked out the window and teleported outside, trying to get a taste of the action.

Outside of the castle walls stood an enormous wolf. The creature was twenty feet long with green fur. Colossal fangs jutted out from its mouth. It raked its claws along the castle walls, attempting to climb over it.

The knight appeared in a cascade of darkness. He stabbed his lance forward, causing a swirling trail of darkness to streak through the air. 

His lance struck the primordial beast’s side, causing it to howl in pain. It turned towards the knight, its eyes glowing red in rage.

At this point Empress made it to the scene. She punched out with her fists, causing force fields to fly forward, smacking into the beast.

The wolf roared as the barriers struck it. It attempted to jump out of the way but it was too slow, the knight’s lance followed quickly behind, stabbing into the creature’s eye.

The lance caused the beasts head to explode into a pile of gore, causing a thin crystal to fly through the air.

Empress teleported and grabbed it. It was a minor power crystal!

Without a second thought, she absorbed the power inside of it, feeling her barrier’s strength approach level six.

She had discovered another reason the castle was so cheap. It was under constant attacks by primordial beasts. However, killing the beast was startling easy. She was under the impression that they were harder to defeat.

“Are all primordial beasts this easy?” she asked the knight.

“No,” the knight shook his head, “This one was a minor beast and a baby too.”

Empress whistled. She would need to get stronger if she wanted to properly defend her castle.

“By the way,” the knight spoke, “What would you like to name this castle? It’s tradition for each lord to select a new name.”

Empress paused, musing slightly.

“From today forth, it shall be known as Darkreach Castle!”