There was, along the winding path that led from the castle, a sign. A wooden sign, which stood at a height just above my waist, held up by two posts. Some kind of strange moss had made its way around these posts, twisting until it reached the base of the actual sign, before suddenly ceasing. The top of the sign was rotted, obscuring some of the characters at the top. Although I couldn’t read these strange runes, I was sure to mark them down in the Liber Sanguinis in case I could find a way to decipher them later. I continued down the path, now vividly aware of the sound of loose pebbles and wildflowers being crushed underfoot. In my adventurous stupor, I had been blind to something very strange about the world I had begun exploring: the absence of noise. It felt wrong, eerily wrong. No birds chirped, nor bugs hummed, there was only the sound of my footsteps hitting the gravel path, the crunch of leaves, and the rustle of branches. I stood still for a moment, waiting, and listening. However, once I stopped, there was only the whistle of the wind.
Regardless of the absence of wildlife, I continued along. I’m not sure what it was I was searching for, if anything at all, but I continued nonetheless, making note of my surroundings. Every little thing could be important, so I ensured I spared no effort in sketching any new flower, bush, tree, or even leaf that I saw. There was so much beautiful nature around me that I couldn’t help myself. Of course, I gave the excuse to myself that any one of these million plants could be the ingredient to some potion, the component to a ritual. But in reality, I just really liked to explore. I loved the sensation of something new, it was all so exciting. The most interesting fauna was deep off the trail, and since I didn’t trust myself to wander off of the path, I’d draw it from afar. I saw silverish thorny leaves growing out of the branches of ancient trees, small yellow flowers which had a slight golden glow, and vibrant violet lilies whose petals radiated with ethereal beauty. Along the path were some interesting plants too, like the petals of a yellow flower, closed up in a star shape, and some very small purple mushrooms which gave off a soft and dim light under the shade of the canopy. There was, of course, more regular fauna as well like trees, ferns, grass, and bushes. But they rarely got more than a section of a page in the entirety of the book, merely a note of their existence.
As I stopped to draw yet another one of these common plants, a green bush with yellow flowers, I saw the first real living creature I have ever seen in this life. A word came to mind almost immediately, it was a goblin. There, maybe 10 meters in front of me, was a group of goblins. They stood conversing with each other, scanning the forest around them. Each of them held a shoddy spear of varying length, and wore little more than loincloths. They looked young, which I questioned myself for knowing, but their eyes had a ferocity to them which someone young would not have. They were certainly searching for something, made apparent by their restless glances. What it was, I could not know. I had seen no other living being in the last hour, and I had walked quite the distance. Regardless, I knew that there was no point in making enemies at this time, and I decided to leave them on their own. Although I was eager to gauge my skill in combat, I couldn't help but think “I barely managed to summon a book to my hand, let alone kill something. And, even if I could kill these three goblins, there is almost a guarantee that more are within the forest.”
But, before I stepped away, I reminded myself of the importance of this moment. I had no idea when I’d next see these creatures, and so noted their name and created a masterful illustration of them in my book. I then resolved to make my way back to the castle before nightfall, breaking into a sprint to increase the distance between myself and those goblins as fast as possible. As I ran, the sun quickly set behind me, falling halfway behind the grand mountains before I could reach the entrance to the stronghold. I once again walked through the rubble, clearing a bit of a path through the stone, ash, leaves, and bricks. Finally, I arrived at the door, opening it and witnessing, once again, the great hall which held my throne. The contrast to the sorry state of the castle outside was truly impressive. “Perhaps I should have taken one of the sets of armor before I left,” I thought, peering at the golden and black set on my left.
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However, before I could think about exploring more of the outside world, I needed to practice. There would be countless more enemies for me to fight on this journey, and they would surely be stronger than a group of goblins. I sat down at my throne, and asked the castle a question:
“Where can I start with the restoration? You told me you're only at the first level, but you never gave me any instruction.” The orb pulsed, seemingly awakening from its sleep, and responded quickly.
“Yes, I’m at the first level. You’ll have to collect materials for me, using certain resources we restore my power, allowing me to recreate the old parts of the castle frame that have crumbled. It will be simple enough to begin with, but in the future you may have to go quite far to gather what is required.” I nodded, making note of this information in my book, waiting for more information. “I can also add more to the castle, not just restore what was lost. What you see outside is just the frame of the castle when I was level 3, the rooms I had created to serve the master’s needs have long since crumbled into dust. You’ll have to specify what kind of rooms you want going forwards, but to do that you’ll also need a solid frame.”
“So, what do you need to start restoring the old castle frame?”
“I’m still not at full strength, even at my current level. There are a few common ingredients nearby that can strengthen me so I can begin the restoration of the frame. I noticed that you’ve been carrying around that book with you, so I’ll add the list to a page in the front.” I looked down at the book, carefully opening the cover, exposing a record of the plants:
3 Starflower Petals: Petals of a yellow flower that blooms only in the full moon. The petals are known for their potent magical properties.
2 Midnight lilies: A flower which grows under the cover of darkness. Its dewdrops have rejuvenating properties.
12 Moonglow Mushrooms: A small mushroom which emits a soft white light.
8 Silverthorn leaves: Silver, pointed leaves from the ancient Silverthorn tree. They contain a property which helps increase mana capacity.
The descriptions matched some of the plants I had seen on my travels down the mountain, and I was able to quickly find and mark the pages in the book where they were drawn and noted. “I’ve already seen all of these, I think it’ll be possible to get them before tomorrow.”
“That is good news, but a castle also needs servants. Although there isn’t much to clean up or protect now, as the castle grows you’ll need more people to assist you. I recommend picking at least a couple of good maids to assist you.”
“Is there anywhere nearby that I could use for that?”
“My knowledge of recent times is scarce, but I’m sure there used to be a town at the bottom of this mountain. At the time, it was primarily dwarves that lived there.”
“Can I turn a dwarf into a vampire?”
“I’ve never seen any, but you could always try.” Given that this ancient castle had never seen a dwarven vampire, I was not confident there was the possibility they could be turned into vampires. Then again, it never hurts to try.
“How long will it take for you to repair the frame?”
“If we start within the next few hours, it should be done by midday tomorrow.”
“Ok, I’ll get the ingredients and return, and then head out for that town.” I said, grabbing the golden and black armor set and heading for the door. I was eager to begin the real journey.