Near a massive silver lake, under the light of a full moon was a sole figure that seemed to be bathed in shadow. His golden eyes and silver hair glowed with a divine aura.
He wore black leather boots and leather pants with small red armour plates over the legs. An aristocratic vest under a black silk jacket with a red interior. He wore a massive silver necklace will his crest on it. It was a winged grim reaper, with rubies for eyes, carrying a sword in each hand and using them to form a cross.
He appeared to be a figure that belonged to darkness. On that ruled the night. That's what he appeared like. What was really going on was way different.
"In the game this looked so cool but now it looks so gawdy!" The Uniform of Baal was an outfit that was awarded to high level players who defeated Baal and earned the [Terra Firma] grimoire that granted legendary earth spells. It was part of an elemental event series.
"Interface access open the main menu and summon Midnight's Palace?"
[UI: Request acknowledged. Please note that the space required for the Midnight's Palace has not being claimed.]
"Not been claimed?"
[UI: Yes there is not enough territory to summon the palace. Would you like to claim the defeated ruler's domain?]
"Defeated ruler? Was that a boss level monster that I fought before?"
[UI: Yes, Emyrs. The defeated monster was a low level boss.]
"Alright fine, fine. Just summon the palace."
[You are now the acknowledged ruler of this area. No benefits come with this.] It was a new notification.
[UI: Request acknowledged. You will receive control over the domain. However the space is only ten kilometres excluding the lake.]
[UI: Summoning failed. Midnight's Palace needs empire level territory. May I suggest Midnight's castle instead, no larger territory will be required?]
"Do it. Summon Midnight's Castle." He was a little annoyed. The palace was his crowning achievement. Literally. When Emyrs had become the highest level vampire he achieved the rank of Vampiric Emperor. He used a lot of resources to build the palace. It was on par with some guild houses.
A purple summoning circle spread out across the area. Emyrs could feel himself losing a little MP but it didn't matter when he saw the gothic style castle rise up. Tall towers, with flying buttresses and red vaulted ceilings were the first to pass through the circle.
The words "Château de Minuit" rose out of the ground engraved in stone. The walls lined with winged stone gargoyles, whose grotesque arms were clasped together as if in prayer, rose along with the iron spike iron gates. The gargoyles though appearing decorative were actually rare grade golems designed to defend the walls.
A garden was in view just inside the gates but every once in a while there was a flash of red light that looked like the eyes of a beast that was stalking the grounds.
"The Beast of Gévaudan..." Emyrs spoke in outer astonishment. A game NPC had been summoned along with the castle. The Castle's gate's top guardian. If anyone got past the wards, the gargoyles and the curses, they would not get past the Beast of Gévaudan.
The Beast came into the moonlight. It stood on it's hind legs. It's thick black fur and claws shone with a deadly lustrous glow. Sharp white fangs lined its mouth as it's red eyes focused on Emyrs. Emyrs felt his body stiffen.
The Beast gave a polite bow then walked back into the shadows and disappeared but Emyrs knew it wasn't gone. It was out there, hidden, stalking and listening.
[You have earned the undying fealty of the Beast of Gévaudan. You are recognised as the Lord of Midnight's Castle. Welcome home, Lord Baptiste.]
Emyrs felt himself sigh in relief. He had not expected an NPC to be summoned as well let alone the Beast. When he saw it's eight foot body appear, he couldn't believe it.
A million thoughts raced through his mind. How was it here? How could it be alive? How would it react now that it was alive? Would it still obey him? These were the kind of things he was thinking about.
He could beat it, he was sure about that but the Beast's attacks were stronger than his. The attack power of the Beast vastly exceeded it defensive power.
So to fight it, one's defense and stamina had to be insanely high. It would be a long fight but it would be the only way to come out alive.
In the game players had to have high defensive equipment and stats to even be able to challenge the Beast and only the first 100 players to defeat it had gotten the werewolf as a guard. After he got the notification though it made him feel better. He hoped he didn't have to worry now.
The wrought iron gates opened. The same crest on the necklace were on the left and right gates. This was his home. The gargoyles bowed their heads as Emyrs walked through and a white mist poured rose over the walls and spread till the castle could not be seen by monsters near by.
*****
"Incendium!" Emyrs shouted a ball of chaos fire shot off from his hand and obliterated another training dummy. Not even ashes remaind. It was insane!
Emyrs had looked around the castle and he was alone. It was a fantastic home with a library, a laboratory, a ballroom, grand staircases, a dungeon, several floors not including the ground floor as well as the catacombs and a vault.
There were no other NPCs besides the Beast outside which made Emyrs wonder if he could summon the other original game too or create new ones.
He decided to tryout his magic first in the training room and so far he had managed to use every spell he called on. It was a relief. In Court of Souls he could only equip ten of his best spells and only two legendary spells but now he had access to hundreds of spells all at once and the price was MP.
He had been trying these spells out. [Ignis] to light the crystal in the castle. [obcillo] to smash the dummy's against each other. [abscindo] to tear them apart and even [comminuo] to make them explode from the inside. All of these were legendary level spells and the dummies still regenerated.
But when it came to [Incendium] a legendary fire spell, the fire looked different from the game. It was black with a purple gas swimming around it.
He tossed it and the flames devoured the targeted dummy without spreading and quickly. The dummy seemed to disintegrate and not really burn. It was as though the flames made it decay as though being removed from existence.
That was not the worst part though. It was odd for sure but the worst part was that the dummies did not regenerate. He used [Mind's Eye] to study the flames and the flames were called [Dark Chaos Flames] with no additional information.
"It would be a useful spell but it eats up too much mana and I barely understand it. I'm at half my mana and I used a few legendary spells."
"Two legendary spells would have left me one fifth of my mana in Court of Souls. So mana consumption here is better than in the game." Emyrs was thinking carefully and making plans.
He had also learnt a bit about his skills from the User Interface. The skill [Larcany] allowed him to steal abilities from opponents whose blood he drank but that was randomly. He could not choose the skills he wanted.
While the unique skill [Life Gluttony] allowed him absorb high value nutrients from his victims to strengthen himself and his soul.
The skill [Demon Monarch] made all weaker races who could sense or see his aura, subservient. While [Demon's Grace] made his opponents who were close to death see him with a godlike reverence. In that moment if he spared them, they would pledge fealty but if he chose to kill them, he'd be granted an experience boost.
"Okay, I'm kind of OP!" Emyrs was excited about his new cheat abilities. "I'll have to grind exp as soon as possible. User Interface show me my full status."
Name: Emyrs Ambrose Baptiste
Race: Primordial Vampire (Unique)
Age: 200 (15)
Level: 6 (87%)
Titles: Primordial
Bloodline: Primordial?
Generation: Originator
Clan: None
HP: 7000 / 7000 (semi-immortal)
MP: 10 000 / 10 000
STR: 300
DEX: 423
INT: 200
WIS: 312
CHA: 600
Emyrs wanted to be offended by his intelligence being the lowest stat but ignored his anger and decided to go grinding but first he wanted a weapon.
In Court of Souls weapons were won as a reward, bought with the currency or forged. Emyrs had all the materials he needed and asked the Interface if his plan would work. Given confirmation, Emyrs left the castle behind knowing that the castle would be safe. It was time to grind.
******
That night a group of people crawled out of the mud. Filthy. Crude but human.