The Curse of Rion Castle (The Neuro Book #2) LitRPG Series

by Andrei Livadny

  Still, you could tell this room used to belong to a warrior. Both the armor stand and the weapon rack were empty. The disarrayed bedclothes had rotted away.

  A large ancient book lay open on the table. I chose not to touch its yellow pages for fear of them crumbling to dust.

  Talking about dust, there was plenty of that everywhere. The window panes were intact — probably, thanks to the castle's defense shield which had remained active even after its defeat.

  I peered at the book's open pages. They were covered in sketches of a very interesting combo performed with two short swords. I needed to see Platinus about this book. He should know of some chemicals that could be used to restore aged paper.

  * * *

  IT TOOK US several hours to inspect that one level. The corridor was lined with fifty rooms. Excellent. I could already see them housing my most important clan members.

  I reopened the castle interface and checked the list of characters available for hire.

  First of all, I would need a majordomo to control and coordinate NPC staff.

  The hire tab was equipped with sliders allowing you to set each particular character's stats and abilities.

  I really had to look into it now. This was getting a bit urgent.

  To search for a suitable character, please enter the characteristics you require. If your requirements disagree with characters' standard settings (i.e., you need a troll with a high IQ), you can create a character from scratch. Please note that this will considerably increase the hire cost.

  Very well. I could try, I suppose.

  I moved the sliders, maxing out Intellect, Thriftiness and Managerial Skills.

  Oops. This, for some reason, had blocked all the other sliders. Had I used all the available points? Very well, let's see the result first. I could cancel my choice any time, anyway.

  I pressed Preview.

  A new tab opened. A holographic image stared back at me: a highly intelligent fiery-eyed demonic creature.

  Okay. Let's do it again.

  I slid Intellect down to 7. Ditto for Managerial Skills: that would leave my future butler some potential for professional growth. Strength... don't need it... let's leave it by default. Wisdom... now that's interesting. If he ignored his master's hasty order to make sure that the said master didn't repent at leisure — would that be wise of him? Very well. Five points is good enough.

  Agility: by default. Good Looks: by default. Thriftiness: five points. I didn't want to create a stingy little hoarder who'd have a hard time parting with every rusty nail. Logistics: eight points. This is an important feature indeed.

  The rest of the stats got blocked again.

  Okay, what have we got now?

  A Blood Elf. Tall and blond, his green gaze betraying millennial wisdom. Age... three hundred-plus.

  Name: Lethmiel.

  Why not? I could try, couldn't I? Hire cost: 5,000 gold. Salary: 500 gold a month.

  Quite pricey but then again, the castle needed a lot of running around. My majordomo had his work cut out for him. I should really have invested a few points into his Constitution.

  I definitely liked the result. I knew that Blood Elves had a leaning to magic. Their ancestors used to serve the powers of the Dark — but by now they'd left their gloomy past way behind them.

  I pressed Hire.

  A cascade of golden light poured down from above, forming an Elven outline which gained shape and detail. Lethmiel spread his shoulders, coming to life. His piercing gaze focused on me; he lowered his head and uttered a few words in an ancient Elven language.

  Noticing that I didn't understand him, he immediately switched to common speech,

  "I'm at your service, Sir. I've arrived as soon as I received your invitation."

  "You can call me Alex."

  "I'm yet to deserve such familiarity," he replied with dignity. "What can I do for you?"

  "You can start by hiring new staff," I replied. "You decide how many we need. Their primary task is to inspect the castle including the outer fortifications, and to collect all weapons, gear, scrolls, books and cargonite items they find. They can be stored temporarily here," I forwarded him the castle map and the internal portals' coordinates.

  "How much can I spend?"

  "A thousand gold to begin with. If a hundred workers isn't enough, let me know."

  "May I offer a word of advice?"

  "Please do."

  "If you hire common workers, they might do more harm than good. Allow me to contact the experts, Sir. They will collect and store all the valuables, then promptly forget about it."

  "Why, do they receive a memory wipe?"

  "They don't need to. The experts I mean aren't interested in the castle nor its artifacts."

  His gaze betrayed an unusual craving. I'd heard about this particular trait of Blood Elves before. For them, magic was a physical need akin to thirst or hunger. Unfortunately, they were forced to suppress it too often.

  "I know how you feel," I said.

  "You don't. I can sense the presence of an ancient power. But I'll do as you say," he lowered his head. "May I use a microscopic bit of the power for communications?"

  "Absolutely. Please report any unusual findings ASAP. Don't touch any time-damaged scrolls or manuscripts. I'll ask Master Platinus to make a special sealant to fix them."

  "There are also some spells that can do that."

  That sounded interesting. "How long do they last?"

  "Where, here? In Rion Castle where every rock oozes power? They will last forever!"

  His gaze warmed up: he'd managed to talk the castle's owner into using some magic, after all!

  "Very well. In that case, I'd like you to choose a room to use as a library. What else do you need?"

  "A few Magic Eyes. Ten might be enough. We'll use them to inspect the inaccessible areas, especially those blocked by rockfalls. Once we're done, you can use them for surveillance purposes."

  A Magic Eye? I'd never heard anything about them.

  I checked the auction. No results found. Which meant it wasn't an item.

  "Very well," I said. "If you can make them, please do. But only for emergencies."

  "As you say, Sir."

  Kray's voice disrupted our conversation. "There's a strange door here!"

  "I'm coming," I called back. "Lethmiel, I want you to choose a room as your office and make a list of everything you might need. Then get on with the hiring. I expect you to report to me tonight. Ah, one more thing! If, by any chance, you find a totem made of Khmor wood, call me."

  "I'll do as you say."

  * * *

  THE TWO GUARDS of Gloom were awaiting me by the teleport pad.

  They had been right. This wasn't one of the room doors which lined the outside of the circular corridor. This looked more like some secret passage.

  You had to give the two warriors their due: you couldn't see anything there. The two massive blocks of stone were identical to those next to them. You had to be really observant to notice a wafer-thin gap between them and the rest of the wall. The only thing that could attract a sharp eye was a shallow oval depression in one of the blocks.

  No trace of any opening mechanisms around. Should I try and force the door open? Somehow I didn't think I could.

  An impatient excitement flooded over me. What could be in there? Some secret storage? Or another arsenal?

  I checked the map.

  Indeed, a large round room was supposed to be here — with no entrance to it marked anywhere.

  So how were we supposed to get in? Could it be an illusion? The stone blocks looked and felt perfectly real. No prompts appeared: apparently, the rightful owner of Rion Castle was supposed to know how to get in. Even the Guards of Gloom stepped back deferentially, as if expecting me to do something.

  The small depression in the stone was the only clue I had to go on. It looked the right size to lay something small into it... small... like a charm? The charm?

  I had no other opt
ion, anyway. I removed the Charm of the Sovereign from my neck and pressed it to the stone. It fit perfectly.

  With a screech, the door halves shuddered, raising faint clouds of dust. The two slabs of stone jerked forward, then began to open.

  I stepped in first.

  Torches lit up around me, illuminating a very, very weird place.

  This wasn't a storeroom. Nor a hall. This actually looked like a vast cave.

  Now why would they build a dungeon in the very heart of the castle, mere feet away from the elite Disciple warriors' quarters?

  The floor here was uneven, the walls rough. The torchlight was too weak to dispel the shadows: the center of the cave was bathed in gloom.

  Never mind. Let's see what we've got here.

  I pulled out one of the torches and stepped in.

  The silence was deafening. The rustling of my footsteps echoed weakly from the walls. Every few steps I kept coming across large boulders covered in dents and notches.

  A dull metallic shape glistened in the torchlight. I looked up at an enormous armor-clad figure. What a giant! Twenty feet tall at least. His intact armor glowed purple. I couldn't see the creature's face behind the closed visor of his helmet. One gauntleted hand was clutching a halberd, the other a longsword. What an unusual choice of weapons.

  I stopped, peering at the creature.

  Cargonite Golem.

  Class: Relic. Made by ancient Master craftsmen. One of a kind.

  The giant towered over the top stair of a spiral staircase.

  How many more mysteries did this castle have in store for us? Even more importantly, why couldn't I see the secret rooms in my interface? Wasn't I supposed to have access to them as the castle's new owner?

  Apparently not. The castle's builders had probably never entertained the idea of the castle ever changing hands. I may have bought its physical bricks and mortar, but it would take me some time to restore the place to its original glory by unraveling all its hidden mysteries. Step by tentative step, I had to prove my right to be called the new owner of Rion Castle.

  All this had flashed through my mind as I studied the golem. It didn't move. No further prompts came up: no level, nothing. The centuries of oblivion must have reduced it to a lifeless statue.

  Very well, then. Down we go! I was dying to find out where the spiral staircase might take us.

  I stepped forward. A gentle rustling sound echoed around me, rapidly growing to a roar.

  The statue stirred. The giant lowered his head.

  A shining light escaped the visor's eyeslits as if the golem had opened his eyes, sensing my presence.

  "Defend yourself!" a voice roared inside him.

  Before I could move, a prompt popped up over his head, flashing with rapidly changing numbers,

  Cargonite Golem

  Class: Relic

  Level, 240... 200... 150... 70... 50... 41..

  This son of a bitch was adaptive! He could level down just to make sure he didn't swat me like a fly!

  His halberd whooshed horizontally through the air while his sword came down onto me. I managed to dodge the blow. The golem's choice of weapons combined with his sheer height and the length of his arms gave him a definite advantage, on one condition: he had to keep the enemy literally at arm's length.

  I ducked behind the nearest boulder, then somersaulted toward his feet, closing the distance. I had no intention of getting killed in my own castle.

  Excellent. His halberd couldn't get to me anymore. I only had the sword to take care of.

  Twice I attacked him, dealing him a decent amount of damage, until the golem's life shrank about 30%.

  But he had a surprise ability, didn't he?

  The giant flung the halberd aside, then buried his clenched fist in the stone floor.

  The floor shuddered. The shock wave knocked me off my feet. I received a stun debuff which momentarily disabled me, preventing me from promptly jumping back to my feet.

  The sword's blade pierced my chest.

  My mind exploded with agonizing pain.

  * * *

  "ALEXATIS!" Raoul's cheerful greeting trailed away in surprise. "Whassup? Have you been killed or something?"

  I struggled through the spongy, resistant green glow. It felt like surfacing from the oceanic depths. I was angry and jittery.

  A portal flashed open, disgorging Kray and Ikhtar. Both looked anxious. Seeing me, they lowered their guilty heads. "We tried to follow you! But we couldn't! Some force just didn't let us in!"

  "That's all right," I said, overcoming the numbing deadly cold in my chest. "Raoul, I want you to come with me. You too, both of you. I also need Arwan. Find him and tell him to come ASAP."

  All my items and gear were intact, which was strange to say the least. Ditto for XP, even though I was bound to have lost some for being killed by an NPC.

  Arwan came running.

  "To the portal," I ordered, hastily creating a new group.

  "Alexatis, what's going on?" Raoul demanded. "What's wrong with you?"

  We ported to the circular corridor. This time the stone doors opened as soon as I touched the charm hanging around my neck.

  "I want you to listen very carefully," I said. "I've no idea what this room is. Inside, there's a cargonite golem. A relic. He guards a staircase that leads to the floor below. He's armed with a sword and a halberd. When he loses 33% life, he activates an Earthshaker ability, punching the floor to knock you off your feet and casting a 10-sec debuff on you. We need to smoke him. I can't do it solo. We must work as a group."

  This time the invisible protection veil let all of us through.

  The torches lit up. The golem was still active. He ambled about, making the floor shudder with his footsteps.

  "Alexatis, look," Raoul pointed at the weapon racks. "I wonder if this is a practice room?"

  That made sense. Smart boy. I'd never even thought about it. I'd been too sidetracked by the mystery of it all.

  "So you're back, aren't you?" the voice thundered. "Well done! You've learned your lesson! A leader should never act alone! Let's do it!"

  I barely managed to grab a shield with rather decent damage absorption stats.

  The range of his Earthshaker was 30 feet plus 2% per level — over fifty feet in total.

  I shook my head. How did I know that? Was it my mind expander dropping helpful hints? I had to check the logs to see if they reflected the neuroimplant's activity.

  Somehow I doubted it. Still, I made a mental note of the tip, telling the two Guards of Gloom to attack from the flanks leaving the cleric and the Elf in the rear. I calculated the distance to the golem and nodded to Arwan, ordering him to open fire.

  Arwan didn't let us down. He loosed off five arrows in rapid succession, stripping the golem of 33% life in order to activate his Earthshaker ability.

  The floor shuddered, raising stone dust within a radius of 50-plus feet. This just showed me the importance of having a competent clan analyst. I really needed to start looking for one in the nearest future.

  In the meantime, Raoul cast a Stamina buff on the group, adding 25% to our resistance to physical damage. He then created a source of magic light right under the cave's ceiling which allowed us to see the golem pick up his halberd.

  A circular slashing blow from something like this would make quick work of our warriors.

  Holding the shield in front of me, I stepped forward. Obeying my orders, the two Guards of Gloom were expertly flanking the golem, keeping a safe distance without aggroing him.

  I blocked the halberd's shattering blow with my shield, dodged the sword attack, then immediately counterattacked, focusing the golem's attention on myself.

  He was one powerful bastard. He'd very nearly knocked the crap out of me. My left arm had gone numb. The shield's durability had dropped to 50%. Still, I managed to get to him again.

  The Guards of Gloom crept up on him from the rear and assaulted him with lightning combos, bringing his life down another 33% an
d triggering his next ability.

  "Watch out!" I yelled, hearing a sequence of snapping clicks as if hundreds of little slots had opened in the golem's body.

  The next moment he showered us with a barrage of crossbow bolts.

  My shield's durability dropped to zero. The sharp steel arrowheads pierced its wood, pinning the shield to my left arm and preventing me from discarding the now-encumbering item.

  Crying out in pain, I ripped through the leather straps and hurled the shield aside studded with crossbow bolts like a porcupine. A warm healing wave washed over me, closing my wounds and removing the Bleeding debuff.

  Raoul had taken cover behind a dented rock ledge. Arwan was fine too: he'd kept a safe distance way out of the crossbow bolts' range.

  I attacked the golem again, stubbornly drawing aggro to myself. I couldn't see the Guards of Gloom anywhere. Had he smoked them?

  No, he hadn’t. Both had promptly dropped down on hearing my warning, so they were both in one piece.

  My successful attack seemed to have driven the golem berserk. His halberd drew circles in the air, crushing through nearby cliffs. It took all of my reaction and agility to escape his murderous attack, increasing the distance between us.

  I couldn't get anywhere near him now. A new fiery icon appeared in his tag: Inexhaustible Strength. This must have been his last surprise ability as by now his life was deep in the red.

  "Arwan, slow him down!"

  The Elf lingered longer than usual, taking aim. His arrows hit a barely noticeable gap in the golem's shoulder armor. With a screech, the creature began to slow down.

  "Finish him off!" I shouted, lunging at him.

  The golem's arms had weakened considerably. His deadly halberd listed to the floor, hitting it in a cascade of sparks and leaving a deep furrow in the stone tiles.

  He was on his last legs, literally.

  Kray dealt the final blow, detecting the golem's vulnerable spot and burying his naginata in the back of his neck.

  A wailing scream echoed through the cave.

  A golden glow enveloped us. We all received new levels. My system messages were even more interesting: