Castle Life (3)

Every castle had its own knight orders or mages—NPCs who defended it. They assisted during sieges as AI forces, but in peacetime, you could request their "escort" services for a fee in gold or achievement points.

But "escort" was just a polite term; they were no different from pets or summons you could use for hunting. Plenty of players who owned castles dragged these NPCs along for farming runs or even PKing.

Whatever players did with these NPC soldiers, to other users' eyes, seeing ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠someone strutting around with troops that looked like town guards was pure style.

I'd once envied an archer user solo-farming with ranged burst DPS, flanked by two NPC archers.

Archers would be nice. But they'd steal too much EXP. My DPS is plenty anyway—maybe pick something tanky?

Bringing a bunch would just burn achievement points and EXP. No contest—I selected Vice Knight Captain Lanford, marked as castle lord exclusive.

It was pricey, but I tapped confirm without hesitation. Suddenly, Vice Knight Captain Lanford materialized from thin air, just like summoning a pet.

"My lord, Sandro! I shall serve you with utmost loyalty!"

Lanford wore a massive square shield and pitch-black full plate armor. I tapped his name to check his specs.

"Not bad for a named vice captain—he's got some real chops!"

He couldn't compare to my baby dragon Ferari, but his stats crushed most pets or summons. Multiple skills were a dead giveaway for high-grade summon fodder.

"Patrick, tell me again about that 'dungeon' you mentioned yesterday."

"You mean the secret tunnel, my lord?"

"Yeah, that one. Get me inside."

I hadn't picked Lanford on a whim. Yesterday, I'd grilled every NPC in the castle on dungeon keywords—and found a lead here.

"The 'Red Mane Orc Tribe's Tunnel,' sealed by the previous lord. Those savage brutes might burst through anytime, so we guard the entrance like fortresses. I'll teleport you via the installed magic circle."

Whoosh!

Gotta love game logic. Lanford and I zipped into Kaljen Castle's exclusive instance like teleporting.

My level was 274 now. Mobs here were probably mid-350s—normally impossible to solo or even farm safely. But who cares?

Since restarting this character, had I ever hunted level-appropriate zones? Especially after perfecting the Mana Shield-Mana Absorption loop, instance dungeons like this were just EXP vending machines with enough time invested.

Drip, drip.

Water droplets fell from the ceiling, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠echoing softly. The passage was over 5 meters wide and tall, lit by faint glows leaking through. For a "tunnel," it felt more like a proper cave.

<Red Mane Orc Tribe Warrior>

A short walk in, and there was an easy entrance mob, as expected. I ordered Lanford to attack the patrolling orc warrior.

He charged shield-first. His sword swing was quick—befitting a high-level NPC.

"Kuak! Ugh, kuak! Ugh."

Watching Lanford trade blows with the orc's axe, HP ticking down in place—it screamed "game scene." The kind of combat impossible in reality, just standing there hacking until one dropped.

Player duels involved spacing, timing, movement—you barely noticed the awkwardness. But spectating game creatures clash? Yeah, it hit different. A reminder I was playing a game.

"Kuwek!"

The orc finally crumpled. Lanford's HP had dipped only about 10%.

"Castle lord perks—solid specs. Attack's average, but defenses punch above weight. Tanky enough to offload some aggro."

This orc was Lanford's kill—no EXP for me. Fine by it. His job here was tanking. I'd handle all DPS and kills; this was his last freebie EXP.

Especially Iron Wall Defense—roots you in place but doubles defense. Perfect for damage splitting.

I set Lanford to defensive stance and lunged at a fresh orc warrior myself.

To gauge mob damage, I tanked a few hits raw.

Level penalty still stung, but my max MP had ballooned, gear was leagues better—no sweat even against glaring red-named high-level mobs.

A typical mid-10k HP thief at same level would've been toast in seconds.

But my all-in-INT gear bloated MP let me eat hundreds of these without flinching.

Of course, no reason to just stand there.

My attack power: 5,536. Buffed by Unyielding Valor 40%, 8★ Sword Mastery 16%, recent achievement +2%. Absurd.

Back at level 232 with +6 daggers, it'd barely topped 400. Now? One graze was one-shot territory—no exaggeration.

Plus, frequent holy magic procs from the Holy Sword. Even with my pitiful STR, raw damage ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠outclassed Darius's +9 Legendary wielder.

Single-target skill at 260% attack power! One hit halved the orc's HP; my mana surged over 500.

As long as mobs lacked mana drain, Holy Sword made any hunting ground a breeze.

"One kill, and I can already smell the grind...

Thud.

The orc dropped instantly, reeking of that familiar Dumein Castle-style farm fest.

Clearing warriors one by one down the sole passage led to a vast cavern.

Game instances followed this pattern—tight tunnels opening to rooms. Realistic cramped tunnels? Players would ragequit from claustrophobia.

"Big central path's gotta be the main route, right?"

Straight ahead: wide corridor. Flanking it: narrow side paths.

One led to a dead end packed with two orc parties. Like Jefferson Mausoleum—rooms stuffed with packs.

User-friendly mob placement, sure.

Safety-first structure. Didn't expect it, but... mob pulling for trains might work here.

Side paths were basically rooms. No auto-aggro unless I poked in.

Pull safely, and this cavern was prime for mass farming.

Orc attack power was beefy, but I had Spinning Slash and two stellar minions—both with AoE knockbacks, no less.

"Ferari, summon!"

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

Tight spaces blocked summons, but this cavern's ceiling was cavernous enough.

Kieyaaak!

Ferari appeared, wings folded, roar echoing. Always a badass sight on my beloved drake.

Tat-tat-tat!

Dove into one room, aggroed two parties with missiles, bolted to the cavern. Glancing back: a dozen orc warriors charging—axes, clubs, steel knuckles gleaming. Rushing rugby bruisers, pulse-pounding.

I calmly self-buffed, then dove into their face and yelled,

"Shield Charge!"

Lanford had idled blankly nearby in defense mode. He snapped to action, shield-forward into the horde.

"Kuak!"

Boom!

Orcs flew across the cavern. Vice captain level 360+ power.

I Spinning Slashed over the downed pile, multi-hits raining nonstop.

2-second knockback ended quick. Orcs popped up, redirecting to me over the damaged Lanford. I shouted again,

"Wing Gust!"

My Centura field boss drake, who'd spectated wingless, flared them for the skill.

Freshly risen orcs blew back down in the gale.

No openings for orc swings.

"Thieves lack stuns or even knockbacks—always a pain. Never thought minions would cover it!"

Back-to-back AoE knockbacks gave ~5 seconds free multi-hit DPS. With 8★ Swift Movement and Weakness Detection, insanely fast, brutal damage!

"Kuak! Ku-aak!"

Not just any sword—the Holy Sword. These trash mobs weren't lasting.

Magic procs dropped them first; soon all vanished, gold piles glittering.

One pull netted ~10% EXP. Power-leveling on steroids.

"Holy shit—soloing high-level instances this easy? Real?"

Most players couldn't mob-train field high-levels—backstabs were death. And with my ID leaked? Forget it.

Instances traded field EXP for safety. But mob trains? Exceeded expectations.

"Already tasting that grind throat-burn!"

This dungeon screamed "farm till you puke." Hated it on entry, but just one month.

Grind here like a corpse, emerge maxed. Field roaming fearless.

That's when my war with Taeseong truly kicks off.