The castle was quieter than Eiden expected. The girls had settled in for the night—Lumia's group, exhausted, were resting after their ordeal. For the first time since he'd awoken, Eiden felt strangely restless.
He stood in the empty hallway outside the throne room, moonlight spilling over the polished floors. The weight of his new reality pressed on him. He still didn't know the full extent of his supposed "Overlord" abilities, but tonight felt like the right time to figure it out.
> I saved those girls by instinct. But if danger comes again, I'd better know what I can actually do.
Silently, he put on his dark cloak and willed himself invisible—at least, that's what he imagined as he focused on blending with the castle's shadow aura. He left by a side gate, stepping out into the mist-haunted wilderness.
---
### Monster Hunting
Eiden walked—no, *glided*—across the barren moonlit plains. The world outside Azerith was wild and unforgiving. After about an hour of travel (or what his senses told him was about 50 kilometers), he paused above a craggy gorge.
There. Shadows shifted—eyes gleamed—creatures stalked below.
It took only a thought. Dark energy gathered at his fingertips. With a sweep of his hand, a sharp crescent of power streaked across the gorge. The beasts—a mix of six-legged lizard-wolves and horned apes—never stood a chance.
He watched as the monsters fell, dissolving into smoky remnants—leaving behind glowing crystals: their monster cores.
He crouched and picked up the largest, crimson and hot to the touch.
> So this is a core…
He gripped it lightly, feeling faint energy thrumming within. It pulsed, almost as if it recognized him as its rightful master.
> These should be useful. Maybe they're energy sources… or ingredients? He'd played enough games to know it was always worth collecting loot.
---
### Testing His Abilities
Returning to a more secluded glade, Eiden experimented:
He tried channeling energy into the core, visualizing fire, then ice, then force. Each time, the core glowed brighter or dimmer, responding to his will—but not unleashing any wild effects.
Instead, the castle's crystal at his belt vibrated, as if "absorbing" the essence from the core and storing it for later use.
> Okay, so I can absorb monster power? Or maybe fuel the castle with it? This is going to be interesting…
---
### Preparing for TrainingHe returned to the castle before sunrise, passing unnoticed as ever. Calling up the main crystal, focused on the idea of a "training hall." The magic responded—walls shifted, appeared, and a massive, open chamber unfolded beneath the castle. Smooth stone, floating targets, conjured dummies—everything a trainee could need, sized for squads rather than individuals.
Satisfied, Eiden took a deep breath.
> This'll be their safe place to grow stronger.
He placed several monster cores on a pedestal in the center, willing the room to hide them under a dome of transparent crystal—unreachable until he decided otherwise.
---
### Capturing a Live Monster
One thought lingered.
> If these girls are going to train, real experience is better.
Gripping the crystal, Eiden projected his vision outward—sweeping the wilds for something manageable. He located a small, fox-like beast—fast but not particularly dangerous—and, focusing will, snared it in a sphere of fog, drawing it gently through space until it thudded, dazed but unhurt, into a smaller training enclosure.
As dawn spilled gold over Azerith, Eiden surveyed his work. A castle, no longer just a fortress, a sanctuary—and now, an academy.
Tomorrow, he'd introduce the girls to their hall—and begin to teach them how to fight.
But for now, he'd sleep, surrounded by silent stone, the wild power of his new world humming eagerly waiting..
As Eiden wandered back through the silent corridors, a sense of satisfaction settled over him, but also an uncomfortable uncertainty. The events of last night circled through his mind—how swiftly he'd dispatched the monsters, the surge of power when channeling the crystal, the effortless creation of the training hall.
It almost felt… too easy.
He sat down on the edge of a grand balcony, gazing into the pale dawn, and replayed what Lumia's group had told him over dinner about the world's monsters. Their words echoed now with new weight.
> "There are low-grade beasts—those barely a threat if you're armed. Mid-grade ones... harder, almost soldier-killers. High-grade, that's where you need a real party or magic. And then Behemoths—village destroyers. Elite Behemoths can wipe out a city. Disaster grade—we pray never to see one. Mythical grade, if the legends are true, bring an age to its knees. But the worst, the stories say, are Extinction grade… Only three of those have ever been recorded. Whole kingdoms disappeared each time."
Eiden shivered, feeling humbled. The fox he'd just caught was likely a low-grade, maybe mid-grade at best. The lizard-wolves barely registered as threats by those standards.
> So for being overpowered. Guess I just haven't poked the real monsters yet.
He raised his hands, flexing his fingers. His body *was* unnaturally strong—he'd casually hauled a massive lizard-wolf corpse over one shoulder outside the castle, a feat he'd never have managed back on Earth. Yet, when he tried channeling raw magic without the crystal... nothing happened. He felt fit, tireless, but powerless in a strange sense. No spells, no energy blasts, nothing but a shrouded face and a body that wouldn't need rest or food (although he could still taste and digest, he'd discovered with some curiosity).
> Without the crystal, I'm just a freakishly strong, faceless guy who never gets tired. That's it.
He glanced at the artifact resting in his palm: an enigma—his only true ace.
The castle itself listened to the crystal and, perhaps more importantly, responded to *his* through it—energy channeling, constructing, restraining, even slashing monsters from miles away. But was all power drawn *through* it? Or could he ever do more on his own?
A chill ran through him.
> If I lost this thing, would I be helpless? Not even able to run a simple illusion?
It was an unsettling thought. He could fight beast head-on, sure—but against true calamities, Disaster or Mythical or (God forbid) Extinction grades—
He gripped the crystal.
\u003e I'll have to be smarter. And never lose this. Until I figure out more, this thing is Azerith's true ruler… not just me.
He closed his eyes, feeling the serene power of the castle flow through the artifact—at once comforting, and a frightening.
> For now, I'll play the part. Lord Kleros, the shrouded ruler, master of a living fortress and a legendary relic.
He stood up, cloak swirling behind his faceless mask, and traced a lingering crack of moonlight through the halls.
> And tomorrow, we train. Because I won't always be here to save everyone with a wave of my hand. If those girls want to survive the world out there—the world of Behemoths and Extinction grades—they'll need to become far stronger than I am now.
A grin—proud, maybe a little excited—tugged at his lips as he paced away, the crystal humming at his side.
To be continued....