"Ugh."
Agnus cautiously opened his eyes and found himself lying in a dilapidated castle.
"Where... where am I?"
Agnus propped himself up and muttered something under his breath.He scratched his head and vaguely recalled that he had been at his coming-of-age ceremony.
This ceremony is held when direct descendants of the clan turn 19. Suddenly, the ceremonial hall was plunged into complete darkness. Then a beam of light poured down. When he opened his eyes again, he found himself lying in a castle.
"Could it be that I was kidnapped by the clan's enemies?"
"But that's practically impossible. The clan has always remained in the shadows, and only a handful of allies even know of its existence."
Agnus looked around.
The style of the castle greatly resembled the architectural style of the Western Continent, but it lacked any luxury.
On the contrary, it looked dilapidated, as if no one had lived in it for many years. It felt somewhat old.
While inspecting the interior of the castle, Agnus noticed that some furniture was still present despite the worn-out appearance.
A bathroom and toilet were located on every floor. And judging by the size of his bedroom, it had quite a large bed—big enough for two people to sleep comfortably.However, apart from that, furniture was obviously lacking, and the rooms felt somewhat empty.
While Agnus was examining the castle, a voice suddenly rang inside his head.
"Welcome to the Continent of Radis!"
"Here the competition among countless different races will take place."
"These competitions are completely fair and just."
"Each of you will be randomly assigned a castle and your first soldier, allowing you to plunder resources and develop your troops!"
"In this vast world with tens of thousands of races, boundless opportunities and insurmountable obstacles await!"
"You will use your status as a Castle Lord to lead your army and begin the struggle for hegemony!"
"The one who ultimately becomes the Lord will gain the chance to obtain power and status, or even eternal life…"
...Soon after, the voice in Agnus's head disappeared...Yet Agnus could not calm down at all. He frowned and fell into deep thought.
"Competition of the races?"
"It seems similar to that prophecy I heard about since childhood."
"Sigh, I just went through the ceremony. I never expected the prophecy to come true, and at a time like this of all times."
"Since I'm already here, I'll just accept it as it is."
"However, the talk about 'absolute fairness' sounds suspicious. Where would absolute fairness come from when even ordinary fairness doesn't exist?"
In any case, let's first see where this castle is located!
Agnus stepped outside the castle.Beyond the castle was an inner courtyard surrounded by forest.
He could hear countless bird calls coming from the woods, and from time to time growls resembling those of wild beasts reached him.
It seemed his castle was situated in a forest. He raised his head to look at the sky.The weather was overcast; not a single patch of clear sky could be seen.
It created a very strong sense of oppression in people.Agnus took a deep breath of the fresh air.
"Phew, how depressing this all is!"
The courtyard was also quite run-down.
There was nothing in it except for a structure that resembled a wheel of fortune.
Agnus approached the wheel and examined it carefully.
It was divided into sections, but all of them were colorless.
At that moment, an information simulation panel appeared in Agnus's field of vision.
[Initial Wheel of Fortune: a wheel whose spin will determine your initial troop type.]
[Level: Heavenly Artifact.]
[Type: Consumable.]
[Contains tens of thousands of different races.]
[Goblins, Ice Wolves, Precious Mice, Skeletons...]
[Goblin: its entire body is green. Small body, reaching one and a half meters at best. Cunning by nature, and very fond of all kinds of treasures. Lustful, and reproduce quickly, which helps them survive against stronger beings.]
[Ice Wolf: its entire body is blue...]
[...]
[Required for activation: 1 drop of the Lord's blood.]
[P.S.: The Wheel of Fortune is a gift from the Heavens in honor of obtaining Lord status. It can only be used by the Lord on whose territory it appeared. It cannot be given away, sold, or stolen. The Heavens will not allow it.]
"Wheel of Fortune!"
"Heavenly Artifact!"
"Even though it's consumable, that's more than enough, isn't it?"
Agnus's breathing quickened and his pupils contracted.
The mere existence of this 'Wheel of Fortune' clearly showed that the Heavens truly valued Lords—otherwise, how could one explain such generosity? Billions of people, each receiving a Heavenly Artifact.
Although Agnus didn't know how difficult such a thing was for the Heavens, the very fact of receiving this help brought only positive emotions—though he didn't dare relax too much, since he was no longer at home but on the Continent of Radis, about which he knew almost nothing.
Agnus was incredibly excited.
"Haha, all it takes is one drop of my blood, and I can activate the 'Wheel of Fortune' to obtain my main race."
Since Agnus didn't have any sharp tools on him, he quickly went to the kitchen.The kitchen was on the first floor, so it didn't take long.
Standing in front of the 'Wheel of Fortune' and holding a knife in his right hand, Agnus was ready to begin this thrilling event.
But at that moment, the same voice as before rang in his head again:
"To all Castle Lords."
"From this moment on, you will receive seven days of beginner protection."
"During the beginner protection period, your castle will be shielded by a special barrier."
"After seven days, the protective shield will disappear, and you will face the first trial—the Beast Tide. The Beast Tide will sweep across the territory of all Castle Lords."
"Once the heart of the castle is destroyed, you will lose the chance to fight for hegemony, to gain power and status, or even to live forever…"
Suddenly, a faint golden barrier enveloped Agnus's castle.Agnus looked at the barrier: Beginner Barrier, effect — invincible!
"Phew, looks like in this alternate world you won't get any time to rest at all!"
"The beginner protection period ends in seven days—there's not much time left!"
"And we have to survive the Beast Tide, or we'll die!"
Agnus instantly felt the urgency of the situation.
His gaze turned back to the 'Wheel of Fortune'. When his eyes fixed on the 'Wheel of Fortune', a sharp gust of wind blew.
Blood from his palm fell in small drops onto the small blood container.
As soon as this happened, the entire wheel lit up in various colors.Some sections turned crimson, others yellow or blue. But one section suddenly grew in size, swallowing several neighboring ones along with it.
Agnus stared in astonishment at the black color that now occupied 60–70% of the entire wheel.
An information template appeared in Agnus's field of vision.
[The Wheel of Fortune has detected your extraordinary affinity with dark creatures. Upon contact with your blood, a benign mutation is possible if black appears during the spin.][Would you like to spin the Wheel of Fortune?]
[Yes][No]
"Yes."
"Immediately begin activating the 'Wheel of Fortune'."
Agnus said this without hesitation. He saw no risk in the wheel itself, so he decided the command should be verbal.
[Ding, the Wheel of Fortune begins its spin. May fortune favor you.]
...Soon after, Agnus saw the wheel spinning wildly.
He felt both excited and anxious—this would decide his starting point.
Time passed quickly.
After about a minute, the pointer landed on black and stopped closer to the center.
Agnus clenched his fist in excitement.Although he didn't know what kind of dark creature it was, it was already clear that this was the best possible outcome he could have gotten.
A message template appeared in his field of vision.
[Congratulations to the Castle Lord on successfully spinning the wheel.]
[An unusual reaction to the Lord's blood has been detected. The building is mutating.]
[Initial building: Shadow Haven (Unique).]
[Current level: Level 1.]
[Contains a unique type of shadow-based creature.]
[Required to level up: 100 energy stones, one strange crystal.]
[P.S.: Shadow Haven Level 1. Only ten Noctari can hatch from it at the same time.]
"Shadow Haven!"
"Unique military building!"