Player choice: [I want to challenge the lord of the castle.]
Rogier froze for a moment, then looked enlightened.
"I see. A very ambitious Tarnished..."
Rogier: "Come to think of it, Lord Rykard seems to have posted a bounty recently. If you can defeat him, Stormveil Castle can be your reward."
Rogier: "That really is a great temptation! Obtaining Stormveil Castle would also mean gaining Limgrave's support. For a Tarnished who wishes to become a lord, it's utterly impossible to refuse."
"But there are powerful guards outside Lord Rykard's door... ancient golems aren't easy to deal with."
The player nodded. Golems... those little things in the graveyard? They were sneaky, sure, but not all that tough.
Rogier: "Talking to you like this has gotten my blood pumping for the first time in ages."
"All right, call on me if you need help. I'm not particularly strong, but I can lend a hand."
The player said goodbye to Rogier and continued onward.
The inside of Stormveil Castle was even more labyrinthine than the outside.
Narrow corridors, hidden staircases, and traps everywhere-any one of them could teach a Tarnished a lesson.
The sneakiest were those soldiers with repeating crossbows. They could clearly suppress you head-on with firepower. Why did they insist on hiding in blind spots and ambushing people?
After enduring suffering, backstabs, and untold hardships, the player finally figured out the route and fought all the way to the deepest part of the castle.
Outside the boss room.
Two enormous golems guarded the entrance like two immovable mountains.
[Smithing Golem ×2]
The player took a tentative step closer.
An enormous stone fist came crashing down with a rush of wind.
The Tarnished instantly turned into white light. (Land of Shadow stats, dude.)
Player: "..."
Respawn. Try again.
This time, the player