"I have to admire your foresight, Walton."
Emerging from the underground levels of Nazarick, Flying Squirrel and Walton followed the winding classical flagstone path, entering the "Joy Fortress Area" which Walton had personally funded and constructed.
"I already told you it was just to save money. Nazarick's daily expenses were already high enough, and in the final period, the two of us could barely maintain it. There was no need to continue maintaining this castle, which was originally just a decoy…"
The two walked along, enjoying the Swamp and jungle of the real world, while also reminiscing about the past.
Nazarick's surface area was mainly divided into two regions. The smaller one was Nazarick's original sacrificial tomb, which was clean and desolate, looking like a royal mausoleum from the outside. Only by passing through the mausoleum could one reach Nazarick's lower levels.
The other area was the Joy Fortress built by Walton. Besides the main massive fortress castle and the Violet Mage Tower representing magic, Joy Fortress also had four expansive sub-areas.
The first was the "Void Swamp" that surrounded the entire outer perimeter of Nazarick, serving as a moat. This Swamp was also where Flying Squirrel and Walton were currently strolling. It was densely forested, concealed bottomless mud traps, and giant mosquitoes and lizards roamed everywhere. There were even many Undead ready to ambush from the shadows—of course, this was the Void Swamp under full maintenance, not the current "Silent Forest" which had stopped maintenance.
The second was the industrial area in the eastern part of Joy Fortress, connected to the fortress. Walton had put a lot of effort into building it. All the equipment for crafting gear was available there, even including "construction machinery" which was merely decorative. Because all construction in the game itself was done by data, construction machinery as decoration wasn't expensive, but now, it seemed truly worth the money.
The third was the southern "Tyrant's Tower," connected by forests and underground passages. It stood out, built very exquisitely, with an entrance that was even a maze. Only members of Nazarick could skip the maze and directly teleport in via their guild rings. This could easily mislead players—after clearing the Joy Fortress's stronghold, they would subconsciously assume the Tyrant's Tower was the final destination, then advance triumphantly, only to fall there.
That's right, Tyrant's Tower, unlike other areas of Joy Fortress, was set up with a similar defense level to the underground levels, filled with deadly traps, and even occasionally placed "treasure chests" according to psychology. Even if players defeated the tower's final BOSS, the "Tyrant," they would still need to rack their brains to solve puzzles and ultimately only receive a replicable "artifact-grade" set with severe side effects—the Tyrant Set.
By the way, one of Walton's sub-professions, "Hephaestus," was a blacksmith-like profession, and the Tyrant Set was what he specifically crafted to annoy players.
The fourth was a massive dungeon area located beneath Joy Fortress. It was itself a maze, with four hidden entrances on the island. They appeared to be secret passages offering convenience to players, but in reality, the Guardian monsters inside were even more disgusting than those on the surface, and the rewards obtained were not as plentiful as a frontal assault on Joy Fortress.
Well, when it came to messing with people's minds, Walton was a professional.
In short, Joy Fortress was actually a huge and costly decoy, but it repeatedly succeeded in luring players to form teams and get annihilated. Mainly, no one would have thought that an area comparable in scale to a medium-sized guild was actually a trap!
But Joy Fortress was not entirely about "psychological tactics." For example, the Violet Mage Tower, which Flying Squirrel and Walton were now entering, was a place where treasures genuinely existed.
"It's truly… magnificent…" Standing before the Violet Mage Tower, Flying Squirrel looked up and couldn't help but exclaim.
Walton smiled in response. Anyone whose work is praised would feel proud, but Walton was also a self-aware person. Although he admitted to spending a lot of effort on the Violet Mage Tower and directly drew inspiration from the Dalaran area of a certain world in a previous life, ultimately, due to various reasons, Walton only replicated a single Mage Tower, not the truly magnificent sky city of Dalaran.
The overall color scheme of the Violet Mage Tower was yellow and purple, with a Gothic-like architectural style, but the buildings were slender and rounded, soaring into the clouds. Several smaller towers guarded the central tall tower. At the very top of each tower, huge purple conical gems were embedded as roofs, and there were open-air, hollowing out areas for guests to visit. Walton made improvements in this part, increasing the number of hollowing out areas and connecting the tall tower and small towers with "magic bridges," making it both beautiful and full of magical aura.
In addition, at the very top of the tall tower, two circles of magic arrays, at different heights and with purple gems as their base, floated and revolved. Their purpose was to draw energy from the Joy Fortress stronghold and Tyrant's Tower to support an almost impenetrable defensive barrier. At the same time, the magic array was also one of the power supply points for the defensive barrier of Nazarick's sacrificial tomb area.
It's a pity they were currently inactive, so the gems on the magic arrays were not slowly rotating and moving. Otherwise, even the light they emitted would be breathtaking.
"Anu belore dela'na (May the sun guide you)." Walton spread his arms and slowly uttered a phrase of unclear meaning, and only then did the Mage Tower's great door slowly open.
"Walton, you actually know this language?" Flying Squirrel was shocked, the flames in his eye sockets flickering. One should know that in games, setting specific door-opening passcodes was not uncommon. Before, they used a skill provided by Walton to open the Violet Mage Tower's door, but now it was reality, and Walton had brazenly spoken the so-called "Thalassian language." This startled Old Bone.
"Let's not talk about that. I was once a noble Blood Elf too." Walton put his hands on his hips.
"…You still have that race hidden?" Flying Squirrel asked without thinking, but seeing no response, he dismissed it from his mind and followed Walton inside.
Although the Mage Tower had stopped operating, all NPCs were in a frozen standby state to eliminate maintenance costs, but the Mage Tower's most basic mechanisms were still preserved, which prevented the two from walking into a pile of dust.
Flying Squirrel followed Walton up the floating stairs, circling a few times before finally reaching the top of the tower—the Violet Council Hall, which was also the Mage Tower's final BOSS room and the location where a large number of scrolls and books were stored.
"What a maze…" Flying Squirrel couldn't help but complain. The Mage Tower ostensibly had only five floors, and it wasn't a large area like the underground levels, but this was a mirrored Mage Tower. The inverted floors actually totaled ten, including one fake final BOSS room. The designer was utterly insidious!
But they had finally arrived, even the designer, Walton, couldn't help but wipe cold sweat—he had taken at least two wrong turns just now.
The two composed themselves and looked at the five crystals standing in the center of the room, in which the Guardians of the domain, whose appearances resembled humans or elves, slumbered.
"Then, I will awaken them, and let Nazarick return to its peak!"