Nolan opened his eyes to find himself in an empty alley. He quickly headed off to the rogue's organization and went to find Kelis.

"Good work. The mission was a success." His teacher said with a smile.

"Ha, good. I was worried."

"And now, as for your reward… I will let you keep learning thief skills."

Nolan could only click his tongue. 'What a cheapskate.'

"Now get out of here, I have other work to do."

Nolan left and pulled up his cloak as his face began to slowly transform back into Lucan's. He stepped into the teleporter and arrived back in the fortress.

As much as he wanted to go find Silent right away, she was in Avalon picking up supplies for the garden.

He decided to use this time to head back to Shadowsweep. It had been awhile since he returned.

Lucan stepped into the unfamiliar village. It had grown very well in the few weeks he was away. The population had double and he could see the peaks of his castle poking up in the distance. He strolled around the village to take in everything that had changed. There were so many new shops and houses it seemed like a completely different place.

He was surprised to see that there were several players mingled in with the NPCs. Ever since he fully equipped his guards, he had open the portal to the public letting more and more people come this way.

"Hey Boss. It's been awhile." Said a young man running up to him.

"Hello Oar. How have things been?"

"The dwarves are pulling a lot out of the mines. Renia has been training more of the original villagers to be guards. And Alasan has been busier than ever. He even hired a few more people to help him out."

A player came up and interrupted the conversation. "Lord Quilldrake?" He asked even though he could see the name floating over his head.

"That's me." Lucan said with a frown.

The man nodded over Lucan's shoulder and the warlock suddenly felt a stinging pain in his back before and arrow head burst out the front of his chest.

[You have been poisoned.]

Lucan tried to cast an illusionary double of himself but the moment he went to activate his mana he felt a stinging sensation as he lost control of the magical power. The poison had caused him to lose control of his mana.

"AHH!" Lucan screamed as the man in front of him plunged a dagger into his gut and then leaned forward and whispered.

"Think twice before self-destructing. Your precious steward and the surrounding villagers will all die with us. And don't think about using your soul stone. If my men don't see you revive in the graveyard in the next five minutes, we will slaughter everyone we meet till your guards eventually kill us."

Before Lucan could say anything else his throat was slit, and his lifeless body fell to the ground.

He was furious but there was nothing he could do. His only option was to take the penalty and resurrect at the graveyard or his NPC's would die. They weren't like players who could easily come back to life.

When he resurrected in Shadowsweep's graveyard he was surround by 5 players. "Be a good little boy and die for us again and then we will leave you alone for now."

He looked to the entrance of the graveyard to see Renia and 3 other guards kneeling before a level 175 player. They were all beaten and bruised.

The player looked towards Lucan. "You can die, or they can. Your choice."

Lucan didn't resist as he was cut down again.

Afraid to use his soul stone he resurrected in the graveyard. The level 175 player spoke to the others. "Alright boys, our mission is done. Let's get out of here." He then looked to Lucan. "The Plague Baron sends his regards."

Lucan stood there as they walked to the teleporter and left.

Renia and the others quickly came over and knelt to the ground pressing the heads into the dirt. "My Lord, it is all my fault. Please punish us."

"Get up." He said but they didn't budge. "GET UP!" He screamed before taking a few deep breaths. "It is not your fault. Your lord isn't strong enough to protect you. Get back to your duties and keep the villagers safe." He said before he left the graveyard, not giving them a chance to speak again.

He went inside his home and slammed the door. Aside from dropping a level he had also lost his boots and chest piece; both were taken by the assassins that claimed his life.

[Warlock's Insanity has been triggered.]

The people on the street could hear things breaking and being smashed while curses were flying through the air.

Renia approached Oar who was sitting dazed in the street.

"W-, what happened?" He asked her.

"Our Lord's enemies have come to send a message. You should relocate to the fortress for now. I will inform Alasan and the others."

***

Silent had given the supplies to Bud and was waiting in the command room for Lucan to return when Oar walked in led by several shadow elf guards.

"Hey Oar, what are you doing here?" she asked.

"Boss-, boss was assassinated twice in Shadowsweep and has holed himself up inside his house." He said while still shocked from the scene of Lucan being killed right in front of him.

Without asking anything else, Silent ran directly towards the teleporter and went to Lucan's house in Shadowsweep.

She opened the door to find all the furniture and household items broken and scattered across the floor.

"You think you can do this to me and get away with it! I will destroy you all! Just you wait, I WILL MAKE YOU REGRET THE DAY YOU MOVED AGAINST THIS LORD! HA, HA, HA, I will teach you what suffering truly is."

She could hear his mad laughter as she went down into the basement and opened the door.

When he heard the door open, he turned and cast an angry glare at the new arrival. When he saw it was Silent his eyes softened and he turned around, ashamed to be seen as the weak lord who couldn't even protect his own life.

She stepped towards him as he kept cackling and muttering about how he would destroy them and make them wish they had never been born.

Lucan suddenly felt a warmth press against him from behind as Silent wrapped her arms around him.

"Shh, it will be alright." She whispered and soothed him until his insanity finally passed.

She turned him around, but he looked at the ground and refused to look into her eyes.

"I am sorry, it's my fault. As your shadow I should have been with you to prevent this."

"Don't be, if you were there you would have died too, and I would feel even worse."

She grabbed him and hugged him again. "Tell me what happened."

Lucan then went ahead and recounted everything that happened.

"I thought that since I finished Raze's quest I could slow down my leveling and spend some time enjoying myself, but it looks like I need to be stronger than ever now."

"I will help you anyway I can." She replied.

Lucan sighed and sat down on the edge of table, one of the only things he hadn't destroyed.

"We have taken several days off since we conquered the fortress to mess around and clean things up. It's time to get back to work." She said. "You can't just hide in here and mope around." Silent said, taking his hand and leading him upstairs. "There is too much to do. Where is the confident guy who took me out last night, the man who wasn't afraid to grab my butt after our first date. We need that guy to set us on the right track, not the Lucan who hides and breaks his own things because he is too afraid to go outside."

"I-, I-." He didn't say anything else as she wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest. After a moment he felt a hand grab his butt before she stood on her toes and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"I won't let you down." He said as she let go and turned around to hide her red face.

"Good. Let's get to it." She said, walking out before him.

Lucan went out right behind her. As he stepped onto the street. Alasan came running over.

"My Lord, I heard what happened."

"Take as much gold as you need and start buying slaves to boost the population of our village. We need to be promoted to a city as soon as possible. Refuges, slaves, go find beggars with nowhere else to go. I don't care how you do it, but I want to be listed as a city by the time my castle is completed. Do you understand?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, instruct Renia to buy whatever she needs to assure that our guards are able to operate at their maximum capabilities. Contact me if you need anything, I don't know when I will return."

He said while walking to the teleporter and arriving in the fortress.