The wind blew silently over the cemetery mountain as the small flame of the bonfire flickered into it… Not that Kane could feel it under the huge hunk of the Knight armor set he wore.

"Hmm…"

Kane sat next to the bonfire, silently staring at the mountains in the distance. The first-time surge of the fight or flight instinct he was under ever since waking up in this world has finally worn off and now Kane finally had a chance to fully process the fact that He was in a whole another world.

'This really isn't a dream… I am actually here.'

Wow, that sounded more bizarre when he thought about it out loud.

'But how did I even get here? Can I even leave?'

So many questions and yet no answers.

"Ugh, what use is contemplating if I can't even get to the bottom of this? I will just hurt my brain even more…"

Kane stood up and dusted himself off.

"Let's just… Keep moving. I will figure something out along the way."

Hollows were no threat on their own, but them charging together at you was a new kind of trouble altogether.

"Crap…!"

Kane cursed out loud as he dodged the swing from two hollows and used the momentum of his body to stab the third hollow with the tip of his sword in the chest.

"One down…!"

Trusting his gut feeling, Kane then rolled out of the way, narrowly dodging the lunged attack from one of the hollows. Kane slammed his shield at the back of his attacker and then swung his sword across the second hollow's face, before slamming his sword in the back of the downed hollow, killing them both. Shortly afterward the wave of their souls washed over his body.

"Phew… okay. Gotta watch out for the groups if I don't want to be stabbed to death."

Kane climbed a small hill at the end of the road. The view from there showed a small coffin below with the corpse on top of it and the clear path towards Gundyr's boss room. Kane gulped down the cold saliva as a shiver went down his spine.

"God, what am I even going to do there? Playing the game is the one thing, facing that monster all by myself in real life (at least as real as this whole scenario is) is totally different…"

He shook his head and jumped down on the coffin.

"There should be some sort of item here…"

Grabbing the material in the corpse's hand, Kane examined it. He wasn't expecting to see a window pop up and explain the use of the material like in the game, but he definitely wasn't exactly ready for what came next.

The Titanite shard for weapon reinforcement.

Reinforces weapons three times. Titanite shards are fragments of the Legendary Slabs.

Titanite is etched into weapons to reinforce.

"What the…"

He heard the voice inside his head explain the use of titanite to him, No… It wasn't a voice, more like… A memory?

"I… Do know the use of this thing, but I never really remembered the details… How did I know that? "

This whole situation was getting weirder and weirder. Kane shook his head and tossed the material into his box and moved on. The entrance to the boss room was guarded by three hollows, with one of them standing oblivious under the small cliff he stood on, just as he remembered.

Slam!

Kane tried to recreate the Plunging attack from the game as he dropped down on the oblivious hollow.

"Groan…"

The poor bastard moaned as the Sword split him into two. Disposing of two other hollows wasn't much of trouble either and now… Here he stood in front of the entrance.

"Oh god…"

Kane was nervous but oddly enough his body didn't shake.

"Let's just get over with this. If the worst comes to the worst, I will just respawn at the last bonfire."

With a newfound resolve, Kane stilled his nerves and walked inside the tomb. He could see the kneeling form of infected Gundyr in the distance right away.

"That dude looks freaking massive…"

The "Opening Boss" was a lot of trouble for new players. He might have been downgraded version of Champion Gundyr, but he was still a boss that could kick ass all the same.

Gundyr was kneeling in the center of the boss room with the coiled sword stuck in his chest just like in the game. Kane now stood in front of him. Seeing him in the person was even more intimating than in the game. He didn't bother checking whether the gates behind Gundyr could be opened or not since, killing the boss was essential to progress forward.

Now all that remained was pulling out the sword and the beat down would begin… But Kane didn't move. He looked at the sword in Gundry's chest and then at the Halberd on the ground.

"…"

…

…

With a muffled grunt and much struggle, Kane lifted the Halberd and put it into his bottomless box. The humongous weapon quickly disappeared into the small object. Whipping off the non-existent sweat from his helmet, Kane climbed on top of Gundyr and aimed the tip of his sword with both of his hands at the in-between space under Gundyr's helmet.

"Since you won't move until that sword is pulled-!"

With a swift motion, the sword dug in-between space of the armor, stabbing deeply into the Gundyr's neck.

"-I might as well use all the advantages at my disposal!"
Kane twisted his sword left and right before dumping his whole-body weight into one side. The blade cut even deeper and Kane swore he could hear something twisting and moving inside. He pulled with all his strength. Adding his body weight seemed to do the trick as the blade finally moved and Kane lost his balance.

"Woah...-!"

Whack!

"Ouch!"

As if falling on the ground wasn't enough, something hard hit him on the head. He rubbed his head as he collected his thoughts and cleared his vision, the decapitated head of Gundyr greeted him on the ground.

"Fuck...!"

He jumped back on his feet quickly. Gundyr's Head remained motionless on the ground as the blood slowly spread around it.

Had this guy woken up on time, he would have been the best Unkindled Candidate to link the first flame but alas fate had something else in store for this poor soul. Knowing how Gundyr suffered, reducing him to this state made Kane feel bad.

"I am sorry bro… Just please understand, I have to keep moving."

Kane spared a few words of condolence and remorse for what he did. The headless body next to him still remained unmoving. Kane could see a mass of black tentacles and tendrils twisting around the wound on the body.

"Pus of Man… Ok, All right. With this, the moment I pull the sword out either this guy dies right away from this massive damage…Or it transforms into black Godzilla…. Please be the first option. Please?"

Kane grasped the hilt of the sword and with one big pull, the sword left Damaged Gundyr's body. At first, nothing happened. Kane's heart was in his throat as he waited for something jump out of Gundyr's body. Just as he was about to sigh in relief, it happened.

Brug! ROAAAAAAAR!

"-! Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck! Oh fuck!"

The Monstrous black tentacles exploded out of Gundryr's body, instantly engulfing his form and transforming into a giant snake-looking creature with ominous red eyes. As if that sight wasn't enough, two humongous claws came out of its side. The thing was actually Way bigger than what he remembered in the game.

"What the fuck!?"

RAAH!

The thing lunged at him with no time to spear. Kane's eyes almost bugged out of his helmet when he saw the massive creature jumping at him. By the sheer fucking will of survival his body rolled out of the way, dodging the creature's claws by hair.

'Oh my god!'

Crash!

The whole ground shook as the monster landed. It let out an ear-piercing screech as it tore its claws from the ground, taking out the whole chunk of the area and threw it at Kane by twisting its body unnatural way.

"Shit-!"

Kane didn't have time to curse as he dodged the huge chunk of the ground, but unlucky for him, the whole boulder exploded in pieces as it hit the ground. Some of those pieces ricocheted from the impact and hit Kane in the back.

"Ack-!" the armored knight's body flew through the sky like a rag doll before it hit the ground. Kane couldn't breathe, nor could he talk. He couldn't feel the lower half of his body and his armor was a mess. Pieces of the chunk must have torn through his armor and damaged his spine.

Slam! Slam!

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the Pus of man Charging at him, each of its steps vibrating the very ground he laid on. In a last desperate attempt to survive, he took out the Estus Flask with his broken fingers and poured all of its essence into the deformed faceplate.

Gulp! Gulp!

Instantly his body become hot and soon after all of his wounds knitted themselves together.

"Eugh-!"

The air finally flew into his lunges, but Kane had no time savoring its taste as he moved out of the way of the incoming attack.

RAGH!

The three humongous claws dig into the ground where Kane just laid. Kane's mind went overdrive as he gripped his blade and dashed towards the thing. Pus of man swung its humongous hand in an attempt to tear him in two, but Kane slid under the attack and slashed one of Gundyr's still visible legs with all of his might.

KRahh!?

Pus of man let of the terrible screech of pain before it slammed its fist into the ground, creating a shock wave that slammed Kane into the of the man didn't waste time as it lunged again at its pray, ready dig its claws into Kane's chest.

In-state of dizziness, Kane saw the shape of the thing coming at him through his blurry vision and tried to get away. Sadly, he wasn't fast enough. The claws tore through the right of his chest and into the wall, narrowly missing his heart but tearing his right side away clean.

"..!"

A silent scream left Kane's lips as his body and mind went into shock. Pus of man raised its left hand, ready to crush Half dead Knight's body into the ground, but then something happened.

Bruum! Bang!

The wall Kane crashed into before was the lower part of the huge coffin that was stuck in the wall of the arena and was held by the old dead tree's branches. The branches snapped at the force of Pus of man's attack and now the upper half was free. The pus of man snapped its snake-formed head towards the source of the sound and watched in surprise as the upper half of the coffin slid off, towards it.

CRASH!

GhrAaa…!

The monster let out a painful choke as the heavy stone crushed its body into the ground. Kane stood silently on his feet. He could hear his own heartbeat out of his wound. With half of his body and spine missing, his body couldn't maintain balance and crash into the ground.

"Ahk…Ahk…"

He choked on his blood as he desperately tried to take in air, but with a missing lung, he kept choking. As his vision was slowly fading away, the last of his mind that remained frantically urged him to drink Estus. With a semi-state of the conscious mind, Kane pulled out a second Flask with his left hand and brought it towards his quickly greying lips. The small bottle easily went through the missing chunks of the helmet.

G..ulp…Gulp…Drop.

He only managed to swallow down two times before the bottle dropped out of his hand. His body went limp…

Ba-Dump… Ba-Dump…Ba…. Dump…

…

…

…

Ba-Dump.

The damaged Knight's body twitched before suddenly it went into fits of seizure. His remaining limbs shook as his damaged side got engulfed into orange mist and the missing bones and muscles slowly formed again out of nothing. Soon, his body was restored and healed.

"-Eughhh!"

The moment Kane opened his eyes he took a big inhale. He looked at his damaged side and touched the arm that was missing before in amazement.

Krhaa!

"!"

It seemed, even with most of its body crashed, Pus of man still survived. The heavy upper half of the stone coffin dug deep into the ground, pinning down the creature where it fell on it. Pus of man was stuck with no way out and couldn't do anything but wail in desperation.

The monster that so brutally maimed him, was now moaning in pain and suffering. It brought immense satisfaction within His heart and then… Kane saw red.

He grabbed the sword on the ground and lunged at the wounded creature like a man possessed.

Krhe!?

He put all his might, all of his anger into the swings.

KGHREE-!

He swung his sword like a rabid dog, screaming and yelling as he tore into the Pus of man.

KHRE-!

The creature screamed in pain and but Kane didn't stop, no, if anything, its suffering stimulated his anger even more. Everything blurred in his vision, the only sound he heard was his own beating heart. Kane screamed like a mad man as he tore the black tendrils with his bare hand and the sword.

Khr..Ehh..

He stabbed and ripped its red eyes out, tore open its disgusting snake-like head, and tore everything apart from within like a parasite.

….

The creature has died at some point after Kane's slaughter, but Kane still didn't stop and went deeper and deeper until he chopped down everything that was black, revealing the headless body of the late Gundyr.

His breathing was ragged and inhuman. His arms trembled and his body was covered fully into dark body liquids of the pus of man.

"Ghah..Ghaah"

For the moment, the whole area was silent save for the damaged Knight's rough breathing and then…

Gudyr's body was engulfed and then surrounded by the bright light that split itself into two. The first part dashed towards Kane, gifting him numerous souls, while the other half surrounded the bonfire stationed next to where Gundyr was kneeling.

Kane numbly crawled towards the bonfire and rose his trembling hand towards it. The bonfire lightened up and basked him in its warmth, repairing his armor and healing his wounds in bright orange light.

"Ah... Ahhh..!"

Kane's lips trembled as he softly touched flame with his trembling fingers before he broke down.

"Ah...Sniff… Ugh...Sniff"

He leaned forward towards the flame and hugged himself as he slowly wept beneath his armor.

"Sniff... I am alive…. I am alive…It's all going to be fine, I am alive..."

The wind blew silently in the demolished area, making the small flame flicker towards the trembling man… As if comforting him for his struggle.