It was quiet...
It was dark...
The sound of the howling wind as it breezed by was the only thing that could be heard in the room.
A man laid on the floor.
The man was quite tall with a fit and lean body. Blood, sweat, and dirt, covered his face. His hair was a shade of dark black but his skin was as white as snow.
The man was dressed in fine albeit damaged clothing, a black blazer with bullet holes in the chest area, a set of pants, and a pair of shoes. He wore a glove on his right hand as he held a sheathed katana and a gun on his other.
Normally, this kind of clothing would incite his position and his profession in the minds of others, but this one is a different case.
His body had clear signs of smoke, sweat, and blood. A lot of blood and his clothes were pierced and filled with bullet holes all over and stained with blood.
The man groaned and slowly opened his eyelids, revealing his shining blue eyes.
'Where am I? What...happened?' The man thought.
Memories came rushing back to the man's head. Memories of fires, him getting shot and his katana cleaving the man in front of him in half and a large explosion following.
He held his head in pain as he struggled to even rise from his current position.
He sat up and placed a hand on his chest, inspecting the bullet holes on his clothes and feeling the areas that should have bullet wounds. Feeling no blood nor pain, he looked at his chest and looked over to his injuries. Or rather, where the injuries are SUPPOSED to be. When he did, he gaped.
'My injuries, what?' He questioned.He traced his chest, trying to find any wounds on his body that may have remained yet he found none. The wind outside the room howled once more and the doors of the room shook gently, startling him.
His breathing quickened and his free hand fumbled around trying to grab the gun he held earlier. Feeling it, he grabbed the gun and aimed it in front of him. Looking left and right he saw nothing.
Until he did.
He saw a woman, leaning on the wall with a letter in hand. The woman was dressed in old yet unfamiliar clothes that to him, looked much like the old clothes of the people of Earth. Thinking that it is someone who may have healed him, he made to move towards her.
The man slowly stood up and placed the sheath of his katana to his side but he kept the gun in his hand as he walked towards the woman. As he walked to the woman, he also looked around at his surroundings.
It looked... old.
Really old.
When he got close enough, he saw that the woman was not breathing. She was dead.
'Great. The only person who might be able to help me is dead. I didn't even know her.' He thought. He felt no sadness for the woman, he did not know her, heck he did not even know if it was her who healed him in the first place.
Taking the note she had on her hand, he looked over to the woman and noticed that her eyes were still open. Using 2 of his fingers, he gently closed the eyes of the woman and muttered a silent prayer for her.
"Rest in peace." He whispered gently.
He looked at the note that was in his hand and started to read it. His brows furrowed as he read the note.
"Though the path be broken and uncertain, claim your place as Elden Lord?" He slowly read in a curious tone.
'What's an "Elden Lord"?' He wondered.
So many thoughts and questions were flowing in his head at the moment. Where was he? How did he get here? Is this even Earth? If not then, how was he going to get back? Is there even a way back?
Shaking his head, he put the letter in his pocket and opened the doors.
As soon as he did, he was greeted with the harsh wind howling loudly and a mountainscape covered in fog and lightning. His eyes widened at the sight before him as he gazed in wonder and confusion at the same time.
"What...Is...This...Place?"
Judging by the smell of the area and the amount of lightning and fog in the area along with the lack of land below, the man concluded that he was on the top of a mountain near the ocean which confused him even more.
The man looked around and noticed that there was a second floor on the building where he was recently and a locked door on the way to the other side. Using the acrobatic skills and quick assassin reflexes that he has learned and attained over the years of his life, he leaped into the air and into the top of a fence beside the building. He jumped and climbed the wall leading to a staircase. He saw a small purple glowing object and went to pick it up. It was a small bag of ashes with a picture of a hawk which piqued his curiosity.
'Why is there a bag of ashes?' He wondered.
Pocketing the bag of ashes, he turned and saw a doorway that leads to the second floor of the building.
He entered the building once again and he saw a chest on the far edge of the room. He walked to the chest and opened it, hoping to find any sort of tool or clue as to where he might be at the moment, only to find another bag of ashes with a picture of another hawk, which caused him to frown slightly.
Shaking his head in disappointment, he headed back down to where he was and saw a bridge nearby, moving towards it, and to the other side, he kept looking for any other clues as to where he might be. There was a large statue of a woman in a crucified position in the end of the area. He saw an arched gateway with a bridge leading to another location.
He calmly walked towards the pathway.
Until he was interrupted by a massive creature falling down in front of him. He took a few steps back and gripped his katana and aimed his gun at the beast.
Then he saw the creature.
The creature was horrifying. It was like a large spider made of human bodies combined into one with several arms and legs with swords and a large shield resulting in a disgusting and terrifying monster. He was so stunned by this horrid monstrosity that he found himself unable to move. It wasn't until the creature gave a loud roar that he snapped out of his state of shock.
He unsheathed his katana and held it over his shoulder, readying himself for a fight. His breathing quickened as he found himself afraid of the monster in front of him but he held his ground. He knew that if he were to live, then this monster must die.
The creature moved towards him and tried to hack and slash at him with its swords. He backstepped and shot at the creature's head making it howl in pain and agony.
Seeing the opportunity, he slashed at one of the arms of the creature with his katana, particularly one of the arms that held a sword and effectively cutting it off.When the arm fell, the sword along with it, the creature gave a scream of rage and slashed at him.
He leaped back and fired 3 shots at the head of the creature.
"SHRRRRIIIIIIEEEEK!!!"
The creature started wailing and in a fit of rage started stabbing its sword and shield on the ground in an attempt to impale or flatten the man. He rolled to the left and holstered his gun as he ran to the side of the creature and picked up the fallen sword of his foe.
Wielding both swords in his hands, he ran towards the creature and jumped up to the air onto the creature's back, and stabbed both swords into its head.
The creature reeled back in pain and wailed loudly. It shook its body, trying to get the man off its body. But alas, it was not enough.
The creature's shaking and wailing began to weaken until it slowly fell to the ground. Dead. The man dropped out of the creature's body and sheathed his katana, but kept the other sword in hand. He noticed that it dropped its sword and shield as its body began to fade into mists and into nothing, stunning the man.
'What the... What the FUCK was that?!' The man wondered. So many questions were flowing through his head at the moment. Deciding to ignore the questions for now and focus on surviving.
'Survive first, questions later.' He thought. He saw the fallen weapons of the creature and picked them up. Carefully inspecting them, he gave the sword a few swings and gave a short nod of acknowledgment.
'Whoever made these swords has good taste and design. It's pretty sharp and light too. I think I'll keep them for now, they could come in handy later on.'
He tried out the shield next, feeling the weight of the shield, he gave it a few strikes from the sword and waved it around, noting the shield's quality and size along with the design. Deciding to keep the weapons of his fallen foe, he found an unused pair of scabbards in the nearby distance and sheathed the swords. It was a perfect fit. Since he did not have a strap for the shield, he unbuckled his belt and used it as a makes it strap for his shield.
He walked to the bridge on the arched gateway. As he reached the other side of the bridge, he saw an extraordinarily large golden tree in the far distance. He saw the Erdtree.
He slowly walked to the edge of the cliff, mesmerized by the beauty of the tree.
Until he heard a stone cracking.
Before he realized it was too late, the small area of the cliff edge where he was standing began to crumble and collapse.
He turned to run to safety but he was too slow and he fell down the cliff.
As he fell, he did his best to readjust his body position and pulled out his newly acquired shield, and held it tightly to his side aiming at the water below as a way to slightly cushion his fall and lighten the blow that was about to follow.
SPLASH!!!
The man fell down the mountain into the sea causing the water to splash around. Normally a fall from this kind of height would kill a normal person, however, since the man is able to cushion his fall using his shield, he survived.
Strapping the shield back to his back, he swam back up to the surface to breathe in some air and cough out the water that had made its way into his mouth. He tried to swim back to land, but the waters were too rough and unstable, so much so that it pulled him away from the closest piece of land.
Realizing that his efforts were futile, he instead began to swim with the current of the water instead and found his way much smoother. Eventually, he kept swimming until he found a floating log nearby, swimming his way towards it, he grabbed onto the log and started kicking his feet in the water in the direction of the waves that were guiding him.
He swam and swam all the way to where the ocean guided him, after several hours of swimming his body started to get tired. The onky thing that was keeping him from drowning at this point was the log that he was using to keep himself afloat.
It was at this point that he began to lose hope of ever finding land until he saw a beach in the area. Hope filled in his heart as he swam his way into to beach, the waves of the ocean pushing him towards it certainly helped.
As soon as he reached the beach, he took deep gulps of air and soon collapsed under exhaustion.
As the young assassin was sleeping peacefully on the beach, a group of soldiers came by the beach patrolling the area. Each wearing armor and some holding shields with different weapons ranging from swords, spears, and war hammers.
A soldier holding a torch spotted the young man and pointed at him in the distance. The leader of the group barked out an order and the soldiers rushed towards him. Giving his body a few checks there and there.
They assumed that he was a dead man and deciding that his body was not worth anything, they dragged his body to an underground graveyard and tossed his body into it. Not bothering to give him a proper burial. Not that they needed to considering that the man is still alive and well.
The feeling of calm water on his was enough to slightly awaken him. As his body was still weak and recovering from the recent events, the best he could do was open his eyes and try to look around his surroundings.
He heard the sounds of footsteps approaching. Slightly adjusting the position of his head, he saw the legs of a horse walking towards him, and a hooded figure atop it.
The horse leaned down, and he could feel it sniffing him out and he heard the horse shake its head.
Hope once again filled his heart, when heard a calm and gentle feminine voice.
"Don't worry Torrent, fortune is on his side."
A gentle hand patted the horned steed.
"We found him here, after all."
The hooded figure dismounted the horse and kneeled before the man. Curiosity in her head as she observed the strange feeling the man gave off or the strange power that she can feel radiating off his gloved arm but she waved off those thoughts for now. She would focus on saving him first. She would get her answers soon, maybe even ask him about it should they meet again. Little did she know, the man heard everything she said.
"One of his kind is sure to seek the Elden Ring."
"...Even if it does violate the Golden Order..."
That was the last thing that the man heard before he lost consciousness once more. What the woman had given him before she left, he would not know until he awakens.
The man awoke with a groan and a harsh headache. Clenching his hands, he slowly pushed himself up and raised his knee until he can stand up properly.
He felt 4 strange objects poking at his torso, gently patting his chest, and he felt 4 round-shaped objects from inside the pocket that he did not recall placing there.
He reached inside his blazer and grabbed the objects in his pocket. He pulled out and saw 4 small red flasks. Tilting his head, he inspected the flasks and opened one of them, and gave it a small sniff.
'Huh, doesn't seem like poison. Did the lady leave this for me?' He wondered.
Closing the flask and putting the rest back in his pocket, he gently rubbed his shoulders as he looked around his surroundings.
There were ruins everywhere and judging by the small shade of sunlight up above and the small signs of plants growing within and the gentle sound of water flowing, he came to the conclusion that he was inside a cave.
Looking forward, he spotted a golden sapling, similar to the golden tree that he saw earlier before he fell to the ocean and a staircase with a set of large doors blocking the way.
Another thing he noted was the number of skeletons and human remains lying on the ground scattered all over the place. Though with the amount of death, he has seen in life, he felt unaffected by the area and decided to focus on his main goal at the moment.
Walking to the large set of doors, he pushed them open with a surprising amount of strength. Once opened, he saw yet another small set of stairs to the left of the room leading upward.
Once he got up to the other side, he looked around the area. Small torches and candles were lighting the room and a coffin was on the edge of the room.
Another thing he saw that bothered him the most was the small bright light levitating in the air. He took a step closer and felt its presence. It...was warm. So very warm and comforting.
Moving closer, he touched the light source. It shined brightly. He took a step back as it shone and made a mental note to investigate it later on.
The man saw a wall made of fog and mist and a statue of a gargoyle atop another gargoyle with a small keyhole.
Curious, he slowly stretched out his hand and reached out to go through the misty fog wall, only to be stopped. It was then, that he learned, that it was indeed a wall or gate of sorts. Supported by the fact that there was a keyhole right beside it only served to confirm that this was indeed a fog gate. With no key to open it, he opted to just focus on what is beyond the fog instead.
The site of several bodies on the ground and on the wall only served to confirm his thoughts that this place was indeed a graveyard and a massive one.
'I have to get out of here, and find answers.' He thought.
Looking to the left and saw a small staircase leading up, presumably to the exit. He walked up the stairs and there was a set of pillars that were placed in a gazebo pattern and a small pressure plate in the center of the room and a lever to the side.
Deciding to take the chance, he stepped into the platform and triggered the pressure plate. To his shock, he heard a small sound as the platform began to rise and float upward.
A small smirk made its way to the man's lips as he ascended to the top of the building. Once he reached the top, he made his way to a staircase
with a large door in front leading to the exit. Making his way up, he pushed the door open.
Unlike the other doors, however, this one did not budge in the slightest. The man raised an eyebrow and tried to pull instead but the door still did not open.
Frowning slightly, the man took a small step back and looked over the door. His eyes trailed from above to below and spotted a small and barely noticeable gap at the bottom of the door. Realizing his mistake, he crouched down and placed both his hands on the bottom of the door, and pulled it up.
With the door opened, the man walked out of the building and was mesmerized by the view in front of him.
There it was again, the majestic giant golden tree far in the distance. It was not just the tree that dazzled the man, the view before him also did as well.
Looking down and to the left, he saw a man wearing a white face mask and dressed in white robes and a white apron resembling that of a surgeon's that was stained with blood. In front of the man was the same little light from before in the graveyard.
Walking forward, he looked over the masked man and noticed a large golden knight mounted on an even larger armored horse. The knight was large, larger than any man he had ever seen in his life and so was the horse. The knight carried a large golden halbert and a large round golden shield with roots in its design.
Deciding to focus on the golden knight later. He approached the masked man, intent on getting answers as to where he was. But first, he needed to know if he was an enemy or an ally.
"Hello?"
The masked man turned towards him and seemed to "grin" from inside his mask.
"Oh yes... Tarnished, are we? Come to the Lands Between for the Elden Ring, hmm? Of course, you have. No shame in it. Unfortunately for you, however, you are maidenless. Without guidance, without the strength of runes, and without an invitation to the Roundtable Hold... You are fated, it seems, to die in obscurity."
'Ok. What?' This man was not making sense at all. He did not understand a word of what this man had said. Tarnished? Elden Ring? Lands Between? Runes? And... maidenless? He did not know what to feel about that insult.
Before he could speak, the masked man continued, "Luckily for you, however, there is one shining ray of hope for even the maidenless. Me. Varré."
The man nodded and motioned for him to carry on.
"Take care to listen. Are you familiar with grace? The golden light that gives life to you Tarnished. You may also behold its golden rays pointing in a particular direction at times."
That made the man perk up, he looked back and saw the shining light and turned back to Varré.
"Do you mean that shiny little light right there?"
He could not see it, but he could tell that Varré reacted to what he had just said. Could he not see it? Or is it just him that could? But nonetheless, Varré nodded.
"That is the guidance of grace. The path that a Tarnished must travel. Mm, indeed. Grace's guidance holds the answers. It will lead you Tarnished to the path you are meant to follow. Even if it leads you to your grave."
'So that's what it is.' The man concluded. If this so-called 'grace' is supposed to guide him in his path, then it would be best to follow it and find more of it for now.
He looked back and noticed the grace pointing in a certain direction, to the ruined church in the distance.
"Grace's guidance will reveal the path forward, most certainly. To Castle Stormveil, over on the cliff. The home of the decrepit demigod, Godrick the Grafted." Varré chimed in.
Godrick the Grafted? Now, who is that supposed to be? The man was getting more questions than answers at the moment, and it was frustrating him. But what Varré had just said threw him for a loop. Demigod? As in demigod, the child of a god? Religion in itself was a normal thing on Earth, but the gods that the people worshipped never really showed themselves to humans.
But here? There is an actual demigod living amongst the people? That is VERY surprising. But then again, this so-called demigod could just be another person with a massive ego, but as he is stuck in another place that he KNEW is not Earth, then he would have no choice but to believe in this one for now.
"It's time you set off, I should think. To Castle Stormveil, on the cliff, where grace would guide you. If you seek the Elden Ring, maidenless as you are."
Wait, what? That's it? The man had so many more questions about this place! He turned to Varré and wanted to ask more questions.He turned back to Varré who apparently had enough of him.
"What's the matter? Shouldn't you be off-proving yourself or some such? Then go on, take the hint, and follow the guidance of grace. To castle Stormveil, on the cliff. And if, by chance, you do find your way to the castle, you may receive a summons. To the famed Roundtable Keep..."
With his peace said, Varré made it clear to the man that he would not say anything further and that it was time for him to go.
Not wanting to start a fight, the man turned to walk in the direction of where the next location of grace was guiding him to, the nearby church in ruins. If Varré won't give him answers, then he will find another way to get them. One way or another.
Before leaving, he touched the grace and watched as it reacted the same way as the other one did before. He turned to the direction of the church and walked towards it.
Before he could make his into the church, however, he was interrupted by the rapid sound of a horse sprinting. He turned and saw the large golden knight charging towards him. The knight raised his halberd high in the air and swung it down at him, he ducked his head and pulled out his gun as the knight swung at him again, he leaped back and pulled out his gun and aimed at the knight.
BANG!
BANG!
BANG!
He managed to land 3 shots at the knight before the knight took a defensive stance with his horse and raised his shield as light emerged from it spreading the area of defense and blocked the rest of the incoming bullets.
"Oh, come on."
Gritting his teeth in frustration, he holstered his gun and unsheathed his katana, and charged towards the golden knight. The knight pulled his halberd back and thrust it forward in an attempt to impale him. As it did, the man saw the movement coming and slightly moved aside before the halberd could stab him, and used it as a stepping stone, he leaped off the halberd and held his katana over his shoulder, and made to decapitate the knight. The golden knight tried to raise its shield to protect itself, but it was too late as the man swung his katana down.
WHIIIIIIIIISH!
SLASH!
The sound of the head of the knight falling to the ground and rolling could be heard by the animals nearby. As the fallen knight's head rolled to the ground, the young assassin dropped down from its body and watched as the headless body began to fall from the horse, who walked around the body as it leaned down and nuzzled its head on the body of its former master.
The young man watched in awe and fascination as the body of the fallen knight began to fade into mists like the grafted creature from before. What's more is that the horse is also fading along with the headless body of the fallen knight, leaving him in wonder.
As soon as the body and the horse had completely vanished, the man looked at the ground and saw the golden halberd of his fallen enemy. Breathing heavily, he knelt down and picked it up. He gave a small grunt as the weapon was quite heavy. He also felt a new and strange feeling stirring from within his chest, and from the halberd itself. Placing a hand on his chest, he gently rubbed and patted around trying to find anything, he gave up a few moments after he could not find anything. He stood up and gave it a few swings. It was heavy, but he could wield it.
He decided to keep the weapon as his own, but with nothing to strap it on, he carried it by hand with him and used it as a walking staff.
Making his way into the church, he saw a campfire inside and a man wearing merchant clothing sitting right next to it with a saddled donkey behind him.
More importantly, there was the grace site right in the center of the church. Walking towards it, he bent down slightly and touched it. He watched on as it shone brightly like the ones before. He looked and saw that it was pointing in a certain direction, guiding him to the next path once more. The merchant glanced at him and went back to staring at the campfire. Seeing as the merchant does not want any trouble with him like the knight before, the young man dropped his guard and let him be.
The young man approached the merchant, who glanced at him and went back to staring at the campfire.
"Excuse me, may I sit here?"
The merchant nodded and motioned for him to sit down. He gave a short and polite nod in thanks as he sat down by the warm fire and gently laid down his halberd. As he sat by the fire, feeling its comforting warmth, he started contemplating the current situation that he was in. Until the merchant's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"You are a Tarnished, I can see it. And I can also see... That you're not after my throat. Then why not purchase a little something? I am Kale, Purveyor of fine goods." The merchant introduced.
'So he is a merchant. He doesn't seem hostile either, and I could use some supplies.' The man thought. But before he could respond, he was hit by the sudden realization that he didn't have any money on him.
'Damn it.' He mentally cursed. He turned to Kale and spoke,
"Sorry, but I don't have anything to spend with." He said honestly. Kale understood and nodded his head.
"That's alright, mate, I understand. Not everyone has runes to spend with at all times."
The man looked confused at what he said. He raised a brow and asked,
"Runes?"
Kale mirrored the man's confused look with his own. Did he not know that runes are the currency here? Whatever the case, Kale nodded to answer the man's question.
"Yes, runes. It is the currency of this land." He replied.
'I see. In that case, I'll just have to get some runes then. But where?' The man thought as he stood up and turned to Kale,
"Alright then. I will come back when I have some runes." He said as he picked up his halberd and stretched his back.
Kale nodded, "Goodbye, for now." He replied as he went back to staring at the campfire.
The man nodded and made his way outside the church. He looked back at the direction that the grace was guiding him to and followed on his path to a forest uphill.
He walked calmly and spotted an armored soldier in the distance with a torch in hand. He kept walking uphill and passed by the soldier.
When he heard the sound of footsteps behind him and the sound of a sword being unsheathed, he rolled his eyes and quickly turned around, grabbing the sword hand of the soldier who tried to attack him from behind.
Twisting the arm, the soldier gave a pained grunt and dropped his sword. He tried to swing his torch at the man, but it was too late as the man had thrusted his halberd right through his chest, killing him instantly. He continued his way in the forest and didn't even bother to look back as the dead soldier's corpse began to fade into mists. He was used to that by now.
Reaching the end of the forest, he found a set of ruins and a large gate right next to it, surrounded by a group of soldiers and the next site of grace.
These soldiers were also wearing the same armor set as the one he had recently killed earlier. Not wanting to attract their attention, he moved away from the gate front ruins and followed the road on the way.
Eventually, he found another site of grace near the ruins and decided to rest at it for a moment.
Time passed by much quicker than he expected as it was around sundown. He looked back at the ruins and saw some of the soldiers starting to prepare for the night, which he found as a perfect opportunity to strike.
He sat by the site of grace and waited patiently, carefully watching the soldiers and their positions and the ones on guard duty as he made his plan of attack. He noted the wolves that are with the soldiers and also the one soldier in the center of the ruins with a trumpet at his side at all times for alarming the other soldiers, and the heavily armored one near the entrance, patrolling the camp for the whole day which he deduced was the leader of the soldiers.
Night soon arrived, and he quickly removed his shield and checked his gun for the remaining ammunition. He frowned as he saw that only 10 bullets were remaining in his pistol.
"Only 10 bullets left, I gotta make each shot count." He muttered silently as he considered his options. As this world seemed to be in a medieval state, there might not be any form of ranged weaponry other than bows, crossbows, and ballistae.
Which meant that he would have to find alternatives to his gun or find a way to make his own ammunition. He looked back at the ruins and saw the soldiers beginning to light torches and patrol the area. Some were preparing to sleep along with the wolves, which would make things easier for him to strike.
Before he could make his move to stand, he suddenly felt a presence nearby. He looked around and saw no one. He suddenly grunted in pain as he felt a searing cold pain in his gloved hand.
'There's someone here.' He thought. He placed his hand on his katana, prepared to strike at anything nearby, and hid his gun away but kept it at hand's reach.
His gloved arm started to hurt more as he gritted his teeth in pain. A faint blue glow could be seen through the glove on his hand he could not help but let go of his katana and gently cradle his arm in pain.
He felt the presence get stronger and turned his head to the side as a hooded figure manifested in blue motes right next to him, alerting him and prompting him to pull out his gun and take aim. Until the hooded figure spoke.
"Greetings. Traveller from beyond the fog." The figure greeted. His eyes widened in recognition of the sweet and silky voice of the hooded figure.
'It's her.'
"I Am Melina." The woman introduced as she removed her hood. Revealing her beautiful face and strawberry brown hair and lone golden eye, with the other one closed with a raven claw tattoo right beside her closed eye.
"I offer you an accord."