Hey all!

Sorry it took me a while to post this one, I had some things to handle in my life that took priority.

This chapter may not be as long as I would have liked but don't worry at the point of publishing this chapter I have already outlined what is going to happen in the next chapter.

Now to answer a really good questions:

Q:I have a couple questions like are you going to make Bell overpowered i don't mind him being strong but not overpowered those get boring very fast

A: Bell is not going to be OP straight, at least not straight away, there is going to be a buildup to his strength like how in Elden Ring you start weak and can hardly handle minions but by the point you finish the game you can one shot them. When Bell returns to his world he will most likely be like how some boss battles are in the sense he'll unleash his full power like how a boss has a second phase, if they pose enough of a threat. He won't be untouchable like how Margit or Radhan were not untouchable. If that makes sense.

Next chapter is going to have our favourite little lad Boc as well as one or two other characters

Now onto the chapter. Sorry again if it isn't as longer (hehehehe)

'Thinking'

Action

"Speaking"

Monster noises/speech

[Item/Armour]

The howl in the mistwoods

Bell still wasn't back at 100% after Castle Morne and Irina's death, he was hardly sleeping because the image of her body kept appearing in his head when he tried. Melina did console him in her own way, she did seem to care about him being sad so Bell did find some form of comfort that he actually had someone who thought to care about him, the other being Torrent but that was a horse so it was kinda sad.

He still felt a great bit of misery though so to distract himself from the guilt eating him up he decided to explore the rest of the Weeping Peninsula to try and get runes and to see if he can find any interesting loot.

He had just finished fighting through a set of ruins that was full of demni-humans, he marvelled at the strength he gained from Melina converting his runes into strength. Their hits didn't feel as hard as before, he felt they moved slower and he felt his blade cut through them much easier than before, the newfound strength let him swing his sword far easier and he didn't feel as tired as he used to after a fight. Bell had just finished fighting the demi-human queen of these ruins, it was massive and ugly but somewhat worth it now that he was holding her sceptre.

He inspected it with fascination, granted he didn't know any magic but he decided to keep it just in case he ever does learn it.

Once that was done he left with Torrent to leave the Weeping peninsula, crossing back over the bridge of sacrifice just as night began to fall.

"Let's head back to Kale, let's see if we can-'' "AWOOOO!" a loud howl interrupted him, Bell looked around thinking a wolf back was about to attack him but there was no wolf or animal in sight.

"What the hell is that?" Bell uttered to himself. He heard another load howl coming from the mistwoods. Bell had never been to that side of Limgrave mainly due to a lack of interest.

Whatever it was peaked Bell's interest but he had elected it best not to investigate at the moment

Due to it being night and the fact he was thoroughly exhausted from all the exploring and fighting he got up to down in the Weeping Peninsula, he had elected to not investigate the loud howling and instead follow through with returning to the church where Kale resided.

"Hello again, Tarnished interested in purchasing anything?" Kale, always straight to business asked

"Hey Kale" Bell said, exhausted from the ride and lack of proper sleep choosing to ignore Kale's persistence to get him to buy more. He took a seat near the fire Kale had and began to cook and eat the meat he got from hunting lambs.

They settled into a comfortable silence, Bell shared the food from his hunt with the nomad while Torrent and Kale's Mule ate berries from a bowl. The night was silent with a gentle breeze, the only nosies being that of bugs. As soon as Bell finished up with his meal he heard it again, the howl coming all the way from the mistwoods, despite the distance the sound of it didn't seem like it had diminished at all.

Kale seemed to have perked up at the sound but showed no sign of fear or confusion as Bell would have thought he would. Instead his face held a look of familiarity, at least that's what Bell thought the look was, he could only see the merchant's eyes after all.

"The howl of a wolf, in the Mistwood...I suppose he must still be skulking about...Mmm, I know. Why not meet him for yourself? Next time you hear the wolf's howl, make this signal right under the source." Kale simply snapped his fingers. He noted Bell's slight unease at the thought of going to the source of that howling, he may be able to fight well enough but he can still feel uneasy about all this. Kale seemed amused at Bell's unease,chuckling to himself before continuing "Oh, don't fret, there is nothing to fear. I just have an inkling the two of you might hit it off."

Bell may not have known Kale long but he was confident the merchant wouldn't send a paying customer to his death, at least he thinks Kale wouldn't do that…

Bell shook his head before agreeing to head to the mistwoods the next day. Maybe he might even get something out of it. At least he could get around to exploring the mistwoods.

As soon as the sun rose Bell and Torrent were riding around the southside of the Ageel lake, it would take longer to get to the mistwoods going this route but Bell elected it was better only because there was a far smaller chance at encountering humans. The sky was clouded and it was somewhat windy but it was still a calm day as he rode down the paved road leading to the Mistwoods.

The howling would still pierce through the calm winds so at least Bell knew whoever Kale was referring to was still present there. During this ride Bell couldn't help but linger on the poor fate of Irina. The girls dead pale face still haunted him during sleep but Bell chose to think of her as much as possible despite the pain he felt, he refused to let her slip into the back of his mind. 'My fault' is all Bell would repeat in his head as he thought of a hundred possibilities on how he could have saved her, all the what if's that could have been had he just taken a second instead of charging forward so pigheadedly. But a voice nagged at the back of his mind, a voice in Melina's voice as he remembered her consoling him. How she said it was not his fault as being at fault implied he deliberately and consciously let it happen, or that it happened from an obvious oversight, something that Bell did not do. She was right, Bell knew that deep into his soul but still he forced himself to remember. To Bell, moving on was like forgetting her, that was something he refused to do no matter what rational thoughts said otherwise.

Bell soon snapped back to attention as he guided the reins on Torrent to go down a steep hill, there was a castle in the distance that Bell was curious about but was in no rush to investigate instead choosing to ride into the Mistwood.

Despite his previous reservations about the forest Bell found the Mistwoods to be surprisingly relaxing, peaceful even. That was the first he's seen in these lands, a welcome change of pace, he decided to slow down his ride just to enjoy the quiet atmosphere. It was so quiet and with the shade of the trees and the cool breeze it became an enjoyable experience.

Until he was slammed on the side by a massive fucking bear.

"Ooft!" Bell was flung against the tree and Torrent had already retreated into magic particles as Bell looked up to the 15ft Runebear.

"ROOOOOAAAAAR!" It exclaimed as it dropped into a prowl.

Bell quickly pulled out his bastard sword and his shield as he slowly began to circle the beast. The Runebear lunged at Bell with an outstretched arm to slash him but Bell jumped over the swing while charging the giant bear to deliver a slash onto the back of its neck to which the bear retaliated with another swing, a backhand this time to knock Bell back.

Bell managed to pick himself back up just before the bear got to him but not quick enough to properly react to its swing, only barely managing to use his shield to save him from disembowelment by the bear's razor sharp claws. The bear, always the aggressor lunged at Bell again with its head first, baring its teeth and widening its maw. Bell saw an opportunity and jumped onto the bears head as he stabbed his sword down into its back causing it to arch back in pain as Bell rolls off from the bears momentum.

The bear swings all the way around wildly before unleashing a flurry of rapid slashes at Bell who manages to dodge almost all of it by moving backwards with only the last slash cutting his chest leaving a massive gash.

"Arg!" Bell panics slightly at the sight of so much blood seeping out of his mail armour. But quickly composes himself. He notes the bear is preparing to charge him and gets an idea on how to finish this. The Runebear charges on all fours moving at a high speed but Bell, instead of going on the defensive again, charges the bear and just before the bear can get Bell into it's jaws Bell performs a slide to get under the still moving bear so he can attack it's undefended soft spot that was it's stomach. While sliding beneath the bear Bell thrust his bastard sword into the bear's gut and with the combined momentum of Bell's slide and the bear's charge, managed to cut open to bear's stomach, killing it.

As the bear's body turned to ash Bell just remained laying on the paved path panting heavily.

"Should,,. have known better…than to think I'd have a quiet day in this place" he choked out only now realising that his ribs may have been cracked from the Runebear knocking him into the tree. At this point he wasn't even surprised and just popped a healing flask feeling his ribs restored and the gash from the bear mended, he took a deep breath but this time he wasn't breathing in his own blood.

After dusting himself off Bell and Torrent travelled back down the road. The sky had cleared but the air still carried a chill as midday drew closer. Bell made sure to pay more attention around him this time fearing another attack by a Runebear or whatever else lurked around the Mistwoods.

Bell could see just past the fog and could barely make out what appeared to be some ruins, the same ruins Kale's mystery friend was dwelling at and as if to confirm another powerful howl bursts through the Mistwoods previous silence.

Bell was nervous but Torrent seemed oddly calm, unphased even. But Bell trusted Kale and followed the noise to its source and looked up, he saw a man? He wasn't entirely sure because the sun was just stopping him from making out the figures' features.

Bell remembered the gesture that Kale told him to do to get the figure's attention. He raised his hand high and snapped his fingers and almost immediately the figure had dropped onto the ground and the shock at the sudden drop and the slight shake of the ground made Bell fall over. He looked up to see the figure but the kicked up dirt obscured him, Bell stood up as the dirt started to settle.

"Uh hello sir I'm a friend of Kale and he told me to come here to meet you-" Bell stopped suddenly. The dirt had blown away and he could now see the man clearly, He towered over Bell's 5'4 stature, the he was easily cleared the 7 ft line but it wasn't that that startled Bell, nor was it the massive well decorated great sword on the mans back, it was the fact that they guy had a wolves head!

The wolven headed man tilted his head at both Bell's introduction and his sudden stop mid sentence but took the chance to speak for himself "Kalé sent you, did he? Ever the bloody busybody. Hmm. Maybe to him, you don't seem so strange. The name's Blaidd"

Blaidd spoke with a very eloquent accent and spoke quite well which surprised Bell but also made him reconsider his personal bias' for a moment to think anyone who didn't look human was a monster but he decided to ponder that little nugget of information later.

"My name's Bell Cranel" Bell said quite plainly, he didn't really know what to say but he tried so, so hard not to stare at Blaidd's face too hard so as not to offend. 'Really wished Kale had told me about the wolf face part…he did that on purpose to mess with me didn't he?' Bell seethed for a moment before Blaidd carried on.

"I'm looking for a man who goes by "Darriwil." He fled somewhere nearby. Or so I've heard. Come tell me if you find him before I do. I can offer you ample reward" he finished his offer with an outstretched hand. To hitch Bell shook it before asking "Who is Darriwill anyways? What'd he do?"

"Darriwill is nothing but a traitor. And in need of a fitting end to his tale" Blaidd uttered with utter contempt for Darriwill.

That made Bell perk up a bit, to imply that Darriwill was a traitor would imply that both he and Blaidd served a cause. It was somewhat strange to think that some people wanted to do more than survive in the lands between, given how harsh and hopeless everything seemed. Hell he's only trying to get the Elden Ring because that's the only way to keep his grace and have a chance at living. A part of him felt like a higher purpose was possible, after what happened to Irina and learning that some racial groups were seen as lesser and so were used for labour made Bell sick and becoming Lord would give him the window to change it all…

Bell shook his head back to attention, all these aspirations are distant dreams so they can wait another day to be entertained. Instead he simply agreed to aid Blaidd in his hunt.

Blaidd had directed Bell to investigate throughout south Limgrave but not to enter the Weeping peninsula. Bell was riding around aimlessly in hopes of finding Darriwill, Blaidd was kind enough to give a description of him so at least he wasn't going in blind.

Bell searched for around an hour before he found himself south of the Ageel lake again, there was still no sign of any activity to indicate Darriwill being nearby. Bell looked and saw a nearby hill and decided to see if he could find anything from a better vantage point but as he reached the top of the hill Bell saw that a massive stone structure was embedded in the ground.

Bell found the structure strange,what was stranger was the weird stonelike creatures with one eye that seemed fixated on the structure, they were apparently not hostile so Bell left them be. Still something about the embedded stone was tugging at Bell's mind, he racked his brain until he remembered a conversation he had with Kale the night before about a sort of magical jail cell called evergaols. The description matched with what Kale had told him and now Bell thinks this was no coincidence, Kale told Bell to seek Blaidd and also told him of evergaols on the same night, if Bell's theory was correct then this evergoal may contain Darriwell. With this theory in mind Bell decided to test it, he stood in the centre of the evergoal and and knelt on it, almost immediately he felt a pull and the world around him shifted.

Bell's eyes widened as he looked around, everything was practically the same but everything was dimmer with a blue hue, there was a black transparent mist that seemed to serve as a barrier.

Bell moved towards a dark rift he noticed at the front of the evergaol but before he could inspect it blue rays emanated from it and took on the appearance of Darriwell as Blaidd had described him.

Darriwell lunged at Bell with a swing of his claw hand, Bell managed to dodge but was cut on the face and was then met with the curved greatsword slashing across his chest and finally met with the curved blade slashing right through his chainmail armour to cleave Bell's heart.

Bell had fallen to the dirt as his life ebbed away and the light in his eyes flickered, as the dark encroached on his mind he could once again see it that strange tower that reached into the sky like it was a pillar of heaven and the great and massive walls the safe guarded it 'what is that place?..why do I feel so drawn to it' was his last thought as he faded.

Ageel lake south site of grace

"Gahhh!" Bell gasped as he felt life return to him again. He almost forgot that he could come back, he tried to stand but his legs failed him. Bell felt like his body was devoid of strength, his hands were trembling and he could hear his heart beating fast in his ears as loud as drums or thunder. And he could almost feel the wound that killed him. He had initially thought that being unable to die would be great but this sensation, the pain of death and the resurrection that followed felt horrible, in a way that he could not fully describe, the feeling did not make sense almost like drowning while being on dry land. It was a paradoxical feeling, like relief was stolen from him. And he kept seeing that tower…what was it? It felt familiar but the thought was just out of reach. Torrent appeared again but without Bell's summons, the steed nuzzled up to Bell and looked at him with what Bell believed to be concern.

"I'm fine Torrent I just…need a few minutes" Bell muttered out while stroking Torrents mane

Bell stood in front of the Evergaol again but this time was with Blaidd after finding him at the Mistwoods again and telling him of Darrawell's location. Bell could have tried to fight Darrawell again but figured Blaidd would like to be part of the fight considering the fact that Darrawell was a traitor to whatever cause he served.

They approached the centre and entered the Evergaol, as soon as they arrived within the jail Blaidd already had his greatsword in hand and snarled, ready to fight. Bell pulled his sword out as well just as Darrawell appeared from the dark crack of the Evergaol.

Blaidd growled "Darriwill. Rotting in a cell is no true justice. No, this is where it ends for you." Blaidd launched himself at the traitor with Bell following after him.

Blaidd confronted Darriwill with a frontal assault hitting him once before the agile traitor leaped back a fair distance but Bell was right behind him and struck him in the back. Bell swung hard and wildly filled with frustration and anger at Darriwill, the time he was killed still haunting him.

The bloodhound knight dodged another attack by Blaidd and struck him with his clawed arm but it had little effect due to Blaidd's armour. Darriwell flipped back and swung his curved sword at Bell twice, missing the first one with Bell blocking the second. The duo sent a flurry of strikes at Darriwell, some landing and some missing. He managed to strike Bell across the chest, tearing through his chainmail before getting knocked away by Blaidd which gave Bell enough time to drink a healing flask to mend the gash.

Bell charged again, mimicking how Darriwell did to avoid strikes, and leaped over the Bloodhound knight stabbing him in his exposed back before getting knocked off.

"Nice!" Blaidd complimented as he stabbed his Greatsword into the ground releasing frost from the weapon. Despite Bell's obvious inexperience Blaidd thought he had good potential given how quickly he was adapting to the flow of the fight.

The fight carried on with Bell trying to match Blaidd's pace and Darriwell trying to dodge Blaidd and attack Bell who was the obvious weak link in the fight, Bell was barely matching the pace of the fight but was being slowly worn down, this couple with Darriwell constantly charging him made Bell stay of the defensive and only striking Darriwell when he was defending himself from Blaidd.

Darriwell flipped back again and launched himself at Bell almost faster than Bell could react but was barely blocked by Bell's shield. He quickly side stepped and bashed Darriwell in the face with the shield then quickly followed up with multiple slashes, Darriwell was distracted so Blaidd stabbed him through the back, piercing his heart.

Darriwell slumped over and slowly turned to ash, dropping his curved greatsword and claws. Bell felt empty as he fell to the ground to catch his breath. Bell kneeled to the ground and caught his breath as he watched Darriwell be reduced to nothing.

Blaidd approached and put his hand on Bell's shoulder "That was a good fight mate, honestly I wasn't expecting you to fight the way you did or as well as you did." he kept the same tone he always did but Bell could tell Blaidd wasn't lying. He helped Bell back to his feet before giving Bell a silver stone

"Right. There you are. Had to work for it, but it's done. Don't say I'm not a man of my word. Here's your prize." Bell inspected the stone curiously, it looked like one of those smithing stones that Kale had told him about that were used by smiths to make or improve weapons. It was mostly useless to Bell at the moment given how he knew next to nothing about smithing but was grateful nonetheless.

"Thanks Blaidd, I appreciate it" Bell said gently, Blaidd humbly waved it off and returned his greatsword to his back. "Oh yes, I should say. If you venture north to Raya Lucaria, and come across a venerable blacksmith who's a little on the large side, tell him I sent you. And he'll be sure to treat you right. I owe you one, I reckon. But that's enough chit chat, it's time we parted ways. Be seeing you my friend"

"See you Blaidd" Bell waved at him as he walked back to the Mistwoods. As he left he looked at Darriwells curved greatsword and claw, the battle was hard fought so he figured he would take them, if he couldn't use them then maybe they could be trophies for him, making them serve as reminders for himself in the future.

The sun was setting so Bell travelled back to the site of grace south of the lake and called on Melina to convert the runes he acquired into strength. As soon as he called her name she appeared and sat beside him and began to pet the resting Torrent.

"Hello again Bell, you have been well I hope" She inquired, she was hard to read as she always kept the same neutral expression.

"I died again. I know so long as I keep on the path to being Elden Lord then I'll keep my ability to return to life but dying…It still hurts, I still feel scared when it happens. It feels unbearable and I know for a fact I am going to die more before I reach the end of this goal. How am I supposed to cope with this damned cycle?"

Melina sighed and closed her eyes to think, soon she reopened them and spoke "Consider this cycle not as a curse but as an opportunity. With each return, you gain knowledge, strength, and resilience. You are not diminished by your deaths; rather, you are tempered by them."

Bell looked at her for a second, then back at the fire, remembering his deaths by the tree Sentinel and Darriwell. "Maybe you're right but with each failure I'm punished with death, sometimes a death that isn't my own." he remembered Irina again, still attributing his mistake with her demise.

Melina sported a gentle look in her eyes "Each loss leaves a scar, a memory etched into your soul. It is natural to feel punished, to grieve for what has been taken from you. Try to not focus on the aspects of life you cannot control. You carry on by honouring those who have fallen. Their deaths are not in vain if you use their memory to fuel your determination. Each step you take, each challenge you face, you do so with their spirit alongside you. They become a part of your journey, a part of your strength" she rested her hand on his and he grasped her firmly, no tears this time just a solemn look of acceptance.

Soon Bell's face turned from a solemn look to a determined one. "Convert my runes into strength."

Melina smiled for just a second then obliged Bell's request. He remembered his struggles, his exhaustion, he remembered every wound and twinge of panic determined to purge these weaknesses from himself, to leave the old him behind.

This time instead of going to bed, Bell got on Torrent and charged into the night. No more living day to day, no more simply reacting to attacks. No more being weak.

Melina looked at him as he charged into the night and smiled simply at him. "Perhaps you can become lord afterall"

I wanted to try and portray Bell's struggles with grief as well as struggling with the whole thing of being revived constantly.

I also want to give Bell and Melina more time together because obviously she is going to be in the harem. I don't want to make the women in the harem seem shallow and one note with no complexities so I figured I would give her more time in the story as in the game she only appears every now and then at certain sites of grace or in reaction to certain actions.

Next chapter and the chapters after will be from Bell's POV because I think it would be easier for me to portray him correctly and make up for the dialogue because so far my dialogue hasn't been strong.

As always leave some feedback in a respectful manner so I can make the story easier to read and more entertaining.