Disclaimer I do NOT own Danmachi or Elden ring
Normal
"Speaking"
'Thinking' or flashback
Loud or "Alexander speaking"
The Jar and the Scoundrel
Bell's POV
I am once again riding around the Ageel lake again, I guess it's my favorite spot in Limgrave, It's been very peaceful since I killed the dragon here. Killing the dragon was a real booster to my confidence, I've deliberately been putting myself in more combat situations now as well to build up my runes for my next level up.
It's been about a week since the whole Nejirus incident, so far everything's been quiet. Melina decided to stick around longer to personally train me for a bit. Turns out she's really good with a dagger so she's been teaching me the ropes of fighting because so far I have been mainly swinging my sword around wildly and it just so happened to work. She's leagues above me at the moment, most of our training sessions end up with me flat on my ass and Melina pointing out a new flaw for me to correct in our next session.
Melina has also made sure that I learned how to use that magic inventory ability she mentioned, turns out she just assumed I had already known it because most Tarnished she met had been able to use it, she also made sure I also learned other stuff that Tarnished can do.
She taught me that I can teleport between sites of grace that I already have touched which honestly saves so much time. Only downside is Torrent doesn't seem to like it, it makes sense considering how much he seemed to like our rides together so I take him out on rides every now and then, Melina joins us from time to time, I try not to think too hard on the fact she has to hold onto me while we ride. Key word is try, most of the time my face gets as red as my eyes and I start to trip over my own words which she teases me about, another surprising fact because I genuinely believed she didn't have a sense of humour with how little I see her smile or laugh or emote.
I can also apparently see ghosts or phantoms? Whatever Melina called them, I can see them inside certain catacombs and areas. She described them more like an imprint of a person, I can't directly touch them and they can't respond to me. They apparently can give good information though so maybe I can use that at some point. She also explained my status points more so I better understand what I put my runes to. It took me a while to properly understand how it all worked but now I have a better idea about it all.
I noticed movement near a cave by the lake, about 5-6 people maybe. Bandits most likely, Melina had told me there had been bandits in the area for a while now but I hadn't encountered them yet. They could have some good loot that I could use or sell, at the very least I could stop them from stealing since these guys primarily attack people unable to retaliate, innocents, so It wouldn't be too much of a bother to attack them, I followed them and found their base was in a cave.
I followed into the cave's depths and remained hidden in the bushes and shrubs that were within. I was planning to sneak behind and kill one of the two bandits in front of me and swiftly kill the other so I can keep the element of surprise so I can sweep through the cave without issue.
Ding ding
Or at least that was my plan until I stupidly stepped on a string that triggered bells to ring. The two bandits turned and immediately sprung to action with a war cry and their swords in hands. They brought their blades down on me only to find I wasn't there any more.
'So slow' I thought, these guys obviously couldn't level up like he could if they were this slow to attack. I appeared behind them and they tried to strike me only for me to block their attacks with my sword. 'Their attacks are weak as well, weaker than other people I fought anyways' at least I won't be here too long.
I swung my sword with enough force behind it to knock their swords away. One of the bandits looked between me and where his sword is and just ran to grab it, the other bandit didn't bother and instead tried to fight me without his blade but I just punched him in the ribs with enough force that I could feel his ribs crack before I finished him with I swift cut across his throat.
The first bandit got his sword back and began to swing wildly at me, much like how I used to swing my sword before Melina trained me. It was so easy to dodge and he just kept screaming with each swing, I sidestepped him and cut off his sword hand and as his sword flew into the sky before I caught it and shoved it into his heart.
I took a moment to observe what I had just done and how I felt about it, I watched their blood eb away at my feet. I thought back to what Melina had told me. About how some men can't be given a chance.
Flashback
4 days ago
Bell
I was panting heavily, sweat dripping down my head as I looked down at the 10 soldiers of Godrick that I had just killed. They laid there motionless with their eyes staring off into nothing, blood all over the ruins that I had just attacked. Melina had specifically told of this place. She was sitting atop one of the ruined walls just fiddling with a rock from the walls.
'Why this place? Why these men? What was the point?' I thought to myself confused as I rested on a boulder, not because I was physically tired but the act of killing humans was still difficult to get around.
"Melina" I groaned out frustrated "Why did you take us here? You said we could avoid killing humans but then you take me here specifically to kill these guys? Why?" I looked at her expectantly but all she did was shrug and point to a set of crates that the men had presumably been transporting. It was unlike her to not be direct with me, it was honestly unsettling.
I walked towards one of the crates, they had a foul smell coming off them but I opened them with my sword to see what they contained. Melina seemingly thinks that whatever was inside these was worth killing these men for. I opened them and immediately I felt the strength of my legs give out.
Limbs. Inside the crates were limbs, arms and legs of god knows how many people and there were 4 crates in total.
My face turned a putrid green, I felt sick, the smell and the sight of severed limbs, the thought of how many limbs were in each crate. I couldn't take it and I threw up a little.
Why? WHY!? Why the hell would someone do something so demented?! What's the point of even doing any of this? Why transport them as well?
I was spiraling, panicking, but I was pulled out of that stupor by Melina after she turned my head away from the crate and help my hand. It was comforting and warm like a campfire. Her gold eyes looked at me sadly as she spoke.
"Bell to begin, I must apologies to you" she glanced away for a moment at the crates, I could tell that while she wasn't as horrified as me she was still disturbed. She spoke gently, just above a whisper with a cautious tone in her voice.
"You are a kind man Bell, a rarity in these lands in recent years. But I'm worried that you are too kind, too merciful. I took you here to show you this, the horrors that lay through the land. I need you to see with your own eyes that some people aren't worthy or deserving of your mercy and kindness" Her thumb was slowly caressing my hand, a small comfort, it didn't really put me at ease but I appreciated the gesture.
But her words stung. Everything she said made perfect sense, it was realistic and I know she's right. If there are people willing to do something so disgusting as to cut off people's limbs then I know they more than likely don't deserve much mercy. The idea that people willingly act as accomplice to these deeds is what disturbs me more than Melina's words.
I put my other hand on Melina's and just nodded, I mean what else could I really say to any of this? But there was just one thing I was wondering.
"These men. Why would they cut off people's limbs then go through the trouble of transporting them? Where would they transport them?"
Melina pulled me further away from the crates, with the way she was subtly scrunching her nose I could tell the smell of decaying flesh was getting to her as it was for me but she was a tad too proud to admit it.
Gently she spoke "These men are soldiers of Godrick the Golden, Lord of Stormveil castle. He is one of the demigods and a bearer of one of the Elden rings' great runes. But after the shattering he earned a more disgusting title; Godrick the Grafted." She spat his name out with more venom than I had ever heard her speak with.
I was in a deeper state of worry, the title of this demigod was not something that bode well in my mind. Not to mention that he's a damn demigod which apparently Tarnished like me are expected to somehow kill.
"He would take the limbs of foes and innocents and graft them onto himself so he could be stronger, to make up for his being the weakest of the demigods. He has been committing these atrocities ever since he took lordship over Castle Stormveil. These men that I had you kill, they are loyal to him. They serve him willingly, they kill innocents willingly, they are consenting participants in Godricks grafting." Melina spoke impassioned, I could hear the bite in her voice and see the poorly hidden fury in her eyes when she spoke of these men.
I looked at her intently. I knew what she was saying, and what she was trying to make me understand.
She was trying to teach me that some things that I believed were monsters are not necessarily my enemies or evil, like the Misbegotten from Castle Morne who were in their own eyes, striking back against their oppressors or the Demi-humans. In comparison to these soldiers of Godrick who, because of their actions seemed more evil and monstrous then the actual monsters that I have been fighting.
I conveyed my understanding to Melina who seemed relieved that I understood. Before we left we burned the crates. The smell was awful but at least this way Godrick wouldn't get his hands on them.
Flashback end
Ever since that day I have found killing to be just a little bit easier to stomach. Not to say I suddenly alright with the act, just that I am now more capable of it when the need arises.
I took care of another 3 bandits before I made my way into an opening of the cave were a bald man with a spear and great shield.
The man turned and snarled angrily as yelled out angrily "Well, well, well? Thought you'd just help yourself to a man's personal belongings? You scheming little thief. The gods demand repentance! Cough up your coin, all of it!"
"Your one of the guys who steals other people's stuff you damned hypocrite" I yelled
He charged at me holding his shield up and began to thrust his spear at me which I managed to dodge by staying out of its reach. He just kept up his chase without much care or caution as he kept yelling "Hold still you rotten bastard!"
I can't tell if he's strong but I certainly know he's not too smart since I just grabbed his spear and instead tried to knock me off with my shield. I pulled myself closer to him using his spear and then used my momentum and to kick his shield hard enough he fell over, with his spear still in my hand I stabbed him in the shoulder before he rolled away and covered himself and began to plead with me.
"Wait, wait, please! I surrender! White flag and all!" he threw his shield aside and kept his hands up. I wasn't sure what to do. Nobody I fought ever surrendered or pleaded, honestly it feels surreal. I pulled the spear out the man's shoulder but kept it at his throat and gestured for him to throw his shield away which he complied with immediately.
"See mate? No resistance here." He laughed out while applying pressure to his wounds. Given how this guy was a bandit and I honestly am already sick of him I gestured to compel him to start talking and thankfully he took the hint.
"Well, what do you know? You're Tarnished, like me. Now, how did I get that wrong? I took you for a demi-human, or some such." I scrunch my nose in , this man is worse at lying than me. But I just shook it off as the bald bastard just carried on with his spiel.
"I am Patches, Patches the untethered. Pleasure to meet you." He offered his hand to me to shake but I just deadpanned at him pretending as if he hadn't just tried to kill me and take my stuff. He seemed slightly unnerved by my continued silence so he just kept talking. "I'm Tarnished, just like you but only more free spirited and nomadic you could say."
After fighting Nejirus I really should have guessed that I would meet more Tarnished that were just horrible. Patches explained further that he had only been working with the bandits for food in exchange that he teach them to fight better, which he was clearly failing at if you consider how they were fighting like a blind one armed toddler, that was dead.
Honestly I don't actually believe even half of what the bald man was saying and right now it really seemed he was just trying my patients with how much lies are flying free from his mouth. But he did however seem truthful about going down a more legit path and opening his own shop, Patches' emporium he called it.
"Why should I just let you go scot-free after working with bandits? You definitely aren't feeling too bad about any of what you've done." I inquired, honestly this guy seemed to not be taking any of this seriously and was already grating my nerves.
Patches seemed a bit caught off guard by that, did he seriously think I'd forget what happened not even 10 minutes ago? He pulled himself back together with a snide smile, as if he knew something I didn't.
"Well my white haired compatriot I will cut you a deal. If I can sell you something that will be of genuine use to you in the future, you forgive my past misdeeds and to sweeten this deal I shall forever be in debt to you and will grant you whatever information I have in my possession" he seemed confident so I shrugged and decided to play along.
"How will I know this stuff will be useful? For all I know you'll just up and leave the second I go to test if your wares are legitimate" this guy was so shady and deceitful that I felt that if he told me my own name I'd think him a liar. "You are coming with me when I test your wares ok?" I immated the look that Melina would give me whenever she would force me awake in the early morning for training. It was a poor imitation I admit and Patches did not seemed to phased by it by he conceded and stood up to show me his wares.
I immediately bought a [Stonesword key], Melina told me how they could access sealed off areas so it was a no brainer buying that. I also bought a [Gold-pickled fowl foot] after it was explained that eating them would boost the amount of runes I would get on every kill for a limited time. I dragged patches out of the cave and took us to a place I knew we would be attacked by Godrick soldiers, which when killed, would give me 400 runes. One soldier was unfortunate enough to attack me and upon killing him I got 520 runes instead of the typical 400.
A deals a deal so I let him go under the condition that I will return to buy more from him but at a reduced price. He agreed thankfully but before I left him he offered what he considered a 'one of a kind' item. It was a stone tablet that had some golden inscription and was covered in dark roots.
"What is it?" I questioned, I'm not too sure exactly what it was and it honestly looked pretty useless as it looked chipped and cracked, though I conveyed it to the now former bandit.
Patches waved his finger way too close to my face while making an annoying 'tsk' sound "Bell my albino compatriot, don't underestimate this old thing. I have a real good feeling that it will prove useful to you in the very near future" his eyes pointed somewhere behind me and he nodded his head to signal me to turn, which I complied.
He was looking at Stormveil.
I admit I got a bit ahead of myself and started shooting off rapid-fire questions to Patches. How would the item help? What is its purpose? How did he get this? But unfortunately the bald man refused to elaborate only saying the item in question would help me with getting to the castle.I purchased the item for about 3500 runes and left Patches.
Third person POV
Bell had elected to go find more monsters to fight to build up more runes for his next level up with Melina. They agreed that Bell would build up runes to level up once a week so he was currently cutting down. He had decided to clear out the ruins of the Stormgate, which leads to Stormveil. While Bell had no intention to enter Stormveil just yet, feeling he would need at least 2 more level ups to even hope to stand against a demigod he thought it best to just get the ruins cleared in preparation. That and Bell and Melina were sick of having to deal with patrols that got too close to the church of Elleh.
As of now 7 soldiers laid dead with 8 with 6 more charging him. Bell took out his staff and cast [Glintstone Stars] to break the guard of a soldier holding a greatshield before he sent an onslaught of [Glintstone pebble] shots into the staggered soldier killing him.
Bell then kept moving to strike one of the soldiers that had made the most progress towards him. His sword tore through the man's chest, killing him as well. Another soldier was prepared to stab Bell in the back but Bell pulled out one of his Reducia knives and used its bloody slash ability to cut down not just the man that was about to attack but the soldier behind him as well, the knives ability worked well as both their chest sent out violent sprays of blood before they fell to the ground motionless.
The final two men stood in opposite directions of each other, to split his attention, Bell took the sword of one of the fallen soldiers and dual wielded it with his own bastard sword. The two men charged and Bell acted defensively, with the borrowed sword in his left hand he focused on parrying and blocking the attacks of the men left of him. With his right hand Bell was more aggressive, going for stabs and slashes.
The issue was Bell struggled with dual wielding swords, it was different from daggers so unfortunately Bell was cut and stabbed, mainly by the man on his left, Bell was not left handed after all. At the feeling of being cut yet again Bell took a leap back towards the dead soldier with the greatshield. Bell waited until the men were in range and he threw the borrowed sword like a spear to the man on his left. The sword pierced his shoulder and took him down for a moment which Bell used, he picked up the greatshield from the dead man and initiated a charge, using the shield as cover.
Bell rammed the still standing soldier with such force he fell to the ground and just before he could recover and pick up his sword he was met with Bell's blade piercing his chest, killing him. Bell heard a battle cry and it was the final soldier who managed to pull out the sword Bell threw into him. He charged with his sword held above his head, Bell let the man charge and as soon as he swung Bell sidestepped and stabbed the man through his side.
As soon as Bell finished clearing out the ruins he took off for a relaxing ride with Torrent, the horse still gates the idea of teleporting anywhere, the ride was relaxing and honestly he needed it. The ride was quiet and peaceful up until he heard a loud cry.
"Hello! Can anyone hear me? I need help!" a loud boisterous voice called out nearby.
Bell searched for the source of the voice, he was secretly praying this wasn't just another Boc situation because he did not want to be searching every shrub in the area. Eventually Bell found the source of the voice much to his relief, but his relief was overshadowed by confusion because Bell was not sure what exactly he was looking at.
A Jar was talking?
He wasn't sure how long he had been standing there but soon enough the Jar noticed him and waved out to Bell.
"Ah! Hello friend, thank the stars I'm so happy to see you!" he exclaimed clearly not noticing Bell's confused expression or just ignoring it all together
"...Hi?" Bell finally muttered out, approaching the Jar man hesitantly stopping out of arm's reach of him.
"I am Alexander, known as the 'iron fist' and as you can see my friend I am currently stuck!" Alexander did not sound even a bit bothered by his current situation. At least Bell thought so, its hard to tell how something is feeling if it doesn't have a face.
"Could you please help me?" There was a surprising tone of timidness when he made that request but Bell could understand why, if he were Alexander he would be embarrassed to ask for help as well. 'I guess even Jars can be a bit prideful'
Bell nodded his head to Alexander "Yeah I can help you" He began to try and pull Alexander by the arms but the Jar warrior wasn't budging and Bell just ended up slipping into the mud.
"Bah" Alexander scoffed "My friend, that method will be of no use. Why don't you try and and give me a good smack to the rear with something nice and big"
'What the hell?!'
Bell understood exactly what the Jar had meant but it was still such a weird thing to say. "Couldn't you have phrased that differently?" Bell whined
"Hm? What do you mean?" Alexander asked innocently "Just give me a good ramming and we can both be on our way"
"You're doing this on purpose now!" Bell exclaimed with a red face 'This guy…'
Alexander didn't bother to deny it, he just chuckled softly like a child while Bell just playfully glared at him
Bell just groaned and went behind Alexander, he made a running start rammed against Alexander's behind. The hit managed to knock Alexander a bit loose "Come on give it your all! I'll pop clean out" Bell continued running and striking Alexander until finally with one last hit Alexander was knocked clean out of the hole he was in.
"Ouch!" Alexander exclaimed as he checked his body for cracks "Well done my friend, I thank you for freeing me. Although you packed quite the wallop you almost cracked me wide open at least I am out now and that's all that counts"
Bell was wiping the mud off him as he spoke "Good to see you up and about Alexander. Where are you heading anyways? There's nothing in this direction but some ruins, unless your heading to the Caelid region?"
Melina had forbidden Bell from travelling to Caelid, she said it was too dangerous for him to go there and that she'd only allow him to go there once he claimed at least one great rune. Apparently the region was desolate from a battle between two demigods but that's all he knew about it.
"Yes my friend you are correct! I journey to the east, where I intend to further my education in the ways of war." Alexander happily exclaimed, holding his arms in a way to show off what Bell assumed to be his muscles.
"Beyond these lands lie the scarlet rot-blighted Caelid Wilds. And upon their southern edge is Redmane Castle, in which a festival of combat is being held. I'd heard whispers of such festivities before, doesn't the notion set your breast aflutter!" he said dreamily as if he was talking about a pretty girl or some other object of affection.
Alexander's enthusiasm was contagious and Bell found himself smiling as the warrior Jar talked on and on about the great adventure he felt he was sure to have. "Perhaps my friend you will participate as well, should the fates allow. I see your sword and have felt your strength, you are a warrior like me and have the stuff of champions!"
Well the idea of a festival of warriors sounded appealing to Bell, he felt maybe he could attend it, after getting a great rune of course. He wasn't going to risk Melina beating his ass because he didn't listen to her and went off to a festival.
"Maybe I will see you there Alexander, maybe" Bell quietly said
"Very well my friend, I shall hopefully see you again soon. Farewell!" Alexander sauntered off with more confidence than a person who was just stuck in a hole should reasonably have.
Bell's Status:
Vigor: 15
Mind: 14
Endurance: 15
Strength: 17
Dexterity: 16
Intelligence: 13
Faith: 10
Arcane: 14
Skills:
Return by grace:
Upon death the Tarnished shall be revived at the last site of Grace they have touched to a point in time before the encounter that had killed them. The Tarnished shall keep returning from death so long as they carry out Queen Marika the eternals will.
Guidance by grace:
The rays of gold will point and guide the Tarnished to their objective or other points of interest
Transport by grace:
The Tarnished will be able to instantly teleport between sites of grace that they have already been to.
Storage:
The ability to store any and all items into a magical pocket space
Magic:
Glintstone sorcery
-[Glintstone Pebble]
-[Glintstone Stars]
Next Chapter: Deaths hunter and the War masters shack
