If they were going to travel, however, he'd have to make some changes. It would be for the best if they remained as inconspicuous as possible in case they encountered any strangers. He also had to keep in mind that his resources were a lot more limited than they had ever been before, especially in regards to his estus flasks.

Lastly, for the first time in a very long time, he wouldn't be traveling alone and his current company wasn't a fighter either. A thought that was equal parts exciting and worrying.

With that in mind and using the intruders around him for reference, the most obvious change he would have to make was in regards to his armor. It was simply too eye-catching to wear openly. Even back during the age of fire, you would be hard pressed to find anything like it, considering one had to travel to the edge of the world to get it.

As for replacing it, there were two options he could see. Either wearing the most plane and unassuming clothes he had, along with the untrue dark ring to hide his undead nature, or wearing a simpler armor without the ring.

The former had its merits, but the lack of protection, the lost ring slot and the fact he didn't know how often they would even encounter other people made it less than ideal. There was also the fact that beasts and monsters wouldn't care in the slightest about what you wore.

With all those restrictions in place, his options quickly dwindled, despite his 'grand armory'.

Among those that remained the best choice he had was probably the fallen knight set. It wasn't as good, of course, but it was comparable. More importantly, It covered him well, especially with its cloak and hood and its condition made him resemble a long-suffering traveler more than any kind of knight.

Weapon-wise, his Zwei-hander was already one of his simplest ultra-greatswords, yet he couldn't help but notice that none of the enemies he fought even wielded a greatsword, let alone an ultra-greatsword. Still, he didn't want to use a long sword either. Τhe reach and power of such weapons, he often found lacking.

As he was going through his armory in his mind, he remembered Andre mentioning once that scythes were primarily used for farming rather than combat and indeed what is more unassuming and inconspicuous than a farmer!

'This could work. Good reach, quick, causes heavy blood loss and decent against armor. Its damage is a bit lacking, but if I really need to, I can always drop it and pull out a different weapon.'

Satisfied with his choice he moved on to the last pieces, starting with… shields.

Right, he should probably add a shield to his equipment. He always preferred to just kill his enemies swiftly, before they could even put up a fight, rather than the slow and methodical fighting with shields, but, considering how important maintaining his health suddenly became, it was probably worth it.

As for the specific shield, his mind immediately went to his great-shields, though he had some reservations about wielding those right now, so he would have to decide that last.

Choosing the rings was strangely the easiest so far. Keeping his current circumstances in mind, there really only were a handful of good options. Ultimately, he chose to go with the Ring of steel protection3 for defense, the ring of favor3 for its multitude of benefits, Havel's ring3 to retain his mobility and Aldrich's ring to supplement his diminished healing. He considered using the ring of the evil eye3, but that required finding a lot of easily killable opponents to be worth it, while the former was always useful, if more difficult to use.

With his equipment decided, it was time to see if he could actually wield them…

Finishing with his side and placing the bones next to the fire-keeper for cleaning, he started pulling out and testing various weapons, shields and armors.

After he lost hundreds of thousands of souls, he had definitely gotten weaker, but he hadn't yet determined the extend of the damage. Until now that is.

And the results were rather disheartening…

Weapons he could once wield with one hand, now needed both, some even required the additional support of the knight's ring and some were completely unusable to him now.

Worse yet, he couldn't even hold most of the great-shields, let alone wield them in a fight. His heavier armors were out of his reach as well if he wanted to retain his mobility.

Feeling his hands tremble, he took a deep breath and ignored the building frustration. He reminded himself that it wasn't a loss, but rather a trade. A trade he would have made again if he had to.

Moving on, he briefly considered his options, but made his choice pretty quickly.

The shield of want, while not as big as a great shield, was comparable in defense, even managing to surpass some of them, all the while retaining its lighter weight. The extra soul absorption was an important addition as well, if he wanted to regain his strength the soonest possible.

It also fit with his implied identity, since farmers were not trained for combat, they would benefit the most out of having a thick piece of metal to put between themselves and incoming attacks. The same could apply to wearing armor as well.

Finishing his assessment, the ashen one quickly started changing his equipment. The weapons and rings were easy enough, but the armor took some time to take off and put on. There were a lot of straps and locks that had to be adjusted for it to properly fit, but he had worn them so many times by now, that he could almost do it subconsciously. Not that it was ever a pleasant experience though.

As he was changing however, he faintly noticed ash being kicked up in the distance and he didn't think it was done by the wind either. No, the plume of ash was far too narrow and specific for that.

Something was coming. More of these humans, or something else?

His brows furrowed deeply 'Was it attracted by the bonfire?'

It seemed unlikely, considering how quickly it arrived and how remote this place was, but whatever the case, he had no intention of staying to find out anyways.

Adjusting his gloves one last time and pulling up his hood, he hanged his shield on his back and placed the scythe against his shoulder as he moved towards the fire-keeper.

She had finished with the corpse by now and was about to move on to the next one, when she noticed him approaching and stopped to look at him. Tilting her head, she asked:

"Is something the matter ashen one?"

Making a chopping motion with his palm twice, he then pointed towards the distance.

The fire keeper glanced at the bodies still left unattended, before looking back again and nodding as she offered him his dagger back.

He reached out to grab it but stopped midway. 'Right, I'm not traveling alone this time.' He reminded himself. 'I don't intent to let harm come to her, but all the same, that doesn't mean it won't. She might not be able to fight, but I shouldn't leave her defenseless either'

Moving his hand again he took and stored the dagger away, before reaching into his bottomless box. 'Still, even in the hands of a skilled fighter, a dagger isn't going to do much… though, it's not like she can wield anything heavier or more complicated either, so this should at least increase her odds somewhat.'

Pulling out the rotten ghru dagger he walked towards the closest, somewhat intact, corpse while gesturing for her to follow him. 'The dagger is somewhat intimidating, but more importantly the poison will ensure even shallow wounds will cause some harm and weakness, if not outright death.'

Making sure she was watching him closely he kneeled down next to it and in a slow and easy to follow motion, stabbed the corpse in the heart, then he slashed its stomach, causing intestines to start spilling out, before pulling it across its neck and finally stabbing it through the eye.

Pulling out and cleaning the dagger of blood on the corpse's clothes, he sheathed it, stood and pretended to hide it in his sleeve before handing it to her.

The fire-keeper understood the meaning behind the action immediately and yet didn't move to accept it, simply staring at the dagger, frozen in apprehension.

It was a bit ironic really. She was extremely familiar with death, having spent nearly her entire life in a graveyard, 'tending' to corpses and interacting with undead, yet she had never actually killed anyone, or anything really. The idea itself of causing someone harm was met with strong revulsion from her mind…

Seeing her hesitation, the ashen one stepped closer and squeezed her shoulder until she looked at him. He gave her a serious and uncompromising look before he snaped his hand and with a swift slice of his scythe severed the corpse's head, sending it flying for her to see. Stabbing the scythe into the ground next to her, he offered her the dagger again… which she slowly accepted.

Squeezing her shoulder gentler, he let her go and stepped back again.

Staying still for a moment, he reached into his bottomless box one more time and pulled out a brown cloak of better condition and black leather armor. After handing them to her, he pointed under his breastplate and walked away.

'The less of a threat she appears to be the less likely she is to be targeted. It is far from ideal, but it's better than nothing. '

Moving away he stared at the bonfire a short distance away, which thankfully had already been extinguished.

Approaching it, he slowly reached out and pulled the coiled sword from the ashes. Holding it in front of him, behind the falling specks of ash, he could still discern a dull red glow at its tip, which turned darker and darker the closer it was to the guard.

Despite the countless millennia that must have passed, there was still some heat emanating from within it...

He would have preferred to just leave it here and be done with it, but, regardless of who was coming, letting it fall into someone else's hands seemed far worse than the discomfort on his part.

Reluctantly storing it away for the time being, he turned around and saw that the fire-keeper had finished changing already and was looking at him. Glancing at her form he checked to make sure the weapon and armor were properly hidden.

They were, though he still felt that there was something missing.

Failing to determine what it was, he eventually gave up and simply nodded, turning back towards the distant cloud. The unknown entity was still some distance away, but it was approaching quickly.

Their time was up.

Taking a deep breath, he glanced back one last time before clenching his fists and walking heavily into the unknown.

Pulling up her hood the fire-keeper followed closely after with light steps still.

And with that we reach the end of the first "arc". The next chapter onwards will start the exploration of the new world, although they still have to cross the desert to get to it.

Initially this chapter was supposed to be a shorter one, only about the ashen one's equipment and options, which would have made it easier and quicker to write. Then chapter 8 would have been the last one in the "arc". But, as I know that not everyone is as big a fan of excel as I am and for the sake of pacing, I decided to shorten that section and combine the two chapters together, making this one instead.

Let's see... yep, that's about it from me. Till next time.