"Alice, where did you learn that spell just now? What's the rune cost? How much FP does it take?"
The golden meteor had been blinding in its descent. Not only had it obliterated nearly half the creature's vitality, but it had also shattered its limbs and radiated a lingering aura of sanctity. Resistance buffs surged through the air, attack potency heightened, and a gentle warmth restored vitality to all allies caught within its radius.
It was so radiant, so devastating, that it ignited Alistair's curiosity instantly.
"I developed it myself."
Alice tapped a finger to her lips in thought. "You probably can't access the system needed to use it yet. But I can put together a stripped-down version later. Something that'll trigger once your Faith reaches fifty."
"What about the real version?"
"Original needs ninety-nine Faith, plus maxed Mind. Without both, it simply won't cast, no matter how much FP you pour into it."
"What is this? Explosion magic?"
Alistair's shoulders sank. That was clearly beyond his reach. And as any experienced Tarnished knew, a "beggar's version" in these lands meant something closer to a practical joke than a proper tool.
Think about the boss weapons in these realms. In enemy hands, they rend skies and shake mountains. But when handed to a Tarnished? They become something fit for parlor tricks.
With that disillusioned thought trailing off, Alistair turned back and remembered there was someone else present.
He looked at the half-wolf woman nearby, ears twitching as her massive greatsword supported her upright frame. The howl he'd heard before made more sense now. He raised his hand and, just as Kale instructed, gave the signal.
A snap of the fingers.
Blaidd blinked in surprise.
Kale's sign? From a stranger like this?
And that golden meteor earlier—was that not something reminiscent of Queen Marika herself?
"I am Blaidd," she said at last, thumping her sword into the earth and bowing slightly, her fur-mantled cloak shifting. "Thank you both for intervening."
Blaidd?
Alistair eyed her quickly.
Easily over two meters tall, midnight black fur, a powerful silhouette beneath fitted armor that did little to hide her pronounced, well-balanced frame. A towering warrior, undeniably wolf-blooded. A walking tank with curves.
A classic Souls design.
"A pleasure. I'm Alistair. I know Kale."
The exchange was smooth after that. As they talked, Alistair lit a gentle flame and used it to help mend Blaidd's battle-worn body, the warm spell flickering over gashes still fresh with blood.
Meanwhile, Alice walked toward the remains of the mutated creature. Her fingers curled, and a shard rose from the ashes, drifting gently into her open palm.
She stared at it. And her gaze hardened.
This was worse than she expected.
Initially, she had believed the anomaly was simply another regional disruption. Maybe another rogue demigod or a foreign god trying to shatter the system's laws. The worst-case scenario, in her mind, was another makeshift god-killing weapon punching through the Golden Order's foundation.
Maybe she'd just have to fish a lost world core from another realm, reboot the laws, and call it a day.
But this…
This was debris from a collapsed world. One fully devoured and undone, whose remains had drifted across the void, polluted by the corruption of countless other realms before crashing here.
And this was only one fragment. There had to be others. She was certain now that they'd all landed in the Lands Between.
But same place did not mean same time.
Time was just another branch of the world-tree, and these foreign fragments could shatter that branch. When they hit the world, they slammed into its timeline as much as its geography.
Normally, the Erdtree's Order would reject such disturbances. It would nullify the contamination, flatten the ripples in causality. Even fragments this disruptive would merely shift inconsequential details—enough to keep the world on its rails.
But the fragment in her hand…
It wasn't just touched by other worlds. It had pierced through them, bearing deliberate marks of their passage. It hadn't simply landed here by chance.
It had been sent.
And if someone, anyone, could absorb that power…
They wouldn't be rejected. The Order would interpret it as native, and accept the changes it wrought. That was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
And then there was the whisper.
Within the shard, she found a lingering echo, some dying trace of the monster's last thoughts. She dissected the magic, peeled away the corruption, and converted it into the tongue of the Golden Lineage.
A single, flickering phrase burned into her vision:
"Ah, my Lord Alistair, the fire that burns the world… You finally came to take us home…"
"What?"
Alistair blinked as the fragment dissolved in his palm, vanishing from inventory and memory alike.
No pop-up. No status effect. No new item.
Gone.
Alice said nothing, simply staring at the spot where the shard had disintegrated.
Alistair, now used to her cryptic ways, didn't press.
He checked his menu once more, confirmed no hidden debuffs, then turned back to Blaidd.
Their conversation continued without interruption. Thanks to the shared battle and the bond through Kale, the dialogue flowed easily.
Blaidd explained her mission: tracking down the traitorous Bloodhound Knight, Darriwil.
Halfway through their exchange, Blaidd blinked again.
Alistair had transformed before her eyes. The scorched black armor now replaced with tattered soldier gear. His sword, a brutal spiral blade that had burned the monster to cinders, was now a crude stick.
Even his presence that was once commanding and heavy now felt... mundane.
"What just happened?"
"Oh. I've got two builds. This one's the low-level one. Just grinding it up."
Blaidd furrowed her brow. "Two builds?"
It didn't make sense. A divine projection? A possession technique? Some form of fragmenting?
He wasn't even trying to hide it. He just said it like it was normal.
"Anyway, if I run across Darriwil, I'll circle back here," he offered.
"If you're not here, just etch a message into that slab over there. I'll come find you."
With that, Alistair summoned Torrent and prepared to continue.
"That Blaidd... she's Ranni's Shadow," Melina said softly from behind as she took her place behind him on Torrent.
"I know I said I wouldn't interfere with your... relationships. But I wouldn't advise getting too close. She's... dangerous."
Melina trailed off, voice brittle.
Alistair stayed quiet, letting her speak.
"The Night of Black Knives... the death of Godwyn... the fall of Queen Marika... the Shattering... everything that happened—Ranni is the one who began it all."
Melina didn't know the full truth. Few did. But she knew enough.
If anyone bore blame for the world's decay, it was Ranni.
"She's... responsible. For much of this ruin."
Alistair nodded. "I believe you."
She blinked.
"But Melina," he said, "do you know why I want to become stronger?"
"Is it not to claim the Elden Ring?"
"Nope."
He spread his arms.
"Honestly, I still don't even understand what it is. Or why would anyone wants it."
He turned in his saddle, smiling faintly.
"I want to be strong so I can make choices. So I don't have to bow to power, or beg for mercy. So I can act on my own will, without being crushed for it."
He wasn't here to judge good and evil.
This world was cruel. If every sin warranted death, there wouldn't be a soul left breathing.
Even he had left behind countless corpses, from knights to beasts to birds. Who was he to lecture anyone?
Ranni may have started it. She may have ended lives.
But she'd helped him.
And that meant something.
Melina's expression wavered.
"So... you're not after the Elden Ring?"
"I'll fight for it."
She blinked. "But... you said—"
"I said I trust you."
Melina's mouth opened. Closed.
"You told me to follow Grace. So I did. You said we needed the Great Runes. I'll get them. You said to head to the capital. I'm going."
He glanced over his shoulder.
"Or are you just tired of watching me explore every ruin and want to push the main questline?"
Melina looked away, cheeks faintly colored.
"I..." she whispered.
***
T/N: Grace is a core concept in Elden Ring — a divine blessing and guidance from the Erdtree. Sites of Grace are its physical manifestations, serving as waypoints and sources of direction for the Tarnished.
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