Best. Workout. Ever. (Dark Souls SI)

[Ironfox]

And update. I blame my new melee build character, and my box sets showing up for the delay. }p


*^*


The silence we shared was rather awkward. Shit.


"So, in a blatant attempt to change the subject, where is my Darksign? I couldn't find it when I looked over myself in the cell." Wow. Of all the ways to start that sentence off…


"In a gracious maneuver to make it succeed, that must mean that is somewhere you couldn't see it." He sounded relieved that I was going to let the subject drop. "I'd guess somewhere on your back." He made a thoughtful face. "Take off your chest piece."


I obliged, and shortly after my armour and shirt were removed I felt a tapping right between my shoulder blades.


"Right there." Oscar said, "It is possible you have been marked for longer then you had thought."


"You know what?" I murmured slowly, "I'm fairly sure I have. I had an itch there for a good chunk of that trip through the asylum. I had thought it was just psychosomatic-"


"What?"


"All in my head." I grumbled at him irritably. "I thought it was just a feeling that something bad was going to happen. Not a real itch."


He nodded, "I see. About when did it start?"


"I dunno." I racked my brain, but I had so much on my mind at the time that it was just a passing notice, and a general feeling of paranoia. "After I got out of the cell though, but before we got to the hall where Elliot was." Invoking his friends name wasn't something I did lightly, but for some reason I felt that it was important to give some frame of reference.


"It…" He stopped, and considered his next words carefully. "It is possible that you gained the mark while we were traveling through the asylum, and your fall triggered it into full activity." He frowned, "Do not take that as pure truth however. I am hardly an expert on undead, I just happen to be one."


It sounded pretty good and without knowing anything beyond 'The Darksign brands the undead' about the little fiery ring, I had nothing better to go on. That also seemed to kill that particular thread. We spent another few minutes in silence.


"Why is music so significant?" Oscar said finally, and a solid chunk of trepidation. I didn't blame him; I did kind of give him an impression that it was a loaded question. For a moment I considered using that to my advantage and blowing him off, but I remembered my earlier rudeness and against that. I had a few loaded questions that I wanted to ask, myself and this struck me as a good point to garner trust.


But how to put it? "Have you ever heard of the saying 'Music has charms to soothe the savage breast'?"


He shook his head, and I wasn't surprised. It originated from a poem from 1697, and was further bastardized since then. My guess was that they didn't have a William Congreve, or if they did, he probably hasn't been born yet.


"It's literal, and mine was always more savage than most." And now for mixing the truth with lies. "The Caravan had several minstrels in it, and my teachers found that I was happy, manageable, and agreeable when I did my studies near where the younger musicians were practicing. Otherwise I was… distinctly unpleasant to interact with, for both the teachers and other just about everyone else. I also seemed to work more effectively too, so needless to say people took special pains to keep music nearby."


My teachers in school never had any ideas of the sort. I noticed early on in my life that music put me in a better mood, so I was the one taking pains, not anyone else. Still, except for in classes I always did have a pair of headphones on, and a song running through my head if actually listening to it wasn't a possibility.


"Eventually, as I grew up, I became more and more dependent on that to leverage out my foul temper. One might say I became addicted to music. It was just always there." Pure truth. "It made me feel safe. And without it I would simply get more savage, and nasty." I gave a half-hearted grin. "Seeing as how I never was much of a fighter… I got beat up a lot if I gave into that. People mocked me for it though, which boosted my dependency, and made it so I had to develop a certain amount of self-control." I sighed, "Which is incidentally is why I was probably more horrified with myself then you were when I went for my sword back there. I never lose control. Ever."


True as far as things went. I was the victim of the common schoolyard bully, and music did give me the buffer to build the self-control I needed to turn the other cheek. It paid off too. It took a supernatural event of being stripped of the essence that made me human to lose it. Top that.


"Of course the music ended once I got bounced to a caravan without any musicians, and I needed that self-control I built up to wean myself off. A ways after that, I more or less just relied on crushing my savage impulses under heal rather than soothing them" I finished. This was somewhat true. My learned control did help out once I got to this world, and after the first week and a half I was too concerned with eking out enough food to keep myself alive to worry about music. If I'm going to be honest though, the loss of my mp3 player was probably as much of a cause of my early breakdowns as much as the realization that I was a world away from home. Even now it was probably the thing that hurt the most not to have.


"I see." Oscar stated. "But may I ask, how does remembering that help you with finding your humanity once more? We don't exactly have a bard lying around."


"We may not have a bard, but I can remember the songs as clearly as if they were right here next to me." Which was also true. I had listened to the songs I had hundreds, possibly thousands of times each. My repertoire was not small either. "Certain songs also hold powerful memories. Kind of like bringing back a shadow of the humanity I had then."


"You feel that you can use that shadow as a semblance of true humanity to get you through until you can gain the black sprites." He seemed content, and continued softly "I suspect that you were being rather generous when you compared that gift to my comrades."


"I'm not you. I certainly thought that way, but I can't know how significant they are for you."


The conversation was getting awkward again, but this time Oscar had it covered. "At any rate, it might be best if we both spoke to Petrus. Learning that ritual to reverse hollowing would be rather useful, and despite his toadying he truly is much more knowledgeable about the specifics of undead then either of us seem to be."


"Yeah." I grasped the opportunity as graciously as he had grasped mine earlier "I want to ask him about miracles and magic as well. Or see if he could direct me to someone who knows enough to teach me about that stuff."


Thus, we both stood, and proceeded to the back of the ruins of Firelink, where Petrus of Thorolund was waiting for his companions, and thoroughly immersed in a book of some sort. Probably his equivalent to a bible.


We stopped next to him, and Oscar cleared his throat.


Petrus jumped and looked up at us quickly. "Ah, my lord. You have brought…" He looked at me with something that I guessed was veiled distain. Bastard had a pretty good poker face though; it may have been annoyance at being pulled from his reading. "Your squire?"


"His savior, and guide actually." I said shortly. Petrus stiffened, lending cred to my distain theory, I continued however. "We are going to be doing some traveling, and in light of what results from death, we have both determined that learning that ritual to reverse hollowing would be wise."


He eyed me, and glanced somewhat nervously at Oscar who was keeping his face passive. "Er, Yes. I suppose it would be." He paused, and then began again less stiffly "I meant no ill will by calling you squire. It is a noble profession." And one that puts said individual far below a warrior cleric such as him in status I'd guess. I quashed the pettiness I was feeling beneath my heel. Ok, I knew he was going to abandon Reah in the catacombs, and leave her friends to be hollowed, but he hadn't really done anything other than be a touch pretentious by this point. Hostility wasn't exactly warranted. Yet.


Instead I gave a mirthless chuckle. "I'm part of no order, or covenant. I'm just a caravan rat that happened to get his claws into every book available, and talked to everyone with any degree of learning." A fake wry smile "After I found out about Lordran, I was fascinated about it, and I looked up every text and every legend I could find pertaining to it."


"Including," Oscar interjected, "A variant of the legend on how the great lords came to this world. One that even the libraries in Astora have not cataloged."


Shit. I was hoping that he would have forgotten about that.


Petrus raised an eyebrow. "Really?" well, at least it got his attention. "Might I ask You to repeat it for me?"


I briefly thought about trading the legend for souls, but after Oscar had browbeaten Petrus out of his info without paying, it would be hypocritical to withhold my story from him. "In the age of ancients…"


Once I finished, Silence reined once mo- OK, Seriously. Way too many quiet moments. Couldn't someone give me a 'hey, cool story bro!' instead of considering everything I say as though it were a revelation from Go- Gwyn?


Petrus finally spoke, "I have never heard-"


"Of the furtive pygmy." I finished for him "Yes, we know. That would be the only legend that tells of him that I know of, so neither of us know any more about him then you do." It was kind of bullshit though, as I knew that the Pygmy was the dark lord, and basically the founder of the Darkwraith. Probably best not to mention that little tidbit though. Still, we had strayed from the point. "But while story time is fun, and enlightening, it is hardly our point of coming here. That ritual to reverse hollowing was the big reason, though I wanted to ask you about miracles and what you know of sorcery."


I dunno if it was my raw boldness, or if he was still bemused by my legend, but he taught us without complaint. Basically it was like reinforcement, but using humanity. The variant that he had used on me was a slightly more advanced version that was more or less a miracle, and not something that we could pick up so easily.


In the case of miracles, he just stated that there was no point in telling me, as I had insufficient faith to do anything, and he knew nothing of sorcery or pyromancy. Oscar on the other hand was 'fairly devout, and could likely pick up a few easy powers, though it would take time to build the necessary will to unleash them into the world.' Petrus' words, not mine. I left them to it, and went decided to go exploring. Oscar quashed most of his objections, and instead told me to be careful.


Yeah. Right. He really needed to tell me to be careful.


I poked around the shrine and found a stash of firebombs, and a few souls bound to this world. I didn't know how to deal with them at the moment, so I just put them in one of my pouches. Then I dropped down the shaft of the elevator to the parish. It wasn't a very large drop, and it revealed a hallway.


Wait a sec.


Memories of the game came flooding back, if they were right then… They were. Another quick drop and I discovered a small clearing with several chests. One held a talisman that I intended to hand to Oscar at some point and a spiked mace that I threaded through my belt just in case. Another held loyd's talismans that would be helpful against more intelligent hollows. The third housed several cracked red eye orbs that I pocketed not from desire to use, but to get in the habit of picking up anything that might be of any use at all. And the last held six finger bones that I guessed were homeward bones.


My heart leaped into my throat. If one of these little bones worked and sent me home, I would be able to write off this whole mess as a really bad month. My hands quivered as I closed a fist around one. And I closed my eyes.


On one level, I was hesitant. Oscar helped me out a fair bit, and I was loath to leave him. But on the other hand, I was more or less dead weight that happened to know a few things but otherwise was pretty much helpless when push came to shove. My disappearance would likely sadden him, but I was sure that he would ball up in time to get this shit done. And really, I didn't belong here.


One might say it was my duty to try and get home, if only so I didn't screw up the balance of this world.


My hand tightened, and as I felt the brittle bone break I felt a sense of vertigo overtake me and all senses went numb.

*^*


I'm going to call that the end of chapter 2. I'll post the whole thing on FF.net with revisions after i get some feedback.

 

[Ironfox]

Chapter 3 begining; Planing a crazy party.

Once the numbness receded, I found myself standing beside Firelinks bonfire.

Fury, despair, and a dozen or so other negative emotions surged within me. Obviously even a miracle wasn't enough to get me home, so what chance did I have of doing so the hard way? It was hopeless. I was doomed to die over and over-

I crushed that train of thought with iron will, and a burst of remembered music. Some of that depression was my own, but much of it was this part hollowed state, I was sure. I knew I'd find a way back. I was dropped here, so that meant that it was at least possible to cross dimensions. All this failure meant was that I'd need to push the boundaries of what was possible.

But in order to do that I needed more knowledge of this world's magic and other supernatural events. And that meant I needed a teacher, or teachers.

Petrus was out for miracles, because he wouldn't deal with a perceived waste of time. Oscar might pass on what he learned however. I may be able to persuade Reah to part with knowledge as well once she showed up.

Griggs was my best bet for sorcery. Rickert was closer though, and he might be able to get me started. Big Hat Logan would likely be either to close minded for what I wanted to do, or take it too far, so if possible I'd prefer to keep him in the dark.

Pyromancy gave me more options. Quelana was obviously the best bet, but Laurentius knew enough to make me dangerous. Eingyi was a known developer however and also dabbled in things that other pyromancers considered heretical. If I could get my mits on the Old Witches Ring, or a translator, I might be able to add Quelaag, or the Pale Daughter to my list, if Quelaag could be persuaded and wouldn't simply attempt to eat me, anyway.

I shook myself out of my thoughts. If I wanted to learn any of it, I had to move. If things played out even similar to the course of the game, Laurentius was essentially on a time limit; and so was Griggs if I wanted to be honest.

I returned to where Petrus and Oscar were studying first however. I didn't want to take Oscar with me at this point, as getting the two teachers would raise questions about how I knew they were there that I really did not want to answer, but not telling anyone where I was going was worse than stupid.

As I approached, Petrus looked up, then down at his studies again, before looking up more sharply. "You just went upstairs, how could you be coming from over there?"

"There was a hole upstairs that I dropped down. Led to a cache of stuff." I tossed Oscar the talisman "I also found a mace, and a set of homeward bones. I used a bone, as the alternative was going through the graveyard." I made a face, and was inwardly glad that this was an easily believable story. "Some of the bones came back together, and picked up swords, so I feel I'm justified."

"Indeed." Petrus said, likely mollified. "Were you just passing through, or did you have a reason for interrupting us?"

"I have a reason." I said, and then looked at Oscar, "I'm still a bit antsy, so I'm going to go scouting ahead in the burg."

Oscar frowned, "You should take someone with you. Preferably me, as I'm easily the best fighter here."

"I also don't intend to do a lot of fighting" I said dryly. "I just want to take a look, see if my information is accurate."

It took a little bit, but between noting that I handed myself fairly well in the asylum, and various pandering to how I wasn't going to do much more then take a look, he finally relented.

"Here" Oscar said, rummaging through his own set of pouches. "I have some repair powder. It is expensive, and I was saving it for an emergency, but now is a good time as any for it. Use it on that crossbow of yours. If you do run into anything unpleasant, that should allow you to dispatch it from a safe distance."

I accepted his gift, as well as a copper coin that Petrus gave me, to prove that he had no ill will over this interruption.

The coin gave me an idea, and I used the bit of blade closest to my swords hilt to notch the coin a bit. A quick test showed it to be perfect for drawing the crossbow. A bit more work, and I had my notch rounded enough to not damage the string.

I sprinkled the fine powder on the projectile weapon, and marveled as the magic did its work. It seemed to sink in, and then the cracks and other abuses filled with a gold fluid flowing from within. Even the catch bent back, and was reinforced by the stuff. Once all the damage had been filled, it solidified, and turned into the material it was fixing. It was really, really cool to watch, and I understood why it cost so much.

Reloading all my kit, I turned to the hill leading up to aqueduct. I had a party planed, and I needed to get the invitations to a couple of people.

 

[Ironfox]

Now unlike the game, there weren't any Hollows on the hill, probably due to people of Firelink not feeling comfortable with them so close to home and going out on regular extermination trips. The bodies were still there though, and I cashed in on another two souls bound to this plane. I didn't feel particularly comfortable with trying to jump that gap to get under the aqueduct though, so I don't know for sure if that Ring of Sacrifice was over there.


The hill was also rather steep, and climbing it in full kit was hardly what I'd call a pleasant experience. It looked similar to how I remembered it, but the path was quite a bit longer, and it took me ages just to get to the stairs leading to the maintenance entrance. This was not exactly the most pleasant way to start a solo outing, but I'd survive. Maybe.


The Aqueduct was larger too, and I noticed with a fervent glee that unlike the one in game, this one had a walkway at the side that was certainly out of the water. The rat down at the very end too, hovering over a half-eaten corpse, but I didn't feel like wasting a bolt on it. It was just huddled over the body, watching me warily, but wasn't making any overt moves. Not a threat.


Other than that, the trek was quite uneventful. Eventually I came to the point with the gate to proceed further down the duct, or turn off and go up into the burg ramparts. The gate was closed, but with a bit of feeling around, it popped open as obediently as the one in the asylum had. I proceeded.


Now I was more wary. I had seen nothing but that rat for a while now, and while I was sure that regular expeditions to keep the area around firelink safe, I doubted that-


"Hmmm, ye still have ye senses about ye?"


I jumped, a wiped my head to my left. Sure enough, on the opposite side of the duct, a rag cloathed… I was about to say hollow, but the thing behind the bars was likely one of the few like me that hollowed, but retain a semblance of sanity.


"Why won't you buy some of my moss? I need your souls!" The voice was low, and cracked, but unmistakably feminine. The laugh that followed was enough to set my teeth on edge.


"Sorry Ma'am, but I'm a little broke at the moment." I responded, and hurried on my way. Yet another change, but I was close to the end now, I knew it. "I'll come back with currency later"


The withered hollow woman gave an unladylike snort, "What a humdrum lad you are!" She muttered, seemingly unaware how the echoes magnified her voice. Maybe I was a little humdrum at the moment. Maybe I considered that a good thing. Things were about to get significantly less boring rather shortly, and I savored the quiet while I could.


I found the exit shortly after. It lead into what I guessed from the spiral staircase was a tower, and a brief look over the side revealed an unclad hollow with a bow standing on a makeshift lading of wood planks below. This, I reflected, was the perfect time to try out the crossbow. I unslung the weapon, notched my coin over the string, and heaved. It was harder than I had thought it would be, but I still got the string over the catch. A moment later, and the bolt was set in place. The hollow didn't stand a chance. I took a minute to ensure the sights were set properly for me, and then settled them over the hollows head. One twang, a mess, and a wet thump later and I was on my way down.


I had a brief feeling of affection for that long dead pyromancer. She had got me out of the asylum, and now she was once again smoothing my path. I resolved to ask Oscar what her name was, and perhaps make a little monument for her. I felt bad for not doing so in the asylum, but I was understandably preoccupied at the time.


Before I left the tower, I reloaded the crossbow. I knew I wouldn't be able to get more than one shot off at my current loading speed, so I'd best make sure it was ready in case of a surprise.


Taking stock of my surroundings, I noticed what I assumed was the door to the depths right nearby, and I had to pause. Now was the decision time. Do I sneak through the burg, and get Griggs for the extra help in the depths? Or would that take longer than Laurentius had? Would they even be in the spot they were in game? Maybe Griggs was already stuck in that house, and was borderline hollow already?


Maybe I was too late already?


What it came down to, was what arcane knowledge would be more difficult to get access to if I failed to save one, and unfortunately, that left Griggs in the cold. The dukes' archives were a font of magical knowledge, and I was confident enough in my ability to self-teach –even if it took me a while. Getting Pyromancy was going to be a much more difficult affair.


I scanned the street for threats, and I found none. Unlike in the game, I wasn't in an empty hall with limited ways to go. Yes I was up against a battlement, but the rest wasn't a stony hall. It was a town, with living spaces, and a few shops with nailed windows and doors. The entrance to the depths was reminiscent of a subway entrance, with a door at the bottom. The door was locked, like everything else I'd assume, but this was no video game, and the wooden door had seen better days. A solid kick to next to the nob was all it took for the half rotted door to break open at that weakness. I paused, and took another look around. Nothing came spilling out of the nearby buildings at the loud crack, so I guessed I was good.


For now anyway.


Now thoroughly tense I crept down the tunnel, painfully aware at how loud I was jingling. I wanted to hum, to dispel any supernatural nervousness I might be feeling, but I didn't want to make any more sound then I had to. My fears were founded once I hit the bottom. A pair of hollows were milling around, on the other end of the room in which I came out into. They were hissing at each other, and fighting over… something. I crouched in the darkness, and quietly raised the crossbow. They weren't too far away, judging from the hollow I tested thing out on, I should get plenty of penetration to kill both in one go.


If I could line them both up.


This was going to be a very dangerous shot. I knew that if I missed, they would notice me, and I'd get into a big noisy fight. That was bad. Killing one, but missing the other could be just as bad, as I had no clue how many more hollows would hear the commotion and come to see what was going on. So it had to be both, and it had to be either a double head or throat shot if I wanted to prevent them from making more of a disturbance when they went down.


I didn't know whether or not it was my Darksign, or my skin that was itching between my shoulder blades, but I guess it didn't really matter.


I waited for the perfect time. And it was a long wait. I got a few points that if I had about half a second more, I would have taken the shot for good or ill. Then I got a lucky break. One of the hollows grabbed a plank, and wacked the other in the face. I took the shot on the one that got hit, and the plank wielder didn't seem to notice that the bloody mess wasn't due to its impact. As it went to claim its prize, it didn't notice me nocking back the string again. Another bolt and it died too.


I crept over a quietly as possible, and saw that they were fighting over a black sprite. It gave me another idea, and I dropped it into a pouch, restraining myself from consuming it. Checking some of the barrels revealed a dream room for my once human self. I found barrels of rice, seeds, nuts, and other foodstuffs. I resolved to come back with help, and bring this stuff back to Firelink in the event that anyone who needed non estus sustenance ever showed up. Speaking of which, I pulled out my flask, and took a sip. Strength once again burned through me. Re-corking it, I made my way over to the 'windows' at the other side of the room, and my heart sank.


Easily two dozen, probably more, were milling around below. I found myself glad that the mass of hisses and rattles masked the rattles of my armour to the creatures below. This was going to go poorly, and vaguely I found myself wondering if it was too late to go try for Griggs.


The room looked almost like a cafeteria, with long tables, and benches. The hollows below were clothed in rags which looked vaguely soiled yet fairly uniform with each other. It struck me that these were probably the workers that maintained the burg sewers. 'Were the workers' being the emphasis here. They seemed agitated, and kept looking towards the stairs.


Once I saw the reason for it, I was less than pleased. Frothing at the mouth was probably closer, yet still strangely inadequate to describe my mental state.


A butcher came shambling up the stairs. The thing was about two meters tall, and was holding an equally massive butcher's knife. Now let's be clear, the appearance of the butcher should have me pissing myself, it was what was it was carrying on its shoulder that had me in fits.


For the record, Laurentius was still alive, and even in the barrel. What pissed me off was that he also saw me.


"H-Hey! Hey You! HELP ME!"


I was seriously debating letting them eat him, but the desire for pyromancy won out.


While everything in the room turned around to look at me, the crossbow came up. I took aim at the butcher, but not his head as you might expect. As it was about to take another step forward, my bolt impacted into the hulking thing knee.


It didn't go through, which scared the piss out of me, but it did go in, and the butcher went down. The barrel went down too, and while it didn't break like people would like you to believe, the bands holding it together loosened enough for the Pyromancer to get free.


My one shot used, I let the crossbow drop, and then, against all instinct, I vaulted off the ledge. I crushed one of the hollows, and decapitating a second, with a surprisingly well-placed firebomb destroying two more. Laurentius might have been an idiot for revealing me, but he too acted fast. The butcher and three more hollows turned into blazing pyres, and one more took a broken sword in the chest.


That concluded our surprise attack, and now the real fight was on.

 

[Ironfox]

It seems to be a good day for writing. Here is the next part.

These are more or less my roughs, so expect a somewhat expanded or altered scene once its on FF.net.

I should have gone through and thoroughly beta-ed it after it was out of my head too.

*^*

Most of the hollows attacks were pretty ineffectual on me. They weren't tremendously strong, though I knew that I'd be bruised by the end of this, and my surcoat seemed to shed the fire from their torches. I waded through towards the burning butcher. That was the real threat.

It really didn't help that it was on fire.

I couldn't blame Laurentius though. The firebug was doing a number on everything else in the room, and since those numbers were climbing as more hollows showed up for dinner I decided that it was best to leave him to it.

I would have to kill the butcher.

Laurentius was obviously panicking, hurling fireballs, and causing thing to spontaneously combust. However, he didn't seem to notice the hulking monstrosity slowly rising to its feet, heavily favoring the leg with my bolt stuck in it. It shook its head, as though it's tiny mind was fogged, then looked around for its weapon. Between the fire, the burning bodies, and the rest of the melee I doubted it would find it.

A quartet of dogs came barking up the stairs. The first I nailed with another firebomb and two more were incinerated by a rush of flame erupting from the pyromancer. The last was snatched up, and used by the butcher as a makeshift club to clear away some of the blazing tables. The shattered body cast off immediately after.

Still with my eyes locked on the butcher, I moved forward with a deadly intent. A pair of hollows rushed me from my left flank, and were staggered from my shield lashing out at them. Another came rushing from my right, and was dispatched by my blade going through its sternum. The temperature was rising, and I could already feel my mind shutting down a bit. A living torch found the strength to rise again, and was crushed beneath my heels. It barely registered.

As far as I was concerned, there were only two beings in that inferno. And one of those was going to die in about 30 seconds. Who it was going to be? I couldn't tell you.

Laurentius was slowing down, I noticed peripherally. The hellfire he conjured was obviously doing a number on him as well, and I saw a hollow with a club get in a solid hit on his side. He dispatched it with a found axe a moment later, but I believe that it did cause some damage.

And then I was upon it. Everything including myself and Laurentius were on fire now, though my personal inferno seemed to be hovering around me rather than searing me directly. My blade caught the two meter monster in the thigh, and it howled pain. A soccer ball sized fist impacted my shield, and my teeth jarred at the impact. A snapping sound echoed through the room, and realized that it broke its hand. My sword licked out again, this time scoring across its face, and it bellowed in fury.

I heard a voice screaming, but I ignored it. Any hollows that found my back weren't strong enough to do any significant damage, and in any case I couldn't afford to disengage now. The flames roared higher, and all sound was snuffed out.

The beast tore a plank from the railing and swung it at me. I blocked it, and felt my feet lift off the ground, before crashing down to the blaze once more. The next swing impacted on the floor, shattering it. Shit. The floor was wood, as were the supports. The pillars of fire around us were the wooden beams preventing the roof from caving in.

I back peddled towards where the stone stairs were, and finally realized that I was alone with the butcher. That hollow that Laurentius struck down had been the last, and he had moved towards the entrance. That's why he was screaming at me. He was trying to get me clear.

Let's hope I wasn't moving too little too late.

The monster screamed its defiance at me again, and lumbered forward, flailing that burning plank in the air. Then the floor creaked, and I knew it was about to go. One more step back, and my foot found the step. I had to hold for just a few more seconds, then the beast would fall, and we could escape. I blocked it again, and again. My shield arm was in searing pain, but still I held.

Then another creak and the floor gave way under one of the massive hollows' feet. The butcher faltered, and for a moment, was more concerned with its footing then me. The tip of my blade pounded into its head, burying itself there, before I wrenched it free. The limp body then dropped into the now scalding water below.

I turned, and left the inferno to destroy everything else that may have been there. I'd come back later for anything significant that might have survived.

"Th-Thanks" Laurentius gasped at me. "That was amazing."

I cuffed him over the head, and then shook a finger in his face, "Never. Blow. My. Cover. Again." I sighed. "That was a total shit storm." Oscar was going to murder me.

He rubbed his head, and had the decency to at least look sheepish, "Sorry, but… Hey, we lived through it."

I looked into the inferno again. "Barely."

Suddenly I felt incredibly sore, tired, and dehydrated. I popped a swing from my flask, and felt some strength return. I didn't know if I was up for another one of those for today. I debated leaving Griggs for tomorrow. Of course an image of a zombie sorcerer floated through my mind, and put that to rest fairly quickly. Well, at least Laurentius was here. It would be twice as easy as doing it alone.

"Come on then." I said. "I actually came looking for someone else."

"There is no one else here." The singed Pyromancer seemed fairly sure of himself. "Or if there was, they'll have been eaten already."

"Fair enough" I turned towards the stairs out of the depths. "I guess he's somewhere in the burg."

"Must be." He said. "Um, hey. Do you suppose you could spare a drink? My estus flask was taken when I got captured, and…"

I hummed a cheerful tune to put the wrath at bay while he rambled on a bit and I fished through the pouches. Maybe I had- I did.

"Here." I handed him the flask of Sir Eliot, and thanked Oscar for his foresight, and his leaving it with me. "I had a spare." I resolved to loot the flasks of every hollow I found that had one. Extra flasks could be an amazing boon.

Laurentius took it gratefully, and took a swig.

Basic needs met, we proceeded up the stairway back to the Burg.

^*^

Edit: Yeah, looking over this, i can already see I'm going to need to expand the fight aftermath, and do a ton of corrections of a bunch of stupid little things. Not up for it tonight though.

 

[Ironfox]

Ok, this version is 100% better then the other one, and at least 50% longer.


Still going to need to re-beta it again later, but i'm pretty happy with it.


*^*


I was surprised by how easy the little hollows were to eliminate. They weren't very strong I knew, but now that I was in better shape and armoured to boot, they seemed pretty pathetic. I did know that I'd be bruised by the end of this despite everything, though. They were weak, but some of the better blows they got in still stung. My surcoat seemed to help too. It seemed to shed the fire from their torches, and I vaguely remembered some fluff about fire warding heraldry. That would help a great deal, seeing as how flames were quickly becoming more common in the room then hollows.


Laurentius was obviously panicking, hurling fireballs, and causing things to spontaneously combust. However, he didn't seem to notice the hulking monstrosity slowly rising to its feet, heavily favoring the leg with my bolt stuck in it. I couldn't blame him though. The firebug was doing a number on everything except for me and him. Since basically everything actually burning was a hollow right now, I decided that it was best I left him too it. Cooked muscle wasn't going to be swinging swords or clubs around would it?


I would still have to kill the butcher though. It was just too big, and too much mass to be eliminated by the fire in a reasonable amount of time. It would hurt it though. Maybe even weaken it enough that it couldn't just flatten me-


My train of thought was cut off as quartet of dogs came barking up the stairs. The first I nailed with another firebomb and two more were incinerated by a rush of flame erupting from the pyromancer. The last was snatched up, and used by the butcher as a makeshift club to clear away some of the blazing tables, probably so it could find its weapon easier. The dogs' shattered body cast off immediately after.


My eyes locked on the butcher. Now or never, and I doubted that it would just let me and its next meal just waltz on out. I moved forward with a deadly intent. A small part of my mind was screaming at me to run despite knowing I'd never get out in time, but there was another more terrifying part in control now. Some piece of my mind that either didn't exist before I came here, or was buried underneath the sedentary life I had been living. This was something primal and lethal, though untrained.


A pair of hollows rushed me from my left flank, and were staggered from my shield lashing out at them. Another came from my right, and was dispatched by my blade going through its sternum. A living torch found the strength to try to rise again, yet was crushed beneath my heels. I was not a graceful tempest of precise death like Oscar. I was an avalanche of fury and steel. My movements were not smooth and efficient, but the hollows died from deep rents caused by my mad blows. The temperature was rising, and my mind was shutting down.


As far as my lethal side was concerned, there were only two beings in that inferno. Of those, one was going to die in about 30 seconds. Who it was going to be I couldn't tell you. But I was going to try to make sure it was the butcher. My more normal side was left to look at things in the periphery, slightly dulled.


Laurentius was slowing down, for example. The hellfire he conjured was obviously exhausting him, and I saw a hollow with a club get in a solid two handed hit on his side. He dispatched it with a found axe a moment later, yet he hissed in pain as he moved. He did something to his thigh, and seemed to move better again. Perhaps he relocated his leg?


Everything, including myself and Laurentius, was on fire by now. Admittedly the surcoat was doing its job, and my personal inferno seemed to be hovering around me rather than searing me directly, but I could only imagine what this whole thing looked like from the outside.


I couldn't dwell on my situation anymore however as I decended upon my target. My blade caught the two meter monster in the thigh, and it howled pain. A soccer ball sized fist impacted my shield, and my teeth jarred at the impact. A snapping sound echoed through the room, and realized that it broke its hand. My arm hurt, but it did not feel like I was going into shock. My sword licked out again, this time scoring across its face, and it bellowed in fury. It rushed me, and the impact of both its fists knocked my shield aside. I managed to get it back into position in time for a brutal kick of the things wounded leg to knock me back.


I heard a voice screaming, but I ignored it. Any hollows that found my back weren't strong enough to do any significant damage, and in any case I couldn't afford to deal with a different foe now. The flames quickly roared higher, and all sound was snuffed out. I was completely alone with this monster.


The beast tore a plank from the railing and swung it at me. I blocked it, and felt my feet lift off the ground, before crashing down to the blaze once more. The next swing impacted on the floor, shattering it. Shit. The floor was wood, as were the supports. The pillars of fire around us were the wooden beams preventing the roof from caving in. It swung again, and a pillar shattered, spraying my sheild with embers and splintered wood.


I back peddled towards where the stone stairs were, and finally realized why I was alone with the butcher. That hollow that Laurentius struck down had been the last, or one of them at any rate. He had dispatched anything else that was there, and then moved towards the entrance, where it was much safer. That's why he was screaming at me. He was trying to get me clear before the landing collapsed. I now headed that warning.


Let's hope I wasn't moving too little too late.


The monster screamed its defiance at me again, and lumbered forward slowly, flailing that burning plank in the air. Then the floor creaked, and I knew it was about to go. One more step back, and my foot found the step. I had to hold for just a few more seconds, then the beast would fall, and we could escape. I blocked it again, and again. My shield arm was in searing pain, but still I held.


Then another creak and the floor gave way under the massive hollows' wounded leg, and the splinters mangled it further. The butcher faltered in pain, and for a moment, was more concerned with its injuries then me, and I took the chance to finish this. The tip of my blade pounded into its head, burying itself there, before I wrenched it free. The body spasmed, as though trying to eliminate me after its demise before the floor finished giving way, dropping the dead butcher into the now scalding water below.


I turned, and left the inferno to destroy everything else that may have been there. I'd come back later for anything significant that might have survived. The air was glowing with more than fire right now however, as the souls out the dead hollows danced in a macabre daze. On instinct I reached out, and began to draw them in. Laurentius followed suite soon after.


"Th-Thanks" Laurentius gasped at me. "That was amazing."


I Ignored his awe, and cuffed him over the head, shaking a finger in his face, "Never. Blow. My. Cover. Again. That was a total shit storm." Oscar was going to murder me.


He rubbed his head, and had the decency to at least look sheepish, "Sorry, but… Hey, we lived through it."


I looked into the inferno again. "Barely." I tried to fill my lungs, but the back of my throat was seared with smoke, "And still might not, we need to get out of here before the smoke overcomes us."


Suddenly I felt incredibly sore, tired, and dehydrated. I popped a swing from my flask, and felt some strength return. I knew I wasn't up for another one of those for today. My shield arm wanted to call it quits, and even after my drink I was hurting pretty bad. I'd need a while to recover once I stopped, and every muscle in my body was screaming at me to let it rest. It was tempting just to go back to firelink, and just crash for a few days.


I debated leaving Griggs for when I was in better condition, but an image of a zombie sorcerer floated through my mind, putting that to rest fairly quickly. Well, at least Laurentius was here. It would be easier than doing it alone. I wasn't crapping out yet either, and as long as i managed to stay moving, I should be able to get this done. I hoped.


This was going to be twelve different kinds of suck.


"Come on then." I said, turning for the path out to the Burg "I actually came looking for someone. Rescuing you was just a sideshow." It was kind of a dick thing to say, and not even the truth. So sue me, I wasn't feeling very nice right now.


The pyromancer was hot on my heels though, "Er… Yeah. Sorry… I mean thanks." He took a second to get his thoughts in order. "Thanks for getting me out. I.. I didn't mean…" He went quiet.


I sighed inwardly. Now he was making me feel guilty for swatting him. "Look. You were scared, you saw someone that might not have been a hollow, and understandably you wanted to make sure you were going to get saved. That was a natural reaction." I paused to let that sink in. "It might have been stupid beyond belief, but it's understandable. Everyone makes mistakes, and I'm no different. The only thing is that I learn from my mistakes." I turned my head to look him in the eye. "Do you?"


"I like to think so." He said softly.


We finally hit freshish air, and I turned to look over my new companion in the better light. I noticed him sagging, and it occurred to me that while he might have protection against fire in the form of his clothes, and flash sweat, he probably was feeling fairly poor himself. He certainly didn't use Iron Skin if that hollow hurt him with a club. I fished around in my pouches for and found a spare Estus flask. I quietly thanked Oscar for his foresight in leaving Elliots' flask with me.


"Here." I said, handing the flask over. "I have a spare, don't chug it all. We have a bit of looking to do yet. Let's find the other guy."

 

[Ironfox]

The end of chapter 3. will wait a few days so i can beta this properly, then I'll go through everything, and put the revised stuff up on FF.Net.


*^*

Laurentius took the flask gratefully, and gave me a look as though I was the best thing to happen to him since he learned pyromancy. Made me a little bit uncomfortable actually, though I guess I could see why. Estus flasks were more or less the main survival requirement here in Lordran, serving as both food supply and medical aid. I resolved to loot the estus flasks of every hollow I came across that had one. Some might call that greed, I'd call it prudence.


Basic needs met, we proceeded carefully through the lower burg.


"So" Laurentius murmured quietly, "what are we looking for?"


"Not a clue." In truth, I didn't. In game, Griggs just happened to be screaming for help as the chosen undead walked by. Here? Who knew? "But keep your eyes and ears open. Even in the best case scenario there will be hollows."


That was the point where I saw a gleam up on the second floor of one of the nearby buildings. I stopped the pyromancer, and strained my eyes to see what it was.


"Arrow" he breathed, following my eyes, and seeing what I couldn't. "Good catch. Window to the left of the break on the balcony." He rummaged under his robes, and produced my crossbow.


"Thanks." I felt myself flushing a bit. I had forgotten to pick up my most useful tool. Man that was dumb. Still, I had it now, and I pulled out the coin and drew the string back, then put the bolt in place.


The hidden archer fired his shot at Laurentius, who managed to use Iron Skin just in time to repel the projectile. The movement of getting another arrow attracted my attention, and I let my bolt fly.


A rasping hiss and the hollow dropped over the window into view.


I reloaded my weapon again, and took stock of how many bolts I had left. Twelve. Awesome. "I'm going to need to get some more bolts at some point."


"Yeah." He agreed. "Great shot, by the way."


"Thanks."


We had a few more archers that brought my bolt count down to seven, and Laurentius got his sash cut by a playful hollow that came out of nowhere, and was overcome by her need for humanity seconds later. I tactfully refrained from commenting on the amount of overkill the pyromancer inflicted on the ex-woman, but did take a quiet solace in knowing that the damage inflicted meant she probably wouldn't wind up coming back. As we explored the day drew on, and eventually ended. Leading into night.


We turned another street, and my heart stopped. Poking around one of the doors further down was a Capra Demon, illuminated by a pyre behind it. I ducked around back around the corner, pulling my co-hort with me.


"Wha-"


"Keep your voice down!" I hissed in his ear as quietly as I could. "Goat Demon. Two blocks down. Looking for something."


I pulled back to see his eyes widening is shock, and horror. "A Capra Demon?" He whispered, "Here?" He poked his head around the corner, and pulled back just as quickly. "Mother of Chaos, you're right!" He whimpered, "Why are you right!"


"Because I don't speak things I'm not sure of out load." Ok, lying through my teeth again. "What could it be looking fo-" The image of Griggs stuck in a house floated through my mind, "Oh Shit."


"You don't think that…"


"Why else would the demon be poking around? It must smell something." I let him finish that thought. "And quite frankly, it would be just my luck too." I sighed, resigning myself to the task. "Come on. Let's get closer, try and confirm if it really is sniffing our friend out."


"I thought you didn't say things out loud you weren't sure of."


"Tells you how screwed we are then, doesn't it?"


We worked our way down towards where the monster was waiting via the parallel street. The trip was hollow free, though I suspected that was because hollows had enough sense to be steering clear of the demon. We managed to find an allyway that brought us behind the house that I suspected Griggs was in.


We looked around, and it became clear fairly quickly that the architect that built the city never intended for there to be any use for the back wall of the houses down here. The ally was just a narrow gap between houses. Larentious had better luck with the side of it however, and had managed to scale up the wall before the demon peaked around the corner. He nipped inside the building, and I was left to wait.


When I left Firelink it was around mid-day. After my adventures getting down the aqueduct, retrieving Laurentius, and scouting around the city, night had well and truly fallen. The only reason I had seen the demon was due to that fire. Of course that same darkness was what prevented us from getting seen as well. It occurred to me that Oscar was probably worried sick. Of course, that could be my own raging insecurities, and hope that I was significant talking.


Ok, best to put thoughts like that on the back burner. I could get back at any time thanks to the homeward bones, and I had enough to pass out to Laurentius and Griggs too. Shame that they wouldn't send me home though.


Damn I hoped Griggs was ok. He wasn't strictly necessary now that I had Laurentius, but he would give me a head start that I probably couldn't hope for otherwise. Sorcery would also be a useful thing to add to my combat repertoire of course… Ok, I'll admit it. I didn't want to see anyone get killed and going hollow. I could take it, but I doubted that other people had a technique that they could use to force themselves to stay sane like I did.


I felt a touch on my shoulder and just about jumped out of my skin. Whipping around, I saw the pyromancers grim expression.


"He's there," He mouthed, "but I couldn't get to him without burning the building down."


I closed my eyes. If I could get to him, I could give him a bone. "Can you get him one of these" I said silently, and held out my valuable homeward bones.


Laurentius shook his head. "Good plan, but I only caught a glimpse of him through glass reflected in a mirror from the little hole I peeked through."


"Then you're not going to like my other plan." The plan was thus;


Laurentius would go around the corner when the Capra demon's back was turned, then chuck a fire ball at it. He would proceed to do some taunting, then after insuring that he would be chased, run the hell away like a little pansy. After he got the demon a fair distance away, or was just about to die a horrible messy death, he would crush a homeward bone, sending him safely to Firelink. Hopefully his sudden disappearance would leave the demon more confused, and it would stay away for a while, or forget about the funny smell around the building it was just in front of.


I, in the meantime, would break the door down and rush inside. There I would find Griggs, and convince him that I was not a hollow, and he was not going to die. Once he had calmed down sufficiently, I would give him a bone, and then crush another. Then we would all be back at Firelink, where Oscar would praise me for doing the right thing, I'd learn magic, and pyromancy. Lastly, if the world was a just and fair place, I'd get a bunch of screaming, clingy, fangirls to boot.


…


Ok, scratch the screaming, and clingy parts.


"I don't like your plan" Laurentius mouthed. "You go around, and shoot it with your crossbow."


"You run faster, and I have this" I pointed to the metal pauldron on my shoulder "as a door knocker"


We argued for a little longer, before he finally relented, and dashed out to distract the beast.


"Hey you! Yeah you! You big… dumb… ah screw it."


A loud wooshing sound was briefly followed by a monstrous bellow and loud clacking of hooves. I dashed out the other side. The demon was in hot pursuit of my ally. Having confirmation the plan worked, I didn't waste any more time. I rushed the door. hard. It was sturdy, and it took a few running starts to break it, but I did so eventualy.


A really girly scream had me wondering if we had the right person after all, but checking in a few rooms dashed my hopes of having attractive company, and confirmed me right.


"Shit, man. You scream just like a woman."


The young man was huddled in a corner of what appeared to be a kitchen, looked up at me in terror. "Y-y-you! Stay back!"


I advanced, hands in the open, showing nothing in them "Oh shut it. I'm not a hollow, and I'm here to help you." Another bellow of fury set my teeth on edge. "I think that was our distraction going home."


He seemed to calm down a bit. "You're not a hollow?" He shook his head "No, no of course you aren't." he stood, and dusted himself off. "I'm Griggs, of vinhelm."


I handed him a bone from a pouch. "I'm thinking that we should continue the pleasantry once we get back to Firelink."


"Yes, of course." He crushed the bone and vanished in a brilliant light.


Well, that went well. I was expecting something significantly more unpleasant. Oh well. I'll take the wins where I can get them. I fished around for another bone, and just as my hand closed around it, I heard an enormous crashing from behind me. I turned and crushed at the same time, allowing me to watch the capra demon cheated of another victim.

 

[Ironfox]

YAY UPDATE!


*^*


"Some would consider it a sin to laze about until the sun reaches its zenith."


"Merf." I flopped my arm over my face, trying without much success to block Petrus out.


It was a little over a week since my trip into the burg, and I had recovered from my physical workout admirably with a few hours in front of a bonfire. No, it wasn't physical hurts that had me lying about like a useless sack of dung, it was the colossal headache of trying to keep two different styles of magic separate in my mind… well that and the example of what not to do Griggs gave yesterday. Both Laurentius and Griggs were determined to convince me that theirs was the better magic, and I should drop the other. On a personal level, I was seriously regretting not leaving them both to rot, and instead having Oscar teach me how to use a sword more effectively.


Pyromancy was the art of manipulating the power of fire within all organic life, but usually my own. It worked by 'asking' the pyromany flame to do stuff for you. Now that wouldn't be a problem if it understood speech, but sadly nothing is ever that easy. You did the asking by manipulating it via certain fields of power that became much easier to perceive after I had pumped the soul power I had collected the party in the depths into my… spirit… power… stuff. Yeah. Now after I could perceive them, I found that it was a fairly easy deal to manipulate these fields, and after Laurentius showed me a few simple 'words' I decided to try one. That's where my problems started.


My problem was that I was using a flame born from Laurentius' soul. Now the only way to get a flame is to get it from someone else, but over time it merges with your own soul, and thus becomes significantly easier to use. That can take years, by the way.


Thus I was left with a monkeys paw. Make no mistake, it did as I told it to, the problem was that it would look for loopholes. If I used 'Burst', which was how I thought of the 'word' to cast Combustion, the flame would indeed burst, and set something on fire. The issue I had was that the ignited object would, nine times out of ten, be me. My teacher thought it was hilarious, but showed me ways to 'point' the flame to a proper target. Things started working a bit better after that, but I still had to be really precise or it would find some way of making me suffer. Speaking the word as I shaped it in the flame seemed to help a little too. In the end, I decided that the only pyromancies that I'd find useful (and I could consistently use without hurting myself) in combat would be Carmina's self-realization spells. Anything else was more likely to backfire on me, and should only be used while near a bonfire. Just to keep in practice.


Magic, was a different, if similar beast. It was divided into three parts; Manipulating the magic field (as in pyromancy), fueling it with your own power reservoir, and an incantation.


The magical field manipulation was what I had considered the easy part, and had surprised Griggs. Unlike pyromancy, you couldn't ask the magical power to do stuff for you. Instead, you needed to create a matrix that you filled with your own power. The upshot was that you never had a truly malevolent force looking for ways to screw you over. The bad part was that these fields were often incredibly complex and getting merely 'close' would net you a completely different effect entirely. Still, I found this part fairly easy due to a familiarity with three dimensional modeling programs of all things. Who knew?


The next part was fueling the spell. This is the part that Griggs said was the easiest, which is fine if you've been raised in an environment where pouring you energy out in mystical essence was the norm. I still haven't figured out how to do this in any significant amount to do anything, though I suspect that it's similar to pouring out souls for reinforcement. Just… less instinctive. I'd try it after I was feeling more up to scuff. This was the issue I had to get past before i should even consider learning magic, let alone casting it. Unfortunately, I am stubborn, and Griggs couldn't fathom why i was having so much trouble with it.


The final part was the incantation. This was pure memory, and like the matrix part, it had to be borderline perfect. Griggs showed me an example of why you needed to do so of course. Just last night in fact. The first time he said the spell perfectly, and unleashed a soul arrow that shattered a good sized rock. The second time, he slurred the word a tiny bit. The end result was an explosion of bright Technicolor light that did nothing other than temporarily blind Griggs, and give me the migraine I was nursing the tail end of right now.


"Fine." Petrus stated, and I could sense his shrug, "Lay about. However, lady Reah has arrived, so if you can't get off the ground and make yourself presentable at least have the decency to try to stay out of sight until you can." I heard footsteps leaving.


Wait. Wasn't she supposed to show up only after one of the bells was rung?


I sat up quickly, then laid back down much slower after the spikes of pain lanced through my skull. Damn it.

 

[Ironfox]

A bit more. This chapter is a fair bit slower paced compared to chapters one and three, but going from my plan its still quite long. It's largely a set up chapter, which means that its going to take longer to write as well. Don't want to forget to put in a point I'll need from it later after all.

These type of chapters are also the closest thing to filler I'm going to have in the main story. I have a few Crack Ideas, and a few other world building things that ultimately don't have a place in the plot, so I'll probably make side fics rather then clutter up the main stuff.

*^*

"Don't listen to Petrus." A far more sympathetic –and welcome- voice intoned. "I caught a bit of that colour flash of Griggs' out of the corner of my eye. All I can say is that I'm glad I had some white willow bark."

Wait, bark? "What?"

Oscar chuckled, "A tea brewed from it has fairly impressive pain relief properties. I have heard of alchemists who have found a way to distil it into a powerful tincture, yet I find that the tea works in a pinch." I heard him thump down next to me, "Estus is great for healing injuries and the pain that results from them, yet it is rather poor for things like headaches, or cramps."

"WANT!" Ok, I wasn't precisely the most intellectual conversationalist at the moment, but no one will deny that I could get my point across.

I felt an armoured hand pat my shoulder, "I thought you might, so I made sure that I made more than enough for you and Griggs as well." He took my hand and put a flask in it, "I warn you, it is rather bitter."

I slowly sat up, and then tossed the brew back. He wasn't kidding, but I had tasted far worse, and the promise of blessed pain relief made me less inclined to whine about it.

"Wait until it has time to work, and then gather up your equipment. Laurentius has done a little scouting of his own, and he says that he has found a blacksmith. He is a countryman of Griggs' apparently." Oscar stood, "I dare say that both of us look rather like brigands, what with the damage our gear has accumulated."

Again, he had a very valid point. The knight had done his damnedest to keep his gear in condition, but the lack of repair powder or tools meant that the best he could do was keep the rust off it. I tried to emulate him, but despite my best efforts there were orange links everywhere on my mail, and the edges of the plate were starting to corrode. The mishaps I've gone through haven't exactly helped any either. At least I managed to keep my weapons in order. I wish I had some wax for my crossbow string, but both my sword and shield were rust free.

I grumbled a moment, and then stood myself. My vision blurred for a moment, then went to something like normal. Huh. My head still hurt, but I could tell the tea was taking at least some of the edge off already. "Mental note, strip white willow trees."

"I brought my supply from Astora. I dare say that Lordran is devoid of willows of any stripe."

I groaned. Of course Lordran wouldn't have any. Still, it brought up an interesting note that the local flora might bring some assistance, and I filed that away for a later time. "Fine. Let's go find the blacksmith."

I already knew where Rickert was of course, but as usual I figured it might be best not to show my hand. As we made our way to the stairs down to Anastasia, I reminisced about the self-insert fanfics in my home universe, and had to supress an insane giggle. I found that the biggest use I had gotten out of my fore knowledge that I wouldn't have otherwise was a few useless trinkets. Anyone with half a brain would have been able to save Oscar exactly the same way I had, and while that foreknowledge helped to know that Griggs and Laurentius were out there, it was more luck then planning that lead me to them. I mean really.

We stopped briefly so Oscar to introduce me to the fire keeper. I can't say it went well. I was zoning out and in general being distracted with my own thoughts, and she didn't have a tongue so all she did was stare blankly at us in a 'why are you trying to talk to me? I'm mute!' kinda way. I can honestly say it was awkward for everyone involved.

Still, I found myself feeling sorry for the poor girl, locked inside a cramped, dank little hole in the wall. I don't think she was older then sixteen, and I could smell the old blood left on her robes from her mangled legs. While Oscar was noting how much of an honour it was for an Astoran to become a fire keeper, I felt wrath boil inside me. Getting crippled, and having your tongue cut out was a good thing to people? Being trapped as a living representation of the bonfire, having your soul gnawed on by the humanity people used to fuel the fire? In a way it would be a kindness to allow Lautrec to kill her. Or maybe…

As we proceeded down to the elevator to New Londo, I began humming a song. Down that path of thought was madness and hollowing so I changed my mental tracks to a more optimistic version of an earlier subject. The stuff I found was useless as of yet, but if my guess was right they would soon be life savers, and there were several more objects approaching my reach. New londo also connected with valley of the drakes which held a fair few rather nice artifacts, though I hoped that they would be quite a bit less protected then in game.

I might be able ballsy enough to go against a Butcher, but a drake was certainly out of my league.

Oscar broke me out of my thoughts, "Laurentius said one the platform gets moving, it will take quite some time to reach the bottom. I thought we could use the opportunity to do a little sparing. You handle yourself fairly well, yet I can tell that swordplay was never a part of your education"

Joy.

*^*

 

[Ironfox]

This is not dead i swear. I've just been hung up on ME3, Kingdoms of Amalur, and come Tuesday Armored Core 5. I figure i would be best to post SOMETHING before then, just to prove that its still going.


*^*

Ok, before I get into the embarrassing mess that is me sparing with a professional knight, I feel the need to clarify a few things. First off, after having survived that stint in the lower burg, I was feeling pretty badass, I mean, this should be understandable. I had outwitted a scary demon, bested a hulking zombie in single combat while a room was on fire, and saved the lives of two people who were completely and undeniably screwed. Second off, while I had held swords before getting dropped here was the first time I had actually seen combat with them. Finally, a huge portion of my fighting style up to this point has been either crippling or killing my enemies at range with a crossbow –the only medieval weapon I truly had any experience with- and mopping up with my sword afterwards. Needless to say, all three of those things were working against me in the sparing session.


We both started on opposite sides of the platform. Oscar held a braced stance with his shield in a guard position; I took my own similar fighting stance. With hindsight I can say that mine was really sloppy, but I couldn't know that at the time.


"Begin."


Oscar stepped forward and stabbed past his guard into my shield hard enough to shift my balance slightly. After that I didn't catch what he did fully, but it ended with the tip of his sword pressed against my chest plate. Then he let me up, adjusted my stance, and did it again. And again. And again. Finally though, I got fed up with landing on my increasingly sore rear end and lashed my shield out to meet his blade. I got a wonderful vision of him seeming to lose his balance only to have that hope crushed when he used my momentary delay to shift that balance then deliver a hard kick into my stomach, which planted me on the floor again.


By the end of the half hour decent, I was thoroughly sore and had a better idea of swordplay. Enough to convince me that the crossbow was the much better choice of my primary weapon at any rate.


"You aren't bad." Oscar said, probably more to try and cheer me up then being truthful. "You are much better than I was when I started my sword training."


"So I'm better a ten year old." Awesome. I shouldn't need to worry about a child kicking my ass in a swordfight. "I'm sure that will be a great comfort to me when I'm facing down a raging demon."


"It sounds much worse when you put it that way." My sparring partner chided. "Besides, you don't need to be tremendously skillful to deal with hollows, simply quick and fairly precise."


"Honestly I don't even have that."


"Which is why," he said exasperatedly, "We will be practicing. Probably for an hour a day to give you time for your other lessons."

 

[Ironfox]

And another.

*^*
It didn't take us long to find the smith. There were only two paths down, and only one of them was a stair. Sure enough, there was the barred cell window about half way down.

"I'll let you do the talking. You're the man with the name to drop after all" I was noticing that it was beginning to become more natural keeping myself in check. Not entirely sure if that's a good thing or not. Shrugging mentally, I began shedding my armour.

Oscar nodded, and tapped on the window ledge. "Rickert of Vinhelm?"

A voice sounded through the window, "I suppose you would be that friend the pyromancer was talking about?"

"Indeed I would. I am Oscar of Astora. My friend and I would be in need of some repairs on our armour." The knight straightened, his voice suddenly becoming much more formal. "Could we come to an agreement on payment? Perhaps freeing you for mending our equipment?"

Payment of any sort wasn't necessary as it turned out. Rickert actually liked this terrifying still and had no intention of leaving his nice safe cell. Smithing itself was the only payment he needed, and that largely to relieve the boredom. Apparently, he had a bonfire in there so he wasn't lacking nourishment, and no danger meant no real need for soul energy to empower himself. In short he 'was set for everything except the doldrums'. The doldrums.

Lords help anyone who makes me think that phrase again.

At any rate, we divested ourselves from our armour and passed it through the bars into the blacksmiths cell. Admittedly, that was something of a production. The chain link portion went through just fine, it was the plate bits that caused us the most grief. Eventually Oscar got fed up with trying to force the metal through the just-to-small gaps, and instead settled for ripping one of the offending bars out of the stone wall. I made a note of Oscar's greater than human strength, and resolved to go out of my way to keep on his good side.

"D'you think you could try and leave things intact?" Rickert groused out at us. "I haven't had anything try and come in through the window yet, but if possible I'd rather not take any chances."

"It'll be fine," I retorted as cheerfully as possible in this pit of despair. "Even if some hollow can fit through, you'll have more than enough time to brain it."

That got a slight chuckle. "Fair enough, and it's a small enough cost to be able to do some metal working again I suppose." He paused, probably looking over our battered armour, "Come back tomorrow morning. This is going to take a while to get sorted out."

Oscar grunted unhappily, looking distinctly uncomfortable in his embroidered Arming doublet and britches. Admittedly I had to exert a fair bit of control to keep my expression stoic. The doublet was a baby blue with a touch of lace trim around the collar. The embroidering was just about the only thing about it that I wasn't tempted to laugh at; the imagery was the same fire warding heraldry that was on both of our surcoats. I guess I shouldn't be that surprised or particularly amused seeing as how styles differed between the medieval ages and my own modern day. It also should be clear to me that he wasn't uncomfortable with his clothes, but rather he was feeling naked without his armour on in a hostile environment. Still nothing we could do, so we made our way back to the trade square.

I patted him on the shoulder in sympathy. "I know how you feel Oscar. The lack of armour is a bit unnerving."

He gave me a baleful look. "Horseshit. You are no doubt just itching to do some scouting without needing to constantly worry about jingling giving you away."

It had crossed my mind. It had also crossed my mind that I could run faster without the armour. It had also occurred to me that without the shiny metal plates glinting up at airborne death breathing lizards that I might have a slightly better than average chance of maybe claiming something from their valley.

The baleful look suddenly turned accusing. "You are! You want to go off exploring without any sort of protection!"

"Maybe just a little." Ok, he sees right through me. He also had a point. That armor had saved my ass several times already, and the one time I got into a fight without it I was almost killed by a hollow with a broken sword. On the other hand, that strange key weighed heavily in my pocket… "I kinda want to check a hunch."

He leveled a look on me that probably would have withered a lesser man. "Fine. I however, am coming with you." He snorted at my look of surprise. " Your hunches seem to turn out shockingly well. You rescued me on one of these hunches, and then trumped that by saving both Griggs and Laurentius." He gave a chuckle "let us see if you can achieve three for three."
*^*

Count on another one coming down the pipe shortly.