Swimming Against the Current (Ten Thousand Words)

Ten minutes later, the caravan took off again and left the mountains.

Then, a few more minutes passed.

A slightly warm breeze gently stirred in the open space where the spell had been interrupted.

Surtr didn't use that spell. And she couldn't possibly know that this seemingly commonplace 'Great Firestorm' spell was something only she, besides the Founder, possessed!

Ah... I fall down.

Let's see if I can write 10,000 words a day tomorrow... and get the 180,000-word attendance bonus _(:з"∠)_

Chapter 197 - Braving the Rapids (10,000 words)

Miss Surtr was unaware of this small detail.

She has never known anything.

After finishing with breakfast, she continued her journey—but because it was daytime, the Fire Keeper insisted on taking turns resting with her. So she left the driver's seat and entered the caravan as it took off.

The interior of the carriage was actually much larger than it appeared from the outside. After all, for the fire civilization of Lordran, distorting spatial scales wasn't a particularly difficult operation... the miracle of teleportation was a delicate interference with the spacetime structure. And while dimensional houses and storage bags were precious, they weren't nonexistent.

Before assuming her position, the Fire Keeper was the Grand Princess of Lothric.

As the most noble Princess Highness in the world, she naturally possesses a variety of exotic objects.

When Miss Surtr stepped into the caravan, she was greeted by a miniature mansion nearly a hundred square meters in size. It was only one story, but fully equipped. It had everything from spacious bedrooms and neatly arranged bookshelves to exquisitely crafted alchemical workbenches. There was even a large enough bathtub placed near one of the windows.

The only missing living area here is the kitchen—ah, that makes sense when you think about it. After all, no matter how you twist the spatial structure, this is still just a caravan with wooden planks as its deck. And there are quite a few flammable materials like books and carpets; leaving an open flame here would ultimately pose a threat.

—It's quite convenient.

Miss Surtr recalled that the vehicle lifted off the ground as she closed the door, and even she only felt a slight sway and loss of balance for the instant the carriage left the ground. After that, the air currents and the turbulence of takeoff vanished without a trace in some unknown miracle or magical effect.

—It feels like sitting in first class... no, like riding in a spaceship.

—Smooth and comfortable... Ah, but personally I still prefer using a floating city. After all, that's more grand and imposing, while making it so complicated in a caravan always feels a bit stingy, like trying to do something big in a snail's shell.

She gently clenched her fist, sensing the total amount of energy and the intensity of her intellect within her body.

—Hmm... In terms of energy reserves alone, my current energy reserves are twenty-three times that of Yhorm. But my intelligence has only increased by twenty-two percent since my arrival... Relative to the total amount, it's practically negligible progress. And does this mean that my current combat power, strictly speaking, is only equivalent to the combined strength of three Lords of Cinder?

—It's still too weak. Even converted to Terra's peak condition, it's less than ten percent. However, if it can maintain the current recovery rate, then after I visit Farron and open up the catacombs beneath Farron and the Ashen Lake region at the bottom of the world, I think I'll be able to rebuild my palace with less hesitation.

After all, while I wouldn't mind climbing slowly and cautiously from the bottom up until I've eliminated all my rivals and challenges, that would only be me, just me alone... Things are different now; I have companions with me, and I need to take good care of them.

She released her grip and shifted her gaze slightly. She saw Kal'tsit had entered the caravan a few minutes before her, sitting by the bookshelf, browsing through some local Lordran documents. On the table next to her were large stacks of drafts and handwritten notes.

—Are they studying Lordran's spellcasting techniques?

This is no simple or easy subject, even though the level of civilization in Lordran over ten thousand years ago is almost identical to that of today. The spellcasting system is, after all, a well-developed and complete technology tree. Unless one directly merges souls like the Ashes or the Undead, mastering the spellcasting methods here cannot be achieved simply by reading books.

—You're not Persephone, Kal'tsit.

The Flame-haired maiden thought to herself as she walked towards Kal'tsit's desk—she wasn't sleepy; how could Ashen Body be sleepy? And if it were before yesterday, she wouldn't have dared to approach Kal'tsit so rashly, for she would have been met with a sour look. But now, she felt that she could perhaps get a little closer to Kal'tsit.

So she walked to the table— Kal'tsit didn't seem to notice her approach, but her light green feline pointed ears twitched slightly as she walked beside her.

Miss Surtr's gaze immediately shifted to the side—

—Hmm?

She discovered her guess was wrong, because the documents Kal'tsit was reading were not magical knowledge but local historical documents. She labeled many key passages and copied some of them, while the content of the drafts was basically the key bytes transcribed into Terra common language.

Her gaze shifted slightly to the side, where a rather thick Lordran language dictionary lay beside the desk. Her eyes then swept over the bed not far away, and she wasn't surprised to find only the lingering traces and warmth of someone sleeping on that spacious, soft bed.

It was the Fire Keeper. Last night, only the Fire Keeper was in bed resting—because I had ordered her to get some rest.

But before she fell asleep, she was to briefly serve as Kal'tsit's Lothric language tutor.

—Is it a miracle of linguistic mastery? Even so, the leap from simply being able to read to translating ancient texts is far too great a distance for Kal'tsit.

—You've been busy all night, you stupid lynx. You didn't need to do anything at all; just leave everything to me and I'll handle it all.

The girl's heart softened slightly. She sat down in the seat next to Kal'tsit, browsing through the notes on the girl's draft without disturbing Kal'tsit's reading.

—It's about the Undead Legion.

The earliest Undead Legion were active on this continent approximately 12,000 years ago. At that time, they were merely a group of wandering undead knights born from a failed attempt to link the fire during a certain season. Due to being besieged, they banded together and fled to Farron, which was then a wild and untamed land. Farron was considered wild and untamed because it was once the ruins of the lost sorcery capital, Izalith.

—Izalith, a city said to have been founded by witches in ancient times. The oldest and most powerful witch wielded the Soul of Life, one of the Four Lord Souls. When the First Flame first weakened, she attempted to create an artificial... or rather, a divinely created Second First Flame using the Soul of Life. However, she failed; the Soul of Life went out of control, transforming into Chaos Flame, and the old witch and some of her daughters were corrupted by the out-of-control Lord Souls, falling into darkness along with her people and becoming an evil race.

—That was the demon, Izalith was thus possessed by the demon. Only the youngest (questionable) daughter Clara, escaped with a small group of survivors... They received the help of the First Lord of Cinder and gradually evolved into a group of pyromancers. As Izalith sank into the earth, and the surface became the barbaric land of Farron, the original Undead Legion arrived there and fought against the demons, Soul Eater, and other cursed creatures of the swamp.

Surtr raised an eyebrow; this history was quite new to her. Although she had triggered many of the butterfly effects, and she knew that there were definitely more witches than just Clara who had survived, this didn't stop her from browsing and reading.

She continued reading—below was an introduction to the origins and weaknesses of fallen or cursed creatures such as demons, Soul Eater, and cursed frogs... She skimmed over it, for these fragile little creatures posed little threat to her, and she was well aware of their true origins. Her gaze then quickly darted around until she found passages that interested her but which she wanted to know more about.

The initial Undead Legion didn't cause much of a stir in Farron. They managed to carve out a small territory, then shed their curse of immortality with the successful linking of the fire. Returning to life, they left behind hastily constructed fortresses and returned to civilized society, until the next failed linking of the fire season arrived.

—That wasn't long; the next Firelinking Season failure was only 130 years away. And many of the undead, unfortunately tainted by the curse, still remembered the legends passed down from their ancestors... These undead had already flocked to Farron before the large-scale hunt for the undead broke out. And this time, they fortified the fortresses left by their ancestors and expanded their territory in the fighting.

—And thereafter, uncontrolled seasons of rekindling the fire occurred frequently over four thousand years. As the status of the undead rose, sending those burdened with the Undead Curse to Farron gradually became a tradition. For the sake of making use of waste, the gods and kings allowed these Farron undead knights to be armed, but they were required to execute the undead and the abominations lurking deep within Farron immediately. This is the prototype of the Undead Legion, who were permitted to wear distinctive pointed hats, navy blue armor, and striking red cloaks. And they were to fight against corruption and darkness.

Time passed, year after year. The power of the White Cult waned with the gradual disappearance of the gods, while the status of the undead steadily rose with the arrival of Farron's Undead Legion, thanks to their fighting prowess and fervor. Gradually, the undead were allowed to join the Church, to learn miracles, to equip armor, and to fight against the corrupted—and the Undead Legion's beliefs grew increasingly fanatical. They gradually came to believe that immortality was not a curse, but a responsibility, a blessing. True warriors should bear this cursed destiny and fight against darkness and evil until the end of time.

—In that era, even heroes among the living considered it an honor to join the Undead Legion. They believed they were protecting the world, and indeed they were. This belief reached its zenith after a special exploration of the deep ruins of Izalith.

—Because deep within the ruins of Izalith, in that region near the lower levels of the world, they saw...

The excerpt abruptly stopped, and Miss Surtr blinked, realizing an arm was blocking her view. She instinctively wanted to push it away, but then realized what was happening. Looking up, less than twenty centimeters in front of her were Kal'tsit's pale green eyes.

"Ah... ha, sorry..." she said, somewhat embarrassed, trying to avoid the situation.

"No need to apologize. What happens next happens to be related to you." However, Kal'tsit just looked at her quietly, without a trace of displeasure or irritation at being disturbed.

If this happened in Terra, the Swarm people would probably have their values shattered.

But Miss Surtr was already somewhat prepared.

"It's related to me? Yes..." She thought of a one-armed knight in a blue robe, wielding a sword.

"According to the records, as the First Lord of Cinder, you once fought and defeated Artorias, one of the Four Knights of the Sun Divine Court, in a lost ancient kingdom called Oolacile in an abnormal timeline. Is that right?"

"Ah... well, that's how it is." Miss Surtr nodded. "Back then, he planned to suppress the Abyss, while I traveled through the time rifts and arrived at a time a little earlier than his. So after I dealt with that mess in the Abyss, I fought him. In the end, I won, he lost, and I didn't really do anything to him. I just handed him over to his wolf and another knight Ciaran Chiaran before leaving. And when I returned to the correct timeline, I even ran into him in the royal city."