Godrick Soldier Ashes

This place was battered by storms all year round, cold and damp.

Curled up alone in this empty little shack, she had been terribly afraid.

Now that Xia Tong was there with her, she felt genuinely happy and excited.

Xia Tong looked at her and sighed inwardly.

Roderika herself possessed royal blood. She came from Royal Capital Leyndell and carried the noble golden bloodline.

Yet this young noblewoman was living such a miserable life here.

Moreover, all of Roderika's companions had been "Grafted." Only Roderika had escaped.

But perhaps "escaped" was not the right word.

After all, Stormhill Shack stood right beneath the watchful eye of Stormveil Castle.

If Godrick the Grafted truly wanted to capture Roderika for Grafting, there was no way she could have escaped.

"There may be some unknown secret behind this."

The two of them spent the night like that.

As usual, Xia Tong took out his cooking pot and made a steaming pot of meat soup. The two shared it, driving away Stormhill's chill.

The next day, dawn had only just broken.

Dim sunlight filtered through the clouds.

After greeting her, Xia Tong left the shack.

He mounted the spectral steed Torrent again, gripping the reins with a firm gaze.

This time, he had to obtain the Godrick Soldier Ashes!

Stormhill's early morning was bitterly cold.

The piercing wind nearly froze his blood.

"They really do seem much more sluggish."

Xia Tong sat astride Torrent, clutching the Crimson Tear Flask tightly in his hand.

The faint warmth radiating from the flask was his only comfort in this freezing world.

"If I get sprayed, I need to take a gulp immediately, or I'm definitely screwed."

He took a deep breath, his gaze sharpening.

"Now! Torrent, charge!"

Clop, clop, clop!

Hooves struck the gravel, producing crisp sounds.

Like an arrow leaving the bowstring, Xia Tong rushed ever closer to that floating cluster of gray-white Spirit Ashes.

The surrounding Crimson Jellyfish woke one after another.

But perhaps because of their excessive agitation the night before, they seemed listless now, their tentacles waving lazily.

Xia Tong leaned sharply to the right, his entire body nearly hanging off the side of the horse.

His other hand clutched the reins tightly, using centrifugal force to keep himself from falling.

Whoosh!

Ten meters, eight meters...

Three meters, two meters, one meter!

Xia Tong drew closer and closer to that gray-white substance glowing faintly!

It was within reach!

The sensation was icy and smooth, like a weightless cloud of dry-ice vapor, yet also like a solidified crystal.

Xia Tong grabbed the Spirit Ashes and was about to make his escape.

Then, disaster struck.

A gigantic Crimson Jellyfish suddenly blocked his path.

It sensed the intruder, and its body immediately began to tremble and convulse violently, compressing backward like an inflated bubble.

Then—spray!

Sizzle!

Foul-smelling, pale-red corrosive fluid sprayed toward Xia Tong in a vast torrent!

"Ah—!"

The sour, nauseating slime splashed across his arm and the side of his face. Xia Tong immediately felt a searing pain so intense it tore at his heart.

Looking down, he saw smoke rising from the skin of his right arm. Several bloody holes had been burned through it in an instant, yellow pus flowing out, with white bone faintly visible beneath.

The agony that penetrated to his bones nearly made him pass out.

In a panic, he pulled out the Crimson Tear Flask and took a savage gulp.

"Torrent, turn right!"

Xia Tong's voice had become extremely faint and weak from the intense pain.

Torrent had also been struck by some of the poison.

Parts of its coat had been scorched away, and its skin hissed under the corrosion.

But sensing its master's weakness on its back, Torrent let out a neigh.

Double jump!

It drove forcefully with all four hooves, activating a double jump and leaping as high as it could!

At that very instant.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle, sizzle!

No fewer than four or five streams of sour corrosive fluid sprayed onto the spot the horse's hooves had just left!

The ground was instantly corroded into a patch of charred pits.

Behind them, the awakened Crimson Jellyfish swarm let out earth-shaking roars of fury.

Poison and the throwing knives hurled by Skeletal Militiamen chased after them like raindrops.

But Torrent was, after all, a spectral steed.

Fast and nimble enough, it darted left and right through the rocky terrain and finally broke through the encirclement.

After an unknown amount of time.

Xia Tong finally returned to the Site of Grace beside Stormhill Shack.

Torrent chewed on the Rowa Raisin Xia Tong had fed it, restoring its health.

Thud!

Xia Tong could no longer hold on and fell heavily from the horse.

Seemingly hearing the noise outside, Roderika pushed open the shack door and came out.

When she saw Xia Tong covered in blood, his skin badly ulcerated, she cried out and immediately ran over to support him.

"Hold him and head east... Stop only when I tell you to."

A gentle voice suddenly sounded beside Roderika's ear.

Then Melina's figure materialized in the air.

As a future spirit tuner, Roderika possessed a natural affinity for spirits like Melina and did not feel afraid.

"Who are you?"

"I am?" Melina faltered for a moment, but then slowly said, "I am his maiden."

"You can see the Site of Grace too?" Roderika asked in surprise.

Among the Tarnished in the Lands Between, fewer and fewer could still see the guidance of the Site of Grace.

Perhaps they had been able to see it before, but most had now lost their way.

Under Melina's guidance, Xia Tong was placed beside the Site of Grace.

Melina stretched out her fair palm and gently touched the Site of Grace.

Then the Site of Grace began to emit a faint, warm golden radiance.

Roderika could see this light as well.

In other words, through Melina's hand, she was able to see the light of the Site of Grace.

Every Tarnished who could see the Site of Grace was someone chosen by the gods.

Melina was one as well.

Soon, with the help of Melina and the power of the Site of Grace, Xia Tong slowly regained consciousness.

The Crimson Jellyfish's poison stacked up terrifyingly.

In the game, it would merely mean his health bar kept decreasing;

But in the real world, Xia Tong felt his body growing weaker and weaker, as though he had fallen into a bottomless black hole, his life force being drained away.

In the end, even drinking from the Flask of Crimson Tears did nothing. He had to rely on the Site of Grace's purification.

"Whew..."

Xia Tong let out a long breath and looked at Melina and Roderika before him, feeling as though an age had passed.

"Damn, I really could have died... I got some Spirit Ashes and nearly got myself killed."

"This isn't a game. This really isn't a game!"

A wave of lingering fear rose in Xia Tong. He had still been too reckless.

He hurriedly looked toward his chest.

There, a cluster of gray-white light flickered, carrying a faint chill. Something seemed to pulse with life within it.

That was the [Godrick Soldier Ashes].

"This?"

Roderika looked curiously at Xia Tong's chest and subconsciously reached out to touch it.

Something miraculous happened.

The cluster of Spirit Ashes seemed to sense an aura that felt familiar to them and jumped straight into Roderika's hand.

Roderika closed her eyes.

The Spirit Ashes flickered on and off, seeming to breathe in a steady rhythm as they resonated with her heartbeat.

"I can feel them... Their emotions, and their power," Roderika murmured.

"Roderika, perhaps you will become a powerful spirit tuner."

A faint smile appeared on Xia Tong's pale face. "Keep it up."

"I will help you."

"Thank you, Lord Xia Tong." Though she did not know what spirit tuning really was, Roderika was still deeply grateful.