Do You Know the Finger Maidens?

"...Do you know the Finger Maidens?

They serve the Two Fingers, helping and guiding the Tarnished...

But now, you have no maiden by your side.

...I can take their place.

I can turn Rune fragments into your strength.

As long as you desire the Elden Ring, this will surely help you."

The girl spoke truthfully, her voice ethereal and calm, devoid of any emotion.

Lu Mingfei scratched his head.

This female ghost's approach seemed quite different from Lu Mingze's. And she sounded far more reliable than the Little Devil.

"...So, I hope you can help me—

Take me to the foot of the Erdtree."

"But," Lu Mingfei said, holding out a hand as golden streams of light gathered in his palm, "I already know how to do that."

Melina lifted her eyes and watched the Runes in Lu Mingfei's palm. Like swallows returning to their nest, those golden motes flowed of their own accord into his veins.

Unexpectedly, emotion finally rippled across the girl's placid face.

She looked doubtfully at the Runes swirling in Lu Mingfei's hand. Her eyes trembled faintly before swiftly returning to their former calm.

This was not something an ordinary Tarnished could do. The power of Runes was meant to be mysterious and difficult to tame; without a maiden's guidance, they would never submit.

In other words, this should have been impossible.

Yet Lu Mingfei had done it. So simply, as naturally as eating and drinking, right before her eyes.

"You..."

For the first time, hesitation entered Melina's voice.

"Have you met other Finger Maidens?"

Lu Mingfei shook his head.

"By the way, sis," he suddenly leaned closer, his brown eyes gleaming brightly in the shadows.

"Are you a person or a ghost? Why do you insist on going to the foot of the Erdtree? Can anyone even reach that place?"

Lu Mingfei had rarely encountered a living person he could communicate with. Now that Melina had appeared before him, he could no longer restrain the fiery urge in his heart to complain.

Melina listened quietly, then said in an even tone:

"I have already told you. My name is Melina. My physical body was burned away, leaving me no choice but to exist in the form of a spirit. The roots of the Erdtree lie in Leyndell, Royal Capital, on the Altus Plateau.

Though you have no need for a Finger Maiden, perhaps there are other ways I can help you.

If you accept this bargain—

I will travel with you."

After everything he had been through, Lu Mingfei was no longer the harmless little rabbit he had once appeared to be.

To survive, he had no choice but to dig out the cunning he had hidden away and use it as armor to protect himself.

He lowered his head and stared at the light of the Site of Grace.

"The last guy who wanted to make a deal with me had a much better opening line than you.

He called himself a devil and took a quarter of my life as payment."

He grinned, tossed a broken short blade into the air, then caught it.

"In the end, he gave me a fruit knife and went offline."

His smile suddenly vanished.

"So if you want to make a deal with me, you'd better be reliable."

Melina's lashes trembled slightly as she watched the boy's formerly brown eyes suddenly blaze bright. Lava-like gold flowed through his eye sockets.

It was a radiance Melina had never seen before, a light that did not belong to the Erdtree.

"Tell me who you really are. Why do you want to go to the foot of the Erdtree? If you tell me, I'll accept your bargain.

Even if I don't need you to convert the power of Runes."

The grinning foreigner's gaze had suddenly turned razor-sharp.

Though he had no need for a Finger Maiden's power, someone familiar with all kinds of information about the Lands Between would be enormously useful to Lu Mingfei.

He had had enough of struggling through this place alone!

So he needed this deal.

Melina gazed into Lu Mingfei's eyes in silence.

After a long while, she finally spoke.

"...I am searching for the purpose Mother once gave me at the Erdtree, and for a reason to keep living even after my body was burned away and I became a spirit.

After becoming a spirit, I forgot many things.

I will do you no harm, nor will I do anything unnecessary. I can guide you on the path to becoming a lord... so long as you are willing to take me to the foot of the Erdtree.

That is all."

She didn't seem to be lying, but she hadn't told him everything either...

After all, they had only just met. No one would place complete trust in the other. Lu Mingfei understood that, because he was suspicious by nature as well.

"A purpose..."

Lu Mingfei suddenly remembered his days at Cassel College.

There, Principal Angers, Professor Goodrian... nearly everyone had told him:

"Slaying dragons is our purpose."

Their eyes had always been filled with obsession.

"All right, all right..."

Lu Mingfei muttered.

"Any more, and I'll look like I'm making things difficult for you. Miss Melina, I accept your request.

But let's be clear first. I'm weak, not quite like the Tarnished you have in mind. If I fail to get you to the foot of the Erdtree, don't blame me."

As he spoke, he nudged the damaged chainmail on the ground with his toe.

"It does not matter."

Melina shook her head gently.

"Torrent likes you, and I... also think you are very special."

Her fingers brushed through the air. A translucent phantom of a spirit steed appeared beside her hand and affectionately nuzzled the back of Lu Mingfei's hand.

"Whoa..."

Lu Mingfei leaned back slightly in shock at the sudden sight, but quickly regained his composure. So many bizarre things had happened lately that one more hardly made a difference.

The girl took a ring from within her cloak and placed it in her palm.

"I give this ring to you. Use it whenever you need to travel a long distance.

It can summon the spirit of a steed named Torrent.

...Torrent has chosen you.

I hope you will treat him well."

"Then I guess we have a deal."

With that, Melina slowly pulled up her hood, and her figure gradually grew thin and transparent.

"When you need my aid, call for me at a Site of Grace."

"Wait."

Lu Mingfei suddenly grabbed the edge of her sleeve just as she was about to fade away.

The girl's mist-thin figure solidified once more.

"Do you know... Dragon Communion?"

Melina's pale golden right eye brightened imperceptibly.

So that was it...

Those golden pupils, that mysterious and ancient power—was it the power of dragons?

An Ancient Dragon? Or a Flying Dragon?

Hmm... It is closer to that of an Ancient Dragon, but not entirely the same. It is a power from beyond the Lands Between.

Then it was only natural that he would seek Dragon Communion.

"Our bargain needs to be revised."

She dropped to one knee, her cloak slowly spreading across the ground like gray wings.

"In return, I will tell you about Dragon Communion and the Church of Dragon Communion."