The Foot Soldier All Along
The secret to success in life lies in whether you dare to fight when surrounded by powerful enemies.
Give it a shot, and you might just turn a bicycle into a motorcycle. Give it your all.
The Forging Golem stood at the passage between Firelink Shrine and the Forest Area, showing no sign of leaving. For Luo Jieer and his companions, if they were to fight now...
It's probably just that the motorcycles were turned into dump trucks, the difference being that they were among the batch that were hit by dump trucks.
Fortunately, their destination was Farron Keep, Forging Golem couldn't catch up. Surely the Forest Area wouldn't be connected to Farron Keep?
Really?
Stared at intently by the Forging Golem, Da Er and the others remained uneasy even during their rest, always feeling that the monster might rush in and give them a loving hug.
However, it didn't happen in the end, which confirmed the rumor that monsters from other areas wouldn't invade Firelink Shrine under normal circumstances.
[Hunting Handbook: Scenarios]
[Name: Firelink Shrine]
[The starting point where heroes embarked on their path of spreading the fire, a place once bustling with activity, where many legendary tales began.]
However, this may also be the final destination for the disheartened.
Soon after, the group, whose condition had improved, finally decided to head to the Farron Keep.
"Goodbye," Luo Jieer waved to the Forging Golem with lingering fear.
He could sense that this monster wasn't particularly strong, at least not as strong as the Crucible Knight, but how could it be so resilient?
If we can't break through any defenses, we might as well stop fighting.
Da Er's sword broke, Luo Jieer used magic to temporarily make him a magical longsword to make do. It was a bit of a hassle, though, as the longsword had to be recharged every ten minutes or so, otherwise it would turn to ashes like Dio sunbathing.
An Ti Li has two battle pets with broken teeth, which has severely reduced their combat power. At this moment, besides the fire-breathing bird, she only has two of her last remaining pets.
However, she has now pulled out her whip and is ready to fight herself.
Good heavens, the trainer himself has entered the fray!
Upon entering the Farron Keep once again and smelling the stench in the air, Da Er felt as if he had returned home.
"You've brought enough antidotes, haven't you?" he asked the monster duo.
Luo Jieer opened his pouch and showed him a bottle of antidote lying casually inside.
"Just one bottle?" Da Er stared at Luo Jieer's face. They were all mature adults; how could they not be fully prepared?
"One bottle is enough, because I brought this with me,"
Luo Jieer pulled out several magic scrolls, which he had specially commissioned from the Sparkfire Church to have the Flame Monk inscribe after hearing that Da Er wanted them to explore Farron Keep together. The names of the spells—or rather, prayers—inscribed on them were:
The Flame's Healing!
The prayers of fire-wielding martial arts practitioners ignite flames within their bodies, burning away pathogens and reducing the accumulation of poison and Scarlet Corruption.
The slight burning of the user is as if to remind people of the horror of fire.
Although it was a prayer from the Elden Ring, the Flame Monk, with his powerful understanding, interpreted the description of the fire-wielding monks as followers of Gwyn, and he believed that "remembering the terror of fire" was Gwyn's warning to people to have awe for the Initial Flame.
There's only a two-word difference between Flame Monk and a flame martial arts cultivator; he felt it was a predestined fate!
I should carry on the Gwyn of fire!
So when Luo Jieer asked him to copy the scroll, he was overjoyed, feeling that the influence of the Vulcan had increased even further.
Looking at the scroll in Luo Jieer's hand, Da Er suddenly felt that his antidote was far too weak.
Is this what connections are? You can't compare.
With the addition of two strong teammates, Da Er abandoned parkour and switched to a more steady and methodical fighting style.
Soon, the first beacon tower was extinguished.
The second one followed immediately.
Standing at the foot of the hill where the second beacon fire had been set up, Da Er and Luo Jieer were giving each other instructions on the details to pay attention to when fighting the Dementors.
"The Soul Eater uses a red magic that drains the life force of anyone caught, leaving them mentally exhausted. Once caught, they are essentially dead."
"Its fighting style is also quite swift, and you can be Execute if you are not careful. You must be careful when fighting at close range."
"Given the strength of the Soul Eater, it should be one of the best in the Abyss Faction, perhaps even comparable to the Crucible Knight. I suspect there is only one in Farron Keep, and the Undead Legion is on guard against it."
Da Er's first two speculations have some merit, but the latter are purely subjective conjectures.
Luo Jieer was completely taken aback. Comparable to the Crucible Knight? Really? The former final boss and signature monster of the Zane Dungeon is now so worthless?
But Da Er's expression was quite serious, and Luo Jieer couldn't help but believe him a little.
An Ti Li flipped through the Hunting Handbook and came up with a new hypothesis:
"Since the manual says that the Ghrū are allies of the Undead Legion, and the Soul Eaters belong to the Abyss, if we don't kill these Ghrū, won't they fight the Soul Eaters that appear after the fire is extinguished?"
"Great idea!" Luo Jieer clapped.
Da Er's eyes lit up; perhaps this method could really be given a try.
This generation of adventurers has all learned to analyze backstories; their quality is truly impressive.
They stealthily climbed the hill from the side and, after a sneak attack, successfully used binding magic to control several of the Ghrū.
"Get ready, I'm going to put out the fire,"
Da Er snapped the flames out, and as the video ended, the binding magic of the Ghrū was finished, and the magical ropes binding their bodies naturally dissipated.
They roared at the adventurers a few times, but just as they were about to attack, they suddenly stopped and turned their heads in unison.
Just then, a Soul Eater walked up and looked up, meeting the eyes of the Ghrū.
"."
The Soul Eater froze for a moment; we had no way of knowing whether he was overly surprised or thinking about something else, but in any case, the Ghrū pounced on him.
"Well done!" Da Er's spirits lifted; he hadn't expected Ghrū and the Soul Eater to actually fight each other.
The Zane Dungeon holds so many surprises!
"Hmph," An Ti Li, who had proposed the idea, straightened her back with a proud expression.
"Alright, alright, let's finish this quickly,"
A chaotic battle is the perfect opportunity for someone like Luo Jieer to shine; you have to take advantage of the 'Old sixes' to join in and launch a sneak attack.
After all, these few Ghrū seem to be dying soon.
Aside from being caught off guard at the beginning, the Soul Eater was quite brave in the battle against Ghrū, and every time he swung his sword, it would inevitably bring a trail of blood.
If it really came down to a fight, the Soul-Sucking Ghost would be much stronger than Ghrū.
Da Er immediately joined the battle. If he had been somewhat afraid of the Soul Eaters before, now that he had the help of his companions, he was no longer afraid at all.
No brothers, no Dark Souls.
An Ti Li pulled out her most treasured possession. Just as the Dementor and Da Er's swords clashed and sparks flew, dozens of tough tentacles suddenly emerged from the ground and firmly bound his hands and feet.
This is a hybrid of a tentacle monster and an octopus, bred by An Ti Li using her unique methods.
Octopuses have horns on their heads that can harden at any time, allowing them to burrow underground and launch surprise attacks when their enemies are off guard!
A fierce battle unfolded on the hill.
After the Soul Eaters appeared, the Ghrū stopped caring about the adventurers and focused solely on fighting the Abyss, which moved the onlookers.
Although Ghrū is really annoying when he attacks them, he gives me a strange sense of security when he's on their team.
"Pfft!"
When a Ghrū tried to attack the Soul Eater but was dodged and instead slapped Da Er, who was standing nearby, he instantly felt uneasy.
Friendship wounds are always disgusting!
After launching a few sneak attacks, Luo Jieer retreated to a distance and became a support character like Delu, specializing in using spells to disrupt the Soul Eater's battle.
In the chaotic brawl, the Soul-Sucking Ghost couldn't unleash much of his martial arts skills.
After an unknown amount of time, he fell unwillingly into a pool of blood.
"Huff, huff"
Da Er, panting heavily, clutched his left arm, which had been slashed so badly that the bone was exposed, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
He defeated the Soul-Sucker! He finally succeeded!
Unlike Ghrū, the Soul Eater's body turns to dust after death, leaving nothing behind, including its weapons.
Luo Jieer stared thoughtfully in the direction where the Soul Eater had disappeared, his mind racing. He was thinking, "That's it?"
No, no, no, this isn't meant to belittle the Soul Eater. As an enemy, it was quite powerful, giving the trio a hard-fought and exhausting battle.
Previously, Da Er said that the Soul Eater could rival the Crucible Knight, which raised Luo Jieer's expectations. However, in reality, the combat experience seems to be similar to that of the Forging Golem.
It would be better to Forging Golem, since the Soul Eater has very low defense, but its ferocious fighting style is quite impressive.
Having witnessed the Soul-Sucking Ghost suck a Ghrū to death, he now desperately wants to study the effects and principles of the Soul-Sucking Ghost's magic.
Da Er eagerly flipped open the Hunting Handbook, wanting to see the introduction of the Soul Eater.
[Hunting Handbook: Monsters]
Name: Soul-Sucking Demon
Once well-trained knights of New Londo, they were corrupted by the abyss and transformed into monsters thirsting for humanity. When the flood that submerged the ancient kingdom receded, the soul-devourers reappeared in the world.
"."
Da Er paused for a moment, then caught a key word: "They".
So, it turns out that soul-devouring ghosts were mass-produced?
In that instant, he suddenly felt incredibly stupid for having conjectured so many things based on his imagination.
Luo Jieer seemed to guess what he was thinking, and went up to him, patting him on the shoulder reassuringly, and asked, "Do you want to go deeper? There's still plenty of time left."
Da Er raised his head and said firmly:
"Want!"
Shortly after, when they extinguished the third beacon fire, they encountered an entire squad of Soul Eaters.
"Maybe we shouldn't."
First update, still over 6,000 words to go today.