Cathedral of the Deep Outskirts

"Gold-Rank Adventurer are at the very top of the adventurer pyramid. They are few in number, powerful, and each has a unique skill."

"The criteria for promotion from Silver Rank to Gold are extremely stringent. One must pass nineteen tests to finally advance. Every successful candidate is a true prodigy. The Gold-level team is a force to be reckoned with. As they travel, legends adapted from their deeds spread throughout the land!"

"It is the greatest honor for our Guzha Squad to be able to learn from the legendary Hasawi Squad!"

In the Zane Dungeon, in the Impaled Corpse Forest, before the bonfire in the Cathedral of the Deep.

A burly, bearded man bowed respectfully, his fingers constantly fidgeting with the hem of his clothes, revealing his nervousness.

"It's our honor!" Behind him, the seven-man Guzha Squad, including him, bowed in unison to the three people in front of them.

Those three are the legendary Gold-Rank Adventurer!

"Actually, that's all just the guild bragging." Captain "Flash" Fingel was already used to people's respectful manners and always had a light smile on his face.

"Actually, there are quite a few gold-level players. Every year, about ten people can pass the assessment. It's just that the guild only promotes a few specific teams, creating the impression that there are very few gold-level players."

"Is that so?" The bearded man felt like he had tried to flatter someone who had backfired, and cold sweat broke out on his brow.

Their Guzha Squad was a newly promoted Silver Rank team. They happened to run into Fingel near the portal and were overjoyed as if they had seen their idol. They praised him to no end and were surprised that they were able to get Fingri to agree to let them go into the dungeon with them to learn.

This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity; how many people can actually learn from a Gold-level expert?

"Don't be nervous, we're human too, we're not going to eat you." Fingel turned to his two companions behind him and said, "Why don't you two smile a little? I'm scared."

To be fair, Fingel was very approachable and down-to-earth, but the other two were the ones who really made the bearded man sweat profusely.

"Huff."

Hoarse, heavy breathing echoed nearby. To Fingel's left was an unusually tall figure, at least two and a half meters tall, completely encased in steel armor. Even the gaps between the armor plates seemed to emanate magic, radiating a chilling aura that kept strangers at bay. At that moment, the helmet of the giant armor, modeled after a bison skull, turned towards the bearded man, startling him so much that he quickly turned his head to the right.

To Fingel's right was something equally bizarre: a two-meter-tall, tattered Straw Man. The Straw Man was decorated with many childlike little ornaments, seemingly intended to make it look more approachable. However, the constantly throbbing straw and the grotesque smile made it look like a monster that would eat children in the middle of the night.

If you didn't know they were two Gold-Rank Adventurer, you might mistake them for monsters. In comparison, Fingel's art style is so refreshing and normal.

The taste of the strong is something the bearded man can't understand.

The steel armor is named "Hell March" Matilda.

The Straw Man is named "Vitality Vine" Aleya.

Matilda nodded to the people as a greeting.

Aleya stretched out two small white hands from the Straw Man's body and made a heart shape with her hands towards the people.

Although they didn't say anything, people felt they had already figured out the personalities of these two people.

"Alright, we've come all this way early in the morning, let's get going," Fingel said, looking at the dark path ahead, obscured by dense trees. "If you want guidance from me, then go ahead and let me see how you work together."

"Why?"

The bearded man was taken aback; he had thought they were going to follow behind Hasawi Squad and watch them perform.

Fingel saw through his thoughts and laughed, "You can't learn anything just by watching our fighting style. There's a huge gap between us."

Speaking the truth like this wouldn't hurt anyone at all. The bearded man turned to his companions and shouted, "Cheer up, everyone, and show us your best!"

Faced with the dimly lit path, the Guzha Squad adopted a conservative approach. Shield guards carrying spears or short swords walked in front, Warrior drew their weapons and kept watch on the surroundings, and rangers used their powerful senses to search for traps. There was nothing in the roadside bushes except for piles of harmless wooden barrels, while the mage launched a series of floating light orbs forward as a light source.

Their tactical coordination appears to be standard and typical, with no major issues.

But the instant the floating orbs were launched, before the light could even illuminate the surroundings, a rocket-propelled arrow shot out at the perfect angle, instantly blasting the entire series of floating orbs apart!

The advantage of the Floating Orb magic is that it cannot be destroyed once it is fully formed; it will only disappear automatically as the magic power stored inside is exhausted.

However, this stability comes at the cost of an obvious weakness: the light sphere is very unstable before it takes shape. If attacked, it will explode like Light Bullet, causing no damage but blinding people.

Generally, the unstable state will only last for less than a second, and there is basically no problem.

The unexpected attack caused the orb of light to flash, forcing the shield guards at the front to close their eyes.

The next moment, countless red lights flashed in the jungle. No, those weren't red lights, but crimson flames burning on the arrows!

All that could be heard was the clicking sound of machinery, and an Arrow Rain, no less powerful than the one that blasted the streets of Ringed City, rained down on the crowd.

Fortunately, even though the shield bearer was blind, he did not forget to raise his shield. The enchanted shield automatically unfolded a larger magical barrier to block the arrows. Each arrow was extremely powerful and could easily penetrate the armor. If the mage had not continuously supplied power to the shield, the magical barrier would probably have shattered by now.

They attacked in the direction from which the arrows came. The dense Arrow Rain indicated that there was more than one enemy, so the mage chose the chain attack spell [Chain Lightning], and the ranger switched to explosive arrows.

A thunderous flash and a violent explosion came from the darkness. The number of people's souls increased slightly, but before they could check if there were any enemies left, several barking dogs rushed in front of them. They were several black hunting dogs that smelled strange!

"Just a mere hunting dog!"

To conserve magic, the shield guard temporarily withdrew the barrier and used his spear to pierce a black hound, which instantly died, but its body suddenly exploded with black liquid, splashing onto the shield and everyone else.

The black liquid sprayed by these hunting dogs was enough to stain the entire area, and a pungent odor filled the air.

"This smell is..." The bearded man's expression changed, and he shouted, "It's oil! Quick, use fire retardant—"

Before he could finish speaking, a dense array of flames lit up ahead again, no smaller than before!

Oh no, it's too late!

To make matters worse, a wanderer, trying to avoid the black oil, rolled into the bushes and smashed the wooden barrels scattered everywhere, which were all full of it.

"Gunpowder!"

"Boom!"

The intense firelight illuminated the dim path, and small mushroom clouds slowly rose. Under the firelight, on the raised earthen slopes on both sides of the road, there were about thirty wandering ghost soldiers wielding crossbows called "Avelyn" and wearing tattered black cloths. This number was the last one left after being killed by the Chain Lightning and explosive bolts.

Avelyn

[The largest and most powerful crossbow. It has a metal string and requires considerable strength to operate.]

[Weapon Skill: Impact]

In Dark Souls III, this Yugi only had a few archer ghost soldiers with hounds. Thane, however, multiplied their numbers several times over, stuffed the hounds with oil, and piled up explosive gunpowder barrels in the grass—a must-try in video Yugi.

With such intense burning and explosion, surely no one could survive?

"Help! Hey, am I still alive?"

The shield guard had already crouched down with his head in his hands, begging for help, when he looked up and was met with Fingel's smiling face.

He raised his right arm, and the raging flames gathered in his palm, as if an invisible Black Hole was there to devour the flames and save people from being burned.

What about the explosion?

Dense metal plates floated in the air, combining to form an indestructible barrier, protecting people from the explosion damage. It was Matilda who made the move, and upon closer inspection, her armor seemed to be slightly smaller.

A magician was so frightened that he fainted. The Straw Man Aleya then pierced several parts of his body with straws, and the magician instantly woke up.

"Lord Fingel," with his bushy beard, looked ashamed, realizing he had almost made a mess of things as soon as he arrived.

"Just call me 'sir,' don't use any 'sir' or 'master.'"

Fingel clenched his fist, extinguishing all the flames. He drew his twin swords from his waist and stood still. At that moment, the fire rain came again, and he slashed out endless afterimages in place. No arrow could break through his barrier.

"Here you go."

Fingel paused for a moment, then resumed his chaotic slashing, sending a barrage of fiery blade energy flying in all directions, instantly engulfing the wandering soul soldiers.

Just as the bearded man was about to cheer, he suddenly saw several blades of energy flying towards him!

"Ah?"

There was no time to dodge. Fortunately, Matilda stretched out her strong arm to deflect the blade's energy, and then kicked Fingel, who was flailing about in place, to the ground.

A cool, intellectual voice came from beneath the armor, sounding somewhat subdued due to the heavy mask. "With others around, don't get too carried away."

"I just can't stop."

Fingel shrugged helplessly, walked over and personally helped up the bearded man, saying, "Sorry, are you hurt?"

"No, no, I wouldn't dare." The bearded man was a little scared. How could he possibly deserve an apology from Gold-Rank Adventurer?

"Let's go. You've shown a lot of problems this time. We can talk about it on the way."

With the crisis averted, the group continued their journey. Aleya tapped each of the frightened adventurers on the head with a green light (Tranquilizing Spell), and everyone was indescribably excited. Matilda's armor returned to its previous imposing size, while Fingel explained the mistakes the bearded group had made in great detail.

The bearded man was moved by what he heard. He could tell that the other person genuinely cared about him. How many people in one's life can one truly meet who genuinely want you to improve?

Another question suddenly popped into his mind.

According to rumors, the three adventurers in Hasawi Squad used to belong to different teams and were all forced to leave. Yes, Fingel, Matilda, and Aleya were all abandoned by other teams.

Looking at them now, these three are all unique talents. What team would abandon such gems?

Surely they don't have some unacceptable flaw?

The outer path is short; once you pass through it, you'll find the Cathedral of the Deep.

After admiring it for a while, people found that the deep, Cathedral of the Deep did not give them a sense of grandeur, but rather a feeling of intense malice that sent chills down their spines.

"This doesn't look like the main entrance." Matilda stepped forward and pushed open the door. Inside was a small chapel, which was full and probably could only hold a few dozen people. It looked quite ordinary.

But to everyone's delight, a bonfire stood quietly in the middle of the church. And what was even more surprising was that after lighting it, people could be teleported back to the Firelink Shrine from there. People also learned the name of this little church – the Cleansing Chapel.

Which way should we go next?

There is a door on both the left and right sides, which seems to be the path leading to the interior of the church.

Matilda pushed open the door on the left.

[Cannot be opened from this side]

"**"

Concise and to the point.

Push the door on the right.

The gate remained completely unmoved.

Aren't these two sentences saying the same thing?!

They can easily break down doors with their strength, but if they choose to destroy a door marked "Cannot be opened from this side," all the rewards behind the door will disappear. The Zane Dungeon always seems to come up with some frustrating things in strange places.

"This way, I've found the path."

Aleya stood outside the door, greeting people. It turned out she had found a mountain path leading upwards, which seemed to be the only way to go.

As the group walked upwards, they killed several wandering spirits along the way. Soon, a scene with terrifying elements appeared before them—a cemetery.

"Perfect, those Living Dead look weak. You can practice on them, just like I suggested earlier." Fingel patted his beard.

"Um!"

The bearded man nodded heavily, vowing to perform well and never disappoint Fingel again!

The cemetery was filled with Living Dead, but unlike the Living Dead in the past, the Living Dead here were all pale.

Paleness indicates malnutrition, so these Living Dead must be weaklings. Look, there are so many of them, you can't see the end of them.

The number of piles equals the number of small fish; the perfect formula holds true.

"Go! Take down these bastards!"