Heroes and the Sun

The sound of a campfire is natural white noise, allowing listeners to relax unconsciously.

However, Elsa is unable to relax at all; her mind is in a state of high tension.

"."

The campfire seemed to become a clear dividing line, separating her from Solaire.

Solaire sat there, examining the small sculpture, which was clearly modeled after him, with great interest, occasionally praising its exquisite craftsmanship.

Of course it's exquisite. This small sculpture, titled "Praising the Sun Sun Warrior," is a limited edition with only 300 pieces in existence. Each one is handcrafted by skilled artisans and is quite expensive.

You ask why a mere handmade label can command such a high price? Earl Ka Rong didn't know either. He thought that sculptures mass-produced using earth magic were more durable and resistant to grass. However, mass-produced earth magic sculptures were mainly aimed at children, while finely handcrafted ones were aimed at adults.

But Solaire still seems somewhat confused.

Why is the body of this miniature sculpture so small, yet its head is so large? It was his first time encountering this form of "art," and he felt it wasn't imposing enough, but rather rather endearing.

Another question is, why does Elsa have her own statue on her body?

Elsa would occasionally glance up at him, wishing she had X-ray vision to see what kind of expression Solaire had under his iron helmet.

She was restless, her fingers repeatedly twirling her trouser leg, thinking to herself:

That's strange. Why is he staring at the sculpture? Shouldn't he be oblivious to ordinary afterimages?

Someone tried sending a small sculpture to the blacksmith Andre, but he didn't react at all, as if he couldn't see it. The same was true for the other afterimages.

Why is it that when he arrived in Solaire, he not only saw the small sculptures but also praised their craftsmanship?

If she had Image Stone, she would have loved to film this scene and give it to Lu Lu Wo so that the all-knowing Luluwo could analyze it properly.

However, Lu Lu Wo would never understand.

"Well, um, I can argue, oh no, I can explain!"

Elsa bit her tongue as she made a sound, looking a little embarrassed. What if Solaire mistook her for a stalker or something?

"Don't be nervous. I can tell you're not a malicious person." Solaire's voice remained gentle, not quite as cheerful as usual, perhaps because he didn't want to frighten the already nervous child.

The concept of "female" doesn't exist in the world of Dark Souls, so he couldn't think of anything like stalkers; he just found the sculpture interesting.

Although that's what she said, Elsa was clearly not going to calm down with just a few words; she didn't even realize she was so nervous.

Was it because she realized the other person was stronger than her? No, that doesn't mean she's the kind of person who admires strength.

What would the other party's reaction be if she revealed everything about the dungeon here? Elsa's mouth moved, but in the end, she didn't choose to court death and instead chose to tell the "truth".

"These are sculptures made by those who worship you."

"Worship me?"

These words only confused Solaire more.

"That's the one. You've helped so many people along the way," Elsa said, feeling like she was talking the most today. "Those people made this sculpture to commemorate you, and it just so happens that it ended up in my hands. Actually, I admire you a lot too."

Her voice trailed off as she spoke, noticing that Solaire had fallen silent.

What's wrong? Did I say something wrong? But I'm not exactly lying, am I? It's true that many people admire Solaire because they received his care in Oolacile, and that's why the Bede Family created the small sculpture.

Moreover, it is likely true that "Solaire has helped many people." Many adventurers subtly inquired about this in Oolacile and learned that Solaire had been to places such as the Undead Town and the Sain Ancient City. Given his personality, he would definitely lend a hand to anyone suffering on the road, right?

"This is really something," Solaire, staring at the small sculpture in his hand, as if he were remarking. "What I did is not worthy of being commemorated like this. Sculptures are something that only heroes or gods are entitled to."

Upon hearing this, Elsa suddenly remembered the "Adventure Chronicles" that Lu Lu Wo had shown her, which were sold by adventurers. One of them was a collection of Solaire's works, which showed Solaire taking the hits for adventurers in various ways. No matter how reckless the adventurers were, the Sun Warrior could solve more than 90% of the problems, even if the adventurers plunged headlong into a group of monsters in the abyss.

At first, the adventurers who were filming were just doing it for fun, but after being rescued so many times, they started to look at Solaire with stars in their eyes.

Unless someone has an extremely low moral standard, no one should dislike a cheerful and helpful Sun Warrior.

Seeing Solaire still muttering to himself, "I'm just an ordinary person chasing the sun, not worthy of being remembered. It's better to remember the heroes," Elsa suddenly displayed her emotional intelligence and said:

Is it possible that you're already a hero in someone else's eyes?

These words made Solaire tremble, and he suddenly looked up at Elsa.

This made Elsa, who had just been marveling at her own eloquence, break out in a cold sweat again. She chuckled and said:

"Look, didn't you say you were chasing after Lord Gwyn's light and wanted to become the sun?" She raised her arms and drew a big circle. "Lord Gwyn and then devoted himself to linking the fire to protect the world, so he is the greatest sun."

Solaire nodded in agreement. "As long as you praise Lord Gwyn, we're good friends."

"You've experienced so many adventures and helped so many people on your journey to find the sun. You may not realize it, but the light you radiate has indeed influenced many people, so..."

Elsa drew a small circle next to the big sun and said:

"So you're already the sun in some people's hearts, or maybe a little sun?" she quickly added, afraid that Solaire would think that calling her the sun was disrespectful to Gwyn, so she specifically added the word "little".

"."

Solaire suddenly stood up.

Elsa shuddered. What happened? Did she say something wrong? So Solaire wants to destroy her in the name of the sun?

Unexpectedly, Solaire simply picked up his ordinary shield and weapon, extended his hand towards her, and said in a complex tone:

"Let's go, the journey to find the sun continues, let's go together."

"Did I successfully win him over?" Elsa was surprised; she could tell that Solaire was trying to change the subject.

But since she had already received the other party's promise of help, why should she ask any further questions? So she stood up briskly, showing great enthusiasm.

Here, take this back.

Solaire returned the small sculpture to her, saying, "Thank you for your praise, but my practice is not yet qualified. The word 'sun' is not appropriate for me."

"How could that be?" she was about to retort.

"So, I'll keep working hard to earn people's respect, hahaha!"

In the blink of an eye, he let out his signature hearty laughter again, instantly brightening everyone's mood.

If this were Yugi, a notification would probably pop up at this point.

Solaire Sun Warrior has joined the team! (Temporary)

With Solaire's help, Elsa was like a tiger with wings—no, she was like a tiger with wings; Solaire was the real tiger.

Judging from how the opponent had stopped her hand strike with one hand, Solaire must be very strong, perhaps even stronger than her. Moreover, he was a battle-hardened Warrior, and Elsa felt that she was no match for him.

But when the spiral staircase returned to the middle level, and he saw the Sun Warrior throw two Lightning Spear and then finish off the Gargoyle that had once drawn him into a fierce battle with two more blows, chopping it off as easily as chopping off a chick's head.

Elsa's mouth opened wide enough to swallow the entire Happiny.

It was only then that she remembered she still had Jack's Wine with her, so she offered it to him with both hands, her expression very respectful.

"What's this?"

"It is my way of showing my respect to you."

They downed a drink in one gulp and walked together toward the other side of the road with the Gargoyle handrail.

That is the castle that the Brass Woman spoke of, the true residence of Lord Gwyn, the very heart of Anor Londo.

As expected of the center, the two encountered four Giant Guards as soon as they walked over, but with Solaire there, they were no threat.

The main gate remained completely still, and the small door on the left was equally unopenable. Only the small door on the right was wide open, welcoming people to come in.

As Elsa ventured deeper into the castle where the gods resided, she couldn't help but feel nervous and dared not speak loudly.

Silver Knight are everywhere; they are rare monsters outside, but they appear in large numbers here.

Although Solaire is caring, Elsa still finds herself in a tough fight when facing hordes of Silver Knight.

On one side was the magnificent and glorious interior of the Leyndell, and on the other side were the murderous Silver Knight. She was admiring the scenery while fighting her enemies.

The Leyndell is exceptionally beautiful under the setting sun, captivating all who behold it.

"Is the only way to see this kind of scenery to come to the dangerous Painting World?"

Elsa sighed softly.

"If only I could see Anor Londo in the regular Zane Dungeon."

After entering the Leyndell, the monsters' strength increased significantly. Although Elsa had Solaire by her side, Elsa still felt very tired.

The only difference from before is that having teammates greatly increases my sense of security.

As mentioned earlier, Gong Qiying arranged the pace of Anor Londo very tightly.

Once the adventurers find Solaire, there's only one experience left in this Painting World—

Boss battle.

Shortly after, when Elsa saw the white Fog Gate appear before her, Elsa murmured to herself:

"Something's not right. How come we saw the Fog Gate so soon?"

They hadn't found the mechanism to open the main gate, nor had they pushed open the side door on the left. It felt like there were still many places in the huge castle that they hadn't explored.

As a result, we walked along and ended up directly at the iconic Fog Gate of the boss battle.

"Let's go and challenge the legendary hero."

Solaire was the first to touch the Fog Gate.