The Tarnished first teleported to the Stranded Graveyard through a Site of Grace, then rode Torrent to the Coastal Cave, where he had previously cleared out the Demi-Humans. Before they parted, Boc had learned where he was headed and told him that the route to the Island happened to run through that very cave.
A branching passage inside the cave connected to the Island, allowing him to reach it from there.
After landing on the Island and rekindling its Grace, he found a huge, ruined church before him. Inside stood the remains of an Ancient Dragon that had long since turned to stone, along with a crumbling Ancient Dragon statue. Beneath those ancient remains lay an altar glowing red.
"This must be it." The Tarnished approached the Dragon Communion Altar, feeling the power emanating from within at close range. Even though the Ancient Dragon had long since died, the power it held could still reveal itself to the world through the altar.
"This seems to be only a small, basic church..." Melina suddenly appeared to point this out.
"They come in different sizes?"
"Yes. Since it is a faith, naturally its places of worship vary in scale. This is only a small island, after all. Even at its height, there probably weren't many people here, so the faith would have been relatively limited..." Melina answered almost every question he asked.
"Then the difference in scale must affect things too." After all, worshipping a Golden Bough could hardly grant more power than worshipping a Minor Erdtree, let alone the Erdtree itself. Dragon worship presumably worked the same way.
"The scale determines the power of faith you can wield. When you consume a dragon heart through an altar, one with a stronger faith will grant you more power. A weaker one will be less effective."
Ultimately, the power of dragon worship originated from the Ancient Dragons, and some Ancient Dragons were stronger than others. This place was desolate, and the remains here were somewhat smaller than those of the Ancient Dragons he had seen in the past. It had probably been a juvenile.
"Oh, that makes sense. Just like Erdtree incantations have different ranks, right?" The Tarnished glanced at her, and Melina nodded.
"Well, a basic one is fine." The Tarnished did not particularly mind.
"Then simply hold the dragon heart level with the altar... The altar's power will flow into it. Once you swallow the heart, you can make the dragon's power your own."
Following Melina's instructions, the Tarnished began the Dragon Communion Ritual. Red draconic power poured into the lifeless dragon heart. In an instant, the dead heart began beating as though alive again, its thunderous pounding deafening.
"Quite the spectacle." The Tarnished's lips curled, then he opened his mouth and swallowed the entire dragon heart. Strangely, once it entered his mouth, it did not feel like chewing meat. Instead, it dissolved directly into streams of pure power that merged with him.
The dragon's immense power erupted from the Tarnished's body. Melina stepped back several paces to avoid the shock waves, then saw phantom dragon claws appear over his hands. Beyond Melina's view, draconic might surfaced in his eyes. With a casual swipe, he gouged the ground before him dozens of meters deep.
"He can use incantations without a catalyst..." Melina was startled. As far as she knew, only those closely connected to the source of a particular type of incantation could cast it directly, such as Marika, the representative of the Golden Order, or the Giant, who possessed innate flame power.
Why could the Tarnished before her do the same?
"Even if it's only a Flying Dragon's power, ordinary creatures can't compare." The Tarnished rubbed the arm he had just swung. Heat radiated beneath his gauntlet in the wake of that release of energy, and white vapor drifted through it into the air.
"What are you staring at, girl?" the Tarnished asked when he saw Melina standing in a daze.
"Nothing..." Melina quickly recovered from her surprise. "How did you cast an incantation directly...?"
"Oh, that? It might have something to do with my past."
"Would you tell me about it...?" For the first time, Melina showed an interest in something.
"Nothing could be better than you taking an interest." Seeing Melina act a little less wooden, the Tarnished breathed a sigh of relief. The girl did have some feelings after all.
And so the Tarnished told Melina about his past, from before he had joined the Golden Expeditionary Army. By then, however, he had already left his homeland and come to the Lands Between. His goal at the time had been to travel throughout the Lands Between and fight its many powerful warriors. He had been born fascinated by the world, and even more so by battle.
In the past, the Lands Between had teemed with powerful beings: the Giant, the forces of the Rune of Death that warred against gold, and the Ancient Dragons who stood apart from those battlefields. Normally, a new age could only begin after the previous overlord had been defeated, but the Ancient Dragons were different.
Their king had vanished long ago, leaving the Ancient Dragons without a leader. They were immensely powerful, but they were no fools. They knew their age was over. Their fate had been sealed the moment their king and god abandoned them and their home collapsed.
And so the Ancient Dragons of that time withdrew from worldly affairs and lived with the Beastmen in the City in the Sky.
Although most Ancient Dragons remained in the City in the Sky, some curious ones would descend to the surface. One day, two Ancient Dragons grew tired of the ruined scenery of the City in the Sky, unchanged for so long, and came to the Lands Between, which were now utterly different from the past.
It was then that the Tarnished, traveling through the Lands Between, encountered those Ancient Dragons on their own journey. The two seemed to be related. Though intelligent, Ancient Dragons had spent their lives in an age of war, and their burning passion for battle could not be extinguished. Yet they knew their age had long since passed, so they invited the Tarnished to a friendly spar.
Savage Red Lightning stained the skies of the Lands Between crimson. The terrifying combat prowess and hard scales of the two Ancient Dragons had, for a time, kept the Tarnished at a disadvantage. But he was a born warrior, and he only grew fiercer as the battle wore on. Their clash lasted an unknown length of time and reached such a tremendous scale that it even drew the attention of Godfrey, who had only recently become Elden Lord.
Watching the small, ravenous wolf dart between the enormous dragons on the battlefield, Godfrey felt his own blood boil. He shouted that he wanted to join in, only to be stopped by the Chancellor behind him.
In the end, the Tarnished's blade cut through the Ancient Dragons' scales and tore their flesh. Bathed in pure Ancient Dragon blood, he claimed victory in the battle. The two Ancient Dragons conceded defeat and, to his surprise, spoke in human language, promising to fight him again someday. The Tarnished gladly accepted.
Perhaps that Battle of the Two Dragons had brought him into resonance with dragons. Not long afterward, Godfrey personally invited him to join the Golden Expeditionary Army.
"I never imagined you had lived in such a distant age..." Melina was momentarily stunned after hearing the Tarnished's account.
"Perhaps those two Ancient Dragons' blood is still inside me. It must have become part of me by now." Back then, he had not known what use dragon blood might have. Now he had stumbled upon a way to use it.
"So Godwyn wasn't the only one to make friends through battle with dragons..." Melina looked into the distance.
"Of course not. That lad probably took inspiration from the Battle of the Two Dragons." The Tarnished chuckled.
"..." Melina was speechless. The Tarnished before her truly was extraordinary. Perhaps he really could fulfill their accord...
"I remember Yura saying there's an altar in Caelid too. You know about that, right?"
"Yes," Melina confirmed. "The altar in Caelid should be the largest one still in existence."
Looking at the now-dark altar, the Tarnished sighed. It seemed he would have to go to Caelid after all. Still, there was no hurry, and he had no spare dragon hearts to use.
After exploring the Island and finding nothing else of note, the Tarnished left and returned to the Stranded Graveyard.
"Back here again." The Tarnished looked at the fog gate, weighing the Stonesword Key in his hand.
"...?" Melina studied the key in his hand with a puzzled expression.
"What is it?"
"It seems to have been used before... How did you obtain it?"
"You can tell?" The Tarnished had not expected Melina to notice such a tiny detail.
"..." Melina nodded gently. "It will still work, though."
"I thought I'd removed it without damaging it." The Tarnished examined the Stonesword Key and rubbed his chin.
"I mean the energy inside the key... not its appearance."
"Huh? Oh... I see." He really had not examined the power within it. The girl certainly had a keen sense for energy.
"To tell you the truth, I pried it out of an Imp Statue's mouth." The Tarnished gave a little chuckle.
"..." Melina said nothing. Her expression remained calm, but the Tarnished could sense another emotion in the set of her brows. Almost all of this girl's expressions were barely perceptible.
"Are you thinking I'm some kind of bandit?" The Tarnished stared straight at Melina.
"..."
"No..." Melina turned her head away and took two steps back.
"And you still say no? Did you seriously just take two steps back?" The Tarnished's mouth twitched. The girl might not say much, but she certainly had feelings.
"But you guessed right. I am a bandit." The Tarnished made no attempt to hide it. He had never considered himself some shining paragon of virtue. He simply followed his whims and took whatever he could use. He had no desire to lose out or waste his time.
"..." Melina watched the Tarnished's one-man show without expression.
"Just kidding. I found this key."
"Is that so...?"
"Then I used it and pried it back out." The Tarnished burst into laughter.
"..." The speechlessness in Melina's eyes deepened. This was the first time she had encountered such a talkative Tarnished. Was he too lonely? Though she had not interacted with many other people herself, none of the Tarnished in the hall had been quite so frivolous.
"What a strange look you're giving me." The Tarnished felt uncomfortable under Melina's gaze, which seemed full of concern for an elderly man living alone.
"Are you... not going inside?" Melina turned toward the fog gate, ignoring his complaint.
"I am. Of course I am." The Tarnished raised the key, aimed at the Imp's mouth, and tossed it straight in. However, the Imp Statue before them consisted of two Imps stacked on top of each other, so it required a second key. He took out another Stonesword Key.
"You... Where did this one come from?" Melina looked at the key, then at the Tarnished's expression.
"I bought this one. I'm not lying." He really was not lying to her. He had spent quite a few runes buying this second key from a Wandering Merchant he happened to encounter outside the Demi-Human Queen's ruins on the Weeping Peninsula, specifically to use it here.
He walked up to the Imp Statue and inserted the other Stonesword Key into the upper Imp's mouth. With a click, the key unlocked the seal, and the fog gate began to dissipate, revealing an enormous space before the Tarnished and Melina.
Before you continue