Tranquilizing Purple Mist

After dealing with the man who looked like a noble of the Mohgwyn Dynasty, the Tarnished had intended to leave, only to notice a Teardrop Scarab crawling toward him from nearby-or, more precisely, toward the Blood Noble who had been reduced to icy powder.

The approaching Teardrop Scarab kept scraping at the icy powder with its forelegs. The Tarnished silently watched it work. As its movements quickened, the light on its body grew brighter, until a crisp jingling sound rang out and a blood-red secret manifested in the air.

"Is this... the power of the Mohgwyn Dynasty? Teardrop Scarabs really are the Erdtree's favorites... They can even dig treasure out of a body that barely qualifies as remains."

The Teardrop Scarab paid no attention to the Tarnished behind it and quietly rolled its ball of dirt. The instant the ball took shape, the blood-red secret was drawn inside.

"So that's how it works... Interesting." He had long heard that Teardrop Scarabs were unusual, but he had never expected them to be capable of this. The Tarnished glanced at the scarab, then turned away. "Let it take that. I'm not interested in the Dynasty's power." When it came to manipulating blood... the Dynasty still had a long way to go.

The Tarnished drew ever closer to the location marked on the map, but the scenery around him began to look strange again. Unlike the Rose Church, however, the oddity only became apparent when he focused.

Liurnia was already shrouded in a thin mist, but now a pale purple haze mingled with it. The haze was faint, yet exceptionally soothing, and it curled around his neck as though fond of him.

"Is this... Trina?" The calming effect of the purple mist was identical to that of Trina's water lilies... The mist gradually drifted into the distance, seemingly guiding the Tarnished. Following it, he found the creature he had been searching for all along-the Glintstone Dragon, Smараg.

Its azure body looked almost identical to glintstone crystals. It was roughly the same size as Agheel, whom he had defeated before, but the glintstone aura surrounding it was dense. Its magical attacks were presumably formidable.

Yet the Tarnished smiled. The reason was simple: Smараg was currently enveloped in that purple mist. In other words, it was asleep.

"That fell right into my lap." He slowly approached Smараg, pressed a hand against its head, and drove his blade into its skull. Ice and the power of golden grace erupted within, and Smараg met its end in its sleep.

"What an immense amount of glintstone energy." The Tarnished pulled out the Curved Sword. Smараg's blood now coated the blade-blue blood surging with potent magic.

"If I absorb its Dragon Heart... could that save me the trouble of making a catalyst?" The Tarnished transformed his left hand into a dragon claw, tore open Smараg's chest, and extracted its still-beating azure heart.

Smараg's heart was very different from Agheel's. Agheel's could still be described as a lump of flesh, whereas Smараg's was somewhat hard. It closely resembled the primal glintstone that formed within sorcerers-the very core of a sorcerer.

It seemed this creature really had transformed from a human sorcerer. Was this the consequence of excessive use of Dragon Hearts?

"But why is Trina's mist here... Surely it isn't a coincidence."

"Ah... Tarnished favored by the Saint... this humble monk has finally found you." An aged voice, unable to conceal its joy, sounded from afar. It belonged to an old man in somewhat tattered clothes.

"Hmm...? Who are you?"

"My name is Rico... I am a devout Clergyman, and a follower of Lady Trina." The man introduced himself.

"Trina? I see."

"Tarnished favored by my lady... I have been searching for you." Rico was exceedingly respectful.

"You look like you have something to tell me."

"I have been seeking someone destined for her... I had a faint intuition. My lady has not appeared for a long time, but I sense Lady Trina's presence upon you. You must have dreamed of her."

"That's right."

"Ah, then there is no mistake... My lady has chosen you. In that case, this humble monk will follow you until we find Lady Trina."

"Trina did tell me where to find her. She told me to go to the Haligtree."

"The Haligtree..."

How strange. Wasn't Lord Miquella... Could my guess have been wrong?

"If my lady said so, that saves this humble monk the trouble of searching for a route." Rico nodded.

"If you head to the Haligtree, please be sure to take me with you," Rico earnestly requested.

"That's no problem, but I have other things to do. It may be a long time before I go to the Haligtree."

"Heh, that's all right. Such things cannot be forced... Tarnished, might you have an interest in wine?" Rico asked curiously.

"A little."

"Then have you heard of Dreambrew... the nectar of the Demigods, once forbidden to mortals?"

"No, I haven't." He had drunk the Demigods' refined wine before-Godwyn himself had brewed it back then-but he had never heard of this Dreambrew. It probably had something to do with Trina... So the girl really was a Demigod too. But whose child was she...?

"Oh... heh heh, believe it or not, this humble monk can make that wine," Rico said with some pride. "If you can help me find the ingredients, I can brew it for you. After all, the Lands Between are not kind to the Tarnished... I am old now and can no longer easily scavenge on battlefields. I'm sorry to trouble you."

"Sure. I'm curious about how it tastes too. What do you need me to collect?"

"Wonderful! In that case, take this." Rico handed the Tarnished a crystal-clear orb. It was exquisitely beautiful, with Trina's water lily carved atop it and a girl embracing the orb on its right side. She was presumably Trina herself.

"This is Lady Trina's crystal orb. Please keep it safe... What we call Dreambrew should really be described as a special kind of Sleep Mist Filtrate."

"So this purple mist is the ingredient for Dreambrew?"

"Exactly. Sleep is Lady Trina's symbol... It allows quiet peace to descend equally upon every living being... And this crystal orb can duplicate the purple mist."

Trina's doing pretty well for herself.

"Bring me the duplicated purple mist, and I can distill it into Dreambrew."

"Interesting... I understand." The Tarnished nodded.

"The Lands Between are far too chaotic. Only this wine can soothe that unrest." Rico sighed. "Lady Trina, please watch over us."

After talking with the Tarnished for a while longer, Rico left to find a new place to stay. He truly was old and no longer suited to fighting. Before parting, they each left a mark through which they could contact one another. The Tarnished then went to the location marked on the map, where he discovered the corpse of a sorcerer who had been bitten to death, a key clutched in his hand.

"What rotten luck those two had. Both dead." Seeing this, the Tarnished understood. The location marked on the Academy Gate Sorcerer's map had been a rendezvous point with this man, but one had died at the entrance to the Academy of Raya Lucaria and the other near Smараg.

The outcome was obvious: Smараg had bitten this man to death. After all, Smараg had a peculiar habit of devouring sorcerers.

"Hmm... I really want to head straight to the Academy of Raya Lucaria, but..." The Tarnished looked down at his Curved Sword. Ever since he had slain Smараg, the blade had been unstable, presumably affected by the dragon's enormous store of crystals.

"Forget it. The Academy isn't going to sprout legs and run away. I'll finish nurturing my weapon first, then go give those sorcerers a little surprise from a melee mage." The Tarnished changed course and teleported to Stormveil Castle through a Site of Grace.

He had essentially conquered the castle, and it remained without a ruler. The lesser soldiers inside would not trouble him either, making it an ideal base. The Tarnished bathed the entire Curved Sword in Smараg's blood, then thrust it into the ground to await its transformation into a catalyst.

"I wonder how long this will take..."

All of Stormveil Castle was utterly silent. It was hard to imagine such a large castle being this quiet. "Come to think of it, Kenneth asked me to find someone fit to be a ruler... I nearly forgot."

But who should he choose...? Just then, a dark-skinned figure flashed through his mind. "She might do... It depends on whether she's willing."

"How did it go, Ensha... Have you found that thing?" Bair asked gravely inside Roundtable Hold. Omenkiller Ensha remained as silent as ever. He said nothing, merely shaking his head slowly.

"Hmph... Interesting. Something even I, Sir Gideon Ofnir, cannot find... Keep searching. Anyone who obstructs us will simply have to leave the stage." Gideon's tone was icy. "That Tarnished seems to have gone to Liurnia... I'm surprised he didn't come to see me... How strange."

"A Tarnished newly arrived in the Lands Between ought to need information..." Gideon closed his book. "Judging by his route, he seems to know how to reach Leyndell... He certainly isn't relying on the guidance of grace... Oh... Is that it?"

"I see... I see. A Returner... It seems our roles will be reversed... my senior..."

"Ah... I wonder how his journey is going. Still, the curse within me is almost gone. It won't be long before I can join him." Rogier smiled. His legs had recovered, though a little of the curse remained within him. It was not fatal, but it steadily drained his strength.

The Black Knife, the imprint, the Prince of Death's Pustule, and Deathroot were all closely connected to Those Who Live in Death. But if he wanted to investigate further, he could not afford to be as reckless as before.

"It seems I'll have to learn a few holy incantations." Rogier gave a wry smile. "D, how are you doing now?"

"No, sitting here waiting is a complete waste of time." Unable to sit still any longer, the Tarnished immediately pulled out the Curved Sword. Azure blasts of force battered the surrounding stone pillars with wild fury.

"But it looks almost finished." The crystal content in Smараg's blood was so rich that energy had begun leaking from the Curved Sword.

"Perfect... Let me test my understanding of Glintstone Sorcery." The Tarnished closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Holding the Curved Sword before him, he tried to draw on the glintstone power within it.

Countless stars began arranging themselves in the Tarnished's mind, until they formed a straight line.

"This is it...!" The Tarnished opened his eyes and swung the Curved Sword. An enormous Glintstone Torrent shot straight into the heavens, finally bursting into fragments like starlight.

"Ah... What magnificent magic... When will I ever be able to reach such heights...?"