After leaving Lenne's Rise, Lucian flew down the slope in front of the tower.
Nearby was a Dragonbarrow cave that contained two talismans, both of them fairly good.
Along the road above were two hidden magic circles. Once triggered, they would summon enormous iron balls that rolled downhill to crush intruders.
Those iron balls were extrely dangerous. In the early stages of the ga, being struck by one was practically fatal.
However, they could be lured off the cliff, causing them to destroy themselves and drop runes.
Because of that, the location had once been a decent early-ga rune farming spot.
Back when Lucian had first started playing, he had fard runes this way too, before later switching to several more efficient thods.
Flying through the air, he avoided triggering the traps and soon reached the Dragonbarrow Cave beneath the cliff face.
Inside this cave were two talismans:
Bull-Goat's Talisman
Fladrake Talisman 2
Because Lucian already possessed the unique power of the Sun, granting him extrely high resistance to fire, he wanted to test whether equipping the Fladrake Talisman could push that resistance all the way to complete fire immunity.
As for the Bull-Goat's Talisman, it was also excellent as it increased one's poise.
With higher poise, it beca much harder to lose balance when struck by heavy attacks. That could prove useful in future battles.
Especially if he ever fought an opponent like Godfrey, First Elden Lord, having greater poise might make a real difference.
The enemies inside the cave weren't particularly strong.
They were all ordinary beasts commonly seen throughout the Lands Between, wolves and Lesser Runebears.
The terrain of Dragonbarrow lay higher than the surrounding lands, and the Scarlet Rot had been partially blocked by the terrain. Combined with the distance from the worst areas of contamination, the cave remained surprisingly normal.
Green vegetation could be seen everywhere.
The Scarlet Rot outside had barely intruded here, turning the cave into a refuge for animals.
The Wolves and Lesser Runebears had each claid their own territory and largely ignored one another.
Lucian simply passed them by, heading straight toward the depths of the cave.
In one chamber with a clear water source, he found a corpse sitting cross-legged.
From the body, he obtained the Bull-Goat's Talisman.
The talisman was modeled after the horn of a great goat.
Holding it in his hand, Lucian could feel a heavy, reassuring strength emanating from it.
Bull-Goats were creatures native to the Lands Between, massive in size and extrely rare.
Yet the species was famous because of a certain knight:
"Great Horned" Tragoth, a warrior known for his enormous strength and unyielding courage.
Tragoth was widely known across the Lands Between for his kindness.
Countless Tarnished had received his help.
In a sense, he was much like the legendary Sunlight Knight or the Jovial Onion Knight, a reliable elder brother figure.
Lucian had once fought alongside Tragoth during the Festival of Combat, and he had developed a favorable impression of him.
After putting away the talisman, Lucian decided to collect the other one in the cave before deciding which to equip.
At the very deepest part of the cave, two Beastn of Farum Azula served as its masters.
When Crumbling Farum Azula began to collapse, many beastn and fragnts of the city's structures had fallen into the Lands Between, barely surviving wherever they landed.
Long ago, beasts had symbolized civilization itself, possessing great intelligence.
But once separated from their society and left to wander aimlessly in the Lands Between, the beastn had changed.
Without civilization, intelligence gradually faded.
They reverted to their original instincts.
The two beastn standing before Lucian were now almost indistinguishable from ordinary beasts.
Their forr wisdom had vanished completely.
Only their unusual forms remained, standing upright on two legs, wielding weapons.
As for their strength… there was little worth praising.
They were no more than minor enemies.
Lucian casually knocked both of them down with two punches.
The terrified creatures scrambled to the edge of the cave, trembling in fear.
Lucian retrieved the second talisman located there, the Fladrake Talisman 2 and then left the cave.
This was one of the few places untouched by Scarlet Rot.
It was better to let the animals continue living here peacefully.
Sitting on a massive tree root that jutted out over the sea cliff, Lucian began testing the two new talismans.
He currently possessed three talisman pouches.
Inside them were:
Radagon's Scarseal
Winged Sword Insignia
Erdtree's Favor
Lucian removed the latter two and replaced them with the newly obtained talismans.
Soon, the talisman pouches began to pulse, transmitting the power of the talismans into Lucian's body.
After sensing the results, Lucian shook his head.
The Fladrake Talisman 2 had essentially no effect on him.
With Lucian's own fire resistance already sitting sowhere around 80–90% thanks to the Sun's blessing, the talisman's bonus was completely overshadowed.
Achieving true fire immunity still seed quite far away.
Lucian silently removed the Fladrake Talisman 2.
The Bull-Goat's Talisman, however, worked perfectly.
He could clearly feel a heavy strength settling within his body.
Combined with certain applications of gravity magic, it might allow him to remain almost completely unshaken by enemy attacks.
And if he combined that with Ironjar Aromatic, perhaps he could one day engage Godfrey in a direct head-on battle.
After thinking about it, Lucian removed the Bull-Goat's Talisman as well.
There was no imdiate need for it.
He could equip it later when necessary.
Instead, he placed the Legendary Prosthesis-Wearer Heirloom, the one Millicent had given him into the pouch.
That talisman granted 5 Dexterity, which was quite useful.
In another pouch, Lucian placed Erdtree's Favor back where it had been.
Later, once he reached the Divine Tower of Liurnia and obtained the Stargazer Heirloom, he could swap to that instead.
As for Radagon's Scarseal, Lucian still had no intention of removing it.
Stats were everything.
As long as every stat was pushed high enough, he would be invincible.
The talisman still granted excellent bonuses, and its drawback increasing the damage he took, wasn't much of a concern for Lucian.
After finishing his equipnt adjustnts, Lucian began thinking about whether there was anything else he needed to do in Caelid.
During the days before lina's rebirth was complete, he found himself strangely unwilling to seek out battles with demigods.
Instead, he planned to investigate the area around Sellia, Town of Sorcery, searching for the so-called "Sage" Gowry and information about Millicent's four sisters.
In the Lands Between, however, the title "Sage" was not a flattering one.
So-called sages were considered heretical scholars, and the crimson robes of a sage symbolized soone who had been banished from civilization.
But just then—
The Moonlight mark on Lucian's body suddenly lit up.
Ranni's voice echoed in his ear.
"Co thou unto the Grand Library."
"She draweth nigh unto waking."
Lucian instantly straightened.
Using a Site of Grace, he teleported to the Grand Library of Raya Lucaria.
Rarely seen standing on the ground, Ranni was now standing before Rennala and the Amber Egg, silently observing lina within.
lina was already showing signs of movent.
Her limbs trembled slightly, like soone on the verge of waking from a deep dream.
Seeing that Lucian had arrived, Ranni turned and gave him a small nod.
"So thou art co. In that case… I shall take my leave."
She could already imagine what the reunion would look like.
If she stayed here to witness it… it would feel rather awkward.
So after speaking, Ranni disappeared from the Grand Library.
Lucian stepped forward to stand before Rennala, gazing at lina within the Amber Egg in her arms.
Slowly, he placed his hand on the surface of the egg.
At last…
The day had finally co.
After being reborn, lina would possess a physical body, she would truly receive a second life.
They could finally travel together for real, rather than forcing her to remain beside him as a spirit.
And now that Lucian had gained the power of the Sun, he could already see the phantom of fla within himself.
Which ant lina no longer needed to burn herself.
They would not need to asure their love through the pain of life-and-death separation.
Lucian silently watched lina's face.
Even though the amber shell blurred her appearance, he could still clearly "see" her.
After all, her image had long been engraved in his heart.
At that mont—
lina's eyelashes trembled.
Then she slowly opened her right eye, eting Lucian's gaze.
When she saw him waiting before the Amber Egg, a smile of pure happiness spread across her face.
At that mont, lina felt certain she must be the happiest girl in the Lands Between.
She raised her hand and pressed it against the outer shell of the Amber Egg, aligning it with Lucian's hand.
The once-solid shell began to grow increasingly transparent, gradually fading as if it had never existed.
lina's hand passed through the surface of the egg.
Their fingers intertwined tightly.
She climbed out of the Amber Egg and threw herself into Lucian's arms, hugging him tightly.
Holding the soaking-wet lina, Lucian could clearly feel her breathing.
And the beating of her heart.
lina had truly beco human.
No words were necessary between them.
They simply held each other.
After a while, Lucian retrieved a set of clothes he had long prepared for her from his storage and draped a brand-new cloak over her shoulders.
Then he quietly turned his head away.
Well…
How should he put it…
It might sound a bit indecent, but...
This was simply a normal physiological reaction.
"Let's go," he said softly.
"Let's go ho."
lina's face flushed slightly as she nodded.
"Mm."
Wrapped in the cloak and carrying her clothes, lina moved behind a bookshelf.
The joyful smile on her face slowly faded, replaced by confusion and hesitation.
She bit her lip, her thoughts in disarray.
Her lost mories were returning.
While she slept within the Amber Egg, those mories had surged back like a tide.
The truths they revealed were difficult even for her to accept.
She was a hidden demigod, a child of Queen Marika whose existence had been concealed.
Marika… was her mother.
And she even had a brother.
lina had not only discovered her own origins...
She had also learned the mission she carried.
Before this, lina had always known that she carried an important mission upon her shoulders. Yet what that mission truly was, she had never been able to understand.
Originally, lina should have needed to return to the Royal Capital at the foot of the Erdtree in order to recover her purpose there. But now, the mont her mories resurfaced, that mission had also erged together with them.
She possessed a soul capable of seeing the phantom image of fla, an essential qualification for becoming kindling.
When the day ca that everything could no longer be salvaged, lina would turn herself into that kindling and burn the Erdtree.
To prepare for that day, she had been secretly raised by Queen Marika, trained in every skill she might possibly need.
Whether it was the thod of transforming Runes into the power of the body, the techniques for drawing maps and crafting Sacred Flasks, or even the combat arts belonging to the sa school as the Black Knife Assassins…
A mission so heavy inevitably corrodes the one who bears it, like a curse from which there is no escape.
All of this had been arranged long ago.
Yet in truth, lina did not resist it.
This was her mission, the aning of her existence.
To burn the Erdtree was an act of unforgivable treason to the Golden Order's empire, yet it was also the mission personally bestowed upon her by her mother, Queen Marika herself.
Afterward, the Order would be rebuilt anew.
And yet, even though she had finally recovered the mission she had been searching for all along, lina felt a profound fear and confusion welling up from deep within her heart.
Compared with the long mories of her previous life, the period she had spent without mories, existing only as a wandering soul had been extrely short.
But it had also been the happiest ti in her entire life.
She had already fallen in love with Lucian.
Was she truly going to burn all of this away with her own hands—reducing love, hatred, and every bond between them to ash?
Yet if things truly followed the path described by her mission, then perhaps only in this way could Lucian beco Elden Lord…
If that was the case, then there was nothing left to hesitate about.
Though she felt reluctance and sorrow, if it was for Lucian, then the reason she wished to fulfill this mission had already beco sothing entirely unrelated to her mother's expectations.
At last, lina understood why the maiden they had once encountered near Caelid had searched for kindling and attempted to burn herself.
lina let out a faint sigh.
Fortunately, she likely still had plenty of ti left to create more mories together with him.
She put on her clothes.
The outfit was exactly the sa as the one she had worn while in her spirit form.
Surprisingly, it fit quite well.
This style of clothing was fairly common across the Lands Between, so Boc had not found it particularly difficult to craft. On the contrary, the workmanship was exceptionally fine.
And because Lucian had personally asked Boc to make it, the demihuman tailor had poured all of his skill into the task.
The sensation of real cloth brushing against her newly restored body filled lina with wonder.
It had been a very long ti since she had experienced such a feeling.
After putting on her outer cloak, lina slowly opened her eyes and looked down at her palm, which was marked with scars of old burns.
Although she had regained many of her mories, she still had no idea why the body of her previous life had been burned.
The mories she had recovered this ti were still incomplete. Many crucial pieces were still missing.
'…Hm?'
Only then did lina realize that her tightly shut left eye had sohow opened on its own.
She was instantly shocked.
The seal on her left eye had been placed there personally by her mother, containing a special power.
As far as lina knew, that seal would only break under extrely rare circumstances, granting her its strength.
No matter how one looked at it, this was not the mont when the seal should have been released.
She hurriedly closed her left eye again. After waiting a while, she cautiously opened it halfway.
The mont it opened slightly, she shut it again.
After confirming it several tis over, lina finally accepted the fact.
The seal on her left eye had indeed been broken.
"...This…"
lina looked around to make sure there was no possibility of Lucian seeing her.
Only then did she raise her hand and ignite a fla within her palm.
A fla of black and white.
She stared at it in confusion.
She had seen Lucian use this fla before, and she had also heard him explain its origins.
This was the Black Fla once wielded by the Gloam-Eyed Queen, the ruler who had led the Godskin Apostles.
In ancient tis, Black Fla had carried within it the power of Destined Death. With that power, they had hunted gods themselves.
But after Destined Death was sealed away, the Black Fla lost its ability to slay the divine.
lina gently bit her lip, deeply puzzled.
Why would such a power be sealed within her body?
If it were rely Black Fla, was there really any need for such a careful and thorough seal?
…Forget it. She could not find the answer.
At the very least, the seal had now been lifted, allowing her to use so of that power. In the future, perhaps she could help Lucian as well.
With the power of Black Fla combined with her newly reconstructed body, ford from two Larval Tears, lina's strength was now astonishing.
Aside from lacking real combat experience and being sowhat unskilled in battle, her raw power would not be inferior to the Shardbearer lords who fought each other to the death across the Lands Between.
Lucian stood quietly in the center of the Grand Library of Raya Lucaria, waiting for lina to finish getting dressed.
When she finally stepped out from behind the bookshelves wearing her traveling outfit, Lucian's eyes lit up imdiately.
Although the clothes were exactly the sa as when she had been a spirit, the feeling they gave off was completely different now.
Lucian walked up to her with a smile.
"How is it? Does it fit?"
lina nodded and spun around once in front of him.
As she turned, the hem of her skirt fluttered outward like a blooming flower.
"So parts are just a tiny bit off, but we can adjust them later."
"To be able to make it like this right away is already amazing."
"Boc's craftsmanship has improved quite a lot. It seems he's been practicing all this ti just to sew clothes for you."
Lucian nodded.
In order to hone his skills, Boc had been helping the residents of Stormveil Castle nd and sew clothing.
Now he was already quite a famous tailor within Stormveil.
Lucian suddenly felt a little sentintal.
During their travels, lina had always accompanied him in spirit form. She knew every person they t along the road.
Yet none of those people had ever known she existed.
But once they returned to Stormveil, they would all et her properly.
"Let's go," Lucian said.
"Back to Stormveil."
lina nodded, but she did not leave imdiately.
Instead, she walked up to Rennala, Queen of the Full Moon, and bowed deeply in gratitude.
lina could roughly guess the reason why her mories had returned, and why the seal upon her body had been lifted.
Rennala had used secret sorcery to reconstruct her body, and silently done many things for her in the process.
Regardless of whether the heartless Rennala had done so out of conscious will, the fact remained that she had helped her.
In a sense, she had beco lina's second mother.
Once, lina had wondered what the relationship between an ordinary mother and an ordinary child might be like.
Now, she felt she had finally found part of that answer.
Rennala sat there quietly, holding the Amber Egg in her arms, her eyes closed as though she were asleep, a gentle smile resting on her lips.
"Sweet child… thou art reborn, whole and proper."
—
[T/N: Sunlight Knight is a fictional character and costic skin inspired by Solaire of Astora, a beloved NPC from the 2011 video ga Dark Souls. The na "Sunlight Knight" is most prominently associated with a costic garb (skin) in Elden Ring: Nightreign, a standalone expansion that allows players to customize their Guardian Nightfarer with thed appearances. This skin is based on Solaire's iconic look, including his sun emblem and armor design, and is available for purchase at the Roundtable Hold for 7,500 or via the Collector Signboard for 5 Sovereign Sigils after defeating the final Nightlord.
Jovial Onion Knights refer to the Knights of Catarina from the Dark Souls series, known for their distinctive onion-shaped armor and cheerful, adventurous personalities. The term "onion knight" is a fan-given nickna due to their unique helt design, which resembles an onion. ]
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