Elden Lord of Cinders

After leaving Old Margit and returning to Caelid, Lloyd spoke with Greyoll about Nepheli.

If it had been during the prime of the Flying Dragons, Greyoll would have rejected the idea without a second thought. But now...

"If she can earn the recognition of a Flying Dragon on her own, then I have no objection."

After relaying Greyoll's words to Nepheli, Lloyd returned once more to Caelid.

Heading northeast along the Dragonbarrow where Greyoll resided, Lloyd ran into two field bosses—but neither fight broke out.

One was the Flying Dragon "Greyll," and the other, a Night's Cavalry soldier under Old Margit. Greyll surrendered the moment he saw Lloyd, while the Night's Cavalry presented proof from Old Margit and expressed his willingness to follow Lloyd's orders.

Moving past the two, Lloyd encountered several small, thin soldiers wielding various polearms.

Judging from their gear, they appeared to be members of the Vulgar Militia, said to be guards of battlefield ruins and forbidden lands.

Lloyd didn't quite get the specifics.

But in any case, he killed them all.

Afterward, moving forward a bit more, a strange gargoyle appeared before him.

It looked like a gargoyle—similar to the giant golems Lloyd had encountered before—but its build was more intricate. It had slender legs, an extra pair of wings on its back, and both its body and weapons were coated in a layer of black corpse wax.

As he approached, a health bar appeared, along with its name:

[Black Blade Kindred]

What the hell is the Black Blade Kindred?

Lloyd had no clue.

But he killed it anyway.

There wasn't much to say about the fight.

While its stats were considered high for this area—several levels above the norm—the problem was, Lloyd had been grinding for a while and now had two Great Runes stacked. His attributes were nothing to scoff at, and his inventory was full of overpowered gear.

The only thing worth mentioning was that this thing was immune to bleeding, which made Elizabeth's Poleblade—once hailed as a bleeding powerhouse—completely useless in the fight.

On the flip side, Seriel's Poleblade, with its higher stats and a glow effect that boosted damage even without using its Ash of War, stepped up as the main weapon.

In the end, when the enemy still had quite a bit of health left, Lloyd decided to show off a bit and fully charged his Ash of War. It blasted the creature into oblivion in one hit.

Seriel's Poleblade's Ash of War is definitely hard to use—but when it lands, it hits like a truck.

After dealing with the Black Blade Kindred, Lloyd stepped into the temple behind it.

Inside, a tall figure wrapped in brown cloth like a mummy lay sprawled on the floor. As Lloyd entered, it raised its head and sniffed the air.

"I smell it... Death..."

He seemed to catch a scent and looked toward Lloyd, his voice raspy.

"Let me swallow it..."

Seeing he wasn't hostile, Lloyd walked over and, following the system's prompt, handed him the Deathroot he had obtained from Summonwater Village.

The strange being took the Deathroot from Lloyd, examined it briefly, then shoved it straight into its mouth.

After a chorus of chewing and swallowing, it let out a few pained groans and then spoke again.

"Tarnished... Offer more death..."

"I grant you eyes and claws. Bring more death. Let me consume it."

[Obtained "Beast Eye"]

[Obtained "Clawmark Seal"]

Classic—one of those twitching eyeballs and a seal for incantations, right?

After quickly checking their details, Lloyd tossed both items back into his inventory.

As for the strange creature in front of him...

Honestly, Lloyd had no idea what it was talking about.

And judging by its rambling about "death," "sin," and "so hungry," it didn't seem entirely sane either.

Still, Lloyd didn't mind. According to Soulsborne tradition, NPCs that demand collectibles usually won't advance the story until you've given them enough offerings.

He'd only handed over a single Deathroot, so it was no surprise he didn't get anything useful out of it.

But while this weird guy was a dead end, in one particular room of the Roundtable Hold...

[Obtained Spell: "Rejection of the All-Knowing"]

[A sorcery created by Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-Knowing]

[Still in the experimental stage]

[Temporarily lowers Intelligence to boost physical damage and damage resistance]

[Long duration]

[Mechanized minds are immune to damage]

[Can counter certain types of mental corruption]

After Lloyd gave a brief report about the situation in Caelid, the All-Knowing rewarded him with this spell, claiming it was payment for all the intel.

What Lloyd didn't get, though, was that despite offering words of thanks, Gideon immediately told him to leave—and locked the door behind him.

Bit rude for a local search engine...

Still, even though he complained, once Lloyd tested the All-Knowing's spell, he forgave him on the spot.

The buffs it provided weren't huge, but the low mana cost and long duration made it perfect—not just for bosses, but even for regular exploration. Cast it twice on himself, and everything became much smoother.

More importantly, despite its modest stats, the spell played well with other buffs. No matter what kind of build he was using, it slotted in perfectly. Super practical.

The only downside was the Intelligence reduction—but for Lloyd, that wasn't even a drawback. Sure, he carried a staff, but he hardly used it. His Twinblade weapons didn't scale with Intelligence at all, so this spell was basically a free bonus.

After testing it out, Lloyd's opinion of the All-Knowing shifted.

This guy wasn't just smart—he was a genius!

Until now, Lloyd had only seen him as a not-so-useful search engine.

But with a spell like this? It made sense. His search functions might be lacking because his main gig wasn't info gathering—it was spellcraft.

In that case...

"Then I've got to keep feeding him intel!"

After discovering this side of The All-Knowing, Lloyd immediately decided to keep a closer eye on him.

From now on, no matter what happened, he'd go to him first and share the details—who knows, it might result in another new spell.

Next time he gets the chance, he'll be sure to share even more.

With that in mind, Lloyd touched the Great Grace and returned to Caelid.

Back in Caelid, after unlocking the Beast Temple, he'd basically explored the entire region. The only major spot left was the Divine Tower of Caelid.

Thanks to Alice's help, Lloyd could already use Radahn's Great Rune without activating the Divine Tower, and could even use it in tandem with Godrick's.

But according to Alice, she still needed to visit the tower to gather a few things.

Activating the fragment on her own was technically possible, but extremely taxing. Building a temporary base at the Divine Tower would make the process much easier.

So, under Alice's guidance—and after a bit of Miyazaki-style post-school hopscotching—Lloyd arrived at the Divine Tower of Caelid.

At the top, beside the corpse of the Two Fingers, Alice, as usual, asked Lloyd to take out the Great Rune and the fragment.

After she did something unclear, the pitch-black fragment began to glow with golden light. It expanded in the air and transformed into a portal.

This time, though, unlike the previous warped and unstable portals, the one that opened here in Caelid looked much more stable and serene—no distortion at all.

As for the reason...

"This fragment belonged to the Judicator Giant. It's absorbed a good deal of energy from other worlds and has already stabilized on its own. You can carry it and activate it anytime."

Once the portal opened, Alice lowered her hand, paused, then added,

"However, because it absorbed foreign energy, its internal structure may appear a bit... odd."

"And it's not just this one. Like I said before, many fragments picked up all sorts of weird influences during their drift. You'd better be prepared."

Lloyd wasn't sure what she meant by "weird influences,"

—but whatever. He'd find out soon enough.

With that thought, Lloyd reached out and touched the portal created by the fragment.

A brief moment of disorientation passed. When he opened his eyes, he was at the base of the Divine Tower of Caelid, standing before its massive gate.

...Was this going to be a tower climb?

Looking at the towering structure ahead—different from the one he'd platformed through before—Lloyd scanned the area. Seeing no other way forward, he walked up and pushed open the door.

A prompt appeared.

[Challenge the Tower: Divine Tower of Caelid]

[Special Domain: Multiverse Arena]

[Multiverse Arena: The tower is divided into various zones, each governed by specific rules. To earn rewards, complete challenges according to the zone's rules.]

[Current Zone: Dream of the Great Jar]

[Dream of the Great Jar: Fast travel disabled. Healing disabled. Combat disabled.]

[Only Spirit Ashes may be used in battle]

[Current Progress: None]

[Max Spirit Ashes Allowed: 3]

[Active Ash Limit: 1 at a time]

[Within the Great Jar's dream, warriors remain warriors. Through combat in this wondrous dream, they continue to refine their skills and embrace the glory of battle.]

[Please select your Spirit Ashes: 0/3]

What is this—some kind of fantasy monster Pokémon?

Lloyd twitched at the corners of his mouth. He wanted to complain, but there was so much to complain about, he didn't even know where to start.

Following the prompt, he selected his three Spirit Ashes: [Leonine Misbegotten], [Crucible Knight], and [Demi-human Mob], then stepped into the tower.

Inside was a wide, circular arena. Nothing odd in sight—just a lone living jar across from him that resembled Alexander. As Lloyd approached, another prompt appeared.

[Begin Challenge: Warrior Jar?]

He selected yes.

The jar raised a hand.

A swirl of gray mist expanded, and a spirit of a basic Redmane Soldier materialized on the field.

Lloyd thought for a moment, then summoned the Crucible Knight.

As soon as the Crucible Knight appeared, the Warrior Jar visibly froze—then its expression turned... complicated.

Yes, the Warrior Jar was just a jar—it couldn't show any expression.

But for some reason, even without any visible change, Lloyd could tell that its mood had shifted.

Like it had just witnessed a massively overleveled cheese tactic. It felt... swollen.

And as it turned out, Lloyd's hunch was right.

After the Crucible Knight effortlessly sliced down the first soldier in two strikes, the Warrior Jar summoned a second one, this time carrying a torch.

The result was the same—gone in two swings.

Then it hit Lloyd: this was basically a tutorial fight. You could probably throw in the Lone Wolves and still breeze through it.

Instead, he had pulled out the Crucible Knight—his soul-fed, Roderika-tuned, fully enhanced powerhouse...

Yeah. Um...

Feeling a little bad, Lloyd pulled out a fruit and handed it to the jar.

"Thanks for the effort."

Even though it didn't have a mouth to eat with, the Warrior Jar seemed to sense the gesture and let the matter slide. In return, it handed him a reward.

[Obtained Talisman: "Fighting Spirit Talisman"]

[A talisman modeled after soul warriors in battle]

[Boosts the power of Spirit Ashes]

[In the dream of the Great Jar, warriors continue their fight, never resting]

[This is both a tribute to their honor—and the dream they long for]

In addition to the talisman, receiving it unlocked a special Spirit Ash enhancement system for Lloyd.

Beyond soul infusion and Roderika's tuning, his Spirit Ashes could now undergo a unique upgrade during battles in the tower.

It wouldn't raise stats or enhancement levels, but it allowed them to learn new moves, acquire new gear, and be further customized.

Now that was interesting.

While Lloyd was checking out this new system, two paths opened behind the Warrior Jar.

One was labeled [Path of the Novice].

The other: [Master Challenge].

Thinking he was new here, Lloyd headed toward the Path of the Novice first.

But as soon as he got close, the system stopped him.

[Level Too High]

"Wait—seriously?"

Lloyd was momentarily speechless.

But then, another idea came to mind.

"Can I bring someone else here instead?"

The Warrior Jar responded with a welcoming gesture and seemed to indicate that the more challengers, the better.

After all, adding new worthy opponents would only make the spirit warriors happier.

With that settled, Lloyd checked out the Master Challenge and took part in two battles.

He won both—but just barely.

This time, the opponents weren't the cannon-fodder soldiers summoned earlier. These were elite Redmane Knights and even warriors based on NPC templates.

If his Spirit Ashes hadn't all been doubly enhanced, he'd probably have been the one getting stomped.

Once he realized how tough it was—and that the difficulty kept scaling—Lloyd decided to hold off for now.

Still, it was worth noting that after winning his first Master Challenge, he received a particularly special reward.

[Covenant of the Soul]

[A ring forged from the ashes of souls]

[When given to a soul-bearing entity, it forms a Covenant]

[A Covenant is a ritual bond that links two souls]

[It serves as a mark of identity]

[The stronger the bond, the higher the Covenant level]

[And the greater the power it grants]

Then—

[Covenant System Unlocked]

[Current Covenants: 0/0]

[Equipped Covenants: 0/1]

...

[Upto 20 chapters ahead for now]

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