Sasuke opened his eyes, sitting in front of the grace he had left from. Turning to his right, he looked at the still sealed place. With a frown, he turned his head and stood up, equipping his armor and taking out his Uchigatana.
'Let's just hope I made the right choice with the medallion...' He thought, ignoring the bitter taste as he walked towards arcs circling a platform on the ground.
Stepping onto the middle of the circle, it gives in as the sound of stones rumbling reaches his ears. 'a Pressure plate...' He thought and the rumbling stopped before the circle slowly started floating.
Lowering his center of gravity, he balances himself, waiting for the elevator to take him wherever it went. The light from the room vanishes as the walls around him grow closer. Looking up, he spots a source of light growing closer.
Not long after, the walls around him grew apart. Slowly the elevator came to a halt. Looking around, Sasuke found nothing in the room except a metal door after a small flight of stairs.
Going up, he comes to a halt in front of the door. 'How does this open..?' He thinks, touching the door while inspecting it. Looking up, he notices the gaps above it.
Crouching down, he forces his fingers underneath the door and tightens his leg muscles. "Ugggh." He grunts, lifting up the door with his child body.
"Haah!" He pushes his muscles, throwing the door up with his eyes shut.
Click
a Sound rings, causing Sasuke to slowly open his eyes. And he was not prepared for the magnificent view in front of him.
The sun hung high in the sky. It's shine lighting up the huge golden tree. 'It's the same tree...' He thought, remembering his fight with the grafted scion. 'How did I not die..?' He asks himself and remembers the woman's voice he heard after he fell into the puddle. 'Did she heal me..?'
Focusing on his front, he spots the lights of grace a few feet ahead, but doesn't approach instantly as a man stood a little over two meters away from the grace. 'That's weird.' He thinks, narrowing his eyes.
'Who's that..?' Sasuke thinks, inspecting the man's weird white mask shaped like a face. Crouching down, Sasuke moves to the right, hugging the wall of the place he just exited, trying to stay out of the man's sight.
'Let's avoid him for now.' He thinks and goes down the hill. Looking up, he spots a dilapidated church in front with small molts of light shining, indicating a grace within.
Looking back to see if the man saw him, Sasuke walked on, aiming for the church.
Clop clop Thud!
The sound of a horse walking comes from his right and he takes no chances. Ducking into a bush, he peeks at where the sound came from. "What the..." He mutters looking at the towering figure of a massive man riding a gigantic horse holding a halberd, both of them sporting full golden armor, patrolling the area.
"Definitely avoid them..." He mutters, running from bush to bush, keeping his body low as he approached the church.
Coming close, he runs and sticks his back against one of the broken walls before peeking his head around it. In the corner, a man sat, dressed in red from head to toe. In front of the man there was wood with fire dancing in the wind. Behind him stood a donkey idly with baskets on it's back.
The man suddenly glance up, looking directly at Sasuke.
"Hmm..." The man hums. "a Tarnished?" He speaks, loud enough for Sasuke to hear him.
'Tarnished?' Sasuke questions, ducking his head back into cover.
a Chuckle escapes the man's throat. "Come out, Tarnished." He spoke with narrowed eyes.
Sasuke hesitated for a second. 'I need information...' He tells himself. Clenching his fist, he slowly comes out of cover, his sword at ready.
The man frowned, looking at the Tarnished's height. Gesturing towards him, the man beckons Sasuke closer.
Sasuke exhaled, slowly walking towards the man before stopping a few feet away.
Having a closer look, the man frowned. "Remove your helmet, Tarnished." He says, his voice commanding.
"And why would I do that?" Sasuke spoke, shaking his head. His Uchigatana raised now, prepared for anything.
Hearing Sasuke's voice, the man's eyes widen. "a Child?" He asks himself, but Sasuke heard him. "Why would the Grace call a child back?" He muttered.
Sasuke silently listened to the man's mutters, trying to listen as closely as possible. "Why do you call me Tarnished?" He asks, his voice commanding. His posture straightened, trying to look as intimidating as possible.
The man stopped muttering and glanced at Sasuke. Chuckling, he lifted one hand. "Calm down boy." He speaks and raises an eyebrow. "Do you not know what a Tarnished is?" He asked, but Sasuke only shook his head.
Sighing, the man gestured to the ground in front of him. "Sit. I'll explain to you." The man said but raised a finger. "Only if you tell me some things too. An exchange if you may." He said.
Seeing the man being no threat, Sasuke sat down in front of him, on the other side of the fire. Looking into the man's eyes, he asks again. "What's a Tarnished?" He asks.
"Ah... a Tarnished..." The man glanced up behind him, looking at the towering golden tree. "First off..." he turns back to face Sasuke. "Name's Kale. Purveyor of goods." He says, introducing himself.
Sasuke stayed silent for a while. Reaching his hands up, he took off the samurai helmet and looked into Kale's eyes. "Sasuke Uchiha. Genin." He introduced himself in turn, looking at the man's narrowed eyes.
"You really are a child." Kale shook his head. "But as you asked... a Tarnished are people banished from the Lands Between long ago, only to be beckoned back by the grace. Their called Tarnished for their image was tarnished you see." Kale explained, smiling at Sasuke's serious face.
"Is this place called the Lands Between?" Sasuke asked another question, but Kale simply shook his head.
"My turn, boy." Kale said. "How did you come here?"
Sasuke frowned at the question. "What do you mean? Was I not supposed to come here?" He asked back, not sure of what Kale meant.
Shaking his head, Kale spoke. "Not like this boy. I haven't heard of a Tarnished coming back to the Lands Between so young..." He said.
Listening intently, Sasuke hesitated. "I... I was looking at the monument in my clan's grounds before a golden light swallowed my body... Next thing I knew, I woke up here. But I found this, so I can at least return home." Sasuke explained, taking out the Finger Severer from his inventory.
"What?" Kale snapped. "What do you mean return home?" He asked.
Shrugging, Sasuke spoke as if the information was known to all. "Like go back to where... I came from?" He spoke, his sentence forming a question as he looked at Kale's confused expression.
"That's impossible." Kale muttered to himself and looked into Sasuke's eyes, "Home, home?" He asked, making absolutely sure that what he thought of was what the young boy was saying.
Sasuke slowly nodded. "I came back after using the Memory of Grace..." As he spoke, he took out the Memory of Grace from his inventory, his palm glowing gold.
"By the Grace..." Kale muttered, deep in thought, wondering what the Grace had planned for this boy. Narrowing his eyes, he glanced at Sasuke before shaking his head. "Whatever." He muttered. "Ask your next question."
"Where is this place..? The Lands Between." Sasuke asked readily, having had the question lined up.
Raising an eyebrow, Kale's thoughts spiraled more at Sasuke's origins. "The Lands Between is..." Rubbing his chin, Kale thought for a bit. "It's a realm of Gods. Separated from the mundane world of mortals." He explained, keeping it as simple as he could, not wanting to confuse Sasuke too much.
"Gods?" Sasuke frowned. "They exist?" He asked to which Kale nodded.
"They sure do, boy." Kale confirmed. "Although the Gods cannot interfere directly within the realm, so they use proxies such as the two fingers or three fingers."
At Kale's explanation, Sasuke glanced at his own fingers, causing the merchant to chuckle in amusement.
"Not your fingers boy." He said, shaking his head. "Anyway. My turn. Where do you come from?" Kale asked, waiting for Sasuke's answer, fully prepared for the boy to say something like the Lands of Reeds.
"The elemental nations." Sasuke answered. "From what I see, this isn't anywhere close to it though." Sasuke spoke, gesturing around him, particularly at the towering golden tree that could be seen from everywhere.
Nodding, Kale spoke. "It seems so... I had guessed you came from the Land of Reeds seeing your attire and speech." He said and Sasuke glanced at his armor.
"Oh. I had received this when I came here." As Sasuke said this, he equipped his casual attire consisting of a dark blue shirt with his Uchiha's clan symbol at the back. "I had worn the armor every second I've been here seeing the constant dangers I came by."
Chuckling a bit, Kale nodded. "Yes. Tarnished aren't welcomed much by the locals here."
This caught Sasuke's attention. "Then..." He hesitated before seeing Kale nod for him to continue, most likely knowing what he wanted to ask. "Why are you so welcoming?" Sasuke bit the bullet.
"I am of Nomadic descent." Kale spoke. "The Lands Between has been in a state of madness ever since the Elden Ring has shattered, and you Tarnished are what's keeping this land from drying." Saying this, Kale smiled at Sasuke. "As a traveling merchant, you are a great customer."
"a Merchant?" Sasuke asked.
Nodding, Kale spoke, confused. "Yes, I had called myself a purveyor when I had introduced myself."
Sasuke looked down at the ground. "Ah yes. I remember." He said, but his thoughts betrayed his words. 'So a purveyor means merchant?'
Chuckling at Sasuke's expression, the man glanced up. "Let's continue this conversation some other time." He said, gesturing to the falling sun. "You have much to do as a newly arrived Tarnished."
Sasuke frowned at his words. "Do I have a job as a Tarnished?" He asked and the merchant shook his head.
"That. I am afraid will not be revealed by me." As he spoke, he pointed behind him. "But I will push you in the right direction. Head Northeast. To the gatefront." As he said this, he glanced at Sasuke's blade. "I'd suggest strengthening your weapon there."
Looking to the left, Sasuke saw an anvil with a hammer resting on top of it. But he didn't focus on the hammer. Walking closer, he touched the glowing light.
[NEW- Smithing Stone 1 (x1)]
'Smithing Stone?' Sasuke thought and looked at the description. [Reinforces armaments up to +3]
After reading it, Sasuke turned to the anvil and pictures appeared in his sight, almost looking like his inventory section.
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