Sasuke opened his eyes to the sight of a gate made on the side of a mountain. Glancing around, he let out a breath. "Finally back..." He muttered and blew Torrents whistle to summon him. As he mounted him, Sasuke felt his shoulders relax.
'I feel less...' He thought, looking for the right word. 'Stressed?' Shaking his head, he looked up in the sky at the sun above. 'Already day? Let's go visit Kale...' Being the only person he had conversed with normally, Sasuke wanted to tell him about what had happened.
With this idea in mind, he leans forward on Torrent and they ran back to the broken down church, hugging the side of the mountain to avoid all enemies.
After a while of running, he spots the church a ways away. "Almost there, Torrent." He muttered, patting his new partner's mane, only for the horse to stop in it's tracks, neighing to the right, where the mountain towered.
Raising an eyebrow, Sasuke looked in the direction. "a Cave?" He asks, spotting the entrance of a cave a few feet away. Glancing down, he speaks to Torrent. "You want me to enter that?" He asks, but receives no answer before he jumps off and equips his Samurai armor.
Unsummoning Torrent, he slowly makes his way to the cave, his eyes roaming around in search for any enemies near him. Seeing none, he steps into the cave, following the path for a few seconds.
"a Grace..." He spoke to himself, grazing his hand through the floating light while he looked to his front where the cave opened up.
Awoooo!
a Howl echoes against the cave walls, tightening Sasuke's muscles.
With narrowed eyes, he summons Uchigatana and walks forward. a Few steps in, he stood on a ledge, a few meters above the ground as Wolves laid on the ground, grooming themselves.
Glancing around, he spots two wolves on the other side, far away from these under him. Inspecting the ones close, he counted. 'Four normal wolves and...' He looked at the one leisurely sleeping in the center. 'One big wolf.' He thought, seeing it's size double that of the other wolves.
Crouching down, he raised his hands and went through some seals. 'Fire style...' He stood up and raised his right hand to his mouth. 'Great fireball jutsu!' He blew out, creating a fireball larger than himself and shot it straight at the big wolf, who he assumed was the alpha.
Boom!
The sound of the fireball exploding muffles the cries of the five wolves below him as he looked straight ahead, narrowing his eyes at the further two wolves slowly making their way towards the explosion.
Grrr! They growled, having spotted his position on top of the ledge.
Not hesitating, Sasuke took out two kunai and threw it. As it flew, the kunai split up, each one stabbing into one wolf's eye. 'Good.' He nodded and looked around, making sure he didn't miss one before he jumped down.
Coming closer to the burnt corpses, he crouches down and touched their bodies. [Acquired: Thin Beast Bones]
Having got what he wanted, he wanted to continue through the cave but spot a purple light behind one of the dead wolves. 'What's that...' He thought, moving closer and gripped the corpse before pushing it aside, revealing the body of a soldier with a purple light floating above it.
Extending his hand, Sasuke touched the light. [Acquired: Cracked Pot - Item used in Crafting for throwable.]
He raised an eyebrow at the description. 'Throwable? Like a bomb if I put something explosive inside?' He thought, nodding at the item. 'Seems useful.' Done with what he was here for, he went deeper through the cave, fully expecting an hour of exploration through the cave.
"This it it?" Sasuke muttered, turning around and looking at the visible battle he just had and turned back to the front where yellow mist fell from the ceiling. 'Will there be a hard boss behind this?' He thought, remembering the Grafted Scion of the Soldier of Godrick that usually had yellow mist around the exits.
Steeling his resolve, he gripped his katana tightly and walked through the mist. His view welcomed the site of some soldier bodies strewn on the caves floor. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at the bodies, standing ready.
In the middle of the floor, a weird ball of hair stood visible before it shook. 'That!' Sasuke narrowed his eyes as the hair stood up, revealing it's full body. Hunching it's back, it's lifeless eyes stared at Sasuke as it stood on two legs, gripping a massive, crudely chipped blade. Pieces of the skin on it's face hung, it's skull visible.
Raaah! It bellowed.
Sasuke raised his katana and slowly made it's way toward the beast, it's name floating above it. [Beastman of Farum Azula]
The beast jumped into the air, gripping the blade horizontally with both hands and fell in front of Sasuke, the blade cutting through the cave's floor like butter, sending rocks flying.
Standing up, it gripped the blade and swung wildly at Sasuke, who raised his katana in defense.
Clang! Clang!
Sasuke stepped back with each strike blocked. 'He's pretty strong...' he thought, stepping aside as the beastman's blade cut past him, striking the floor.
Seeing an opening, Sasuke sliced at the beast's face as he stared intently at the red bar above it's head, a smirk slowly forming. 'It's weak.' He thought, seeing the healthbar lose a fifth of it's red color. Jumping back, he made some distance and threw a few kunai at it, stabbing the beastman's body with it.
The beastman roared once more and jumped high, it's blade gripped with both it's hands.
'Again?' Sasuke thought, smirking at the wild beast. As it came down to him, Sasuke stepped two feet back and it crashed in front of him. 'Wide open.' Sasuke thought, stabbing the beasts head clean through.
Ahhh! The beast yelled out, it's voice slowly losing it's weight.
[ENEMY FELLED]
Word appeared in front of Sasuke's eyes, confirming his victory as he smirked. 'Are all of the enemies here weak?' He thought and looked at the fading body of the beast. [Acquired: Flamedrake Talisman - Boosts fire damage negation.]
Seeing the image of a shield with a burning dragon on it, he read it's description. 'So it raises my defense against fire?' He thought, wanting to equip it, but saw his Crimson Medallion taking the spot where it's equipped.
'I can only use one at a time huh?' He thought, opting to stick with the medallion as it boosted his health. "Anyway..." He spoke up, his eyes roaming around the place. "Am I done here?" He asked himself, seeing nothing stand out. No floating lights.
Nodding to his own question, Sasuke walked back to the entrance of the cave, stopping to sit at the grace right by the entrance and glanced at his runes. [1699]
'What should I level up..?' Sasuke thought entering the Level up section. As he looked at the different options, he saw a bar to the right showing his weapon damage output with the options he chooses. Raising an eyebrow he puts both of his level in Dexterity.
[Runes: 1699 -> 23]
[Vigor: 13 -> 13
Mind: 11 -> 11
Endurance: 13 -> 13
Strength: 12 -> 12
Dexterity: 15 -> 17
Intelligence: 9 -> 9
Faith: 8 -> 8
Arcane: 8 -> 8]
[R Armament 1: 137 -> 140] Sasuke read and leveled up before he hopped onto Torrent and rode off to the broken down church.
---
"So you've found yourself a Maiden?" Kale asked Sasuke as they both sat around the fire. Stabbing the fire a bit, he watched the boy nod at his question. "That's good." He nodded.
"Do all Tarnished have Maidens?" Sasuke asked, having had this thought for a while since Melina had called him a Maidenless Tarnished, which lead him to believe having Maidens are common. But.
Kale chuckled as he shook his head. "Quite the opposite actually." He said. "Maidens only serve those who see Grace." He gestured to the middle of the empty broken down church where Sasuke had touched when he arrived the first time.
Sasuke followed his gaze and looked towards the Grace that shone forward into the direction on the gatefront, showing way. A path to follow. And it all clicked. "Is the Grace something like fate?" Sasuke turned and faced Kale, but all the merchant does is hum before going silent.
Frowning, Sasuke knows nothing will come of speaking to him. "Why's everyone trying to be cryptic..." He muttered and stood up, patting his armor off. "Should I follow the Grace's path?" He asks again and... Nothing.
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