Chapter 178: There Is Only One Truth!
Looking at the bonfire in the courtyard, Tom silently lit it, his heart filled with excitement. The game started with a bonfire, clearly announcing the next boss challenge.
Thinking of Gundyr, the Jue of Cinders from the previous game, Tom was looking forward to the next boss. Especially considering the huge stone door in front of the courtyard; for Dark Souls players, this was not just a clue, but an explicit statement.
When he faced the Jue of Cinders for the first time, he had been crushed. But now, familiar with the rules of the game, Tom felt that he should be able to unleash his power.
"But why don't I have a Healing Talisman? Could it be that they locked me in a cell and stole all my Talismans?", Tom joked.
He realized he didn't have one. Although he had woken up in a cell, they hadn't taken his armor. How was it possible that his Elemental Talisman had disappeared? After all, when he left the grave in the previous game, he still had one!
It was only a few complaints, and Tom didn't take it too seriously. After all, this could be a game scenario designed to increase the difficulty. The next boss, where new players would be forced to retreat, would naturally be more difficult without the talisman.
"It's not very friendly for new players. The tolerance for errors is too low," Tom lamented, pushing the courtyard door.
With a creak, the door opened.
Tom controlled his character and entered the room. The room was empty.
However, there seemed to be a warning on the floor near the door that he could examine. Tom also noticed a lot of blood in every corner of the room. Clearly, inheriting the warning from the previous game, the boss left bloodstains after killing the player.
But what about the boss of this room?
Just as Tom was about to check the warning on the floor, a dark figure suddenly descended from the sky. With a loud bang, a huge demon brandishing a mallet jumped from above and landed in front of him.
At the same time, the battle interface and the boss's name appeared in the center: Undead Asylum Demon.
"Isn't this the elite monster from the tower above Farron's Keep?", Tom asked, sitting in front of the computer, surprised to see the Stray Demon.
This boss looked like the Stray Demon he had encountered in Farron's Keep in Dark Souls, although smaller. However, the feeling of oppression was no less intense, mainly due to the indoor battle environment. The Stray Demon suddenly occupied most of the screen, looking quite intimidating.
Despite this, Tom felt relieved to see it. It didn't look like a completely new monster, but a familiar one.
Back in the tower above Farron's Keep, Tom had already fought Stray Demons. He had died twice in his first encounters, but he had already done it before! Although he now had no shield, no Healing Talisman, and even a broken sword, what did it matter?
As a skilled Firelink Bearer, what storms had he not seen? A simple demon, could it disturb him, someone determined to continue the legacy of the Flame?
With a skillful somersault, Tom dodged the boss's hammer and got behind it. He brandished his broken sword and hit the boss.
But... upon seeing the number -6 appear on the demon's body, Tom was stunned. This meant that he had only inflicted 6 points of damage. And the boss's health bar had, perhaps, possibly, gone down a bit?
Looking at the long health bar under the boss's name, 'Undead Asylum Demon', Tom tried to see the reduction point. Sadly, the bar seemed not to have changed.
"Could it be that I'm attacking wrong?".
After two attempts to distance himself and regain energy, Tom reached out and touched it twice. This time, the damage soared, going from a single digit to tens.
"-11!". Upon seeing the number appear on the boss's health bar, Tom finally confirmed a fact: the broken sword in his hand was a complete failure. Tom's mind instantly fell apart.
"Damn! Are you kidding with this damage? It's too low!".
Previously, when playing Dark Souls, Tom had also started with the Useless. But his initial chicken thigh, although shabby in appearance, was incredibly powerful in combat. And its resistance reduction effect was exceptional. With two weapons, with just a few blows from a war cry, he could incapacitate the Jue of Cinders Gundyr.
But now, he had chosen a knight to start the game. Not only was his armor overloaded, but his shield and sword were completely destroyed, and now he had been given a broken sword.
If the broken sword had decent damage, it would be no big deal. But when it hits a demon, the damage is imperceptible! If it weren't for the damage indicator, Tom would have thought that his attacks hadn't even penetrated the defense. But based on this digit, and the two-digit damage from 1, how long would it take to improve it?
Tom was speechless when the demon in front of him raised his mallet and crushed it. Distracted, Tom was caught by surprise and took a hit, reducing his health bar by half.
"Now I have to add another, and there's no healing talisman!".
For a pedicure, at least give him a nail clipper, right? How am I going to do a pedicure if you give me a napkin?.
Maybe attacking for a while, or reducing the opponent's health bar, would trigger a plot death or something.
'Doesn't that mean I have to kill it myself? It's totally possible!'.
But the cramped space, plus the lack of a talisman to regenerate health, meant that Tom didn't have time to drain much health before he made a mistake and a hammer killed him.
"You're dead!".
Tom, sitting in front of the computer, was silent for a moment. An unknown scene, a completely new game, but those three characters looked so familiar to me!.
As the screen darkened, Tom resurrected by the bonfire. But this time, he didn't enter immediately. Instead, he reflected.
"Did I open it wrong? It doesn't matter if I don't have a talisman, but this broken sword causes very little damage. Did I miss the item I picked up before?". Tom remained next to the bonfire, reflecting on the situation.
"Does this mean I have to defeat this boss without draining his health and, instead, use the Broken Sword to shatter it?".
"Impossible!". Tom frowned.
If that were the case, wouldn't this be infinitely more difficult than the original Dark Souls? Just looking at the damage inflicted by the Broken Sword, how long would it take to keep attacking?.
Only those masters I've seen using axes to shave Yhorm's pedicure or cut ancient dragons' nails could achieve a successful pedicure, right? And that's without the talisman.
This difficulty is comparable to challenging the Nameless King at level one. But remember, those who can achieve it are all master level players. For an average player, who could achieve it?.
Clearly, this is just a guardian boss; there's no need to make it so difficult for beginners. And Tom knew one thing: Alex's games don't usually complicate things that much.
Well... that mallet that almost burst his blood vessels doesn't count. And Dark Souls has never been characterized by being unreasonably difficult, but by being difficult with reason.
After going through the map again, making sure he hadn't overlooked any items, Tom looked at the boss room in front of him and snorted softly.
"So there is only one truth!".
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