Half a month later, at the lower levels of the Haligtree.
Nolan sat in front of a pile of shattered, lusterless runes, resting his chin in his hands as he looked up.
His gaze passed through the window, taking in the scenery outside.
The mist seemed thinner than usual today, revealing a stretch of lush green grass dotted with small white flowers. The waterfall pouring down from above was a magnificent sight.
A gentle breeze swept through, making the grass and flowers sway softly, as if dancing.
"How did I even agree to Trina back then? I must've been drunk."
Nolan stretched, crushed the final rune, then flopped back onto the bed, hands tucked behind his head as he closed his eyes.
This was the very core of the Haligtree, the residence of the Empyreans who ruled it.
More than ten days had passed since he had been reassigned here as the Saintess's personal guard, yet he had not seen Trina even once, nor had he been given a single guard duty.
Every day, he simply sat around, waiting for orders that might never come.
His lady had been absent for days, and there was no telling what she was busy with. Thinking back to the scene in the Elphael tower, an image surfaced in his mind.
Trina lay comfortably on the bed, supporting herself with her hands as she lazily swung her delicate, snow-white feet.
Outside the window, the Erdtree still shone brilliantly, and the full moon continued to bathe everything in its bright glow.
Aside from the occasional hurried knight passing by, Nolan had barely interacted with anyone. Even so, these past days had felt unexpectedly full.
He had only received the runes promised by the Saintess in the last couple of days. Before that, he often wandered around Saintess Lake.
Aside from enjoying the scenery, the area was quiet and rarely visited, so Nolan simply trained his swordsmanship and other abilities there.
Nothing happened at first, but after a couple of days, he was shocked to discover that Trina had not been lying. There really was a blonde ghost there.
"Finally absorbed everything. My physical abilities should be close to those of a top-tier knight now."
Nolan slowly opened his eyes, staring at the ceiling as he carefully sensed the steadily growing power within his body.
If he ran into those Kindred of Rot again, he was confident he could handle them with far greater ease.
"Alright. Since my strength has improved, it's time to go find that ghost sister again and learn more Incantations."
Nolan sprang out of bed, straightened his gear, pushed open the door, and strode outside, his mind fixed on a single thought.
He needed to make the most of every moment to grow stronger.
This body had already reached its limit through training alone. To push further, he would have to rely on the power of souls and Rune.
At the thought, his hand unconsciously loosened and clenched again, betraying his impatience.
Since he had hit a bottleneck in one area, he would have to seek a breakthrough elsewhere.
Just then, a mildly reproachful voice drifted across the lake.
"Nolan, where have you been these past two days?"
As the graceful voice reached his ears, a figure appeared out of thin air upon the surface of the water, quickly taking shape.
It was a woman.
She wore a white robe patterned with golden, branch-like designs, her face covered by a dark, glossy veil. Her long golden hair gleamed brightly under the sunlight.
If nothing was amiss, this had to be the so-called blonde ghost Trina mentioned.
And this ghost was no ordinary one. Not only had she claimed territory right under the Saintess's nose, she also possessed mastery over many Golden Order Incantations.
The narrative style of Elden Ring was built around scattering fragments of information and letting players piece things together themselves, so the story naturally felt loose and open-ended.
Because of that, even if a ghostly woman appeared here, someone never mentioned in the game at all, Nolan was not surprised in the slightest. After all, wasn't Saintess Lake itself something he had never heard of before?
What actually caught Nolan's interest was the technique she had just displayed. If it was something similar to "Miriam's Vanishing" or "Bloodhound's Step," that would be perfect.
"Don't overthink it. It's just an invisibility veil."
The blonde woman seemed to see straight through his thoughts. She slowly removed the black veil from her face, revealing a mature, alluring expression. A rich, feminine charm washed over him, utterly unlike Trina's youthful air.
Hearing that, Nolan could not help feeling a bit disappointed.
Invisibility was nothing particularly rare. Even in Dark Souls, the sorcery "Hidden Body" achieved the same effect.
"An invisibility veil? Beautiful lady, are you a Black Knife Assassin? Are you planning to harm His Highness?"
"I didn't expect you to know about the Black Knife Assassins."
The blonde woman, whom he had called beautiful lady, showed no embarrassment at the title. Clearly confident in her looks, she merely showed a trace of surprise.
"Miquella and Malenia really do tell you everything. But look at me. Do I look like an assassin?"
Nolan gave her a careful once-over, then shook his head without hesitation.
She was wearing a robe that let air pass freely from all sides, nearly exposing the tops of her thighs. There was nowhere on her body where a weapon could possibly be hidden.
Every Black Knife Assassin he had ever seen appeared in full black armor, wrapped up from head to toe. Who would dress like this?
Besides, the Black Knife Assassins served Queen Marika the Eternal.
There was no way Marika did not know that her two children were, in a sense, women themselves. If an assassin dressed this beautifully, who exactly was she meant to seduce?
"Alright, enough pointless thoughts. How are you doing with the Law of Causality? If there are no issues, we'll start learning the Law of Regression today."
Nolan rolled his eyes. With his current strength, he could only barely manage the Law of Causality. Even if he learned the Law of Regression, he doubted he would be able to use it.
These two incantations were strange, to say the least. As the foundations of Golden Order Fundamentalism, they required no Faith at all, but instead demanded an extremely high Intelligence attribute.
The beautiful lady tested his grasp of incantations, then began teaching him properly.
Nolan had always respected his teachers, and these two principles of Golden Order Fundamentalism were genuinely useful, so he did not interrupt her explanation. He listened attentively from afternoon until nightfall.
After sitting on a large rock for the entire afternoon, the beautiful lady finally finished explaining all the theory. She nodded in satisfaction and asked,
"Did you understand?"
"I understand," Nolan replied, nodding seriously. "But even if I learn it now, I won't be able to use it yet. I think we can take it slowly. There's no need to rush."
Sitting on the grass, Nolan straightened his posture and looked at her expectantly.
"Could you teach me some incantations that I can actually use right away?"
After all, getting by in the world of Elden Ring while relying only on Dark Souls abilities was not a good idea. If someone noticed, it could lead to trouble.