Gawain sized up Aldia, who had appeared out of nowhere. He truly hadn't expected to meet the man in such a fashion.
Still, it was a classic entrance. Had Gawain not known exactly what kind of person he was dealing with, he probably would have started a fight then and there. After all, was there any world where he couldn't take Aldia on his own home turf?
"Aldia? Yes, I've heard of you. The former teacher of the Twin Princes, the creator of the Throne of Want, and the one who doubted the linking of the fire. I don't know how you ended up here either, but I can assume you're on my side, right?"
Aldia's massive, gnarled body of withered branches writhed as if nodding, before giving a definitive answer.
"Naturally. May we speak in private?"
Gawain glanced at the Fire Keeper. With her nod of assent, the three of them vanished from the gathering of souls in an instant, reappearing in a secluded corner.
The Fire Keeper seemed to sense something unusual; she looked up, hesitated for a moment, but ultimately said nothing, standing quietly to the side.
Seeing that Aldia was about to speak, Gawain held up a hand to preempt him.
"I'm not interested in your true motives, so there's no need for a long-winded lecture to try and influence my choices. I'm not as impressionable as the Twin Princes were. I only want to ask you one thing. I assume you've been 'watching' my experiences in the Lands Between lately. So, are you confident you can integrate your techniques with the logic of this world?
"I've heard of the armies of Drangleic that once swept across nations. Although High Lord Wolnir eventually usurped those achievements, I did find relevant records left behind in the Catacombs of Carhus. I can't fully restore them on my own, but with your help, I imagine it wouldn't be much of a problem."
Drangleic... Aldia was visibly moved by the name. How long had it been since that name held weight? The former glory was long gone, but the happiness and beauty it once represented to him were real.
"The laws and foundations of this world are vastly different from the knowledge I possess. I will need time to adapt and modify my understanding. Gather a few more of those 'Great Runes.' Once I fully comprehend their essence, I shall produce results that satisfy you."
Gawain nodded slightly. This was the outcome he wanted. To be honest, he didn't care to listen to Aldia's philosophies; the man had positioned himself as a mere observer long ago. His decision to reveal himself today was likely just to nudge Gawain's progress forward.
"That's fine. If you wish to leave this place, I might agree to it—provided you exercise some restraint during your experiments. Understood?"
Aldia froze at the request. Was his reputation truly that bad? The research he'd conducted in his manor back then hadn't been that abnormal, had it?
Tossing that minor doubt aside, he sized up the Ashen One. He had harbored suspicions while observing from the shadows, but now he was certain.
A weak soul, once unfit even to be Cinder, is burned to ash and awakened by the bells. Memory loss is common, but as long as the soul remains the same, such a radical transformation should not occur.
Combined with this unique soul that could coexist perfectly with the Embers—and even merge the Dark Sigil with the Runes of the Lands Between—could this be the method he had always sought to escape the pitiable cycle of causality?
"Since it is your request, I shall not refuse. However... you truly seem different than you once were. What exactly did you experience in the cemetery before the bells tolled?"
Gawain stared at Aldia, unsure of how to explain. It seemed many things couldn't be hidden from these "ancient masters."
It was quite possible that Aldia had personally watched the original inhabitant of the Cemetery of Ash go to the Kiln. However, Gawain didn't particularly care if the Scholar knew his identity was "unconventional."
He had already done everything an Ashen One was supposed to do. In any other story, it would be like defeating the Demon King even without the Holy Sword. Whether he was the "True Hero" didn't matter; he wasn't fighting the Demon King for a title.
Just as he was about to speak, the Fire Keeper stepped in front of him.
"It does not matter who the Champion of Ash once was or what he experienced. He has always been the hero, and I am the Fire Keeper who serves him. That is enough."
Recalling the past, Gawain felt a twinge of shame. His initial, pathetic state could hardly be called heroic from any angle. He didn't believe for a second that the Fire Keeper hadn't noticed, yet she had never wavered in her encouragement.
She had once wished for him to find a harbor of rest. For him, in a world choked by curses, the only harbor was the dark, elegant silhouette within Firelink Shrine.
Seeing the Fire Keeper's slight displeasure, Aldia didn't press the matter. He vanished into a flurry of flames to continue his research.
"Is he finally gone? I hope he doesn't blow up the bonfire again next time." Gawain looked at the bonfire with a bit of psychological scarring.
"Regarding the rebirths, I'll arrange them as soon as I've confirmed the plan is viable. There are likely some hard battles ahead; I may need your help here as support."
The Fire Keeper took Gawain's hand. As her fingers brushed his, the black curse of the Dark Soul flickered faintly.
"That is my duty. Return to your journey with a light heart; the world outside still needs your salvation. You know that I will always be here, waiting for your return. As will they."
"Say goodbye to them for me. It's time I left."
Touching the bonfire, Gawain's consciousness shot through the Dark Sigil and returned to the physical world. He slowly opened his eyes.
He wasn't in the Grand Library. Instead, he was in a room filled with glintstone decorations. Portraits of Masters Lusat and Azur hung on the walls. He was lying on a soft bed; a familiar glintstone crown sat on the nightstand. More notably, he had been stripped down to nothing but a loincloth.
"Wait! Where am I? Is this still the Academy?"
Rubbing his head, which throbbed from the consciousness shift, he turned to see Master Sellen. She was sitting with her legs crossed, looking at him while holding a sorcery tome, surrounded by various glintstones.
"In the Academy, of course. You've been unconscious for an entire day. I wanted your opinion on some Academy matters, but you were nowhere to be found. Eventually, I asked Moongrum, and he told me he'd seen you lying against a pillar in the Grand Library."
"Sorry, I should have told you beforehand. Don't worry—just think of it as me meditating."
"Right... but where is this exactly? And why do I look like this?"
Sellen set down her book, picked up a glintstone to light the room, and tossed him a set of apprentice robes.
"This is the room I lived in before I left the Academy. I didn't expect that after all these years, it would be treated as a forbidden zone that no one dared touch. So, I moved back in. As for your current state... naturally, I brought you back and gave you a thorough inspection. The armor you were wearing had significant residue from glintstone magic attacks, so I sent it out to be cleaned and repaired. Had I not known you entered the Grand Library of your own accord—and that you didn't have a single scratch on you—I wouldn't have brought you here. If word got out that I'd done this, I, as your teacher, would never hear the end of it."
Gawain performed a kip-up off the bed and threw on the robes. They fit well enough, though his "battle-hardened warrior" aura didn't exactly match the scholarly look. If anything, he looked like a star graduate of the Haima Classroom.
"A 'thorough inspection'? I feel a bit self-conscious now. Exactly what did you inspect?"
"Relax. To be safe, I didn't miss a single spot. Some sorceries I know attack very specific areas to hide wounds, you know? Though, I must say, your physique is... far more interesting than I imagined."
Gawain looked down at the faint ring on his chest. You're talking about the Dark Sigil, aren't you, Master?
"Alright. Since you've been 'meditating' all day, you should be well-rested. Don't just stand there. Come closer; the night is just beginning."
"Meaning?"
"Tutoring time has arrived."
A playful smirk touched Sellen's lips as she handed him a scroll.
"This contains a portion of the gravity sorcery General Radahn once studied. If my research is correct, even if we cannot 'conquer the stars,' the right application of gravity can suppress the teleportation of those Scions of the Void. Tonight, we shall put the theory to the test. What do you say?"
The next morning, Gawain left Sellen's room looking completely drained. He had changed back into his Banished Knight armor. A night of intense "study" had squeezed every drop of mana out of him—the kind of exhaustion that even a flask of Cerulean Tears couldn't fully fix.
Don't misunderstand—the primary issue was that gravity sorcery was far harder to control than he'd anticipated. Simply put, Sellen's method was based on the knowledge Radahn had learned from his Alabaster Lord mentor.
Theoretically, by generating a sufficiently powerful gravitational field at specific coordinates, one could collapse the space used for teleportation gates. This was why, after Radahn locked the stars, those Scions of the Void who could normally teleport at will could no longer invade the Lands Between; it wasn't that they didn't want to, they just couldn't get through.
He figured that was likely why the Astel trapped beneath the Moonlight Altar stayed put—the area was likely sealed with Carian royal wards, restricting it to that specific cavern.
Sellen had prepared plenty of glintstone materials in her room to create miniature portals, while Gawain spent the night repeating casting techniques to verify the theory.
Too much force, and the rapid collapse of space would cause a backlash; too little, and it wouldn't have any effect. It was an incredibly high-skill technique. Only a magical genius like the General could have used it so masterfully during the Starscourge War.
Gawain flexed his hands, which were still pulsing with an involuntary purple glow. He forced himself to perk up. His business at the Academy was mostly done; it was time to find Ranni and start the next phase.
According to the "plot," the Baleful Shadow would be hiding in Nokstella. He just wondered if things would unfold exactly as he expected.
There was also one thing weighing on his mind: Yavanna had told him that someone was waiting for him in Nokstella. He had no idea who it could be.
Regardless, it seemed unlikely things would go too far off the rails. After eliminating the Baleful Shadow, he would have Asimi drink the other half of the Cradle Grail. At that point, Asimi would evolve further toward becoming the Lord of Night. He hoped for some surprising changes.
With a thought, Gawain traveled to the interior of Caria Manor. While it felt a bit impolite to travel directly to Ranni's Rise, he didn't want to walk through the front gate and see those disgusting Fingercreepers again. He arrived at the Site of Grace in the upper manor.
The moment he stepped into the manor grounds, he felt the tension in the air. The garrison was scurrying about, and even sentries with torches were out in force, as if bracing for an enemy.
Gawain headed toward the Three Sisters. The guards he encountered along the way recognized him; they paused to salute before returning to their posts.
In the center of the Royal Moongazing Grounds, he found Blaidd. Standing beside him was a massive Troll. What made the Troll special was the Carian Knight helm it wore. There was no mistake—this was Bols, the Carian Knight who had once been imprisoned in an Evergaol by the Cuckoo Knights.
"Blaidd, is this the lord you mentioned?"
"Correct, Bols. Go back to your duties. I'll take it from here. Remember, let no one enter the Three Sisters."
Bols gave Gawain a curious look before hurrying off to his tasks.
Blaidd walked up, a look of relief on his face. "Lady Ranni told me you were coming. Regarding the treasure of Nokron—thank you for your help. Things wouldn't have gone so smoothly without you."
"Did something happen at the manor while I was away? You all look a bit tense."
"It's nothing. Just some pests looking for trouble. We're just stepping up security. Lady Ranni is waiting. Follow me."
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Elden Ring: In the Name of Ash (229 chapter - Ongoing)
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