Magic supremacy
The first thing Max did, when they returned, was to grab the Haligdrake Talisman. With the help of Torrents double jump this was very easy for him. Once he held the talisman in his hand, he could feel the power in it. He could sense that his body was tougher than before.
Max POV:
This talisman boosts my damage negation against holy damage, once I face Margit, this talisman will come in handy. Speaking of talismans, the next one I should get my hands on is definitely the Green Turtle Talisman. But first things first, it's now time to kill some soldiers for some runes. Before that however, I made my way through the tutorial cave one final time, in order to check if someone stayed there. Surprisingly there was no one, even the corpses have been collected and removed. I expected at least some zombies.
Then, Melina and I made our way outside. But then another surprise hit me, Varré wasn't there once again. Well, it didn't matter, I'm sure I will meet him sooner or later. Next, we rode Torrent to the church of Ellah, while making a big circle around the Tree Sentinel, who was patrolling. For now, the next goal would be to buy the crafting kit from Kalé.
General POV:
The merchant Kalé could be seen sitting beside his mount on the ground, as usual. Although the past couple of weeks have been pretty uneventful, he didn't forget the extraordinary interraction with the strange tarnished he met. As he was thinking about his first encounter with him, he saw the tarnished once more. This time however, his aura was completely different, not just that, he wore the same armor as the soldiers of Godrick and furthermore he was riding a steed, with a hooded person sitting behind him. That's most likely his Finger Maiden.
Max dismounted Torrent and asked Kalé:
"Greetings, we meet again. Please tell me do you perhaps have a crafting kit for sale currently?"
Kalé was initially surprised, as he clearly didn't expect their conversation to go this way, but he was actually relieved.
"I do have one indeed. It cost 300 runes, however I would like to apologize, for my rude behavior when we first met, therefore it's only 250 runes for you."
Max was pleasantly surprised, not just because of the 50 runes he saved, but also because since Kalé isn't hostile anymore,at least not openly, this change in behavior recreated the opportunity to start a really long Questline which rewards a very useful Talisman early on.
"Thank you. We will be back soon.", said Max and then left the church, heading towards the forest close to the church.
Kalé POV:
Luckily everything went well. He accepted my apology, and I could still sense some hostility. Once he got closer, I could feel it. The dangerous aura, he released. After a while, I was sure of it. He definitely had a talisman, making him a person I definitely couldn't mess with directly. Therefore, I showed my goodwill by giving him a discount, and he accepted. With some time he will definitely drop his guard at some point, then I will find a way to get rid of him. Perhaps I should introduce him to that wolf, if they were to clash, it would be very beneficial to me. With some luck, I might even get this talisman.
General POV:
A small group of Godrick Soldiers could be seen in the small forest. Most of them appear to be patrolling or looking for something. One soldier, in particular could be seen kneeling in front of a dead body. Therefore, it's possible that the rest of the soldiers could be looking for clues about the murderer.
Meanwhile, Max could be seen approaching. Initially Max wanted to attack with Melina, but she refused, stating that she didn't know how to fight. Max didn't believe her at all but didn't push her. However, he swore, that he will definitely make her fight Morgott and Goldfrey, if he ever managed to reach Leyndell.
As Max approached the forest, he knew that there were six soldiers, he needed to take care of. He decided to attack the soldier on the right first, as he was the most distanced one form the other soldiers. Max then stealthily approached him, while hiding in the bushes. Once Max was close and the soldier showed him his back, he sprinted towards him and infused his right arm with some mana, for that reason the sword went through him like a hot knife through butter. He fell down silently, without him even knowing what happened. Max then looted his body and got around 70 runes from him and went towards his next target. His approach was the same as before, however this time the soldier noticed him, and he drew his sword. Max knew that he had to finish this fight quickly, in order to avoid him calling his friends. So, he rushed up to him, but unlike last time, he didn't use any mana as he had to be more conservative using it. Soon, he managed to overwhelm him, unfortunately a small scream escaped out of his mouth, alerting a soldier nearby.
Max then hastily removed the corpse out of the way hiding it, however this left some blood stains of the path, but he couldn't care less about this, as the soldier saw him do it.
The soldier then charged at him in rage, in response the seal in Maxes hand started to glow. Soon the soldier noticed a fireball forming, he was stunned and wanted to run away but it was already too late, as Max threw it at him. The soldier began screaming in pain as his body was burning. Max then swiftly came to him and put him out of his misery. His screams attracted the attention of his companions. Soon three soldiers stood before Max, with angry expressions on their face as they looked at the burnt corpse of their former comrade.
Max POV:
Meanwhile, Max contemplated: I have enough mana for only 1 more Flame Sling and 1 more Catch Flame casts. Maybe 2 Catch Flame casts. The soldiers and I had a small standoff, but very soon I noticed them closing the distance. As I charged the Flame Sling, I could see one of them hesitating, while the other two started sprinting. I then threw the fireball at the one on the left. The other one, swung his sword at me, which I blocked and misdirected. Then I cast Catch Flame at the soldier. Catch Flame is truly devastating if cast from short distance, because the soldiers body was burning way more intensely then the one I hit with Flame Sling. The two screamed in pain as they tried to somehow put out the fire but couldn't do so. I saw the soldier who hesitated before running away, I couldn't allow this, so I mounted Torrent and cut him cut on 2 strikes.
Magic is truly strong, but my mana is insufficient. My mana reserve is now at 20% after fighting. I decided that I would only go below this percentage in emergency's as I noticed that my thinking speed and my reacting time would decrease and furthermore, I would get tired very quickly. Then I collected all the runes from the body's, giving me a total of 705 runes. Furthermore, I didn't forget to collect the four Kukri from the body near the carriage.
General POV:
Before he went back to the church, he met up with Melina and he invested 150 runes to further strengthen his body and 305 runes to improve his spirit. This time the process went much smoother than the last time. The only downside was that after improving his mind, he got a pretty big headache. Max asked Melina about it, but she just explained that it was normal. After a while, his headache disappeared, and Max could sense that his mana pool has grown a bit.
Then he went back to the church and bought the Crafting Kit from Kalé with the runes he had left. With it, Max has now a clear goal on what he absolutely needs to get next. The first Fevor's Cookbook. He contemplated whether he should ride Torrent to get it now, however he could see the sun setting down. Thats why in the end, he figured it would be better to spend the night in the church, as during the night its way more dangerous, because there are multiple enemies who only appear at night. Furthermore, there is also the Night's Cavalry, which he doesn't want to meet at all costs.
Therefore he settled down at the church even though he didn't trust Kalé at all, to not attack him during the night. Preferably, he would spend the night at the Roundtable Hold, however he hoped that perhaps Ranni might come to visit him during this night and give him the bell and the Wolfs spirit ashes. Therefore, he will spend the night awake and then rest during the day at the Roundtable.