1 Enter The Tarnished of No Renown

Yashiro lay on the bed before putting on a helmet-like device over his head. As Yashiro closed his eyes, he felt like he was submerged in the depths of water. He opened his eyes as he felt a ray of light flash before his eyesight.

"The Fallen Leaves tell a story," a deep voice greeted him followed by a loud sound of metal clanging onto each other and the picture of a man with red braided hair that flowed with the wind.

A sound of shattering glasses resonated around as the voice addressed, "The great Elden Ring was shattered."

Another picture showing a golden tree came into view as the voice continued, "In our home, across the fog, The Lands Between."

The background music intensified as another picture showing a lady with flowing golden hairs came into view and the voice again addressed, "Now, Queen Marika the Eternal is nowhere to be found."

"and in the Night of the Black Knives, Godwyn the Golden was first to perish," continued the voice as the picture changed to show a man on his knees, stabbed by a knife, bleeding heavily, and encircled by people in black cloaks.

The picture switched to a lady wearing a witch hat, "Soon, Marika's offspring, demigods all, claimed the shards of the Elden Ring."

The pictures started changing swiftly as the voice continued to explain the events in order, "The mad taint of their newfound strength triggered the Shattering."

"A war from which no lord arose,"

"A war leading to abandonment by the Greater Will."

Suddenly, the background music intensified a second time and the picture changed to a statue spreading its hands in the dim light of the moon.

The voice deepened and the English changed to an older form, "Arise now, ye Tarnished."

"Ye dead, who yet live."

"The call of long-lost grace speaks to us all."

The pictures kept switching one by one as the tarnished were introduced to Yashiro.

"Hoarah Loux, chieftain of the Badlands."

"The ever-brilliant Goldmask."

"Fia, the Deathbed Companion."

"The loathsome Dung Eater."

"And Sir Gideon Ofnir, the All-knowing."

A small ball of light glided towards Yashiro as the pictures disappeared. He lifted his right hand to touch the ball of light but it vanished as soon as it landed on the middle of his palm.

"And one other. Whom grace would again bless."

"A Tarnished of no renown."

The darkness in front of Yashiro started to subside and he saw a thick layer of fog enveloping the whole place.

"Cross the fog, to the Lands Between."

"to stand before the Elden Ring."

"And become the Elden Lord." as soon as the voice finished, the fog subsided and light greeted Yashiro.

He found himself inside a dark room with creaking floors and a broken ceiling. There were a bunch of old wooden chairs scattered across the floor and a dead body was lying in the right corner of the room.

Yashiro carefully walked passed the old chairs and reached the dead body which was wearing a cloak and was covered in a pool of blood. He started searching the pockets of the cloak and found an item, 'Tarnished's Wizened Finger.'

"Okay, so how do we open the menu?" Yashiro thought while scratching his forehead.

After thinking for a while, he shouted, "Open inventory!"

A panel immediately opened in front of him with the list of items stored in the inventory. Yashiro clicked on the icon of 'Tarnished's Wizened Finger', and started reading its description.

'Used to write messages to other worlds.'

Yashiro closed the inventory and opened the equipment menu where he equipped the 'Short Sword'. He knew that to explore the Lands Between, one must read the items' descriptions which would unfold the rich lore of Elden Ring.

Yashiro walked towards the large wooden door and pushed it hard. The door opened with a creaking noise and stepping outside, he felt a cold wind blowing on his face and the air smelled of rotting flesh. Suddenly, he saw a message carved on the dry patch of land.

Yashiro knelt and read the message, "Trapped!? Mend the Elden Ring."

He ignored the message and walked down the old, broken wooden stairs, reaching near an old bridge, made up of ropes, wooden stumps, and planks that swayed with the wind. It felt as if the bridge would collapse as soon as someone takes a step on it.

There was yet another message that was written at the start of the bridge, it said, "Trapped?! Become the Elden Lord."

Yashiro looked into the sky before stepping onto the bridge. He carefully crossed the swaying bridge and on the other side, he found another message that read, "Death Ahead! Do not Die."

Ignoring the message, he ran forward and crossed an arched entrance made of stone and saw a sculpture of a lady with opened arms. As he walked towards it, a giant spider dropped from the sky.

The Spider's name read, 'Grafted Scion' and it wielded two swords and a greatshield. It came rushing towards Yashiro as he rolled to his side to dodge the incoming attacks from the two swords.

Yashiro held up his blade and tried attacking the Grafted Scion but it swiftly put out the greatshield to deflect the attacks. And it started countering its attacks by using its swords.

Yashiro jumped backward to make the distance between himself and the Scion but it suddenly leaped into the air and landed above Yashiro and scratched his left arm.

Yashiro could see his hitpoints drop to fifty-five percent. He gritted his teeth as he rushed towards the Scion to deliver a surprise blow but the Scion adjoined its two swords and attacked in a swift motion which heavily damaged Yashiro.

He tried to roll sideways to remove the aggro and saw his hitpoints dropping at an alarming rate. Yashiro could feel his muscles tense up as he knew that he was fighting a losing battle.

"Grafted Scion, I won't let you defeat me this time. I can control my body as I want, and I will kill you this time." Yashiro cried, his voice resonating with anger and determination.

Yashiro was swiftly dodging all the incoming attacks while counter-attacking and the hitpoints of the Scion were dropping steadily.

But, as the hitpoints of the Grafted Scion reached twenty-five percent, it stridulated loudly, and the whole arena was filled with shrill cries. Yashiro dropped his sword to cover his ears but, the Scion attacked him at that very moment and he blacked out instantly.