Chapter 3: Spiritual Encounter

[Shadow Copy] pov:

Whilst my real body was talking to Ciri, I had appeared within an open plane, many mounds and cobblestone roads were all around me.

I was a bit suprised by the beauty of it all, especially the gigantic Golden Tree that rose high up into the sky and covered the entire land.

Looking around I can see strange yet familiar looking creatures like the ones within my memories.

Ah, The Lands Between.

It's been three hundred years since I played Elden Ring on the PlayStation 5.

Ahhhh, no I really want one again.

Oh well.

At least I arrived at my destination without a hitch, that's perfect.

I decided to approach one of the creatures before I swiftly killed it using a sharp branch I had picked up.

Nothing happened when I killed the creature which was unfortunate.

That must mean two things, one is I arrived before The Shattering occurred so none of the wildlife contained Runes for me to absorb, or two Runes are innate to one's soul.

In the game the various Runes and the description of it said that Runes were apart of one's being and rhe essence of the soul.

Even the Numen's and Marika had a very strong Rune in their own being even before they travelled to The Lands Between.

Considering that the Erdtree is fully grown, it is currently leeching on The Crucible. That means I must be in between the time the Demigods are still being born.

I had initially teleported to the Elden Ring verse for a few reasons.

One was to find out if Runes can be absorbed and if i can use them in another universe which I doubt since they are a manifestation of The One Great and the Greater Will.

Two, is to find Ranni before she meets the Albinauric snow witch Renna.

I began to wander the land and noticed some merchants.

Marika must not have killed them and imprisoned the rest deep below the capital yet near the Three Fingers.

"Hey you, come over here and have a look at our wares." One of the two merchants said.

I approached the duo and greeted them in turn.

"Hello. May I ask you a few questions? I am a traveller and had lived in seclusion for quite some years. I'll gladly trade some things you've never seen before in exchange."

"Of course! Of course! Ask away!" The older merchant enthusiastically said.

"What was the most recent major event that transpired in the capital Lyndell?"

"Oh, you don't know?! Well I thought this was obvious to everyone in the Lands Between. Its been a few years since but the Dragon Wars had come to an end. A great Dragon called Gransax had destroyed the infamous walls of Lyndell, marking the start of the Dragon Wars. It was many years after that the Demigod Godwyn the Golden. Son of Quenn Marika and Godfrey the First Elden Lord, felled Gransax and befriended a Dragon called Fortissax. Fortissax's sister Lansseax had worked alongside the Humans to make a new religion. Queen Marika announced that both the Dragons and people worships the Erdtree in their own way and thus coexistence was made possible."

Godwyn huh, so the Omen Twins Morgott and Mohg are imprisoned in the depths of Lyndell. That's good to know.

"What about any other wars?"

The merchant was in thought for a moment before the younger voiced one spoke up.

"Oh, there was the recent union of marriage between Queen Rennala of the Full Moon and Radagon the Champion of the Golden Order." The younger merchant revealed.

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that Kale." The older merchant said.

Merchant Kale? He's quite young isn't he?

"Hey, Kale right? Do you happen to know if Queen Rennala and Lord Radagon had any children?"

"Uhhh...oh yeah! My friend Blaidd is Lady Ranni's half sister! I met him a few times when me and my dad went to Liurnia some years ago. I should visit him again."

"Kale!" Kale's father brought his son back to reality.

"Haha, sorry. Yeah, they had three children, Lord Radahn, Lord Rykard and Lady Ranni." Kale said as he scratched his head.

"And how old would they be now?" I asked.

"Uhhh, I think they Lady Ranni should be slightly older than i am since Blaidd is around our age. If you meet him say that Kale sends his regards and I'll visit soon. Blaidd often ventures out into the woods, still don't know why? He never says."

"Thank you, here as promised for your time."

I took out many minor yet unique items from the extra Storage Space Ring that the realm body had given me to use during my time in this world.

So Ranni is wandering the woods of Liurnia, and Blaidd must be escorting her as her ever loyal Shadowbound Beast.

I can't fight the beings of this world, they are at least Multiversal beings while I am still just only capable of destroying large scale Cities and small scale mountains with my strongest ability.

Using my [Hydroportation] Spell, I teleported in a burst of water and reappeared at my destination.

Hivering directly above a pool of water I had as my desired destination, I was outside of the infamous Turtle Pope Uriel's church where Radagon and Rennala used Celestial Dew to wed one another.

I ventured deep into the forest near the Caria Manor and the Academy of Rya Lucaria.

Finding a suitable spot within the forest, I took out a small wooden box. Throwing the box onto the ground before me, it began to transform into a small wooden structure.

I walked around my new home and drew various Inscriptions and Formations around it in order to defend my home and myself from unwanted intruders whole proving some form of minimal protections.

Once i was done I created numerous familiars of all kinds ranging from deers, birds, snakes, spiders and wolves made of a glowing and almost translucent Magical-like Ice.

I commanded many familiars to spread out and begin to bring me any information that they could, they would memorise what they saw and then I would be able to extract that knowledge from their artifical minds with ease.

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Some months later...

Lunar Princess, Ranni - pov:

I was wandering the woods of Liurnia, having ventured from the Caria Manor.

The professors of the Academy of Rya Lucaria had reported to my mother of some rather strange findings.

They had captured a new and strange species of Ice type creatures.

From what they can determine, it wasn't living nor was it magical since it contained no trace of Magic within them.

Upon trying to examine the creatures further, they would destroy themselves and explode into shards of Ice.

When trying to capture more of these strange creatures they would grow more intelligent and evade anyone they would come across.

After investigating them in depth, I discovered that they would always return to the same area after some time.

It was the woods close yo the Caria Manor of which I now wandered within.

I want to discover what these creatures are as they seem to have some kind of purpose behind their strange and perculiar actions.

Blaidd had followed me stealthily like always yet I didn't reveal that I knew about him. It was obvious he would come with me, he only wants to protect me.

I smiled at the fact my dearest friend and loyal guard seemed oblivious to how predictable he can be at times.

After some time, I thought today would prove useless in finding one of the strange Ice creatures so that I can follow them back to the source.

However, that was when I came across a strange sight, a great many of the Ice like creatures was surrounding a large flame bird.

The Ice creatures were being evaporated into mist by their close proximity to the flame bird only for the mist to become red in coloration and merge with the flame bird, making it grow slightly larger in size.

I observed the whole process take place before witnessesing the flame bird unfurl its wings and take to the air.

It rapidly flew past the trees and I promptly chased after it not letting the opportunity slip away.

I was fascinated by its existence,I had many theories as to what it could be.

A manifestation of an Symbiotic or Parasitic Element?

A New Soul based Race?

A Familiar of someone?

I thought as I followed the flame bird all the way until we arrived at a small wooden structure deep in the woods.

Seeing the flame bird enter the structure I resolved myself to enter.

I am confident in my own power and abilities of whatever unknown resides within should it be hostile.

I followed the flame bird inside and the first thing I saw was a man with white hair and strange blue robes sitting at table with various sheets of paper and ink pots spread out in front of him.

The flame bird rested on the man's shoulder, the clothes he wore unaffected by the bird's natural flames.

The man's eyes widened in suprise upon noticing me enter before he spoke in a gentle and soft voice.

"Hello young lady. Would you like to tell me who you are and what your doing here in my home?"

Staring at the man, he doesn't seem to be dangerous, but given his behaviour he probably already knows who i am. I thought for a moment before answering.

"I am the Lunar Princess Ranni, daughter of Queen Rennala and King-Consort Radagon. I am here because I want to know of your involvement with the Ice-like creatures that have been seen all across Liurnia in recent months." I announced with a authoritative voice.

Hearing my words he didn't seem to care about my declaration of my name and status as a part of the Royal family.

"Hm, Princess Ranni seems long. Do you mind if I call you Ranni? I know it's a bit rude but you see, where I come from I'm a Patriarch of my Faction. I guess you could say its similar to being a semi-independent King of sorts. I am Tallon Luminous, Patriarch of the Niflheim Sect. You can me Tallon for short." He body said before the flame bird on his shoulder flew off and circled around in the air before entering his body like a ghost.

I looked around at his home while still vigilant against him, the items are perculiar and many of them do seem to be things only a Ruler would possess given their make and the value they must have.

"Very well. Now answer my other question."

"Great! Well then Ranni, these creatures are my unique familiars, they are an extention of my will and being. I used them to help me gather information while I stayed here in the comfort of my own home." He said after clapping his hands together with glee at my acceptance to drop formalities.

"What about the flame bird? Where did it go?" I asked, perplexed at the strange disappearance of the creature a moment ago.

"The 'flame bird' as you call it is a Phoenix. A creature born of fire, Immortal and to always be reborn from its own ashes upon death or old age. I had made it as a Blood Companion of mine. In other words, I can call upon it whenever I desire. It is not a familiar since it has a will and mind of its won while being apart of my own body. When i call upon it, it will manifest its true original body and help me in whatever I need of it. I've many Blood Companions, the Phoenix is one of them, his name is Icarus."

"Why don't you attend the Academy of Rya Lucaria or join my mother, Queen Rennala's Faction? If you did you would surely benefit greatly than being confined to this habitation deep in the woods alone."

"While that is true, I am unable to cast Maguc like you and the people of these lands. I am not from this world and I am merely a visitor for the time being." He said and I was momentarily shocked.

"What do you mean you are not from this world?" I asked as now I had grown more interested in thisnso called Tallon.

He gestured me to take a seat next to him and I didn't refuse. I was still wary of him bit if I did refuse him all the progress I've made will go to waste.

He quickly cleaned the table of his notes and ink pots before conjuring a kettle from thin air.

He created water and made it flow into the kettle before using his other hand to make a small flame beneath it all while the kettle floated in mid air suspended by nothing.

He summoned a few familiars that seem to be real and not elemental.

"They are called Otters, they are a rather adorable race from my orignal homeworld." He said noticing my unfamiliarity with this type of species.

The Otters ran around and came back with a few cups, I took the cup from the Otter as it looked at me with a nervous expression.

I patted it on the head and it enjoyed it as it began to jump around in delight making sounds of pure glee and ecstasy.

Tallon poured me the liquid from the kettle into my cup.

"It's called Chai, a type of sweet tea from my world. I personally like this type of tea."

I took a sip from it and I must admit it was nice.

"It's delightful. Now, shall we continue our conversation?"

"Yes, now then where should i start..."

Some time passed since then.

He explained about the world he cane from and how the system of power worked there, that anyone can become powerful if given the chance.

He also described how the inhabitants of the world I live within are limited and are solely dependent on Runes and the Elden Ring's continued existence.

I was fascinated by it all, he explained and talked about many things ranging from the true origins of Blaidd and his hidden purpose to monitor me to follow the Greater Will's agenda and goals.

I was saddened knowing that Blaidd was being used as an unwilling tool against me, but that sadness turned to anger and rage when Tallon revealed the true plans of the Greater Will and the Two Fingers.

Explaining more of the Two Fingers and the Greater Will's involvement in their desire to manipulate me into being a loyal slave Empyreon to their desires horrified me.

He asked me if I wanted to be his apprentice, as he would be able to teach me all his knowledge whilst helping to bring out my full potential as an Empyreon.

He openly confessed to this being an mutually beneficial proposition without hiding his desires.

And that is what I respect.

Nobles and the various factions I had to deal with would always hide their true agenda to use me and others, but Tallon is different.

He understands what we both want, while I am still wary of him, I decided to accept his proposal to become his apprentice, despite his confession to being weaker than me in terms of overall power.

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Tallon pov: 

Many years later...

It had been many years since I met Ranni and began guiding her.

Using the bits of knowledge I knew of the game, as well as the world I came from, i was able to bring out the great potential Ranni carried as an Empyreon.

I knew she would one day destroy her Empyreon body and make an artificial one, that is why I primarily instructed her to bringing out her Magical potential than anything else.

I told Ranni about the Lake of Rot where the Outer God - Goddess of Rot was imprisoned by the Blind Swordsman under the surface of Liurnia.

The magical crystals grew as a result because of that, and that's why many large Magical crystals are beneath the surface of Liurnia.

That was the reason why the Academy of Rya Lucaria was built atop a large lake despite the geographical disadvantages it held.

Ranni under my instruction had travelled beneath the surface to harness the power in most of these Magical Crystals and used a special technique I made for her to cultivate its power for her own.

I also told Ranni about the Moons and the many possible theories of them being sentient Outer Gods.

I warned her to jot succumb to the mysterious temptations they held but to also admit its power, especially the Dark Moon.

During these years it's seems that Rennala had taught Ranni about the Moons as well and had her connect to her own one, the Dark Moon.

Queen Rennala of the Full Moon.

Lunar Princess Ranni of the Dark Moon.

That is where they now draw their strength in magic from.

I was in my newly upgraded home, courtesy of Ranni's desire to modify the "worn down shack" as she calls it.

"Old man." The young Empyreon called out to me as she entered my home.

"I told you not to call your master that! Being 300 years older than you doesn't make me old! Didn't your parents teach you any manners!"

"Why should i, it's the truth isn't it? You.are.old."

"You are cold, how could you be so ruthless! You gaining this attitude may have been a bad idea on my part had I known you'd behave like this."

"That was a terrible attempt at a pun. Jokes aside, there is something important I need to tell you about."

I turned to look at her with a serious expression, showing her I was listening ernestly.

"My father Radagon and Step-Mother Queen Marika had ordered that I and my siblings travel to the Capital Lyndell." She said and I noticed the slight change in her expression.

"Aww, are you going to miss me?" I teased.

"Why would i miss you? Your too old for me to care about. You'd probably drop dead the next day of old age."

"Ack! How dare you! *sigh* Anyway, I know you can't refuse this order. Your an Empyreon candidate and Queen Marika has ordered it. Speaking of which, how is your mother fairing?"

"Not well. She is still the same." Ranni said with a regretful voice.

"You still blame yourself for knowing this would happen. This was outsode of your control, it was simply her destiny in the stars. All will be well when the day of our Plan comes to fruition." I said as I tried to console the Demigod girl.

"I know. Let us move on, I dislike this topic."

"Agreed. I assume you cane to give your farewells before leaving Liurnia. Don't worry about me, we'll meet again one day."

"I know, but I still came so that I can give a parting gift."

Ranni moved closer to me before placing her bare hand on my chest after moving the folds of my robes.

An aura of dark Magical energy passed from her hand to my chest before sinking inside my body.

"What was that?" I asked her, unafraid of what she had done, completely trusting her judgement.

"A spell, like the one I did for my mother. To keep you safe should you ever find yourself in danger."

"Aww so you do care. I'm touched-ouch!"

Ranni had elbowed me in my gut out of nowhere, that freaking hurt woman! Your a Demigod for crying out loud!

She turned around and left through the door but not before saying "Goodbye".

'She didn't deny it!' I thought to myself seeing her leave.

Time had passed by and many things had happened.

One of which was that two years before Ranni told me of her leaving to Lyndell, Godfrey had been banished from the Lands Between and Radagon had wed Marika.

A two years later was when Ranni last visited me to tell me of her departure from Liurnia.

But one of the greatest events to happen in my opinion, was the birth of the future Twin Empyreon Prodigies.

Malenia and Miquella.