Leveling up...

After the fight in the woods, I became even more daring and pulled off stuff like this a lot. Now, I finally have enough souls that I feel comfortable going back after spending nine months in this hellhole. No matter how beautiful and amazing the view was, after killing everything I could in this vast area, it was empty and littered with dead bodies. I learned many tricks, probably useless when it comes to killing any of the bosses or nightmare creatures, but I've learned a lot. After killing so many, I don't hesitate even a bit, and my sword practice has helped. Now, I can swing my sword right 8 out of 10 times.

So, in the end, I was going back to the nightmare. I was honestly tired of this place, and I could finally level up. I was excited about the fruit of my labor. I called out to the system, quit, and in the end, it showed how many souls I had. The number wasn't too big, even though I spent almost nine months here; it was a measly twenty-five thousand souls, and lots of them were not even killed by me but by the giant on my behalf.

My plans got crazier, and after walking for some time, I was back at the Church of Marika. In front of it was a giant, and I was stuck with terror when I first saw it. I pledged I would not go near it, but in the end, my desperation won, and I lured many mobs to the giant. In the end, after my nine months, I also died.

It was hard work every day, with no sleep, danger at every turn. I was now way more daring, but I was still afraid of it. But it was good so that I won't die like a fool. In the end, I was a little proud of myself that I even managed to come this far. I might have committed suicide instead, but deep down, this is what I always wanted.

My life was meaningless and empty; there was never a purpose to strive toward. I wanted a meaning, and I got it. If I could save this world in any way, then it was a nice purpose to have. For the first time, I had a real meaning in something. I was lazy, so hard work was new to me but nice.

Now I was finally back to the hut that I had hurriedly left behind. I finally took a deep breath, and now I was looking at my stats again. I noticed something new; there was a section called class, and it was empty. I was currently at level 1, and my stats were garbage. But now, with my class, without any upgrades, my stats were:

- VIGOR: 15

- MIND: 11

- ENDURANCE: 13

- STRENGTH: 14

- DEXTERITY: 14

- INTELLIGENCE: 10

- FAITH: 11

- ARCANE: 12

This was my class right now, without any upgrades. These numbers were not just for show; I actually felt powerful. It was eye-opening, and I felt many things I had never felt before. But it was just the beginning.

I went ahead and transformed all of my souls into fragments or ruins. Well, it did not matter, and it was a staggering number of 135,000. It was the result of my nine months of hard work as a normal human. I did not know how many levels I could upgrade, but it would be a lot, and this is what I was preparing for.

But the things did not end there. As soon as I took the fighting stance of the sword, I realized that I now knew how to use the sword. Yes, it was very weird, but I somehow knew all the moves and how to use them. It did not mean I was a master swordsman, just that I knew how to use it. I performed some sword moves, and my body did them perfectly. So now, I just had to learn how to hit stuff with it. It was a little sad as I had practiced with the sword for 9 months, but suddenly, I now knew how to use the sword.

The last thing remaining was to level up with my remaining souls. After thinking deep and hard about what I wanted the most or what would help me the most in the nightmare and in Dark Souls, I upgraded myself. I never thought I could feel this powerful. From level 9, I went all the way up to level 45. It was honestly a huge jump in power, and all the grinding paid off. I felt like I could probably clear my first nightmare. Plus, I had an army now—suicidal cannon fodder, but I had 3 sloths, 12 bears, and one giant that I could use. Still, I felt the need to have someone powerful, so in the end, I decided that I would fight a boss now that I had leveled up and had a nice weapon.

But who would be the boss I was going to fight?