"Caelid's a shithole" - 10/10

Dave

"A talisman pouch?"

"Yes, a talisman pouch." Melina repeated, handing back over the small container. "They may seem simple, at first. However, with a fine eye for detail, you come to realize, the magic radiating off of it, a series of masterfully woven seals and miniature incantations."

I wonder how many berries it can carry? "Woah."

"It is best if you keep it on your person. Seeing as it allows the user to hold more talismans."

"But why would anyone need to carry it if they could just wrap it around an article of clothing. Better yet, why would you need one in the first place when you could just make a regular leather pouch?" I questioned, pushing my brain to its limits in thinking capacity.

Melina turned to me with little expression on her face, as though she were animated in her motions. "Because the innate magic within these items causes other talismans in its proximity to explode with prolonged use? I assume that is the answer that you desired, yes?"

Right, maybe it was best to pay attention to the impromptu lesson while it was still there. Nodding my head, she grumbled a few words under her breath before stretching out her hand. "I think it's your turn to strengthen yourself, is it not?"

"There's no need to delay it any further than it already has. Fine, I'll do it. If only because it would be a waste to drop this many runes." I relented, touching her hand as I would Vestia's.

"Your potential… It's untapped?" I heard Melina whisper, her eyebrows furrowing. "How? How is it so vast that makes even the strongest of tarnished seem like a drop in the ocean in comparison?"

"Good questio-"

"Hush you." She silenced. "The whole world might as well call you an anomaly due to your nature. Heck, if I was none the wiser, I would've thought you were the Fell God's reincarnation."

Should I tell her? Should I really tell her? Probably not. "I can say with a hundred percent certainty that no god has been residing within me. The closest I can say is that I myself have been inside of a goddess."

"A-waw-aw?" She sputtered, the gears in her head slowly turning as a crimson hue dusted her cheeks. "Pervert! A shameless one at that! I know that she may be your wife, but you don't have to word it like that."

Calling me out, I still held a straight face through it all. "Whatever. Anyways, are you done making me stronger yet? I don't think this process usually takes that long, and you've been holding my hand for a while now."

"Almost." She clarified, her face twitching ever so slightly. "Nearly, there… Just a bit more… Completed. Your general aptitude should be raised all around, though you can afford to lean either towards faith or intelligence. While I would recommend putting points towards faith, your pre-established base seems to favor both equally."

"More intelligence would be nice. Especially when it allows me to better cast my spells at a faster rate, however, the same could also apply to the latter… decisions, decisions." I pondered, the world around me fading as my focus eclipsed everything else. What was the best route to enter?

Both had the same effect, except the former allowed for more destruction to be had, the other catered towards versatility... Wait, if Vestia is going to focus more towards support, it would only make sense for her to use faith. "Intelligence. I think that would be the best path to tread."

After finally getting her answer, the cloaked woman sighed, releasing her hand from my grasp. "A word of advice," She started, standing up from her position. "To the east is a land known as Caelid, and to the south is the Weeping Peninsula. Both are locations ripe with resources. Reap until there is nothing left and you shall grow far stronger than your adversaries."

There's more to explore? We're not just stuck on a linear island? "Do practice some caution, however." Melina continued, raising her index finger. "The lands to the east are rife with monsters infected by the scarlet rot, an ailment which has plagued its inhabitants for many years. Be careful as to not trip yourself, lest you suffer a fate worse than death."

With those final words, she quite literally leapt out of sight, disappearing in a show of brilliant blue light. Though with that in mind, we were given direction, a reason to explore, and a place to be directed towards. "With the number of resources this place gives, it wouldn't be too far of a stretch to assume we'd be able to become the strongest beings in these lands." I stated, turning towards the waiting Vestia. "Why don't you decide? Where shall we go to next?"

…

It was the worst place imaginable…Though, that statement could be applied to areas with a large lake.

First off, the smell was horrendous, even worse than both Farron Keep and the bug infested cellars of Ariandel's church. Well, I guess it was a sacrifice I had to make in order to grow just a tiny bit stronger.

Standing in front of us were what looked to be a murder of large mutated crows the size of full-grown adults. Bits of flesh dangled off their side, and large patches of their body was left exposed to the elements without any feathers to cover them.

Nasty creatures. "Surprisingly, it isn't as bad as I thought."

"Thou art expectations are…skewered to say the least."

"Maybe just a little bit." I replied, turning back to look at her, only to be met by a deadpan stare. "Alright, it might be a little bit more than that. But still, this place doesn't look too bad, all things considered."

"We have yet to see the effects of the scarlet rot. And if its effects are as bad as Maiden Melina suggests, then things are only bound to get worse." She reminded in a matter-of-fact tone. "Should we explore beyond this point any further, it won't take long to see why. Speaking of which, the tree in the distance, I wonder what it could be?"

Vestia pointed off at a gigantic golden tree. One smaller than the towering Erdtree, but still big in its own right. Thankfully, it stood just off the left of us, and wasn't too far off the beaten path.

"I don't know, but it wouldn't hurt to find out." Getting up on Torrent's back, we rode towards it, finding out that it stood at the bottom of a declining slope, with most of its main body hidden by the terrain.

Moving down the path, several enemies jump out of the woodworks. They all had dark lumps on their backs and a golden spear in their arms. Their figures were hunched back, likely due to the added weight. Staring them down, I swapped to my Pyromancer's Flame and readied an attack, only to be stopped by Vestia, who had gotten off our mount.

Her posture held great confidence as yellow sparks danced across her body in a beautiful display. In the next instance, a lightning rod manifested in her grasp, her hands gripping the weapon tightly before slamming it into one of the enemies that thought getting close was a good idea.

Completely fried, smoke left its mouth as its allies stared for but a moment before returning their attention to Vestia, who was already preparing her next strike. Letting the horse disappear, I moved in from behind, activating my great sword and placing the buckler shield in my off-hand.

Dashing backward, she covered me from behind, a bow made of electricity in her hand with an arrow notched and ready to fire. I rolled into active combat, immediately thrusting my sword into the nearest enemy as soon as my body allowed. With my body's current position however, this opened up the chance for the other two foes to flank me from each of my sides.

They both lunged their weapons at me, but, only one of them was able to pierce through my un-armored body. Moving back, it took me a moment to recover from my ailment. Yet, when I did, one of them was already burn to cinders, and the other was on the verge of death. Taking this as my moment, the edge of my blade swept through the air, slicing through my opponent's skull like butter.

"No time for celebrating just yet, sadly." I warned, spotting the various hidden eyes staring at us from afar. "There are two on the roots near the log, three closing in on our flanks, and a single one taking front and center stage. Prepare to cover me from afar."

Reaching into the oblivion, I pulled out a talisman, golden light shining from it as I held it close to my chest, all the while reciting a story. The Great Nameless King, disowned and tarnished by the sun, a respectable man to the very end. Grant me the strength to defeat mine foes, to devote myself to a Sacred Oath.

Temporary as it was, the increase in strength would be enough to deal with most of them alone. And with how many there were, I would need as much help as I could get. A blaze lit in my left hand as red-hot magma dripped from my palm like sweat. A great orb of pure chaos manifesting within my grasp.

Throwing it down on the same ground being tread by the one in front of me, I shifted my attention to the three on my right, my eyes heavily focusing on them before a projectile flew at them, taking care of that problem without much issue.

And lastly, were the two who stood high above. It was at a height that none of my attacks would hit them, yet at the same time, their only means of attacking me would result in them jumping down. Luckily, two lightning spears was all it took for them to drop, and with a sidewards slash from my blade, their guts came flying out, splattering the dirt beneath me with their gore.

My eyes twitched at the sight, only for them to be snatched by a large wood-like entity wielding a gigantic hammer, who stood in front of my path. Training my blade at what look to be a spirit, I keenly observed its movements, noting that it didn't react a single bit no matter what happened.

However, when I took one step in its vicinity, it began lifting its humongous leg off the ground, with each step it took shaking the ground and the air growing more pungent by the second. It was wordless in its pursuit, only focusing on the task at hand. I could only stare at the hulking beast, watching as its bottom glowed a golden yellow before slamming its ass into the floor before me. Luckily, I was able to dodge out of the way of the blow, only to be struck repeatedly from behind, pebble-like objects relentlessly pelting me.

Ones turned into tens, and tens turned into hundreds, it felt as though they would never stop, even after being struck by Vestia's lightning, nothing would take effect. That was until I had enough of it and stuck my left hand deep into the creature, the contents of which bubbled with the flames of chaos, liquifying his wooden insides in mere seconds.

There was just one small problem, a slight oversight, if you would. I did find his weakness, a sudden searing pain flared from my arm, starting from my knuckles, and crawling all the way up my shoulder. Almost immediately, skin fell off my appendage, with flesh soon following shortly after. Blood continuously spewed with no end in sight.

The flow of time came to a screeching halt, a dead stop in the road as the sheer agony wrought havoc on me for what felt like an eternity. My th- ght br-ke u-. E-es cro-sin-g, fa-nt.

[A/N: If writing a quest has taught me one thing, it's that focus is good for writing. Holy shit, there really is a good amount of dissonance between this chapter and the next one, sweet fuck. See you next time when a red-head suddenly appears asking to do things with Dave's body. Copy and paste stuff below, as per usual.

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