Chapter 19: A World out of Bounds.

Although I didn't expect to reach 200 power stones this fast, I am a man of my word.

Here is your extra chapter.

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< You have slain 1x{Capra Demon} +6,000souls >

< You have completed the challenge: [Capra demon]!

Rewards:

+20,000souls

+2x Demon Machetes

>

The moment I saw the notification I started chugging down estus like it was no one's business. I was surprised by the fact that I didn't choke on it considering how fast I was chugging the equivalent of liquid flame.

Even after downing like 6 estus in a row although my injuries were healed the ridiculous amount of physical and mental exhaustion surely wasn't. Coupled with the fact that I had completely exhausted my focus just to cast like two heals without a talisman gave me one hell of a headache.

But the most pressing issue was where the hell I was.

I mean yeah I'm in lower undead burg I know that much but this wasn't really any part of the playable area I knew of. Sure the buildings were similar and it still stank like hell but this was basically the first time since I was chucked into this god-awful world that I went outside the ''playable area''.

It wasn't like there wasn't anybody here. After all, this wasn't a game anymore, this was the kingdom of Lordan. Though most if not all the undead dipped when they saw me throwing hands with a demon thrice my size. So I was only able to catch glimpses of them in the corner of my eye when fighting Capra.

Speaking of which I still hadn't opened the multitude of notifications I had received throughout the fight.

< The skills { 2x[Heal lv.1],2x[ Focus lv.4 ],[Critical lv.5 ],[ Boxing lv.9 ],[ Pain Tolerance lv.9 ] } have leveled up! >

< The skill [Boxing lv.10(max) has evolved into[Mad Hollow combat lv.1] >

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<Mad hollow combat lv.1(passive)>

This skill is an evolution of boxing and still contains all of the benefits of its previous incarnation.

A martial art if you could call it that invented by the mad hollow. It has no real focus on punches or kicks itself but rather focuses on maximizing one's capabilities. This art is made to push the body to its limit to perform the most it can. It is borderline unusable without immense pain tolerance.

Warning: It is ill-advised for humans to use this martial art as they may suffer from significant bodily harm.

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Well, color me surprised! That went even better than I possibly imagined! Nearly all of my stagnant skills leveled up including pain tolerance bringing it to max level. But the best of all is the evolution of boxing. I tried a bit of punching and kicking and it all felt so... natural.

And powerful.

Even wielding a sword felt easier than before and the ferocity of my attacks seem to have increased a notch as well. I suspect this was the reason I could dispatch the Capra demon at the end. But man did we stray far, far from the arena. I should probably homeward back.

But curiosity killed the cat.

And the undead curse brought it back.

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...A few hours later...

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Well, the Undead Burg is a city alright. It wasn't hard to find shops, break into them and steal- I mean... Actually, why am I even trying to make excuses anyway? It's not like anybody is alive enough to care.

So, anyway after /stealing/ a bunch of shit and killing a whole bunch of undead fellows I had found a boatload of miscellaneous stuff. Like fabric, leather, metal things, books to read in my free time(If I ever decide to give myself any), furniture, and even alcohol.

Though I won't though that since I can only imagine my insane self paired with alcohol would do.

What surprised me the most was how... calm everything here was compared to the ''Ingame'' areas. The hollow wore different clothing, there were stores, no bonfires that I saw, and believe it or not, slightly plausible architecture.

And the undead actually had the slightest bit of variety in their choices of clothing. The more I stay in this place the more I'm freaked out. Why does this place make me more uncomfortable than fighting demons and undead and having their blood and guts spilled on me?

/Because it feels real./

What do you mean? I think being killed over and over and the very real blood, guts, shit, and filth around me is pretty real no?

/You treat the world around you like a game to not confront the reality of your situation./

(No.)

/You refuse to tread any path outside the ones in the game in fear of seeing the world as a world. You fear your own reality so you avoid it like a child scared of the dark. You blindly follow a path set for you by the gods like a pathetic slave because you know./

(stop.)

/Deep inside you know. You call yourself the chosen undead to dissociate yourself. Because you know. You just refuse to acknowledge it. You have nothing left, you are hollow and this is your world now. Only a cold and dead world with nothing left and your fate and only purpose left is to kill yourself to perpetuate it./

The air around me got colder and heavier as my lungs stopped functioning. From my back emerged a centipede wrung from hundreds of hollowed broken corpses to taunt me. Its expression twisted in anguish as it crawled around me.

(please.)

/Admit it, you died in the asylum. What's left is this sad, pathetic broken shell of a once man-/

''SHUT UP!!!''

*BOOM!!!* *Crunch!*

In my frustration, I punched a wall with so much strength that my arm along with the wall completely shattered.

Nope, no, nu, not, nada, never, dame, nuit, non, nein, noh, ie, yadda.

Whew, that almost got me! I mean who would ever listen to a centipede made out of corpses? Not me, certainly not me, and never will be me. I'm well, I'm good, I'm awesome! I'm the chosen undead! /I'm fine!/

Man, you really can't trust any of the centipedes these days.

They just have too many legs to be saying the truth.

I mean, what do you need so many legs for? To run faster? Well, then why am I faster than you? Checkmate you stupid bug. Now go away and stop being a second crestfallen warrior, one is enough.

Anyways now it's time to boneward out!

...

Ahh, smell that air! Couldn't you drink it like booze!? Actually, I wouldn't really recommend that as even the Firelink Shrine smells kinda like stale corpses and ash. And drinking it would probably instantly kill the modern person. Anyway, I went up to Gerald(I think?) for a conversation, or anything really.

''Hey, Geraldo my man, what's happening these days in the ol' shrineroo?''

He looked up at me like I just had a stroke but answered me regardless.

''Well, that nutty sorcerer Griggs made it back somehow likely thanks to you I imagine. And by the way, did you see her? That virtuous little maiden, complete with followers in tow. They're probably going straight to pillage graves. I've heard enough about "M'Lady" for a lifetime.''

''Alright see ya later Gerald I got some ''chosen undead business'' to do.''

He gave me a weird look once again but bid me farewell regardless. I hadn't expected Reah to come so soon since I forgot her spawn conditions. Well, might as well meet the three musketeers. I've got no real reason in particular honestly.

Alright, it might be because I haven't seen any actual females in a few months but you haven't heard that from me. And no the firekeeper doesn't count.

I went up to the lady and her twitch subs and when I went up for a chat one of her tier 3 subs came up to me. I couldn't for the life of me(or undeath HAHAHA.) remember their names.

''Hm? What have we here? You look awfully raggedy; are you all right? You look awfully raggedy... Times are grim; the least you can do is look sharp. Don't you dare meet M'lady like that. You might scare her off for good!''

I barely registered his words since I truly did not give the slightest shit about whatshisname. I just brushed him off and went up to Reah because... Why? I don't really remember. I don't even remember her questline very well since I usually don't play as a cleric. But it must be beneficial right?

''You are Undead, as well? Then we've no time to fraternize. I have my mission, and you no doubt have yours. We must not let this curse overcome us.''

I just stood there like a piece of wood since I forgot something very important. I forgot what I was about to say to her like a damn idiot. Why did I even want to talk to them in the first place? To get a quest or something? But it seemed Reah did not appreciate my presence much.

''Did I not explain the urgency of our tasks? Who are you so uncouth as to lack such judgement? By the looks of you...I should think not.''

Deep breaths.

You won't kill her just because she got on your nerves, John. Remember, quest rewards, do it for the quest rewards. I turned on my heel and left, unable to trust my self patience much.

I don't think I look that bad right? Sure a little unkempt and dirty since it has been a decent while since I last died and I also wore rags since my black leather set was completely dirty with blood. Curious, I went up to the pool in the shrine to check my reflection.

''Wow, that's gnarly. And slightly concerning at the same time.''

My eyes were purple and glowing slightly like in my hollow form even though I was in human form. Maybe it was because of my dying heal that I became something like a semi-hollow? Well, it looks cool so I won't worry about it much. Plus while I am here I took the opportunity to wash my Black Leather Set which was a pain in my ass.

After that, I left it next to the bonfire to dry while I cooked myself some steak with Gerald while making some light conversation. And after trying to enjoy my meal(and failing) I started fixing up my black leather set since it was quite roughed up during my tussle in the lower undead burg. Thankfully my sewing skills helped quite a bit.

< Your skill {Sewing lv.2} has leveled up! >

< {Sewing lv.2} -> {Sewing lv.3} >

< Your skill {Beginner Cooking lv.3} has leveled up! >

< {Beginner Cooking lv.3} -> {Beginner Cooking lv.4} >

Now time to level up since lugging around 30k souls(there /were/ quite a lot of hollows in the outer burg) was incredibly stressful.

[Soul level : 25] -> [Soul level : 31]

{Vitality : 12 } -> {Vitality : 15 }

{Attunement : 11}

{Endurance : 12 } -> {Endurance : 15 }

{Strength : 20 }

{Dexterity : 15 }

{Resistance : 15 }

{Intelligence : 11 }

{Faith : 11 }

<Spend 30,463souls to level up? Y/N>

'Yup.'

Once again the dormant souls inside me were consumed to nourish my body. I chose endurance and vitality since I seem to be taking quite a lot of hits and my stamina is struggling to keep up with me at this point. Something I was unfortunately made aware of during the Capra demon boss fight. This fact is even more prevalent when using Deadman's blow which consumes basically all of my juice.

But... *sigh* poor once again huh? I could just try grinding souls until my stats are jacked then going out with that but that is stupid.

Because I noticed that skills outclass stats. with my current stats but without my current skills I can't see myself beating the Asylum demon. Because stats are significantly less valuable when you can't even use them properly.

If I bloated my stats right now I'm sure my skill growth would slow to a crawl. And I doubt I would be able to get past the Iron golem without external help, let alone the Londo Slam Jam. So I say it's best to let it grow naturally. Though the fact I can't steamroll everything through raw stats kinda annoys me, you know what they say:

''It's always darkest before the soul''

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