D, Hunter of the Dead

Then Max went back to the Roundtable where D was and started a conversation with him.

"Hello, how are thee doing? My name is Max, I believe we haven't met before, have we?"

D, then looked up and responded.

"Yes, that's true. I don't believe we've met. I'm known as D. I hunt down Those Who Live in Death, and weed their Deathroot. Heed my warning. Those Who Live in Death should be left well alone. All the more, should you spy a mariner among their number. Unless you wish to lay down your life in vain."

"Hmm I see. Could you perhaps tell me a little bit more about the mariner?"

D POV:

Well, it's been a while since someone asked me to know more about the mariners. This should be the first time since I talked with Rogier about it.

"A mariner is a hunched skeleton, who rides in a ghostly boat. It is a being who lives in Death. If you see one you can be sure, that they have a Deathroot on them, and it's the Deathroot what makes them even more dangerous. When they kill, the mariners can corrupt the souls, as they leave their mark. Consequently, these poor souls, can't return to the erdtree, but have to continue living in Death. But why do ask fellow tarnished?"

I looked at Max and he just answered without any care.

"Because I believe that I saw something, that resembles what you described a mariner. May I ask why you hunt the dead?"

His answer caught me by surprise, but I calmed down quickly. In fact, I didn't really believe him, however I decided to answer his question.

"I serve the Golden Order. That I might put this crooked land to rights. Following only the guidance of the great Elden Ring. Those Who Live in Death fall outside the principles of the Golden Order. Their mere existence sullies the guidance of gold. Tainting its truth. And so it is the vermin must be exterminated... Down to the very last."

Max POV:

Wow, this somehow reminds me of the idealism of Brother Corhyn.

"Hmm, I agree with you. Could you please tell me what would be the most effective way to get rid of them?"

Our eyes met and after a few seconds, D proceeded to explain.

"Those who live in Death, can rise again after they fall, therefore they could be considered immortal. However, there is only one way to kill them completely. You have to use Golden Order incantations. Only with the holy light given by grace, can you weed them out."

As I heard this cold sweat appeared on my face. This would mean that if I were to meet one these skeleton, I wouldn't be able to kill it even when its reforming itself. Thats terrible news.

D POV:

As I saw the tarnished panic, a small smile appeared on my face. Just when I thought that the tarnished finally realized that he should stay away, he surprised me once more.

"As a devoted follower of the Golden Order I cannot allow these existences tainting it. Please teach me some incantations of the Golden Order, so I can exterminate them.", said Max with a straight face.

Initially I wanted to reject his wish, however after thinking for a while I decided to accept, because of multiple reasons. For one, the beast wishes that someone else takes my place, he could be a candidate, but I have to test him. Furthermore, what if he actually saw a mariner, I have no other choice to investigate this. The best way would be to test him while fighting the mariner.

"Alright, the incantation I'm going to teach you is called Order's Blade."

General POV:

They went downstairs to the hall, where D proceeded to show Max how the incantation works. Basically, the Order's Blade incantation enhances your weapon with holy damage. Max quickly understood the principles; however, he struggled successfully casting it. But after a few days of relentless trying Max finally did it. He then continued to experiment with it, and he found out that his sword stays enchanted for 90 seconds and the mana cost was minimal. Afterwards he met up with D.

"Hello Max, did you finally manage to learn the incantation?" asked D.

"Yes, I did."

"Wonderful. Now please tell me, when we first met you mentioned that you saw a Tibia Marinor, do you know how the place is called where you saw him?"

D said this with a serious expression and stood up. In this moment Max could feel that, if he were to answer that he doesn't remember, D would to 100% attack him now.

"Of course, I saw him in Limgrave, in a village called Summonwater."

"Perfect. Now that you know a holy incantation, its only naturel to help me exterminate those who taint the Golden Order."

Max actually wanted to refuse, but D didn't give him a choice, therefore, he had to put the plans he made aside for now.

Before Max knew what happened next, he found himself back in Limgrave. In front of him was Summonwater Village and behind him the bridge, where a Mad Pumpkin Head could be seen banging his head into the ground. The two tarnished then proceeded to advance towards the village. During the path they got intercepted by a few Skeletal Militiamen. As D noticed them, he said:

"Max, go deal with them."

In response, Max used the Order's Blade incantation on his Bloodhounds Fang and then continued to wield the sword with two arms. He ran to the first one and jumped at him. The skeleton couldn't resist the sheer force, combined with the holy power and died in one hit. The second skeleton suffered the exact same fate. Seeing this, D was satisfied. Soon they came across a dead corpse.

"There's no mistake, is there? Death has left its mark once again. You were right, you indeed saw a mariner. I'm sorry, I cannot give you your proper rites... But at least you did not join Those Who Live in Death. Your soul will return to the Erdtree, in time. Honeyed rays of gold, deliver this spirit."

Before they engaged in a fight with the mariner, D explained the battle plan.

"We are in luck, this particular mariner is pretty weak, he can only summon weak Skeletal Militiamen, and he doesn't have any stronger summons. The plan is simple, I will keep him occupied and your job is to get rid of his summons. Once you did that, you should then join me. When you do, be careful of his horn."

The tarnished duo then began the battle with their enemy. When the mariner saw then, he firstly disappeared to a different area of the village. D and Max quickly found him, and they enchanted their swords. Then the battle started for real. The mariner summoned multiple Skeletal Militiamen, D went straight for the mariner and Max proceeded to kill the poor skeletons in one attack as he jumped for one skeleton to another without resting once. D was actually really surprised at the enormous stamina from Max.

As Max got closer to the mariner and also started attacking him, he started to levitate with his boat. As D saw this, he ordered in a loud voice:

"Back off!"

Then the mariner fell, creating a huge splash. Cold sweat appeared on Maxes face, because if he were underneath it, he would have suffered huge injuries. The mariner then proceeded to blow his horn, in order to summon more Skeletal Militiamen. In that moment D threw multiple big stones at him, using the Stone of Gurranq incantation. With this D managed to successfully stagger the mariner, interrupting his summoning process.

"Now, hit him with everything you got!"

So, the duo proceeded to attack him relentlessly. The mariner couldn't resist the constant holy imbued attacks from the two. Therefore not long after, he perished.

Max and D sighed in relief when the battle was over. D was especially satisfied as the battle was over very quickly. On the position where the mariner died , a Deathroot could be seen on the ground. Max grabbed it in order to examine it.

"This is a Deathroot. That was a good battle. I see that you have the prowess for weeding Deathroots. So, tell me, how would you like to earn the strength of beasts? If you're inclined to hunt more of Those Who Live in Death, and weed their Deathroot, then I'll introduce you to Gurranq, the beast clergyman. I have a matter of my own to attend to. And the beast himself wishes for someone to take my place. What do you say?"

As Max heard this, he had no other choice but to smile.

"Yes, I gladly accept."

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Auther Note:

Fun fact: Did you guys know that you can actually summon D for this mariner and the black assassin fight?

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