Gawain slowly pushed open the door. Sir Gideon Ofnir looked up from a mountain of scrolls, seemingly unsurprised by his arrival.
"I've already heard. You sent men to assist my forces during the operation in Caelid, didn't you?"
"Ah, that? Think nothing of it. Tarnished should help one another, and besides, it was something I was happy to see done."
"Be that as it may, I must thank you for the assistance. Accept this gesture of my goodwill—I believe you will find it to your liking."
Gideon watched as Gawain placed a spirit ash box containing a puppet's soul onto his desk. Feeling the familiar aura emanating from within, Gideon's breathing suddenly grew heavy.
"Where did you obtain the soul of this puppet?"
"From Seluvis, of course. He's been... 'purged' from his lineage. I found this puppet among his collection and helped mend the damage to its soul. Of course, to ensure she doesn't suffer too much of a shock upon waking, I've let her sleep for a while longer. She should wake up sometime tomorrow. If your friend dislikes her current puppet form, I wouldn't mind helping to fashion a new body for her."
Gideon traced the box, feeling the familiar essence of the soul. He struggled to suppress the excitement in his heart. He had long known of Gawain's miraculous abilities through his intelligence reports.
After all, the spirit of the Headless Knight who once served Godwyn was currently manifesting all over Stormveil. Even on the battlefields of Caelid, his subordinates had reported seeing that same headless spirit leading a legion of knights—those who had once been buried with Godwyn—to slaughter Kindred of Rot in the heart of the swamp.
But seeing it happen before his own eyes was different. To have the soul of a friend, once trapped as a puppet, restored... Gideon didn't believe such a boon would come without a price.
Clutching the box tightly, Gideon finally spoke with genuine sincerity. "As a friend of Dolores the Sleeping Arrow, I offer you my deepest respects. My comrade on the path to Lordship... if there is any intelligence you require in the future, I shall provide it to the best of my ability."
"Mmm. I won't be polite about it then. If you want to thank anyone, thank Nepheli. I'm doing this for her sake; otherwise, I wouldn't have let the matter of the Albinauric Village slide so easily. I hope I never see such a thing happen by your hand again. Understood?"
Gideon nodded slightly. From any perspective, he had no desire to make an enemy of a man who had unified half the Lands Between—a man who could truly be called a Lord-to-be.
His pursuit was the most hidden secrets of the history of the Lands Between. If there was a more efficient way to achieve his goals, he saw no need to invite trouble. He had already lost a significant number of men last time, and his most valued foster daughter had broken ties with him. He couldn't afford a repeat of such losses.
As Gawain turned to leave the room, Gideon hesitated for a moment before asking one final question.
"My men did not see you on the battlefield in Caelid, yet there were reports from Liurnia of a disturbance at the Academy and tremors rising from deep underground. That was your doing, wasn't it?"
Gawain didn't deny it. A slight smile played on his lips. He knew that after offering a favor, it was time for a small show of force.
"You mean the business in Liurnia? A troublesome fellow snuck into the Academy, but the situation was settled without me needing to step in. I indeed didn't join the fight in Caelid because I was pinned down by a much more annoying enemy deep beneath the Academy. Of course, that threat is no more—much like the Scarlet Rot of Caelid. Well then, Gideon, let's leave it at that for today. I have matters to attend to."
Gideon's gaze was dark and unreadable as he watched Gawain disappear. He knew exactly what lay "deep beneath the Academy." There could only be one truly formidable enemy in that location. Gawain wouldn't lie about something that could be so easily verified.
To be honest, Gideon found it hard to believe. Has he truly reached such heights? Perhaps he needed to make some drastic adjustments to his plans for the future.
After leaving the Roundtable Hold, Gawain returned to the Grand Library. Melina was standing on her tiptoes in front of a bookshelf, seemingly helping Sorceress Sellen organize some volumes. However, the slightly flustered look on her face suggested she felt a bit out of her element.
He didn't call her out on it. He simply adjusted the Dark Moon Greatsword on his back and walked over.
"I'm back, Melina. Nothing happened while I was away, I hope?"
"No, no! I've just been helping Master Sellen organize some books. For instance, this one... er, where does this one go?" Melina looked awkwardly at the book in her hand, which was a primer on basic Glintstone sorcery. The cover was very... "educational."
"Fifth row on the left. Alright, thank you for your help. You should take a rest now."
Sellen's phantom projected from the Primal Glintstone again. She rubbed her chin as she looked at the frost-rimed greatsword on her apprentice's back. It seemed there was no longer any need to worry about retrieving her body from Caria Manor.
"Master Sellen, Ranni and I have come to an agreement. I'll take you to Caria Manor immediately to move you into your new body. Is there anything you need to bring?"
"Mmm, this is faster than I imagined. Truthfully, there isn't much to take. That fellow Seluvis may have been a wretched sort, but I must admit his technical skills were adequate. You need only take my Primal Glintstone and place it within my new body."
Sellen paused, suddenly remembering something. A playful smile crossed her face.
"Before we leave, let us stop by my room to pick out a sorcerer's robe."
"Hmm?" Gawain didn't understand what she was planning, but he didn't think much of it. He wore the Primal Glintstone on his person and turned to Melina.
"I'll leave the Queen in your care for a while. Once I've helped Master Sellen with her body, come back to Stormveil with me—as my Maiden."
"Mmm. I'll be waiting for your return."
Melina had prepared herself for this, but she still felt a flicker of nervousness at the thought of appearing before others. Whether it was her former identity or her experiences after her body was burned, none of it had allowed for normal interaction with the outside world.
But now... at least until her destiny arrived, perhaps there was a small window of time where she could experience a life entirely different from her past.
She watched Gawain leave the Grand Library. Suddenly, the image of the small tombstone beside the throne in Stormveil came to her—the grave of the Maiden who had met a tragic end before she ever met her Tarnished. She whispered softly to herself.
"If one day I end up like her... I wonder if there will be a place for me beside your throne too?"
In Sellen's room, Gawain followed her instructions to find several different styles of sorcerer's robes. Some were academic, some were designed for combat, and some... seemed to belong to a more "indescribable" category.
To be honest, it was the first time he realized that the seemingly identical robes in the game could have so many variations. He couldn't help but wonder what his Master's personality had been like during her youth at the Academy, considering she had such a diverse collection in her room.
Eventually, Gawain left the room carrying the specific styles his Master had meticulously selected. Truly, accompanying a woman to choose clothes was a challenge regardless of which world you were in. For him, it was more exhausting than fighting on a battlefield.
In a flash, he arrived at the upper levels of Caria Manor. Perhaps because Blaidd and Iji were away, the manor hadn't yet been subjected to any retaliatory strikes by the Black Knife Assassins.
He was already a familiar face at Caria Manor, so the various patrolling guards didn't stop him. However, their gazes turned complex when they saw the Dark Moon Greatsword on his back.
On one hand, they respected the Princess's consort. On the other, these guards—loyal to the royal family and the Queen—couldn't help but remember that the last person to receive such a blade was named Radagon. They hoped history wouldn't repeat itself. They didn't know if they could find another Princess to swear fealty to if it did.
Under Sellen's guidance, Gawain found a hidden ruin within the Three Sisters. Lifting a wooden plank covering an entrance, he stepped into the gloomy basement. The first things he saw were various bizarre puppet bodies.
He frowned at the sight. Seluvis's tastes were even more twisted than he had imagined. The entire basement was filled with bodies turned into puppets, their clothing suggesting they came from all walks of life.
He thought of Therolina, the Maiden currently living in his castle. If she were still wandering the world, she likely would have become one of the figures in this basement.
"Come, Apprentice. The body I commissioned him to make should be within the wall ahead. Hmph. Thinking back, even though I supervised him throughout the process, that fellow often tried to pull some little tricks when I wasn't looking. Of course, he won't have the chance to do so now."
"Naturally. That's why Ranni didn't hesitate to deal with him once the time was right. And even if someone were made into a puppet, I could still save them if they were before me."
Gawain stepped forward and pushed on the wall. The illusion shattered, revealing a secret chamber at the back of the basement. Inside stood a barrier made of transparent glintstone crystals. Within it was a human body covered in dust. It looked as though it had been stored here for a long time; even the sorcerer's robes were tattered and worn. No wonder she wanted to bring a change of clothes.
Sellen's phantom projected from the Primal Glintstone. She looked at the body she had never expected to actually use and sighed. With a gentle touch, the glintstone barrier she had set up herself quickly dissolved.
"In ancient times, to turn a Primal Glintstone into their soul, sorcerers would use a Primal Glintstone Blade to cut open their own hearts. The original body would die, but the soul, fused with the glintstone, would achieve a state near immortality. While at the Academy, I mastered this method under Master Lusat's tutelage and did the same to my own soul. In our eyes, this is a form closer to that of the Star-Seed."
Sellen looked at the Primal Glintstone in her apprentice's hand. It wasn't just a crystal; half of its interior had become biological, showing structures resembling blood vessels.
"Apprentice... do you find such a life form terrifying?"
Gawain simply shook his head. Compared to the life forms in Dark Souls, the sorcerers of the Primeval Current in the Lands Between were actually quite conservative.
"Regardless, you are my most respected Master. Even if you turned into one of those Astels, I would simply find a way to help you become human again."
"Hmph. I have no intention of becoming such a thing just yet. Now then... take off these robes and place my Primal Glintstone inside."
Gawain looked at the arm, which appeared exactly like that of a normal person. After a moment of hesitation, he did as he was told. He slowly removed the tattered robes draped over the body, his face reddening as he averted his gaze.
There was essentially no concept of undergarments in the Lands Between, so once the robes were removed, everything was laid bare. He had to admit that the loose robes his Master usually wore had done an incredible job of making her impressive figure look ordinary.
"This won't do. How can you install the Primal Glintstone if you aren't looking? Or are you planning to use this opportunity to find the spot by touch?"
Sellen's phantom leaned close to his ear, her voice dripping with playfulness. Every time she saw his embarrassed state, it genuinely brightened her mood.
"Come. Turn your gaze back. Do you see the opening before you? Place the Primal Glintstone precisely within, and then my soul can perfectly merge with this new body."
Gawain stared at the opening, feeling the sweat start to break out. Perhaps it was due to the unique nature of an artificially created body, but the opening—originally intended for the heart—was shifted slightly. It sat right in the crevice between her breasts.
He gritted his teeth and reached out. Under Sellen's precise guidance, he finally managed to place the stone in the right spot after considerable effort. Almost instantly, Sellen's phantom vanished from the air.
As the Primal Glintstone pulsed with blue light, the vascular biological tissues within it expanded, filling the gap. The body, which had been stiff, quickly softened and became indistinguishable from a living person as the integration deepened.
After a moment, Sellen opened her eyes in her new body. She tilted her head, her neck emitting a series of "cracks" as she adjusted.
"Sigh... as expected, it will take a while to move this body freely. I can't even stand up yet."
She tried to lift her arm, but it fell back down after a stiff, brief motion. Clearly, the Primal Glintstone needed time to fully mesh with the physical form.
"I can't very well stay like this," Sellen said, a smile tugging at her lips. She struggled to look up at her apprentice before glancing at the sorcerer's robes lying on the table nearby.
"Apprentice... do you have the confidence to help your Master change her robes?"
"Mmm... what?"
────────────────────────────────────────
Support me here: https://[email protected]/AuAuMon
Elden Ring: In the Name of Ash (272 chapter - Ongoing)
Join the journey and become part of the story!
────────────────────────────────────────