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Author rant at the end of the chapter.
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The entrance to Murkwater cave is nothing more than a large gaping hole in the side of the cliff, the entrance low to the ground as a small channel of water flows down into the darkness. Ray has to be mindful of his footing as the muddy ground sticks to his boots while the humidity continues to rise the farther down he goes.
After trudging through the mud for a few minutes, he finds a site of grace, unceremoniously sitting down in the mud next to it and taking a moment to catch his breath. Once he feels sufficiently recovered, both mentally and physically, Ray continues his descent.
Time seems to stretch infinitely as Ray fumbles through the darkness, the only light in the cave coming from glowing moss and glittering beetles digging through the mud. He pockets a few moss clumps and mushrooms that he stumbles upon before entering a larger cavern.
As Ray trudges into the cavern, his foot hooks on a hidden rope, causing a cacophony of bells to ring loudly, the sound echoing off the cave walls. Hearing the sound, A group of soldiers that are covered in filth and grime run into the room, their blades broken and steeped in poison.
Ray doesn't even give them a chance to get close as he begins throwing explosive stones at them, the concussive force of the explosions shattering some of the stalactites on the ceiling. One of the more narrow stalactites impales one of the soldiers through the shoulder, his body becoming a macabre display piece.
Before the cave loses too much stability, Ray stops his explosive assault, the following silence proving that all of the soldiers have perished. He slowly weaves his way through the debris towards another tunnel, this tunnel leading to another room with a small campfire burning in the center.
Seated next to the fire is a rather skinny man with a large great shield on his back with a picture of an inverted hawk in the center alongside a rather ordinary looking spear. The man looks up from the fire at Ray, a smile on his face that doesn't quite reach his eyes.
"You the one causing all that racket out there? How is a man supposed to sleep in peace when anyone and their mother can just start chucking those infernal stones around?"
The man sighs heavily before shaking his head and standing up. "Well, you haven't attacked me yet so I guess introductions are in order. I'm Patches, Patches the untethered. I'm tarnished like you, though I tend to wander more often than most. Nomadic, you might say."
Ray takes a breath to say something but is immediately cut off by Patches.
"I heard you dealing with those bandits out there, not surprising really, that lot had it coming. Now I'm not one to deny that looting isn't profitable, but it is bloody terrifying… I'm thinking of setting up a shop, a legitimate business. All I need is some starting capital. You wouldn't happen to have any spare runes now would you? Just a few to help kick start my entrepreneurship?"
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Give Patches 3000 runes? Yes / No
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Ray's eye twitches, his fist clenching as he tries to keep his anger in check. Ray knows for certain that there was never a cost to open his shop in the game. In fact, Ray is quite confident in his assumption that he is probably being scammed right now.
Ray thinks for a moment before deciding to gamble a bit. He pulls a few golden runes from his inventory that he had been stockpiling for a rainy day and holds them in his hand. Patches stares at the runes with a fervent gaze, his eyes following the golden fragments of grace even as Ray sways his hand from side to side.
"You seem in desperate need of runes my 'friend'... How about we make this a transaction rather than charity?"
Patches grits his teeth for the briefest of moments before his smile comes back bigger than ever. "Well why didn't you just say so? I have a few items prepared already, I was just hoping to top up on my supplies before actually opening my shop. Why don't you take a look and tell me if anything catches your eye."
And with that, the shop menu appears before Ray's eyes. He quickly glanced through the list, noting that the prices are quite high but choosing not to question it lest he leave here empty handed. Luckily for him, Margit's shackle is still there. Unluckily for him, it costs 10,000 runes. Even the singular stonesword key costs 7,000 runes.
Ray's heart feels like it's being stabbed as he uses up all of his runes, including all of the golden rune drops that he has collected so far, just to purchase these two items. Patches, on the other hand, is, literally and figuratively, glowing as the runes flow into his body.
"Wonderful doing business with you my friend. If you need anything else, I will be staying here for a while longer before traveling north to Liurnia. Stay safe out there…"
Patches sits down next to the fire and starts to mumble to himself, though he is far too quiet for Ray to pick up on anything he is saying. Now that he has gotten what he came here for, Ray walks out of the cave. Patches eyes flickering towards his back for a brief moment.
"He hasn't changed… Or is it that he has yet to not change? Ah, who cares? A customer is a customer. And who am I to judge? Survive as many true apocalypses as I have and you would go insane too."
An entire cheese wheel appears in Patches lap out of thin air.
"God's damn it, Sheo…"
Patches starts eating the cheese whilst grumbling to himself.
***
With his purchases now safely in his inventory, Ray sits down at the site of grace at the cave entrance, his head hanging low from his lack of runes. He goes over in his head the best ways to get runes from here and realizes that he has yet to help Blaidd kill Darriwil yet.
After mentally chiding himself for forgetting, Ray teleports to the waypoint ruins site of grace, says a brief greeting to Selene, then begins his march south towards the forlorn hound evergoal.
Ray rides Torrent along the worn out stone pathway, encountering a few Kaiden warriors riding horses that quickly fall to his blade before reaching the bottom of the hill that leads to the evergoal. Once he reaches the top, sidestepping the strange creatures made entirely of round smooth stones, he finds Blaidd waiting for him. Ray hops off Torrent near the evergoal seal and waves to Blaidd.
"Greetings, Sir Blaidd. Sorry for my tardiness, I was busy slaying a foul Mariner in summonwater village."
Blaidd shrugs his shoulders. "You didn't keep me waiting long, friend. And if your words are truth, the wait shall be worth it. Darriwil is a fast and cunning warrior, and it will not be so easy to defeat him, So I hope you are prepared…"
Ray pulls out his lordsworn's straight sword and Erdsteel dagger, holding the dagger in his right hand.
"I'm as ready as I can be…"
Blaidd reaches behind his back and unsheathes his royal greatsword, a frozen mist emanating from the blade.
"Then let us charge into battle, friend. Darriwil dies this day."
The two warriors stride towards the evergoal seal, the strange magics sealing Darriwil responding to their arrival as a dark purple tear in reality opens overtop the seal.
Striding out on all fours is Darriwil, the bloodhound knight. His right hand is holding the bloodhound's fang, the sword draped over his shoulder whilst in his left hand is the bloodhounds' claw, three curved blades extending from a hand grip that are perfect for getting around an enemies guard.
Blaidd growls at the sight of his foe, his royal greatsword held aloft as he charges towards his enemy.
Darriwil meets him head on as he blitzes forward at an astonishing speed, his bloodhound's fang cleaving through the air as he aims for Blaidd's neck. Luckily, Blaidd was prepared, his sword deflecting the blow, though he staggered from the sheer force of the attack.
Ray, his eyes tightening in determination, sprints forward whilst shooting glintstone pebbles from his staff. Darriwil easily sidesteps the projectiles, his head turning towards Ray before he vanishes in a burst of speed and arrives in front of him, his sword already mid swing.
Ray's eyes widen in shock, his right hand clutching the Erdsteel dagger as he tries to quickstep away.
Unfortunately, he was far too slow to react to Darriwil's attack.
The bloodhound's fang cleaves through Ray's legs, his feet flying through the air and spurts of blood arcing gracefully before vanishing in the blink of an eye and reattaching to his legs.
Ray screams in pain, his body falling backwards as he impacts the ground with a solid thud. He nearly lets go of his dagger as the pain overwhelms his mind.
Darriwil does not give him any time to recover as he swings his sword downward, Ray watching the blade descend in slow motion.
Not wanting to give up just yet, Ray gets his feet to be flat on the ground before using quickstep, his body miraculously moving from laying on the ground to a standing position a few feet to the side.
Darriwil's blade slams into the earth where Ray was previously, a spray of dirt shooting up from the impact.
Before he can lift his weapon once more, Blaidd comes up from behind and slashes his greatsword down with incredible force upon Darriwil's left leg, severing it below the thigh.
An inhuman screech echoes from behind Darriwil's helmet and he turns and swings his sword at Blaidd. Blaidd blocks it with contemptuous ease before feeling incredible pain as Darriwil's claws swipe across his chest.
Seeing Blaidd getting injured, Ray quickly switches out his dagger and staff for the greatsword he received from the knight at fort Haight. He runs his hand along the blade, a line of blood forming on the blade as he swings downward towards Darriwil.
Without his leg, Darriwil isn't able to dodge the attack, the arc of blood streaking over his back and cleaving through his armor. Darriwil screams once more as the single attack causes the blood loss effect, his own lifeblood spurting out of his visor.
Capitalizing on his weakness, Blaidd lifts his greatsword high above his head and slams it down, cleaving Darriwil's head clean from his shoulders. Darriwil's head rolls to the side as his body falls to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Ray pulls out his health flash and drinks greedily before sinking to the ground, his breath in ragged gasps and his body covered in dirt and sweat.
Blaidd looks at Darriwil's head for a moment before stomping down on it with all his might, the metal of his helmet crumpling and the flesh and blood beneath squishing out around his boot.
"Good riddance, traitor. May none remember your name…"
Blaidd turns towards Ray. "You fought well, friend. Not many tarnished could have still fought after taking a blow such as that. Here… Take this as a gift for letting me end this traitor."
Blaidd hands Ray a sack. Inside the sack are three somber smithing stone [1]'s and [2]'s. Ray puts the stones into his inventory before standing up and clasping Blaidd's forearm.
"Anytime, my friend. I hope fate will allow us to fight side by side once again…"
Blaidd nods. "I shall be heading back to my mistress soon, but if it is fate to fight by your side once again, then it shall be so. Before I forget, in the foothills behind Raya Lucaria, if you meet a venerable blacksmith who is a little on the large side, tell him I sent you and he'll be sure to treat you right. I owe you one I reckon."
Ray nods in understanding. "I will keep that in mind."
Blaidd lets go of Ray's arm and walks down the hill, his large form disappearing into the forest. With no one around to see him, Ray falls to the ground and lays on his back in the short grass, his eyes staring up into the sky.
'That was intense… I nearly died once again. If Blaidd wasn't here, I would be back in marvel right now. I'm still not sure if there are any hidden consequences if I die but I rather wouldn't find out.'
Ray lays there for quite a while before making up his mind.
"Fuck it. I need a break from this… Let's head back."
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Name: Ray Winters
Level: 17 < 24
Runes: 4,631
Vigor: 12 < 15
Mind: 10
Endurance: 10
Strength: 16
Dexterity: 18
Intelligence: 10 < 14
Faith: 10
Arcane: 10
Inventory (+): lordsworn's straight sword +3 (sacred slash), lordsworn's greatsword, soldier's crossbow, lordsworn bolts, chain leggings, chain coif, kaiden armor, kaiden gauntlets, glintstone staff, knight's greatsword (bloody slash), erdtree dagger (quickstep), spirit calling bell, lone wolf ashes, deathroot (1), Margit's shackle, green turtle talisman,
Sorceries (+): Glintstone Pebble,
Incantations (+):
Unique skills: Gamer's Body, Gamer's Mind, World Traveler, Grace-bound,
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So I have some explaining to do. After I released the previous chapter, I got very sick. I was basically bedridden for over two weeks.
[No Spoilers] But once I got better, my friend bought Split Fiction and I played through the entire game with him in two sessions. And I have to say, Split Fiction is the best game I have ever played. Every single level that adds a new mechanic, could literally be its own 8-10 hour game and still be incredibly fun.
Though I quickly ran into the issue that once we beat it, I was completely writers blocked because of it.
I have been writing some newer projects that are quickly falling flat before they can get off the ground, So I finally forced myself to finish this chapter and post it alongside why I have been gone.
I will be continuing this novel, its just the upload schedule is going to be whenever I finally finish a chapter. Having a deadline of even one week per chapter, puts so much pressure on me that I can't have fun writing the story.
My novels are a way for me to destress and express my creativity, which I can't do if I feel rushed.
I'm sorry but that is how it goes...
I hope you can still cheer me on as I continue to push through and overcome my own shortcomings.
Your all beautiful people that make my day just that much better with every fan theory or suggestion, and it really helps me keep going.
I hope you can also find the strength to overcome what troubles you from my words in the same way that yours does for me.
Thanks for the support and as always...
Stay Awesome!
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