The Erdtree.
He'd initially disregarded the oversized tree. After living entire lifetimes in so many different worlds, the novelty of such a thing had long since worn off. He was about as surprised to learn the prevailing religious force, The Golden Order, had that thing as an essential pillar in their beliefs and rituals as he was to learn the biggest city in the Land's Between was built around in.
Sometimes it was a little disappointing how predictable society as a whole could be.
Disappointment aside, the overgrown eyesore was far more insidious than its golden radiance suggested.
He hadn't noticed it at first, the state of his soul wrecking his more magical related senses, but throughout his meditation, he'd picked up on something.
Its soft rays were dangerous.
Even now, standing on the shore he'd first awoke on, the warm energy coming from the tree danced along, not his skin, but his essence. Perhaps one might mistake its harmless caress for a comforting force but he knew better.
It sought to seep into him. To invade and enforce its nature upon him. Perhaps even take what it could from him in the process. He doubted the people of this land had any idea how deeply engrained that thing had become with them.
Or worse. They considered it a good thing.
Disgusting. Onyx thought with a grimace. He'd head that way sooner or later, but he was in no rush to get any closer to such a revolting thing.
"Are…are you alright, lord Onyx?" Boc asked, waiting in the sand beside him.
"Just fine." Getting Boc to drop the whole master thing had been difficult. Getting him to stop with this lord business was like talking to a brick wall. "Thanks for the send off. I'll see you when I get back." Onyx said, throwing out a wave.
He'd finished up some work on his cabin to be and caught more than enough animals to last Boc a few days. Though, if Boc's attitude was anything to go off of, Onyx wouldn't be surprised if he built up the nerve or became desperate enough to follow him if he was away long after the meat supply dwindled.
With time, Boc would hopefully broaden his horizons. Life held too much possibility to spend it doggedly following the heels of another.
Cloak adjusted and hand dropping to rest upon his sword, Onyx made his way around the sand shore, following the edge of the lowering cliff before rounding it and making his way up onto Limgrave's windy lands proper.
He'd find the trail heading northeast, follow it to some camp of those knights then switch to a southern trail. Simple enough but it'd be the first time he went so far out from the small island he was turning into his own little oasis. Predators, knights, perhaps even these tarnished he was being mistaken for. He was bound to run into plenty on such a long journey.
And long it would. Without mana and his new body's lacking endurance, wasting stamina rushing around these lands would leave him too vulnerable.
Blue mist gathered, the spiritual horned horse trotting into existence beside him.
"Here to give me a ride?" Onyx questioned. A snort came in return, the sassy horse maintaining a lazy pace. He chuckled as he pulled out his map.
It would've been a nice boost to his travel speed, but he didn't mind taking his time seeing the sights. Spending days on the road was as familiar to him as hunkering down in a single place, both coming with their own benefits and cons.
"Just don't fall behind, buddy. I won't be waiting on you." Another snort, this one accompanied by a shake of the head, came from the horse as if the very idea of such a thing happening was no more than a joke.
Truly, a horse with unmatched attitude.
XOXO
At the end of the dense forest that crested the main trail running through the region, Onyx stood between trees and brush, telescope in hand.
The Gatefront Ruins. It laid beyond the rolling grassy plains the trail led out to, a gathering of damaged stone much like the other ruins he'd been to and caught sight of. Unlike those the place was full of life.
Knights armed with the classic sword and shield combo. Some with tower shields and spears. Others with crossbows. A number of them were joined by tamed wolves, the vicious creatures on alert. Among all of them, one with a feathered helmet stood out from the rest, armed with the rare combination of sword and tower shield.
Probably their commander. Onyx decided, telescope lowered. No point in forcing his way through them. The place and the gate behind made for a good chokepoint. Unless they had some way to bypass the terrain and knew of some obscure route it was the only visible route further inland.
Fortunately, he wasn't headed that way.
He did as Kalé suggested, abandoning the trail leading towards the Gatefront and heading south through the grassy plains. That spectral steed had long since faded from view but he was still nearby. His presence and that of his unseen companion were always near.
But they weren't the only spirits in the area.
One of the small deer like creatures that grazed these charged past him. A pack of wolves dashed after it, a member of the group phasing through his body. Birds above soared freely, one, a large hawk landing atop his shoulder. Form weightless and made of a silvery gold energy, it and many of the others animals around were nothing more than passed on souls habitually carrying out the acts of their lives.
A fate that wasn't reserved for the animals alone.
Some stumbled past him towards the gate front. Others were on their knees. Some crawled, heedless of the limbs they were missing. He couldn't make out the words that some repeated to themselves but one thing held true for all the souls. They reached out for the distant tree, begging for something.
A release.
Even in death that thing's influence held strong.
With a shake of his head Onyx tore his attention away from his budding disgust. Just getting this far had taken most of the day. If he was going to slow his pace focusing on anything it wouldn't be these on those poor souls but the world itself. Aggressive reception aside, this land truly was beautiful.
Limgrave at least. How varied would the other regions be? What about what lied beyond the fog that Kalé told him about? He held off on asking too much about the environments themselves, preferring to see the sights with no expectations weighing him down.
This sorcery as they called it was just the tip of the iceberg. A land like this was bound to be home to many intriguing things.
XOXO
Next time I see him, I'll definitely ask. Onyx decided while poking at the growing flame of his campfire, it dancing light fending off the darkness around him. He hadn't gotten too far from the Gatefront on account of stopping to enjoy the sights so there was always the risk that one of the knights caught sight of the smoke but he'd be ready.
More importantly, he needed to get his hands on some paper and something to write with. Preferably in the form of a journal but beggars couldn't be choosers. With light provided by that golden eyesore and the distant moon and stars he could've spent his time drawing up all he came across while he waited for his dinner, a bland piece of meat on a stick, to cook.
His camp, no more than a campfire surrounded by stones on a rare patch of dirt he found in these grassy plains, was rather exposed so it was probably for the better that he didn't have such distractions. This body still couldn't be trusted to-
A glint came from ahead.
Onyx shot up, his longsword snatched up but not freed from its sheath as he narrowed his eyes.
His campfire, dancing according to the wind's whims reflected off…something. Not quite a weapon but definitely something metal and it was steadily closing in. Straining his senses he picked up on a sound that become rather familiar in this new life of his.
A trot.
Sure enough, a knight seated on the saddle of a horse stepped into the illuminating light of his campfire, their silhouettes fully exposed.
Onyx lowered his sword, hand dropping away from its handle.
The knight wore the same colors as those who attacked him previously, a spear held loosely in his limp right arm. Arrows and blood covered his form almost entirely, the same treatment unleashed upon the bloodied steed shakily supporting him. Perhaps mistaking him for an ally or finally reaching its limit, the horse gave out, toppling to the ground.
Kept in place by the saddle, the knight fell with the horse, partially trapped beneath its weight.
Another tumbled out from beneath the knight's form, rolling across the grass.
He'd expected a horseman ready to run him through. Not this.
Onyx head over to the horse and knight first. The former was already dead, all signs of life gone the moment it hit the ground. Kneeling down, a quick check of the chest and neck revealed the knight to be dead and gone as well.
That left him with one place to get answers about this unexpected meeting.
He headed over to the one who tumbled through the grass.
In a dress dirtied by blood and dirt was a blonde woman. Unlike the other there were slow rises and falls to her chest but her face, though he couldn't see all of it due to the blindfold covering her eyes, was twisted by pain. The knight may have taken the brunt of whatever attack befall them, but an arrow protruded from the back of the woman's left shoulder blade.
Kneeling at her side and carefully moving her for a closer examination of the wound revealed two things.
Whoever was responsible for creating the arrow held little care for the concept of hygiene or were intentionally malicious, the splintered shelf lathered in dirt among other things he didn't want to guess at.
And, as one might expect from that, the wound had nasty coloring around it, an infection already beginning to take root and spread. Had it hit more towards the arm perhaps he could've severed it then use the campfire to cauterize the wound, a risky approach with no guarantee of survival, but as things were the efforts of the knight and horse would be for nothing.
This woman was going to die. Any attempts to change that wouldn't amount to anything.
Helping her would be utterly pointless.
XOXO
Violent coughs, raspy and dry, heralded the woman's awakening. The fit carried on until she hacked up blotches of blood across her face and dress, only beginning to settle as she tentatively rose. A muted whimper left her as her left arm gave out from under her weight and she fell back into the patch of dirt beside his campfire.
She made no attempt to remove her blindfold, only taking shallow whizzing breaths as she gathered herself before reaching for her shoulder.
"H-Hello?" She tentatively called out once she felt the bandages, hoarse voice barely above a whisper. "Is…is someone there?"
"Here." Onyx said, her head turning to him. "It's water."
Seated at her side, the last few hours spent not resting but waiting to see whether she'd awaken before death took her, he carefully positioned a waterskin, the patchwork of leathers created by Boc, to the woman's lips. He used his other hand to raise and support her head.
Be it naivety, desperation, or grim resignation, no resistance was put up, the water drunk without question.
"Thank-Thank you." She managed once he pulled it away. He hummed as he set her head back down, settling back down at the fire. "W-Who are you?"
"A foreigner." He told the truth, which was more or less synonymous with being a tarnished based off other's reactions.
"O-Oh, I see." A far more desirable reaction compared to all the immediate assaults he kept finding himself on the receiving end of. And all it took was a blind woman on death's door for some common decency.
Who would've thought?
"Do you now?" Onyx sighed the moment the tasteless joke left him. One would think after all these lifetimes he'd be better at this sort of thing but that wasn't the case at all. There had to be better way to lighten the mood. "That probably wasn't very funny." He muttered mostly to himself, sighing once more. He shouldn't beat around the bush here. "I did what I could but the wound you suffered is infected and its already gotten pretty bad. Very soon you will be dead."
Desperate denial. Angered rejection. Overwhelming sadness. Numb existence. Varied as people were there was no telling what her reaction would be. Whatever it was the facts wouldn't change.
"I can-"
"M-My father." She cut him off. "I…I know that I am in no position to ask of favor of you kind sir but-" A violent fit of coughs overtook her words, each one racking her frail frame with pain. Despite it she rose a shaky gloved hand, reaching in his direction. He gently took it. "He-" She forced out through the coughs. "-he and the others are in danger. I must ask that you-" Worsening coughs cut her short once more.
Onyx released the sword he'd been holding in his other hand.
Here she was one foot in the ground and the first thing she does is worry over someone else. She was no warrior, likely some kind of noble in these lands if he had to guess, but resolve like that would've put many who took pride in their strength to shame.
Eventually her fit came to end after more coughed out blood, the woman settling back to steady faint breaths. Her hand, now limp, still held the faintest pulse.
Helping this woman had truly been an exercise in pointlessness.