Just like the bosses in previous games that seemed impossible, they all had patterns.
For example, the Ancient Dragon—you climb to the top and do a plunge attack to finish it.
Or Yhorm the Giant—grab the Storm Ruler, charge it up five times, and done.
Ben believed that this Asylum Demon must also have a proper way to handle it, instead of making you beat it with a butter knife.
He went back through the gate again, and this time he noticed something different.
Near the middle of the room, close to a pillar on the floor, there was a message.
He checked it and saw: [Run!]
The thing is, this message is near a pillar, so you have to take a couple steps forward to reach it.
But in those two steps, the boss jumps down from above, and your attention instantly goes to the demon instead of the message on the ground.
Ben also noticed something else—the demon freezes for two seconds after landing.
Clearly, that time is meant for players to read the message.
But like most players, his first instinct when seeing a boss was to kill it.
Because in Dark Souls, boss fights usually follow the rule: one area, one boss—beat the boss to move forward.
Only story bosses like the Ancient Dragon let you escape after the health bar shows up.
"So this is what you were hiding, huh? Too bad, a true Lord of Cinder is more than just skill—it's also about brains!"
He dashed into the passageway and watched the gate slam shut behind him. A faint smile appeared on his face.
New Dark Souls? This? This!?
Lighting the bonfire at the passage entrance, it felt like he had just grabbed an ember—confidence filled his soul.
Ben kept moving forward along the passage and saw a knight's gear—a shield and a sword.
"So you can only get weapons once you come this far?" he grumbled while looking at the gear and shield in his inventory.
Picking them up was easy enough, but there was an annoying archer in the narrow corridor.
Ben wasn't careful and took two arrows. Seeing his health drop to half, he felt uneasy.
In the world of Dark Souls, having half health feels so unsafe—one wrong move and you're dead.
"Where's the Estus Flask? Don't tell me they removed it from the game?"
Muttering to himself, Ben kept walking ahead.
But he also noticed something different from the previous game.
Before, the fog gate always meant a boss fight with someone you'd already seen.
At first, when Ben saw the fog gate, he thought going through it meant fighting the Asylum Demon again—and now he was at half health with no Estus Flask.
But when he stepped through, it turned out to be just a new area. The fog gate was only there to block the player's view.
That left him wondering, why design it like this? Isn't that a bit pointless?
While muttering, Ben also noticed a knight locked in a cell—the same one who had saved him earlier.
"How do I open this? Do I have to beat the demon first to get a key? But that can't be it! I picked the Master Key as my starting gift. And where's the actual lock on this thing?" Staring at the cell, Ben was puzzled.
He tried hitting it, but nothing happened.
So he had no choice but to explore somewhere else.
Following a small staircase down, Ben was surprised to find that the locked iron door actually led back to the courtyard where the boss fight was. Through the gap, he could even see the bonfire burning.
So you can return here by going through the boss area?
That really surprised him.
In the previous Dark Souls game, there was a similar connected design, but it was much simpler.
Here, starting in a corridor, then going through a long sewer, and coming back via this staircase—this vertical connection really amazed Ben.
After all, this was just the beginning of the game—a tutorial area.
Once the surprise wore off, Ben could only choose the other staircase going up.
"Let's see if there's another way out."
With that thought, Ben made his character run toward the stairs.
As he slowly climbed, right when he reached the middle, a loud rumble echoed in his ears.
Then he saw a huge black iron ball suddenly rolling down the stairs.
It caught him completely off guard—he didn't even have time to dodge.
And to make things worse, the archer in the hallway had already shot him several times—he only had about half his health left.
So then…
Those familiar words appeared on the screen:
YOU DIED.
"Damn it!"
Ben cursed in his mind.
"This is so unfair!"
Traps are one of Dark Souls' main features.
Like mimic chests and all kinds of surprises.
But in the previous game, you didn't run into your first mimic chest until after beating Gundyr and reaching the High Wall of Lothric.
Now, this giant iron ball just comes rolling out of nowhere.
He totally didn't expect it.
He hasn't even killed the first boss yet, and there's already a trap?
And this big iron ball feels just like that skeleton ball from the Catacombs of Carthus.
The only difference is that there's no bottomless pit on both sides here.
But still, what a natural way to die!
Even so, dying helped Ben make a new discovery.
The big iron ball smashed through the wall of the cell where the knight was locked up.
"So the fog gate earlier was a warning that danger was ahead?" After reviving at the bonfire, Ben ran through the area again. Since he hadn't rested at the courtyard bonfire after opening the shortcut, he respawned at the one near the gear.
Back on his feet, Ben sprinted to the spot where he died and talked to the knight in the cell.
"Ah, you… you're not hollow. That's a relief…"
"I'm about to lose it. Once I die, I won't be able to stay sane anymore."
"I want to ask you for something. You're an Undead like me, so please accept my request and hear me out…"
Then, a choice popped up: Yes or No.
It looked like a main storyline quest, so Ben immediately picked Yes.
The knight continued to speak.
"I'm ashamed to say this, but what I want to ask you to do… is my duty."
"I want to entrust it to you, even though we're complete strangers…"
"There's a saying passed down in my family."
"Being Undead means carrying a mission. With this cursed body, you must leave the Undead Asylum, go to the land of the ancient lords, and ring the Bell of Awakening to learn the fate of the Undead."
"Thank you… now I can finally die with hope."
"Oh, and one more thing—take these with you too."
After this short conversation, Ben received a familiar Estus Flask and a key to the east side of the second floor in the Undead Asylum.
"Five Estus Flasks? Oh my god, that many?!"
Ben stared at the flasks in shock.
After all, in the previous game, before fighting Gundyr, you only had three.
Even after reaching Firelink Shrine and turning the blue flask into an orange one, you'd only get four.
But now it's five right from the start!
"But hey, buddy, aren't you forgetting something?"
(End of The Chapter)
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