[Beginner's Gift Pack opened. Congratulations, Host, you have obtained the Noble Phantasm: Twelve Trials.]
[Twelve Trials: Originating from Fate/Stay Night. It transforms the user's body into a tenacious armor, rendering them immune to attacks below Rank B (in this story, a Rank B attack is equivalent to the power of an armor-piercing shell).
Possesses the effect of automatic resurrection upon death, with a reserve of 11 charges. In other words, as long as the owner is not killed 12 times in a row, they cannot die permanently. Resurrection charges can be replenished through life energy.
Additionally, with every attack endured, the body gains increased resistance to that type of attack, eventually reaching full immunity.
(Since this Noble Phantasm has no fixed weapon or armor form, the System has converted it into a talent.)]
[Materialization Attempts: Allows the host to manifest in-game items into this world.]
"So this is what you meant by a solution? Damn, that's awesome!"
"Doesn't this mean even if I take an Avada Kedavra to the face, Voldemort still can't kill me?"
[Host, please remain calm. The same spell varies greatly depending on the caster's mastery. As the Dark Lord, Voldemort knows far more than just Avada Kedavra. Killing you twelve times in succession is well within his ability.]
[For now, the host should focus on fusing the Twelve Trials.]
"You're right. Still, with this, I finally have a way to protect myself in this world."
"System, fuse Twelve Trials."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Arthur's body burned with heat. Soon, the warmth twisted into searing pain. He knew this was the transformation process. For fear of waking up the Grangers, he gritted his teeth in silence.
Fortunately, it didn't last long. When it ended, he clenched his fists and felt explosive strength coursing through every muscle.
He itched to test it on a bull—but for now, that wasn't possible. Instead, he opened his status panel.
[Host: Arthur]
[Talents: Extraordinary Aptitude, Twelve Trials]
[Physique: 28]
[Spirit: 15]
[Magic: 10 (comparable to a freshly graduated wizard)]
[Current Game: None]
[Materialization Attempts: 3]
[Inventory: None]
[Evaluation: You now have the means to protect yourself in this world. Begin your journey through the games!]
"Wait, why did my Physique only go up this much? And my Spirit didn't budge at all? I remember Heracles being insanely powerful!"
[Twelve Trials is a body-enhancing Noble Phantasm. It won't boost your Spirit directly. Only when subjected to spiritual attacks will your Spirit slowly grow.]
[Heracles' strength came from continuous battles. If you want to grow stronger, you'll need to exploit Twelve Trials' trait of developing resistances by enduring attacks.]
"Hiss… forget it, I don't have an M's taste for masochism."
"Let's move on to my first game draw. System, initiate!"
[Command received. Drawing…]
[Success! Congratulations, Host has drawn the game Elden Ring.]
"Heh, looks like me and Elden Ring really have some fate. System, take me inside."
[Entering Elden Ring…]
[Please create your character.]
"Wait, I still need to make a character?"
[Yes. The host's consciousness will enter the game, so a vessel is required.]
That was actually good news. In his current eleven-year-old body, he'd have trouble wielding many of the game's weapons.
"In that case, the system created a body based on me at eighteen years old."
Arthur was hopeless at character customization. With his mild face-blindness, he had long given up on creating faces himself, always borrowing presets from online communities.
[Request received. Character created.]
[Please select a class.]
[Note: Your talents carry over into the game. Death in the game will not kill you in reality, but the pain will be real.]
[Each death has a resurrection cooldown of 24 hours in reality.]
[Time ratio: For every hour passed in reality, three hours pass in-game.]
"Hm?"
Reading that, Arthur immediately made up his mind. He had been wavering between Knight and Hero, but now he chose Astrologer—the mage class.
Why not Knight, the tanky class?
Come on, this was a Miyazaki soulslike. Everyone knows: three hits from a boss and you're dead, no matter how tanky you are.
As a mage, he could kite enemies from range, blasting them to death without ever letting them close. And with Twelve Trials, the more they hit him, the less effective their attacks would become. Eventually, he could even charge in for melee fun—true battlemage style.
Thanks to the Beginner's Gift Pack, the hell-difficulty he remembered was now downgraded to normal.
[Class selection is complete. Entering the game.]
Clang! Clang…
The sound of hammering iron echoed in the opening cinematic, as Queen Marika's figure loomed. Arthur's immersive journey began.
When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dim, ruined chapel—the Chapel of Anticipation.
On the ground to his right lay a witch-like woman, lifeless. Before her, a message glowed:
"Though guidance has long since crumbled, may you still become Elden Lord!"
He knew this was his Finger Maiden—his guide, like Paimon for the Traveler. Back in his first playthrough, he'd never figured out who killed her. He'd dug through forums and theories, narrowing suspects to two:
One, the Grafted Scion guarding the exit. She had died inside the chapel, and the Scion lurked just outside.
Two, White Mask Varre. When he left the tutorial cave, Varre greeted him with: "Pity you, without a maiden."
Especially that Scion—it had hit him with a scripted insta-kill.
Now, with Twelve Trials, Arthur wondered if he could kill it outright.
He opened his game panel.
[Name: Arthur]
[Equipment: Astrologer's Staff, Shortsword, Shield, Astrologer's Robes]
[Spells: Glintstone Pebble, Glintstone Arc]
[Level: 6]
[Runes: 0]
[Vitality: 9 (+20)]
[Mind: 15 (+10)]
[Endurance: 9 (+20)]
[Strength: 8 (+20)]
[Dexterity: 12 (+20)]
[Intelligence: 16]
[Faith: 7]
[Arcane: 9]
[Note: Parentheses indicate bonuses from talents.]
"System, can you unify this with my real-world attributes? This layout's a mess."
[Command received. Adjusting…]
[Name: Arthur]
[Equipment: Astrologer's Staff, Shortsword, Shield, Astrologer's Robes]
[Spells: Glintstone Pebble, Glintstone Arc]
[Level: 6]
[Runes: 0]
[Physique: 10 (Twelve Trials +20)] (includes Vitality, Endurance, Strength, Dexterity)
[Spirit: 15] (includes Faith, Arcane, and Intelligence; higher Spirit means greater perception and stronger magic)
[Magic: 15 (Twelve Trials +10)]
[Comprehension (Hidden Stat): 99] (With Extraordinary Aptitude, any spell you learn is mastered instantly. Just be sure your magic reserves can keep up.)
"Good lord, that's basically like dumping dozens of levels' worth of stats on me. Even without healing flasks, I could shred that Grafted Scion."
Arthur adjusted his gear, then strode toward the Scion's lair.