Before she realized it, she had wasted quite a bit of time. She had almost forgotten why she jumped down in the first place.
Snapping back to her senses, Mia finally finished preparing herself.
It was time to clear the Cave of Knowledge.
In the game, the Site of Grace here was very close to the first enemy.
Holding her short spear in one hand, she moved carefully toward the depths of the cave. As she walked, the golden glow of Grace behind her gradually dimmed. Soon, faint candlelight flickered from around a bend ahead.
The first enemy wasn't far.
Inside a stone chamber stood a tall, withered figure in a short yellow robe. His head was bald, dull and pale, and he faced away from her.
A Wandering Noble.
Mia already knew what she was dealing with. After playing Elden Ring for so long, there was barely anything in the Lands Between she didn't recognize.
Wandering Nobles were among the weakest enemies in the game. Long-lived beings who had lost their homelands after the Shattering, reduced to aimless immortality. They weren't born for battle.
Even armed, they were slow. Their strikes were clumsy. Their movements unsteady.
The shriveled noble stood crooked like a corpse propped upright, staring blankly at the wall. Candles burned along the edges of the chamber, wax pooling over ancient stone.
There were other objects in the room.
Mia saw none of them.
Her eyes were fixed on the enemy's back.
Only one. She was certain of it.
She approached quietly, step by step.
Like a thief.
Then—
She thrust the spear forward.
Mia had never harmed anything in her previous life. Even buying fish, she had let the vendor do the killing. She had grown up in peace.
To take a life herself—
Her heart pounded with a mix of tension and excitement.
But she was no longer in a peaceful world.
As someone who had transmigrated, she would have to learn to fight.
Gritting her teeth, she drove the spear forward with force.
The knowledge granted by Grace guided her body. Though she had never wielded a weapon before, the thrust was clean and precise.
The sharp spear pierced through the noble's lower back and pushed him down to the ground.
Success.
She pulled the spear free.
There was no blood.
Her breathing grew heavier.
Was that it?
The Wandering Noble lay motionless, face-down, weapon fallen from his hand.
That had been too easy.
Should she finish him off?
Spear raised, she stepped closer.
Now she saw him clearly.
Gray-brown skin clung tightly to bone, shriveled and dry like an ancient mummy.
Does this even count as human?
A chill ran through her.
She instinctively stepped back.
And at that moment—
The corpse moved.
A dry, skeletal hand shot out and seized her ankle.
"Ah—!"
She screamed as she was yanked to the ground.
"Let go!"
Panic surged through her as she tried to kick free. But the Wandering Noble had already dragged himself upright and lunged on top of her.
The people of the Lands Between were enormous compared to her.
If the Tarnished stood around 180 centimeters tall, the soldiers of the royal army were well over two meters—and broad.
Mia, meanwhile, was barely over 150 centimeters.
Even this hunched, shriveled noble had enough weight to pin her down.
She saw his face up close.
Sunken eyes. Tight, corpse-like skin. An empty expression.
Revulsion and fear washed over her.
"Don't come closer!"
The noble's face leaned in.
Its mouth opened.
It tried to bite her.
In terror, she shoved her left hand up between them.
There was a saying—
When fear reaches its limit, it becomes anger.
Something snapped inside her.
"I refuse to die like this!"
"Catch Flame!"
Boom—
Flames burst from her left hand at point-blank range.
She turned her face away from the flash.
When the fire vanished, the Wandering Noble's head was charred black. It twitched once before collapsing to the side.
Mia scrambled up, breathing hard.
The cave felt noticeably warmer.
Her first enemy was truly dead.
Next time, she wouldn't hesitate.
She picked up her spear—
And heard footsteps splashing behind her.
She turned.
Three more undead staggered toward her, drawn by her scream.
Three.
"Catch Flame!"
She cast at the closest one.
The flames flickered out before reaching it.
Out of range.
She immediately adjusted.
"Fire Sling!"
A fireball formed and arced forward.
But Fire Sling required wind-up time.
Before she finished casting, one of the nobles charged, sword raised.
Startled, she canceled the spell and leapt back.
This body was small—but strong.
She barely avoided the slash and countered with a thrust.
Too slow.
Her spear drove upward into the noble's jaw.
She felt resistance, then pushed harder.
The blade pierced into the skull.
She twisted and pulled the spear free.
The enemy fell.
But the remaining two were already closing in.
Feeling emboldened, Mia raised her hand again.
"Catch Flame!"
This time the distance was correct.
Flames engulfed one of them, forcing it back. It collapsed to the ground, writhing and shrieking in a sound that no longer resembled a human voice.
The third noble raised his sword and brought it down.
Mia lifted her spear with both hands to block.
It's just an undead. Just like in the game—
Crack.
The wooden shaft split in half.
Her spear broke instantly under the blade.
The force knocked her off balance. The sword's edge grazed past her nose by a hair's breadth.
"What—?!"
She had not expected her weapon to shatter.
The noble lifted his sword again.
In panic, she made a decision.
Roll.
She dove sideways, curling her body.
Her vision spun.
She hadn't even completed the motion—
Thrust.
The sword pierced into her side.
A sharp, burning pain exploded through her body.
She fell hard onto the stone floor.
Warmth spread rapidly beneath her.
Her muscles spasmed uncontrollably.
The noble stepped forward.
Thrust again.
The blade drove into her abdomen.
Her breath caught in her throat.
The sword withdrew.
Pain followed it.
Then again.
And again.
Slash.
Thrust.
Cut.
Her strength drained away with every strike.
Her body no longer felt like her own.
She could no longer scream.
Only twitch.
Her eyes stared at the stone ceiling.
Strangely, her mind was painfully clear.
She felt everything.
Every wound.
Every impact.
The noble did not stop until she ceased moving entirely.
Only then did it lower its weapon.
It knelt beside her fallen form.
Instinct guided it.
It began to feed.
Her vision slowly darkened.
Even as consciousness faded, she could still feel—
Then everything dissolved into black.
—
She opened her eyes.
Golden light greeted her.
The familiar warmth of Grace.
She had died.
Truly died.
The memory of it lingered vividly in her mind.
Her body trembled.
Not entirely from fear.
Something else flickered there.
Something darker.
Everyone carries hidden thoughts within them.
But Mia understood the line between imagination and reality.
She had never once crossed it.
What mattered now was simple.
She would not break.
Death would not crush her resolve.
She inhaled slowly.
Exhaled.
Then reached for her spear once more and stepped forward into the cave again.