Happy first anniversary, Ring.
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"So, Veldon—if I help you get out, you also have to help me with something."
Mia nodded, speaking with a straight face.
"What do you need me to do?" Veldon countered. He'd been asleep for too long and might not have been fully awake yet, but he wasn't stupid at all.
He knew better than to owe a favor he couldn't repay.
"Don't worry!" Mia waved her hand. "For you, it'll be easy."
Veldon considered it for a moment, then nodded and agreed. "Alright."
With his promise secured, Mia headed for the Cave of Knowledge's boss room.
The narrow tunnel wound forward until it opened into a broad space. There was naturally no fog gate here. A Godrick soldier wielding a greatsword emerged from the shadows and charged straight at Mia.
Then—
Fire Sling.
Because the soldier carried a greatsword, he had no shield to block the fireball.
The fireball slammed into him—boom~
The cloak over his chainmail ignited instantly. Mia jumped to the side, and the burning man brushed past her, then with a splashing thud collapsed into the shallow water that reached only to her insteps.
Like a hot iron dropped into water, a harsh hiss filled the air. The Godrick soldier rolled in the water, still gripping his greatsword tightly, the blade sweeping wildly with each roll. For a moment, Mia couldn't get close.
Whether he did it on purpose or it was just mindless flailing, it didn't matter—his flames were extinguished by the water.
If not for the water, that one Fire Sling would have roasted him through. But the terrain happened to be like this.
His cloth was already burned ragged; after rolling several times, it became soaked and heavy. The Godrick soldier struggled to his feet.
How could Mia possibly not react?
She didn't give him a chance to counterattack. The girl extended her left hand.
"Catch Flame!"
Boom—
A thousand-degree blast surged over him again, instantly drying the water from his clothing—and then another.
"Catch Flame!"
Instant-cast spells really could come one after another without pause. The second wave of flame reignited the cloak Mia had just dried.
Before he could roll again, Mia's spear point followed right behind the tail of the fire, thrusting forward and landing squarely on the soldier's chest. His entire body was aflame, crackling and popping. He couldn't see, couldn't sense—he was shoved down by the force of the spear tip.
Mia's casting power still wasn't enough to melt metal, so her spear couldn't pierce his armor.
But once the soldier was on his back, it became much easier. Mia pulled her spear back, and the second thrust drove into his face.
Twist. Wrench. Pull.
Done.
"Hah."
She exhaled.
Because of the terrain, it was slightly more troublesome than the previous soldiers she'd killed, but only slightly. It didn't even come close to a "hard fight." He hadn't managed a single proper swing.
Charge in, fireball, fall down, get up, two flames, stab, stab.
The second boss with a health bar ended just like that.
Well, nothing to be proud of. A Godrick soldier was still just a Godrick soldier.
Mia turned, ready to go back and tell Veldon the good news.
Then she saw it—
The Godrick soldier who had fallen, still shedding sparks, began to disperse.
That sturdy, armored body withered at high speed, turning into dust-like powder that seeped through the cloth and lifted upward—then, all at once, scattered into nothingness.
Only a torn set of armor remained on the ground.
"…"
Mia remembered: in the game, every boss, once defeated, would be accompanied by the "ENEMY FELLED" effect and explode into powder, vanishing completely.
Hm…
Frowning, she stared at the empty armor.
Weak as he was, he still counted as a boss with a health bar in the game—though she'd basically cleared him by accident. But his death effect was anything but cheap.
With the obstacle removed, Mia turned back, ready to bring Veldon the good news.
For her, it was good news too. She'd assumed she would die many times, which was why she'd come up with the plan to tie up the undead. But this time, she'd cleared it in one life.
In the cavern before the boss room, Veldon was still sitting there.
"How is he?" He didn't seem surprised at all that Mia had returned so quickly. He spoke first.
"I took care of him," Mia replied.
Veldon nodded and stood.
His build was no smaller than other royal soldiers—which meant Mia had to look up at him.
"But I have a question," Mia added. "The undead I dealt with earlier—I couldn't kill them. I had to disable them and tie them up. But that guy just now turned to ash. Do you know why?"
Mia's intense curiosity as a Ring scholar made her desperate to know the answer.
"Oh…" After hearing her description, Veldon froze.
Seeing him go blank, Mia felt a bit uneasy. 'Did I ask the wrong thing?'
"Mm…"
Just as Mia was about to say it didn't matter if he didn't answer, Veldon spoke at the same time she did.
"He returned to the Erdtree…"
Veldon sighed.
Probably sighing for himself.
"Returned to the Erdtree?"
"I told you before, didn't I? Those born under the Erdtree's blessing—after death, whether soul or flesh, they all return to the tree."
"Oh…"
Because of the height difference, even if Veldon lowered his head, he couldn't hide his expression from Mia.
Noticing he didn't want to continue this topic, Mia sensibly shut her mouth.
"Alright!" she said loudly. "I helped you. Now you help me. Let's get out."
"Before that, wait a moment."
"Huh? Why?"
"There should be things we can take out," Veldon said, then walked in the opposite direction of the exit.
Mia hurried after him. "What things?"
"Those nobles originally carried quite a bit of luggage. Not edible, not usable in here—but once we're outside, it'll be useful."
"You're not going to confirm the exit first?"
"I think you won't lie to me."
"…"
The two retraced Mia's cleared route.
Naturally, they passed the undead she had tied up.
"Not a bad method," Veldon commented, looking at those companions who had once been trapped here with him, now reduced to instinct.
In one cavern, Veldon pulled a locked chest from a pile of empty barrels and wooden crates.
"You can take it," he said, then pushed the chest toward Mia.
Mia eyed him suspiciously, drew her sword, and chopped off the lock—already rusted into powder. As she opened the lid, she also felt the chest's considerable weight.
"What is this?"
A box full of golden coins, all different sizes—some no bigger than a fingernail, while the larger ones could fill half a palm.
How strange.
Mia toyed with a coin. Golden runes were engraved on it.
For some reason, she could understand their meaning.
"Golden Rune. Beautiful golden coins that contain the Erdtree's blessing. They vary in size and value, serving as currency in the Lands Between. With the aid of a Finger Maiden, the Tarnished can use the blessing within Golden Runes to strengthen themselves."
How strange.
The size and luster of the Golden Rune seemed to represent its value—the brighter the gold, the larger the coin, the higher the worth.
After transmigrating, she'd always wondered what the game's rune currency would look like in reality. She hadn't expected something so plain and straightforward.
In the game, only Tarnished, with a Finger Maiden's help, could convert runes into strength. For ordinary people in the Lands Between, runes were simply money. Merchants traded with them.
The Nomadic Merchants took runes. Even merchants of the Tarnished and the Erdtree's folk all took runes.
Players obtained runes by killing—kill enemies and gain runes, like absorbing souls.
If the people of the Lands Between got runes the same way…
Wouldn't everything collapse into chaos?
"Don't you need them?" Mia asked.
"Me?" Veldon said. "I haven't seen someone who could speak to me in a long time. As for Golden Runes—I don't care."
Seeing he had no intention of taking them back, Mia nodded and swept the Golden Runes into her storage space.
Veldon saw it all. "You Tarnished who return from beyond the Lands Between really do have quite a few tricks."
"Hehe."
Caught red-handed, Mia gave an honest, sheepish grin.
The moment she stored them, she somehow knew the exact number inside the chest.
Twenty-nine thousand eight hundred forty-nine. Exact, down to the last.
"So many…" Mia genuinely jolted.
"Perhaps. To you and me it's a lot, but for nobles, that amount still wouldn't be enough to outfit a knight."
Mia felt Veldon wasn't talking about the plain, unadorned knight armor sold in the Roundtable Hold—small and shabby for the Erdtree's folk—but rather the ornate plate armor worn by the royal knights.
Even with money, because she still hadn't met Melina, Mia couldn't convert the blessing inside the runes into her own strength.
Veldon turned around. "Now we go."
"Wait!"
This time, Mia stopped him.
Veldon's earlier action had inspired her.
Turning the tables, Mia began to sweep the Cave of Knowledge like a whirlwind.
Every chest—open it.
Every bag—search it.
Wandering Noble swords? All into her pocket.
Even the Godrick soldiers' weapons and armor—she didn't let them go.
And besides that, she found something that delighted her even more.
"Hah—" From a chest, the girl pulled out a dust-covered set of black Noble's Traveling Garb.
"A traveling outfit woven from black silk and gold thread. A color specially commissioned by someone. Clothing worn by royal members who roam abroad."
"A splendid gift—so that even if the recipient dies in the street, royal dignity can still be preserved."
Alongside it was a pair of leather long boots, and a deep black hood the same shade as the outfit.
At last, she could change her image. That Prophet's yellow robe was genuinely uncomfortable.
Mia ducked aside and changed.
The moment she put it on, she felt like a completely different person.
Using a small mirror she'd also dug up, she checked herself—
"Fire Keeper?"
Yes. That was Mia's first impression of her current look.
Golden hair. Eyes covered. Black clothes…
The only flaw was that her eye-covering accessory wasn't a gorgeous silver crown, but a strip of cloth.
And…
Compared to the refined, intellectual Fire Keeper sister, her body was simply too slender.
Still—
"I really am pretty."
Mia stroked her smooth, pale chin and murmured to herself, pleased.
"Alright. It's time to leave the tutorial stage."
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