The storm gradually subsided. After making a large detour, the large wooden ship resumed sailing quickly.
According to the captain's experience, the journey would likely be delayed by about 4 days.
But there was no other choice; who knew if the giant turtle in that area had truly died? In the end, it was the giant octopus that had chased them.
"My Lord, you've worked hard!"
The Fire Keeper kept checking on Kaito's condition. After seeing that he was completely unharmed, she finally breathed a sigh of relief.
The same was true for Yor; her Maiden also carefully observed her and relaxed upon finding nothing wrong.
But after relaxing came wariness towards Kaito.
Yor was her Lord! She was Yor's Maiden!
Facing such a powerful Tarnished as Kaito, her Lord...
Seemed a bit weak?
Naturally, Yor's combat ability was certainly strong, but what ability did Kaito have!!
He directly controlled rock elements without any incantations. Even she, a Maiden, and the Fire Keeper could feel the extremely powerful divine power emanating from Kaito!!
This was true divine power, not magic!!!
"My Lord... who exactly are you..."
"Don't ask, don't guess. Asking won't help. You'll find out in the future."
Kaito didn't explain. He ruffled the Fire Keeper's hair and lazily lay down on the large bed, swaying with the ship's motion on the waves.
Thankfully, neither of them got seasick; otherwise, they might have been vomiting until the waves subsided.
"My Lord... do you need to replenish magical power?"
"Well... that..."
The Fire Keeper was still worried that Kaito had expended too much energy, especially since he had come back and immediately lay down to rest. This made her anxious again.
At this point, she wasn't concerned about outsiders being present anymore.
Maybe Yor needed her Maiden's help too?
"Uwaaah! What are you doing!"
Even though the Fire Keeper spoke softly, Yor still heard. She covered her face, flustered.
Yor's Maiden, however, was very calm and even turned to ask if she needed it.
Yor clearly didn't need it.
She had just used up some physical strength; it was Kaito who had truly expended a lot of energy!
"Forget it, next time."
Seeing Yor's reaction, Kaito felt that if the Fire Keeper were to replenish his magic, Yor wouldn't be able to handle it.
She was like that—a top-tier assassin, but easily embarrassed. Once embarrassed, she might do something impulsive, who knows.
Besides, with Yor's Maiden present, Kaito didn't want others watching or learning his technique.
This was his unique method of replenishing magical power!
If Yor wanted to learn, that was fine, but others, not so much!
And so, time passed boringly at sea.
Not just Kaito and his group, but even the captain and sailors who were used to it found it extremely dull.
Even playing chess and cards every day would eventually become tiresome.
Fortunately, Limgrave was finally in sight. The total journey took 17 days, which wasn't slow, considering the large detour.
In the afternoon, the large ship finally sailed into a coastal town in Limgrave and docked at a large port.
The captain also went into the town to pick up some goods to sell back home. After bidding farewell to Kaito and the others, he left.
"What? Yor, you're leaving?"
"Y-Yes... my Maiden said that if I keep following you, I won't be able to grow effectively."
Yor was also reluctant, but her Maiden's words made sense!
Sticking with Kaito would be riding on his coattails, essentially a guaranteed win.
But don't forget, Yor was also one of the candidates to become the Elden Lord. She needed to become stronger through her own efforts and eventually challenge Kaito.
What was she doing tagging along behind him?
Besides that, the distribution of experience and points was also problematic. In the fight against the giant octopus, Kaito had taken the lion's share, and Yor had received pitifully little experience.
If this continued, Yor would indeed struggle to grow effectively.
Not to mention that in this parent-child activity, any abilities learned could be taken away, as long as Kaito fully cleared it.
Not only could they take the abilities, but they could also freely return to the world of Elden Ring to train!
"It seems this is what we have to do."
"Staying with me will actually hinder your growth."
Kaito really wanted to stay with Yor, but her Maiden was right. From a different perspective, as a newcomer to the chat group, Yor indeed needed more growth.
In terms of combat ability.
"Go on, be careful!"
After having dinner with Yor at the tavern, and finally having separate rooms, Kaito saw Yor and her Maiden off on their adventure the next morning.
The Fire Keeper beside him wasn't indifferent, but she strongly supported this decision.
No matter how good Kaito's relationship with Yor was, they would eventually become enemies.
Well, this was because the Maidens didn't know how good Kaito and Yor's relationship truly was, or what the future held.
Yor wasn't actually trying to become the Elden Lord; she was just here to level up.
So, only Kaito would become the Lord!
"My Lord, where should we head next?"
As Yor's figure grew distant, Kaito and the Fire Keeper stood in the street, unsure what to do.
Without a clear goal or direction, the Fire Keeper came to Kaito's side and asked.
Becoming a Lord wasn't simple, and Kaito's level wasn't yet high enough to challenge Leyndell, Royal Capital directly.
"Let's go check out the Church of Elleh first?"
The Fire Keeper nodded.
The two then set off towards another direction out of town.
After gathering some supplies in town and learning about the local situation, they left the port town.
The Lands Between still had many human settlements.
Some towns were already in ruins, plagued by Deathroot, but others were like this one, just less prosperous, poorer, and more chaotic than in the past.
In fact, each town was ruled by a lord; it was because of these nobles and lords that the towns hadn't completely collapsed.
This was somewhat different from how it was portrayed in the Elden Ring game.
Similarly, take Stormveil Castle in the game; it still had various soldiers. While there were monsters, the soldiers were still humans. They hadn't undergone any mutations; at most, they had lost the Golden Blessing and followed the "Lord" Godrick the Grafted.
As for the wandering merchants, there was even less to say.
In short, the Lands Between wasn't as harsh as in the game, where you could walk for half a day without seeing a single human. It was too desolate.
No matter where, humans needed to establish civilization.
Even towns were the same.
After getting directions to the Church of Elleh, Kaito spent a large sum of money to buy a horse from a soldier at the city gate. He had the Fire Keeper sit in front and they set off.
By now, the Church of Elleh had long become an old ruin. Everyone was curious why Kaito wanted to go there.
But upon learning he was a Tarnished, they treated him with respect.
Because he might be their future new Lord.
Incidentally, most towns in Limgrave were under the jurisdiction of Godrick the Grafted, the "Lord" in Stormveil Castle.
Even though he had become a monster.
Leaving the town, they traveled along the dirt roads connecting towns, then turned into a forest area.
It wasn't that they were lost; Kaito had spotted some monsters that appear in Elden Ring nearby.
Speaking of which, there were also some on the beach.
Yor had headed towards the big beach area, right?
"My Lord, please be careful."
"Of course."
Kaito dismounted handsomely, then charged into the group of monsters with his rock spear, charging in and out seven times. After clearing the area, night had fallen.
Normally, night was the most dangerous, but since Kaito had single-handedly wiped out everything here, it was now safe.
And respawns wouldn't be that quick.
"Come on, help me level up!"
He leveled up to 20 in one go, putting all his points into speed and strength. Great!
Kaito felt himself getting stronger.
"My Lord, dinner is ready."
"Okay, I'm coming."
After stripping off his blood-and-sweat-soaked clothes, Kaito sat shirtless by the campfire.
The Fire Keeper ate quietly beside him, then washed his clothes afterwards.
During this time, Kaito set up a simple tent and rested inside, completely naked.
Until...
The Fire Keeper came in after finishing her chores.
"My Lord, please allow me to replenish your magical power!"
…
After five days of adventure, Kaito reached level 31.
Leveling had slowed down, mainly because they encountered fewer monsters and their levels were low.
On this day, Kaito and the Fire Keeper finally arrived at the Church of Elleh.
There was actually a town nearby, but it was already in ruins. So naturally, the Church of Elleh had been left unrepaired and was also in ruins.
Upon arriving, Kaito felt more and more clearly that someone was watching them.
To be precise, they were watching him.
"..."
At the site of the Church of Elleh, it was already dilapidated, empty inside except for the building itself.
As for the merchant in the game?
Oh, not there!
The merchant might not have come, or might have left.
After all, a merchant wouldn't stay in one place selling goods every day like in a game!
If they were passing through and staying for a while, that was fine, but who would specifically stay here to sell things? Even if they ignored foot traffic, they'd have to consider how many people would come by each day.
"Let's stay here for the night."
"Okay, my Lord."
Putting down their packs, Kaito started roasting the wild birds and rabbit he had hunted on the road that afternoon.
The Fire Keeper assisted him. After they ate and drank their fill, they set up a simple tent in a corner of the ruined building.
As for why they always used a tent instead of using his ability to build a stone house?
Simple: using a tent gave the feeling of a true field adventure!
Besides, the tent was small, so you understand, right?
"Hmm?"
Before falling asleep, Kaito suddenly opened his eyes.
'Here again...' He muttered inwardly, shaking his head helplessly.
'Really, if you're going to come, just come earlier.'
'Why always sneak around following me?'
'Right?'
'Melina, the wooden one!'
Kaito didn't know why she was doing this, but so far, she meant no harm. It was just a bit like a stalker following him.
"My Lord? What's wrong?"
"No, nothing. I plan to challenge the legendary Tree Sentinel of Limgrave tomorrow."
This was a minor BOSS, also a field BOSS, but different in nature. It was probably a true BOSS type.
During their travels, Kaito had naturally encountered ordinary villagers—either hunters or merchant caravans.
From talking with them, he learned there were incredibly powerful Tree Sentinels in the wild, and soldiers from Stormveil Castle also patrolled nearby.
He wasn't sure of the specifics.
The game was the game, reality was reality.
Kaito had missed encountering the Tree Sentinel when he came to the Church of Elleh.
So he decided to head towards the Weeping Peninsula area tomorrow, as it was near the Cave of Knowledge in the game.
From here, he could see a large mountain. He didn't know if there was a Cave of Knowledge or a Stranded Graveyard, but the Tree Sentinel was definitely patrolling this area!
Perhaps after killing it and leveling up a bit more, to level 40, he could go to Stormveil Castle and challenge Godrick the Grafted.
The only thing to worry about was whether Godrick's level was based on the game or maxed out in reality.