The Child of the Omen did not reach out.
"We do not need help from the high and mighty."
"Then what about help from a friend?"
"...You won't want to shake my hand," the Omen said, hesitantly extending it. "My hands are filthy."
"It doesn't matter."
The Omen rubbed his hand vigorously against his hide armor before giving Raven's hand a quick squeeze and immediately withdrawing it. "Tata."
His hand wasn't actually dirty; he seemed to pay quite a bit of attention to hygiene. However, his palm was covered in fine scales, and a patch of coarse mane grew on the back of his hand.
"Now we are friends," Raven said.
Tata grunted an affirmative, seemingly unsure of how to respond. "Follow me. The pipes are slick; try to stay in the middle."
"Tata, hasn't this path been cleared?" Tricia asked, noticing the rusted Heavy Broken-Poleaxe strapped to the Omen's back. "Why are you still carrying a weapon?"
"Lately, people have been sneaking in. I need to drive them out."
"Didn't Big Brother Morgott say to avoid conflict at all costs?"
"I don't intend to kill. But if they don't know what's good for them, I'm prepared to teach them a lesson."
Raven glanced at the lethal weapon, thinking that if anyone took a hit from that, it would be far more than a simple "lesson."
"What kind of people are sneaking in?" he asked.
"I don't know. They wear broadswords at their waists and carry heater shields. They walk without making a sound. You can tell at a glance they aren't up to any good."
Hearing Tata's description, Raven knew immediately they were Confessors of the Two Fingers. This group moved like ghosts throughout the Lands Between, their true numbers unknown. It was said that Crepus was only their leader in the public eye.
Of course, it was possible someone was intentionally dressing as a Confessor to mislead others.
"You use quite sophisticated vocabulary," Raven remarked. "I'd wager nine out of ten people couldn't even name a 'broadsword' or a 'heater shield' correctly."
"Saint Trina taught me to read and write," Tata said, clearly pleased that someone had noticed his education. "Do I have an accent?"
"A standard Capital accent," Raven shrugged. "Actually, there's no need to intentionally mimic any particular way of speaking. Everyone has their own accent; it's only the people in the Capital who think theirs is superior to everyone else's."
The group wound their way through the dark tunnels, navigating a labyrinth of forks and turns. After passing through a stone archway, the space suddenly expanded—they had reached a major transit hub within the sewer system.
The Omen led them up a section of metal piping, claiming it was a shortcut to the Depths.
"How did the Capital end up with such a complex sewer system?" Raven wondered aloud. He cast the Starlight sorcery to supplement their torches, causing the shadows of countless pipes to dance across the distant walls. "The sheer scale of the engineering is staggering."
"It likely wasn't built by the Golden Lineage," Lansseax said. "Actually, Leyndell wasn't built from scratch. Its predecessor was another ancient city."
"A city from the era of the Ancient Dragons?"
"Mhm. But I don't know the specifics."
Raven used the sensory perception of the Wild Strikes technique to feel out his surroundings, silently memorizing the route. In his perception, a vigorous, overflowing life force pulsed within the Omen—not far off from the Crucible Knight he had met at the volcano.
Of course, many factors determined combat strength; one couldn't judge simply by that alone—the Great Serpent, for instance, had been a classic "paper tiger." But with a physique that robust, Tata's combat prowess was unlikely to be weak.
If the Depths held hundreds of such powerful warriors defending the complex terrain of the sewers, the Capital would have to pay a significant price if they ever tried to conquer the area by force. If they could arm and train a few thousand basic soldiers to support them, they would actually have the leverage to negotiate with the Golden Order...
"We're here," Tata said.
Two Omens who had been leaning against the wall dozing off snapped awake.
"Hey, Tata! More newcomers joining? Wait, they—"
"These are friends invited by Trina," Tata said. "They come with good intentions. I want to take them to see Big Brother Morgott."
Raven offered a slight bow. "I am Raven of Caria. These are Lansseax and Okina."
"Welcome!" one of the Omens said. "You must be a big shot from the Capital, right? The Capital wants to take back the land we worked so hard to clear. I hope you can say a few good words for us to help us keep our home."
"I will do my best to help."
Raven looked past them. A thick Erdtree root had torn through the stone wall, prying open a massive fissure wide enough for several people to walk through side-by-side.
"This is truly a miracle of nature."
"It is a miracle of the Erdtree," Tricia corrected him. "The Erdtree must have taken pity on these suffering people and opened this path. The world's discrimination against the Omen-born and the Misbegotten is wrong; the Erdtree has not abandoned them."
They stepped into the fissure. Numerous rootlets spread across the surface of the soil, reinforcing the structure and preventing it from collapsing. It was hard to believe this was purely a natural phenomenon. It was no wonder Tricia believed so firmly in the Erdtree's grace.
Raven didn't quite agree with Tricia's view, but he couldn't think of a logical explanation either. If this were the work of human hands, it would be beyond incredible. Could anyone truly manipulate the growth of such massive roots?
After walking through the fissure for several minutes, the view suddenly opened up.
"Whoa!" Lansseax couldn't help but gasp in wonder.
A golden light cascaded down, momentarily blinding Raven. It felt as though he had been transported from the deep underground back to the surface in an instant.
Squinting, he realized they were standing on a high vantage point flanked by sheer cliffs. Fortunately, several thick, interlocking roots were anchored to the rock walls, extending downward and providing a natural path for them to descend.
The roots near them were dull, looking no different from ordinary wood. But in the distance, closer to the Erdtree's main trunk, the roots emitted a brilliant golden radiance that illuminated the entire subterranean cavern.
"It's huge!" Lansseax exclaimed. "It feels like a million people could live here. How many are in the Depths?"
"At least tens of thousands, I think?" Tricia said, sounding unsure. "Tata, do you know?"
"We've never done a head count," Tata said. "New people join every day. Any count we made wouldn't be accurate for long."
"A census should be conducted as soon as possible," Raven noted. "If we are to negotiate with the Golden Order, we must know the approximate population of the Depths."
"So it's easier for you to collect a poll tax?" Tata said, sounding displeased.
"Tata, I am on your side," Raven said, adding weight to his tone.
Tata paused, then lowered his head in embarrassment. "I'm sorry."
"It's fine." Raven glanced at the exquisite embroidery on his cuff—the work of a Carian master—then looked back toward the distance. "The negotiation will only be taken seriously if the population of the Depths is large enough. Before I came here, I didn't realize there were so many of you... Tata, how many warriors are in the Depths?"
"Our hunting party has eighty-seven members."
Raven waited for him to continue, but when no further words came, he looked up at the Omen in confusion.
"All eighty-seven are Omen-born like me. Big Brother Morgott is our leader. We are enough."
Raven opened his mouth to speak, but in the end, he only gave a helpless sigh. "Let's head down. I'd like to meet your 'Big Brother Morgott'."
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Elden Ring: The Unborn One's Journey Through Elden Ring(161 Chapter - Ongoing)
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