Chapter 16: A Night In Firelink Shrine

Chapter 16: A Night In Firelink Shrine

I'm back and better than ever baby!

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< Have slain 1x{Taurus Demon} +3000souls >

< You have completed the Challenge [Taurus Demon]! >

< You have acquired

5000 souls

Demon's Greataxe

>

I may be dead inside but I'll be dammed if that oversized cow didn't put my balls in my throat on several occasions.

To further emphasize my point I removed my glove and glanced at the beautiful tearstone ring on my finger.

'Thanks for saving me, friend. If it weren't for you I probably would have turned into red mush by the Taurus demon.' But even though I had evaded getting turned into fine paste I was still tired as all hell and my wounds weren't going to fix themselves.

If only I had any estus left.

Wow, I really barely made it out alive huh?

''Haaah... Man, it hurts like hell.''

Even though I chugged the last of my estus my body hadn't fully healed from getting tossed around like salad by the Taurus demon. And the immense strain from abusing deadman's blow didn't help my situation one bit.

As I was getting up I noticed something in the corner of my vision, and that was the Taurus demon's corpse actually hadn't disappeared. That was a first.

Thinking why not I got up and limped my way over to the corpse and deposited it into my inventory. Maybe I could turn its corpse into something useful. Who knows maybe I could cook it into something edible. Like a Taurus steak?

Wait... Now that I think about it, when have I last eaten anyway? It should have been like months right? That's kind of depressing, I hadn't noticed due to my body resetting so much, preventing hunger.

Anyways I should be getting back to the bonfire now. Normally I would head to undead Paris after resting at the bonfire but I have a multitude of reasons not to.

First, I really needed a break, Although the condition of my body resets its peak every time I die, my mind doesn't. And the days and hours of nonstop fighting, murder, and getting murdered seem to have really taken their toll on my mind. So you can't really blame me for taking a break.

Second is the hellkite bridge. I am not wasting this human form that early by getting cooked to well done by an oversized lizard with wings whose only joy in life is watching undead burn to death while he sits on his ass all day.

Bastards the Lordran equivalent of a Call of Duty camper.

So I have decided to take a break from Lordran's bullshit and take a rest day at Firelink.

Also, it would be great if I could nab some miracles from Shitrus of Thorusomething. Having the homeward miracle would be very convenient. Speaking of homeward I used a homeward bonedust to get back because Gwyn knows I am not walking back to the bonfire in my condition.

...

After warping back and resting at the bonfire I made my way back to Firelink shrine while murking any who felt like getting in my way. So after around half an hour and a pile of corpses, I finally arrived back home.

Man, I wish the bgm was here...

Although something curious caught my eye after coming here. It was sunset. Even though it was midday when I killed the Taurus Demon.

I guess time is convoluted in Lordran. Or however that works. Updated from novelbIn.(c)om

''What's wrong? Get a bit of a scare out there? No problem. Have a seat and get comfortable. We'll both be Hollow before you know it. Hah hah hah hah...''

*Sigh* Of course this asshole is the first thing that greets me after making my way here is this crestfallen ball of negativity and pessimism. Because Lordran just didn't have enough of that already apparently.

I wasn't really in the mood to reply to his words so I just nodded him off and sat next to the bonfire. After sitting for an hour or two I started getting sleepy so I got up and made my way over to Petshit in hopes of getting some miracles out of him.

As soon as I stepped through the door the living waste of space started talking

"Hello there. I realize that I have requested that we retain our distance, but I also want you to know that it is not meant in ill-will. Here, take this. As a token of peace. No, go ahead. It's for you."

"Mm? Do you perhaps need something? Oh, I know. How about this... I have to await my companions here anyway, so, what if I were to teach you some miracles? Would that please you?"

< Your skill {Sewing lv.1} has leveled up! >

< {Sewing lv.1} -> {Sewing lv.2} >

By the time I was done it had already become night. At least I wasn't aggressively uncomfortable any longer. The night in Lordran was truly beautiful with all the stars in the sky unobscured by air and light pollution.

Ignoring the voices in my head telling me to keep working I sat down by the edge of the shrine and contemplated while stargazing.

Why am I even fighting this much? Why was I even trying to bother with the fate of the undead? Is there anything even worth fighting for in this world?

Everybody is either dead, insane, or hollow. And even if there are a few sane people left, why should I care about them? What am I even fighting for here?

After all, my end will either be of burning for years to unnaturally prolong a useless age of fire or stomp out the flame and become the dark lord, leading what's left of humanity into an age of darkness of which I knew nothing about. Or third, waste away and watch the world die around me.

Why was I even sent here in the first place!? Why did I get a system!? Why!? Why was I taken from my relatively good life and sent to basically fucking hell and told my fate is to kill myself by burning to death for years!?

...Could I even get back home...?

*plop*

''Well, you certainly look depressed, what happened?''

I didn't even register it when the crestfallen warrior sat down next to me until he spoke.

''...What do you want?...''

''You certainly look glum compared to your boastfulness before mr. Chosen Undead. But well, I may not be useful for much but I can at least lend an ear to your troubles.''

''...That's awfully kind of you _crestfallen warrior_.''

''I do have a name you know, my name is Gerald. And what's yours? or do want me to keep referring to you as chosen undead or something? hah hah hah...''

Now that I think about it... Can I even call myself John Moore at this point? I am sure that if my past self saw me he wouldn't in a million years guess it was him. And if my late parents saw me like this, what would they think? Am I even the same person as their son anymore? When I cant even remember their faces?

Am I even John Moore anymore?

''... It's John...''

''Alright then, John what's got you so down? After coming out of that graveyard unscathed and paired with that undying confidence of yours you would be the last person I would think to act like me. So as someone with more experience, I can lend an ear if you want.''

After a minute of silence, I spoke.

''...Gerald, what do you think of the fate of the undead?...''

Contemplating a bit Gerald spoke.

''Hmm, well I for one think it is complete dung. I once believed in it myself but that was in the past. I mean, how ridiculous is it? An undead making it out of the asylum, just to throw themselves at the most formidable foes in Lordran? You'd have to be de- sorry it seems like it hit a bit too close home, didn't it? Hah, hah, hah.''

Although I gave him a dirty look I completely agreed with his words on the inside. After that, we settled into a semi-comfortable silence.

"Hey, Gerald."

"Hmm?"

"Do you think Taurus demon meat is edible?"

"It should be, I've heard of plenty people fighting chaos turning them into provisions. Apparently, it's not half bad too, just smells a bit odd and is notoriously tough. Why are you asking?"

"It just so happens that I have the fresh corpse of one me, wanna try cooking it?"

"How did y- Where did even store- You know what, I should have expected this. Hah hah hah."

"Is that a yes or a no?"

"Fine, I'll go prepare the fire pit you can take care of skinning and dismantling it."

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Bonus chapter at 200 power stones!

Question: What's your least favorite location in Dark Souls 1?