I went back to the shrine and was welcomed with Aristia humming deep in thought with a firebomb in hand. She had reversed hollowed, thankfully. She still has her long black hair, though it seemed to be much more 'alive' in a sense. She's quite the lady, honestly. But eh, let's not get into shagging this early.
"Oh, you're back." She noticed me and waved.
"Yeah yeah. So why are you acting like you're about to make the most important decision in your life?" I asked as I sat down near the bonfire, opposite her position.
Oscar is trying to talk to Crestfallen to no avail. But he won't give up. Go Oscar~!
"I don't know if I should chuck a firebomb at that creep cleric." She tossed the firebomb up and down, uncaring of the consequences of her not catching it.
But eh, cleric? Oh, the bowl-cut cunt. Hmm, yeah. Should I bombard him with Soul Lance to see if he can resist?
"Yeah, I think I'll leave it for later. We still need Rhea here before pushing him off a cliff or something." Aristia shrugged and put the firebomb back in her pouch.
"Yeah, leave it for later. Anyways, where do we go?" I asked.
Oscar had received quite a harsh glare from Crestfallen and went back to sit with us instead. Poor Oscar.
"Undead Burg or Blighttown?" Aristia hummed in thought.
"I will follow whichever you both choose." Oscar, being the obedient little boy he is, just nodded.
"I don't really want to deal with those disgusting creatures this early..." Aristia scratched her cheek, deep in thought still.
Actually, fuck democracy.
"Alright, Undead Burg." I slapped both of their shoulders and started walking towards the cliff. Aristia and Oscar both looked at each other before shrugging and following suit.
A few steps was all it took before the hollows are visible. Waving my staff a bit, several Soul Bolts pelted the poor creatures. They got turned to Swiss Cheese, and the souls naturally all went to me.
So far, I've amassed a lot. I haven't been using them too. Who needs improvement to anything when I can just spam sorceries. And the two seemed to not mind anyways. But I think I'll let them take the lead this time. They need souls the most.
"You two can go on front, I'll just provide support from the back."
And so, we continued our journey. Entering the sewer bridge thingy, Oscar took the lead and took care of any enemy on the way. Aristia was behind him, and me at the last. Aristia also took the Soul of a Lost Undead near the entrance while Oscar took the one on the corpse inside the sewer.
We quickly made our way out and finally appeared on Undead Burg.
"As ruined as it looks, this is a nice change of scenery." Aristia commented while decapitating the axe-wielding hollow.
"It used to be much more beautiful." Oscar replied, a dead hollow at his feet.
"Don't worry Oscar." I pat him on his back as Soul Bolts assaulted the two more hollows before the fog wall. "It'll get worse."
We stood before the fog wall, Aristia taking the lead. Same as back then, she just put her palm on it and it magically fades away. Weird. Just, weird.
"How does this even work exactly?" I asked, watching the wall fade.
"I dunno. Chosen Undead stuffs." Aristia shrugged.
We entered the building and the resident pyromancer automatically went behind the wall to grab a Soul of a Lost Undead. Gently holding it, then a vicious crush. Somehow, something below shuddered.
As we climbed the stairs to the second floor, Aristia shot me a look. Hm? What? Want to shag behind Oscar's back? Fondle my ba- OH YEAH! Drake. Almost forgot.
Anyways, I went besides Oscar and spoke.
"There definitely is some enemy above us. You should take the lead with your shield."
"Oh, alright." With an innocent nod, poor little Oscar went up first.
As we exit, a massive drake swooped down on the bridge. It was massive, like, really big. And red. And dark. And long.
Dick jokes aside, I never knew Oscar kept such a maiden-like scream hidden behind his stout stature. At least he didn't fall. Unlike a certain Chosen Undead.
"Why did you fell? This is your idea." I stared.
"I didn't know it was this big okay!" That's what she said.
Anyways, she stood up and pouted. Which isn't adorable. It's just weird. Please go back to your condescending expression. I like it more.
"Gods, was that a dragon?" Oscar, hoping that his girlish scream would not be a conversation topic, started.
"A drake. Inferior to dragons." Aristia answered.
Before Oscar can respond, he immediately turned around and raised his shield. Just in time to block the sneak attack of a hollow. Aristia followed with an axe swing to the head, the blade easily entering the fragile skull.
The hollow fell down, but a crossbow arrow immediately followed. Thankfully, Oscar's shield is quite big. With him acting as cover, I raised my staff and tried one of my recent inventions.
"Soul Missile."
As its name suggests, it is a missile. Phallic shaped, a trail, and an explosion. With that, the crossbow hollow is now KIA. Aristia whistled and rushed together with Oscar. They took care of the hollows while I sent another missile at the two spear-wielding hollows above the merchant.
As a guy, explosions excite me. Coupled with magic, it's arousing.
Afterwards, we went up the platform towards the ruined tower. Inside rests a bonfire which we rested on. This time, I took care of the hollows with some Soul Bolts.
"Want to visit the merchant?" Aristia asked.
"A merchant? I'm afraid there cannot be one at this location." Oscar shook his head.
"As weird as it is, there actually is one. Just below the platform over there. The stair is hidden by the barrels." I pointed towards the platform where two hollows with a huge hole in the head rests.
"That's... peculiar. I'm expectant to meet this merchant." Oscar rubbed his chin.
"Let's go?"
"Aight."
- - - -
"Can you even use a bow?" I asked Aristia who's holding a Short Bow we just bought.
"I can learn." She shrugged, nocking a standard arrow. She tried to pull, to no avail. Repeated efforts bore no fruit as she only turned red from trying.
"Oscar, can you use a bow?" I asked the knight.
"I do not specialize in its use, but I possess enough skill to wield it effectively in times of urgent matter." Just say yes, Oscar.
Anyways, Oscar now has a bow. Which would be pretty useless as I'm the one in-charge of long-range attack. And I can make missiles now. Miniature ones, at least.
One small step towards a magical Tsar Bomb.
Anyways, we need progression. So, we readied ourselves and began another round.
The three firebomb throwers each received a Soul Missile in the face, blowing off effectively the entire torso. With those annoying fuckers gone, Aristia and Oscar took care of the three hollows across the bridge.
There is a house which we can enter. So we did. Oscar took care of the undeads while Aristia looted 5 black firebombs from the chest. We climbed the stairs and was greeted with a firebomb to the face. Well, not literally thank god. Still, Oscar did have to step backwards even with his shield.
Five seconds later, 3 hollows lost their torso. Oh, and a crossbow-wielding undead lost its head.
"The door in this house is locked. There's definitely something inside it." Aristia coming with her flawless logic. One strong Oscar kick later, the door was smashed open.
Half a minute later, Aristia exited with 5 Gold Pine Resins.
Anyways, Oscar took the lead and killed three spear hollows. Pretty brutal just decapitating them in a single slash. Still pretty cool though.
"There's a Black Knight down there. Want to kill it?" Aristia turned to us.
"A Black Knight?" Oscar was surprised.
"Sure." I shrugged.
Walking down the stairs, my eyes welcomed a 3 meters tall armored unit. It had a black shield and a sword that might as well be a greatsword to a normal human. Looks pretty tough, but nothing my bullshit sorcery can't handle.
I made a missile, but I charged it this time. It's double the size of a normal Soul Missile, which is the length of a dagger. After a few seconds, I shot it out.
The missile left a trail in the air as it reached the target. A single second passed before an explosion rung out, shaking the ground we are in. Okay that might've been a mistake. I could've collapsed the burg. Fuck, I'm dumb.
Anyways, influx of souls. Black Knight is dead then. After the dust settled down, I picked up a Black Knight Sword. This shit weighs quite a lot. How the fuck are you supposed to swing this?
"Ooooh, it dropped." Aristia came sauntering and took the sword out of my hands.
She's swinging it so casually. Am I the weak mage character here?
As I'm contemplating how pathetic I am, Aristia nabbed the Blue Tearstone Ring from a corpse on the balcony.
"Blue Tearstone Ring. Boosts your defense when you're close to dying. Who wants it?"
"I don't think I'm even going to receive any damage." Arrogance aside, my words do have some truth in them. Can't get hit now if they're incinerated right?
"Well, you keep it then Oscar. You're the one in the front." Aristia threw the ring to Oscar who just nodded and wore it in his right hand.
Backstep a bit, and we're now at the foot of the stairs where a barrel is suspiciously placed at the top just before the hollow.
"You do it. I'm a mage." I pushed Aristia forward, earning myself a glare I ignored.
So, yeah. Undead Asylum flashback. Barrel got burned and was rolled down. Aristia stepped back before it even comes close. Barrel jumps off the railing, destroyed. Aristia hacks hollow to three pieces. The end.
"Welp, let's go." And we entered the tower.
- - - -
"Blast open this door or nah?" I asked the two.
Before me is the door that can be opened with Master Key to smash Havel za Wock. Sounds really dumb to go in and try to kill him right now but eh, gamer urges.
"Won't recommend. Try it later." Aristia shook her head.
"Welp, ok." Disappointing, but there's still another time.
Why am I excited to fight Havel, you might ask? To test how strong my sorcery is. I want to know if I can one shot Havel.
Anyways, we climbed the stairs. On the floor with the fog door, Aristia started using the Black Knight Sword to fuck up some barrels. Me and Oscar watched on the side.
"What is she doing?"
"I learned that it does well for the brain if you don't try to comprehend a woman."
Finally, Aristia stopped. On top of the sword is a crystal lizard. She grabbed the twinkling titanite off its back. Then, casually throwing away the corpse. Poor lizard.
"Well, let's go." Pocketing the titanite, she walked through the fog wall, dissipating it. Once we all went through, it went back again.
The area we are in now is a bridge. A long bridge. Beside the fog wall we entered, a ladder was positioned on its left.
"There's enemies on top. Oscar, lead the way." Aristia took command and Oscar followed.
On top, two hollows with crossbows was mercilessly murdered. Oscar went back down.
"A minotaur will appear after crossing halfway the bridge. Arthur, can you one-shot it?" It's weird being called by my name, but I nodded to her question.
"Good. Prepare a spell. Oscar and I will try to bait it to appear." It's weird, actually. Seeing Aristia so serious. But well, this is Dark Souls I guess.
"Alright, let's start!"